Nightmare

Yes... he was in my dream... so I guess it qualifies to be a nightmare. I have no idea why he popped into my head. I can vaguely remember the details but he did grab my foot and then... and then... and then... I cannot remember lah...

Oh, Jason... what were you trying to tell me? Huh? What? So weird to have such a nightmare... Why couldn't I dream of something nicer?

Dreaming of her would be nice eh? Really nice... but then again, a bit too much to handle wouldn't you say? There's this saying... anything more than a mouthful or handful is wasteful... but people are wasteful in general... not me though... I never waste... mommy would spank me... ; )

Haaaaa... this one would be better, no? Nothing to waste.... :p Any normal guy would go 'ga-ga' over her but not Rain a.k.a Jeong Ji-hoon. Apparently, Megan's single now and was interested in this Korean Justin Timberlake but he turned her down. So, everyone out there is saying that he's probably gay for turning her down. Well, I don't know... gay or no gay... he ain't NORMAL. A normal dude would meet up with her and see if there was any 'fire' before turning her down bluntly. Maybe she has too many tattooes... whatever...

Anyway, dreaming of Megan or Lucy would be nice... but I ended up with Jason... poor me...

I've Lost It...

My e-mails...

If I had hair to pull I'd have my head on the desk and I'd be pulling my hair.

Last Saturday, I cleaned my Inbox up and brought it down to under 10. It was an accomplishment.

Yesterday when I checked my Inbox, I was shocked to find 80+ in my Inbox. As I went through it, I found a lot of old mails there which I had already moved to other folders. The last time this happened, I had to sort over 150 e-mails. I also found that my new mails were coming in as READ. So, I report it to IT. It seems, I am the only one experiencing this. Really? Or am I the only one who noticed?

So, I go on my daily routines and what not while waiting for the problem to be resolved. About 30 minutes ago, I had to write someone so I started to look through my folders to find the info that I needed. Lo and behold, I find that my mail in that folder dated the 22nd of June through the 12th of July was missing. What happened? So I go through my folders one by one and I found the same results. All mail within that same date range was gone.... GONE!

Now I have to wait for IT to get back to me on what happened. I pity those guys in IT really... to have a cheapskate boss who uses cheap solutions and this is the end result. Missing mail...

Now I pening kepala... and really sakit hati too...

Lost InTranslations...

First and foremost I'm not an expert but still... some things just aren't right. This was taken in Kuching. Since this is Malaysia and the advertiser is foreign, I am going to assume that it was meant to be translated from English to Bahasa Malaysia. We'll start from the top.

Truth - kebenaran is the word as far as I know. If there is a new word or a better replacement please do let me know.

Honour - this one a bit susah as we need to know the context in which the word is used to determine the appropriate version. But I think mulia is appropriate since it is a bank.

Respect - hormat. I don't know why ikhlas was chosen.

Which now brings me to think, they probably wanted to translate from Bahasa Malaysia to English. So, we start from the top again.

Telus - transparent, not literally transparent but transparent as in sincere... you know what I mean? :p If it was tulus... then could mean sincere, earnest, heartfelt.

Jujur - honest literally but maybe meant as trustworthy?

Ikhlas - sincere.

It's tough... really, it is... Bahasa Malaysia is a very 'young' language.

I was at Masjid Jamek the other day... yes, I do take the LRT too at times... and I saw the sign.. I think it was 'Kelana Jaya Line' and the BM version was 'Aliran Kelana Jaya'. Now, I don't know if it is appropriate or not but it just doesn't sound right. In this context we know that line does not mean a straight line. Line has many entries in the English dictionary and in this context it is closest to route. So, is Aliran the appropriate word to use? Aliran is flow, stream, current... I dunno...

Now I am confused... ha, ha, ha...

I Think I'm Losing It...

...not my mind. My eyesight...

It was back in 2004 I think when I first started developing headaches. It was probably because I was spending too much time on the PC working on a new project. I was doing floor plans for rooms on MS Visio. 24 rooms with up to 6 configurations per room. That's 144 floor plans. After a few visits to Dr. Stephen the company doctor, he decided that I should see an eye specialist. So he referred me to Shukri & Hardeep at Jalan Ipoh.

Dr. Hardeep said that I had a peculiar problem. An old man's problem he said. I was developing long sightedness or hyperopia at my 'tender age' as he eloquently put it. Anyway, he wrote me a prescription for my glasses and advised me to wear them whenever my eyes felt tired. I thanked him and off I went. When I gave my prescription to the optician; Percy is his name if I recall correctly, he looked at me and asked are you sure? I just looked at him blankly wondering what he meant. "What do you mean?", I asked. He said it's probably a mistake coz it was not likely for a person at my age to require such glasses. He took another look at the prescription and noticed where it came from. "Oh! Dr. Hardeep! Ok, not likely to be a mistake then", he exclaimed. Percy went on to tell me that Dr. Hardeep was very good and that my case was rare.

Well, to cut a long story short it minimised my problems. The headaches went and I wore the glasses whenever my eyes felt tired which wasn't very frequent from then on. Over time, I started to notice that whenever something was popped up right in front of my face within about 8 inches, I had trouble focusing on it. Now, especially over the past one week my eyes have been very, very tired and I have not been in front of the PC much. If this keeps up, I might have to make a visit to Dr. Hardeep again.

But... my eyes are just as sharp for other things. No change in that... :p

Keep On Moving

They call this Retro these days... geesh... I'm not that old am I?

Or Am I? (",)

C&C

Back when I had higher levels of testosterone, there used to be a group called C&C Music Factory. They popularised Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now). Yeah... it's one of 'those were the days' moments that 30-somethings like me encounter a lot.

Anyway, this is not about them. This is about Civics and Courtesy.

I had a meeting in HQ yesterday. So, as usual I took the KL Monorail as it is the most convenient means of travel to the heart of Bukit Bintang. And most importantly, predictable in terms of timeliness. Highly unlikely I'd be late unless I spent too much time ogling and drooling at some SYT .

The weather was good, to melah... but it was threatening to pour. I grabbed my umbrella and made my way to the Titiwangsa station. I never did time how long it takes me to walk there but I reckon it takes about 3 minutes including the escalator ride up. That's me lah with my giraffe legs.

As usual, I like to observe and in my many rides I noticed that C&C is slowly disappearing from our society. I know and I can understand rush hours and what not but this was at 2:30pm. It was after lunch hour. I was coming back from Bukit Bintang and the train had stopped at Titiwangsa station... the LAST station. When the door opened everyone started barging in. The platform wasn't full. I could count how many people were there. What's the rush? Why can't they wait for the passengers to alight? And here's the best part... they gave me the look as though I was in their way. I just can't understand.

And this is just at the KL Monorail. There are many other things that just leaves me bewildered and takes me into my time machine and back into 'those were the days mode'. I'm not perfect. In fact I am flawed in so many ways. When I was a kid I stole, I peeped, I lied... you name it and I did it as a naughty kid. But I tell you... my mom and dad were merciless. God would be taking care of me if I was made a Sergeant when my mom and dad punished me. I went to school looking like a zebra. I kid you not. As a kid I hated my parents for what they put me through but now, 30-something years on, I understand and I thank them for everything that they had thought me.

What's becoming of our society?

Hell Of An Answer...

This is a good read and an even better laugh... courtesy of Lian who sent it to me this morning.

The following is an actual question given on a University of Liverpool chemistry final exam.

The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues via the Internet, which is why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's law that gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that, if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell. Because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay constant, the volume of Hell must expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Sandra during my freshman year, that "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is endothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting anymore souls and is extinct . leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being - which explains why, last night, Sandra kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A".

Zuma!

I used to be hooked onto this a few years back and I managed to finish it too. I recently started playing this again just to kill some time and clear my head. I just didn't want to give up till I finished it and looks like I still have what it takes to finish it... :p

Level 13... the last level and it has only one stage...

Zuma has finally come to PS3 as well and is downloadable at USD9.99. Sadly, it's not available for Asia yet...

Kissing and Blowing...

Sure I know how to kiss and blow...

But I definitely don't know how to kiss ass...

The only thing I know how to blow is bubbles. I definitely don't know how to blow smoke up someone's ass.

Maybe in my next life I should learn how to do these two things. Many seem to do well when they know how to do these two things...

Nah... on second thoughts, I think not... my dad would probably come back and haunt me if I did...

It's Been A Year...

... since I said goodbye to me beloved father.

How time flies. As usual, the elder one didn't come home. Well, up to him.

As I reminisced, I realised that dad left us exactly one month after The Three Musketeers came back to see him. When I read that blog again, I hated myself for being 'mulut masin'... really I am (mulut masin)... in uncountable instances.

Anyway, life goes on...

I'm Back... Yet Again...

I'm back in KL... was reassigned in February. The company provided me a place to call home... and this is the view from my balcony.

First of all, I miss Kuantan. Never thought I'd ever say that being a KL-boy. I went to Kuantan kicking and screaming but now I miss it... especially the beach... accessible every single day. I guess the quality of life is just way better than in KL, that's why.

Anyway, what have I been up to? Life's been busy... very busy.

1. I'm back in KL against my will. I knew that this assignment was going to be a nightmare that's why I didn't want to accept it and neither did any of my peers. But here I am... struggling to cope.

2. I'm now officially divorced. Received the papers a couple of months back.

3. We got conned of approximately RM55k last month. Not my fault but me being the boss here, I am responsible for it.

4. I was just informed that I will have to be issued a warning letter. A decision by the board... my 1st ever in my entire career.

Some new things I've learnt...

1. 10 years of service means nothing... you'll still get a warning letter. All it takes is 1 mistake to wipe out 10 years of excellence. I think the time has come to look for greener pastures as soon as the economy stabilises.

2. Some people... well not some... there are a lot out there who just thrive on poking their noses into others' affairs. What they gain out of it I will never understand. The EX is tying the knot (again) in November for crying out loud. If you report 100% facts, fine... facts are facts but you idiots report half-truths which just drive me up the wall. I just want to carry on with my life peacefully. So why can't they just leave me alone?

Moon at Night

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/10 Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F32, ISO Speed 100, Lens EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS, Focal Length 250.0 mm, Program Mode Manual

This is the moon at night... 2317 hrs.

Blue Screen Of Death

Yeah, I got it on my notebook. I've had my notebook for over 6 months now and I never had any problems with it up until now. Can't seem to figure out what may have caused it as I was multitasking. Only thing that seems different was that I was uploading several files to flickr.

The Moon

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/320Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F10, ISO Speed 250, Lens EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS, Focal Length 250.0 mm, Program Mode Aperture Priority

This is a shot I took just before dusk... at 1840 hours, to be exact... and hand held. I'll probably make another attempt sometime this week if I get a chance.

Water Drops...

Okay, okay... even I am tired of those night shots for now... so I decided to move on to something harder... very much harder and tiring too... I took a total of 114 shots to end up with these 17 'end product'. These shots were taken at...

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/200Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F9.0, ISO Speed 400, Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Focal Length 55.0 mm, Program Mode Manual

Sultan Ahmad Shah State Mosque

Tv(Shutter Speed) 5Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F10, ISO Speed 200, Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Focal Length 44.0 mm

I took this shot last night. This is the state mosque and is one of Kuantan's main landmark.

What Are These?

The two following shots were taken at these settings:-

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/4000Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F6.3, ISO Speed 400, Program Mode Manual.

Wanna guess what they are?

Figured it out yet?

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No?

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/500Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F5.6, ISO Speed 400

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/1000Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F5, ISO Speed 400

Streak Of Light...

The following shot is a re-take of my so-called first shot. This time, I did everything manually to create a different effect (after reading about it)... the streak of light created from a moving vehicle...

Tv(Shutter Speed) 6Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F10, ISO Speed 200, Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Focal Length 33.0 mm, Program Mode Manual

Eye On Malaysia...

I have to be in the Industrial Court in KL tomorrow morning at 9:00am. So I drove over to KL this evening. I arrived at about 10:30pm. Had a view of the Eye On Malaysia. I had brought my new camera with me, obviously... actually I had to take some pictures for work that's why I brought it. And here are the pictures...

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F5.6, ISO Speed 800, Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Focal Length 55.0 mm, Program Mode Night

Tv(Shutter Speed) 0.6Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F5.6, ISO Speed 1600, Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Focal Length 55.0 mm, Program Mode Night

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/4Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F5.6, ISO Speed 800, Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Focal Length 55.0 mm, Program Mode Shutter Priority

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1/4Sec, Av(Aperture Value) F5.6, ISO Speed 800, Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Focal Length 55.0 mm, Program Mode Shutter Priority

Oh, by the way.. I didn't bring my el-cheapo tripod along so all these were taken hand-held...

My First Shot...

Well, actually not my first as it is numbered IMG_0004 but my first as in properly composed shot. This was taken from my room...

Tv(Shutter Speed) 1Sec.

Av(Aperture Value) F5.0

ISO Speed 800

Lens EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

Focal Length 42.0 mm

Oops!... I Did It Again!

Bought a SLR camera that is... this time a digital one, obviously.

After much contemplation... many, many temptations and lots of reading on reviews and finally ending up in a shop with all 3 brand on consideration (Canon, Nikon and Sony), I finally decided to take the plunge into the world of digital SLR. And this is my choice...

Picture courtesy of dpreview.com

The Canon EOS 450D, with a kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS) had a RRP of RM3349.00. And in the papers they had a promo going on where you get a Canon DSLR bag, a 2GB SanDisk SD Card and Ximplify for free. On top of that there was the PWP offer where you get to buy a second lens for RM899.00 as illustrated below.

I decided to go with the PWP and got myself the EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS telephoto zoom lens. I managed to bargain... yes, B-A-R-G-A-I-N... that's bargain!! I know it's not like me... well people change... and I bargained. I got a pretty good deal... saved more than a couple of hundred ringgit. I also got an additional tripod, an el-cheapo one but it will do for now and also a Canon gold umbrella. However, the second lens was not in stock and will arrive in about a week's time.

Prior to buying from this shop I did go checking with a few other shops and this shop had the best deal and at credit card price (i.e. additional 2% charge). So, naturally I went back there but I had gone to the bank to withdraw cash thinking that I'd get an even better deal if I paid in cash. SO, just as I was about to pay Ah Seong (the dude's name) I asked him if it would be cheaper if I paid in cash. Alas, that was the best deal... so I gave my card and off he went to the cashier. A minute later, this dudette (the cashier) comes up to me and says that she has to ad 2% coz I was paying by card. A stared daggers at Ah Seong and he quickly corrected the dudette and said that it was not necessary and he had given me a special deal.

So, I am a now the proud owner of a Digital Rebel XSi (North American name)...

DCM Part 2

Ummm... I placed a 1-year subscription for DCM starting from July... including all of their available back issues.

KFC Chicken Chop

Last night I decided to head to TC to have my KFC Chicken Chop. I was truly disappointed. Standards are dropping these days, everywhere. I wonder if the KFC management really knows what is being done to their intended products. This just pathetic. Look at the following pictures and you'll see what I mean...

Firstly, the plate is too small for this dish. I know because I had it in a bigger plate in Berjaya Megamall. Then, let's look at the chicken itself... it's pale and not as crispy as it should be. And here's the worst thing... just look at the pathetic fries... oh, and isn't my coleslaw supposed to come with peas as illustrated in your poster?

Anyway, no more Chicken Chop for me. I've switched to Zinger Burger.

Chinese Beef Steak

I couldn't believe it when my head Chef and the Chinese Chef said that they had never heard of this. Anyway, I managed to get my Chef's to do this dish. Took three sampling but they finally got it right. It's just yummy...