Our numbed minds

Rustic Entry (proposed title by a fren hehe!)

2007-02-28T16:49:00.000+08:00

i've a nice, long hiatus. Until today. Where i feel like the whole World is against me and force me to update this blog. Alas, i'm not so addictive to writing. But once i start, people will bow. And drooling! And feel like kissing me! Hahahah! So humble! (Do you see that i do change? :P)

Ah! My sense of humour is still intact!

Being Tagged

2006-03-01T17:25:00.000+08:00

Taken from Imran's blog, dated 22 February 2006.

C. Tagged 8 Victims

1. Bee - You're missing me right?
2. William - You need to get a girl.
3. Didie - MAKCIK!!!! :P
4. WooZP - I believe your last update was in 2005?
5. Fina - Cos she's damn hot, a fine LICKING specimen ;)
6. Looi - MUAAACKS!!
7. Leli - Meeeep. Meeeep.
8. Andy - TAG!!! MUAHAHAHHAH!! NASI LEMAK!!

Edit:
9. POLT - Just when we thought he forgot all about the internet, he makes a sudden appearance. Penalty for too little updates my friend. I know it says 8, but I care not! MUAHAHAHA

So, it happened that Imran tagged me. The question contains three part, namely:
A. 8 Different Points of a Perfect Lover
B. Sex of Target
C. Tagged 8 Victims

Hmmm. Anyway, i'm not going to answer the questions for the following reasons:
1) Imran broke the law: he could only name 8 persons to be tagged. So, pls meet my lawyer first :P
2) He insulted me about me forgetting the internet :P HEHE!

Candlelight Dinner

2006-03-01T10:11:00.000+08:00

While i'm having my dinner with Bob last night at one of the Kedai at Johor Jaya, eating my Nasik ayam masak pedas with telur dadar, it was blackout. It lasted about half an hour. During the blackout, the owner provided us with candle. So, it turned out to be a candlelight dinner!! :P (I wish it was a girl with me that night hahahha! No hard feeling, bro!)

Fearless : second watch.

2006-02-26T13:40:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, i watched Fearless for the second time with my colleague, Hazri. It is my first time watching a movie at TGV, Tebrau City since its operation commencing in January. I didnt mind so much to watch the movie for the second time because i knew, the action would still keep me hook. At least, it was the second chance for me to see what i have been missing in the first watch.

Can you tell me more about your [upcoming Ronny Yu project]? What is it about? When can I see it?

Jet's Response

A lot of journalists ask me, "You always say violence is not the only solution. How do you show it through film?" I have tried to show this in Hero and in Unleashed. I believe my next film will also show you very clearly. This movie explains what wushu is, what kung fu is.

Also lot of people in the world commit suicide and they don't appreciate their life and their family. I want to tell all the people around the world -- regardless of religion, color, or culture -- that you have to value life and family; to not complain too much about others and external forces that you cannot control. The biggest enemy is one's self.

This is all I can tell you about it now.

In the movie, Huo changed himself from some fighter who never used his head properly, to a more balance sifoo and became the founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation. The change took place after something happened in his life. (see the movie, ok :P)

Every religion, every philosopher, etc. taught about the importance of keep improving. Yeah, life is about improving. When something happened in our life, it is customary that we learn something; or our view on certain things change; or the way we do something will be different; or perhaps we will know how to treat something in a correct way. Or anything.

That's of course if we really put aside our big ego to learn from anyone and anywhere :P Plus, we must face the fact that other people are bound to change too. For good, or vice versa :)

p/s: This is not a nice motivational entry of course. I just want to remind myself :P

Despatch Guy

2006-02-25T12:07:00.000+08:00

Throughout this week, i spent my time a lot out of the office to send Thank-You souvenier to a list of Customers. So, it's like cum-depatch job to me. Hack, i'm not complaining. Rather, i love it; u know, meeting with people and went to some "ceruk" that u have never been there, learn new road, bla bla. It has been my job to serve customer after all. Even if i'm not sending the souvenier, i will also go to customer site to troubleshoot or to install application or for some occasion that too wide to tell the scope. :P

Anyway, during sending those stuff, what i did realize is that the way they looked at me. It felt like i'm really a despatch guy! I mean, the way they treated me and looked at me :P (Note: not all of course :P). It's just different if i come to their office for other purposes :P By the way, why most of the people treat them like that eh?

Or is it a mere me and my feeling? :P

Today something

2006-02-21T20:51:00.000+08:00

Taken from today NST:

1) Dagang Net upbeat on revenue. IT firm expects RM58 million from core business, especially e-commerce and EDI. (pg. B6, business times.)

// Note: Hopefully, my company will not hesitate to give the staffs big bonus and increment this year :P

2) Avoid arrest, pay your summonses now. (pg.4)

// Note: This morning, my colleague and i checked if we have summonses in hand online. Somehow, the site was a bit slow and i guess, a lot of people around the country were checking theirs too :P Phew, i dun have any despite the fact that my fren and i were driving my car like crazy on our way to Penang and NS late last year :P

3) Social-networking sites may be teen traps. (pg.8)

// Note: The newspaper stated the trouble this kind of site - like MySpace and Friendster - brings to teen. Some of them will eventually meet their virtual friends in person. The trouble begins when the site becomes the tools for some fake identities to find their preys.

Frankly speaking, I made a lot of friends online. I even met some of them in person (ask me later if u have time about those experience of mine, ok? :P) and most of them become my closed friends now. Thanks God nothing bad happened so far. :) But, come to think of it, i'm very sure u have stumbled with people who have hundreds and thousands of friends in their friend list, and u begin to wonder if he/she knows all of them, rite? :P

Total crap

2006-02-20T21:25:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, i went to Air Terjun Kota Tinggi. Today, i'm on leave. Tomorrow? I got meeting! :P Yay! An update! (ajaran sesat TLO! :P Put the blame on him!)

Moral of the entry: IT IS EASY TO UPDATE! (deliberately put in UPPER CASE :P)

Fav quotes

2006-02-19T18:12:00.000+08:00

Last nite, i sent a bulk of sms to my fren, asking them what their fav quote. The replies are variety. Some of them gave their personal quotes, and some of them gave a well-known one. And some of them just didnt know, or didnt care to tell me :P. Some perhaps didnt have credit to reply (kidding! :P) Anyway, among the quotes:

1) it is sometimes a mistake to climb the mountain, but it is always a mistake never to make the attempt
2) things dun pass 4 what they r, but 4 what they seem. Most things r judged by their jackets.
3) find a way or make one. Life is about choosing the rite path.
4) gravity is not responsible for people falling in luv.
5) time u enjoy wasting is not wasted. //she asked me "why ar?". "Saja enjoy wasting my time sms others :P" was my replied and she laughed :P
6) drink till u die, cheers and more wine //gosh, the drunken master has spoken! :P Later, he told me he never thought about his fav one!
7) u may b dissapointed if u fail, but u r doomed if u dont try
8) 1-tau takpe 2-sabar je ah 3- i hav only one life n its short
9) sepak karang //owhh, how nice!
10) so u think ----? //hehehe, fill in the blank?!

I just enjoy to send sms to them now and then, and asking simple question, telling craps or trifles. It is just to let them know that i'm still breathing, kicking and alive :P In addition, the nice replies always put smiles on my face :P

Sleepy Entry! :P

2006-02-16T12:40:00.000+08:00

That Aan girl, who used to make me bored to death (dun believe me of course!), asked me, "what makes u think u are not a wolf?". This question really challenge my IQ because if someone of Socrates calibre come up with it, it surely contains a deep meaning which baffles people throughout the World. :P This morning, i woke up at 4.15 a.m. and when to Custom site at Tjg Kupang, and now i'm still sleepy and suddenly i was being burden with this so-called philosophical question!! And more, somewhat mindlessly, she told me i've a figure of a wolf and eat meat and eat people and suck her brain juices! Instead of fallen asleep or stabbed her to death, i guess i should have rolled out on the floor laughing.

Ah! How interesting my frens around me! :P Even at my working place, my colleagues' personal diversity and craziness really brighten my day! I love u all!

So, today is 16 February. It's 5th anniversary of me working under UEM group. It's the 5th year, which mean, my scholarship bond come to the end :P Yay! But, that's not mean i will send my resignation letter soon. Not yet. That's only mean i can resign without being penalized of breaching the contract. :P So, here i'm smiling because i'VE a degree and i DUN HAVE to pay back money they gave me during my study :)

OK. Really sleepy. Should stop now. (my mind numb :P) Wait a minute. Just want to mention one thing: i will represent Johor to National Closed this March. Am preparing now. Hurm, it's a chess tournament by the way, what else! :P Got to patch my brain right now so that known bugs fixed before the tourney (gosh! 5 years of technical experience really takes its toll :P)

Fearless

2006-01-28T21:57:00.000+08:00

Watching this movie today at Maga Pavillion JB. This happened to be the last action movie starred by Jet Li. Many will surely waiting to see how he fares in more serious, dramatic one. Could u imagine him subtituting Ken Watanabe as Chairmen in Memoir of Geisha? :P

Since this will be his last one to show his skill, surely he shows the best. However, i didnt see any diferent from his previous, or perhap "hanya jauhari mengenal manikam"? :P But, undoubtedly, Jet Li is a Jet Li: the fighting scenes still keep u at the edge of your seat; and even make u clench ur own fist; and mentioning "ouch!" now and then :P

From philosophical point of view, it does not move me much. Even his "Hero" and "Tai Chi Master" contains more substance.

After all, two hours seems only minutes; meaning, it's a nice movie to watch to kill the time. :)

Hello World! II

2006-01-25T14:24:00.000+08:00

IV.

Reading back what i've written yesterday, i was amazed how much pleasure i got by writing them as well as the wonder i have on the words i chose. Having spent many years studying in UK may "britainize" my english, or so i think. Anyway, there are certain things i forgot to include in my narrative, but that did not matter much. "Great mind is a great mind". Hmmm, i got that from an anon. :P

Wait a second, i've a secret. Hmmm, i've never been in UK :P

V.

To be continued (Later today!)

Hello World!

2006-01-24T20:00:00.000+08:00

I.

Several of my friends want me to update my blog. Bee update for me and came up with a clear message: update or else! I dun succumb to such pressure frequently, but when she wrote this sentence - "If he's reachable, pls anyone, piat his telinga for me. No bad intention here. Just want to get him back to what he used to love. Writing.", i was moved. And when my friends asked me again and again, i know, update is inevitable. So, i write. I know i will find the missing pieces of the puzzle that give me pleasure, and at the same time, i make them satisfy. Like killing two birds with one stone la :P

I dunno where i got such tenacity, such inspiration to write before (not last year of course, which is quite dry!). And i still remember the time when i leisurely constructed sentence after sentence. You befriend with words and words come to you almost instantly. :P That personal experience keep me insane at that time. And i want to feel the pleasure again! :)

II.

It's New Year again. People shared at their blog about their New Year experience. About New Year resolution. About where they spent the night of the countdown. And a lot more. I, on the the other hand, just wrote two simple sentences, wishing my frens Happy New Year and hoping that the best will be bestowed upon them in every nook and corner of their life. And that was the only entry i wrote so far in 2006. It is no secret that Bee shook her head seeing this. :P Thus, her update to wake me up from my dream! :P

Since i've no intention to be some crazy genius with brilliant, original ideas this time around, (due to rustiness in certain part of my brain :P) lemme told mine :P

Several hours before the clock struck 12 a.m., i was actually in the office, looking for some cracked software on the Net, which at this time, i hardly remember what it was. What i remember was, in the archived file, there was this one file which i, without futher thought, double clicked it, resulting my anti virus popped up messages like crazy, stating that my computer had been infected. It was an extremely malicious virus for i could not doing much even with my administrator previlege. It took me another several hours to find out the solution on how to remove the virus, and after exhaustedly deleting files, changing setting, restarting, toying with registry etc. , it was approximately 11.30 p.m. when i finished the task. (I cut the technical part of removing the virus, and if you are interested, kindly email me :P)

Tired and starved to death, i dropped by at a kedai makan at Johor Jaya and reached there a few minutes before 12 a.m. Although i guess fireworks has been banned, people still got guts to play it there. The scene was quite breathtaking. It was not so grand like the one at Dataran or at official ceremony, but i guess it was enough to recover my sanity after spending hours cracking the brain in front of my computer.

New Year resolution? Hmmm, mine has to be kept secret. If i tell you, then i've to kill you!! Just kidding :P To put it mildly, it is just better not to put here :)

III.

Recently i found Sudoku. "What is that?", you may ask. When Bee informed me that she is now become so addicted to it, i wanted to ask the same question, but before i did that, i remembered seeing the word in Reader's Digest catalog and realized what it is. It's actually a type of puzzle, with 9x9 box. In carefully selected boxes, the composer of the puzzle puts certain numbers and our task is to complete all boxes so each 3x3 box, as well as each row and column must contain all the numbers from 1 to 9.

I should say logic always interest me, and this puzzle at least challenge my mind. I'm not as addict as Bee - perhaps due to my deep interest in chess - but i decided to enter NST Sudoku Challenge. If i'm not mistaken, Bee too takes up the challenge.

This game, according to some source, could mess the brain and now, in UK, they are considering banning it, or so Bee told me. So, if one day you see me drifting aimlessly and behave weirdly, then put the blame on Bee. :P If you presently think i'm cute, then of course you can even kill her and drink her blood! :P

IV.

To be continued :P

You better write!

2006-01-18T12:36:00.000+08:00

It gives me creativity constipation ah, to write in 2 blogs. But i try not to be so intellectual here since polt alone is more than enough *ye ke?* and truly, i dont want to overshadow his fake brilliantness oso ah.

He's been stalking me for quite a while now. Asking whether he should or should not update. And what's there to update. Hear me. I suffered enough. Duh. If he's reachable, pls anyone, piat his telinga for me. No bad intention here. Just want to get him back to what he used to love. Writing. We shall not let the maven die, shall we? Pull the rusty brain of him out and drag the heavy hands to the keyboard. Nah mean creature..u better write or i'll ask Aan to sing that Pop Ye Ye song this weekend. Ada berani? :P

2006

2006-01-02T13:46:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year! Wish u all the best!

:)

2005-09-23T08:16:00.000+08:00

To those who wonder why i havent write for a while, i guess u should visit this url:
http://www.teractive.net/forum/weblog.php?w=8

This is my Teractive blog. And since i'm a teratorian (which is now called teractivian :P), somehow i guess i should give them some support. So, i will not write in here for a while. See ya there! :)

Najwa Revisited

2005-09-06T15:46:00.000+08:00

First of all, I should say, the Killing Panda campaign turn out to be very very unseccessful. Even with Imran's help. :P I hope people would at least seeing this as one way to celebrate Merdeka. Alas, no. Why? I guess because there is no Panda to be killed here. Phew! Strong reason! :P I should start a more rational campaign. Hehe. Any ideas?

OMG! This blog change its face, from serious one to crap one. Who's to blame? Ohh.. I miss my blog partner! :P

Neway, enjoy pics taken from my HP:

It's Najwa if u still remember!! Read my 26 Nov 2004 entry, here

Updating!

2005-08-20T11:22:00.000+08:00

Tik Tok Tik Tok! Azmin has been counting. One month and several days since my last update, not 4 months as i expected :P I'm tired after moving my things to new house last night. Yes, i tranfer from Tampoi Utama to Johor Jaya. I hope, the new house will provide me the motivation i need now. Anyway, thanks to bro Bob Norulah who help me last night.

Life has treated me in weird way.

Imran has written a so touching piece of notes mentioning me, entitled "It's an Usop World!". I'm not sure if people take time troubling themselves to read this so-called masterpice because i'm no Mawi and i've no "World" behind me, but ironically Rudi did. In fact, she is the one who pointed this out to me. :P Several friends found this to be very cruel, but teasing Rudi - who extremely incurerable fond of Panda - gave me undescribable fun, hehe! Here it is:

Bulletin Board (at Friendster)

From : Jack
Date : Monday, August 15, 2005 13:43:00
Subject : It's an Usop World!

Message:

I would like to extend my gratitutde to Mr.Usop@Polt in recognition of his wonderful admin skills over the years of watching over the lovely forum boards.

Today Mr.Polt has just climbed up on my 'Ladder of Honor' with this wonderful post. I will now share this magnificent thing with all of you.

http://web.tiscali.it/ughetto/Kill_panda_trasp.jpg

Specially dedicated to panda lovers all around the world. (rudiah, untukmu.)

Please do Rudiah a favor and visit the site.
http://web.tiscali.it/ughetto/Kill_panda_trasp.jpg

Ok. I'm not that cruel BTW. So, LOVE ME please! :P

Next, a news has been circulated around. I dunno for sure either it's true or otherwise. But, it's convincing enuff. And it surely will make Miss Anak and i and martians out there proud. :P So, dun miss this opportunity. Here is the news:

Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultimate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Share this with ur friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again... ^_^

DISCLAIMER: I dunno if 12.30 a.m is Malaysia time. So, please find out urself if that is GMT+8 :P

Arghhh, i guess, this new place of mine makes me halucinating profoundly. Damn!

My eyes now is on Malaysia Open which currently underway at Mid Valley. To those who have spare time, perhaps they could drop by and enjoy seeing people silently pitting their wits against each other. If u find that is boring, please don't tell them so. :p Since i'm staying in Johor now, i may miss the opportunity to see famous GMs, like Ian Rogers, Utut Adianto, Dao Thien Hai, etc in person. My friend Andrew asked me whether i would be able to come by and my reply so far is negative. I've applied leave for 25&26 and 29&30 of August and it has been approved, but the days might be better spent for other purposes.

Maybe. Maybe not. :P Soooo tempting!

Ok, that's all for now. Anybody can guess when my next update? :P

p/s: I've fotopages now! Dun ask me the url. I will give u if i like u :P Kidding! :P

Just Another Update.

2005-07-14T18:14:00.000+08:00

It's July.

OMG! I didn't update my blog for several months.

My writing skill goes rusty. So does my mind. I'm emotionally unstable which affects my judgement and the way I'm thinking. So, when i begin to write today, i guess i'm not sober enuff, like a drunkard, who find focusing is hard. I felt like Sherlock Holmes after several months left with no cases. :P

Neway, the pressure from update beggars out there leave me unease. The sense of guilty and the obligation to those who have linked mine in their blog makes this update imminent. I dunno if u guys really read what I've written in the past, or whether u guys really notice the words "News in Chunks" whenever surf to my blog before this entry (and felt dissapointed when there was no update :P) But, I really appreciate when several of my friends still troubling themselves checking and asking me to write.

(So, you know why I need somebody to share a blog with me : diverting people's eyes from blaming me only. Hehe! Erk, lemme clear this: i didnt mean to make Iqa and Bee a scapegoat previously for my procrastination ok!! :P)

My peace to all.

And to show my sincerity, i captured a pic of my fingers showing the peace sign with my Nokia 6630 when i read today Computimes. Hopefully, u will find this sincere enuff :P

I guess, after a long break, I need time to warm up. :P Would it be 4 months more? :P

p/s: Gosh! My sarcasm is still intact!! :P

News In Chunks

2005-03-21T21:01:00.000+08:00

Delivering Breakthrough Performance

By the time i'm writing this, i'm patronizing a nice, pack cybercafe near Kotaraya, KL. Today i have my first day training on "Delivering Breakthrough Performance" at UEM Academy, Wisma Pantai. (Yeah, surprise! surprise! it's a motivational training and nothing to do with IT!). The training is conducted by Mr Rosli Ibrahim, Executive Director / Principal Consultant & Master Trainer for People and Performance Consulting. It is two days course so i will be in KL until this Wed morning.

This course hopefully will at least help me to find some gap my reading on motivational books has left. (And 3 days sleeping at cozy room hopefully will help me to rejuvenate :P)

Kasparov Retirement

On 10 March, Kasparov retired from professional chess. He did this when he is still staying top in the World. Is this his mild remark to me to go and replace him? :P Talking about chess, my nice friend just renewed my Gold membership at World Chess Network for another month so i felt obliged to play there again whole-heartedly. (Bro Norulah, by whole-heartedly, i mean to play 1 minute chess as many game as i can hehehehe! :P)

Nur Amalina Che Bakri & 17 A1-nya
http://www.terato.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30497

The above link referred. This is a thread from terato, which referring to a blog written by a guy from PJ. In his 10 March entry entitled "congratulations...you moron", he congratulated the girl "for throwing away her childhood for the sake of a few A's" and he later explained why.

Although i agreed that life is not depends on A's you get in those exams, passing exam with flying colours such as this is already a great achievement. This PJ guy should stay at Ulu Tiram first, schooling there before he is entitled to say "but you did it for the wrong reasons and at the cost of sacrificing the simple pleasures of schooling life...pleasures that no amount of success in your future life will ever bring you". And what's wrong with taking additional subjects if she is capable to grab them and even if she wants to be a gynaecologist?

Just hope that she will do well in her future, good at both hard and soft skills and will be able to adapt to what the future throws to her, and quickly realizes that A's in SPM could not promise her an easy life.

Blood Donation

My colleagues and I went to Kip Mart, Jb last Saturday to donate our blood. This occasion was a suggestion from Dilla's and her bf since they both are regular blood donaters (and the last time they did so was last month so they would not be able to do so this time :P). So, Hazri and Dilla's sis and i agreed to donate and we filled the related form and went to several check up.

My blood is an AB type - to my surprise!!, because until that moment, i realllly believe mine was an O type :P. That's not the case. The case was, you know what, after checking the blood type, the Kakak checked my blood pressure and here, i didn't pass. It's too high, she said, and it was owing to my lack of sleep (I'd my sleep at 3 pm the night before) :P Since Dilla's sis also could not donate for some reason, Hazri was the sole guy to represent our group. And, he jokingly said, there is some conspiracy between us :P

Next time bro! I'm dying to donate BTW.

Aan

Aan has started working at TMNET with a relatively good salary :P So, she owes me a dinner from her first one, yay!!

To Update Beggars

2005-03-18T09:42:00.000+08:00

Update beggars irritate me. So, I must update. I must update. I must. :P (soon friend :P).

Hmm! :P

2005-03-04T11:06:00.000+08:00

I dunno why i wanted to test the feature that enable us to change the subdomain yesterday. So, i did change the current numbed-mind url to http://temp-numbed-mind.blogspot.com and create a new blog and assigned the current url to it. I wrote the first entry with "Guess Game!" as the title, and single-mindedly putting "Guess what happened to old numbed-mind ??" under it. (The new blog was created lest someone would take the url :P)

Walla, the old numbed-mind was hidden virtually!

I didn't expect any comment, but surprisingly when i saw it later, there are two comments. It was easy to guess as to who the commentators are.

Here are what they wrote:

Roll said...

1. you lost your mind and became suicidal.. that's why you're made this new one..
2. you think lately your life has not been challenging nor interesting, so creating a problem to solve is the thing to do.
3. you can't stand to read those comments made by illiterate people like me.
4. you think polka dot is the "in" thing right now.
5. you haven't had any updates for a few days, and creating a new one takes care of the problem.
6. you've just been reincarnated.
7. you want to prove to people that you can do the most stupidest thing you can think of
8. you hate your old self and want a new you.
9. you're delusional!
10. is this got anything to do with that "brittany" on your tag board?

Bee Abdullah said...

One thing for sure..
he's CRAZY!!!!

Haha! I'm OK with the comments by the way! I dunno if this can be categorised as a practical joke! :P

10 Biggest Brain Damaging Habits

2005-02-24T19:50:00.000+08:00

Click here for more
Randy Glasbergen's comic strips.

I stumbled with this article when i was reading my mail. We always keep lamenting when we unable to think properly. I've even seen a YM status of a friend of mine showing something like this: "I need my brain back!!". But why? The list may help then :P. (My by-not-so-damaged-brain annotation in red.)

10 Biggest Brain Damaging Habits

No Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.
// Ah! I love taking breakfast. In fact, I guess, I've big breakfast everyday. So, no wonder la me gaining weight :P And my mind goes rusty (?!)

Over eating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.
// OMG! This is well-known fact, but we keep eating like there is no tomorrow. Crazy!

Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.
// I'm no smoker, but being surrounded by chain smokers. Ah, I keep my finger cross :P

High Sugar consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.
// *Sigh* Where to run? :P

Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.
// Ehemm. Kindly gimme your verdict on over sleeping. :P

Head covered while sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.
// I did this a lot when I was in my study years. I covered my head with folded blanket or with my pillow. I can see the effect now, I guess. :P

Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.
// It's hard to stop thinking sometimes, even when we ill. Once, I played chess in a tournament when I got fever. And I do believe that I've to sit exam and test a couple of time when I felt like fainting due to my bad condition. And worst of all, i cannot sleep because my mind so active thinking. Do you have ever experience that? (or am i crazy?)

Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.
// Hehe. How about over stimulate?

Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain
// I'm a bit taciturn (Anon : *vomit*). In exchange, I write and chat with messenger a lot, discussing thought-provoking topics and not to mention, expressing "intelligent" craps :P Is it ok? :P

Hopefully, the list above will open your eyes as to why you feel your brain power deteriorating. (Read :as to why your brain numbing :P) So, try to avoid these habits yeah. :)

Disclaimer : I dunno the real source of this list. Refer at your own risk :P

What's with GOOD brand

2005-02-21T17:05:00.000+08:00

I definitely dont have any ideas what to write about but Polt's kinda 'forcing' me to update. :P

Let see.. ok found one!
This morning, [i hope everyone's aware what day is today] as usual, good dreams're there and i was like... 'duh!'. However, i managed to finish shower by 7.30 [after all the tortures] Then, i decided to have toast for b/fast. Put the bread in the toaster, on the switch and i left to put on clothes. While i was at my finishing routine, i realised the whole room was blardy hazy and the smell of somethg burnt striked my nose in no time. And blimey!.. i was so blur! Then only i remembered my bread.

Rushed to the front room and saw all the smoke coming out from the toaster like one kind of bus exhaust [note: i could hardly breath bcos the smoke was so-o-o-o thick] It was really suffocating. What really happened was, the bread got stucked inside the toaster. It became 'arang' already. Quickly, i switched the machine off and took the 2 pieces of bread out...put the fan on and opened doors and windows [Thanks to the Shell Gas show :P] The smoke finally thinning and went off after a while.

"There goes the toast for b/fast.." Looked at the clock, lucky it's still early. But of course, the mood for breakfast had gone together with the smoke. And until this very moment, i smell like one rentung bread!!! Cant wait to get home and get the smell off!

NOTE: The toaster has NO SIRIM word on it. And it's one cheap-kaput-brand bought only few months ago.

PS: Find the moral of the story yourself :P

Safety first!!

Time for wonderful songs :)

2005-02-18T10:54:00.000+08:00

I have this conversation with my Martian uncle this morning. As usual, we're discussing over the same old matter of writing, over and over again.

My passion for writing kinda sitting at the edge lately. Las nite, i tried to pour my mind to sentences..turned out that i didnt seem to be able to finish the 5th sentences. Poor me [x_x] I dug everywhere for the answers to all the hanging question marks...why oh why... but it ended with more '?'.

And finally today, i decided to not to think of too many things..just put the mind aside and write. But....

Polt: "what an entry means without points?" [*blink *blink]

What the heck..it's my writing. I should write anything i want, rite? :P

Today's a casual Friday... and as always, im in T, baggy corduroy jeans and a pair of my fav seasoned red Jack Purcell's...[note the uncombed hair]. Kinda in a very fine mood today. :) Am all into this "The tide is high but im holding on...im gonna be your number one..lalalalala" mood.

Since I came back to work last Monday until this morning.. i have no time to make myself even a cup of coffee. Thank God Sheila's here. :P [i even got someone to read me the news <--rite, just shoot me] Now everthing's settled and i have almost all the time in the world to myself again. Time to party!!!! :P And some more, now i have all the reasons to be happy. [*wink *wink]

"Aint no mountain high enough
Aint no valley low enough
Aint no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you babe!! "

Oh im soooo-o-o into this Motown songs today..

ps// No delusions today!! :P

A mere fiction?!

2005-02-17T20:07:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer:
This is not a review. Rather, this is a spark of an old thought, being highlighted again by me :P And, i should say, i'm writing this piece when i was in not-so-calm state of mind :P Despite the negative sentiment i express here, i really enjoyed reading the book - a page turner. Unfortunately, after i finished reading it, i found it's lack of substance - the book is without feeling :P (This is of course a personal feeling which most of people won't agree :P)

I found this when i was looking at reviews on The Da Vinci Code at Amazon.com. This is a new way to give a review i think. :P

***** Its FICTION!, November 12, 2004
Reviewer: Reid A. Ferguson "Simple Pilgrim" (Fairport, NY)

The Da Vinci Code.
What can I say?
Dan Brown's wildly popular Da Vinci Code is one rollicking good piece of fiction.
I will be the first in line to see the movie based on this wonderful piece of fiction.
It is a taut, fast paced, fun-filled piece of fiction.
Well written. Suspenseful. Intriguing. Fiction.
Read it if you really enjoy good fiction.
Have fun with its carefully, finely crafted twists, and turns of fiction.
A great book if you love fiction.
Buy it as fiction.
Read it as fiction.
Enjoy it as fiction.
Forget about it as fiction.
A nicely printed, well bound, thrilling, fun-filled work of fiction.
It is pure, ummm, what's the word I'm searching here for? - Unh, that's it! FICTION!
Don't believe a single word of it, it is fiction.

Based on that, I highly recommend it!

If you like fiction.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Entry for: Fiction
Pronunciation: 'fik-sh&n
Function: noun

1 a : something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically : an invented story b :

fictitious literature (as novels or short stories) c : a work of fiction; especially : NOVEL

The Da Vinci Code - ITS FICTION

And why do you think, this reviewer emphasized on a single point that this book is a mere FICTION?

I guess, it is due to the fact that - despite the huge number of followers who willingly to rate it with 5 stars - quite a number of readers condemned the book for its imprecise historical account. In the book, the quest for Holy Grail means finding the fact that Mary Magdalene is Jesus' wife. While moving toward the point, the author touches on Priory of Sion, of Da Vinci's painting, those mind-boggling encryption, riddles, anagrams, and a lot more historical background circulating the topic. This leaves those who found the facts being laid imprecisely with a bad taste in their mouths.

I realize that this is a work of fiction. And i dun have to take it seriously as a historical book. (Putting that aside, i still saw "The Last Supper" closely, reading about Priory of Sion etc. to satisfy my curiousity :P)

However, out of nowhere sometimes later, i did remember one occasion long time ago which involved the Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses and how the Moslem take the novel as a serious religious insult. (Serious it was, the writer faces a death sentence from certain political leaders.) It's JUST a novel. Yes, but why Moslem throughout the World felt the content insulting? My fren, because when a writer include something so delicate - especially pertaining a religious matter or a belief - being elaborated imprecisely and without indepth understanding, then something as dangerous as this would happen.

Granted, they tried their best to be as precise as possible, but claiming it is a mere work of fiction can be a resort for an excuse.

So, it's a fiction - fiction is supposed to bring no harm. On the contrary, however, the material in there might harm those young minds who cannot distinguish between facts and fictions. They don't have what it takes to truly comprehend the details which seems so real.

And worse, the misleading facts will stuck somewhere in our subconcious mind, waiting to be unleashed in the future. Not only that, this tend to lead us misconstrued and make us convince the writing is a true account of an extensive research without us realizing it. The effect cannot be seen in a short time. It's more or less like a ripple effect : looks tame now, but eventually become highly dangerous.

New Year, New "Anak Buah"! :P

2005-02-10T23:21:00.000+08:00

Selamat menyambut Maal Hijrah kepada semua muslim. Diharap tahun baru ini akan menjadikan kita lebih baik pada aspek yg positif dari tahun yg sudah. And, happy chinese new year to all Chinese out there.

And you know what, i got a new "anak buah" last Tuesday. The 11th. A boy. And no name yet. But, i dun think it will be another Yusof. (My bro first son's name is Muhammad Yusof Izzuddin bin Roslan, if you wonder what i'm talking about. Yusof. Such a nice name and sounds cute, dun you think? :P). Anyway, talking about name, my mom told me that, before they named me Yusof, what they had in their mind was Mohd Hafiz.

And, i laughed out loud knowing that. :P

On Painting

2005-02-08T22:41:00.000+08:00

I still can see clearly until now on how i flipped thru a not-so-thick book on how to paint better. It's a fundamental painting book (something like "for-dummies-and-idiot thingy" :P). My elder bro and sis took Art back in their secondary school, and this book was one of their reference. Several pages before its back cover, the author included some famous paintings contain different kind of stroke, and of different schools - impressionism, realism etc. which was supposed, i guess, to whet the readers' appetite to go futher. These selected paintings were being explained in the seemingly simplest way so student can understand how each techniques contribute to the beauty of the great painters' brainchilds. (I should mention that the book was in Bahasa :P) I still remember how i engrossed myself to one of them which years later i recognized as Van Gogh's (since i didn't give a damn as to who painted it back then! :P), and only then i knew how famous he is.

Pardonnez-moi, but Van Gogh was
not a member of the Priory of Sion, rite? :P

I believe i'm a left-brain person. I love math, and play chess and put logic to a quite sky-high place. This self-realization, however, does not stop me from appreaciating Arts, Literature and things that touch my right brain. And, of course, i appreciate painting.

When we look at a painting, we tend to decipher its meaning, what the painter is actually trying to convey (which i'm not fluent at :P). We see the techniques developed by regular practise. The lines intertwined. The hard and soft strokes. The carefully chosen color. And how the Yin and Yang aspects being manipulated freely.

Dr. Huga Heyrman - Belgian painter, multimedia artist and a theorist of new media - in his notes on Space of Painting wrote the following: (You can find the full note here! It's beautifully written!)

Painting structures of attention.
Painting transpositions of meaning.
Painting belongs to culture as a domain to which people are extremely sensitive, because it provides a way of understanding oneself, a kind of shared experience.
Painting as experience is about making decisions: a kind of give-and-take with the kinetic use of materials and the environment, analogous to the 'feel' of driving a car.
Painting raises many fascinating questions in relation to exploring notions of time, which probe into the very nature and purpose of painting.
Painting not beautiful images, but necessary images.
Painting rigorous, demanding and concentrated images.
Painting images that surpasses beauty, in both intention and effect, and stress necessity.
Painting supersedes what's personal by becoming 'Post-ego'.

And i believe, writing is just like painting - with different medium of course! :P We paint with words to construct a beautiful piece of writing (writing simple and use simple words in order to deliver the message clearly is also an art, mind you!). It's a personal journey. Delusional again? :P

No Relief

2005-02-08T15:05:00.000+08:00

This entry is specially dedicated to my beloved uncle Polt with a message..."Thanks for the SMS but no way im gonna let u in the 'relief' state' " :P

Am back at home in Terengganu. As usual, this 'last minuter' over here yesterday bought the bus ticket 2 hours before 11 am trip. Me one once-in-blue-moon lucky creature..got one. Off from work the whole week during this CNY [goodnews] but getting deaf listening to my mom's nag [very very bad news] and with Babah coming home this CNY [x_x] , guess I better quickly get some Paracetamols stored.

BTW, whoever looking for a job as a PR [ read: junior] please feel free to send your resume to me. Yes.. im resigning. [*clap *clap] Its been two wonderful-shaking-leg-most-of-the-time years working with this PR agency, now guess it's time for fresh new air. I'll definitely be talking bout totally different thing after this. But whoever feels like needing any PR advices, :) . Whatever I can do to help.

ps: Harry Potter really'd saved most of my days lately. :P

This is called "I-can-see-the-smoke-coming-out-of-Polt's-ears" entry. :P

You decide!

2005-02-07T17:06:00.000+08:00

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Eleanor Roosevelt

The Mistake

2005-02-03T14:18:00.000+08:00

Darn!
Yes... the only 'overwhelming' intro I can think of rite at the moment.

I did something really stupid due to a word called 'carelessness'. I'm sure it's a well-known noun to all. Tried not to dig the hole much deeper, I admitted to the negligent act and apologised accordingly to my senior.

"Polt: i can send u my pics with Ain, that surely wil help" <-- Note the good side of Uncle Polt, trying to lift my mood up :P. Many many thanks to this Martian.

"Please be extra careful next time."
I'm very sure I will.

PS// This is definitely not my favourite mistake.

Intelligent crap? Anyone?

2005-02-01T16:25:00.000+08:00

Whoever read Bee's entry for today will absolutely think that she is going nut.

I think she IS. And the writing proves that very fact. If someone of higher authority read this, she will be surely detained under ISA, or being tortured like what we saw in the Hollywood movies, bloody and terrifying. And if I were to edit that piece of so-called crap, only one word remains. :P I of course don't blame her. This morning, I told her that both of us should write the crappiest entry of all. Our mind in the state of immense imbalance, and writing crap would be wonderful. Such state of mind can in turn breed a masterpiece. Kipling wrote his finest writing when he was not quite sober, rite? No!? I must be mistaken then! :P

(Puchong, if u read this, please hand me ur finest 60s!! :P)

I told her my crap would be logical and concise, clear and precise. I will write a crap of my standard with absolute precision, where people should laugh out loud for one minute - and sharp, with no second more or less. She laughed her stomach hurt. I guess. But, I'm dead serious, dear! (Do I look otherwise? :P)

(After she finished and published her writing, i told her that i JUST framed her so she writes an entry. :P "u'r soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo BAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD", she said. It's her very words, with exact number of O, A and D! Feeling obliged and a bit guilty, here i'm. )

So, my fingers start moving around the keyboard now, wondering what should I write. It's hard. Is it really that a logical mind contains ONLY an educational crap, which turn out to be not crap at all? :P - where even whenever he craps, people will convince what he talks is really somekind of the philosophy with truest, highest, precious, (and boring) substance? :P

I dunno. :P ( I feel people just don't understand me, and they think what i told them about the martian thingy is nothing, BUT the plain TRUTH !! I pity them. :P )

So far, i'm pretty sure what i've written above is no crap. That's weird. Crap is supposed to be easy to write! And concentrating makes thing worse. Concentrating makes my mind more distracting. And, heck, Bee tells me to just keep writing and don't think.

So, I just write. And still, NO crap. (I write several things, but deleted them afterward because they were no crap!! Hmm, what a wasted time! )

[[Silence. I can hear my breath.]]

Damn! I give up! You won miss Bee. :P You crap wonderfully! :P *clap* *clap* You can vomit now reading my entry.

p/s: And I fail in my mission miserably to make you laugh for one minute! I will be more humble next time! :P

The Crappiest Crap of the Crapped Minds

2005-02-01T13:32:00.000+08:00

I really couldnt believe i actually bought those two motivational cassettes. What's definitely wrong with me!!! Silent!!! People need improvement in life. Aaaahhh...Pls feel free to be rude about this guys.

The angel speaks;
Why you have to be so cruel on yourself of buying the stuff. It benefits you...

The devil cut in;
Ya..ya..yah.. George Michael is much more worthy to listen to. Dont you think so dear?

Me;
Mind numbed, mouth wide opened...thinkin of how to earn extra cash for the next vacation to Redang.

Poooofff!!! [note the thick blue smoke]
A solid green-coloured wooden box appears in front of my very beautiful eyes [i hope there's pail nearby] Filled with curiosity and mountful of interest.. with not even a single quick blink of the eyes, i move closer to the box. Closer...closer..closerrrrrrr..

"Hallo!"
A very tiny fella, looks so much like Uncle Polt [Read the title will ya!:P], a miniature of him obviously, cheerfully waving his hands to me. Owhhhh..this is definitely not doing me any good at earning more money but yes to trouble. What can i possibly do with this creature? [Im sure it tastes better than NZ fried chicken :P] I dig into the box for something more 'precious'...How unfortunate of me, i sigh. Nothing's there. Sitting on the floor, wrapped in both arms , i figure out the significance of the unpleasant gift.

"Pat me on my back and i'll have all your wish granted."
The creature seems to understand my bothering thoughts.

I hesitate at first.. He looks ready.. Slowly, i move my hand towards his back and give him a 'nice' pat. "Uhukkkkk!!" A stone more glittering than Sharifah Aini's outfit comes out from the as-big-as-the-bug's mouth. I take the stone and have a closer look. Put in in my mouth, bite it. It's as hard as Sami Vellu's head.

"Its my tooth. Its been bothering me for years. Thank God finally i got it out. "

Erkkk!!

Quickly, i run to the washroom to get all the germs out of my mouth. Gargle almost a bottle of Listerine. Phewww.. i look at the mirror. Uikk.. i touch it..move my head right and left, back and forth.. How come Anuar Zain's reflection gets here? Well.. nice hair yah.;P NO!! Im not turning into a guy, am i? Well, if i look like Anuar Zain, that wouldnt be so bad, would it?I dont know why guys have the tendency to hate Anuar Zain so much. He's so-o-o-o down to earth-charming-sweet-pleasantly-friendly-good-looking guy. Owh..now i get it why you guys hate him that much :P [Read: Chill out!]

What am i gonna do next? Sign a record deal probably? :P

PS: Don blame the person who's come out with the theme for today's entry, he's obviously unwell and impeded. :P

This is called ''blame-yourself-if-u-get-confused-or- annoyed-who-ask-you-to-read-this" entry

Taiping

2005-01-27T14:40:00.000+08:00

I'll be leaving for Taiping early this Saturday morning to attend my colleague's temple wedding ceremony. I've never been to any temple weddings so this is one anticipating event [honestly, i cant wait to laugh my eyeballs out at Sheila for some crazy reasons :P] She's a Thai, unfortunately for her [direct quote from her], she needs to wear all the 'heavy' traditional Thai costumes [yeah..with that loo-o-ong fake golden nails and a 'pyramid' on her head:P]. She's actually one monstrous girl with a pair of big foot who unashamedly admitted she couldnt walk or talk right when wearing heels. Well, she's the closest to me in the office.

I remember been in Taiping once, and i liked it there. The weather, the environment, the heat, the greenery..almost everything. Personally, i think Taiping Zoo is much much more interesting to be visited...well of course, by any chances, u never get to see George Bush swinging around from branches to branches there.

It was 3 years ago when i first visited Taiping [many thanks to my best buddy for bringing me there]. Best place to raise children [believe me, thats the first thought that jogged through my mind at that time :P]. Suited to the meaning of Eternal Peace, this 'untouched' place is really naturally harmonious.

Bet everyone learnt Geography in school, that Bukit Larut is the wettest place that receives the highest level of rain. It's bright and sunny when i got there that day, but approximately after 5 mins, it started to drizzle...then stop..then drizzling again.It went on and on and apparently,everyday's like that. The humidity there kinda made me uneasy...unwell..tortured. Guess, if i ever lived there..i'd probably be the regular at the hospital ...[it'd only happen if there's any ER's Dr John Carter-like doctor there lah :P]

Of course the main landmark is the Lake Garden, its carefully cultivated. Up till now, still i cant believe i'd actually paddled across the lake at 1.30 in the afternoon under the fiercely burning sun. What the heck, atleast i had the whole lake to myself for sure :P

I liked the War Cemetery, the bungalows..huge ones..always seemed welcoming...big shady trees along the roadside.. to cut it short, green is the dominant colour back there in Taiping. Ah.. the food!! [definitely cant talk about this one for im afraid my desk here will be flooded with saliva later] Even the McD burgers taste better there. [i know im good at telling tales, but its highly recommended you go and try this one yourself]

Cant wait to get there..

Still, there's no better place than home. ('',)

Diary of husband's and wife's

2005-01-26T16:31:00.000+08:00

I cannot help myself to share with you here, a forwarded email which was sent by Ain. Enjoy!

WIFE's DIARY

Sunday night - I thought he was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a cafe to have some coffee. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment.

Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk, he agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong - he said, "Nothing." I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry.

On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior; I don't know why he didn't say, "I love u, too." When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there and watched TV; he seemed distant and absent.

Finally I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed. I decided that I could not take it anymore, so I decided to confront him with the situation but he had fallen asleep. I started crying and cried until I too fell asleep. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else.

My life is a disaster.

HUSBAND's DIARY

Today Manchester United lost the match. DAMN IT..!!

p/s: A typical example of "Man from Mars, Women from Venus?"

Of sleep and everything

2005-01-24T07:57:00.000+08:00

No one can ever imagine how grateful i am to be here in KL [to be specific, in the office] today.. else my boss might not stop nagging at me for the whoooole week...could be month u know.

Here i am, on a different Monday..yet it's still a Monday. But apparently, i like this Monday though i feel like a walking zombie myself. I NEED TO SLEEEEP!!!! Just arrived here this morning after one lousy-but-not-so-lousy-at-all holiday from hometown. Mind kinda numbed, body all like been bent backward, not to mention my eyes. Am so damn sleepy but something kinda holds the lids. [Read: Eyes wide shut!!]

Last nite was a disastrous troublesome journey i must say. Travelling on a damn close-to-wreck bus [help yourself to imagine the rest], that was inch to the worst journey i've ever had. Lucky the aircond still well. The seat barely could cover my companion's butt, thus she took 1/3 of mine. I remained motionlessly faithful [honestly, i was glued to the window] I tried to leave no stone unturned not to wear out my anger. But, could anyone tell me how to ..1st, not to get mad, ..2nd, to get some sleep, with your mate there kept poking her elbow into ur stomach and underneath, your leg got kicked everysingleminute!!! Damn, it was stressful.

I really dont know who to blame. The 'mate', the bus, or myself.
Rite now, i need Sheryl Crow's numbers badly. :(

[eyes scrolling] It's 'ok' she took some of the space, but that poking and kicking really not necessary for me. This is a memory that I dont seem to be able to eradicate even days after it happened. Sorry..What can i say.. Each should learn to respect others and behave reasonably.

**Your clothes will look much better on you when you hold yourself well.

ps:I hope none of this ever happen to you guys.
Have a beautiful day! ('',)

What! Mosquitoes!?

2005-01-23T16:08:00.000+08:00

I never hate mosquitoes like i hate them now. I never really think about them before. I dun care if one or two take the previleges to taste my sweet blood! :P But, I dunno why suddenly for past few days, this pesky, bothersome, wicked insect suddenly like attacking me with all their might in my very room. It hard for me to get a proper sleep with them attacking, biting me like there is nobody else in the world. Itchy and swelling all over!

I need my sleep, for god sake! ( Read: Nyamuk, apa salah saya?! :P)

Angry and frustrated, I declared war now and here! I bought the notorious Ridsect last night and the extensive smell of it came to my aid. They could not stand the smell and run and one or two were like fainting straightaway :P ( I watched the show with my evil smile spanning from ear to ear! Damn me! :P)

I was a king in my room again! :P

( Assumption: People must have taken some preventive measure out there since news on dengue fever is all over the papers. So, with their home being invaded, these mosquitoes takes refuge in my cozy room! :P)

No "moral of the story" for this entry yah! :P See, who say i'm against crapping? [ppl cheering followed by the wave :P]

Hari Raya Eidul Adha!!

2005-01-20T18:57:00.000+08:00

From all of us here, SELAMAT HARI RAYA EIDUL ADHA!! Semoga bertambah iman dalam diri kita. :)

Growth and Firm Foundation.

2005-01-19T17:43:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, Nara, the secretary of the Johor Chess Association, called me, inviting me to enter the Southern City Chess Tournament this coming 30 Jan. I gave my nod to put my name in the participant list.

I just love competitive chess! We are like a big family here. Again and again, we will find the familiar faces, thinking hard to outwit their opponent.

This time around, most of the chess players who have decided to participate - me included - will ONLY start to prepare certain lines to brush up our opening repertoire and to sharpen our mind. Some just do not.

And we hope to get top place in the tournament. Ironic since we have not practice daily.

In "The Success Journey", Frank Tibolt in the introduction wrote:

A firm foundation is built on growth, not rushing. Growth, whether plant growth, muscle growth, or mind growth, is governed by natural laws. It can't be forced beyond previous preparation. Each day's growth prepares for the next day growth. We can never break nature's laws. Too often we break ourselves, trying.

Make sense, rite? Of course we have a dream, but without a proper training, are we deserve the win? Most of the time, not! :P (We will find that the master are too tough a nut to crack since they regularly practise :P)

Optimist ALONE and quick fix are not enough! Rome could not be built in one day!

Breakfast

2005-01-19T09:06:00.000+08:00

"Dik, beli kuih dik!"
"Nasi lemak, cucur badak, kuih lapis..karipaaaap!!"

That are normal sounds that get into my ears every workday morning. As i walk to the LRT station, there's line of stalls selling zillions types of colourful kuih [exaggerating is a harmless fun .. :P] and other food by the roadside. But i hardly buy anything from there. The uncovered containers seem like inviting all the happy germs to wiggle mercilessly before reaching one's innocent stomach. I wonder, does a piece of plastic cover cost them an arm and a leg??

But thats not the major thing to be highlighted here. Afterall, only Mr Polt who's realistic in this blogspace :P. Craps are so much more exciting to write about... huhu! [ppl cheering followed by the wave :P]

My favourite breakfast is always gonna be nasi lemak [read:fatful!]. Steaming milky rice with pandan leaves smell, crunchy fried anchovies, hard-boiled egg with golden yolk, fresh sliced cucumber, and how in the world can i leave the spicy yummylicious sambal behind. Well..that, is the essential part. Of course for BIG-eaters like you & me, irresistible items like sambal sotong la..sambal kerang la.. fried chicken laa.. all dumped into the plate until cannot see the rice already.Together with hot teh-o, that'll definitely make my whole day.:P

I remember when i was little [here goes another bedtime storytelling session .. //yawn], my great nenek always had boiled tapioca with sugared grated coconut..or.. kuih lompang [i called it kuih lubang hidung] also served with grated coconut.. or apam..[gosh now i realised she's a grated-coconut fanatic] for her breakfast. Then she always had her kaw kampung coffee to go along with the food... a perfect match, dont u think? :) Overnight rice with sambal belacan and fried fish also could be a nice breakfast meal in the rainy morning.

Somehow, I do understand why ppl around me prefer to have lousy tasteless cereal for breakfast. Though it's 'tasteless' but its obviously good for health..[as what they claimed and i simply nodded]. Oat and yoghurt with milk would be my breakfast at times, especially when im in the state of constipation. Hey, the oats do magic you know! :P But still.. i think it's one lousy meal to have. Not to mention other crappy stuffs like muesli, digestive crackers, whole-taste-like-sand-grain .. they all for constipated ppl. Huhu!

Doctors say, we cannot skip our breakfast for it's the most important meal of the day. So no matter how hectic your life is, im sure none of us would like it to end with sickness. So, eat your breakfast and eat right. :)

Happy Breakfasting! ('',)

There goes the rain...

2005-01-18T15:12:00.000+08:00

Outside...it's raining
Pouring gracefully down washing all the dirts on the roof
It's always green outside the window.. and blue
But of course it turns grey now
Still the feeling is soothing
The earth is wet.. here and there..everywhere

Blooop! Again... Blooop!
Two happy frogs merrily jump into the old clay pot
Which is filled with raindrops
At the corner of the corridor
While there's a neglected one, tearlessly brings himself away
Singing his heart out to the loyal spiderlily
Of his very own version of self-made Mozart
Praising the Almighty perhaps
Hoping He'll listen to his words
Hoping for the lily to listen to his far cry

Group of children screaming with joy.. all soaking wet
Air is filled with excitement.. no grudge..no ache
Only happiness worn, inside out
The feet harmlessly covered with mud
Football, they're playing.. chasing..running.. kicking
One tripped in a barely seen hole, he rises
Back on his feet, back to chase the ball

The air is chilled.. but cosy and fresh
The smell of the grass well blended in the breeze
Once a while disturbed by the aroma
Of the hot steaming grandfather's coffee
Fried banana and fish crackers
A smile cracked in the corner of young lips
Stomach churns song no one bothers to hear
Soon..it stops

Wwwwwwickeddd! Wwwwwwwickedddd!!
The crickets compete among each other in the bush
Like there's trophy to be won
The rain keeps pouring, steadily.. still
Sometimes strong wind blows everything on its way
Old mango leaves, play cards, food wrappers

Sky's ripped by strikes of lightning
Followed by the deafening thunders
Cats and dogs are fighting all the way down to meet the wet earth
The roof seems like falling, waiting its time to wreck
Still..it holds strongly to the beam
The rain drums..
Lightens for a moment
Then drums again
5 minutes, 6 minutes...7, 8
The sound fading.. softer..soon slowly gone
Drizzling like the first snow..soundless
Out the window
As the sun slowly shows its golden shimmer
Rainbow shyly rises its lines from where it lies

ps: im aching

Take for granted!

2005-01-16T21:35:00.000+08:00

I'm full. Having my dinner at KFC just now and I'm full. It was original, snack plate set. What was left in my plate was nothing but bones. And, for your information, I do not take sauce whenever I've original set, since the mixture tastes good enuff to me. And, the smashed potato looks --

Ok, cut the crap!

Anyway, when I was ordering the meal, I saw the girl put two chicken breasts in the plate. I asked a chicken wing for change. She informed me that there was no chicken wing, and NEVER have chicken wings in an original set. (At least the girl told me so :P) I was like "REALLY?". I thought I'd one before, but come to think of it, I never have asked for change and ate whatever part given. Hmm, what I'm trying to say here is that I take it for granted, and I do not know that there is no chciken wings in an original set. Not until I asked for the change.

Ok, this is not a good example. :P And, perhaps you still do not get what I'm trying to convey :P

I dunno how many things we just take for granted in our life. I'm sure, a lot!! It become part of our life and those things become subconciously we live with. They become a habit. However, I believe, certain things should not be. If we examine close enough, we will find out what things - for our sake - should not be taken for granted.

Anyway, we DO take things for granted. The obvious - day in day out, we wake up. Go to work. Back. And sleep. Eat. Pray. Month in, month out. Year in, year out. And most of us are still doing the same thing again and again. Same job. Same salary. And no improvement whatsoever. Most of us feel comfortable in our comfort zone.

We do mistakes, but how many times you do same mistake again and again and never care to overcome it?

And, how many times we read about certain safety guides and measurement in the newspapers or books or even a small handouts, stating on something that we can avoid, and unfortunately we do not take any action until we face it personally or become the victim?

Let me tell you something. In my experience as system administrator, again and again I will hear news from my counterpart on how backup power generator fail when it is most needed. Just because they take it for granted that it is working all the time without doing some testing from time to time to validate its functionality. Plus we think that the chances the main resource of power to go down is small.

At least, I myself take a lot of things for granted. :P I know because Ain tells me so. There are lot of things I take for granted before - which I think as small matters i could think later when i've spare time - being hightlighted by Ain. Since in a relationship you should not take things for granted, i consider. And I have been improving since then.

There must be ways of doing things. Alternatives. But, we still love to do the thing in our common way and do not even consider the alternatives. Who knows, the alternatives are much much better!

When I was in Jedi training, Yoda taught me to "Unlearn what I've learnt". By that, he means that, without pre-perception, to examine things and not take them for granted, and things you find need to be fixed, unlearn them and relearn. Find the alternative! There must be another way!

Ok, again, i cut the crap. I never been a Jedi apperentice. (and you will definitely do not buy to that!:P) I know, you can think on your own!!

Pics from Master's Hand

2005-01-13T10:39:00.000+08:00

In my Jan 9 entry, i talked on how i met Saiful Nang at my friend's wedding. He has published the pictures taken that day at his fotopages.

The bride and bridegroom. Aziruddin and Faridatul Amla. Sama padan!

Azi and i were exchanging info about friends. Hey, we are now an adult! And i gained extra weight since the last time we met!

My fiancee,Ain, and Fida, talking. Perhaps, Ain tried to get some tips? :P

I just believe that when one has developed one's skill in the field that one's like most, the outcome will be quite amazing. Outstanding results will come quite effortlessly.

Our childhood Imaginations

2005-01-12T09:14:00.000+08:00

"What's something you used to believe when you were a little kid that turn out to be completely wrong?"

The thought crossed my mind, coming out of nowhere, the time i was trying to force myself to sleep. Starting to wonder for answers, then some pretty stupid views popped up in my head.. [read: crazy nonsensical things]

I remember when i was 5 [atleast i thought i was 5..:P] i cut my long eyelashes for i was so scared it would grow longer and later i wouldn't be able to see beautiful creatures around me anymore..[i was really scared i wouldnt be able to see my mother again actually :P]

I remember being so scared if I ate the vegetables, esp the leafy ones, later it would grow at the bottom of my small tummy. And it would get bigger and bigger, the farmer-uncle next door would have to dig it with his BIG hoe. Well that'd answer my mother's question why i always cried when the vegies reached my plate... [there goes my lil secret]..many thanks to Jack for this one.

I remember being a total-believer of the tooth myth. I kept all my teeth under the pillow, desperately hoping it would change into a piece of 1 ringgit note...so that i could buy few packets of MAMEE without having to answer my father's 'give me the correct answers or no money this week' quiz.

And thats not all!! :P

Everytime I voiced out what i imagined to my mother, she'd always stare at me. Then i just stood there waiting for her to make some noise of disgust and go back to whatever housework she's doing :P

My mind was so full with these crappy nonsensical imaginations when i was little.. i believe yours also. It's kinda funny when I come to think of it now. Eventually, i find out .."where got such things???" lah. Well.. atleast it'd crack a smile, wouldnt it? Old days when the mind not yet corrupted... life's been more colourful, i believe. My condolence to those people who never experience the visions of crazy tales. Mind too straight I guess :P.

I wondered what my brain looked like.. Hopeless.. its always a balloon filled with unrecognisable colour of paint. Ever wonder what urs looks like? :P

ps: I thought people made babies by lying down holding hands and praying together :P Up till now i still wish it would be this way.

Deep Breath

2005-01-11T21:07:00.000+08:00

Just now, when i flipped thru the Nov issue Reader's Digest pages, i stumbled to this paragraph (pg: 114):

The newest research says that the best way to handle stress is not by checking into a day spa or anything else where the end goal is stress reduction. That sort of binge-and-purge approach does little to keep us relaxed. Instead, we should simply acknowledged that life is full of little tensions because, hey, that's life. And we should handle it moment by moment the way people always have, by taking a deep breath and getting some perspective.

This reminds me of one fine day, several weeks ago, where i sent sms to my circle of friends. It was something like this: "If you have time, have a deep breath". Ironically, 4 or 5 of them replied back, asking what happened to me, and whether i was ok or not. To me, the message was crystal clear. If you have time, have a deep breath. It's good for you :P

I don't know when i started to have this exercise. It must be some influnce from books i read and i have been practising it since. Again and again, my colleagues and friends alike presume that i'm half insane :P

And i still love having a deep breath!

Monday morning blues

2005-01-10T10:45:00.000+08:00

The 'set-at-7am' alarm clock [its actually my hp..i havent owned any real alarm clock since i was ..hrmmm..17?] really drives me up the wall. Snooze it.. the next time it rings.. it shooshes away all my wonderful dreams.. //sigh

Why I really hate Monday morning?

--// thats when good dreams always dwell around ..i wonder why..but u know u have to get ur butt in the office so that u can get all the bills paid at the end of the month. :(

--// i never get my wish granted -to be in the shower by mid of the day on this day. [of course on off-monday, thgs r different]

--// the idea of thinking what to wear really bothers sometimes.. you really want to put on the nicest clothes on the very first day of the week so that it wont spoil some part of the mood for the whole week. It says..starts everything at ur best. Truly, sometimes it worked.

--// having to leave BUBU alone at home.. it might be pretty aweful for her not to have someone to clean and pamper her though she always kept in her own 'sanctuary' most of the times. Im so called a busy person...blame the ppl around :P

--// somehow.. i just hate Monday for it's Monday. Get what i mean?

Maybe we shouldn't blame the day for it's big 'lack-of-good-mood' impact on us.
Maybe we should atleast try to twist the destruction Monday caused to our mind by flippin the devastating thoughts to something.. i say...interesting?
Its a start of the new week.. hey.. we're still breathing!!
How bout trying to be grateful for we're not 6-ft under the ground and be able to live the Mondays still.

Yeah point taken guys... its easier said than done..:P
Waayyyy to go before Friday...//sigh :P

HAPPY MONDAY!!! ('',)

ps: This is called 'Im sorry I got so messed up these days and dont expect me not to write craps' entry. :P

My First Entry of The Year!

2005-01-09T23:19:00.000+08:00

Here we go. My first entry of this year come as late as the 9th day of January. Late indeed but in these days, a lot of things happened. I should say the opening of the year is quite remarkable for me. If not because there were already happened, I would think that I had dellusion of some sort. :P

Before i proceed, to those who still have not donate to Tsunami Disaster Fund, you can do it by SMS.

[1] Celcom [RM5 per sms]- Type 'DERMA' and send to 33699
[2] Maxis [RM1 per sms]- Type 'DERMA' or 'DONATE' and send to 22999.
[3] DiGi [RM3,RM5 or RM10] - Type 'RM3','RM5' or 'RM10', depends on how much you want to donate, and sent to 1996.

Well. Please bear with me for being a bit human in this entry! :P

It's not a hidden fact that I spent my first day of the year in KL and Selangor. I did attend my friend's wedding at Bandar Baru Bangi where both husband and wife were my ex-coursemate. And later, I met my terato friends at KLCC and spent sometimes hanging out with them at Burger King, and watched "Meet The Fockers" afterward.

The day after that, Sunday, our parent - my fiancee's and mine - met and in their conservation, they agreed that perhaps, our wedding will be postponed to 2006 for some reason. Of course that has been discussed beforehand between us. The actual month is still undecided. Who knows, we cannot wait, and getting married this year. Everything depends on the situation. So, to those who are so eager to attend our wedding, please be patient :P

Several day after that, I got fever. Rest assured that the ailment was not due to the postponement. :P I had a sudden sore throat. And in no time, I contracted by a bad flu on Wednesday and I got fever. I was on MC on Thursday. This MC, if I'm not mistaken, was only the third time since my 4 years of working. (More often than not, I just ignored them and believed they would go by themsleves). So stuborn, I spent half day in the office before went back and slept and to my craziness, I went back to office after working hours. It's not crazy if you take how far my office from my room is into consideration. 3 minutes errand is nothing to me. :P

And yesterday was working Saturday. And what you expect if you have a meeting started from 9 to 1 p.m? Of course a boring one! I was looking forward to that evening outing with Ain. She has booked ticket to watch Kungfu Hustle. And this loooong meeting! Owhh, how dreadful. But, again, something happened that saved me from total boredom. In the middle of the meeting, our company receptionist brought a small bouquet of flower, mentioning that it was from my fiancee. Oh my God, in the middle of meeting! And my colleagues started to smile from ears to ears and asked on what occasion the flower being sent. I could not recall any, and they frightened me by saying that I must have forgotten something and in huge trouble. C'mon! Ain sent that for fun surely :P It's a nice feeling just the same. But, I admit, it's weird for a girl to give flower to a guy. It's always the other way around. But who cares! Thanks dear!

Hmmm, and, today? Today is something that totally unexpected happened. The world is so small I can feel it, and it seems our life and others become intertwined in amazing way. It was another wedding ceremony. It was a great wedding ceremony, and it was being held at Dewan Jubli Intan, Jb. Both bride and bridegroom, Aziruddin and Faridatul Amla, were my ex-schoolmate back at Sc Muar. As soon as we - Ain and I - arrived at the hall, we straight paced toward the couple. Heyy, it took a while for them to remember me and they said - like my friends I met at BBB - I have changed a lot physically. No wonder since the last time they saw me was almost 10 years ago. :P

Now came to the nice part. When I handshake Azi's hand, the cameraman took pictures of us. Glancing at him, I realized it was a familiar face! It was Saiful Nang. Ok, that name minght not ring any bell upon you, but it did on Ain and me. Saiful is a famous photo blogger. His snapshot is so creative and different. I once showed the photoblog to Katak, and guess what? He told me, Saiful was his lecturer back at Lim Kok Wing Institute! Anyway, when Azi and Fida have a futher conversation later and Saiful again took our picture, we said straight to him that we are his fan and he was flattered. :P You can see his photoblog here.

The world is so small, indeed.

Ok, back to matter in hand. :P If you realize, this blog now has guest writers. This idea has been discussed between Iqa and me long time ago since we thought, by doing so, this blog will be more regularly update. I'm looking forward to making and witnessing this blog to be better this year. :P

My Gracias

2005-01-07T16:51:00.000+08:00

I really feel like chopping my head off after been invited by this unrelated uncle of mine, to be the guest-writer in Our Numbed-Mind. What an honour!hehehe..

Since i am not pretty much prepared to write any craps yet.. guess expressing my thanks to the blog owner [or should i say owners..:P] will do lah.

Mucho gracias Mr Polt for inviting !! :P

Well..think again.. i shouldn't waste this first entry..
Here's a piece taken from one of my fav poems. Enjoy!!

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

by
Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistakes
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake
The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep

2005

2004-12-31T17:21:00.000+08:00

So, this is my last entry for 2004. What to say yah? :P No. No. Dont expect that i will tell you my new year resolution. :P

A lot of things happened this year. Transferred office from Tech Park to Mid Valley and then to Bukit Damansara and now in Jb. Transferred from Serdang, Selangor to Tampoi Utama, Johor. Changed company. And, i now got fiancee, love and being loved. And of course being one year older. And, yeah, having this blog. And, in that span of time, i learnt a lot of things ( and a lot of time wasted too, to be frank!). What a year!

Life is about improvement (Is it?).

It's not only about year to year improvement, but day to day improvement, month to month improvement. As long as there is even a minute improvement made, you can consider yourself in "ok state". They say, do not afraid of moving slowly, but be afraid of not moving. (A motivational speaker made that words stucked in our mind while he gave a motivational talk at Sc Muar. Shoot! :P)

There are people who say that they do not need new year resolution since they make them regularly. I can only say "Congratulations!". However, i do not see any problem with having this yearly postmoterm and resolution.

Wait! I'm in error. Yearly review does not necessarily being done in January. Sorry! :P

So, i'm supposed to say, "Happy New Year" right? So, yeah, Happy New Year. :P (Sooo book-lah, i think :P)

Difficulty

2004-12-30T09:06:00.000+08:00

"So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief: Verily, with every difficulty there is relief." [Al-Insyirah: 5-6]

Deceiving?

2004-12-23T17:18:00.000+08:00

Anybody who read my posting at terato forum, at the thread discussing about books, would have known that currently, I'm concentrating on reading non-fiction books. In my posting, I blamed fahmot half-jokingly for this sudden change. I believe, my last 10 purchased books are of non-fiction.

In one of my conversation with fahmot, he suggested me to read any Jack Welch related. (What I know about Welch comes from a book entitled Robert Heller's "Roads To Success", which I bought at a very cheap price with approximately 2/3 price cut. This book also portrays other 7 gurus in various fields). He loves a solid one. I'm on the other hand read much easy-going-and-average-reader-friendly kind of writing style.

I've several books I bought because they are bestseller. And, I've also enlisted books in the hot list to be in the pipeline to be purchased.

Out of my curiousity, I checked those titles in the amazon.com to see readers' review.

And, I'm sick I want to puke! Why? Let me show examples:

RICH DAD POOR DAD. This book has a lot of good reviews. But, many good reviews where users gladly gave five stars away, but that does not mean that book is good. I dug deeper to find this review:

Avoid it like the plague!!!, December 1, 2004
Reviewer: Karthik Natarajan "McCombs2004" (Austin, TX) (REAL NAME)
This is BY FAR THE WORST BOOK I'VE EVER READ IN MY LIFE!!! I cannot believe that this guy is making so much money selling nothing!

I heard so much about this book, that I decided to buy it and read it on a long flight to South Africa from Atlanta. By the time that plane landed in Johannesburg, let me tell you - I was quite queasy (not by the terrible SA Airways food, but by the content in the book). I'm a 2004 MBA grad from a top-20 school, and right off the bat, I could detect some fluff in the book (e.g., insider trading, deducting personal expenses as company expenses, his vacuous comments about avoiding mutual funds and the like because they are "too risky"), but I didn't dismiss him right away because I thought that maybe I wasn't reading between the lines enough to get the "point" - remember the children's tale, "Emporer's New Clothes".

Fortunately, I trusted my instincts and did a little research and found this website (yes, I know we've all heard of it, but nonetheless, you can NEVER overstate the truth) - http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html. People can say whatever they want about John Reed's intentions for his analysis, but the bottom line is that everything he says is the TRUTH - something that the Kiyosaki cultists don't want to concede to. And reading this analysis, and Kiyosaki's connections with Amway and these other MLM freaks has only enraged me even more that I not only threw away money on something useless, but that there are countless others out there (yes, even other top-20 MBAs) who have been guiled by this unscrupulous charlatan!

The only thing useful that could ever come out of this book is a B-school case study on the effective use of Machiavellian cultism as a tool for marketing - then again, that, too, would give this jerk more money through royalty fees.

Bottom Line: As my title clearly states, AVOID THIS BOOK LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!

I went to the said URL (http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html). and read here and there of the argument. And I was like, oh my God! In this page, John T. Reed, a guru in real estate, shows us as to why this book is bad for readers who does not have background in it. What is more annoying is that it can be proved some persons who give the direct testimonial are paid for that, and their words are totally not what happened to them as they claimed.

The question is what makes these books bestsellers? I do not know. I'm still confused because it is a bestseller among the big player too, who know about tips and tricks of the field deeper.

Next question: if these bestsellers provide us with inaccurate facts, so how to trust what have written in any other books? How to distinguish which one is good and which one is bad writer?

Should we ignore the fact that the facts are incorrect as long as they benefit us in some way, like many people who email mr Reed after reading his argument and still defending the author? (They say: "So what, it's just a little book". "So who cares if he oversimplifies a little?". "It's OK if he lies because it's just a motivational book". "He got me thinking about finance and that's all I care about". "What is truth anyway?")

The problem is we do not spend some time to check the review and buy the book based on the bestseller title. If it is a fiction, then I cannot see any much harm. But, if it is a guide or fact that will affect our belief or conducts, then I learn my lesson - check, no matter after or before you buy. :P

I think, I should read more solid book. :P Welch is ok to begin with, hihi. Perhaps. :P

:)

2004-12-14T20:06:00.000+08:00

Today, i'm on leave. So, I watched Ocean's Twelve at MegaPavillion, City Square.

p/s:
Anyway, yesterday was Ain's Mom's Birthday. So, Ain, her mom and I were having our dinner at Mutiara Hotel. Ironically, ( or at least I found it quite, hmm, different ) Ain's sis' birthday was also in the same day. It turned out to be double birthday. But, since Ain's sis is still studying in US, so she could not be present with us. She sent a cake bought via Internet to her mom while we sent her present through mail.

Of course having a buffet in a hotel is pleasant experience. (Especially when the one you love most is sitting next to you!!) Back when I was working in my previous company, my work sometimes gave me chances to stay a night or two at hotel. I really love every minutes of it.

Ain and I love foods. We appreciate them.

You know what, I love to see Ain eating those food - I mean, the way she tastes, the expression, and the way she gives her comment about those foods - hehe, I dunno how to say it. (Dun tell her, but I think she is extra cute at that moment. Hehe!)

I expect, we will have a rich journey jalan-jalan cari makan later.

p/s/s:
I expect no comment for this entry :P This entry was written just to make me feel better, not for everyone information. And, mind you, to make one's feel better is one of the purpose of writing a blog, hehe!

Woweee, this is the shortest entry i have ever written, assuming that p/s and p/s/s does not take into account. :P

YM Session : Our mind!

2004-12-09T19:15:00.000+08:00

Today, my terato friend, Nazier suddenly gave a message asking about a question. I guess, those in form 4 or form 5 will answer it with ease. On the other hand, i've to recall and answer it with a bit uncertainties.

Below is a the YM session between us.

xnazier		abg yusoff
xnazier		tumpang tanya
m_yusof_y		ye?
xnazier		"Veni Vedi Vinci"
xnazier		tu ayat siapa?
m_yusof_y		eh?
m_yusof_y		nak buat apa?
xnazier		tiba2 terfikir
xnazier		alexader ke?
xnazier		ke org lain?
m_yusof_y		bukan kot
m_yusof_y		Caesar rasanya
xnazier		Julius Caeser?
xnazier		i see
m_yusof_y		Julius Caesar
m_yusof_y
m_yusof_y		cuba check balik
xnazier		url here!
xnazier		sbb dlm tu ada tulis
xnazier		Paling meninggalkan tanda tanya, ke manakah menghilangnya ayat yang kerap diucapkan oleh Alexnder The Great ini: "I came (saya datang) , I see (saya lihat) and I conquer (saya tawan)"
m_yusof_y		siapa tulis tu?
m_yusof_y		hmm mungkin me silap
m_yusof_y		jap check kat internet
m_yusof_y
xnazier		hiih

And i began to ask Master Google, and was directed to several websites. Satisfied, i continued our conversation.

m_yusof_y		Caesar la
m_yusof_y		dari apa yg me check la.
xnazier		hm..
xnazier		itu la
xnazier		oh!
xnazier
xnazier		thank you ye abg usop
m_yusof_y		Balas balik siapa yg buat tu
xnazier		hoho
xnazier
xnazier		tapke la
m_yusof_y		hehehe!
m_yusof_y		terkeliru kot
nazier		hihi

What do you think? Sometimes, our mind confuses between facts, and which is which. Sometimes, they just stay in our subconcious mind and when one thing happens that wake them up, we are like -- "hey, that's familiar but who said that eh? what is it eh?" and etc.

Long time ago in my previous company, i was asked by my Director if a logo that she showed to me ring a bell, whether i'd seen it somewhere. She just tried to make sure that the logo designed for a product was original. I said, it's look familiar "subconciously" but i could not recall where i'd seen it. I thought like hell but only days later i found the answer, when my mind a bit calmer. :P

Our mind is a mysterious thing!

However, i still think that the guy should do his homework! :P

p/s:
I stumbled at this site when i surfed to find who was actually being quoted as above. It was from "Who want to be a Millionaire" episode. "MUSIM KE LAPAN, EPISOD 11, RABU, 12 SEP 2001".

7th question at RM4000 to second contester, Aidil:

'Veni, Vedi, Vinci' merupakan kata-kata yg diucapkan oleh...
A. Pompey
B. Julius Caesar
C. Asoka
D. Iskandar Zulkarnain

Either not knowing the answer, or just not confident with his answer, he used his #1 talihayat and called his friend, Cikgu Abdul Hamid. "B Julius Caesar, confirm 100%" was his friend's reply :P

I will do the same if i were in his shoes, hehe! Or so i think.

:P

2004-12-02T10:04:00.000+08:00

Friends, i wanted to update last night but i got this error as soon as i logged into blogger.com control panel:

Error
We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are unable to process your request at this time. Our engineers have been notified of this problem and will work to resolve it.

So, don't blame me! :P

But, it's ok since what i wanted to write last night was a crap. Hmm, about me having some kind of --, how to say it, this uncomfy, weird feeling. I wanted to write what i ate yesterday ( food, and food and food!) and stuffs. And wish, "Selamat Bulan December!" :P

I was really exhausted last night, and thanks God for the error :P ( when i'm exhausted, the topic i choose is some kind of rubbish - which i nicely put them in words and play with sentence structures! :P)

Ok, this is an update, BTW! ( ah! TLO's force is sooo strong here! :P )

Bug Fixed !!

2004-11-29T20:08:00.000+08:00

I don't know why, but today i'm looking for subtitute for my $^#*%@# Internet Explorer (Yes, the adjective used not passed my own censorship, hehehe!). Several browsers came into my mind, like Netscape, Firefox, Opera etc. I ended up using Firefox after reading good reviews about it.

So, of course later i tried several website known for their layers of tables in the programming to see whether the layout and design still look intact (certain browser does not really support or "being nice" to the complicated design or certain parameter or tag in the coding!!). And, of course my own blog, numbed-mind, is one of them. ( Because it is my coding, started from scretch ma! Ask Katak, if u dun believe me! :P)

To my horror, the layout is not as what i see when i use Internet Explorer. What should be right and left side suddenly turn out to be as top and bottom to one another. "There must be some unnecessary tag or wrong parameter in the coding, that i overlooked before", i said to myself. And, suddenly i remembered one complaint from a friend - is it Mugen? - at the tagboard long time ago, about this page being very weird on his non-IE browser. I took it for granted at that time since i didn't care to check the page by using other browsers. :P Poor me!

So, i started looking back at the coding. Right enough, i made an elementary mistake at the css part, unnoticedly included the "absolute" value where it is unnecessary. :P One word only and thing went soo wrong, hehe! (That's part and parcel of a programmer's life! And luckily i'm not working as full time programmer! :P)

So, is it that IE being nice or is it that it is so dumb? No matter what the answer is, I hate it for executing certain unnecessary script that make the system unhealthy, and those bugs which turn my life quite miserable, and etc and bla bla bla. And enuff is enuff! :P (Q: How long i can refrain myself from using IE? Firefox is ok to me so far :P)

p/s: I think i have so many "bugs" in myself that i need to fix :( I feel so uncomfy lately! Anyway, thanks to my Ain for giving me precious advices. I love u!!

Najwa

2004-11-26T08:38:00.000+08:00

Below is my colleague's kid's pic, Najwa. The nice thing about this kid is that she is over friendly. Rarely indeed she cries when someone takes her from her mom. She has been babysitted nearby the office so it is easy for me to meet her after office hour. :P The second pic, however, ehemm, is the one for you to see as to why her mom considers me as Najwa's "bapa angkat".

What do you think? Hehe! Me, nice uncle huh? :P But, guys, if you are 20s over, please dun think i'm like ur uncle. :P I know some did because that very person told me so, and you know who you are, hehe! :P

Personality Test

2004-11-23T08:09:00.000+08:00

I've taken quite a number of personality test where i've been given questions to answer as honest as possible. Those questionnaire sometimes are boring, where even certain question we answered with a bit uncertainty. :P

But, the one i put here today is nothing like that. It's a simple test. All of the optional pics are beautiful, but alas, we have to choose our most preferrable one. Yes, beautiful they are, but it consists some meaning for psychologist to penetrate and understand our personality. At least, a very interesting experiment.

This test is actually sent by my friend, Rudiah via email, and i should say that i didn't open it until weeks later. :P Why? I guess, because it is in a Word Document. :P But, one fine evening, i opened it and found it a very interesting test. :)

So, let's me bring you the exact words, pasted from the document. :P

[begin]

Select a shape below that appeals to you the most and then scroll down to read about your personality.

A psychologist developed these shapes. They have been tested worldwide, over a period of several years. As we received feedback from our research, we carefully adjusted the color and/or form of each shape, then tested again, until we were left with a highly successful set of shapes. These represent the nine basic personality types.

[1]	[2]
[3]	[4]
[5]	[6]
[7]	[8]
[9]

[end]

So, have you choose one? :P Ok, i know being honest here. Now, let's see the verdict :P

*drum rolling*

Wait! I give you a chance to change your mind and look at the shape again!

And again!

Are you sure that one is your most preferrable?

Sure?

Ok. By now, i know you are damn sure about your choice. So, here we go:

*drum rolling*

[1]
Independent
Unconventional
Unfettered
You demand a free and unattached life for yourself that allows you to determine your own course. You have an artistic bent in your work or leisure activities. Your urge for freedom sometimes causes you to do exactly the opposite of what expected of you.
Your lifestyle is highly individualistic. You would never blindly imitate what is "in"; on the contrary, you seek to live according to your own ideas and convictions, even if this means swimming against the tide.

[2]
Dynamic
Active
Extroverted
You are quite willing to accept certain risks and to make a strong commitment in exchange for interesting and varied work. Routine, in contrast, tends to have a paralyzing effect on you.
What you like most is to be able to play an active role in events. In doing so, your initiative is highly pronounced.

[3]
Down to Earth
Well-Balanced
Harmonious
You value a natural style and love that which is uncomplicated. People admire you because you have both feet planted firmly on the ground and they can depend on you. You give those who are close to you security and space. You are perceived as being warm and human. You reject everything that is garish and trite. You tend to be skeptical toward the whims of fashion trends. For you, clothing has to be practical and unobtrusively elegant.

[4]
Professional
Pragmatic
Self-assured
You take charge of your life, and place less faith in your luck and more in your own deeds. You solve problems in a practical, uncomplicated manner. You take a realistic view of the things in your daily life and tackle them without wavering. You are given a great deal of responsibility at work, because people know that you can be depended upon.
Your pronounced strength of will projects your self-assurance to others. You are never fully satisfied until you have accomplished your ideas.

[5]
Peaceful
Discreet
Non-Aggressive
You are easy-going yet discreet. You make friends effortlessly, yet enjoy your privacy and independence. You like to get away from it all and be alone from time to time to contemplate the meaning of life and enjoy yourself. You need space, so you escape to beautiful hideaways, but you are not a loner. You are at peace with yourself and the world, and you appreciate life and what this world has to offer.

[6]
Carefree
Playful
Cheerful
You love a free and spontaneous life. And you attempt to enjoy it to the fullest, in accordance with the motto: "You only live once."
You are very curious and open about everything new; you thrive on change. Nothing is worse than when you feel tied down. You experience your environment as being versatile and always good for a surprise.

[7]
Romantic
Dreamy
Emotional
You are a very sensitive person. You refuse to view things only from a sober, rational standpoint. What your feelings tell you is just as important to you. In fact, you feel it is important to have dreams in life, too.
You reject people who scorn romanticism and are guided only by rationality. You refuse to let anything confine the rich variety of your moods and emotions.

[8]
Analytical
Trustworthy
Self-assured
Your momentary sensitivity represents that which is of high quality and durable. Consequently, you like to surround yourself with little "gems," which you discover wherever others overlook them.
Thus, culture plays a special role in your life. You have found your own personal style, which is elegant and exclusive, free from the whims of fashion. Your ideal, upon which you base your life, is cultured pleasure. You value a certain level of culture on the part of the people with whom you associate.

[9]
Introspective
Sensitive
Reflective
You come to grips more frequently and thoroughly with yourself and your environment than do most people. You detest superficiality; you'd rather be alone than have to suffer through small talk. But your relationships with your friends are highly intensive, which gives you the inner tranquility and harmony that you need in order to feel good. However it is no problem for you to be alone for extended periods of time, without becoming bored.

So, which one do you think my choice is? Which one do you think my Ain's choice is? See again at the shape, guess, and ask me :P I mean, if you have time to do so lah, hahaha! :P

Hari Raya Entry :P

2004-11-18T21:31:00.000+08:00

Today, i believe, i've to update because it's quite a while since my last update. And this update should be Hari Raya Update. And Hari Raya Update is supposedly to be a proper one, colourful and full of happiness. :P ( And, i think, i dedicate this update to the update beggar of the year, Leeya, who personally sending sms to me asking for update. :P )

So, where do i start?

Ooo yah, Hari Raya Card. So far, i only received one card. Altho several of my friends claimed has sent their card to me, the cards were yet to arrive in my hand. :P

I admit that i myself felt very lazy to write one. I sent a lot of sms around as a substitute, and they replied back. (And to those who did not reply, you know who you are! :P Takder credit eh? :P) Ironically, their sms showed a variety of ways to express that sms is REALLY a substitute to cards, and easier way to wish. And what's more? See the example below, and draw your own conclusion:

First:
LAPAR PUASA
TERKETAR2
BILA BERBUKA
LEGA RASANYA
KAD RAYA TAK
SEMPAT NAK
HANTAR
CARA SMS PUN
DAH KIRA OK LAH
YE...!
SELAMAT HARI
RAYA
MAAF ZAHIR &
BATIN

Second:
AnAk PaK dOLLaH
mKn LePaT, MkN
LePaT sAmBiL
mELoMpAT, NaK
hAnTaR kAd
RaYa tAk tAhU
aLAmAt, PaKai
sMs PuN Ok
wHaT?.. -selamat
hari deparaya
maaf zahir dan
batin.

Third:
ANAK JAWS MAIN
GITAR, ANAK
SOTONG MAIN
TABLA, KAD RAYA
MALAS NAK
HANTAR, SEND
SMS Je DAH LA,
SEMOGA INGATAN
TAKKAN PUDAR,
TERIMALAH
UCAPAN SELAMAT
HARI RAYA ...

Fourth:
" Sir lump mud
hurry rare year
ideal fit tree moo lee year..
ma half za hair
bar ten.. 2 loose
dairy hearty
young eek
class.." sory i
barroo blk dairy
london.

Hemmmm, what do you think? :P I think, they are creative. I mean, the creator, not the forwarder :P. Do not underestimate the power of human mind. :P

Besides, the card, one thing that i found weird was a sudden enormous firework and firecracker being played around. The sound was so disturbing, considering that my anak buah is only 2 month old and the shock sometimes costed his mother a proper sleep. Or so i thought. :P Actually, it costed me a nice, peaceful sleep. Damn! And it gimme a headache.

And, i've enuff headache last week by being so nice reading mail from those spammers club members. Mael, Rudi, Bee, Aan, Neena, Puchong, Dihah, etc to name a few. :P 100s of them. I should blame their poor level of understanding on the art of spamming. Only Puchong is exceptional. :P When i got the headache, i realized one thing: when you do thing, make sure it is harmoniously intertwined with your inner self, or else wait for the subsequent side effects. :P

Wait, was the headache caused by my "anyaman ketupat" last Friday with my colleague in the office? I dunno. :P

At least, i survived with celebrating Hari Raya without the headache. Close called tho!

Ok, ok! I dunno what i have written today :P Such a crap! My mind is sooo unfocussed :P I think, i didn't tell you what i was doing during Raya yet. But, i have told to several of my friends during YM sessions and personal call, so asked them. Hehe! I should stop here! :P

So friends, Selamat Hari Raya! Maaf Zahir Batin! I think i could write better if there is no update beggar pressurize me :P Kidding!

p/s: Ain. I luv u!!

Hmm!

2004-10-20T10:22:00.000+08:00

Dear all,

Sorry for not updating for such a long time. Yes, i'm still much alive and kicking. However, i might not updating for some time for certain reason. I'm ok BTW. :P

Sorry for the inconveniences caused.

regards.

Preventive.

2004-10-08T22:29:00.000+08:00

When i was studying in UTM, i bought a Dale Cargegie's book "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living". I read the book day and night and become hooked to it. I read that book now and then till today. The way that book being presented - the ideas and the constructed words - was really got my attention.

One day, my roomate asked me whether i've this worrying over things. I laughed.

I laughed because the question itself was funny.

Why?

To me, reading that kind of book is something like "sediakan payung sebelum hujan". Or, we can also think it as to increase knowledge so we can understand people better. (I dunno if i've been worrying day and night, i will buy and read that book!)

Or, it makes us know about worrying better. :)

So, now, if i start to feel like worrying, then i know what to do. Or, if i believe my friends become one, i can offer several practical, test-of-time advices. :) Sounds good right?

So, when you meet someone who read about Aids now, don't jump to the conclusion that they or their family have Aids. :)

Footnote:
Some people still keep asking me where the man's head is. :P Those who can see it, please help them. hehe! And, about writing in BM, err, some fine day! :P As to Iqa's whereabout, she will be taking her exam next week, so good luck to her (heyy, of course a stern action will be taken for her not updating hehehe! :P)

Medical Experiment: Man's head in the picture

2004-10-05T09:37:00.000+08:00

I received a forwarded email which i share below. It took me about half a minute to find the head. At first, i tried to see in general in order to find the object. But later i realized that i need to look in details. :P

How about you? :P

Subject: Fwd: Man's head in the picture......try it

Hey

Can you find the Man's Head in the picture within 3 seconds?

According to recent medical experiments: If you can find the Man's Head within 3 seconds, your right brain is much more highly developed than in normal people. If you can find the Man's Head within 1 minute, your right brain is developed normally. If you can find the Man's Head within 1-3 minutes, your right brain is slow in reacting......you should eat more meat protein. If it takes more than 3 minutes for you to find the Man's Head, your right brain is a disaster . . . . .extremely slow in reacting.

AND YES -THERE REALLY IS A MAN IN THERE!

Smart in Business ?!

2004-09-30T21:05:00.000+08:00

Last Tuesday, i read a posting at terato forum posted by sis neena. Here is the posting:

Jack, a smart businessman, talks to his son.
Jack: I want you to marry a girl of my choice
Son : "I will choose my own bride".
Jack: "But the girl is Bill Gates's daughter."
Son : "Well, in that case..."

Next Jack approaches Bill Gates
Jack: "I have a husband for your daughter."
Bill Gates : "But my daughter is too young to marry."
Jack: "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."
Bill Gates : "Ah, in that case..."

Finally Jack goes to see the president of the World Bank.
Jack: "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."
President : "But I already have more vice-presidents than I need."
Jack: "But this young man is Bill Gates's son-in-law."
President : "Ah, in that case....."

This is how business is done!!

It is a nice one. So, i replied in my mindless way:

Wah!! The exploitation of timeline and personal life!
But in what order he should execute his plan?
To marry first or to be vice-president first?
Both will make the vital information leaks to the involved party. :P
This story give me an idea a big idea to cheat !! Hehehe!
Well, I should say he is genius.
But, the risk is too high.
And, yup, insincere. :)
This remind me of Charles Ponzi :P

And," who is this Ponzi?" you might ask. Master Google will answer you beter than me!

On Spending!

2004-09-21T19:46:00.000+08:00

If you are tempting to spend on something, then remember Socrates.

Why?

He loved to go to marketplace, spent his time there, looking stuffs that being sold. But, he rarely buy something. When his friends asked about this, he simply answered: I just wondered how could it be so many things that i don't need!!

Short lesson, but hopefully that will stuck in our mind, and we take some action!

The Thanks!

2004-09-18T13:36:00.000+08:00

The other day, while i've my dinner, i received an SMS from Nabeel, Ain's cousin. Here is the sms: "Abg yusof internet utk masuk cheese drp nabeel". Since i could not decipher as to what he meant, i sent a short sms: "Tak faham".

Then came his reply: "Abg yusofkan selalu main cheese dalam internet apa dia punya www. Apa". Now, i understood. He asked for url that enable him to play chess online.

So, i gave him an instruction to go to Yahoo and look at game portion, and log in using his Yahoo mail account when he was asked to do so. In addition, i was jokingly corrected the spelling mistake he made that made me confuse: "cheese", when what he meant is of course "chess".

Unexpected to me, he replied: "Thank pasal tolong betulkan kesilapan nabeel".

This Nabeel just finished sitting for his UPSR exam. And, when i was temporarily staying at his house, i taught him a simple Math for his exam preparation. The good example here is that he shows that he is the one who able to take any comment when someone tells him his mistake, and subsequently thanks them for it.

How about us?

It is just that some people are so hard to take any comment or advice from their buddies, let alone thanks them for showing the mistakes!

Radio

2004-09-09T19:26:00.000+08:00

The day i transferred to my new room in JB, Ain's uncle lent me a big radio because he thought that i didn't have much any means of entertainment and would be getting bored to death in my room. It has been a long time since the last time i listened to one and chose any station i like. So, i called Iqa to get her recommendation on what stations that seems ok to her for me to listen. And later she sent SMS which i love to share here :P

"News Radio 93.8 FM byk news la. Red 92.9 FM Msian station, good selection of songs. Gold 90.5 FM Spore station, soothing songs, oldies. 88.90 FM BBC - enjoy!"

Ok. She is here in JB by the way! So, this tip might not practical to some of you. Come! Come! Study in JB. Work in JB. Live in JB. :P

Ok. You are right! This entry is not so much about radio, but about inviting all of readers out there to come here - Johor! :P This is a twisting tactic i learnt from Shyamalan's movies. :P

See, told ya, idea is not a problem for me not writing :P

Ah, maybe some of you thought that this is a bit old. You want a fresh one? Fine!

Today, my office blacked out for about one hour. I sent an SMS to a friend of mine about it and in reply, she wrote this:

"cepat2 psg lilin. jampi2 mana tau bley online ke. hehe"

And, i began to wonder about her sanity. Eh, did i say "her"? :P I think, if 90% of you can guess correctly as to her identity, then her sanity should really be in doubt!

Not so interesting story. I could not draw any "moral of the story is ... " :P

Hmm! Again, this sounds like Imran's and Hanani's writing style and i hate when mine sounds like theirs. :P So strong their force in my vein. Help me! :P ( Puchong, if you read this, you will know that i really need 1960s :P) Second thought. This entry is a crap :P This is a hallucination. This is a delusion. :P I promise, I will come up with some "original ideas" of mine after this. (Sounds like Dr. Nash? :P)

Hey, am i crazy? *vomit*

p/s: I just realize, the title of this entry is a bit misleading. Sorry! :P

Puteri Gunung Ledang

2004-09-08T18:46:00.000+08:00

I don't think i should tell more about my new life here in Johor. Wait, one thing tho. It happened that my other male colleague here is also a movie buff. :P So, now i've a new friend talking about this stuff. In KL, i've watched too much movies i believe. So, here, with the Mega Pavillion and GSC help (they don't have big enough cinema to show all the movies with more time to select) , i believe i can reduce the number of movie to watch. :P

That's left to be seen tho :P.

Anyway, last Sunday, i went to MegaPavillion to watch PGL. It was 1.45 p.m. show and the tickets were being sold at a fast pace. Luckily, i got ticket for 2 where the seats were just nice - not far in front that would hurt our neck once we finish watching. :P Happily, i sent an SMS to Hanani to make her a bit envy. Later, came her reply: "My PGL is 11.50 a.m. today :P" Argghhh! And, i told her straightaway that she didn't have Ain beside her (i was just being unreasonable here :P)

Anyway, while watching, there was this one old guy who talked about what he knows about the legend now and then to his wife next to her. :P Disturbing, but sometimes amusing. It was like watching DVD with the director commentation on. :P

Ok. Enuff crap. Now on PGL.

My simple and mindless notes :P

[1] They say that most of the Malay movies are of love story. Perhaps, they are right. But, this love story is different from others. It is between one of the well-known and respected warrior, Hang Tuah and Gusti Putri (Puteri Gunung Ledang). The way they tell the story, with the history and legend being intertwined nicely, make us drooling.

[2] M. Nasir and Tiara are my favourite actor and actress. Both of them didn't dissapoint me in this movie. They bring their character wholeheartedly. But, ironically, the Sultan looks a bit weird. In my history of watching Malay movie ( :P ), never did i see something like this one. Even if they are comedy movies, the Sultan in there looks like Sultan - in a comedy way i mean-lah :P

[3] If you noticed, in the early scene, just before Hang Tuah fought with those bunch of samseng kg, he said something like this: "even if we want to follow instruction, it must be sensible". Do you think Hang Tuah sensible in following instruction? :P No. No. It's nothing to do with this movie tho. I hope, u have read about Hang Tuah fortunately :P

[4] In the middle of the movie, Hang Tuah looks confuse with himself. Love and Duty - which to follow. When the one we love suddenly become the one Sultan likes, what the word "sensible" means? :P Here, we can look the other side of Hang Tuah. He is human after all.

[5] Should such a serious story include the jokes like "pelempang jawa", "pelempang bugis" etc? :P I dunno. They might release a bit the seriousness the movie gives to the audiences. It's a common thing to do, and we can even see that in the Hollywood movies. But 4 times of the same thing? Don't u think it is a bit exaggerated?

A lot more small things to reflect (like how far the adaptation try to follow the written story? Is the Sultan so dumb that he could not thing of the simbolic rejection? How big is the daulah - once the curse broken, is it really gives effect? etc.) But never mind. Sorry for my curiousity :P

It's a good movie. Rarely indeed we have the opportunity to watch a movie produced by Malaysia like this one.

Wait. I guess, they should direct a movie called "Puteri Banjaran Andes". Not a romance, but a horror! :P

Ok! ok! i'm updating!

2004-09-03T16:28:00.000+08:00

Again. Pindah membawa diri. :P

This time I transferred from HQ at Damansara to Taman Tampoi Utama. It's in JOHOR, in case you dunno where it is :P

And sorry for not updating such a long time.

Again, new place being my excuse: "the need to cope with new environment".

Plus, my computer is still in KL so I cannot write at my room before pasting it later.

And for other reasons that I think it is improper for me to mention here. :P

It's nothing related to the "lack of ideas". In my absent, I wanted to write about Olympics, about Independence day, about certain things of human nature. Idea is not the problem of me not writing. I mean, not this time :P

Big sorry to Aleeya who sounds like dying of not reading my posting. And others who don't want to admit the fact that they are also feel like dying (hehe!) I dun want to be responsible when one day, the newspaper bears a title: "One suicide of unknown reason". :P So, here I'm, updating my blog today.

So, what's new? The good thing is I rent a room which several minutes of walking to my office (should i say about 3 minutes?). So, no rush. No jam. And I save a lot. In my new office, there are only 8 staffs: 3 guys and the rest are girls. And, in no time, I became close to them, partly because it is like a small family here; partly because they are very, very friendly; and partly because they do not realize yet that I'm a martian. :P

Or so I thought.

I guess, this update sounds like Imran's and Hanani's writing style. :P My posting become weird and weirder ( please read like Alice in the Wonderland! ). So, should stop here because i hate Hanani's and Imran's spells on me!

Till later yah!

Present

2004-08-25T21:01:00.000+08:00

Today is 25 Aug 2004. Today is Ain's Birthday. Today is my sis' convocation at UiTM Shah Alam.

For my sis, i give a bouquet of flower, a big one. For Ain? I dunno. It's hard to choose a present for someone - at least to me (any tips?) :P So, i called her and asked her what she wants. No surprise element i admit, but it's better than giving what she eventually don't like :P

Is it means that i don't really know her? Perhaps, but i don't think so. I know what she likes. But by asking, i just wanted to know what she really likes for present for this once-in-a-year occasion. By asking, i make the present customized especially for her (and prescribed by none other than the person herself :P)

At least that's my opinion right now (You can read: lame excuse :P) . Time moves, and my opinion may change based on certain occurences.

And what's more? Heyy, I save the surprise later! (hopefully you are aware the existence of Forrester's Theory of capturing girl's heart- of course from the movie, Finding Forrester :P : "give unexpected thing at an unexpected moment!")

And what i give for myself? Livita, white kit kat and barbeque twisties while playing chess online! :P Great!

KLIA, erl and me!

2004-08-22T23:24:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, i went to KLIA to send Ain's sis, Ida, before her departure to US, continuing new semester of her study. Others who came were Ain, her mom, Ida's bf and her Aunt.

Knowing that she would check in at 12.00 p.m., i took ERL (for my first time!) at Bandar Tasik Selatan. The ticket costed me RM 26.50. It's ok with me. But, on my rushing there, i forgot i had only small amount of cash in my wallet! Luckily, it was enuff for me to pay for the ticket, and after paying, only 40 cents remained in my pocket. :P Ironically, it was fun!

The story was told later while we had meal at KLIA, and they laughed. Her mom pointed out that she only draw out money once per month for big amount of money and put in his purse.
Thinking about that, i believe, whether you want to draw cash once a month or draw little by little, it's up to your displinary level. Like me, there are people who could not have a lot of cash in hand, or they would easily spend it on something. :P

Hurm! And, you know what? I might be lucky with the ticket, but i was not so lucky when the train came when i was buying the ticket. It is impossible to across to the other side using the bridge above in such a short time. I wish i could fly, reaching the door on time. Anyway, it was just my imagination, and i've to wait for 30 minutes more for the next train. Argghhhhh! Poor me! I didn't know how many times i looked at my watch :P And, no matter how fast the train was, I reached KLIA at about 12.10 p.m.!!

Was i late? Nope! It happened that Ida would come aboard only at 2.15 p.m :P And, i was lucky after all. :P

Should i tell you the moment when a mother has to say goodbye to her daughter? Better not, lest you can't handle it. :P

"Who Moved My Cheese?"

2004-08-15T21:11:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday was a working day. It has been for a while i haven't working on Saturday, mainly because my previous company has adopted the 5-working-days system.

At Dagangnet Tech, on working Saturday, we have activities to fill that half working day. Last Saturday, we got to watch a DVD presentation on "Who Move My Cheese?", and later, listened to a talk about that very topic presented by Mr Chandra Sikaran from MIM.

If my mind didn't deceive me, I believe, the very last talk i attended was one given by Datin Ampika long time ago on The Power of First Impression. So, i'm glad to have this opportunity.

So, what is "Who Moved My Cheese?"

It's a book - a worldwide bestseller written by Dr Spenser Johnson. This book is basically trying to explain the importance of adapting ourselves to any changes occur. According to this book, we must realize that changes do occur and we have little power to stop it. So, willy-nilly, we've to anticipate change and fearlessly adapt to it quickly. Change ourselves if needed and enjoy it. And, after that, we must always alert and become observant to our surrounding because by doing so, we can see better and reflect better to any changes.

I bought this book some time ago. You can read this book in one sit since it's not so thick. Unlike other motivational book, the explanation comes in a short story form.

Mr Chandra is a fluent, proficient, knowledgable with a lot of experience presenter. He has unfolded a lot of things in front of us. Yeah, a lot, but i want to draw your attention to one thing - this equation. IQ=(mental age/physical age)*100. This is a simple equation to show how we've to update our knowledge and embrace any changes in our surrounding. Or else we end up like a 40 years old man with a mentality of 20 years old back, who when doing thing he always refer to the old method of his time with outdated technology.

Sounds good enuff. :P

The problem with this book, like mentioned by many, is that the writer seems to think that all changes are positive, or what we call "improvement". Meaning, when a change occur, it's our job to distinguish whether it is for better or for worse. And only then, what has been preached in this book become applicable.

It's a nice book after all. The insight given at least can broaden our perception towards new things and changes.

I'm afraid you would take less time to finish reading the book than to digest what i've written here :P

Wah!

2004-08-11T20:33:00.000+08:00

// Martian's in red

Lot of things happened during the time of me not updating :P

"So what happened?", you might ask.
// I dun give a damn!

Ok.Lemme tell on what happened. So, prepare your cup of coffee! :p *drum rolling*
// drum? How about bomb exploding? :P

So, as i told you in my entry, i have transferred to Dagangnet Technologies commencing 1 August. I could not give you my opinion yet about the company, since i'm only working there for about 2 weeks. But, whatever my opinion is, it is not as surprising as this fact: i will soon be back to Johor Bahru! Ok, now you can start crying, oh, kidding! :P
// HA. HA. HA. Not funny!

Actually, when i was being interviewed by the Director and HR of Dagangnet for the inter-company transfer, i emphasized to them on me being back to JB sooner or later. So, if there is any vacancy there, i would like to fill the position (or i might resign after working for 1 year). And lucky me, i was just in time when the head there asked for one more tech guys to support the increasing users. And yesterday, my director has confirmed that soon, i will be transfered to JB office at Taman Tampoi Utama. He said, it depends on me now - how fast i can learn here - and expects me to catch up whatever relates to the system. The sooner i learn and reach a satisfying level and confidence with my own skills, the sooner i will get transfered. He believes i can catch up quite easily and confident that two weeks time is enuff for me. I have a mix filling about my own ability. Hurm! :P Meaning, by Sept, i have already been there! Wah! Still, it depends on me. October pun ok :P
// Eleh! Mr Polt kerek! You're having delusions about your own ability!

Ok fren, here we go. A pantun:

Tuai padi antara masak,
esok jgn layu layuan,
Intai kami antara nampak,
esok jgn rindu rinduan. *sob* *sob*

// Nak jawab:

// Sapu tgn tepi berkelim,
// Kelim mari gigi belalang,
// Hati nan rindu tak boleh di kirim,
// Hendak dikirim bukannya barang.

//Muahahahhaha! Pantun lama!

Hurm! Ala, bukan jauh pun :P

Yay, i will be closer to my fiancee!
// fiancee? hey, i don't know that!

Wait! Aha! I can hear some of you saying this: "fiancee? hey, i don't know that!" ok. It's no secret. I got engaged last Sunday. No futher details about it needed. :) If you have any question, ask me personally :P And big thanks to those who had given their personal congratulation to me via any means of telling me so. :)
// Hey, at last you get an Earth girl huh?

And, it was quite weird that on Monday, her family (Ain, her mom and sis) and i went around visiting her relatives in JB, introducing me to them (since i could not attend the engagement ceremony :P) Hey, it's fun after all getting to know them and minggling around. In addition, we had dinner that night. Four of us. Wait. Forgive me, five of us. Yeah, including her sis's bf. :)
// Erk!

So, you see, a lot of things happened that will change my future. And now, i'm trying to cope with it. Pray for me! :)

:P

2004-08-04T22:06:00.000+08:00

Short update (can we take this as an update?) :
Lack of update. I need some time to cope with new workplace and daily life - to "stabilize". :P

This is of course an excuse :P I know you can smell it. Therefore, a big sorry from me! (Iqa! Help me! S.O.S :P)

Internet Freak

2004-07-28T21:42:00.000+08:00

Taken from [[here]] . My annotation in red:

You know you're an internet freak when...

You refer to yourself and your friends with names such as "pimpdaddy2000" and "sugarbaby14" on the phone.
// OMG! I think people start calling me mr Polt here and there!
You have met more people online than you know in real life.
// This is soooo true. We have a lot of friend online. Some of them become so intimate yet we have not met them yet. Who cares.
You constantly type between *stars* to express emotion or your actions. *rolls eyes*
// Hehe! Always. Undeliberately following others, especially my sis Dihah yg comel :P
You use LOL, WBS, LMAO, JK, YGM, or any other net abbreviations, in real life.
// In writing, yes! But, have you ever heard someone laughing like this: "LOL" -- i mean, with the exact similar pronounce? I think i've :P
Your chair has an ass-groove because you have nothing better to do than sit in it.
You have your own email, webpage, every possible messenger, a message post/board, your own chat, and a telnet talker.
// I've webpage at Geocities. In addition, i've a shared blog. I'm using Yahoo Messenger regularly and sometimes, MSN Messenger. I own Yahoo, Hotmail and Lycos mail accounts. Hurm! And terato and Netscape mails too altho i dun think i use them. :P I'm teratorian and post in the forum now and then. I join several online group like Malaysia-chess, sck9697 etc. Argghh.. ! Hehe! But still, they are manageable! Dun worry yah! :P
You spend 4 hours or more online each day, on a regular basis.
// Hahaha! 4 hours? More than that. Being online is my job. ( I dunno in my new company la! :P)
You are outraged if someone doesn't message you back, and you spam them with hate mail.
// Sometimes, yes. But, we have to think positively: the reason being, their line is suck at that very moment :P
You seem to value what people on the other side of the country think of you, whom you will most likely never meet anyways, and you burst into tears if Jiggy007 doesn't say goodbye to you.
You've met more than twenty 17/f/blonde/blue eyes/skinny/big boobs/professional model people in chats.
You acctually believe they're all big-breasted, blond models.
You threaten to punish someone by banning them from your internet club or talker, as if it will affect their lives deeply. (oh boo hoo!)
// sounds familiar! :P
You openly admit your a looser, and rejoice in it.
You dominate all chats and clubs, because you know everyone.
// It hards sometimes to join other groups when they have already known each other, and you are a new member in that group.
Everyone refers to you as "that cyber bitch" because of your incessent need to challenge everyone with your opinions
You think that cybersex counts as loosing your viginity.
You have imaginary cyber babies with your cyber boyfriend/girlfriend. You name them.
// :P How about cyber pet?
Your eyes hurt from staring at the screen, and there's a buildup of dishes on your desk. You haven't seen the light of day in a while.
// Yeah. Soo true, it happens to me. Yay, i'm a computer freak :P
You imposter people, ie. Celebrities, on a regular basis.
// Erk!
You SPEAK IN ALL CAPITALS BECAUSE IT'S COOL. Or you condemn those who do,
saying that they're huritng your ears. (It's friggen typing, how the heck does that hurt your ears?)
// Haha! All in capital isn't cool. It simply means people speak loudly. And it hurts my eyes more than my ears. :P There are people who dunno what it means to write in capital, when they do so, misunderstanding always occurs - like we think thay are angry, or the message is urgent etc :P
Your nickname is garnished with ~'s and *'s and such.
You take your rank as an Admin. in a chat VERY seriously, as if it were a real profession.
// I dunno. I'm not an admin :P But, i've seen several who just as mean as that :P
You think you're God, because you're the owner or founder of a chat/talker.
YEW DUN SPELL RITE N-E-MORE. And you acctually understand that.
// Hehehe! A lot of example! Assignment=esemen, catch up=kecap etc. :P But, that's not mine. :P
You get in a bad mood if you're away from your computer for more than 10 hours.
// No! Well, sometimes :P
You demand a picture from everyone, and you're always posting usless pictures of yourself. "Here's my left big-toe.."
// Long time ago, i used to ask for pics. But, not anymore :P Getting tired of it.
When you're not online, you're thinking about, or talking about what you do online.
// Yeah. Sometimes, i feel very uncomfortable when i haven't online for one day! Now, that's a serious symptom! :P

Inter-company Transfer

2004-07-26T23:30:00.000+08:00

Short Update:
Today, i received letter of appointment and inter-company transfer from Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd (UEM is one of DNT shareholder), stating that i will be transferring there effective 1 August 2004 as Technology Support Executive. For your information, the office is located at HP Towers, Bukit Damansara.

After 3 years and about 6 months working in current company, new environment may enrich my experience. Wish me all the best of luck! :)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

2004-07-23T21:12:00.000+08:00

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - A Story
by Richard Bach.
Avon books. 127 pages.

I read this book for the first time when i was in form 5. It was meant for my book review assignment for my English class. I guess, I chose this book because it was thin and simple and i would be able to read it in one seat. Only later i found that despite its simplicity, it contains what those thick motivation books have to offer. I bought my own copy long time ago and read it again and again since then. (You can find the full text here!)

I should say reading this book is a refreshing experience. It shows the value of self-improvement and self-perfection in our daily life.

The story focuses on Jonathan, a seagull. He finds that life is more than finding food day in day out. To him, it is more than that. He thinks: "Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there's a reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!". So he learns how to fly better. He tries to find reasons every time he fails on mastering certain technique, figures out what goes wrong, and later try again until he succeeds. Never one second he satisfies with what he has achieved. He really looks for perfection!

It is not easy though. He faces resistance from his mom and dad and his flock. One day, he tries to show to his flock how they - seagull - can get more foods by mastering flying techniques and only to find they do not like it. To them, he breaks the traditional way. The flock cannot distinguish between breaktrough and breaking ways they have adopted for years.

The elder in the flock makes Jonathan an outcast. He says that Jonathan is a shame to Gull Family.

He is sad but he learns still and meets other outcast. He finds seagull with better technique and learns from them. Until he has a real mastery on how to fly. The mastery helps him in simplifying his ways to take simpler tasks like catching fish, and that is what his flock cannot see.

No! He is not stopping there. Yes, he has mastered the technique but he still thinks of his flock. He wants to teach them that by taking time to learn, all other matters will become handy. His friend thinks that it is futile but Jonathan believes there must be some way to change their perception. Off he go, and later he succeeds.

What i wrote above of course not as entertaining as reading the original text :P But i hope u get the ideas.

You see, in daily life, we must find reasons for our doing. (In chess, trainers always tell their students to find purposes for every move they made). We must think of ways to improve ourselves. We must learn anything we think that can make our job easier. Once we fails, we must find the cause of the failure, and find the right way. Once we succeed, we must think of others and teach them of our findings. We must not become so selfish and think of no one but ourselves.

What a lesson!

This book was written in 1970. It still being published until now. What that's supposed to mean? It's classic!! A lot of people find some inspiration through it. A lot of people just like Rad Bradbury: "Richard Bach with this book does two things. He gives me Flight. He makes me young".

Small Creation :P

2004-07-20T11:47:00.000+08:00

This pic has been created by one of my friend. I think most of teratorian know her. I should say it is cute. I wonder, is she in the mood of wanting being loved by someone dear to her? Anyway, i guess, Hallmark should hire this girl to come up with brilliant ideas and create more lovely cards for them :P

In terato YM conference session, she explained:
" hmm
bukan la
itu kan sweet kiss
kalau boy kiss, dah biasa
sweet ke?
so, we turn to other side
kiss pipi..sweet per
pastu tagline dier
'i love EVERYTHING about you' "

Attitude

2004-07-16T20:55:00.000+08:00

I get this when i did sites-hopping (here!)

What makes life 100% ??

IF,

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Then,

H A R D W O R K
8 1 18 4 23 15 18 11 = 98 % Only

K N O W L E D G E
11 14 15 23 12 5 4 7 5 = 96 % Only

But,

A T T I T U D E
1 20 20 9 20 21 4 5 = 100 %

My note:

Sorry if i bore you with this topic! :P I don't actually like to talk about motivational stuff directly, but i can't help myself on this one. Simply because it's one of the most basic things. And i believe, if you want really take care of a tree, take care of its root first :)

To be frank, i didn't really recalculate, and see whether the calculation is correct. Why should i when that's not the main point. The one who came up with this isn't a number freak - rather, he was trying to show us that attitude is more important than hardwork and knowledge.

I can't see how an individual or an organisation can move forward without the right attitude.

It's sad to see how educated people don't have right attitude. They blame the world for their failure when the very problem they face is actually come from themselves. They never stop whining day in day out talking about problem on their way; blaming other people for something that turn out not to be as they like; not admitting the mistake they actually do; giving 1001 reasons when the goals are hard to achieve, etc.

Even a big organisation will stumble when this thing happens.

A lot of problem our country facing right now are due to attitude problem. Like the increasing number of accidents. Like the increasing number of crime among teenagers. You can list them down.

William James says: "the greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. As you think, so shall you be. Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

Viktor Frankl told us the story on how he and the other who lived in concentration camps could remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

If you want to change something, first change the attitude. If you want to get something, first change the attitude.

Right attitude can attract many good things to us. Plus, it's free of charge. No cost at all. No consultation fees needed.

Sounds soooo book! But, it's up to us to make its practical. To change our bad attitude, and to influence others to change their bad attitude.

Yes, i admit, it's hard! BUT, we have attitude problem if we don't try. :P

Nice Avatars!!

2004-07-13T19:59:00.000+08:00

I want to put pictures in entries. So, let's begin with this. The lovely avatar owned by teratorian.













Cute, dun you agree? :P

On how a blog affects one's life

2004-07-12T21:32:00.000+08:00

Let's begin with a question:
How do you think a blog can affect one's life?

I happened to read Pick Yin's "Life Is Great" with absolute interest. I find this blog rather thoughtful in most of its entries. For July 10, she told us how her blog affected someone's life. The story started when it happened that on June 21, she wrote about "My Take on Polygamy in Islam". A reader read it and redirected the pages to her friend, who contemplating on taking a second wife. In the email to the owner of the blog, the reader wrote: "After reading all the comments, he was a bit insaf. After a week, he said 'I don't think I will proceed'. ([For] whatever reasons that might be.)"

In one example given by Biz Stone, written for blogger.com: "Salam Pax blogged from Iraq with bombs exploding all around him. The whole thing with the bombing and the fighting and the explosions is not always a good way to go but in this case it worked out for Salam. It turns out people wanted to hear what was really going on over there and not just watch television news about how great America is." It was a first hand experience; someone wrote it and it was being read worldwide and made people realize the real situation. It changed the perception of many.

These are serious examples.

How do you think a blog can affect one's life?

Perhaps, it comes from a simple note or short list, which turn out to be very helpful. Like "10 ways how to save your money" i read the other day! (forget from whose blog :P).

Or from the pictures they take and put in the blog. Or jokes they share.

Nobody knows when it happens, when something will, out of nowhere, affects us and changes our life.

Therefore, when a blogger share their ideas or experiences, we should have fun reading and sincerely think about it. Then, we should be able to draw our own opinion and later, perhaps, we can share our opinion and experience with others if there is "comment" part included. Both parties should open-minded enough about this and by this exchanging process, both parties will get the benefit from the little blog created.

Or at the very least, we can take that as a friendly gesture, a contact that will make us closer. No harm done.

(Having written this, i still don't really care whether people are seriously reading my blog or not. :P The rules number 10: Relax! :P)

So, back to the question:
How do you think a blog can affect one's life?

I think, now, you are able to tell me how :P

Random Topics

2004-07-08T10:01:00.000+08:00

Sorry for such a long interval between entries. Anyway, this entry is dedicated to Aan who very nice to be the update beggar of the week. :P Hurm! Hihi! She wrote at the tagboard: "Update! Update! Dah ulang baper kali 10 tips tu, tapi tak amal gak! 'write often' ". I was like being slapped on the face! :P Damn, baru ingat, i still owe her her birthday present! ( i'm waiting for my engagement and if she doesn't gimme present, then it's 0-0. So, no need to give, muahahaha! erk! :P )

Since Aan likes a lighter entry, so here we go:

Euro 2004 : "A Greek theory to beware"

As we know, last Monday morning (M'sia time), Greece beat Portugal to become the winner of Euro 2004, 1-0. Against all odds, they overcame one game after another and they did it with his defensive style.

A lof of people loves attacking style and opted to support Portugal that night. I was behind Greece's back.

Anyway, the title above was taken from an article at SkySports. In the article, the writer stated that "German tactician Rehhagel amply demonstrated what can be achieved by constructing a team whose primary target appears to be stopping the opposition from scoring." and then he asked a question: "True, this is an important facet of football but is this defensive-minded, negative outlook the vision for the game which should be promoted?".

This question of course makes the world think whether "fun to watch" is more important than "winning". Wait, why didn't they think that watching people defencing is as entertaining as watching people attacking? Wait, again. I don't think that Greece lacks of attacking skill at all. It is only they chose to play defensively and attacked when the time was right.

It's up to them to play any style they like. The style they chose is not new, and it has been in the textbook long time ago. A lot of team has adopted it, but with little success. This team on the other hand adopted it with flying color, made the giant team stumbled on their feets.

Sun Tzu in the Art of War told us the importance of knowing when to attack and when to retreat. He wrote, "the general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom." That's what Greece did in this tournament!

p/s: I dunno why suddenly people are really looking for materials on Greek myth and stuff. :)

Spent RM 20,000 on SMS Contest

The Sun front page for yesterday revealed how a part-time agent spent RM 19,613.25 in an SMS contest ("Jom! Senang Mesti Menang"). She hoped to win the Grand Prize of a four-wheel drive but ended up only got the second proze of Suzuki VR125 worth RM6,143.40. How unfortunate!

To make the things worse, she went to the Consumer Claims Tribunal to get her money back. But, her claim has been rejected. She should accept the fact that the winners were chosen based on the best slogan and not the number of SMS sent.

Nowadays, a lot of transaction based on SMS has been introduced. Contest, voting, info etc. Heyy, you know what the word "afundi" means right? :P I dunno, how much the telecommunication company making money based on that.

How about having donation through SMS? It will be charged in the bill and the money will be donated to the needed. We can choose either RM 10 per SMS or how. Or is it already existed? If so, poor me for not knowing :P

It is easy to squander money nowadays, right?

Torrent and my Poirot Collection

I should blame this to Aan! :P She taught me about torrent and told me how good it is to download big files using torrent.

I happened to be Agatha Christies fan and when i found a website where a lot of Poirot's series available to be downloaded, i thought i just hit the jackpot. I loves Poirot, so i put other things in the bottom of the list and download all the series first. So far, i finished almost 20 of them. Crazy!

Wait! Dun ask me "Who is Poirot?" :P

Chess World Championship

Currently the FIDE World Chess Championship is underway where it's come in it's final stage. Two player who passed the elimination process faced each other competing for the title. By the time i wrote this, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, 24 years old, the top Uzbekistani player leads 1 1/2 - 1/2 against 32 years old and England's top GM, Michael Adams, after winning the second game. The first game is draw.

Kasimdzhanov, like Greece, is underdog, 27th seeded in this tournament. He has already won against top seeded and big names in his way to the final. He is only 2652 Elo rated while Adams is 2731 (2nd seeded in this tournament). For comparison, Kasparov is 2817 ELO rating.

Aan

Aan crazy! (This sub topic doesn't mean to be here!)

On Selecting a Dictionary

2004-07-01T21:12:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, i read a short acticle in The Sun (which you can get for free), pg. 16 on how to choose a dictionary to suit us.

Currently, i own only two dictionary: COBUILD (stands for Collins Birmingham University International Language Database), and Oxford Fajar (English-Malay, Malay English), 2nd Edition. If i do online, i always refer to dictionary.com. I love COBUILD because it explains the meaning in simple way, and the examples on how to use the words are extensive.

Below is the said article:

Selecting a dictionary

WITH so many titles out there, choosing a dictionary can be difficult. Here is Gwyneth Fox's advice.

"The common mistake people make in choosing a dictionary is that they always look for something that is big and prestigious," she says.

"That should not be the case. In reality, you should choose a dictionary that fits your needs. For example, if you are interested in the language of Shakespeare, then the Oxford dictionary is what you should look for. In the same vein, if you are an architecture student, get a dictionary that specialises in architecture terms.

"Also, if you are a school student, go for the Macmillan School Dictionary, as it has been specially written for school students who learn their curriculum subjects in English," Fox adds.

If you wonder why the words you try to find the meaning are always not in the dictionary; or you think that you could not understand the definition given, or the definition given does not suitable in the context; or you find that you hardly understand what two IT Techs are discussing; then you should start agree with Gwyneth Fox and follow her advice. :)

Big one does't mean it has good explanation for the words.

Letter to my blog

2004-06-29T22:11:00.000+08:00

Dear Blog,

I dunno why i feel that time flies very fast, and it's already several month after i created you: sharing you with Iqa in writing some thought, ideas and common happenings.

Looking back at what i've written on you, i didn't know how i manage to write them all. Some are serious thoughts, some are craps. Reflecting, i thought some of them should be elaborated more so the ideas will be clearer. Some should contain more examples to elucidate the gaps. Words could be changed to more precise one. Sentences could be reconstructed to show the meaning better. Grammatical error could be corrected. More than that, now, i might find some argument have holes after my friends pointed it out.

But, dear, you know what? Despite that facts, I just write and write. (that's what Forrester taught me right? Wait, dear, have you seen "Finding Forrester"?) If i care too much about that and think i can find some masterpieces by being careful and make people saying their "wow!" everytime, then i think this blog would lack of entries. Or worse, i would not be able to write at all. If i'm afraid of harsh comment given by people, then my fear will make me stand back and my ideas and experience never reach others. If i'm afraid to make mistake, and afraid that people will find my writing dull and uninteresting, plus full of craps, then i don't think i would be able to publish anything at all. So, it's better just to write leisurely and follow whatever style i've built in my subconcious mind. :P

One nice day long time ago, i was looking for some article on how to write when i stumbled to this website containing practical advice, and it's inspired me (10 Tips on Writing the Living Web). I printed it and read it again and again. All 10 listed advices are very good: write for a reason, write often, write tight etc. And more, my eyes fix on no. 10 where it is stated that we should relax, don't give so much worry about the grammatical and spelling errors, don't worry about your size of audience, don't worry about those who disagree with you, etc. You can read it there, dear.

Several of my friends stopped writing because they thought it was not their thing. I dunno how long i will be able to write in this blog, but since i just love writing, i just write. Only time will tell when it will end. But, i want to make sure, at that time, at least, i can proud because i have already written something and written with passion!

So, blog, thanks for making me think hard; making me learn my writing style, words, grammar etc; making me become more observant; making me feel comfortable with myself; making me improve my English. I know you won't be able to reply, but thanks just the same. :)

regards.

J Card Member's Day

2004-06-26T22:32:00.000+08:00

Short Update:
Yesterday was J Card Member's Day at Jaya Jusco Mid Valley. So, people who own the card thronged to JJ Mid Valley since morning, which caused a heavy traffic jam around there. It continued until late at night - until the shopping complex closed.

I happened to work at Mid Valley and became the victim of the situation. :P

If you happened to be at Mid Valley, you would be able to see people with their bags of stuffs, and trolley full of things here and there. It was like they bought for one year of supply :P Not a surprise since the price got cut up to 70% of the original price. It's cheap!

I heard, there were people who even took one day leave just to be there!

Loose Adaptation?

2004-06-23T22:27:00.000+08:00

If you have read my 21 June entry, you would know that I watched "Around the World in 80 days" last Saturday. This movie is based on the Jules Verne's novel. I've read the original, unabridged copy. When I was a kid, I've watched the adaptation on TV, which covered in several episodes. I should say it was a wonderful experience.

After reading several reviews, I didn't expect much from this movie. But I still watched it because it was based on the classic. Because I've read the novel. Because I've watched the previous adaptation. So, I wanted to see this one. If it would disappoint me, I wanted to know how far it would disappoint me.

And, so it did disappoint me. At least, storywise.

You can see a big difference between this one and the original if you have read the novel. I don't really mind if the director decided to do minor changes which would not affect the storyline - like what they did to LOTR, Sleepy Hollow etc. But when Phileas Fogg has been portrayed wrongly; and when the fake Passepartout suddenly become the main character; and no the lovely Aouda; and the missing of wonderful journey in India; and several other reasons that make me love the story, then I can't see why they stick the title to the movie.

Luckily, one of my friend highlighted the words "based on" to me. Meaning, they don't necessary to follow the book closely; just follow the main idea. And luckily, the jokes injected were not bad after all.

If you are going to any bookstore, now you can see how the cover of newly printed of the classic bear the picture from the movie, and this is a disaster. I'm afraid that people would confuse between those two versions.

The problem happens when we seem to love the idea of "don't need to read the book-lah, just watch the movie"!

Last time, i watched "The League of extraordinary Gentlemens" before reading the graphic novel. I found that the story between the moving picture and the hardcopy are not even close . They just took the idea of having such an extraordinary people to accomplish a mission. That's all. Sorry, not only that. They were playing with Alan Moore's name. Crazy!

And, you can find a lot of examples! So, should we agree with this kind of loose adaptation?

Weekend: TGV KLCC, Uptown and Sg Tua!

2004-06-21T21:51:00.000+08:00

This posting is just a plain description of my weekend. No serious thought inside. So, read leisurely. :P

I've told myself that i would be hitting the cinemas last weekend, watching movies till i puke. :P So, i slept early and woke up early. I found my way to TGV KLCC and reached there at almost 10 a.m. that Saturday morning. TGV was still close yet people have already waited in front of it. Not many of them, thanks God, since this time around, it is football fever - the matches are between midnight and early in the morning so people spent their time sleeping! (I've foreseen this! Hehe!)

So, I got a good seat for both movies. Did I say both? Erk, I mean, I watched "Around the World in 80 days" and "Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban".

Here we go, my short notes:

1. Around the World in 80 days.
This movie didn't follow the storyline in the original copy, and this made me a bit upset and dissapointed. I dunno why suddenly Phileas Fog become an inventor who lack of confidence. And, hurm, no lovely Aounda that they supposed to meet in India. The gadgets are a bit exaggerated. And, they have no respect to Jules Verne at all. Still, there have parts spare for us to laugh. :)

2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
I still think i love the 2nd one much much more than this one - in the 2nd one (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), the creature in there are much much cuter and the climax of the story, astounding! But, hey, it's Harry Potter series so it is a must watch just the same. The time travelling is so much like of the Back To the Future series. But, the effects - hey, i can't resist to feel like a wizard myself, and study at Hogward! (Damn Rowling! :P)

Wanna watch for my 3rd of the day, but my head spinning, and my eyes were unwilling to let me to! I guess, i should have some exercises in order to have the stamina required for a such long watch. :P

Anyway, that night, for the first time I watched Akademi Fantasia until the end. Dunno what made me so absorbed and hooked with it. Perhaps it's because all the participants are almost equal in their skill - singing and entertaining. Only Yusof Haslam looked as if he didn't know what he was saying by giving some mere general comments. :P I can't guess who will be at the top place among them and who will have to leave (revealed next week?). I don't think I will follow this closely. :P But, since I come from Johor, I should be proud to have a Johorian being praised owing to her perfect show. :P *clap* *clap*

I didn't vote tho. No afundi this, afundi that, hehe!

After watching the Akademi Fantasia, I dunno what spell suddenly gotten over me to follow my housemate to Uptown to eat and wonder around, looking for things - if there is any - to buy. I had chicken chop, and fresh orange. Wait! AND carrot juice with milk (so thirsty, thus two glasses of juice to quench my thirst!) Didn't buy anything tho, so u can consider me just went there to observe (or sight-seeing? :P Hey, I just followed friends!). And, we reached home at about 3.00 a.m. Gosh!

On Sunday, after a long sleep in the morning, my roommate suddenly asked me whether I want to come along with him and the others to Sg Tua. "Sana ada kedai makan tak?" was my reply. :P Sorry, but i was very hungry and could not help myself from asking a stupid question. Since there are some, at least that was what they said, off i went there with 4 others.

After having my lunch (see the word "my", hehe! They only accompanied me!), we moved to find a nice spot. A lot of families. A lot of couples. A lot of groups. But we managed to find a nice place. My housemates did plunge and take bath and play around with water, but me didn't - because i didn't bring any clotch to change. After putting my feet in the water, i felt regret a bit - it's cool and refreshing! The flora around at least relaxed my mind and eyes a bit. And the clean air. "Peaceful", yeah, that's the word! I felt so calm!

After sometimes, we went back and reached home at about 7.30 p.m. It is good for us to befriend the nature and escape from hustle and bustle of city life once in a while.

After all these activities, i felt tired. I'm human after all! (Human from Mars, can? :P)

Happy Father's Day!

2004-06-20T23:02:00.000+08:00

Short Update:
I did call my father today evening to say Happy Father's day! I love him so much! He taught me a lot of thing about life. And, most of all, he gave me freedom to make my own decision, to really stand on my own feet! Thanks dad!

To all fathers out there: Happy Father's day!

Erk, how to explain, eh?

2004-06-18T19:00:00.000+08:00

It's weird how sometimes it is hard to explain your thought to others.

Everything is very clear in your mind, but you could not make them understand.The words you lay in front of them are not enough for them to grab what you mean.

Or perhaps you could not simplify your ideas and explain in simple, plain words.

Or is it due to your vocabulary?

Yesterday, i was unable to explain a simple idea to a friend of mine. I know what i wanted to say, but after regurgitating words after words, i found myself entering a forest and losing my way. And, i've to stop and think again, and eventually laughed at myself. But, luckily, that fren of mine was quick and offered a single, simple sentence to conclude what i've said.

I just feel, sometimes, it's hard to explain than to learn one thing. Like what happened yesterday!

The one who can think clearly does not necessarily can explain what he thinks clearly. Even words sometimes fail him.

It is like a great thinker who unable to write down their thought, and who unable to preach and talk fluently in explaining their ideas. The ideas are meaningless.

That's why brain is a mysterious thing!

I should stop before i got confuse here :P (If you think you want to laugh, you can laugh now! :P)

New Semester? Study?

2004-06-14T23:35:00.000+08:00

The time for IPTA students to come back for a new semester is just around the corner. So with the new intake students who will further their study. In my Uni years, almost every new semester, I would keep the same resolution again and again: "I will study hard and get better result". Sometimes my result was getting worse, but, yes, sometimes better.

I thought I never stretched myself hard enough to generate adequate efforts to achieve what I want. Ironically, later, I just satisfied with what i got, since it was good enough compared to others. :P Poor me!

People kept asking me since my Uni years on how the best way to study. I said, I dunno, and laughed awkwardly. And always, they would stare at me unbelievingly, but then came my explanation: by "I dunno", I mean, people are different from one another. So, everyone should find the most ideal way for them by themselves. Some people think they are ok to stay up, studying late at night when they find that it's hard to grab even single thing during the busy days. In contrast, some can study effectively during the time between classes. And lucky for students who can study at any time at all. Didn't Voltaire say, minds differ still more than faces?

I guess, the books written on the subject can just give u some practical ideas. You must test the ideas to find the way that suit you best.

Therefore, to give a generic idea is more practical than asking them to follow how you study. :P (Perhaps, show them several ways to study so they can choose later is also quite practical.) And, looking at my collection of articles (get from forwarded emails, website, etc), I found the short anecdote below. If I'm not mistaken, I have shared with teratorian at terato forum, but that was long time ago. :P

The Concept Of "Progressive Resistance Training"
(steadily increasing load)

"The lore of ancient Greece recalls an Olympic athlete who was determined to become the strongest person in the world," writes sports physiologist Jay T. Kearney in the June 1996 Scientific American. "Everyday Milon of Croton would pick up a calf, raise it above his head, and carry it around the stable.

As the calf grew, so did Milon's strength, until eventually he was able to lift the full-grown cow.

"Milon, who won the wrestling contest five times, intuitively grasped one of the basic tenets of contemporary sports science: progressive resistance training, the stressing of muscles with steadily increasing loads...." This concept can also be applied to your mind. Learn and study and practice and "steadily increase the load."

This is very straightforward and easy to understand. Rome could not be built in one day, so does your mind. After all, your mind still follows the nature law - force and it will break! If you give so much input at one go, unless you're a damn genius, your mind can't cope with that. You can't remember the whole dictionary in one day. You can't absord all information in those thick books in one day. Why? Because, it's an accumulative process!

So, back to pepatah org tua-tua, "sikit-sikit, lama-lama jadi bukit". Start study early. Learn and study and practice and steadily increase the "load".

Enough said.

Friends, good luck! Enjoy studying!

Toys Fair

2004-06-08T23:48:00.000+08:00

Today is the last day of Toys Fair at Mid Valley megamall (started from 28 May 2004). Various types of toy are being stacked in booths. At one corner, kids are taught how to do some simple, do-it-yourself arts by nice intructors. At the other corner, you can see clowns entertain kids with their tricks; tricks that will even leave an adult stare in amazement. On the stage, a lot of activities are being held mainly to capture the kids' attention.

This time around, the place is a heaven for children.

I couldn't recall if I had toys when I was a kid.

However, I still remember how at that time, my friends - most of them several years older than me - and I, were playing around, exploring the creative side of ourselves. We did play games which now considered traditional: belon acah, sungkit ayam, teng teng, ram rem pus, batu serembam, just to name a few. Even things like laying-layang and gasing are self-made. What a memorable experience! Unfortunately (should i say unfortunately here?), that only happened for a while. At about darjah 3, everything turned out to be a bit calmer. The elder friends were too old to play. Then was when I built my interest in reading and playing chess. I read a lot, ranging from newspaper to a serious magazine. I became an avid reader. And, in addition my parents bought me a chess set, and i became addicted to it. (I don't know if chess set is considered a toy :P)

I'm a bit envy looking at the kids happily playing around at this fair. I sat at one corner looking at them for quite sometimes. But, I felt that way was not because I didn't have the chance to have this kind of luxury when I was a kid. Rather, it is because they are happy playing. Hmm, pardon me. I'm supposed to be happy for them, rite?

Nowadays, a lot of toys are sold in market. And, they are of many categories. Some of them are a bit manipulative, portraying superhero of some kind: Superman, Star Wars, Batman etc. But, I guess, they are a lot which quite educational. There are even sciences for this kind of stuff, where experiments are being conducted to make those toys play some role in building the kids' mind in a fun way. They try to make the kids understand a more complicated things easier.

I'm, however, very skeptical about this although I second their effort. :P This toys might help to build their mind and excel in education, but how far they can survive in social life and facing the reality? (And, mind you, this is of course not to take the computer influence into account!) I don't know.

Nonetheless, I think, I should get myself a toy or two for my collections! :P

p/s: This posting sounds lighter, right? right? :P

Time Illusion??

2004-06-06T19:12:00.000+08:00

Last week, a friend of mine (we aren't in the same office:P) told me how she caught red handed playing games during working hours. Rarely did she do so, but when she did that very day, suddenly her boss came at her place, and unfortunately, she didn't realize his presence. The boss asked something like this: "Always like this ke? Takder kerja" I know she has a lot of them, and doing them rather effectively. She only wanted to relax for a while. I don't think her boss will understand that.

I try to think about this. I try to chew this. I try to understand it.

(I can't be so detail as to create some mathematical equation on this little idea. But I can give you several examples. Perhaps, someone has already thought and wrote about this :P)

Have you ever faced a situation like this. It was dial-up account. You were online, surfing. Your brother realized this. Then, he went somewhere. And, 5 minutes after that you did offline. And you slept. And, after like 3 hours, you woke up, and switched on your computer, and online again. Your brother came back and saw you online. And, he was mad and said, "Heyy, berapa lama nak online ni?" and blamed you for the big numbers in the bills. Pathetic! He didn't know what happened during his absence, and just came to the conclusion blindly because his mind were trapped. The eyes saw and sent some messages to the brain. But, the process stopped there and then. His brain has never been trained to look at small details and would not be able to "see" such things. :P

Another example is something like this. It was lunch hour. Usually, you will have your lunch with your colleague. But, you thought, it was not so for that day. So, your colleague left you in the office. 5 minutes later, you went to lunch and came back early. Your colleagues were not there. When they came back, they saw you, and thought, you haven't taken you lunch! See, how people judge by using their eyes, and didn't want to think what happened in the timeline!

Another similar experience occured in chess. Let say Mr K (not meant for Kembara!) beat Mr L in a tournament. Easily! Next tournament, Mr N met Mr L. Mr K told Mr N that Mr L was not so tough to crack. But, little did he know that Mr L has been improving tremendously since. The problem here is Mr L didn't seriously consider what happened between the first tournament and the next. :P

So, whoever read this, please think twice when you are facing something like this in the future. Don't confuse your brain with this little time illusion! Take some time to think what really happened in-between.

National Anthem: Questions!

2004-06-03T21:48:00.000+08:00

This is an update.

Ah, this would be unoriginal. Hurm, worst, i'm afraid a piano will fall on me! :P

A friend of mine, Rafidah, (same batch in UTM, same Renong Scholar, and previously working in the same company) suggested to me that if I don't know what to update for my blog, I can either put one single line, or just put National Anthem, Negaraku. Nice advice - very helpful! :P I chose the latter.

Negaraku, tanah tumpahnya darahku
Rakyat hidup bersatu dan maju
Rahmat bahagia, Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat bertakhta
Rahmat bahagia, Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat bertakhta.

Hmm. To put a song and leave it just like that won't be a good idea, although people love to do so. :P So, let crack our brain a bit with some questions. (Didn't the Greek thinkers like Plato and Aristotle and Socrates, just to name a few, taught us to find the truth by asking? Reminder: this concept should NOT be applied in certain cases, especially when we learn and study certain part in Theology and subjects in religion)

Let's start:

After studying the lyrics, do you find it reflects our country and all of his people? Do you find it suitable?

Why we have to stand up like a statue while singing this National Anthem? Do we really stand up when listen to the song or sing the song? Or is it when we do so, we can be considered patriotic?

How Malaysian citizen's perception on this National Anthem? Do they really understand what this National Anthem meant to them and to our country?

Could this song triggers us to our most resourceful state, and being in the state of some kind of patriotism? I mean, with such lyrics, and such melody and rhythm?

Why certain people, which happened some times ago, could not accept when it was being played in Petronas Philharmonic Hall, yeah, with those classical music's instruments? Is it because it was a surprise and people didn't prepare to stand up?

I don't know! (Mind you, some Eastern Philosophy treats people who says "don't know" as reaching some state of ultimate wisdom! Hehe! BUT, please don't misinterpret this. :P)

Which way?

2004-05-31T18:24:00.000+08:00

Short Update:
I read a joke in my Reader's Digest, page 30, June 2004 issue. (It is under "Our 50 Best Ever Jokes". I looked at their website and found out that it was being published in their website too! Click here!) I admit that I laughed out loud my stomach hurt. Below is the joke:

Separated from his travel group in the Sahara Dessert, a tourist begged a passing nomad for water. "Sorry," said the tribesman. "I have no water, but i do have a selection of lovely ties for sale."

"You must be crazy," the tourist replied. Close to death from thirst, he saw another nomad. "Water!" he gasped. "Give me some water."

"I have no water," came the reply, "only these handsome ties that i'd be glad to sell to you."

The tourist stumbled on until, to his astonishment, he saw a magnificent hotel far in the distance. Crawling at last into the lobby, he croaked, "Please give me water."

"I'm sorry, sir," the doorman said. "We don't let anyone in without a tie."

Funny, right?

I read it again and again and one thought came to me. If the tourist took some time to think and find the reason on why the nomads sold ties after the second meet, then he would not face the problem of not getting admission to the hotel, resulting no water for him (and of course, on the verge of death!). Instead, he chose to think that they were crazy!

We face the same thing in our daily life, so watch out which way you want to choose: find the reason and the best course of action, or think everything has gone nuts and crazy!

YM Session : Time Machine!

2004-05-28T22:27:00.000+08:00

Out of nowhere, my colleague opened a conversation about time travelling. It's of course a nice topic, and scientist has been discussing about it for long. A lot of movies have been directed out of this theme. And since in my office, almost of my colleagues are movie buff, we love to, sometimes, discuss about it in crazy way. :P

Below is a typical YM session between me and them.

roll_fs		remember the time machine..?
m_yusof_y		HG Wells
m_yusof_y		y?
roll_fs		remember the purpose he build the time machine..?
m_yusof_y		i havent read the novel, nor watch the movie
m_yusof_y
roll_fs
m_yusof_y		of course for time travelling,rite?
roll_fs		he build the time machine to go back in time to save his girlfriend from being murdered..
m_yusof_y
roll_fs		but everytime he goes back and try to save the girfriend it turned out to be more and more tragic.. he realises he cannot change the past..
m_yusof_y		loves involve huh?
m_yusof_y		not for pure scientific experiment
m_yusof_y		hehe!
m_yusof_y		You know what?
roll_fs		actually he has a keen interest in the quantum theory and everything time travel..
m_yusof_y		i think time machine works for people to travel to the future, but not to the past. Why? logically, because we havent seen any people from the future. But, future people might have seen gus from NOW
m_yusof_y		guys
roll_fs		thats what i think also.. theory of relativity..
m_yusof_y

Famous quote from Einstein : "put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity". Anyway, i dunno if Einstein wanted to explain his theory of relativity here, or it's just common "relativity" things! :P Poor me!

roll_fs		more logical to travel to the future.. like dracula.. sleep for few hundred years.. then wake up in the future..
roll_fs		time travelling..
m_yusof_y		and like Sherlock Holmes, who slept in time capsule in order to have a more complicated case?
m_yusof_y		hehe!
roll_fs
m_yusof_y		hey, if that the case, then we are now doing some time travelling what.
m_yusof_y		but in a normal way
roll_fs		actually yes.. but not fast forward..
m_yusof_y		cant expedite the time tho.
m_yusof_y		hehe!
m_yusof_y		hey, why we want to make it fast anyway.
m_yusof_y		hehehe!

I love this idea : we are currently doing time travelling! Normally. We move at leisurely paces. So, friends, please enjoy every moment of it. (Hmm, still my friend Dihah wishes to have time freezed! - Doraemon! Doraemon! :P)

roll_fs		actually can.. if you can run faster than the speed of light..
roll_fs
m_yusof_y		super human
m_yusof_y		seperman!!!
m_yusof_y		superman can actually do that, time travelling
roll_fs		actually the flash is faster than superman.. and both also cannot go faster than the speed of light..
roll_fs		u know the flash do you..?
m_yusof_m		Yeah
m_yusof_y		the stupid guys in red uniform
m_yusof_y		dun like him
m_yusof_y		hehe!
roll_fs
m_yusof_y
roll_fs		anyway, back to the time travel..
roll_fs		the butterfly effect.. something similar..
m_yusof_y		nah!
roll_fs		he cannot change the past for the better.. everytime he change something.. something worse will happen..

My notes (taken from internet): "The butterfly effect is the idea that in a chaotic system, a very small change to the system applied at a certain point in time makes the future change in a very dramatic way. Something as small as a butterfly flapping its wings now might affect the weather system on a global scale six months in the future."

m_yusof_y		You should see what the differences between both terms. What each of them stressed for
roll_fs		understand that.. but still its about we cannot change the past..
m_yusof_y		of course we cannot change the past!
m_yusof_y		unless you are in time looping
m_yusof_y		like 1201 movies
m_yusof_y		12:01
roll_fs		and also how we will make choices for the future..
m_yusof_y		watched it?
roll_fs		nope..
m_yusof_y		HA HA
roll_fs		vcd..?
m_yusof_y		yeah
m_yusof_y		kat rumah
roll_fs		dun forget monday..!
m_yusof_y		or if u have some brain illness like, hey, what taht movies called ek
m_yusof_y		loves story
roll_fs		which love story..?
m_yusof_y		where he try to impress this girl
roll_fs		a walk to remember..?
m_yusof_y		but this girl have some mental prob
m_yusof_y		every morning cant remember what was happened yerterday
m_yusof_y		short memory
roll_fs		50 first dates.
m_yusof_y		comedy
m_yusof_y		owhh
m_yusof_y		yeah
m_yusof_y		heheeh!
m_yusof_y		unless you have mental illness, then you can change the pass
m_yusof_y		rephrase:
m_yusof_y		unless you have mental illness, you cant change the pass
m_yusof_y		hehe!
roll_fs		pass or past..?
roll_fs		hehe
m_yusof_y		past

It seems that my opinion about time travelling is changing every second! :P Sorry, "mengelabit" entry! (It's just for fun!) Enuff said!

Bad Lecture: Comin's Law, and its application in life! :P

2004-05-26T18:10:00.000+08:00

I surfed the other day to find something to elucidate and to satisfy my curiosity on Murphy's Law. And I found a nice page (here!) with a long list of laws and laws (god-knows-what!). Some are comical. Some are totally lunatic. But some do make sense. And, there where this Comin's Law attracted my attention.

Comin's Law stated that "people will accept your idea much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first". This is not very hard to understand since it has been explained in crystal clear language. And - I don't know for good or for bad - it's not very hard to apply either.

"Do you want to know something?"
"What?"
"Well, mere chocs or flowers are enough to produce love. And that's what a survey by one of University in U.S. says"
"Really?"
"Yeah"
"I see. Good then."

In above example, people accept your idea when the fact is that you don't even know if such survey does exist (you don't have to say Benjamin Franklin said it all the time rite? :P). It's your idea, and the idea comes using your commonsense. You're implying. You're guessing. You think your idea is correct so you guess no need for further reference.

Without "a survey by one of University in U.S. says", the conversation might turn out like this:

"Do you want to know something?"
"What?"
"Well, mere chocs or flowers are enough to produce love."
"Who says that?"
"Me-lah"
"Bullshit!"

This is not a good example. Sorry :P

There are a lot of essays or articles or speeches using "ahli bijak pandai ada mengatakan bahawa ..", "sejarah menunjukkan kepada kita bahawa ..", just to show a few examples, when they are actually don't have a clear ideas who those ahli bijak pandai or which part of the history they are referring to. To put those phrases will put extra value to their own ideas, or so they thought. :P It's still fine because the one who utilizes this kind of phrases are undoubtedly have brains. :P

So far, no much harm done.

Now, move to the variation of it, which I don't know whether it's still within the law's domain or not :P. This variation is of course much, much more hurtful - immensely if you take the implication into account. It's what we called "jual nama". It's not much apply on ideas, but on instructions, or some facts etc.

"Mat, boss suruh kau buat laporan pasal downtime hari tu" will create some action faster than "Mat, bleh tolong aku buatkan laporan pasal downtime hari tu?" Mat become the victim, but as long as he doesn't know that the boss actually asks the guy to do it, it's ok. But, people will start talking and referring to each other and sooner or later, the truth will come to the surface. So don't do this. You will perhaps be boycotted by others.

Worst is when you use other's name like ".. dia yang cakap!" or "dia kata .." and i don't want to discuss about this because i'm afraid someone will take it as Yusof's Law :P. Nah! I think, this is way, way out of scope! :P

To apply or not to apply is a matter of honesty. And use you brain. :P Apply at your own risk, albeit the risk is not so big!

That's all for today lecture. Class dismiss. :P

p/s: I might change my opinion about this, hehe!

From "Lorong Neraka" To "Shrek 2" :P

2004-05-23T23:27:00.000+08:00

How do you feel if someone takes something belong to you? Angry? Cool? Calm? Insulted? Intimidated? You don't have to tell me. Whatever it is, let me tell you a story. A real life story!

At about 5.15 p.m. last Friday, a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to watch theater - Lorong Neraka - that night, 8.30 p.m. , at Matic, Jalan Ampang (it's just next to Saloma if you don't know where it is!). According to her, several teratorian has confirmed their presence. I said "ok" after a long thought. :P

When I arrived there, Saloma has been engulfed by a loud music mainly to entertain foreigners, to show them how rich Malaysia with diversity of culture. Such cultural event is very interesting to discuss of course but that is story for another day :P Entering the Matic, the sound subsided. We - B, Mael and I - went straight to the theater room. Manzek and ND were already there. SueN, Daimlerz and Rudi called in saying they would be a little bit late.

It's ok. We have booked enough seats for all of us.

Hey!! It IS NOT OK! We learnt a bitter lesson: a booked seat is not yours until you sit on it.

Don't ask me "what the heck are you saying?" because you may find yourself lying peacefully on the bed at nearby hospital after hours of unconsciousness. (grrr!) :P Ok. Ok. Pardon me. I admit it's a valid question and I will answer it. Let me continue my story.

When we arrived at the table where we were supposed to collect our ticket, the person in charge informed us that all seats were fully occupied. We said "How come?" They explained that a group of VIPs came and asked for tickets, and they could not say "NO" so they gave our tickets to the VIPs. How nice! :P Argument would not help. Our willingness to sit on the floor also turned up to be futile since even that alternate place has no space left. How ironic! So sad since the parking ticket was RM 10, equal to ticket for the theater. :P

Who's to blame? Matic? The person in charge? Us? VIPs? I leave it to you to think :)

Nothing could be done. We decided to watch it some other night and bought the ticket. They promised to give us the best place, but that later to be observed since it is not only us - a lot of people stuck in front of the theater. Then we gambling our way walked to KLCC, full of hope so there were still tickets available for us to watch Shrek 2.

Yes, there were still tickets available for us and we have a nice day watching that funny movie. And we all lived happily ever after that night! :P

A Soulful Relationship!

2004-05-19T22:25:00.000+08:00

Dear friends,

My gf ( *cayang Ain! Muaacchhss!* ) forwarded to me an email and it contained the following essay. I have been reading it again and again and been thinking about it. Something to reflect on. Read it line by line, words by words and feel it. I dunno much about love :P, but I think it's nice and i want to share it here :) It has been annotated nicely by my friend, SueN ( at terato's forum actually!) and me.

regards.

A Soulful Relationship
by Rev. Ronald McFadden

An African proverb states, "Before you get married, keep both eyes open, and after you marry, close one eye."

[[ SueN:
the tears had stung my eyes. i do not know why. for the past week, so much things happen between me and the people around me, including to the people i've trust all along. i had came to the point where i do not wanna talk about relationships. i stay away frm my friends who suddenly talked about it. some sort of escapism?

but then again, i haf to face reality.. dat as long as i'm being so low, being so insecure, i can't get myself to haf a long lasting relationship, even as friends. ]]

Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone, don't let lust, desperation, immaturity, ignorance, pressure from others or a low self-esteem, make you blind to warning signs. Keep your eyes open, and don't fool yourself that you can change someone or that what you see as faults aren't really important.

Once you decide to commit to someone, over time his or her flaws, vulnerabilities, pet peeves, and differences will become more obvious. If you love your mate and want the relationship to grow and evolve, you've got to learn to close one eye and not let every little thing bother you. You and your mate have many different expectations, emotional needs, values, dreams, weaknesses, and strengths. You are two unique individual children of God who have decided to share a life together.

[[ SueN:
yep, to close one eye and accept their flaws. but the thing is, if there isn't any chemistry between them, it wouldn't work because u can't expect TWO DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS to click just like dat. even some people who haf same interest would bore each other out if the there's nothing dat could tie them up together. ]]

Neither of you are perfect, but are you perfect for each other? Do you bring out the best in each other?

[[ SueN:
dat's wat i said, chemistry! both of u can explode if the chemistry is there..! ]]

Do you compliment and compromise with each other, or do you compete, compare, and control? What do you bring to the relationship? Do you bring past relationships, past hurt, past mistrust, past pain? You can't take someone to the altar to alter him or her. You can't make someone love you or make someone stay.

[[ Polt:
My observation shows that people tend to have some pre-perception when they want to embark on a new relationship. They think this new guy or girl is same like the one they had before. How come? They are different person. Yes, of course you can be a little careful, but give him or her some times to show their own self.

SueN:
yes, big mistake to bring ur past into the previous relationship. if u expect the other half to take away ur pain of the past, like by sulking all nite long just because he didn't call and u ACCUSE him going out wif other girls like ur ex, u are damn wrong! it is YOU who is responsible to let go of the past and try to live in the present.. coz i dun think these ppl would haf the patience to deal wif ur 'kerenah'.. yes, u hafta accept each others flaws, but not when u are disgraced by her lack of trust, even how hard u haf tried to earn.

so then again, u hafta learn to love urself first if u expect ppl to love u back. ]]

If you develop self-esteem, spiritual discernment, and "a life", you won't find yourself making someone else responsible for your happiness or responsible for your pain.

Manipulation, control, jealousy, neediness, and selfishness are not the ingredients of a thriving, healthy, loving and lasting relationship! Seeking status, sex, wealth, and security are the wrong reasons to be in a relationship.

What keeps a relationship strong?

Communication, intimacy, trust, a sense of humour, sharing household tasks, some getaway time without business or children and daily exchanges (a meal, shared activity, a hug, a call, a touch, a note).

[[ SueN:
small things in life. heh. appreciate them together. and certainly it will make a HUGE impact in ur lives. ]]

Leave a nice message on the voicemail or send a nice email.

Sharing common goals and interests. Growth is important. Grow together, not away from each other, giving each other space to grow without feeling insecure. Allow your mate to have outside interest. You can't always be together. Give each other a sense of belonging and assurances of commitment. Don't try to control one another. Learn each other's family situation. Respect his or her parents regardless.

[[ Polt:
Yes, when you commit, trust each other. Respect each other previleges, and space of life. ]]

Don't put pressure on each other for material goods. Remember for richer or for poorer. If these qualities are missing, the relationship will erode as resentment, withdrawal, abuse, neglect,dishonesty, and pain replace the passion.

The difference between 'United' and 'Untied' is where you put the 'i'.

[[ SueN:
yep... dun be selfish. dat's just it. u're talkin about the person u love most, so why should u be? and appreciate the effort dat ur other half has done for u. ]]

Secret Window ... and MPD!

2004-05-11T23:04:00.000+08:00

Secret Window - I watched this movie on Saturday at TGV Mines, 11.30 a.m. Disclaimer - if you haven't watched this movie yet, do not proceed reading this entry because it will ruin your fun :P Extremely!

Still want to read? It's your choice! Don't tell me i didn't warn you! :P

It is a story about a man who has a dual personality - Mr Mort Rainey. He's a writer. Six month after being cheated by his wife, a man named John Shooter appeared, and told him that he stole his story - Secret Window. Shooter threatened Rainey to change the ending of the story to his - which to him is much much better, and told the world that he was actually the one who wrote it. As Shooter put it, the argument would never end until one of them dead.

Dog killed. House burned to ashes. Anyone who wanted to interrupt found their last breath. Shooter was true to his words. The another option he gave was to bring the original copy of the magazine where the story was originally published as a proof, and he would give himself up to police. Anyway, the copy of the magazine posted to him by his agent has been sabotaged - all pages contained the story has been torn out.

Later he found the real answer. :) The connection between he and Mr Shooter.

I don't want to talk about Johnny Depp, who undoubtedly brought his character with great clarity. :P Rather, here we are : have you ever heard about MPD? Multiple Personality Disorder? Dictionarybarn.com told us that it is "a dissociative disorder in which two or more distinct conscious personality's alternately prevail in the same person, without any personality being aware of the other". So, that's what happened to Mr Mort Rainey. He didn't think that he, in his real self, would be able to do such things - murder and stuffs, which only resulting the other self in him took over and commited everything for him - and worst, without him realizing it (or didn't want to realize it!)

I've a lot more to say. But, read other review, ok? :P

Notice the phrase "without any personality being aware of the other" in the definition of MPD? HOW IF one is aware the existence of that one's other self? It's not MPD right? (Meaning, i'm normal rite? :P)

Which remind me to the Anthony Robbins (sorry because i didn't bring you to Freud, Jung or Adler :P). Why? I read his book, The Unlimited Power, and his lecture on the power of "state" really caught my attention. We should know ourselves. In one situation, we can be like this, and on the other situation, we can be like that. We can be so professional at one time, and we can be so nicely childlike (hehe!) at the other time, yeah, based on the situation. The important thing is that it is within our control - we can opt which one to put forward.

The reason is to put ourselves in the most resourceful state to deal with what in hand at that time. For example, when i enter chess tournament, i will imagine that i'm a grandmaster so i can play like one. When i have a meeting with CEO, i will imagine i'm a manager. Of course, in order to achieve a good result in doing this, we need preparation and training. :) I can train myself to be a dangerous and ingenious killer and later putting myself in that state and commit the crime!! :P (And people still think i'm nice since they know only the other self :P). It's like my premeditative identity!

Off topic. Sorry. :P

So, later, i read a discussion board on why this movie needs a second watch. They have listed their obervation to minute details, especially on the hint of the dual personality. Yeah, i will buy the DVD to check that!

Happy Mother's Day!

2004-05-09T23:29:00.000+08:00

Short update:
I dunno how to put it in flowery words. But, Mom, i luv u so much! Thanks for everything! I mean it, everything!

p/s: I did call my mom and Ain's. Listening to their "thanks" is enuff to make me happy :)

10 questions i asked to Iqa

2004-05-08T17:22:00.001+08:00

In one of my YM session with Iqa, we agreed to exchange 10 questions where we have to answer those questions in our own way - in our crazy and serious way! It is just for fun anyway. The questions could be anything so i sent mine to her and below were her answers. Hopefully, peeps, you will get to know her better :P

1.You are currently taking Electrical Engineering in UTM. Why do you choose this course? Is it because you did some market research on that and suddenly it affected your choice? Or is it just your parents' idea? What other course you would be taking if not this one?

Nope, it has nothing to do with my parents at all. It was fully my decision. I consulted my uncles (lecturers in the engineering field) and was told that electrical engineers are in demand (entah betul entah tak, but if it's not true we know who to blame! muahaha)

If I weren't doing this, I'd probably be studying medicine/dentistry in Jogja :) (nearly went there)

2.Everyone knows that your nick at terato forum is lady-rain. Why that nick? And how that nick affects the way you posted there? Erkk, do you think a nick will affect the way one post anyway?

Lady rain is my all time fav song. There's something about the cheesy lyrics that pulls me to it. Heard it for the first time when I was in primary school. You can say it's one of the earliest songs I've ever heard of (I don't hear much music back then unless you count the reggae music/Beatles/really really old music that my dad tortured us with :) good ones though )

Nope, it doesn't affect me in any way at all, my postings included. Though there were times I admit when I say I love the rain but no, I love clear days as much as I love rainy days.

Will nick affect postings? Nope, I don't think so.

3.What is the purpose of blogging to you? Hmmmm, and why we are sharing blog from your point of view?

Let's just say that I blog because I love writing though I'm not good at it.

Why a shared blog? Hahaha, till this day I don't know the exact reason. But the idea of sharing one with you, Mr Polt, is an honour. Plus, it's a bit different right? If I'm not able to update, there's always the other person :)

4.What was your ambition when you were a kid? Hmm, what is an ambition to you? Is it any importance?

Er, to become a doctor. Can I not answer this? It's depressing (sob, sob)

5.When you are alone and in your most calmest state, what will you think about? Your future? About the reality of life and some philosophy of it? Or something you have done? Have you ever worried about your future?

It depends. Most probably I'd be thinking of something that happened a few hours before I get all calm. Er, tah la, banyak benda.

6.What is the thing you hate most?

Okay, the thing that I hate most would be the finals. It's mainly because of the atmosphere at the time - everyone would act really creepy. Yes, strange things do happen when the exam's around the corner. Someone fell sick lah, couples broke up lah (it's none of my business, I know, but try and wail far away from me please) some idiot tries to annoy you lah, your things suddenly went missing lah, etc. Yes, I really hate that period.

7.I believe a lot of guys are trying to approach you, but as you claimed, you have still no boyfriend. Why is that so? What is the criteria you have set for that someone special? What does love means to you? When a guy "loves" a girl and the other way around, how to find whether the feeling is real, I mean, from your opinion?

No comment? :P

Why do I still have no boyfriend? Simple maa - I fancy no one at the moment (kerek tak answer ni? )

Criteria? You must be a Brandon Boyd look-alike to date me (also kerek)

I don't want to answer this Q la!

8.If a genie suddenly wants to grant you 3 wishes, what would they be?

1. More wishes
2. More wishes
3. More wishes

9.What is your favorite food? Wait. Cancel that question. Hmm, I love ice-cream and chocolate. Do you love ice-cream and chocolate? (ah! I should ask more serious stuff and do not squander this opportunity, right?)

Yes! I love both of them but I love chocs more :)

10.What is your advice to fellow human being on earth? (Erm, sorry! I'm from Mars and I don't have to listen to your advice! )

Dunia hanya sementara people (oh, that applies to you too Martian)

p/s: please take note that I couldn't answer all these Qs properly as I'm on hols right now. People who are on hols don't act sober. How could they when they don't even know what day is today?

Jalan-jalan cari makan!

2004-04-29T23:18:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, my company had our company lunch at Siam Kitchen, Mid Valley.

Company lunch is a monthly treat and every department takes turn to serve. It can be food brought from home, or maybe ordered from some catering services, or simply going to some restaurant. This month is our Finance Department turn and they decided to bring us to Thai foods restaurant. Yum! Yum!

I realized that two weeks ago was a real big makan week for me. On Monday, I had a gathering for ex and current staffs gathering (this one didn't involve top management) at Little Penang, Mid Valley. On Tuesday, with top management, I had lunch at Amarin Thai, Mid Valley with two of SIRIM guys. On Wednesday, I took my dinner at Pha Pha seafood with my colleagues, celebrating the last day my colleague working in the company. And on weekend, I went to Danga Bay to eat with my girl friend. (Really sorry to my digestion system for facing such a weird mixture of foods! :P )

I don't know why. But we love to find a nice kedai makan with variety of delicious food. Kak Dewi, Ain's friend, told us that once she transferred to KL, she was really hunting down such places. I guess, same goes with us. There is a case where friend of friend who, at least to me, an extreme foods lover that they went to Melaka from KL at night and came back at the same night just for the sake of their stomach - to eat seafood at Umbai.

From my observation, many online forums, especially the one related to some kind of transportation, will surely have jalan-jalan cari makan or teh tarik sessions. We can see a lot of magazine, like KLUE, potraying places serve special meals where we can head to. And a lot of programmes in TV being aired that make us hungry and our mouth watering.

Yeah! Having nice foods is self-satisfaction! After daily hectics work and study, we think we deserve that, and won't mind spending some money for our appetite. I know, some people think it is an extravaganza, but i guess, the purpose of that is self-appreciation.

We love to eat nice foods, and nice foods we have. Yeah, thanks God, alhamdulillah atas nikmat yg dikurniakan. But at the same time, don't forget that there are people who unfortunately live without food for days!! So, take the advice: "berhenti sebelum kenyang!" :)

The day i lost my wallet!!

2004-04-22T10:15:00.000+08:00

A short update:
I lost my wallet yesterday somewhere at Mid Valley!!

I made a report at Traverse Police Station, Brickfields that very evening, and blocked all the credit card and my bank cards. I broke the news to several of my close friends, and they gave me some warm words to make me calm.

And, i kept telling myself everything would be alright - just calm down, take necessary steps and pray.

And you know what? To my surprise, this morning, a women called me (she got my HP number from my business card in the wallet), and told me that she found my wallet. I picked it up at her office, and after checking, everything was there. No single cent was missing.

I gave my huge thanks, and said sorry for unable to give her something in return. I was speechless.

Thanks God. There is still people who really honest, the treat that much needed in our current society. :)

Everyone told me that i was really lucky. And i felt the same way!