It's been 3 weeks since I last came back to Ipoh. I quickly notice the changes in my own room. My parents had someone remove the wallpaper that once beautified my entire room. Well, I won't say exactly the word 'beautiful'. I thought it was just different. Today, the wall has just been re-Nippon and I am somehow very happy with the plain new blue. I have never said this before, but I used to loathe my own 'ugly' wallpaper; I didn't tell my parents because I did not want to hurt their feelings for their initial plan and concept of a wallpapered room. Wallpapers may fit a hotel room but to me, wallpapers are a big no-no for private residences.
Many things go obsolete. I dunno if there are people who still paste wallpapers to their houses. Other simple noticeable obsoletes in my room that I've noticed are my printed photographs and their negatives(!?!!?!?!), my Aiwa radio cum cassette player and my KRU's AWAS cassette. That's crazy. But as much as I want to do away and dumb all these obsolete stuff into the recycle bin (not the photographs, of course), I just can't do it now and now!! They have sentimental value. How I wish my parents hadn't discard the old stamp books I once had. Besides Beh, I dare say that no one does stamp collecting anymore.
Oh, ya....one very very obsolete thing in my room: my Encarta encyclopaedia set that cost a bomb (RM1000 at when I was 10 years old was a lot of money) and the Atlas book that came with it! They still had Yugoslavia! Madras was still Madras!
I found another obsolete in my room: The floppy.
Good read:
http://tech.msn.com/products/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=21159559
Q: What's obsolete in your room?
Friday, August 28, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia
Clockwise from top left: Pink, William Quah, Me with the crowd building up below us.
20,000 rockers.
Okay, it's a 1.3 MP phonecamera. So, we did look kinda flat 2-D.
Apart from Fipink being called "Aunty" by a bunch of kids sitting next to us in VIP (Gold) area, MTV World Stage was a BOMB! What a blast!! So wanna go to rock concerts again! Hoobastank was my ultimate favourite, though many would agree that All American Rejects (AAR) was THE act of the night.
Shucks! THE kids who called us aunty
Those with Gold tics like us were usually famous ppl/invited guest. Xandria Ooi and hubby was sitting right behind us; Niki Cheong too; a couple of Cleo Bachelors spotted; Kenny Sia dropped by though he left quickly for the mosh pit (ref: Niki Cheong). In the early hours, NTV7's William Quah was spotted behind us with his thick English accent; we spotted Joey G and last but not least, our bestie: Raj who jumped from Platinum to Gold to Mosh Pit to everywhere. And there was a couple of famous celebrity but we don't give a damn anymore. What matters is what's on the stage.
I think Hoobastank playing the theme from 'Ghostbusters' as an attention-builder towards the song The Reason was crazy crazy crazy! It came as a surprise. After Ghostbusters, the lead, Doug Robb labelled the crowd "ridiculous"!
Kasabian was the final band on the list, but we left after AAR's "Gives Me Hell". So did most of the crowd. I pity Kasabian with the dwindling crowd, but business' as usual. The volcano at Sunway Lagoon 'erupted' at the end of all of it but we both missed that (Reference: Niki Cheong) cause we were both left right after rocking with AAR. And also, who the hell are the Kasabians?!?! Sorry for my ignorance for the music industry of late....but I know the Kardashians though.
MTV doesn't fail. Good organizing. Good weather (I know Pink would also agree that it was so-not-cool to bring an umbrella). And best of all, there was no traffic jam cause we kiasu-cum-oldies left early for home, while the whole of Sunway was still partying at clubs nearby.
Pink and her Pope (or Nazi?) salute to AAR.
Check out MTV WorldStage Live in Malaysia on MTV 28 August 2009 (on Astro, of course).
Friday, August 14, 2009
Bali 8-10th August 2009
I don't really know what is it about Bali, but it makes me wanna go back again. I told Jonie that probably I'll return to Bali in another 2 years time because it's time to save $$ for New York. But the inkling feeling of returning to Bali is lingering hot. It could be because of my short(ened) stay there. The less you get, the more you yearn.
Top's still alive! So smart lah, this Malaysian. 'Proud' of you :P
We stayed in Legian for a night at Fourteen Roses Hotel which was the epitomy of a modern balinese architecture; the vicinity was way beyond my expectations. But where I was staying in Ubud was ...hmmphhh...unbelievably amazing. I still dunno the name to this hotel. And yes, because the place that we stayed in Ubud did not have a name (yet)! It was a genuine balinese style family home-turned-hotel (bed & breakfast). And if there was one compliment about this hotel, it was the rooms!
Hotel in Legian Room in Ubud.
It was a short trip, but bare in mind, I had seasoned travelers together with me in this trip -Jonie, Riza, Cynthia (and parents were avid travellers) who just can move (or not move i.e. hatta yoga!) and can make up their minds real quick. Which is soo important! They said to have from Plan A to Z, just in case 25 other plans don't work out. But in my own observation, the whole trip was not planned at all! We've covered relatively a lot of places in spite of the lack-of planning, and because all plans(?) went so smoothly, you'd thought it was planned! (ok, sound like tongue-twister already).
But I can pin-point one factor to the smoothness of this trip - it was Wilson! A native to Bali, he was Nina's Friendster buddy. Errrrr....pretty creepy, but like us, even Nina has never met him in person 'til this Bali trip! And despite not knowing anyone in person (as well as Nina), he joined us in everything we do and everywhere we went. We were pretty bless to have our Indonesian friends too - Nina, Riza and Wilson - who were the key in braving thru' all language barriers, much-much-cheaper bargains, know-hows, and the north-south-east-west of Bali island with our rented coklat Avanza.
PEAK PEAK PEAK PERIOD:
Even Riza sighed at the sight of the our own human race in Bali. He's been to Bali many times and probably is his second home, but he has never seen soo many human beings in Bali in his entire life. Well, I told my dad: "How not to mingle with the Whites, eh???!?!?! Wanna avoid terrorist??? How to avoid??? And btw, Noordin M. Top looked like everyone else!" I blame the surfing competition held at Kuta and the National Day of Singapore.
Top's still alive! So smart lah, this Malaysian. 'Proud' of you :P
Terrorist-on-the-road: This man just lie on the road bringing the whole Ubud's traffic to a standstill about 5 min. I dunno why too. The polisi came and apprehended him.
Trivial: In Malaysia, TERRORIST ON THE ROAD means, bad drivers...like me.
We stayed in Legian for a night at Fourteen Roses Hotel which was the epitomy of a modern balinese architecture; the vicinity was way beyond my expectations. But where I was staying in Ubud was ...hmmphhh...unbelievably amazing. I still dunno the name to this hotel. And yes, because the place that we stayed in Ubud did not have a name (yet)! It was a genuine balinese style family home-turned-hotel (bed & breakfast). And if there was one compliment about this hotel, it was the rooms!
Hotel in Legian Room in Ubud.
You have to try the ever, famous, highly recommended babi guling. But nah....we all went to Bumbu Bali which was located exactly next to babi guling stall instead. I laughed and laughed to myself; my travel mates as well as Mr. and Mrs. Chang looked in amazement when I didn't wanna order any specialty from Bumbu Bali restaurant. Yes, you've guess it: because there's an exact franchise at Bandar Puteri Puchong - also by the same name. I've patronized the one in Puchong like 5 times. Why should I eat the one from Bali? The food in Bali is, of course, exactly the one served in Puchong's Bumbu Bali. Meh!
Oh, which reminds me I need to get to Bandar Puteri soon. Ivy-out!
P/S: more Bali pics at HERE
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
PTD M41
I went for a civil service entrance exam specially for Admin & Diplomatic officer (PTD - M41). I know, I know, many people will now start questioning my intentions to be one, but it's about Malaysia. I do love Malaysia. Nothing political of that sort. Doesn't mean I sokong the current government either, although I am supposed to (you have to be politically inclined to the Ruling gov.). I believe in Malaysia. Malaysia needs me or someone like me now (chehhwah!). I know I am just one drop of water in the vast ocean, but surely does make a ripple.
When I knew I really wanted to do this, I called a friend of mine who is already in the civil service with federal gov, but under the Perak administration. He's under the Economic Planning Unit, placed under Perak state government umbrella. He's Chinese, okay??!?!?! (uuurrrggghh....stop asking about race; typical Malaysian!). Since he has been thru' this presumably tough gov. exam, I asked him for tips. Also, there are so little Chinese (race again?!) in civil service that he said it would be easy for me to get in (and not harder as everyone would expect). And then I can spend tax-payers money on luxurious trips around the world as a diplomat. Kidding!!!!!!! (BTW, this friend just came back from training in Tokyo and Osaka, fully paid by tax-payers money(?)).
What's weird: I hope by the time I get into the government as a civil servant, it would be the current opposition ruling the federal gov, no?! Hope. And more non-bumis would have applied for civil service by then (I guess). Which makes my life easier, because I have less competition now than later on.
So, I promulgated my interest in PTD. And then: the uproar. And of course, friends have presumably tested me in a many LOL ways; friends who started testing me questions like e.g. So, who killed that Mongolian girl: A. PM B. Baginda C. Suicidebombing D. Wife. I told my friends I would 'gladly' (coercingly!) select 'Tiada di atas' if given the choice.
And when the real exam day arrived, I was calmed. In my examination hall in Putrajaya, out of 100 ppl, I spotted only 3 Chinese and about 10-11 Indians. My opinion: It is not about why the government is soooo biased towards bumis in the civil service. It is the non-bumis the ones NOT APPLYING to get in. And then, if 1 chinese gets cut-off from civil service cause he/she didn't pass the exam.....then the big huuuuh-hahh starts in the media implying "oooh, chinese get kick out due to double-standards in selection", or " hey, it's 1/3 or 33.33% chinese get kick out from entrance exam". If you look into the numbers correctly, it's all about the impact. Non-bumis feeeeel the impact more if they were not selected for civil service because of the less no. of applicants! So, it's rarely about the race. Look at the big picture, please.
If you've been thru' Form 6 - the first part of the questions are easy. It's like Pengajian Am. But with general questions e.g. "which of these movies did P. Ramlee acted in?", "what is Phishing?"....etc. But the second part was the hardest due to the time given to answers 40 maths and IQ questions in mere 45 min. I went panicky, of course. But who wasn't panic that time, eh?! Essays were okay: I answered the BM question about H1N1 and Influenza A, while I talked about the definition of success and its correlation to academic achievements in the English essay .
So, nothing political at this point (of the entrance exam). But it gets tough. However, I pray to get into the next part "THE ASSESSMENT" - physical fitness tests of timed- 2.5km run (yes!), mock parliamental debates, speech in BM and speech in English. Oh yes!
When I knew I really wanted to do this, I called a friend of mine who is already in the civil service with federal gov, but under the Perak administration. He's under the Economic Planning Unit, placed under Perak state government umbrella. He's Chinese, okay??!?!?! (uuurrrggghh....stop asking about race; typical Malaysian!). Since he has been thru' this presumably tough gov. exam, I asked him for tips. Also, there are so little Chinese (race again?!) in civil service that he said it would be easy for me to get in (and not harder as everyone would expect). And then I can spend tax-payers money on luxurious trips around the world as a diplomat. Kidding!!!!!!! (BTW, this friend just came back from training in Tokyo and Osaka, fully paid by tax-payers money(?)).
What's weird: I hope by the time I get into the government as a civil servant, it would be the current opposition ruling the federal gov, no?! Hope. And more non-bumis would have applied for civil service by then (I guess). Which makes my life easier, because I have less competition now than later on.
So, I promulgated my interest in PTD. And then: the uproar. And of course, friends have presumably tested me in a many LOL ways; friends who started testing me questions like e.g. So, who killed that Mongolian girl: A. PM B. Baginda C. Suicidebombing D. Wife. I told my friends I would 'gladly' (coercingly!) select 'Tiada di atas' if given the choice.
And when the real exam day arrived, I was calmed. In my examination hall in Putrajaya, out of 100 ppl, I spotted only 3 Chinese and about 10-11 Indians. My opinion: It is not about why the government is soooo biased towards bumis in the civil service. It is the non-bumis the ones NOT APPLYING to get in. And then, if 1 chinese gets cut-off from civil service cause he/she didn't pass the exam.....then the big huuuuh-hahh starts in the media implying "oooh, chinese get kick out due to double-standards in selection", or " hey, it's 1/3 or 33.33% chinese get kick out from entrance exam". If you look into the numbers correctly, it's all about the impact. Non-bumis feeeeel the impact more if they were not selected for civil service because of the less no. of applicants! So, it's rarely about the race. Look at the big picture, please.
If you've been thru' Form 6 - the first part of the questions are easy. It's like Pengajian Am. But with general questions e.g. "which of these movies did P. Ramlee acted in?", "what is Phishing?"....etc. But the second part was the hardest due to the time given to answers 40 maths and IQ questions in mere 45 min. I went panicky, of course. But who wasn't panic that time, eh?! Essays were okay: I answered the BM question about H1N1 and Influenza A, while I talked about the definition of success and its correlation to academic achievements in the English essay .
So, nothing political at this point (of the entrance exam). But it gets tough. However, I pray to get into the next part "THE ASSESSMENT" - physical fitness tests of timed- 2.5km run (yes!), mock parliamental debates, speech in BM and speech in English. Oh yes!
Can't wait.....
My lovely deskboard....
....a little closer.....
....closer.....
YES!...
...it's the MTV World Stage (Live in Malaysia) passes that everyone is DYING for. Literally!
SCREAMMMMM!!!! And I have the GOLD passes. Which means, it's time to shake the hands of the lead from Hoobastank!
Thanks FP and Gary's sis (muaks!) You've made my year!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Here we go again.....
I mean, it was back for months.....
Let me rephrase: It's not back, it has always been FOLLOWING me.
This is one of many incidences. Many many incidences. I just managed to capture this with my handphone although it is disallowed at petrol stations.
Other blog posts regarding 111 or 1111 following me (since last year):
&
P/S: if you didn't know, Alan's b'day is 11 November. Come on, what is the chances of meeting a guy with that bday! No kidding!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
I guess only....dunno yet.
I guess I've been watching too much movies lately. No worries, most of them were d/loaded or paid for.
I guess I NEED to do this coming interview really well. You know why? - this bloody interview had cost me a penalty ($$$) by AirAsia and cost me one day less off my Bali trip.
I guess I passed the Petronas interview. But their small prints are making me really really worried. They are non-conclusive. Nevermind.
I guess (before Yasmin Ahmad pass away) during the interview, I bragged about how I adore Petronas' advertisement associated with Yasmin, and how it really made an impact on our lives - had gotten me this Petronas job. :P
I guess I still have the heart to continue teaching in the university as a lecturer because it's SAFE and although many would say that it does not fit my personality, I guess it did fit me in a way though. I am slowly learning to love teaching/research.
I guess I am in love with Aikido again. Err...nope...nope...I think it was all about loving and missing my old aikido mates. I guess everyone in this world knows I cannot do feminine dances (salsa) and sooner or later will be back roughing people up.
I guess I am now very in love with jogging. And I said jogging (=slow)....and not running. And slowing down on swimming cause I guess it is causing me zits on my skin and ruins my hair.
I guess I am baptized.... "guessss"...cause people had said that one would change after baptism, but..hmmphhh...I'm doubtful of any changes in me.....yet.
I am single...but I guess everyone still thinks I am not. "Where's-your-bf?!"-question(s) keeps cropping up every time I attend a family event. I guess it is for them to guess what my status is, cause I'll just answer them with a smile. And they would guess I am toooooooo choosy when it comes to guys (which I totally deny!). All my aunts/cousins are preparing to introduce guys to me. One introduction was a 12 year old guy/boy.......(I'm dead).
I guess I don't mind now not living in KL. I have thought of The USA to do my postdoctorate (and that's working, okay?!). My dad requested of me to work in UTAR as a lecturer. Well, I don't mind....but hey, it was the Kampar campus that he's talking about!
I guess they are lonely. Cause I KNOW (no more guessing) that they are.
I guess I NEED to do this coming interview really well. You know why? - this bloody interview had cost me a penalty ($$$) by AirAsia and cost me one day less off my Bali trip.
I guess I passed the Petronas interview. But their small prints are making me really really worried. They are non-conclusive. Nevermind.
I guess (before Yasmin Ahmad pass away) during the interview, I bragged about how I adore Petronas' advertisement associated with Yasmin, and how it really made an impact on our lives - had gotten me this Petronas job. :P
I guess I still have the heart to continue teaching in the university as a lecturer because it's SAFE and although many would say that it does not fit my personality, I guess it did fit me in a way though. I am slowly learning to love teaching/research.
I guess I am in love with Aikido again. Err...nope...nope...I think it was all about loving and missing my old aikido mates. I guess everyone in this world knows I cannot do feminine dances (salsa) and sooner or later will be back roughing people up.
I guess I am now very in love with jogging. And I said jogging (=slow)....and not running. And slowing down on swimming cause I guess it is causing me zits on my skin and ruins my hair.
I guess I am baptized.... "guessss"...cause people had said that one would change after baptism, but..hmmphhh...I'm doubtful of any changes in me.....yet.
I am single...but I guess everyone still thinks I am not. "Where's-your-bf?!"-question(s) keeps cropping up every time I attend a family event. I guess it is for them to guess what my status is, cause I'll just answer them with a smile. And they would guess I am toooooooo choosy when it comes to guys (which I totally deny!). All my aunts/cousins are preparing to introduce guys to me. One introduction was a 12 year old guy/boy.......(I'm dead).
I guess I don't mind now not living in KL. I have thought of The USA to do my postdoctorate (and that's working, okay?!). My dad requested of me to work in UTAR as a lecturer. Well, I don't mind....but hey, it was the Kampar campus that he's talking about!
I guess they are lonely. Cause I KNOW (no more guessing) that they are.
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