Life of an Ex-Teen

%&!$@ drivers

2007-02-28T17:48:00.000+10:30

Half the drivers on the road (in Penang at least) aren't fit to drive a kiddie car. The authorities may wonder how to handle the increasing amounts of traffic on the roads. Here's a solution - revoke the licenses of the more awful drivers on the road. You know, the drivers who

take up two lanes at one time.
slow to a total stop before every turn.
drive at 25 km/h in the fast lane, beside somebody going at 20 km/h in the slow lane
decide that single-lane/way two-way roads are where they should park by the roadside and reduce it to single-lane/road two-way roads.
are confronted by a space 25% wider than their vehicle, and stop there because they apparently have zero depth perception
and lots more, but let's stop this rant here.

Seriously, there should be a law against these people. Disrupting traffic, or something along that line. If you have that much time to waste puttering around the roads, people, take the damn bus.

Speaking of buses. There was a newspaper article recently about some new bus company planning to start operating in Penang, with over 150 buses to serve all areas. There were complaints from local bus operators that it would severely affect their business. All I can say is - big deal. You people have been screwing up for as long as I can remember. Explain why exactly we should be concerned by your business being affected? You don't deserve our sympathy or concern. With your terrible business practices, the only reason you're still around is the lack of transportation choices for many people. Hurry up and go broke. You won't be missed*.

* Except in 30 years, when my generation will tell our grandkids "When we were your age, we had to wait hours for a bus ride. No instant teleport around, you know."

Darkness

2007-02-28T17:35:00.000+10:30

When was the last time you were completely immersed in darkness? Total, complete darkness. The kind of utter darkness where you can't see your hand waving in front of your face.

Assuming you have experienced it, and you noticed it, what was your reaction? I know some people who would have freaked out. For myself, I found it quite interesting. And very peaceful. With two senses truely cut off (assuming it's night, and there isn't an ass next door blasting a speaker at full volume), the mind really starts to wander. Follow it around, drifting from topic to topic, and you get all sorts of interesting stuff to think on later. Lots of bloggable material, too. No, I wasn't tripping on weed or anything. Unfortunately, I was in the stage of neglecting my blog the last time I did that (immerse myself in darkness, that is, not weed). Ah well. And I doubt I'll experience it again anytime soon. Malaysia, with its night-time light pollution, is unconducive to such experiments.

Updates On Moi

2007-02-22T07:25:00.000+10:30

Hi, and welcome back. Hey, sit down. Breathe deeply. Don't faint on me. No, you aren't hallucinating, I actually updated my blog.

So, what's been happening with me? I'm no longer studying in Australia, having been recalled back by my parents. Why? They missed me too much :) Yeah, sure. Still, it does sound better than me telling everybody I screwed up my exams. I'm not too proud of what I did, and I'd rather not dwell too much on it right now.

Well, I'm currently enrolled in KDU Penang, in a 3+0 double degree (business and computing) program by Northumbria University. Entry into 2nd year. Also working part time in my dad's office. Underpaid, of course. Heh. In my spare time (what little of it there is) I'm working on a java-based sudoku program. Theoretically it'd allow you to plug in numbers, and spit out the solution. Right now, I'd say I'm about 1/3 done.

Oh, and Happy CNY and VDay to you people out there. No, I didn't celebrate VDay. Refer to this post for my (still) current opinion on VDay. What can I say? I wasn't exactly very active socially in Adelaide... guess I should start getting out more, huh?

An Unusual Lunch

2006-06-03T17:27:00.000+09:30

I was having lunch at a food court today, when I noticed this old guy at a nearby table. Quite a familiar face, he's a person of habit. During my first year, I saw him at Hungry Jacks every night that I was there. Same time every night and, if available, same table. 2nd year I stopped having dinner regularly at HJ, but I still saw him now and then. Lunchtimes he'll be at aforementioned food court.

So, I just finished my lunch, when I noticed him behaving rather strangely. He appeared to be trying to stand up, but the table was shaking - most of his weight was on it. He finally got up from his chair, but sat back down before he was fully upright. Alright, he really doesn't look good, I go over and ask him if he's all right. At this point he collapses onto the floor. Luckily I grab him before he whacks his head on something. Yell at my friends to call the ambulance. My friend gives me a blank look -_-". Couple of other people come over to help. Security comes over, makes some joke about it being her week for picking up guys, because somebody else collapsed there just the day before.

Anyway, the guy keeps telling us he doesn't need an ambulance, and he lives at.. somewhere. He's been sick the last few days, but needs to do some shopping. Some other security guys arrive, and I'm feeling out of place, not to mention my friends are bugging me that it's time to leave. Very well, the security should know what to do better than me. They get paid for it, after all. On the street outside, an ambulance passes us. Guess somebody did heed my request to call an ambulance.

Well, my best wishes to the old man. I do wonder why he asked not to call an ambulance, however. Simple stubbornness, the refusal to admit we need a doctor, which most of us have probably experienced, or was he thinking of the financial costs? (Ambulances in Australia are not cheap, they cost the patient several hundred dollars.) I don't know his reason, but I have to wonder if it's right that a sick person, who might require an ambulance, has to consider the financial implications of obtaining immediate help.

Gem of Life

2006-05-22T07:54:00.000+09:30

Here's an interesting site, LifeGem. It's a company based in the US (has branches in UK as well) that offers to create artificial diamonds from the cremated carbon remains of a loved one, whether of the genus homo sapiens, canidae, felidae, or any other species you like. The gems are offered in 2 colors, blue or yellow. They're really quite beautiful.

On the other hand, maybe it's just me, but there's something... weird about the idea of carrying around the remains of a beloved family member. Granted, it's technically the same as carrying a locket of hair around in a... locket (no pun intended). It just seems a bit.. gelee to me to be carrying around what's technically the remains of somebody you used to love. What do you think?

B&B - Blogs and Boredom

2006-05-22T07:01:00.000+09:30

Another sleepless night. Sigh. I occasionally experience insomniac nights, where my thoughts start wandering into random threads, and weird scenarios, likely and unlikely, play themselves out in my head. Crap, I'm gonna be a zombie again today. A green-haired zombie. I must admit, my hair colour isn't looking bad. It's actually quite interesting (I hesitate to use the word 'cool').

Anyway, I've been musing on your average blog. I occasionally spend some time surfing blogspot, and there appears to be quite a number of people who feel the urge to tell me (and the rest of the world) what they had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tea and supper optional. I don't get it. Do they truly believe their dietary choices are of any interest to the rest of us? I wouldn't bother with such a question even for my closest friend. Perhaps understandable in a gf/bf relationship, but not otherwise. Others include every routine detail of their day-today lifes. The kind that goes "I woke up, had breakfast, went to work/school, had lunch, finished work, went home, had dinner, wrote this, and am now going to sleep." One of my friends suggested that maybe they don't have anything better to blog about. If that's the case, why write? If your subject matter is that dull, nobody's going to read it, no matter how many acquaintances you pester into linking to your blog. It's one thing to share highlights of your day/week/life, it's another when your life is so dull that your readers fall asleep skimming your blog (Now there's an idea, a possible cure for my insomnia!).

A Few Irreverent Thoughts

2006-05-17T23:15:00.000+09:30

This post is just a place for me to post some irreverent/irrelevant thoughts which really have no place anywhere else. I'll be updating this post from time to time, and linking to this post from the side panel. Check back occasionally for updates.

I wonder if I can persuade blogspot to subsidise me something for converting fypher away from friendster.
Oh god, will my guestbook ever be obvious enough?
Just wait till I get my hands on the incompetent idiot who manages my particular MSN server...
Never redesign a webpage when you're short on sleep and can't tell the difference between great improvements and great eyesores

Proud as a Peacock

2006-05-16T21:17:00.000+09:30

I don't usually write about my day-to-day life, but I'll make an exception here... OMG, my hair is green!!! Ok, so I've been planning to dye my hair for some time now. Today, went to buy some dye, bleach, etc. After bleaching, my hair is yellow. Right, apply blue dye. Wait 40 minutes. Wash it off. Look in mirror. Recall art lessons teaching the primary colours.

Blue + Yellow = Green

Sigh. Thank god it was semi-permanent dye only, good for 20 washes. Hopefully i'll get it out in a week or so. And no, I can't post any pics, not because I'm malu, but the green just wont show up in the pic. In the meantime, I guess I'll wear it proudly. And some dark glasses, preferably.

Google Blogspot To Get To Xanga!

2006-05-15T15:32:00.000+09:30

How dumb can events get? I was bored, sleepy (VERY sleepy) and stuck at uni in front of a computer. I get this weird idea of seeing if Google has my blog in its database. Turns out some of its servers do, and some dont. Yeah, little known fact, your search results may differ depending on which Google server you get assigned to. It's random. If that last part left you scratching your head, forget it. Anyway, I see a Xanga site with my name on it. I'm like 'wtf'? After all, I joined Xanga in 2004 and forgot about it a month after I joined. Guess what's on my Xanga site? A link pointing to this site. Zzz... ironic. Google doesn't know this site exists (at least the Google server I was assigned to), but can send me to a Xanga site which I don't remember existed. On the bright side, I found a couple of pages belonging to some long-ago friends. Fypher, nice to see you've finally adopted MSN. =D

Sleepliving

2006-05-14T07:28:00.000+09:30

Just finished the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb. For those of you who have no idea what I'm blabbing about, its a book. Well, 3 books, actually. Interesting storyline. Very poignant, bittersweet. Definitely not your average hack-slash-and-toss-fireball fantasy story. No skilled hero(ine) excelling at his field above those with decades more experience. Just a lot of character development and angst, if you go for that kind of thing.

This is kinda sad, I've been reduced to writing book reviews to have something to post in my blog... Oh well, hopefully I'll get my mind functional and considering the world again soon. Okay, that last line doesn't read very well. Let me see if I can explain it a little.

I sorta live life in two modes. One as a sleepwalker (sleepliving?), and another awake and wondering at the world around me. When sleepliving, my mind basically doesn't operate on anything beyond the most basic tasks. Curiosity is nonexistent. Eat, sleep, play games, read novels, study (sometimes... oh do stop sniggering, you...). This phase, which I'm currently in, is when my blogs usually dry up and die. Notice the lack of posts recently?

And then, there's the awake mode. Which is usually when my environment has just changed, and my mind is curious, and, given something unusual to consider, will mentally jump from that something to something else, and something else, and so on till I have enough material for several blogposts at once. This is the first time I'm actually maintaining a blog and coming up with a few interesting posts while in my dead-to-the-world mode.

And no, I don't have any idea why I switch between these two mindsets, nor do I have any idea how. I wish I did, life is definitely more interesting in the awake mode. On the other hand, I do wonder if the average stereotype of the burned-out frazzled office worker isn't what I just described. If so, I had best find out what triggers me soon. I have no wish to sleepwalk through the rest of my life.

I really should clean up this post a little, but it's 8am in the morning and I have yet to grab any shuteye. Despite my opinion of sleepwalking, it's time to grab some zzz's.

ps - I sincerely apologize to any sleepwalkers I may have inadvertently offended. Go back to sleep.

I Have A Dream

2006-04-25T15:49:00.000+09:30

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you are at peace, with the world and yourself, content in every way, with everything you truly want (and I don't mean money). Then all of a sudden, *poof* and you're awake its gone. Nada. Nothing. Zilch. Zero.

It's especially bad if you're like me, prone to lazing in bed after just awakening. During that time, the line between fantasy and reality blurs. You're lying there, perfectly content, treasuring that perfect moment. Then suddenly, self awareness returns, and you realise it wasn't real.

Alas, that I've had such a dream last night, one which dredged up the past, a past I thought behind me. A past I thought I was at peace with, till the feelings evoked by my dream resurfaced.

Thankfully, dreams fade fast. By tonight, chances are I'll have forgotten my dream and all related feelings. Save a general feeling of depression, perhaps. Well, the price we pay for those wonderful few moments of dreams, I suppose.

Househunting

2006-02-27T08:35:00.000+10:30

So... 1st week back in Aus is over, and classes are starting. Been a busy week, running around looking at houses. Some of which don't look much bigger than Barbie doll houses to me. Sheesh, city living. It is kinda amusing to read those real-estate notices, though. Really proves that old chestnut about having to be a good liar to be a good real-estate agent. Rooms a couple of metres across are described as 'large'. A laundry area that was less than 1m² in width was descibed as 'spacious'. I kid you not. Oh well, guess I'll have to keep looking a while longer.

In the meantime, classes begin in 20 minutes. And since I can't find my pencilcase from last year, I have to hit the bookshop for a few pens. Cya people.

Another One Of Those Days...

2006-02-17T23:20:00.000+10:30

What a day. Thank god today was one of those once-in-a-blue-moon occasions, and not a typical day. Lets see, where do I start ranting.

<rant>

Well, first, I arrive at the airport early. Ok, so far so good. Security baggage check, clear. Check-in, clear - NOT. Turns out I forgot my old passport (my student visa is linked to my old passport, which has expired, so to get into Australia, I need my old passport to display my visa, and my new passport to show I'm not a political refugee from Malaysia).

Crap, no passport. Ok, time is something I have, luckily. Thank god I'm in Penang with my mum's 'go early' philosophy, not in Adelaide with my friends and their 'it's ok, we'll make it... I hope' philosophy. Heheh. Right, so my mum goes home to find the passport. And promptly gets stuck in rush hour traffic from Penang's main industrial zone. &%#^!*@^$&%^. Takes her an hour to make the trip.

Great, so now we're back at the check-in counter, with my passport(s). Here I feel another effect of MAS' cost cutting exercises. My student weight allowance has been cut to 25kg. And the damn agent was trying to tell me that since I didn't have a 'special letter of authorization', I was limited to 20kg. FFS!!!

*Interrupt*

To top it all off, my mum overloaded my bags, even by the old allowance of 30kg, she was way over with 36kg. Ok, so my mum gives up on trying to import enough instant noodles to feed me for a year. Less 5kg. Move all canned food, and 2 boxes of Brands (essence of chicken) to my carry on luggage, which now weighs a ton (at least, it feels that way after lugging it all over the airport). Why am I lugging it all over the airport? Read and see.

Thank god they didn't weigh my hand luggage.

Move on to the security check, where they try to separate out the terrorists and drug traffickers from us normal people. Do more than just try, I hope. And here I have to remove - 7 coins, 1 phone, 1 watch, 2 bags. Walk through, dang alarm goes off. I point to my belt (iron). He (security) points to my iPod and chuckles before petting me down (feeling me up?). Collect 7 coins, 1 phone, 1 watch and 2 bags. Just in case you're wondering, the 2nd bag is my laptop backpack.

Oh joy, my gate is at the far end of the airport. Trudge, trudge. At the gate, I see no flight staff whatsoever. Panic, 'Shit I missed the plane'. Cool down. Tell myself to think rationally, plane isn't supposed to leave for another 15 minutes (which means I should have 5 minutes left to board), and theres a ton of passengers still standing around the place. 5 minutes later, I find out that 'due to weather adverse in Kuala Lumpur' my flight has been delayed to 9pm, from original time of 7.25. Nice to see some things never change (like the standard of English in Malaysia).

Ok, i have 90 minutes to kill. Sit down, get bored. Look around, see a power point, plug in my laptop. Cross my fingers. Oh joy, they have wireless. Try to access my email. Realise that the cheapskate TMNet beancounters won't let me access the Internet without paying. MCB. So I start writing this overlong post.

See that *Interrupt* line up above? That's where a MAS person comes along and asks us all to move back to customs for visa processing, to expedite the process in KL. I'd appreciate the initiative, if it didn't involve me lugging my ton of hand luggage back to the entry area. Oh, and repeat the entire security process of 7 coins, 1 phone, 1 watch, 2 bags. This time my iPod goes too. Of course, my belt sets it off again, and he feels me up again.

Right, lug my canned food back to my power point. Luckily for me nobody else has claimed it. Sit down and continue this overgrown post. Another announcement. For the last 45 minutes MAS has been telling us that light refreshments will be served 'shortly'. The latest announcement informs us that, due to 'time constraints' in preparing the refreshments, refreshments will not be served after all. There's another 45 minutes before the plane is supposed to depart. I leave you to draw your own conclusions about their efficiency.

Right, I've caught up to where I am right now, sitting here writing this. Wonder what I'm going to do now. The way my luck is going, I'll arrive in KL to find my connecting flight has left.

3 minutes later edit - OMG, my laptop fan has just died. *Insert obscenities here*

<rant>

Feminists

2006-02-14T02:48:00.000+10:30

Hmm, my blog is growing mouldy (or so Lyn claims). Apologies, with CNY and preparations for going back to Aus, I've been kinda busy. Ok, not really that busy, since it's my mum who packs my bags for me. Lol. I can hear my sis laughing now. Anyway, I'm just about out of fresh ideas for stuff to blog about, which is the main reason I've been so quiet here.

What exactly are females trying to accomplish? I can't for the life of me figure them out. On one hand, they want us to treat them as equals. On the other, they have romantic dreams of a knight-in-shining-armour coming to sweep them of their feet. When the gals themselves can't make up their mind how they want to be treated, god have mercy on us poor guys who have yet to figure out the way they think (I'm operating on the unproven assumption that they do think (Sometimes I have reason to doubt that)).

Well, until they decide, I'm going to treat them the way I always have - as the weaker (aka less mentally/physically capable) gender. *Grin*

*Starts looking for a place to hide when the gals find this post*

V-Day

2006-02-14T01:39:00.000+10:30

And yet another Valentines day is waiting just around the corner. God, this must be the festival which brings out the widest range of emotions in me. Emotions ranging from happy and appreciative, to depressed and annoyed. Usually depending on my relationship status at the moment, of course. Yes yes, it's all being done for commercial reasons. Thats small consolation when they start playing love/romantic songs on every channel. Yes, I know you buggers have got your soulmates next to you. Stop rubbing it in my face!

ps- Forgive my temper, being single does not suit me.

A Gamble

2006-01-26T04:17:00.000+10:30

I was in my garden this afternoon (well, technically, yesterday afternoon) when this middle-aged Indian guy came up to the gate and asked for somebody named Ms. Lim (or something like that). Dressed quite nicely, in long pants and shirt. Had a nametag of 'Sara'. Claimed to be working at Citybank. Gave me a sob story about him losing his wallet, IC, blah blah. Asked me for RM7.50 to get on a bus back to his family in.. Julu, was it? Anyway, felt sorry for him, handed him 10 bucks. He promised to return the money to me. Unlikely that he was telling the truth, but I imagined myself in the same position and...

So... conman, or down-on-his-luck person? Time will tell. I know, chances are my 10 bucks are gone, but I hope that, against the odds, he turns out to be sincere. Let me discover that my faith in basic human decency was not misplaced. I'm too young to become a cynic just yet.

Update: 27/1/06

Conman, apparently. There goes 10 bucks. More importantly, there goes part of my faith. Sigh.

Parents = Females

2006-01-23T19:17:00.000+10:30

Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Common enough phrase. Usually used by members of one gender to refer to the other gender. Perhaps we should modify our understanding, however, to include parents. Perhaps it's just me, but... parents get so annoying sometimes. Sure, it's out of a sense of love. That's the main reason I tolerate it. Just that... sigh, the generation gap can get really annoying sometimes. Especially when they start trying to restrict you based on reasons that went obsolete 20 years ago. God, grant me patience.

Holier Than Thou

2006-01-23T18:40:00.000+10:30

God, I hate people with those attitudes. On reflection, I realised that that's precisely why so many Christians piss me off. Not their beliefs, or the fact that they try to convert me (at least, not if they do it nicely and discreetly) but the fact that they tend to sport a I'm-holier-than-thou-and-you're-going-to-end-up-in-hell-if-you-don't-repent-while-I-sip-iced-lemonade-and-lounge-about-in-heaven attitude.

No, this isn't another whack-the-Christian post. What set off this tirade is the damn Muslim peeping toms. 'Moral enforcement team', indeed. Just call a kaypo a kaypo, wouldya? And they had the nerve to defy the Cabinet and announce a plan to appeal to the Minister of Interior Affairs (was it Interior Affairs? Can't quite recall the relevant ministry). God, don't these people learn? There has never been a case in history when self-appointed 'moral guardians' actually accomplished something useful.

Morals, despite what some people may wish, are not a fixed set of standards. Rather, they are the accepted norms of society. Morals are defined by behaviour that the public will condone and accept, as compared to actions that the public feels is wrong. Unfortunately, self-appointed moral guardians are not representative of society at large. Rather, they tend to be from the more conservative (read:anally-retentive) segments, usually bored, overly righteous, and intolerant of all beliefs and behaviours which differ from them. For goodness sake, when all major religions preach tolerance and understanding, why is it those people who claim to be the most moralistic who end up being the most intolerant?

Diet Report

2006-01-23T18:33:00.000+10:30

Well, my diet's over - and a success, seeing as I lost 1¹/₂ sizes. Much to the disappointment of a certain friend of mine who was drooling over his upcoming (or so he thought) double-scoop something-flavoured ice cream. Heheheh. The downside is, I wonder if I haven't just regained half a size in the couple of days since my diet was over. Guess it's time to rein in my eating habits... binge eating does not really agree with staying slim.

Evolution of Christianity

2006-01-20T02:20:00.000+10:30

Now here's an interesting fact. The Vatican holds the position that evolution isn't incorrect. Nothing new to others, perhaps, but very new to me.

Pope Pius XII, a deeply conservative man, directly addressed the issue of evolution in a 1950 encyclical, Humani Generis. Pius XII states that nothing in Catholic doctrine is contradicted by a theory that suggests one species might evolve into another - even if that species is man. The Pope declared:

The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experiences in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter - for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.

In other words, the Pope could live with evolution, so long as the process of "ensouling" humans was left to God. Pius XII cautioned, however, that he considered the jury still out on the question of evolution's validity. It should not be accepted, without more evidence, "as though it were a certain proven doctrine."

Almost 50 years later, in 1996, Pope John Paul said:

Today, almost half a century after publication of the encyclical, new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory.

Evolution, a doctrine that Pius XII only acknowledged as an unfortunate possibility, John Paul accepts forty-six years later "as an effectively proven fact."

Interesting. In plain english, the Catholic Church is declaring that evolution is a valid doctrine. More than a theory, they have accepted that the circumstantial evidence for evolution (which is all we'll ever have) is so overwhelming as to be irrefutable, and cannot reasonably be denied.

He (John Paul) recognized that science and Scripture sometimes have "apparent contradictions," but said that when this is the case, a "solution" must be found because "truth cannot contradict truth."

The stance of the Catholic Church is a surprisingly familiar one. They maintain that science and religion are not necessarily at odds. That evolution and creation are both valid theories.

Let me elaborate. The church accepts the theory of evolution, that we are descended from apes and single-celled organisms and various other species we would prefer not to think about when considering our ancestral tree. What they maintain, however, is that the hand of god is evident in this process. That god created the universe via the 'Big Bang'. That the driving force behind evolution is not natural selection ie. 'Survival of the Fittest', but instead is the intent of a higher being. That each human being is no animal, but has within him a soul that comes from god.

I mentioned that their stance is a familiar one. Indeed, it is. It's my stance. It's the opinion that I have repeatedly explained to whoever happens to be trying to convert me at the moment. And I find it interesting that they never noticed just how similiar my stance is to that of the Church. Imagine how much breath they could have saved. Imagine how much pain they could have spared my eardrums. Ultimately, my only disagreement with the Catholic Church is regarding the existence of Jesus. They say he's the son of god. I have no opinion there. Maybe it's time some of these self-proclaimed missionaries actually listened to their (usually captive) audience for a change. Or maybe they were too busy proseltyzing to notice that the Church accepted evolution as a fact. Maybe I should just stop bashing them, but I can't help it. They're so annoying. Also, I accept that some of those people I've met are Protestants who disagree with the view of the Catholic Church, but I doubt all of them are. To the next person who ignores my views and tries to preach to me - "The pope agrees with me. Go argue with him."

Eat to Live/Live to Eat

2006-01-19T19:04:00.000+10:30

I've been writing about my diet recently^[1][2][3]. It just struck me that a year ago, I was blogging about the differences between the 'Eat to Live' and 'Live to Eat' philosophies. At that time I was heartily supporting the 'Live to Eat' camp. And now I'm dieting. Isn't that a major contradiction? Perhaps not. After all, my diet really consists of nothing more than skipping lunch every day. I still happily stuff myself with junk food as dessert after dinner. And I still eat food that's just dripping with fat, oil and the promise of a heart attack at the age of 30. I guess I'm still firmly within the 'Live to Eat' camp.

I'm finding out that a diet is not an easy thing to maintain. Going out during lunchtime with co-workers and ordering nothing but a drink earns you funny looks at first. That's simple enough to deal with. What isn't so simple to deal with is when you have to sit there and look at everybody else eating while your tummy growls. Life gets even more difficult when a well-meaning mum tries to sabotage my diet by cooking lunch for me despite my requests for her not to. She goes "Aiya, eat less for dinner la." Sigh. It's amazing I've lost any weight.

While I'm writing about food, I might as well mention a friend of mine. He got annoyed because, at a table with 8 of us, he noticed that there were 3 of us without acne/pimples. What did we have in common? A no-vegetable diet. LOL. So much for our parents' admonitions for us to eat more veggies or risk having our faces break out into something resembling measles. Perhaps somebody should conduct research into this. Imagine face-care products containing loads of animal oils. Then again, I can imagine the animal-rights activists burning my house down. Maybe I should reconsider...

The Star

2006-01-19T16:55:00.000+10:30

Hmm, I've submitted 3 posts to The Star's Citizen's Blog since it first started. My posts never appeared (or so I thought), and I sent them an email lambasting their lack of feedback as to my posts. As it turns out, the posts did get published eventually, 2 days after I first submitted them. Thats slow by blogging standards, but I guess I owe them an apology, sort of. Nevertheless, I stand by my opinion that they should let a poster know via email when their post gets reviewed, and whether or not it gets accepted.

On a different note, I must say I'm kinda disappointed in In-Tech. Remember my various Microsoft Strikes Again^[1][2][3] posts? Slightly more than 3 weeks after the vulnerability first appeared, it gets a short mention in In-Tech. Guys, thats old news by now. The unofficial patch appeared 3-5 days after people found out. It was so serious that even sluggish MS released their official patch within a fortnight. And you inform us of its existence 3 weeks later. Good thing I've stopped relying on newspapers for news.

Friends Drift Away

2006-01-17T19:40:00.000+10:30

Over the years, I've known many people, had many friends. Some were little more than acquaintances, others became close friends. Many have since drifted away. Mostly because of sheer neglect. From both sides, usually. Environments change, locations change, and childhood friends who we see everyday are no longer so easy to contact. Contact details change, and we don't bother informing others because we haven't stayed in touch for so long. We refuse to admit that we've been neglecting the friendship, and eventually we lose touch altogether. We form new friendships, and the cycle begins anew. Eventually, we realise that our friendships are impermanent. That none of our friends truly, truly know us inside. That, in this modern era of instant communication, we are alone, isolated. Where our parents would have written long letters to keep in touch, we use electronic chat programs to say 'hi'. And we let it go at that. That's not communication, that's being a polite stranger.

As always, there are exceptions. There are friendships which survive the times, and grow, and strengthen, with age. To these people, I salute them for taking the effort to keep in touch, and not the easy way out. Bravo.

This wasn't the original intention of my post. I had in mind a few close friends, who have recently been drifting away, despite my best efforts to keep us together. As I started writing, however, I realised that I have been guilty of the same mistakes as them. I've done my share of neglecting. Some of those friendships would have ended anyway, I have learnt that it simply isn't possible to keep one going without the interest of both parties involved. Some of the others, I am probably at fault. To those I neglected, my apologies. To those whom are drifting away again, my best wishes. To all of you, if you think of me someday, and want to get back in touch, I will be more than willing to continue and pick up where we left off.

Computer Games

2006-01-17T18:45:00.000+10:30

Right, I'm addicted to computer games. Very badly addicted. And it's been a life-long addiction, along with my fantasy and sci-fi novels. And maybe it's been going on long enough. On the other hand, I have no idea how I'll reduce my game-playing, I've never seriously tried to stop. The crowd I hang out with is no help either, one of our main 'bonding' activities is hanging out at cybercafes. Hmm, I guess I'll find out just how far willpower will take me when I return to Australia. Can't really begin right now, I'm too busy for games (haven't been playing for a while) but I can feel the urge... pulling... pulling... No... must.. resist.. urk.

DotA, here I come.

Are You Still On The Phone ?!?!

2006-01-17T02:55:00.000+10:30

I miss having long phone conversations. You know, the kind that lasts for hours and ranges from topic to topic, covering just about everything under the sun, and sometimes things that never appear under the sun. Sigh. How many of you people have conversations like that? Most of the females do, I'm sure. The males I'm not so sure.

What I don't miss is my mum yelling at me to get off the phone, heheh. That's the reason most of my conversations ended up being held at night. Usually resulting in me being a zombie the next day. Never did enquire about whether my partner-in-phone-crime turned into the living dead too. Hmm...

So, what happened to the people I used to chat with? Well, both of them now have better things to do than spend hours chatting with me. They've found their special someone, and now spend hours chatting with them instead. Lol. Well, life moves on, I'm sure there are other chatterboxes out there waiting to be discovered. Too bad I have no idea how to contact them.

Microsoft Strikes Again Part 3

2006-01-17T01:17:00.000+10:30

Remember the stuff I mentioned in the first and second Microsoft post? Probably not, but never mind.

More relevantly, have you watched one of those sci-fi movies with computers that have secret methods of being accessed (aka 'backdoors')? Well, they exist in real life too. And not in top secret military installations, but in everyday computers, like yours (and mine). Serious, I'm not joking. Guessed where I'm going with this post yet?

Yep, the recent MS fiasco, was no accident. Some guy discovered a genuine MS-created backdoor in Windows, and exploited it to create a brand new-class of viruses. Had the guy not discovered it, MS could (and might already) have used it to obtain information from any computer running Windows. Doesn't sound like a big deal to many people, until you realise that the US government could have accessed your computer without your knowledge. Or the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) might have browsed through your entire music collection. I can hear the lawyers celebrating.

So that's one backdoor found, and closed. Possibly a gazillion more waiting. So much for security and privacy. Welcome to the world of Big Brother.

Fish vs Fowl

2006-01-12T21:49:00.000+10:30

Waddaya know, KFC can make a decent burger. That is, their new Fish burger. They even go as far as to offer a 'satisfaction guaranteed or money back' guarantee. And it tastes pretty good. As good as (or better) than McD's Fish Fillet burger, IMO. How do I know? Lol... I sadly admit to succumbing to temptation (and the growls of a hungry tummy) at lunchtime today. Sigh.

And 2 weeks of dieting have apparently had a really averse effect on my appetite. I could barely finish lunch... something I would have sapu-ed without any problems before starting my diet. Dang... how am I going to attend buffets in this condition?

Diet vs Ice Cream

2006-01-12T01:10:00.000+10:30

Hmm, I don't know about waist sizes, but I'm fitter than I've been in years. Quite possibly fitter than I've ever been. Amazing what 2 weeks of determined dieting and exercise can do for you. Still.. the acid test will come when I buy my CNY clothes.. if I haven't lost a size or 2 by then, I'm gonna be many, many ice creams poorer.

Campfire-on-a-Tray

2006-01-11T16:30:00.000+10:30

Hmm, I've been neglecting my blog again. That's usually the first sign of an impending slow death. Oh well, my blog has more lifes than a cat. Comes back to life more often than any undead I've ever heard of, too.

Had a 2nd BBQ last night, just Calvin (my younger bro), my dad and me. Unfortunately, we were out of firestarters. After messing around with some newspapers (resulting in a lot of ashes, and a very annoyed mum) we resorted to minyak kelapa sawit. Cooking oil, to be exact. And more newspapers to get it lighted. Skip past more ashes, and enough smoke to rival an Indonesian forest fire, and the oil finally heated up enough to ignite. *Foom* Instant campfire-on-a-tray. Great, now pile on the charcoal. And more oil to keep the fire going while the charcoal heats up. I enquired of my dad whether we were trying to cook with charcoal, or cook the charcoal. In retrospect, the amount of energy used to light the charcoal was more than the energy obtained from burning the charcoal. Great, we've invented the opposite of cold fusion.

Goddamn MSN

2006-01-11T02:55:00.000+10:30

There's something wrong with my MSN account. For the past few months I've been experiencing occasional problems with the connection. I'd get dropped, and be unable to reconnect. Even when I try logging in via web-messenger or on a friends computer. Heck, I've tried switching continents (Aus to Msia) and the problem is still persisting. Might be one of their (MSN) servers gonna crash soon... lol. Maybe it's time to create a new account before they lose my entire contact list. Hmm...

Clubbing and Moi

2006-01-07T17:59:00.000+10:30

I went clubbing again last night, against my better judgement. And discovered once again that I don't enjoy it. I just can't figure out the attraction of clubbing. Or maybe it's just because I don't know how to dance. Any pretty girls out there willing to teach me? Lol.

Dear Reader(s)..

2006-01-07T00:53:00.000+10:30

It's come to my attention recently that I have quite a few readers more than I knew about. How did I find out? Well, somebody tried to claim a free ice cream from me earlier tonight (see Fatty Fatty Bom Bom) despite the fact that my diet's only supposed to end next week. Another friend commented on the fact that I started my blog by posting about my ex. Not quite sure what the significance of that is, perhaps she'd care to enlighten me the next time she visits my blog.

Anyway, people, if you think my blog is actually worth the time to read, then sign my guestbook. At least I'll know there are people actually reading what I write. Otherwise... yours truly is gonna start thinking 'Why bother? Nobody reads this...'

Malaysia Boleh

2006-01-06T17:03:00.000+10:30

Malaysians have guts, I'll give them that. For non-Malaysian readers (I know I have at least one), some background.

Our government decided quite a while ago (about 3 years, I think) to convert all old identity cards to new chip-imbedded smartcards. And they gave a deadline of 31 Dec, 2005. All applications made before then would be FoC. 3 years... hmm...

Fast forward to the week prior to New Year, there were huge crowds at every registration office in the nation. Things got rowdy too, with some middle-class businessman (who should honestly know better) complaining that the government was not prepared. Not prepared? They gave you 3 years. Three stinking years! Who wasn't prepared? Run that by me again, please.

Fast forward again, to the present. Government has announced that fee would be RM10. Majority of opinions tend to be - those who haven't registered, deserve it. Probably should have made it larger. A few people complain that they have large families and can't afford to pay. Hmm... now why couldn't a member of your huge, oversized family have gone to the office sometime over the 3 years to apply? Or were you just too busy expanding your already overlarge family? A few others complain that if they had known 'only 10 dolleh', they wouldn't have bothered queueing up at all. Gets me wondering whether Msia or Sg people are now more kiasu.

So... Malaysians definitely have guts. They are brave, proud, and not afraid to voice their opinion. Or... maybe they're just not smart enough to know when their opinions make them sound like 3 year olds.

Name of the Game

2006-01-04T01:28:00.000+10:30

Are you one of those people that love logic puzzles? You know, the kind of person that gets frustrated and feels like whacking the closest thing to hand. The kind that would murder if somebody slipped you the answer. If you are, take a look at this. Supposedly, it's defeated some of the greatest minds around, and took Bill Gates one-and-a-half hours to solve. If you solve it, bravo. If you post the solution here, I'll kill you. Slowly. Painfully.

Malaysian vs Australian Hygiene

2006-01-04T00:57:00.000+10:30

It is my sad conclusion that we get what we pay for. Specifically, seeing as how Malaysian food costs less, and tastes better, the trade-off is apparently portion sizes and hygiene. Or maybe it's the 'extra stuff' in the food that gives it its great Malaysian taste.

Well.. when I first got back, I was appalled at how tiny the plate of Char Koay Teow I had ordered was. Sigh. The size of an entire meal in Malaysia was equal to the size of my appetizers back in Australia. Oh well, it'll help me lose weight, right?

Something else that wasn't so apparent at first - Malaysian hygiene (or lack of it). Before going to Australia, I rarely got hit by stomach troubles. Since coming back, every few days, I end up stuck on the throne. Grr... and it's not just the food, me and many of my friends are getting allergies that we never had before studying in Aus. Sheesh. On the other hand, taste wins out over hygiene any day. Malaysia boleh!

Microsoft Strikes Again Part 2

2006-01-03T12:39:00.000+10:30

There's a fix out now for the Windows vulnerability I mentioned a few days ago in this post. Unsurprisingly, Windows is still muddling around. Thankfully, there are non-Windows affiliated computer experts out there. Go here to download a fix to protect your computer. Only works for Windows XP and Windows 2k systems at the moment.

Fatty Fatty Bom Bom

2006-01-03T01:07:00.000+10:30

Who among us hasn't heard that ol' phrase? Now available for use in reference to yours truly. Yes, I'm fat. F. A. T. FAT.

And just how did I come to this stunning conclusion? I went CNY shopping. See, another addition to my list of reasons to hate clothes shopping. It makes you confront things about your body that you'd much rather conveniently ignore. Like the roll of flab where my belly button used to be (It might still be in there, buried somewhere under all that you-know-what). Sigh. Depressing. I told my parents, forget it. No new clothes for me till I slim down. So... crash diet and exercise regime time. No more lunches, no more snacking, no more mamak. I have 2 weeks to get down to an acceptable body size. I don't know my weight, and I don't care. My waist size, I know because I was trying on non-fitting jeans earlier. 32-33. How do I define acceptable? Let me put it this way - If I can pinch anything on my stomach besides my clothes, I'm fat.

So... my exercise regimen started this evening, and went pretty badly. I struggled to complete stuff that I would have breezed through a couple of years earlier. Sigh. Well... no point continuing on this topic. Will report back in a week or so on my progress. If I fail, I promise free ice-cream to whoever reads this post and cares to claim it from me. Valid till CNY is over. Deliberately sabotaging my efforts will disqualify the offer.

You Call That Music ?!?!

2006-01-02T22:34:00.000+10:30

A couple of friends commented on my eclectic musical taste recently. For the record, I prefer easy listening, slow, romantic, or moody/depressive songs. Some pop, but that tends to depend on the lyrics. Disney songs too (I don't watch the movies, but I listen to the soundtracks. Weird, eh?).

Anyway, what's wrong with my musical taste? Sure, it's unconventional, but hey, it's music, right? And it got me thinking - music for the young generation has always signified rebellion. Nowadays, however, it's accepted that teen music will be nothing like what older people would appreciate. Each genre of music is 'assigned' to a certain generation. Older folks expect you to listen to what they would call 'junk'. They don't appreciate it, but they expect it. In a strange way, you could say that I'm the rebel, for listening to music that isn't 'cool'. Not that thats the reason for my taste. I just like that kind of music. Simple.

Guestbook Part 2

2006-01-02T04:24:00.000+10:30

I thought my guestbook was obvious enough, after modifying it when Jul complained that it was hard to find. I just got proven wrong by Jess, though. Her 1st attempt at signing my Guestbook entered my Chatbox. Her 2nd attempt ended up as a comment on my 1st Guestbook article. She went to sleep before bothering to write a third post. Lol. Anyhow, the link is now multi-colored in psychedelic hues. And Jess has claimed the dubious distinction of being the 1st person to comment on a post of mine - even if that wasn't her original intention. The next time somebody complains of being unable to find my guestbook, I'll highlight it in blinking thingys, a la Las Vegas, 100% guaranteed to cause epilepsy in any vulnerable readers of mine.

Christians and Low Lifes

2006-01-02T03:13:00.000+10:30

Happy New Year to all of you, and Merry Xmas too, for the Christians. Just to clarify, despite whatever impression my article title may give you, I'm in no way linking any Christians (or any religion, for that matter) to low lifes (aka bastards, m-f**kers, a**holes, and several other not-so-complimentary names). Just a shyster trick to grab your attention and hold it for a little while. =D

Anyway, regarding Christians, one of my readers got the mistaken impression that I hold a grudge against Christians. Let me make my position clear. I respect all religions. I respect your right to believe in a one, true god and no other false deity. I respect your right to believe that I am sorely mistaken and will go to hell for my sins. I respect you and your opinions. What I do not respect, and will not condone, is when you lose respect for MY beliefs and opinions. When somebody tells me that I'm going to hell, I get really, really annoyed. Who wouldn't? Please people, the time of priests and missionaries preaching fire-and-brimstone from a towering pulpit to a cowering congregation is over. If you truly believe, and wish to save people, discuss it with them. Let me make my point. In all my years experiencing attempted conversions, the person who has actually gotten me thinking most about Christianity and their beliefs, in a non-hostile manner, is also the one person who talked to me about religion without actually trying to convert me. He talked about why he converted, and dispelled several myths, while making other things clear. What a change from the tired old stuff about going to hell.

And regarding low lifes... just how low can some people stoop? At the New Years party I was attending, we were visited by some friends of the host. When they left, we found out a little later that all the alcohol had too. Expensive stuff, Chivas and Johnny Walker. Not mine, but the incident was indeed a mood-breaker. Sigh. Accident? Doubtful, because when we tried contacting them, all their handphones were unavailable for some weird reason. Or perhaps the handphone companies were merely off on holiday...

Save the Puppies!

2006-01-02T02:37:00.000+10:30

An old, dear friend asked me for a favour recently, that being to promote the petition by the SPCA to increase penalties for animal abusers. Yes, I know what you're thinking, 'What a waste of my time.' Come on, it takes 60 seconds to fill out the petition. Just your name and email address. Their goal is to increase fines on people who abuse those poor kittens, pups and what not from a measly RM200 to RM10,000. A worthy use of 60 seconds, in my opinion. And tell your friends about it too. Click here for the petition.

Microsoft Strikes Again

2005-12-30T13:02:00.000+10:30

Microsoft's latest boo-boo - allowing viruses to spread in the form of image files which can be triggered merely by viewing. This is nasty. Fully patched computers with up-to-date antiviruses have NO protection against it. Depending on the code of a particular virus, it might do anything. Worse case, files start disappearing from your hard disk. For you fellow students, start backing up anything important concerning your studies.

Recommendations for staying safe - stop surfing for a few days, stick to large reputable sites. Don't go near forums. Somebody post one of those pics there, and you've had it. Turn off image viewing/download in your email and internet browser.

To *reduce* damage in case you get infected, do this now - Start Menu > Run > regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll

This will turn off the previewer for images, and possibly reduce damage done if you somehow get hit. Good luck, and stay tuned, I'll keep this post updated.

Music To My Ears

2005-12-30T00:31:00.000+10:30

I've read many articles over the years, discussing what effects loud music can have on our hearing, especially headphones and oversized speakers. Here's an interesting fact - sound measurement isn't linear. That is, 100 decibels isn't twice as loud as 50 dbs. Instead, it's exponential. Every 3 decibel increment is a 100% increase in sound volume. So when we start measuring sound around the 100db - 115db range, a small increase in the scale is a huge increase in actual volume. So much for all those times when I used to think "Ahh, what's the difference between 100db and 110db...", now I know just how much difference there is - lol.

So anyway, earlier tonight I had a dinner with some relatives, including a certain nice, cheerful baby. At least, that was my first impression of him. After dinner, we decided to meet up at my house. And the baby was following my mum. Thats when we discovered just how much the baby disliked vehicles. I mean, my aunt had warned us earlier that he disliked travelling, but we weren't prepared. The moment we stepped into the car -
WwwaaAAAAaaaaahhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh....hhhh
And it lasted halfway across the island. Till we gave up and stopped at McD to give our ears a rest. Guess what, the moment the door opened, the noise stopped. Who said babies can't communicate verbally? This guy's a baby genius, he's figured out binary already. On. Off. On. Off. Ouch. My eardrums.

And when we figured out we had no choice but hurry back to my place, I tried turning on the radio, thinking maybe to drown him out a little. Waddaya know, the lil fellow quieted up instantly. And nodded away to the music all the way home. Being curious, I tried an experiment, and turned off the radio -
WwwaaAAAAaaaaahhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh....hhhh
Turn it on again. And he goes off. Ahhh. Thank you Hitz FM. Music to my ears.

Guestbook

2005-12-29T18:25:00.000+10:30

A certain somebody complained that my guestbook link was too small and hard to find. I wisely refrained from making a comment about apes with bad eyesight. Instead, I made the guestbook link more obvious. Maybe now more readers will sign it... (hint hint)

IT in Tech Companies

2005-12-29T17:30:00.000+10:30

It is my opinion that, in any tech-related company nowadays, there must exist at least one trustworthy manager/administrator who understands IT. For example, I have an acquaintance working in the Penang Bayan Baru FTZ. For obvious reasons, I won't identify him or the company. Now here's the funny part. He was hired under the Quality Control department. As it turns out however, being a Computer Engineering student, he knew more about IT than the IT department of said company. Interesting. Apparently the IT departments troubleshoots computers by popping in a Windows cd and reinstalling Windows whenever a problem crops up. He mentioned several other routines of theirs as well, but I'm sure you get the idea.

So now, we have this manufacturing company with an incompetent IT staff. My acquaintance is now the most knowledgeable guy around concerning IT. And he's a trainee. In the Quality Control department. Gee. Anyway, his manager asked him to set up an office network for the department, and asks him at the same time if he thinks their data is secure. He gets this bright idea and goes -

"Not yet, you need a RAID too." (RAID = Redundant Array of Independent Disks, used for backing up very important data in huge amounts, usually for time-critical uses.)

Now, the RAID wasn't really neccessary, it just so happens that he had never played around with one before. Voila, his manager authorizes him to buy one. Sigh.

Another anecdote from the same guy - the company is paying thousands yearly in fees for Microsoft Office. When I went "WTF?!?!", he explained that it was for technical support. Wow. They have a dedicated IT department, and they're paying thousands in technical support for one of Microsoft's user-friendliest products ever. I just hate to imagine what other nonsense they're paying for too.

Now just imagine how much money that company would have saved by having hired an IT manager who actually knew his job. Enough to justify hiring the experienced, higher salary guy, I'm sure. But then, I probably shouldn't be writing this article. Otherwise, who would hire me to order all sorts of unneeded computer gadgets when I graduate? ;D

Religious Wars

2005-12-28T14:11:00.000+10:30

Just an interesting fact. Many of you, I'm sure, would know that Christianity was founded in the time of Rome, and its followers were persecuted for their religion. Here's what you didn't know.

At the time, Rome was an empire of the world. It was, sociologically, an utopia. No racism, no nationalism. Slavery existed, but existed as a punishment, for crimes or bankruptcy. It wasn't perfect, but their social system might well have been far better than ours. And here's the interesting fact. They practised freedom of religion too.

So why did they prosecute Christians? Because of the Christian religious intolerance. The Christian view that their way was the only true way to heaven, and their belief that all other religions were blasphemous, was anathema to the Roman concept of tolerance. Indeed, of all the major religions in the world, only Christianity professes to be the one true way to God, and claims all other religions to be the work of the Devil. Other religions tend to teach tolerance instead. Makes you wonder...

More on this topic later (I guarantee), since Christianity and their missionaries are one of the major annoyances i tend to encounter.

Vulgarities

2005-12-28T13:04:00.000+10:30

I got chewed out by my mum recently, for using an improper word with a friend over the phone. This got me thinking. How do we define what language is improper nowadays? To me, it would depend on the other parties in a conversation. What is improper to my parents, and the older generation, may very well be tolerated, accepted, even expected by those of my generation. My grandparents would probably get out the detergent if they heard somebody from my generation greeting a friend. Shifting times and evolving language, indeed.

This is not to say I condone rudeness. There are few among us who can talk to his (or her) parents using the same language they use with their friends. For those who can, I applaud them. They survive in their generation without bowing to pressure of how to speak, or act. For those who can't, we know better (we should, anyway) than to speak suchly to the older generation. Indeed, we maintain two separate vocabularies and grammars, for different audiences. Woe indeed to the one who lets his parents hear him using the other language, as I discovered.

Does this mean that we no longer respect our friends? I disagree. To be rude would be to behave in a shocking, unacceptable way. This is a judgement call, as I have discussed earlier. What is rude to one may be natural to another. In a way, you could say that when adjusting our language, we are respecting the values and customs of others.

Dear John

2005-12-28T00:59:00.000+10:30

Had dinner with my ex earlier tonight. First time I'd seen her since we broke up over the phone several months ago. My parents wondered why I wanted to meet her. Fact is, the meeting was a sort of closure for me to that chapter of my life. Despite her having told me she wanted to break up several months ago, part of me couldn't really accept it yet. It took that last meeting for me to accept that we would just be close friends from now on. Sort of a 'Dear John' dinner, I guess, except for a weird twist, being that she paid for the dinner. Lol. No, I'm not that cheapskate, I just forgot my wallet. God bless you Lyn, and have a good life. I sincerely wish you happiness with your new boyfriend. And now, I guess it's time for me to heal and move on.