Went over to Hui Ling's house for her Christmas Eve party. Stayed up very late till 5 in the morning to keep Woon's friend company after he drank a little too much alcohol. Anyway it was a mixture of a wild party and a good reunion for us since I met with some of the 5B gang. No other former 5A students in sight (where are you guys?). HL also invited some of her UM kaki along too, and I must say they are far more crazy than us (except maybe for Pravin though).

Anyway I did not take any beer/vodka/wine as I know my face will surely become very very very red and I am unable to go home after that. After all, I have tried alot already; Korean wine, australian red, white wine, vodka, local beer, aussie beer and of course XO. Also I dun want to humiliate myself in front of everyone :P

Many thanks to Hui Ling for organizing this party and Merry X'mas and a happy new Year!

Woke at 11am and I found a fun wrapped package on my table. I have no idea what was inside it. Really, no idea. I wasn't expecting a single Christmas present this year at all (Blame it on the fact that I got no gf so I dunno what it is like to give/receive gifts for/from love ones, unlike my bro the romeo). So what are the contents?

Isn't he cute? as soon as you open it you can see the cute smiling face of this soft toy.












It also came with a cardboard box to keep whatever I fancy (lovebirds out there, I know you will be filling it up with stars, love letter, cutesy items etc etc, but I will try to fill something more useful inside).









Anyway I place the soft toy together with Philip the penguin (from Philip Island) and the kangaroo from Australia. I figured this is the best place to place them as all of them are overlooking the door to my bedroom. Now all three are in good company :)








Here is a close-up shot of the soft toy I received. Apparently this is a soft toy for the next Chinese New Year which is the year of the Pig. The chinese character on its necklace says "abundance". Looking forward to a great 2007.

Before I forget, I would like to thank my parents for giving me this surprise gift :)

Meet up with Chok, Hui ling, teck seng, woon and ching last night. It was pretty late actually at 11.30pm, especially when the next day i need to go to work. Gosh got to learn to take more leave so that can zzzzz more.

Really long time have not meet up with Chok nor Teck Seng.

Anyway i tried taking photos and even videos, but the enviroment was too dark even for night mode. Dun want to use flash otherwise like lighthouse attracting ppl.

If all goes well tomolo will meet up with my friend which got the Measat scholarship.

My bro has been shopping around the major colleges to see where to go next. Last Sunday followed him to Taylor at Leisure Business Centre (Bali there, in front of Motorola), Taylor at SS15, Inti Subang and Segi next to Summit. Needless to say, he is spoilt for choice. Targetting either Interior Design, Graphics, Business, Accounting..... anything but Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Dunno what he'll do though...

Yesterday already went to the ONE Academy at Sunway and Limkokwing at Putrajaya to have a look. Didn't went to Sunway coz Sunway doesn't offer anything he is interested.

I remember during my time i was easy, just mechanical engineering FTW.

The weekend is HERE!!!!

Whoppie!!

** Tries out the Calsberg Christmas edition beer with family***

I would say that the beer is less bitter than the normal Calsberg, but the bottle is small though, only 325 ml. Even the Australian beer is 375 ml.

Another thing, the wifi modem is spoil!! So have to move right up to the telephone point with a normal dial-up modem.

My brother has just completed his SPM. SO with his new found freedom he went to watch Casino royale at Pyramid, progress through Gears of War faster than me and will pick up driving lessons very very soon. The fight for the dropship keys is still wayy ahead but it will come very soon.

Anyway too busy and tired to do anything as usual. Bought the new Xbox 360 game Gears of War. The graphics are extremely top-noutch especially when viewed on a HDTV.

Today I went to a bungalow site at Country Heights Damansara which is located near the Pengchala toll. Pretty hilly area, ideally suited to build your extremely overpriced, large, beautiful, feng shui optimized mansion. As I went downhill on the way home tried the LOW gear on my car for the first time. My car never went up to Genting before. The furthest it went was Nilai and that was a good 5 to 7 years after it was purchased. So low and behold, after engaging low gear (which is "L") the car slowed down when going downhill. Pressing the brakes was not required, instead need to press the gas a little to go faster. Now I understand why the "L" gear is placed there.

No matter how hard I try, I can never get work done fast enough!!!!

Regradless if I have assualt termies, mammoth tanks, landraiders, you name an offensive weapon, I have it, I can never get it done fast enough. Maybe not enough brute force like the saying " if brute force doesn't solve your problem, you are not using enough".

Actually the problem is that I cannot work overtime too much. It makes me sick. Some ppl say work makes them sick and I believe them. There is only so much you can push ahead before falling asleep. *** sees girls running away from me since I can't work longer than them ****

Speaking of girls... will i ever meet a girl which i'll fall in love again? Still remember last year around this time....

Two weeks ago went back to SMK Seafield's new hall to watch a play. Took a very large 360 degree panaramic photo. I'll see if youtube supports panoramic shots or not. If so than can see panoramic view of the inside of the school hall :P

Saw this entry in my 360's blog:
"paanjang16 was absent yesterday... I was smelling something that reminded me of sweat... He better not be playing with a Nintendo Wii... burning calories while playing games is just wrong"

Well, actually I was more playing my computer and killing heretics and purging the planet than playing the Wii. Besides, the Wii isn't out yet, let alone a PS3.

Been using my N80 for a while. So far it is performing well, although there are some delays viewing the pictures. The delay is like when you want to view a thumbnail but it takes a while to load.

I got a new HP. Bought the Nokia N80 from Sungai Wang coz there are many hp shops there and can get a good price if you look hard enough. Decided against N73 coz the key pad too small, no wifi (for something so expensive, no wifi??) and time to change to a slider phone instead of a candy bar phone.

Here is the close-up of my phone in action. Has a very bright LCD screen and cool blue color keys. The transparent case around the phone is for protection but still has openings for the keypads and other important functions like cameras etc.















The picture below shows the number of phones I have used since I got the first one circa 1997/98. Kinda stick to Nokia all this while. My brother used Motorola, Alcatel and my dad Sony Ericsson in addition to Nokia phones. But my brother who usually can recommend handphones say Motorola do hang sometimes and I have seen my dad's Sony Ericsson P910i hang a couple of times, so Nokia is the way to go for next gen phones. Let's see if this phone lives up to its expectations and do not hang like the rest (from what I read on internet forums, N80s do have problems, just like 360s for that matter, so fingers crossed).















Kinda amazing to see how far hps have gone smaller and smaller and smarter and has cameras (N80 has 2, one behind and 1 in front) and has color lcds in a span of less than 10 years.

Puts on Warhammer 40k cap :)

Praise the Emperor!

I now gotten the Inquisitorial approved version of Dawn of War Dark Crusade!! Was in Mids Valley when I saw this sacred artifact. Immediately bought it and brought it home to the safety of my chapter's stronghold to begin preparations to wage war on Kronus!

** Takes off Warhammer 40k cap***

Yippie.. time to game!! My 360 is going to be soooo jealous :P

Can't wait to get the newest expansion to my favourite RTS (Real Time Strategy) game, Dawn of War Dark Crusade!!

The problem is that the "inquisitorial approved" version hasn't arrive yet (most probably in some darn container in Singapore) and the only way to satisfy my urge for battle, like most Choas marines will say " BLOOD!! BLOOD !! I FEED ON BLOOD!!" is to get the heretic version (as in the, ahem version) first. Of course once I buy the original version the I'll purge the heretic version to play online.

Arrghh, really cannot wait.
And I'm sure he can't wait too.

I really dunno why, but my tag-board has since gone offline. I think the company that hosts the tag-board has gone bust, or got hijacked or whatever. Still have not search for other tag-boards to use. Surprisingly the tag-boards of my other bloggers are still online. Must have chosen a more financially stable one.

I was thinking I really should upgrade my phone. I know Changing phones too often is very costly, but what the heck, I need a phone with both a camera function and some high tech stuff to go with it. Need the camera function for work as I need to take photos when I go to site. Too lazy to bring along a camera.

So what phone I had in mind?

The Nokia N73. Has a pretty high end camera for a phone with auto-focus and doesn't have the brick size of its larger cousin the N90-ties.

But the price of one... RM 2200!!@$!@#$

Although I can afford still too expensive. More expensive than my Xbox 360 with 3 games even!

I kinda amazed on the entries made by the Xbox 360 blog site. When you never play with it says the darnest things. Like " I have seen wierd things, but my owner not playing today really takes the cake!" or " I'm going to make you play tomolo, just you wait!! I'm not Kidding!!". When I do play it, it then shower praises like it has been waiting to be played for years. Of it also complains I play too short. Acutally yesterday (Friday night) I did play my Xbox, just didn't bother to go online with it. So the server which hosts and generates the blog "thinks" I didn't play.

For those who think I have neglected my 360 due to the constant rants and pleas by the 360 (as if it has feelings lol), dun worry, it is in good hands.

Enough talking bout my 360, now to other news...

It has been 1 year since I went to Uluru. Still remember the date I was there; 25,26,27 September and the sweet memories there. So happen 25/9 was the birthday of someone I know. Arrive there on the 25, went to visit The Rock on the 26 and 27.

For the post that explains the entire trip, here's the link http://paanjang16.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_paanjang16_archive.html

Here's a group photo of the members in our tour group. Note that there were 3 S.Koreans, 2 Japanese, 2 from France, 3 Singaporeans, 1 American, 1 South African, 1 British, 1 Malaysian and the rest Australians (I think), so we have ppl from almost all parts of the world in our group. Can you match who is from where?

The hardest thing to say to your friends or whoever that you know of is no.

That day which was my friend's birthday I had to turn down an invitation to have a makan gathering to celebrate his birthday was pretty hard one. Imagine, your best friend's birthday and you really cannot go coz you have other important matters the next day. It doesn't help his friends who message me to go is trying to persuade me to go ahead anyway. On one hand you felt you have let down a friend, on the other hand you really have to make this compromise to yourself. Very hard to describe in words I tell you. To make matters worse I let the cat out of the bag by calling the birthday boy/girl in panic when his/her friends wanted it to be a surprise.

Wat to do, I'm one of the first of out the gate when it comes to studying and into the working world. The majority of my friends are still studying and have a LOT of time to spare. Not to mention I need more sleep than most ppl (I'm amazed how far some ppl can go without falling asleep).

Here's a little something I thought about:

Remember the 7 Cs? Whereby,
Cash -Rich
Car -Got wheels
Condominium - A property in the sky
Club Membership - Self explanatory
Career - Stable Job
Credit Card - Swipe Away!
Company/CEO - Own a company

Now there's 7 Ms, whereby
Mansion - Condo penthouse or bungalow is not big enough
Mercedes/Mustang - Not just any car!
Money - Rich!
Manager - Not only a stable job, but high position
Musician - To impress the ladies
Masters Degree - Knowledge is power
Mustache - Err.....

Or Bs, whereby
Boss - Da'boss
Bugatti/Brabus - A Mercedes isn't going to cut it
Bungalow - How needs a condo?
Bachelor Degree - Knowledge is power
Bonus - Stable pay is not enough
Bank - Own a bank

This is all I can think of so far. Maybe there's more to add in the future.

Since my friend wants me to blog more to compete with my xbox 360's blog, here's an entry.

I have added a few more links to some other blogs like my cousin's son's blog, the xbox 360's blog and paul tan's automotive blog.

BTW, I dun think I can compete with mt 360's blog since it updates EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! Oh, and I also do not always go online with it. Sometimes I just play offlince and that's it. Really want to see what it will say if I dun play for 1 week.

Anyway today happens to be friend Woon's birthday. Happy birthday Woon!

My 360 can blog.

Sounds silly but there is a website which can sorta create blog entries that reflect what my 360 is thinking. Let's see how accurate are its blog entries.

The address to it is:

http://360voice.com/blog.asp?tag=paanjang16

Just got Ridge Racer 6 and an extra WIRED controller in case my wireless one runs out of juice. YESSS! Time to challenge my bro in football!!!

My parent recently went ot a wedding dinner of my mom's friend's daughter. It was held that the Nikko hotel along Jalan Ampang near KLCC. What I heards was that during the dinner the bride, bridegroom, bridegroom's parents and bride's parents (in no logical order) made a speech. To make matters simple either my brothers wedding (since he HAS a girlfriend) or my own (not within this decade at this rate) will have one section for the XO drinkers to drink, a ballroom dancing area for those who want to dance the night away and a wine testing area for those who like wines. The only speech one has to make is to tell everyone about the 3 areas , period.

P.S: Sorry Woon, still thinking if there should be an area for DoW Lan gaming.

Recently on Tuesday there was a war between to Big TV stations. One is showing the Fairy tale wedding reception of a pop princess marrying a "datuk" with loads and loads of cash, the other showing the exclusive interview of a couple after thier tragic break-up.

I wonder if the broke-up couple wished they went for Siti and Datuk K respectively.....

Anyway of all the time in the world it had to be on the same day and at the same time. Your's truely saw both by switching the channels to TV1 to TV3 and vice versa.

My Xbox 360 is now downstairs plugged into a 40" inch LCD. The graphics is beyond words to describe. Ok, really want to post a picture, but that would show too much.

It happened again.

Was in the thick of the action, with a barrage of missiles heading my way, firing everything I've got at the enemy, then...

Or,

Was in the thick of the action, dodging my way out of enemy fire. About to align my sights on the fool who attacked me when...

Or,

Doing a perfect lap with the maximum amount of kudos any pro driver can get. As I am about to the the last corner to win the race ...

Ok, I made up the last one, but the batteries of my 360 controller goes kaput at those very moments I need them. Half-way playing then suddenly need to re-connect the controller. I think I these rechargable batteries are the low end type (1300, the high end ones are 2600). I used the Energizers which came with the 360 itself and it lasted a very long time. The Everedy batteries which are meant for cameras didn't last long either.

So now I am charging more and more and as often as possible. Hopefully I won't get frag coz my controller went dead.

Wanted to do something when I come back..... but sooo malas........ nvm, do tomololah...

My brother and I have been playing the 360 lately. So far my brother seem to be better in some of the games I bought. In PGR3 he drives better and has more $$$ and cars than me. When it comes to Fifa World Cup 2006 he can play better and not tackle everyone, resulting in less red card issued. He even won the World Cup with England!

Anyway, I have been playing a bit of DoW with the new enhanced AI mod. I would say the computer dun attack you so fast and thier attack force is less compared to last time. But they are now very smart.

Here's a typical scenario: I have build up enough squads of marines and pushed the enemy back to his base. When I arrive at his base, there is no one to greet me and the buildings are clear. So I proceed to attack the buildings in the enemy base. During that time I can see the computer calling in some squads into the buildings. Not a problem since my force is big enough to deal with them.

Just then out of nowhere, this DREADNOUGHT appears and I am forced to retreat since:
1) my force has little to no anti-armor weapons
2) my machine temple/base/factory isn't ready
3) my machine temple/base/factory is ready but so far away

So I have no choice but to retreat and see my men being tossed about by the dreadnought. After awhile the computer has more armor than the anti-armor weapons I have and proceed to defeat me.

Here is the route I typically take to office. First I start from SJ, move on to Federal highway, take breakfast in Kelana Jaya, get on the LRT at the Kelana Jaya station, alight at the Masjid Jamek station and walk to office. So total distance travelled is 52 km.



This is the route I use to go home. From my office in KL, take LRT back to Kelana Jaya, use the LDP then take an alternate route to the old airport road (to avoid the crawl towards the Western Digital flyover), join the Federal Highway at the clock tower then return home by Jalan Tujuan.

On the way home today I thought I find out how much kilometers do I travel to and from work on an average day. So I booted up Google Earth and trace the distance from my house to my office and back.

*** Tries to upload picture and failed ****

Nvm, maybe some other time. From the looks of it I can't upload to blogger from my lappie to the router wirelessly. Oh well, next time..

Anyway, the distance I travel on average per day is 52 km. About 26km to work, 26km return. If I drive and average 17 cents a kilometer, I will have to spend 8.50 a day. For a month with 4 working weeks RM 170.00, just on petrol. Not including toll, parking etc. So no surprise of I have to spend about RM 300 just to commute.

Anyway recently someone e-mailed me asking how is Seafield. He/she wanted to know if Seafield is a better choice compared to SMKSU. I told him/her that Seafield is more friendly, the clubs are more active and the facilities are better etc with a little help from my still in Seafield brother. Later got the reply that he/she has decided to come to Seafield to start Form 1. Btw, he/she got to know about the school and my e-mail from my SMK Seafield website. Gosh, stil have not update or perform anything maintenance for it ** guitly ***.

Saw the seconds Pirates of the Caribbean movie last Tuesday in Summit last Tuesday. My family decided to all go out to watch it that night. Came back late around 11 something and the tickets cost RM30 each but it was worth it. One very fun movie with losts of funny scenes :) Highly recommended. Oh, and wait till the credits end.

My brother and I have been playing with the 360 alot. Now feel very boring surfing the net. Now playing the racing game PGR 3 and the 1st person shooter PDZ, but have been playing the racing game more. Cars I have bought so far in PGR3 is the Skyline, the Gallardo and a 20th edition Countach. Trying to collect enough credits to buy all the Lambos :P. Then I'll earn one more archiement points.

My brother so far drives better than me as he has more golds!! Started with a Noble M400 and now deciding on which car to buy next; now busy test driving his next purchase like a choosy buyer.

I have decided to replace the World Cup disc as I fear trying to test it too many times will destroy/melt/burn my 360's lens. This is the last time I'm buying an EA product. First was Battlefield 2, and now this game :(

One of the features of Xbox live is the marketplace is that you can buy stuff like themes, map packs, gamer pictures etc using microsoft (MS) points. MS points is the Xbox live currency where certain amount of real cash is turned into a certain amount of MS points. The good things bout this marketplace is that you can buy whatever that is available.

The bad thing about this marketplace is that almost everything that is available costs something. Want a Halo 3 theme? Need to pay about 150 MS points. Want the famous horse armor for Oblivion? Another 150 MS points (the best part is, the pc version is cheaper and you can always look around for that patch to install that horse armor). Need more maps to wage war on? Another $$$$ MS points. Want street fighter 2? Around US10 I think, which is quite steep considering there are FREE street fighter 2 software on the net.

There are some items that are free however, like the game demos (duh) and occasionally some good developer put in some stuff to enchance the game for free (like Sega's Chromehounds). Unfortunately there are some developers out there who like to milk their gamers... too many to mention.

My 360 has arrive!!! Collected it on Thursday night from the seller in 1Utama, then went online with it last night :P

I must say that this console is very very advanced and the present TV in my house does not do it justice. What I need now is either a HDTV plasma or get a VGA cable adaptor to appreaciate the graphics better. The controller is totally wireless and can start the console remotely.

As you can see, the color scheme is all white in color, unlike the color scheme of the origianl Xbox or the ps2. Adapting the Ipod whiteness to appeal to more ppl it seems. My Panasonic tv still works perfectly even after all these years :)

So the games I got is Project Gotham Racing 3, a racing game, Perfect Dark Zero, a First Person shooter and Fifa World cup 2006 football game. Still have not managed to play the Fifa game coz the disc got problem; darn EA. Hopefully can get it replaced soon.

Went to Segamat today. Visited an oil palm pulp factory under construction. The concrete structure is up but the whole factory is empty coz the machine have not arrive from China yet. This allowed a small window for all the contractors to finish up the work before all the machine arrive coz once the machines arrive, everything else is secondary.

On the trip back ate some durians. Yummy :P

The world cup is finally over with Italy as the WC2006 champions. I didn't watch the final match which began at 3am this morning because I had to go to work later, but my father and younger brother did. I was pretty shocked to hear that Zidane head-butted an Italy player. Why would anyone do that in the WC final and his very last match before he retire?!?!@?#$ Or maybe he thought, he wanna do a Mastercard moment after all these years.

Note to all football players, settle all fights and insults OUTSIDE the pitch, preferably in the locker room where no one but your teammates and manager can see.

Disclaimer : I meant no insult to Zidane, just that I couldn't believe he lost his cool in the most important match of the year.

If all goes to plan my 360 will reach the local supplier in which I ordered my 360 from tommorow. A big IF all goes to plan. Knowing luck it would be delayed again :(

2/07/06 is the Canteen day/ Karnival day at my former secondary school SMK Seafield. Might take a look for a while to see how is my former secondary school look like :)

My 360 order has been delayed by a few days coz the person ordering it want to take order for a game which was released a few days later. So most probably I'll get it by the 1st week of July.

Nothing much to say, except work has caught up to me. Really miss those days when I am still studying, less worries, more time for gaming, more time to lepak and cash was almost not a problem since fully subsidise by parents :P Now my 360 have to be bought using my own cash. The good thing is that my parents won't complain I'll spent money on this "toy" :P

Here's something I took from one of past 5A class mates blog. This website tells you how much of the world you have visited. From the looks of it I have not gone far enough :P

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Just to let everyone know, I'm now 22 years old and it has been that long since I was born :P .

And yes, today 20/06/2006 is my birthday. Happy birthday to me :P

Now where's my 360?.. oh ya still have to wait for it to be ordered from Singapore...

Yesterday night went to see the Proton Satria Neo. Dunno why they named it Neo. Either the designers were matrix fans or they had installed too much neons in their car. Couldn't use the name Neon since Dodge already used it for their Dodge Neon.

I was quite impressed by the Satria Neo. The interior is better and easy on the eye although there are some obvious areas where Proton did not include something to save cost. Like the Proton name tag on the dash in front of the passenger side to cover the "SRS Airbag" notice. Some circular plastic covers beside the steering whell etc. You got to wonder if the Europeans get something in those areas. Quality wise, it looks better than the past Protons, although I can't comment if you will get a lemon in the end since this is after all a show car. Performance wise I too cannot comment since I have not test drive it.

My brother of course was very impressed by the car. The only problem is that he cannot drive yet and no financial means to buy it! As the saying goes, when you are young and want such a car, you can't afford it and your parents will not buy it for you since it is 2 door. But when you can finally afford & old enough to buy it, you can't since a baby is on its way and you need a four door car!!!

For me a 2 door car is too small. I can barely fit in the back and even the driver's position is too cramped for me. Besides, I prefer to upgrade from a 1.5 auto wira to something larger. I thought of this, I prefer a four door car so that me and my gf will sit in front, and my mother and father in-laws (gf's papa and mama) can sit comfortably in the back, and hopefully be impressed enough to........ you get the picture.

My phone experience something very funny yesterday and the day before. For some unknown reason, I can't make a call out or sms ppl, but I can receive calls and smses. Then by afternoon yesterday my phone is able to make calls like normal.

Must be the fact that on Wednesday I made a call to Singapore while in Segamat, Johor for a meeting. Had to spend the whole day out of the office to attend the meeting there, so had to call Singapore bout my progress on their project.

After that I think Celcom mush have thought my phone has been stolen and used to dial international numbers from another location compared to the Klang Valley. Since everything is back to normal again it could be that the network is unrealiable that the time of the call..... very unlikey since I tried to sms while the LRT was passing by the Telekom building on Thusday!!!

I watched CARS today :) Kinda funny movie where there are talking cars everywhere!! No need for me to into the details of the story as many of you would have read or saw the trailer somewhere. Was expecting the main hero to die in a spectacular crash in the end but this is a Disney movie after all. Kinda dissapointed that there weren't any Mercedes or Skylines or Evos for in the movie at all. Also, where is the Lambo?

I have decided to get a 360. No doubts about it. I'm too lazy to paint my 40k minis, and a 360 should last a few years into the future before the 720 comes out. The 360 can't and will not play any pirated games, but since I am working already 1 original game a month is still affordable- unless I got a gf or need to buy something else. I still need to upgrade my computer when the time comes too, but that would be around next year when Supreme Commander comes out.

Today I met a classic "Help, my (insert relative here) is (insert type of emergency here) and I got no money to buy a (insert transport ticket, be it train aeroplane etc) to (insert your favourite destination here)" plea from someone in the LRT station. Needless to say I surprised to see such a person asking for money several meters below the river bed in the underground station. Thankfully it was a major station along the LRT line and not on the streets where he might turn nasty.

The best part was, he ask me in Mandarin first I think, followed by Hokkien or the like, another dialect, and lastly in English. I told him alot of ppl say such things to con ppl and if he REALLY need help get off at the next station (he followed me into the train) and tell security your problem. He left at the next station...

Today my brother, father and I went to see KLIMS (KL International Motor Show) at PWTC. Lots more cars on display this time, and also lots more booth babes for happy shooters to point at.

Should see the amount of ppl taking pictures at the boothbabes. In some of the stalls the main draw is not the product, but the booth babes. Not surprise though, since in E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in the US, there are some ppl who come to E3 only for the boothbabes.

My bro did took a lot of photos, maybe I'll put one here soon. One of the best was the ASIMO robot. One more step closer to 30 foot tall Mechs!!! However it still required a few grid lines on the stage for it to walk and navigate.

Need to go back to office on Sat to do some work. Altough officially we are working a 5 day week sometimes there is simply too much work we have to come back on Saturday :(

Hopefully next Saturday is free.

Tried out DoW online. First battle I managed to play was a 2v2. The problem is, by 3 minutes my enemies has a big army combined together; several choas marine squads and his commander together with several sniper squads fully armed with sniper rifles :P. By 5 minutes by opponent's base is overrun and by 6 minutes we are dead. Woopee... kena rush.

Seconds was a 4v4. Everything looked good at first. But as my ally started engaging the enemy team, things grinded to a halt. Everyone on the battlefield froze. The game was not frozen though, as I can still move around and select units. But the game froze due to extreme lag. Woopee... game aborted due to lag.

Yesterday had 2 very hilarious battles. The first one ended with me winning the game with ZERO loses and wiping out every single unit my opponent has. For some unknown reason my opponent's Inova Wolf, in her Mad Cat can't shoot properly and Shin Wolf performed badly in his charged. My forces meanwhile played a game of staying behind cover and infuriating my opponent.

The 2nd battle was equally hilarious. For fun I made an infantry heavy army with only 1 mech, the Highlander Koshi while up against Geoff Bekker's Kodiak and Kendrick's Mad Cat 3. It was like a scene from the 40,000 universe, where my infantry battalion charged up towards the enemy while some of their brothers are killed in the process. Eventually a group of my infantry managed to make contact with the big bad bear and proceeded to capture it. Geoff the veteren warrior in his kodiak, panic when this group of infantry touched his mech and suffered a critical miss in the process. This later caused himself to be capture for the majaority of the battle. He was later freed after a desperate but eventually successful struggle to elinimate his capturers. At first it looked like the SWs would succeed, but a mistake on Kendrick's part cost him his mech (he thought that infantry standing there was a lousy group of shooters, only to found out they are actually elite snipers). And most of the time the units that actually made victory possible was my opponent's infantry and vehicles (Honorary mention to the SW Maxim). While the mechs....... I dunno what to say.

Had a very hectic week. The usual got to finish up the drawing for contractor or client and meeting with client to discuss what is wanted for the project. But it's still ok and I managed to get some things done before the weekend :)

Nothing much to say except that I did not went to play MW this week because my MW friends had a lot of stuff that needs to be done. So this Saturday I felt it was like Sunday in which I did not go anywhere.

Plugged in my Xbox to play for a while. I noticed that the majority of players in my Xbox Live friend list have already got their Xbox 360 and playing games which are meant for the 360. So I'm the only few who still have the old Xbox and plays Halo 2 online. Mechassualt, Burnout, Crimson Skies all have very little to no players anymore. Which is a pity, since duking it out with 8-10 players in Mechassault is absolutely chaotic and fun. Crimson skies when played with a large amount of players is also very fun. Oh well, some games just grow old with time.

For the past few days I have been thinking on what to buy using my first and now my second paycheck combined. Couldn't decide on what to buy when I got my 1st paycheck coz I was busy with work and decided to wait for my range of options to get bigger. Now that I have received my 2nd paycheck, my available resources have grown larger and so too are the available options for spending. The problem is, I still can't make up my mind on what to buy!!

It's not like I am kedekut; I am a big spender and won't mind paying RM 15 for a large ice-blended at Starbucks, spend RM 100 or more for dinner in a restaurant or anything that has got to do with food. It's the non-edible stuff that I have problem deciding on what to get.

Among the stuff I am thinking on buying are:

1) Xbox 360 : The console itself cost RM 1500, games another RM 160, so I would spend about RM 2000 just to get the console and with a small selection of games. The problem is that it will only have about 2-3 games to play and my interest to play 360 has waned since I came back coz playing an RTS on my pc is more enjoyable (Blame Dawn on War on this). Also, my resources will be strech thin if I make this purchase, and I highly doubt I can buy the stuff I liked to eat :(

2) Warhammer 40k : Since I am hooked to Dawn of War is no surprised that I want to try out the original table -top game from which the RTS games is derived from. The cost of setting up and army is also as expensive as the 360, but can be spread out over a few months as the army takes time for it to be fully battle ready and fully painted. Like the first month I can spend RM 500 for the rule book (I know, buying the RM 250 rule book is insane) and the Land raider. Then next month I buy a tactical squad for another RM 500 and so on. Really liked the idea of getting the land raider, but my CBT gladiator is still in pieces and unpainted and as soon as the land raider is finished I highly doubt I will want to get the marines. After all, all I want is the land raider sculpt. Also, I even said to my self, why stop playing a minitures game (because it is too expensive) to play another minitures game (which is also very expensive) ? Still deciding on whether to pick up the hobby, but to tell the truth, prefer playing computer :P

3) PSP : It was this same time last year I wanted a PSP. The price has dropped, more games available, but it still cost a bomb just to get started. Add to the fact I need to buy the sony memory stick duo which is only compatible with the PSP itself, no thanks.

4) Nintendo DS : I would have bought one last year if I wanted to.

5) New graphics card : Unfortunetly because my computer is prefer ancient by todays standards, I need to spend about RM 3000 just to get a new mother board, ram and processor to run the graphic card I want to buy. Also not many new interesting games to justify an upgrade and my laptop still do fine. (To my DOTA friends out there, DOTA is not my cup of tea)

6) New handphone : nope, my current one will do me fine

7) New car : my current car is still ok, no need for a new one

8) New watch : my current one is fine

As you can see, I do not have many needs or wants on my part to justify spending on any of those above. Maybe next month when I have more dough I will buy something, but in the mean time I am still keeping my non-edible wants on hold. Very thrifty I am right?

My previous week was one hectic one. Had a site meeting on Monday in which I have to drive there and also had to stay at office until 8pm on Friday to make sure the construction frawing of one project is printed out. It's not a small drawing mind you, it is a detailed drawing printed on a big plotter which prints on A1 size paper. And the mechanical drawings is lot because there are alot of different services for the building. Anyway managed to get through the week ok. Pretty rushed though..

Just now went to the wine shop beside Maybank in SS15 to have a look. Saw a lot of Australian wines, but none of the brands I am familier with. There's a lot of Shiraz, Cabernet Souvignon etc, but we somehow the wines I drank last time when I was in Australia are either rare or cannot be found. I saw there is a bottle of Old Vine Shiraz of another brand which costs almost RM 200!! Before I left Australia I bought and drank a bottle of Old Vine Shiraz from a winery which can only be bought from the celler door for AU60. The wine was very nice with a rich earthly vanillay oak flavour... something like that. Then there is another white wine which is fruity and sweet. It's name is Mcguigan Black Label: Traminar Restling. It is also bought from a winery in Australia (the Barrosa Valley to be exact) and we took it home to drink it during CNY. It costs AU 20. It is so nice that my family wants to drink it again and I am hpoing the local distributer of these wines brought some to M'sia.

I changed my computer abit this week. No more Norton Anti-virus. It bugged me everytime I turn on my computer, everytime to update it and renew its licience. Worst, the message does not pop up the minute your computer boots, but a few minutes after windows loads, so if I already started a program like Dawn of War, the stupid message appears to disturb. And then when you disabled the Auto-protect, it bugs you not stop to turn it back on!! Very bad if you want to squeeze a few Hz out of your computer.

Instead I installed Kaspersky AV. So far so good. It has a 3 month trial to try it. After that must but a 1 or 2 year licience to use it. Atleast it is not as annoying as NAV which BUGS you to update and renew. The 2006 version BUGS you like hell to activate and to update it I'm going to delete it and put Kaspersky instead for my parent's PC. Also it has made their computer slower. Not to mentioned NAV is known for not detecting some stuff when it enters your computer.

On Monday night went for dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Taipan. It is just opposite my former tuition centre and Macdonalds. The food was very nice but the wine was even better!! My face turned red after 3-4 small cups of the wine. Must have drank too fast. The wine has 14% alcohol, quite normal for red wines.

Long weekend

It was a long weekend at the end of the first month of working. Felt very happy that the weekend was finally here as I am looking forward to it he whole week!

Anyway, on Satrurday morning I woke up early coz the family mechanic need to come to my house to replace the falt battery in my car. The battery ran flat due to a malfunction of the timer switch that controls the "ring of light" around the key entry. So the "ring of light" drained my car battery till it ran flat. Alarm don't work. Starter not a squek. 100% dead. Fortunately all it needs was a battery change and the car was good to go. Too bad I can't have the "ring of light" anymore. Looks very cool at night.

Then in the afternoon although my car was repaired, my friend picked me up to go play MW. He fianlly got a dropship of his own and has the chance to be dropship command. The battle on Sat between us ended after we called it off due to lack of time and nearing a stallmate. But Arnis managed to hold down 1 assault mech and a group of infantry while my artillery and the rest of my forces move in for the kill. Too bad Arnis was sacrificed in the process.

On Sunday went to Cheng Beng at the Nirvana near Semenyih. Nothing to talk about since it was a yearly routine.

Almost a month

I had worked almost a month now. Just one more week to mark the first month of working. Tomolo not going to play MW as everyone else has some work to do. Good for me though, get to zzzzzzz for the week ahead. For someone who likes to take naps and sleep long hours working the whole day is very tiring... and my office maintain a 5 day week with normal work hours somemore! (too expensive and not that productive to work on Sat).

Dunno why I want suddenly thinking to buy a land raider sculpt for display when my CBT gladiator is still in pieces inside its plastic blister. Must atleast get that mech walking b4 I decide to get anymore "dust-gatherers". Maybe it is because I pass by Amcorp mall everyday to and from work that I should check out Wolf's place.

Haih, nowawdays also not many ppl online to chat with. Even when they are online, there are away or busy.. must be a busy time for everyone (including me!)

3 Weeks of working

By now I have already worked for 3 weeks. Nothing much is going on yet, as no projects has been assigned to me. Still, the day goes by very slowly when you have nothing to do.

The funny thing is, when you have no work, you will be begging for work. When you DO get work after begging for it, you wish that particular work you wished for was not given to you! Funny how humans behave.

Had a fun weekend playing MW. Managed to beat 2 opponents by my superior force (and also alot of luck, as my friend will explain.. ). A fun game to say the least. Also in every game there will reach a point you and opponent will neither move forward as both of you will know what will happen next. It's like " You go first!!" "no you go first" " your force is superior than mine, you go first:P ".

Weekends here!!

Whoooppee.. the weekend is here. Can sleep a bit later and get mroe sleep than usual. Dunno if there is MW on saturday, hope more ppl will come so that I can slaughter any noobs who dare challenge me :P

Anyway, I was wondering how does ppl play Dawn of War against 2-3 insane computers and still WIN. I know it will take a long time but usually I get slaughtered before the hour is up. How do these guys do it???!??

Of course they dun cheat coz defeating 2-3 insane computers with cheats is very easy.

Working already

That's right, my first day of work was on the 1st of March. The job: Mechanical Consultant Engineer. Office: In the heart of Kuala Lumpur, near the Bank Bumi building. Type of work: M & E Building services consulting such as air-con, firefighting, sanitation, cold water plumbing.

So far oklah the company. Getting there is easy since can tumpang my dad's transport and take the Putra LRT to the Jamek Mosque LRT station. If required drive and park at the Putra LRT station. Then a short walk to the office building and go up to the office by lift. Have not updated this blog much since when I come back from work a little to tired to do anything.

Happy Valentine's Day

Since I am single and can't celebrate it with that special someone, I made this cartoon for fun
















That's right, cupid ought to be more up to date with the latest hardware and invest in an AWP or the like. This is to improve accuracy which in turn will reduce any chance of wrong pairings and the .50 caliber bullets will make even the most stubborn person to fall in love. If only cupid DID upgrade to such a weapon..

One.. more... turn....

Recently I have been staying up late playing the lastest game I installed in my computer; Civilization IV. Somehow I am still totally lost in managing my cities as my cities just refuse to grow and even lost to some barbarians wandering around the land... on the easiest difficulty. Like last night, started playing at around 10-11 pm, all the way to 4 in the morning! Almost won the Alpha Centauri victory condition. Those space parts took forever to build.

Once I played on the deity difficulty, my opponents all hate me and looks like they cheated by producing everything in double quick time. Needless to say I was crushed :P

Home computer formated

TYhis is a post using my now "brainwashed" home computer. I have to format it coz it was beginning to lag like a snail and Internet explorer is unusable because it keeps having pop-ups and other unessary toolbars on it.

From the software I installed so far, I think I am leaning to open source software then expensive commercial software. I installed mozilla thunderbird instead of M'soft outlook, firefox instead of IE, winamp instead of WMP, Openoffice instead of MS office and Foxit Reader instead of Adobe... what is the Adobe's PDF reader again? .. Ya, Acrobat. Try it, Foxit Reader is WAAAYYY better.

Right now looking for ads about jobs in the newspaper. Applied to some, with little response from any so far. Hopefully after new year things gets better.

Wifi problem

Right now the only way I can surf using my laptop is using the home wifi. It is provided by a router with an in-built modem that supports wifi and up to 4 Lan ports. So far the modem is very good as it can connect to internet easily and is xbox live friendly (as in no need to do advanced settings to connect).

The problem now is... WHY THE HECK THE SIGNAL KEEP DROPPING OUT FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON???!?! Definetely not the walls since it is quite near the router. I think could be the internet connection, if it drops, so does the wifi signal. Or maybe after I set the WEP (wireless encrpytion) the problem occured. Or maybe because my brother downloads stuff like crazy. But late at night when I am surfing and my brother is asleep no problem with the line.

This problem annoys me since it is very bad to talk via msn. Send 1 msg, disconnect and then you have to send again since the person you msg thought you disconnect. Then when the person wants to send msg, you disconnect and he/she can't send the msg. Unlike ICQ msn can't send pm when the receiver is offline. GRRRR...

2k5 in review

Since my brother made a post reviewing his life (any better word to say it ? :P) in the year 2005, I not to be outdone decide to post about myself what I did in the year 2005.

The first part of 2005 (and the month before it, Dec 2k4) was the first time I ever work to earn money and most importantly experience in the real world. I did practical training in a factory in Shah Alam as part of the requirement of my degree where I took the role as a trainee engineer. Basically my job was to ensure the production line is running smoothly and to save manpower and production cost as much as possible. But the most important thing bout working is getting along with ppl and getting the job done as soon as ppl and learn how to handle things without any guidance at all. Still remember vividly the person I'm under saying that I got to figure out what to do for myself and not simply wait and listen for instructions. Other things are pretty minor like braving the traffic to work, leaving home early and coming back home late (well, not very late) and finding out just how hard to support the type of lifestyle I'm without relying on my walking banks (hint: they raise me).

2k5 also marked the final year of my degree. Very time consuming and laborious work to complete the final year project of my degree. Late nights, working long hours during holidays, big arguments with project mates, supervisor oveaseas for half a year, been there done that. But it was done finally and with good grade to boot. The seminar went well, the exhibition went well and the final report was printed and send to Finland (where our supervisor was at the time) safely to be graded.

During my final year I fallen in love yet again after I first did 4 years ago when I was in Form 5. Four years is a long time to forget and get on with chasing another girl. Fortunately, I had more success this time as I managed to to kept in contact with her compared to last time where I totally forgotten to take note of her contact number. This time I tried not to repeat the mistakes that cost me dearly last time. But still, I still managed to screw up half way when things were looking good. Thanks to the advice of some friends, I finally learn what I should not have done. The good news is that I did went out with her once after my debacle...

I travelled more around Australia in 2005. Went with my friends in a rented car and did day trips to locations around Adelaide. The first day we went to Barrosa valley where I ended up with 2 bottles of sprakling juice, 1 bottle of red wine and 2 bottles of liquor. Second day went to Murray bridge and visited the Murraylands. Third day drove all the way to Port Augusta. Then during the semester break in semester 2, we went to Uluru on a backpacking trip. First time slept under the stars, literally. Fallen in love with a Korean girl on the Uluru trip but found out she was not single, priceless.

Back home in M'sian already

I am now back homw in M'sia already. The flight was 7 hours ++, with a lot of turbulence :(

Doing practically nothing at the moment except relaxing or playing. Right now I have retired from being a student to become an engineering graduate (unless I decided to do post-grad work, which is very unlikely). Have not look for a job yet, maybe soon next year.

Back from Melbourne :P

Just came back from Melbourne after leaving the city on the 22nd. Spent a night in Horsham b4 continuing on. The distance between Melbourne and Adelaide is 700 km+++!! Luckily my father was driving and I was the navigator :P but guiding my dad to Mount Gambier > Warrnambool > Great Ocean Road > Melbourne > Philip Island (Pengiuns!!!) > Melbourne > Horsham > back to Adelaide isn't easy though.

The first picture shows the kangaroo I bought from Melbourne and the penguin I bought from Penguin.. sorry, Philip Island. The second picture is the graduation bear which I bought during my graduation :P

More pictures and posts soon :)

Getting ready for graduation...

Went out to settle a few things like the academic transcript and the graduation gown. The academic transcript have to PAY just to get a printout of it. Compared to Inti they will give you the first one free. Anyway have to wait till middle of next year to get it since by then my transcript will have a line saying "I graduate with so and so degree". Hope it reaches my home :P

The graduation gown was a slight hassle though. Walked all the way to Carrington Street to book the gown from a shop, but the shop ran out of gowns :( . So have to walk all the way back to university to book the gown from the university. Oklah the price, AU 55. But unlike the shop outside we must return it really really soon after the graduation ceremony, which leave little time for photo shots.

I have been planning the trip for my parents the past few weeks. The accomodation to Melbourne and back is settled. The one day trips to various points of interests have also been planned. Now have to cross fingers and know my way around since I am the one which is going to guide my parents around Australia.

Oh, and here's a photo of the lamp-post in front of my hostel which was knocked by some vehicles. I assume it must be a car since anything heavier will bring down the entire pole. Came back from settling everything only to find the entire street out of power :( Which means I must walk all the way up and all the way down :( The response was very quick. Six hours after I took this photo, around 9pm the pole is replaced and power is restored. Luckily for those guys working on the pole, it is only by 9 oclock that it is actually dark.

Christmas Season :)

I went to Victoria Square to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree there. Immediately after the Christmas tree is lit then saw a fireworks display. A little afriad of the fireworks (blame it on my phobia of fireworks or things that blow up) at first, but then it turn out OK. As you can see, the Christmas tree is quite tall and very very bright. There's another Christmas tree in the background on the Santos tower.

Next week is going to be the last week I will be staying alone since my parents will come on the 10th of December. I will follow them back to M'sia after that before the year is over. Well, better enjoy the freedom while it lasts!

Went shopping :)

Yesterday I went to Marion Shopping Center in the southwest part of Adelaide. Took the usual bus to the city and then another bus down south. The place is very far but atleast I have been to that part of Adelaide. Lepak for a few hours there, mostly looking at games and toys :P

The shopping complex is like Alamanda in Putrajaya, where the carpark is adjacent to the shopping area. It has only 2 stories, but house all the big retailers like Myer, Davond Jone, Harref Scarf, hypermaket retailers like Target, K-mart, Big-W amd supermarket like Coles and Woolworths; all under 1 roof! Funny thing is that Coles is on the 2nd floor while Woolworths is on the first floor and not next to eaxh other.

Oh, suprisingly there are no Christmas carols jiggling away at max volume. Most probably the ppl here grew tired of it after sooo long. Or maybe too early for Christmas. Then again there is a Santa Claus where kids can sit on his lap with a X'mas tree behind him.

So did I bought anything? Well I bought the map of Victoria and Melbourne. Then a "toy" for myself. It is a Lego arc fighter with movable S-foils. Call me a little kid or whatever, but I rather spend AU 70 on this than on Xbox or PC games when I have not fully played those games. I always wanted a model in my room, first it was the land raider, then a basalisk, a mech, then I prefer something that can withstand a lot of punishment and can be diassembled for the trip home.

In fact, thinking back about all the lego toys I have, I actually have ALOT of them. Most of the biggies are from the 1980s and early 1990s. Went to ebay and the net to look up, and gosh, I was surprised at the quality of legos in those days. Compared to this ARC fighter the box has so much air I wonder what the heck was Lego thinking. No wonder Lego is reporting losses.

Sadly the majority of pieces are either loss or mixed up with some other sets. hopefully if I keep this model intact and as a MODEL, it should remain intact.

Here are some Lego sets which I USED to have them in 1 piece.

Yellow roof house with caravan
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=1472-1

Bank with armored van that can "secure" the safe
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=1490-1

Fire truck with retractable ladder
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6358-1

Airport, where now I only have 3 out of 4 jet engines, still have the dish and the odd shape control tower glass
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6392-1

Parking garage with gas station and car wash!!! my best set ever!!!
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6394-1

Police truck with sirens and sound
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6450-1

Ultralight plane. Looks very familier
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6529-1

Sports car with bike trailer..still remember the car and trailer
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6644-1

Dumpster
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6652-1

4X4 with suspension (so far I have never seen this type of suspension anymore)
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6672-1

Utility repair lift (the wonders of lego)
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6671-1

Tow truck , recognized it by the red pulley with the highway logo
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6674-1

Shell tanker. I remember having a shell tanker, but not sure if it was this though
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6695-1

Fishing Boat. An actual boat that actually FLOATS!!!
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=4011-1

Coast guard boat with deployable dinghy. One day I saw on TV a coast guard boat which can deploy a dinghy just like this boat and I instantly remember about this set.
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6353-1

Some M:tron space sets with luminous panels and attennas :P
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6833-1
http://www.brickset.com/search.aspx?Set=6877-1

I think I just stopped for now... AS you can see, this is only legos which I still can remember.. there are many many more other toys as well...

No mood to play games :( & Emotional rollacoaster :(

Now that all the exams and projects are over, I find it funny that I have no mood at all to play my Xbox and PC. The game I rented from the online renting website sits there unused. Dawn of War and Serious Sam 2 discs remain in thier colorful original case. Battlefield 2 too lazy to play. If the game is a little bit too hard I give up on it. I now have all the time in the world to actually play these games and I am not using that time for that purpose. Funny how the human mind relaxes itself? Most propably there isn't any hard work to balance out the need to play. There is a saying; Work hard play hard. Now I understand since now I am not working at all so that's why I am not playing at all.

My feelings have been through a very rough ride this few days. First it was the "jumped the gun" action I did (read previous blog entry), then I totally ruined any opportunity to atleast try to fix things right on Saturday night. Haih, if only I can turn back the clock to set things straight.. :(

Right now I am still in the cooldown period, trying to overcome what I have done wrong and trying to set my mind up to look ahead but still remember to prevent such a mistake. Its very hurting to know you have been rejected, but atleast it will be less hurting to know it upfront than the girl keeping you in the dark (courtesy of my first love). Also, in both instances we din even move pass the "gf&bf" part or the dating part even. I don't know why, but it seems like my relationship is broken before it even begins. Not to say it is bad though, since maybe there is still time to restart and give a second chance... well maybe, after the cool down period and going through the process more carefully this time.

Where should I begin my love story part 2?

I know her for quite a while already since I first came to Adelaide. She is in the same course as me and is a close friend to one my coursemates. During my 1st year in Adelaide where I was doing my 3rd year of my degree, I was still thinking and hoping to meet up with my 1st love although I got no idea where she is or whether she is even married even. I was also too busy at that time since it was first time overseas alone and trying to be able to cope with the new environment and workload.

It wasn't until the beginning of Semester 2 2005 that I somehow finally gave up my first love for good (maybe it was turning 21, maybe something activated in my brain somewhere). Also, during the practical training I did while I was in Malaysia I chatted with fresh graduate from US who started work the same time as me. He was already on the path to becoming a husband, as 2 months later he went to NRD and approve his marriage. Is that fast or what?

Not trying to break his record for his speed to marry, but as we chatted he said that actually the best time to get a gf is when you are studying. When you are working already, you are working no day no night and you rarely have a chance to meet up with ppl. No free leisure time to meet up with friends. The environment is more stressful than during studying. As I did my practical training, what he said all made sense. All I did was work and work. When you return home you are too sleepy for anything. Also when you start working everyone is busy. How to find a soulmate then? At that time I din really have a big social circle either, which further contribute to the problem.

After my practical training, I returned to Adelaide to continue and complete my degree. What he said still remained in my mind. I was thinking, since this is my last year I will be studying, I might as well atleast do something I can't or may not have time to do after I graduate.

I didn't tackle her in the first Semester because I was too busy with project and stuff. Also at that time I though she has a boyfriend already.

As the 2nd semester began I realized that she was actually single and from the looks of it available. Seeing an opportunity I cannot resist, I proceede to get to know her better. As I get to know her better, the more I began to like her even more. She might not be as beautiful as a supermodel or some friends I know, but she is hardworking, friendly and has the right attitude. One thing I know, having a supermodel type gf with a bad attitude is not good. Like having a Ferrari which requires $$$$ of matainance (but if you can tahan that, go ahead).

But still, I was not confident if I could kau her properly. I was still outside her circle of friends, I lacked any way to converse in my mother tougue and new a relative newbie to this kind of things. What to talk to her? How to approach her without frightening her.

All that change after that day at Uluru. That day, my friends went up the Rock but I decided against it coz it beyond my capabilities and feel guilty to climb up. Instead I walked around the Rock (9.4km!!!) with a Korean girl, who was also on our trip and also decided not to climb. We chatted as we walk around the rock, getting to know each other better. The next few days both of us were confortable chatting with each other and exchanged each others contacts. Too bad she already has a boy friend and her friend is too old (looks like she is 21 but actually 27!) and on her way.

Even so, that trip make me realized something; Given the appropriate setting, timing and the right person I am actually able to court a girl (I may sound like an absolute loser, but hey, atleast I tried and succeded in a way). All it needs is the confidence to go for it. That final 10% in any F1 team strategy, where 50% is the car, 40% is the team and 10% is the driver.

As the days go by I managed to find some opportunity to chat with her. I also did the most important thing I WILL NOT FORGET AGAIN, I asked for her contact number. Also as the days go by my feeling for her has risen to the point where I just wish she was already taken to ease the huge feeling for her. Fortunately I managed to control my feelings and placed her as a secondary priority for a while and set more important stuff like project report as the main priority. At this time I wonder she even know I like her or not.

The moment of truth, or the climax moment is when I finally tell her I liked her. I don't know why it just had to be after an exam, but I just had to tell her I liked her. That exam was my FINAL exam for my entire degree, and chances of seeing her again is very very slim. My desire to tell her such is so heavy I could control it no longer. I had the fear that history will repeat itself again, as last time after the FINAL exam of SPM, my first love went home early and dissappeared.

Fortunately, it all worked out well and I did tell her I liked her face to face after following her back that day. It was a great moment of relief at that time, finally telling her why I like to chat with her. After confessing to her, she replied that she already knew that I liked her. Never felt so happy in a very long while.

However, as fate would have it, whenever there is a climax, there will be the period of whether it will turn out good or turn out bad. The following days after that showed great sign that things were badly going downhill. First, one day I decided go to university to take out some files stored in the CATS computer. After I took the files out, I decided to see if she was around in the CATS. I don't know what happen that day, but I just didn't see her. I spotted her friend, but it never occured to me that she is around. It was later that night in MSN that she said she was actually in CATS at that time. why I didn't see her? why I didn't talk to her friend?..

Also as the days go by, from the voice in her calls seem to be getting more stress. The first time I called her I can hear laughter in her voice. The second time I called her she is still quite ok, but I can sense she is a bit stress. The third time I call her, that fateful call that started the chain reaction, I can really sense she was under alot of stress. I should have known that was a danger sign. That was the sign things were about to implode. That was the sign to let her cool down for a while... that was the sign not to mentioned those fateful words...

After that she never answered my calls to her. I knew at that very time she is free, but she never returned my calls. I immediately had a sense of deja vu at that time, remembering what happened four years ago. So while eating humble pie I called my friend to tell him my problem. I usually don't like to consult ppl when it comes to relationships, but I had no other way. I did something wrong and I really need to do damage control.

After talking with him for a while, I finally knew what went wrong. The timing was way off. I jumped the gun. In the end he said that she MIGHT come to the gathering on Saturday night and ask me if I would come. I decided to go, but held that feeling she will not be there.

To be continued.... gosh, so many things to write, plus the dilemma of what to add or what not to add..

Love is in the air..

I don't know why, or such sheer coincidence, but there are two very sweet love letters pop up at the same time. I went to view Hui Ling's site and here I see a love letter dedicated to her boyfriend. Move over to my brother's blog (Ji Yung's blog), and ....WALAUEHHH.. a message beyond my capabilities ever! Is the 16th of November bring any significance whatsoever? I don't know.

What I do know is that the day before (15th) in a telephone call to a girl I spoke those three magic words to her. Then the next day (16th) I called her many times but she has not answered me yet :( . Ask my friend my problem and turns out I jumped the gun on the whole "I love you thing". See, apparently the situation wasn't prefect to say those 3 magic words.... Now I know why the first girl I tried to kau did not work out :(


I think she is still stress out since her exams have recently ended. Add in that "shocker" I think she just needs time to recover and her mood stabilized. Just hope it is not too late or the damage is permanent :(

Google Earth pictures

A friend of mine recently mentioned Google Earth in her blog and put up some pictures of her base of operations. So I thought well, maybe I put the location of my own base of operations. Only showing my place in Adelaide though, since I rather keep my Subang Jaya location secret for the time being (if you want to know where my house is e-mail me)

Here are the location of my hostel in Rose Park

Here's the satellite image of my university. The engineering buildings are eng north and south.

Here's the distance from my place to uni. 2.75km!

My degree has gone GOLD

That's right, it has gone gold. No more exams. No more projects to do. What's next is the graduation and the need to plan ahead. Still have not decided and virtually everything a graduate has do to like getting a job, sequring a house, planning for the future, managing personal finances.... .. boy its going to be a long road ahead.

Right now I am just lazing around what could be the last chance ever to laze around like this for the next 30 or more years!!! No where in life you can relax and sleep and money keeps flowing in thanks to a reserve of money from someone you know very dearly (hint: the ppl who sponser my education).

Been playing lots of computer games lately. Well only 1 game lately since games here are all ori and expensive. Been spending my time playing Dawn of War Winter Assault and installing a 1000 unit cap mod in ther process. The AI is bumped up, the races are more refine (although some are dumbed down) and like all games, there are still some problems. The Imperial Guard is too cheating, the space marines hare costlier to tech up and the chaos marines forgotten how to fire a rocket launcher and plasma gun. Still, the game is still rocks an worth the purchase. Looking forward to Serious Sam 2 next!

Uluru-Alice Springs Trip

Yesterday I just got back from Alice Springs onboard the Gahn. The trip lasted 20 hours and i only managed to get little sleep along the way. Didn't slept that much when the train was stopping and moving slowly between Tarcoola and Port Augusta to allow bigger frieght trains right of way. After that when the train was on its way continously to Adelaide and I managed to get some sleep.

My holiday started last week on the 22nd of September where I went to my friend's place to sleep. The next morning, (23rd September) all of us went out early from their apartment in East Terrace and proceed to the Wayward bus office at Waymouth street to begin the journey up north. Took a while though to get out of Adelaide since we have to wait for 2 ppl who just arrive in Adelaide by train onboard the Indian Pacific at Weswick station. After that we head north to the Barbossa valley, to Clare and onward to Quarn, a small town where we spend the night. Along the journey can see fields of canola in bright yellow, had to pay AU3 to taste wine at a winery (I thought it was free? When I went to Barbossa it was free... anyway more reason to taste ALOT), the driver made wrong turning several times (he was flown in from the NT, but oh well), and lastly at night had dinner and a drink at the local pub!

Next day (24th) left Quarn early to go Port Augusta to refuel. The modified truck-turned-to-bus is very very gas guzlling. After that we head towards the Arid lands botanic garden which we walked around for a while. The funny thing was we thought it was ok to walk outside w/o a sweater but when the wind blew we quickly wore them. After the arid lands botanic garden it was on to Woomera to see rockets and to stock up on food. Too bad they never sold any rockets. We continued our journey up towards Coober Pedy where we visit an opal mine in the heart of the city which has opals in the bottom level (the town is full of them) and slept underground in a dugout. NEVER NEVER LET ANYONE WHO SNORES SHARE THE SAME ROOM WITH YOU! Had a HUGE pizza at the local pizzaria which taste very very good.

The third day (25th) we left the Coober Pedy dugout to head for the Breakaways and the dog fence. Very desert like conditions at the area, but funny it was beginning to rain when we visited that area. Would look fantastic if it was sunny. We then head towards Erlunda (correct spelling?) in the Northen Territory to meet up with another bus from Alice Springs to continue on to Uluru! Had a fantastic sunset from the campgrounds with more ppl looking at the Rock than at the actual sunset. Spend the night at the campgrounds in a swag on the ground while looking at the stars while lying down. Spotted about 3-4 shooting stars that night.

The fouth day (24th) we head towards the Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park to view the sunrise. I can tell you the sunrise is crazy with loads of ppl at the same spot. The most amazing are those 5-star tours which serve wine during the sunrise! After watching the sunrise a short stop by the visitor centre to see the aboriginal culture and to buy some sourvenies (magnets and such). We then head off to Uluru again, this time stopping at the climbing area for those who wish to climb and for those who wish to do the base walk. I did not climb the Rock simply because I have not climbed any mountains or hills before and feel a bit guilty while doing it. I should had known that the base walk around Uluru was a whopping 9.4 km coz it was so far to walk 1 round! Anyway get to walk with 1 girl from Korea who did not followed her friend up :P So both paths had its reward.....

After Uluru it was to camp to rest for a while. Then we head towards Kata Tjuta. We walked around 5km that day through very difficult terrain with losse rocks and steep incline. Most of us walked towards the 2nd and most breathaking lookout point before we decided to walk back. My friends continue on to circle Kata Tjuta. Taking a slow walk back is alot better to actually see what we had miss first time.

At night we settle in for the night in our swags (some opted for tents) for the next morning. Very tiresome day and I can't believe I walked so far...

The fifth day (27th) we woke up a bit late to head to Uluru for a short guided tour (we already saw sunrise yesterday). The climb was closed today due to strong winds i guess. After that we head out of the Uluru area to King's Canyon. Stopped along the way to Mt. Ebenenze (a truck stop, not a mountain) to buy more souveniers. Once we reached King's creek station we rest for a while before heading to King's Canyon nearby. Got the option to ride in a helicopter at King's creek but my friends are not up to it coz it is so expensive!! Maybe I should have went myself...

At King's Canyon I did the valley walk instead of the rim walk for the same reasons as the Uluru, the path is demanding for me.

The 6th day (28th)we leave King's creek station onward to Alice Springs!! On the way we stopped by at Rainbow valley (actually, more like fly valley) and to see the singing dingo, which unfortunately is having a holiday. Reached Alice Springs about 4-5pm. At night we hang out at a saloon type restaurant for dinner and some beer. I only had 1 glass of beer coz tommorow we need to leave early for the Gahn and because I am with 2 Korean girls (from our group) who don't drink AT ALL. My friends on the other hand was with the 2 Japanese girls (also from our group) and they were drinking all night.

Last day of the trip to Alice Springs, we had lunch at the train station and departed Alice Springs at around 12.30pm. After that it was a long journey back home.

So how much beer did I drink during the trip?
1 glass at Quarn
1 bottle at Coober Pedy
5 cans of beer during the days at Uluru and King's canyon
1 glass at Alice Springs

The 1 bottle at Coober Pedy was only 375 ml, but it has 14.7% of alkohol and I can feel how high it can get. My friends were surprised I drank the entire bottle wayyy faster than them (hey, I rarely drink, how was I supposed to know I should not be drinking so fast?).

Holiday is here!

The mid-semester break is finally here. Yesterday, Monday I had presented my presentation and now the following 2 weeks is time to catch up on some work. Thank god the presentation went smoothly and without any major hitch. Anyway, had fun last night playing on Xbox Live with the usual friends. The line was good and my frag count was wayy better compared to last time :P

I tried to buy Burnout Revenge yesterday, went up and down Rundle Mall comparing prices (actually, availability) and went home empty handed. EB was selling the game, but at the full retail price. The shop I wanted to buy it from have not receive the new game yet although it advertised it should be here on Monday. Oh well, some money saved in the process.

Now I have that funny desire to buy a Nintendo DS. Wait... NINTENDO?!?!$!# Didn't I said I hated Mario? Didn't I said I hated Pokemon? Well, of course I hate those 2 franchises since Pokemon is lame on the GBcolor and Mario.... gosh that was YEARS ago, but after reading up about the DS, I found out that the DS isn't actually a bad system. So the comparison

PSP
Bad points
-cost AU399 on average, or about RM 1200 in M'sia
-need another RM 500 or more for the memory stick duo, which only compatible with Sony items
-the UMD movies are region coded. Boo boo if I purchased one here and can't view UMDs from Singapore or Japan (Why the hell S'pore and Japan are different regions?)
-chances of getting the dreaded dead pixel problem
-games run on UMD disks and some games has long loading times (.. argghh..it has the PS2 genes)
-need memory stick to save games (duh, it's a Sony)
-UMD games cost more than DS games (not sure about it yet)
-Fragile LCD screen just screams for a third party screen protector= more $$$ spent
-battery life

Good points
-OMG THE LCD SCREEN!!!! IT ROCKS!@#!@#$!@$ *** Drooling****
-UMD games are region free (thankfully)
-it looks waaayyy cooler and more techno than the DS... remember how good the PS2 looked last time?
-has multimedia function with internet browser, wifi, bluetooth
-the games looks GORGEGOUS!@#!@$@!$

DS
Bad points
-Mario... Pokemon... argghh
-just gaming?.. no MP3? no internet browser?what the heck is the wifi for?
-the LDC screen looks pale in comparison to the PSP
-looks so... plain
-cheap plastic

Good points
-Cost about AU 170 for a new one, so it is half the price of the PSP.
-NO NEED FOR MEMORY CARDS!@#!@
-has a touch screen and "some" games untilized them
-more durable than the PSP. Some even commented it can be dropped and still works after that. the PSP on the other hand....
-the flip design protects the screen
-Advanced Wars DS, Metroid Prime Hunters
-full backwards compatibility with GBA games

So all in all, the PSP will eat almost the same cost I "intended" to spent on the Xbox 360 when it is released in Singapore. I am estimating the Xbox 360 will cost around RM 2500, minus the trip to Singapore of course. Besides, the Xbox 360 has a lot more USEFUL functions than a PSP.
UMD movies: DVDs is waayyy better and region free. Movies are meant to be watched while sitting on a couch with the legs up
Mass data storage capability: a portable hard disk or a MP3 player which is cheaper and has far more GB capacity can get the job done better
Internet surfing: I don't think surfing with something without a keyboard (i mean, how to sent e-mails? I am puzzled) or for fun is something I will do in the future when my handphone can do a better job.
The awesome screen: I will definitely scratch the screen sooner or later

So I was thinking, most probably I will get DS first and a PSP later when I can actually afford it (hey, the 360 costs more u know). For the PSP the only games I want are Lumines, Ridge Racer and Wipeout Pure. For the DS it is Advanced Wars, Meteors, Metroid Prime Hunters (later next year) and Kirby. Bah, maybe I just get a 360 first.

Anyway, my purchasing plans are:
DS (October), AU 300 = RM 1000 (just estimating)
PSP (January), RM 2000
360 (middle of 2006?), RM 4000 , inclusive of games, the console itself and the trip down?

and for my current Xbox:
Burnout Revenge AU 80
Conker (still deciding, coz this game isn't really child or senior friendly due to its language, and paying so much for a game full of @$%@$%@ isn't such a good idea to me) AU 80
Far Cry Instinct AU 90
Kingdom Under Fire AU 90
Beyond Good and Evil AU 50 (darn it, why only EB has it?)

So in a years time I will spent RM 8000 on games and the gadgets above.

hmm.. that's not so bad, especially since the hardware will last a long long time...

oh wait, I forgetten to add PC games into the equation. But I don't think it will cost so much since my present PC is capable of handling the current games. It did managed to play BF2 without a hitch.

Royal Adelaide Show

Adding some blog entry in between work and more work. Last Saturday my friend and I went to the Royal Adelaide Show on its last day. It was something like a giant fun fair with the whole Wayville Showgrounds abuzz with activity. There's the section with all the rides, games etc and there is a section selling show bags. Show bags are something like goody bags with some novelty stuff in them together with toys, junk food and just plain junk. I saw one show bag with a toy rifle that is almost 1:1 scale, has a scope and even has the V support for the barrel. That is the closest you can get a toy gun to look like the real thing. Too bad it ran out of stock. That is one of the "gun" toy show bags. Got Pokemon showbag, Transformer showbag (with transformer mechandice, but not the transformer itself), Yugioh showbag.

The bags I bought is the Kit kat one and the Coca-cola show bag, in which the Coke one gives you a REAL brand new nylon bag with 2 coke bottles and some coke goodies. The Coke bag only costs AU10 since it is the last day and must have sold badly earlier this week (the Pepsi one is wayyy better with a grey bag and some useful goodies... but sold out).













I bought a can shaped camera from the Coke stall. There's even a flash version, but the one I bought is the normal version. Not bad though, the size is almost similar to that of a REAL CAN.

Then another souvenier from the show: 2 mugs costing only AU 5 for both. That time only left the pig and the sheep type. Fortunately I managed to get a sheep mug before it ran out.















That's all for now... gotta long week ahead...... somemore planning to go to Alice Springs.....

Xbox 360 I want and Brukunga Trip

Last week Microsoft annouced the price of the Xbox 360; it will cost only US399!!! So cheap for such a powerful and highly capable console! I want I want! Somemore it comes with the console, the removable hard disk, a wireless controller, a headset for Xbox live, a special DVD remote and HD_Tv cables (if we are ever going to afford a TV as expensive as a Kancil to use that cable). Somemore it comes with 30 day free trial of Xbox Live! It is due to arrive soon at the end of the year in US, Japan and Europe, but gods knows when it will come to Singapore or let alone Australia. So no chance of getting one while I am still here :( Still, I wonder if I can cough up US 399 for the console itself and another US100 for 2 Xbox 360 games. Atleast the Xbox 360 is better than spending RM 1500 on a Sony PSP, which I still thinking if I should get one as the 360 will take a while to arrive in Singapore. I'm sure got some ppl go and import the 360 from Japan, but like the first PS2s to arrive from Japan, it will cost a bomb :(

Today I went on a field trip to the Brukunga Fire Training Centre 40km from Adelaide. Guess it was part of the benefits of doing the Fire Engineering Elective :P Anyway got to see the facilities where firefighters are trained and some pretty expensive fire simulators for them to be trained. The picture on the left you see a tanker hot pad training rig which is called the "upside down LPG barbecue under water " tha t cost half a million dollars. It can simulate smoke coming out from the tyres, fire on the tanker itself and the big one, a big bad flame on the road, or in the following picture:-


On the pad. Take note that when I took this picture IT IS VERY VERY HOT. There is alot of radiant heat coming from the pad itself flame and being an LPG flame with little or no smoke the combustion is almost perfect. Also take note at how far I am standing from; it is quite some distance from the rig itself and I can feel my fore head (the only part exposed, except the hands and face) beginning to get hot as well.

Here are 2 more pictures showing another "upsude down barbecue under water" hot pad.

Final sem = so much work :(

Have not been able to blog anything lately. So much work that when I come home i am simple too lazy to do anything that require some thinking (writing this blog with proper English is one of them). My Xbox also I never play as often when I first got it. Maybe it is because I got a RPG game which will suck up so much time I rather not start on it otherwise I will play it for 3-6 hours none stop. Also, got some pretty good stuff to play on the PC at the moment.

First is the F.E.A.R demo. It rocked when I saw it when it was shown on E3, it rocked again when I tried the demo! Too bad my computer isn't up to par with the required specs needed to run the game as intended, but my computer has just enough juice to allow the "bullet time" and particle effects to be displayed :P The graphics was superb! The wait to download it, stalled at 98%, downloaded it AGAIN payed off.

Then there is the Dungeon Siege 2 Demo. It was a whopping 1.5 gigs to download. Thankfully it was downloaded without any hitch at all. The game was ok, the sheer size of the download was due to the fact it came with a full motion video introduction of more than 5 minutes and some fantastic cutscenes. Played it pass the first mission and stopped there though. One rpg at a time is enough.

So that's 2 games in the horizon to get, provided my computer still has the power to play them. Somemore I am expecting Serious Sam 2, Star Wars Battlefront 2, the Dawn of War Expansion..... .. Xbox 360, PSP... so many things to play not enough time nor money!

Tommorow I am going to attent the one and only Level 4 lab this semester; The Air-con lab. It is at the Thebarton campus west of the city. From what I see, I can get there without even alighting in the city as my bus will continue on past that area. Still I still need to alight as I will meet my friend for lunch b4 heading there together.

Now I got 2 assignments due in the coming weeks. Still got the seminar abstract to do somemore :P