Spring Clean

I woke up during lunch time today, hoping to spend the day lazing behind the computer. I had decided to shower to be more awake when suddenly the power turns off... Someone turned the power back on but it tripped again a few moments later. (Being in the bathroom, it was as if someone was playing a prank on you, turning the water hot and cold...)

So with the option of the computer not available, there wasn't really much I could do. Eating lunch was a rather quiet affair, since all electronic appliances were "sleeping".

With my mummy walking around, trying to find something to do.. I thought it was high time that we cleaned out the store area upstairs. There were many many things stuffed away here, technically waiting to be looked over and thrown out.

The stacks of old magazines were as high as my waist. Then there were the countless out-of-date text books and reference material for primary and secondary... Each of us (my sisters and I) had a different set of text books. This being the government somehow always decided to change the syllabus too often...

So can you imagine the pile 3 sets of study material can come up to? If I stack the books on one another, the pile could easily be as tall as me... I'm about 170cm.. The newspaper man would probably have a field day coming to my house... Going to recycle them all since no one would want out-of-syllabus books.

I am, however, going to keep about one of every subject in the now cleared space (in case I need it as reference). The space is now nicely organized. Yay~! Now if only I can keep my room that way... Cleaning my room had always been a three days affair. Too many interests, thus too many stuff.. Hahaha~!

Other than books, I found some pretty nostalgic stuff which I decided to photograph since I'm throwing them out.

Here's the first modem my household have ever used~!

It has a fun "flippy" switch... I believe this dude was struck by lightning..

Then we upgraded to this fellow, the "Aztech" 56k modem. I remembered the first time my house had internet, my sister was the first to use it... The horror story was at that time, to load one single yahoo homepage, my sis had to wait about a whole day.

How technology have come leaps and bounds from yesteryears... I don't think you'd fancy waiting that long...

I really don't know if this is a hard drive or a motherboard... my guess is that it's a hard drive. All the items above... I don't know if they're functional but since they're going to the dump, no matter. Hahah~! I'm going to slowly work through my room... Until next time, cheers~!

Night Out

Today, 25th May, was quite a day. Had already planned for a few days with Puiyeel to go see a Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) concert. The show we want to watch is on the 13th May but it would be performed by "outsider" orchestra. So I wanted my first MPO concert to be local so we went for a chamber concert today. "A smaller orchestra (of about forty players or less) is called a chamber orchestra" Definition taken from Wiki.

Dress code = smart casual. I drove my mum to work so that I could get the car to "play around". Being in a course where we run on tight deadlines and schedules will make you want to have "free-er" day schedule. Had I not take the car, the day won't have been this fun.

Was suppose to meet up with Puiyeel at 4.30pm. But I had to settle the letters drafts and then I got an email from HC to send her the list of committee members and their phone numbers. So when I got to KLCC, it was close to 5pm.

We ate our dinner first since we didn't really know what time the 6.30pm show would end. We ate at Little Penang Cafe.

I had Penang Curry Mee while Puiyeel had Lam Mee and also a bowl of Red Ruby each.

Yummy~! We went to buy the ticket at RM10 each and went in. They didn't allowed photography inside so no nice pictures of the inside.

I must mention that there isn't enough signs to show you where to buy tickets (which is at the place called Box Office) and also we were left to figure out where the chamber concert hall was... The ticket didn't really help. But with a few correct guesses we found our way to the hall.

The conductor of the day was Kevin Field. This show they played 3 songs. The first one was all strings (violins and base) and the music played, images that came to me were scary movie, mysterious, sounding like bees at one time and horns another. Putting those together came as "Scary bees with mysterious horns.."

'Image taken from Wiki'

The pauses in between the music was cool.. Everyone was quiet and the hall was so quiet, my ears buzzed. Interesting feel.

The second piece was a world premiere of a locally composed songs entitled "topeng" (mask in BM). Err... frankly I didn't like it. It definitely had dense culture in it... Percussions as a backbone of the piece... The two percussionists had to play a whole assortment of drums, gongs, xylophone, etc... They were rather "busy" thus quite a nice distraction... The song didn't give me an image... Even if it did, it was a terribly distorted one.

The third one was my favourite. It used a Harpsichord and violin + base.

Got the image off Wiki

This is a Harpsichord. . At the start of the three song, my jaw literally dropped to the floor. It didn't start like "slow and easy" but went full scale, mind-blowing speed. That got my attention. The lady who played the Harpsichord was magnificent. Her fingers were practically attached to the key, fluttering gracefully.

While Puiyeel had images of horses on the stage, I saw as the Harpsichord and the strings were trying to do a little competition as if to see who was better. The winner was the Harpsichord. Hahaha~! I was all smiles as I truly enjoyed the last piece of the night.

It was 7.30pm, making the show about an hour.

We decided to have some ice-cream at the food court.

I think that the foodcourt area was pretty.

They had interesting decorations like this.

We were still hungry after the show so Puiyeel brought me to a nice Dim Sum store near her house. So ya, we had Dim Sum for supper. It was delicious. Best to drink tea with Dim Sum. I had a lovely time tonight. Let's do this again some time.

Until next time, Cheers~!

Lovely Cake

I'm free for 2 weeks at the moment... ^___^ Anyway, my parents were invited to a wedding dinner and brought back this beautifully made cake.

It looked so pretty that some of you may feel it's too pretty to cut...

Such a pretty cake.

But I cut it and ate it. It was soooooooooooooooooo sweet. Symbolizes the happy sweet wedding I know but seriously, extremely sweet. It had the icing, caramel and the fruit cake. Good stuff. Hahah~! Until next time, cheers.

Last Hurdle

"I've been in this race for so long,
I'm being to wonder why,
I'm not the best runner,
I used to think if I could finish,
I'll be somewhere.

As I near the end,
And past the last hurdle,
I see nothing, vast emptiness,
There is no one behind me,
No one waiting.

But I'll try,
Try to pass the last hurdle,
Where the path is uncertain..."

Wait for me, guys~! I just realise that MMPS could mean "Must Make Presentation Special / My Mind Put to Sleep". Bleh~! Tomorrow big presentation. Onto the battlefield... Until next time, cheers...

The Interview

The title of this post sounds very much like a movie name.. Potential ring to it. Decided to google it and lo and behold, turns out that there's already a movie called The Interview (1998). Hahaha~!

Well, how was it for my first interview... Even with all the theories in mind, the real deal is still quite an interesting challenge. True enough, many tactics were done; the "I-don't-like-your-work" comment, "The-others-are-better" play, "I-can-do-this-myself" statement. I took it all and tried to defend as little, since I'm an aggressive person.. must train my mind to think faster and teach my body language to shut up.

Mr Wai Khong, I know I didn't get the job but how did I fare? Or is an interview only all about the results of getting a job? Any tips from anyone?

The few tips my parents gave me were the interviewers are there to test your stress capabilities and they want to see if you're suitable for the job and the people in the company.. My elder sis pointed out that I should take the interview as a opportunity taken, not the only solution and hope to getting a job. "Don't put yourself in the mercy of the interviewer" as she puts it.

Well, I'm believe I'm not cut out to a Designer's job with it being too project-based. Even if my skills allow it, my body will fall apart. I'm already dizzy from lack of sleep. Damn my chemically-poisoned body.. If I'm lucky enough, with enough chemicals, I can preserve my own body... Hahaha, the "Wonders" of Science.

"If you're weak at it, work at it." Arts was never a strong point for me but that's where the most improvements can be made and this will my character grow. That's if I don't succumb to the pressure and die.. More interviews anyone? Till next time, cheers~!

Cycling Adventure

Pic source: http://www.otakalypse.com/wiki/index.php/Image:Bell_bicycle.jpg

It had been such a long time since I felt like going on an adventure. Plus the burden of doing assignments often led me to sink deeper into depression and routine. So today I decided to get out from my rut and go for an adventure, on my trusty bicycle.

As always, being neglected for quite a while, the air in my tires were flat, next to nothing. Easily fixed by having a handy foot pump. With the creaking of the bicycle seat under my weight, I set off to explore.

The evening air was quite still as the sun was set to set. Haha~! Pun intended. I went my rounds around my housing area like I used to. I thought "Exploring around this area would be a nice comparison as to the last time I went exploring but maybe I should try somewhere new".

I walked my bicycle uphill (I can't do uphill). I came to the playground that had at that moment, quite a number of children playing with some parents around, keeping a vigilant eyes on their cute but mischievous brats. Haha~! Children can do some unexpected things with your back turned to them. Anway, I walked until I came to my usual t-junction. Often I would turn right and go zipping off my usual route.

Today was different. I walked to the left, in the direction of my primary school. Hahah~! It's true that my primary school is walking distance from my house. After the slight uphill, comes the wonderful downhill that I deliciously took. Zoom~!

*Brake~!* I stopped to look at the 'pink' condo that is finished now but had only begun to be constructed when I left primary. I could see that a lot of changes took place here. For one, there was the lost of the "science" park. I remembered that it wasn't much things very science about it, only that they labeled the plants with its common name and its scientific terms...

I cycled to the entrance of the condo. Often I wished to enter and explore the inside of all the condos in my housing area but there was always that security issue... So I turned around and zipped past the open gates of my primary school, past the secondary school that was beside it.

Ahead, there were some new houses that were construted I had wanted to check out but I always thought so while driving past it. What a perfect opportunity to sneak a peek... or so I thought until I saw that it was off limits to pesky pedestrians like me. No matter. I shall come back when it's ready for my viewing pleasure.

I pressed on this new road. There was a lovely little bush forest on my left to explore if it weren't for the fact that I'm paranoid that there might be snakes living there. So when I spotted a white rock trail to my right, I jumped at the chance to see where it led. Curiously, there was a basketball court, all nicely built up. From the condition of the court, it had to be quite new.

I loved cycling on flat grounds and there weren't much of it around my hilly housing area, so I decided to enter the basketball court. The court was nicely fenced up and sat in between two condo apartments, being slightly in its little own bush forest. I cycled round and round, losing myself to the serenity of the bush forest and the clicking sound of my under-oiled chains.

Satisfied with 12 rounds (or more), I bid farewell to my new favourite cycling spot and moved on, excited to find more hidden jems like this. A little further from the court, I saw that I was coming near some shoplots. I didn't want to see shoplots today... So when the sight of blue gates came up, I quickly detoured into the path that it was suppose to be guarding.

It wasn't a very big path... It had a big drain on my left that I could have fitted an elephant. Falling into this drain wasn't an option.. I thought in my head and pictured what would have happened if I did. Not a pretty picture I assure you. I could see that this path wasn't so deserted as it seems for there were mid tracks of motorcycles here.

Coming out from the other side of the gate, I came to a place that didn't look any familiarity to me at all. Spurred by anxiousness, I took this new route to whereever it may lead me. As I came out from a bend, I heard some people karaoke-ing. I cycled nearer and found that there was a fishing area what I deem, secluded spot. Looking from the entrance, I saw that there were quite a number of people fishing. They were fishing like regulars, no one seemed out of place except me. So I didn't hang about for too long and continued on this interesting path.

Soon enough, the path brought me to Desa Waterpark. Now I knew my barrings. I cycled, looking in to see the state of the waterpark. it looked empy; I didn't know if it was because of the fact that it's past closing time or that the place lost out to sunway lagoon... Remembering my friend's proposal (Jonz's) about there being no space for young inspiring graffiti artist to use, this building could be used for graffiti space. I thought that this slightly run down park could use all the "publicity" to rake in the crowds.

What's more run down was the paintball shooting game arena beside the waterpark. Boy, it must have suffered due to the poor turn up to this waterpark. There was also a restaurant here but it seemed to be fine with business. Albeit a little slow but it has business nonetheless.

It was getting darker now that the sun was minutes away from its slumber. So I took the route home, the one which I had taken countless of times by car. It was not so easy with a bicycle. It had a steep uphill so I took my time, pushing my bicycle up. There was another condo to my right, only this one was just completed late last year. Explore to the entrance I did. By the time I reached the entrance, the sun had already set and it was getting quite dark.

The path that I thought would be a dead end turned out to have another path to the left. Many of you would have thought I was insane to take this less travelled path in the dark, but I took it anyway. So there~! To my surprise, the end of the path led to a gate and this gate was near the 'pink' condo I was exploring earlier. I had missed it the first time round as the gate was slightly hidden in the bushes.

The gate was unlocked but there was a guard there. I bet he must be thinking I must be some loon to be cycling in the dark but he was polite regardless. Making a quick jog up the downhill that I so nicely took, I made my way homeward. Coming to pass the playground, I could see that the children and parents have all gone home as it was too dark to play.

I jumped at this opportunity to play the swings. I parked my bicycle where I could keep my eyes on it and just played swings. Sometimes I worry that the swing would break under my weight (haha~! I know I'm heavy) but this time I threw caution to the wind and enjoyed the cool night air. I didn't stay for too long though and got home, just in time for dinner.

I look forward to more cycling adventure but for now, I'll let my bicycle have its well earned rest. I wonder what I'll find next time. Cheers~!

Bridge to Terabithia

Just watched this movie on friday, 30th March. To me, there weren't a lot of ads or talk about this movie. I believe that people will make comparison of this movie to Narnia, where Narnia is more colourful and magical.

I would recommend this movie to people who prefers realistic, day to day kind of story. It focuses more on human relationship than showing mystical creatures.

The climax was appropriate but the resolution was a little poor.. It does have its moments of super flashy, high budget computer graphics.

This movie was based on the book by KATHERINE PATERSON

"Jess Aarons wants to be the fastest boy in the fifth grade--he wants it so bad he can taste it. He's been practicing all summer, running in the fields around his farmhouse until he collapses in a sweat. Then a tomboy named Leslie Burke moves into the farmhouse next door and changes his life forever.

Not only does Leslie not look or act like any girls Jess knows, but she also turns out to be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. After getting over the shock and humiliation of being beaten by a girl, Jess begins to think Leslie might be okay. Despite their superficial differences, it's clear that Jess and Leslie are soul mates.

The two create a secret kingdom in the woods named Terabithia, where the only way to get into the castle is by swinging out over a gully on an enchanted rope. Here they reign as king and queen, fighting off imaginary giants and the walking dead, sharing stories and dreams, and plotting against the schoolmates who tease them.

Jess and Leslie find solace in the sanctuary of Terabithia until a tragedy strikes and the two are separated forever." -Abstract taken from http://www.fiano.co.jp-

I believe the book would be a good read, answering some questions that popped into my head while watching the movie. Til next time, Cheers~!