Currently preparing my last post for 2009 - "2009: For The Record". As I'm finding the blueprints of words and photos to construct my final 2009 post, I wonder how fast does time pass these days. It was as if I celebrated the new year yesterday in One Utama, haha....


I just asked a friend whether she already done her 2010 resolution or not. Right after the message, I suddenly got a bit of inspiration for mine. I just hope 2010 will be better, though I sense everything will be tougher. May God protect this weak servant of yours. 

Wisdom

What happen to the days of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and many other philosophers who have been spending their precious time, seeking and understanding more wisdom on life to help themselves and the whole of humanity, generations after generations? 

Today, as I observe the world, people around me tend to seek materialistic stuffs rather than wisdom. Can't you people realize that? We're soon going to be economic slaves, where we will feed and house ourselves every single day. That's the monetary system, where everybody is oppressed from archiving their freedom in life. 

But like it or not, if you can't beat it, join it. We still need money to survive. The damage has been done. For tens of thousands of years men created money ever since the days of the barter system, we as mankind just accept the system without realizing how scarcity affects our life. 

Open your eyes, people. Living with only materialistic purposes is a life not worth living for. You have sufficient money yet having the feeling of insecurity or stress will not make you a better man. 

Oh ya, read also this post >link< if you are wondering what is true freedom? It does have connection to this post, just that it demands for a change for a better world. 

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Left 4 Dead 2

Picture from platformnation.com

Loving the game. It's been accompanying me throughout the boring days :)


My favourite weapon here is the AK 47, and if I'm an infected in Versus mode, my favourite is the Spitter. 


Just a short update, hope you gys won't mind. Haha...

When Will He Ever Learn?

Rants ahead. Viewers' discretion is advised. 


Yepp, one of the episodes of "The Greatest Freakout Ever" which is currently gaining popularity in Youtube. We do not know if the scene is true, but I can assure you that 1 out of around 2500 families will experience such a demon. 1 out of hundreds of these "terrorists" will turn out to be like famous assassins and criminals who oppose the ways of the society in the future. 


Well, to that brother of mine, you should be very thankful that you are not like Stephen who is under defamation, but I'm gonna say that you are as short-tempered as him and your behaviour and appearance doesn't even give us peace. You're just freaking ruining our happiness here and give us a lot of hell to deal with. 


Well, do you know what pissed me off yesterday? That fella, being jealous of me using the house laptop, quickly snatched the laptop away after I used it, and when I use my own laptop to go online, he even SNATCHED the modem away. Now, he's putting a password on the house laptop so that I am unable to use it. I'm currently using my laptop to go online. 


Just because YOU wanted to dominate this house doesn't mean we will succumb to your anger. 


Well, if you don't like this house, why not just GET LOST? You don't even have a large number of friends. Tell you what? Over the years, most of your peers complained a lot things about you. You can't realise that, can't you? It's because people can speak behind you. 


If you want to use the computer, why not open your damn mouth and ask, instead of being an Incredible Hulk smashing things in your room? Is that simple. 


Please learn how to compromise with us, before we really go beyond our limits. We have been patient with you for a very long time. I have already improved in anger management, but if you want to lure this dormant volcano to erupt, be my guest, and I show you how dangerous it is if you play with fire. 

Merry Christmas - L4D1 style!

Francis of Left 4 Dead 1 is very famous of his line "Merry Christmas" in the game trailer. Some of the game fans made this creative survivor vs zombie scene and I never expected a zombie so elite like that he has to face in this scene.


Anyway, I prefer the cast of L4D1. The recent version of it doesn't have cool characters as good as them. Zoey, Francis, Bill and Louis > Coach, Ellis, Rochelle and Nick.

It may be not that grand, but Happy Christmas! xD

Credits and Distinctions :)

Not bad for my first UniSA degree semester results :) Thanks to those who are involved in guiding me in assignments, as well as the lecturers, who are:

Miss Natasha MH - CRR
Mr. Winston Lim - CCS
Mr. Chandra - POJ ; and
Mr. Ben Loh - PR1

Well, the 2nd semester's target posts are up soon. If the going gets tough, the tough gets tougher.

A Month of Holiday

Apparently, this holiday doesn't seem to go according to my way.

I thought I can make use of this holiday to be more outgoing and focus more on stuffs like photography, but there are sudden craps that came out of nowhere, dimming every opportunity I have. At least I met some old friends along the way. At least I managed to drive (under mum's supervision only). That's the only way to counter the "culprits".

I don't know if I should have the rights to complain to heaven why are these stuffs happening to me at the wrong time. Do God want to tell me something through this?

On the bright side of things, I just recovered from food poisoning, and my laptop is finally being upgraded to Windows 7 with 3GB RAM. At least I rejoiced for that.

Tomorrow's going to be very tiring. Since it's going to be the last day of our old friend's gathering. Fadhlan will be leaving @ Christmas, while Teo Kai Peng will fly for London @ New Year's Eve. I do thank God for the Left4Dead 2 games and the meals we're engaged in, but somehow I feel something is incomplete on other stuffs.

I feel envy to those who are able to photoshoot and socialize more without any resistance from various factors. Before my kiasu attitude takes over me fully, I better say, "Happy Holidays" and have fun while it still remains, before all of you complain about your busy lives in your college/workplace. :) keke...

I hope the 2nd quarter of my holidays will be better. But what will I do @ January? Another 4 weeks dealing with unexpected crisis, a trip to Sydney which is a 50-50, and a caught-up between the past and the future of my life - Things are going to make me confused, as different institutions of life are trying to tell me different messages for me to decide for myself.  

I am currently frustrated, confused and disillusioned. Here and now, what I should do?

Unofficial Reunion @ Perdana Steamboat

Sorry, I made some mistakes that I forgot to teach the photographer how to use my external flash. I only managed to set it on diffused light with high power flash mode. But overall, the photos are worth the memories, though only a few turned up this dinner.


By excalade89




Our table - From left, clockwise - Mason, Jacky (missing), Charlie, Kwan Shang Zu, Bazli, Michelle Chok and Guojun. Michelle came in last minute.












Updates to be continued. Recovering from sickness :(

Hello! Samsung Corby

I finally got a touch phone, just to replace my 1 year old Sony Ericsson K530i. Well, I took the Samsung Corby as my choice after going through a large selection of phones, which included the Nokia 5230, Nokia 5530 Expressmusic, Nokia 5800, LG Cookie, Samsung Star and Sony Ericsson Naite.

The Corby is really one heck of a phone worth beyond its price. I'd never seen such a touch phone below RM 1000 until I saw that model. Too bad it doesn't have the 3G features and a decent camera. Anyway, the reason why I chose the Corby out of the selections was because:

- The Samsung Corby, though only just enter the mobile markets, has a low price of just RM 699.

- The Nokia ExpressMusic phones do not have speakers as good as the Corby's.

- Samsung touch phones are really affordable. If I am born with a silver cup, I might as well get the 12.1 MP Sony Ericsson Aino or a PDA straightaway. Too bad SE doesn't have cheaper touch phones.

- The second best selection, which was the Samsung Star, only can store up to 200 phone numbers. It's kinda limited for the phonebook as the people you meet will increase day by day.

So far, I'm very impressed with the Corby. When you purchase a unit of it, you will have a total of 3 battery covers with different designs on it - Samsung is really thinking outside the box! And this phone is full of useful widgets if you are a casual online surfer- It offers widgets from Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc!

Last but not least,


By excalade89

I dedicate this line to my old mobile, the Sony Ericsson K530i. You really served me well, until the days when you suddenly become unstable as you lose energy quickly. Still, you are a really decent phone. Like the Corby, you are more valuable than your price of RM 530+ (as in Dec 2008). It's therefore a low price given to a 3G phone.

Back to you readers, if you want to kick start the new year with a Samsung Corby, how about joining this contest by Nuffnang?

http://www.nuffnang.com.my/blog/2009/12/11/what-corby-color-are-you/

If you're selected by them, you will be joining a Paintball contest in January and the winners will get the phone for FREE! I'm unable to join, though, since I'll be here in Tawau until February (if I'm going to Sydney).

To the ex-classmates of St. Patrick, stay tuned for the next post, ya?

"Hello! Tak Ade Elektrik! (No Electric!)"

A Tawau citizen who leaves his/her hometown will surely be used to power breakdowns in various forms - Internet, water, and oh! Electric. One will tend not to forget about electric breakdowns the most. Well, for many years ever since this town was established in 1898, people complain about the slow development pace here.

Well, today's funny. We (Fadhlan, Teo, Siau Yik and me) had electric breakdown this morning and afternoon. The afternoon part was funnier, we were in a cyber cafe playing L4D2, and while struggling halfway in a campaign, the power suddenly shut down and the whole CC yelled in distress.

As for us, we were laughing instead of cursing. :)

"Last time, I was really complaining about this powercuts, as it always happens here. But, I don't why I'm laughing. Maybe this is the taste of home."

Guess who's line was that? Okay, let you ex-schoolmates go figure it out.

SESB really should improve their services to be as adequate as TNB in West Malaysia. You can hardly experience any breakdowns over there. It's a very serious matter to them whenever there's electric shortage. As our towns and cities continue to develop, people are becoming more demanding for their standards of living.

As the breakdown affected my house this morning, I suddenly thought about the recent Namewee clip against TNB

Imagine if someone does the same thing Namewee did in Sabah. It better don't happen.

But anyway, I believe that ex-Tawau citizens will tend to remember Tawau when it comes to electric breakdowns in other places. "Home sweet home." :)

So, those who will be ready to leave Tawau for tertiary studies or employment purposes, think of the bright side. Cherish the times whenever you face electric shortages, you will definitely miss those times. :)

"I Am Just A Grain of Sand"

A Hokkien Christian hymn caught my attention today, when a Datuk and a Datin gave a speech in Calvary Charismatic Church about success and presented a song about it.

And this make me blog for today. 

We're nothing but a grain of sand, indeed. In God's eyes, we're just normal, regardless nationality, race or status. We're no special when compared to each other, we're actually all equal. Like sands on the beach, we stay on the ground, being dried under the heating Sun and flattened by the cold rains day by day. No one truly knows and understand us.

I was also being told by parents about friends this morning. She said, "You will only know your real friends when you are in deep trouble." 

This I understand. I know some befriends you for fun, some are for their benefits, some for your money, some for social status, some because you're popular. Though they won't betray you, they still treat you good for their own self-interests.

I believe that each and everyone of you do experience the moments when you care for somebody but in return, you do not get something from them, right? :) 

Back to Mum, she told me this: During my Grandfather's funeral 5 years ago, only a few of hundreds of people whom she knows attended the funeral. She has been faithfully attending her friends' funeral whenever it happens, but she was let down.

I also believe everyone of us are also being let down in another similar situation. E.g, people gossip behind you, leaving you behind or forgetting your meetings (Chinese term: fang fei ji), ignoring you, etc.

As for me, I'm trying to be as faithful as humanly possible to those whom I'd known as friends. Through experiences, I can know who are the good friends I have. Well, there are only good friends, there is no such thing as "true friend". Why? A true friend is the people's ideal friend who will walk with you and support you through your WHOLE journeys of life. But everyone that you know will eventually leave you during one of your life chapters.

Yeah, you can be happy with who you are with right now, but when something bad happens, then you know who are your real friends.

"We wanted to care for people, but this world we're living in do not encourage us to do so, as everyone of us are busy with their own stuffs." 

- Anonymous.

Mountain Hiking @ Lim Man Gui Hill Area

Fadhlan took me out for a mountain hiking trip in this area with Bazli and Angela. And they say that this area has the best view to take a photo of Tawau as a whole. Too bad the landscape is kinda hazy :( But at least I promised some good photos here.

I'm still tired from the hike, so let's just let the pictures do the talking this time. My stamina has been depleted over the years after the NS programme.

Half way to the mountain:

My first successful Photomerged image xD  Secret: take 10 photos and merge them up xD















Same background from 3 different angles :)







Bazli promoting the landscape :)

At the peak: 

See I told ya, down there looks kinda hazy. :( My polarising filter is not good enough. 




By excalade89

Yay, turun bukit (coming down the hill). It's kinda fun but tiring. I was exhausted, thirsty and hungry at the same time. 

Time to sleep! Good night :)

Some Conspiracy in Music?

Viewers' discretion is advised. 

Mainstream media is somehow weird. You might hear the same tunes from different artists, but what about their hidden messages? For example, this symbol embedded in 3OH!3 and Katy Perry's Starstrukk video.

Notice the image on the center of that vinyl? It's a pyramid symbol with an eye in it. The weird thing is, of all the symbols around the world, why they select this?

For more information, the pyramid symbol is one of the many links that are related to the New World Order (NWO) conspiracy. The reason behind this is simple - by comparing this symbol to the one found in the 1 US Dollar bill.

According to the symbol, the Latin motto of the Great Seal, "Novus Ordo Seclorum" in English means "New Secular Order" or New World Order. Overall, the concept of the symbol is originated from ancient Egypt, where the eye symbolized the eye of Horus. Some claimed that it is the eye of Lucifer, when the world is under this new order of chaos. This seal is a symbol of Freemasonry, also known as the Illuminati. Horus, according to theologist, is an Egyptian sun god that is said to have a series of characteristics similar to Jesus. Christians, you have a clue that the Antichrist will come like a Messiah.

NWO believers stated that a group of rich ruling elite has been attempting to take over the world by infiltrating world politics and economy. To do so, they have to control the global monetary system, while at the same time dominate world politics, like what Alex Jones >link< claimed. In terms of economy, this group will take over all the global conglomerates so that they can gain control of the mainstream media and information flow, enabling them to distribute their propaganda without fail.

Of course, the monetary system in nature, is a corrupted system. People can be influenced for the bad stuffs.

Back to music, if you make a study on Hollywood and mainstream music, you might be shocked to see that these symbols existed in their masterpieces.

Jay-Z. Another pyramid-eye symbol. There are so many of these weird stuff going on the mainstream industries. Well, most of them will enjoy listening to these kind of music without caring to understand its meaning. It's time to really make your judgement. 

If I were to provide more examples, I might waste a whole load of time explaining this weird stuff. Anyway, this post is basically about a conspiracy. So, make your own rhetorics on it. I tend to be neutral in this post for your stand.

So Sien

Thanks Alvan for being the 2nd friend who asked me out to yum cha. Still, I'm not allowed to drive out with friends, disabling me if I want to go out with other friends. FADHLAN! When's out 2nd match? xD

It's only 1 month after the 2012 cinema show with Huei Ling, Bong and Thomas, I just only realized that the theme song is sang by Adam Lambert. Haha...it was a very breathtaking song indeed. Hmmmm...I had included the New Moon OST in my blog here (Wait Me In The Equinox by Death Cab For Cutie), now I'll be adding Lambert's 2012 theme.

I'm going to rot this month. For sure, I'll miss out Christmas Carol, Ninja Assassin, Storm Warriors 2 and Sherlock Holmes. Screw the problems faced here. 

The 50-50 Decision

My Australian cousin, Melissa sent me this in Facebook yesterday.

aw noo i heardd ):

i hope your family member is doing okaayy..

praypraypray yeah ? :)

all the pretty beaches are waiting for you to take their photos!

And that made me rethink my destiny. 

I have chances to photoshoot in the 2 occasions - spending Chinese New Year in Sydney or just doing it traditionally here. The difference is, Cayenne, Guojun and maybe Fadhlan will not be here. Guojun and Fadhlan are my usual partner in crime for open houses. Without them, I'll be lost for the open houses.

Meanwhile, the Sydney trip would mean leaving my yearly routine and to stay in a strange area for 1 month. That sounds fun, but I might doubt some boundaries faced right there.

Oh ya, it's been exactly a week I did not touch my camera again. Dammit, I have no where even for scenery shoots.

Arggh! This is supposed to be a photoblog. Now, it returns to its original form as a text blog about life. Looks like I have to abandon the proposal of making this page a one-column site for now.

I hate it when I can't do the things that I want.

Tawau is Going to be a "Dead" Town

Peterpan's "Kota Mati" and OneRepublic's "Stop and Stare" told me a message of my past and my future. While staring at the lyrics, suddenly I felt something that is tingling my mind - it discusses about what should I do for my future.

Maybe from next year onwards, whenever there's a sem break, I will not return to Tawau except for Chinese New Year purposes. Now, I understand why everytime I felt very depressed whenever I return to KL. It's not that I'm homesick, it's because I'm "caged" in my home, not allowed to be outgoing.

Most of my friends will be leaving this place as we are currently in our degree levels. The youngest friends of mine are currently finishing their SPM exams this year. After that, all of them will be studying in another place. Elaine, I know you'll be going for NS training, but after that come larr West Malaysia study when you got scholarship, kay? :) It's safe as long you don't go out too often.

And as everybody leaves the town for their new chapter of their lives, Tawau will slowly function lesser to them. It will slowly become our down memory lane and a venue for reunion.

If I'm continuing my semester routine, I will not only rot here, I will be constantly being prohibited into doing many stuffs that I wish to do. I'm not allowed to drive, doing direct selling business, going out with friends, going photoshooting with them, or even asking out friends for outing. It heavily affects my social life, you see? YES, it is wise to choose your friends, but it doesn't mean that you cannot be sociable. I tend to draw a line to everyone depending who they are, okay?

I felt that my family institution will keep on pushing me backwards if I continue on this routine of returning back. I mean, what's life when you are not allowed to do a lot of stuffs?

Here, I would like to thank one of my church members who spoke behalf of me. He said, "Education, though being vital to the society as people will judge you with your degree or whatnot, is a subjective matter". You cannot focus too much on your studies, you have to know what you want to do to live your life to the fullest. 

I have two more years and I'm expected to put study first? Yes, while I'll be chasing on assignments, I want to know what I want to do. Parents, I want to thank you for your monetary support on me, but please don't be one of my obstacles to find my identity.

Parents and Their Young Adult Children

I thought I'm the only one who's being screwed in this situation, but recently I discussed with a group of friends who are in the same shoes with me.

I understand that parents protect us from the cunningly outside world, which are full of actors and strangers. The outside world, though filled with entertainment and leisure, it functions with money, and some unscrupulous members of the society will work for profits unethically.

But does it mean that staying at home is your total comfort zone?

NO.

I had been heavily banned from driving though I'm already a driving license owner for 2 years. I was told that I can drive if I got more sufficient experience. Problem is, how sufficient is your amount? 100 cm? It's uncountable.

I thought of various ways of getting income, since Father is almost retiring, though I'm still studying. But, you make me less exposed to the outside world. You even give me the undelightful face everytime I go out with my friends. I am already 20 years old, I'm not your 10 year old.

To those parents who are over-protecting their children, if you continue to manipulate them, here is what you get:

1. Your child will not be competent in employment. People will take advantage over his/her innocent and homely mind as he/she's lack of street experience.

2. Be prepared for your child to kahwin lambat (late marriage). It's very hard to find single girls in their 20s. So, you just have to wait longer for your grandchildren if you continue to cage your child. Oh ya, social skills will be affected. Times have changed.

3. You will likely to be blamed if your child don't get what he/she wants in her life. 

I can tell of many more stuffs. But this can be rude for the older generation. So, I rack this up into this next paragraph.

Why cage us when we are developing skills for employment? Why limit us when we are in our youths? Why lock us up when you say live life to the fullest? Why limit our vision while we are seeking our goals and purpose of living? =.=

Don't worry, we will be safe. We will not leave you behind. We just want our own comfort zone and financial freedom. Nobody wants to be manipulated.

You were once young, do you love being your parents' Pokemon? Do you love being controlled?

Watch the film "Finding Nemo" and you'll understand more.

Be open minded. You can care for them, but be careful not to play God. They have the rights to be who they want to be, you can at least guide them with your experiences. :)

Birthday Tribute: Cayenne @ Yen Ching

4th December is another birthday of another old friend of mine whom I had knew since 2002. And yes, she's none other than this Amber Chia look-a-like, Yen Ching :) Picture taken during my 3rd gathering with the ex-classmates in Sunway Pyramid >link<.

Here is my confessions on how I first met her. 

During our high school days, we don't really talk to each other so much. Since the Form 1 days, I was always following Guojun on whoever he interacted with. This made me later bumped into people like Timothy, Wong Zhi Hao and Yee Tsemin. Together we went through our first semester in Form 1, and later on we began meeting newer people from other classes who went into class A.

Yen Ching is one of the newcomers, alongside Khai Loong, Chang Soon Vun and Pang Yih Fui to name a few. But I didn't really notice her a lot in class. Tell you what, I only notice girls like Jeannette Wong, Alicia, Jade Lin, and later on, Hui Hwa (during Form 3) the most that time. I only knew that she was very close with Liew Yee Kiun, before she was known as one of the 4 "aunties" alongside Hui Hwa, Fang Yee and Kah Kee.

Despite the lack of notice, I was a lil' confused who's Yen Ching and Yen Lee during the lower secondary days. Oh yes! I still do remember the days when she got the nickname "Crabby", given by one of Joan's group of friends.

How did we become more like friends? Though we're under one roof in our high school days, I began knowing her more via MSN Messenger when my house first got Streamyx @ Form 5. Every time we're engaged in a chat, I felt really inspired by her. Sometimes, we're like encouraging one another, as well as sharing our opinions towards life and our goals. Here, I realized how ambitious she is, as she dreams of being a great designer.

Today she'd changed a lot ever since we took our SPM results, the day where our lives change forever. From a typical student with a pair of glasses, to a model-like college student, I see her moving to a greater height day by day. I can assure you that among all my homies, she had made the biggest breakthrough in her life, followed by Fang Yee who has another dream of growing rich. I see her benefiting her holidays well on exploring what is life when she works, at the same time putting herself into many new situations that may be challenging. It's truly inspiring.

The rest of us, including me (I admit), were still thinking like typical college students where we always talk and worry about grades instead of seeking for our true identity in society. We shouldn't do this as we're young adults already. I kept on telling myself about this.

Last but not least, Cayenne, if you're reading this, here is my birthday message to you:

There is one thing within you which is the reason why you inspire me a lot - You have an adventurous spirit that burns like fire inside you. As long as it carries you through time, a thousand tonnes of burdens you shall not falter.

I know this post is too long, but...

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY, and don't be afraid that you're now a young adult like us! :)

P.S - I had reedited the photos specially for this post. Sorry if it's not impressive enough.

A Piece of My Garden

When I first began to think about photoshooting my garden, I realised that it is getting more and more depleting as Grandma slowly abandons it. At least I captured the best of it.

Oh ya, some of the photos were dated back during the first days of being the DSLR's owner.

Oh ya, there's even a durian tree behind my house! But then, I was too lazy to walk around the garden just to find the perfect angle to shoot it. Can't risk either my life or my camera on the way as the durians can fall anytime.:)

Oh ya, looks like there will be 2 more days to one of my friends' birthday. Instead of just giving her an SMS like last year, I'll be putting a blog post. Stay tuned xD 

I Know Where To Begin

I guess I will start from HOME :)

Tawau photography project, though being restricted at home and being disabled to drive, the project still goes on!

Any friends in Tawau right now, contact me kay?  The more the merrier.