Time Will Tell

It's my birthday? Oh gosh

2008-04-16T01:43:00.000+08:00

Today is my birthday. Oh my god I'm numerically getting older. Don't feel old though. So doesn't really matter. I feel great. My health has improved ten fold since i've shed an excess weight of 14 kg over the last two years by maintaining a balanced diet ( i'm not kidding). I managed to keep it off which makes me even more proud of myself. I've even managed to keep my new year resolution so far this year. I know it's just April but i've never actually kept one this far.

What's my new year's resolution. A change of lifestyle - healthier lifestyle spiritually, physically, and mentally that is. I wanted to kick the rest of my bad habits for example sleeping too much (check). I wanted to get to my lab early in the morning and start work early (so far so good). I wanted to reach 60 kg by april (well came close...61kg). My target weight is 55 kg. So wish me luck.

Another reason that i'm happy is that i managed to get a scholarship for my PhD studies. Yea for me. I'm working on a grant for my research (wish me luck again). My research is progressing really well. So, I LOVE my life so far. I'm happy. Alhamdulillah.

Sorry, if i'm kinda annoying some of you reading this entry. It's not that my life is a relaxing walk in the park. I've had my share of ups and downs. But the ups have been more than the downs and I'm thankful for that.

Ph.D Advice

2008-01-18T00:00:00.000+08:00

I found these quotes while surfing the net. I believe these quotes to be very true and it makes me feel that I’m on the right track. People keep telling me to do my Ph.D overseas. It seems that they think a Ph.D research done overseas is better than if done locally. I myself think that research can be done anywhere. All you need is to be resourceful and to know how to motivate yourself because no one other that you yourself is going to do it.

Even though I’m doing my Ph.D locally (in Malaysia) and not somewhere overseas, I found that I could relate to what Ronald T. Azuma was saying in his website. He was a postgraduate student but is now working with a tech company in the US. He was explaining what a postgraduate student, especially a Ph.D student should know and expect before embarking on the arduous journey to that coveted Ph.D title. So, if I could relate to what he said then that means what I’ve been doing has some similarity to what he went through during his postgraduate years.

For those people who just happen to read this post and are seriously contemplating postgraduate studies then read the quotes below then go visit Ronald T. Azuma’s site at http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html . He provides some good advice for those aspiring to pursue their Ph.D

"Being a graduate student is like becoming all of the Seven Dwarves. In the beginning you're Dopey and Bashful. In the middle, you are usually sick (Sneezy), tired (Sleepy), and irritable (Grumpy). But at the end, they call you Doc, and then you're Happy."
- Ronald T. Azuma -

“People judge a recently graduated Ph.D. by his or her research, not by his or her class grades. What you learn in a Ph.D. program comes outside of classes: from doing research on your own, attending conferences, and talking to your fellow students. Success in graduate school does not come from completing a set number of course units but rather from successfully completing a research program.”

- Ronald T. Azuma -

Excelling in a Ph.D. program requires different skills than doing well in undergrad. Undergraduate education tests you through class projects (that do not last more than a semester), midterms and finals. For the most part, you work alone. Your professor may not know your name. Every other student in your class takes the same tests or does similar projects. But in a Ph.D. program, you must select and complete a unique long-term research program. For most of us, this means you have to learn how to do research and all that entails: working closely with your professors, staff and fellow students, communicating results, finding your way around obstacles, dealing with politics, etc.

- Ronald T. Azuma -

"The IQ test was invented to predict academic performance, nothing else. If we wanted something that would predict life success, we'd have to invent another test completely."
- Robert Zajonc

"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity."
- Louis Pasteur

You don't need to be a genius to earn a Ph.D. (although it doesn't hurt). But nobody finishes a dissertation without being tenacious. A dissertation usually takes a few years to complete. No one can tell you in advance exactly how long the dissertation will take, so it's hard to see where the "end of the road" lies. You will encounter unexpected problems and obstacles that can add months or years to the project. It's very easy to become depressed and unmotivated about going on. If you are not tenacious about working on the dissertation, you won't finish.

- Ronald T. Azuma -

To my fellow postgraduate students, I wish you good luck. I hope this year will be a good year for all your academic aspirations.

A Finn is back with Mclaren

2008-01-09T11:28:00.000+08:00

It is with absolute and overwhelming relieve that I tell all you Mclaren Fans that Heiki Kovalainen, a Finn, has joined the Mclaren Mercedes F1 team. Buh-bye Alonso, never liked you even when you were with renault. I say good riddance because he didn't work well with the team and this caused a lot of problems. Even though he seem to do well in the drivers championship. But things were not well in Mclaren. At one point it seems that he wasn't even on speaking terms with team boss Ron Dennis.

Mclaren has just never been the same since the last Finn driver on the team left and joined Ferrari. I'm talking of course about Kimi. Mclaren needs its Finnish drivers. When Hakkinen left Mclaren, the team was already starting to slip down the constructor's standing, but Kimi provided new hope for the team. Mclaren didn't shoot towards the top when Kimi joined the team but at least he made them stay afloat and everyone in the team worked well together.

When Kimi left Mclaren, it looked as though Mclaren was doing well. Then the spying controversy came out and showed that Mclaren just fell apart in terms of teamwork. When I say 'fell apart', I'm talking about the team and not Hamilton. Mclaren just lost the ability to work as a team thus making them weaker and probably contributed to the need of getting confidential information on Ferrari. If they were better at working together I'm sure Hamilton would have been way ahead of the other drivers in the drivers' championship and there would have been no need for stupid ferrari information. Thank god Hamilton was cool-headed enough to ignore all those negative things and drive himself up the ranks. That at least was something to be happy about. Other than that last year was a dismal year for Mclaren's reputation and a shaky year in terms of teamwork.

As I said, last season was very dissapointing for me. I had to get over the fact that Kimi left Mclaren and joined, of all teams, Ferrari. I still can't get over it actually. I can't ever support him as long as he stays in Ferrari. Then the ugly spying controversy that stripped Mclaren of all their points happened. But thankfully this did not strip Hamilton of his points. I must say I was shocked over that piece of nasty news. Maybe even dissapointed at Mclaren.

But I'm a very loyal person so I'm going to stick with Mclaren. I hope they can make up or recover from that big smear on their name and maybe even win the constructor's and driver's title next season. I didn't watch that much F1 last season because of the reasons that i've stated. It was just too disappointing, even though Hamilton slightly made up for it by his brilliant performance. Now that all the nasty business is behind them, I'm looking forward to watching all the GP's this year. I'm hoping Mclaren will step up to the plate and beat ferrari and renault's asses errrrr....... I mean tail wings.

I feel relieved now that Alonso has left Mclaren and is back with renault. I'm hoping that the Hamilton-Kovalainen combination will be as strong or even stronger that the Hakkinen-Coulthard team of the past. Now those two made Mclaren a team to be reckoned with. They worked well together and enjoyed a healthy competitive relationship within the team. As far as I know (meaning since I started to have an interest in F1), they were one of longest drivers to stay together in one team.

1st Muslim to Fast in Space

2008-01-06T20:28:00.000+08:00

Facts I learned from Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar himself when he visited USM:

1. He was wearing 3 watches during the space flight to the International Space station. The 1st watch was for the time at the launch site in Baikonur, the 2nd I think was for Kazakhstan or the command centre and the 3rd was for malaysian time.

2. At the space station his schedule for the beginning of fast to the breaking of fast as well as praying followed the time from where he left earth. That's why he wears the watch that show the launch site time. This is especially important for prayer because if he were to pray according to time in space he would have to pray 80 times a day.

3. Jakim provided a guideline for ibadah in space. It's the 1st of its kind

4. He's the 9th muslim to go into space but the 1st to fast in space

5. He performed his daily solat by standing and strapping his legs down but he couldn't sujud for very long because he'd start to twist and turn. The qiblat is of course earth because that's where the Kaabah is.....duh!

6. Sleeping on the space station involves getting into a sleeping bag, strapping himself in and zipping up the sleeping bag tightly. He said, there was one time he didn't strap himself in securely and he woke up on the other side of the space station.

7. He said that he heard the azan playing in his head on the day that he was to return to earth. On that day, he felt like he didn't want to leave because it was so beautiful and peaceful there. He was feeling sad and then he said he heard the azan playing in his head. After hearing this he knew in his heart that god was telling him that it was time to go home.
Rumor has it that Neil armstrong heard the azan and converted to Islam. But i know this is not true at all because i read a press statement in which Neil armstrong denied ever hearing the azan. He also said that he has not converted to Islam.

8. In the NASA website, Dr. Sheikh is listed as being a spaceflight participant. Many say the he is just a glorified space tourist. However, he explained that space tourists and spaceflight participants go through clearly different trainings. Space tourist go through 3-4 months of training only, spaceflight participants go through a year of training. Most space tourist can operate equipment or machine whereas he could operate or handle many equipment on the space station. In fact the cosmonauts gave him free range on board the space station, they would not have done that if they were not sure that he knows what he's doing.

9. All the cosmonauts and he himself brought along the food of their culture. He brought along rendang tok, satay and a lot of other thing. No, he did not bring durians or petai.

10. His younger brother who passed away was an alumni of USM. He was a HBP student.

11. He didn't say this directly, I'm just using logical thinking. I think that Dr. sheikh is not someone who is going to settle down any time soon. . Why do I say he's not going to settle down....... well he's in love with pursuing his many ambitions. He has a restaurant in KL. He's been to Afghanistan in 2002 after the war and Cambodia in 2003 for humanitarian aid under MERCY. Once he's completed his book on his journey to space and published his research and after he's done touring the country to promote science among the young ones he's planning to go to other countries to do humanitarian aid again. So he's going to be a very busy man. If he is going to settle down at all, his wife would have to be a really, really understanding and selfless woman. Because he'll be busy and she'll have to share him with the rest of Malaysia.

12. Someone asked him why he looked worried during launching? He said that conditions in the soyuz was cramped, he couldn't move or stretch his legs for 6 whole hours. So what people saw as worried was really him showing discomfort at having leg cramps. Har... har ...har

--- This I got from surfing the net, not during his visit - he has a blog, read it here http://www.angkasawan.com.my/blog/index.php

Angkasawan Visits USM

2008-01-05T18:47:00.000+08:00

Today, Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysia’s oh-so-yummy angkasawan came to USM as it was part of the government’s plan to encourage the younger generation to have passion for science. I can say that he is tall really tall and seriously seriously hot. I mean really, really yummy.

After singing negaraku & USM song, there was a forum and the MC asked him questions. He also talked about his experiences in space. A couple of videos were shown of him going through his training and his trip to space. It was interesting. But something much more interesting than the event happened. I'll tell you the story of a crazed fan later. First I'd like to say that:

Dr. Sheikh said that he came to USM to encourage interest in science and I think that's a bit ridiculous really because USM is after all a science university. If he had said, he'd come to meet the students and share his experiences then it wouldn't be as silly. Because many of us already have an interest in science.

I did some research on him as well as the ‘research’ that he did on the ISS (International Space Station) yesterday. I am after all a researcher at heart. I wanted to make sure that I knew all that was available online about him and his research in space so that I could ask intelligent questions befitting a postgraduate student. I did all this because I knew the ‘budak-budak mentah’ a.k.a undergraduate students; especially the girls would go to the event just because they wanted to see him and maybe get a chance to reel him in (cause he’s still single) or just wanted to be able to get his autograph like a fan would want from his/her favourite Hollywood star. They wouldn’t go there to actually learn something or be encouraged or whatever.

I was right!! It was more like a Hollywood red carpet event, where screaming fans got to see & touch their favourite stars. I knew this would happen because he IS that good looking. So thank god I decided the night before yesterday to search the net to do some homework on him. At least I was able to let him see that there are some university students who are already passionate & knowledgeable on the subject of science.

One undergraduate student from the School of Educational Studies, particularly made embarrassed on behalf of my fellow students. Why was I so embarrassed you ask? I’m sure you’ve seen on TV, one of those crazed fans at red carpet events that break away from the rest of the group to run crazily to hug or shake the hands of Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. In the case of the somewhat "crazed fan" from the school of educational studies, as soon as Dr Sheikh reached the place where he was supposed to sit, she ran quickly (like a crazed fan), touched his arm and when he turned around to look at her, she shook his hand. Thank god she didn’t hug him. I’m sure if that wasn’t frowned upon in our society she would have. The hand shaking was not the embarrassing part. What was embarrassing was how she behaved when she returned to her seat. She was running and jumping like a crazy fan at the Oscars. She did this right under the nose of USM's TNC. I caught her on video doing this. I didn’t catch her shaking hands with him but I caught her on video doing the running & screaming thing. The jumping was when she got back to her seat and it is unfortunately off-screen so you won't see it. You can see her running & screaming at the beginning of the video below. Sorry it's not of better quality. There were a lot of people and they were all pushing and shoving so the video is not very steady.

This was not the most embarrassing thing she did. There was a Q&A session. That’s where the gem of all embarrassing events happened. When the Q&A session started, I along with some students including of course the “crazed fan”, lined-up to ask questions. I was a few feet her. Instead of asking questions, she started giving a speech. It went something like this (not word for word):

Crazed fan: Saya bla bla binti bla bla, seorang pelajar ilmu pendidikan. Of course saya nak tujukan soalan kepada angkasawan kita, Dr Sheikh Muzasphar (Yeah, right, soalan, it wasn’t a soalan okay it was a monologue).

Crazed fan Continued: Saya ingin mengatakan bahawa saya sebagai bakal guru akan mendidik anak-anak bangsa sehingga berjaya menjadi angkasawan kelak dan mengikuti contoh Dr. Sheikh

Me (starting to get embarrassed): I looked at my friend who was sitting down and each of us rolled our eyes while silently communicating to each other….. Oh, pleeeasee!

Crazed fan continued on: Saya akan pastikan mereka akan meminati sains dan akan menjadi orang-orang yang berguna. Saya mewakili semua mahasiswi-mahasiswi di sini …….

Me: Whoaaaa! Just wait a minute there missy. Just what the hell do you think you’re doing? Who the bloody hell made you my representative???? (unfortunately all said in my head)

Crazed fan blabbed on: Saya mewakili semua mahasiswi-mahasiswi di sini ingin mengatakan kami berbangga dengan Dr. Sheikh dan just want to say ……… (drum roll please)….. I LOVE YOU!!!!

Me: WHAAATTT!!! What the hell are you saying (All of course in my head). I just really wanted to strangle her.

She continued talking and talking but the pengerusi majlis put a stop to her incessant nonsense by saying that there isn’t much time so she should give way to others

The crazed fan is a university student but she didn’t behave like one. There was a kid who behaved more like a university student than her. The kid showed that he was smart and observant. His question was,

"Masa Dr. Sheikh berada di dalam roket soyuz sebelum berlepas, saya nampak Dr. ada pakai 2 jam tangan. Kenapa pakai 2 jam tangan?"

(Now, this question was absolutely brilliant. Dr. Sheikh answered that he was in fact wearing 3 watches. I watched the life coverage of the blast-off off the Soyuz shuttle and I didn’t even notice that he was wearing a watch let alone 3).

Now, after the kid asked this question, I was determined to show that university students, in particular USM students were not so flaky and silly. Many people asked questions about his (Dr. Sheikh) feelings or questions that lacked depth. An example of questions they asked: Apa perasaan Dr. Sheikh semasa menunggu untuk berlepas ke angkasa lepas?

There was one student who was a member of the astronomy club, whom I thought would ask an intelligent question about astronomy or something that you can only learn by going to space. But he asked nothing of the sort, all he asked was how the good doctor answered the call of nature on the space station. Something like that can be answered by just looking it up. It’s the 21st century. There’s something called the internet now. Go look it up yourself for heaven’s sake or go read a book or simply watch Apollo 13 (the movie starring Tom Hanks). You can find the answers to such questions yourself. You are a university student for god’s sake.

All the questions they asked were in Bahasa Malaysia even though Dr. Sheikh was speaking English throughout the forum. There were only two who asked totally in English, the 1^st was I myself and another was an engineering student. But there were a few who made the effort to try to speak english but it was rather rojak-like as in half english & half bahasa malaysia.

This is what I asked: “Assalamualaikum & good morning. I’m a Ph.D student from the school of biological sciences (I specifically said Ph.D student because it was very important to me to distance myself from the 'crazed fan' undergraduate student as much as possible. Especially after what the ‘crazed fan’ had said. I actually just planned to say I was a postgraduate student). I continued with…… Dr. Sheikh, you mentioned that in the space station you studied cancer cells as well as a few other things. I’ve been reading up on zero-gravity research and I read that a Dr. Jeanne Becker from the University of Florida, College of Medicine has studied the effects of zero-gravity on the growth of cancer cells. Her study was on ovarian cancer cells. My question is what cancer cells did you study? (Do you see, just how a little research can at least make you sound intelligent as opposed to seeming like a shallow crazed fan)

I actually wanted to ask more but they allowed only one question per person. I wanted to ask how his study is different from the study by Dr. Jeanne Becker. But never mind. I’d done my duty. I at least represented my age group and my fellow postgraduate students in a more positive way. I think I did a way better job of representing my fellow students than the “crazed fan” did. My way was more subtle and should at least represent the intelligence that a university student should have.

Thoughts on the Malaysian Space Program

2008-01-03T13:34:00.000+08:00

The government wants to provide a role model for the younger generation to help propel their mindset into the science-driven 21^st century. So they chose to send a man into space thus making him an instant national ‘hero’, someone who the kids and teenagers and Malaysian’s can look up to and I mean literally, cause he is tall by Malaysian standards.

Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar was chosen to be the 1^ST Malaysian angkasawan. He went to space, came back to earth safely and is now a 'national hero'. He will be coming to USM for a short visit on the 5^th (January). This got me back to thinking about Malaysia’s space programme. I am actually a bit ambivalent on the subject. On one hand I think that an angkasawan would indeed provide the ultimate role model for the younger generation, especially someone who is as yummy as Dr. Sheikh.

I do believe that the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation (MOSTI) should invest money in encouraging the younger generation to have passion for science. But I still think that even in the long run, the millions of ringgit funding the space program could be used for grants for other research and to work towards producing scientists worthy of even the Nobel Prize. A Nobel Prize recipient from Malaysia, now that would really be something, wouldn’t it?

But I have to give MOSTI credit. They sure know how to pick em’. I mean, our angkasawan sure is good looking. If you have to and I mean absolutely have to pick a role model, a national hero and someone the younger generation (especially teenage girls) can look up to, Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar would be the way to go. Any woman of any age (who is not a lesbian) can surely appreciate how fine of a male specimen he is. Admit it, we often look at Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Wentworth Miller (I could go on & on) and wish that there were men as good looking here in Malaysia. But now look no further, we have just such a star, shinning brightly.

My mixed feeling on this subject of the space programme is not the result of ignorance on my part. I love science. I have absolute respect for it. I understand and acknowledge the importance of science and the importance of encouraging the younger generation to love science. I think there’s just absolutely so much things that you can learn from studying science. Even the Quran provides many scientific facts that you can study about. We can really understand the magnificence of god through science. But are we really ready financially for a space programme of the magnitude that the government is planning.

I’m all for the “Think Big” and “Look to the Future” mentality. But I think that the government should find a less money-draining way to do all that. I guess they just simply wanted to go for the big wow factor. That’s all fine and dandy except that it is really bloody expensive. As I said before, those hundred of millions of ringgit could be put to a lot of other uses such as large grants for other research that would directly benefit the people of Malaysia or even produce a Nobel Prize recipient. An example of such a research would be to find a way of eradicating the dengue virus. I mean scientists have found a way of eradicating the small pox virus so why can’t MOSTI use those millions to fund research such as this. I admit it doesn’t have the same wow factor as sending a man to space but it would be more useful.

I am very passionate about science and I didn’t need a role model for this. My teachers did not inspire me to study science but I had the passion anyway. I didn’t have a yummy role model to push me towards becoming a scientist when I was in school. So if I can have this passion for science at a young age without a role model surely the government can inspire the young to become scientist in other ways. But I must admit I was further inspired to pursue a career as a research scientist by my lecturers and especially my supervisor when I was doing my masters. They were passionate about science and it definitely rubbed-off on me.

For now I’ll just observe and see how far the space programme will succeed in the future. I will not yet form a strong and firm opinion on the validity of the space programme until I see a real solid return of investment from it. I just hope that there’ll be enough money left over for grants to fund my own research later when I become a full fledge research scientist.

Raya, 2 weeks & counting

2007-09-28T22:23:00.000+08:00

Hari Raya Aidilfitri is two weeks away. I've just finally been able to take a breather from my surprisingly busy schedule since June. I have a scholarship that requires me to teach classes at my uni. I've been teaching biostatistics tutorial classes and supervised a few soil science lab classes. The biostatistics classes are actually quite fun to teach but the soil science lab classes (which are way out of my area of expertise & which i was forced to oversee by the graduate assistant supervisor) is a MAJOR bore. Watching people look at rocks and soil is boring. But i guess that's what other people say about entomologist and their bugs, heh heh. But hey... at least what i study are moves around, eats and procreates...... what do rocks & soil do???? NOTHING ......absolutely nothing. Some people might find it interesting, but I think I'll just concentrate on bugs for now.

The thing that has really taken up my time is marking assignments & lab reports week after week after week. I haven't had time to really do much of my research for almost 2 months & that's bad. I just can't wait for the undergrad semester to end so that I can have time to concentrate more on my research.

Ohhhh, on a lighter note, I watched the Transformers movie it was SUPERB. Lots of great effects and of course there's Josh Duhamel, can't ever go wrong there. Absolutely yummy. But i wish he had a stronger more solid role in the movie. He was definitely more of a supporting character, hmmmm but what a yummy supporting character he was. Didn't have the time to watch Die hard 4 but i will get the DVD soon. I wouldn't have passed over the chance to see bruce willis if i hadn't had soo much work to finish up. But that's just how my world is nowadays. It was never like this when I was doing my masters.

If you haven't read the Harry potter & the deathly hollows or don't plan to read the book or have no interest whatsoever in it, do not continue reading this part of the posting. SPOILERS abound in this next paragraph

I did manage to finish the FINAL Harry Potter book (HP & The Deathly hollows). I might actually still be grieving over the fact that Dumbledore is really dead and that *sob sob* Fred is dead. My heart still aches when I think about it. I know he's just a character in a book but when you've been reading about them and following their adventures and mischiefs from start till end you feel connected. That's the magic of books such as this. They draw you into the world that you're reading, makes you connect with the characters & makes you fall in love with them. I love the Weasley twins. They're part of why the potter books are so fun because they epitomise fun. I liked the ending but I felt that it lacked something. I'm not sure what yet. I need to read the book again. But I just can't bring myself to read it again just yet. Maybe i should put the book in a freezer like Joey (from TV series Friends). I still don't really get why he put the book in a freezer. If anyone knows why please tell me.

Okay ciao for now.

The Best and The Worst So Far....

2007-05-26T00:55:00.001+08:00

The Best:

Fiction Book I've read : Assumed Identity, The 5th Profession both by David Morrell. What can I say; I just love David Morrell books.

Songs I've heard : 'Home' and 'It's Not Over' both by Chris Daughtry (actually he's in a band called Daughtry just in case ya didn't know). I also like 'If Everyone Cared' by Nickleback, I love the lyrics of this song.

American Idol Contestant: Melinda Doolittle

TV series: Prison Break, Prison Break, Prison Break, Prison Break and........you get the idea. Can’t wait for season 3.

TV Characters and Actors: Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) and Danny McCoy (Josh Duhamel, who by the way will be starring in the movie Transformers as Commander Lennox. Oooohhh, can't wait.

Anticipated Movie: Transformers and the Fantastic Four

Anticipated Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows of course. It's the last Harry Potter book. What am I going to do when it's all over.......why, why must the adventures end! Aaarggh!

Movie Last Year: Superman Returns and Pirate's of the Carribean: Dead man's chest

Movie this year: Pirate's of the Carribean: At World's End (It's the only movie I've watched this year....... I've been busy being busy)

Anime: The one and only anime that I watch and that I'm absolutely crazy about right now is Bleach. You should keep an eye out for my future posting, I'm going to write one whole post just about Bleach. It deserve a posting of its own.

The Worst:

Movies that I've watched last year: Definitely goes to 'Failure to launch', it was extremely stupid and juvenile. The way they decided to solve the conflict between the two main characters was stupid. It would have worked if the main characters were teenagers but they were CLEARLY NOT teenagers. Another bad movie was 'The Break up' starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. I bought the DVD (everyone knows I buy original right, right!). It was money down the drain, even though it was on, ehem! "discount". I felt tired half way through the movie and I stopped watching it. It was tiring listening to two people arguing, bitching and just being spiteful to each other. Who in god's name would enjoy watching and listening to people arguing all day long? You can get that in real life. What were the producers thinking!!

Supposedly Hit Box office movies that I didn't even bother to watch: This category definitely goes to X-men the Last Stand. I've never liked the x-men movies. The movie was somewhat well directed, Bryan Singer did a fairly good job. It's the producers and screenplay writers that I blame. Also, the actors that played Cyclops, Storm and Rogue were not suitable for those roles. Cyclops was portrayed as wimpy and useless next to wolverine who stood out too much from the rest of the gang. It's not supposed to be that way. They're supposed to be a team and yet wolverine gets all the glory. He gets the best fight scenes and the most screen time and of course at the end of each movie, wolverine saves the day. I love wolverine in the cartoon and the comics but I just don't like the fact that he's a one man team in the movies. Even Rogue was portrayed as wimpy, weepy and all together useless. Compare the movie rogue and the rogue in the cartoon or the comics and you'll see that they're as different as a kitten is to a Lioness. Comic-Rogue would beat Movie-Rogue's ass to a bloody pulp.

Another movie that I won't bother to watch is Casino Royale. Sorry I just don't like what's-his-name as James Bond. I don't like the new/old bond that the producers were trying to portray. James Bond is supposed to be 'Shaken and not stirred' in everything that he does. He's suppose to go through a gun fight, a car chase or a fist fight with his hair in place, his suit un-rumpled and his shoes un-scuffed. The new Bond seems to be having a hard time in a simple car chase (I saw this in the movie trailer). Just watch his wide-eyed-oh-my-god-I-could-have-hit-her expression when he swerves his car to avoid the Bond girl that was on the road. Totally not the expression you'll see in the other Bonds and I’m not just talking about Pierce Brosnan. Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton all fit the ‘shaken and not stirred’ persona of Bond perfectly, although I didn’t like Roger Moore as Bond either.

The producers of the James Bond movies are trying to do what the producers of Batman Begins did, doing a sort of prequel to a well known movie franchise. Batman Begins wasn’t any better than the new James bond movie. I mean, come on, Batman learning marshal arts. What is up with that? Why not just have Chuck Norris or Steven Segal play Batman if what they wanted was to do a marshal arts themed movie. It wouldn't have made the movie any less ridiculous that it already was. Then maybe they could put Chuck Norris or Steven Segal in a batman suit again and call that movie 'Batman Senior'. Now, 'Superman Returns' on the other hand was a great sequel. Bryan Singer has totally redeemed himself in my eyes when he directed Superman Returns. He really seems to have done his homework this time round, either that or he's really a true fan of the original superman movies. The producers and screenplay writers of Superman Returns also clearly know their subject matter more than those who did the X-men movies.

Captain, Captain Jack Sparrow

2007-05-24T21:02:00.000+08:00

Today went to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End (POTC). Don't worry, I'm not going to post any spoilers in here. Just a basic review.

What I like about the movie is the witty dialogue, and funny one liners. Captain Jack Sparrow was his fantastic funny and crazy self. Love his one liners. Johnny Depp delivers his lines with style and personality, making the character Jack Sparrow.......errr, Captain Jack Sparrow forever his, and his alone. If Johnny Depp won't do POTC movies anymore, there will be no new sequel .... at least not one that i'd be interested to watch. I like Orlando Bloom but I liked him more as a the oh-so-yummy blonde elf Legolas in LOTR. But, Orlando Bloom has managed to make his mark in this latest sequel of POTC. I liked his character more this time then in the last two movies.

I also like the character of Captain Barbossa (NOT captain to Jack Sparrow, unless someone is threatening to kill the ship's captain). He's very much a pirate. I'm glad that they decided to bring him back to life at the end of POTC2.

I seriously suggest that you brush up on your POTC history before you watch the movie, just to get more out of it. Why, you ask...... this time around the movie teases you with bits and pieces of the 1st and 2nd POTC movies and ties them all together wonderfully. If you've been a fan of POTC and have diligently watched and rewatched the first two movies then you will definitely and absotively LOVE it this time around.

Formula1 Blues

2007-05-20T19:32:00.000+08:00

I've got the formula 1 blues. I haven't watched the last 4 F1 GP races because I felt really sad about kimi going going over to Ferrari. I know that this news is not exactly new, I knew about it ever since the end of the 2006 season but I was hoping it wasn't true then. I felt part of the thrill of watching F1 had dissapeared when Kimi joined the Prancing Pansy....errr the prancing Pony?......okay, okay....... the Prancing horse. The other part of why I love F1 is of course the racing teams and I support Mclaren. I do NOT or will I EVER support Ferrari.

Now that reality has finally set in and it's clear that Kimi is indeed wearing the red Ferrari outfit (the colour red doesn't suit him by the way) I think I'm finally ready to watch F1 again because as I said Kimi or the driver element (I used to support Mika Hakkinen before he retired) is only part of why I love F1. Now that i've sufficiently grieved over the Kimi's desertion of Mclaren, I'm ready to move on. Luckily Mclaren has provided me with a sufficient boost in enthusiasm for F1 again in the form of the suprisingly good newbie Lewis Hamilton. He's even better than 2 time world champion and team mate Fernando Alonso. Which makes my coming back to watching F1 easier.

I must say that it hasn't been easy watching Mclaren floundering around the F1 tracks ever since the team started slipping in the ranks in 2002. You could say that it was almost painful to watch them lose to Ferrari and Williams and then to Renault. Which brings me to another problem I have with F1 this season, Fernando Alonso. He was the driver that gave Renault their 2nd victory last year and now I'm suppose to support him. It's difficult for me to change allegiences at a drop of a hat, I'm surprisingly loyal when it comes to the things that I'm passionate about. So, that's why it's a relief to have Lewis Hamilton in Mclaren to distract me from having to support Alonso. All in all, I'm finally recovering from the F1 blues and I'm ready to watch the motor sport that I so very much love, again. Just in time for the gp in Monaco too I might add. I wouldn't miss the gp in Monaco for the world. It's one of the most interesting and unique grand prixs in F1.

I'm also happy to see that Michelin no longer supplies tyres to any of the F1 teams this season. I remember the Indianapolis debacle all to clearly in my mind and I'm glad that Mclaren is back on bridgestone tyres. There's also a new Finn in Formula 1 (Heikki Kovalainen), he's currently with Renault and I'll be keeping an eye on him, see how good he is and whether he compares to the other Finns racer like Kimi and Hakkinen. Maybe one day Mclaren might have a new Finnish driver. Ooohhh, can't wait to see. This is very promising indeed.

Blogging Sabbatical

2007-05-19T22:28:00.000+08:00

I know, I know..........I did it again. I neglected to update my blog. But those who know me.......should know I don't treat my blog like a diary. I've never even kept a consistent written diary for that matter. Anyway, my point is, if you really know me..... then, you'd know to just bare with me ....... and once in a blue moon check on my blog. To paraphrase Forrest Gump "My blog is like a box of chocolate you never know what you're gonna get"or when you're gonna get it.

I like chocolate but i hate the guilty feeling i get after eating it. But i've really always been more of a potato chip, keropok and salty junk food kinda girl. Although, I can proudly say that I've stopped eating junk food ever since I lost weight by following a healthy balanced diet (more vege, less carbs with a healthy helping of proteins). I'm really proud of myself, I can even walk by a McDonalds now without craving a Double cheeseburger or some other McFat value meal they offer. Though I still feel incredibly envious when i see my 'oh- so- Slim- i- don't- have- to- diet/exercise-but-can-still-eat-all-I-want-friends ....continue to eat what they want and even have supper at night. I can't even enjoy pisang goreng in the evening without it all going to my hips and staying there permanently. Sigh*

I've started my Ph.D studies, though have yet to really start doing any real lab work. Been extremely busy filling in forms, going to interviews and basically trying to convince people that i'm-a-super-competent-researcher to get money to start my research. I've actually spent an enormous amount of time during the past 5 months on trying to convince people that I deserve the money to conduct my research. I can tell you now that it's not easy. So, to whoever out there that says that I'm not getting enough of a challenge because I didn't choose to do my Ph.D studies in some overpriced, snooty sounding overseas university ..... I say come try what I'm doing and see how long you'll last. To those who've chosen to do their Ph.D overseas, i say "hats off to you" but I wouldn't do it unless you fully fund my research, Heh! Heh!

I also hate those who say that an oversea Ph.D degree would be more valuable than a local one. I could say that the people who say this are ignorant. Local uni's now, especially research-intensive uni's are gaining international recognition despite that whole mess about local uni's dropping in the international rating. Hey, I don't care what anyone says but being anywhere near the 100's or in the 200's is pretty damn good and IMHO, research based postgraduate studies can be done anywhere assuming of course you've found an academic supervisor with the necessary expert background that fits your needs. Plus, it's not easy to find a good supervisor (locally or overseas) and by good i mean one who has impeccable academic qualifications and one who will not make your life a living hell. What do I mean by that, well you'd have to live the life to truly understand it.

I also REALLY hate it when people say too me "Kalau belajar overseas boleh gain experience". Well, excuse me, I beg to differ, I can bloody well get experience here. Of course it's a different sort of experience but an experience nonetheless. Do these people really think that pursuing a Ph.D degree locally is a cake-walk, a walk in a park, a stroll on a beach or some other euphamism for a really easy time. Another line that's also a favorite among those nosy relatives is "belajar oversea lagi bagus" (which basically translates to, "when you come back you can look really posh and can brag about how posh you are by sticking a really posh sounding university sticker on your somewhat posh looking car"). Don't get me wrong I'm not dissing those who've chosen to study overseas, again i say, if that's what you've decided then congratulations. I just really dislike it when those other people get all up in my face about my choices.My point is, don't belittle my education and stop hounding me about my choice to do my Ph.D locally, in the end it's me who'll do the experiencing part of the deal not you.

Hoooookay! Rant definitely over and done with. Till my next, hopefully more cheerful and not too out-dated posting. My next post could be about F1. Though i must say, that posting might not be too cheerful as well due to Kimi going over to Ferrari. I can't support Kimi anymore, because I won't ever support Ferrari. I'll always support Mclaren, cause that's the team that made me fall in love with F1 in the first place.

Two down, one more to go!!

2006-09-20T20:43:00.000+08:00

I've got my bachelors degree, my masters degree and all that's left is my Ph.D, yup, that's right my Ph.D as in doctorate degree as in hello 3 or 4 more years of sweat, blood and tears. Heh, heh. It's not that bad actually.......or at least i think it's not going to be that bad.

My convocation or graduation day has come and gone (it was in August). I was surprised that i wasn't more excited about the graduation ceremony. I remember being very excited and nervous about the graduation ceremony for my bachelors degree. I should have been more excited the second time around, but surprisingly i wasn't. Maybe it's because I had experienced it before and this time wasn't any different than the first. I think it will be different when it's time for me to receive my doctorate degree. I will still be studying flies and their nasty little habits, except my study will be even more detailed than my master degree. I'll study flies that breed in landfills/municipal garbage dumpsites. Smelly stuff, i know but i love it. Flies are dirty but interesting little buggers.....well, actually they're clean, but because they like to clean themselves on our food after just having a nice stroll through putrid, disgusting not to mention bacteria filled stuff, they become dirty to us.

I haven't started my research for my Ph.D yet because i'm still reading jounal articles and other related reading material needed for my research. I need to design my research first before starting my research. So wish me luck!!!

I'm not going to comment much on what's going on in the world because it's just too depressing. People just can't get along with each other. It's like spoilt little kids fighting over a toy and they're no adults in sight..... "He hit me first" says child A. "NO! he hit ME first" says child B . Take THAT and THAT!!!" both shouting together while attacking each other. It goes on and on and on. Except the people i'm talking about are fighting over something more serious than a child's toy. Then there's the death of Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter, which makes me even more sad. The world has lost a great educator, conservationist and entertainer. He was sincere and genuine in his love for animals and conservation, a true scientist, a true blue natural zoologist though he didn't have any professional degrees. I admit I loved him, loved his enthusism and passion for all living things in the animal world. He will truly be missed.

Survey This!

2006-06-23T19:51:00.000+08:00

Recently, Kuala Lumpur was found to be the third rudest or unfriendliest city in the world. I don't really know what survey it is because I caught it late when I was watching a morning talk show on tv. Anyway i think the survey is ridiculous. If you ask me, the survey itself is rude. On what criteria was the survey based on..... Do we have eye contact when we talk to someone? Do we shake hands when we meet? I think Malaysians as a whole are not eye contact people. That's our culture, that's how we behave. It's not rude, it's just the way we are. I'd like to see the scientific basis of the survey.

It's inconcievable to simply lump people of different cultures and religions into one category, just like you can't categorize animal in only one way. I'm not saying than we're no better than animals. I'm saying, humans are complex beings who are capable of a whole range of thought that's much more complex than animals. I mean u can't lump a cow and a tiger into the same category can you?? So, if animals can't be categorized together in that way, what makes whoever who did the survey think they can categorize humans in that way. What makes them think that people have the same way of defining what's rude or polite. People have different beliefs and different custom. What seems acceptable in one county might be considered rude in another.

A much better survey would be, for example: "What actions are considered rude to people from different countries". It is so simple to do a survey like "Which is the rudest or unfriendliest city" but the people who make surveys like this should know that there could be serious repercussions from something very simple. People might get the wrong impression of Malaysians as a whole eventhough the survey was only on Kuala Lumpur.

Just wanted to express my thoughts on this matter. It ticked me off and i just needed to vent.

The Best and the Worst Lately

2006-06-03T23:51:00.000+08:00

The Best

Fiction Books I've read : 'Creepers' and 'The Protector' both by David Morrell. Excellent page turners.

Non-fiction Book : Practical Statistics for Field Biology 2nd ed. (Authors: Jim Fowler, Lou Cohen and Phil Jarvis). Very useful guide to statistics for field biologists. I recommend it.

Song I've heard : Bad Day (Artist: Daniel Powter)

TV series : Prison Break

'Survivor' contestant : Terry

F1 driver : Kimi of course......despite his crappy unreliable car.

Awaited Sporting event : The FIFA World Cup

The Worst:

Rumor I've heard : Kimi might be switching over to Ferrari. Arrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Fiction Book : Anything by Patricia Cornwell. She tends to overdescribe things. I mean......Why! why would someone want to read a whole page full of descriptions about sunsets, wind, hills or clocks on the mantelpiece or whatever. Get to the point!

Movies of all time : A.I (Artificial intelligence, wasted 3 hours of my life watching it) and Pearl Harbor which I thought was going to be an action movie about the events that led to the attack on pearl harbor and what happened after that, with some usual hollywood exaggeration, but instead what i got was a sappy, draggy, boooorrrinnngg love story. Titanic was a sappy love story too but at least i had fun watching the gigantic ship sinking.

Movie Last Month : Ultraviolet (An overdose of special effects).

Viva Triumph

2006-06-01T18:37:00.000+08:00

I did it!!! I faced my fears head on and emerged triumphant. When I woke up in the morning and started to get ready for the challenge that loomed ahead. I was surprisingly calm. I even managed to sip my coffee slowly and enjoy it.

When I actually arrived at the Postgraduate institute I waited in the viva lounge for the challenge to begin. Two of my friends were there with me to provide moral support. As per usual when facing public speaking of any sort i was already sweating profusely in an air-conditioned room.

Soon they called me into the viva room and I was introduced to the chairperson. She asked me to provide a brief summary of my research. I breathed in deeply and began....... my voice was quivering but I managed to finish my summary in a short while.

Then the ego boosting journey began. They were impressed with my thesis. As soon as I finished, the external examiner's representative (the external examiner usually doesn't come for the viva, so a representative is there in his place) began by saying
"First of all, i would like to say congratulations. You have produced a very well written thesis".

When I heard him say that I felt like jumping up and down and shouting for joy. Because that's what I'd imagined and hoped with all my heart that the examiners would say about my thesis. But of course i couldn't do what i felt like doing i.e, jumping up and down ..... so i settled for a smile and a very polite "Thank you".

The ego boost continued when my internal thesis examiner said "Yes, i would also like to congratulate you. Your thesis is very well written".

When I heard what he said, I was so happy that I totally forgot that i was nervous and answered the questions they asked with ease. The questions they asked were more on my opinions rather than critiques of my work.

All in all, I'm proud of myself and what I accomplished today. When i excited the viva room I had this intense feeling that I can't quite put to words. After that experience I feel like I can do anything....... that I can accomplish anything. It's a great feeling. I love it.

All I have to do now is submit my final hard-cover binded thesis plus a few minor corrections and I'm on my way to my next endevour.... my PhD.

Oh, one more thing....... there's my convocation to look forward to in August. Yeaaaaaa!!!! I can't believe that I've made it.

Bad Day

2006-05-30T16:20:00.000+08:00

Well, it's not a bad day for me. 'Bad Day' is just the title of the song i'm currently listening to. I just love this song. In case you're wondering, the song is by Daniel Powter. It was played every time after an american idol contestant was voted out of the contest. It's just a beautiful song. I love it. I currently don't have the mp3 version of the song or i would have inserted it into the media player so that you can listen to it. Anyway i thought i'd post the lyrics since i like it so much. BTW, the lyric was taken from lyrics.astraweb.com

Artist: Daniel Powter
Album: Daniel Powter
Title: Bad Day

Where is the moment we need at the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces everytime
And I don't need no carryin' on

Chorus
Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carryin' on

(chorus)

Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong(yeah...)

So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one downY
ou sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You've seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

A Long Blograture Hiatus!!!

2006-05-30T14:28:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I know. It's been a long time since my last update. The reason:

1. Was just not in the mood. Plus the blog fever in me was temporarily quelled due to reason number two.

2. Had a lot of stuff to do.... that is putting some finishing touches to my thesis. BTW, since the last time I updated i've actually submitted the required 10 copies of thesis (yup, 10 copies). Yeaaaaaaaaaa for me!!!!!!! So on the 1st of June I will be facing a required viva voce, which means that i have to defend my thesis to the death (nah, not really to the death but you get the idea). Frankly i have a fear of public speaking and this viva voce really scares me. I'm actually stressed. I never usually get stressed. I mean, I'm an Aries, a goat. I don't get stressed. Goats are the most laid back animals in the horoscope kingdom, at least i think they are. Heh! Anyway, I hope I do well. All i can do now is prepare myself and DO my best.

So, please wish me luck. I promise I'll update my blog more regularly. Try to be patient with me. Look up on my blog from time to time to see if I do update.

Back from the holidays

2005-11-15T21:57:00.000+08:00

I'm back from the holidays! It was great. It's almost a year since i've been home and the two week holiday i took was well deserved. The fasting month was great. I might've lost some weight (thru fasting) but i'm not sure because i haven't weighed myself lately. Anyway it doesn't matter because i've probably gained back the weight i've lost due to all the hari raya goodies.

There isn't much to tell really. My holiday was pretty much uneventful, not counting the incident where i had accidently picked up a small lizard tail under the dining table. I mistook it for a piece of noodle. Ughhh! My cat was playing around with a lizard it had caught and the lizard shed its tail to confuse my cat. But unlucky for it, my cat was not that dumb to fall for a silly trick like that. Other than that incident i enjoyed my holiday back home.

The Iceman Rulez!!!

2005-10-11T04:43:00.000+08:00

Kimi was great in The Japan gp. It doesn't make a difference really because Alonso has already won the championship and is now the youngest driver ever to bla.... bla...bla.. yeah okay, whatever. Eventhough Kimi can't win the championship, he nevertheless did amazingly well in the Japan GP. He worked his way up from 17th (last) place and overtook Fisichella with a simple but brilliant manoeuvre on the last lap to win the race. It was racing at its best. I was at the edge of my seat. I only wished that the Mclaren team was in this shape at the start of the racing season. I hope that they'll continue to make improvements to this year's model to make it an even better and more reliable car.

Realibility seems to play a big role in F1 because Alonso has only six wins compared to Kimi who has 7. Logically Kimi should have won the championship because he has 7 wins but reliability wins over speed. The Renault team seem to have better reliability that the Mclarens. Alonso always finishes a race, while Kimi is plagued by engine and other technical problems. Anyway, here hoping that next season will be THE season for Kimi.

It's crunch time

2005-09-21T18:10:00.000+08:00

I haven't updated my blog in a long time i know. I'm in the final stages of writing my thesis and it is a pain in the butt. Research is fun but writing about what you've researched is no joke. It's giving me headaches and apparently it has made me shortsighted. Staring at the computer for hours and not sleeping right has made me slightly shortsighted. I now, for the first time in my life have to wear prescription eyewear a.k.a glasses a.k.a spectacles.

My mom says it's high time i started wearing specs coz my brother and sister are already moving on to bifocals. My mom and dad have been wearing glasses even longer. So i've been feeling left out, but NOT anymore thanks to my M.Sc thesis.

I've now started updating my blog again and i'll keep it up hopefully if i have the time. Anyway, i found this poem or whatever you want to call it (i do't really think it's a poem) while surfing the internet. enjoy. I found it here www.keirsey.com.

If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong.

Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view.

Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly.

Or yet if I act, or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action, let me be.

I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you.

I may be your spouse, your parent, your offsping, your friend, or your colleague. If you will allow me any of my own wants, or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right -- for me.

To put up with me is the first step to understanding me. Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness.

And in understanding me you might come to prize my differences from you, and, far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences

Understanding all the isms: A matter of perception

2005-07-22T13:19:00.000+08:00

The terrorists have struck again in London. These terrorist make life difficult for everyone. It isn’t safe for anyone to travel. Those from Islamic countries not necessarily from the Middle East are finding it harder to get acceptance into colleges and universities in the UK and US. What’s going on? Maybe people should understand what terrorism is and what causes it.

Fundamentalism, totalitarianism and extremism exist in every society. The Christians themselves have had their fair share of fundamentalism. The road to civilization is red with the blood spilled by Christians as they trampled over others. Every society, religion and civilization is guilty of one of these three isms one time or another. Fundamentalism is a term used to describe strict adherence to beliefs or religious doctrines based on literal interpretations of the teachings of that religion or belief. Often, the perpetrators of fundamentalism will try to force their beliefs or religion onto others. When these fundamentalist or extremists exists, then the weapon in which they use to force their beliefs on others can be seen. It exists everywhere, in all societies and religions. What weapon is that? No, it’s not weapons of mass destruction…..terrorism is their weapon. Terrorism exists in many forms but it is basically the use of force and violence to strike fear in whom ever it is directed at. But who's to say who the bigger terrorist is or what act of terrorism is more devastating, more cruel? Let's try to answer these questions by using some pictures and i'll give you my answer as we go along.

Which of these leaders is guilty of terrorism?

My answer to this question is perception. The answer simply depends on who you are and where you're from.

Which of these acts of violence, devastation and cruelty is a terrorist act?

Again the answer depends on your perception.

As I've said the answer to these questions is simple...... all of it, is a matter of perception. It is the condition in which you are in that defines terrorists and their acts. If you are in the shoes of the Americans, then Osama or the Al-Qaeda are the terrorists. If you’re looking at it from the stand point of the Iraqis who’ve lost family members in America and the coalition of the willing war against terrorism, or from the view point of the prisoners tortured in the Abu Ghraib prison then the terrorist are/is the American soldiers and/or G.W Bush or the members of the coalition of the willing. If you’re a Palestinian, then the terrorist are Ariel Sharon and the Israeli soldiers bombing your homes and killing your children. If your last name is Bush and G.W Bush is a close relative of yours then you’ll say the terrorist is Saddam and his hidden stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. So, you see, what defines fundamentalism, extremism, terrorism and all other violent ‘isms is perception. If efforts are not made to reach a neutral stand point then there will be no peace and there will be no end to terrorism.

Words of Wisdom for Troubled Times

2005-07-12T11:06:00.000+08:00

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
-Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi-

Hating is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.

-Harry Fosdick-

The use of force is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again.

-Edmund Burke-

In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.

-Neville Chamberlain-

Civilization is a constant quest for non-violent means of solving conflicts; it is a common quest for peace.

-Max Ascoli-

What we call evil is simply ignorance bumping it's head in the dark.

-Henry Ford-

Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.

-Mao Tse-Tung-

We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.

-Jonathan Swift-

The measure of civilization is the degree in which the method of cooperative intelligence replaces the method of brute force.
-John Dewey-

When a man is doing something he's ashamed of, he always declares it is his duty.
-George Bernard Shaw-

The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear
-Krishnamurti-

Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate'
-John F. Kennedy-

The enemies of freedom do not argue; they shout and they shoot.
-W.R. Inge-

Creepy, very creepy

2005-07-09T20:40:00.000+08:00

I sometimes like to read different blogs every time I log on to the internet. I like to click on the next button on the e blogger panel and read what i find. I came across a blog with the title ' Blogging the Fifth Nail ' sometime last month and i would read it sometimes. This guy was a convicted sex offender, who it seemed was trying control his 'inner demons'. He was trying to get accepted back into society. But in his second last entry entitled 'The Demons Have Taken Over', it seems he'd lost the fight against the demons that lurked in his soul.

The thing that creeped me out, was when i came across a news article yesterday when i was reading about the London bombings. The news article was about Joseph Edward Duncan III, a 42-year-old North Dakota man who was arrested and charged this week with two kidnapping counts. Authorities believed he took 9-year-old Dylan Groene and 8-year-old Shasta Groene from their Idaho home shortly before their 13-year-old brother, mother and her boyfriend were bludgeoned to death May 15. Police say Duncan is also a suspect in the killings. In this news article is says he kept a weblog, and I think you can guess the title of his blog....... yep, that's right it's Blogging the fifth nail. I swear, the hairs at the back of my neck actually stood up when i read the news article. He actually did lose the fight against his inner demons. Creeeepppy......verrryy.....creeepppy.

London in tears

2005-07-08T10:30:00.000+08:00

7th July, yet another dark day in world history. My heart goes out to those who’ve lost friends and loved ones in this tragedy. It seems, according to http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/london_bombings, the attacks on London has the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda related attacks. A group claiming to be Al-Qaeda was reported to claim responsibility for the bombings. It is still unclear, whether the terrorist involved in the London bombings are Muslim extremists. But in my eyes, the terrorists involved in this terror act are not Muslims.

Maybe the Muslim extremists weren’t involved. Who knows, maybe jealous individuals who hate the fact that London managed to get the votes to host the 2012 Olympics decided to get together and kill innocent people. Whatever it is, I’m sure many fingers will be pointed at Muslims. I hope there won’t be an escalation of hate crimes in London and around the world following the tragedy in London.

There has been so much innocent blood spilt in the name of Islam, September 11th, the Madrid train bombings and the bali bombing. I just can’t stand it anymore. This posting is not just about the bombings in London. It is about every single terrorist act that has been carried out by misguided people in the name of Islam. Islam is a religion that in actuality promotes peace and moderation in all things. I know this because I am a Muslim. I’m a decent law-abiding citizen and what these anarchists do in the name of my religion sickens me. It sickens me to the core. There is nothing in Islam that condones such acts. Why then are these cowards saying that they’re doing it for Islam? It makes the world hate islam even more. It makes it unsafe for muslims themselves to travel freely. Violence begets violence. That is why I am also not a big supporter of the war that was declared on Iraq. I agree with our prime minister when he said in an interview shortly after the London bombings:

“All countries must work together against terrorism. At the same time, Malaysia also hopes that the world will be more concerned in its effort to resolve the causes of terrorism. We must look at a more comprehensive way of countering these acts”

I will proceed to use entomology terminology to explain why I support this approach to stop terrorism. A vector bourne disease such as dengue fever can’t be contained by just treating the disease or destroying the virus that causes the disease. Other factors such as the vector of the virus (the Aedes mosquito) and the breeding sites of the mosquito must be considered in the quest to eradicate dengue fever. It is the same with terrorism. Many questions should be asked before one even attempts to stop terrorism. What breeds such acts of terror? What drives people who normally would be law abiding citizens to act in atrocious ways? Take Iraq for instance, once they removed the virus (Saddam), the violence still continued in the streets of Iraq. Many Iraqis including innocent civilians, law enforcement officers as well as not so innocent civilians were killed and American soldiers lives were lost. The whole war hasn’t solved a thing. In fact, I think it has made matters worse.

What’s happening around the world today needs to be stopped. But this cannot happen unless the causes of terrorism are identified. London weeps and the world weeps with them. But let’s not forget the people of Iraq and the Palestinians. Who weeps for them? Who cares about the innocent lives lost in Iraq and the Palestine?

Michelin's Indianapolis Debacle

2005-06-20T23:11:00.000+08:00

Q: What do you get when only 2 ferraris, 2 Jordans and 2 minardis race in a Formula 1 GP?
A: A Ferrari Parade

The US GP was a total let down. It will forever be known as the worst and the most controversial race in Formula1 history. Only Six cars raced in the Indianapolis Circuit…..SIX, 2 cars per team. That translates to only 3 racing teams. Yeah……only three bloody teams raced last weekend, Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi. You can’t even call it a race, it was a fluke, a farce and another F-letter word combined with the word ‘Up’. The race was over before it started. The two other teams were no match for the prancing ponies…..opps! I mean the Prancing Pansies…. err….heh heh! I mean for godsakes Minardis were lapped……TWICE!!!

The teams with Michelins tires should have raced. After all, the FIA had allowed the teams to race as long as they slowed down at turn 13. But the team managers had to demand that the FIA break the rules and handicap the teams running with bridgestone tires or add a chicane at turn 13. You can’t just simply change the rules according to the way you like it. It wouldn’t be called rules if you’re able to change it to suit your needs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I’m taking Ferraris side. I just don’t see why the Michelin runners had to walk out of the race. They’re saying it’s because of safety concerns, and if I were to put myself in the Team Manager's shoes I'd be concerned about safety too. However, Michelin did say that it would be safe as long as they slowed down at turn 13. It is indeed a very controversial and delicate issue.

What a major screw up for the Michelins runners. What were they thinking….butting heads with the FIA. They should have known better. Why did they walk out of the race? Frankly, I think they should have just shut-up, complied with the FIA and raced. At least they could have gained some points from the race and maybe they could have still held the Ferraris back. But now they've helped Ferrari to gain a substantial foothold in both the drivers and constructors championship. Yeah....way to go guys.....great job. Schumi is now only 3 points away from Kimi and Ferrari is now tied with Mclaren in the Constructors championship.

Father's Day

2005-06-19T12:18:00.000+08:00

I tried to find a good poem that describes my relationship with my father, but couldn't find a suitable one. It just shows that my relationship with my father is indeed unique, that, nothing but my own words can describe it. Just check the word benefactor in the thesaurus and see what words can substitute it. Benefactor can be substituted with the words supporter, well-wisher, philanthropist, promoter, sponsor and backer. He's all that to me and a whole lot more.

My benefactor, My father

Memories fresh in my mind,
Clear to this day,
Of bedtime stories,
And pleasant dreams

A deep soothing voice,
A demanding presence,
A strong person,
That I’ve depended on,

Childhood memories,
Fresh in my mind,
Of waiting,
And of missing,

He goes away,
But always returns,
A pillar of strength,
A well of wisdom,

He guides me,
Supports me,
Ever so silently,
Ever so quietly.

Yet I know,
He’ll always be there for me,
My benefactor,
My father.

-by Nurita-

Happy father’s day Papa
Love you.

To poem enthusiast, critics and analysts, this is to remind you that:
1. I’m not a professional poet, so don’t try to be too analytical of this poem
2. If you don’t like it, tough! It’s for my father not you!

A long delayed update and a case of food poisoning

2005-06-17T02:14:00.000+08:00

I know....I know.... I haven't updated my blog for a long, longg time. It's appalling, i know. I just haven't been in the mood. Now that Kimi has won again in Montreal, canada, i feel happier and am now ready to start writing again. It was a great win and well deserved. But it's a shame about montoya getting a black flag. It would have been great to see a 1,2 victory for Mclaren.

I would have posted something right after i had watched the race, especially when i saw how great kimi raced in the Canada GP, but i was just not feeling well. I've had a really lousy week in terms of health. I had a terrible migraine that lasted two days, combined with a really bad case of PMS or cramps and for the last two days I've been down with a slight case of food poisoning. It's not so bad, but, it has still kept me in bed and also made me throw up a couple of times. I'm feeling better today and i've stopped hurling but my appetite is still non-existant.

Anyway, i was trying to cheer myself up and found these jokes here -- http://home.comcast.net/~wildlifebio/Jokes.htm . Enjoy!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Biologist Discover a Pot Farm

A pair of biologists are studying terns on a rock island just off the coast. While walking on a distant part of the island, they are shot at by a group of thugs operating a pot farm. This happens several times and the local law enforcement refuses to investigate.
On their last day on the island they happen into a huge pile of harvested grass that has been set out to dry. Quickly they decide to set it on fire to pay the thugs back for shooting at them. The fire takes off and sends plumes of smoke into the sky. As they are running for their boat, they notice that the soaring birds are acting weird, spiraling out of control and crashing into the trees.

The next day they read the headlines in the local paper:

Pot Farm Burns - No Tern Left Unstoned!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Mongoose Terminology

A wildlife biology grad student was writing a proposal to get some funding for a mongoose research project. He sat at his computer and typed:

"I will attach radio collars to a pair of mongooses...."

Wait, he thought, that doesn't sound right. So, he backspaced and began again:

"I will attach radio collars to a pair of mongeese...."

Still again, he thought, that just doesn't sound right. He backspaced again, and after thinking for several minutes, he began to type:
"I will attach a radio collar to an adult mongoose. Immediately after the first is attached, I will attach a second collar to another mongoose..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay the joke i've posted below is a head scratcher. For the life of me, i couldn't get the joke. Why is it funny. I don't get it. The writer on this site says that if you really think about it, it's funny. But i still don't get it. Maybe someone out there can help me with this joke.

Q How do you get an elephant out of a tree?

A. You take the F out of Fun and the F out of Way!

Any ideas on why it's funny? Coz i sure don't!

Bad at Spelling? Well, Wrory no more!

2005-05-30T22:06:00.000+08:00

I received this article about this spelling thing in my e-mail. Apparently around that time (September 2003) this thing was circulating through e-mails and websites. I don't know whether there was really a research on this by Cambridge but it is interesting nonetheless.

According to a research at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are. The only important thing is that the first and last letter be in the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole. Explanation of this web meme by Matt Davis. Another explanation by Snopes.

When I first saw this i thought, What is this garbage? But, if you start to read i, i think you'll find that you're actually able to understand what it says. At least i did.

Acodrnicg to a raersech at Cimbradge Untesiviry, it deosn't mtaetr in waht oedrr the ltrtees in a wrod are. The olny iamportnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat leettr be in the rgiht pcale.
The rset can be a ttoal mses and you can stlil raed it wutihot pbleorm. Tihs is beacuse the hamun mnid deos not raed evrey lteter by iletsf, but the wrod as a wohle.

So if yuor rllaey bad at sneillpg, you can now batrhee esay busceae now you konw taht you olny hvae to get the frist and lsat lteetr rihgt!

One Lap To Go......Damn it!

2005-05-29T22:44:00.000+08:00

Luck was not on Kimi's side. For a minute it looked like he was going to make it. But with one lap to go........disaster struck. With a bump, a jerk and a few sparks.... the race was over for kimi. The front right tyre of his car gave out from under him. Kimi's car sped over the gravel pit and into the wall.......with just one....ONE......ONE......friggin' lap left to go!!!!!!

I'm too upset to post anything longer than this. TOO UPSET!!! Will update if I recover from my dissapointment.

Kimi Blazes The Streets of Monaco

2005-05-23T15:15:00.000+08:00

KIMI BLAZES THE STREETS OF MONACO!!!

Kimi has done it again, after his stunning win over Alonso in Spain. He posted a truly memorable victory Sunday, leading from pole position and winning the Monaco Grand Prix, the most glamorous road course in the circuit. This win is his 1st in Monaco and his fourth career Formula One victory. What a stunning victory it was indeed. Kimi started from pole position and from then on never looked back. The Finn in his McLaren was the only man who sailed round the streets of the Principality with such ease that it seemed like he was enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon drive, albeit a very fast one. He was so superbly cool and calm while he was blazing round the corners and shooting out from the tunnel on the Monaco circuit that we can clearly see why he's nicknamed 'Iceman'.

Kimi: "It's a special place, everybody looks at you in a slightly different way when you win in Monaco. To win is always fantastic, but Monaco is a special challenge."

Kimi has now made his way up to second place in the drivers' championship. Everything went well for Kimi and Mclaren, from their one stop strategy to their decision not to pit when the safety car was out.

From the Official F1 website:

At the beginning of the race, Raikkonen was known to be on more fuel than Alonso, but even so he pulled steadily away. By lap 23 he was 5.5s clear as traffic made the gap fluctuate, but then came an incident at Mirabeau on lap 25 when Christijan Albers spun his lapped Minardi. Michael Schumacher, running eighth right behind David Coulthard, snagged the back of the Red Bull as the Scot slowed to avoid Albers and momentarily the track was blocked. Out came the Safety Car, and many of Raikkonen’s rivals headed for the pits to take advantage of the chance to refuel. But not Raikkonen. The Renaults came in together; Alonso losing time as sufficient fuel to get him to the flag was pumped in, and Fisichella lost time waiting for his team mate to be serviced. Raikkonen could not take on enough fuel at that stage to go the distance because of the high initial load he still carried, and for a while McLaren appeared to have made an error of judgement. It turned out to be anything but.

Kimi's principal challengers, however, made it even easier for him to secure the win in Monaco. Kimi and Mclaren needed Alonso to finish 4th or lower for Kimi tak make a bigger dent in Alonso's lead in the Drivers' championship and Alonso did just that. He finished 4th.

Seven-time series champion Michael Schumacher finished seventh. Ha....ha....ha!!! He is winless in seven straight races, his longest drought since joining Ferrari. His last win was in Japan last season.

Michael Scumacher: "Given everything that happened I have to be reasonably happy with my two points." (Yeah.... keep telling yourself that).

Anyways, it was a great race. I'm so happy for Kimi and Mclaren. Hope there's more of that in the races to come.

To Winon@: I wish you were there with me too. What about what you promised me, when r u coming over to Penang...... hmmmmm......10 was it? Well, I'm waitingggggggg.

To all schumi fans that just happen to come across this posting and who hate my guts by now...... I say nyahhhhhhhhhhh. Better luck......NEVER! Wahahahhahahaha!

Do you have Arachibutyrophobia?

2005-05-21T16:47:00.000+08:00

I'm sure we're already familiar with claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), arachnophbia (fear of spiders) and agoraphobia (fear of open spaces). I myself probably suffer from a milder form of glossophobia (fear of public speaking). Whenever I have to speak to a large crowd or present a paper in a seminar, i start sweating profusely, my legs turn to jelly and my mind can sometimes become blank, ideas just seem to disappear and I usually have extreme difficulty looking into the crowd or audience. I also have a fear of walking on cement drain coverings, I wonder what that kind of phobia is called. Is there a name for it??? I don't mind walking on the metal grates that cover drains but i just can't walk on the cement ones. Funny huh?

But has anyone ever heard of Arachibutyrophobia? What kinda phobia is that you ask? It's a really weird and funny kind of phobia but i'm sure people who suffer from this kind of phobia will not find it funny at all. Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. It may sound funny but the problem often significantly impacts the quality of life. It can cause panic attacks and keep people apart from loved ones and business associates. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and overall feelings of dread, although everyone experiences fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth in their own way and may have different symptoms.

Another weird phobia is papaphobia. Hmmm....... fear of fathers?? Ha ha! No it's not fear of fathers, papaphobia is the fear of the pope or the papacy. To me this phobia is weird because i guess here in Malaysia the chances of ever coming in contact or seeing the pope in real life and not on TV, is slim to none. Maybe papaphobia is actually fear of authority, i don't know because to me why should anyone fear the pope. He's not a psycho, he's not someone who would personally seek you out to victimize you. So, there wouldn't be any cause for fearing the pope, at least in my opinion. But I guess that's why it's called a phobia because usually phobia means irrational fear of something.

But phobias are not something to joke about. There are some phobias that can be really debilitating, like agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) for instance. People who suffer from this phobia are cut away from society, in it's most extreme form, you may find that you can't even leave the house. Which, to say the least, is highly disruptive...... you can't join your friends for a shopping trip or a picnic, you can't go out to work or even pop out to buy a newspaper.

Agoraphobia may 'creep up on you'. To start with, you may get an occasional panic attack when you're outside or in an unfamiliar place. Then gradually your agoraphobia or panic attack happens more often. Eventually, the agoraphobic fear may become so great that you daren't leave your house. Your brain goes into permanent "survival mode" and tells you that you are only safe inside the four familiar walls of your house. I can only imagine how terrible it must feel to be imprisoned in your own home, not by someone but by your own irrational fear.

There are many other weird phobias that I've read about. Among the ones that I find interesting are:

1. Aulophobia -- fear of flutes.

2. Barophobia -- fear of gravity

3. Bathmophobia -- fear of walking

4. Cathisophobia -- fear of sitting down

5. Chrometophobia -- fear of money

6. Clinophobia -- fear of going to bed (What happens if a person suffers from cathisophobia and clinophobia, how do they sleep?)

7. Domatophobia -- fear of being in a house (Where do these people live then?)

8. Geumophobia -- fear of tastes or flavors

9. Hygrophobia -- fear of liquids in any form, especially wine and water

10. Logophobia -- fear of words

11. Ommetaphobia -- fear of eyes

12. Phobophobia -- fear of fear itself

13. Phonemophobia -- fear of thinking

14. Telephonophobia -- fear of the telephone

For a list of other phobias, try here ----- Weird Phobias or Phobia List

The Real Me According to My Birthdate

2005-05-18T09:28:00.000+08:00

Your Birthdate: April 16

Your birth on the 16th day of the month gives a sense of loneliness and generally the desire to work alone.

You are relatively inflexible, and insist on your being independent.

You need a good deal of time to rest and to meditate.

You are introspective and a little stubborn.

Because of this, it may not be easy for you to maintain permanent relationships, but you probably will as you are very much into home and family.

This birth day inclines to interests in the technical, the scientific, and to the religious or the unknown realm of spiritual explorations.

The date gives you a tendency to seek unusual approaches and makes your style seem a little different and unique to those around you.

Your intuition is aided by the day of your birth, but most of your actions are bedded in logic, responsibility, and the rational approach.

You may be emotional, but have a hard time expressing these emotions.

Because of this, there may be some difficulty in giving or receiving affection.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

What makes me cry

2005-05-17T01:50:00.000+08:00

I don't know if i cry a lot compared to others. But if i look back, i can recall the times i've cried and why. This is probably because i have more happy times compared with sad times and therefore it's easier to remember the sad times. So I decided to list out the things that make me cry. These things don't neccessarily make me sad or i don't neccessarily cry when these things happen. But they do make me cry sometimes. Other times it makes me angry or just sad (minus the crying).

I cry when: (Not necessarily in the following order):

1. I'm watching sad movies. A good example of this is the movie 'I am Sam'.

2. Someone I love or care about passes away.

3. When that 'time of the month' arrives. This only happens sometimes, othertimes I get really cranky and I get easily irritated.

4. A family member or someone i know is inconsiderate to me when i've tried so hard to be considerate to them.

5. A friend gets angry at me over a small matter.

6. I have an argument with my mother(I'm sorry when that happens mama. But I promise I do have more self-control these days)

7. A family member fights or has a bad argument with another family member.

Mother's Day

2005-05-12T03:04:00.000+08:00

Since I'm not there to celebrate mothers day with you mama, here are two poems that i found on the internet that i really love. Though the poems are not mine but they represent what you really mean to me and why i love you very much. Happy mothers day mama.

I Love You, Mom
... and I Want You to Know Why
I Feel So Proud to Be Your Daughter

You are a remarkable woman
who accomplishes so much as a
strong woman
in a man's world
You are strong but soft
You are strong but caring
You are strong but compassionate

You are a remarkable woman
who accomplishes so much as a
giving woman
in a selfish world
You give to your friends
You give to your family
You give to everyone

You are a remarkable woman
who is also a remarkable mother
And you are loved by so many people
whose lives you have touched -
especially me
-Poem by Susan Polis Schutz

I Want to Apologize for Any ProblemsI May Have Caused You
and I Want to Thank You

I want to apologize
for any problems
that I may have caused you
in the past
I am not
the easiest person
to live with
since I am so
independent and strong
but you can be sure
that though it possibly didn't seem like it
your values and ideals
did pass on to me
and I carry them forward
in all that I do

You always were someone
stable, strong, giving and warm
an ideal person to look up to
This has given me the strength
to lead my own life
according to my own standards
Your leadership and love
have enabled me to grow
into a very happy person
and I think
that is what every mother wishes
for her child
Thank you

-Poem by Susan Polis Schutz

My week in KL

2005-04-30T21:27:00.000+08:00

I was in KL from April 19th to April 24th. Last month, I had applied to become one of the examiners for the Matriculation Program Examination papers, specifically the biology papers and i was accepted. So that's where i was last week, stuck in a hotel room for six days but it's worth it because we get paid 6 ringgit per exam script. This isn't the first time I've done this. I was also an examiner for the biology papers last year. I think this trip was more fun than the last and marking the exam scripts was easier because I have experience this time around. The 'Dynasty Hotel' was selected by the Malaysian Ministry of Education as the venue for this event. But i wouldn't recommend staying there ever, ever, EVER!!!

The problems started from the moment my colleagues and I checked in to the hotel. One would think that the management of the hotel would anticipate that we would all come at the same time and would want to check in at the same time. But they didn't anticipate this. We arrived at the hotel at around 1 p.m and we were told that we could only check in at 2 p.m. So we had to wait in the hotal lobby for 1 hour. No one wanted to go outside to pass the time because it was really hot and we were tired and not to mention hungry. When 2 o'clock finally arrived, we hastily made our way to the check in counter, thinking that they would provide a seperate check in counter as there were so many of us and it would interfere with other paying guests who wanted to check in. But there was no seperate check-in counter and we hadto line-up to check in. When i finally was able to check into my romm it was already THREE P.M. It took 2 hours from the moment we arrived to the moment i finally got my room, TWO hours.

The service is terrible and unprofessional, the room conditions for many of my unlucky colleagues were abysmal.... the air-conditioning was faulty, the toilet flusher was broken, the room looked gloomy at night especially because the lights were not bright enough and the wall-to-wall carpet exuded a rather nasty foot odor which means that it hasn't been cleaned for some time. At least my room was decent enough, i guess my roommate and i were one of the lucky ones. My unlucky colleagues however were not allowed to change rooms.... the reason for this was unclear because it was obvious that there were still many unoccupied rooms in the hotel. To top it all off, the elevators/lifts were damn slow..... I mean hair pulling, teeth grinding, eternally slow elevators. You had to allocate at least 10 minutes of your time to wait for the elavators. There were 6 elevators but the funny thing is that they don't all go to all the floors in the hotel. Three of the elevators only went up to the 17th floor and the other 3 went all the way to the roof where the swimming pool was located.

The food in the hotel was weird, especially the breakfast menu. It was tasty but there was no variety. The breakfast menu was really weird.... i mean who in the right mind has the stomach for fish in the morning. Yup they served fish cooked in spicy red sauce to accompany rice in the morning..... yup rice in the morning. WEIRD. Another weird breakfast dish they served was lontong, which is usually served for lunch or dinner, but not in this hotel, yeah, they serve lontong in the morning. WEIRD.They also had nasi lemak, toast but NO CEREAL and NO JUICE. They had coffee and just plain water and NO JUICE. The lunch and dinner menu at the hotel was o.k, no deviation from the normal fare one finds in hotels in malaysia.

I can't tell much about the papers we were examining because it's all really confidential. We even signed a non-disclosure agreement before we started examining the papers. But what i can tell you is that i really spent the whole six days in my hotel room or on the 4th floor where the function rooms were. There just wasn't time to go out. After I checked into my room on the first day, I didn't set foot in the hotel lobby for 4 days. I only set foot in the hotel lobby again on the sixth day which was the last day we were there. But all in all it was really fun because you get to meet other academicians and mingle. The money doesn't hurt either. I examined 112 scripts and they pay us six ringgit per script... so I've made 672 ringgit plus another 200 something ringgit worth of travel expenditure claims for only six days of my time. Now all i have to do is wait for the cheque to come. Wuhooo. I can't wait for the next time, hope i'm able to go.

What makes me happy

2005-04-17T00:08:00.000+08:00

I think that I'm a happy go lucky person. When something makes me sad or angry, I don't stay that way for long. I know a few people who just seem to be sad and melancholic most of the time and i just want to scream at these people "OH, FOR HEAVEN SAKE, DON'T TAKE THINGS SO SERIOUSLY". Life doesn't have to be that serious. Do something that is not serious.....do something silly.... just do SOMETHING. Maybe, read a good book, and here a good book means a book that is not intellectual in nature, is just for fun and doesn't have to be logical, something preferable fiction in nature...... reading this type of book is called escapism, where you escape from reality just for a while. Another idea is to watch a silly movie or find a favourite tv series and try to catch that show every week or you could just find a HOBBY BESIDES MOPING!!!

As for me, it doesn't take much to make me happy. I dont need my friends to say nice things about me or notice when i'm feeling sad or go out to watch a movie with me or give/buy me anything (All that's just a bonus, it makes me happy if they do it and if they don't then it's no big deal). What makes me happy is when my friends ask me for help and when I'm able to help them. It also makes me happy when my friends are there for me, when i need them.

I don't need to travel around the world, climb mount everest, hike through the amazon or any forest for that matter. I don't mind staying in one place for extended periods of time but i'm also able to adapt to my new surroundings if and when I have to move somewhere else. I guess i'm able to do that because when i was in primary school, my family used to move around a lot. My father had this job with the ministry of education and he was always being stationed in different places. I had to change schools 3 times before secondary school, so I had three different primary schools and no childhood friends. I just didn't stay in one place long enough to have one. I had to adapt to new surroundings 3 times when i was 7 (1st year of primary school is a new experience for everyone), 10 and 12 years old. That was difficult for me, having new surroundings, new friends and new teachers. So having learned to adapt myself in new surroundings early on in life has made it very easy for me to do it now. What i'm trying to say, especially to those melancholic type people is LEARN TO ADAPT to your surroundings. If you have to stay in one place for a long time, then LEARN to ADAPT to that situation. In other words.... grow up!

I always find ways to be happy just where i am and i love the direction my life is heading right now. I find hapiness in the most simplest things in life, things like, a nice cool rainy day, a hot cup of coffee, a good book or just having a nice laugh with my friends when we watch a silly or funny movie or a good sitcom on tv. Actually all I need to be happy is just to choose to be happy.

Happy birthday to me!

2005-04-16T02:22:00.000+08:00

Today's my birthday. I'm officially 26 years old today. Yea! for me or should i freak out. I don't think there is any need for that. I've never been particularly stressed out about birthdays like some people i know or maybe that only happens when you're reaching 40. I've certainly haven't reached the stage where turning a year older is no longer a big deal. My sister is at that stage though, maybe when you have kids, a husband, a household and a demanding corporate job, you just don't have time to celebrate your birthday.

Last month I called my sister to wish her happy birthday and i asked her what she was doing as a way to celebrate. I asked "So what are you going to do today." She answered simply "Well, i'm going grocery shopping later, after i'm finished with checking the kids homework." I thought she misunderstood me, so I said, "Huh? I meant what are you going to do today, on your birthday. You know, things like going out for dinner, watching a movie with the kids or something different than other days." She said while laughing "Ha ha, i don't do that anymore. Today is just like any other day. It's been a good day but no different than other days."

I just didn't understand her, i mean i don't celebrate my birthday by having a party anymore but i do treat myself by going out shopping (not for grocery) or watching a movie with my friends or sometimes alone. I don't have a boyfriend or I'd go out with him. Basically i try to do something different that the other days just to treat myself and have some fun. Maybe my sister is just not big on birthdays or maybe i'll be like that when i'm older and have kids and have a demanding job as a professor (heh! heh! Pretty high hopes don't you think). But i don't see that happening just yet. I still enjoy being single and i still have so much to accomplish.

The Intelligent Loner

2005-04-07T08:01:00.000+08:00

'The intelligent loner'. That's me, at least according to an internet quiz.

You are 'The intelligent loner'. You're shy
at times but friendly, and you are never weak
and always independent. You are incredibly
intelligent (wise beyond your years) and have a
talent for many things (sports, music, art).
You have a kind and warm personality and enjoy
the simple things. Like hanging out with
friends and watching movies at home. But you're
sometimes quiet nature makes you a bit of an
outcast and a mystery to people. No matter how
hard you try, you just can't seem to break into the crowd and be
noticed. Don't worry, try to be more outgoing
and speak out when you have more to say. Don't
hide behind your books and sports and computer,
get out there and get noticed. You also have
deep desires in life and feel vunerable and
alone at times. Don't feel sad either, What
helps me to express feelings and dreams that I
can't say to people, is through my writting.
Maybe you should try.
What kind of girl are you? (with pix!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Yup.... and that's what I'm doing. I've never actually managed to keep a diary for more than a few months. I've tried several times to start a diary but I'm never able to make a habit out of it. But I enjoy writing in my blog and I intend to keep at it as long as possible. Though I may not be a consistant in posting stuff on my blog, but I enjoy maintaining this blog. So, I think I've started to fall permanently in love with blogging and will stay in love as long as it keeps making me happy to post stuff.

Quotes R' Us

2005-04-01T07:17:00.000+08:00

Wise Quotes

"Wise men talk because they have something to say. Fools talk because they have to say something." -- Plato

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather, try to become a man of value." -- Albert Einstein

Stupid Quotes

"My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt."
- Chuck Nevitt, North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice.

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." - Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice President

Funny Quotes

"Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle." - Bob Hope

"Those of you in the cheaper seats clap your hands, those of you in themore expensive ones rattle your jewelry." - John Lennon

"Husbands are like fires - they go out when unattended." - Zsa Zsa Gabor

"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." - Vidal Sassoon

"I'm an excellent housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house". - Zsa Zsa Gabor

Quotes from the TV Series Smallville

"In life, the road to darkness is a journey, not a light switch."
-Ryan to Lex Luthor-

"Sometimes you'll make decisions in a split second that you'll have to live with the rest of your life." - Martha Kent to Clark

"The first rule in self-defense is to avoid conflict." - Clark to Lana Lang

When in Rome..

2005-03-31T17:47:00.000+08:00

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Easy enough to understand, right? It is also easy to follow. But some people just don't have the decency to follow the age long rule. When you are in a foreign country, respect the people there, by respecting their customs. But some people, particularly a person here in my student-apartment, doesn't know how to respect other people.

The place where I'm staying here on campus is called the International House. It's for local or international postgraduate students. In this International House (IH), there is a public TV room for students to watch TV, particuarly cable TV (ASTRO). The TV room here is also air-conditioned, meaning that one has the option of staying there to enjoy the cool air as opposed to the hot, humid and stifling air outside. As with any room meant for relaxing or lounging here in Malaysia, everyone takes off their shoes before entering it. But there are several idiotic and unrespectful female foreign cretins here, who choose to ignore the dozen or shoes outside the room and just simply walks in with their shoes on!!! These female foreigners (there are three of them), I suspect, are from arab or persian descent.

There is no notice on the door to the TV room that says everyone has to take off their shoes before entering the room, but can't this person see that other people there have taken off their shoes and have left them outside. It just takes common sense to see that shoes are to be taken off before entering.

My friend and I thought that maybe the culprits were blind or just didn't see the shoes outside. So my friend was going to tell them off the next time they came in with their shoes on. So, she did just that. two arab women walked in with their shoes on and my friend looked at one of them and said "Excuse me, could you please take off your shoes." I think we can all agree that the way she said that was quite polite. But the reply to that very polite request was extremely rude. This bloody rude woman said "So whatttttt (while rolling her eyes), you take off your shoes, so whaaaaatt. It's a public place, it's up to me if I want to take off my shoes or keep it on!"

How bloody, F*ing rude. My friend was fuming, she was stunned, i was stunned. We couldn't think of anything to say to such rudeness. I particularly found it offensive because, as a muslim, i've always been taught to respect others. Even other religions teach about respect for others. So why was this woman being so disrespectful?

She says that it's okay to do what she wants in a public place. So, I guess it's okay for me to go to her room and take her shoes in the corridor, which is technically in a public space and throw it, say into a drain or into a toilet bowl. If she complains, I'll say, so whaaaatttt, the corridor is a public place, so it's up to me to do what i like

Shaken, Not Stirred

2005-03-29T03:45:00.000+08:00

Whoa! another massive earthquake near Sumatera. Certainly did feel that one, it was like the quake on Dec 26th, except that it didn’t last as long. The quake I felt on Dec 26th came in succession maybe one or two times, this one was just once and was definitely short lived. The feeling I experienced during that quake was akin to having a dizzy spell. I felt faint and my knees felt wobbly, something like when I’m about to present something in a conference. I’ve never experienced an earthquake before and I was surprised at what it actually felt like, even though it was quite mild. I imagined a mild earthquake like that would be like a vibration, something like when you’re near a jackhammer, but it wasn’t like that at all. It was more like a fast and successive, side by side swaying motion. I’m lucky that I live far away from the coastline here in Penang. In fact, my Uni is located on a hill, so I don’t really have to run to higher ground, because I’m already on higher ground.

This time I felt the effects of the earthquake in Sumatera a few minutes after midnight, at 12.09 a.m. Penang is still experiencing a heatwave and it was a relatively hot night, I was trying to stay cool in my student-apartment public TV room, while working on my thesis when it happened. I thought some idiot sitting in the chair behind mine had placed his legs at the back of my chair and was shaking it (his legs and my chair). I turned around to give the idiot behind me a piece of my mind when I realized that no one was sitting there. It was then that I noticed the television shaking in its wall fixture. When I saw this, I just knew that it was another earthquake and everyone had started to leave the room. I grabbed my trusty laptop computer (that contains my very valuable.....my ‘oh-my-god-I could-die-if-I-lose-it’ work) and high-tailed it out of there. Everyone left the building for the safety of the outdoors because, even though the student-apartment is a relatively new building, built for postgraduates students a few years ago, its better to be safe than sorry. It wasn’t that big a quake, certainly very mild compared to what they must have felt in Sumatera, but hey! we don’t experience many earthquakes here in Malaysia, so this quake and the one on Dec26th are new experiences for us.

Earthquakes are rare in malaysia because the 'pacific ring of fire' that runs close to indonesia and other countries around south east asia, avoids malaysia completely. A collection of volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches that partly encircles the Pacific Basin forms the so-called Ring of Fire and this is a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Penang was lucky this time around because the quake occurred further south than the Acheh quake. If ever there is a tsunami, the chances are it will not make it as far as Penang, Sumatera and the surrounding islands will take the brunt of it. At least that’s what I’ve read from the news on the net. I pray to god that this quake and its aftershocks will not generate another destructive tsunami like the one that claimed so many lives in December. However, now, the second time around, the whole experience wasn’t as scary, because, when the earthquake happened back in December, I had never experienced a quake before. Back then, I thought that maybe the building was unstable and was collapsing, THAT was scary because it was something unknown. This time I knew what it was and I was much calmer. All in all, I was shaken but not stirred.

Super Quotes

2005-03-27T20:55:00.000+08:00

I've decided to post a few quotes from the TV series 'Smallville' here. The series may be a bit silly at times, but there are some interesting and insightful things in it that you can pick up, if you dig deep enough. In case you don't know about the tv series.... it's about the life of Clark Kent in his teenage years before he became Superman a.k.a the 'Man of Steel'. Before he could leap tall buildings in a single bound, Clark Kent started life and went through his teenage years in a small town in Kansas that is aptly named Smallville. Well, there's the intro and here now are the quotes:

"Any good relationship relies on trust, but there has to be room to disagree"
-Martha Kent to Lex Luthor-

"Passion for life, work & friends is great, as long as you keep it in check"
-Lex Luthor to Clark Kent"

"Having a relationship that's built on secrets & lies is doomed to fail"
-Lana Lang to Clark Kent-

"It's never comfortable for anyone to open up their feelings to others. But if you care about somebody, you owe it to them"
-Lana Lang to Clark Kent-

"If you really like someone you accept every part of them. But you can't do that until they're willing to share every part with you"
-Lana to Clark-

"Anyone who doesn't appreciate poetry, doesn't understand that it's all about seduction"
-Lex to Lana-

Finally, I'd like to include a poem by John Donne, that i heard in one of the episodes of Smallville. I'm not such a poetry fan but this one has such a sexy ring to it. Lex Luthor recited this poem to Lana, not to seduce her but to make a point.

Take me to you,
Imprison me,
For I never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste,
Except you ravish me.
-John Donne-

Ops Selongkar

2005-03-24T14:38:00.000+08:00

The end of term has finally arrived for the undergraduate students. The 2004-2005 session ended on the 20th. The undergrads have left the campus in droves and vacated their hostels. The only people left in our Uni are the postgrad students, the security personnel, and during the day, faculty staff. So, my friend started a project and i later coined it "Ops Selongkar". Two of my friends have done this for several years, i only joined the team this year.

What is this Ops Selongkar you ask? Well, when the undergraduates leave for their long awaited break, they have to pack all their belongings and keep it in a storeroom, a friend's apartment or lockers provided in their hostels. This is because they will not be staying in the same hostel room once they get back from the hols. They will be given different rooms and be paired with different roommates. The final year students will have to cart all their belongings back home, and herein lies the problem.

Most of them are in such a hurry to get back home, or their exams end very late, that they pack in a hurry and sometimes do not plan things very well. This usually happens especially with the final year students. They pack in a hurry and find that they can't fit a lot of stuff into their parent's cars or vans. So what do they do with the stuff that doesn't fit in the cars or boxes or lockers..... well they just leave those things behind in their hostel rooms. Some of those things are still brand new. Hence, Operation Selongkar was born. Selongkar means to rummage or to search for something untidily, and that's what my friends and i do.

We go to the vacated hostel rooms and search them. The amount of things those kids leave behind is surreal. They leave behind computer monitors, printers, radios, calculators, books, clothes, bags and sport shoes. They also leave behind a lot of coins, stationary, umbrellas and other trinkets. The most surprising find was 5 ringgit stashed away in a discarded backpack. Think of the money the cleaners make from selling the stuff they find in the hostels every time the term ends. It's mind boggling! A 2nd hand printer in good condition could still be sold for a minimum of 100 ringgit! What were those kids thinking when they left all those things behind.

When i went on the Ops Selongkar caper, i settled for collecting only stationary, because i admit i was rather uneasy about using things that other people have used and besides i'm not having financial problems. I went along with my friends just for the fun of it.

Lab Rats

2005-03-23T20:33:00.000+08:00

Rats in a science laboratory, nothing unusual? That's usually the case but it's not the case in my research lab in my school (faculty). Why is that you ask? Well, it's because the rats in my lab are not the rats that are kept in cages....yup, they are free-thinking and independant rats. It's an invasion!!! A family of rats have moved in and made themselves at home in the medical entomology lab in the school of biological sciences. You would think they'd know better than to park themselves smack dab in the middle of a scientific research lab! Maybe they're suicidal rats.

Anyway, the invasion began just after I counted the last house fly and finished my research and started to write my thesis. That was in december of last year. Since then, i haven't been to the lab for quite some time. If I did set foot in the lab it would be for like a few seconds to get some stuff. Apparently, since i've holed myself up in my room to write my thesis and neglected visiting the lab, the undergraduates using the lab for their final year project have not been taking good care of it. They've left a lot of things on the floor and under the tables, things like boxes, plastic bags, pieces of wood and such. This is like an invitation card to rats, you know, come over, make yourselves at home. Some people are just irresponsible. What's the use of an education if you don't make use of it.

Science? Oh, you mean biotechnology?

2005-03-20T12:50:00.000+08:00

Malaysians just love to jump on the latest and most glamorous bandwagon. Now for example, in the local news, whenever there is mention of anything about advancement in science and technology it always mean the field of biotechnology and computer science. I never hear of talk about the advancement of other fields of science, like for instance, Entomology (my field now) which is very important and relevant here in Malaysia. Yes... even more so than gene manupilation, tissue culturing and whatever the biotechies are doing.

I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone, but in this day an age we still have dengue outbreaks here in Malaysia and does anyone remember that Japanese Encephalitis mess that started at the end of 1998 and went on till 1999. During that time, Malaysia experienced a major disease outbreak known as Japanese Encephalitis, which was caused by Culex mosquitoes that breed in dirty polluted water surrounding pig farms. Experts believed that the unsanitary conditions and poor regulation of pig farmers in managing the drainage and sewage of pig waste had caused the virus to infect the pig population in Malaysia. Sure they controlled the condition successfully by culling the pigs and spraying insecticide, but is the ministry of health concerned now? What about the experts of the Culex mosquitoes, are they getting the funding they need to study ways to prevent another outbreak like this?

Here's how the JE virus was spread to humans, just for your information, in case you're curious. If not, then skip this paragraph. The transmission all starts when the Japanese encephalitis virus multiplies in a pig's body and when a female Culex mosquito sucks the blood of the pig, she will pick up the Japanese encephalitis virus. After an incubation period of 14 days, the Culex mosquito is able to transmit the virus to a new host, usually pigs but in some exceptional circumstances humans can be involved. Still think entomology should be ignored? We're supposed to be a developing nation, but why is it that, even now in the 21st century we still have dengue outbreaks?

Now, I don't hear anyone higher up in the political arena advocating the advancement of the study of the Aedes mosquito to prevent denggi outbreaks, and do we want another JE outbreak or some other outbreak to finally realize the importance of Entomology. What about other sciences like, marine biology or environmental science, these are just as important as biotechnology. But, Nooooo, all i here is BIOTECHNOLOGY this and BIOTECHNOLOGY that and some more things about computer science.

It's easier to get a research grant if your research has a title that has words like ---- Moleculer, Gene, DNA RNA, cellular, enzymes or some other clever sounding words and WHAT is the deal with the BioValley project!!! It should be called Biotechnology Valley not BioValley. Bio is short for biology not biotechnology, and biology has a lot of other fields not just biotechnology. Maybe the biovalley is for other sciences as well, but it would help if the word biotechnology is not repeated in every sentence in the biovalley project information. See here for more info on BioValley http://medicine.com.my/mblog/2003/07/malaysia-puts-muscle-behind-biotech-in.html

It's about time that the Ministry of science and technology wise up to the fact that there are other important fields of science that needs support and funding. The government efforts in advancement of science in Malaysia is commendable, but please make sure that when you say science, you're thinking of other fields of science as well.

Stupid Tmnet, stupid Tmnet....

2005-03-16T20:05:00.000+08:00

I have not been able to update my blog due to the stupidness and idiocy of the internet service provider that is TMnet. Due to some screw up, my account was blocked. It has been almost a week since the last time i was able to get online. Stupid TMnet....STupid TMnet.

Anyway now that my internet service account has been restored, i can now start updating my blog again. I have so many things to write about, since it's been such a long time. A lot of topics have been piling up in my documents folder. I'm still very angry with TMnet. Arghhhhhhhh!!!

I've wanted to post something for quite sometime now, it's about an interesting scientific research tool that i saw on the National Geographic documentary channel . I wanted to do that 2 days after the african man poem, but because of the STUPID TMNET...... i couldn't do that until today.

The scientific research tool i'm refering to is the National Geographic Crittercam. National Geographic's Crittercam is a research tool designed to be worn by wild animals. It combines video and audio recording with collection of environmental data such as depth, temperature, and acceleration. These compact systems allow scientists to study animal behavior without interference by a human observer.

It's quite simple really.... the crittercam is basically a camera that is designed to be attached to an animal and this camera will document the lives of these animals from their point of view. Greg Marshall, a marine biologist first conceived the idea of crittercam in 1986. Now, the crittercam has been used on live whales, sharks, seals and sea lions, sea turtles, penguins, manatees, and other marine animals. This marvellous tool has also been used on land animals on land, with the first land animal, being a wild African lion.

The first crittercam was really bulky, but Marshall and his engineering team, led by Mehdi Bakhtiari has improved the crittercam making it smaller and lighter. The camera on the turtle in the picture is the prototype crittercam and is clearly very bulky but the crittercam on the seal is smaller and more lightweight compared to the prototype. Despite the bulky nature of the prototype crittercam, the turtle didn't seem to be bothered by it.

I just thought that the crittercam is an interesting item to share. I think it is a priceless tool that benefits both biologists and other people as well. It is also useful in bringing conservation messages to worldwide television audiences. If you want to know more about Crittercam then go to http://www.nationalgeographic.com/crittercam/about.html

Poem by an african man

2005-03-08T23:42:00.000+08:00

I saw this poem in a Nike add once, sometime after the World Cup. I found it interesting so I've posted it here, but I still don't know who wrote this poem. If anyone knows, please tell me the name of the author.

POEM BY AN AFRICAN MAN

Dear white fella,
Couple things you should know
When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in sun, I black
When I cold, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black

And you white fella,
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
When you die, you gray
And you calling me colored??

Famous People say the darnest things

2005-03-07T12:03:00.000+08:00

Who says, quotes only have to be thought provoking? Sometimes famous people say things that are just too darn funny or idiotic to pass up. To paraphrase Bill Cosby "Famous People Say the Darnest Things". Hope they help brighten up your day!

"If it weren't for electricity we'd all be watching television by candlelight."
- George Gobel

"A zebra does not change its spots."
- Al Gore on George Bush (1992)

"Most cars on our roads have only one occupant, usually the driver."
- Carol Malia, BBC Anchorwoman

"China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese."
- Charles De Gaulle, former French President

"I do not like this word "bomb." It is not a bomb. It is a device that is exploding."
- Jacques le Blanc, French ambassador on nuclear weapons

"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas."
- Former Australian cabinet minister Keppel Enderbery

"It's a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life."
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 21, 2004

"I don't diet. I just don't eat as much as I'd like to."
- Linda Evangelista, Supermodel

where do i fit in?

2005-03-06T11:28:00.000+08:00

I figured out why in my mind, i file people according to behaviour and not generalize them (refer to my prev post: "Human filing system"). It's probably because, if i were to use the race, religion etc. filing system then i wouldn't have a file where i fit in. I'm half malay and half chinese.... so if i were to adopt the other system than where do I fit in?

Say hypothetically that I'm business savy and calculating.... someone could say something like "Yeah, she's like that coz she's chinese"..... oh but wait....hold the phone.... I'm only half chinese! So, where, pray tell, do I fit in thatperson's filing system?

So, I really believe that the generalization of people according to their race, religion or background is just a faulty system.Where would i fit in that system???

Human Filing system

2005-03-05T10:05:00.000+08:00

I've noticed that people like to categorize the behaviour of other people according to race, religion or nationality. I've heard some terrible generalization from people I know. I HATE these kind of generalization but it always happens and people around me seem to just love doing it. They like to generalize others with words like lazy, untrustworthy, back-stabbers, greedy, fanatics, snakes and other nasty stuff simply based on their ethnicity, faith or nationality.

I on the other hand have always tried to mantain a filing system in my mind that categorizes people according to behaviour, instead of categorizing people's behaviour according to race, religion etc. I may slip up sometimes and a stray, race, religion or nationality file does slip into my filing system but i'm usually able to weed out those stray files.

When i meet someone, i usually file them under "Generally Good Person". As i get to know that person better, I observe how he/she behaves and i'll then file them under a more specific file. I have positif and negative behaviour files.... and i notice that under these files they are people of different races and religions. So, i know that all races, faiths, nationality etc. have their fair share of lazy untrustworthy back-stabbing fanatics.Humans will be humans no matter what their background is.

Brain matter differences

2005-03-03T00:05:00.000+08:00

These brain maps explain a lot don't you think?

Check out more humor on men and women here humor- men & women

Differences between the sexes

2005-03-02T23:05:00.000+08:00

God created men and women differently in order for them to learn from each other and depend upon each other.Here are few quotes about differences between the sexes.

The great distinction between the sexes is, men see objects, women see the relationship between objects. Whether the objects need each other, love each other or match each other. It is the extra dimension of feeling we men are without and one that makes war abhorrent to all real women.
---John Fowles---

If you educate a man you educate a person, but if you educate a woman you educate a family
---Ruby Manikan---

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother
---Theodore Hesburgh---

Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast
---Marlene Dietrich---
(I like this one, Heh heh!)

A hundred men may make an encampment but it takes a woman to make a home
---chinese proverb---

Perencah Nasi Kandar

2005-02-28T20:05:00.000+08:00

A friend of a friend came over to Penang recently. It was her first trip to Penang and her first trip out from her hometown. I've met people who have lived their whole lives in their hometown before and didn't think it was weird or anything. But it is a little funny when an adult just doesn't know about what's going on outside their safe litte world.

Anyway, one evening, we made a trip to Georgetown as a way of introducing her to Penang and on the way there, we suggested to her that she shoud try nasi kandar coz everyone says that a trip to Penang is not complete without eating nasi kandar. Personally, I don't see what the fuss is all about. It's actually just rice with lots and lots of curry. I don't know, maybe it's because i've been in Penang for quite some time and i just don't find it special anymore.

This friend of my friend was curious about nasi kandar. She's never seen it, she's heard of it but has never seen what it looks like. Now she seemed a little clueless about things outside her hometown but I just didn't realize how clueless she really was until she said "Nasi kandar tu best ke? Apa yg special nyer? Kalau sedap nanti boleh le aku beli perencah dia, boleh le aku masak bila balik kampung nanti. Mana nak cari perencah nasi kandar?"

We all laughed then, we just couldn't help it. My friend said to her clueless friend, while wiping the tears from her eyes "Wei, ko ingat nasi kandar tu cam mana? Cam nasi briyani.... ada perencah? Nasib baik ko tak tanya soalan tu kat kedai mamak"

Eventually we managed to stop laughing. It's lucky that she's quite a sporting girl. If I were in her shoes i'd be really annoyed at us for laughing.

H.S Thompson

2005-02-26T01:28:00.000+08:00

I came acrossthe news about the death of a well respected writer, Hunter S. Thompson. I've never actually read any of his works but i did come across a quote that i found interesting:

"Fiction is based on reality unless you're a fairy-tale artist. You have to get your knowledge of life from somewhere. You have to know the material you're writing about before you alter it."
---Hunter S. Thompson

I know a few people who look down on fiction novels. They prefer to read serious things like biographies, literature and poetry. They think that fiction novels are shallow and beneath them. But i agree with Thompson, fiction is based on real life. It's not based on a true story per se but it is based on real life in general. So to those who think fiction novels are beneath them, take sometime to get off that pedestal you've put yourself on and try to open up your mind to other literary options.

Thesis devotion

2005-02-25T23:30:00.000+08:00

As you can see I haven't been updating my blog for 5 days now. My devotion to my thesis writing is really taking up a lot of my time. If I were writing my thesis in the research lab at the bio school then i'd easily be able to keep my blog up to date, coz the internet connection there is on 24 hours a day. But sometimes after typing paragraph after paragraph of entomological facts and staring at the computer screen for 6-7 hours, I just have to collapse into bed and sleep. I just don't have the energy to get up, get the telephone wire, connect it to my laptop, wait to connect to the internet then think up something interesting to write in my blog.

Today, I've already used up loads of brain juice to just write up the introduction to the 3rd chapter of my thesis, the title of which is: THE SEASONAL ABUNDANCE OF SYNANTHROPIC FLY POPULATIONS IN TWO URBAN LOCATIONS.

Anyways, I've discovered that studying flies is certainly interesting but writing about studying them is migraine generating hard. I'd rather go back to my earlier research days where all i had to do was sit next to a dumpster under the hot sun and count flies landing on putrid and smelly garbage. Imagine that!

Very Important Statistics

2005-02-20T20:05:00.000+08:00

I saw something on the news about a month ago, it was, in my opinion, rather ridiculous. So much so that i just had to share it with someone.

I was flipping through the 4 tv channels that we have, opps! sorry 5 channels, i almost forgot RTM1, when I came across the TV3 news. Some guy was spewing statistics and it sounded serious. I had missed the start of this segment so I didn't know what the statistic was about. I don't remember what he said exactly but here is the gist of it.......... "About 50% percent of them are between 20-30 years old and 40% are between 30-45 and the rest are between 45-50. We believe that the total numbers of them will continue to rise in the next five years". At this point I was thinking that it was something serious like the road accident statistic or crime statistics. He sounded really serious.

But it started to get ridiculous when this guy on the news said with a really serious look on his face "we are now targeting consumers between the ages of 30 to 45, who we think are most likely to need more tupperware products". I started to laugh when i heard this, but there's more, this guy then said "We are optimistic that we will be able to meet the demands of our consumers. We guarantee that there will be no shortage in tupperware products". Ha Ha Ha!Why did the reporters think that it was something that they had to include in the news. I mean, what were they thinking. It was the most ridiculous news i've ever heard.

But maybe.... I suppose it will be a disaster of epic proportions if there indeed was a shortage of tupperware products. Where would we store all the food. Kids wouldn't be able to bring their lunch to school for recess. Mothers will have nowhere to store leftover food. Oh my god, what a disaster. Heh! Heh!

My interests blogs

2005-02-18T20:25:00.000+08:00

I've just finished creating a blog about my passion and interest in fomula 1. Particularly my interest for the Mclaren-mercedes formula 1 team. I will try to update the blog according to the latest G.Ps so please visit my interest site by clicking the "formula1 2005" link i've provided.

Anyways, didn't do much today. So i don't really have much to write about. Spent most of the day indoors. Writing my thesis. It's taking up much of my time lately. It's a pity that my passion for blogging came this late and in the middle of my thesis writing. I'm definitely very much addicted to blogging now. But it's a welcomed distraction. Helps release some of the tension that has accumulated due to the migraine generating task of completing my thesis.

Quotable Quotes

2005-02-16T10:49:00.000+08:00

I came across two quotes while surfing the net that i would like to share.

"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow" -- Alice Walker.

I love this quote. I truly believe that a person who cares about you, will also care about your opinion, your feelings and your thoughts. That person will never try to restrict your dreams, goals or ambitions. However a friend or a person who cares about you must also provide you with constructive criticism whenever it is needed. Constructive criticism is also something that allows you to grow into a better person. But always be cautious and careful in giving criticism, be considerate and offer criticism in a kind way so as not to offend the person you're giving it to.

“You can easily judge the character of a person by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” --James D. Miles

I've seen that some people are only nice or considerate with people who can provide them with things or help. When this is no longer the case then they are abandoned or ignored for other people that can provide help. Sometimes, people you consider family or friends can sometimes do this to you too. For example you really need someone's help but they don't want to help you because it's inconvenient for them. But this person will not hesitate to come to you for help whenever he/she needs it. Being a considerate person, you'll help with the problem and you do this because you consider that person family or a friend. The people i'm describing sometimes are totally unaware that they take advantage of other people and can sometimes be selfish as well as self-absorbed. To these people i say be more considerate of others and try to help your family or friends even when it is inconvenient for you because you never know when you'll need their help in the future.

Nasi goreng delivery

2005-02-14T05:26:00.000+08:00

Wouldn't it be nice to have a delivery service for real food like nasi goreng, mee goreng and other food stuff. It would especially be meaningful on weekends, if you're a student to have this service. Here, we don't seem to have something like what the americans have.........you know chinese food delivery. Maybe we can have something called Malaysian food delivery.

I mean it's a Sunday and i have a lot of thesis writing to get done and i just am not in the mood to cook or get dressed and put on my tudung to go and buy food outside. I know there's fast food delivery.... but sometimes you're not in the mood for fast food.

At times like this i would just love to be able to pick up the phone and say " Hello.... yes i would like to order delivery. I would like the nasi goreng kampung with extra sambal and nescafe ais"....... and there would be someone saying "ok.... your order will be there in 30 minutes".

Wouldn't that be havenly..... having real food, which isn't fast food, delivered to you doorstep, on a day where you're just not in the mood to go out or cook. All you'd have to do is pick up the phone, and later pay the phone bill. Real food just a phone call away. Heavenly....absolutely heavenly.

Late, rude and misunderstood

2005-02-12T04:34:00.000+08:00

This is a funny true story, told to me by a friend. This friend of mine used to work as a lecturer in a local university. She was teaching a small class of about 15 students and there were several new foreign students in the class. English is a second language to these students and their english was heavily accented. One day, while teaching the class, another new foreign student burst in, all flustered and sweaty. He was about 15 minutes late. My friend however did not mind him being late, all that mattered to her was that her students show up in class. She asked him to find a seat so that she could continue with the lecture.

He, however, looked at my friend and said in heavily accented english "I'm sorry I very late. I could not fuck...... because I not finding fucking space". My friend was shocked when she heard this but she thought to herself that she may have heard wrong. So she said " Excuse me, what did you say". He then repeated the same thing to her. She was starting to get red in the face, angry that he could be so rude and vulgar to her.

But his friend came to his rescue and said " I think he's trying to say that he could not park because he could not find a parking space". At this my friend started to laugh, she could not help herself. The poor late, rude and misunderstood guy could only smile sheepishly at her. He probably didn't understand why she was laughing.

Identify this!

2005-02-11T15:54:00.000+08:00

This is a joke sent to me by a friend.

One day at a local university science faculty. A practical examination of an entomology (study of insects) paper was being conducted. This particular test was a very difficult one. Students were given just samples of several insect's legs and were required to identify the insect's species and names from these samples. Two hours had elapsed but not one of the students were able to identify the insects. One student in particular was very disappointed and frustrated. He decided to leave the examination hall.
"Bammmmmm!!!!" he loudly slammed the door shut on his way out. Upon this, the lecturer inside the hall angrily shouted at him "Hey, who the hell do you think you are, going about slamming doors like that. What is your name ?!!!!!" The student, who was standing on the other side of the door, then stuck only his legs into the hall. Only his legs were visible from inside the hall. He then said "This is my leg sir...... Now, from just looking at my leg..... can you guess who I am?????"

(Hope you enjoyed the joke........ I sure did)

Quick-Quotes Quill

2005-02-11T01:45:00.001+08:00

Quick-Quotes Quill: Quoting Albus Dumbledore (Headmaster of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizadry).

Here are some quotes taken from J.K. Rowlings, Harry Potter books. I just love Albus Dumbledore. The things he says are sometimes absolutely brilliant. Here are just some of the more notable things he's said, mostly to Harry, in the first five H.P books.

1. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live

2. It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

3. Differences of habits and language are nothing at all, if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.

4.Indifference and neglect often do more damage than outright dislike.

5. Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.

6. Before the banquet, i would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
(Heh heh! The man just cracks me up. I couldn't resist including his pre-banquet speech, brilliantly funny)

Dumbledore's Curriculum Vitae

2005-02-10T01:28:00.000+08:00

Name : Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Titles:
1. Order of Merlin 1st class
2. Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards
3. Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot
4. Founder of the secret Order of the Phoenix

Past and Current Work:
1. Defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald (1945)
2. Discovered 12 uses of dragon's blood
3. Works on alchemy in collaboration with Nicolas Flamel
4. Headmaster of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Current)
5. Currently is also working on the defeat of the Voldermort (Tom Marvolo Riddle)

Interests and hobbies:
1. Chamber music
2. tenpin bowling

Likes:
1. Sherbet lemon
2. Socks for christmas

(This C.V will be updated)

Walking, talking encyclopedias

2005-02-09T04:22:00.000+08:00

Why do some people insist they're right when they know so little about what they're talking about. These people also like to force their opinions on other people. The type of people i'm talking about are the know it alls ..... the mr. jeeves from the ask jeeves website or the walking encyclopedias of infite knowledge. Yes, those that are undeniably the experts of anything under the sun (sometimes even experts of the universe). These people literally have or think they have the answers to everything. Ask them something and they'll know the answer to it.
In reality these people are just full of crap. In truth they know nothing. But they make good pyramid scheme sellers, you know the skim cepat kaya stuff. Pyramid selling that's what they're good at, because they're good at b.s. They really know how to talk and you can actually be fooled by some of these know it alls. Not necessarily into buying pyramid schemes but into everyday stuff.
Moral of this posting: Be careful around encyclopedia type people. They can cheat you in finances as well as in love, i'm sure, because they are such good liars.

Lifestyles of the rich and spoiled

2005-02-03T21:07:00.000+08:00

The simple life. What's a more fitting title for that show starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie. 'The silly life', 'the rich and bored' or my personal favourite "The blond and idiotic". So many lovely new titles yet so little typing energy. I don't know why 8tv is wasting airtime, showing that sludge of a reality show.

I love reality shows but "The Simple Life" is just not reality. What's real about watching a couple of rich, spoiled brats pretending to get a life. It's not reality for the masses, it's just something to do for two bored rich heiresses. My friend commented that other rich heirs like Paris and Nicole who actually are trying to make it on their own are probably insulted by the show. I mean, are they really that stupid and spoiled.

I wasted about 10 minutes trying to watch that crap. To those who actually love the show, go ahead and watch. It's a somewhat free country. Frankly i'm not wasting anymore of my time watching it. Just needed to get it out of my system.

Only time will tell

2005-02-02T22:18:00.000+08:00

Yes, that's right. Time will tell. When will i finish my thesis. Only time will tell. When will i finally have that M.Sc title that no one but me will care about, to put behind my name only in a resume. Time will tell. When will my nosy relatives stop asking me if i already have a boyfriend. time will tell. Why did i choose that saying as the title of my blog and of my first ever posting...... that i'll tell you now.

The point of my ramblings is this: i think people are just too stressed out nowadays. Many are just stressing their way into an early grave. Just stop trying to rush things along. Everything will fit into place if you just have a little patience. a.k.a don't sweat the small stuff. Heh, Okay...okay... i know I'm getting too corny or cliched here. But bare with me. I'm not always the positive life affirming person that i am (ha ha)..... okay, no, i actually am seldom that. Sometimes reality pretty much sucks. But usually i do try to take things easy.

For example, I've learned not to panic (too much) when i can't find something that's really important or something that i really need to use that day/ even some expensive trinket that i've misplaced or simply can't find eventhough i'm sure it's in the house. This is a trivial problem but it can drive you nuts. Does that ever happen to you. You're looking for something you know is somewhere in the general area of the house but you just can't find the damn thing.
Well, when this happens i just relax (yeah sure, right after that initial frenzied, half crazy search and upturning of drawers) coz' it'll turn up eventually, when you're looking for the next thing that you've misplaced. That thing that you're looking for just never turns up when you're actually looking for it.

So just slow down dear frenzied, busy city folks..... enjoy life. It's a blast, if you actually take the time to slow down a little.