Shalom!

I just noticed that there was 3 Israeli visitors to this blog since August. Now I wonder who they were. Hrmmm... now would they be interested to visit this blog?

Alam Melayu

I was reading a colleague's blog about the boycott of American products that some NGO's are calling a boycott for. As the blog was in Malay, I wrote the below comments:

Senarai barangan wajib di boikot ini tidak seimbang dan hanya menyenaraikan
jenama-jenama terbesar. Kenapa jenama seperti Coca-Cola di boikot dan bukan
Pepsi? Kenapa McDonalds dan bukan Burger King?

Adakah kejayaan
'branding' jenama-jenama ini terlalu 'american' sehingga selintas pandang, terus
disenaraikan untuk diboikot?

Tidakkah kita terfikir mengenai 1700
pekerja di Coca-Cola F&N Malaysia Sdn Bhd? 60% daripada pekerja mereka are
pekerja Islam.

Bagaimana dengan pelabur-pelabur dalam dalam syarikat
ini? KWSP juga melaburkan duit simpanan kita di dalam syarikat ini.

Kebanyakkan daripada jenama ini dibawa ke Malaysia oleh seorang rakan
kongsi rakyat Malaysia.

Akhirnya, rakyat Malaysia yang akan lebih 'sakit' daripada semua boikot ini. Saya tidak menulis ini untuk protes boikot ini, hanya untuk menyeru pembaca untuk fikir semula senarai barangan yang ingin di boikot.

Tun Dr. Mahathir sudah pun berkata, kita harus boikot mata wang Amerika. Dengan tindakan ini, mata wang mereka akan turun nilai.

Bagaimana ini boleh dicapai? Kalau satu dunia boleh berhenti menggunakan
mata wang ini sebagai mata wang perdanganan antarabangsa, ini boleh dicapai.

Yes, I do write in and speak Bahasa Malaysia. I would admit, my spoken Bahasa Malaysia is much better than my writing.

Today, I had the most interesting conversation with another colleague. She asked my comment what is the different between gaya dan style. I said, gaya was the malay translation for style. She said she was planning to do some slides and they had words like kontemporari and tips. I told her she should use terkini and petua instead as those would be a better word as the ones she used although was correct, it was borrowed English words.

Another Malay colleague walked up and he gave the exact same comments. I laughed and said to her, "don't just take it from me because I'm Chinese, even a Malay just told you the same thing!". Right after that, she immediately walked of to refer to our boss if she could change the slides.

Anyway, back to the issue of the boycott. I think Tun had something good going on there about boycotting the US dollar. Currently, crude oil and even palm oil is traded internationally in dollars. If Malaysia actually made it a law that anyone who wanted to buy our palm oil or crude oil has to pay us in european currencies, that will create a ripple effect.

As it is, we buy more American things than the Americans buy our Malaysian product. Just look at our exchange rate. What isn't stopping some redneck American from starting a boycott Malaysian product campaign? Think about it.

Rent someone

I like reading the BBC website, they just have really wierd feature stories. I love their stories from Japan. The Japanese just do the darnest things and they actually have a working economy around all these wierd stuff such as this article below:

Rent-a-friend in Japan
In Japan, now back in recession, the economic
situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent months. But the
Japanese still like to use their money to have fun, as Duncan Bartlett has been
finding out.
Lola - or Rora - to give her a slightly more Japanese
pronounciation - is a beauty and she knows it.
Customers pay by the hour for
her company. Usually they just want to stroke her, but as a special treat for
favoured clients, she will lie back in a chair, close her eyes and pose for
photographs.
Lola is a Persian cat who works at the Ja La La Cafe in Tokyo's
bustling Akihabara district. It is one of a growing number of Cat Cafes in the
city which provide visitors with short but intimate encounters with professional
pets.
When I called, there were 12 felines and seven customers, mostly
single men.
One man, in his early 30s, was attempting to bond with an
Oriental Longhair by means of a rubber mouse.
Yutsuke, who speaks with a
lisp, is normally rather shy with people. He longs for a cat of his own but
frequent business trips make that difficult. Besides, he lives alone, so the Ja
La La is his solution to the problem.
The right pet
It costs about £8
($10) an hour to spend time in a Cat Cafe.
If felines do not appeal, other
establishments will rent you a rabbit, a ferret or even a beetle.
There are
more than 150 companies in Tokyo which are licensed to hire out animals of
various kinds and although beetles may be cheap, dogs much more popular.
First you pay a deposit and a hire fee. Then you are issued with a leash,
some tissues and a plastic bag and given some advice on how to handle your new
friend.
Kaori is a pretty waitress who regularly spends her Sunday
afternoons with a Labrador. They go for a walk in the park if the weather is
fine, or if it is wet they just snuggle up in front of the TV in her apartment.
"When I look into his eyes, I think he's my dog," Kaori told me. "But when I
take him back to the shop, he runs away from me and starts wagging his tail when
he sees the next customer. That's when I know he's only a rental dog."
Every
need considered
Of course, it is not only animals whose loyalties can be
decided by money, as people who work in Japan's vast entertainment business will
testify.
The industry offers an enormous variety of opportunities to
exchange money for company.
Very popular at the moment is the Campus Cafe,
where men go to socialise with female university students. It is cheaper than
the upscale hostess clubs in which businessmen and politicians drink whisky with
women in kimonos, although that is a business which is in crisis because of the
recession.
Only a small proportion of the trade involves sex. Most hostesses
are flatterers not prostitutes and customers come to find comfort in their
words, not in their arms.
One specialist agency is known as Hagemashi Tai,
which translates as I Want To Cheer Up Limited. It rents relatives.
Actors
are despatched to play the part of distant relations at weddings and funerals.
For an extra fee, they will even give a speech.
But the firm's services do
not stop there. It can also provide temporary husbands to single mothers who
want them.
The website says the "dad" will help the children with their
homework. He will sort out problems with the neighbours.
He will take the
kids to a barbeque or to a park. He could also appear at the daunting interview
with a nursery school head teacher which parents are required to endure in order
to persuade the principal to give their child a good start in life.
Cry for
help
There is a service for women who are about to wed too. Apparently, they
can practice for married life with a hired husband, although whether this
involves seduction or sock washing is not exactly clear.
And if things are
not working out with a real husband, a woman considering a divorce may choose to
hire a "mother" in order to discuss her marital anxieties.
Mr M.O. from
Shizuoka near Mount Fuji called upon the services of I Want To Cheer Up Ltd
because he needed a father.
Mr M.O. has been blind since birth and had a
number of concerns that he felt he could not speak to others about.
"I kept
it all inside and couldn't deal with the criticisms that had been directed at me
by my parents and teachers," he testified.
After some discussion, the
company sent an older man to have dinner with him. "Usually I can't open up when
I meet someone for the first time but on that occasion, I felt I was really
talking with a normal father. I'll use the service again," he said.
Loneliness is a problem faced by many people on these crowded islands. But
the Japanese are prone to believe that, in the right circumstances, money can
turn a stranger into a friend... at least for a couple of hours.

Now I wonder if they have a rent an enemy so I can practice hating someone. I need practice confronting people I don't like.

Chillies and evolution

Just the other day I was watching my wife eat. As usual, she always has a lot of cili padi mixed in with her food. Saying that she can eat spicy food is an under statement. She even eats maggi mee with cili padi.

As I was watching her eat all that chillies I was wondering about evolution. Plants have fruits to distribute their seeds. Animals eat it then shit it out. Normally, fruits will be sweet or something an animal would want to eat. Chillies however are different, they're spicy and repel animals. The only animal that eats them are birds.

So I started to search around the internet for answer and I found it on the BBC website in this article below:

Chillies: The Burning Question Scientists in the United States have
discovered the reason why chillies are so hot. They say that the chilli plant
repels animals, which will not spread the seeds, whilst birds, which ensure
effective dispersal, are not put off.

But if birds eat chillies and mammals don’t - why do we like them? Science
In Action investigates.

Plant Manipulation

Many plants have ripe, fleshy, coloured fruit in order to attract animals that will eat them and then disperse their seeds in droppings. However, the chilli plant has developed another way of ensuring its
seeds are spread far and wide.

What raises the roof of your mouth when you eat a chilli is a substance
called capsaicin. This stimulates the areas of the skin and tongue that normally
sense intense heat and pain, falsely telling the brain that the area affected is
burning. New research carried out by scientists in Arizona, has discovered that
this characteristic peppery taste repels certain animals – which are no good at
dispersing the seeds.

Digestion And Dispersal

To find out what happens in the wild the scientists observed the eating
habits of the local animals living around a group of wild-growing chillies in
Arizona. They found that desert mice and rats avoided spicy chillies, but birds
fed almost exclusively on the plants.

The researchers also noted that when birds ate the chillies, many seeds
germinated, but there was no germination after mice had eaten the chilli seeds.
This is thought to be because seeds pass through a birds’ digestive systems very
quickly and come out unharmed, whereas in mice, rats and other mammals, the
seeds don’t make it out in one piece as they are broken down by the acidic
juices during digestion.

The researchers suggest that chilli plants have evolved to produce
capsaicin as a repellent for animals, which will ensure their future survival,
whilst still allowing birds to eat their seeds.Human TasteSkilful play by the
chilli, but if birds eat chillies and mammals don’t - why do humans like the hot
stuff? According to Paul Sherman from Cornell University in New York, people may have initially eaten spices because they tasted good, but they also recognised
their health giving properties. He explains:

‘There is tremendous evidence that spices are anti-microbial. Of 30
commonly used spices, at least half of them kill or inhibit 75% of the bacteria
they have been tested on.’

‘Certain ones, garlic, onion, allspice and oregano kill or inhibit
everything that they have been tested on in the laboratory.’Sherman reached his
conclusion after he had studied a range of recipes from different parts of the
world. In particular he wanted to see whether different amount of chillies and
other spices are used in meat as opposed to vegetable dishes. The idea being
that if humans use spices to inhibit or kill food born pathogens, more would be
needed to perform the same job in a meat product than a vegetable product.
Sherman details his findings:

‘We went back to all our cook books and looked at the 2,900 vegetable
recipes and found that in 36 out of 36 countries worldwide, spices are used less
frequently in vegetable recipes. This was across the board in every single
country.’

Luckily for those of us with delicate palates, the decision to add a pinch
or spoonful of chilli powder to our dishes is also determined by another product
of evolution - free will.

So there you have it, Chillies is good for their anti-bacterial properties. I however have a different theory. I think people who like to eat chillies like pain... either that, or they have the same tastebuds as birds. Anyway, if I ever do eat chillies now I always end up shitting it out as soon as possible. It goes into the toilet bowl and straight into the sewers. No chance of the seeds surviving there.

I can just imagine the first humans who tried eating chilli sitting around a camp fire in the evening cooking their dinner having this conversation:

caveman 1: this sabertooth tiger you're roasting over the fire taste kind of dull.
caveman 2: (reaches over and plucks a few chillies from a nearby tree) here, try rubbing some of this berries and rub it into the meat.
caveman 1: what kind of red berries are these? Smells funny (rubs in the 'berries' into the meat).
caveman 2: Give it a bite and try it.
caveman 1: No way, why I always have to try the new food? It was my turn the last time we had to eat those strange mushrooms. I had strange dreams for a week!
caveman 2: Okay, okay... past it over (takes a bite) oh shit!
caveman 1: what, it taste like shit? reminds me of the time you made me try that lump we found
caveman 2: No! My mouth's burning... this berry it's... it's hot!
caveman 1: That good eh? (takes a bite and chokes)
caveman 2: (shakes unconscious caveman 1) Dude? Dude, you okay? I meant hot as in my mouth's burning, not hot as in great

Well, I didn't say the first attempt when well. I assume a few of our early ancestors probably died trying dangerous food like poisonous toads and eating skunk ass.

Boycott?

I saw this in The Star Online today:

Malaysian Muslim eateries plan boycott of American goods
KUALA LUMPUR:
More than 2,000 Muslim restaurants in Malaysia will remove Coca-Cola from their
menus as part of a boycott of American products in protest against Israel's
bombardment of Gaza, officials said Wednesday.
American companies are being
targeted because of the US Government's support of Israel, which is carrying out
a military offensive on Gaza that is says is aimed at stopping rocket attacks
from the Hamas-controlled territory.
The nationwide boycott will be launched
Friday by several Muslim groups after they seek God's blessings at Friday
prayers, said Ma'mor Osman, secretary-general of the Malaysian Muslim Consumers
Association which is leading the campaign.
In addition to Coca-Cola, he said
they have identified some 100 other products ranging from food to beauty and
clothing such as Starbucks, Colgate, McDonald's and Maybelline.
Since the
Israeli offensive began, nearly 600 Palestinians, about half of them civilians,
have been killed and at least 2,500 people injured, according to UN and
Palestinian officials. Eleven Israelis have also been killed.
Muslims in
Malaysia and worldwide have held demonstrations against the Israeli action but
Ma'mor said such protests are futile.
"A boycott is the best way for us to
protest Zionist cruelty against the Palestinian people as consumers can weaken
the economy of countries like Israel and its ally, the United States," he
said.
"We urge everybody who loves peace and is against war to support our
campaign. We must send a clear signal to Israel to stop the assaults in Gaza,"
he said.
Some 2,600 restaurants under the Association of Muslim Restaurant
Operators will stop selling Coca-Cola from Friday, he added.
The move came
after former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, a strident critic of Israel, last
week urged consumers and governments to boycott American products and the US
dollar.
Israel sent troops and tanks into Hamas-controlled Gaza on Saturday
after a weeklong aerial bombardment, sparking outrage among Muslims
worldwide.
Malaysia's government, which has no diplomatic ties with Israel,
has denounced Israel's ground offensive as "an act of total war" which cannot be
tolerated.
The United States has also been criticized for blocking approval
of a UN Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire between
Israel and Hamas. -- AP

Now, this is not the first time a Malay organization has called for a boycott such as this. I still remember them calling for a boycott of Coca-Cola. After all that, I remember talking to a branding expert and he said that was a demonstration of the power of one's brand. Coca-Cola has always been identified as an all American brand, one of the essence of USA. Now, how come no one ever boycotts Pepsi or even Burger King instead of McDonalds only?

Today, I walked into my office and on the wall, someone has pasted a list of brands they should boycott. Among the list was Intel and I scanned the list, there was no AMD on it. A group of my colleagues were also crowded around saying how we should all boycott American products. I then said very loudly to all of them maybe you should all throw away your HP and Compaq notebooks, me I bought a Taiwanese brand.

The truth is, most of the brands (especially the fast moving consumer goods) are intertwined with our economy. Take for example Coca-Cola. In Malaysia it's produced by F&N Coca-Cola Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Most of their employees here are Malaysians. As for their minority shareholders, the last time I checked it was our own Employees Provident Fund (EPF). If their sales take a huge dive, there will be major layoffs and in this bad economic times we don't need anymore layoffs. EPF will also post lower returns and in the end, this boycott will probably hurt us more than it will hurt Coca-Cola.

I remember when there was a call to boycott Dutch products and Dutch Lady held a press conference begging consumers not to boycott their products saying exactly almost the same thing. The majority shareholders are Malaysians and so are their employees.

My take on this is, if I really want to boycott American products there are a few criterias the product has to meet first:

1. Is the product solely manufactured in USA? My Iphone is made in China. I love China, and I don't want those poor Chinese factory workers to loose their jobs. If it's products that are solely manufactured in USA then okay, I won't buy their products anymore. As for Intel and AMD, their processors are made in Penang and China now. I'll still buy it (Intel, not AMD because Intel Core 2 Duo rocks!)

2. Is the company opposed to the war. For all I know, Bill Gates is opposing the war and is actively campaigning to end the bombings. Anyway, a lot of people use pirated Microsoft products so it doesn't matter.

3. Does the company have direct relations with Israel? I remember a news report saying that our police has contracted Israeli nationals to provide their computer systems. Boycott the police then? I know ICQ used to be an Israeli company. Now that they're with AOL I'm not sure if they still have ties with them.

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad had the best idea, boycott the US Dollar. It's a simple idea, stop using the US dollar as an international currency. We buy and sell crude oil; palm oil all in dollar. I wonder if its possible for Petronas to say from now on, you want to buy our oil, we would quote you in Ringgit. Don't follow the international market price in dollars anymore.

China has one of the largest foreign reserves in the world and most of the foreign currency held is the Dollar. Now what would happen if China just started selling their Dollar? Think about it. The value of the dollar will drop, Americans will have a hard time buying things. Their defence contractor would jack up their price and the American congress would seriously have to consider if they want to raise their defence budget or save their economy.

While we're on their topic, I also think the media is biased. How come no one protested when Hamas was launching home made rockets into Israel? Was that okay to randomly shoot rockets at them? If Hamas didn't provoke the Israeli's I don't think they would want to risk their lives going into Gaza too.

There won't be any easy resolution to this conflict. This conflict will go on and on if both sides decides that the only resolution is to destroy each other. Palestinian children who are being bombed today will grow up holding a grudge against Israeli's. Israeli children who grow up in fear of having to join their army and marching into Gaza would hate the Palestinians and think its best to kill all the Palestinians before they cause future problems.

If only we could take away all their childen from them and form an utopia. Palestinian and Israeli children would be brought up as brothers and sister not known the resentment for each other that their parents have. This new generation once they reach adulthood, can then be brought back to their homeland. From then on the new generation won't have anymore hate in them. Of course, all these is just wishful thinking.

Today, I asked my colleague why these Palestinians want to die for a job who has forgotten about them? He told me a story about the guy who was stuck on his roof during a flood.

There was a man sitting on his roof as there was a huge flood. The water was rising slowly. A small motorboat came by to rescue him and he told the boatman "thats okay, God will save me!". Awhile later, another boat came to rescue him and he said the same thing "Don't worry about me, God will save me!". A third boat came and he still chased away the boat. Finally the water when all the way up and the man drowned. When he reached heaven, he was quite pissed and he asked God why didn't God rescue him. God replied "I tried! I send 3 boats to rescue you but you kept chasing them away!".

I smiled as I have heard this one before. So I told my colleague, maybe God is trying to tell the Palestinian something. Maybe they shouldn't stay there anymore or they shouldn't launch rockets at Israel. They should probably move out of the place and scatter. If they don't want to do that, then they should find a non-violent way to live harmoniously with the Israelis. Stop smuggling weapons in Gaza through Egypt and making home made rockets. The Israelis should also encourage economic ties with the Palestinians. People with jobs won't have time to make home made rockets. Those who have something to loose won't want to treaten their jobs.

The Israelis should also realize you have to use a carrot and stick approach. If you march into Gaza and kick the shit out of the Palestinians, that won't stop the next wave of rocket attacks. If you drop bombs on children and kill civilians, that will just make them more angry. This isn't the first time they marched into Gaza to flatten them. Look at what good that did. They just made more Palestians pissed at them.

Stop dropping bombs on them!
Give them hope, not bombs.
Give them jobs, not death!

The Age of Aquarius

I've been reading about the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Reading about wars some how or another always makes me think of this song, Aquarius/Let The Sunshine in by The Fifth Dimension. I know it's wierd. I think it's because the first time I heard the song was in the movie Forrest Gump. It was partly a war movie and also a movie about changes going on in the 70's.




When ever I think of strive, I think of the Age of Aquarius. According to Wikipedia, "The Age of Aquarius is one of the twelve astrological ages. Each astrological age is approximately 2,150 years long, on average, but there are various methods that can make ages much longer and shorter depending upon the technique used."


So one of those ages last a very long time! So what's so special about the Age of Aquarius?

"Ages are believed by some astrologers to affect mankind while other astrologers believe the ages correlate to the rise and fall of mighty civilizations and cultural tendencies. Aquarius traditionally "rules" electricity, computers, flight, democracy, freedom, humanitarianism, idealists, modernization, rebels and rebellions, mental diseases, nervous disorders, and astrology. Other keywords and ideas believed associated with Aquarius are nonconformity, philanthropy, veracity, perseverence, mankind and irresolution. The appearance or elevation in status of many of these Aquarian developments over the last few centuries is considered by many astrologers to indicate the proximity of the Aquarian age. There is no uniform agreement about the relationship of these recent Aquarian developments and the Age of Aquarius."

Most astrologers couldn't agree if we are actually in the Age of Aquarius but some say we've already in it. So look around us and you decide if we're already in it.

As for the song itself, it's a medley of two songs from the musical Hair put together. It was released in 1969 and was one of Fifth Dimension's biggest hits.

I just love music from the 70's. Music then was just full of touchy-feely emotions. Anyway, here's another video of Fifth Dimension performing all their hits.

Fake Thundercats trailer

Oh man, when I saw this I laughed so hard. It's basically a fake trailer for Thundercats. it's a mashup of various movies put together with some CGI added to it. It stars Brad Pitt as Lionel and it has Garfield in it too. Hillarious!

People still use Friendster?

I was surfing the news and I came across this article:

Newscaster and actress among 26 busted at sex partyBy RASHITHA A. HAMID and M. KUMAR
KUALA LUMPUR: A noted female newscaster and an actress were among 26 people caught in a sex party at a hotel in Jalan P. Ramlee here early yesterday morning.
The women also tested positive for drugs, sources said.
As of 10pm yesterday, they were still being detained at the police headquarters along with the others. Their ages range from 18 to 31.
Apparently, the 22-year-old newscaster is engaged and is due to be married next week. She has been reading news for a private television station for about a year.
The 25-year-old actress has apparently played a role in a movie made by a famous director.
Sources said the duo had earlier partied away at a 2009 countdown celebration in Mont Kiara.
Later, along with some other acquaintances, they proceeded to the four-star hotel to attend the sexual escapade.
Sources said a team of police from the city headquarters busted the private sex party some 30 minutes after it began at about 3am.
“When police arrived, many of the party goers were already high on drugs.
“There were also three couples lying on beds, but they were clothed,” added the sources.
Police found various types of drugs including ketamine, cocaine and syabu in the 11th floor room.
Beer and other liquor bottles were also lying everywhere.
Police believe the drug supplier was a 20-year-old male student from a private college.
Sources said police believe the party-goers knew one another via Friendster.
It was also through the online social network that the alleged sex party was organised.
City CID chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Ku Chin Wah confirmed the arrests.

I think what was most surprising about the article was that they got together through Friendster. I still maintain my Friendster account but I hardly used it. The only few times I log in to delete spam messages. Everyone uses facebook these days. I didn't know Friendster was still active in Malaysia.

Anyway, the news just broke out today so in a few days time people will probably know who the 'newscaster' and 'actress' are. I hope they have a good excuse. Personally, I think if you want to do party go ahead, just don't get caught. Ultimate embarassment.

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and its almost all quiet. I can still hear traffic on the NKVE from my apartment buzzing by. Maybe some people going home after some late night Christmas Eve party.

I just got back from a Christmas Party too. There was turkey and some normal fare like Hokkien Mee. I ate more of the Hokkien Mee and fried rice instead of the Turkey and leg of lamb. I never really liked turkey. I think the first time I had turkey for Christmas was when Paul and Sue West invited me over to their house with a few other international students for a Christmas dinner. It was so kind of them to do that. We all sat around their dinning table and we had a wonderful dinner with turkey. I have to say I never got used to the smell of the meat.

Thinking back, I never really liked Christmas, I always found it too pretentious and commercialized. I'm not a Christian so I don't see it as a religious holiday for me. I had a really bad Christmas experience once and from then on I hated Christmas for a long time every time I think back about it. It was my first time in the US as a student (I arrived in winter). It was Christmas break and it was really cold and the campus was empty. I didn't have any food so I took a long cold walk to the supermarket nearby to buy some TV dinner. When I got to the store after trudging along in the bone cold winter, I found a sign on the door that said they were closed for Christmas.

I stood there staring at the sign and it hit me how lonely I was at that point. No food; it was cold; and I had no one around. I guess that kind of screwed up my perception of Christmas.

The next few winters after that, I avoided Christmas. The only good memory I had was that one Christmas dinner I had with Paul and Sue. I remember their kindness in sharing.

So today, I don't hate Christmas that much anymore. I still think its over commercialized, too many retailers putting too much pressure on the shoppers to buy things. Sometimes we end up with things we don't need.

Merry Christmas everyone

My adverture with technology

So what have I been up too lately? Well, I've been spending time with technology.

Lately, I got me a new notebook. I never owned one before but I sure have meddled with quite a few. When I started out in the IT world, I started of with a desktop. I liked the Desktop because notebooks were small and dinky. However as time when on, I saw the benefits of owning one (like being able to facebook in private on a larger screen than my Iphone in the office).

I've been installing and uninstalling software on it. Just when I thought I got everything right, I formatted the whole damn thing because of a glitch. Good thing it was so easy to start up again now that I've backed up all the stuff onto my external Hard Drive.

Actually right now I'm on the notebook writing this on my sofa at home. I could have done this from my Iphone but using a keyboard sure is faster.

So what notebook did I get? I got the Benq S41. Okay, most people are quite surprised when I mentioned that I got a Benq. Those who know me know that I love technology, most would have assumed I would have gotten a HP or a Dell. Actually that was my first choice but after some indept research, I found that the Benq S41 was a better deal. First of all, my priorities are for gaming and video editing. So the most important thing is a good video card and decent processor. The rest can all be upgraded.

The S41 came with a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0MHz processor. That's pretty decent mid-range processor. The best part of course is the NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M video card. Normally, for a mid-range video card the most powerful I could find was a 8400M. Not much of a difference but when it comes to rendering video, it does save me a lot of time. I upgraded the hard disk to 300G and boosted the RAM to 4G. So my mid-range notebook can probably out run most beginner top range machines out there.

I got a Windows Vista score of 4.8. Doesn't say much but it is an indication of its processing power. Heck, this machine got a higher score than my desktop. My desktop is handicapped at a 3G RAM, too lazy upgrade the ram to 4G right now.

The other IT stuff I've been playing with was my Iphone. I took a big risk to upgrade the firmware to V2.2.0. It's quite nerve wracking upgrading the firmware by yourself and jailbreaking it.

It was all going fine and I was using the phone for a month until I dropped it a few days ago. I was going to put it on the sofa but it slipped and fell onto the floor. When I picked it up, a small corner of the LCD had streaking colors. It was a sign there was a leak in the LCD panel, over time two thin lines grew all the way across the screen. It was a like a cancer growing and growing. That just so pissed me of. The damn thing is still under warranty actually but I got to get it back to London so its just not worth the hassle.

I did the next best thing. I asked my wife if I could use the same identical Iphone I got for her. Hers was just sitting in the drawer as she never used it. So upgraded the firmware and jailbreaked it and the best part is... I could back it up and now the phone is almost identical to my old phone. Damn I love this backup feature on Iphone.

The new firmware is missing a few key features compared to the old firmware. In V1.1.4, there were softwares I could download like WeTool which let me send contacts and forward SMS. I don't have that in the new firmware. Kind of sucks.

Actually, right now I'm just glad I have spare Iphone lying around for me to use. Otherwise, I'm stuck with a phone that has a hole growing larger and larger over time.

two year project

hola amigos. Sorry its been awhile but as usual, life got in the way. Lately, I've been bug down by a lot of things. I've been preoccupied with setting up my apartment like a proper home and also with work.

So what's been keeping me busy at work? It's the same documentary we've been working on since last year. Its taking forever to complete but we're almost there. I won't say yet what it's about but I'll give you all a hint with the picture below:

I've been spending quite a lot of time in rooms like these doing interviews and doing shoots. Actually, that's only like 30% of the work. Most of it is in the editing suite doing editing which is so tedious. I feel like procrastinating everytime I sit in the suite staring at the monitors.

I'm waiting to go to the airport to pick up my wife. The past few days I've been back to being single again. At first I thought it would be fun going back to being a bachelor but after the first day, I'm looking forward to having my wife back.

Today is a gift

I was watching Kungfu Panda when the turtle master said something profound. "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That is why it is called present". I looked it up on the internet and the best I could find was this:

TODAY IS A GIFT
by Laszlo Kotro-Kosztandi

Many people will walk in and out of your life,
But only true friends will leave footprints in your heart
To handle yourself, use your head;
To handle others, use your heart.
Anger is only one letter short of danger.
If someone betrays you twice, it is your fault
Great minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.
He who loses money, loses much;
He who loses a friend, loses much more;
He who loses faith, loses all.
Beautiful old people are works of art.
Learn from the mistakes of others
You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.
Friends, you and me ... You brought another friend ... and we started our
group ... our circle of friends ... and like a circle ... there is no
beginning or end ... Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift.



Ah, wise master turtle. Reminds me of David Carradine's blind master Po in the TV series Kung-Fu

Apartment

Hello my old friend. I felt guilty not writing for so long so I decided to write again today.

One of the other things that has been keeping me busy is my apartment committee I volunteered to join. They have meetings once a month but the meetings are in the evenings and usually end almost at midnight. In fact, I just came back from one earlier. Bloody long meetings. So many things to discuss sometimes I wonder why on earth did I volunteer for this and then I remembered... its my moral compass. It always points north and says volunteerism is good. Damn, I wish it pointed to Kiasu south more often sometimes. No time for myself!

I'm a little psyched up about moving into my new place. I've been shopping around for things to fill up my little nest with the wife. Want to put many things in but have to be trifty with the money.

I have over 300 photos to go through for the wedding that I have to compile into a photo album. This isn't including the video footage I have to edit also. Daunting task editing your own wedding photos and videos!

I already have things to do at work, come home also have to think about editing my own personal photos. Thats the point where I start to procrastinate and think maybe I should start blogging again instead. I blame you my old friend. You the reason I can't edit any of my photos and videos. Yes, you're the excuse I'm going to use the next time my relatives ask where are the photos. I'll say I was busy.

Life happened

Hello my old friend. Its been awhile since I written anything. No excuse there. Life gets in the way. I got married you see... its one of those things that happen in life you know.

Anyway, besides the wedding, the apartment blah blah blah... I've been thinking somethings been missing. That something was inspiration. All I do now is play World In Conflict and read other people's blog. I needed something a little more different. I was thinking about it one night over Hari Raya when they showed the Emmy Awards on TV. One of the show that got the most nomination was Mad Men. It's a show set in the early 60's about one of the senior advertising executive at a fictional advertising firm in Manhattan.



When I heard the concept while watching the Emmy's it immediately pique my interest. I when out to buy the DVD for season 1. I've seen 4 episodes so far and I absolutely love it. They have one heck of a damn good script and concept. It's like a window to the 1960's. Everyone smokes like crazy. I love seeing what the social mores were like then. I remember one scene where two housewives were gossiping over the kitchen counter and it was a tight shot of both of them smoking and talking. In the next shot, a kid runs in with a dry cleaning clear bag over her. Both ladies turn to look at her with disapproval. The mother was more worried about her dry cleaning then the safety of the child. The most shocking thing was that one of the housewife was pregnant and she was smoking away. Today, I think it would have been very different. I would be worried if a kid had a plastic bag over her head and no pregnant mother would smoke if they could help it.

Its the unsaid things in the show that I love. The story just flows, there are no climax or resolution to the stories presented. There's underlying frustration for what seems to be golden age of America. I love seeing how their frustration with daily life is what this generation is going through too. There's infidelity, fears of being a social outcasts, etc.

Watching this show makes me thing... ah, I don't feel so bad now. I know, its wierd but thats how I feel. Sort of the inspiration I needed after all the stress over the past few weeks.

Life goes on!

all quiet after the storm

Its all quiet in the middle of the night, just the way I like it. I look around my room and its in a bigger mess than usual. Somehow or another, its growing out of control. Strangely, I feel very at home here in my mess, I miss it.

After all the hectic travelling to Kota Bharu, Bangkok and Ipoh... finally getting to sit in front of my PC in my own room is peaceful.

Its back to work in a few hours but strangely I welcome it, I think it would be a break from this long holiday I was on. Looking forward to normality.

Shah Alam wedding finished

just finished the shah alam wedding. Food was surprisingly good though I didn't eat much. Spend most of the time entertaining guest.

My feet is killing me. I need a foot massage, suddenly paying almost RM1500 for a foot massager doesn't sound too bad.

Next stop Bangkok and Ipoh then life can return to the same old routine. I luuurve routines and predictabilities. No stress.

Don't I'll ever find the time to edit all the photos everyone has taken. I didn't a single on my camera tonight. Only managed to take one on my phone with my wife.

Time for bed

Kota Bharu wedding finished

Finally finished the wedding in Kota Bharu. Some highlights:

-I didn't get drunk
-danced a little
-made a speech, hope it didn't sound silly. Got applauded.
-spoke hokkien
-got stuck in a massive Merdeka midnight countdown traffic jam in town
-Gained 4KG's
-Re-edited my whole wedding slide again, wedding album software I used was buggy. Premiere Pro still the best!
-My nephew trew up into a wine glass at the wedding, gross

Probably post some pictures later when I get back to PJ. Right now I'm using a borrowed laptop. I hope the photographer gets it right. I'm sitting in my room the morning after the wedding. Lots of stress and driving.

Two more wedding dinners to go!

Feeling older

Apparently, August is the wedding season. A lot of my Malay colleagues are getting married. I think they're all trying to get hitched before the fasting month starts in September. I was talking with the makeup artist who did our makeup for the photo shoot, she said quite a lot of people asked if she could do their makeup.

Getting married makes me feel slightly older, am I supposed to be more mature? I don't feel anymore different. Maybe it was so gradual I don't feel it. I wonder if I'm still the same person... compared to say, 10 years ago. I guess the only way to find out is to find someone who hasn't seen me for 10 years.

Now, two of the host I worked with, Naz and Daphne are already married. Daphne with a baby girl and Naz just got married last month. Now all 3 of us are married (me, I just registered my marriage, legally I'm married!). I haven't gone through the banquet and traditional ceremonies yet.





Looking back, Ringgit Sense was the first program I ever produced. The company had a VSS and all the team members including the producer took up the offer and left. The program was half way through mid-season. I had to finish of the program single-handedly. The next big challenge was to revamp it and find two new host.

Daphne was already a reporter and manager say use her as the female host. We were still short of a male host, my CEO suggested using Naz who was still hosting the Disney kids show. I was sceptical at first. I had an untested female host, a kids show host who had to do a semi financial program. It was a huge hurdle to over come. It was either sink or swim.

Till this day, my production style has largely been influenced a lot by what I learned from that first season. I had to shoot a lot of things on my own. I learned how to do 3 person's job by myself. It was crazy but I found that I'm a control freak. It was just so much easier than telling someone to do it when you can do it yourself.

Now, both Naz and Daphne are successful hosts. My production assistant is now producing his own documentary. One of my reporters is now a corporate communications manager. In this line of work, not many people stay on in it. Those who stay on after 5 years really like it or are complacent.

Me? I'm doing okay. I've done almost every genre there is to do in my department, "Magazine, Family and Documentary". I did a magazine program, a reality show, a daily live talk show and now, shooting a documentary.

I think what my TV Productions Major and Film Studies Minor really helped in the early parts of my career. I still remember the first time my Television Productions Professor showed me a computer that was used for editing. He said, this machine would change everything, those who learn it would go far in their career. Most of the students in my class didn't think much of it.

Back then everyone was still editing deck to deck. I didn't think much of it either, I meant... editing on a computer? That was just way too advanced. One of the test we had was actually to type a title on the computer. I still remember instinctively cutting and pasting things and my professor was amazed I could cut and paste a title. He didn't even knew it could be done... frankly, neither did I.

Now here I am, teaching people to use the AVID machines we have. I find it amusing when people ask me, when did I learn to use Non-Linear Editing machines like AVID. I think back to 1998 and the first time I saw what must have been one of the earliest version of it in my university. Now that I think about it, I think that machine could only create titles instead of editing. It was a character generator. Man, that was a really old machine.

We have a whole bunch of interns who come in every year. This batch of new interns are starting to make me feel old. They look so young. Maybe just because I keep getting older every year and they just stay the same age every year.

Wierd phone call

I got a wierd phone call a few hours ago in the middle of the night. I decided to sleep early tonight. I was already dozing of while watching the midnight news on TV3. I turned of the TV before the news finished and when to bed. Just as I was falling asleep, my phone rang. In my blurry haze I picked it up without even checking who it was.

I turned out to be someone I haven't spoken too in a year. The guy's a VIP now compared to the last time I spoke to him. He called to check... wait now that I think about it, I think he was calling to complain about a news report which involved him. I didn't really know the full story, I had read parts of it in the newspaper so I just agreed to what he had to say. As far as my dealings with him, he was a nice man and I didn't doubt his credibility.

He wanted to clear his name and he wanted to talk to who was in charge of the newsroom. I haven't talked to anyone in the news department in a long time. I told him I'll check tomorrow... I have to find out who's in charge from someone else first of all.

That is if I remember this all tomorrow morning. yawn... time for bed.

I hate it when I get strange phone calls in the middle of the night.

Married!

We're legally married now! I still can't believe it.

Woke up late today, drove to her house with my brother, mother and kids in tow. We took two cars to the Putrajaya National Registration Department. It was quite a fast process. There was a lot of couples there but we only waited 30 minutes I think. The lady who swore us in must have spoken the line so often it was automated. It was kind of like marriage fast food.

My colleague who was my photographer didn't make it in time so I called him to tell he didn't have to come since it was already over. My brother ended up taking photos for us. Her sister was her witness, my brother was my witness.

We quickly hurried ourself out of the room as other couples were also waiting to get hitched. The Putrajaya marriage registration department is really nice compared to some of the ones I have seen around the Klang Valley. The decorated the place with spots for you to even take photos.

No photos to show here but you can surf the net to see what it looks like.

Married!