Visit to Kuching

I was in Kuching for the first time the last 3 days attending a convention on Applied and Creative Arts organised by UNIMAS. Overall, it was quite an enjoyable trip, meeting new people from the academic side of design and basking in the history and culture of the city.



Overall, UNIMAS has an interesting array of programs with a diverse academic body. We were even treated to a fashion show by the Department of Textile and Fashion. Although I stereotypically enjoyed the papers by the foreign academics a little more, it was a good convention all in all and hope to be able to attend more in the future. Learned quite a bit and hope to put it to use in the college.



Kuching is quite laidback city and although highly colourful at night, leaves much to be desired in terms of activity. Being quite spread out, although in a manageable area, the city seems to be in a perpetual lull. No one here seems rushed, even the service staff of the hotels and restaurants, and it can be quite disconcerting at times!



The river is in many ways the heart of the city. This is where the tourists and locals gather and it's a wonderful place to walk and relax. The river is beautiful both during the night and day and it's a wonderful sight.



Just by the riverside is a row of shops, mostly selling tourist'y stuff. My colleagues and I spent a good half day here shopping for souvenirs. As usual, I got the decorated and ceremonial Pua Kumbu cloth, bead necklaces for mom and sis, and ethnically decorated batik print shirts.



Food in Sarawak isn't as good as Melaka or Penang. Shown here is the Kolo Mee which tastes to me very much like Indomie. It's very savoury and a tad oily but not too bad. I can't say the same though for the dish below.



This is the Belacan Beehoon that a local colleague was raving over. It's a strange concoction of rice noodles, squid and vegetables in watery liquid topped with belacan and this gelatinous sweet brown glob. My colleague aptly describes it as eating noodles with seawater.



I've also heard lots of SugarBun's dominance in Kuching. I think it's a weird franchise concept and it has obviously not done well in the Peninsular. It's quite thriving here but I have to say, the food, at relatively high prices is just not worth it.



Kuching is a beautiful city, with obvious signs of metropolitan modernity yet holding strong to its deep seated culture and heritage. It's as slow moving as the river in many ways but there's an appeal to the city that's difficult to describe. The whole 3 days there felt home'y... I can never say the same when I visit other places like Penang.



It would be nice to come again and this time, I'll be prepared with loads of empty luggage. Souvenir shopping in Kuching can be very theraupeutic and delightful!

Additions to the family!

After 4 weeks of being deep in their burrows, Mocha's and Caramel's babies finally came out and romped about the backyard. Almost identical in appearance to their parents, these baby Angora rabbits are cute beyond cuteness!

They're still nursing from Mocha so once weaning is complete, the gang will begin their house-training sessions and hopefully, be able to acclimatise to living indoors until they're big enough to go out to the backyard.

Here's introducing the gang:



This is gentle and lovable Biscotti, the adorable, tame baby of the litter.



On the left is Biscotto, and on the right is the big burly Fudge!

These are probably the only baby bunnies I've ever had that was born in a burrow and raised as natural as it could get for rabbits!

Day 3: Surprise!

Day 3 is a little calmer and way lots more fun for Teacher Dan. Only 5 kids turned up but I'm not complaining. Gave me the opportunity to relax a little and joined in the games and the surprise Birthday Party!

A parent called and gave me 30 minute notice to prepare the 'party'. Luckily I have lots of snacks about the house and managed to muster a decent spread for 20. With only 5, and a whole cake, needless to say we had a lot of fun stuffing ourselves silly. :)

After food and birthday song singing, we started a really fun game of Pokemon Master Trainer: The Board Game. Days like this creates such a feel good buzz!

Day 2: Pokemania!

It's Day 2 of 12 of the CreativeKids Games Month and attendance is still high and will likely get higher! I've just about maximised all the chairs I have in the house so looks like some will just have to contend with the floor.

Pokemon Challenge saw a little more guys than gals turning up but that's quite expected. Not as noisy as Day 1 considering the card game required a little more thinking and less shouting! Very fun nevertheless and my once unbeatable deck has been beaten by one guy's tournament quality deck. Apparently, his deck managed a top 10 placing in the country's Pokemon league.

Games Month has been great though in the sense that I've managed to increase recruitment by an estimated 5 kids! 2006 has yet to kick off but classes, including the new ones are already almost full! From 2 kids in May 2004, it's now over 30 in November 2005!

It's BACK!

The Popular Clearance Sale is back in The Summit USJ! Huge bargains, great buys! It's on from now till 11 December. I've already added 55 books to my collection and I now need a new book shelf.

Day 1 of Game Month at CreativeKids

It's the end of year and breaking tradition, CreativeKids is not taking a break but celebrating with a month of games, games and more games! And Day One was over yesterday with Rollercoaster Tycoon the Board Game and Pictionary.

With 18 kids over, all under the ages of 12, it's Kids:1, Daniel:0. I half expected the police to come for disturbing the peace. I seriously owe my neighbours something for their patience. Thank goodness both sides have kids, so they must understand or at least relate to how wild kids can get.

As I'm typing this, I'm reeling slightly from the sonic shockwaves that has left me half deaf, as well as trying to figure out where am I going to muster the energy for Days 2 through 12. If anyone wants to come and help, I will forever be in your gratitude.



It was fun though but gawd... any adult who thinks that they're in control are just misleading themselves.

Digitalia: the dawn of adventure

I am currently preparing a themed learning approach to Creative Writing for 2006 and would like feedback from you guys. Basically, students find themselves in the new world of Digitalia. They will each begin by colonising one plot of land from the world map.

As the year progresses, students will follow lessons that are linked to the world covering topics such as state building, governance, diplomacy, war, ecology, society, culture, symbols of state, festivals, race and more. Through completed lessons, games, and homework, students will earn gold coins that they can use to:

1. Exchange for prizes
2. Build cities
3. Build defenses
4. Build offenses

These are important depending on the student's approach to the game. They can focus on:

1. Development: Build their cities to the rank of a megalopolis of which they will be able to earn a weekly stipend of a goal coin.

2. Defense: Protect their colonies from invasion. Every five colony plots will earn a weekly stipend of a goal coin.

3. Offense: Build their armies to include mythical beasts and to arm themselves with a relic charged with a superpower depending on the land type (plains, mountains, seas). Every colony plot taken over will earn one goal coin but defeat will mean sacrificing the attacking unit.

Basically, students uninterested to pursue this concept will exchange gold coins for prizes. But more adventurous students can expedite their gold coin earnings through strategising. There will be a mechanism for attacking, defending, and building, all designed as incentives for learning participation and involvement.

If this works out well, teaching will suddenly be so much more easier although the initial set up is a little daunting. Will see what the year foretells :) but in the meantime, tell me what you think.

New Management

College group is undergoing some massive restructuring and rebranding, and with the move to the new campus next month, it's been crazy. I have my bosses changed and although the new ones are more approachable, they are also, for a lack of a better word... chinese. With all the extra work and meetings, I've almost had to run home in time for CreativeKids, which incidentally is doing very well. For the first time, most of my classes are almost full! Adding a new one next year :)

Anyways, these new bosses seem to enjoy meetings immensely. I don't know about anyone else but I think that overdrawn meetings are counter productive, especially when they are in the guise of discussion when in actual fact, it's just a venue for the boss to tell you what to do, albeit highly tactfully. If that's not bad enough, my current boss has a tendency to repeat anything he say at least 5 times. He probably thinks that designers can't figure out managerial stuff. This week alone, I've attended 10 meetings, with today alone having FOUR! And with each meeting averaging 2-3 hours, it has been excruciatingly excruciating.

On the plus side, I have come to realise that I enjoy pencil pushing. I am such a bureaucrat...

Happiness is being able to watch TV guilt-free...

After slogging through 16 months of sheer agony, having sacrificed many forms of entertainment and relaxation, it's finally over! I've completed my Masters! Although I've missed my target of a perfect score by 5.4%, I am still very much overjoyed and relieved. Was it worth it? Definitely... will I do it again? Err...

I'm now looking forward to December when CreativeKids will be having a month-long board game fest! And next year will be rocking with 2 new classes bringing the total to 5 in all. It's going to be hectic but fun!

I am such a workaholic...

Now all together... say 'KONICA'!

I've been mulling over getting a digital camera for years, literally. Being a techno-enthusiast, I've always been fascinated by all things digital. And photography is really an enjoyable hobby. Not so much for artsy-fartsy indulgence but to stockpile on memories.

I got my first digital camera when I was doing my industrial training in Seattle. It was called 'CoolCam', a transparent blue plastic camera with the ability to take pictures at 320x240 and record short bursts of 10 seconds of video. At USD20, it was fairly cheap at that time but obviously, with such low resolution and no flash, there were severe deficiencies.

After about a month or so, I got a Samsung Digimax that had a resolution of 640x480 (this at a time when 1.3megapixels was the highest and most expensive), AND it could play MP3 as well as double up as a webcam. At USD100, it was a steal since it was retailing then in Malaysia for about RM1200. This lasted me quite a good deal though pictures were still exclusive to emails and sites. You can barely print a decent photo at 640x480.

Now this was all 4 years ago. Ever since then, I've moved studying to working and the realities of adulthood caught up. Bills, setting up homes, and other costs has always inhibited buying a better digital camera... until now that is! Finally decided to get one, and with the nifty 0% instalment plan available, it's definitely affordable.

And after weeks of contemplating and reading tonnes of reviews, I've settled on the Konica Minolta Dimage Z20 because it's just cool looking :) Placed my order at the shop and now patiently waiting for it to arrive!

Dream bliss...

My old mattress has became uncomfortably bumpy with its springs protuding painfully from within. After almost 3 years of use, I guess it has served me well enough, especially considering the amount of time I spend in it (t doubles up as a sofa in my room). Also, at a cheapo price of aboutRM200+ from Giant, it's not exactly a long term investment. Anyways, all clues points towards a new mattress and with my birthday just around the corner, my parents decided to help get me one by paying half the costs.

I had a whole day of mattress shopping planned for with the shops and models plotted out. However, on an impulse, I dropped by a nearby shop during lunch and within 10 minutes, I had made my purchase.

I bought this King Koil mattress with all sorts of fancy medical claims from orthopaedics and sales pitches like double spring coils and reinforced side springs. It was much better than my old one in any case and at a hefty discount, can't complain. Since I saved some cash from the discount, I decided to get myself a bed frame instead and progress from sleeping on the floor. Got a wood one at also a heavily discounted price. The shop must be very generous, going out of business, or have all their products heavily hiked in prices. Hmm...

Anyways, when the stuff arrived, I struggled to install the bed (only 2 hours, groan) and dragged the mattress upstairs (I think it was at least 50kg and huge and took me only 30 minutes), I am now in seventh heaven in sleep comfort! Bliss...

How on earth is this news worthy?

Pet Monkey Escapes, Bites Boy on Buttocks

A monkey, apparently a pet, escaped, then chased a 12-year-old boy into his house and bit him on the buttocks in the western Malaysian state of Pahang, a news report said Friday.

The monkey, which was believed to be a pet animal because there was a chain around its neck, ran up and down the street in the housing area in Kuantan town as it appeared just after dusk Wednesday, scaring people into their homes, the Bernama news agency reported.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Also, read a proposal by students who wanted to plan a day trip to the 'KL TOWEL'. Sounds like something out of a Sam and Max game. And considering how far away the 'L' and 'R' keys are located on the keyboard, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Oh September, How I Adore Thee

It's finally September, my most favourite'st month :) There's something about September that conjures up a whole lot of anticipation. First up, at this time, you could almost feel the year wrapping up. August is still too close to 'mid-year' to be counted but come September, and the year end is almost just round the bend.

Furthermore, September is very celebratory. So many of my dear family and friends have September birthdays so it's immensely rewarding. Just last weekend, I had an excellent trip back home to surprise my mom with a birthday dinner. Had to coordinate 3 aunts, siblings, and my grandmother to effectively keep the secret in force but it was well worth the 50 or so SMS'es and down-to-the-wire timing. I told my brother that I would pick him up at 5:55, arrive to surprise my Mom at 6:20 and proceeded to dinner at 7:00. I did it at 5:57, 6:21 and 7:00! And considering that I could only leave USJ after picking up my cousins, then my aunt at the KTM Komuter of which they boarded the 2:47 train from Sentral. It was just great and everything just fell into place. Must be good karma from good intentions :)

Also, there's the Melaka trip to look forward to although I'm still short of my needed 40 students. I have till Friday to wrap things up so hopefully numbers will pick up.

And joy of all joys, I am about 8 weeks away to finally completing my Masters... hopefully with a good finish! Juggling fulltime studies with work and part-time work has been an incredibly hell'ish 14 months but with the end so close, it feels just great!

Acting on Impulses

I imagine that come mid-life crisis, I would likely be the sort to drain savings (if I had any in the first place) to buy a flashy red sports car. Why do you ask? Because it seems that I am ruled by impulsive actions that I don't quite have much control over.

I was mulling about a thought, just before sleep one night, and it was quite a fanciful thoughts. With hindsight, most can agree that almost all thoughts in sleep/awakeness limbo is fanciful but then hindsight is 20/20. Anyways, I was mulling about how nice it would be to wake up in the morning and instead of going to work to classes, I can go on a trip instead.

So the next day, with the fanciful thought still dominating and hindsight nowhere to be found, I ran a small poll online, found 5 students who had some interest and then proceeded the very next day (still without hindsight) to prepare a proposal for a 2D1N educational excursion to Melaka at the end of the month. And in a record of sort, the bureaucratic multi-layered levels of authority seemed to align in singular thought this once and gave me permission, and a small budget, in a span of one day.

And with that permission, finally came hindsight. And hindsight spoke, 'You will be responsible for up to 40 students in bringing them across 150km and guide them through place after place from 8 in the morning to 10 at night for 2 days and how on earth is this preferable to comfortable office work from 9 to 5?'.

I have to say, I don't like hindsight very much, especially belated ones.

Blogplexing

I've been trying to figure out the reason for blogging. As much fun it is reading other blogs, maintaining 'jumbuck' has been quite challenging of late. Not so much for reasons of time but rather trying to decide what to share.

It used to be easy sharing life stories but in retrospect, it's probably way too revealing than I'm comfortable with now. It appears that most of us do tend to be quite loose with the sharing online, like effects of virtual alcohol. Way back then when the community started with mostly MMU'ians... it was highly therapeutic seeing how teenage angst still persists and the stress of jobs and bills came into play. But I guess now, most of us have settled down somewhat and it likely seems that there's nothing much to share that will be of interest to the rest.

My social bubble has changed quite a bit. I've lost touch with many uni friends and high school friends are geographically distant and basically out of mind. My social connections and lifestyle has changed and I feel that it may be disjointed from what my blogger friends can connect with.

For example, it's hard to relate now to Kotakkosong's rants and raves on capoeira and dance for example. It's her passion but I find it hard to emphatise. And seeing how it's pointless writing to an audience of none, I guess maybe this 'life stories' blogging thing may be running its course.

Furthermore, being in the public domain, well, anyone with enough determination can find you out and basically take a part of your life whether you like it or not. And since I don't believe in self-censorship, it seems ridiculous to have to consider what I say and what I put here.

Anyways, like many other post, this is just a rant. But things considering, probably the last rant for quite a while.

The Biscuit Legacy

I had my Creative Writing class with the youngest kids last night and I made the mistake of telling them about Biscuit in the beginning of the class. The usually rowdy class turned sombre and two girls started crying. They then had a barrage of questions including:

1. Why don't I quit work and stay at home with the rabbits?
2. What did the cat look like?
3. Why don't you go kill the cat?
4. Why don't we kill all cats?

It's definitely heart warming to see them being so involved and touched by Biscuit, even though they see him only once a week. Worse still is that my other 3 rabbits are in depressive mourning, refusing to eat very much and even declining treats. Biscuit the Brave definitely made a mark during his lifetime.

Biscuit the Brave, you will be missed...

On Saturday, July 30 2005, Biscuit, my dear brown bunny died after suffering fatal injuries. Although Biscuit has been with me for only over a year, he has done more for me than any other bunnies I've had.

Biscuit and Dominose was bought to keep my rabbit King Wombat company, after Wombat's brother, Wallaby Wallace the Fourth had to be put to sleep due to a degenerative muscle disease. The meeting between Biscuit, Dominose and Wombat was fraught with challenges. Wombat was in deep depression and the three male rabbits ended up fighting constantly. Biscuit being the biggest was immediately to blame for Wombat's wounds but only after Biscuit was taken out, and the wounds persisted did the real culprit was found, Dominose.

When the three of them were brought up to USJ where they had a bigger run in the backyard, Biscuit aggressively protected Wombat from Dominose, chasing him and even attacking him, while keeping Wombat safe. Sadly though, the severely depressed Wombat never recovered and he soon died from a flu infection.

Biscuit lived an interesting life as a free-roaming outdoor bunny who was very well fed as well as the unofficial mascot of CreativeKids. Every one of the 20+ kids knew Biscuit well. They played with him, asked about him, and he in turn rewarded them by posing quietly for pictures and enjoyed being stroked tremendously. Biscuit may not be very personable with people but he appreciated company and never declined a back rub.

When a friend had two rabbits to give up, I took them in and instantly, Mocha and Caramel became Biscuit's new friends. He took them under his wing, made them comfortable in the new environment and he even shared his meals. Mocha and Caramel, who were very fidgety and stressed from their previous ownership, became bunnies again and the three brown rabbits could always be seen together. After time, the bunny bond strengthened and Mocha and Biscuit became lovers and inseparable in my tiny backyard.

The last week, I suspected that Mocha was due to give birth, as she had ballooned out a bit and was keeping to herself. Plus, Mocha had created a nest for the future babies and even Biscuit was not his usual self.

On Saturday morning, when I went down to feed them, it felt strange that no one came out to greet me. Dominose stood soberly in a corner with the rest all huddled in another. I laid the food out and went towards Biscuit, for his daily morning pat. When I approached him, I knew something was wrong. He was breathing heavily and when I lifted him, he cringed. I've seen the injuries before and I knew he must have fell or jumped too high. Beside him, keeping him company was Mocha and Caramel, faithful to Biscuit till the end. I was still uncertain over the cause of injury but Biscuit was too shocked to be moved, so I patted him one last time, carried him to a more comfortable place and drove to Melaka.

That night, my housemate came home and by then Biscuit had died. But not just that, there was a cat in the backyard as well. Biscuit laid in the middle of the yard, in front on the nest Mocha made. I believed that even with his initial injury, likely due from a cat fight as well, Biscuit braved himself to protect the babies he borned with Mocha. He gave up his life for new life, which unfortunately, was also at the mercy of the cat.

No one will really know what happened or how it happened but I like to believe that Biscuit died fighting. Cats have came in before but the rabbits are too big to be a meal so over the past year and a half, nothing has happened. However, there were never babies before, and the empty abandoned nest which Mocha now stays away from says it all.

I feel in some way, a sense of pride that Biscuit took it upon himself to challenge the cat, and save all the others from danger. He never went to hide or run but stood and fought. None of the other smaller rabbits had any injury, so I know that they were not the reason the cat came. It really is sad that the babies did not survive but I can imagine Biscuit rising against the feline predator and with all his might, doing something very against his rabbit natural instincts and fighting for his family and bunny friends.

I am sure, like me, Mocha and Caramel, and maybe even Dominose will truly miss and fondly remember Biscuit the Brave. He has been buried right beside King Wombat, and maybe in death would they rekindle the friendship they had.

Oh Biscuit... I miss you.

Graduate showcase

As most of you know, the Multimedia and Advertising departments in my college had a graduation showcase for the final semester students. It wasn't a big pomp event but it was well received, neatly done, and served more than what it intended to do, which was to provide an avenue for the students to showcase their works to family and friends and for the industry at large to drop by.

Sharon and Zeke were the assessors and they did intimidate the students quite effectively! It was also great to have a handful of people from the industry coming over, a result of me spamming all the ad and design agencies in the country. Better still, their feedback was quite positive, so overall, it was pretty good.

Here are some photos of the launching ceremony with our internal VIP's on an escorted tour of the works.

Customer Service? What a misnomer...

I have had it up to here with dealing with TM Net's customer service. There was some service interruptions with a few Australian servers and since my studies require me access to those sites, it was quite urgent for me to get it resolved. My first call resulted in being told that it's a local problem (even though I told her that every other of my friends here in Malaysia cannot access the site) and was asked to stupidly clear my cache and recreate my dialler.

Anyways, got peeved so followed up with an email (which usually leads to better feedback since it's verbally expressed and recorded) but it's all a bunch of gibberish. Can you make any sense of the following emails?

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

Does the following paragraph register any logic with any of you?

Referring to the above, kindly note that currently there is a problem in
accessing Australian websites but it has been confirmed if the problem
is on the Australian server with the Streamyx IP or vice versa.

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

I just don't get this. Who on earth will be my server administrator? My problem is
with the darn ISP :P

Referring to your e-mail, kindly be advised to consult with your server 
administrator for further assistance. On behalf of TM Net, we apologise 
for the inconveniences caused.

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

I have to say, being polite with these people is pointless. I am just so embarassed
that this company is Malaysian.

Tragedy!!!

Wedding Bells for Sandra Bullock and Jesse James!

July 18, 2005

Movie sweetheart SANDRA BULLOCK, 40, married "Monster Garage" star JESSE JAMES, 35, on Saturday evening, according to her official spokesperson, in a down-home, country wedding!

(read more)

My name is Daniel and I am a...

SHOPAHOLIC! It is quite impossible for me to step into any mall and not buy loads of stuff. It's an illness I tell you. Went to Ikea/Ikano over the weekend to get a couple of chairs and ended up with RM500 worth of goodies. I have no willpower... either that or my credit cards have the ability to possess me.

However, it was 'happy' purchases :) which means no lingering doubt or regret. Got another table for CreativeKids to allow for a slight student expansion for the full classes and two more lamps. I have such a softspot for lights. Just love to have them about the house.

Another soft spot will be books. I can't stop buying them. I now forcibly not left myself wander into PayLess or Popular unless I really really have to. Argh...

Post-mortem

Phew, charity event is finally over... months of drama, escalating tension, shouted arguments, boycotting and a whole lot of mess is finally at an end. I have to say though that the event itself was disappointing to many parties (too few booths and poorly promoted) but for the staff and students, pretty fun. We ended up buying most of the stuff anyways and I frequented this dessert stall so often I got a discount on Day 2. :)

One thing I couldn't understand is that if the total amount of crafts to be sold = X amount and if X amount brings in Y profit, and if Y profit does not equal Z target collection, how can anyone expect the fund raising goals to be met? Were they planning to sell invisible stuff? Perplexing...

..........

On another note, end of semester evaluations are about done and information so far affirms what most of us have suspected. It's going to be disciplinary week plus a fair bit of part-time lecturers are seeing the boot. And lucky me, I get to be the one exercising it. Grumbles...

Art with a Heart Charity Bazaar 2005

My college is organising an arts and crafts charity bazaar themed Art with a Heart this weekend at The Summit USJ. It will kick off tomorrow and end on Sunday, open from 10am - 10pm. Lots of trinkets and stuff to buy plus games to play so if anyone's free, welcome to drop by :)

All proceeds will go towards Rumah Kebajian Orang Tua dan Kanak-Kanak and Charis Home Community Point.

Managing people

Reality of the job struck me today when I had to confront a colleague and address the person based on certain issues arising. Very awkward, very nerve wrecking but had to be done. Feels strange, and it's definitely a steep learning curve but am coping. Am also stepping on many toes along the way. I can't help it I guess... too many things need changing. Hope I don't become like one of those eager-beaver managers my Dad describes as just wanting to change things because they can. Hmm...

Meaning in life

I have a problem, I tend to over-think things and what people say really gets to me. Maybe it's over-sensitivity at work or innate Libran characteristics coming to fore but I'm just really peeved about how easily I'm affected by things around me.

Which is why I just hate watching 'charity' themed shows that are designed to milk sympathy because I will be so guilt-ridden and on the opposite scale, shows on holidays and escapades because then I'll be inclined to spend. Having to stop and think about what you really want and what truly makes you happy is definitely an insightful personal challenge and probably one most of us can never quite figure out.

Way too much thinking for a Monday... groan...

From The Star

The real Michael Soosai

THE picture used in our front-page story entitled 'Cops Under Probe' on Thursday was not of fugitive Michael Soosai, who is alleged to have faked his death.

The Soosai whose picture was used on the front page is currently under restricted residence in Johor under the Emergency Ordinance.

Pictured is the Michael Soosai referred to in our report. We apologise for the error and any embarrassment caused.

> Can you imagine how life must be like for the guy innocently splashed on the front page yesterday? Talk about journalistic integrity...

Relief!!!

Finally... after slogging through a record 20,000 words spread out over no less than 7 reports AND the development of a fully functional online learning environment, I've finished the semester! Phew... I am totally burnt out and am glad for the 1 month reprieve before... groan... it starts all over again BUT for the last time! I only have one more semester to go before I am eligible for degree award. :)

My masters is a 8 unit program meaning 8 modules in all and they use a 7-point CGPA system so variances in grade are more pronounced. I've done 6 and have had results for 5 and up to this point, my CGPA is... PERFECT! Muahahahaha... It will be broken by my crappy 6th module but hopefully the next 2 will be great. I am so aiming for the Dean's award...

(and oh... Jakarta trip is cancelled... hoorah! no worries of bomb threats and kidnappings)

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Fajar is having a mini toy sale and here's what I got:





Another de-stress'ing option from dealing with escalating office politics.

Climbing the corporate ladder

I've moved up one rung in my corporations ladder and for the first time in my working life, I have my own office! It's a decent sized one but the best part is I have space for all my stuff and privacy. A little lonely, since my previous desk was in an open plan environment but should be good. :)

Also, for the first time in my life, I have a sizeable number of people answerable to me. Work has always been with equal colleagues but right now, the entire academic faculty is my responsibility. A little nerve wrecking but a challenge that I'm game for!

Still riding the 'promotion' high but need to ride out the 3 month probation though. It's good though to be able to make your intentions count and actually take action on it. :)

Personality Test

Global Personality Test Results

Stability (18%) low which suggests you are very worrying, insecure, emotional, and anxious. Orderliness (56%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly organized, reliable, neat, and hard working at the expense of flexibility, efficiency, spontaneity, and fun. Extraversion (31%) moderately low which suggests you are reclusive, quiet, unassertive, and secretive.

Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

trait snapshot:

introverted, irritable, feels invisible, observer, depressed, does not enjoy leadership, reveals little about self, dislikes large parties, feels undesirable, does not like to stand out, submissive, suspicious, emotionally sensitive, not a thrill seeker, solitude loving, likes silence, fragile, second guesses self, negative, unadventurous, fearful, weird, focuses on people's hidden motives, paranoid, phobic, dependent, cautious, avoidant, semi intellectual

Croak...

Jakarta here I come...

I am going off to Jakarta next week, amidst a flurry of sound words from my parents regarding the country's state of affairs plus the impending bomb threats. It is quite nerve wrecking, especially when you read the travel advisories online but not something I have a choice in though. There's an education exhibition where we're hoping to tap into the lucrative student market there.

I'm going to have to brush up on my Bahasa and hope it'll get me through the 2 full days of student counselling. Groan...

And on other stuff, my phone line went dead again... 3rd time this year. I am so peeved with Telekoms. Rebranding my %&*@#!!!

Star What? Luke who?

Discovery Channel is showing a series of immensely interesting documentaries about the Science of Star Wars and their everyday interpretations in today's technology. However, the subtitlers Astro hires must be from the prehistoric age... when Darth Maul was mentioned in a scene, the Bahasa Malaysia 'equivalent' is:

"Gloth Moore"

Once again, I really have to say, some people are stupid.

(And I thought TV3's subtitling mistake of calling Apocalypse of the X-Men 'Foker Lips' was stupid enough).

Energizer Bunnies running on empty...

For those not aware, at last count, I have 4 bunnies in my backyard. Like most other bunnies, they are quite souped up and is always hopping and mucking about (interspersed with naps and breaks). They hate being held and will only come to you when they're hungry.

What's strange this morning was when I went out to feed them, they did not crowd around my feet like they always do. Instead I saw them laying out all over the backyard, looking quite spent. Picking them up one by one, they looked and felt ok, but they were just lethargic (or exhausted).

I thought about it a bit and came to the conclusion that last night must have been a bunny orgy fest. (That or a cat came in and chased them about silly, but unlikely since cats will probably eat one up). So bunny orgy fest it is. It must be good to be bunnies sometimes...

Lah...

It's amazing... no matter where the students come from, after just one semester of study here, their conversations will be peppered with 'Lahs', 'Lehs', 'Mahs' and the many other different permutations of our Malaysian interjections :) Something to be proud of?

Also, did anyone read the suggestion by one minister to play the Negaraku before movies are shown in cineplexes? I really am so dumbfounded. Rationale being that the appreciation of the national anthem is waning. Now, waning according to? Some people do things very obviously for attention... must have been sad lonely little kids.

It's here!





Hilarious stuff but too quick a read. Finished both books in 20 minutes and at RM26 a pop, not particularly cheap. It's great material for classes so not too bad although it's very difficult to find an answer to the question, 'Why are the cute little bunnies trying to kill themselves?' followed by innocent wide-eyed looks.

Top 10 Things I've Learned from Teaching Children

1. Girls are meaner than boys.

2. Sarcasm is not lost on young children (and they can very easily throw it back).

3. Saying 'No' creates an overwhelming curiosity to find out more.

4. When learning new words, never let children choose their own words from the dictionary unless you are prepared to explain what 'puberty' or 'copulation' is.

5. Girls definitely mature faster than boys do, and that is not necessarily a good thing.

6. Flirtatious nature really begins in childhood, innocent as it may be.

7. Children will do all kinds of things to get attention, including squirting soy milk through their noses.

8. Never give children soy milk until they have finished their work and have cleared the table.

9. Children remembers everything except what you want them to remember.

10. Teenagers may act like adults and even look like one but deep inside, given the chance, they are still very much children.

I love a stocked fridge

Am on leave taking a break from work to focus (albeit unsuccessfully) on my assignments. Ended up spending most of the time going shopping, doing errands, and playing with new bunnies. One good thing though is that I manage to stock up my fridge and am just so happy! Hahaha... I have:

- 24 cups of yoghurt
- 2 kgs of mango
- 2 kgs of grapes
- 4 types of jams, peanut butter and marmalade
- durian!
- 1/2 kg of sandwich meat
- frozen chicken fillet
- pita bread
- frozen chicken pau
- loads of soy milk

and on a different vein, 30 kgs of rabbit pellets. Am a happy happy boy :)

New Bunnies!

This is Mocha, the rambunctious female:



And here's Caramel, the shy reserved bunny with a cleft lip (which I hope has no long term implications):



:) I have also ordered two books: "The Book of Bunny Suicides" and "Return of Bunny Suicides". hehehehe...

Blardy Heck

I was supposed to abstain myself from Yahoo! today because of the Amazing Race Finale tonight and I didn't want the disappointment of knowing the results beforehand. Unfortunately, I forgot and the results were splashed on the front page. DARN IT!

(oh well, at least the winner was the team I was rooting for)

CreativeKids has new team members!

Hilmy and Chun have joined the CreativeKids team kicking off their Conversational English for Adults this coming Monday. They have a family of 5 kicking off and it should be interesting. :) Night classes are now in full swing every day of the week. Now, if I can get someone to do afternoon classes... pretty tough finding a Creative Writing teacher who shares the CreativeKids vision though...

Also, the CreativeKids animal team will be welcoming TWO NEW BUNNIES! :) Hoorah... so excited... they are coming tomorrow. Watch out for pics on Thursday then!

Let's do the boogie woogie...

Life is weird right now. I always feel strangely surreal when I'm peaked out with work. Must be a coping mechanism! Hours and minutes seem to drift by in full stereo colour with dreams maxed out on weirdness, all until I get my work back on track, which in this case will be my assignments. Very far behind but am so close to finish line to give up my quest for HD's... (high distinctions). Thus the curse of the quest for perfect CGPA.... misery...

Talks went well but turnout was lacking. It was kinda like a MMU reunion though what with Aimo, Soph, Chuan, Zeke, Justin, Jon, Hilmy, and GJoe in attendance. Pretty fun catching up :)

Had a massively disturbing dream involving a manhunt, resurrected ghosts of dead soldiers, murder, swamp monsters, huge 4-wheel drives, and bunny rabbits. Strangely though I managed to keep composure and actually enjoyed the dream. Hope I'm not breeding some psycho-derangedness stuff... muahahahahahaha....

CreativeKids is back in marketing action after a 5 months hiatus! 4000 flyers will be out spamming USJ mailboxes this week. Fingers crossed...

Zombie Mode Reactivated

I have to say, I've not been very productive. Read somewhere that guys are horrible at multi-tasking and it seems to be ringing true. The more work I have the less I get done. If only things come to me one at a time. Groan... among the list of things I have in my mental inbox:

1. Finish assignments for Masters.
- one interactive educational website
- 1000 word progress report on website
- 2000 word report on academic evaluations
- 1000 word review on different evaluation aspects, including objectivity, styles, and application.

and that's mostly due in the first week of May... groan...

2. Finish the 500-page LAN documentation by this Saturday. I've done about 50 pages.

3. Prepare the staff for Macromedia Certified Expert training.

4. Resolve the last day of the talks.

5. Prepare CreativeKids syllabus for May.

And on top of all this, there's the usual day-to-day classes, marking, and my parents are coming up this weekend. I am going to die under paperwork... no wonder I'm losing my hair.

Wot u speak?

Student's English fluency is really getting to me. I am making, on average, 1 student cry per fortnight because of my nagging tirades on why they must improve their English. It's getting more than annoying but debilitating. There is simply no way to learn in a class that is conducted in English, in a communication-driven subject like Advertising, and when you have to write reports and proposals. If you ever read of students being thrown down Summit USJ by an insane lecturer, you will know who it is. Muahahahahahahahaha!!!

Anyone wants to teach conversational English?

CreativeKids has been getting a few enquiries on classes for conversational English for adults. I don't have the time to take this class on, so anyone interested? :) If you can spare 2 hours a week and if you feel your 'speaking' is up to par, let me know.

Come one, Come all!

I've been back breaking the whole week getting posters out, invites sent, and things in place so everyone, come come come for the talks! At the very least, there's always the free food :)

Coming?

For more information, visit www.msccollege.edu.my/digitaltomorrow.

Sunrise at a hill in Melaka during Qing Ming...



Sunset at the Kesas toll plaza near USJ...

Caught on AXN

In an episode of The Contender:

"Let's get a drink and have a toast!"

And the subtitles read:

"Mari kita minum dan makan roti bakar!"

What kind of idiots are they hiring to do subtitles? Stupid stupid stupid...

Yawns...

Am sooo sleepy. Been having late nights no thanks to a flurry of assignments. One of them was a group one to develop a WebQuest. What's a WebQuest you say? It's basically a series of web activities to support classroom learning. Anyways, in my group, I was assigned the job of web designing and that was fine by me. In the open critique with the rest of the class, my group was unanimously voted for best web design! Muahahahaha... am so happy... unfortunately good design carries no mark... groan...

One more assignment due tomorrow before I have ONE grand week of rest before the next flurry of assignments shape up. Will be good because I need to plan for a series of talks I'm organising on the 30th. All are welcomed and we will have some of our good friends speaking :) Details to come.

Respect!

I had my group presentations last night for my class Business Management for Designers at The One Academy. I was expecting a dull half-baked affair where students will regurgitate notes to meet the requirements. What happened instead was just a big WOW!

They did:

1. A broadway musical.
2. A hilarious anime-infused modern Wayang Kulit production.
3. A sock puppet show.
4. A shadow play about Britney Spears and the recording industry.
5. A Blair Witch style documentary.
6. A recorded tv soap drama.
7. The life of an animation company (complete with Maya demo).
8. A choral speaking session.

All about Business Management. It was really a tremendous output of creativity, effort and content. I see The One in a much different light and I can't wait for my copy of the recordings so I can watch them all over again!

Tearjerker...

On Saturday night I dreamt of my late colleague. In my dream, it was a regular day in the office after the funeral and out of nowhere, she appeared to me and said,'Goodbye... don't be sad.'

It was such a heartbreaking dream and seemed so real. Even in passing she's worried about the rest of us. Sigh... but strangely, I feel so much better now to at least have had the opportunity to say goodbye, even if it was a figment of my overactive imagination.

Goodbye Yeen... take care...

After effects

Work is getting some semblance of normalcy... cremation was yesterday so the funeral ceremonies are finally over for us. Quite touching to see how many turned up. Posted emails to staff and student to gather and over 100 turned up. A convoy of over 30 cars drove in unison to the home. Quite a spectacle, too bad didn't have a camera with me.

Anyways, moving on from it. Being home alone last night was quite an experience though. Am such a big chicken.

On other things, went to AMP Radio yesterday to tidy up college's radio ad. The place is quite impressive and I saw the recording booths for all the stations! Sheepishly waved at Richard Ng and Shazmin though only Richard waved back :) Cheap thrills...

Recording engineer who assembled our clip was darn competent. Fingers flying all over the editing console. Incredible. What he did in 3 minutes I would have taken 30... Respect...

And voice over artist was darn cute... sigh...

Transience...

In each of our lives, there are always those who seem to be placed here on Earth for reasons greater than life. They breathe joy into those needing it, stand as pillars of support when all about are in turbulence, and through it all, they seek out the treasures of hope within us all.

My colleague, Yeen, is a person like that. Her presence is not just seen but felt. Her laughter ripples through all the tiredness, stress, and apathy we sometimes feel at work. Her outlook of life raises us up to greatness... a leader leading by light. Sadly, this morning, she has left us... at the youthful age of 28.

It is a very raw moment for all of us, as each of us has been touched by her kindness and grace, and now, her friendship remains but a memory. Like me, she was a graduate of MMU, 2 years my senior. She had plans to marry and she wanted to leave her work to take time to enjoy life. It feels unjustified and unreal and all of us who know her are creeping towards the reality of it all.

Times like these, the transience and fickle nature of life strikes loud and clear... I just feel privileged to have known her and to have the honour of calling her a friend. She will be missed and always remembered....

Insanely entertaining, especially if it's true!

Check it out: http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/index.html

Also, Popular Bookshop in The Summit USJ is having a clearance sale and by sale I mean SALE!!! Great books with 90% discounts and the Lord of the Rings box set for only RM29.90! That's cheaper than a single book! Great stuff... in an hour I bought 60+ books for only RM270... most at 90% discount which means I saved RM2500 :) Go check it out... good books are going fast!



My mini library, of which about 80% has been stocked by shopping visits to the Popular clearance sales!

And a snapshot of two of my colleagues :)

Who am I?

Thanks to Chun, I've spent 5 minutes of my life doing this:

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Hehehehe... :)

I can SOOOOO relate...
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Trekkies Unite to Save "Enterprise"

Fri Feb 25, 5:50 PM ET

By Sarah Hall

Loyal Trekkies--er, make that Trekkers--beamed across the globe Friday to express their discontent over UPN's decision to axe Star Trek: Enterprise.

Earlier this month, the network announced the show's impending demise at the end of its fourth season, leaving Enterprise devotees facing the prospect of network television devoid of a Star Trek series for the first time in almost 20 years.

Aghast at the realization that the show had reached its final frontier, viewers galvanized a plan to keep Enterprise alive by attempting to raise $32 million dollars to fund the cost of a fifth season and alerting the powers that be to the show's committed fan base.

On Friday, Trekkies held "Save Enterprise" rallies at the Paramount lot in Los Angeles, the offices of CBS and the Sci-Fi channel in New York, the Fox affiliate in Washington, D.C., the offices of the BBC and Channel 4 in London and at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Tim Brazeal, a systems administrator from Knoxville, Tennessee who is spearheading the project, said that three people have pledged $3 million toward salvaging the show, while fan site TrekUnited.com had raised $49,410 by Friday afternoon.

According to chatter in fan forums such as TrekUnited.com and SaveEnterprise.com, the L.A. rally drew the most participants, with an estimated 200 to 400 Trek enthusiasts voicing their support for the show.

Rather than channeling their inner Mr. Spock, participants were urged to come dressed in normal attire, as a statement on SaveEnterprise.com advised, "Although we think that coming in dress would be great, we also think this would stereotype us all as 'Hardcore' Trekkers and would hurt more than help. Please wear your daily wear."

Most of the rally attendees complied with the dress code, though some could not resist donning Vulcan ears for the cause.

Enterprise, a prequel to the original 1960s Star Trek series, currently draws about 3 million viewers a week, about half the number who watched its first season, and way down from the 12.5 million who tuned in for its 2001 premiere.

As of now, its final episode is slated to air on May 13.

Efforts to save shows headed for cancellation typically fail, though dedicated fans managed to breathe life into past struggling shows such as the WB's Felicity and Roswell and ABC's Once and Again through Internet campaigns.

If the Trekkers fail in their mission to keep Enterprise on the airwaves, money will either be refunded to donors or donated to tsunami relief, Brazeal said.

However, even if Enterprise bites the dust, there's still a bright spot on the horizon for Star Trek fans.

Earlier this week, Variety reported that scribe Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers) has been hired to pen the script for Star Trek XI, the latest installment in the long-running sci-fi franchise.

The project was reportedly shelved in January, but production is apparently back in motion, though Paramount has not yet set a release date for the film, which is rumored to focus on the Romulan War, which took place before the original series.

My faith has been restored!



Last night, the branch manager of Nandos Sunway Pyramid buzzed my door bell and presented me with a full chicken dinner spread consisting of a whole chicken and 4 sidedishes. She also gave me Nandos cash vouchers valued at RM40! I was amazed and very surprised. You must know that Nandos is like my all time favourite eating place!

The reason for the visit was that a week earlier, I visited the Nandos in Pyramid for the first time and had an awful experience. They were swamped and my orders got lost in the confusion, resulting in an hour long wait. Being me, I worded a complaint letter and sent it to them, not expecting very much as most service oriented companies seem to want feedback but then do nothing about them. My views have changed.

At first the manager invited me over again to Nandos so that they could have a chance to right the wrong. I told them in all honesty that I don't know when that will be, as Pyramid isn't where I frequently visit. I told them that I'm loyal to the Nandos in Subang Parade and she instantly said, 'let me change your mind' and asked for my address. I was expecting maybe a coupon for a free drink but a whole dinner and RM40 in vouchers is definitely above and beyond expectations!

I love Nandos... :)

Post Chinese New Year Blues

You know it's after Chinese New Year when:

- You have gambling withdrawal symptoms.
- Your pants don't fit.
- Your fridge is stocked with leftover cookies.
- The mandarin oranges are no longer lush and juicy, but dry and wrinkly.
- Red becomes annoying, not prosperous.
- You are back at work filling up your blog with tirades.

Got to say though, did enjoyed my break tremendously. It was a good celebration in all for me and will look forward to the get together at Chun's!

Happy Chinese New Year!

January has been pretty nifty. Not everything's a bed of roses but the momentum has been good. Among the highlights for me are:

1. CreativeKids has 15 kids so my target of 20 seem reachable.
2. Working hours has been changed to only 40 hours a week, including lunch hour!
3. No more work on Saturdays!
4. Got a meagre bonus and increment but it's my first time receiving it :)

Hope things perk up and continue. Eagerly anticipating the results from my second semester now. Hope I can maintain my perfect CGPA from the first semester.

All the best to everyone this Chinese New Year. Those travelling, do be safe yeah. And those who are in Melaka, feel free to pop me a visit :) I'm off to Melaka come this weekend!

It's that time of the year again...



Every Chinese male colleague and student are sprouting neatly trimmed hair. There's a certain vibe going about with people humming familiar 'gong xi gong xi' tunes and there are red packets hanging from ceilings and plants everywhere!

No matter how crass and commercialised this celebration can be, and even during the frenzied cleaning and guest entertaining, it really is a fun fun celebration. I got my lanterns and token decorations up yesterday at home and I'm all geared up for a week's break, and a whole lot of eating and merry-making :)

In anticipation....

Warning: Grumpy Dan is about

Grr... am grumpy grumpy grumpy. Having another bout of allergic reactions, so am spotted, itchy, and very edgy. You can't imagine how annoying an allergic reaction can be until you one. Worse still, mine are those long sustained ones that takes weeks to rid. Gah... terrible...

Been quite nasty at work as well, biting colleagues who irritate. No regrets though, some of them deserved to be bitten, muahahahaha! :)

Chinese New Year is coming but it's somewhat lacking in spirit this year. Looking forward to the break nevertheless, and oh, LONG weekend coming up! WOOHOO!

Freeze Frame

I'm the kind of person who carries torchlights, basic first-aid and a fully charged handphone whenever possible, just in case. My car is loaded with a first-aid kit, water, and 3 torchlights on top of contact numbers for car repairs, emergency services, and a whole bunch of other stuff. So at home, considering I don't have the budget for a full-fledged alarm system, I've installed rudimentary ones at all entryways. The kind that will let loose an ear splitting 120 decibels of mayhem when the door is opened.

So the other day, I was home alone, in the middle of the night and was walking down the stairs when smack in the middle, the back alarm went off. There I was in my jammies, standing in the middle of the stairway dumbfounded. Should I run back up to the room and lock myself in? Should I go down and explore? It was a weird, seemingly forever decision but after considering the possibilities, I decided a quick venture is appropriate (plus I didn't want to drain the batteries and drive the neighbours mad).

Apparently a cat snucked in and triggered the alarm. If I thought I was shocked, the cat was going berserks. The loud sound probably got to it as it jumped aimlessly, seemed disoriented and was frightened silly. Gave it a smack with the broom and promptly showed it the way out.

Interesting...

The passing of time...

Been quite a while since I've blogged, largely because I've been quite tied up and also because it seemed frivolous to blog about daily life when the tsunami tragedy still permeates. Like all things however, it is slowly tapering from the greater consciousness (and Yahoo! has relegated news on the tsunami after-effects to a small sentence link) and life (with all our selfish needs) come to fore.

Work has been quite interesting for me. I came here with the intention of just doing my job and bide time to study my Masters and build up CreativeKids. However, I'm getting more and more responsibilities with very likely promotions in the wake. Not too great time wise since I've maxed all free time on weekdays. Not sure what this will mean but will see.

I've been quite occupied so when I've been asked to do some superfluous work lately, I've been rather biting. Among other things, I:

1. Barked back at the Vice President of the group because he wanted changes in the presentation I was doing which really isn't necessary.

2. Demanded the IT people to unblock Blogger. Barring messenger I can understand. Barring blogs is too much. They complied within 5 minutes.

3. Put my foot down so many times I've probably gave a lot of people sore toes.

It's going to take me awhile to get into the groove but darnit, I am so thankful that Charmed is back on air :)

Bullock Donates $1M for Tsunami Relief
Monday January 3 3:07 PM ET

Actress Sandra Bullock has donated $1 million to the American Red Cross to help relief efforts in countries affected by the deadly earthquake and tsunamis in southern Asia and eastern Africa.

Bullock, whose screen credits include "Miss Congeniality," "While You Were Sleeping" and "Speed," contacted the American Red Cross last week, the organization said Monday. She also donated $1 million after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"At this critical time, I am grateful to Sandra Bullock for once again demonstrating her leadership, compassion and belief in our global humanitarian mission," said American Red Cross President and Chief Executive Officer Marsha Evans in a statement. "Sandra continues to enable our lifesaving work and is a model for personal generosity."

.....

sigh... so sweet :) i sooo want to marry her...

First blog in the new year!

It's finally 2005, and amidst all the gloom and tragedy, it is still a time for optimism and hope :) Kicked off my year with family with me (due to an unexpected incident) so it kinda turned my plans upside down but comforting nevertheless. And then sis needed to stay with me for a week or so, so that messed up my schedule even more. So my year started with backdated work and a heck load of stress! :)

It's gonna be interesting though... I will be working 9 to 9 from Mondays to Fridays now (because of additional classes and stuff) and only consolation will be better income stream. Masters is picking up pace so this added workload may not be too smart in retrospect. Will see how things juggle out. Like I said, it's gonna be interesting :)

Have been majorly neglecting friends... have not even managed to do dinner with Saw who lives 5 mins away. Time is really maxed out... can't imagine that just a year ago I was lazing my bum off watching tv from dawn to dusk. Ah... all because of a meeting with a friend who pumped me up to do more.

Anyways, to all friends, have a blessed new year! Like I always say, count your blessings before you dwell on the negative. Most times you find that the blessings more than make up for the shortcomings we all have in life. Take care :)

Together we grieve...



Climbing Asian Death Toll Passes 22,500

Merry Christmas Everyone and a BIG Birthday Wish to SAW!

Tersangat Lebih...

I am doing a course in web design this semester for my masters and it's really strange studying it from a postgraduate academic point of view. There are whole literature on type sizes, spaces between borders, colour schemes, and the like. See whether you can make sense of the following excerpt:

Two visual subsystems work together when viewing dynamic displays to produce a scan path. The peripheral subsystem carries out the initial parallel pro-cessing and determines where the next point of attentional fixation will be placed. The foveal subsystem is then directed to this point and performs more complex operations such as reading and object identification. Visual conspicuity is a factor that influences the selection process executed by the peripheral system. This conspicuity can be defined as a combination of an object’s properties, relative to its background, which attracts attention and is
therefore seen and is based on color, shape, size, orientation, and other properties of the display.

Grr...

The Phantom of the Opera



I caught Phantom on opening day, even though I finished work at 8:30pm and was dreadfully exhausted. When other teenagers grew up with Nirvana, Metallica or other soulful angst ridden music, I had the Phantom. Learning line by line, reliving song after song, so the movie is definitely a must see, especially when I've yet to have the opportunity of seeing the musical on theatre.

The viewing experience is amazing and rich in overtones and lavishness. It is a movie for the fan and for the romantic and it's just so beautiful :) It's been awhile since I've watched any movie with this kind of emotional repercussions and it's just wonderful.

Sigh...

Zap Zap Zap

I thought I would freak out on Thursday but I was surprisingly calm before my scheduled laser eye surgery (surgery is a tad overstating it as it is a quick procedure without pre or post surgery preparations required). Having a partial tear in my retina and needing it sealed, the surgery is somewhat unavoidable but dreaded.

I checked into the crowded clinic at 3:30pm. Got my eyes dilated at about 4:30pm and twice again at 5:15 and 5:30 before the procedure began at 5:35. Insanely long wait because this particular opthamologist seemed to attract patients from the entire state! At least there was some assurance of his skill.

The procedure was nightmarish. Please note that I have an intense aversion to touching your eyeballs so it was doubly horrifying. You get yourself seated into a machine like those that they use to check your vision, except that they strap your head tight and there are warning signs everywhere. Then they place this Borg like eyepiece onto your eyeball which allows the doctor to see into the retina and focus the laser beam.

At this point, all I'm seeing is this intense bright light and am getting superbly uncomfortable with eyes wide open and being unable to blink. Doctor will say things like, 'look left' 'don't move' 'hmm' 'good good' and then all of a sudden, ZAP ZAP ZAP! You see this flashes of green light followed by a burst of red in staccato motion as the doctor clicks on this joystick thingy. You can actually feel some heat but the worst part is the extreme brightness which makes your eyes water (and you can't blink).

It's over in about 5 minutes and it isn't painful but gawd... so uncomfortable. All I can think of is this must be what Borg-to-be must feel like. GAH!

I am just GLAD it's over (woe if it happens again) and will only need to go for another visit (if it stays corrected) in a years time. Thanks guys for the well wishes... I am just so blardy relieved...

Away, away, on a holiday!

Will be on leave the entire week coming up. Although there's the slight nervousness (ok, not so slight) about the eye surgery on Thursday, still looking forward to an entire week of doing nothing. No work, no CreativeKids, no assignments, and no studying! Will just lay back, enjoy the close of the year and start cracking with work after :)

Have a good week ahead and a great weekend to come! Dan will be hibernating!

I don't mind Mondays... it is Thursdays I don't like.

Yawns... took quite an effort waking up today. Not a good sign for a sleep dependent person like me. Will have to make up for the sleep debt by sleeping early tonight otherwise my whole week will be screwed. When I'm sleepy, I'm:

1. Incoherent
2. Grumpy
3. Prone to sneezes

This week is a busy week for me. I have an assignment due by Friday (which I've yet to really start) and I also have a Virtual Facilitation Exercise. This is rather unique as I'll have to facilitate an online discussion at a topic of my choice for 3 days and at the end of it, I'll be graded based on my ability to facilitate the discussion and arrive at a consensus with everyone being satisfied. It carries 20% so grades are quite hefty. A little nervous but can't wait to get it over with. (I volunteered to go first).

Been having some calls for CreativeKids so that's a good sign. Aiming for 20 kids by February and 30 by June. If that happens, I'll be so so happy. :) I'm also taking a class at The One in January. What with work, CreativeKids, studies and all... I hope I'm not over burdening myself but the money will really be useful.

Am on leave for the entire week next week :) Having a mini family vacation at PD. Looking forward to the break!

The Blog Challenge

In a class, for extra credit, I've tasked the students to use all Internet tools at their disposal to do the following:

FIND MY BLOG! :)

Let's see if anyone succeeds. For clues, they get to ask me one question a week. Question this week was, what is your blog colour scheme. Don't know how that will help but that's what they asked.

And the quest begins...

Down memory lane...



For the inclined, visit this site for the rest :)

Aieee....

I've been having some vision problems, namely floaters (specks floating about in the scope of vision) and tiredness so over the weekend I went to an opthamologist. After a tedious 2 hour wait (even with an appointment), here's a snippet of the dialogue with the doctor:

Doctor: So, how can I help you?

Me: Well... I've been having an increase in floaters in my vision (and I go on at lengths using jargon learned after hours of Internet surfing).

Doctor: I'm guessing you've already been online and did some research.

Me: Err...

Any doctor that recognises the Internet and its use is good in my books! Anyways, he proceeded to fill in the gaps in my knowledge and proceeded to do the test.

Doctor: So, why don't you wear contacts (as he removes my glasses).

Me: I have a phobia about touching my eyeballs, it's gross.

Doctor: I see, then you really will not enjoy what's happening next as that's what we're going to do.

Me: (planning dramatic escape from clinic, except I couldn't because by this time they had dilated my eyes and all I see is swirly lights).

Doctor proceeded to check eyes with this nasty machine, that puts a lens right on your eyeball and magnifies it for his diagnosis. Awful experience, and makes a dental exam a walk in the park. Gawd...

Diagnosis is, (drum roll), I have a thin retina in one eye and need to undergo laser eye surgery (due next month). Woe... more eye exams and surgery to boot... sigh... am such a nervous wreck...

My Raya Photo Diary

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Such bliss to live in a country with such diverse celebrations! Looking forward to great food this long weekend :) All hail ketupat and rendang!

MUSIC CONCERT

The college's music department is organising a concert come 27 November (at night). This is the fourth time running and it should be good. A variety of classical and contemporary pieces performed by about 20+ students in a variety of instrument disciplines. Tickets are priced at RM15 and RM20 so if anyone's interested, give me a buzz :)

...................................

Enjoy the weekend everyone! Drive safe, take it easy, and let loose :)

The Incredibles!



Such a fun movie! Definitely more adult than previous Pixar fare, and not as great as Finding Nemo, but definitely a blast! Characters are really hilarious and the superhero parody is just insane!

Fun fun fun.

The Pyramid Tower

Sunway has a new hotel, the bright orange Pyramid Tower. From the outside, the building is really unremarkable. But in the inside, it's actually quite appealing.



Check out the snazzy restrooms.



And the retro cafe seating.

And if you were wondering what I was doing there, well, met a friend for:



:)

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!



Having Halloween Week at CreativeKids where room is darkened and we share ghost stories. Made the awful mistake of telling a scary one when my housemate was out of town. Spent the night alone with every lights on and TV on full blast. Bluergh... hate being horrified.

Have been incredibly busy but am now incredibly liberated!!! Finished 3 reports amounting to 20,000 words on top of earlier assignments of about 10,000 in all. But it's done and I've finished my first semester in my Masters program!!! HOORAH!!!

Long weekend coming up. All the best everyone and enjoy :)