Passe Temps

Forever can never be long enough for me

2011-10-20T22:42:00.001+08:00

What British people say and what they really mean

2011-10-18T11:04:00.002+08:00

Argh. I wish I had this handy guide with me when I was talking to my supervisor....

Home

2011-09-06T09:44:00.001+08:00

It's about time...

Totally geeked out with my girlfriend yesterday...

2011-09-05T20:02:00.000+08:00

... and it was good!

Hacking my brain

2011-05-23T20:43:00.003+08:00

Today, I'm starting a new regime for increasing productivity and maintaining motivation. I'm listing down my daily tasks and colour-coding them according to status. As I finish each task, I get to change the colour to green. If it works as expected, then my eagerness to convert the red items to green items should help me get things done faster! I wonder if this works better compared to tick-marks... I suspect colour has a stronger impact on emotion though.

May Ball 2010

2011-05-10T20:45:00.002+08:00

A couple of photos from last year's May Ball.

There was a professional photographer on site who took photos of attendees.

Try to spot me

Classic champagne cocktail is awesome!

2011-05-08T05:42:00.002+08:00

Went to a pub with my boss for a meeting and he ended up buying me drinks. I'd normally get myself a pint of Guiness or some Hoegaarden but since my boss was buying, I decided to let him choose. Ended up getting this really interesting cocktail called the 'Classic Champagne Cocktail' (yeah... really imaginative name there). Anyway, it consists of a sugar cube that's soaked with bitters, and then added to a champagne flute together with champagne and cognac. I must say I was pretty impressed. Would definitely try it again.

Photo source: http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/entertaining/food-drink/start-with-sparkling-wine-00000000023449/index.html

The Lucifer Effect

2011-05-08T05:29:00.003+08:00

Just watched this TED talk by Phillip Zimbardo who conducted the famous Stanford Prison Experiment on how people can become monsters given the right circumstances. We like to think that there is a clear line between good and evil but Phillip argues that certain conditions can result in perfectly upstanding people behaving like monsters. Common ways in which this could happen include the dehumanization of others (it's easier to conduct genocide when the targets are somehow 'subhuman') and dehumanization of self (removing personal sense of identify, which happens in the military through the use of uniforms, which encourage anonymity, as well as training). It may not be comforting to know that we all have the capacity to become monsters, but hopefully being aware of the conditions that facilitate the 'downfall' will make us more resistant to the 'Lucifer Effect'.

I love puzzles!

2011-05-02T03:23:00.005+08:00

More often than not, your birthday present arriving in pieces is not good news. But in this case, it's freaking awesome!

First Post of 2011

2011-05-02T02:13:00.005+08:00

PhD - Almost done. Just a few more months and I'll be submitting. Kinda excited about it, although there's still a lot of hard work ahead. Been spending lots of time in the department library, since I don't have proper office space. It's pretty good though. There's two other students who are writing up, so there's some mutual motivation going on. It's also pretty nice to be part of a community. In fact, I recently went on a retreat with the rest of the PhD students to Cornwall, which was made even more awesome by the fact that we stayed over at a castle owned by a cult (whom I shall not name to avoid being sued).

TV shows - Recently started watching Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. These have been running for several years, so it has taken some effort to catch up. Been also watching Nikita, which is pretty good.

Recent Reads -

Advertising

2010-11-29T08:58:00.004+08:00

Jamie Oliver's TED wish was 'to teach every child about food'. I would argue that we should also teach every child (and adult for that matter) about advertising tactics. We are exposed to advertising in almost every form of information medium; TV, the Internet, radio, the newspaper, etc. Sometimes we see an ad for something that really draws us to buy something but we seldom to think about what made us suddenly want to buy something that prior to seeing the ad, we didn't know exist and didn't even know we need! If we stop and think for a while about what's the message of the advertisement other than the obvious (buy our product!), we will start to realize how psychologically manipulative advertising can be. Advertisements take advantage of our many of our yearnings. For example, advertisements for beauty products or shampoos typically show the 'user' suddenly attracting attention from members of the opposite sex after using the product. On the surface, the advertising message is that our product is effective (maybe in preventing dandruff... or in making hair healthier). But the underlying message is 'use our product and people will start noticing you'. Another underlying message is 'if you don't use our product, then you are not being as attractive as you can be'. Another example is typically seen in advertisements for technology products. For instance, Apple iPhone advertisements show examples of social interactions made possible by their phones; a father using video conferencing to stay in touch with his child, grandparents video conferencing with their grandchild on her graduation day. Other phones show examples of people organizing their 'happening' social lives using their phones; arranging for parties, having awesome multiparty chats. On the surface, the message is 'our phone has lots of cool features'. But the underlying message is 'if you use our phone, maybe you can have a cool social life'.

Another insidious advertising tactic has been to target the 'aspirational consumer'. This consumer is one who cannot yet afford to buy the product but aspires to be in the class of consumers that can afford the product. This tactic is used frequently by luxury brands such as LV, Coach and Gucci. Why do we see advertising for these luxury products everywhere even though the demographic that can really afford these products are very few. It's actually worth the effort to advertise to people to can't afford your product because you create a desire and positive impression for the product. For example, people associate these luxury goods with glamour and celebrities. Once people can afford to buy the product, they will. It's a method for 'inculcating' and 'educating' future consumers. If these luxury labels only sold to people who can afford their products, their sales wouldn't have grown that fast. However, by targeting a new demographic; the aspiring consumer, luxury labels have massively expanded their consumer base. This is the reason why luxury labels are creating 'entry-level' products. For example, you might not yet be able to afford an LV handbag. No worries. You can get an LV wallet first. Then once you have an LV wallet, you start associating yourself with the LV brand, which means that in the future when you have the means, you are more likely to buy their product.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't buy anything, nor should we totally ignore advertising. All I'm saying is that the next time you see an ad and feel like buying something, sit back and analyse your chain of thoughts. What in that advertisement made you want to buy the product. How are they conveying the message? Which of my buttons is the advertisement trying to push? It's one of those things that you don't really notice, but once you start looking out for them, suddenly it's blindingly obvious. It's an interesting exercise in self-examination and will hopefully lead to more rational buying decisions.

Datart

2010-11-08T09:55:00.004+08:00

Can data be beautiful?

Summer vacation!

2009-07-03T08:49:00.005+08:00

This summer heat wave is starting to take its toll on everyone. My room has turned into an oven, especially since the window got jammed shut after some renovation work was done on the exterior. Luckily, I managed to pick up a fan someone had left behind in the common room.

Anyway, I've got my tickets booked for my trip back home this summer. Air Asia X FTW! Managed to hook myself up with a 222GBP return ticket (STN-KUL all-in plus 15kg luggage and meals). Throw in ~20ish GBP worth of connecting flights to and from PEN and it's one heckuva deal.

Looking forward to a month of mamak food, seafood, sun-kissed beaches, fishing (as per Joe's request) and family. I'll be in PG from Sep10 to Oct09, so to all my buddies out there who will be in the neighborhood, let's meet up!

Old school games

2009-04-16T09:23:00.006+08:00

[Source: HandheldMuseum]

OMG! I used to play this all the time. No, I didn't actually own a unit but I think one of my cousins had it. Come to think of it, I didn't really have many electronic toys when I was a kid. This made visits to my cousins' place a treat as it was my chance to play around with those cool games.

I'm also reminded of an arcade game I used to LOVE playing. I'm not sure how it looked like exactly but it had a real periscope that you could look into in order to target and fire torpedoes at ships on the horizon. Really interesting concept. The machine was at an arcade at Lai Lai Suiwah in Air Itam. You had to be 18 to be in a video arcade but my brother was cool, so he took me there anyway. :-)

This is home

2009-04-13T08:25:00.003+08:00

An interesting perspective of Penang. Even when flying on airliners, I don't recall ever seeing Penang from this vantage point. Maybe it was a private aircraft.

In this picture, the reason behind the huge mudflats along Gurney Drive becomes obvious; the massive reclamation project in Tg. Tokong.

Does anyone remember this?

2009-04-13T08:19:00.004+08:00

Wow... was listening to a podcast when someone mentioned about a talcum powder that had winter scenery on the container. I've totally forgotten about it but lol-ed because it reminded me of my childhood. Looks so familiar.

A Movie Script Ending

2009-03-31T10:08:00.000+08:00

Love this MTV

Random Pictures

2008-12-15T05:31:00.004+08:00

I've got nothing much to post, so here's some random pictures...

Before leaving for the UK, I had the fortune of meeting up with some old classmates whom I have not met for around 7 years. Everyone's working now except for me. Hahah. What can I say? I like studying (not!). But anyway, the seafood was good and the company, even better.

This picture was taken during a Langkawi trip in early 2006. I will never forget Pornstar Oh's bout with vertigo when our cable car suddenly went over a deep valley.... priceless! Oh.. and that night where I blacked out after one too many a shot of tequila.

Life's pretty good here, apart from the atrocious british weather. Recently went to a LAN party where I played CounterStrike for the first time in many, many years. Really brings me back to the days of the [sesat] gang. Going to Footballers Pub at 12 midnight with my partners in crime (Berds, COCK, Stephen, aLoMsYc) and playing CS/RA2 until 3 before heading for mamak is truly the experience of a lifetime.

Georgetown

2008-11-17T04:43:00.004+08:00

"the said Municipality of George Town shall on the First Day of January in the Year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty seven and forever thereafter be a city and shall be called and styled the CITY OF GEORGE TOWN instead of the Municipality of George Town and shall thenceforth have all such rank, liberties, privileges and immunities as are incident to a city." - Queen Elizabeth II

Idiot Feds! Give us back our city status!

Update from Cambridge

2008-11-03T00:04:00.004+08:00

Finally starting to work on my PhD research project. The first few weeks have been filled with induction and safety courses (of which I have no recollection of now). It was only in the past week that I've managed to settle into a more daily routine, which has helped me get on with my work.

Yesterday, I took a 3-hour bus ride to Bicester, which is located near Oxford, to meet up with a friend from the university. There's a village there that's built specifically for designer outlets and they seem to have pretty good deals. The whole day was simply cold and I was a little underdressed. To make things worst, I got caught in freezing rain while cycling on the way back. It's a miracle that I didn't actually fall sick from the exposure.

More updates to come!

Mansuhkan ISA (Part II)

2008-09-20T01:51:00.002+08:00

Attended another candle-light vigil organized by Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI) in front of Dewan Sri Pinang. They're planning to have it on a weekly basis leading up to the aniversary of Operasi Lalang. So if you're free on Friday nights at 9.30pm, do drop by and show them your support.

At the same time, a forum on the ISA was being held by the DAP at the Penang Chinese Town Hall. It was rather well-attended as can be seen in the picture below.

Farewell Altera!

2008-09-17T19:23:00.007+08:00

I suppose this is the season for change. With the commencement of my PhD studies in October, it was time for me to leave the place where I have worked throughout this year; Altera. I'm honored to have been able to make so many friends during my time there. Needless to say, my lunch buddies are the best colleagues that one can expect. There were so many things that we did (of which I shall not mention to protect their careers) during our lunch hours. To those involved in Altera Daily either as contributors, editors or readers, you have my eternal gratitude for all those fun and scandalous times. I really enjoyed my part-time job as a tabloid journalist. It really would've been impossible if not for the closet paparazzi in our department.

Lee Shyuan and Jia Pin: Partners in crime

To my left is my buddy Chiah Kuang

Citizens of Altera cube farm

#1 Sony fan Kai Lin

Altera SW Engineering Department

For the full photo album, click here.

Mansuhkan ISA!

2008-09-16T01:06:00.004+08:00

Photos taken at a candle-light vigil in front of Dewan Sri Pinang. It called for the abolishment of the Internal Security Act, 1960 which is frequently used in politically-motivated detentions. About 400 people showed up, which is something quite unprecedented in Penang. The organizers were surprised as they only expected around 100 participants. Here's to an increased awareness in civil rights and social activism among Penangnites!

The Story of Two Wolves

2008-08-22T10:48:00.000+08:00

An old Cherokee chief is teaching his grandson about life:

"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

"One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.

"The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope,
serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

"This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed."

Miscellany

2008-08-02T11:31:00.003+08:00

I noticed it's been a while since I wrote anything about what I was up to, so here goes....

Tried to go fishing with my parents last night but made a big mistake; forgot to check the tide forecast. It was LOW tide when we got to the beach, which made it impossible to fish. Hahah. Disastrous outing. Anyway, I'm organizing a family picnic at the end of the month at Tanjung Bungah. Will definitely get to fish then.

Having a buffet dinner at Park Royal this evening with my colleagues. It's like a "promotion tax". Those who are getting promoted are sponsoring this event. Haven't been there for ages but if memory serves me right, the buffet at Park Royal is pretty good.

My UK Visa is ready for collection. Next to find a date within the next 2 weeks to collect it. I was hoping that they would be less efficient. Looks like it's another trip to KL! Need to talk to my colleague. He's going down to KL next Thursday.

Just read "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely. It's a pretty good book that reveals how 'smart' people can make irrational (aka stupid) decisions. To me, it's pretty similar to another book called "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell in that it also looks at human behavior and psychology. A really good read with practical applications, althought I think it will be quite a challenge to actually analyze my own decisions before I make them.

Need to get a new pair of shoes. My Timberland loafers is super-worn and I don't think I'll be able to wear them to UK without being laughed at. My pair of Onitsuka Tiger shoes look too casual, so I'll have to look for a replacement. Any good brands to recommend? Good thing my Teva sandals are so durable, so I won't have to worry about replacing them anytime soon.

Need to attend lab safety training because this computer nerd has never stepped foot in a molecular bio lab before. Hopefully he doesn't get involved in any weird lab accident and ends up being a mutant with superpowers... wait.. that might actually be cool... hahahaha

Blast from the past...

2008-07-31T11:02:00.002+08:00

I have totally forgotten about this game until I saw it in a forum. Suddenly brought back a flood of memories. Sorry bout my nostalgic posts. Seems like I'm rediscovering a bit of my past each day. Kinda interesting that we used to be entertained by games like this. Games have come such a long way over the last 20 years, with all that realistic 3D graphics and such. Sorta forgotten what this game is about but I do remember one of my cousins having it and how desperate I was to play with it whenever I had the chance.

My tribute to caffeine

2008-07-29T10:18:00.003+08:00

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of Java the thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion."
- Unknown (derived from Dune)

Sustainable Sharks Fin?

2008-07-21T13:12:00.002+08:00

Shark fin is an issue that I feel strongly about. As I understand, a considerable amount of sharks fin are not sustainably harvested. Sharks are often finned and then thrown overboard while still alive, only to succumb to suffocation or attack by other predators. This is not only wasteful (shark meat is perfectly edible) but cruel as well. While some sources argue that fins are only harvested from shark carcasses that have already been caught for meat, other organizations have been able to capture on film the atrocities committed by greedy fishermen. I am all for the sustainable harvesting of our wildlife, but draw the line at barbaric acts such as this. Unless I can be certain that the shark fin that I am consuming is humanely harvested, I will continue to try to avoid the consumption of sharks fin and ensure that whenever served sharks in soup, that artificial shark fin (made from gelatin) is used instead.

After having all of its fins sliced off, a shark lies on a coral bed and slowly bleeds to death.

I got mentioned!

2008-07-18T10:36:00.002+08:00

:) My name is on my college boat club's web site as part of the May Bumps 2007 Men's 2nd crew. Even though they mis-spelled my name (happens all the time), I'm still glad that I actually did something in sports that got mentioned. I've never really been big on competitive sports, so this has been a great achievement for me.

Making a stand

2008-07-18T09:02:00.002+08:00

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” -- Desmond Tutu

While I have always had my political inclinations, I have never made it obvious in this blog in order to keep it a-political. Inspired by Susan Loone, I'll lay it out today.

Most of you who know me probably know where I stand. My friends are either politically neutral or on the anti-BN side, but that's not important because I can't imagine how someone can support the BN regime in times like this.

Here's what I've done so far:

I voted for the National Justice Party in the recent elections.
I contributed financially to the Democratic Action Party's election campaign.
I attended election rallies to show my support to the opposition, something that many other fellow Penangnites did.
I was part of a non-partisan election monitoring group known as Mafrel (Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections).

Having said that, I'm more anti-BN than pro-PR. It's just that given the status quo, it makes sense to me to support the PR. UMNO and it's BN lackeys can [expletive deleted] off.

Gone fishing

2008-07-16T21:36:00.003+08:00

Went fishing with CK last Saturday. Our group of anglers has been steadily decreasing since our fishing trips to Penang Bridge, so it's been quite a while since I last went fishing. Our last trip ended in disaster when we forgot to bring fish hooks and spent an entire morning at Gertak Sanggul eating char bee hoon and getting sunburnt for no reason.

As my fishing kit has gone missing, I had to go to Young Ones to grab some stuff like a line and some hooks. Went to Bayan Baru market for a quick breakfast and to buy sotong before a long drive to Teluk Bahang.

The new jetties are quite nice but we didn't have much luck that day. At least I managed to catch this little fish (which I released after taking a photo as it was too small) and a tiny fry. Anyway, regardless of the catch, it was a great outing for the weekend.

My catch. I hope he/she lived after the ordeal.

Jerk

2008-07-16T21:31:00.003+08:00

Selfish driver who kept cutting me off and didn't want to let me merge into the lane. Kept inching forward whenever I tried to get into the lane. Well I hope he's happy. As for me, I'll continue to be nice to fellow drivers whenever I can.

This is what I think of the current gas prices

2008-07-08T23:16:00.002+08:00

Picture posted on flickr by wales23us

My LEGO Collection

2008-07-07T14:02:00.003+08:00

These were my most prized possessions as a child. Christmas wouldn't be the same without the wrapped LEGO-set underneath the Christmas tree. I probably had more than the three shown below but I can't remember. These were the ones that stuck in my memory and I suppose it goes to show that I was a space freak even when I was a lil one. Sadly, they were either discarded when we moved or given away. I wish I still had them. It would've been an awesome link to a simpler era.

There were some others that I didn't have but wish I had...

Childhood Toys (StarCom)

2008-06-19T15:25:00.004+08:00

I don't know if you folks still remember, but when I was young, there was this set of toys that prominently featured action figures with magnets on their feet. They even had a few cartoon episodes to help sell the toys. It was pretty cool really; one the figures' magnetic feet are stuck to the base platform, some parts are automatically triggered. So example, the radar mast might start to rotate and the cannon will start firing. I had two of these toys. One is Starbase Command HQ and the other is the ShadowBat. One doesn't have to guess which one belongs to the good guys and which one belongs to the baddies (things were way simpler back then).

Starbase Command HQ (front)

Starbase Command HQ (back)

ShadowBat (back)

ShadowBat (front)

Images courtesy of the Virtual Toy Chest

Lolcat of the day

2008-06-10T20:52:00.002+08:00

Gosh.. the expression on hitman monkey's face is priceless. I sure hope I'll never get into such an unsatisfying job. Geez... he should put some passion into what he's doing. That's for sure. This half-hearted drowning of the kid won't be taking him places.

Milihelens as a Measurement of Beauty

2008-05-30T16:26:00.004+08:00

I suppose there needs to be a method to quantify beauty. One way that my friends and I have used previously has been the 'beh' unit. For example, a lady of one 'beh' beauty is considered as equally attractive as the namesake of the unit of measurement. However, I have found an even better unit of measurement from the Internets.

This unit is known as milihelens. This term comes from the mythology of "Helen of Troy". In this story, Helen of Troy is known as "the face that launched a thousand ships". As such, one milihelen is the amount of beauty that is required to launch one ship. This amount can be in the negative as well; as in -1 milihelen is the amount of ugliness required to launch one ship in the opposite direction. I look forward to incorporate this rating methodology in the future.

Stupid Watch

2008-04-26T13:41:00.002+08:00

Swiss watchmaker Romaine Jerome has just released a new watched called "Day&Night". It doesn't tell the time, apart from indicating whether it's day or night. Made from metal salvaged from the Titanic and the shipyard that built it. Selling price? $300,000. And guess what? The watch sold out within 48 hours of its launch.

I have only one thing to say. With the rising price of food worldwide that is not only affecting the life of the person-on-the-street but also reducing the amount of food aid that can be supplied to impoverished countries, the people who actually buy this watch need to die painful and horrible deaths. What a sickening display of conspicuous consumption. There's a special place in hell for this type of people. Don't get me wrong. I'm not against being wealthy. But being wealthy and spending your money in such a way?

Double Entendre by The Star

2008-04-22T20:53:00.000+08:00

ewww.....

No Smoking Sign

2008-04-22T13:50:00.002+08:00

This picture of the photographer's father was taken just before he lost his battle against lung disease. I thought it was one of the more powerful photos that I came across today.

Photo Credit: Sean (Ajka_Hungary) in Flickr

Maths Humor

2008-04-19T16:48:00.003+08:00

Took me a while to understand the last one. What is the root of love? What is the cause/cost of love? What is the difference of love? What is the identity of love? I gave up on the last one. Anyone knows what that is?

[Credit for the comics go to xkcd]

Pushing the envelope

2008-04-06T19:34:00.003+08:00

In the past few months, I've been able to increase the distance that I can row in 30 minutes (according to the ergometer) from around 5.9km to 6.4km. I wonder if I can keep improving. Of late, it feels like I'm already hitting my personal limit. Perhaps next week I will try to conquer it. Impossible is nothing™.

Remembrance

2008-03-24T20:29:00.005+08:00

Went to the Western Road Christian Cemetery on Easter Sunday to visit the graves of some relatives. Apart from the graves of locals, the cemetery also contains the Commonwealth servicemen as well as other expatriates from the early days of Penang.

Tranquility

Loyalty

John Saint Maur Ramsden
Died by gunshot - from an unknown hand at Caledonia - Province Wellesly in 1948

Charles Nevill Godwin
Assistant Commissioner
Federation of Malaya Police
Killed in action in 1954

Alec Bernard Wilmot
Federation of Malaya Police
Killed in action in 1953

William Henry Franks
Federation of Malaya Police
Killed in action in 1952

Frank John James Thonger
Federation of Malaya Police
Killed in action in 1951

Fallen RAF/RAAF servicemen

Alexandar Edward Brian Bulteel
Federation of Malaya Police
Killed in action in 1950

Hon. Inspector Douglas Stork
Federation of Malaya Police
Killed in action in 1951

Ian Gardner
Died in 1910 (Aged 3)

A Day to Remember

2008-03-10T21:57:00.002+08:00

8th of March was the day of the 12th Malaysian General Elections. Struggled to wake up at 7 in the morning and went to the polling station at around 9. The whole process was surprisingly simple and efficient. Headed directly into the school instead of getting myself checked out at the stalls set up by BN and PKR (which IMHO is totally unnecessary except for last-minute canvassing). The first stop was a counter set up by the Election Commission (EC) to verify voter details and to direct them to their respective streams. Being a first-time voter, I was naturally assigned to stream 7, which was the highest number (stream 1 being for the oldest voters). I did have a minor scare when the lady in front of me was not allowed to vote because her name was not found on the electoral roll. It turns out that she registered late last year, so I'm not sure if her name did not make it into the electoral roll or an error was made by the EC. Anyway, there were only 3-4 persons ahead of me in the queue to enter the classroom to vote. Since 2 voters were allowed into the room at any time, it was a pretty quick process. The clerk checked my identification card and crossed out my name from the electoral roll to show that I have voted before proceeding to provide me with two ballots (one for the state legislative council and another for the national parliament). It took me quite a while to cast my vote because I checked and rechecked several times to make sure I didn't make any errors in marking the candidate (really wanted my vote to count). Finally, I went up to the ballot boxes and dropped my ballots. Thus my civic responsibility as a voter was fulfilled.

Anyway, I went home and called WaiKeong to see if he was ready to go out and observe the elections. The first school that we went to was a primary school in Jelutong. (to be continued...)

Travel Freedom

2008-02-22T22:27:00.003+08:00

Henley Visa Restrictions Index is a global ranking of countries according to travel freedom their citizens enjoy.

Rank	Country	Visa Restrictions Index
1	Denmark, Finland, United States	130
2	Ireland, Germany, Sweden	129
3	France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom (British citizen passport)	128
4	Belgium, Norway, Spain, Switzerland	127
5	Netherlands	126
6	Austria, Canada, Luxembourg, New Zealand	125
7	Portugal	123
8	Singapore	122
9	Australia, Greece, Iceland, Malaysia	120
10	Liechtenstein	116
11	South Korea	115
13	Hong Kong (HKSAR passport)	110
14	Chile	109
18	Israel	104
19	Argentina, Hungary	101
20	Brazil	99
21	Mexico	98
28	Croatia	84
34	Romania, Mauritius	73
37	South Africa	65
40	Saint Kitts and Nevis	62
46	Dominica, Turkey	52
55	Taiwan	42
56	Thailand	40
62	United Arab Emirates, Russia	35
64	Serbia, Montenegro	32
65	Saudi Arabia	31
71	Bosnia and Herzegovina, India	25
72	Egypt	24
74	Peru	22
75	Jordan	21
78	China, North Korea	18
79	Pakistan	17
81	Iraq	15
82	Iran	14
83	Afghanistan	12

Happy V-Day!

2008-02-14T10:07:00.002+08:00

Dimokratia

2008-02-13T20:59:00.002+08:00

I'm a registered voter. Are you?

Book-a-holic

2008-02-04T08:45:00.002+08:00

I am in serious need of an intervention. Every time I walk into a bookstore, I am unable to leave it without having purchased a book. My latest acquisition is "War of the Running Dogs" by Noel Barber. A book on the Malayan Emergency which lasted between 1948 and 1960, it remains as one of the few instances in history where a guerrilla-style insurgency was successfully defeated. It's no surprise then that this book has found itself as required reading in many military institutions. War of the Running Dogs provides an interesting insight into the multi-faceted efforts in combating Communist insurgents, proving that raw military power in itself is not an effective tool against guerrillas. Instead it asserts that instead of viewing the conflict as a battle of military might, it should be taken instead as a war for the hearts and minds of the people. Mao Tse Tung has compared the guerrilla to fish and the civilian populace to water, creating an impression that the guerrillas were dependent on the civilians for survival and support. If so, the actions taken by the British were aimed as removing the "water" from the "fish" and to leave it gasping for air. This can be no more clearly demonstrated than by the "Briggs Plan", in which hundreds and thousands of Chinese villagers staying in scattered settlements close to the edge of the jungle were uprooted and relocated to "New Villages". Overall, this book is highly recommended for those who seek to better understand how life was during the Emergency as well as the resources and wits that were required to bring it to an end.

Wait.. did I just write a book review? I didn't set out to do that.

Blogging from Starbucks? No way!

2007-12-20T17:17:00.000+08:00

I used to think that blogging from Starbucks was a pretty pretentious thing to do. But today I'm forced to eat crow because here I am, blogging from the Starbucks of Queensbay Mall. Anyway, it's for a good reason. Even though I decided to take a long break so that I can spend Christmas at home, I had some unfinished business to do for my work. Having no Internet connection at home can be a pain in the rear, so Starbucks ended up being my 'office' so to speak. Anyway, didn't have as much work to do as I expected. Had to make some changes to my scripts which turned out to be rather simple. Also had to make some quite changes to an Excel spreadsheet for IDD rates for my customer but that was about it.

Since I paid 15 bucks for a cup of green tea frapuccino, I suppose it'd be good to sit around for a little longer and peruse the complimentary Internet connection to the fullest. My bus ride to Penang yesterday was a nightmare. It took 7 whole hours instead of the usual four-to-five. Apparently, the highway was choked full of people who thought similarly to me that it would be a good idea to spend a long weekend home. The bus driver had this bright idea of using the trunk road instead of the highway. I wonder if it was because of the jams on the highway (it didn't turn out to be very jammed when we took it later) or to avoid pay part of the toll. Anyway, I was really dazed at the end of the ride.

Random-ness

2007-11-20T00:31:00.000+08:00

Just some random photos that I've taken with my cellphone over the past couple of months.

The Harrods Bear that I got for Clarrise. I wonder how she named him
.

No other place epitomizes the qualities of a mamak stall. A shot taken at Line Clear when I was there with Wai Keong.

Waiting for the LRT to arrive. Welcome to my daily commute.

A music event that I went to over the weekend. The musicians were quite talented. Same can't be said about most of the vocalists though.

Charity

2007-11-20T00:13:00.000+08:00

Every day on my way to work, I see this old man begging on the sidewalk. As always, my instinct is to ignore him and hurry on to work, along with the thousands of KL'ites who use public transport. However there's always this little voice inside of me that tells me to help give him some money. I've always been cautious in giving money to beggars as I can never know for sure what they do with the money that I give them. What if he uses the money to buy a pack of smokes? Or some booze? Today, when I gave him money, I wasn't doing it because I felt pity for him or because I wanted to help him. I was just listening to that voice and it didn't matter what he did with my money. I guess I've come across many situations where I was in a position to help someone but decided against it only to be nagged for days by my conscience. Sometimes it's just easier to give.

Weekend in Penang

2007-11-17T23:07:00.000+08:00

This weekend I made the trip back to Penang. The bus trip from Puduraya was a total nightmare when the 6.30 bus that I was supposed to get on didn't show up on time. In the end, I managed to find an empty seat on another bus. Otherwise, I reckon I would've waited ages for my bus to actually arrive.

So what did I do? I had supper at Zubaidah with my brother. I've always liked the nasi lemak but never realized how popular it was until we had to wait for over half an our for ours to come. On Saturday afternoon, I hung out with Wai Keong for lunch at New World Park where we also saw some performances by local bands at a music festival. For dinner, I went to Dragon-i with my family. The food there was pretty good, especially the Shanghai meat dumplings and Sichuan noodles.

Tomorrow I'll be going to church before catching the afternoon bus back to KL. Here's to a good weekend spent at home with family.

Reminiscing

2007-11-15T21:45:00.001+08:00

Taken behind Newnham College. Although I cycle past Newnham quite often, I never quite expected it to have such a nice garden hiding behind it.

Christmas is coming!

2007-11-15T15:52:00.000+08:00

Just a brief update for those who haven't heard from me in a while. I am currently working in an IT consulting company in Kuala Lumpur. Relocated here almost a month ago and am now staying in a condominium at Bukit Jalil. It's quite a pleasant place really and the condo does have some facilities such as a gym (lots of broken equipment), swimming pool (half Olympic), coffee shop (so I don't have to cook when I don't feel like it) and laundry (don't have a washing machine). I have a pretty cool housemate/landlord who happens to be from PFS. Small world, really.

Travelling to work takes about 1 hour each way and is a pain in the rear, but I would choose this over driving any time. The traffic jams here in KL are truly epic and I wouldn't want to be stuck in one during rush hour.

So to all my friends in KL, do drop me a line. I would love to meet up with you guys. I'm also back in Penang almost every weekend, so I'm always free to hang out, even though I noticed that there aren't that many PFS people left in Penang.

Oh... and Christmas is fast approaching. The end of the year is always a time for reflection on how the past year went and to recollect all the events that have occured. Despite all that has happened, I can safely say that I've had a good, even great year. So here's to another good one! *raises glass of wine*

Of books...

2007-11-15T12:57:00.000+08:00

Guess what? I have finally decided to read Harry Potter books. I know I know... I've missed the boat. It's kinda funny how I've always considered Harry Potter to be a children's story and refused to read it even though I knew that a lot of adults were reading the book. But recently, I have taken to reading 'childrens' stories such as Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Wheel of Time and I must say that I have developed a liking for that genre.

So what have I read lately? A couple of weeks ago, I bought 'Like a Flowing River' by Paulo Coelho from Kinokuniya and spent several evenings reading it. It was really nice for light reading and did have some interesting observations of life. I also read 'Clouds of Fear' by Roger Hall, which is on one of my favorite topics: aerial warfare in WWII. Not too bad as the writer sought to describe the life of a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain but I would've liked it better if it had more accounts of battles.

So what am I reading now? I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone last night, so I reckon I'll start with the next book today. It's a good thing I haven't watched any of the movies yet as I think I'll be able to appreciate the movies better once I've read the books.

Spring is in the air!

2007-04-15T20:52:00.000+08:00

It was a warm spring afternoon and I seized the opportunity to cycle out to the backs and snap some shots of a typical Cambridge afternoon by the River Cam. Perfect for picnicking I would say!

Punters and Picnickers

Behind Trinity College

View from the bridge

The bridge was crowded with punts today

Spring flowers in full bloom

Home shweet Home!

2007-04-08T09:32:00.000+08:00

After three smashing weeks of vacation in Penang, I'm finally sitting here in Bayan Lepas International Airport waiting for my flights back to the UK. I can't say that it's a true vacation though; spent a good part of it working on my damned assignments. But still, being able to enjoy the local food and meet up with friends made up for it.

People that I met up with
Wai Keong
Cheong Kheng
U-Ming
Eng Keat
I-Rene
Jien Ann
Louise
Hean Loong
Hean Kuan

Interesting places I went to
Queensbay Mall!
Penang Hill ais kacang
G Hotel (nice lobby!)

Departing from hill railway station

Midway

This is home

Retro-funk

2007-02-18T20:30:00.001+08:00

I recently bought a set of Phillips 'in-ear'-type earphones but was sorely disappointed by the lack of bass and hollow sound. That made me quite reluctant to spend more money on looking for a better set of cans. However, I happened upon the Koss Porta Pro, which received countless glowing reviews. Throngs of satisfied audiophiles can't be wrong, so I decided to splash another 20 pounds on a set. They arrived in the mail yesterday and I must say that it's just as advertised. I now realize what I've been missing out after using my iPod earphones for the past six months. The Porta Pro didn't only sound perfect, but was also surprisingly comfortable. There was almost no pressure on the ear, which was the case with all the other headphones that I have used. Plus, it has this 80-ish retro-funk look.

The 80's just called. They want their headphones back.

Faith and Science

2007-02-11T22:59:00.000+08:00

My take on the whole religion vs science debate

Goofing around at CMS

2007-02-08T20:06:00.000+08:00

It snowed this morning, in what is only the second snowfall of the winter at Cambridge. Anyway, everyone was in a good mood this morning and there was a good number of people playing outside CMS, building all sorts of snow contraptions and snow(wo)men.

The view from my room when I woke up

There were a bunch of people building snowmen as I arrived at CMS

My coursemates and I built a snowman. Much fun. I think we need more practice.

Me

My coursemates

Street Band at Market Hill

2007-01-28T01:18:00.000+08:00

Man... they were GOOD! One of the best street bands I've seen so far. Shame they only played for like an hour or so.

Precipitation!

2007-01-24T21:56:00.000+08:00

It snowed a little last night. But it was all gone by noon today.

CUMaS Back to School Formal @ Robinson College

2007-01-24T08:37:00.000+08:00

Some of us were wearing school uniforms (not me)

Europe Part 5

2007-01-09T22:44:00.000+08:00

Day 5
After a long train ride throughout the night from Zurich, I finally arrived at Berlin Hauptbahnhoff at around eight in the morning. Since it was quite early, I wandered around the train station looking for breakfast. Found a nice bratwurst stand that served the sausage with some mean potato salad. It was really good! After that, I stopped by a shop to get myself a pair of gloves because I lost mine during the train ride. Must've dropped it somewhere. Transportation turned out to be quite simple as I got myself a tourist ticket that allowed me unlimited rides on the whole Berlin public transportation system for 3 days (18 euros). This included the U-bahn (subway), S-bahn (above-ground trains), trams and buses.

My first stop was to get to the Zoolischer Garden S-bahn station, as the Berlin Zoological Gardens was just opposite it. This zoo has the largest collection of animals in the world and also has an adjoining aquarium. Student rates to both places cost 11 euros. The zoo grounds was HUGE! I mean it took a better part of a whole day to go through the exhibits, to to mention that they probably have any species that you can think about. The aquarium was great too. You don't have the acrylic tunnels that the newer ones typically come with, but they are one of the few institutions in the world that have successfully bred jellyfish, which is extremely difficult because they typically die in normal aquarium environments.

After the zoo, I made my way back to Hauptbahnhoff terminal, which is sort of like KL Sentral. It was built as a transportation hub as well as a shopping center for the 2006 World Cup, so it's still spanking new. Had lunch there and used one of the Internet kiosks (which cost 2 euros per hour by the way). Then I took the S-Bahn to Alexanderplatz station before changing to the U-Bahn and riding to Rosa-Luxemburg Platz. From there, it was a short walk to my hostel. It was a really nice hostel, which was more like a hotel. There was a lobby and even a bar, really great considering it's only 12 euros per night. This time around, the room was almost full, with every bunk occupied by someone. It was great, because I got to share travel stories with them. There was this guy who actually traveled to Berlin overland from Kuala Lumpur. Much respect for him. Since it was still early, I took a walk around nearby streets. Stopped by a stall to have currywurst. It was really good stuff! Best food I had in my trip perhaps.

Arriving at Berlin

Artic wolves

Penguins

Segafredo at Berlin? Cool!

Tower at Alexanderplatz

Europe Part 4

2007-01-03T03:59:00.000+08:00

Day 4
Arrived in Zurich rather early in the morning. I think it was around seven-something. And it was freezing as well! Unbelievably cold! My first priority as usual was to get a train reservation for my onward journey to Berlin. Having done that, I went to the money changer. One of my biggest mistakes was not realizing before the trip that Switzerland was still using the Swiss franc and have not embranced the euro yet.

Made a short stop at the tourist information office to get some maps. The officer at the desk was kind enough to suggest a route for me to travel around the city as well as its surrounding regions. I also found out that it was possible to go around the whole city on foot, so I could save on bus/tram tickets. Walked down Niederdorfstrasse, which was a nice little street with various restaurants, shops and night clubs. The restaurants here, as in Germany, served mostly kebabs and wurst (sausages).

Visited a nice little church where Zwingli sparked off the reformation Europe. Some nice stained glass there too. Anyway, after doing some walking around the city, I headed to the jetty to catch a ferry ride. This ferry is actually a form of public transportation that takes people to the various districts along the edge of Zurichsee (Lake Zurich). As for me, I just sat in the ferry and waited till it got back to the city center more than an hour later. It was quite a good way to look around the surrounding area of Zurich without having to watch, not to mention drooling at all the posh lakeside houses with 'garages' for boats.

After getting of the ferry, I wandered around Bahnofstrasse, which is one of the main streets of Zurich. Walking past Paradeplats, you can see lots of businessmen going around in their suits. This is because Zurich is home to 2 of the largest Swiss banks; UBS and Credit Suisse. Their headquarters can be seen near Bahnofstrasse and are rumored to contain large underground vaults. Bahnofstrasse is also renowned as one of the poshest shopping streets in the world, with stores of various luxury labels located along the street. I stopped by a cybercafe to check my email and surf for a while. One of the quirks of Europe is that the keyboard layouts change from country to country and it took quite a while to get used to them. After that, I hurried back to the Hauptbahnhof train station to catch my train, which left at close to eight o clock.

Fog on the river at Zurich

Church steeple

Stained glass at a church

Bratwurst (sausage) shop

Intersection at Bahnofstrasse with the 2 Swiss bank buildings

Europe Part 3

2007-01-02T07:04:00.000+08:00

Day 3
Woke up rather late as I was pretty tired. It also helped that I had the entire room to myself, so there was no one around to wake me up. My first order of the day was to head to the Termini railway station to get some supplies for my trip to Zurich. At the top of my list was a paperback, as travel time was expected to be quite long and I wanted something to read. Looking through the bookstore was a nightmare as almost ALL of the books there were in Italian. I never realized how insignificant English books were in European countries as back home in Malaysia, most bookstore chains supplied mainly English books. Finally, I was able to locate a couple of racks on the 2nd floor of the store. I finally got hold of 'Dune', a sci-fi novel I've been wanting to read for a very long time. Book in hand, I made my way to the Colosseum, an ancient arena where all sorts of activities ranging from gladiator fights to the feeding of Christians to lions took place. Frankly, it was one of the more 'tourist trap-ish' places, with guys in centurion costumes available to pose for photos for a fee. There were also various street traders selling stuff from camera tripods to scarfs. The scale of the building was impressive but I didn't enter it as most guides said that it wasn't worth it.

I then made my way to the Paletine hills where I was treated to a great view of the city. Near the Colosseum stood the Arch of Constantine, a magnificent arch built to commemorate some military victory. After sitting around in the Colosseum area for some time watching tourists come and go, I made my way back to the Termini station where I spent a couple of hours having dinner and reading my newly-bought novel. I also managed to sample some gelati, which was really nice. Over the past few days, I managed to try coconut, peppermint and chocolate flavored ones, all of which were excellent. Boarded the night train to Zurich at about nine. Paying an additional 25 euros on top of my rail pass, I managed to get a couchette on the train, which is actually a foldable bunk. Each cabin held 6 bunks and I was 'sway' enough to get the top one, which meant that I had to climb up a ladder and crawl my way onto my bunk. Halfway through the journey, a couple of Korean tourists boarding from Milan came into my cabin. The train service was really good and efficient. An attendant took my passport and tickets so that I wouldn't have to be bothered in the event of checks at the border checkpoint.

The Colosseum (Colloseo)

Arch of Constantine

Downtown Rome

My bunk (at the top)

To be continued...

Europe Part 2

2007-01-01T08:54:00.000+08:00

Day 2
Got up early and went to the Termini Metro station to catch a train to the Ottaviano station. From there, it was a short walk down Via Ottaviano to reach Pizza del San Pietro (St. Peter's Square). The sights were amazing! The huge expense of the square, the larger-than-life statues, the large imposing structures; it's impossible to comprehend the awesome-ness of the Vatican City from pictures alone. It was around 10 in the morning and there were tons of people milling around the square. Tried to get into a queue to get into St. Peter's Basilica but was stopped by the security. Turns out that the Pope was having a public audience and you needed to get a pass to get in. Oh well, not that I'm really interested in meeting the Pope, so I just sat at the square and absorbed the atmosphere for a while. Then I took a 10 minute walk around the Vatican City walls to get to the Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museum). Entry for students costs 8 euros (10 euros for normal entrance). The collection of the museum was quite comprehensive. They had ancient Egyption stuff as well as stuff from the Greek and Roman times. The highlight of the museum was no doubt the Sistine Chapel. Photography was not allowed in the chapel, but that did not stop many tourists (me included) from trying to steal a shot or two when the security weren't looking. Michaelangelo's celebrated work of art, 'The Creation of Adam' is one of the many paintings on the ceiling of the chapel. Finished with my tour of the museum, I stopped by the post office to send out some post cards. The Vatican postal service is one of the most efficient postal services in the world and citizens of Rome regularly use the Vatican postal service as it is more efficient than the Italian one.

Went back to Via Ottaviano where I had the pleasure of eating pizza while sitting at the pavement next to a dumpster (the pizzeria was full). I finally managed to get into St. Peter's Basilica after 2pm (the Pope had left). The queue was short but security was quite heavy (with x-ray machines and all that). My first stop was the Vatican crypt, where the remains of past Popes are interred. The highlight of the crypt was the tomb of St. Peter himself, though I doubt his remains are actually there. It's probably somewhere else in the Vatican, if it's actually there in the first place.

With some extra time, I took the Metro to Piazza del Spagna (Spanish Square). The road nearby the Spanish Square hosts many upscale shops. I walked for a good 15 minutes before finally reaching my objective; the Pantheon. It's an interesting structure with a circular whole on top of the dome. The tomb of Raphael, another celebrated artist is there as well (found out about that from Angels and Demons). After that, I walked to the Trevi Fountains which is nearby. I got lost a couple of times along the way though. After having too much Italian food, I finally succumbed and walked into a Burger King for dinner before heading back to my hostel.

The Creation of Adam

The Pantheon

Vatican Museum - Impressive spiral staircase

Sculpture

Monument near Piazza del Spagna

Piazza del San Pietro

For all pictures from my trip, check out the Photo Album

Back! Part 1

2006-12-29T18:46:00.000+08:00

*phew* I've been relaxing in Cambridge for the past couple of days after 2 weeks of being out and about. First, I was on a 7-day trek across 3 countries in Europe, and then I went to visit my sis in Manchester for about a week.

So how was the trip to Europe? I ended up 2 countries short of my 5 country goal because my leg got injured and I was pretty tired. I guess there'll be some other time for that. I left for Roma, the largest city in Italy on the 12th of December from Stansted Airport. The security at the airport was really tight and it took almost forever to get past it. Funny thing was that I left my bicycle blinker lights in my backpack and the officers noticed that there was some red flashing light inside my bag. They pulled it aside and MADE me open it. They opened all the other bags themselves, so they were probably afraid that it might be a bomb or something. But come on, who makes a bomb with big red flashing lights?

The Ryan Air plane was nice and new. My only gripe was that throughout the flight, there were announcements and advertisements. Really annoying but I guess that's what you get for being a cheapo. Arrived at Ciampino airport 2 hours later and realized that it's in the outskirts of the city, so I took a shuttle bus to the Termini railway station which took 8 euros. The first thing I did when I got to Termini was to get myself an onward ticket to Zurich. Then I made my way to the hostel, which was about 10 minutes walk from the railway station. I almost got lost because the hostel didn't even have a signboard. It was unmarked except for a small label on the intercom at the door (talk about being cheap!). When I finally found the place, the guy told me that I would be staying in another apartment on some other street, so it was more walking. Finally got to my dorm room and had a pleasant surprise; though it was a 6-bedded dorm, I had the whole room to myself for both days! What a bargain!

Was feeling quite hungry, so I went down and wandered my way to the first pizzeria that I saw. The pizzas in Roma are not the same as the ones I'm used to (the rounded ones). In Roma, they bake the pizzas in huge square trays and sell small slices of them by weight. Also bought a bottle of coke, which I thought tasted weird. I don't really like Italian coke, must be differences in the amount of sugar they put in. After dinner, I went out for a short walk in the Termini area and Piazza del Cinquecento.

To be continued...

I haven't had time to label and sort the photos, but here's a link to the photo gallery anyway.
Photo Album

EUROTRIP!

2006-12-12T00:54:00.000+08:00

This, my friends, is why I love being a Malaysian. It turned out that holders of Malaysian passports can visit countries that signed the Schengen Agreement (which include most of the EU countries) without a visa for up to 90 days!

On that note, I will be away for the next 10 days on a solo backpacking trip across several European countries (not sure which ones yet). If you guys don't hear from me, I've probably been kidnapped or something. In that case, please call the Malaysian embassy in UK and inform them of my predicament.

I'm traveling EXTREMELY light since I only have a small back (which doesn't even qualify as a backpack). Just a change of clothes, so I'll stick really bad (hope to compensate with a deodorant stick). A camera, my cellphone, some cash and toiletries and I'm ready to go! Got myself a railpass which lets me take trains for free in 5 countries (Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark and BeNeLux).

Most people say that backpacking in Europe is meant to be done solo. I'm about to find out if this is true or not. At any rate, be prepared for my post-trip photo posts!

Those were the days...

2006-12-08T01:08:00.001+08:00

Ahh... tis the season to be jolly. Oh.. and it's also the season for TRAPLEX! In the spirit of the camp, here's a blast from the past. *forlorn sigh*... those were the days indeed... when you thought you'd never grow up.

Tower & Gateway. I don't know but it sure did look larger in real life. Anyway, the odd guy is Cheok. Our unofficial patrol member. Note the guy in the communist cap. That's our infamous Neoh Hor Kee.

In formation.

Construction worker wannabes. Yes Yean Hsiang, we know you have a nice butt. No need to show off. Anyway, this guy is married. Stop putting pressure on the rest of us ok? Geez...

Our bounty from Traplex 99.

End-of-Term Celebrations!

2006-12-02T06:19:00.000+08:00

Woohoo! In the blink of an eye, the term has come and gone and it was time to celebrate. I contributed 2 bottles of wine while others brought food and dessert. Great food and great company. I was busy wolfing down sushi, trifle and spicy Thai anchovies. Photos courtesy of Samuel and Gabrielle.

Tim, Aska and Stephen

Jen and Celene

In the common room

The food spread

Group photo

Dr Death

2006-11-23T05:55:00.000+08:00

I was part of a pre-med rotation program at Penang Adventist Hospital circa 2001-2002 and had the opportunity to observe some surgical procedures. Managed to sneak in a camera to the dressing room to take some pictures of me all dressed up and ready to kill (err.. not in a literal sense).

Loose fitting one-size-fits-all scrubs.

See the shower head behind? Yeah. I secretly took this photo in a shower stall.

Emmanuel College Formal Hall

2006-11-15T05:47:00.000+08:00

Yvonne

May Kim

Bunch of people

Emma dining hall

Talks @ Cambridge

2006-11-06T09:24:00.000+08:00

Talk by Sir Tim Hunt (Nobel Prize recipient) on Controlling the Cell Cycle

Simon Singh (of The Code Book fame) explaining the fatal flaw in Question 9 of his Cipher Challenge

Showing one of the wheels of an Enigma machine

Fresher's Formal

2006-10-31T08:49:00.000+08:00

A visit to "the other place"

2006-10-31T08:21:00.000+08:00

Two weekends ago, I went on a day trip to Oxford along with Celeen, Jennifer and Joanna. Here's some pictures from the trip, courtesy of Celeen's blog.

At the noodle bar

Take that!

Christ Church

Christ Church quad

Some college building

Radcliffe Camera

Christ Church (aka Hogwarts) dining hall

Some college building

Christ Church

Cambridge Update

2006-10-23T06:08:00.000+08:00

Hi there. Sorry for the paucity of updates. Been pretty busy settling in for the past month. Anyway, as promised, here are some photos to prove that I'm still alive.

This photo album contains some pics from the first few days of my UK trip. There's some pretty cool pics that I took from the plane as it was flying over Indo-China, Afghanistan (thank God the Taliban does not have medium-range SAMs) and most of Europe.

It also has some pictures that I randomly took in Cambridge as well as of my college photo session.

There's another album containing pics from a pleasant weekend trip I took to St Andrews and Edinburgh. Nice scenic places. Especially St Andrews since it's just by the sea. Sigh. I really envy the students there who get to stroll by the beach anytime they want.

Anyway, the picture above is that of my department, which is where I do most of my studies/work. Nice and modern architecture.

Cambridge... hooooo!!!

2006-09-26T22:00:00.000+08:00

Say say say.... Weng Khong is now in Cambridge! Anyway, still don't have a connection to my room (I can barely receive the wireless). So I have to walk a couple of meters down to the library to go online. Taken quite a bit of pics. So I'll be posting them as soon as I have a connection to my room!

Paparazzi Attack!

2006-09-16T17:06:00.000+08:00

This happened over a year ago. But I recent found the pictures lying around in my hard drive and I decided that it was something worth sharing. I was at the library with a friend, Lee Ling when we became unknowing victims to our uni's budding paparazzi. The 'scandalous' pics were then distributed to classmates before they eventually got to me.

Thankfully, nothing indecent got caught by the camera. But I guess that's because nothing indecent happened. :Þ

Anyway, you have all been warned. Beware of paparazzis.

May the Force be with paparazzi victims... (Sorry Jien... I just had to do it...)

Me, Myself and I-Rene

2006-09-12T23:47:00.000+08:00

Managed to catch up with I-Rene just now over dinner at Food Loft. The place is kinda nice... cozy. But the food is just so so. Anyway, we headed to Coffee Bean at Belissa Row to check out the inter-accounting firm carom competition.

Me, Myself and I-Rene

A carom match

The Economy of Mercy

2006-09-10T01:01:00.000+08:00

These carbon shells
These fragile dusty frames
House canvases of souls
We are bruised and broken masterpieces
But we did not paint ourselves

Unemployment

2006-09-04T10:27:00.000+08:00

Today is Monday, and I begin the life of an unemployed person. It feels kinda good to be able to wake up anytime you wish. Sushi King is having their RM2-for-all-plates promotion again, so I guess I'd be making a beeline there. Don't really feel like eating salmon today-lah. 20 more days of lepaking remains ahead of me, so I better make full use of them. So what do I have in store?

Thinking of volunteering in Adventist (for old-times sake). But don't know if the people I know are still there.
Read up as many novels as I can. (and hopefully finish the Narnia series).
Watch as many Scrubs and Friends episodes as I can.
Drive round-island!
Brush up on my guitaring skills.
Study for my course (gee... I wonder why it's last on the list....)

May the Force be with me! (Jien might sue me for copyright infringement for using this quote... but what the heck).

All good things must come to an end...

2006-08-31T19:40:00.000+08:00

Well... time flies and before I knew it, it was already my last day in Intel. It didn't quite sink in until later in the day when I stared at my empty cube that was devoid of all paper and equipment (it used to be a mess). As I gathered up my belongings and made my way to the exit for one last time, I finally realized that I won't be coming back for work; no more mad dash in the mornings for early meetings, no more sleepy afternoons waiting to go back, no more braincell-destroying coding sessions. Yessir. My working days in Intel were over for the time being, and with them, another phase of my life. As I prepare myself to embrace the next phase of my life (tentatively titled: Return to studenthood), here's some pictures of me and the people who have been part of my life in the past year.

This is me and my cubemate Boon Kiat. We joined Intel on the same day and have
been sharing the same cube since then. He's one of my best buddies in Intel I could say.

My workstation. Well, I have a laptop too but nothing beats the
good 'ol LCD monitor.

Louise!!! She just joined Intel not too long ago but quickly became a good friend of mine. Nuff said. Come to think of it, she's the only person from work whom I hang out with outside working hours. Not to mention that I bumped into her so many times outside that she once accused me of stalking her!

Karen came in a few months earlier than me, so I guess I can consider her as my senior. She also happens to be a friend of Cheong Kheng in UTM. All I can say is that she's always bubbly and is best GPTW rep ever (she arranges our teambuilding sessions).

Ah... Isabelle. What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Don't play-play. This girl has a Masters from USM ok? Anyway, she happens to live near my place in Bayan Lepas.

And finally, to round things up, a photo of me and the ladies. Woohoo!

Cambridge here I come!

2006-08-28T11:10:00.000+08:00

Woohoo! Finally some good news! I received my funding to attend the MPhil. in Computational Biology course at the University of Cambridge. Will be staying at St. Edmund's College throughout the year. Being a graduate college, it's not one of the more 'famous' colleges such as Trinity or St. John's. But still, I guess it's not too bad; at least it has a bar that serves Hoegaarden (all that I really care for, actually).

So what am I excited about? A couple of things actually. For starters, my course is under the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, which is the department that Stephen Hawkings is in! I guess being in a Faculty that was once chaired by Sir Isaac Newton would be an honor in itself. Other than that, I guess it's the traditions of Cambridge that I can't wait to experience. Having to get up to speed on a totally new field (molecular biology and statistics) is also kinda fun for me as computer science has gotten somewhat stale for me.

For those of you who are interested to know more about the application process, both for admission to Cambridge and funding, do IM or e-mail me. :) I'll be glad to help out.

My resolve is to start a photoblog (I'm not too good with words I'm afraid) to document my life in Cambridge. So do drop by to see how things are going or spam me at (wengkhong gmail <.d.o.t.> com) to ellicit a response.

FA Cup Final @ Khaleel Gurney Drive

2006-05-14T21:07:00.000+08:00

Had a good time catching up with friends while watching a thrilling football match. :) Not to mention getting to meet HorKee. I miss you HorKee!!!!!!!

Rastafarian Ambitions

2006-03-21T20:36:00.000+08:00

Woohoo! After several unsuccessful attempts, I finally managed to find a Bob Marley t-shirt! Now I can finally become a rastafarian. :P

Attended the SCUBA session on Sunday morning after a 5-month hiatus. Mann... it's great to be in the water again. Finally got about to filling in the form so that I can get my diver's license. After that, I'll be a certified PADI open water diver, which means that I can dive at most locations around the world =) . The diving folks are off to Sipadan this August but I don't think I can make it. Freaking trip costs RM2k. Don't think I'll be willing to part with that much, not to mention the risk of getting abducted by pirates (i.e. Abu Sayyaf). I don't fancy having tea with Commander Robot.

Didn't realize that Easter was fast approaching. Seems like there's only a couple of weeks left. I guess drama practice sessions are going to intensify soon. Oh well, I've already made a commitment. :) I'd better stick to it. Anyway, the people there are all fun and it's great to be around them. Can't wait till it's over though.

Drug junky

2006-03-16T00:32:00.000+08:00

Woke up this morning to an unbearable pain on my foot. Blardy plantar fasciitis acting up again. So, I went to GH this afternoon hoping to get a referal to see an orthopaedic specialist. But no, they decided to put me on more drugs again. This time, I got myself some cool stuff called "indomethacin". Further research on Google(tm) turns up this snippet of information:

Indomethacin is a potent drug with many serious side effects and should not be considered an analgesic for minor aches and pains or fever.

Definitely sounds like good stuff. Better than Voltaren(tm) (diclofenac sodium) I hope. I told the doctor that I've gone from taking 50mg to 100mg to keep the pain manageable and that's why she decided to let me try out this new drug. I haven't tried it yet but I will make it a point to write about its 'effectiveness' later.

*sigh* What have I become? A painkiller addict? Hope not. Hahah. Can't see myself being a lifetime dependant on pain meds. By the way, I've not had any 'trips' yet. So I guess they still haven't given me the really 'good stuff' yet. ;)

Been thinking of a trip to Medan in the near future. It's just across the Strait and the ferry tickets shouldn't cost much. Besides, the Ringgit is quite strong against the Rupiah, so I'll have quite some spending power when I'm there. Not to mention I'd sure like to fill up my new passport. Currently looking pitiful with just a pair of stamps from Singapore.

Anyone got a Bob Marley T-Shirt?

2006-03-15T00:04:00.000+08:00

Do you have a t-shirt like this? If so, can I borrow it from you for a couple of days? Serious... I need it for a church Easter play. Just came back from Batu Feringghi where I couldn't find any. I've tried looking at raggae clubs but it seems that all the raggae clubs in Penang have closed shop (the culture's probably dead). Geez... if I can't find it, I'll probably have to use my funky Indian shirt, which looks kinda good anyway.

SPM results are out today. My cousin got herself straight A1s! Congrats to her!

My leg is still messed up. Sheesh... this is starting to get on my nerves. I better start getting a walking stick if I want to get better soon. Oh... and thank God for Voltaren(tm)

Random updates

2006-03-09T00:44:00.000+08:00

So, what's been going on lately. Had quite a nasty fever last night, so I kinda thought that I wouldn't have to work today. But I woke up feeling rather fine so I decided to drop by at work and maybe check in with the doctor later. But guess what? Turns out that today was a super busy day at work. From the moment I came in, I had to investigate on several cases of data integrity issues and prepare presentation slides for Friday's program meeting. The rest of the day was filled with 1:1 discussions and teleconferences and more investigation work. *phew* Not to mention I'm still nursing that nagging pain on my left foot.

Anyways, managed to go home a bit early (was still thinking of seeing the doctor but he was closed, so what the heck). Had some 'quality' time with my guitar. Boy, is 'Desire' by Ryan Adams a great song. Been practising it for the past few days ever since I heard it on a House episode. Oh yeah, did I mention House? You should probably watch it. It's one of the best shows I've ever watched. And now that I'm walking with a limp and constantly taking pain medication, I've developed a close association with that Dr. House character.

Geez... it's getting late. I have a meeting early tomorrow and a physio appointment in the afternoon. Ciao!

For great justice!!!

Borrriinng

2006-03-04T20:45:00.000+08:00

Sigh... a boring Saturday afternoon. Woke up late and had roti telur(?!) for lunch. Spoke to Su Lin over Skype (darned lag and lousy notebook microphone kinda spoiled things). Sigh... if my boss approved my travel request earlier, I could've joined her for the Niagara trip. But oh well, such is life.

Oh yeah, a dear friend of mine, Rachel, will returning to Singapore after working in Penang for years. Going to miss her. For those who don't know, she's a slave driver whom I used to count coins for at Adventist. But she's cool I guess. Introduced me to Ms. Malaysia some more. I guess I still owe her for that. :P

Wax Bath!!!

2006-03-03T00:29:00.000+08:00

Today's highlight: My physiotherapy session.

Yup. After suffering from plantar fasciitis (the bottom of my feet hurts) for several months, I finally decided that going to the chiropractor wouldn't be enough and that I had a see a real doctor. So I dragged myself to GH (yeah, I'm cheap. So what?) and ended up getting enrolled in physiotherapy sessions.

So after my lunchtime meeting today, I headed down to GH for the physio session. As it was, the physiotherapist decided that I should receive some sort of ultrasound treatment plus a wax bath for my feet. Oh well... can't really notice any improvements but I guess this is going to take a while before it gets better.

Despite being a government hospital, I think the quality of service wasn't too bad. And the price is simply unbeatable. I'm only being charged RM1 for each visit.

Anyway... here's a pic of me and a bunny wabbit during my trip to Langkawi in January. We were coming down from the cable car ride when we saw a 'rabbit farm' nearby and it turned out to be free.

My Axe

2006-02-28T15:31:00.000+08:00

Hey. Ignore the messy background and take a look at my guitar.

Yea... I bought it a couple of months ago for one G. It's a Squire Strat (erm... sort of like a Fender clone... but it's made by a subsidiary of Fender.. so it's authorized). I'm currently playing it on a 15W Fender Frontman amp, which is good enough for practising I guess.

Leg tear!!!

2006-02-27T01:31:00.000+08:00

Yeah. It's official. My leg is killing me. It's been painful for the past few months and those who've met me will have noticed that I've been walking around with a limp. Now it has gotten so bad (excerbated by the trip to S'pore) that I'm going to see an orthopaedic specialist tomorrow. Yup. I'm probably going to end up in a cast or something. Being cacated for a few months has been an eye opener for me.

So how was the trip to Singapore? Erm... it was pretty brief. Took an 11pm bus from PG and arrived in SG at around 7am. After bfast at the Orchard Rd Burger King, went straight to the Asian Aerospace 2006 exhibition grounds. Left the place at around 4pm and took a 9pm bus back to PG. The bus ride back was terrible. We were had. They said the bus was leaving at 9 but it left more than an hour later (had to sit in the bus the whole time). The air-cond was super cold and even after 3 layers to shirts, I was still shivering. Darn bus ride! Never gain will I take that company's bus.

First Post!!!

2006-02-23T15:11:00.000+08:00

Hello World!

Hello folks! Welcome to my humble blog. Well, not to say that this is my first attempt at maintaining a blog. My previous 2 attempts have ended up in abanboned blogs due to a lack of interest/time/etc. So, if you come back in like a month and see no changes, you'd be right to assume that this project has been abandoned. Anyway, I shouldn't be typing much. I'd probably be strangled to death if I'm discovered blogging on company time. Cheerio!