Lost In Translation

My exams are in about 5 days' time, and the timetable looks like this:

7 June - Organisational Behaviour (OB)
14 June - Intermediate Financial Accounting (IFA)
16 June - Business & Economy in South East Asia (SEA)
21 June - Cost Management (CM)

So far, I've pretty much studied OB and three quarters of IFA. Which is kinda cool, I suppose, seeing that I still have more than a week till IFA. As for SEA and CM, I haven't touched them. I'm assuming that there's not much I can really prepare for in SEA because it's more of an argumentative and opinionated subject. All I need to do is reread my reading material or notes throughout the course and look through my assignments and pray. As for CM on the other hand, I just realised upon typing up the dates above that I have less than a week between SEA and CM to prepare for it.
And did I mention that CM is my weakest subject?

And yet, I'm still quite comfortable, I suppose with my pace. SO comfortable, in fact, that I think I'm beginning to slack. Yesterday and today would have to be the most unproductive days byfar. To illustrate my unproductivity (besides this entry already), I installed Yahoo! Widgets and Style XP. Now my entire desktop has been refurnished. Looking rather savvy, might I add.

Legends:
1) A little bar where I can type in shortcuts and it launches applications of my choice. For instance, I've set 'ff' to launch Firefox.
2) The Melbourne weather forecast for the following 5 days.
3) My computer stats. Battery power, Wifi reception, Memory usage, etc.
4) My calendar and organiser.

Yes, yes. I know they're all old stuff and "oh my gosh, dave, you're so outdated. they've been around for ages. haha!" Sue me.
But they do add a little spunk to the screen, hey? Which helps a little when typing out notes as well, now. The screen looks more... pleasant (in contrast to what I've been having to stare at all this while).

Besides that, I've also been planning my holidays. There's the trip to Daylesford with Esther after the exams. And also the Pulau Redang trip back home that failed before it even launched. So yes, as you can see, I have been pretty distracted for the past 2 days.

Oh well. Maybe what soph said is true. When the exams draw nearer, then I'll panic, and then I'll be more productive.

I guess I'll have to wait and see.

p/s: Mum, dad: i was just kidding about that last bit. i am planning to study and not wait till last minute. don't worry!

As you can see, my tagboard is spamhaven for the fellow spammers of the world wide web. Interesting how they don't make any sense at all. And more interesting is how this recent one, who calls himself 'rape stories' has no link either, making it a spam with no purpose.

Usually, I'd be annoyed. This is stupid. It has to be taken down.
But as of today, I can't really be too bothered by it at all? Why, you ask? Good question. I'm glad you asked.
It is because today, I just got myself this little baby.

Oh yes. The Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens may be a bargain lens. But it is a good bargain lens. Its high aperture and bold colours is nothing short of magnificient, making even the most dead of things look alive.

Oh the beauty of the 50mm. Handcrafted by God Himself.

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

Holy Carbonara's! My exams start tomorrow!!!

And what a time for my bathroom shower pipe to start leaking. It is unbelievable! Of all times it chooses to happen, it happens now! Just about 2-3 days ago, Esther was walking into the bathroom when she noticed she stepped on something wet before the bathroom door. To her (and soon my) astonishment, there was this huge patch of wet carpet by the side of the entrance.

So today, I decided to get someone from the body corporate to look at it. (Hah! It's not my fault! It's YOUR fault! You guys are so not gonna take a single cent out of my bond!!). And boy was it shocking when he checked it out. He decided to pull out the lower plank of wood of the wall to reveal an entirely enclosed ecosystem within.

It was disgusting. It was made out of wet and spongy wood, puddles of water, moss, and other obscure yucky stuff we shall just call "gunk". Inside, it was as if the entire content within my walls had rotted into mere black gunk. It was incredible! And the smell! Well, it wasn't pungent. But there certainly is this stale smell wafting in my bathroom now.

How crazy's that closeup shot? It's disgusting, isn't it?
Well, initially, the repairguy said he'd come in tomorrow to have it fixed. But I've got a paper tomorrow! So I told him no can do. He said fine. He'll come Thursday then. Thurday sounds good. And then I ask him how's he gonna fix it. And he tells me he's gotta break down a coupla walls and fix the pipe. That will be done in a day, no doubt. What's gonna take more than a day is when the plasterboard guys come in and put the wall back up. Cool, I said. It's as if I don't have any other papers besides tomorrow's to prepare for. Fine by me.

So as of now, I've got a little hole at the bottom of my wall in the bathroom. After Thursday, I've got more than a little hole in my walls around my bathroom. And I don't need to study for any of my other exams at all because this is definitely way more important.

I'm screwed...

Alex. Get the Xbox 360. Now.

Suck. And I bet you can tell by the increase in frequency of me blogging in between papers.
Progress has been slowing down a little as the weather takes on a gloomy turn for the past few days. The cold keeps me in bed and when I wake up I just feel like pastry and coffee/hot chocolate and a blankey and some jazz. Oh yea. You know what I'm talking about. And to make things worse, the leak in my shower has yet to be fixed. Oh, a little update on that. The body corporate sent another team in to inspect the leak and found out that the problem wasn't with the pipes at all. It was actually the plaster behind the walls that have corroded or something. Either way, no walls have to be broken down now. Last Thursday, they came back and fixed the plaster behind the walls. But they are not sure if it's totally fixed yet as they need to wait for the plaster to dry inside, then I shower (yes, for about a day, I couldn't shower in my bathroom. I had to go down to the gym to use the shower there), and then see if it's still leaking.

It still is.

And thanks to this 3-day weekend now, they are only available on Tuesday to come fix it up again. Tuesday. The day before my IFA exam. Not cool. Especially since it takes me about an hour to do 2 questions now (due to my slack). It doesn't help that today, in terms of the weather, takes the cake as well. It is currently 9 degrees outside at 4:15p.m. I mean... look at it.

How on earth do you study on a day like this?! This is such a pastry+hot chocolate/coffee+blankey+jazz day! Instead, I've gotta study up IFA and SEA (which I have no idea how to revise at the moment) while spending quality time with the heater.

Oh dear God, help me. This is not how I planned the day when it started.

So kg had just rushed off to one of his classes this evening when I realised that he left something behind that he'd need for class. I rang him up to tell him and caught him in time as he'd barely left the building. Being the awesome chap I am, I offered to come downstairs to pass it to him instead of having him run all the way up here again.

So I headed into the lift only to see a cop and Chinese dude inside talking. I had seen a couple of policemen just before when I got home from the library outside my apartment. I didn't think much about it though at that time. But being in the lift with one of the policemen, I thought maybe it'd be a great time to raise the issue of my punctured tires. After all, the body corporate said I should report it to the police, seeing how it's happened to me twice.

I hence decided to butt into the conversation, "Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt, but is this about the car tires?"
"Uh, sorry?"
"The car tires. A couple of car tires have been punctured recently here."
"Oh no. Nah, you're alright. It's just that we've got a dead body upstairs."
"....."

And with that, he and the Chinese dude headed outside. Kg heard it too, because the cop said that bit as we were just walking out of the lift.

A DEAD BODY?!
"YOU'RE ALRIGHT?!?!"
WTH?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I WANNA MOVE OUT NOWWWW!!!!

Today, kg received a parcel delivery. It is something he's been waiting ever so impatiently for a week. And today, it has arrived. And because his blog has been void for neons, I'll take the liberty to blog for him. Well, from my perspective, of course.

He was in the shower when it arrived. So he never knew it did. Hehe. I rushed down to get it for him, and rushed back up to leave it on his bed. He got out of the shower and headed straight to his computer in his room without even noticing the huge box on his bed.

After a good 5 minutes or so, I decided to ask him if he'd noticed anything new on his bed.
You should've been there to see how dramatic his reaction was.
Nevertheless, as excited he was, he was patient, and not to forget, considerate enough to wait for Esther to get home from work before opening it. He wanted to share his joy with us. Aww. That was a good half an hour he had to wait for. And when she got home, it was time for the opening ceremony.

Presenting kg's brand new 13inch Macbook, sleek in black as ever.

Oh it's sweet, isn't it? I know. It looks unbelievably good. The keyboards widely spaced. The matte surface so smooth. And the white bitten out apple in the middle standing out like a sore thumb. Oh, and it is slim.

It's got an inbuilt camera with multiple real-time effects like black and white, popart, twirls and swellings, etc. An inbuilt recorder. An inbuilt everything. It's even got Front Row, complete with its Shuffle-like remote control.

Oh yes. It is quite the amazing computer. Makes me want to get one for myself too. But sadly no. There is no need for one. At least not yet. My Dell has been more than faithful to me for the past 3 years, and it has yet to fail me. We'll see. We'll see...

Till then, all you kg's friends, don't expect to see him out a lot the next few days. Not until he gets a sleeve for his notebook to bring outside, that is. Till then, he's not going anywhere.

She told me to blog about it. I wanted her to do the honours. It is after all her birthday. Well, tomorrow, that is. But she insisted. Oh well.

A bunch of us headed out to the busy, busy Docklands tonight. Specifically, Sharene, Suzy, kg, Lydia, Esther & I. Forgetting that it was footy night as well, traffic was packed. Yet somehow, miraculously, I secured myself a carpark, and there we were at Medici.

Apparently ranked one of the 10 best retaurants in Docklands, I was initially sceptical as there couldn't be more than 10 restaurants in Docklands in the first place. Nevertheless, it was quite the restaurant. A nice ambience. A little quieter would've been nice. But the atmosphere kept a steady balance of livelihood and class.

But let's get down to business. Like the mamak, who really cares about class and ambience, hey? Well, to be honest, I was sceptical of that too. It claimed to be an Italian restaurant. But by the looks, it didn't really look like one. And the prices? We were hoping that it better be worth it. So was it?

And yes. If you're wondering, they DO taste as good as they look.
And please, don't be fooled by the size of serving. Dinner was really filling. I couldn't finish my calamari. Neither could Esther with her burger. Only the few like kg rose triumphant and even had space for others' leftovers. Haha!

After a satisfying meal, we headed for a stroll around Docklands before praying for Esther a little, ushering her into her 25th year in this world.

No, no. This wasn't the praying bit. More of the strolling than praying

All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable night. Lots of laughs, a great meal, a lovely stroll by the sea in the dark, in Docklands, all to celebrate Esther's 25th.
Wow. 25. That's like... approaching quarter-life crisis, yea? Hehe. Oh well. She knows I love her.

Happy 25th, babe. Loving you more each day (and year).

For the past three weeks, I've been surviving (besides on my 2... I mean 3 main meals a day) on these.

But tonight, there's a change of view.

Happy Holidays!

say no to drugs

I'm sweaty, oily, and I'm eating outside at a place with lotsa plastic chairs wearing a single layered t-shirt when it's supposedly winter. What else could it mean?

I'm home again, boys and girls

Landed in KLIA at about 6:25a.m on Monday morning. With barely 4 hours of sleep on the plane, I was exhausted. So for the first day, my family and I spent the night in Mont Kiara. We didn't go home straight to Kluang. And yet already, there are a few crucial changes I've noted.

Firstly, and in my opinion, most crucially, it is so much more difficult to find pirated DVDs in KL now. I spent half a day in Low Yat only to find one store selling DVD movies. And even with that, they were selling crappy quality ones.
"Sure good one. DVD9. If not good I won't sell one"
Sure good your head. Not only were the movies cinema copies, they were crappy cinema copies. What a waste of money. Good thing I was sceptical. Only bought 2.

Secondly, everything is getting very commercialised. Even the Kluang Railway Station Coffee Shop is getting commercialised. It has expanded to One Utama Shopping Center and Ipoh now, and has even undergone some minor renovations at home. Not bad. They're growing. And on top of that, KL especially, is a massive construction site. Everywhere you go, you either see holes in the ground or metal everywhere.

And thirdly, World Cup Fever is REALLY HAPPENING, and it's EVERYWHERE, unlike Melbourne, where it pretty much just happens in Fed Sq. Mamaks are packed with huge Plasma, LCD, and projector screens showing matches everynight till the wee hours. It is ON, baby!

My first real meal was dinner at Mont Kiara. Just around the corner, there's this place called Soul'ed Out. Sounds kinda demonic, I know. But the atmosphere was beautiful. Offering a variety of local and western delicacies, the place was alive with people seated outdoors cooled by sprinkler-fans and entertained by World Cup Trivias and live matches on two huge screens.

The food, I must say, is just okay. Nothing too fantastic, and yet charged at a KL rate, ie. Chicken Rice (which I had) for about RM8. Oh, and they even have their own brand of mineral water, further proving my point on commercialisation.

All in all, it's good to be back. I haven't had much of a chance to catch up with friends yet as I just got home to Kluang last night, but I have time for now. For the following few nights, I forsee myself in mamaks or at least in front of a tv screen watching and screaming with friends. Not much planning beyond that, but I guess that's pretty good for now. Oh, and there's also a new toy to muck around with.

My dad got a new camera. Not as good as mine (of course... hah!), but nevertheless, quite fun to experiment.
Till I write again...

It's been two days being home in Kluang. I've by far caught up with Merv, Ly, Yupei, and Uncle Venu's family. The friends think I've put on some weight and look like Jo with my longer hair. My relatives think I've lost weight since the last time round. I'm confused now. But nevertheless, it's been good so far. Even buying DVDs here is easier! And the guys selling are honest too.

"DVD9?? Where can get DVD9 anymore?? Both kilangs closed down edi. Now no more dual layer. Only single layer one. But if you want clear one, I can tell you which one. Har..."
Clear, clear, clear, not clear, clear, not clear, not clear... not cinema, but not very clear also".

Sigh... Life back home is good.

So far, for dinner last night, I got a taste of my favourite dish in the world.

claypot tofu

It's all in the gravy, my friends. It's the tastiest thing in the universe. Just pour a lot of it on rice, and I can eat till kingdom come.

And just this morning, I had yet another all time favourite dish.

the ever sacred bah kut teh

Take that, baby. Too bad this morning, the place didn't have 'yew char kuey'. Otherwise it would have been pure heaven. Nevertheless, the good thing about being home is that I can always come back again on another day! Mwahahahaha!!

Oh, and did I mention that it is now the durian season in Malaysia as well? My dad dragged my mum and I to Sri Lalang, a neighbouring small town to buy some right after bkt.

dad the expert, choosing out some

Only 21 days left to go. Gotta make the most of it!