*Living Here and Now~ ^.^

Perhaps Love

2011-03-18T12:11:00.001+08:00

Perhaps love is a balance
Sometimes bitter sometimes sweet
It's a cycle, it's there to help us grow
When the sun is out, the rainbow appears
Beautiful sight, refreshing breeze
If we could put through the rain and pain

Perhaps love is a test
When problems arise, we figure out the solutions
There is no right or wrong answers
Only compliments and forgiveness
Patience and acceptance

Perhaps love is a guidance
When we are lost and lonely
When we are confused and coiled
The memory of love will bring us home
The memory of love will see us through

Below is a song by John Denver that was written for his wife. The song says it all.

(Placido Domingo)
Perhaps love is like a resting place
A shelter from the storm
It exists to give you comfort
It is there to keep you warm
And in those times of trouble
When you are most alone
The memory of love will bring you home

(John Denver)
Perhaps love is like a window
Perhaps an open door
It invites you to come closer
It wants to show you more
And even if you lose yourself
And don't know what to do
The memory of love will see you through

(Placido Domingo)
Oh, Love to some is like a cloud
To some as strong as steel

(John Denver)
For some a way of living
For some a way to feel

(Placido Domingo)
And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don't know

(John starts joined by Placido)
Perhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of change
Like a fire when it's cold outside
Thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you

(Placido Domingo)
And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go

(John Denver)
And some say love is everything
Some say they don't know

(John starts joined by Placido)
Perhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of change
Like a fire when it's cold outside
Or thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you

J

Blessed - 33IDC 2010

2011-02-28T00:15:00.001+08:00

This post will mark the start of a new series of posts, talking about the various blessings we have in life (notable, about my life). Watch out for new posts!

It has been almost 1 year since I wrote the post Melancholia (April 2010). That time, it was almost the time for me to come back to Malaysia, having finished my final thesis, and waiting for my results. At that time, the final visit to UK (and meeting Yizhen for the first time) has made a realise the importance of having great friends around me.

Over the 4 years when I was in Germany, I didn’t take the chance to make more friends, locking myself up in the room most of the time. I took my time to play lots of games online, notably the World of Warcraft. Over there I has made myself a great and supportive group of friends, a friendship that lasts even until today. In any case, the years I had been through in German wasn’t exactly rosy memory for me, because of the lack of opportunities to actually go outside and do something meaningful for myself and the society (also because I didn’t exactly go out and look for it).

I packed up my bags and finally came back to Malaysia for good in June 2010.

A New Beginning
After I am back in my homeland, where the people and things that matters to me in the heart are, I vowed to not be the same me over the 4 years I was in Germany. I vowed to take up all kinds of opportunities I am going to have, and to constantly improve myself in order to reach new height, and to achieve my life goal: Making this world a better place to live in, one step at a time.

So, I got myself involved in lots of meaningful activities over the past few months.

INCOVAR Dhamma Camp
Firstly it was the 33rd INCOVAR Dhamma Camp as part of the publicity team. I may be new in the team, but the team members (Xiao Thoong, Catherina Chan, Jacyln, and Yee Kuan) were very very supportive of each other, making the job much more bearable despite us having to rush to lots of universities and colleges go do out promotion. Despite not hitting the KPI of 60 members, we felt satisfied with our results (45 people). I would say that it’s a blessing in disguise, because that was just about the right balance between enough people to make noise, and getting each participant to know everyone else in the camp.

Then there was the counseling course, which started in the end of September, and will last till the second week of May. I have learned a lot about helping out others in need through the course. Through the course, I have learned more about my natural inclination in doing things. It also enabled me to ponder more about the direction I am to bring and steer my life to later in my life. (Those of you who are closer to me would have hints about that already)

In any case, it was as much a learning journey as for the participants. There is much satisfaction to be gained from seeing the participants’ faces going from moody to bright and sunny in the fours days of the camp. Also, the bond amongst the participants and between the committees and them that have formed throughout the camp really touched my heart. Who would have known that we can be this close during the camp, and the bond persists even after the camp.

The main highlight of the camp is, of course, the visit to the Rumah Sinar Harapan in Kuala Kubu Bharu. Seeing the patients there for the first time arouses feelings of sympathy, initially. The state and conditions they are in was by no means. However, it is their plight and physical deformities that has caused me to reflect more on life. Having thought of it over and over again, I believe sympathy is the last thing we should feel of them. They are there, oblivious to the outside world, living in their own world... contented. It is they who taught me about the value of being contented with what we have, and to be happy with our lives, no matter how hard it is...

I have also gotten to know many more circles of friends who are supportive of each as Kalyana Mitras. Also, it is through the camp that I have gotten myself active in Twitter and using it as a motivational tool. Who would have throughout that having people wishing each other Good morning with motivational phases each morning would be such an inspiration to go through each day with a great and positive outlook?

In any case, I believe that I have made the right decision to come back to Malaysia. As I have said earlier, it is the people who mattered to me who have brought back the colours and happiness into my life. For this, I am deeply grateful!

I’ll talk about my counseling course in the next post, which will be post… when I have the mood to actually write again…

In any case, I wish all of you well and happy always. Do well in life, and always remember that there is a silver lining to each dark cloud out there!

See Hua

We can!

2011-02-07T01:06:00.000+08:00

If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't
Life's battles don't always to
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can
--Anon

The Chicken and the Duck

2011-01-11T23:47:00.008+08:00

It is the relationship anniversary of a couple, in a time so long ago that we can't imagine when. Anyway, back to this couple. They were celebrating their anniversary with loving hugs, light kisses and a sumptious romantic lunch near to a lake. They happilly chit-chatted their way through half the afternoon, before deciding to take a walk around the lake.

As they were slowly strolling their romantic way through the park, they heard a sound:

"Quack, quack," it goes.

***

I'll pause here to let you guys figure out what it is.

Now now, it doesn't have to be that long... 5 more seconds

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

Got an idea of what it is? Yes? let's move on with the story, and find out what it is

***

The lady exclaimed, "Oh, I heard a chicken!"

Dismayed at the statement, our young gentleman corrected her, "No, my dear, it's a duck."

Thinking she is right, she retorted "No! It is definitely a chicken!"

"Quack quack," the sounds goes again.

Not wanting to give up, our gentleman hit back, "There, it's a duck! No chicken ever goes 'quack, quack!'"

"It's a chicken!"

"No, it's a duck! D. u. c. k. duck!"

... The argument went on for a while ...

Finally, teary eyes, the lady said "But, but, it's a chicken..."

Seeing the teary eyes, our gentleman finally saw the light, "Yes dear, it's a chicken."

Happy again that they finally agreed on something, they walk, hand in hand, toward the sunset.

"Quack, quack!"

***

So what is it? A duck, or a chicken? That we will never know. if you think it's a duck, it's a duck. if you think it's a chicken, chicken it is then. It is said that we can never be right and correct at the same time. We can be right, but not correct, as seen in the argument. Or, we can be correct, but not right, as seen in our gentleman's decision to yield. What matters is our priorities, which, in this case, means getting the animal right, or the relationship going.

Lesson of the month (December): We can never be correct and right at the same time.
Teary eyes is the best way to get guys to agree with you.

Source: How to Win Friends and Influence People -Dale Carnegie
Ajahn Brahm's anecdote during his talk "How to survive relationships"

Melancholia

2010-05-09T13:16:00.002+08:00

These few days, I was and am feeling pretty down with a melancholic feeling. I guess it was the time in London that has reminded me of much of my sweet memories of the past, of being able to spend lots of quality time just chatting the night away with my closest friends.

I guess all the time that I have spend way too much time over here in Germany alone, more than 4 years to be exact. While I also have German friends, they are never the same with my close friends who are now scattered all over the world, with their own business to deal with.

I so miss the times when I was doing my A-levels in INTEC. That time, even if my schedule was sometimes hectic at times, being with my friends totally made up for it. That time, we ate together, laughed together, studied together, went for outings together, and chatted away the night until sunrise together. Needless to say I savored and enjoyed almost every moment of it. To add to that, I have also met Jen in INTEC as well.

It has been quite a number of years since I left INTEC, and embarked on a journey to Germany to continue my studies and get my first degree. The experience has been unpleasant at the least. I have not been able to integrate myself properly into the society here, and have spend most of my times alone. Having most of my best friends from the other programs in INTEC didn't help as well, since I am not close to all of them.

The experience can be considered as harrowing at the very least. I realized that I have not been the ultra optimistic and happy-go-lucky person that I was in INTEC. It is said that loneliness can eat away one person slowly from the inside. I became moody, and became settled down with depression. The worst part of it is, I have lost my optimism totally. Any kind of advise that I get, I counter with probable negative results and why it can't be done. I probably shouldn't be surprised if I ended up with no friends now...

They say that true friends will stick around through bright and dark times. I have my friends to thank for sticking with me all this while. You guys were fantastic in your support. There are almost always ears to for me to speak into when I need it the most. I may have lost my mind if not for you, and probably somewhere in the netherworld already. Well, here's my big thanks! Thanks to all of you for being there! Thanks for everything!

Special mention to Jen, for still sticking around despite all my negativity, and for being there to push me up, and for lending an ear whenever I need to sleep, despite her heavy schedule. Well, you just see, I am going to be better than the 1 million guys in the line!

Before I end this post, here's a particularly sweet song by Kymm and JJ that happened to one of my favourite songs at the end of my time in INTEC:

Cheers,
seehua

Hardware Accelerated Adobe Flash Plugin for OSX

2010-05-01T06:22:00.000+08:00

After using OSX for one and a half years now, there is one thing that I notice. The Macbook tends to get very hot while watching Flash videos (YouTube and Vimeo are two popular sites that use Flash technology) and while visiting Flash heavy sites (Fashion sites, I am looking at you!). Apparently, it is Apple's reluctance to provide low level APIs to the GPU that causes this problem. The current version of Flash decodes video using the CPU. This method is taxes the CPU heavily, and thus making the Macbook able to fry some eggs while I watch Susan Boyle proving Simon Crowell wrong over and over and over again...

The good news is, Apple has provided just that API along with the OS X 10.6.3 update some weeks ago,. Adobe took advantage of that update, and has provided a beta of Flash Player 10.1 Gala for public testing.

Once I know of this, I immediately downloaded this version, installed it, and use my (still favourite) Firefox for a spin in YouTube. Well, I have a positive feeling about this. CPU usage dropped, and my thighs aren't charred while watching the videos. While Adobe said that it won't be go out as part of the Flash Player 10.1 release, I eagerly await the final, refined release. Until then, I will continue to use this beta version.

CJ

Living Here and Now: Reboot?

2010-04-30T09:44:00.001+08:00

It has been quite some time since I last updated this blog. During this time, I was busy with my thesis, preparing for my final two papers in my examinations, being depressed and being happy. Yea, it has been quite a semester for me.

As of now, I am busy looking for places to do my masters (somewhere bigger than Aalen, hopefully). While doing this, I am also trying to clear my huge backlog of articles in my RSS feeds, spamming around in ReCom, and designing a new interface for ReCom Wiki.

Life has been pretty good to me so far, with many of my old and newly found friends being so supportive on many of my predicaments and being patient while listening to my rantings. (A big salute and thank you to the all of you out there!)

Anyway, to the main issue of this post. I will be doing a reboot of this blog, and hopefully, I will again be able to post regularly in topics ranging from local and international hot issues, computer tips, politics, discussions in ReCom, and my own musings on random things that always seemed to pop up in my head. I have always wanted to be able to communicate my points properly to the others by speech and words, so it is my aim to improve myself in this aspect by writing and posting stuffs here again. If there is anything that you would like to comment on, feel free to do so =)

It is good to be back again, hope you guys will enjoy reading what I have to say all over again!

seehua

Appear rich or to be rich?

2009-09-29T16:59:00.000+08:00

Buying stuffs has always been a big topic, at least at the back of my head. For me, it is always a decision on whether I need the stuffs or I just want them. What I need are food to keep myself healthy, and clothing to keep myself away from the weather elements. What I want are things that make my life easier, and some of the times, makes me look better(tm).

As far as I can see, the modern society lives on capitalism, with people being persuaded and coerced into buying stuffs that they don't really need. Most of the books that I have read about being successful in life emphasized buying and maintaining a financially heavy lifestyle. The book "The Rules of Work: The Unspoken Truth About Getting Ahead in Business" advocates "buying nothing but the best accessories" in order to make oneself look "great" enough in order to climb the corporate ladder. The writer, Mr. Richard Templer mentioned that we need to behave and walk like the general managers if we want to be promoted soon to their position. This goes to the extent that we should buy their kind of watches, cars, ties, clothings, handbags, and so on. Of course, there are many more rules that are highlighted in the book, but since those are not the theme of this post, I will not discuss them here.

In the book, "The Secret" Rhonda Byrne touches on the need to change the way our minds think in order to achieve our wishes. So, in order to become a successful high ranked manager or CEO in a company, we have to walk and talk and dress their way. However, it is also subtly hinted that we should start dressing they way they do and use their kind of accessories in order to be able to join their ranks.

It is a well known fact that, in order to join a group, we will need to behave and look like them. But I shudder to think the economic impact this kind of culture is bringing to our world today. Everywhere around me, I see people won't can't really afford things taking loan to buy and tote LV/Bulgari handbags, driving luxurious BMW, Mercedes and high end Toyotas, buying the ever so expensive iPhone, buying the biggest mansion and so on.

During this time of economic downturn, we should really start to think of the implications of our high spending culture on ourselves and the economy in general. This economic crisis itself is caused by the banks in America lending money to people who cannot really afford big homes to do so. When much of these lenders don't get their money back, an economic downpour happens, causing a rippling effect on the world at large.

We as consumers should really start looking into the larger scheme of things, and ask ourselves the main question before embarking on an purchase: "For what do I need to buy this item?" If the answer turns out to be as a show off item, then keep the money safely in the pocket, and turn down the ego. The world now needs more people who can spend wisely rather than more people who spends more on borrowed money.

Remember, in the end, all status items are cosmetic and hence temporary. For me, the real measure of success is a contented life. A person don't really need much to be contented, and most of them cannot be bought by money. For me, a successful life is a life in which I am always surrounded by family and friends who will accompany me through thick and thin, as I will do the same to them as well...

This post is inspired by a post at the Simple Dollar, "Do you want to appear to be rich? Or do you want to be rich?"

C

Book: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Chapter Review: Chapter 1: "The Matthews' Rule"

2009-09-14T00:51:00.007+08:00

It has been quite some time since I last read a book at the speed and enjoyment that I am having now, in fact, since I got myself a more or less permanent internet connection there in Germany. You see, having an almost always connection to the wide wide web causes my concentration to falter to such a degree that I can no longer single-task well. I really think I should disconnect once in a while, just so that I can catch my breath and get away from the overloading inflow of information for my many sources of news.

Anyway, that is not the point of this post today. This post will mark the starting of a new series of posts in this blog, talking about the books I am currently reading and the insights that it provided me with.

Currently I am reading the book Outliers written by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell had previously also written "The Tipping Point" and "Blink," all serving to point the little points that ultimately build up to success. In "The Outliers," Gladwell points out the various small external factors that lead up to success.

Chapter 1 of the book talks about the Matthew Effect, named after a phrase in the Matthew Gospel: "For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Matthew 25:29. Gladwell talked about the peculiarities of the ice hockey professionals in Canada, and the football and hockey team of Czech Republic. When we look at the birth month of all these teams, almost all of the players were born early in their respective year.

This boils down to how the selection of the players when they are young are done. The cut off month for most selection process is put at the middle of the year, making those born later in the year not eligible. So, at a young tender age of 6 or 7, those born earlier in the year have a small advantage over those born later. This small difference builds up as the years passed, since the "best" will always be selected to train with better trainers. So after 10 or so years, the best players are the ones with this small advantage when they are young.

This trend continues in life as well. The best people in many fields gets better and better at their own field; the rich kept getting richer; the best athletes kept beating their own records; the best scientists kept discovering newer and better ways to generate energy. The list is endless.

So for me, the lesson from the first chapter in Outliers is clear: opportunities are essential to success. When the opportunity is there, seize it, no matter how small it is, and build on it. Success is often built on a good foundation. Once the basics are down, we can continue to the next step, which is hard work. This is outlined in the next chapter: The 10,000 hours rule. I'll post a discussion on this when I am done with that chapter.

C

JPA Scholarships – Seeking A Fair & Equitable Policy

2009-05-17T09:05:00.003+08:00

Grieving straight A students being denied the Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships once again hit the news. Time and again, the controversy never seems to end.

Many are demanding an explanation over the scholarship award selection process. Aggrieving students feel they deserve the scholarship award when they score a string of As. The general public (taxpayers) wonders whether their money has gone to the well deserving students. The current and former local and overseas scholars may want to share some first hand experiences with the rest of the audiences, show the audiences the true story of being a scholar and shed some light over this issue. Whether a scholar and a non-scholar has any differences in academic performance has yet to be investigated. However, academicians may be able to share some views on this.

An opportunity to express and discuss our views and perspectives has come with a forum/ dialogue session organised by DAP to seek valuable feedbacks from the aggrieved students, current and former local and overseas scholars, academicians and the public on the selection process of PSD scholars.

The forum/dialogue session is scheduled as follow:

JPA Scholarships – Seeking A Fair & Equitable Policy
Venue: KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
Date: 19th May 2009 (Tuesday)
Time: 8.00 pm

The panelists will include:

Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor,
Anthony Loke Siew Fook, MP for Rasah and DAPSY Chief,
Tony Pua, MP for Petaling Jaya Utara,
Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad, PAS Research Centre Director and MP for Kuala Selangor
Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Selangor ADUN for Seri Setia

Dr Goh Cheng Teik, eminent academic, former deputy minister and interviewer for Harvard University admission programme in Malaysia will also be a special guest for the evening.

Details are obtained from here

There will be a live webcast online and live video call with overseas students.

To PSD scholars:
It is hoped that some of us would be able to participate in the live webcast online and live video call to share some of our views and experiences being a PSD scholar.

To non PSD scholar:
You are most welcome to express your views on this issue as well as share the experience of being friends and studying together with the scholars.

Participation from all will only enhance the outcome of the forum and provide a clearer picture on the issue for the benefit of all.

Anyone who wish to participate in the live webcast and live video call, you may drop me a comment, buzz me in my flat H6 of JBC, or email me at chjenjen@hotmail.com. I will get you connected to the right person.

Written submissions to the panel could also be submitted through email. Please write to: dapscholarship (at) rocketmail (dot) com

Complains, appeals and suggestions will be compiled at the end of the forum. Please participate and spread the word to all parties. It is time to contribute back to the society.

Thank you!

Impressive National Health Service in Glasgow

2009-05-10T07:22:00.003+08:00

After staying for almost 11 months in Glasgow, it was only recently that I got exceptionally impressed with the National Health Service (NHS) that was provided to not just their own citizens, but to overseas students as well.

On the first week of arrival in Glasgow, we were required to register with the local NHS. With the registration we will be able to call in for appointments with our doctor anytime. Initially, I wasn't very impressed with their system as we had to make an advance appointment before meeting the doctor. What make things difficult was, their appointment slots are ALWAYS almost full, and only left with a few weird slots for you to make an appointment. So, if you were not available during the particular slots, you will have to delay your appointment. This could delay up to a month, which by the time you get your appointment, the symptoms that you are having might have subsided.

Recently, I made appointments with the doctor, the dentist and the optician. Apart from the doctor, the dentist and optician service was impressive. We could simply go to any of the dental clinics (with appointment of course, but less busy) and get your teeth checked up. If a treatment is required, you will be asked to make another appointment. However they will first let you know the total cost of the treatment and asked if you are eligible for NHS or not. If yes, you could fill in the HC1 form and apply for a exemption certificate, which thereafter all your dental fees are covered by the NHS. Or you could pay first, and make a claim afterward.

As for the optician, the service was superb. I was toying the idea of having a pair of contact lenses. Hence, I went up the glasses shop that provides NHS service, made an appointment (which was quick) and had my eye checked for free! And the eyesight check includes not just the normal eye power check, but includes photographing the eye to check for any other health problems.

Opticians here use very extraordinarily advanced equipments to check for the eye power, eye tension, eye muscle and eye nerves. The eye nerves checking process was blinding indeed, as they will shine bright lights to check for any occlusions or abnormality in the nerves of the eye, but the outcome was very satisfying. The eye tension test was a little different as they drip a few drops of dye into my eye to check for the tension. I do not know how they analyse the eye tension, but it sure was interesting. The optician was very professional in her job. I was told that opticians in Scotland has taken over the role for checking the health through the eyes. This was done so that doctors could focus on what they really need to do. This system however, has yet to be implemented in England but they may follow suit soon.

After the checking, I was told that I could wear toric lenses, but it will cost me 15 pounds a month. Toric lenses requires special orders and hence more expensive compared to normal contact lenses. These toric lenses will be given as a trial pair for a month before I decide whether to continue or don't continue with the contact lenses. However, if i decided to quit, I would have to pay 20 pounds administrative fees. Otherwise, I can continue and enjoy the free toric lenses.

What was impressive was the near flawless service, thorough checking and their professionalism. And all these are covered under NHS. That is the best thing. :)

Firefox Personas

2009-04-02T06:52:00.002+08:00

Firefox Personas is a new way of skinning the browser. This difference between Firefox Personas and normal themes is the fact that you don't have to restart Firefox to see the results.

To be able to use Firefox Persona, you will have to install the extension from the site Get Personas and restart Firefox afterwards. After restarting you will see a new button (a fox) at the bottom right of the window. Clicking on that button will reveal a menu allowing you to choose an array of categories.

Hovering over one of the theme's name will cause Firefox to apply the theme immediately as preview. Clicking on it will apply the theme permeanently. In case your mood changes, you can just go back to the menu and choose another theme rightaway.

Getting Started with Personas from Mozilla Labs on Vimeo.

Seehua

Double Parking?

2009-03-30T19:20:00.001+08:00

linked from xkcd.

POP3 Access to Hotmail enabled

2009-03-18T13:16:00.000+08:00

Lagging for years behind Gmail, Microsoft had finally relented and decides to allow POP3 access to hotmail. What this does mean is that we can now use *any* email clients to connect and collect mails from Hotmail instead of depending solely on MS Outlook, or Windows Live Mail program.

For example, you can add a new account from thunderbird via Tools -> Account settings -> New. From there you can set up the required information to retrieve and send your mails via Hotmail. The relating informations are as follows:

POP server: pop3.live.com (Port 995)
POP SSL required? Yes
User name: Your Windows Live ID, for example yourname@hotmail.com
Password: The password you usually use to sign in to Hotmail or Windows Live
SMTP server: smtp.live.com (Port 25)
Authentication required? Yes (this matches your POP username and password)
TLS/SSL required? Yes

Interestingly, this also means that i can start using Gmail and only Gmail to manage all of my mails comfortably. I can now use Gmail's email retrieve feature to get and send my mails via Hotmail. Yay for centralized management =)

That's all for today, I might create a tutorial on how to access your other mails from Gmail if you want. But you will have to ask for that :P

Seehua

Passwords you should never use

2009-03-13T02:46:00.000+08:00

Thinking of protecting your system with a password, head over to this site and never ever use those listed!

Malaysia Boleh

2009-03-12T06:42:00.003+08:00

Does Malaysia still have hope in the hands of these people? Have some uncensored 'news' from this link

A plea

2009-02-27T19:23:00.000+08:00

Dear Malaysian Politicians,

Please stop the power chase, call for a truce and focus on the economy.

I do not claim to speak on behalf of all Malaysians, but I have strong convictions that many share my sentiments.

Our concern today is not who rules the country or heads the state governments but the looming bad economy.

Whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat leads, it is meaningless if Malaysians have no job to go to, no money to pay rent and no means to put food on the table.

I am a business owner, like other business owners and managers of corporations I have a responsibility to ensure people under my care and payroll continue to have jobs and a decent income to take home. We work hard and willing to go the extra mile to make sure our nation not only survive this crisis but come out stronger and wiser. We need your help.

Let me explain. I am in the business of Training, Development and Consultancy and have 20 people in my team.

Saedah is 42. She keeps the office clean and helps organise the training rooms. She has four children and her husband is unemployed. She was first hired on a part time basis, because she is very hard working and has a great attitude, we offered her a full time job to help provide a stable income for her family. Even then, when her third child started school this year, it was a struggle for her to buy new school uniforms and other necessities. Saedah lives on a ‘kais bulan, makan bulan’ basis, so, if she is jobless, her tap runs dry.

Samsuri is 27 years old. He lives with his sister and her family in a low cost government flat in Sunway. He does our despatch, helps with various clerical works and occasionally acts as a driver. During the first week at zubedy, we learned that he not only did not have money to buy new clothes and shoes for work, he had no money for lunch. Like Saedah, if he has no job, his tap runs dry too.

Alicia in Client Servicing turns 26 this year. She lives with her dad who is 71 years old and retired. Her mom passed away when she was little. Alicia is a hard-working team member, has a gentle caring outlook and fun to be with. (We like to poke fun at her as she blushes easily). Last May her dad went through a major operation, thank God he has recovered well. Alicia needs a job, both for herself and her dad.

Sudesh, 38, is one of our facilitators. When his father passed away last year, he moved back and lives with his mother in Seremban. He shuttles between Kuala Lumpur and Seremban daily, leaving home sometimes as early as 4 in the morning and returning late at night. He is no stranger to hard work and sacrifice, he knows what he needs to do to survive and to care for his mother, but he too needs a job.

Like fellow Malaysians, every one of us in zubedy needs employment, those that live from hand to mouth like Saedah and Samsuri and others like Alicia and Sudesh with family to care for. We Malaysians need the Malaysian economy to be strong. We need you, our leaders, to work hard and to work together to make our economy viable.

So this is my plea.

Pakatan Rakyat, please stop your attempts to take over the federal government and persuade BN’s lawmakers to join you. Stop all legal proceedings, no more 916 and let go, just let go. The nation can wait till the next general elections if they want change. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and gracious and give you their support in the next elections.

Barisan Nasional, please stop any attempts to take over PR states and win over PR’s lawmakers. You have proven your point with Perak. The nation can wait for the next general elections if they want your party. Focus all your talent, energy and hard work in steering the country out of an economic downturn. By doing so, Malaysians will see your party as caring, unselfish and smart and give you their support in the next elections.

BN and PR! Call for a truce. Get together and compromise. Someone has to give in. Or has hate consumed your heart till it blinds you? You can do it. You have enough intelligent people between you. I am sure you can find solutions. Take the nation to heart. That is why you are in politics in the first place.

Focus on the people.

Focus on the economy.

Anas Zubedy
Managing Director
Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd

Quoted from Rantings from Marina

Graduation

2009-01-16T07:48:00.000+08:00

For those who kept asking me when my graduation ceremony is, I have to disappoint you guys. There will be no formal ceremony. When I graduate, the only thing I will do is to receive a call to get the certificate from the secretary, and get it myself...

seehua

Getting Things Done

2009-01-12T08:16:00.000+08:00

Last year, during my bored times as an intern, I have bought a book titled Getting Things Done written by David Allen, mainly through the rave reviews on the net.

Getting Things Done is mainly about getting thoughts out of the mind and onto more solid medium filing system. This will serve to help the mind to keep their focus on current task as it don't have to carry the burden of remembering things as they pass.

Sadly, after reading the book, being the lazy me, I have failed to implement the things learnt. After analysing my past year, I have come to realize that I have been playing catch up on a lot of things that I have to deal with. I am constantly behind schedule on my activities, and there are many occasions that I have forgot to do things even after repeated reminders. The last past had led to a point when my supervisor had to yell at me for not implementing a simple change to a sentence in my internship report (I only implemented it 20 minutes before it was sent to the print shop :P The report still got myself lots of praises from my professor and second supervisor though).

Even worse, I can't locate the book when I am looking for it just before Jen came here for Christmas and New Year holidays. Darn, I must have misplaced it somewhere when I was shifting house or holidaying at the third quarter of the year (I have the tendancy of keeping favourite things with me at all times, which also leads to them being the things most liable to misplacements).

Anyway, I have gotten myself the other book of David Allen, Making It All Work, winning at the Gamd of Work and the Business of Life. With this book, I hope that I can finally stop thinking and start implementing changes to finally get myself ahead of the game.

With this post, I would start a new series highlighting my journey in reading and implementing the suggested changes, and the effects on my life.

As a first sign of change, I am taking notes even while reading the book (at least the 16 page that I have just read) as suggested. Along the process I am also writing my todo list of stuffs that I am supposed to do in the near/long term, as the first step in implementation.

With this series I am hoping that the implementation will stick, and not be relegated to the realm of "I know I should do this but... "

This is my resolution for the new year, to start doing things effectively :)

Wish you all a happy new year 2008 again, the year ahead will be wonderful again for me...

seehua
p/s: my final exams in the course are coming the end of this month so don't expect much postings from my this month though.Btw, should I start posting about the things that I learn about during my classes, like how optical fibres work? :P

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T09:48:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year we would like to wish you all. May you all have success on your path for the next 365 days :)

See Hua and Jen
New year resolutions in the next post :P

Creating PDF files

2008-12-16T08:24:00.001+08:00

Portable Document Format, or PDF is a file format created by Adobe Systems early in the last decade to help save documents.

As for casual users like us, PDF is a good way to archive our documents, whether it is a web page, reports, spreadsheets, and presentations. I usually use the format to archive web pages because it will only create one complete file instead of creating a html page with an accompanying folder as with the "save" option. A PDF file will also retain it's looks wherever it is viewed on, which is important for obvious reasons. We won't want our documents to change it's looks and formating when we take them out for printing (disasterous when your hard created 100 page thesis gets skewed at the printing shop :P, happens with Word files all the time).

To create PDF files, we will first need to install a PDF creation software, a popular one is the PDF Creator. There is of course the allmighty Adobe Acrobat Professional, but the software is usually out of our (wallet's) reach. Mac OSX users are lucky because they will have PDF creation capabilites built into the operating system. Install the related software and you will notice a new "printer" installed into your system. This is the main way to create PDF files, you "print" them.

To create a PDF file, open the "print" dialog from the related document that you are working on and select the PDF printer. Note that the name of the printer will differ by software. It will be known as PDF Creator if that is the software installed. For Mac OSX users, click on the PDF button (shown to the left) from the print dialog to do the same thing. Click on ok and you will get a "save" dialog.

From the save dialog you can save your to-be-created PDF file to anywhere in your system. Save it and (usually) the PDF file will open by itself in your PDF reader program (My favourite PDF reader software remains Foxit Reader).

That's all for today's guide. Till next time ;)

seehua

Thunderbird 3 (beta 1)

2008-12-10T10:10:00.001+08:00

The email/messaging/contacts management counterpart to Firefox, Thunderbird had just reached the beta 1 milestone, almost 2 years behind firefox. I guess the spinoff to Mozilla Messaging had really gotten things moving again, after the neglect shown to it.

New features include:

Tab interface for Mail
Improvements to IMAP for faster message viewing
Improved message reader view
New Add-ons Manager
Improved Address Book interface
Improved import of mail from other Mail clients
Integration with Windows Vista search
Integration with Mac OS X Address Book

The tab interface will be my favourite feature out of the list. Finally I can open a few mails open in tabs for later viewing while skimming through the various newsletters that I get daily. This is much more convenient for me since i don't have to locate the mails again after I've finished processing the whole inbox...

The integration with Mac OS X Address Book is also nice since I don't have to keep separate address books for 2 different programs. And hey, since my phone also syncs with the Address Book as well, I can always be sure that the contacts stays identical across my devices.

The Growl integration is a very very nice feature as well... Now I get all notifications coming from just one system wide notification software.

The next thing on my wish list will be integration with Quicksilver... It will be awesome when I can manipulate my mails anytime and anywhere in the system by using a simple keyboard command ;)

I'll be testing this program over the few days, though a bit unwillingly. This is because I've lost my appetite for beta programs while still learning about a completely new platform :P

Before I log off, I would like to complement Mozilla Messaging for that very nice looking page as displayed at the beginning of this post.

cheers people

seehua

Upgrading your RAM to 4GB?

2008-12-10T00:36:00.002+08:00

While reading the "Road to Snow Leopard" series on Apple Insider, I've came across a very interesting bit:

Prior to using the Santa Rosa platform, Apple sold its laptops as only supporting a maximum of 3GB RAM because of this. However, many Original Equipment Manufacturer PC assemblers represent their machines as supporting 4GB of RAM even though the operating system can't actually make any use of a big chunk of it. With hardware that only supports 32-bit addressing, no operating system can make use of the full 4GB. However, even with Santa Rosa-style hardware that can make use of the full 4GB, the mainstream 32-bit Windows Vista still won't use more than 3.2GB or less because it can't remap MMIO.

This means that 32 bit windows systems (Vista 32 bit and Xp x86) won't be able to maximize the usage of at least 25% of the RAM should the user choose to ugrade based on recommendations by "experts" wanting to upsell more stuffs. The issue is made worse by computer systems intergrators trying to make more profit from unknowing users as stated in the following paragraphs:

One developer we consulted about the issue noted, "consumers are being scammed by [PC] OEMs on a large scale. OEMs will encourage customers to upgrade a 2GB machine to 4GB, even though the usable RAM might be limited to 2.3GB. This is especially a problem on high-end gaming machines that have huge graphics cards as well as lots of RAM."

"Microsoft even changed the way the OS reports the amount of RAM available; rumor is, due to pressure from OEMs," the developer told us. "In Vista and prior, it reported usable RAM, while in SP1 they changed it to report installed RAM ignoring the fact that much of the RAM was unusable due to overlap with video memory." And so many PC users are installing 4GB of RAM in their PCs and thinking that it is being used by the system, when in fact it is no more beneficial than if the RAM were simply poked halfway into the CD slot.

For example, Dell's top of the line $5799 Alienware gamer PC comes standard with a 1GB video card, 2GB of RAM, and 32-bit Windows Home Premium. That means the system can only possibly use 2.3GB of RAM, but Dell "recommends" users spend $250 (or $8 per month with financing) to buy a 4GB upgrade (below) that will offer them little more than bragging rights, as the 1GB video card and the roughly 750MB of other MMIO will make the extra 2GB unusable. Dell says "Upgrading your memory allows you to take full advantage of system capabilities as well as increasing system efficiency," but that's simply not true on this page.

Simple solution here. If you want to install more than 3GB of RAM, get a 64 bit Windows, else your money invested is wasted.

Do note that many older devices won't work with Windows Vista x64 because of non-existing drivers. Notable are the webcams from Logitech (they are trying to sell me newer webcams instead of writing drivers that supports vista :S).

Cheers people,

seehua
ps: On the brighter note, I am pretty happy with my new Macbook. It certainly is a lot user-friendlier than a comparable windows system, to the point that I kinda miss the gesture based UI when i get back to my old system for maintenance

White Christmas (?)

2008-12-01T19:34:00.000+08:00

I's snowing heavily here... after 2 years or almost no snow, we finally get to experience >1 inch thick snow again...

Let's see if the snow can hold itself until christmas time :P

and yes, I am back to full online capacity, due to my new Macbook. The old laptop had been relegated to a new role as a file/private test web server. Should I be writing an introductory crash course on the various features of a new Macbook as well?

seehua

Gmail

2008-12-01T07:24:00.001+08:00

Windows Live Mail

2008-11-05T08:29:00.000+08:00

For many years i have been replying on online web interfaces to manage my various mail accounts. The two email management programs that I have tried ended up collecting dust in my computer because 1) The looks of Thunderbird sucks and 2) Outlook is THE slowest program that I've ever ran (apart from Photoshop and MS Word itself).

Managing a mailbox with a browser isn't optimal because it slows the whole browser down and I won't be able to access my mails when the browser is turned off (like when I want to prevent myself from chain-read sites that i forget to study but still want to read incoming mails).

Recently, however, I have put the Windows Live Mail 2009 beta that came with the Windows Live suite (Messenger, Mail, photo manager and bla bla bla programs inside) to a test for the sake of testing, and I found that I've came to like it. It's light, simple, intuitive and fast. I guess finally microsoft can produce something decent and light enough for my old computer to use on after all ;)

I haven't thoroughly tested all the features yet though. Will get back to you guys afterwards on this...

seehua
p/s: It's a long time since the last post in this blog, i know. :P
My computer isn't feeling that healthy at this moment. The graphics card will crash at least once everyday and I get blue screen errors frequently as well. Reinstalling windows didn't remove the problem though, so I suppose it's almost time's up for my com then. You guys have any suggestions on what laptop that I should be getting next? The new Macbooks looked interestingly inviting now :P

The Secret of Sharing Information

2008-09-03T19:25:00.003+08:00

These days we could find information pouring from almost everywhere, be it your neighbour, your friends, your colleagues, the internet, the newspaper... you name it.

Most of the time, people are talking about something, intending to share the information that they know about. And many a times, I myself was caught not finishing my sentences/topic and cause a whole lot of 'boos' from my friends who are listening. They will go like ' why are you saying halfway and not finishing the other half?" Most of the time, I don't tell much of things unless I am pretty sure of what I am going to say.

Oh well. There is something interesting here.

The truth is: I don't know exactly the reason why I am doing that but what I know is after talking halfway, something unconcious will snap in me and say "Hey, are you sure you want to share that piece of information?" And I will argue a while within myself before I decide whether to continue or not.

I am sure there are more people who are in the same dillemma as me, or at least I have caught two person who is having the same habit as me. Haha.

I came across this short article that was passed to me in the buddhist yahoo groups and how true it was.

Have a read:

The Secret of Sharing Information

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, " Do you know what I just heard about your friend ?" " Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. " Before telling me anything, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."

" Triple filter ?"

" That's right," Socrates continued. " Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the Triple filter test.

The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true ?"

" No," the man said, " Actually I just heard about it and…" "All right," said Socrates. " So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good ?" " No, on the contrary…" " So," Socrates continued, " You want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left : the filter of usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me? " " No, not really." " Well," concluded Socrates, " If what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all ?"

Now, don't you think it's a good practice to filter our speech?

Jen

Should we buy things just because they are on sale?

2008-08-27T22:20:00.004+08:00

Image taken from http://www.dylanamsterdam.com/

An article on the site The Simple Doller intrigued me yesterday. It talked about buying things for the sake of buying them when the prices are lows because of sales/deals. I would agree fully to the article that buying things just because they are "deals" is a waste because, most of the time, we will end up just hoarding more and more items that we will only rarely use.

Consider if I just go out and buy more and more clothes (what I need) during the sales season. In the end it will just pile up more and more that I couldn't wear them all. This had already happened to me even with my extremely limited selection of clothes (not enough to last 2 weeks even, since I only buy clothes twice a year). I think it's a waste to leave them there though.

Anyway, the point to be made in this post is, consider if you really need the item before buying it. It's sometimes better to not buy an item and save yourself 20 bucks rather than buying one rarely used item and save yourself 5 bucks.

Well, if i cannot resist the temptation to buy an item at the time, what I usually do is to grad the thing, syok sendiri on the thing for a while and then leave it at its rack before I go out :P At least I did get a feel as if I owned the item for a moment.

Anyway, here is the link to the full article.

seehua
p/s: I liked the design of the new draft version of Blogger. Lots of new nifty features to use during the editing of blog posts ;) Just point your browser to http://draft.blogger.com to try it out :)

A beautiful day

2008-08-27T07:04:00.001+08:00

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held
up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help!" There were only a few
coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them
into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words.
He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the
blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how
things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, 'Were you the one
who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?'

The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a
different way.'
What he had written was: '*Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.*'

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign
simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so
lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign
was more effective?

*Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be
innovative. Think differently and positively.*
Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love
with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that
you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your
present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith
and drop the fear. *

Great men say, 'Life has to be an incessant process of repair and
reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness.... In the
journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the
ticket of a good conscience.'

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling...
And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!

Life is fragile

2008-08-16T23:27:00.003+08:00

Second piece of death news of someone that is related to me in a way or another...

Everyday we hear news of death... but we are not affected unless the person is someone that we know.

I wasn't affected until I found out which daniel it was. It is Daniel Teoh. Gasped. I know him. Though not very close, but he is someone we will always greet each other and chat when we bump into each other in IMU. One of the few BPharmers that I know. He is a bubbly, happy, friendly, helpful guy.

The piece of news made me look into life even more deeply. And it confirm once again what i have learnt that life is unpredictable, nothing is permanent but death is certain. These are some of the truth that we have to accept once born into life. When there we come, there'll be day we'll be gone. It's just the time factor.

Everything changes every seconds. We don't know what will happen next. All we could do is to cherish all we have now esp the people we are close to and never take things for granted. Hence my previous post.

It's indeed sad and grieving to know someone we know passed away. But life has to go on. There's no point fighting against the fact of life and blaming god for the cruelty of death. Life is just a physical phase of a person. When the physical part of it is lost, the memory of him is still alive. The memory is something we could keep in our hearts. Life goes on but we remember him. We learn from him that we need to appreciate life and the time we have now.

May he rest in peace and be born into a better plane of life.

Jen

Birthday thanks :)

2008-08-16T21:51:00.006+08:00

To my mum and dad,
You are the first to wish me! Love you mum and dad! Cant wait for our next skype session. hehe.

To my dear sis, bro, sis-in-law, thanks for the whishes. I wish u all were here la. Miss u all!

To See Hua, hehe, needless to say la. No PDA here. haha.

To Joo Shin, I miss u so much! Thanks for the birthday wish and for telling me i'll have no presents this year =.=". (My past presents did not reach me EVERY YEAR. So no more presents for me this year). when will we have our next pillow talk?

To Jarryd, the only one who called me all the way from Malaysia, I'm so touched! Thanks for the call. I was very very happy. :) It's so expensive to call straight from mobile to mobile la! It's s very expensive birthday gift, i appreciate it alot.

To Yen Nee, Laura, Mei Wen (my dear housemates),Yieng, Flora, Yi Hui, Hui Yin, Min Tien (my darling neighbours next door), Hui Yen, Shian Yi, Renu, Huey Wuen ( my two doors away neighbours), Soo Fen, Karen, Yeu Lou, Million,

Thanks for the surprise birthday celebration you guys throw for me despite the exam stress. I was genuinely happy that you guys remember and took the extra effort to give me surprise. I practically jumped out of my seat when the birthday song was 'screamed' from outside my door. Haha. I tak sangka u all will sing it so loudly! Thou it happens every year and the tactics are almost similar..hehe.. im still very happy. I'm happy because I have a bunch of friends like you. Each and every one of you.

Thanks for the post birthday dinner ytdy. I'm touched and internally happy for the clebration. Love you guys alot. Thanks so so so much. I'm so sorry if i had appeared tired which was because i had only slept for 2 hours the night before, unhappy over my unanswered questions in my Fmt 1 exam paper and emotional over not bringing my snapfax(so silly to be emotional over such small things, sigh), but I am very touched and appreciative over the plan you guys made. Really touched.

Million, thanks for the special birthday present. Hehe. Very special and unique indeed. haha. Curious? Yeah, curiosity kills. Look here.

To Kean Aun, Nicholas, and Trisha thanks for the mysterious call on my extension. Made me waited so long. Hehe.

To Carolyn, Adeline, Huey Yee, Chun Siang, Yew Jinn, Ka Keat, Wei Thian, Kar Maine, Ee Wan, Jason Lse, Vivian, Alvin Teoh, Keng Yan, Chao Ching, Lee Yen, Micheal Lim, Kai Loong, Kevin Tan, Desmond, Xin Yin, Ah Mai, Amanda Lim, Cheh Shing, Wee Pin, Ah Phiaw, Ek Guan, Png, Jackie Liew, You Zhuan, Shireen Heng...

Thanks for all your wishes that you've dropped me. Whether by SMS ke, MSN ke, facebook ke, friendster ke etc... I'm touched and appreciate your wihses. Happy to have you as my friend and to have known you in the first place. For those not in glasgow, I miss you all la:)

To all names above, I Love all of you!

*hugz*

Jen

Jokes you make in an exam

2008-08-14T05:07:00.004+08:00

We were chatting over our exam questions about how we did and how we answered our questions during lunch yesterday and this was what happened.

One question asked us to briefly describe the properties and uses of each of the following polymers

Sodium polystyrene sulphonate
Gum tragacanth
Locust bean Gum

After thinking very hard about what is locust bean gum... This is what my friend wrote in her exam paper:

"Locust bean gum is a gum that is extracted from a locust bean."

Another question asked us to write in context of oral dosage forms write short notes on:

Tablet packaging
Sustained released formulations
Soft gelatin capsules

One friend of mine could not recall what soft gelatin capsule is and wrote this as her answer paper:

"Soft gelatin capsule is softer than hard gelatin capsules"

"...."

These are real answers made in exams by some of my batchmates under extreme conditions. I think the examiner will have a 'fun' time marking our papers.

Jen

*edited*

Time to pick up again...

2008-08-13T21:32:00.001+08:00

Just finished our FMT 2 exam this morning. There's only one type of face among ALL the students when they were leaving the exam hall: a disappointed face. Some were near to crying. Some cried. Many were speechless. Not few were complaining. The scene was depressing.

I was depressed myself and I wanted to condemn and complain as much as everyone else is doing. (we only came here for two months, 8 weeks to be exact, and we are already sitting for final degree exam, with no study breaks, full crash course from 9-5 everyday without fail, study the same amount of things those homestudents studied for in 6 months to a year with placements experience, and us here, lacking of rest, sleep, and the questions were so indirect and we are expected to perform bla bla bla?! That is abit too much right? Am i not?)

But I think it is not very so helpful to complain so much as this IS the fact and nothing will change.

I shall PICK myself up again and start another round of madness in getting closer to my goals.

To friends that had a bad time in exam hall today, leave the disappoinments and dwellings to the 3rd of sept and we shall continue our battle to strive our best in our next papers : FMT 1 + PP3 Exemption Exam.

Ganbatte guys.

p.s: newest news of the pp3 class test 2 results: in the name of consistency, those who were deducted 20 maks for not informing the prescriber for minor interaction of drugs ( which by right is not necessary), are now deducted an extra of 10 mraks to make it 30 so that it is the same as others. Therefore, those who were pleading not only did not gain any extra marks, but was being deducted further.

This is what we call 'fun'. You get surprises, lots of them everyday.

Jen

Happy Birthday dear dear~

2008-08-11T16:11:00.000+08:00

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to Hung Jen

Happy birthday to you!

Hehe, the present will come later to you la, bluek

08 08 08 08 08 08 !!!!!!

2008-08-08T20:08:00.004+08:00

Two more minutes to the historical, once in a lifetime moment, 08 08 08 08 08 08 in my place, Glasgow!!!

What was I doing at:

08 08 08 08 08 08 (AM) Glasgow time : Sleeping soundly.

08 08 08 08 08 08 (AM) Malaysia time : Studying FMT 1 NMR spectrometry.

08 08 08 08 08 08 (PM) Glasgow time : Typing this post!!!
Taking picture of my alarm clock!!

08 08 08 08 08 08 (PM) Malaysia time : Getting back my PP3 Class Test 2 Results!GOSH!

08 08 08 08 08 08 (PM) China time : OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY!!!

I am extremely extremely extremely PROUD of China. The opening ceremony was extremely extremely extremely impressive and awesome!!! Well done China! :D

Simple things

2008-08-06T18:03:00.001+08:00

Six continuous hours of lecture in a day isn't really that exciting when you are having dysmenorrhoea, sleep deprived and all you wish to do is to be at cineworld watching The Dark Knights. I am glad at least charming Ian Miller* is there to keep us awake with his usual formal and decent jokes otherwise to feast our eyes on.

What makes my day was a slip saying I have a parcel to be collected at the village office (VO). After my torturous lectures, I trotted happily to collect my first parcel while counting the date today, thinking hard what could it be. It's only the 6th, not 10th of August!

So here's my first parcel:

Tadaa!

Two copies of the newest version of OTC Directory 2008/2009! Happy! They are so freaking efficient! I have only sent in my order last week and the books are here today. Wow.

To those who wish to order a copy of the OTC (within UK only), send a self-addressed stamped envelope (A5 envelope with postage paid to the value of 0.69 pounds for ONE copy or A4 envelope with postage paid to the value of 0.99 pounds for TWO copies) to OTC Directory, PAGB, Vernon House, Sicilian Avenue, London, WC1A 2QS.

I'm glad I did not put any expectations when I am collecting this parcel (I did thought it was something else). Haha, anyways, here's the address if you want to surprise me! ;)

The Dark Knight trailer here! :D

Jen

*Ian Miller is our charming PP3 lecturer. All of us love him. ;)

Staying Strong

2008-08-05T16:30:00.000+08:00

Life is beautiful yet life can be very challenging.

One after another obstacle, one after another disappointment.

It seems endless but not hopeless. In times like this, it is best to keep our mind clear with our goals, stay positive and work stepwise towards them, persevering along the way.

The path may seem long and you may seem want to give up half way, but believe me, keep stretching yourself a little more each time and keep on believing in your dreams and goals. With blessings, you will finally reach where you want to be.

Have my best wishes and blessings, and we will work towards there together.

Remember, there are always sunshine and rainbows after the rain. :)

Jen

P.s: Words for myself as well as friends who needs them. May all be well and happy.

Wink wink

2008-08-05T00:02:00.001+08:00

Happy Two Years and One Month dear~ ;)
Muaks~

Jen

Time Management by Randy Pausch

2008-08-04T22:41:00.000+08:00

it is truly an inspiring talk and I highly recommend anybody who wish to have more time, to watch this..

To know more about Randy Pausch, click here.

Jen

Aftermath of PP3 Class Tests

2008-08-04T13:24:00.000+08:00

Two hours of Brain Damage.

Mental Exhaustion.

Emotional Turbulences.

Nerve Wrecking.

Extreme Tremor.

Extreme Ataxia.

Totally Stunt.

All Numb.

Jen

Happy Birthday Joo Shin

2008-08-04T00:25:00.000+08:00

Just a simple post to wish my dear friend a very Happy Birthday. I miss you.

Gifts From the Heart

2008-08-02T20:23:00.002+08:00

According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a
spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet he filled
his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had
been his teacher. After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old
man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly
for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy
heart.

Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out,
saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old
leather container. The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water
was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?"

The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The
water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing
could be sweeter. Heartfelt gifts deserve the return gift of gratitude."

I think we understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of
love from young children. Whether it's a ceramic tray or a macaroni
bracelet, the natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed
thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.

Gratitude doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and
many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in
it. We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and
purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the
heart are really gifts of the heart.

Michael Josephson
www.charactercounts.org

Taken from http://www.insightoftheday.com

Colours

2008-08-01T06:14:00.010+08:00

Colours Colours Colours. I just love colours. Look at the number of colour pens and highlighters that i have?

And what I did to my module notes.. Just love tabbing my module notes.

And love my little cute panda and my comfy little bed :)

I just love doing nonsense just before exams. I should be studying.

Exam dates: 11, 29 july, 4, 5, 13, 15, 18, 19, 25 aug, 2, 3 sept.

2 down.

Jen

Impressions

2008-07-31T19:49:00.004+08:00

I used to like the idea of being a tiger under a pig's skin. Now although i still buy that idea, but at a different price. I would prefer a tiger under a dog's skin.

I realised these kind of thing slowly becomes a part of a person when it's done too many times, which i don't think anyone would fancy the idea of being a pig at all. Skin changing process takes time, effort and patience.

What i meant by skin here is impressions.

The impression we give others is analogical to the skin on our body. It is the first important organ that could be seen well by others. Impressions work the same: it is the first important mind set that is set in others.

And why is impressions so important?

First, it is the main source of attraction. If let say a restaurant appear dirty, messy and unkept, would you still go in and try their food eventhough they claim that their food is clean and delicious? If a person appears confident, assertive, and smart and you are a boss building up a management team for a high fly company, would you not hire him? If a girl is refined, well-kept, pleasant, polite and beautiful (to most guys), would you not be attracted to ask her to be your friend or even your girlfriend?

Welcome to the real world.

Impressions are like a travel passport. Without it, you can't go anywhere. The food in the restaurant might be very very delicious, but people are turn off right away by the sight of it. Although you might say they are being denied their own opportunity to try the best sanwich in town, but people wont bother as there are millions of good food out there. And I would say, the impression the restaurant gave others is denying themselves a chance to prove that their food is delicious.

Going for an interview and winning a job is very much depend on the impressions you gave the interviewer the first 15 minutes you are with them. The tiny little actions you do tells a lot about you as a person. The way you knock the door, the expressions on your face, the way dress up, the way you walk, sit and talk all plays an important part in sketching the impressions they put on you.

A scenario: If you walk into the room and before you say anything, you tripped over the chair and the files in your hand are now scattered on the floor and you clumsily pick them up and realise you missed out your most important certificate... this does not give a very good impression, does it?

Creating a good impression is a passport for people to know you more. This is called the attraction. If you appear so unrefined OR your name has been tarnished so badly by others, do you think others would still have interest to know you more eventhough you might be perfect inside?

Not giving a good impression to others is our own loss because we are denying ourselves the opportunity for others to know more about our good. It's our responsibility to build this good impressions and keep improving them. You will never know how long this first impression will last!

Union Jack

2008-07-04T07:00:00.002+08:00

Shutter 1/176 sec, Aperture F3.4, ISO 100

seehua

Father Forgets

2008-07-03T00:29:00.004+08:00

Picture from cenzdaddy.blogspot.com

Listen son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily across your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are things I was thinking: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things.You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as your started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved your hand and called, "Goodbye Daddy!" and I frowned, and said in reply, "Hold your shoulders back!"

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As i came up the road I spied on you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There are holes in your stockings. I humiliated you in front of your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive--and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. "What is it that you want?" I snapped.

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck, and kissed me, and your arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect cannot wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.

Well, son, shortly afterwards my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding--this was my reward to you for being a boy. I was not that I did not love you, it was that I expected tii nuch of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heard of you was as big as dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matter tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt here, ashamed!

It was a feeble atonement, I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: "He is nothing but a boy--a little boy!"

I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother's arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.

W. Livingston Larned

Writing a thank you note

2008-06-30T02:42:00.006+08:00

Image taken from art and science blog

So someone just helped you with your assignment? or drove you all the way back home from 50km away because it's late in the night already? or even made a coffee for you to drink when you are sleepy?

When it comes to the time to say thank you, most of the time, I will tend to think that just saying it isn't enough. But giving them something in return doesn't cut it as well, because it will make them think that you are just paying them for their work, which they mostly rendered sincerely to you. hmm... dilemma, just how do i show them that I appreciate their work?

Here is an article that provides simple steps to write a thank you note to the people who had helped you in anyway, i think you guys will find it useful as well ;)

Enjoy

The simple dollar: how to write an effective thank you note for any occasion

seehua
*Imitating the masses will take you to their level. So do imitation of the powerful as well...

Drinking at Sunset

2008-06-24T15:23:00.005+08:00

Fujifilm S6500fd, Aperture: F3.9, Shutter: 1/240sec
Taken in Stockholm

Lights: The Future of Lighting System for Automobiles

2008-06-23T23:28:00.001+08:00

Our common automobiles had came a long way since a demonstration of a steam powered mechanical vehicle by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in the year 1770. Cars had improved by a great deal in terms of production, reliability, comfort as well as safety. But as time grows, the demands placed on the manufacturers for safer and more comfortable cars enabled them to push even the latest technologies to the limit.

In this article I will be writing about concepts and developments that will be available in the near future.

Source of Light
Currently most of the cars on the streets are using either the very dimm and yellow halogen lamp or the brighter and bluer xenon lamps.

Most of you guys might have gripes about the so-called blinding xenon lamps in Malaysia. Yes, Xenon lamps can be blinding, but only if they are utilized illegally on cars that are not built for this sort of lighting in the first place. Here in my company they've managed to bring down the lamp's brightness until it's virtually indistinguishable from a normal yellow coloured halogen lamp normally used in a car in Malaysia today.

The real future, however, lies in the advent of super bright Light Emitting Diodes (shortened to LEDs). These tiny devices aren not like those that you are used to seeing in consumer electronics. These tiny beasts, can be so bright that they can blind if you choose to look at it directly without filters. I myself got myself blinded for a few minutes because i activated one that was connected to a circuit that I've built here to test if it's working properly. Short to say, a few of these things will be bright enough to power a automobile's street lighting system.

Adaptive lighting system
Safety is still a prime consideration when designing a roadworthy aotumobile, and lighting system is and will always be a major part in make the passengers as well as the pedestrians safer from accidents.

In the near future, cars with adaptive street lighting will help to reduce costly accidents expecially in dark conditions and at night as well. Here are some of the innovation that you will see in the near future:
1. The front lighting system will turn the lights so that it lights up a curve when you negotiate one.
2. Automatic switching of lighting conditions so that it suits driving along a street in a city(wide lighting to help highlight the pedestrians) as well as highway driving (high beams)
3. Automatic dimming of high beams should incoming traffic is detected.
4. Adjusting of the lighting so that high beams can still be left enabled while not blinding incoming traffic. This can be done by making the use of lenses so that more of it goes to your side of the road instead of the opposing one.
5. Detection and highlighting of potential obstacles using auxiliary lamps that is to be intergrated into the front lights.

All thses can be accomplished using a small camera and a high speed processing systems to deal with the potential speed that the driver is going to drive in.

Comfort
Everybody likes comfortable rides, as a driver as well as passengers. Here, researches are still being conducted on bringing the lighting systems so that the lights can produce colours that are as close to day light as possible.

Currently the yellowish halogen lamps produces light of temperatures of up to 1-2k Kelvin, and the blueish Xenon lamps upping the scale to 4-5k Kelvin. With more research, we will start seeing lighting sources that can produce lights with colour temperatures of closer to 6600K Kelvin (ideal daylight). With this temperature, your eyes will see things just how it would look like during the day.

These are just a preview of what is in store for us in the future. Start looking around for newer Audi, Cadilac and BMW models shoould you guys want to have a more detailed look as these fantastic technologies ;)

seehua

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

2008-06-23T17:50:00.001+08:00

No one can make you serve customers well.

That’s because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.

He handed my friend a laminated card and said, “I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.”

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said, ”Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.”

My friend said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.”

Wally smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.”

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.”

Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.”

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

“Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’”

“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally. “Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”

“I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said.

“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us?

copied from redsmoke's post here

Damn Interesting

2008-06-10T18:50:00.004+08:00

Amongst the sites that I frequently visit for reading materials, this site had turned out to be one of my favourite for the last few days to douse the flames of boredom that had engulfed me at work (since there is almost nothing to do other than to wait for my components to finally arrive from the armory).

Introducing Damn Interesting, the site that offers great writeups on lots of interesting stuffs ranging from strange happenings to scientific breakthroughs of all time. The authors usually write their articles in a very suspenceful manner, inducing the readers to continue reading until the very end. To whet your appetite, here is one of my favourite article over there:

The Gimli Glider

So if you guys need something to kill off boredom, do visit and have fun reading the long time killers there, ~~all the while gaining needed general knowledge to show off to your friends~~ :)

seehua

Welcome to Europe

2008-06-10T18:44:00.003+08:00

After spending a few years toiling in IMU, the time had finally come. Here I wish to bid Jen a warm welcome to Scotland (Europe in general), and to wish her a good time studying while having fun in over here as well.

Now the writer waits anxiously for the time when the couple finally got the chance to travel together around Europe after a long wait *grins*

seehua
p/s: 1/3 of the photos taken in Scotland are available to view in my flickr account. Sorry for the delay in processing and upload :P

Farewell friends

2008-06-10T11:22:00.003+08:00

Dear friends and kalyana mitras,

This isnt a proper farewell i know, but my wish remains true. I'll be leaving to the scotland tonight at 11.40pm from msia. Im sorry i could not meet up with and everyone of you before i leave but u will always be remembered and missed deeply. :)

Take care guys, we can still meet online virtually, hehe, i have a webcam with me ;)

yen chiew, im sorry i cuden meet up and have a proper farewell with u. I will certainly remember u always. all the best and i shall come back and have a good chat with u a year later ;)

Bye msia! You'll be missed deeply.

Jen

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of Oolong tea

2008-06-02T20:28:00.000+08:00

OOLONG TEA……

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of Oolong tea…You will never look at a cup of Oolong the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed Oolong tea. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

Then she ladled the Oolong out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and Oolong tea," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the Oolong. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The Oolong tea was unique, however. After they were in the boiling water , they had changed the water color and taste.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a Oolong tea?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the Oolong tea? The tea actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the tea, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a Oolong tea?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

credits to Kean Aun for forwarding this to me

Public Relations 2.0

2008-06-02T20:20:00.002+08:00

Good day to you guys out there.

First, my apologies for not posting anything lately, since I am more involved in my work in my company (Just finished the design phase of the circuit), and I am more involved in the moderation of ReCom.

Nevertheless, I'll blog about my trip to Stockholm in Sweden a few weeks ago when I am done with minor cleaning up of the pictures taken there. The heat is causing major noise issues with the pictures taken, and sometimes i forgot to tune down the ISO when shooting in bright daylight. Ugh, talking about nice ISO spoilt pictures :(

As a filler, I would recommend you guys to have a read at the following article, which I think is useful for those who might want to start a business later on, or just about anyone else who isn't disconnected with the world. Have fun reading them ;)

Techcrunch: PR secrets for startups

Enjoy and till the next post, take care yea you guys ;)

seehua

Few things that you must avoid in your lifetime

2008-04-29T21:55:00.003+08:00

1. Being in Debt

2. Adultery

3. Both of the above

4. All of the above.

Jen

Lippstadt

2008-04-21T05:28:00.003+08:00

Well, I've moved away from Aalen for 5 months to do my practical semester here in Lippstadt. It's a really nice city with lots of nice views. It's just too bad that the internet connection isn't as reliable as the one I have back in Aalen, so you guys will have to slowly wait for my photos to show up in flickr.

As an appetizer:

Edited with photoshop.

seehua

Drug dealer

2008-04-16T05:41:00.000+08:00

In my previous life as a fed agent I was often asked to assist with some "undercover" sting operations all over the Northeast US. One of the most memorable was a op in northern Maine. I was to play the brother-in-law of our source who's co-worker had recently asked him if he knew of any good dealers of crack.
Long story short they brought me in to sell him crack. We met the "Client" as planned and you should have seen this kids eyes when I pulled out this giant bag of crack we had obtained from a previous bust. He looked like he was going to start crying, like he had just come to know Jesus or something... anyway he wanted to buy it all, every last gram of it, but he had only brought $150.00 bucks with him. I thought for a second and asked him if had his checkbook on him and he did. I asked him how much money he had in the bank, he told me and I told him he could just write me a check for the total. This kid didn't think twice about it and started writing the thing out. As he was writing he asked me all the usual questions, correct spelling of my name, confirmed the date, then stopped writting for a second, put his pen down, and I started to panic. He looked me straight in the eye and he stated that he always wrote down "the reason"in the little space provided in the lower left hand of checks for that purpose. Before I could even speak he picked his pen back up again and started writing, then folded the check in half and handed it to me. Before I handed him the crack I wanted to see what he wrote, so I unfolded the check and read aloud; "For Illegal Drugs", the second I read that out loud we could all hear very loud laughter coming from the room next door. You see I was wired and 6 agents were in the next room, hanging on every word. They knew they had alerted this guy and without delay came charging into the room to arrest him, but what a strange sight it was to see 6 armed feds tearing into a room, guns drawn and laughing so hard they really could not even speak in complete sentences...

Credit: Clientcopia

Angry?

2008-04-13T06:52:00.001+08:00

Angry? Take a step back will ya. And have a look at yourself.

What is Anger doing to you?

Don't like it?

Don't be angry then...

seehua

Of sufferings and Karma

2008-04-11T02:25:00.003+08:00

I was practicing on injecting a mice on its lateral tail veins and it felt so painful to see their tails being pricked, especially when the needles did not successfully deliver the solution into the veins. At the end of the practice, all I see is a tail that has gone blue black. Felt awful for them. But i have done it for a good purpose of research to improve the efficacy of drugs, for the benefit of humankind.

I asked a friend of mine who is very knowledgeable in Buddhism to explain to me regarding karma that i would generate from my actions.

He told me a story instead.

" Once a nun living alone in the cave was raped by a robber. So when she came for the teachings, some monks prevented her from sitting with the Sangha, saying that she broke the precepts. At this point do you think she did?"

When this matter was brought to the Buddha, he asked the nun. "Did you will for this to happen?" No. "Did you enjoy it when they did it?" No. "Did you feel happy after that?" No. "Then please sit with the Sangha. You have not broken your precepts."

Enlightening.

Jen

Kebap anyone?

2008-04-10T13:25:00.000+08:00

Yum Yum!

Living in uncertainties

2008-04-02T01:47:00.003+08:00

21st March marked the last day of my 5th semester exam, which also marked the last day of my 5th semester which officially ends Part A of my Integrated Masters of Pharmacy Degree Programme.

Life since then becoming less and less structured and more and more liquid. Before and during the exam, all i need to focus is to study well and do well in exam. Everyday was a routine: wake up, have brunch, read newspapers, study, study, study, study, study, cook, have dinner, study study study study, study study study study, watch sunrise, take breakfsat then sleep ( or i should just call it a nap). As soon as the exam ends, all i wanted to do was to sleep, but, my body has its own plans. It kept waking up at 6 to watch sunrise. It took me few days before i stop waking up automatically to watch sunrise. Will post up those videos when i have the cables with me.

Holiday dreams were scattered when the hard fact of flying over to climb mount kinabalu for 6 days 5 nights and for the beautiful manukan island after considering all possibilities will burn a big hole in the pocket. Although RM 1700 is wee less than what i'll be getting when im in scotland next time, 250 pounds is way out of my budget. Second holiday dreams were scattered when i was informed there ws no more bus tickets to the beautiful Perhentian Island. Feeling rather desperate for a holiday, i was planning for more holiday options with my other 3 friends, but all don't seem fit due to tight and unparallel schedules. There goes, my after exam hype was spent on perfumes and shopping and packing and moving house.

31st March marked another eventful day of my life. It's the last day we are going to step in our rented unit in vista. It's the day we had or hosp attachment briefings, visa application briefing, measuring of our suits, had our life go through the two and a half years ago at our pharmacy night, the first and last time of me posing a sexy pose on stage and taking a midnight bus home. First but hopefully not the last of all pharmacy batches gather together to give a farewell party to all graduating batches, B104 and P106. Thanks to our juniors P107 for putting such effort in organising the event, preparing the performances and all. It was indeed memorable and the video never failed to make us emo.

* will continue the emo part in another post*

Now that i have no more place to stay, i have to rely on the kind heart of my brother and friends to accommodate me during the days i will be in kl. Uncertainties in commuting, in accommodation, in schedules are making life a bit difficult. Unanswered questions kept popping up in my mind. What will my results be. When will they release. Where to stay. How to go. When to go home. When will I be needed here. When will the candida come. When will the mice arrive. What to bring. What to buy. How much time do i have. Millions of questions to be answered. Millions of possibilities.

I shall wait for some good news soon I hope. Cross my fingers and lets pray for the best.

Jen
May the forces be with you.

A Tribute

2008-04-01T19:51:00.002+08:00

A tribute to my grandmother, who passed away peacefully last week. May she rest in peace

seehua
nope, no april fools joke here

Definitions

2008-03-25T07:13:00.001+08:00

Few good Definitions

1. School: A place where Papa pays and Son plays.
2. Life Insurance: A contract that keeps you poor all your life so that you can die Rich.
3. Nurse: A person who wakes u up to give you sleeping pills.
4. Marriage: It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her masters.
5. Divorce: Future tense of Marriage.
6. Tears : The hydraulic force by which masculine willpower is defeated by feminine waterpower.
7. Lecture: An art of transferring information from the notes of the Lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through "the minds of either"
8. Conference: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.
9. Compromise : The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.
10. Dictionary: A place where success comes before work.
11. Conference Room : A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on.
12. Father: A banker provided by nature.
13. Criminal: A guy no different from the rest....except that he got caught.
14. Boss: Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.
15. Politician : One who shakes your hand before elections and your Confidence after.
16. Doctor : A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you by bills.
17. Classic : Books, which people praise, but do not read.
18. Office : A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.
19. Yawn: The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.
20. Etc .: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.
21. Committee: Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.
22. Experience : The name men give to their mistakes.
23. Atom Bomb : An invention to end all inventions.
24. Philosopher: A fool who torments himself during life, to be spoken of when dead.
25. Smile : A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

Taken from a forwarded mail.

seehua

Want a MacBook AIR?

2008-03-12T09:45:00.000+08:00

Read this first...

Election is Here!

2008-03-08T03:29:00.007+08:00

Election is just few hours away and I am sure those who are already eligible to vote and able to go all the way back to their hometown are either already back in hometown
or are on their way home.

Whatever it is, it is election on many of our minds now and for those who are voting probably already made up their mind who to cast their votes and exercise their rights on a long-anticipated-time-of-every-five-years polling day.

And this year's polling day is not just any ordinary polling day. It coincides with the International Women's Day and..... our 'beloved' Works Minister's Birthday! It's such a pretty nice date where it is all 3 in 1 celebration.

For single guys out there, you get to practise your rights while giving a glimpse at the pretty girl in front of you during the polling, and best of all, u have a pick up line ready for you! It's International Women's Day! Isn't that great?

For those who haven't decided, now is your time! Cast your votes with wisdom! This video might help release some of your tension while deciding... For those who are not voting, haha, it's time to have some laughs.

So, what are you waiting for? Watch this video and you'll know what i mean. Have fun! :)

* Thanks to my bro who showed me this page. Thanks to his boss for sharing as well. Those two are his friends. It is super funny.

Germany

2008-03-06T10:42:00.005+08:00

Germany is a country roughly the size of the Malaysia that is situated right at the middle of Europe. If you guys that had been through the secondary school education in Malaysia and still didn't know where the heck is it, go back and relearn your history and geography as well.

Here in this article I will discuss about the clichés that are often said about this country and whether they are true or not, based on my personal experiences.

1. Are the German Sausages nice?German sausages or commonly known here as Würst here consists commonly of pork, beef and turkish meats. And there are lots of variants of them as well. Some of them looked like those in the picture, very thick and short for the standards here. If you really need numbers, the diameter of these kind of sausages can go up to 3cm or so. And then there will be some that are really thin but ultra long, often reaching more than 30cm.

Unlike the dish seen here, most of the time the sausaged will be taken with breads (Brötchen), either in between 2 halves or eaten separately.

2. Breads
During my orientation class when I first came to germany, the teacher said that Germany itself can offer more types of breads than any other place in the world. When you go into any breadshop over here, you might go dizzy with the array of breads on display ready to be sold and eaten by it's hungry customers. Locally at my state, they offer pretzel as a local specialty (I don't find them particularly nice, a tad too salty due to how they are produced).

Most of the bread shops here offer some kind of oven to heat up your selected bread should you have any kind of interest in warmed food.

3. Do the Germans like to drink beers?
The answer here is obviously a big yes. They germans here LOVE it in fact, even more so in the southern region of Germany. One of the most famous festivals related to Germany, the Oktoberfest celebrated all over the world, originated from the city of Munich (München).

Apart from the festive times, they also drink beers during party times as well as during gatherings. At these times it can be irritating because when they are drunk, they can do all sorts of wild things. Most of the times they are just irritating, like making loud noises or throwing bottles out of the windows. Sometimes they can get quite scary as well, like randomly opening other peoples' doors, fights and vandalisms. I have had at one time a guy opening my door after a party at my uni at 3am. Lucky he just closed the door afterwards. At one time the police actually e-mailed to all students asking for information on a serious injury occured to a poor guy after a party gone wrong.

But all in all, if you don't overdo it, drinking beers with the Germans can be pretty relaxing, sitting around in the common room chit-chatting (I miss those times).

As for me, yes, I do drink here, but only once in a few weeks and no more than one bottle at a time. So, most of the time I can still keep to my senses, no worries here ;)

The Germans use an array of different glasses to drink their beers from. The ones that you usually see in the pictures are the mugs, really big ones. Most of the time though, when you order beers at a german restaurant, they will serve you beer with a glass that is about 30cm in heigt that is a bit thinner at the bottom than the top.

Well, I think that is all that I can write at time time. Will be posting more on such things in the future.

It's already 6am here, and I still haven't taken my good night sleep... Scold me la for not sleeping earlier (screw the bowl of tom-yam bee hoon I cooked for supper just 3 hours ago).

Anyway, to the all of you out there, take care always and don't inhabit the bad habit of being a late night cat from me...

seehua
*Music can help on soothing anxious minds. If you find yourself very nervous or anxious, get some music at the right pace to set yourself to the correct mood ;) ~

all pictures are taken from their respective Wikipedia pages.
Current interest: Options trading
Current activities: renewing visas, reading, tweaking my new handset, sleeping and generally lazing around

Masturbate-a-Thon???

2008-03-05T23:33:00.003+08:00

I was reading The Sun newspaper some time ago and came across this strange news, some very uh, weird news... haha... wonder why would some people actually think of such idea. Enjoy reading and hope it wont disgust u. Haha.

Festival of self-love coming to Copenhagen

Copenhagen: Hot on the heels of San Francisco and London, Copenhagen is to host a Masturbate-a-Thon in May which organisers hope will break lingering taboos about self-love, an organiser said on Wednesday.

Pia Struck Madsen, a sexologist in the Danish capital, said her goal was to see men and women from all backgrounds come together - pardon the pun - and join an event that promises "pleasure, relaxation and sexual self-discovery".

"Masturbation is positive, safe and erotic alternative," she said, ahead of the event on May 31, to take place at a yet-to-be-decided venue with separate rooms for men, women and those who don't mind mingling.

The original Masturbate-a-Thon took place in San Francisco in 1998, with participants raising money for good causes. Now an annual event, it was followed by a similar event in London in July 2006. -AFP-

Who knows next time they'll come up with something called Sex-a-Thon? or Orgathon?

I cant imagine...

Lame Post

2008-03-03T21:36:00.003+08:00

Since im feeling a little bored... i mean really bored... My dear fren, carolyn started telling me a story about an old uncle...

"... One fine day, there was one old uncle aged 70 years old, he has alzheimer. The wife couldn't tahan him and send him to a nursing home. He is sitting on the wheelchair when she was doing some registration at the counter. The uncle tilt his head to left side and the nurse saw and quickly put a pillow on his left side to prevent him from falling. After a few minutes, the uncle started tilting his body to the right. The nurse saw it and quickly put the pillow to prevent him from falling again. After few minutes later, the uncle started to tilt to the front and the nurse quickly ran to him and put a pillow in front of him. The nurse later tied the uncle to the wheelchair to avoid him from falling. When the wife was done with the registration, she turned back and was shocked to see him being tied to the wheelchair. She asked " why are you being tied??" " The... the nurse don't allow me to fart."......"

Okie...that's all the lame joke...

LoL..

P/s: I just found out LoL not only stands for Lots of Laugh, but can also stand for Loss of Libido... haha... (* okay, that's lame*)

Sunset

2008-02-27T13:01:00.000+08:00

Comments needed...

Happy Chap Goh Mei

2008-02-21T04:57:00.003+08:00

As my first post after my very very short Happy CNY post, I apologize for my lack of activities here in the blog. These 2 weeks have been a very busy time for me myself. I have to finish up the last 3 papers in my final exam, the attend extra classes that is part of the curriculum. On top of that, I have to deal with the extension of my visa to allow me to stay here till the end of my studies and I have to write out lots of letters to apply for a place for my practicals.

Anyway, the atmosphere here almost doesn't reflect the true atmosphere of the Chinese New Year celebration in Malaysia itself. Life just goes on like normal as if nothing significant had happened. The Germans didn't even know that it's our "Chun Jie" until after I mentioned it to them. To them, spring only officially starts somewhere at the end of the next month.

Just how did I am the other Malaysians celebrate the coming of the Rat year? Well, as "Tuan Yuan Fan" the Malaysian Chinese here gathered to cook a meal together. We drank Ba Kut Teh on that night but were quickly dispersed due the fact that it's still exam time and we have last minute stuffs to study and understand before the exam.

First day of the new year, we did have meal together yet again at about almost the same time span. By Friday, our exams are now ever and Joshua had flown to London to meet his friends over there. He did promise to bring back roasted duck from "Four Seasons", a famous roasted duck speciallist in London.

Well, a few days later, after Joshua comes back from London, we have had a gathering of the Malaysians living over here in Aalen to organize a steamboat evening. I finished my extra class early and got there to help with the stripping of chicken meat from it's skin and various other stuffs in the kitchen to prepare for the dinner. My senior, Meo Lian did a very good job with the soup for the steamboat and we have had a very nice gathering that night chit chatting and playing games on the PS2 and Poker (with chips).

The next day, the chinese gathered together again to have a meal again, this time with the roasted duck that Joshua brought back from London. The duck was sure very nice to eat, which is why that particular shop is very famous in London and to the Malaysians living in Europe as well.

Time sure passes quickly, now we are at the end of the celebrations time, with Chap Goh Mei coming tomorrow. How was your celebrations so far? Wishing you all a very successful new year ahead of you guys!

seehua
*Down or up, life goes on~

Ass U + Me

2008-02-19T18:21:00.005+08:00

So what's with that ass u+ me?

It'll be an ass between u + me if you start to assume things.

Very often we just assume things based on past experiences and assumptions that others had made.

How tasty, how disasterous, how gorgeous, how bad, how good, how evil, how angelic, how useless, how helpful....etc etc...

All these are nothing but labels we put on a person. How well can these labels represent a person? Are they really what we labelled them as?

Nevertheless, labelling is yet another way of human use to judge people.

These labels may represent a person well at the particular point of time when the comment was made. But, how well can it represent the same person in the past, or in the future?

Is it fair to judge a person based on their past, what more based on other's point of view, when the person is a 'new' person now?

Are you sure that a person that is nice to you now, will not do something hurtful to you in the future?

Are you sure the person you see now, is the person they really are? Never judge a book by its cover. Life is full of uncertainties and surprises.

If you realise, almost every cells in our body is constantly changing, developing and differenciating. Old cells are replaced with new cells.

Red blood cells last only for 115-120 days. 75% of our body is water and every month or so, almost all the water in the body is replaced. 7% of our body weight is blood fluid and blood cells, most of which are replaced in 3 months.

After a period of time, our body is replaced with an almost complete new body. Can we still say that it is the same body 3 months ago?

The truth of life is change. Nothing remains the same. Keep and open mind and open heart and stop assumming things.

Past is past. Future has yet to come. We have a new life everyday, don't we? Live in the present!

Jen
Everything around us is, but an illusion. It's all created in the mind.

My phone currently is out of order. Sometimes it is okay, sometimes it 'falls sick'. Most of the time, it cannot receive signals and has no signals completely. It's severity increases with the time of the day. Beg my pardon if I don't get to reply your smses or even get contacted.

Got my class test results today. Another class test this friday. *cry*

Happy Valentine Dear~

2008-02-14T14:52:00.003+08:00

For the one I love, Happy Valentine's Day :)

A hug for our endless love,
A hug for our endless care,
A hug for our sweet moments,
A hug for our conversations,
A hug for our sharings,
A hug for our constant heartbeats,
A hug for our smiles,
A hug for our eye contacts,
A hug for our thoughtful thoughts,
A hug for our sweet memories,
A hug for our beautiful times,
A hug for our ups and downs,
A hug for our red and green,
A hug for our sweet and sour, salty and bitter,
A hug for our longings and missings,
A hug for our cards and smses,
A hug for our skyping and msn-ing,
A hug for our imagations and visualisations,
A hug for our telephatic moments,
A hug for our dreams,
A hug for you being you and me being me,
A hug for being so blessed to have us, I Love You Dear!^.^

Here's a very nice song with nice lyrics..enjoy~

PERHAPS LOVE (John Denver)
Perhaps love is like a resting place, a shelter from the storm
It exists to give you comfort, it is there to keep you warm
And in those times of trouble when you are most alone
The memory of love will bring you home

Perhaps love is like a window, perhaps an open door
It invites you to come closer, it wants to show you more
And even if you lose yourself and don't know what to do
The memory of love will see you through

Love to some is like a cloud, to some as strong as steel
For some a way of living, for some a way to feel
And some say love is holding on and some say letting go
And some say love is everything, and some say they don't know

Perhaps love is like the ocean, full of conflict, full of pain
Like a fire when it's cold outside, thunder when it rains
If I should live forever, and all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you

Some say love is holding on and some say letting go
Some say love is everything and some say they don't know
Perhaps love is like the mountains, full of conflict, full of change
Like a fire when it's cold outside, thunder when it rains
If I should live forever, and all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you :)

Here is another song, our song...:)

AT THE BEGINNING (Anastacia)
We were strangers starting out on our journey
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through
Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you

No one told me I was going to find you
Unexpected what you did to my heart
When I lost hope you were there to remind me
This is the start

(chorus)
And Life is a road and I want to keep going
Love is a river I want to keep flowing
Life is a road now and forever
A Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there whenthe storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

We were strangers on a crazy adventure
Never dreaming how our dreams would come true
Now here we stand unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you

(chorus)

I knew there was somebody somewhere
Like me alone in the dark
I know that my dream will live on
I've been waiting so long
Nothing's gonna tear us apart

(chorus)

In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you

I would like to dedicate this two songs to my dear dear~ hehe.. sorry ya ppl, this post very cheesy..hehehe..pardon me yeah...

Post-Chinese New Year

2008-02-12T17:05:00.000+08:00

Rat is a creature that run fast (If not how would the rat appear first in the zodiac calender?!).. Somehow the RAT year also goes faster than usual...or is it just me? Haha... No matter what, within a blink of an eye, it's already the 6th day of the Chinese New Year.

I felt that Chinese New Year very much comes in a package : family, relatives, friends, endless well-wishes, the scorching hot weather, red colour, chai shen ( the fortune god), all the Chinese New Year songs , incense and flowers, cookies, mandarin oranges, pamelos and lou sang and most important of all, a healthy body and a happy feeling to enjoy the festive season with vigour.

I had my one of the best and enjoyable CNY this year! Preparing food together, having tuan nian fan (reunion dinner) together with our loved ones, seeing everybody smiles, laugh until our stomach hurts, laugh until we pee in our pants, eat non-stop until our stomach buldge, visit relatives, long lost friends, getting updates and stuff our pockets with flashing red angpaus, visiting temples and praying for well-being and good fortune, praying of a good cheem, well-wishing everyone we see and sharing funny stories are the some of the best things I had done during this rat year CNY.

I really had enjoyed myself to the max! Now i am full of energy and vigour, and most importantly the right mindset to continue to strive in this never ending battle called life! :D

I wish my family, See Hua and family, and friends a very blessed rat year ahead. 万事如意。健康强壮。笑口常开。中生美丽。心想事成！！

Cheers~^.^
Jen
Love is all we need!

I am back in my second day of lecture. I was allllllll alone on the day i came back on sunday and the whole unit was eerie, nobody around, pitch dark toilets due to faulty light bulb, water spraying due to faulty pipes, house unkept and rubbish to throw. Despite those, it is a blessing to come back earlier as i felt more ready to digest my lectures and absorb them :)

Count down: 6 more days to DD2 essay class test and 11 days to PP2 class test. Jia you!

Happy Chinese New Year

2008-02-08T10:22:00.000+08:00

Yes, it is a bit late now, but wishing the all of you out there a very Happy Year of the Rat. May success be on your path in the future ;)

Happy Chinese New Year!

2008-02-06T11:48:00.000+08:00

Weee~ Chinese New Year is here yet again! But this new year is different from the rest of the years. If you reliase, it is the starting of the new cycle of the zodiac calender! Plus this year is the first year my family has a new member, hehe, my ah sou to celebrate with us. How great! :)

It is also the CNY b4 i skip one round of celebration next year. Oh well, it is also the CNY where casper is having his final exam. Imagine sitting for ur final exam on the second day of CNY??? Hard to imagine, but well, maybe the CNY spirit brings more luck and intelligence during your paper? hehe...

May this rat year brings more joy and happiness to all of us. For all the readers out there, may you and your family emerge as the winner of the rat race and have lotsa cheese (smiles, rewards, food) this year! :)

It's time of the year again to indulge in food and fun, family and friends! Enjoy!

Bus Crash No More

2008-01-31T00:09:00.000+08:00

It's up, a petition has been set up for Malaysians to sign. The petition can be found here and the related blog here.

Make your voices heard, don't be yet another part of the 'silent majority' whose voice never got out of their throats. Let's make our roads a safer place yet again...

seehua

Rule of Thumb

2008-01-29T09:54:00.000+08:00

You can always add seasonings to cooking, but you cannot take them out. So always start with half of your seasonings and taste your recipe before adding more.
~Viki Anderson, graphic designer, Omaha, NE~

Never consider the "use by" date on a food product without also applying the "sniff test."
~Steve, retired, Glendale, Utah, USA~

Rule of Thumb is a phrase you apply to sayings that fairly accurate in most situations stated in the rule. For a more comprehensive explanation, Wikipedia have the following to say

A rule of thumb is a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation. It is an easily learned and easily applied procedure for approximately calculating or recalling some value, or for making some determination.

While doing some online surfing, this site named RuleOfThumb came up. Thinking it's pretty cool, I've decided to share with you guys as well. Enjoy. You can go to the site by clicking on the big logo at the top of the page.

And if you have any rule of the thumb as well, feel free to register there and submit it ;)

seehua
*Be calm and composed, even if you are running out of time. You will do more that way~

One location to conquer them all...

2008-01-29T09:27:00.000+08:00

Here's the deal. Due to the many times I've to fix others' computers, and most of the time I won't have my portable hard drive with me, so I always have to go to the related sites to download the things that I need. Hence, I've created a sharing space in 4Shared to store my most used programs. And as a bonus, I've decided to let you guys access the files there as well...

It's still incomplete as of now, but should have most of the programs that I've find useful to maintain my computer as well as introducing lots of convenient functions that doesn't take too much resources (check out the Texter and Launchy, they've saved me lots of time. Intro coming in the following weeks after my exam).

Hope you guys will find a central location to download things useful. You guys may access them here. Now I got to go back and hit my brain and notes again, see ya

seehua

An unforeseen death.

2008-01-29T05:02:00.000+08:00

After I got back from my first paper in my exams today, I read a piece of news in ReCom. A young girl, a fellow ReComer and a PSD scholar as well, who is studying in the NSW University in Australia, had passed away due to a bus mishap while traveling to KL from Penang. Cause of accident? The driver is a reckless one with 13 outstanding summons against him. Well, it's time to take the banner and hold those who are responsible to justice.

According to the survivors, the top deck was swaying left and right as the driver was going really fast. Some passengers at the bottom deck saw the driver smsing a lot and driving really fast in the heavy rain. After awhile the passengers felt something amiss and saw the bus driver STAND UP suddenly(while the bus was moving!) and split seconds later, the passengers screamed really loudly and the bus spun three times, hit the divider and careened to the opposite highway where an oncoming MPV crashed into the back of the bus. Nian Ning and Mohd Zailani were sitting at the back row. I’m not sure about the other Chinese boy who also passed away. But that’s what I’ve gathered. The passengers of the MPV only suffered minor injuries. To add insult to the injury, the bus driver only sustained a broken right leg. I’m curious to know what is happening to him now though.

Chung Lern and Nian Ning’s families would like all families and friends of the victims, dead or alive, in the Slim River Bus Crash to come forward and join them in taking action against the bus company. Stand up to seek justice for these three innocent individuals, who were all so young and full of life.

Calling to anyone who:

knows someone who survived or did not survive

the crash to come forward to join the Lee family.

Make a huge difference, make a huge fuss.

For now, you may contact Lee Chung Lern at chunglern@gmail.com or preferably on his handphone at 012-6670368.

For all you know, it could be me, just your average young bus rider wanting to go home.

-Jayelle

Links:
Family mourns loss of beautiful, intelligent, go-getter
Help Ning Nian's family, fight with them
Nian Ning's Blog
Chang Yang's take: An Untimely demise 1 and 2

seehua
*For those who do bad things, rest assured, bad things will happen in return to them as well~

Time to hit the books again. First day of an exam period that will last till the 7th of Febuary. No tuan yuan fan for me la like that... Anyway, wish me luck, and pray that I will not drop out of the uni this sem...

Welcome Note

2008-01-22T19:35:00.000+08:00

As i had promised my dear housemate, Mr Oh Yew Jinn, here is the welcome note made especially for you. Pardon the simplicity. :P

WELCOME TO MY BLOG, YEW JINN! XD

As a brief introduction, Mr Oh is a very friendly housemate who is looking for a supermodel roommate*. He is a very kind hearted person. This is proven when he wanted to give me RM 3 to buy dinner knowing that i am stinging on food, although JPA money is not in yet. I was indeed very touched. He is also a very hardworking person, as you will not miss seeing him in IMU library, or reading the module notes until 12 midnight or scribbling some notes from the Rang and Dale**. He is also a very family-oriented person as he goes home every weekend to see his family***. He is one of the star-rated loyal PBSM (Pasti Balik Setiap Minggu) members. Moreover, he has very good sense of fashion. You will only see him in nice, well fitted clothes, with a tinge of personal style. He also has a good sense of humour. Most importantly, he is still swinging single and available up for grabs.

* this is just based on the wordings on his stylish t-shirt. It's used to spice up the intro. Nothing serious intended.

** Rang and Dale is our pharmacology textbook that we are using in our pharmacy course.

***citation needed

Citation obtained one day after the post, from Mr Oh himself: "It's only 50-50."
He can be found in [Broken Link Removed -seehua] as simple man with simple needs. ;)

One At A Time

2008-01-22T19:01:00.000+08:00

I really shouldn't be blogging now, as my class test is on this friday, project due on following monday and another class test on tuesday and i am not prepared for any...really shouldn't waste anymore time and i am most probably has entered depression mode... but, like casper said, we should take a break to go further...so i was taking a break, checking through my long lists of unread emails and stumbled across this forwarded email, which i think it's exactly what i should be doing right now..."one at a time"...As i am now loaded with so many things to complete and 24 hours never seems to be adequate, this message came to me just at the right time, pulling me back on track... Thanks for whatever that brings the message to me at the right timing...Thanks for Xin Yin who forwarded the email to me:)

Hope this msg brings you some enlightenment too. Enjoy reading. :)

The Daffodil Principle

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over."

I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead . "I will come next Tuesday", I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around."

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, " Daffodil Garden ." We got out of the car, each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world .

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.

She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting.....

Until your car or home is paid off

Until you get a new car or home

Until your kids leave the house

Until you go back to school

Until you finish school

Until you clean the house

Until you organize the garage

Until you clean off your desk

Until you lose 10 lbs.

Until you gain 10 lbs.

Until you get married

Until you get a divorce

Until you have kids

Until the kids go to school

Until you retire

Until summer

Until spring

Until winter

Until fall

Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt, and,

Dance like no one's watching.

Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

Journey called Life: Being Happy

2008-01-13T04:22:00.000+08:00

http://wondering-souls.deviantart.com/

Do you want to be happy all the time? Very "useless" question I know, because everybody's answer will be the same: "Yes!"

Being Happy is one of the ultimate goals within our minds. It's the time when we really enjoyed ourselves, laughing, smiling or just being contented with stuffs. It might be the time when we are with our friends, chit chatting away for the whole evening, or me being at my girlfriend's side helping her with her stuffs...

Meanwhile, there are also lots of things in our life that have kept us from the happy state. And I find that people tend to keep themselves more to this state even though it's making them feel gloomy and sad. As for the reason, I am still not sure why people do that. What I know is, if you are sad, you are the only one who can get yourself out of it.

Here are some of the things that I do to keep myself happy :)

1. Being contented
I have all the necessities that I need to live a life. I have food to eat, I can drink clean water, I have all the time I need to do my things (Though i do sometimes run a it short on time), I can read all the things in the world, I have a family, and I also have a loving girlfriend. Being contented doesn't mean I don't have the desire to further develop myself though. I still have goals to achieve and someday I will be achieve it.

2. Being Thankful
Every day, I am thankful that I can live another day, still alive and kicking. I can still enjoy the sceneries around me, the sunset, and the life that I have. Every time someone help me with my difficulties, I thank them and hope that some day later, I can repay them in kind. By being thankful for the things that I have and not the things that I don't have, I've managed to keep my complaints to the minimal. The glass is always half-full anyway, why not enjoy it?

3. Being Helpful
I always that by being helpful, I am contributing my little bit by making this world a better place to live in. For me, there is no bigger joy than watching others benefiting from the help that I've provided. Hence, I do and will do my best to help lift people out of their sadness by being there anytime that I can, or help fix their other problems however that I can. This doesn't mean that i will make myself available anytime though, I do have my own things to do as well :p

4. Taking a break
Taking a break always bring peace to the anxious mind. Whenever that I find myself anxious about something, I always take a short break from the things that I am currently doing. A short break might just be what you need to keep yourself working longer and brings in more productivity as well. Our minds do need rests, just like our body. And no, overworking it won't bring any benefits to a tired mind.

5. Doing something that I like
Whenever I decided to take a break, I like to engage in things that I like to do. From chatting with my friends through MSN to reading about stuffs available in the net, there are lots of options for me to relax my mind. I like taking pictures at times, or taking the journey to my friends' place for a visit, or building the Lego set that I sometimes buys, or even spending hours trying to fix my just broken Ubuntu Linux installation. It's always helpful to distract a mind that is tired so that it can relax for a while :)

6. Finished Task
When I have finished doing a task, I will be happy that I've managed to tick another thing off the list of "to-be-done" list. One less task to do, one less thing to worry about.

7. Never let bad stuffs bother the mind
Whenever I feel down, I've always find things to distract the mind from dwelling too long in it. Whether it's by doing things that I like to do, or just plain taking to a close friend through the phone or by sleeping, it always helps to do something that keeps us from going into it. The mind ca only be focused on one thing at a time, how are we going to be happy when we are sad?

8. Surprise people
I like to send out post cards randomly from time to time to my friends. Sometimes i do make surprise calls as well. It's very satisfactory to see or listen to people's reactions when they got the calls or postcards. Something good that is unexpected always helps to bring an element of happiness to people's lives, and that might just be the very thing to bring people out of their low state if they are having their low-time now ;)

These are some of the things that had enabled me to be able to smiles at the world everyday. Hope it can help you guys out there as well. May all be well and happy always ;)

seehua
*Keep it up, never stay down after you've fell~

Just how insignificant are we?

2008-01-10T03:21:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year 2008

2008-01-07T06:21:00.000+08:00

I know it's kinda too late for a new year wish, but better late than never... hehe...

Wish you all a blast of a new year, may success accompany you on your way through the year ;)

Here are 2 of my favorite photos of the fireworks that I've took during our celebration over here in the usually quiet Aalen

See Hua
*Be true to yourself, be true to your heart~
P/S: The rest of the photos will be uploaded after I've done editing them. Have been experimenting with various technique taken from Photography related magazines that I would like to try.

The First Step

2007-12-27T00:56:00.000+08:00

Take the first step in faith,

You don't have to see the whole staircase,

Just take the first step.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

1929 - 1968

Merry Christmas to the all of you out there, and may success go along you in the year 2008 and beyond

Circumstances

2007-12-12T19:56:00.000+08:00

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.

~George Bernard Shaw~

Men are Happier

2007-12-11T14:34:00.000+08:00

Got this off somewhere in the net(Friendster bulletin). No hard feelings to the girls though.

Men Are Just Happier People-- What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth and take you seriously.. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another petrol station washroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time.

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars with your bare hands. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend. No problem.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. You can wear the same shirt to the office, wedding or funeral. Nobody will notice. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have broken heels or strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original colour. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. Like wrinkles, white hair adds character. You only have to shave your face. Hairy legs? They come with the original package. They add character.

You can play with toys all your life. One wallet and one watch -- one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

The Inner Life of a Cell

2007-11-25T17:06:00.000+08:00

Found this while reading my Google Reader feeds. It's quite a nice video with nice music and in the second 'long' version, narration as well. Those who are taking subjects related to biology might benefit from this :)

Animation only

'Long' version with narration

Internet Browsers Impressions

2007-11-16T22:59:00.000+08:00

For the last week I have been trying out 3 beta versions of the most popular alternative browsers, and i would like to share with you all my experiences here. Note that all the softwares previewed are of beta quality and should not be used on a critical system. i shall not be held responsible for and damaged system/work as a result. That being said, all the softwares have never crashed on me, so feel free to download and play with them.

Mozilla Firefox 3 Beta 1:

The successor to the increasingly popular Mozilla Firefox family of web-browsers, this one have big shoes to fill in. People are starting to take note of it,and a lot are switching to it after experiencing the benefits of safer browsing, the innumerable addons that are available and the easiness of it's usage.

For the last month, I have been using the Alpha 8 (Grand paradiso 8) version of Firefox 3.0, and I have to say, I am impressed by the improvements made to it.

It successfully passed the ACID 2 test from the webstandards.org ensuring that I can render any sites coded according to standards properly. To take the test, you may go to this page. In addition to that, site loading times were vastly improved over that of Firefox 2.0. It's so fast that it's site loading times were almost on par with that of Opera 9.5, just a few miliseconds slower. It's memory footprint is smaller this time around, hovering at 96Mb with 5 tabs open.

It's interface looked like the one from Firefox 2 at first glance, with the one and only new element named the "places" folder at the bookmark bar. (As of now, I am still not sure of what this feature actually do, so I have no comments on it) Within the menu structure there are a few new interface upgrades over the last version. The downloads windows is now searchable, enabling me to search for downloads that I have made. The options page have an extra tab listing out the programs for most types of files. And on the security front, we have a malicious site checker that, when turned on, will warn the user from visiting a site that is potentially damaging to the computer. We will have 2 choices of malicious list to choose from, one from a public list maintained by Mozilla and another one provided by Google.

And under Linux, the Mozilla have improved on the integration with the Gnome and KDE-based desktop environments by using their default looks and buttons. This means no more ugly Firefox that doesn't follow the general looks of the desktop space.

Spell checking is still available from that program, and it will continue to assist me in writing error free posts to blogger and various forums. It's just too bad that it isn't available in the other browsers.

However, there are still a few drawbacks inherited from it's predecessors. Installing addons/themes still requires a restart, which is inconvenient. The browser still takes more time than both Safari and Opera to start up and shut down. Navigating in between pages via the forward and back buttons revealed another area where Firefox can improve in, the rerendering of pages should have taken a shorter time.

Mozilla 3 had coded a lot of improvements into the No. 2 top browser in the world, and I hope this continues on, enabling lots of people to enjoy enhanced web-browsing experience.

Note: Firefox 3.0 Beta have not been released into the public. If you want to get your hands onto it, you will have to do a bit of digging online.

Opera 9.50 Beta:

Touted by it's developers as the fastest browser in the world, Opera have it's own share of fans that will swear their life by it, and it's by no coincidence that it is so.

The page loading and rendering performance of this browser is the best so far among the three browsers previewed here today. And for convenience, the fast forward and back ward buttons estimates the most likely next page that I will be going to, a neat feature if you ask me. The memory footprint of this browser is the smallest of all, at 93mb with the same amount of tabs opened (not too small after all). This browser had also passed the ACID 2 test. Note that this memory footprint is measured without any widgets and bit-torrents running.

The other neat features of this browser is the speed dial and the widgets. Speed dial works just like how it would work on your cell phone. Whenever you opened a new tab to browse another site, there will be nine buttons, in which you can define the addresses of your most frequently visited sites. Click on one of the buttons and your destination will magically load up in the tab for your viewing pleasure. The widgets works exactly like how Yahoo! Widgets or Apple Widgets works, by putting useful pieces of applets on your screen that you can call in and out any time. The applications for the widgets will range from a simple clock on your desktop to very complex ones like stock analysis over the past few days, or even time wasters like an aquarium games

Opera gives the most amount of space within it's browser for web-surfing, which is a very good thing. It gives me more space to look over things before I need to start scrolling and the browser itself won't be a big distraction as well.

For privacy advocates, they will be pleased to know of the existence of a private surfing mode that enables them to surf the net without leaving traces behind.

The main complaints that I have for this browser is that it sometimes just failed to load some pages for some reason and just hangs there without giving a timeout. This leads it to just stay there saying that it's still loading the page. I had to stop the loading process and load the page again to get it moving, which is a tad inconvenient if you ask me. And, when the page is from a brand new site that have not been visited recently, it takes more time than both Firefox and Safari for the initial load, sometimes lasting up to 20 seconds. After that, surfing the rest of the site will be a breeze since the caching mechanism had saved a few static features of the page.

The Bit-torrent feature had failed to work on my overly complex network configuration, in which I haven't found out why.

Opera also renders some sites incorrectly, resulting in an outright ugly look of the page. So far I have only seen this happening only once, in the AMD website that I was browsing when I was looking for positions for my practical semester a few weeks ago.

The lack of an addons system does limit the potential of this browser, though it does mitigate the need for it by integrating some very powerful features that are available in Firefox only after installation of add ons (Mouse Gestures comes to the mind).

It's fast, it's compact and it's powerful. Opera is set to become better and better in the future. It might even replace Firefox as my main browser if not for the rendering problems.

Safari for Windows 3.04:

Safari is a relative newcomer to the internet browsing world under windows. It's bundled in Mac OS as the default browser, and since July this year, windows' users can also get a feel of how it feels to surf the net using Safari.

Once installed, one of the first things that I noticed about the interface is just how similar it looked like my music management/playing software, iTunes. It is clean and neat, and even with lots of tabs open it doesn't look as cluttered as Firefox can be.

Another things that people will notice is the way anti aliasing works here. it doesn't use the default windows' method to do it, but employs it's own algorithm. The result is, the fonts generally looks blurrier than normal, but are more loyal to the original shapes of the fonts. This results in a big debate on whether Apple should pursue the Mac experience with Safari, or make Windows users comfortable with it. For me, I kinda like the slight blurriness of the words. It looks better than windows fonts and made it more readable, which is important for a person who surfs the net all the time like me.

The options menu doesn't provide much options to configure the browser with, which I think is a boon for the more novice users since they will have less settings to break. The power users might be frustrated with the lack of configurations available to them though (people like me like to tweak all aspects of a program to ensure it works exactly the way we want it to) :P

Performance of this browser can be summarized as very good. It loads pages at a generally faster speed than Firefox, but a bit slower than Opera (all are at almost the same level). The memory usage, however, can be improved upon. Using 230++Mb or RAM is unacceptable for me, especially if it only have a few tabs open. I hope that Apple can fix this problem in future releases of the program, especially if they would like more and more users to use it. I have yet to encounter any rendering problems so far (except for one very poorly coded Friendster page).

It's inability to save the tab contents across browsing sessions disappointing, considering that the other two browsers previewed here have implemented this feature for quite some time already. This shortcoming can be compensated by it's ability to save groups of tabs together, which will be the first button that I will click on everything I start it up. The feature is good, and the addition of a session saving feature will certainly make up the requirements that I have for my browser.

Another gripe that I have with Safari is having to right click on downloaded items in order to start them up. In the other browsers I can just double click on the downloaded items in the download window to start it, and I would expect it to behave the same way here. Not a major complaint, but it makes up my browsing experience.

Safari have strong features to enable it to compete with the other big names in the area, but it needs a bit more polish to win it. Of the looks of the three browsers, I like Safari the most, especially the way it renders fonts. Apple would have to keep on improving on the memory footprint though, and hope the next version will use less memory.

That's all to my very subjective review of these 3 browsers, I will still continue to use Ff3.0 beta as my main browser for this time around, as it is the more familiar browser to me. Till the next time I post anything, c'ya guys, and don't get sick like me now...

Cheers

seehua
*Let's create a world full of Love~

p/s: here is a view of the memory usage of various programs in my system. This entry will be edited as i spend more time with the said browsers...

The Most Beautiful Flower

2007-11-16T15:46:00.000+08:00

The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read

Beneath the long,straggly branches of an old willow tree.

Disillusioned by life with good reason to frown,

For the world was intent on dragging me down.

And if that weren't enough to ruin my day,

A young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play.

He stood right before me with his head tilted down

And said with great excitement, "Look what I found!"

In his hand was a flower, and what a pitiful sight,

With its petals all worn - not enough rain, or too little light.

Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play,

I faked a small smile and then shifted away.

But instead of retreating he sat next to my side

And placed the flower to his nose and declared with overacted surprise,

"It sure smells pretty and it's beautiful, too.

That's why I picked it; here, it's for you."

The weed before me was dying or dead.

Not vibrant of colors: orange, yellow or red.

But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave.

So I reached for the flower, and replied, "Just what I need."

But instead of him placing the flower in my hand,

He held it mid-air without reason or plan.

It was then that I noticed for the very first time

That weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind.

I heard my voice quiver; tears shone in the sun

As I thanked him for picking the very best one.

"You're welcome," he smiled, and then ran off to play,

Unaware of the impact he'd had on my day.

I sat there and wondered how he managed to see

A self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree.

How did he know of my self-indulged plight?

Perhaps from his heart, he'd been blessed with true sight.

Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see

The problem was not with the world; the problem was me.

And for all of those times I myself had been blind,

I vowed to see the beauty in life,

And appreciate every second that's mine.

And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose

And breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose

And smiled as I watched that young boy, Another weed in his hand,

About to change the life of an unsuspecting old man.

Source: www.moralstories.net

Journey called Life... (From cat to Tiger)

2007-11-16T15:25:00.001+08:00

source

"In seinem Traum kann auch das kleinste Kätzchen ein Tiger sein"

Taken from a fridge magnet that i was about to give someone

Translation:

"In it's dreams, the smallest cat can also be a tiger."

For those who dare to dream, dream on, and create a reality out of it.

cheers

seehua

*Let's create a world full of Love~

updates from me: Just realized that my Gmail have been upgraded, and it certainly looks very nice. Couple it with the latest IMAP support, Gmail just proves to me why it should stay as my main mail provider.

I have constant heads over the past week, and as a result had taken almost the whole week off to rest. It's getting better now, and it's high time that I should get back to my studies. No more failures for this semester is acceptable. If you guys have the time, knock at my msn and remind me not to play too much games :p

It had started to snow over here, and outside of the windows I can see a white world, approaching the levels of white found in the beautiful white snow scenes found in the movies. Somehow it reminds me of Jen. Kinda wish that she is here with me now, enjoying the scene.
Anyway, it's time for me to go back and read a bit before I retire, thanks for squinting your eyes to read the tiny prints. Hope your eyesight haven't increased a few degrees after reading this :p

Anyway, to all who just read the long tiny prints, as well as all beings in every plane of life, I wish you well and happy always...

Fried Rice

2007-11-08T03:19:00.001+08:00

Over the last week, I had made 4 attempts at cooking fried rice. The only knowledge I have about frying rice is the one time closely watching how my mom did it a few years ago :P

1st try, cooked with mixed veges, put in the eggs late into the cooking process. The whole fried rice turned out to be sticky. Stuffed it in anyway :p

2nd try, cooked the same way as above. The exception is that i fried the eggs before I added in the rice. Turns out to be quite nice

3rd try, same as the first try, but fried longer and used a warmer hot plate, turned out to be really nice if not for the extra salt i accidently poured in. (pictured half eaten above)

4th try, fried rice with fresh mushrooms and sausages (I ran out of mixed veges), not satisfactory.

Anyway, I think I will be getting more of the mixed veges for my practices later on~

seehua
*Let's create a world full of Love~

MyPhoneExplorer

2007-11-08T02:30:00.000+08:00

When I fist got my (now stolen) Sony Ericsson k750i, I searched high and low for resources on hacking it so that it runs the SE w800i firmware (Why, because I know it can be done, and because I know I can do it :P).

Along the way, the name MyPhoneExplorer turned up as the premier third party software to manage SE phones. Having used it for almost a year now, I can attest to the claim. This piece of freeware can do it's job, and it's damn good at it.

It enabled me to:
1. Sync my phone's contacts and organizer events with Thunderbird e-mail client (with the Lightning Organizer extension)
2. Backup and restoring my sms messages in case my phone is gone for whatever reason or when I am playing with the firmware (hacking, upgading through third party tools)
3. Send and receive sms messages via the computer
4. Explore the phone/MS card contents (It was possible to do it from Explorer with k750i, but for some reason it isn't possible under k800i unless u decided to turn off the phone to revert to the file transfer mode)
5. Sync my time with standard time kept by atomic clocks

So there you go.. If you are using a SE phone now, do give it a spin, I am pretty sure that it's functions will appeal to you as well :) You can get it here.

seehua
*Let's create a world full of Love~
i am getting busy here for the new semester, with a big project and lots of lab reports to do. And i still have to catch up on a lot of things that i didn't understand since a few sems ago. Due to that, my posting frequency will drop, hope you guys won't mind about that. On top of that, I have to prepare my cover letter and CVs and certs to apply for positions for my practical semester, which is the next semester. And somehow my services as a computer technician is getting known here -.- Perhaps i should start charging people for repairs (100 Euro per hour will do :D)

Attachment:
For resources on Sony Ericsson phones, here is a list to get you guys started:
1. Se-Nse (Firmwares, customization: Some of the tweaks described here aren't for those who are faint hearted)
2. SeGoodies (Themes)
3. Mobile9 (j2me softwares)
4. Of course, SonyEricsson.com

Realisation Part 12: Choices. The Choice Is Ours.

2007-11-02T03:37:00.000+08:00

Life is unpredictable. Things change. For better or worse.
Relationships never stays. They evolve. For better or worse.
Friendships never remains the same. They become stronger or weaker.

Feelings by mind or by heart
Actions by mind or by heart.
Intentions by mind or by heart.

Laughter heard aloud or in silence
Tears drop in silence or aloud.
A tear of happiness or a tear of sadness.

Laughter in public or in private
Tears in private or in public.
A tear of joy or a tear of sorrow.

A smile in a heaven of pure joy and bliss
Or a smile in a hell of cunning lies and pretenders.

Silence of peace or disharmony
Patience of calm or anger
Tolerance of willingness or by force.

A stare of love, a stare of hatred
A word to construct, a word to destruct
A choice to make that forever stuck.

With Metta,
Jen

Realisation Part 11: Unconditional Love

2007-10-12T02:43:00.000+08:00

Nine Emperor Gods Festival begins today. The road in front of Tow Boo Keong Ipoh had started to get jam-packed since morning. One side of the road became the temporary parking space for visitors and temporary stalls were build on the other side to provide space to sell the ‘ong khu’, flowers and incenses. People were bustling about with one hand carrying a bundle of incense and some others holding a stack of holy papers to be burnt. The older generation were sitting and waiting patiently in front of the performing stage for the opera show to start.

A girl and her dad walked pass the front entrance and there were three men performing some ritual acts. Mystical I thought, as I watched them walking passed the group of performers. They proceeded towards the praying area and searched for a nice spot on the first row of tables. The dad was happy to find a clear spot, not the most strategic but good enough to offer the ‘sou thou’, ‘ong khu’ and flowers to the gods. Being a Buddhist by default and receiving great influenced of Taoism since many generations ago, traditional festivals like this is hard to escape.

As a filial daughter, she helped him light up the incenses and followed him to pray to the Nine Emperor gods to seek for blessings, protection and well being. It took only a while to finish paying respect to all the gods. She took a rest at the edge of a pillar while he has his hands washed before asking for ‘chien’. She remained there for sometime while the dad went on to ‘qiu chien’. The girl appeared to have stomachache or something similar as her arms were wrapped tightly around her stomach. She became restless and perspired profusely. Crooked lines showed on her forehead. She squatted and moaned a little. Her face showed that she was in pain. Oh, life is full of sufferings.

After about 5 minutes of involuntary rapid hand and head movements, she went up to the dad to ask to leave early. Since there is only one more ‘chien’ left, she waited for another minute that seems like eternity. By the time the dad came over to her rescue, she was already sitting on the floor with her head between her knees. The dad tried to hold her up, but she was too weak. He held her up again and she fell. Again and again. A man who was praying nearby hurried to help and dragged her out of the smoky temple. The girl was feeling extremely dizzy, views blurred and almost collapsing. She didn’t know what went on until she was seated on a cold metal chair. Out of nowhere, few men came and helped to massage her to keep her consciousness. One lady who was selling towels in the stalls even offered a brand new towel to cover her from the chilly wind.

She remained subconscious and weak. Some suggested that the man massage the head, some aunty suggested massaging the shoulder. Some massaged the back. Finally she vomited brown liquid on the floor and requested for a toilet. Since she was only half conscious, few ladies held her into the toilet but only two were left inside to hold the vege-like fragile figure of hers. It is difficult to even hold up the head what more the whole body. The dad went to bring the car in despite the number of people and exhibitions there. By the time she came out, she was so weak that she couldn’t even walk. Thanks to these strong men they carried her into the car and she was finally lied down on the cushion.

The dad’s love is so great that it is incomparable to anything else. The dad must have been so worried. It is touching to feel the unconditional love showered upon his little girl. It is even more touching to be the girl. Thanks dad. I love you. May the people who helped be well and happy always. You guys have filled the world with LOVE. These good seeds you sow will soon bear their sweet fruits. Sahdu!

The Professor & The Youngman

2007-10-10T01:57:00.000+08:00

A young man, a student in the university, was one day taking a walk with a professor, who was commonly called the students' friend for his kindness to those who waited on his instructions.

As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which were supposed to belong to a poor man who was working in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day's work . . .

Student turned to the professor, saying: "Let us play the man a trick:
we will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity when he cannot find them ..."

"My young friend," answered the professor, "We should never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor . . . But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of this poor man. Put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch how this affects him."

The student did so and they both placed themselves behind the bushes close by. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes . . .While putting on his coat he slipped his foot into one of his shoes, but feeling something hard, he stooped down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Astonishment and wonder were seen upon his countenance.

He gazed upon the coin, turned it around and looked at it again and again.
He then looked around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money into his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his surprise was doubled on finding the other coin . . .

His feelings overcame him . . . he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread, whom this timely bounty, from some unknown hand, would save from perishing . . .

The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears.
"Now," said the professor, are you not much better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?"
The youth replied, "You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. .. I feel now the truth of these words, which I never understood before: "It's more blessed to give than to receive."

If you want happiness... .For a lifetime - help someone . . .

Why?

2007-09-28T16:15:00.000+08:00

"Some men see things as they are and say "'Why?' I dream things that never were and say 'Why not?'

Robert Kennedy

Journey called Life... (The most important person)

2007-09-28T16:13:00.000+08:00

"Some men see things as they are and say "'Why?' I dream things that never were and say 'Why not?'

Robert Kennedy

"There is no one more important than the person in front of you at that moment. Take that moment to be woth him or her."

Robert T. Kirosaki
Retire Young, Retire Rich,First International Edition, 2005, Warner Business Books,
ISBN 0-446-61743-1

"The most important person in the world right now is the person in front of you."

Uncle Charlie Chia

All this while, I had thought that the most important person in the world will be myself, for if I am to help the world, I must first be able to help myself with my own business. These words by Uncle Charlie at our(Jen and me) last meeting with Uncle Charlie had imparted another very different view of the world into us.

The very words echos what that have been the theme of our blog all this while, living right here and now. When we are communicating with others, we will give our full attention to him or her or them, and at that moment, our world their world.

All this while, I have always not given the due attention to others when I am chatting/talking to them. As a multitasker, There are a lot of times when I would always find a secondary activity(surfing the net, reading a book) to keep my mind occupied when I am chatting online. At times, I feel that I am maximizing the usage of time by doing so. But in the reality, I find that the results of such multitasking doesn't bring anything fruitful as I am splitting my mind's attention into many.

As said in my last post, our mind can only process one thing at a time. When I am not giving due attention to the other side of the communication line, oft times, I find that I missed something crucial and had to ask the other party to repeat themselves. (I had irritated Jen a few times asking her to repeat what she had said, because of line problems, and sometimes, because I am not paying full attention). Right now, I do think that asking the other party to repeat themselves because we are not paying attention means that we are not respecting them as a person(respect forms one of my life principles :)).

As of now, I am still trying to get myself to be able to focus on something for longer than 5 mins(very successful during gaming, reading, not successful in other fields:P), so that soon, I will be able to give the person in front of me the due respect as my most important person at that moment:), and that will be another step at living the moment as it truly is...

At time time of Merdeka, I wish all a very happy Merdeka, and Happy 50th birthday to Malaysia

seehua
*Let's create a world full of LOVE~
got myself the latest album from Kymm, and also reading the book "Retire Young, Retire Rich," the fifth book in the rich dads series written by Robert T. Kirosaki. I find his ideas very fasinating and very practical as well, but no, I am not going to rush out and buy real estates right away. I still need to plan on how to use my money first :p

written this post last month, but have always forgotten to post it, so here you go :p

Voter

2007-09-28T14:50:00.000+08:00

I have taken the first step as a good citizen of Malaysia by registering myself as a voter...

seehua