The Rojak Series #18 (Ver.1.3)

Anyway, here is the TRS that I promised earlier:

1. The weekend before last weekend

I did mention before that I wanted to go back home for the weekend (May 16 – 18), and yes, I did go back.

It was rather fast, and I manage to see Rowen and his cellulitis infected shin. And i haven't been back home for over 50 days. But it’ll just summarise it lah.

1.1Friday
Rowen, my dad and I went out for lunch at this BBQ eatery owned by my schoolmate’s father. My dad knows his father as they served in the school’s PTA before, while my friend, Joel Wong, was closer to Rowen that I was to him. Anyway, had a good meal there and had a good chat there. I might go back there one day.

At night, I surprised my Homegroup members by dropping by. And was surprised by the fact that they threw a secret party (brainchild of new newest member Shannon) for Fergarsen, Julius, and Sui Li. Click HERE for more details on the milo-coated incident.

Later after that, I was at Wern Jun’s place, where we chatted, played with her dog Snowy, grabbed a bite a McDonald’s and later exchange MP3s via Bluetooth till the wee hours of the morning. I can’t believe I dropped more that half my fries, three pieces of nuggets and my cup of Coke all over the floor, after trying to playful ‘salvage’ the leftover fries from the table. *argh*


With Play-doh and the Ironman craze influencing me, i came out with this in Wern Jun's place. And underneath it is...

Spongebob Squarepants' good friend Patrick!


1.2 Saturday
After reaching home early in the morning, I decided to sleep in for the day. If it wasn’t Pek Mei who called me to go out, that afternoon would be pretty empty.

But she did, and we had lunch in Citrus Park nearby her place. She then told me about her lovely work, her pushy, sadistic boss, and her situation. It then came upon me that having a good boss (and even colleagues) do play a role in one’s satisfaction and performance. I’m glad and thankful for mine.

Later at night, me and the family had dinner at Cowboy Delight in Taman Billion.

And at that night was the same night where my dad sent me the dumb SMS… oh, boy!

1.3 Sunday
When to church on that rainy morning, and after that, Justin, Kevan, Rowen and myself had a lunch at a small Indian Banana Leaf stall nearby church. We talked about handphones, cars, animes and a bunch of other stuff before we had to leave to our business. I had to prepare to get back here on the island.

It was when I met this chap, who was heading back to Bayan Lepas for work as well. And well, this week, I discovered several reporters from the Chinese daily are in fact from Selangor! I guess I’m not the only one placed here, away from home to work.


2. Last weekend

2. 1. First Time
Last Saturday was my first time ever seeing an orchestra perform. I had a chance to see the Penang Symphony Orchestra perform at Dewan Sri Pinang for a charity concert, and i must say, it was beautiful! And when some of my friends decided to leave during the interval, I decided to stay on, and it was worth it.

Tenor David Ngim was one of the superb voices who performed that night

The Penang Symphony Orchestra


To see the ensemble play in unison, and the vocals were superb! Among the songs performed included River Moon, Amapola and also songs from Phantom of The Opera, West Side Stories and others.

It was a blast!

2. 2. Sunday
After attending church, I bumped into Anna Tan and Joanne Lee on the way out, which later turned into an invitation for lunch at Chili Corner on Nagor Road. The food there was good, and I wouldn’t mind going there again in the future.

Green Chicken Curry

Tom Yam Fish

A very tempura fried spinach

I was suppose to meet Melissa D, a friend in the same line of work, for Ironman the same night, but she was involved in a minor ‘bumpy’ accident, and had to cancel it for the day.

Fortunately, there was an extra space for me to join Anna, Joanne and a few others for Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull that night. The movie wasn’t up to expectation, like what many movie reviewers wrote.

But there, I got to meet Anna’s friends, among them is Clarene, whom I had a crush on once, when I was still studying. And yeah, she still looks pretty even though she got her hair straightened.

2. 3. The next day
After work, I finally got to watch Ironman with Melissa D. Reached Gurney Plaza (again) and got the tickets, and walked around in MPH before dinner at Manila Place, before heading into the cinema. I realised that I needed to read more books, and invest in them. Oh well….


Melissa D's cabonara spaghetti


This is a horrible picture of the teriyaki chicken rice i had, which tasted better than it looked!

Watching Ironman the first time was awesome. But watching it this time around again was worth it, as after the movie ended, both Melissa and I stayed back to watch the short clip after the credits, which featured Nicy Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) in it, who proposed to Tony Stark (Robest Downey Jr.) about the Avenger Initiative!


Hmmm... i think i'll be down here for a longer time. Let's see when i'll be back down again.


"...How long 'til the world will be completed
How many times will history repeat it
How long will it take
How long
How long
I want to go, will you
Show me the way...."

Taken from Lifehouse's How Long

Love & Peace!~
BC?

Saya Anak Malaysia!

Oh, i found this on a blog of my friend, and decided to put this video on mine.

This video, entitled Here In My Home, features local artists like Afdlin Shauki, Awie, Ning Baizura, Atilia, Jaclyn Victor, Reshmonu, Pete Teo, Jason Lo, Klg sqwad, Altimet, Suki, Daniel Lee, Nikki Palikat and Melina William! And not forgetting a bunch of familiar faces in local scenes making an appearance in the video!

Kudos to Teo, who is both the project producer and song composer, and co directors Yasmin Ahmad and Ho Yuhang for coming up with such an interesting MTV.

Here is the video:


For more information on the website,Click HERE

Anyway, we ARE Malaysians. Shouldn't we celebrate it?

Thank you, geek, for saying 'no' to revising the cheesy text! Malaysia Boleh!

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Held Down

I believe in life we're captives and freemen at the same time.
On one hand, there are chains that prevent us from being evil.
On the other hand, there are bondages that prevent us from being good
And they keep us grounded, keep us who we are.
But what if these imprisonments break.
Do we get better or worst than what we are now?


" I know now what shadows can see
There's no point in running 'less you run with me
It's half the distance through the open door
Before you cut me down again
Let me introduce you to the end

And I feel the cold wind blowing beneath my wings
It always leads me back to suffering
But I will soar until the wind whips me down
Leaves me beaten on unholy ground again

So tired now of paying my dues
I start out strong but then I always lose
It's half the distance before you leave me behind
It's such a waste of time

'Cause my shackles
You won't be
And my rapture
You won't believe
And deep inside you will bleed for me...."

Excerpt of Shackled by Vertical Horizon

I've got so much things to blog about, i think i'll be coming out with a TRS soon. And it'll be out within the week!

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Are Your Brains Fried Yet?

Last Saturday, after having dinner with my family, my papa sent me an SMS which contains the following:

"To all my relatives,l friends --- Please switch OFF all ur handphones 2NITE. According to Metro TV, there will be a BIG RADIATION WAVE circulating thru the handphone towers at 11PM 2nite which is very DANGEROUS to humans. Pls inform ur friends NOT 2 keep their phones with them. Or nearby."

After reading this, i had doubts on its validity. For example:

1. Who on earth is Metro TV?! We have a bunch of television channels here in Malaysia, including satellite TV, but i have no idea about it, until i checked it online, only to discover that it's a Indonesian channel.


2. Who on earth gave Metro TV the rights to give out such information like that? Shouldn't it be someone like the prime minister, information minister, or someone of authority giving out such statements?

If it was a prank by some TV station editors and producers to boost up rates, they're just a step away from a lawsuit.


3. Why should mobile phones be switched off? I'm lousy in Physics, neither am i a rocket scientist, but a sudden surge of radiation waves emitted from communication towers affect us?

I'm not denying the fact that there are very small amounts of radiation transmitted through mobile phones. But if it's true that huge amounts of radiation waves are being discharged, shouldn't the message be "stay clear of any communication towers and hide in a bomb-prove bunker till further notice."

Oh, just leave your little pocketed ticking-radiation bombs outside while you're hiding.


4. When is it suppose to happen - 11pm tonight? When is the actual date for it? Shouldn't there be one? Tonight as in which tonight? Three days ago? Tomorrow night? Beats me?!


5. Anyway, if it such incident actually happen, it would not matter to me. My brains are already fried, since my colleague keep saying that the animes i watch and mangas i read have done effect already. So, no worries about it lah.


And bloggers around Malaysia have been typing away about this. Just google up "radiation handphone spam" and you would see that this hoax has started since mid-last week. Most of them wonders if these radiation could turn people into zombies? I wonder if it makes people smarter dumber? Or maybe it already has?

Even two Malaysian Telco companies have dismissed the claims, and stated that it's a prank. Click HERE to read the news.

Such spam is as irritating as those spams about how MSN messenger will be charged or how some forwarded emails can help donate 3 sens to some dying kid. Please, check your facts before telling others about this.

Perhaps people sending this handphone radiation spam had their brains fried before they turn into zombies and started spamming others. No no... can't say that about my papa, who has eaten more salt than me eating rice. But just verify, and double check information you received before informing others about it.

Hmmm... i feel like eating some spam on toast.


"...In your head, in your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie,
Hey, hey, hey. What's in your head,
In your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie?..."

Taken from Cranberries' Zombie

Love & Peace!~

BC?

(Tolong) Mind Your Language

Sometimes, you need to be careful of the information you find on the Internet.

For example, you really need a laugh at translation into our country's national language, you have to check THIS LINK. Thank goodness it has been editted!

If you were to read the whole article, it talks about the national sausage, i mean, bahasa kebangsaan, editted by some joker who passed off as a contributer who wanted a laugh, at the expend of the national sausage language.

How ridiculous was the translation?

Well, let's just say Teman Lelaki isn't rapist, Saya sakit is not I suck, nor Awak babi is anywhere near a thank you!

This reminded me on the Wikipedia scandal which happened last year, where this former contributer EssJay who made false claims about his academic qualifications and professional experiences, and this deception had impact on the perceptions of Wikipedia (and its policies and credibility), and the quality of decisions made in his promotion, support, and employment. In layman's words, the controversy cracked the reputation Wikipedia has.

Now you know why lecturers don't approve information found on this open content encyclopedia website. Click HERE and HERE for more info on the Essjay story.

So, minta tolong that you check where your facts are from, ok?

Love & Peace!~

BC?

KL, here i come

Only yesterday, did i discover that i had three days off for this weekend. I wondered if i should go back, to get some stuff from home and see my family for awhile, after not being home for over a month. And yes, see some friends too.

Only yesterday, did i discover that Rowen had cellulitis on his left leg, and had a minor operation for it on Tuesday. I was shocked when i heard that from the horse's mouth.

I'll be packing up tonight, and if i can secure a bus ticket to KL from this island tonight, i'll be heading home for these few days.

Anyway, do drop me a line or a text message if you want to meet up lah. I'll try to arrange my time to meet you. If i'm down in KL, i'll be there up to Sunday afternoon, before i get tickets to come back up here again.


"...So I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,

Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all,
And then some you don't want...."

Taken from Daughtry's Home

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Why We Pray.

This was something i read while i was doing my devotion last night, and it talks about prayer.

I know many friends who keep seeking for people to pray over things and problems they face. I've got nothing against praying, but i digress when it's about things which they themselves have to put effort in, and not solely depend on others to pray for them.

I hope this would somewhat thug something within.

The Purpose of Prayer (by Greg Laurie, from Our Journey, May 12, 2008)

Why do we pray for certain things? What is the purpose of prayer? Perhaps if we didn't think about it first, if we just said what came to mind, we would say that prayer is to get things from God.

Then there are some who would tell us that if we name it and claim it and ask for it in Jesus' name, then God must give it to us. but this is nonsense. It distorts the purpose of prayer.

It comes down to our motives in prayer. When James warned, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3), he was saying, "Because of your lust for pleasure, because of your obsession with self, it can even affect your prayer life." If I pray about something and yet my motive is wrong, then my prayer will go unanswered.

Prayer is not getting my will in heaven; prayer is getting God's will on earth. Prayer is not trying to convince God to do what I want Him to do; prayer is a process that I go through in which I learn the will of God and live accordingly.

Am I suggesting that God will not answer a prayer that is outside of His will? Yes. Does this mean that God will inspire us in what to pray for and that is all we should pray for? In a nutshell, yes. God wants us to get into alignment with Him and start praying for the things that will bring glory to His name. And when we start praying like that, we will start seeing our prayers answered in the affirmative.

"1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."

James 4:1-3

Hmm... pray about it.

Love & Peace!~

BC?

What was it?

Sometimes, the worst thing is not being able to recall the last good thing you did for your loved one before he/she passes away.

It just eats you up inside.

"...I'll be fine. When I die, then I die loving you. It's alright, I'll be fine. When I die then I die loving you, Loving you, loving you...."

Taken from Dear Bobbie by Yellow Card

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Small, small world!

People are connected to others, sometimes very unexpectedly, and sometimes shocking!

I learnt this when i met up with my friends last year.

The three of us, Hui Wen, Jocelyn and myself ate at Seoul Garden here in Gurney Plaza early last week.



Mmmm... barbeque! With the steamboat in the middle.

And i would say it's worth going there if you're planning to have a barbeque buffet with tonnes of meat.


Oh, meat cooked to perfection.

I haven't seen Hui Wen since she graduated from UTAR about two years ago. So, it has been awhile since we did some follow-up. But before meeting up with her, while i was working here, i found out that her dad was a politician!

Yes, her dad was a former state assemblyman, who lost in the recent general election. I asked her about it, and she said her dad was state assemblyman for one term in an area on this island for a term. And now that he lost the sit to Jason Ong, her dad is rather free, and goes for many, many political party meeting or just hang around with his friend.

Ironically, now that he has spare time with the family, both Hui Wen and her mom are busy at work.

But what really surprised me was the fact that her dad wasn't the only one who was in politics; her uncle was as well.

Her uncle is the state assemblyman for his constituency on mainland once again, and now a state exco. And when she told me who her uncle was, i was just shocked! It happened to be one of my favourite excos here!

I really couldn't believe it. Now i know a friend whose uncle in part of the state government! What a small, small world!

Hui Wen (left) and Jocelyn (right) with the hot plate in between. Oh yeah, and some side characters too.


Hui Wen and I

Love & Peace!~

BC?

When words can fail you.

I can't believe i made a fool of myself in front of the Chief Minister! I could just said "I don't understand Chinese!" instead of just blankly staring back at Guan Eng. *argh* If the Chinese daily reporter did not intervene and said something, it would have been a long, awkward silence. Long enough that i wish the earth would have split open and just swallow me up lah.

If only i had just spoken up, i would have done justice to myself.

But there are times you just wished you did not do some things - case in hand is the teenager who commented about DAP chairperson Karpal Singh that he should be killed on a website.

In his comment posted on a website, the youth stated something like "darah Karpal halal dibunuh" (it's justifiable for him to be killed)

Anyone in their right mind would file a police report against this commentator, and that was what the Gelugor MP did!

Of course, a few days later, after realising the fact that his dumb comment would jeopardize his future, the commentator sent a letter to Karpal asking him to withdraw the police report.

However, according to Karpal, he could not retract what he has reported, as this would amount to giving false police report. However, he wrote a letter to the Attorney General, hoping that the case against the teenager would not be prosecuted, since the AG has the authority to do so.

Karpal said that he has forgiven the teenager. And since the teenager was sincere in his letter, he said that writing a letter to the AG would be the next best thing lah.

The Lion of Gelugor is not only fierce, but merciful as well. Kinda reminds me of Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia!

But at the end of the day, it's best to be careful of your own actions, or words.

If only conversation can be easily translated into understandable terms, like what happened in The Forbidden Kingdom:


Jason Tripitikas: I can't understand you.
Lu Yan: That's because you're not listening!

Love & Peace!~

BC?

Weekend Gone?

Do you know what is worse than having a fever?

Answer: Having a fever during the weekend!

I can't believe i spent most of it just sleeping, waking up to either spit out phlegm stuck in the throat or to check the time.

Could have done other things, but spent most of it sleeping and recuperating.

But on the good side, i'm feeling much better. Can't wait to get back to work, and yes, i was at the Penang World Music Festival 2008 on Friday and Sunday night! If i was better, i would have enjoyed it even more. But hey, it's was still worth it lah!

Love & Peace!~

BC?