A Malaysian's Life in Britain , New Zealand / Immigrant Traveller's Blog

NEW ZEALAND CHRONICLES PART 5

2011-04-03T21:00:00.001+08:00

22 March 2010 Monday

Work was terrible. My right thumb was feeling the pain from picking up the pumpkins. This morning, I didn’t get any freebies at all in the kitchen. Worst of all, Ashley said that he will put cameras in the kitchen. So, that means no stealing food from the table. I would call it stealing, I just take whatever is on the table….. Ashley is doing it because his computer room was robbed. Someone took a saw and opened the container that housed all the coins. One has to pay money to use the computers in his hostel. This has happened twice.

I was pretty sick in the packhouse. I had sore throat and my eyes were puffy. I don’t know whether I have flu or not, but I felt terrible. I thought I was not going to work tomorrow, but something happened along the way that made me change my mind about not going to work tomorrow.

When I came back to the hostel, Ashley asked me if there is any work in the packhouse. I told him I don’t know, I was not going to work tomorrow because I was sick. Then Ashley said that a new person who is staying in the hostel can take my place for tomorrow. I was thinking to myself, ‘darn! There goes my job, gone forever….sad…..not!’. But then again, I do fear not having a job. Ashley said that the new person has a car, so in the future, I don’t need to pay such an extravagant price to go to work. Yes, I pay Suzy 6$ just for a place in her van, for a ride to the workplace that is only 15 minutes away.

Now, I feel much better after learning I can receive internet access from my tent again. Yippee. So, I went to Jasmine’s room and told her that I feel much better now, and I think I am going to work tomorrow.

The story is, for the past 3 days, the signal was so bad that I cant receive internet in my tent. I was paranoid and questioned Ashley why is this. I thought he put the receiver in a box with the slot coins in the computer room, thus hampering the signal. But he said that it is an antenna outside of the hostel, not the normal router we use in the house. Oh! He said that this is NZ, things like this happens a lot. Yeah, NZ is located in such a secluded part of the world. Makes me want to go back to the centre of attention, that is Britain.

So, I got internet! Yippee! For the past 2 days, I had to set my laptop in the kitchen. Just imagine the embarrassment when I am getting my fix by surfing the net for Sankaku Complex pictures…… on the plus side, I get to see what is going on in the hostel. Everybody congregates there, the tent area is a secluded and peaceful place to be though. I get to talk to people, and the regular folks like Yan and Robert would be sneaking a peak at what I am surfing at. They do enjoy the dirty pictures I show them.

SADNESS OF DEPARTURE

Yesterday was the last time I will see Andy and Robert. They are going to Bangkok. Really sad. Robert asked me to go to the bar with them, but I refused because I have work tomorrow.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Why blame yourself when you have countless other people to pin the blame on? Never blame yourself, it self defeating. Do the thing that is harder to do, blame other people for your own failure…

23 March 2010 Tuesday

Didn’t go to work today. I was feeling a bit under the weather. Got free bread from the kitchen. Good, haven’t eaten bread in 2 weeks.

Read the comics 52 and Green Lantern Rebirth.

Holy Jesus Christ and bloody Mary! I checked out the currency between Pounds and RM. It is 1£ to 4.9RM! Last time I checked (2, 3 weeks ago, when my computer came a cropper), it was 5.5. How far the pounds have fallen….. that doesn’t mean Britain is a no go for me, I like the culture there. Not for 4 years mind you, maybe a year or 2, if I want to return that land of gloom.

24 March 2010 Wednesday

Woke up at 5am. Was not feeling well. I got the sniffles. My nose was running, liquid coming out like a leak facet.

I decided not to go to work, as it would make me feel much worse. I need time to recover from the virus. No use in going to work and making my condition worse or spreading the disease around. Logical thinking this, hopefully they wont fire my ass for missing work for 2 days straight. Heck, maybe this is a good excuse for them to fire me.

I was in the kitchen at 5.30am. I was going to put a piece of pumpkin into the oven. Before that, I needed to season the piece of pumpkin with salt and pepper. Guess what? Somebody took my pepper and salt. Great! Bloody fucking karma this. I felt really bad, I will massacre the person who took it, if I found out who did this. Must be the new people. The past couple of days, there were more new faces around the hostel.

Wait, it gets worse. I was about to make my tea, poured my milk into the cup, and the milk was curdled. Fuck! Somebody left the fridge open for too long. This is the second time that has happened. 3.50$ wasted. Fucking bloody idiots don’t know how to check the door whether it is shut or not. These new people are bloody fucking fools. So I tried using other people’s milk from the same fridge, but it was curdled as well. Wasted 2 tea bags and sugar. Love my life, everything falls to the bloody bottom of life’s expectations.

Paul is working in the kiwi farm, picking them. But he starts at 11am, instead of the usual 7am for other fruits. The reason is simple. The farmers prefer that the fruit be picked when there is no dew present, because the dew can bring disease to the fruit. Strange, never knew that.

25 March 2010 Thursday

Didn’t go to work again, I was sick. Tomorrow I will definitely go and work. My nose is not leaking fluids as often and willingly like yesterday. Good sign that the flu is subsiding.

Went to the kitchen to get some hot water. Nora gave me some apple pie and pasta for dinner. Wow, free food, great! Thanks!

I am having problems playing the DVDs on my laptop. When I play it, my computer becomes really slow. I don’t know why it is happening, it was not a problem when I watched Lord of the Rings. Now I have to assort to copying the DVD (4 Gb of space wasted) and play it from my hard drive. No problems then, something must be wrong with my DVD player or my Operating System.

26 March 2010 Friday

Went to the kitchen and found that one of the drawers that contain my condiments, was missing all of its stuff. Previously, I left a note on my stuff, saying ‘property of Khong. Do not steal. Please’. I left the message there because somebody has been nicking my stuff. Like my soya sauce and my pepper, given to me by Arend.

On the same note, there was a message written on it, that says ‘fuck you Khong’.

Holy fuck! Who did I offend to get such treatment? Is this instant karma from looting from the free basket? I was pretty shocked and devastated that somebody had a grudge against me. Shit, and I was about to go back to the dreaded packhouse….

I already began to hate my NZ experience all over again. The hostel is not the sanctuary to relax, I take for granted. Somebody is out to get me…..

Paranoia abound, is this enemy or enemies going to nick my laptop? Shit! Who the fuck can this asshole be? God, if I find out who did this, I am going to punch his lights out. I wish Ashley would install the CCTV camera as soon as possible.

I found all of my stuff in the drawer next to mine. Some asshole played a trick on me. At least the asshole didn’t put all my stuff in the free basket, I would never see my food again…. Well, mostly are from the free basket anyhow….

At work, everybody was surprised that I was back. I guess they thought I did a runner, hating the job so much that I ditched work. Alastair said, ‘Hello stranger!’. Good welcome, hopefully the day would be better than my experience this morning to find my stuff transported to the drawer next to it with a most apparent message, as un-cryptic as a fuck you Khong.

I guess not, the day gets worse. They put me at the dreaded bottle neck conveyor section. God I hate this. I was trying to keep the pumpkins from falling over. Furthermore, I was sick, I was coughing and my throat is irritated. I was so devastated, coupled with the fact that somebody hates my guts in the hostel.

Many things rushed through my mind. I wanted to just leave Napier and this packhouse. Find another job. Or all together leave NZ for Malaysia. I have had enough of NZ. Hate this country.

I felt so tired and miserable. I wanted to go back to the reject section where I can just sort out the usable pumpkins. I hate to pack pumpkins in an orderly manner. I am a chaotic person, I don’t like things neat and arranged properly. At the reject section, the pumpkins can be put into the crate in a free packing form, that means no need to arrange it.

I hate working in that bloody packhouse, did I tell you this, or have you guess my feelings so far?

Already 2 months in NZ, and I hate this bloody country. Britain seems so inviting all of a sudden….

Misery was not ever lasting. Came back to the hostel drained and in dread. Thinking I might meet my adversary who hates me so much. The kitchen was devoid of people. Strange this, usually it would be a cluster fuck of an atmosphere, everybody cooking at the same time. You know what the saying is, too many cooks spoiled the kitchen.

Cooked mee goring, enough for dinner and tomorrow’s lunch. Didn’t add bacon because I forgot to take the bacon out of the freezer this morning, as I was reeling from the shock of finding somebody playing a trick on me.

Back at my tent, I saw Paddy and told him about the incident this morning.

I said, ‘somebody hates my guts’.

Paddy said, ‘no way, everybody loves you’.

He added, ‘now I remember, me and Craig were drunk last night. We were looking for food and came across your drawer. We played a trick on you’.

Fucking bastards! With friends like these, who needs enemies? ZAMs’ famous quote comes to mind.

Well, that is the simple solution to a chaotic and depressing day. Bastards! I hate them, but I didn’t punch their lights out. Paddy said that he might be changing his plans from going to South Island. He said it will be cold there, so he might just go to Auckland, go for a medical trial that promises some nice wad of cash if he partakes in some experimental drug trial. Then head to Australia without visiting the South Island. Maybe meet up with Andy in South East Asia. See, plans are pretty fluid and can change anytime. All my tent friends will be going away, and I will be the only one left to the blistering cold of winter. So far, I have earned 1800$ (in the Kiwi bank) for working 20 days in the packhouse and also in the vineyard. I haven’t calculated how much I spent on food and lodging. Don’t know whether it is worth my time to spend a longer time in NZ. It is going to be winter soon, I dread it.

Reminds me, why is Noelle coming to NZ in the dead of winter? And she has never experienced winter before. My heart goes out to her, good luck, and don’t freeze your panties off. I hate winter. Autumn is cool, but winter is not……spring is nice, summer is great with scantily clad bodies of females frolicking everywhere, inducing my waging tongue to overreact.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

What is the most important thing in life? Answer: Life itself!

Gerryko on the situation where the shit hits the fan. Remedy is: it ain’t shit, it’s chocolate! Optimism goes a long way in savouring chocolate that taste like shit.

The reason I am speeding up my current blog to you, is because I am going to cease posting my current journal. I will be presenting my past blog, from LCCT, KL to Auckland……

27 March 2010 Saturday

I told myself to be courageous and stick with the job. Because behind every obstacle I face, there is a laughing caricature of a super-deformed ZAMs. He is always waiting to pounce on my failures in life. If I quit the packhouse or NZ, he would have cannon fodder to use when telling his friends what a quitter I am. As I said before, I am not a quitter, I am a give-upper. Won’t give ZAMs the satisfaction of my failure in this remote part of the world. I am not going to say ‘fuck it, I don’t need this shit’.

Then again, my mind was saying that I was too old to travel, I am not as young as before, adventuress, brave and inquisitive. But I know my travel bug will always prevail in making me travel and explore the unknown reaches of Earth.

But, working in the packhouse has injured my fingers and wrist, due to repetitive strain. Must be careful for what I wish for. I got the reject section, but today, all the rejects were huge pumpkins, weighing between 1.7 to 2.5kg. had to pick everyone of the fuckers, every 2 seconds. My hands are dead.

Found a solution to my DVD problem, had to uninstall the IDE. That’s it, simple temporary solution.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

When drunk, they are capable of anything they are not when sober

Gerryko on the virtues of a potion of courage called beer/spirits/alcohol

28 March 2010 Sunday

It is Sunday, and I am working in the packhouse. This is a crime against humanity. They shouldn’t allow this to happen, especially when there is no extra money to work on the holies days of the week. Don’t they know I have to spend time in doing something I extremely dislike, instead of spending my well worth devotion with god.7

Woke up at 5am as usual. My fingers were stiff. God, I hate pumpkins. It was a cool day, even in the afternoon. It was really cloudy and the sun did not show itself the whole day. I think I heard the radio announce that Hawke’s Bay will be a cool 17 degrees Celcius the whole day.

Coming back from work, I got the shock of my life when all my food in the fridge was thrown out. It is a policy of the hostel where they will throw away the food if it is not marked with a name. I didn’t put my name in the plastic bags that contain my food/condiments. What did I lose?

Well, half a pumpkin (I don’t mourn the loss of this), my mouldy Vindaloo sauce (not kidding here, it was mouldy when I used it yesterday to cook my rice. Vindaloo sauce is the spiciest sauce available, remnants from culture brought back from Britain ), 4.40$ worth of bacon, cheese, and Basil sauce (gotten from the free basket).

Ok, God is testing my anger. There is a purpose in whatever happens to me. God is just saying that I need to turn over a new leaf in regards to food. The food might have killed me if I ate it today, that might be the message God is giving me, and remember to label my food in the fridge.

CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA

The Argentinean girls are back. I was surprised to find this. Gabriella hug me from behind in the kitchen. Shit! I hope all the new people in the hostel don’t think that she is my girl. I don’t know why, but I think Gabriella likes to see me squirm when she hugs me……

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Sunday is the day I appreciate life and give thanks to god for my miserable existence.

NEW ZEALAND CHRONICLES PART 4

2011-04-02T16:17:00.002+08:00

14 March 2010 Sunday

Woke up at the usual time, went to the kitchen at 5.40am. Saw the pretty German girl and Craig talking and smoking. Last night there was a party, like all Saturday nights. Oh no. if just the two of them that late at night sitting on BBQ table, this means Craig has a chance to go to first, second and if god permits, third base! With the girl I admire! Since I am a forgiving person, I will let this matter slide. The German girl asked why I woke up so early. I said it was work related.

I waited from 6.20 to 6.50am. Work starts at 7am. What are these guys in the van doing? We can’t just play hooky, there are seven guys who are supposed to work today! We can’t let management down with our work-shy attitude. Worse is, they might have gone to work without me, and management would think I gave them a, ‘fuck you, I don’t work on Sundays. Period! I am a good Christian boy who attends church every Sunday while Earth exist, just to look at the hot looking nuns with lingerie underneath them robes….’ attitude.

Ok, I didn’t go to work today. Thank god, I can rest my laurels, and fingers. Went back to the tent, read an intriguing and satisfying comic called Ocean, by Garth Ennis.

I also peruse a book about tanks in general.

pe·ruse

/pəˈruz/ Show Spelled [puh-rooz]

–verb (used with object),-rused, -rus·ing.

1. to read through with thoroughness or care: to peruse a report.

2. to read.

3. to survey or examine in detail.

DREAMS ARE MADE OF THESE

Then I went to sleep from 10am to noon. I had 3 separate dreams. I only remember one vividly. I was in a touristy town and stayed in hostel that doubles as a restaurant that serves Chinese food. I remember the boss was a oriental women. I also stole food in the kitchen, and there was a durian tree at the back of the hostel/restaurant. Some person offered a durian from that tree, but it tasted bad. This is the interesting part, there was a packhouse near the area. I went there to take a look. I looked into a parting and it was breaktime for the mostly females workers. Its break time and normally they would have a snack. But this is a dream, my dream. They went into a room (ok, I sound like a voyeur, but it was all a dream, it didn’t come true in real life. I am not a voyeur………am I?) and started taking off their clothes! Holy fucking shit! Break time and they take of their clothes, all of it, like it was their birthday suit. And they take a nap….naked! Oh god, this is a wet dream cum through……

Woke up with vigour and feeling refreshed, I would like to say…. But truthfully, I feel tired and shitty. 3 separate dreams and I was spent.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Popped my spaghetti Jogan Rash curry into the microwave and ate it for lunch. This food was meant to be eaten in the packhouse. I prepared this food yesterday and had it for dinner yesterday. I prepare 2 meals at 5pm so that I can bring it to work the next day.

What should I do on this fine warm day? Go to the library! That’s what! Must write memo to oneself that reads ‘must get a life, or a girlfriend, which ever comes first doesn’t really matter…..’.

Borrowed a couple of comics and a book. I got a lot of comic books in my tent, I am hording them. Oh well, I get to borrow 99 books.

Went to the Warehouse. Ironically, it was located opposite The Stables Lodge (comes with free internet), where Megumi Suka once stayed. Megumi would normally stay at YHA, since she is an YHA member (strange, my word program corrected my A YHA to AN YHA. I thought AN is used as a substitute for A when in front of letters beginning with A,E,I,O and U?). She didn’t have a BBH card, which I have (spent 40$ on that damn card that gives me the privilege of getting a bed for 3$ cheaper than not having a BBH card at all. But now I am living in a tent, so it doesn’t get any cheaper than 12$ a night in Wally’s Backpackers.

Didn’t buy anything at the warehouse.

COOK DISCOVERED WHICH COUNTRY?

Went back to the hostel at 5pm and started cooking my dinner and tomorrow’s lunch. I cooked my rice in a pot. I added a potato which is cut into small pieces. I was too lazy to skin the potato. When the rice is cooked. I added what ever is left in my Jogan Rash spice pace into it.

I cooked 2 pieces of the chicken breast (comes with bones) in oil. Season with salt and pepper. When it is tender, I used two forks to separate the meat into small pieces while it is still frying in the pan. The oil that jumps of the pan stings my hands. When it has become crispy, I put in some chopped tomatoes, and also 2 eggs I got from the top of the fridge that was next to the free basket. Must be free, these eggs are, cause they are ‘free’ range eggs. Scramble the egg with the chicken pieces.

Add the rice and cook and stir it for a couple of minutes. I miss judge the amount of rice I put into the pot. This heap of food can last 3 meals. Oh well, I can eat it for lunch and dinner as well. Did I tell you I got the rice from the free basket as well? Life is grand!

The curry rice was really good, by my standard.

After dinner at 5.30pm, I went to Bluff Hill. I miss call Suzy to get the explanation of why I was not picked up today. She said that the packhouse was closed today, no work today, but will resume tomorrow. Why didn’t she call me and tell me? She said she lost my number. I wanted to say to her, ‘lose my number again, and I will lose your head’.

Going to work, is like going to the gym. Instead of a 2 hour workout, I get 9 and half hours of it, exercising the same part of the body, and unfortunately is not the body part that gives out orgasm as a job well done present/gift……

Coming back, I spoke to Paddy. He had an enjoyable time in Wellington. I asked him about the German girl’s name. Her name is Maxi. I got the scoop that Maxi and Craig were once an item. But they broke up when Maxi caught Craig kissing another girl. Wow, what happened to free love?

Yan and Nora should find better entertainment than to sit on my logs and look at my screensaver that displays ‘interesting’ pictures…..

Yan and Paddy said that they saw Arend and Kate/Kai/Tai there. Wellington must be small city. Yan told me that Wellington is the capital city of North Island. And I thought Auckland was the one…..

15 March 2010 Monday

Found some hamburger buns in the free basket. So I cooked 2 eggs that were found near the free basket. Ate the eggs which were sandwiched between 2 buns, 1 piece of cheese and some coleslaw, which were also found in the free basket.

Borrowed the Lord of The Rings 2 DVDs from the hostel. Had to pay a 20$ deposit. Will get back the money when I return the DVDs.

I am not going to the beach tonight. Tired. Need rest. Might be getting a cold or flu. Work was shit as usual. I complained to Alastair, the floor manager, who looks like a living Colonel Sanders, if he sported a white moustache. I told him I cant work that section of the conveyor belt which was a bottle neck for a shitload of pumpkins the whole day without killing my arms. It is hard work. So today I got less work, thank god!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I swear to you, every time I go to work, I become less of a human being, and more of a robot.

Gerryko on the virtues of mindless and monotonous work.

16 March 2010 Tuesday

Nothing new to find in the kitchen. I just took all the eggs and put it in a jar. Fixed myself 2 buns of egg and cheese for breakfast and mid morning breakfast.

Work was gruesome as usual. Today I was the sole worker in the reject section. What is the reject section you say. I coined the name myself. It is where all the pumpkins with defects go through. The other workers would throw pumpkins they suspect as not sellable, and I sieve through those rejects to find the ones which have no sigh of being rotten. These pumpkins will be sold in the local vegetable shops in the area. Tough work this…..

Found an interesting activity. If the pumpkin is split in half, I thrust my finger in to find that it is warm inside, ala American Pie. Interesting experience this.

Hit my leg on to something hard. Now I walk with a limp. I think the lower part of my knee is blue black. Darn, I forgot the scientific name for blue black.

Back at the hostel, I fixed myself a mixture of rice and pumpkin I got from the packhouse. cooked it with bacon, frankfurter and a chicken, ala fried rice style. Taste good.

In the kitchen, there is one cute Asian girl. I think she is from Vietnam. She arrived today, must talk to her somehow. Her body is not that outstanding, but there is something to it. An ordinary body that screams, ‘I can bear your children with ease’. Hmm, she looks decent and delicious, the face was quite ok as well…..

Went to the smoker’s lounge, aka BBQ table where all the guys congregate. I complained to Laurie (from Scotland, Edinburgh), that I have to pay 6$ a day for transport. He said that it is not a lot to do a days worth. Yeah, sacrifice 6$ to make a 100$ days’ worth of wage.

Graham (from Glasglow, Scotland) asked whether I am still working in the packhouse. I said yes. He said that I am the only one among them that has constant work. He asked how I can stand the work. Most guys would have quit in an instant. What is you secret, he asked.

I said that I was black…..

‘No need to be racist here….’, he replied…..

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The land is abundant with food. All one has to do is work/till the land, and the land will provide all the things one needs to sustain a healthy body. For me, I forage and scavenge in the hostel’s kitchen for sustenance and my needs……

17 March 2010 Wednesday

Finished the LOTR movie yesterday, today I am going to watch the 2^nd disc, the special features. Watching this movie makes me want to come to NZ. Wait a minute, I am already here! I should be exploring the South Island for beautiful vistas and shit.

At 5.30am, I went into the kitchen. Someone was already there. It was the oriental girl. Interesting fact here, I am the only oriental person in the hostel, and she is the second.

I got some brussel sprouts from a bucket. Good, I need some vegetables. I also ‘found’ some basil sauce. I need to go to Pak N Save to buy some rice, sauces. Etc. And milk too. It is time I stopped nicking other people’s milk from the fridge.

I talked to her and asked her why she was up so early. She said she was going to look for a job, in the packhouse.

Ok, pretty early for such endeavours. I said to her, ‘you are from Vietnam?’.

‘Yes. How did you know?’, she asked.

I answered, ‘I dropped some eaves….. I overheard a conversation between you and Ashley in the kitchen yesterday’.

I tried to concentrate on making my egg bun, but I couldn’t, her presence is making me nervous.

Her name is Lina, and I don’t know whether I gave her my name or not, it was too early in the morning for such introductions. This is a time for peaceful slumber or drunken love making.

TUNE OF THE TUNA

Yan and Paddy have been complaining about the song I kept on playing in my tent. The Hidden Sky song that M gave me is giving them a headache, but Paddy said that every time he comes back to the tent area, the tune would just play in his mind. He needs to see a psychiatrist…..

FIJI AND THE WIND

Ok, there seems to be a hurricane or some catastrophe heading towards Fiji. If I am not mistaken, Fiji is quite near to NZ. Good, something exciting happening in the area, for once.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

When in doubt, say ‘shit’…..

18 March 2010 Thursday

Really cold today. Morning was 12 degrees Celsius. Brrrrrrr!!!!

Kitchen was quite empty, except for 3 other guys from Britain, who are also starting work at Mc Cains. Yan, Andy and Paddy have already started yesterday.

Yesterday at Pak N Save, I wanted to buy some crisp/ corn cheese nachos, but I did not do so. Today I found an unopened bag of potato chips (yes!), on the table. If I don’t claim it now, somebody else will, especially the owner of this fine potato chips.

Got 2 bottle of beers called Tui, East India Pale Ale. Some shmuck put it right next to the free bucket, practically inviting me to take it. It would be rude of me to not do so.

SHOCKING REVELATIONS

I was shocked when I hear that Andy is going to leave NZ for Bangkok. This happened all of a sudden. He was going to work, to Mc Cains, the second day of the job. The car stopped at the traffic lights, and he said ‘fuck it’. He has had enough of the work in the packhouse. he got out of the car and came back to the hostel.

That is a really rash decision. Then again, he can afford it.

This is really sad to me. Andy might be a liar, a mother fucker, bastard, but at least he was entertaining. Gonna miss the old bastard. Immature bastard in the likes of Han Solo, but he is a lovable rogue.

YASMINE MY CO WORKER IN THE PACKHOUSE

Yasmine works in the packhouse with me. She is a german girl and everybody in the hostel thinks she is weird. That is what Paddy told me. Even Robert who stays in the same dorm as her, thinks so too. He said that she just stays in the room and stare at the ceiling. She creeps him out. She is quiet, and talking to her is like…indescribable. It is better to talk to the wall, cause you get an interesting response from the wall in the form of an echo.

Anyway, my first 2 days in Andy’s Hostel/Napier, I stayed in the same dorm as Yasmine and Rob. I tried talking to her, by asking her how to say the cuss words in German. Nowadays, I just try not to look at her. She seems like me, strange and unapproachable. That is how I am, strange and weird, anti social and unapproachable.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I was always asking people about their experience in Australia, in particular, were they subject to racism by the dingos there. Above all else, I just have to look in the mirror to see the person who is most racist. I should not be worried about other people, I need to heal myself from within

Gerryko looking into himself retrospectively…..

20 March 2010 Saturday

I want to do an Andy. Just run away from NZ. I hate the packhouse where I work. It is terrible and I get paid minimum wage for an extremely hardwork.

I was in the kitchen surfing the net and replying my emails. The guys were in the BBQ table and I joined them. Unfortunately, they hoisted me up so that we could take pictures. Don’t remember who hoisted me up, cant remember, I think it was Robert. Everybody who was sitting on the table were taking pictures of me, Robert, Paddy and Andy. My 5 seconds of fame me thinks. What was the reason for me being hoisted up? I don’t know, I was pretty sober at that moment. A night to remember I guess. Thanks to Paddy, I had to wash my jeans because he spilled some white wine on me while I was being hoisted like a roasted pig by 3 or 4 people.

21 March 2010 Sunday

Today is my rest day. I took a nap at 12 noon. But I woke up even more tired. I wonder why?

I had a dream. I was in a backpackers hostel in a city. I went out for a stroll. Then there were this group of 3 girls. I know that they were of a certain profession. Suddenly on one of them flashed her butthole at me. And then I started to walking towards them. They panicked and ran to their ‘profession’s’ ground…..that’s it, end of story. Very nice dream.

Malaysia a racist country

2011-04-02T16:01:00.004+08:00

02 April 2011 Is Malaysia a racist country? most definitely! Why? well, if were to want to work in the government sector, I would have to hope for a lottery-like chance to getting selected. why? because i am not muslim, and not bumiputera(malay). unjust? most definitely. can malaysia become successful like Singapore and other Asian countries if it continues to have such protective measures towards its majority race? not likely. it makes malaysia less competitive compared to other countries, especially western countries. look at it this way. most of my friends are dreaming or are already out of the country working in western countries where the social and economic opportunities are better compared to our homeland. how can this be? illogical you say? but it is true. most of them are either in Australia or America. this is a sad and true fact of Malaysia's way of life. can change happen? well, like dictatorships in the middle east, malaysia needs to have a different political party to shore up our prospects in the international comunity. even if the non-ruling party seems shaky and unsure, it is better to take a gamble and try new tactics compared to the current regime which is sucking our economy dry.....

01 April 2011, taxes, reclaims and IRD deletion

2011-04-01T19:15:00.004+08:00

01 April 2011 I checked my Kiwibank account and I received only 676 NZD for the year 2010.

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD	=	1,561.89 MYR
New Zealand Dollars		Malaysia Ringgits
1 NZD = 2.31049 MYR		1 MYR = 0.432808 NZD

676.00 NZD	=	1,561.89 MYR
New Zealand Dollars		Malaysia Ringgits
1 NZD = 2.31049 MYR		1 MYR = 0.432808 NZD

676.00 NZD	=	,561.89 MYR
New Zealand Dollars		Malaysia Ringgits
1 NZD = 2.31049 MYR		1 MYR = 0.432808 NZD

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676NZD = 1561.89 MYR (2.31)

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

676.00 NZD

1,561.89 MYR

I applied for 1 thousand NZD reimbursement at Christchurch IRD office, i guess they needed the money more than I do. sucks to get so little. I tried to enter the IRD website, but the error message appeared. It seems the buggers deleted whatever info and stuff regarding my IRD number. what a douche bag them tax buggers are.....

Existing users

Error - The IRD number associated with the user ID you entered has been ceased. Please contact us.

NEW ZEALAND CHRONICLES PART 3

2011-04-01T19:00:00.003+08:00

11 March 2010 Thursday

I am so fucking tired. I remember last time, Lisa (the German Helen Hunt lookalike, cant get her picture for you guys, since she has left the hostel and will be returning to Australia to further her studies into psychology) said that the only problem with working in the pumpkin packhouse, was the heat. I replaced her as the worker, and I have been working in the factory for more than a week now (9 days to be exact). I was wondering what she meant by the heat. I didn’t feel much heat at all for the past 9 days there. The factory is an open air hangar.

At around 6.30am, the mist was very thick, and it lasted until 9am I think. But in the afternoon, darn, now I know what Lisa meant by the heat, it was bloody fucking hot I tell you. I was trying to fan myself with my hand while I was working, it was just that darn hot.

Work was fun today, I got to choose where I work, either the 1 to 1.3 kg pumpkins or the 1.3 to 2.7 kg pumpkins. The bigger pumpkins are more than the smaller ones, I got to do a lot of exercise on my wrist.

At work, Yoshi noticed that I was looking at a catalogue called Warehouse. He asked what I wanted to buy.

I said ‘condoms by the thousands, very busy in the hostel’, he laughed.

Now I know why the lads love to congregate in my porch. It is secluded so that they can smoke pot without people knowing and there are stools (made of logs of wood) to sit on.

This morning, I could feel the damp in my tent, as I left my computer running all night, defragmenting the hard drive. My laptop also acts as a heater in confined places, like my small tent.

Rob was in the shower room and the 3 Argentinean girls were showering. The window to the shower room is just in front of my tent. I asked one of the girls I kissed a couple of days ago for the photographs. She said that she will give me the camera and the data cable. Good….. now I can share it with you…..

Reach the hostel at 5.30pm. Feeling tired from a hard day’s work. It was a hot day and people who were not working, came back from a day at the beach. They said the sea was warm. I was tempted to walk to Port Napier to swim in the sea, but I dismissed the idea since I am pretty tired. Maybe tonight I will start a camp fire at the beach, just to get away from it all in the hostel.

In the kitchen, I prepared 2 pieces of chicken cooked in Jogan Rash sauce. Just chicken, old tomatoes and the sauce. Hopefully the chicken wont give me farts that stink on an industrial scale. Too late, I think the chicken was the cause of it, not the mussels that day. I also prepared some basmati rice, my first rice I cook in NZ. Got the rice from the free basket a couple of days ago. I will be eating rice and curry chicken for dinner and also lunch tomorrow at work.

Sat down on BBQ table. Took out a huge Tupperware and Graham (from Scotland) asked if that is a Chinese takeaway Tupperware. I think so, I got it from the kitchen. I am going to store my rice and curry in it.

I said that one cannot get such a huge Tupperware from the Chinese in Britain.

Cullum said, ‘prison?’.

Graham corrected him, ‘Britain!’.

What do these guys think I am? A felon? They said they don’t know my past, so who knows? Ol ye faith in me…..

FIRE!!!

I started a fire in a pot. I just put some old papers and some twigs of lavender and a bark doused with wax. That will get the fire started. I need to smoke because the mosquitoes are killing me.

Then Nora came and saw the fire.

I muttered, ‘oh shit!’.

She replied, ‘it is hard not to notice the fire at 8pm….’.

Hmm, this camp fire in a pot is not a bad idea, my camp is facing a whole heap of logs. I can use them as fuel to ward of the mosquitoes.

She doesn’t believe me when I said it was for the mosquitoes…..

QUIET TIME

Paddy said that this weekend will be quiet one, for me. So, he said I can wank all I like, anywhere. Paddy, Yan, Andy and 5 other people are going to Welligton for a holiday before they start working in Mc Cain’s factory packing sweet corn. They will be back on Sunday night. The Argentinean girls are going back to their country tomorrow too. Quiet time at last. This reminds me, I need a holiday…..even though I just had 2 days of yesterday.

TALE OF A TIME OR WAS IT A TIME OF A TALE?

Yan and I was talking to Paddy in his tent. Yan is afraid of the trip tomorrow. He is afraid of getting killed on the way to Wellington.

Paddy said, ‘you think the driving here?’.

Paddy told a true amazing story. He and Andy were in Egypt and they hired a taxi driver to drive to a destination that is 16 hours away. So they went in his old van. To be honest, he couldn’t believe that a van can travel at 150, not kilometres mind you, but in miles! And the van looks like it has seen better days.

Paddy recounted, ‘then the blokes face was pretty serious looking. We asked him what is wrong and he told us that the brakes are not working! They we scrambled around and off the engine to slow down. We found a garage and he got the brakes fixed’.

Unfortunately this time, the car broke down because the exhaust pipe fell off in the middle of the desert. He said that he had a miserable time, all he could see was just sand.

Then they were able to weld the pipe back. But both he and Andy were in the car. Unfortunately when the welding took place, the Egyptian was filling his van with petrol. They were intoxicated by the strong petrol fumes, and there were sparks falling to the ground.

After the van got fixed, they went driving in the mountaneos region. Near the cliffs. And the guy/egyptian was literally falling asleep. They had to shout at him to stop him from falling asleep when they were driving near the cliffs.

At the end of the journey, Paddy and Andy decided not to give the driver a tip. The driver said why. Then they told him the honest truth, that the Egyptian driver was the worst taxi driver they ever experienced. If they could get out of the taxi, they would. But they were in the desert, and there was nowhere to run to. Too be honest, he said that that was the worst experience in his life, for more than 16 hours, he was in constant fear for his life. So Paddy thought to himself that these will be last hours of his life, just enjoy the ride and look at sand dunes.

It was the worst experience, it is like scarier than a rollercoaster ride, but in 16 hours.

The taxi driver had just ended his night shift, and he was driving the Brits somewhere far. He even got lost on the way to the destination.

Paddy said, ‘he was cheeky to ask for a tip. I think we came of the trip/journey poorer as I and Andy ended paying for the repairs…’.

I told Paddy, ‘that is the best story ever’.

Paddy said, ‘yeah good story, but unfortunately for me, it is true’.

I was giggling all the way through his story telling. I now have the munchies….

Got me eating my favourite junk food, which is Nachos chips with cheese. Yep, I used to buy a bag of cheese flavoured nachos from Aldi’s in Britain. Funny that they will always run out of stock of the cheese falvoured ones. Tons of normal and BBQ nachos, but no cheese flavoured ones in sight.

QUOTES

This got me thinking, there are 2 quotes I learned in Britain. The first one is ‘cheap as chips’ and the second one is ‘as safe as houses’.

Now is not the time to believe in the second quote, for people living in Britain.

STREET FIGTHER 4 REJUNEVATED

I played SF4 on my laptop. I am really baffled by the fact that the game can run smoothly (90% of the time) at all the graphical settings turned up to the max. I really curious about why this is possible. Before the change of my hard drive, it was only able to run at 60 frames per second (normal visual for gaming) at mid graphical settings. Maybe it has something to do with defragmenting the hard drive. I am still pissed off that my bigger HDrive in the laptop can only run at 5400 rpm, instead of the old HDrive’s 7200 rpm. I can see the difference, the pictures display a bit slower than the previous’ settings.

Ok, my computer has all the settings on high, antiliasing (I always forget what this does) at 16x.

The movement of the characters are pretty fast at 60fps. I think it is too fast, I have to press the buttons quickly to execute the moves. One thing I will say, it is easier to pull of some nice moves.

That said, I prefer my fights to be a bit slower, so that I can appreciate the animation of the characters when they are pulling their punches. Their action now is too fast, all a blur. I can’t appreciate Sakura’s crimson red panties because the animation disappears as soon as it appears…..

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The proliferation of condom usage and sales is spurned by the activities committed in hostels and backpackers. Sex is the bastard child and a necessary evil (or blessing) that supports Malaysia’s rubber industry. Wait! I think I got my facts all wrong, condoms are not made from rubber!

11 March 2010 Thursday

At work, Yoshi noticed that I was looking at a catalogue called Warehouse. He asked what I wanted to buy.

I said ‘condoms by the thousands, very busy in the hostel’, he laughed.

Now I know why the lads love to congregate in my porch. It is secluded so that they can smoke pot without people knowing and there are stools (made of logs of wood) to sit on.

This morning, I could feel the damp in my tent, as I left my computer running all night, defragmenting the hard drive. My laptop also acts as a heater in confined places, like my small tent.

I said that one cannot get such a huge Tupperware from the Chinese in Britain.

Cullum said, ‘prison?’.

Graham corrected him, ‘Britain!’.

What do these guys think I am? A felon? They said they don’t know my past, so who knows? Ol ye faith in me…..

FIRE!!!

I started a fire in a pot. I just put some old papers and some twigs of lavender and a bark doused with wax. That will get the fire started. I need to smoke because the mosquitoes are killing me.

Then Nora came and saw the fire.

I muttered, ‘oh shit!’.

She replied, ‘it is hard not to notice the fire at 8pm….’.

Hmm, this camp fire in a pot is not a bad idea, my camp is facing a whole heap of logs. I can use them as fuel to ward of the mosquitoes.

She doesn’t believe me when I said it was for the mosquitoes…..

QUIET TIME

TALE OF A TIME OR WAS IT A TIME OF A TALE?

Yan and I was talking to Paddy in his tent. Yan is afraid of the trip tomorrow. He is afraid of getting killed on the way to Wellington.

Paddy said, ‘you think the driving here?’.

Unfortunately this time, the car broke down because the exhaust pipe fell off in the middle of the desert. He said that he had a miserable time, all he could see was just sand.

It was the worst experience, it is like scarier than a rollercoaster ride, but in 16 hours.

The taxi driver had just ended his night shift, and he was driving the Brits somewhere far. He even got lost on the way to the destination.

Paddy said, ‘he was cheeky to ask for a tip. I think we came of the trip/journey poorer as I and Andy ended paying for the repairs…’.

I told Paddy, ‘that is the best story ever’.

Paddy said, ‘yeah good story, but unfortunately for me, it is true’.

I was giggling all the way through his story telling. I now have the munchies….

QUOTES

This got me thinking, there are 2 quotes I learned in Britain. The first one is ‘cheap as chips’ and the second one is ‘as safe as houses’.

Now is not the time to believe in the second quote, for people living in Britain.

STREET FIGTHER 4 REJUNEVATED

Ok, my computer has all the settings on high, antiliasing (I always forget what this does) at 16x.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

12 March 2010 Friday

BIO GAS MAKE GOOD FUEL

I suspect that last time, I had farts that smell like methane gas on an industrial scale, was because of the chicken I bought at Pak N Save. It was cheap, and I think the chicken is not fresh. My stomach is very choosy, it is pretty high class. High taste stomach, I have.

I must admit that I am responsible for the global warming. It wasn’t the cows with their excess gas from their anus. It was me, I contributed a massive amount of repulsive gas, I must pity the workers who work near me in the pack house. They must be wondering whether there is a leaking gas pipe somewhere. Fear not, it is an open air packhouse….. Won’t die of suffocation, not immediately, but slowly, and surely…..

MUSIC TO WHILE A WAY THE TIME IN OPEN PRISON

I am bored of the music in my 8Gb MP3 player, Creative make I bought in Argos, Britain. Cost me 50£ (275Rm at the rate of 5.5). I listen to it 9 hours a day while working, packing pumpkins into big crates next to the conveyer belt. Gotta change the music selection with the music I recovered from my portable hard drive. I think I will come back to Malaysia a bit deaf and daft….

TENT LIVING

My tent is the smallest among the 5 tents in the hostel. It is pretty small, considering that there are 3 boxes that house my stuff. It is pretty funny that I can lose track of my stuff in such a confined space. But bear in mind, I only want to find my stuff after dark, and the only light source in my tent comes from the illumination of my laptop. Hopefully Ashley (the owner of the hostel, who specifically told me not to have the wire connecting my tent to the hostel after 5pm) won’t become the wiser of my choice of place when using my laptop.

WINDY LIKE BRITAIN

Holy shit, while I was walking to Pak N Save today (got to get some mee goreng, frankfurters and filters for my tobacco), the wind was so strong, and it rained. Reminded me of Britain, like the title above.

I wanted to buy a 3L apple juice, but it was heavy, and it cost 4$. No thanks, only when I am in a celebratory mood. I am not that happy because my wrist and fingers are hurting after 2 days of work in the packhouse. I did not enjoy work today, because I offended Yoshi when I said to him ‘Mataku! Yoshi-kun wa saite desu ne….’, which means Yoshi is the worst. I said it just to joke around. But why are Japanese people so sensitive? It happened with Megumi Suka too. I offended her unknowingly, and regrettably. The Brits never had such a problem with me, they just take what ever that comes out of my mouth, as tongue in cheek humour. Even Paddy likes me because I have a dry sense of humour. Can somebody enlighten me on the meaning of ‘dry’ humour? ZAMs?

Got to be careful of what I say when I am around Japanese people, they are not a fun bunch to joke around with, sad. Maybe I should reconsider going to Japan, I cant watch what I say for more that 1 month. That would be suffocating. I say what I say, without a shred of consideration and thought. That is why I try to be quiet as much as possible, les I offend people……

Oh yeah, I didn’t see Kate/Tai/Kai. Looks like I won’t be able to show you guys the picture. Darn, I hope I bump into her someday. If it is meant to be, then it is meant to be…..

Came back to the hostel after my Pak N Save trip. I wanted to go to Warehouse, but I don’t know where it is. Fuck it! I will find the hypermarket when the weather is more forgiving. It is not tonight. Everybody was in the kitchen, hanging out and talking. That’s what backpackers do, hang out at night, drink beers, talk and maybe have sex with each other….. good life this, unfortunately I am not with the crowd.

The tent people are not here (Paddy, Andy and Yan), they have left for Wellington for a trip. They will be back on Sunday, just in time to start work in Mc Cains on Monday. It is starting to get a bit lonely in the garden, it is quiet, too quiet. Arend is not around to waste my time with his paranoid views. I can get used to this serene but eerie quiet.

INTERVIEW AT MC CAINS

Andy was saying that they were all scared when they had to take a drug test. These guys always smoke weed, so they are scared that the interviewers would call the police if they are found with traces of hallucigenics in their blood stream/sperm/swab…

Andy doesn’t like to work on Sundays. He loves to have a drink, and lad’s night out on a Saturday, so he needs Sunday to cure his hangover. Mc Cains company wanted them (Paddy, Ben, Yan and Andy) to work 7 days a week. But Andy told them this, ‘well, I am a good Catholic, and I need Sundays off to attend church. Furthermore, the next Sunday I can’t work because I have a Sky diving activity and Taupo. If this will affect my chances of getting work here, I can cancel the skydive….’.

Obviously everything Andy said to the interviewer was a lie, just to wriggle his way out of working on a Sunday.

AREND

I remember him saying that the tobacco in NZ is not that good. It burns the throat. It is true, it burns the throat sometimes.

NORA

I told Nora in the kitchen that her bag was left outside of her tent, and now is getting wet in the rain. She said it was alright, she got it for free. Even her shoes. God, some people are lucky. Even her tent was given to her by a Japanese friend. Her tent is new too. I got to rely on the free bucket to get my stuff. Like this morning I got a small new bag to hold my toiletries. Nice looking too, some brand by the name of Manou. Too bad it is not Hermes brand, like the one in the Japanese Drama Densha Otoko.

KITCHEN BONDING

In the kitchen, I saw Paul, the one who gave me an air mattress. I sleep much better under a soft piece of layer, instead of relying on the ground.

I said to him, ‘I heard you are down on something. You got the herpes?’.

He said, ‘yeah I got it from you’.

I replied, ‘me? When was that? When I was bumming your butthole?’.

Cullum, Craig and Ben laughed. One of them said, ‘classic Khong!’.

The German girl whom I talked about yesterday? The really pretty looking one I was staring at (not a voyeur, just watching…constantly).

She suddenly said to me in the kitchen, ‘Khong, tomorrow we are going on a vineyard trip to taste wine. You want to join us?’.

I said, ‘I cant, I got work tomorrow….’.

Darn, I wish I had free time to join them. This is the first time I talked to her, first contact initiated!

Everybody is kinda free, with no jobs at hand. It is hard to get constant work, since fruit picking or farm maintenance depends on the availability of the job, weather and other sorts of knick knacks. The weather in Napier sucks ass, always raining. When it rains, the jobs to pick apples will be cancelled. That is why they are organising a trip to while away their time, waiting for their next job to happen.

I guess camp fire at the beach is cancelled tonight. Firstly, the wind is too strong, and a bit of rain would have made it impossible to burn the damp drift wood at the beach. Sucks!

And it is pretty darn cold tonight. I have to light the candle in my tent to keep warm while typing this sentence.

Finished reading Batman: The Man Who Laughs trade paperback. Good story this…..

PRIORITIES IN LIFE

travel

tent

family

internet

anime

comics/manga

friends

onanism

life

…………

99. ZAMs

100. Lucifer

101. Death

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

Holy fucking shit (same as the above)!!!! You know I was regretting that I didn’t get a photo of Kate/Kai/Tai. Actually I do have a picture of her!

You remember the night that I was molested by Gabrielina (Andy’s fuck buddy), the first night I met Kate courtesy of Andy. I got the photos from Gabrielina, and today I looked at one of the pics, and Kate was in it…. Yippee, not a good shot, but better than nothing. Let the onanism begin!

JEFFREY

The first time I met Jeffrey from Paris (pronounced Joe-frey in French), was 2 weeks ago. He is a lovable guy, when he is drunk. He came and pitched his tent that fits 4 people, and he was the only one staying in it. It was so big, that it blocked Ashley’s clothes line. Ashley began complaining that it was too big, that if he blocked the clothes line, Ashley would have no place to put his bed sheet washings, and have to fork out hundreds of dollars on the dryers. So, Craig and I helped Jeffrey to move his tent to an area near the kitchen, where I previously stayed at. It was a noisy place to sleep…

Jeffrey told me that he is moving out of the hostel to stay nearer to his workplace, which is a farm. That is sad. Today I saw his former tent site, and the grass was dead. I felt sad, that he left. But tonight, I saw him in the kitchen. He said that he comes back during the weekends to stay, his friends are all here, so this place he can relax in during his off day.

The pretty German girl, Craig and Jeffrey were outside when I passed by. Jeffrey asked for a cigarette. I said I quit. Jeffrey asked ‘since when?’.

I replied, ‘3 seconds ago….’. Cigarettes are expensive, 50 cents a stick man!

PONDER TO WONDER

I think everybody knows me in the hostel. Maybe Andy started a nasty rumour about me. Who knows. He and Paddy did it to their friend Yan, saying that Yan seems stranger after his 1 months trip Yan spent in the South island. They said Yan likes to go to the beach to throw stones at dead fishes. I thought to myself, ‘dead fishes? I didn’t see any at all, and I can tell you I go to the beach quite often. Stones a lot, so is drift wood, but not a dead fish in sight….’.

Maybe Andy started a rumour that I like to masturbate in my tent, which in my perspective is not a rumour at all, but a fact!

Every time I come back from work, somebody on the BBQ table would shout, ‘Khong!’. It would usually be Paddy, Cullum or Craig.

I would reply my usual reply, ‘yo yo yo!’.

That is why people know my name, and I don’t know theirs. It is hard to remember people’s name. Remembering 10 peoples’ names is already considered a miracle for me.

So, the pretty German girl knows my name, I should just say to her, ‘you know my name, but I don’t know yours. So what’s yours? Want to fuck?’.

Anyway, she has a beautiful smile. Really cute……

BELGIUM

Yan’s real name is Jan Bellemans.

Paul came to the tent area and saw that I was sleeping on the ground without a mattress. He gave me one air bag, that didn’t hold air properly, it leaks. But heck, beggars cannot be choosers. At least it provides a soft pad for my aching body. Paul hails from Leeds.

Read Green Lantern Secret Origin. Good book. Green Lantern is my favourite hero.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Tent living is not that bad, considering that one’s comfort depends on the weather. Unfortunately I can’t bring a girl back to my tent, since it is pretty small.

13 March 2010 Saturday

This morning, I took 2 bottles of beer from a box left on the table. It is something called Haagen Lager. The morning was really cold, since last night it rained.

Today is the worst day in the packhouse. I was in the part of the conveyor belt where it is a bottle neck. If the pumpkins are not packed fast enough, it will spill over me. I had to be fast in preventing the pumpkins from falling of the conveyor. It was bloody hard work. My fingers and wrist were hurting really bad.

I was also dancing and gyrating to the music I play on my MP3 player. It is nice to just work while incorporating the music to the movement of my arms.

I was so tired at the end of the day, that I wanted to not work tomorrow. I need time to rest my muscles after working for 3 days straight. It is really hard work, I don’t understand why I am in NZ working like a slave. It is really hard labour. I have never done such work in my life, honestly. This is honest to god, sweat for money, or as the old proverbial phrase, good old fashion work.

At the end of the day, the manager told/warned us not to take tomorrow off, as this will let down the team, where each one who comes tomorrow will have to work harder in place of the ones who are going to be absent tomorrow. Sucks to hear that, looks like I cant call in sick tomorrow.

On a bright side, since yesterday’s misunderstanding with Yoshi, we had a little chat to warm up the iciness between us two.

I have no time to sort out the stuff I recovered from my hard disc. I only have time to play SF4 and write my journal.

Read a comic called Pride and Joy by Garth Ennis. Good comic. Did I tell you I have started reading Lord of the Rings, fellowship of the ring book again?

I work from 7am to 5pm, did I tell you that? 9 and a half hours of physical hard labour, especially on the arms (biceps) and the backbone. Today I went to Pak N Save to buy some corn chips with cheese flavour. When I passed by the vegetables section, I saw the pumpkins, and I felt physically sick, like having a withdrawal syndrome. I get mad when I see pumpkins.

Today I got the chance to make a camp fire at the beach, I drank beer there, looked at the stars and the waves. Enjoyed the radiation/heat of the fire on a cold night.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

You have to be insane to work here…..

Gerryko’s answer if anybody asked why I dance while I pack the pumpkins. The dance is just a way to get the body and mind active, thus increasing enthusiasm for the dreary work, in turn, time goes by faster when one is enjoying one’s self. Oh yeah, every time I glance at the direction of the clock, I would palm my eyes in horror if I found out about the time. I wear a watch, and I don’t even look at it during work, except during the break, which is 15 minutes at 9.30am and 2.45pm. Lunch is a 30 minutes affair at 12.30pm. I got to warn Noelle Low of Singapore to avoid the packhouse, no sane person should work in such conditions…..

NEW ZEALAND CHRONICLES PART 2

2011-03-30T14:51:00.002+08:00

8 March 2010 Monday

Work in the packhouse again. Had that pie I found in the kitchen, made of minced beef and cheese. Too much cheese can be nauseating.

We finished work around 3.30pm, because there were no pumpkins to pack. This, according to the manager, was due to poor weather, and the pumpkins in the farms are not ready to harvest. We will be taking a holiday for 2 days. Yes, that is great! I need my rest, even though I just had it yesterday.

I thought we were going home, but the guys in the van had other plans. They were told by Suzie (our contractor, the person who arranges jobs for us), to go to the tomato farm and collect tomatoes.

God damn, I hate tomatoes. And I hate grapes too. By the time I am finished with NZ, I think I would hate all vegetables and fruits. Trust me, if you have worked in a farm, under the hot sun or the cold blistering rain, you will definitely take your rage on the fruits you were harvesting or maintaining. I hate pumpkins too, don’t forget that. They taste nice though, provided you cook them correctly, like with some mayonnaise and a lot of pepper powder. Got served some of it at the packhouse. I tried to cook the pumpkin myself when I got one huge 1 to 2 kg of it. Tried to cut the damn fruit, it was a difficult task. Then stuff it in the oven for 40 minutes or so, but before that, sprinkle a generous table spread (aka margarine) on it, to act as a frying agent, if you have olive oil, the better. All I had was table spread, aka margarine. It was edible to say the least. My cooking skills are not on par with SLim’s or ZAMs’, I think. But what I lack, I make up in other areas, what areas? I don t know, you tell me. Half the time, I don’t even know or understand myself.

STAYING YAN

Ok, Yan from Belgium just came to talk to me in my tent. Yan said, ‘why do you always play this song?’.

I replied, ‘because it was given to me by a girl’. The song is Hidden Sky, given to me by M. I like the song very much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5mwper6Cnk

lee joon ki @ hanurul karigo / hidden sky (jang hye jin) time between dog and wolf ost (eng sub)

He is going to quit his vineyard job that was contracted by Suzy. He says he isn’t getting regular work from her. He is pinning for a job in a Mc Cain factory, the huge food making brand. Told him to not forget his friends. Do bring back some food, even frozen ones for me. I am always starving.

I told Yan that I was surprised at his boldness in telling me a strange fact. We were at the smoker’s lounge/ BBQ table, and there was a group of girls sitting on the next table, within ear shot.

Yan said this couple of days ago to me, ‘I like Japanese girls. I know one, but now she is in love with an Argentinean guy. Now she won’t fuck me. I am so sad…..’.

I was aghast that he would say this, no, not because he confided in me, but he said it near the group of girls just next to us. I can cut the silence from the table next to us with a butter knife. That was how awkward the situation was.

Either he was drunk at the time when he confided in me, or he was absolutely gutted.

That was then, now is now.

Let’s continue with my story for today. So, after leaving the packhouse, we went to the same tomato field that we went to last week. I tell you man, the bloody tomatoes are on the floor, not on stilts like in the vineyards. At first, when we entered the place, I thought it was just a field until I realize I had to bend down to get the tomatoes. It is bad for the back, I really assuredly tell you. No fun this.

The working day ended, I spent 2 hours in that bloody field picking tomatoes. I got 5 buckets, at a rate of 4$ a bucket. This is a perfect example of slavery. Ok, maybe not, since I get paid for it….but in slave-rate wages…..

Suzy (contractor from Thailand) came by and asked when I am going back to Malaysia. In 4 months time. When the time comes, she would think of a way to extend the visa. Maybe a student visa? Who knows, will let you know if I am not coming back in May or June this year.

I got a bag full of tomatoes for the people in the hostel. They were a pretty grateful bunch, knowing that they get free tomatoes from me. Yeah, I know they are a starving bunch of maggots. I do steal/borrow food from the kitchen, now is the time to give some love back to the people whom I steal food from, although I don’t know who I steal food from. This reminds me of the time I always raid the fridge in Carrot’s apartment back in USM, Penang. Fun times those days, thank god she has forgiven me for my antics of eating people’s food. I haven’t learned my lesson, I am still at it, stealing food, or should I say borrowing it. I return it back to the earth in the form of smelly brown stuff.

In the kitchen, I cooked myself some pasta, with 4 tomatoes, pasta, bacon and cheese. Quite delicious if I say so myself.

Washed my clothes, and write my day’s journal. I am so tired, I think I will not go to the beach to start a camp fire. I am tired….

I haven’t even replied all the letters I got from friends this past 2 weeks. I don’t have time for it yet, I still need to sift through all the media I tried to recover using Dan’s software (a backpacker who fixes computers back in Britain). You guys will have to wait a bit for me to get all my shit together….

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I Hate Fruits and Vegetables……. But eaten off a naked girl, that is another different matter all together…..

Gerryko now understand why CS (aka Counter Strike, sex: Female, age: tremendous) hates vegetables. I don’t like them too……

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGhlumAtAGc

9 March 2010 Tuesday

Woke up at 8am. My rest day.

Paddy, Andy, Ben and Yan were supposed to go and see about a job at Mc Cains. But now Paddy tells me that they are not going for the interview because there is a drug test involved in the interview process. Since they love weed, they will surely fail in the drug test. Thank god there is no such nonsense in the pack house where I am working at, not that I smoke weed….regularly.

KATE KANT KOME

Spoke to Kai/Tai/Kate in the kitchen. She looks so happy even when the weather is a bit of a shit stain on the walls. It is cloudy today. Asked her if she went to Bluff Hill. Yeah, she did, and also the tobacco building where Megumi Suka and I went with the assistance of an old man we met on Bluff Hill, he gave us a ride and explained to us about Napier and the historical significance of each landmark we passed by in his car. You will read about this tale when I find the time to rewrite everything that happened since I left LCCT, KL.

Kate got a lift for a very nice backpacker to Bluff Hill. Darn, wish I could have travelled there with her. She is quite cute, with her short hair. I got to take a pictures of her, instead of her drying underwear. You got to see for yourself how pretty she is. Now, how do I go about getting her picture taken with me, without sounding or hinting to her about my perverseness and gasp! Madness?

Like what Andy said, ‘lost those precious pictures? Solution? Take more pictures…’. Good advice, let’s start with this Kate creature….

The perfect girl for me would be, nice to look at, Asian and seems intelligent. Ok, the intelligence is not much of a factor, but wouldn’t it be nice to have someone so that I can ask questions. Ok, that might not be that important, since Google is around.

I might be intelligent, but I am also stupid not to make full use of my intelligence. The latter sentence is a profound play of words.

BEST FOOD IN LIFE ARE FREE….. DEATH OF THE FOOD BUSINESS….

Made spaghetti, but not with spaghetti, but with Fettucine. Don’t know what it is, but it does taste nice. Saw some weetabex in the free basket, and a couple of apples. Took em as swiftly as a pickpocket.

ARENT YOU AREND?

Arend said today he has decided to go to the South Island. I told him that I am staying put. The purpose of my visit here, is to make money, not to travel and see the sights. The exploration and visiting can be done later after making a few buckets of money. I will see how much I can earn in a month and access whether it is more financially logical to work here, or to work in dreary Britain. Actually, it does feel like Britain in this hostel. There are so many Brits in this place, the infestation mostly come from the Yorkshire area, namely Leeds City. Except for Cullum, who hails from The Republic of Ireland.

ROBIN, I HATE YOU

My tent is filled with bird shit. Once I was reading my comic books, and suddenly I felt a warm drop on my chest. Yes, I was reading without my shirt on. I look up above from my tent and saw a beautiful small bird, maybe a robin, who knows, I am not this type of ‘bird’ watcher. I like other ‘birds’, of the homo sapien kind.

Anyway, they were perching on the branches of a tree above my tent. So I took matters into my own hands and chopped the branches of. I hope Ashley doesn’t find out what I have done to get rid of the bird shitters.

The talisman I put on the branches didn’t work, you know….string and a CD.

GATHERING, HAPPY NEWS AND SAD NEWS

There was another gathering among the tent people just outside my tent’s porch. Ashley saw my wire that leads to my tent. He wasn’t too pleased about it. He said that I can have the wire there before 5pm. God damn it, I come back from work after 5pm. I was really down because of this. But later on, fuck it, when he goes home, I will still work on my laptop after 8 or 9pm. I prefer to write in my little tent than to surf the net in the kitchen, the kitchen is a cluster fuck, full of people coming and going from the TV room. It disturbs my concentration.

Earlier on, I was trying a software I procured from the net, something called Recuva from http://www.piriform.com/recuva . It specializes in recovering word documents.

After Ashley gave me his disapproving scowl, I looked at the progress of the recovery and found that I have something to celebrate. I have recovered my 150 pages of word document, my diary and tales of my adventures in NZ. Oh god, I was so happy that I hugged Andy, Paddy, Nora and Yan. Looks like this software, an open source software (meaning it is free, no registration, key password and all that crap that makes you fork out money) is much much better than the set of software from Dan. I was so aesthetic about it. Now, can I use the same software to recover my Megumi Suka pictures or not. Here is hope and I pray for a happy ending.

Ashley can just kick me out of the hostel if he finds out that I am not obeying his wishes. He is afraid that my wire will trip the guest, but I made it so, that it is out of feet’s way. I don’t know what his problem is. I think I don’t like him so much anymore.

I said to Yan and Nora (they are sleeping together), that I draw the line when it comes to extensions.

If he does kick me out, I would find a flat share, where it is cheaper and better than staying in a tent. But I like the atmosphere in the hostel, where there are many people to talk to and watch.

YO DAAA

Andy calls me Yoda because my tent is green. I cannot help it but to say those immortal words in Yoda’s voice, ‘do or do not, there is no try….’.

Paddy, Andy and I were as high as a kite, and we were giggling when the Ewoks ending song came on Andy’s Ipod speakers.

RACIST REMARKS

Andy, Paddy and I were at Pak N Save. We passed by the titbits section and took some sweets to eat. A couple was near the titbits section and they were disgusted at our action. I felt something on my back and realized that one of them threw a sweet at me. I did not look back, I just didn’t mind it, but I told Paddy.

I passed by that couple again. The girl called me a pig and the guy said ‘Asian fuck’. I wonder in this situation whether it could be classed as a racist remark. I just didn’t acknowledge them at all, just walked on by without a glance at them. I just didn’t care and bought 2 packets of spaghetti, each weighing 500g.

MIRACLE

Ok, I am a happy man. I have successfully recovered the Megumi Suka pictures. Life goes on. I am such a lucky man. Life is good I tell you, really.

All in all, 19000 pictures were recovered, that is a lot of pics.

All that doom and gloom shit I put myself through since the laptop’s hard disc went a crapper, is washed away in a sea of bliss and closure. God, I believe in you, always, forever and also sometimes. When the going gets tough, the procrastinators get going. Thank my fucking god that I don’t need to rewrite every single thing of my journey through Auckland….. there is really a god out there, and this event proves it. Believe my gullible readers, for I am the enlightened one, there is a god…..

I think I am beginning to like NZ all over again…

CAPTAIN’S LOG, STARDATE 2010-03-09

My parents phoned me to inform me that there was a letter from the ministry that I should attend an interview to be a Science Officer in studying insects. Hmm, I would attend that interview in March, but funnily, I will not be physically there at that time. Oh well, can’t have it all…..me a science officer, only in name….

QUOTE OF THE DAY

10 March 2010 Wednesday

Finished reading Batman: The Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul.

Just bought 5Gb of downloads for a month and it cost 75$ (180RM I think). That is a lot of money, but still, internet access is really important to me.

Robert from Sheffield is the second person to ask me a stupid question, what are those water bottles for? For storing water, duhhh!

I remember saying to Kate when she was hanging her underwear, that I go to the library to relax. She was astounished. Yes, I get to relax in the library, because it is spacious, quiet and not many people there. Surrounded by books, I get a shimmer of orgasm. I like libraries, but not the ones in Malaysia. I wonder why?

I told Andy to get his library card done. One can borrow 99 books when one does not want to come back to NZ, and ship the books home. I won’t do that, no way, maybe after 4 years being in NZ, would I consider it, as a farewell present from the libraries of NZ.

ARAND IS LIKE ME

Arand (from Holland) is quite a paranoid guy He is a loner and doesn’t like to do group activities, just like me. He likes to travel, especially India. The first time we met, he was very pissed off with his dorm room. He couldn’t sleep because the people in there kept on turning the lights on and off, and coming and going out of the room. He had to work in the packhouse, lifting heavy boxes filled with apples, and he was fuming in the kitchen late at night because he couldn’t get some shut eye. I think he is a nice guy. But he is starting to piss me off, because he regularly comes to my tent for a chat while I am reading a comic book or normal novels. I need my alone time, and I get a feeling I am not getting that neither, with all the tent people congregating right in front of my tent. One time, I was surfing the net for porn, and I was surprised that he was sitting at the back of me, on one of the wooden stools.

He couldn’t sleep in the dorm, so he went for the single rooms, that cost 25$, versus 18$ for a shared dorm room, a night. I lent him my comic books when he was bored.

He told me today that he is going to the South Island tomorrow, to do the thing he intended to do in NZ, which is to hike and be with nature.

He gave me all his condiments as he finally prepares to depart Napier. Some thing like Garlic Salt, pasta, lemon dust, crackers, biscuits and stuff. As I told you, he is a nice guy, kindred spirits. Oh, and the best things in life are free.

He said that the people in Holland don’t like the country because it is all flat, no mountains in sight. Well, he should be blessed, because the flat terrain can be used for agriculture and urban development.

WHAT TO DO TODAY?

I spent a couple of hours in the library. This library is sufficient for my needs. The comics are varied, but not a manga book in sight. All American comics, which is fine with me. I ended up reading XBOX mags, Hyper (games mag), Empire (about movies) etc.

I borrowed The Fellowship of the Ring book, just to improve my English a wee bit. Hopefully I have the time to read it.

Yesterday, was also my holiday. But I didn’t have the time to go to the library, because the tent people were hanging out with me just right in front of my tent, drinking cheap wine that comes in a box (Andy says what ever wine comes in, it all taste similar to him), and smoking a joint. They should just leave me alone, I should not have made the make shift stool and other furniture from nature’s resources.

ABOUT AN ANDY

It seems Andy comes from a rich family. His father started a company that makes stuff for building and maintenance. Andy is almost 30 years old and I said to him, ‘it is time for you to settle down and get a career’.

He said earnestly, ‘what about you Kong? What are you doing here’?

I didn’t answer him, I just gave a couple of doubtful grunts.

FOOD THAT IS RED, DEAD AND REDEMPTIONED

A couple of days ago, I brought back to the hostel, one whole bag full of tomatoes. It was all taken away in just 30 minutes by the people staying in there. That is how things are in the hostel. They were quite appreciative.

Anyway, the point I am getting at is, I should have kept some fresh tomatoes for myself. Today I made some spaghetti sauce that is cooked with bacon and fresh tomatoes (12 tomatoes, 4 small tomatoes for every meal). Going to eat pasta for today’s dinner and lunch, and also tomorrow’s lunch at work.

LADS

At around 6pm, I went to the area past Port Napier, the rocks that reach out to the sea. Then I went to Bluff Hill, just to admire the view and to exercise the legs.

Coming back, Robert offered me a beer, and Andy too. Two separate occasions. Ate my spaggetti and went to the smoker’s lounge/BBQ table to sit with the lads like Paddy, Craig, Robert, Andy and Cullum (from Republic of Ireland).

I swear to god I only understand half of what comes out of Cullum’s mouth. I can never catch what he is saying with his Irish tongue.

Cullum asked me, ‘what’s going down?’.

I said, ‘a girl’.

Then the lads were talking about Irish cream, must be something to do with the alcoholic coffee cream. So I turned to Cullum and said, ‘Irish cream? Irish scream? Is that spunk…?’.

Everybody laughed and Paddy said, ‘Didn’t see that coming. That is one of your best quotes yet’.

Paddy said to me, ‘I am glad you join us for a beer and sit down here to have conversations with other people…’.

Yeah, I try to avoid that BBQ table because it was normally full of people. But tonight, it was quite empty and Robert offered me a drink. I normally have no time to spend sitting around the table talking to people. I rather be in my tent and do stuff. Tonight I didn’t go to the beach to start a camp fire, that is why I have time to spend with them.

Cullum asked me, ‘so Kong, how many beers had you had so far?’.

‘One’, I said.

‘Have another one….’, he said.

‘I can only have one, before I do something stupid like fuck anything that has a hole, including yours…..’ I replied.

For most of the time I was sitting on the table, I was eyeing a German girl sitting on the next table. She is just so fine and pretty… really perfect from my book.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Holy fuck Batman! The booth babe got balls. Literally!

Words that would never come out of Robin’s filthy mouth….

MERCY MALAYSIA

2011-03-30T14:44:00.004+08:00

30 March 2011 I applied to be a volunteer at Mercy Malaysia, as to get a better chance to help people overseas. I like to travel. might as well help people while travelling. i sent my application 2 weeks ago. no reply as of yet. i told my friend this and he said that Mercy Malaysia is a racist organisation and it only helps Muslim countries. I told him about Mercy's involvement in Japan. He said it was just for publicity. well, who knows what might happen. it is hard to live in a country where my not being a Bumiputera/Muslim (Malay) is a disadvantage. might as well convert to Muslim, change my name to Abdullah and reap the rewards and secretly eat some roast pork.....

NEW ZEALAND CHRONICLES PART 1

2011-03-29T22:14:00.001+08:00

5 March 2010 Friday

Hi there, my name is Gerryko. I have just started writing again. Sorry for the long wait. The problem I had was of catastrophic proportions. My whole world came crashing down on me when my laptop’s hard disc died. Yeah, died with my whole world.

What did I lose you say? Well, a lot of effort and sweat and abuses to our resident cannon fodder ZAMs. Sigh, if I can turn back time, I want to retrieve my 150 pages of journal that is all but gone and un retrievable. I hate computers, I really do. I have been living without one for more than one week. I can say it is pretty liberating, just spend my time going out to the beach at night and start a fire. Really outdoor-cy, of me. Instead of staring at the idiot computer, I walk to familiar places, to look at the sunset and the moon. Surfing the net? Nope, haven’t done that in more than a week too.

What did I lose? Pictures, tons of pictures from the day I touch down in Auckland. Megumi Suka pictures too. Don’t know her? Well, one day you might get to know of her, as I plan on rewriting that 150 pages I lost. It won’t be easy, you know me. I am a proscrastinator, I really want to do it, but my lazy bone gets the better of me. Sucks to be me really.

How did I feel, when my computer crashed? Well, a whole lot of suck. The big letters ‘THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING TO ME!!!’, comes to mind. Well, it did, and it sucks to high heavens, trust me, if your whole world resided in one hard disc, and it burns, you will definitely feel the heat.

What else did I lose? Well, the only thing that mattered to me was the pictures I took of Megumi Suka. I took a lot of her photos, and she explicitly told me to send her the pictures of her, but guess what, it is all bloody gone. Life sure sucks, only one explanation here. God is testing me. Yes, there is a message somewhere, I got to figure out, got to see the meaning beneath the line.

What else, what else? My collection of Sankaku Complex pictures. This I can bear with. All I have to do is revisit the website and start my recollection. No probs. But I can’t ask Megumi Suka to come back to Napier and relive our experience…..

What else? My Excel document that details all my expenditure I have made in NZ (funny how the countries I visit can be short formed into 2 letters, like UK). Without that, I cannot gauge how much I have spent and how much I can earn in NZ. I will have to redo it and recalculate my living expenses.

My sanity, yes, I lost my sanity a couple of times. I just wanted to kick god’s ass for giving me the living hell of my life.

I also lost my emule torrents, which has some interesting movies in it. Mostly videos on how to massage.

You might have a lot of questions about the characters in this journal of mine. The names you might not be familiar with, I will have to give you the back story, it might feel like you are reading into the middle of a story, but essentially, it is as it is advertised, my NZ journey in the middle part. The beginning part is gone and burned…… sucks to be me, and you, if you ever read my cock and bullshit stories.

CRESCENDO AND INTERLUDE FOR TOILET BREAK…..

30 minutes later…. Sorry guys, I was off a bit from my tent. Yan (from Belgium, my tent mate, he lives next to my tent), told me to be sociable and help the lads (Ben and Andy…. And other lads from the UK), with cleaning the mussels they have collected from their trip. I had some mussels yesterday with them, and today they went out to collect more. All I had to do was scrape the barnacles from the shells. Goddamn it, it is hard work.

Anyway, I am a bit drunk because the lads forced me to down some drink that tasted like wine, it is called Sangria, or the blood of Christ. I had bottoms up, and now I am feeling quite queasy and tipsy, oh and drunk as well. Tonight we are going to have some mussels cooked by Yan, a recipe he learned from his mom. Andy told me to come with them tonight, to a strip club, I declined because I have work tomorrow.

Oh and work today at the pumpkin packhouse, was dull as fuck, as the pumpkins coming around the conveyor belt, was all taken by other people, I was last in line to pack them. Dull, it is better to have something to do, so that the time will pass by faster.

Learned an interesting bit about Andy while cleaning the mussels, he was quite knowledgeable in arthropods.

So I said to him , ‘you seem quite intelligent…’.

He answered, ‘you will be surprised, I got a degree in zoology….’.

I asked Paddy, Andy’s best friend and travel mate, also from Leeds, England, about Andy’s apparent Zoology degree. It is bullshit, never trust what ever comes out of Andy’s mouth. But Paddy added that Andy has a keen interest in zoology. He can get a degree, because he has the interest to learn it outside the education system.

MUSSELS FROM BRUSSELS

Just came back from the mussels’ party in the kitchen. The mussels were cooked by Yan, another camping mate and neighbour. It was delicious, the soup that the mussels were cooked in were made from vegetables, no seasoning like MSG and shit. Great food, my second dinner. I had pasta with curry sauce earlier. Oh well, I am pretty skinny nowadays. Dinner was with mostly English lads, and also my workmate in the pumpkin packhouse, a Japanese person named Yoshi.

I was furiously chopping the garlic, when Andy was talking to a new Chinese girl, who has just arrived in the hostel today. She looks cute, but is taller than I am. And she speaks fluent English. The kitchen where we were in is what this word would describe perfectly, a ‘clusterfuck’.

Her name is Kai, told her it was a strange Chinese name. Her real name is Tai, but everybody mispronounce it as Kai, but she has an English name, which is Kate. She will be in Napier for 5 days. I should have offered her my assistance in getting around Napier, like to Bluff Hill. Would love to take pictures of her, decent pictures mind you.

Andy’s fuckbuddy, Georgina, a very young looking girl, aged 20 plus I think, kept harassing me. She would say that I kept running away from her. I think she had too much to drink. She kept on hugging me and her other Argentinean friends kept taking pictures of her and me, hugging. Hmm, strange experience this. She asked why I am afraid of her. I just said that I was shy. Even her best mate, named…. God, I don’t know her name….. said I was always running away from the 4 Argentinean girls.

I had to kiss Georgina for a photo, and the lads kept on egging me, telling me to give her real kiss….. I did not kiss her for real, until I just shrugged and planted a big kiss on her cheek. All her friends kept saying that she likes me, but my tent is a bit too small to fit two people. Ok, that was a bit awkward to know that. I said, ‘where is Andy, as I am afraid I will be skewered by him for stealing Georgina from him…’.

Earlier, I gave 3 peaches to the girls living in the room facing my tent. Before that, a few days earlier, I offered them some tomatoes I got from working the fields. They consist of 2 Koreans and 1 Japanese girl. I spoke to the Japanese girl while I was drunk. She looks ok…..

It is nice to give stuff to people, like what ZAMs said, but this is not anonymously.

This morning, Suzy, the Thai contractor was pissed off at Andy, since Andy doesn’t want to work in the packhouse no more. Andy hurt his hand, saying that it is called tendonitis or some shit. Don’t know the terminology for it, but there was a bump on his wrist, from the repeated strain of lifting the pumpkins.

A bit drunk now. Got to go to the beach to start a camp fire and relax.

Andy kept on convincing me to go to the strip club with him and the lads. I said no…. there is apparently an Amateur’s night happening there. Some contest with normal ladies, not the ones working full time in the strip club. Not interested at all.

HARRASS ME ASS

Before I go to bed, I would head to the shower room for a shower (obviously, duh!), and the 3 Argentinean girls were there. I ran out as soon as they saw me. But I return to the shower and they kept on teasing me, ‘would you like us to join you in the shower?’.

I would reply, ‘no thanks’.

‘You wont regret it…… see, all the girls want you….’, an Argentinean girl said.

I said ‘you girls are drunk that’s all’.

Hmm, situations like this, you just got to take it with a pinch of salt….

QUOTE OF THE DAY

It is sometimes nice to be sexually harassed by girls, pretty ones, not the whales…..

Gerryko on the perils and benefits of an ancient social act of human bonding.

6 March 2010 Saturday

Woke up at the usual time of 5am. The guys from some island near Caledonia, all Negros, will be picking me and Yoshi up at 6.20am.

MORNING BLUES

There was somebody in the toilet at 5am. That can’t be possible! I am always the first one to wake up. The person was Yan (from Belgium). The advantage of being the first to wake up and the first in the kitchen is, you get to grab whatever free stuff on the kitchen table. These white folks get drunk and forget to keep their food. Finder’s keepers. Ha ha.

This morning, I took 5 pears from a bowl. Yesterday, I got a packet of cheese and a whole packet of bacon. I was at Pak N Save, and I wanted to buy bacon but perished the thought as it cost 6$. Now I have free bacon. Somebody put their stuff where they shouldn’t, which is near the free basket.

So Yan did not sleep at all. He asked for some tobacco and paper skins. He just bought some weed and needed the tobacco and paper to smoke it. He offered me some to puff, but I declined. Can’t have me creating havoc and not feeling myself (not the perverted expression) when I am working…. Gave him what he needed and told him to get the fuck out of my porch….

Work in the packhouse was really boring. Good thing about today is, when I came back, I didn’t need to fix dinner. In the free basket, there was a bag of sandwiches. I popped them into the toaster to warm them up. 2 were with some cranberry jam, and the other 2 were with ham and cucumber. Not that tasty, but it does the job, and it is free. As I always say, the best things in life are free.

Oh yeah, I had a stomach ache. I was farting something worse than rotten eggs. You know the smell, akin to rotting eggs, but at an industrial scale. What I mean is, if you have ever been in an industrial area, like in Butterworth, you will know what I mean. My god, my fart stinks of methane. I betcha I can light my fart and it would just explode. I wonder which food was the culprit? Was it the mussels or the chicken thighs I bought from Pak n Save? I don’t know, but I know my fart stinks to high heavens.

LAP DANCING WITH ME LAPTOP

It is Saturday night, and I am tired. I am writing this sentence with my resurrected laptop, in my tent. I get power supply from the building by connecting a 7 meter extension cable to my tent. Only now I am rebuilding the stuff in my laptop, installing all the software and also my Street Fighter 4 game.

It is a cold night. It might rain soon, it rained this afternoon. I might just go to the beach again to start a camp fire, like what I did yesterday. All I need is some newspaper, drift wood on it, and a source of fire. Easy peesy. But I wonder if it would be alright to start a fire tonight, as the drift wood might be wet.

I think something is wrong with my computer. Nothing to do with the hard disc. It sometimes gets stuck/freeze, and I would need to cut off the power supply to restart the whole darn computer. ZAMs’ offer for his laptop looks mightily attractive.

Anyway, the funny feeling is, I feel like my laptop can’t be trusted anymore with information and stuff. I feel betrayed by this stupid computer that lost all the data that was dear and near to my heart.

The lads have invited me to go to a party with them. Yan and Collum (from Republic of Ireland) that is. Most likely they will invite a bird back to the hostel for a quick shag. That is the norm in this hostel, shagging, beer drinking and partying. I am getting too old for this, wait, I never started behaving like them in the first place.

Met up with Kate/Kai/Tai from China while she was hanging her underwear on the clothes line to dry. It was pretty dark since it was 11pm-ish. I asked her about her trip in Napier, how the exploring was going. She went to Cape Kidnapper today. That is pretty far, maybe 20 to 30 minutes by car from Napier. She said she likes to take pictures. Really? Then I suggested to her to go past Port Napier, and there is some rocks extending to the sea, that was where I met Megumi Suka and that fateful ‘daijobu’ question I asked her. Anyway, that is a nice spot to take pictures of the sunset at around 8pm, depending on whether the weather is fine or not.

I can take her to the place if she wanted me to, since I go there quite often, I suggested to her. There is a short cut to Bluff Hill from the area past Port Napier. It is better to go up there from that pathway, than to go through the neighbourhood, as it is pretty hilly, and it will zap the body’s energy. Unfortunately, she didn’t take the bait, but I gave her an option.

Now I must control myself to not steal her underwear. Hard one this. But I prefer an unwashed panties and bra, compared to clean and spotless apparel. Used clothes have more charm, smell and uniqueness to it, he he….

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I gotta take a nap before I go to sleep….

Words you never so often hear.

QUOTE OF THE DAY II

White man’s shit smells and…..taste the same….

Somebody (anonymous) said that….

7 March 2010 Sunday

Woke up at 8 to 9 am. Can’t remember when exactly. Another shitty day. My day off and it is like yesterday, pissing down drizzle and is quite cloudy. I don’t need this. Paddy (Andy’s best mate and from Leeds too) and Arend (from Holland), are sick with the flu for 2 days now.

Today, I saw a pie that was made with cheese and minced beef. I saw it on the kitchen table yesterday, and it was still there. So, I popped the baby into the oven and heated it for 10 minutes. This I am going to have for breakfast. I couldn’t finish it, so I leave half of it for lunch tomorrow at work.

KATE OF LOST

I remember yesterday, I asked Kate if she was travelling with friends. She said no. I praised her for being brave. She asked me the same question. Yes, I am travelling alone too.

Thank god I didn’t say, ‘but you are a girl….you can get raped and stuff’. That would single me out as a sexist, male chauvinistic pig, and not to mention a pervert.

I couldn’t start a camp fire at the beach today. The twigs were wet and the wind too strong. But darn! The waves are huge today. Did I tell you that the beach is made of small pebbles? Black pebbles, not the usual sand that sticks to your feet. Anyway, the beach, which is just 5 minutes walk from my hostel, is strewn with logs of wood. According to Paddy, there was a huge storm last month or so. The wood from the forest was washed to the sea from the estuary/ river, and now the uprooted trees are washed ashore, making it a pyrotechnics’ wet dream… or was a firestarters’ dry dream. I love to start fires, it all started when I was back in Ipoh after my UK expedition. Started burning the refuse of my garden every day if possible. Fire, very fascinating element, hmm, this can be the start of a new career, Gerryko the arsonist. What do you think? Should I embark on a career where I incorporate my interest and hobbies into it?

THIS morning, cleaned my laptop and tent. My tent has a lot of pubic hair and ash. Don’t ask me where they come from, I haven’t a clue.

My laptop? Well, I finally got a sizable Philips screw driver from Paul (of Leeds, yes there is a patern here, many English lads in this hostel are from Leeds, a shithole of a town I visited more than 4 years ago). He became a father 2 nights ago. A girl he used to date/shag, has his child. He was supposed to go to Canada and be with her, but he enjoys it here more, so he postponed his trip to wintery Canada. If all dads were like him, god help us all. Anyway, he did me a favour, nice guy, he tries his best to shag as many different girls as possible, in the hostel and also from the bars.

So, I used the screw driver and opened up my laptop. This is the first time I looked inside my untrustworthy laptop of 4 years. It looks weird. I took out my toothbrush and started cleaning the fans. There are 2 fans, one a big one, and one a small one. The small one was too deep inside the laptop for my toothbrush to reach. Put it back together and turned it on to see whether it freezes like Alaska. I also quickly installed an old Nvidia driver, apparently the newer one might cause malfunction and is not Windows certified.

What do you know!? My laptop doesn’t freeze anymore. Yippy! Now I can write my journal and blog without hesitation or malcontent if my laptop freezes.

Paul came to my tent and was astounished by what I did with the surrounding area. This is what I call ‘pimp my tent’. Outside my door/zipper, are piles of ply wood, so that my feet wont bring in the dirt if I were to take off my slippers. Then there is a makeshift seat I constructed from 2 logs of wood and 1 flat ply wood.

Belgium saying ‘work hard, party hard, makes a man happy’, Yan said this.

M LOST AND CONFUSED, SO ARE WE, NOT ALONE IS SHE….

Chatted with M, she seems pretty lost. Well, life is like that, it either breaks us or builds us. Like what my great great great great great great grand father Confucius used to say, ‘what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’. She should be living the time of her life…well, maybe not, since she is living in KL. Me? I had a really bad time in NZ, just because of my laptop. But that has come to past. Time to move on. It seems to be much more fun to travel and stay in a different country. I can vouch for this fact, that a different environment that is not your own, like in Malaysia, away from the safety net of home, one feels more adventurous, and willing to take on anything that life throws at you. I feel more energetic and livelier in this place called Napier. Living in a tent allows me the privacy I need when I need my alone time, and also when I feel the need to let out ‘steam’, nudge nudge wink wink.

She should just take life at the horns and wrestle it to the ground. Or she should just do what I do when the going gets tough, as how ZAMs explains to all his friends, ‘when the going gets tough, when he comes to a wall and he cant climb it, he says fuck it, and leaves….’. Thanks ZAMs, you just know how to leave a good impression about me to your friends. With friends like ZAMs, who needs enemies?

Anyway, whatever ZAMs says about me is not true. I am not a quitter, I am a giver-upper. There is a difference, a subtle one, but so small it makes helluva difference. A quitter is one that quits often when faced with an obstacle. A person who gives up, quits temporarily, but will one day try it again when he has required the skills to finish the task at hand…..enough bullshit, let’s continue on about my good friend M.

So, M, be strong, you will always have me around to cry your digital tears on. Life is rosy red, but sometimes it is the blood you will see. At other times, it will be smell of real roses. Live life, and if it gets dull and boring, just pack your bags and go off on an adventure that is bound to recharge your will for life. Life has its peaks and troughs, its ups and downs. When the going gets tough, tighten your belt, put on your Supergirl outfit and fly away. Cheers M. I will always cheer for you…..

MOTH TO A FLAME

It started with Yan, he came to my tent and started chatting.

5 people, Yan, Nora, Paddy, Arend and Andy came to my tent to joke and talk. They started smoking weed to lighten the mood. Gosh, the porch that I made is attracting a lot of people. They do like the candle campfire. Nora says it is romantic. Yes, I am a romantic person.

‘What are them water bottles for?’, Paddy asked, while pointing at the 3 big water bottles I have outside my tent.

I replied, ‘urrrr….for storing water?’. This is the time where, stupid question meets stupid answer.

When Andy came to the camp fire. He said, ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’.

So I said, ‘you touch my back, I touch yours?’. Everybody laughed….

‘No, it doesn’t work that way….’, he said with a chuckle.

Nora, Yan and I sleep in our tents. So, Andy gave us a present, ear plugs! He knows Paddy snores like a jet engine. That is so sweet of him! And the ear plugs are more comfortable than using my Seinheisser earphones.

Nora pointed at one of the boxes in my tent that has the letters ‘Gaytime, Kiddi Cones, Take Home Pack’. There are 5 boxes in my already small tent.

I said, ‘don’t blame me, I got it at Pak n Save. Did you know Gay means Happy, and not the man on man love?’.

SADNESS BREEDS INSANITY

I remember I was looking solemn. Andy asked me what’s wrong. I told him about not recovering my photos, especially the ones I made in NZ. He advises me on what to do next, which is common sense but true. He said just take more pictures….

QUOTE OF THE DAY

What is in a weed? Happiness for some, Delusion for others and Madness for some individuals…..

Battle Royale

2011-03-29T21:52:00.001+08:00

finished reading (well, not actually reading everyword, just enjoyed the dirty parts profusely). it was pretty good. 3 out of 5 stars....

ANGRY BIRD

2011-03-29T21:37:00.002+08:00

29 March 2011 i got a taste of this I phone game. it is called Angry Bird. it was pretty fun knocking blocks of buildings made precariously with wood, ice sheets and cement slabs. the physics in the game is quite convincing and may be one of the things that made me feel attracted to it. another development while i was in KL. i have decided to leave malaysia again to find money and to fill my time until December 2012. lets see what happens on that faithful end of the Mayan calendar.

The Arrogance of Authority

2011-03-27T23:04:00.000+08:00

. The Arrogance of Authority

A DEA officer stopped at a ranch in Texas , and talked with an old rancher.

He told the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs."

The rancher said, "Okay , but don't go in that field over there.....", as he pointed out the location The DEA officer verbally exploded saying, " Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me !"

Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removed his badge and proudly displayed it to the rancher.

"See this badge?! This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish.... On any land !!

No questions asked or answers given!! Have I made myself clear......do you understand ?!!" The rancher nodded politely, apologized, and went about his chores. A short time later, the old rancher heard loud screams, looked up, and saw the DEA officer running for his life, being chased by the rancher's big Santa Gertrudis bull...... With every step the bull was gaining ground on the officer, and it seemed likely that he'd sure enough get gored before he reached safety The officer was clearly terrified.

The rancher threw down his tools, ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs..... "Your badge, show him your BADGE........ ! !"

15 March 2011

2011-03-15T20:01:00.002+08:00

15 March 2011

Poor Japan, now facing nuclear problems. Can it get any worse? Yes it can, with another major earthquake. Pray it doesnt happen.....is the world coming to an end? not really, not yet

quotable quotes

2011-03-14T00:07:00.002+08:00

in our journey between birth to death, we are given 2 lives. we lose one when we get married
Gerryko

it is important to love what you do, and do what you love.....dont feel guilty after masturbating.....
Gerryko

Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005

2011-03-13T23:55:00.002+08:00

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

20th Century Boys

2011-03-13T23:31:00.004+08:00

I am a great admirer of the mangaka who wrote and pencilled Monster. I watched the anime adaptation of Monster by the anime animation company Madhouse. it was a suspenseful and thrilling ride.

what about 20th Century Boys? this is the manga that was made my him after finishing Monster. in my opinion, Monster gets a 10 pointer, whereas 20th Century Boys would get only 6 points out of 10.

it was pretty exciting for the first half of the series, but it kind of feels like a drag after one of the character is presumed dead.....

thats my 2 cents worth

Life currently, Earthquake

2011-03-13T22:51:00.004+08:00

13 March 2011 SUnday,

it has been a couple of days since friday's disastrous earthquake in Japan. my heart goes out to those people who live in the Sendai area, northeast of the main island of Japan.

my good friends ZAMs phoned me up and told me to go help out in Japan. but i dont have any skills needed, like skills in medical, rescue or relief effort experience needed to alleviate the situation there. if i were to go there, i would only represent another mouth needed to be satisfied by the food agencies distributing there.

i have a lot of time in my hands. what could i do? i cant just buy a plane ticket to Haneda Airport via Airasia. mope, most likely they will ask me my purpose in Japan. volunteer? which organisation? none......

if the immigration in the airport is topsy turvy and has relaxed their vanguard in allowing Malaysians into their country, how am I going to get my ass to the Sendai area? the bulet train doesnt work. the roads to the north might not be operable. it would be a nightmare just to travel around Japan.

ZAMs told me to get my ass into the red crescent society and fingers crossed, be eligible to give a helping hand to those poor Japanese people.

getting into japan is doable, hard, but surviving there, questionable.....

Gerryko

PS one month after leaving Christchurch, the earthquake there happened. now japan, hmm, strange.....

2 March 2011

2011-03-02T12:39:00.003+08:00

2 March 2011

it does feel a bit surreal hearing about the Christchurch earthquake from the comfort of my Malaysian home. this is because I was in that city one month before it happened.

in the crisp Sunday morning, I was waiting for the airport bus at the airport bus stop that was near the Cathedral. A you would have known, the spire of the famous church collapsed, killing a few people. Christchurch turned from a nice botanical city, to a warzone-like city all in one month.

i wonder how the people i have known there, felt when it happened. i sincerely hope that they are alright physically and mentally.

Gerryko

Astro hazard

2011-02-14T19:39:00.003+08:00

14 February 2011

no, not going to talk about love and all that bullshit. love aint real. love is just raw emotion heading towards grinding one's body against, preferably, the opposite sex's groin in order to achieve the notion of exchanging one's bodily fluids into or onto the other's body...... this is also called exchanging edible food

no, i want to talk about the dangers of TV. i have been staring at the idiout box fur-ever!

just flipping channels. it is so interesting especially the discovery channel. life is slipping away from my fingers! please help me recover my life from the ever interesting idiot box!

gerryko

my friend almost met his end

2011-02-05T23:01:00.001+08:00

wish i was there to witness it, it would have been pretty exciting to see felix wriggling in pain.....

from:
http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/wanaka/146391/trampers-rescuers-real-heroes

Tramper's rescuers 'real heroes'

By Marjorie Cook on Thu, 3 Feb 2011

Your Town: Wanaka | News: Queenstown Lakes

Click photo to enlarge

Injured German tramper Felix Ferkau at the Wanaka Medical Centre yesterday. Photo by Marjorie Cook.

Injured German tramper Felix Ferkau (20) has praised Wanaka volunteer search and rescue team members for being "real heroes" in coming to his aid on the Cascade Saddle, near Mt Aspiring, yesterday and was stunned to learn he had survived a 50m fall at a tramping black spot.

"When you tell me that, I have had the best-case scenario. That makes me think about it again," Mr Ferkau said from his bed at the Wanaka Medical Centre yesterday.

He sustained serious lacerations to his right leg and a suspected right wrist fracture, but felt "very lucky" those were his only injuries.

Mr Ferkau, who is from Bremen in the north of Germany, said he did not have a lot of hiking or climbing experience.

He came to New Zealand 10 months ago for a year-long working holiday after completing his schooling and nine months' compulsory social service.

He and three friends, Joscha Shomaker, of Germany, Ruben Bigot, of France, and Gabriel Granback, of Sweden, arrived in Wanaka this week and intended to climb Mt Aspiring but decided against it after seeking advice from the Department of Conservation.

They heard the Cascade Saddle trek was quite nice and would give them a glacier view, so they set out on Tuesday from Aspiring Hut.

The group initially felt confident they had the right gear but knew their tent was not waterproof.

Heavy rain began falling when they reached the top of the saddle about 7pm.

"At that moment, we realised we were not not equipped for this trip," Mr Ferkau said.

They stayed overnight in the leaking tent and began their descent about 8am yesterday.

Mr Ferkau fell when he took a big step down and was toppled off balance by the weight of his backpack.

He knew there were steep bluffs to the side of the track and realised there would be little chance of surviving without injury.

"I was flying in some places."

When he stopped falling, he was shocked and tried to get up and walk.

Then the pain set in.

While he did not think he would die, he did worry about whether he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

He then realised he could move his injured leg.

His friends quickly helped him into a sleeping bag and Mr Shomaker, who has worked as an ambulance medic in Germany, talked reassuringly and held his hand while the others went to call for help.

"Ruben, Gabriel, Joscha, they did a great job. At this moment, I felt they had saved my life there," Mr Ferkau said.

He was relieved when the rescue helicopter arrived and had nothing but praise for the rescuers, who carried him through the rugged terrain to the chopper.

Wanaka LandSAR media liaison officer Phil Melchior said yesterday Mr Ferkau was lucky.

"Once you have an uncontrolled fall in that terrain, it's a lottery how you end up".

some jokes from Felix Ferkau

2011-01-30T00:06:00.002+08:00

Name me 3 white things on a black man........

Whites of his eyes? Correct!

Teeth? Correct!

Cum? No.......

His Master!!!!!

I know, racist joke, what can I do? got it from a German

Next:

Why is Santa's sack so full?

Because he only cums once a year......

Chinese Philosophy

2010-12-29T15:26:00.001+08:00

How True! Chinese Philosophy

When without money, keep pigs;
When have money, keep dogs.

When without money, eat wild vege at home ;
When have money, eat same wild vege in fine restaurant.

When without money, ride bicycle;
When have money, ride exercise machine.

When without money, wish to get married;
When have money, wish to get divorced.

When without money, wife becomes secretary;
When have money, secretary becomes wife.

When without money, act like rich man;
When with money, act like poor man.

Man, O Man, never tells the truth:

Says share market is bad but keeps speculating;
Says money is evil but keeps accumulating.

Says women are trouble-makers but keeps desiring them;
Says high positions are lonely but keeps wanting them.

Says smoking & drinking is bad but keeps partaking;
Says heaven is good but refused to go.

In the rural area, chicken calls man awake;
In the cities, man calls for chickens.

What is life about?

REPORT ON CURRENT STATUS

2010-11-28T06:01:00.003+08:00

I am currently enjoying myself in NZ. I enjoyed myself so much that I have again, overstayed my welcome. Sigh. I hate it when I do this. But I want to keep traveling with the friends that I have made along the way.

Gerryko 28/11/2010

IN A PERFECT WORLD

2010-11-25T18:55:00.005+08:00

IN A PERFECT WORLD, I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE MY MIDDLE FINGER TO IMMIGRATION POLICIES, IMMIGRATION OFFICERS AND WHATEVER GESTAPO-LIKE ACTIVITIES THEY ARE ASSOCIATED WITH.

I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE MY MIDDLE FINGER TO THE CONCEPT OF COUNTRIES, WHERE AN INVISIBLE BORDER OUTLINES ITS EDGES, THUS PREVENTING MANY PEOPLE FROM CROSSING IT OR REALIZING THEIR DREAMS OF CROSSING IT.

I GIVE MY BEST TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE IN TUNE WITH MY THINKING. THIS WORLD BELONGS TO US, THE PEOPLE, NOT TO THE GOVERNMENTS OR THE COUNTRIES THEY ARE REPRESENTING. THIS WORLD BELONGS TO US AND YOU.

SO, FUCK YOU, TO THE PEOPLE WHO TELLS US WE CANT TRAVEL TO SOME PLACE WE WANT TO GO TO.

FUCK YOU AND GO TO HELL, YOU GESTAPO IMMIGRATION FUCKS

YOU TELL US YOU ARE DOING US A FAVOUR AND ARE TRYING TO HELP US. I WANT TO TELL THEM TO STICK THAT HELPING HAND UP THEIR ARSE AND LEAVE US ALONE.....

GERRYKO, 26-11-2010, AFTER WATCHING A MOVIE CALLED CROSSING OVER......

Hongkies, Singaporeans, Indonesians and Malaysians

2010-11-23T14:28:00.001+08:00

Subject: Hongkies, Singaporeans, Indonesians and Malaysians

Being Hongkies is good because...

1. We are Hongkies and not Chinese.
2. We can talk and shout and nobody gives a damn.
3. Jackie Chan is our icon.
4. We can live in a 5' x 5' cubicle and call it luxury apartment. We even need to pay $10,000 a
month for this cubicle.
5. Our children can speak Cantonese at a young age.
6. We get to blame everything on Feng Shui or Tung Chee Hwa or the mainland communists.
7. Gambling is more interesting than sex. Macau is the place to go for thrills!
8. We produce a lot of Miss Hong Kong to the enjoyment of the rich and famous.

We love being Singaporean because..

1. We are not Malaysians.
2. Everyone (especially the Malaysian) hates us, except ourselves.
3. Famous for Orchard Road and we love Geylang. Geylang is the place to go for thrills!
4. We have our own island.
5. We will never ever have yucky chewing gum stuck under our shoes.
6. We know how to enjoy our vacation in Malaysia - keep a few RM50 notes before you enter the
highway: You can throw anything, anytime, anywhere and always wash our cars at the
resort.
7. We can speed up to 180 kilometers per hour and not ending up with a summon as long as we
have RM50 with us to spare.
8. The men are always concerned, first question to ask a girl 'Do you have CPF?'
9. Never fear of getting lost in our country - S$20 taxi ride will get you into the sea. Hahaha!
10. We'll never have to worry about finding Mr or Ms right because the government will find one
for us.
11. 1 Singapore dollar = 2.5 Ringgit... nyek nyek nyek.
12. It's OK to be Kiasu. It's part of our culture.

Top reasons for being Indonesian are as follow...

1. We are not Australian.
2. We live in the biggest country in South East Asia .
3. No pirates in Indonesia water if you exclude the Navy and Coast guards.
4. Everything is cheap, even our salaries...
5. We can blame everything to Suharto or BJ Habibie or Gus Dur or Megawati or who's next?
6. Only in Indonesia you can get involved in real demonstrations daily for different causes and
see no results.
7. Our Rupiah is like a Yo Yo, it can go up and down just because IMF say so...
8. We burn everything and nobody gives a damn. We cause haze all over the South East Asia
and nobody can do a thing... nyek nyek nyek.
9. We don't need fire fighters as our neighbours will provide...

Being a Malaysian is the best because...

1. World tallest twin towers, Best F1 circuit, largest roti canai, most expensive toll rates,
because Malaysia Boleh!
2. We can be driving, picking our nose, cursing another driver, talking on the handphone,
adjusting the radio and bribing the traffic police at the same time.
3. We divorce by sending SMS.
4. Traffic summon can be settled on the spot with the traffic police.
5. We have Teh Tarik & Roti Canai on the Russian space ship.
6. We can save a lot of electricity b'coz our TV shows are so crappy.
7. We can blame everything on the haze or George Soros or government or opposition parties
or...
8. Resourceful City Council, one person to drive the van, one to carry the ladder, one to change
a street's bulb and three others watching...
9. We make 2 lane trunk roads into 3 lane highway and back to 2 lane when police are sighted
10. There's always something for the JKR/TNB/TALIKOM/SYABAS to do. They dig, resurface
the road, dig and resurface...and blame each other for bad co-ordination.
11. All main roads are designated highway because it gives Velooo a reason to collect toll.
12. Our government can never be wrong or dishonest.
13. Our badminton players win already only need to pay them RM35,000 very cheap compare to
David Beckham.
14. You can divorce for as little as RM 10 million ringgit and marry a young singer you like, how
nice is life.
15. We can even use C4 bomb to bombard Gengkis Khan or Kublai Khan grandchildren.
16. We have more water than Singapore .... nyek nyek nyek.
17. If you got no monies you can always snatch other peoples monies since police can't do much
to help.
18. If you are a police, doesn't matter about the traffic rules, its for citizens only
19. If you are a policeman rider you can kick and bang people car like nobody business
20.. If you drive a police car, you can speed cause speed limit only apply to citizens
21. All motor rider can join the recognized & supported Mat Rempit club for free and can
beat up anybody in their way and can even throw stones at the police station anytime they
like.
21. If you got nothing to do join the rela and go to the kongsi gelap and extort monies from all
over.
22. You can rape people and blame them for wearing very little.

23. A country so free to do things you like. Tell me which country is like ours.

Cucumbers

2010-11-18T13:04:00.001+08:00

Cucumbers

WOW WHAT A LITTLE GEM THE CUCUMBER IS,
I WILL LOOK AT IT DIFFERENTLY NOW.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5 Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6.. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explorers for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!