Great Life of Conflict, Climax or Virtually Nothing At All

3 Simple Steps to Get Your Medication Near You

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 22:58:00 +0000

Have one of these scenarios ever happen to you?

- You have medications to collect at the hospital every month but it is very far away?

- You go for check-up at the clinic near your home but it is more convenient to collect your medication near you workplace?

- You are planning to stay with your son/ daughter in another city over the festive season?

If you have been struggling with the inconvenience of collecting your medication, there is a solution for you! Introducing the Sistem Pendispensan Ubat Bersepadu, or in short SPUB, a Value Added Service (VAS) offered by almost every government healthcare facility in Malaysia. It may sound like a new service when I put it this way, however this service has been implemented since 2003, making it almost 12 years old already. The key feature of this service is that it brings your medication closer to you

I have seen many instances where orang asli and other farm workers who stay very far away from the nearest hospital find the need to travel there monthly to collect their medications before they found out about SPUB. Imagine the amount of time and effort they could have saved by just collecting their medications at a nearby health clinic instead. If you have been experiencing similar troubles, you should try it out too...

Step 1: Where?

The most important thing to remember is to tell your pharmacist where you want to collect your medications next month and subsequent months. If you are unsure, you can always enquire with your pharmacist to find the most convenient facility to collect your medications. Your medications will then be delivered to your selected facility for subsequent collection. Please note that once you have selected your destination, you should try not to collect your medication at another facility because they will only give you a week supply if they have your medication in stock. So it is best to be sure of your desired destination to get the most out of this service.

Step 2: How?

Another important thing to remember is to register for this service when collecting your medications. This is a step that many of my patients forget because they assume the pharmacy knows where they want to go next. The registration for SPUB is actually very simple. After you tell your pharmacist where your desired destination is, he/she will fill a simple form for you and put a red stamp on your prescription to indicate that your prescription has been validated. When collecting your subsequent supply, simply show them the red stamp and you will be supplied with your medications.

Step 3: When?

As usual most medications will be supplied on a monthly basis and SPUB is no exception. The pharmacist who has dispense the medications to you will inform you the date to collect your subsequent supplies. One thing to note is that delivering your medications to your desired destination may take some time but we guarantee that they will be ready to be collected at the informed date.

With these 3 simple steps, you will be saving yourselves so much precious time and money instead of spending them on the road and traffic jams. You will also be less likely to run out of medications and even if you do, your solution is just a stone throw away, If you think this service is useful, do SHARE it with your friends and family, you will be doing them a favour.

lalanandaFRY

11/6/15

11 Things to Know When Collecting Medication at Government Pharmacies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 00:01:00 +0000

It has been some time since I have blogged and several incidence at work motivated me to write this article. As you may know, I am a government health clinic pharmacist and my job is awesome since I get paid to assist patients with their medications and change their lives for the better. At least that is what I work hard to do for my patients every day at my counter where tonnes of patients come and go. Some patients are nice and really appreciate my advice, however others whine about how long they have waited for the pharmacy staff to just pick medicines from shelves.

Trust me, I have visited the outpatient as a patient before countless times. I understand that the process from the start at the registration counter till the end at the pharmacy can be long and tedious. So I am here to help every patient to get the best service at a government pharmacy. I am talking about speed, efficiency and other services some might not know about. Here are the

11 Things to Know When Collecting Medication at Government Pharmacies

1: Check Prescription
A prescription slip is like an order made at a restaurant, the doctor lists all the medications you need for the pharmacy to prepare. Most of the time doctors will give you a complete prescription and everything will go well at the pharmacy. However occasionally during peak times, doctors do get confused and issue prescriptions that may not be yours. So remember to make sure the doctors got your name and identification right before you get the medications prepared at the pharmacy to reduce the hassle of getting the confusion sorted out.

2: Wait for your Number
Government pharmacies are like banks, we give different calling numbers for a variety of prescription types. That number sheet is very important because when your medication is ready, your number will be called. Please hold on to your number like you would in banks because if you do not come to the counter with that number sheet when your number is called, your number might be skipped after it has been called for 2-3 rounds. We also use the number to make sure the medication is really yours, so please present the number sheet when collecting your medication, It might not sound very serious at first but you might be given medication meant for another patient who happens to have the same name. I'm sure you know that it is very common to have similar names in Malaysia and could be dangerous.

3: May I know your Name please....
I am sure by now you have noticed a trend to identify the patient's identity in the first 2 steps and this is probably the most crucial. In many cases I have observed, patients are not always the ones collecting the medications at the counter. Sometimes the medications are collected by parents for a number of young children and we need to make sure correct medications are given to each child. So when we ask you for whom is this medication for, please make sure you can tell the full name of your child, father, mother, grandpa, grandma or whoever the prescription is for.

4: Is my prescription still Valid?
You might not know this before but every prescription has an "expiry date" or "duration of use". If you have seen a regular prescription, you will notice that there is a duration stated for the medications, that is its validity period. This is to inform the pharmacy how long you should be using the medications and to ensure timely follow-up checks with the doctor to monitor your progress for patients who have appointments. So do make sure you do not skip your appointments because we can't supply your medications with your old "expired" prescription anymore.

5: We give what the prescription tell us to
Pharmacy staff are trained to supply the medications as listed in the prescription prepared by the doctor. I have been told countless times to give additional antibiotics or cough syrups by patients and I have to deny all of them. It isn't that I am not willing to help, it is just that we pharmacists are not allowed to add or remove any medications to the prescription. Sometimes the doctor may think that a certain medication is unnecessary for you or maybe just forget to include that medication in the prescription. If you think there is/are some medications you need that are not listed in the prescription, you would have to see the doctor again.

6: One month supply only?
Yes, it is our standard practice in government pharmacies to give 1 month supply of medication and to give a date to collect your medication again next month, even if the prescription is valid for a longer period. You would need to present the prescription for subsequent supplies every month until the prescription "expires". Please do not request for 3-4 months supply just because you are unwilling to travel to the pharmacy monthly. We understand that it is inconvenient, but if the pharmacy provides additional supply to you and everyone else, we fear that we might not have sufficient stock to supply to all patients.

7: Collect your medication here only
If you recieved your prescription from a doctor at a particular hospital or clinic, please try not to use it at another clinic without telling the original pharmacy. If you walk into another clinic pharmacy to get your subsequent supply without prior arrangements, they will most likely give only a week supply. So do try to stick to the same pharmacy unless you are desperate. If you are moving out of town or if you wish to collect your medication nearer to your home, we do have a special service known as Sistem Pendispensan Ubat Bersepadu (SPUB) that can be arranged. More details on that in number 9.

8: What's taking so long?

At every government pharmacy we have a policy to supply medications to patients within 30 minutes. As I have mentioned previously, all prescriptions go through several rigorous processes in the pharmacy before medications are ready to be dispensed to patients and it takes time. We do our best to minimize errors and still prepare everything within the alloted time. Please be considerate and do not rush us if you have waited for 10-15 minutes! If you are in a hurry and do not have time to spare, you can consider number 9.

9: Try out some VAS
Apart from the usual dispensing, every government pharmacy also offer Value Added Services (VAS) that are designed for your convenience and to reduce waiting time. As mentioned in number 7, SPUB is a VAS designed to allow patients to collect their subsequent supply at another healthcare facility that is more convenient. Many of my patients opt for SPUB to collect their medication either nearer to their homes, nearer to their workplace or when they are moving out of town. All you need to do is to tell your pharmacist the place you want to collect your supply and you will receive an additional red stamp on your prescription. This stamp will indicate to the refered pharmacy that you have made prior arrangements and will be eligible for your standard supply.

Some government pharmacies also offer drive thru, postal services, SMS n Take and Telephone n Take. If you are interested, please check this LINK and enquire at the pharmacy.

10: Bring a Bag
Since 2012, the health ministry has been promoting the Green Earth campaign that aims to reduce the usage of plastic bags. All government pharmacies in Malaysia do not provide plastic bags even if you have a long list of medications, so I suggest bringing a big recyclable bag when collecting your medications for your convenience. You wouldn't want to be stuffing medication boxes into your little handbag or balancing them with just your hands.

11: It is Free!
Yes, you read it right, the medications are free. The only fee you pay in the hospital or clinic is at the registration counter for check-up, which is normally between RM1-15. There are no additional charges even if you are prescribed with more than 10 types of medications. So next time you collect your medications, you will notice that the medications do have pricetags on their label but you do not need to pay for them. They are there to let you know and appreciate how much the medications are actually worth. However foreigners are charged more during registration and will only be given 5 days supply of medication.

Next time you go to a government pharmacy, remember these 11 tips to have a nice experience collecting your medication. I hope I have made everything clear about our procedures and how you can get everything done quickly and conveniently. If you have any enquiries, please leave a comment below. Don't forget to SHARE this with your family and friends if you think this may be useful to them.

lalanandaFRY
7/6/15

Stark Contrast to the Beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 May 2015 14:19:00 +0000

7 years ago when I was in college, I still remember a time when my handphone had a poster of the then-upcoming movie Iron Man and my ringtone was the Black Sabbath song Iron Man. Back then when my class mates asked me what that song was, I will tell them the name and they will immediately ask whether it is the theme song for the 2008 movie. Well, yes and no. The song was used in the movie many times probably due to the name, but I doubt Black Sabbath knew their song would be used in a Marvel movie 38 years later! Wow... It actually took them 38 years to use this song in an Iron Man show!

It was really disappointing actually because I remembered several announcements stating that the movie was going to be released in late 2006 or early 2007 but nothing came out till May 2008. There wasn't that much hype by then, especially after the disaster of Spiderman 3 left me with a bad taste in my mouth just a year prior. As a fan of Iron Man since I saw the animated series on Saturday mornings as a kid, I knew I was going to see it anyway no matter how bad it was going to be. Please please prove me wrong!!!

WARNING:

The following features stunts by a bad and irresponsible student. So for your safety and protection, do not attempt to recreate or re-enact any stunt or activity you are about to read below. You have been warned, so please proceed.

It was May 2008, I had just finished sitting for one of the gazillion exams/class tests in college. There was some sort of carnival at college and we were expected to participate for fun raising. If I'm not mistaken my class sold pizzas and drinks at our stall for the whole morning. The most awesome part is that all our pizza and drinks were sold out so fast that we could pack up and leave early. I had mixed feelings about that though... I had 5-6 hours to burn before my bus comes and nothing to do at all (exams and assignments were completed), so I decided to go to the cinema to watch the new movie I always wanted to watch, Iron Man.

So did I play truant? Theoretically yes, but I completed all my work early and there was no class that day. We had a great time having lunch together and watched the movie I have been waiting to see for so long. The movie definitely didn't disappoint me at all. In fact I still think that Iron Man is still the best movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date, no wonder why it started the long running streak we now have today. It was the most fun I ever had in a movie with friends, so I rest my case.

Looking back 7 years and even rewatching it now, the movie is still so much of an enjoyment. Hmm... I wonder what they will do with Iron Man 2? Maybe introduce a new character like Black Widow?

lalanandaFRY

9/5/15

Random Photos from Glasgow #2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 May 2015 07:51:00 +0000

I'm back! Here are some "Summer specials" from my photo albums. You will notice some sepia tint on almost all my photos here because... well that was my intragram-est craze of placing filters on summer photos to make them look more summer-ish. Those were the days when I just found out how awesome Picasa was. Enjoy...

How often can you say "I was in a pack of Mentos Gum with my buddies"!

Magnify the clock tower, this was the first photo I shared with my parents telling them that it was still bright almost 10pm.

Gothic? What does that actually mean?

This garden was just 5 minutes walk from my residence, so beautiful during summer.

Our first visit to Glasgow Green with a football.

They turned George Square into Philadelphia to film the beginning scene of World War Z.

It isn't unusual to find people sitting quietly beside a river feeding birds at Kelvingrove Park

Does it look like Hogwarts? Some say yes, but I just don't see it.

The Monument of Maternity, another landmark just a stonethrow away from my residence

Come to think about it, this guy must have regretted becoming a bird toilet.

Again, please leave a comment if you like them. It is fun for me to revisit these photos and I hope it is fun to you too.

lalanandaFRY

1/5/15

Random Photos from Glasgow

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 13:21:00 +0000

When I was studying in Glasgow a couple of years ago, I didn't have a car and didn't have a friend who owned any means of transport. That meant that whenever I wanted to go somewhere, I either had to walk there or take some sort of public transportation. But the great thing is that it was always cool and comfortable. So sometimes I do enjoy just strolling around aimlessly, sometimes for hours during the weekends, bringing nothing but my camera so that I can capture some interesting shots along the way.

I was doing some spring cleaning on my PC when I came across a bunch of photos folders containing all these unsorted photos that I haven't seen in 3-4 years. Just clicking through them brought back memories of the magnificent year I spent in Glasgow. I'm sure some of the photos will resonate with other MPharm friends too. I present to you a kaleidoscope of random photos I took from my walks around Glasgow. Enjoy...

Little girl: Don't worry daddy, I can drive too!

I sat in a bus that had a car on it, could be even more awesome up there :)

Glasgow Cathedral just before Christmas is so beautiful

Walking on ice in the Necropolis during sunset

Very blue St Andrew's Suspension Bridge at Glasgow Green

Twisting down the Lighthouse

Old buildings still tend to stand out from the rest in my eyes

Something as simple as the Glasgow Green Tidal Weir can be beautiful too

Imagine walking in the park as leaves fall from the branches in Autumn

How about having a cup of java under the stars?

What do you think about my photos? Do you think I should do more of these? Please leave a comment if you like them. I may be doing more of these, or may be some from Malaysia too.

lalanandaFRY

26/4/15

My OnePlus One #4

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 06:59:00 +0000

For most people getting a smartphone or any other gadget, there will be a few stages

Seeing commercials of the gadget on billboards, television or at the shop.
Purchasing said gadget at the shop.
Using the gadget non-stop for a few hours.
Occasionally use it for a year or so.
Go back to step 1 for a new gadget.

OnePlus First Unofficial Gathering and Secret Santa Gathering with OnePlus Co-founder Carl Pei, OnePlus Head of SEA Business Development CP Lim, @Jevoly and OnePlus forum members and me!

However when it comes to OnePlus One in Malaysia, there is a totally different world out there to explore. First of all, the community behind the OnePlus in Malaysia is very active. I'm not saying other phones don't have active fan following, but the OPO community has not stopped moving since before the product was announced. Every few weeks, every few months, there will be something new and amazing users find out about this product. Exploring the device is like an experiment everytime, unleashing new potentially useful functions nobody has discovered before.

I think the most interesting progress the phone and its company has is the claim that Android Lollipop (then called Android L) was going to be released within 3 months of its official release. Of course by now we know that they could not fulfill their promise of releasing before February 2015. If you follow the progress of the company, you would know that OnePlus started to have strains with Cyanogen in India when Cyanogen decided to sign an exclusive deal with Micromax to release the YU Yureka phone with CyanogenMod 11 in December 2014. Micromax then turned around and sued OnePlus in Delhi High Court to ban the sales of OPO in India with CyanogenMod just after it was launched.

Long story short, the whole conflict resulted in production of a new OnePlus in-house make of Andriod Lollipop known as OxygenOS released on 4 April 2015 so that they would not need to rely on Cyanogen's ROM for its release in India and the rest of the world. This ROM was a huge leap for OnePlus in response to pressure from fans and critics of their broken promises time and time again. So now OPO users will have at least 3 options to proceed, flashing OxygenOS, wait for the OTA update of CM12S or retain the existing CM11S. Savvy OPO users might find and flash other ROMs online to their liking too.

Another milestone is happening 11 months after the official launch of the OnePlus One and 6 months since I got my hands on it. OnePlus is finally releasing it for sale officially in Malaysia on 22 April 2015. They have partnered with Malaysian telco Maxis to sell the Global edition OPO and is organizing an official fan gathering in Menara Maxis KLCC on 24 April 2015. Maxis's current marketing strategy uses OnePlus's existing good reviews from international tech websites and reviewers to boast the phone's reputation in order to increase awareness of this awesome product. It is surprising to me that OnePlus is releasing this phone with a carrier instead of the usual online off-contract route this time. Could it be possible that it is sold on contract similar to their other MaxisOne contracts? But these are just speculations, nothing is confirmed until then.

The OnePlus One and OnePlus as a company has gone a long way internationally and is finally coming to Malaysia. Hopefully one day when they release their follow up OnePlus 2 maybe later this year we will be able to get it in stores like any other phone instead of the crazy 6 steps that brought my phone around the world before reaching me. It would sound ridiculous 6 months ago, but it may be different now. We shall see where things are going from here...

***Update 26/4/15***

Good news! OnePlus has finally gone away with their invite system on 20 April 2015, so no more Tuesday specials and no more time-bomb invites to give away anymore. I am not sure whether it is in conjunction with their anniversary, but nevertheless it is what all us fan were waiting for.

Another good news is that they have launched the OPO in Malaysia already. As I expected, the OPO can be purchased off contract as well as with the typical Maxis carrier contract.

lalanandaFRY
19/4/15

Lanchang Untouched

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 08 Feb 2015 05:03:00 +0000

I am a city kid. Born and raised in the city, studied in the city, worked for a while in a city. So when I was told that I would have to choose between a town or a village for my job posting, it was a tough choice for me. Well, I ended up choosing the village instead of the town just because it placed me much nearer to my family and the city. For the first few days at my new working place, I dreaded the village life and complained a lot about how far it is from my house. But now that I have been working for around 10 months at Lanchang, I learnt how to appreciate this quiet village.

Well, the intro is getting too long, let's dive into the few interesting facts about Lanchang. I somehow feel "responsible" to at least share something nice about Lanchang as the clinic pharmacist. I'll try to make it like one of those top X reasons to visit... hehehe... Let's see whether it works out!

If you search Lanchang on Google now, the first interesting that come out is always Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre. This is a center designed to take care of Asian Elephants that has been listed as an endangered species since the 1980s. Since it was built, the PERHILITAN management has been tracking down and taking care of these elephants until they are old enough to be released back into the wild.

The center is free to visit every day including weekends and public holidays and there are special shows every day around 1pm - 2.30pm including video documentaries and guided visits around the facility.

A short distance away from the Elephant Conservation Centre is another tourist attraction, a private park called Deerland. The location is quite odd for a family themed park/zoo in my opinion, but it sure attracts many tourists from all over the world with not only deer, there are many other animals in the park including snakes, hedgehogs, iguanas and many more, Something special about this park is the chance to get up close to the young deer and the opportunity to feed them with food provided by the care givers.

Deerland is a wonderful place for adults and children alike and it is totally worth the entrance fee of RM6 (adults) and RM4 (children below 12). The park is open everyday except Friday from 10.30am till 5.30pm.

Now for a basic history lesson. Malaysians out there who still remember your Form 2 Sejarah (History) may know this. There was a Malaysian warrior who fought a war against the British colonist at the very spot in the picture above, Lubuk Terua, Lanchang. His name was Dato' Bahaman, Orang Kaya Semantan. It was the 1890 when the British took control of Pahang while Dato' Bahaman was the Orang Besar Raja, a leader and administrator of land given by the Sultan. Tension was on the rise when the British set up a police station at Lubuk Terua and he was instructed not to interfere. Resistance against the invading forces erupted when the British forces launched multiple attacks on several local strongholds, resulting in what is known today as the Semantan War.

By 1892, the British instructed the Sultan to form a team known as Gerakan Sultan to attack Dato' Bahaman's forces in hopes that he would surrender out of loyalty to the Sultan. The plan did successfully remove his forces away from Semantan but only for a month before returning with help from Tok Gajah and recapturing Lubuk Terua. Unfortunately after months of defending their fortress at Lubuk Terua against continuous bombardment from the British, Dato' Bahaman's forces had to retreat and ending the war against the British in Pahang completely. He is regarded as one of the great Malay warriors and currently has two schools named after him in Lanchang. Currently there are no remains of his fortress at Lubuk Terua as they were destroyed by the British. However there is a huge tree at the Semantan riverbank said to be the site where the fortress was back then.

Lastly, for those who do not know where Lanchang is, here is a map of Pahang with Lanchang circled. If you want, do drop by the local clinic to visit another attraction, me... heeheehee!

lalanandaFRY
8/2/15

What's the fuss with butts?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 12:54:00 +0000

This is another post that I have been editing for months but didn't get posted, this time because I didn't know what to call it. If you have been listening to pop music this year, you will see a comeback for a certain genre of music... No not Rock, not R&B, not that type of music. Vogue magazine claims that we are in the ERA of the BIG BOOTY.

Oh gosh this sounds so wrong!!! Vogue magazine published an article last September and was flamed by critics all over the world for being insensitive to African Americans. It's true though... I hope you don't think of me a pervert since I totally don't like the idea of showing or singing about butts. Do you think the entertainment industry dictates the definition of beauty now as having big buttocks? It is ridiculous but unfortunately we've got so many butt related songs this year that rivals Sir Mix-a-lot's Baby Got Back in 1992 and Black Eyed Peas' My Humps in 2005. Here is a list in chronological order:

Wiggle by Jason Derulo featuring Snoop Dogg

This song was on every radio channel, even some of those conservative ones in my country that usually play oldies. Not sure whether those radio channels actually realise what 'wiggle' implies in this song because I am pretty sure they do explain it in great detail in the lyrics if anyone was not too distracted by the obnoxious background tune. They even boast its Youtube views before you click the "Play" button, so maybe I shouldn't say too much about it anymore. This song actually got up to 5th place at the US Billboard Charts and went platinum in the US selling more than 1.5 million copies since it was released in May.

All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor

This year is all about that bass, about that bass, no treble... This is the song that inspired this post in the first place. Interestingly this song is the total opposite from the previous song, everyone loved it! The beat is old school barbershop pop, a style that we haven't heard for a long time that it feels fresh and new. Instead of objectifying a female butt, this song seems to discuss women empowerment and a positive body image, much to the women demographic's delight. The song rose to the top in the Billboard Charts in July and stayed at number one for 8 weeks consecutively and also selling over 4.5 million copies since it's release.

Anaconda by Nicki Minaj

My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun! I think by now everyone knows this, Nicki Minaj is... ahem *clears throat*.... no stranger to butt genre and this evident just by looking at the cover art whereby the Parental Advisory sign is shifted to a more "strategic" position. She sampled a 22 year old Sir Mix-a-lot song Baby Got Back, some say the most influencial butt song of all time, if there's such a thing, This song made a big leap in mid September from 42 to number one on Billboard's Streaming Songs chart, most probably due to the sexual nature of the music video. It was certified Platinum in November and has sold more than 1.3 million copies since it's release.

and lastly

Booty by Jennifer Lopez featuring Iggy Azalea

This song title is the most obvious of all. Originally titled "Big Booty", the song title already sounds like it is going to be a cheesy song to begin with. But to be honest, to me this is one of Jennifer Lopez's better songs compared to all her other songs in recent years. The lyrics seem to imply that Jennifer Lopez is inviting others to join her at the dance floor where she flaunts her "booty" and admires others who dance too. Despite not reaching top 10 in the Billboard Top 100, it reached number one at the Hot Dance Club songs chart, Jennifer Lopez's 16th song to do so.

Everything from Miley Cyrus and her twerking, Kim Kardashian trying to "Break the Internet" and Beyonce's newest songs is getting ridiculous. Please stop making big butts an attribute that define women! Please stop objectifying women!!!

lalanandaFRY
1/2/15

Has Hollywood finally run out of ideas?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 16:04:00 +0000

Once in a while there will be a release of an original idea that is amazing, so amazing that Hollywood executives think that a simple idea can be exploited into a franchise. In recent years, there are so many new terms coined to describe this phenomenon, let me list them out:

Remakesploitation

Sequelsploitation

Mockbuster

Parody/ Compilation

Sure there are some original blockbusters here and there, but have you noticed that most blockbusters this years are categorized into one of these... As I mentioned in my previous post for Remakesploitation, the key is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Seriously, what happened to originality? It's the end of 2014 now, most of the blockbusters of the year are out by now, so here are my short reviews of them.

22 Jump Street (June 2014)

Sequel of the 2012 film adaptation of a 1987-1991 TV series 21 Jump Street. Not many people went in to the cinema to watch the 2012 movie expecting a masterpiece, so it was a pleasant surprise. When the sequel came along, those people who saw the first one would have high expectations and I would say that it does not disappoint.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (November 2014)
Second sequel to a 2012 film adaptation of a 2008 New York Times Best Seller The Hunger Games. I have mentioned this before and I will say it again, splitting a novel into two films is a very bad idea. Don't get me wrong, it is an awesome idea for film executives. Splitting a book into two movies doubles the opportunity for profit and increases the time for hype for film merchandising. But if as a movie goer, you would have to go through what I call the "Deathly Hallows syndrome". This is when the first part is the build-up portion that may be slightly boring and stretched, then we have to wait a year or more for the second part that actually shows the climax and ending of the book. It worked so well for Harry Potter and Twilight before it, why not The Hunger Games?

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (February 2014)
Sequel to the 2012 reboot of a 2002-2007 film franchise adaptation of a Marvel comics superhero created in 1962. There were so many adaptations of Spiderman after 52 years since it was created and the most successful so far is still the 2002 film series. A lot of people might disagree with me but I still think that Tobey Maguire was perfect as Peter Parker. My question is "Why bother to make another film franchise after ending the previous one a mere 5 years prior?". The answer is simple... Money. Enough said.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (July 2014)

Sequel to the 2011 re-reboot of a 1968-1973 film franchise adaptation of a French novel published in 1963. The 1968 masterpiece and it's sequels have always amazed me for their fantastic atmosphere and storytelling. The 2001 reboot was disappointing to say the least. But since the 2011 re-reboot, I had my reservations to this franchise. With the current state of CGI and jaw-dropping motion capture acting by Andy Serkis, Rise and Dawn were both very good movies. I'm looking forward to see where this goes. Thumbs up to Dawn.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (June 2014)

Third sequel of 2007 film adaptation of a 1984-1993 animated TV series based upon Hasbro's 1984 toyline. I watched this movie late at night, probably the worst time to watch such a long and boring movie. It's interesting how an action movie with transforming cars and tonnes of explosions can be boring but Michael Bay did the impossible. When I watched the first movie I was at awe with the extensive use of CGI and explosions but now that it has taken over the plot, taken over logic, I am convinced that explosions is Michael Bay's way of communicating with his audience. However I must admit, seeing Mark Wahlberg as the lead instead of Shia LeBeouf is a breath of fresh air.

Godzilla (May 2014)
Hollywood re-reboot of a 1954 Japanese film and subsequent franchise. Remember Hollywood's previous failed attempt to make a Godzilla film in 1998? I certainly didn't. Not that it was unmemorable, I just had the desire to erase it from my memory. Godzilla is the king of monsters and will always be a symbol of nuclear devastation made by the country that experienced it first hand. The new movie definitely brings back the nostalgia of seeing gigantic monsters fight while buildings collapse around them. Too bad there is hardly any in it, instead we are left seeing some pathetic human characters most of the time, making some silly decisions along the way. Sure, the effects were impressive and the atmosphere made the monsters menacing, but wouldn't it be better if we could see more Godzilla doing Godzilla things in a Godzilla movie?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (March 2014)
Sequel to a 2011 film adaptation (the 3rd live action adaptation) of a Marvel comic superhero created in 1941 and part of an ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe started in 2008. First thing I must clarify, I prefer this movie to the first one. Being the last movie with SHIELD playing the huge part before the highly anticipated Avengers sequel, this movie needed to set-up the foundations with an entertaining plot. The Winter Soldier certainly delivers all of that. I shall not spoil the movie here, just get it on bluray and watch it!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (September 2014)
Re-reboot of a 1990-1993 live action film series adaptation of a 1987-1996 animated series adaptation of a Mirage comic book started in 1984. My oh my it is another Michael Bay production, but fortunately he is not at the helm directing the movie. This is a good example of current CGI movies making everything too clean and pleasing to look at but still failing to capture the fun vibe of the 1990 film and the animated series. There are times in the movie that I think to myself, what would the movie like if it was made independently with a low budget like the 1990 film. Would it look cheap and ugly or still as entertaining as it was back then?

The Expendables 3 (August 2014)
Second sequel of a 2010 film homage to blockbuster action films from 1980's and 1990s. Have anyone actually counted the number of characters in the poster? Don't bother, there are 16. Having an ensemble cast of classic action stars has always been the key in the first two movies, so why bring in a bunch of unknown kids into the gang of old man? At some point of the movie, it felt like watching one of those Youtube clips where some fan of old school action movies stitched a bunch of old clips into a film. Would be fun to count exactly how long each character actually appear on screen, poor Jet Li didn't get to do anything.

X-Men: Days of Future Part (May 2014)
Direct sequel to a 2011 reboot film and a 2013 character film, based upon a 1981 comic book storyline and the seventh sequel of a film franchise started in 2000 based upon a Marvel comic book franchise created in 1963. This is one movie that has that amazing cool factor to it. Bringing Bryan Singer back to the helm was the best thing about the movie because he knew the X-Men films too well. As most other critics say, in order to make this movie as good as it is, huge sacrifices had to be made. In this case, the plots and story of all other X-Men movies other than the 2011 reboot X-Men: First Class. Time travel is such an old cliche used in film to undo what other movies have done, but none as elegant as this. Never knew I would be excited for the next X-Men movie again as I was after the end credits of 2013's The Wolverine.

Well those are almost all the movies I've watched this year. Ten movies that are among the highest grossing of the year and all are either remakes, sequels or a mixture of both. Then again there are movies like Interstellar, Nightcrawler, Birdman and John Wick that are great movies that stand apart from the rest. Maybe there is still some creativity and innovation in Hollywood, just unfortunate that most of them don't sell as many tickets as those above.

lalanandaFRY
8/12/14

My OnePlus One #3

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 02:27:00 +0000

The Malaysian OnePlus One Club is among the most active OnePlus communities in their forum. There are members from the forum who were there since even before the phone was officially release and are still active in distributing and moderating invites to other fellow Malaysian fans. I am truly amazed by their enthusiasm and I really wanted to meet up with them, especially the Boss @Jevoly. I guess it is very rare to see a group of people who support not just the phone company but the sense of community that I have only seen once with the Xiaomi Fan Club. OnePlus organized their first official Malaysian fan gathering on November 8, 2014 and I was happy to join, greet and thank he/she/them in person. *your secret is safe with me*

Malaysian Invite System (MIS) moderators and forum members at the Fan Gathering

Anyway, back to the steps:

4. Courier service

Here is where the OPO gets to travel around the world! When both boxes have arrived at the postal address and are ready to be shipped, I chose to ship via DHL. There is really nothing to do at this point other than spamming the tracking button until it breaks. My OPO took the standard route to Hong Kong and straight to Malaysia, but I have heard that some others took longer routes to Korea, Taiwan and even Singapore. Overall it takes roughly 3-5 days from day of shipping, to reach Malaysian customs.

5. Custom Clearance

This is when the parcel gets touchy, and by touchy I mean potentially getting the parcel stripped open for inspection. Some people at the forum mentioned that they avoided SIRIM and customs tax all together. However those are the minority, most of our OPO had to go through proper SIRIM checks and obtain permits, mine was no exception. Around a day before the parcel reached Malaysia, I received a call from DHL asking me to apply for customs clearance so that the parcel would not be delayed.

In this step, declaration of shipment is very important since it determines the amount of tax it would attract. Declaration of the OPO as a cellphone will have no duty tax while declaration as an electronic appliance might attract a 10% tax. Obviously I declared the OPO as a cellphone! For the SIRIM E-permit, please refer to this LINK, it is quite delicate since there are many forms to submit. The DHL officer who called me requested for my e-mail address so that she could send me certain documents that were needed for the application. Assuming everything goes well, the whole process will probably take less than 24 hours and cost RM100. I submitted all my documents at 5pm and it was ready at 11am the next day. So after I received my E-permit, I just forwarded it to DHL and it was done. Then all I can do is wait again.

6. Delivery in Malaysia

For most people staying in bigger cities or towns that has complete international courier coverage, this step does not concern you as DHL or whichever courier you chose could send it to your doorstep in 1-2 days after clearance. But since my place did not have DHL coverage, they transferred my parcel to Poslaju *to my annoyance*. If you noticed in the tracking note above, the final step says "Delivery arranged, no details expected", that's a sign that they have transferred to another courier. Nevertheless it took 4 days including the weekend to arrive at my doorstep, not too bad at all.

Voila! I was ready for my unboxing pleasure. The entire process from placing the order till getting it in my hand took around 2 weeks including weekends, not too long considering all that it has been through.

Trust me, when I first heard of this procedure I was totally flabbergasted too. I think the question for most people who read all the way up to this point would be "Why go through all the hassle?". As a OPO user who has been using it for over a month now, I have to say that it was totally worth it. It ticked all the points on my smartphone checklist and also introduced me to a community online. The most important thing to note before getting the phone is to get to know it well, if possible go to a shop to try out a Chinese edition. As the fellow forum members mentioned to me before, it was a totally new experience, to buy my first smartphone from overseas instead of a shop down the street.

lalanandaFRY
30/11/14

My OnePlus One #2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 16:41:00 +0000

Before actually purchasing this phone or any other item that is not officially distributed in Malaysia, it's important to note that they will not send it to us directly. The OPO is currently only available officially in 17 countries and for now, Malaysia is not one of them yet. Of course there is the Chinese edition which comes slightly more expensive with Oppo's ColorOS instead of the standard Cyanogenmod 11S. If you want an easier way to purchase the OPO without all the steps listed below, there are a bunch of phone shops already stocked with AP China edition OPOs readily available right now.

What if I want to get the Global edition? Do I have to smuggle it in to Malaysia! Not exactly smuggle actually considering the import clearance fee I paid. I got mine legally and officially. Here are the steps I took for my Global edition OnePlus One:

1. Buy the OnePlus One

At this point, you should already have an invite and you are ready to purchase the device. As I mentioned earlier OnePlus does not send the phone to Malaysia, so if you have friends or family living in any of the 17 countries who can help to ship the phone back to you, you shouldn't need to continue reading this. All you need is to direct the delivery to their postal address, make payment and your phone will arrive at their address within a week. Then after that you will owe them a favour to send the phone to you anyway you want. But for people like me without a contact in those 17 countries, I hired a parcel forwarding service, which brings me to number 2.

2. Forwarding address

Before purchasing the OPO, I have not heard of a Parcel Forwarding Service at all. Now that I'm familiar with the system, let me describe it in simple words. These companies do exactly the same thing as your friends or family I described earlier. They receive your parcel and forward the parcel to you via whichever courier you choose. One important service they provide is allocating a physical postal address that is mandatory when directing the delivery. In my case, I registered an account with Comgateway which gave me a postal address. Then I made my payment at OnePlus US, directing the delivery to said address. My parcel was shipped by USPS from Rosemead, California and took 6 days from day of purchase, to arrive at my postal address at Portland, Oregon.

3. Forwarding service

As I mentioned before, the main service these companies provide is forwarding parcels via courier. However they do have additional services such as repacking that consolidates unnecessary bulk of certain parcels to save space and shipping fee. This is especially useful if you are purchasing other items from Amazon or EBay and are shipping together with the OPO to Malaysia. For me, it was just the OPO, which came in two boxes, one with the phone and another with the charger. It is important to note that sometimes those boxes don't get delivered in the same parcel, so it is better to check with the forwarding service before shipping. When the parcels arrived at my postal address, Comgateway immediately sent an e-mail to request for further instructions, repacking, continue waiting for other items to arrive or proceed with shipping.

Now that I'm looking back at the steps I took to get the phone, I feel totally overwhelmed. I am really amazed by the number of new things I have learnt along the way. There are a couple of steps to go, so stay tuned for the continuation.

lalanandaFRY
29/11/14

My OnePlus One #1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 17:36:00 +0000

Question: What do you get when 1 + 1? 2? Wrong! *sorry, lame joke*

I think as of now, many people who are surveying smartphones have heard of this brand. Since Chinese brands are selling well these days, the competition might be bad for individual companies but fantastic for consumers who want to get the best value. Brands like Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, Lenovo and Vivo are sold almost everywhere in Malaysia. But one brand is emerging from this cluttered saturated market, One... Plus? *pun intended*

With all the hype their flagship killer, OnePlus have been criticized a lot, not for the product itself, not for software. Some say they made "The best phone that nobody has" since it is almost impossible to purchase the phone when it was released back in April 2014. I totally agree that the invite system is not a very good way to sell a product no matter how good it actually is. It is really too bad since they probably lost many potential customers who were interested but couldn't get any invites. Most praises come from the specs: price ratio since this phone costs only $299 for the 16Gb and $349 for the 64Gb model.

OK, enough of the introduction. Let me start recollecting my journey to get this rare piece of art. It all started with MKBHD. I am a big fan and watched all his videos on Youtube. So when he praised this phone and went on about how great it is, I was interested in knowing more. Then I registered myself into the OnePlus forum to find that I was not alone, there was already a Malaysian OPO Fan Club there, now even has a regional forum despite not distributed officially.

I went on to read a bunch of reviews from other websites and also had fun chatting with a bunch of people at the fan club. Then one fine day, must have been my lucky day, I received a message at the forum offering an invite. I immediately got familiar with the procedures and purchased the item. Then comes the difficult part, getting the phone to my hands. If you are getting this phone the most important thing you must know by now is that it is not officially available in Malaysia, at least not yet. This means that in order to obtain the phone, the phone had to be flown half way around the world to me.

Stay tuned for the next post as I explain each step in detail.

lalanandaFRY
29/11/14

R&R in nature

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 15:10:00 +0000

There are many types of travelling. There are those where you go to a huge city and strut along the streets taking beautiful pictures of architectural marvels. There are also those where you go to famous tourist attractions and try to straighten the Leaning tower of Pisa. But most of these can sometimes be hectic and fast paced. How about a long weekend relaxing in a villa surrounded by greenery to rejuvenate and revitalise our weak stressed out bodies? Yes, we have these in Malaysia too.

Awanmulan

Sekeping Serendah

The Dusun

Shorea

Normally I would bore you with lots of words about my trip and how fun it must have been, but this time I'll just put it straight and clear... R&R in nature is probably the best trip any working adult would ever want. And now here are 3 reasons why...

1. No phone signal
OK, not exactly zero signal, but that is the whole reason for going far far away from civilization, away from reality. Being away gives a sense of freedom in that you know your boss wouldn't be able to call you back to work any time. It's sad that in most other trips, even overseas, we never really get far from anything that reminds us about our jobs. So being in the woods is definitely refreshing, to be able to turn off the phone and silent those annoying notification ringtones. Remember a time when there were no mobile networking?

2. Bonding
I have been to many trips with friends and as usual they take place in either historical cities like Edinburgh or super long trip like mine in Italy. Although it is fun fumbling with maps when everyone explore foreign lands together, nothing brings a group of friends together better than a long quiet dinner under the stars. There will always have ample time to relax and chat for as long as we want while waiting for food to cook in a steamboat. We even had time for a groupie!

3. Fresh air and clean water

I know it's really cliche to say this, but 'when was the last time you took a deep breath that made you feel great?'. It is easily the simplest point I can make... the air and water in any city will most certainly be polluted, so why not consider going for a fresh air therapy and have a dip in cool clean water from the upstream. Nothing much to add to the awesomeness, just close your eyes and imagine how amazing it must have felt...

*Honestly, I have been writing and re-writing this blog post many times over the past few months because I have no idea what to write. I went for a trip to Shorea with a bunch of friends almost a year ago and had a great time there. I miss that feeling so much! I never knew how much I miss the peace and quiet moments until I experienced it first hand, in the arms of mother nature.

lalanandaFRY
5/11/14

Fire Power: Nostromo

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:49:00 +0000

In the 1970s and 1980s, action movies were all about big buff men showing huge biceps holding an unlimited supply of ammo, charging towards enemies as if they were just target practice... you know, the Rambo stereotype. But not all action movies were like that before, some were slow and creepy, capitalizing on the atmosphere that makes the action scenes in the movie all the more satisfying. Another thing is that not all action movies starred muscular men, some of them, like the one I am featuring here, puts a seemingly weak female officer on board a big spacecraft with an unstoppable alien.

A long time in the future, in a solar system far far away..... There was a spaceship on its way home that gets ordered to answer a distress call on an uncharted planet when all hell breaks loose. Sound familiar? It's like a typical Star Trek episode from the 1960s. But director Ridley Scott created a visually stunning horror action movie out of that simple premise, amplifying the claustrophobic environment of a spacecraft since "In space no one can hear you scream". Most women in horror movies would be portrayed as the stereotypical damsel in distress, and would normally be the first few to get killed off, but Sigourney Weaver who played Ellen Ripley was different. *Spoiler alert: like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the female protagonist survives.*

Sigourney Weaver is 5 ft 11.5 in and as Ridley Scott mentioned, she is masculine but very female, has the authority of a male and not just a junior officer. As the movie progresses, her character evolves not only on her own but affecting all the other characters around her. Therefore it makes perfect sense that her character would have the courage and strength to face the Xenomorph at the end. Nowadays we see strong female characters in an action movies all the time, but back in 1979 this was ground breaking.

7 years later, she played her character again in the sequel Aliens (1986). That movie further cemented her status as a strong heroine when she is faced with not one but a nest of Xenomorphs. She really made an impact at the final showdown with the alien queen, one of the most iconic battle scenes in film history. Weaver starred in 2 more Alien sequels and a variety of roles in other movies like Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest and recently Avatar. But for me, she will always be the strong pilot of the Nostromo, Ellen Ripley.

This is a tribute to Ellen Ripley, the great Sigourney Weaver.

lalanandaFRY

4/11/14

Fire Power: 三毛 (Three Hairs)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 03:16:00 +0000

In certain cases, fire power could come just from brute force, no guns, no tanks, just the power of the fist. During the 1970s, martial artists like the late Bruce Lee brought Chinese martial arts to the world. But after his passing in 1973, many others tried to ride on the success and continue making Kung Fu action films till the late 1970s when things started to get stale. A new wave of Hong Kong action stars made their entrance to the big screen, among them was Sammo Hung 洪金宝.

Based on physical appearance, nobody would expect him to be a martial arts expert. However despite being plump unlike most other martial artists, he exhibits superior agility, strength and creativity in mixing humor with martial arts. Sammo Hung is the eldest member of the Seven Little Fortunes 七小福, a performance group of the best students from the China Drama Academy guided and selected by martial arts master trainer Yu Jim-Yuen 于占元 in the 1960s. Among other members of the group are actors Jackie Chan 成龙, Yuen Biao 元彪 and action choreographer Corey Yuen 元奎.

Hung (right) in his directorial debut, 三德和尚与舂米六 (1977)

Since the 1970s, Sammo Hung has been making many martial arts comedies under his and actor Karl Maka 麦嘉's production company Gar-Bo 嘉宝 (subsidiary of Golden Harvest 嘉禾) until 1980 when he decided to start his own company Bo Ho 寶禾, co-founded Duk-Bo 德寶 in 1983 and founded another company BoJon 寶祥 for movies that he acted in. Thus far he has produced a total of 124 films in Hong Kong, many of which are action comedies he also acted and directed.

Winners and Sinners 奇謀妙計五福星 1983, directed and starred Sammo Hung (third from right).

Over the years, he has participated in many films as an actor, director, producer and most notably action choreographer. When his fellow martial arts colleagues Jackie Chan and Jet Li gained popularity in the western world during the late 1990s, US network CBS approached him to make a Saturday night TV series with Sammo as the lead role playing a Chinese police in LA. That series was called Martial Law and aired from 1998 to 2000 for two seasons. The series was successful as a prime time series but Sammo chose to leave after the second season because he felt that he was made into a fighting machine with little else to do. I remember watching this series on TV after dinner and it was so awesome. I think it was facinating to see my favourite action star back then speaking English on an American show and defeating all those bad guys with martial arts instead of guns.

After Martial Law, he returned to Hong Kong and had on and off successes throughout the years. He had another breakthrough in Ip Man (2008) as the action director and in its sequel Ip Man 2 (2010) where he also stars as the opponent to the title character.

Bonus trivia: Hung was nicknamed "Sammo" due to his resemblance to a famous Chinese comic character 三毛 (cantonese: Sam Mou).

This is a tribute to the Fat Dragon, the great Sammo Hung.

lalanandaFRY
13/10/14

Fire Power: The Third Fist

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 03:00:00 +0000

This superstar does not need a gun to have fire power, he makes fire by rubbing to ice cubes together! He is Colt, McQuade and Walker, and he is one of the most famous martial artist alive. Just how did a man who won Black Belt Magazine's Fighter of the Year award in 1969 and black belts in 5 different martial art styles not be immortal?

The first time I ever seen Mr Carlos Ray Norris was in one of his first few movies, the Bruce Lee film Way of the Dragon 猛龙过江(1972). Most people may not have seen the movie in its entirety but definitely know the most famous scene in the movie, the final showdown between Bruce Lee's character 唐龍 and Chuck Norris's character 柯尔特 (Colt), a hired Karate fighter at the Colosseum.

Although Colt was not the main villain of the movie, his fight with Bruce Lee was the highlight of the movie, showing off both their talents in the classic setting of a typical Golden Harvest style duel. At least we know one of Chuck Norris's weakness after watching this scene, chest hair!

In the 80's, Norris gained prominence as Cannon Film's top action star in many Rambo-styled films. He also starred in a long running TV series Walker, Texas Ranger which put him in the spotlight as one of the greatest martial artist turn actor alongside Bruce Lee and Jean Claude Van Damme. In recent years, he gained popularity with Conan O'Brien showing Walker clips on his show, spawning the Chuck Norris Facts craze.

How can I write a Chuck Norris without featuring a few famous facts... hahaha!

Chuck Norris was bitten by a cobra, and after five days of excruciating pain... the cobra died (Norris said it himself in The Expendables 2).

This is a tribute to the Lone Wolf, the great Chuck Norris.

lalanandaFRY
4/10/14

Happy Sweet 16, IMU Buddhist Society!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 02:25:00 +0000

Many of you, even current IMU Buddhist Society members, probably do not know about this. IMU Buddhist Society is officially 16 years old!

Although it has only been 16 years, not much is known about the origin of the society. When I was in the committee, I got hold of some past documents that gave very little information that were vague. For one, the society was founded sometime around October 1998 by two medical students Tan Soon Kim(M1/97) and Chong Euming(M1/97), who should either be MOs, GPs or specialists by now. Back then IMU was still known as International Medical College and the Buddhist Society was known as Dharma Society. The person who might know more about this is Prof. Dr. Hla Yee Yee, who became the official advisor in September 1999 and is still the advisor until this day.

There is no doubt that IMU Buddhist Society has grown to be well established and isone of the most active societies in IMU. Throughout the years, more and more activities and programs were initiated such as regular Dharma talks/sharing sessions, meditation classes, educational trips and inter-religious forums. The blood and organ donation drive might be one of the most notable biannual events that was initiated by the society and since recent years has been jointly organized together with IMU SRC. Another activity would be the Friday Gathering, a concept conceived in 2009 that gathers members for short but meaningful activities together that fosters fellowship among all members.

the final printed newsletter published by IMUBS, September '09

My baby, the IMUBS blog is also turning 5 years old too. Not sure how many generations actually used it or whether it is still used today. I originally designed it as a medium to replace the monthly printed newsletter/bulletin. Back then as newsletter manager, I was tasked to generate monthly newsletters that was printed. There were only 2 other methods to publicize events and make announcements, SMS and the new social platform Facebook then. I ended up publishing only 2 printed issues and proceeded with multiple online-only newsletters accompanied with regular updates on the blog.

Committee members 09/10 and senior Ming Yi

It has been so many years since I last participated in an IMUBS activity and I really miss those precious moments. I sincerely hope IMUBS will continue to grow and continue to nurture more young aspiring healthcare professionals to achieve both intellectual and spiritual success in their future. May all be well and happy always.

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

lalanandaFRY

Fire Power: Make My Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 04:11:00 +0000

Fire power is not just about bullet size, nor is it even about shooting, it is about the person holding the gun. In this case, a Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver loaded with .44 Magnum that could blow anyone's head 'clean off'. So you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?

Remember this old man? When he was much younger, he had a thing for guns, starring in many famous spaghetti westerns in the 1960s, making a name for himself without an actual name in those movies. Then in the 1970s and 1980s, he played one of his most famous roles, a character nobody has ever seen before in films that has since been imitated so many times we forget how iconic it was at that time. Harry Callahan, more fondly known as Dirty Harry is now a term to describe reckless police officer who disregards conventional practices and policies, and it all started in Dirty Harry (1971), the first of five films in the series.

Harry and his friends Smith and Wesson doing what they do best in a diner

This character is at his best when he is faced with criminals who seem to get away from typical law enforcement. That's the main reason he is known as Dirty Harry, the guy who gets all the dirty job nobody else wants to do. However as reckless and crazy as he may seem, Harry has his principles. As seen in Magnum Force, he refuses to join the death squad when recruited by its leader because as he says "I hate the goddamn system, but until someone comes along with some changes that make sense I'll stick with it".

Over his film career, he has been nominated for many Oscars and won 5. This man is incredible in front as well as behind the camera and we should be glad that he just doesn't seem to stop making movies even in his 80s. Some say that even if he makes another Dirty Harry movie now, robbers and murderers won't stand a chance... he could deal with them with a walking frame if he has to.

This is a tribute to Inspector Harry Callahan, the great Clint Eastwood.

lalanandaFRY
28/9/2014

H&N: Bulan Kemerdekaan

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 17:55:00 +0000

Every year around late August and the first half of September we Malaysians will see a strange phenomena. Don't get me wrong, it is not strange to us, just observers who have no idea what is going on. There will be a bunch of drivers sticking one or more Jalur Gemilang (National flag) on their cars, Petronas and telcos come out with a variety of patriotic advertisements on the TV, Sudirman's voice singing the iconic Tanggal 31 Ogos song on the radio, TV and almost every departmental store! What in the world is going on?

Di sini lahirnya sebuah cinta
It's Bulan Kemerdekaan!!!

I am referring to roughly a month between 31 August (Merdeka day) and 16 September (Malaysia Day) every year. I personally am very excited and passionate about this month. Unfortunately after watching multiple videos and reading surveys online, I noticed there are still so many Malaysians who are... to put it bluntly, blind/deaf/disorientated (sorry for being insulting). It is actually very disappointing that there are many Malaysians out there who do not know the significance of Bulan Kemerdekaan.

I embrace this celebration as though it is my birthday. I have a little Malaysian flag at my desk, a row of flags at my pharmacy counter, sing Negaraku wholeheartedly during monthly assemblies and actually bother to remember all 6 Prime Ministers' full names. Anyway, why not try out the basic Namewee Merdeka quiz. These are questions that every Malaysian should be able to answer instinctively, even standard one students can. So if you cannot answer them, shame on you... hahaha... but seriously how can these REDpeople not get these right?

1. Which year did Malaysia/Malaya declare its independence?

2. Who is Malaysia's Father of Independence?

3. What is the capital city of Pahang?

4. What is the next sentence after "Raja Kita..." in Negaraku?

5. Which of the following famous people are not Malaysians?
P. Ramlee, David Arumugam, Muhammad Ali, Lim Lian Geok

On a lighter note, did you know that there are many Malaysians who made it big internationally and yet nobody seem to know that they are/were Malaysians? Some may surprise you, especially those of you who couldn't answer the questions above.

James Wan (top-left) is a Hollywood producer and director famous for directing Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring and Fast & Furious 7. Dato' Jimmy Choo (top-middle) and Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh (top-right) probably need no introduction as he is one of the most famous shoe designers in the world and she is a well known actress in both Hong Kong and Hollywood movies. Datuk Pua Khein Seng (bottom-left) may not be recognizable at first glance, but his invention of the USB flash drive has revolutionized the tech industry. Yuna (bottom-middle) is an up and coming singer who is currently making her name in MTV scene and had her album produced by Pharell Williams. Ling Tan (bottom-right) is arguably Malaysia's first supermodel, who made it big in international runway shows as the face of top designers around the world.

It has been very sad and unfortunate for Malaysia in the past year with the disappearance of MH370 and the tragedy of MH17. I hope Malaysians can continue to be strong and stay united to face challenges ahead. So before it is too late, remember to learn more about Malaysia, especially if you are Malaysian. Now is the best time to be patriotic and embrace the love for our country. Happy 57th Birthday Malaysia!

lalanandaFRY
13/9/2014

H&N: I'm a Loner

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 14:47:00 +0000

외톨이야 외톨이야 daridiridara du~
외톨이야 외톨이야 daridiridara du~

(oetoriya oetoriya daridiridara du~)

Sorry, I always wanted to put that at the beginning of a post, I like CN Blue very much! But seriously I read this article 23 Signs You're Secretly An Introvert and it got me thinking, should I be proud of it? To be honest, sometimes it feels much better being by myself... How do everyone blend in to working environment so easily? How do everyone mix with roommates so easily? How do everyone travel in big groups so comfortably? Some people say I have the "talk to me" face but it is only because I don't know what to say.

I work in an environment where I am the odd one, the underdog trying relentlessly to blend in, at least for now. I don't know whether my staff and colleagues agree because I always enjoy working alone. The good news is that being head of my little unit forces me to learn to work with people and make decisions together with my staff instead of doing everything by myself. For many this may be a piece of cake, unfortunately it takes time for me to adjust... I am still working on it.

Guess what? I set my camera on timer to take this picture.

I have a little confession to make. *my parents must be mad if they know this* When I was still studying in secondary school, I used to have long study sessions at my table where I stared blankly at my reference books with my earphones on, listening to the radio I hid under the table. Music is like a really bad study friend, I lost so many precious study hours just because I was out of this world then... It has been 7 years since and I still have my MP3 player and earphones on whenever I am alone. I had a couple of posts about my solo trips to several places and I always had this same set of accessories on.

One thing I find when travelling in groups is that things always never go as planned... and it pisses me off. When I plan a solo trip, I get meticulous about everything like ticket prices, timing and routes. So before I even start my journey I always try my best to anticipate. Unfortunately there is this guy Murphy and his law that screws everything up. Years ago I used to think that going for any trip in a group of more than three people will definitely end with a screw-up somehow. Obviously that is rubbish... things go wrong even when I go for solo trips, click this LINK to find out why.

Is there a way out of this situation? Please do tell me, I'm an loner who wants to break out of my shell! Be kind and friendly to me, teach me how to blend in.

lalanandaFRY
1/9/2014

Greatest Films of All Time

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 14:56:00 +0000

What is a good film?

What is the greatest film?

Who is to judge?

There are many films throughout the decades since people started using cameras to film pictures that move but how many will be remembered? How many films can you remember watching in the cinema, at home or anywhere else that somehow set a standard in which you use to judge what is a good film? Of course with the internet, everyone has easy assess to every film in existence, some way back to the silent era of film. Let's recount some of those films people consider the greatest and why...

CITIZEN KANE

Nowadays most people are so used to colour films that black and white films are just dismissed. Sadly at some point, I was one of those people. I admit I had this film in my library for a long time but did not consider watching it. But now I know that there were many films without colour that were great, this one in particular is still considered by many, and now me, as one of the greatest film of all time.

Citizen Kane tells about a news reporter who is trying to find out the meaning of the word 'Rosebud', the last word uttered by a tycoon, Charles Foster Kane. Throughout the film, the reporter interviews many people closely associated with him, giving audience a flashback of his life. Kane is a man who has all the money, the women and everything else he could buy but had no happiness. Similar to other 'greatest films', this film was relatively successful but did not get the recognition it deserved until many years later. This is a film with deep meaning that was expressed perfectly through excellent cinematography and directing. Give it a watch!

VERTIGO

You know that plump bald guy who made himself a celebrity by appearing behind the camera, his name was Alfred Hitchcock a.k.a. the Master of Suspense. Even people who have not heard of this person definitely know at least one of his films. Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window and North by Northwest are some of his most famous works. But recently Vertigo is the one that took the spotlight for being the film that dethroned Citizen Kane as the greatest film of all time in the Sight & Sound poll.

Vertigo is a tragic story of a middle aged detective Scottie who is forced to retire due to acrophobia and is hired by an old acquaintance Gavin as a private investigator to follow his wife Judy. However this relatively simple task became complicated when he starts to fall for her, leading to multiple twists in the plot. Obviously I am not going to spoil the experience here, you have to watch the film to appreciate the twists that make this film a masterpiece.

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

I have always been a geek who loves everything sci-fi. However I'll admit this movie made me fall asleep twice before. But that was long before I learnt to appreciate the epic cinematography and story telling by Stanley Kubrick. Sci-fi films set in space I am used to have always included exciting battles, exotic aliens and lots of loud explosions (that not supposed to be heard in space), so at some point watching the camera shooting a spaceship flying for several minutes accompanied with classical music was boring to me then. The film defines the word epic and watching it is an experience of a lifetime.

2001 has a bizarre plot that follows the novel of the same name quite closely. The plot surrounds a black monolith that appeared millions of years ago to man-apes, then later in the 'future' being studied in secret by Dr Floyd in the second act of the film. The third act is the part most people know about the film when two astronauts on their mission to Jupiter have to deal with problems with their sentient computer controlling their spacecraft. Then the story wraps up in the forth act that I won't spoil here. This is a stylish film that takes its time to bring audience into Kubrick's world of the 'future'.

Those I mentioned above are regarded to be the greatest of their respective genres, Citizen Kane being the greatest biography drama, Vertigo being the greatest psychological mystery and 2001 being the greatest sci-fi. How about other genres?

Greatest Sports Film

ROCKY (1976)

Greatest Action Film

DIE HARD (1988)

Greatest Fantasy Film

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)

Greatest Sequel Film

THE EMPIRE STIKES BACK (1980)

Greatest Horror Film

ALIEN (1979)

Greatest Animated Film

THE LION KING (1994)

Greatest Adventure Film

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

Greatest Comedy Film

GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)

I am sure there are many other genres and films I have left out. I highly recommend watching all these films as they represent their individual genres perfectly. As a film buff and collector, I am certain there is no such thing as a single Greatest Film of all time, nor are there any particular greatest films of any genre. It all comes to the appreciation of film as an art and how it entertains us as viewers. Everyone will have their own personal list and those above are mine. Please note that this is my list, I have not watched every single film in the world, so if you think there are better film in each genre, do recommend them to me!

lalanandaFRY

19/8/2014

How smart are Smartphones? #2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 22:59:00 +0000

If you have not read #1, click on this picture.

Let me sidetrack a little, I remember I was given my first cell phone when I was 15. It was a Sony Ericsson J300. I remember it had an awkward looking handle, huge speakers and came bundled together with a King Kong movie merchandise, a phone strap in the same box.

Back then everyone in school had a phone and I begged my parents for months to buy one for me too. Those who had Nokia phones bragged about their high score in Snake and other "cooler" kids had the Motorola RAZR V3, some say is the first phone capable of taking selfies. Those were the days when phones were simpler. I remember being entertained by just a simple composer app on my J300, that may seem primitive now, that had the ability to mix and match simple rhythms to form personal ringtones. Times were simpler then.

Alright, back to the list:

7. Palm Pilot PDA

This probably has the closest resemblance to current smartphones. It has a touch screen, a home button, a stylus, on/off button and even a charging dock. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, this was one the hottest IT gadget in the market. My dad bought a Palm IIIc then and I would always use it to play simple arcade games like Asteroid on it. For those who are not familiar, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) were little palmtop devices that could run simple apps such as alarms, calendar, games and could assess the internet to read and reply e-mails. They even revolutionized the use of stylus on touchscreens and handwriting recognition. Later versions of Palm, namely the Palm Treo had colour and even incorporated a VGA camera behind, Bluetooth and WiFi, USB connectivity and also had phone components, sound familiar? Yup! it slowly evolved into what we now consider a smartphone.

8. 3.5-inch Floppy Disk
I cannot remember how many of these floppy disks I have ripped apart to see what the components were. I was in primary school and a new gimmick was implemented to the curriculum, they call it the Computer Class... Computers.... Technology... Wow! Guess what, they made us play Mario Teaches Typing for a few months before we were allowed to do anything else. Then after building enough finger muscles, teachers sold us a floppy disk each, followed by classes teaching us simple functions of Microsoft Word and Excel. Sadly as a kid, I was more interested in breaking things than learning, so that explains why I did not complete many of my assignments, my disket was in pieces.

Back then what we called as a disket typically has 1.44MB of storage, which may sound like nothing now, but it could hold dozens of document and MIDI files. But I guess nowadays everybody think of disk space in Gigabytes even on little microSD cards that mere 1.44MB is just an artifact from the 1980s and 1990s. Who knows whether in a few years time people would be looking back at 128GB microSD the way we see 3.5-inch floppy disks?

9. Nintendo Gameboy
To bring the arcade to the living room, they invented game console systems.
To bring the game console systems everywhere, they invented the Gameboy.
To play games and make calls on the same device, they made the Nokia N-Gage.
To play games, make calls and connect with the world, they invented the smartphone.

Don't get me wrong, I know smartphones are not made to replace portable gaming systems, but the sales of these systems are definitely affected by the current popularity of smartphones. The question for consumers is very simple, would you buy a portable game console or a smartphone that can play similar games for similar price? Third party software developers that were the driving force of major video game companies are now developing games for smartphones and it is my personal opinion that if this trend proceeds, portable game consoles will be obsolete in the near future.

10. Street Map

There is no doubt that street maps are a thing of the past. Until the 90s, many motorists and tourists still keep street maps in their car to be used in case they get lost. Then there was a rise of the GPS navigation device, Garmin, Navman and TomTom were among the few large companies that produced highly accurate "maps" that could identify the user's location and direct users to their destinations. Nowadays most smartphones are fitted certain apps that exercise the navigation function in the form of A-GPS, satellite GPS or even hybrid positioning system. So why carry thick street maps in the glove compartment when you can bring a talking navigator anywhere you go?

11. Point & Shoot Film Camera

35mm Film? Rewind? Disposable Cameras? Thick photo albums? These are some of the things I have not used or done for more than 10 years. I have used one of those disposable cameras once, it was on my last day of primary school. I was 12 years old then and I wanted to take pictures of my classmates for the last time before we were going our separate ways. It had 27 shots in total, a partially working flash (max 5 shots), fixed focus and that's it. Those were the days when we didn't know how the picture will turn out unless we develop those the film. So every shot was precious and handing the camera to other people to take your photo might be disastrous if they are horrible at framing a shot or are prone to camera shake. Still complaining that your smartphone's camera is subpar?

That's all that I can think of at the moment. Who knows what other functions could be included into a smartphone? The possibilities are limitless as far as I can see.

lalanandaFRY
12/8/2014

How smart are Smartphones? #1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 15:32:00 +0000

Remember a time when we had at least one of these items below? I have a feeling some of us 90's kids would have seen and used some if not all of these. Finding one of them around the house brings back so many fond memories.

By the way, for those who are not familiar with the items above, here is a list:

1. Motorola DynaTAC

One of the first cellular phones made to be lightweight (28oz or 790g) and portable enough for users to make and receive calls on the go. It was such a revolutionary invention at the time that prices could go up to $3995 at 1983 and can be considered a luxury item. This was what most people then called "the Brick phone" or "大哥大".

2. Yellow Pages Phone Books

Poor Arnold had to search through the phone book for Sarah Connor in The Terminator (1984)

If you ever wanted to search for a telephone number and address for the nearest coffee shop or find Sarah Connor's house address, what would you do? Just take out your smartphone and say "OK Google, search for the nearest Starbucks". But before Google, before Siri, you had to flip through the pages of the index of these thick telephone directories to find it. Depending on the country you live in, these phone books come in multiple volumes of a variety of businesses and an alphabetical list of every phone number registered in the country. Nowadays with mobile internet, these books are no longer sold due to waste of large amounts of paper. By the way, anyone remember the phone booth?

3. Britannica Encyclopedia

When I was in primary school, I used to have week long stays with my grandparents during the school holidays. At the end of every stay I always thought of the time spent there was boring but somehow I look forward to the next stay only because I can get my hands on my grandfather's encyclopedia collection. Flipping through the index and searching for random stuff in those dozen volumes was somewhat enjoyable because there were so many interesting articles accompanied by eye-catching illustrations. Later with Microsoft's Encarta on the PC and Wikipedia on the internet, there was no need to reserve a row on the book shelf for these anymore.

4. Sony Betamovie Camcorder

Once upon a time, there were these huge heavy devices with the ability to record precious moments on Betamax videocassette that cost a fortune. Who cares about HD video, 4K video, those were the days when camcorders could only record a maximum of 3.5 hours of blurry videos and the whole family would wait a couple of minutes for the tape to rewind in the VCR to watch them on the TV. Nowadays everyone has a micro camcorder in their pocket that could record high quality videos and could easily share them through social media like Youtube or Facebook in mere seconds. So if you are one of those people who had their birthday party or wedding toast recorded in one of these analog tapes, share this post with your friends....

5. Sony Walkman
No, I am not talking about the Walkman app, CD player or MP3 player. I am referring to the classic compact cassette player that was so portable that youngsters could attach these on their belt and listen to music while they were jogging. A typical cassette tape could play 6-10 songs per side, which sums up to about 60 minutes of music. Some of the more advance Walkman then could even record songs from the radio to blank cassette tapes, a function that was commonly used to create personalized mix-tapes, or what we now call Playlists.

Kyln prison warden listening to Star-Lord's confisticated Walkman in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

6. Motorola Wordline Pager

Flight delayed? John McClane gets a page from Holly in Die Hard 2 (1990)

Beep! Beep! "MOM - JUST A REMINDER, BE HOME BY 12:00"

That was a typical message received by one of those rich kids in school with strict parents. A pager a messaging device now considered the predecessor of the Short Messaging Service (SMS). Years ago pagers had no keyboard, just 2-3 buttons and a display that could show a few lines of text. Initially all pagers could do is make a beeping sound to "page" the user to call he/she back with the nearest payphone. Later pagers included the alphanumeric function which allowed users to read messages and even type a reply message. The equivalent we have now are text messaging and online chatting (WeChat, WhatsApp, Facebook messaging, Line....).

You know what all these have in common, they are all obsolete since their functions were incorporated into a device so smart they call it the SMARTPHONE. There are many more in this list, so stay tuned for another "time-capsule" article in

How smart are Smartphones? #2

lalanandaFRY
10/8/2014

The Future: According to film

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 07:09:00 +0000

Science fiction is a genre that gives writers free reign to create new worlds based on their creative imagination. It is common practice for sci-fi writers to invent bizarre worlds that take place in the future since it is a setting of the unknown, so it is open to endless possibilities. Over the years, there were many memorable "Future" scenarios portrayed on film. Let's explore some of the awesome world's created throughout the years.

The new Tower of Babel, headquarters of upper class industrialist in Metropolis

Ever since the silent era of films, a legend was created in 1927... a well-known film called METROPOLIS. A world created by German born Fritz Lang and his then wife during the time when Adolf Hitler gave his infamous speech about uniting citizens of all classes in Germany through the Nazi leadership, the film starts with a distinct upper class group in high rise complexes controlling lower class workers who operate power generators. However the protagonist Freder from the upper class falls in love with a lower class Maria and ends up uniting everyone *ultra short summary for a 2+ hour film*.

The Heart Machine, the central power station where lower class workers operate in Metropolis

It was one of the first films to feature a futuristic world that is used to resonate a relevant issue of the time, the struggle to overcome the differences that separate classes in the city. If you flip any film history books, you will find that this is the first feature length science fiction film ever made.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954) starring Peter Cushing as Winston Smith

How about the films based on the famous 1949 George Orwell novel NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR? The term "Big Brother is watching you" came from this novel portraying a dystopian "future" set in 1984 where the Big Brother rules over the nation of Oceania through government surveillance and constant manipulation of the media as propaganda. The main protagonist Winston Smith is one of the editors of the Ministry of Truth that rewrites historical records but is suspected to be in a rebellion called the Brotherhood against the Big Brother and his party.

1984 (1956) starring Edmund O'Brien as Winston Smith

Once again this futuristic world resonates another issue of the time about censorship of media and surveillance with Big Brother reflecting Joseph Stalin and Oceania reflecting USSR of the 1940's. Several films were made based on this influential novel, the first was Nineteen Eighty-Four, a 1954 BBC television film that caused a huge controversy about its horrific content. Then in 1956, a cinema rendition was made with a bigger budget but still follows the novel closely. In the real 1984, there was the mainstream big budget film Nineteen Eighty-Four starring John Hurt as Winston Smith that coincides with the setting of the film.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) starring John Hurt as Winston Smith

These are some of the classical ones, how about the newer concepts of the future?

2015 is just around the corner, who knows when we might be getting our self-lacing Nike shoes, Jaws 19, flying cars and hoverboards? Can't wait!

lalanandaFRY
3/8/2014

H&N Flood #1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 21:42:00 +0000

Oh wow! What a week of unforgettable memories. Hmm... I wonder where should I start?

It all started with rain on Sunday 1st December, then Monday and it didn't stop until Tuesday. As expected, water level rose slowly to around 1 foot at some places but I was barely affected besides preparing slippers to work. Then on Tuesday many roads were congested, it took a while before I reached home, even braving my car dangerously through big puddles of water.

After taking a nice bath, I got a message from my housemate telling me to look out the window. The large driveway across my house appeared to have a thin film of water over it. Within minutes, that film slowly rose up in front of my eyes and I told myself "it won't come to my house".

So 5 minutes later I heard some chattering at the living room and decided to take a look. It turns out the water has entered the porch. I continued to whisper to myself "it should stop there".

The moment water started entering the house was when I started to panic. My landlord has already started moving some of his electrical appliances to higher places and allowed his dog to climb on a chair. By that time, water had already covered half of my car's wheel and I thought to myself "it better stop there or my car is gone".

True enough, the water rose and covered the whole tyre . My car's electronics also went crazy when my headlights went on for some reason, so there goes my car battery... There was nothing I could do by that time, just go to sleep and hope it doesn't rise any higher. The fortunate thing was that water and electricity to the house was still ok at that point, so I quickly charged my phone to full before the supply eventually gets disconnected.

The next morning I was awoken by my working alarm. As usual, I walk to the window for some fresh air but this time it had the stench of river water mixed with rubbish. Guess what? Electricity went off immediately after I went to the toilet. Looks like it'll be a long long day....

lalanandaFRY
21/12/2013