Incredible Jack

man in the mirror

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 07:51:00 +0000

This is not openness that examines its beliefs in pursuit of moral truth and good, but openness that finds its virtue in saying yes to everything-anything goes. The Christian's openness comes from his search for truth and absolutes. The secular humanist's openness exists because he manufactures truth and has no absolutes.

Baked Cheese Tart

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 03:18:00 +0000

Recently, my cousin Vivian has been involving her son Zheng An in a nearby baking supply shop's baking classes.

The shop is in USJ, called Best Baking Solutions. My cousin is very enthusiastic, and has gotten herself lots of supplies, but she has no oven in her home. So they come over to my place to do the baking.

So far, have been trying this recipe twice now, the Baked Cheese Tart with blueberry.

Mainly, Vivian and I do the work, but Zheng An has been getting more involved. So far the results are very tasty, but the proportions always confuse us. We always end up with more filling than pastry available.

May try apple pie next.

Gas Tank empty!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:43:00 +0000

Sigh, must rant about work!

I feel like the Go-To person for every single thing in my projects lately. And all projects are very critical, very stressful and very rushed.

Help, my gas tank is empty! Getting sick so often nowadays too. Need to recharge, need to be motivated, need to destress!

I wanted to kick some of my colleagues' asses because I felt that they were not doing the right thing. But my boss said, don't rock the boat and I should crack my head to think about how we can all work together according to our strengths. Sigh, sometimes I wish the bosses would crack their heads and just give us some specific instructions to follow. It's so tiring to keep doing the thinking and managing in my own head. I am tired of leading, and I long to be a follower for a change!

Rant, rant, rant!

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

Ok.... it's out of my system. Back to the tough and trying daily grind. Put on my happy face, try to be look more mature than I really am, try to sound smarter than I really am, and become the Go-To guy again.

Definitely need to ask for more advice from friends and family on how to refill my gas tank.

Grr... Angry! Tank Empty! Grr!

Porky Pork

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Before we get to the food, a small rant about the level of quality from a big brand. I have been an Amway member for some years now. Introduced to this by an old classmate, I am currently consuming some of their health supplements and the eSpring water filter. 1 year has passed and the filter was due for changing. Can you see the difference between the old and new filter?

Tsk tsk tsk, spot the difference?

Yes, the black washer ring is missing from the new filter! A call to Amway confirms that there should be a matching washer ring in the new unit. The staff on the line said I could only do 2 things: send it back to the distribution centre for a replacement, or try to remove the old filter's washer ring and place it into the new one. I eventually managed to do the latter. But for the amount of money they charge on these things, the quality assurance is definitely lacking.

Anyhow, I purchased some pork from Jaya Grocer the other day and my mom got some from Pudu market. Both of which will be used in my roast pork experiment of the weekend. Loosely based off this recipe on the internet, i attempted to tackle the pork in my oven. I have no tabasco, so I used chilli sauce instead. There is a line of instruction saying the pork needs to be marinated 24 hours. I only read this on the day I was planning to have dinner, so the flavours did not have a change to penetrate. Boo Hoo... I also started the oven roasting bit late. The pork was bit tough when we ate it. Accompanying it was a sauce similar to the marinade, but with some whisky in it. I had my parents, grandma, cousin Vivian and son Zhen An, join us for dinner, and I forgot about the whisky till after the young man's lips become red (!). I am such a bad uncle aren't I? Also, some of the sauce splattered onto the casserole dish I used for the oven and burnt. This left a dark stain on the dish, which I am yet to clean.

Bought a wholewheat loaf of bread from Jaya Grocer too. To accompany the pork, I made a coleslaw. Cabbage, carrots and bit of onion. Dressed it in my own dressing of low fat mayo, cider vinegar (free from GNC points accumulation), brown sugar, black pepper. The slaw was a hit.

Sliced Pork, Coleslaw, Bread

Dad, Grandma, Vivian

My cousin and her boy came over to use the oven. So we made some egg tarts and a premix chocolate cake. My grandma and cousin are trying the tarts for the first time and quite like it. The chocolate cake turned out ok too and we sprinkled some coloured chocolate rice on top. The oven was heavily used during this day.

Pilsbury Chocolate Cake

Next time I need to read the recipe instructions better!

Enter Android!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 02:04:00 +0000

Finally moved to the smart phone realm! Good bye faithful Sony Ericsson W700i. You have been an ever faithful partner, right until you had SIM card detection problems.

Probably still my MP3 player?

Purchased a unit of HTC Aria just 2 weeks ago. Went with the Digi plan. For a 2 year data plan, you can get the phone for RM799. I decided to go for this plan at that time due to fact that I thought I will YouTube a lot. But more on this later.

I actually wanted to get the iPhone, but it was not easy to shop for this as DiGi stores were always out of stock. After a couple of times of asking, and from some other research done, I decided Android phones were also very good. iPhone4 is still tops in terms of display technology, Apple AppsStore choices, and ease of use. My original 2nd choice was the HTC Legend which was also available from DiGi. Legend has AMOLED screen and a stylish brushed aluminium body. Consumers are so much more tech savvy these days, and being a great alternative to iPhone, HTC Legend was also out of stock in all DiGi and HTC stores I visited. So I settled for the next in line model from HTC, called Aria.

Aria is a slim build phone, running on the Google Android OS ver 2.1 Eclair. HTC Sense is included on top of the Android platform, improving some of the UI experience. Upon launching, you'll see the familiar HTC calendar as your home screen.

Hail Android!

Contacts are also easily linked between your phone contacts, GMail contacts and Facebook. This makes browsing through all your friend and family info a joy. It does mean you have to do your linking homework before this really comes to life. I was keen to sync my contacts and calendar with my office laptop Outlook, but I could not. Current version of HTC sync software only supports Outlook 2010 32 bit, and I am on 64 bit. I was quite pissed when I discovered this after frustrating troubleshooting. I worked around by exporting my contacts to GMail, which the phone auto syncs with.

Android apps are obtained from Android Market, which is almost always FOC. Popular apps which you are familiar with iPhone almost always has an Android counterpart, so that's cool. Angry Birds was my first download, and it was the full version FOC. The slim build design means the battery is quite small, so is not lasting if you play lots of games or use lots of internet. I did feel the phone tends to get warm after heavy gaming.

AGPS is also available, but I've yet to try loading the Papago maps into the phone. The connectivity to internet via mobile network also seems buggy, as if there is no network available, the phone goes into "Turning on internet... connecting...." mode forever. During which, you cannot cancel the attempt, so that wasn't great.

My main use is occasional gaming, reading RSS feeds from Engadget, comic strips, YouTube, Facebook reading. And for this purposes, the phone is excellent. It fits easily into my pants pocket, even with the casing attached. Most of my iPhone4 mates slip the phone into their shirt pocket, which sounds like a bend-over-drop-out risk. But it's all about habit, which can be trained.

I am happy with the phone, and do not miss iPhone4 too badly. Let's see any new developments in 2011.

Getaway in Terengganu

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 23:55:00 +0000

Local holiday again, this time to Terengganu. Decided to try FireFly airline this time. Very convenient for me, as it is in Subang airport. Just 15 minutes from my apartment.

Fly High! Proudly sponsored by SP Setia

Destination is YTL's Tanjong Jara Resort. It is between Kuala Terengganu and Kerteh (where all the petroleum refineries are). From Sultan Mahmud airport, it is about 1 hour to get to the hotel.

As with all YTL resorts, there are some familiar touches reminiscent of Pangkor Laut. Lots of leafy trees, wooden architecture, lavish bathrooms, thoughtfully placed decor items etc. Tanjong Jara is smaller in size compared to Pangkor laut but almost as comfy. A facility to wash your feet to avoid sand getting into your room, umbrellas in your cupboard for a rainy day, bath salts for your bath tub, 2 sinks, ceiling fan + air conditioning, the list goes on and on...

Freshly house kept whilst you are out for dinner

Double sink, and a dressing table!

Bathtub!

A water pot with water to wash your sandy feet before entering your room.

We went during Hari Raya period, so as a welcome treat, they gave us a box of Dodol sweets. There was also an open 'tent' where they served Hari Raya goodies like keropok lekor, Nasi Minyak, Rendang Tok etc.

The card looks handwritten too. That's a nice personal touch.

Decorative shelf in your room. Wine sold separately.

I was worried this place may be boring for kids, but I was wrong. The hotel manager got a trained monkey and handler to help pluck young juicy coconuts from the trees around the hotel. The fallen fruit is chopped up and straws placed inside and served to you on the spot. That was really fun for the young kids to see.

There are also lots of animals in the resort. We saw squirrels, iguanas, monkeys, many kinds of birds. Heck, I didn't know iguanas climb trees, but I saw one do so at the resort.

Hammock anyone?

The sand on this beach is quite rough, but the beach and water is clean. We saw schools of colourful fish swimming really close to shore. The beach is private, in a bay. So no other people crowd the beach. I flew a kite for the first time in years, and totally crashed. My cousin had to teach me again how to fly it. I got the hang of it in the end. Also made sand castles as well. Got tanned after doing this.

Sunset beach

The package we got is a full board package with 2 spa sessions each. The food here is above average. There is a credit limit, but you will never hit it. The main restaurant (Di Atas Sungei) has a different concept. A Menu Master staff comes over to your table to ask you what you'd like to eat. If you say fish, she will recommend the cooking style for you. This is somewhat like Chinese restaurant style, but in a Malay setting. The breakfast is also served here.

A morning view above the river (Di Atas Sungei)

There are also 2 different pools provided. One is for general adults and children. This one has a portion for jacuzzi jets, and the pool floor is shallow and shaped like a reclining chair! You can lie down with support for your back and knees... how cool is that!

There are also fish ponds with some tortoises by the reception. Kids can get free fish food to feed the fish. Alternatively, knick some bread from the breakfast table and feed the tortoises.

Gardenia, so good you can event feed tortoises

We had a very special outing in Terengganu. We managed to release baby turtles to the sea, see them hatch from the ground, and also catch a mother dig its nest and lay eggs! This was a real experience, and I've not tried this before. We are very lucky to be able to witness all of the different turtle activities. At this time, it is the end of the egg laying season, so much fewer turtles come on shore. It was no easy task to wait for the turtle to lay its eggs. We left the hotel at 9pm and returned at 3:30am! Some kids that joined us couldn't stay awake, but most of us made it. Turtles are indeed a special kind of creature. We managed to see green turtle during our trip. The more iconic black leatherbacks have all but gone from Malaysia. But we are still very thankful for what we did see during our outing.

Look at them go! All the best little ones...

The babies are attracted to light. Our guide showed us how they followed the torch.

It's climbing on my hand! So cute!

The spa sessions were really good too. I think the masseurs were very skilled, but the oil and tea drinks at Pangkor Laut are still better. In Tanjong Jara they specialise in Malay style massage. Again, I surprise myself because I really enjoyed the massage. Never really had these before, but the 1 hour flew by before I knew it. They also give you a pretty sarong after you're done with your session.

Lack of staff due to the holiday season resulted in long waiting times at the restaurants. But besides this, not much complaints. We also played tennis, and I went to a gym. So we were quite activity filled throughout.

I did not manage to try snorkelling at Pulau Tenggol (off the resort beach). I hope to try this one day. There are also boat cruises, waterfall excursions, cooking classes, visits to local markets as optional chargeable activities you may opt for.

I will be sure to try coming back to this place soon.

Happy memories at Tanjong Jara.

Egg Tart Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 14:41:00 +0000

So... I itching to use the oven again. And I wanted to use some of the vanilla essence that I had manufactured. I bought a bottle of plain Absolut vodka and soaked some of the leftover vanilla beans I got from my previous Bali trip last year into it. Just leave it in a jar for a few weeks, shaking it about once a week, and here's what I get.

Vanilla + Vodka = Vanilla Essence

I'm thinking that I could probably mix this vanilla into cola and get vanilla coke too. Might try this tomorrow.

Using this off the net recipe as a base, here is my own adjusted recipe:

Makes 20 tarts, Preparation Time 30 mins plus Baking Time 15-20 mins

Ingredients

Tart Shell

1 cup sugar
3 cups wheat flour
250g butter or butter blend
1 egg, beaten

Filling

1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cups water
5 eggs
1 dash vanilla essence
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork until it is in small crumbs. Stir in the egg until the mixture forms a dough. The texture should be slightly moist.
Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and press the balls into tart molds so that it covers the bottom, and goes up higher than the sides. Use both thumbs, pressing gently while going around the mold.
Combine the white sugar and water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat. Alternatively, just use hot water and dissolve sugar. Let this cool to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 230°C.
Strain the eggs through a sieve
Whisk eggs into the sugar mixture. Stir in the evaporated milk and vanilla. Strain the filling through a sieve, and fill the tart shells.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown, and the filling is puffed up a little bit.

Before...

After

I had some left over dough, which i just put into the oven anyway. So that become a cookie. I did fill the shells too much, so I spilt some when putting it into the oven. So kiasu of me... To be frank I think This recipe can make 21 shells, but I only had 20 aluminum tart foils.

I think 20 minutes baking time is pushing it a bit, 15 would have been better, then just let the tarts continue baking in the still-warm oven. I sampled one finished tart with my parents. The bottom is slightly burnt. The custard is nice and firm though.

I still got lots of flour and evaporated milk left. Will probably keep trying this till I finish the flour.

Got some friends coming over for dinner tomorrow. Let's get more guinea pig feedback tomorrow.

Revenge Complete... God of War 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:34:00 +0000

Finally, I have recently finished God of War 3. Yes I know, this is not a new game title. Forgive my tardiness.

So after finishing God of War 1 and 2 on PS2, how does the third installment on PS3 stack up?

This installment begins with the Titans scaling Mt Olympus, trying to squash Zeus and his buddies. From the get go, this does not give any sense of possible victory on the part of the Titans. They are just slow, lumbering, giants trying to bite off more than they can chew.

One really cool feature is that the Titans themselves become your battle arena, not just your opponents/allies. You can run along their arms or bodies fighting off smaller sized enemies. With the camera view zooming in and out to show you the scale of your environment, it's truly a technological marvel to see the Santa Monica Studios team achieve this very seamlessly.

Itsy bitsy Kratos on Cronos' arm

Another game mechanic that blew me away was the flights up the massive Icarus vents throughout the gameplay. Coupled with the exciting soundtrack, the flights are amazing to watch, frustrating to get a hang off, immensely satisfying when overcome. You've got to play it to believe it.

The violence in this game has also been upped several notches. Not only can you beat the daylights out of your foes, you can have your victim's eye view of the beating! That's sick. And cool at the same time.

Kratos! You've got something stuck in your teeth! So stop beating me up and clean it!

You can also rip out various body parts for your pleasure. One of your opponents is Helios, God of the Sun. I had to laugh out loud during this sequence, because after ripping out his head, you can use it as a torchlight. That's cruel. That's sick. And cool.

Kratos Massage Service... Guaranteed to relieve all headaches

Besides fighting the Gods of Olympus, you get to boogie with Hercules too. After settling issues with Herc (i.e. beating him up) you get a really cool looking pair of boxing gloves. This is my 2nd favourite weapon after the default Blades. They are slower that the other weapons but pack a heavier punch. Plus they are in animal motifs!

Meet Simba and Mufasa... say hello to my pretty babies

Gameplay was far easier than what I recall for God of War 1 and 2. That disappointed me somewhat. The ending plot was also kind of weird, because Kratos harakiri-ed himself, releasing hope to the destroyed world. They do not show Kratos' corpse at the end of the tale, and there are still other Gods roaming around (e.g. Aphrodite and Anthena). If Athena is anything to go by, this means all the murdered Gods can still make an impact to the story.

Still highly enjoyable, but short of being a masterpiece in my view.

Rating:

Old Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:44:00 +0000

Acquired a PS3 console this year. So far, quite enjoyed the games on this console. Then again, the games are really pricey (RM150 and above), so I have to buy sparingly!

One of the ones which I really enjoyed from PS2 was Metal Gear Solid 3. So how does MGS4 stack up?

In this final installment of the metal gear series, you control Old Snake. Nanomachines have gone awry and aged this super soldier dramatically. Nothing an occasional bottle of Regain (not to be confused with hair growth serums!) and some Boss smokes won't cure in an instant.

Perk me up baby...

All the elements of stealth players have come to love return. A great improvement is the OctoCamo suit that auto changes the camouflage for you. In MGS3, this had to be micro managed quite often, so with this improvement this task is no longer a hassle.

You also get a handy remote controlled robot to fool around with. You can use it to pick up mines, go scouting, electrocute enemies and make distracting noises. Very handy indeed.

There are a lot more mecha enemies this time in MGS4. But there are a lot more interesting allies as well. At times, the storyline is too emo for my liking, but it's a small price to pay for a very intricate and detailed plot. One of the most emo good guys is Jack @ Raiden. No guns for this hero, just a sword will do. He's all about protecting Snake with no regard for his own safety. Later on he loses both his arms, but still battles with his sword in his mouth. He does get replacement arms at the end though, so I guess it all worked out.

I am the Lightning in the Rain... I am Raiden

Part of the mecha enemies in the game are the Beauty and the Beasts. Young girls who have been mentally scarred by war are placed into high tech battle suits to help your enemies make your life difficult. Defeating them usually rewards you with a full HD video cutscene of the girls doing... well, it's difficult to describe. Go YouTube if you'd like to see some of the action.

They really do look like this in the game. Really.

Of course, there is also some genius humour in MGS. You can now hold up an enemy and search him for goodies. Hit the button combos in the right time, and you can knock him out with a strike to the family jewels.

Oh my!

There is also this hilarious scene with Psycho Mantis at the end involving memory cards and vibrations. I won't spoil it for you... go play the game yourself.

I found myself playing till 2am sometimes, just so eager to get to the next scene or chapter. That's always a sign of a winning game. Cutscenes are detailed and aplenty, and only after you complete your mission. Almost all characters are complex and pull you in to the story. A lot of oldies make an appearance too, so that adds to the game's nostalgia greatly. I spent many a time restarting or redoing part of my mission to see if there were other ways to get past certain obstacles. I did resort to some FAQ help sometimes, but hey, that's also the mark of a winning game. Who would want something so straight forward right?

I am sad that this series has come to an end. I had a lot of enjoyable hours with Snake and will miss this dearly. We should all give this soldier a rest I guess and move on to look for some new 'classics'.

Snake, I wish you all the best and give the cigarettes a rest!

Overall rating:

Settling in (1 month)

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 02:00:00 +0000

Gosh, can't believe it's been almost 2 months since moving!

Here are some updated pics

We've installed grille for front door. Reusing the simple colour box shelves for a shoe rack at the moment. I do plan to look for another one soon.

I'm real pleased with the dining table. It's got a real solid feel and the colour matches well with the wall.

Here's the TV area and couch. We are in need of a coffee table. Will go hunting for this today. Will probably move the couch further back as well to accommodate the table. It'll have to be a small table though.

We've put in some potted plants at the balcony area. I do have one more power point at the balcony. In future, may put a water feature here.

Here's the kitchen with stuff in it!

Here's the study area with stuff in it!

Mom and Dad's room have the best view.

One of the dinners I made recently. Leek and Chickpea soup with toast. I hope to do more cooking over the weekends to come. I've also made toast pizza to great succcess.

Okay, I'm off to look for a table now.

Move Date!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 05:57:00 +0000

09 - 11 Apr!

Progress so far

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 14:52:00 +0000

So far the following are completed

Wiring and Light fixtures
Paint
Kitchen Cabinets, Built in Wardrobes, Study tables, dressing tables, TV shelf... 95% done.

Paint color:

Plain Maxilite white on ceilings
Almond white on 80% of all walls
Orange red on Dining wall
Green on one wall of each bedroom

Below are latest pictures taken last weekend

Balcony Area

TV Area

Kitchen Entrance from Living Area

Kitchen Area - Stove

E2Saver gadget next to the fusebox

From Main Entrance door looking at dining area

Study area

Bedroom

Built in Wardrobe

Tomorrow:

Install curtains
Final work on cabinets
Connect plumbing to kitchen sink

New Home Ideas: Living Room

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Shape:

Rectangle, adjoining dining hall
TV area wall 9'
Opposite wall all windows
1.5" wood skirting
White 2ft tile floor

Ideas

Cream or beige sofa sofa
Dark brown rug/carpet
Potted plants at window corners
Dark brown but not as dark as coffee - TV shelf, display cabinet
Curtain: Sheer and Full (two curtain tracks)

Purchased this L-shaped sofa, from a local manufacturer. Colour yet to be decided.

Purchased - Lighting

Above sofa and above dining table, 5 bulbs, metal frame

On either side of air con area, feature light yellow, but currently out of stock. Shopowner will try to source it again for me.

Appliances

Looking at Panasonic Viera Plasma TV 42" TH-P42G10K

New Home Ideas: Balcony

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:38:00 +0000

Rattan chair with cushion x 1
Water feature
Small potted plant

Purchased - Western Classic looking lamp, yellow light bulb. Mom's choice.

New Home Ideas: Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:23:00 +0000

Space

L shaped

Ideas

Light to medium coloured Wood grain pattern

Dark brown, and white solid surface top

Unsure: Stove top in the corner?

Purchased - Lights 2 bulbs

New Home Ideas: Dining Room

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Mirror
Bright overhead light, but not chandelier
Dark brown (coffee) long table. 6 seater, not 8

New Home Ideas: Bedroom

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:54:00 +0000

Shape

L or Rectangular
Laminated wood floor

Ideas

Light Purple or Blue wall
Dark Brown (coffee) bed frame
Dark brown (coffee) bedside table
Dark brown (coffee) table lamp
Purchased king sized bed from local manufacturer OrthoRest

Purchased - lamps x 2 for each bedroom

Opportunity in many forms

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:45:00 +0000

Sometimes there are just various opportunities available around me.

At my workplace, and in the project which I'm part of, there is a requirement to have 2 team members to be in London at any one time. There was a bit of stigma last time, in that some felt it would be a very trying time. Living in a far off country, unfamiliar culture and environment, time zone difference, sense of loneliness. Maybe that was true in the beginning, but wow, has things changed this year. We used to have one person going 3 months at a time. This year, we've had team members going for almost a year. For the project, it would ensure more continuity in terms of knowledge retention. And with a bit of courage, people can travel to many other nice places that many just dream about. From London, it is so easy to hop over to Europe for a weekend. Even London itself is known as one of the most happening cities in the world. Not to mention the amount of daily allowance the company bestows on someone during this time.

In short, I will say that these long term oversea assignments is not for everyone. Some already have the personality to be able to adapt, some need to have the potential to adapt. If one has neither, it would not be a pleasurable experience. But for those that do have what it takes, the opportunity should really not be missed....

Recently I had to participate in a RFP and the follow up Presentation. If I were to list all my inadequacies, it would be a long list. I am first to admit that I do not have much knowledge and experience with these kind of things. Most of my work is in operational support on old legacy systems. The projects I handle are very small scale. Very low hardware and networking knowledge. I am also not familiar with the client, but every other colleague involved in this effort is. They can readily spout many points heard or observed from the client gained from previous visits to their office, whereas I cannot. So for all these reasons and more, I felt like a fish out of water. I also received critique that I was too quiet during discussions. Of course, that made me feel like I was performing even more poorly. Discussions for the preparations were always done late at night, and I had errands to run early in the mornings. At times I felt like a zombie and was too tired to focus.

So I could have banged my head on the wall, and admitted defeat, just go along with the motions. But I knew that I would be no better off if I did. I tried my best to overcome my shortcomings. Don't know if others can acknowledge any improvement, but heck, if you allow your life to only feel validated by the yardstick others impose of you, it would be very unhappy indeed. Better to have checked your own measure of success, ensuring it is honest of course, and validate against that instead. I don't believe I have grown leaps and bounds, but I think I have grown. Until I am thrown into another challenge, only then can I review my improvements. So I await for the next oppurtunity then.

My next challenge is One Hundred Pushups. Wish me luck!

Seek and pursue!

Persona 3: FES... Momento Mori

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:09:00 +0000

Alright, I finally finished one round of Persona 3: FES. I had actually played Persona 4 first. But since Persona 3 is fresh in my mind, I think it's best to pen down what I have just experienced.

The setting for this RPG is in a Japanese highschool. Ain't it interesting to note that all the cool stuff happens in Japan high schools? hehehe

Basically, special student were born with a gift to control a power called Persona. The English translations in the game say this is a latent psyche ability within an individual. But to awaken the power, the students use a device called an Evoker: a tool shaped like a gun. So guns are used for shooting things, and to use the Evoker, you are supposed to shoot your head.

That's right folks... blow your brains out.

Bang! Bang!

The hero has the ability to control many different Persona, setting him apart from others. You can combine Personas to create new ones, fuse them into weapons and of course, use them to kill monsters. Yes, Japan always has many monsters and no matter how many heroes are born to vanquish them, monsters always come back... so that we can continue making use of them for new RPG stories.

Any key concept is that your Personas get stronger as you develop your social links with friends. Better relationships yield better rewards. Of course some of your friends are girls, so this means... you should start as many girlfriend relationships as you can. Oh... but if you are in the serious level of your relationship with more than one girl... and if the other girl catches you with said girl, all your girlfriends will turn sour. Realistic huh?

Girl 1: "He loves me"

Girl 2: "No, he loves me"

Girl 3: "The boy is mine"

You also have a smart canine companion as part of your team. And this little fella doesn't need to shoot himself to use his powers. Guess the dog is more capable than the human team mates?

Woof woof! No silly guns for me thank you...

There is a running time and calendar concept in this game. Certain events require the calendar date to be triggered. Sundays are non school days. There are even holidays, school trips, etc.

As you fight monsters, you get tired. This affects your accuracy and agility. There will be times your attacks (or adversely, your enemies attacks) take advantage of your inherent weakness, or is just plain lucky strong. These times you get knocked down. Any damage sustained is higher than normal. If you are able to knock down all your enemies, your team can perform All-Out Attacks. They rush in as a group and open a can of whoop ass on your foes.

Yes, the can of whoop ass is like an Adam West Batman rerun

Despite the very low level graphics, the story line is engaging enough. There is almighty supreme evil boss for the final show down... which is later explained to be not really evil. The hero will do a courageous deed in protecting his friend in the end. No spoilers from me though... go play it yourself!

This is one game where FAQs are highly recommended. I didn't realise there are long school holidays in January, and developed my social links poorly. Only 2 girlfriends! There are 3 more girls I could've dated! Also, there are special armor equipment in the game that are in the form of lady swimsuits. There are also stuff like toilet brushes, spiked bras and other eye opening things to discover and play with.

Voice acting is really top notch, and more than compensates the low level graphics. Actually the anime style graphics might charm some of you out there. Dark and slightly ghostly... it suits the heavy atmosphere of the game.

All in all, the final boss is a piece of cake. The tough parts are all the optional goodies in the games. If you'd like the badass equipment, you have to do some farming. If you want perfect relationships, you have to do some reading in the FAQs, as there some subtleties that you won't figure out yourselves because it is REALLY not obvious.

Persona 3 is actually a standalone game, but the Persona 3: FES is an extended edition that has a playable section for the story that happens after the events of the original Persona 3. If you intend to use FAQs, one strong word of advice...

If you are playing Persona 3... read Persona 3 FAQs. If you are playing Persona 3 FES, read Persona 3 FES FAQs. I thought since the front portion is the same, I could use any FAQ. Boy was I wrong, and the mistake is very costly. Ok, ok... you may think I'm dumb and a fool for making the mistake in the first place and I can agree with you.

So congrats to Atlus for making another winner. Reception of this game was really good in Japan, and around the globe. Not hard to see why. There's a lot of charm in the game. Not too much excessive randomness, lots of humour, and if you plan your strategy you are rewarded.

Two thumbs up! Can't wait to get into the FES portion of the game.

Gameplay: *****
Sound and Music: ****
Graphics: ***

Persona 3: Frustrations

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:12:00 +0000

Argh!!! I am towards the ending for the game. And there are so many holidays! My remaining undeveloped social links are all my school girl friends! Argh!!! I will never get my 3rd girlfriend at this rate. Why didn't the FAQs recommend you to work on school friendships first! Why why why! I'm wasting so many days!

ARGH...

Yahoo says "I can't talk now, could be under attack?"

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:18:00 +0000

It's amusing sometimes to see how friendly and cordial error messages from computer systems are these days. Just now, Yahoo in in "can't talk now" mode

Latest update:

I wonder if the interruption in Yahoo's services was due to the below or not major cyber attack from North Korea just a few hours ago. Sounds really coincidental.

Indian Heritage and Panna Cotta

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:26:00 +0000

Went out last weekend for dinner with my folks, and we decided to drop by a Northern Indian place newly opened in Taipan USJ called "Indian Heritage". It is facing the main road, same row as Thai Corner and EON Bank.

I am no expert in Indian cuisine. In fact I will say this is my first time trying Indian fine dining in Malaysia. I did try one similar restaurant in Melbourne Australia.

Indian Heritage had an attractive looking buffet lunch promotion for RM15.90++. Sorry for the blur image... my Sony Ericsson W700i isn't great in dim lighting.

Decor is quite classy I guess... there is a feature chandelier in the middle, the walls have a texturised pattern on them, and the captain is dressed in a formal looking suit. He actually wished my dad "Happy Father's Day to you sir"! Heck, I had forgotten myself... oh, the shame...

The restaurant has a lot of patrons on the weekend dinner time that we were there. A lot of wealthy looking Indians came, and some westerners too.

We went with Fish Methi (very very tasty), Chicken Kadel and a saag (spinach dish). Ordered a briyani and 2 portions of plain naan.

As a testament to the taste, you can see our bowls are scraped quite clean.

The total bill came to about RM75 for 3 people. It is a little on the high side I feel and the meat and fish was a little on the small side for portion size. They do give you tonnes of gravy though.

The service was good. The captain was friendly and the staff do come by occasionally to check if everything is good, is the food alright etc etc.

Definitely a good place to have a meal with family and friends.

On another note, I had bought back a packet of vanilla pods from my earlier trip to Bali, Indonesia. It is so expensive and hard to find it here in normal supermarkets. I tried to make a Panna Cotta with them.

Below are my results...

Panna Cotta is basically cooked cream with some hardening agent like gelatine. The only flavour I added was the vanilla pod and brown sugar. I didn't put enough gelatine so I couldn't get it to slide out of the cup easily. I also used cooking oil to grease the cup beforehand, but I think the gelatine was not making it hard enough.... so the oil didn't help. Plus, I didn't realise it was peanut oil... so it left a weird aftertaste in your mouth after the creamy vanilla custard sat in your tongue.

The recipe recommended tart fruit like strawberry or rasberry, but I substituted for seedless grapes instead. I did find a cool tip in a Jamie Oliver recipe to freeze the grapes to make it more interesting. Don't they look cool below?

When you bite the frozen grape, it's like a popsicle!

My parents loved it. I not so much... I still have quite a few pods left, and maybe I can try again next time, with much more gelatine, and margarine instead of peanut oil!

Bali Hai.... Bali Hai

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:45:00 +0000

Some months ago, some of my colleagues invited me to join them on a trip to Bali, Indonesia. Since I love travelling, I said "Count me in".

We didn't count on the Swine Flu now permeating all corners of the globe. Indonesia however has not officially declared that it has any confirmed cases of the disease. Well, whether this is knowingly true or not, only God knows I guess.

So just to be safe, I donned a face mask in KL's LCCT and in the plane going to Bali.

So Bali is known as "the ultimate island". It's got nice beaches and seas, hills and volcanoes, and remains largely rural. The busy tourism business however makes the locals quite globalised: many Balinese are multi lingual, know the value of foreign currency in relation to their own, and lots have satelite tv.

Here is my room mate buddy, Chien Hui with me at Kintomani, a hill area close to the Bali volcano. I am doing a "kawaii" pose. Don't I look charming?

Here's June, our other travelling mate. She thought she looked kawaii enough by herself.

For the most part, Malaysians need to be aware that Bali is more expensive than Malaysia. A simple lunch of rice at a roadside stall can easily cost you US$1.50 (more than RM5.00). Back home, a similar plate of rice costs RM3.50 or RM4.00. To save costs, I highly suggest you stay at Legian or Kuta, which, while being the more touristy area of Bali, is also very centrally located on the island.

We did take a trip up north, to Lovina Beach, which is famous for its dolphins and black sand. However, the statue erected on the beach, is unlike any images of dolphins I am familiar with. They look rather beastly and frightening instead.

I aM tHe FRieNdLY DoLPhiN oF BALI!

No Bali trip will be complete without enjoying some fun on the beach. Here are my two smiley friends on an inflatable raft called "Big Mabel". This raft is dragged across the water by speedboat. We also spent some time snorkelling and diving. All this was done in Nusa Dua, south Bali.

We are lucky June had an underwater casing for her camera. We had some fun taking shots like the ones below.

We also had our first taste of Balinese food, called "bakso". Basically it is pork or beef mixed with flour to form meat balls. We must have been a bit unlucky, because the one we tried was not good at all. But we had other food which was okay, so that's fine... can't be roses all the time right?

One of our visits was to an art factory. In there, there was a piece I absolutely fell in love with: a painting of golden padi fields with some farmers. I am told it is done by a famous artist and is a limited edition piece. The asking price? US$100... which was out of my budget. I do pine for it sometimes... At least I have this digital photo for a keepsake.

So beautifully simple and stunning

We went to other places as well, like Hard Rock in Kuta. This hotel is really pretty. The bar has a raised stage in middle, the pool has an area with sand to simulate a beach, and the hotel walls are lined with electric guitars. Cool, cool, cool.

We spent 5 nights in Bali, blew our spending budget out of the water, two of us had slight fever (gasp!), but all in all, it was a nice trip. I may think of coming back here again in the future.

Bali Hai... Bali Hai...

Grandia III

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Another RPG that I had the chance to play some time ago is Grandia III.

Again, although quite a few of the games I've played are long established series, I regret to say I have not played the predecessors. Grandia III is a Square Enix effort, the masterminds behind the phenomenally successful Final Fantasy series, which I love to bits.

Grandia III follows the exploits of young pilot, Yuki. Kinda sounds feminine, but I am no expert in names. In this picture, Yuki tries to 'touch the sky'...

The environments are beautifully drawn, as expected from Square. Some environments look really cool... you can even see hints of northern lights from this snowy landscape area.

On to battle mechanics... RPGs are all about fighting lots of baddies, right? One cool feature in the game is the ability to knock enemies into the air. Then, once they are freefalling back to the ground, you can do some extra moves that are more damaging and look cooler than your normal ones.

4.6 metres high... a new personal best!

The other nice part is the way magic is contolled. Anyone can do any kind of magic. Some are better suited to the job, but to have anyone to be able to do the super insane magic attacks gives you a lot of flexibility. You can even 'hatch' new magic by combining special items called Mana Eggs in a little machine that looks like a robotic chicken with 2 heads. You have to play the game to find out what I mean...

As usual too, all the characters have special moves that have lots of coloured lights and are real flashy. Also, you have to practice these moves to make them more powerful and also to learn new moves. However, the fights are rarely very challenging. Maybe because it gets quite easy to churn out special move after special move towards the end.

One of the key things I was hoping for was an engaging story line. All Final Fantasy games have such gripping story lines, so how did Grandia III fare?

To me, this game had some hits and misses. They reused the tried and true formula of a young upstart male hero protecting the fragile heroine. That's fine... it is a tried and true formula. The dream about Yuki striving to become a top notch pilot is believable. The plot development to bring all the main fighters together was also quite good and flowed naturally.

The final climax fight that leads you to meet the big bad boss was kinda boring. The struggle between Alfina and her brother, which is like the 2nd level big bad boss was also kinda boring. I guess there was not enough plot about character attachment or loss, so it felt like a let down. I guess not every story fantastic.

Also, not too many secrets or in game activities to delve into, and feels too straight forward at times.

I enjoyed the journey getting to the finale more than the finale itself for this game.

Still it is an okay game to while away the hours.

Lest we forget what reality TV really is

noreply@blogger.com (Jack Jack) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:57:00 +0000

Two things really struck a chord with me recently.

Firstly, it's how much we need sensationalism to draw out the tiniest response from our being nowadays.

Recently, a lot of news has been sensationalised on some contestants of Britain's Got Talent year 3 (2009). The most famous name is Susan Boyle.

An elderly lady with a great voice, but did not look polished in appearance. Whether the numerous Youtube clips of the judges frowning and giving cynical smiles actually happened or was edited into the video for sensationalising purposes, the effect was good. It made it look like the odds were against Susan and when a good singing voice was produced from her cheeky grinnng face, the contrast made for good entertainment value. See it here

Society nowadays can be so de-sensitised that something that was considered remarkable not so long ago, is considered common place and mundane today. Is it any wonder that we need something that is presented at such extreme ends of the spectrum to trigger some emotion from us? A lamentable situation in my opinion.

The second thing that really caught me is how much expectation we put on those in the limelight nowadays... It can be really unbelievable sometimes.

I am a fan of reality talent shows. A shameless fan I am. American Idol, Malaysian Idol, Britain's Got Talent, America's Got Talent etc etc. Being a huge music fan, I always love hearing new voices and singers trying to make their mark on what must be an incredibly arduous process of star making.

No disrespect to established and yet to be established artists going the conventional route i.e. doing gigs at clubs, sending audition tapes, going through performing arts courses... But the amount of stress, scrutiny and work that is crammed into that short space of time to make the filming of a show is truly frightening at times. One such casualty is ten year old Hollie Steel, also from the same show as Susan Boyle.

Also doing singing, Hollie did wonderfully in her auditions, just like Susan. Weeks go by, the machinery of reality TV chomps on ahead... and Hollie had a breakdown during the next show. She made some mistakes in her voice control, and after a couple, she couldn't take it anymore and cried. She didn't finish her performance, and requested a second chance. See it here. Susan is also reported to have had a breakdown and required medical care.

Truth be told, the public would have forgiven her mistakes the first time round, but she herself felt she was a disaster. When we see those in the media always performing flawlessly, we lull ourselves into thinking THAT is reality sometimes.

We forget that when movies are captured onto film by cameramen, there's that little black and white board that marks down how many takes it needs to get the scene perfect. We forget musicians practice as many hours as a programmer spends writing code. We forget that masters of their craft still spend just as many hours maintaining their skill level as a beginner tries to hone theirs. We just forget...

Reality TV show, judging scene, Take 70!