Roars and Rants

901: Not A 'Melayu Berpecah' Hot Dog Brand

2012-01-06T12:28:00.000+08:00

Let’s face it. Regardless of what the verdict would be on 9th of January, pro-Barisans (especially hardcore Mahathirists) will only believe that Anwar is guilty because otherwise it would make a liar out of their great leader. On the other end pro-Pakatans will only believe that Anwar is innocent because otherwise it would make a liar out of their great leader. Opinions don’t change. You only get

Da'wah: The Story of a Former Christian Youth Minister - Joshua Evans

2011-12-23T11:48:00.001+08:00

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Amr (Radi-Allahu 'anhu): The Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wa Sallam) said, "Convey (my teachings) to the people even if it were a single sentence, and tell others the stories of Bani Israel (which have been taught to you), for it is not sinful to do so. And whoever tells a lie on me intentionally, will surely take his place in the (Hell) Fire." -- Bukhari Vol. 4 : No.

2011: The Year of... Well, THE Year!

2011-12-20T16:30:00.000+08:00

I was browsing through old posts in this blog. My first post was on October 2nd, 2006. That was five years ago. I was a very different person. I looked back to 2005, 2003, 2000, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1993, 1992… each marking significant turning points in my life and in perspective. I grew up, for the better, for worse, yet I grew up nevertheless. But 2011 will always be THE year. I lived my

Innocence: Once You Pop, You Can't Stop!

2011-11-02T22:30:00.001+08:00

If you are old enough (or perhaps young enough) to remember the Macarena, you should understand that you may love or hate it, but once you've heard it you can never forget it. Yup, 80's babies, I'm going to remind you of the one-hit-wonders that poisoned our young adolescent minds with innuendos, masked by addictive techno beats and dances of the 90's! I'm gonna share five, just five songs of

Farewell: Been There, Done That, Would Definitely Do It Again!

2011-10-14T11:38:00.001+08:00

A week ago, today the world mourned the passing of the great Steve Jobs while I was preparing to board the flight home from Maryland, USA. It had been 6 months living by myself in the land so familiar yet so alien at the same time. A place I could almost call home given different circumstances. I arrived with barely a whimper. Last week I left with barely a bang. I got there armed with 3 decades

Clichés: When Did You Come Back?

2011-10-13T16:23:00.000+08:00

I returned from my 6 months' work assignment in the US last weekend. Thought about writing a tear-jerking farewell for those crazy caring and loving people I call friends there but nothing came to mind. Yet. I imagined that as hard as I try to make them cry, it is more likely that they will be rolling on the floor laughing their asses off. Or maybe they really will cry. In horrid disbelief. Or

South-East: Myrtle Beach Wasn’t Moaning, It Was Roaring!

2011-08-09T07:18:00.001+08:00

After 4 weeks of sulking and practically doing nothing over the weekends (wait, Captain America and Friends with Benefits were NOT "nothing", ok? lol) I finally decided to burn some time and cash going down south to cross a few more states of the east coast. A little over two weeks ago I found out that a good old friend of mine who I have not met for 14 years is currently living in Raleigh, North

Home: There and Back Again

2011-07-24T23:05:00.000+08:00

Three weeks ago today I was on the way back home to the land of nasi lemak, teh tarik, and everything boleh after spending three months in the land of hamburger, beer and everything… free. I reached home after 30 hours of travelling to the confused face of my daughter. I truly believed that she had almost forgotten who I was! We headed to McDonald's as soon as I touched down. Ironic. 3 months is

Big Apple: Tour de Manhattan... In 12 Hours! Believe It!

2011-05-30T07:05:00.000+08:00

Tuesday’s Glee episode was about New York. It felt odd as I was just there last weekend. New York felt like a place I’ve always known but have never been to. How do you get to know a place so well yet never been there a day in your life? Well, Peter Parker lost Gwen Stacy on the George Washington Bridge, an event which changed an entire universe. King Kong ran rampage and swatted airplanes from

DC: Men Did Learn the Secrets of Flight from Dragons!

2011-05-16T08:16:00.001+08:00

Yup, this is about my day 2 trip to DC. Scram now if this is not your thing :). Saturday yesterday was quite rainy yet I decided that I will not let it go to waste and made my second trip to DC. A Night at the Museum 2 was on TV today and as Ben Stiller walked across the Washington Mall in the movie, I thought to myself, “Hey I’ve been there just yesterday!” It was quite a thought. I left early

DC: Where the Hell Is the Dragon Memorial?

2011-05-09T10:24:00.008+08:00

Saturday's weather forecast for DC indicated sun all day, and therefore I decided that it was probably a good time to make a trip to DC. Initially I was reluctant to go since Obama had just killed Osama earlier this week and I wouldn't want to be caught in any celebrations there. But then I decided what the hell. So it took about an hour’s drive from Arundel Mills, Hanover to Washington DC. I

Image: Of Terrorists, Pacifists, and Identity Crisis

2011-05-07T11:15:00.003+08:00

I woke up earlier this week to the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death; killed, to those in jubilation, murdered, to those in retaliation. I’m not writing another piece on Osama when it will fall short against the likes of Syed Akbar Ali (who always write brilliant things except for when he goes on Anwar-is-the-devil-incarnate mode) and Marina Mahathir (who actually copy-pasted 2 very well written

Trace: Is there no Malaysians at all in Columbia, MD?

2011-04-30T23:20:00.000+08:00

Being the only one of my kind in a foreign land is an amazing experience. Well, yeah it felt kinda lonely at first but for socially awkward and privately private type of animal that I am, it’s almost perfect. It’s an 8, and if I can have my dragon clan here with me it would be a 9. As a lawyer told me, nothing in the world is a 10 because nothing is perfect. But yeah, I get to go where I want, do

Lost: A Clueless Dragon in Baltimore, MD

2011-04-24T06:58:00.003+08:00

After contemplating on whether I should just fork out USD100+ for a GPS unit or USD60 for a prepaid phone line with data plan, I finally decided to go with the bloody prepaid. And damn well I did, because Google Maps with Navigation is kicking Garmin, TomTom, Papago and whatever dedicated GPS out there in their hinds! The only drawback is that it gobbles up quite a lot of data, and I have a

Awkward: A Lost Dragon On American Soil

2011-04-17T23:07:00.003+08:00

3 decades ago I was hatched born in West Virginia, USA. I did not stay long. My parents were students back then, so I was still red and tender when they shipped me back to my grands in Malaysia. Ever since then I was raised a Malaysian. I lived a Malaysian life. I favor spicy food. I speak Manglish. I am as Malaysian as any Malaysian can be, even if the system never allowed me to forget that I

Car Trouble: The Mystery of the Draining Battery, SOLVED! (I hope)

2011-04-07T14:44:00.002+08:00

A YOUNG working class with a growing family has no business spending hard earned money on an inflated-priced RM150k 7-seater which will deteriorate in value over time, hence my decision to buy a sub-RM50k, used Chevrolet Nabira 2.2 two years ago. The car was about 5 years old back then. One should always understand that maintenance cost is part and parcel of owning a used car. The fact is cars

Women: From the Point-of-View of Matrim Cauthon

2011-01-09T09:33:00.003+08:00

Below is the opening for Chapter 20 in book 12 of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, "The Gathering Storm". It is a hilariously funny conversation between Mat Cauthon, one of the central figures in the books and Talmanes, his right-hand-man. Women, please do not take offense; the poor guy was just tired of being bullied LOLxD... "Women," Mat declared as he rode Pips down the dusty,

HIMYM: How About A Bet On the Series Finale?

2010-12-12T00:35:00.003+08:00

I was watching How I Met Your Mother, my favorite TV show of all time (next to F.R.I.E.N.D.S. of course), and in today's episode, the show was back on Ted and Robin's on-again-off-again relationship. I was like... 'Againnn???'. The show is supposed to be about Ted telling the story of how he met his children's Mother yet the storyline seems to focus too much on Ted and Robin. I'm not a woman, but

Memories: Remembering, Finding and Ultimately Losing

2010-12-06T21:50:00.001+08:00

In my last post I mentioned how I recently got in touch with old friends from 18 years ago on Facebook. Today I uploaded a photo of myself and a boy. His name was Azwanisham. It is one of only 3 photos I still have in my possession from those times. A few hours later one of those who knew him posted a comment; Azwanisham passed away last year, apparently due to high fever. I don't particularly

2010: The Year of Social Networking Mania

2010-12-03T16:55:00.001+08:00

It is year end again. I started this blog on Oct 2, 2006 and now it's already end of 2010. Time flies. I turned 30 a few days ago. Naturally quarter-life crisis kicked in. One can yap and crap all about syukur (being grateful) and rezeki, but really, in reality who will not at least be a tiny wee bit curious, wondering if that Joe (bukan nama sebenar) from Facebook is actually making more money

Budget 2011: Yeah, Like I Understand Economics That Well

2010-10-15T23:11:00.000+08:00

Today 2011 national budget was tabled (is 'tabled' even the correct word?). I will not waste time going into the details. As expected, and as it has been for the past 7 years of my working life, the only group of people who would be elated over national budget are: 1) Government servants, especially female, married AND pregnant (or soon-to-be). 2) Those earning less than RM3000 (and thus will

Nick: What's In A Name?

2010-08-08T00:09:00.000+08:00

I am the eldest in my family. My wife too. When our children were born siblings from both sides were ecstatic. In the olden times family members were given nicknames equivalent to their 'rank'; the firstborn by convention is Long, followed by Ngah, then Lang, Anjang, Uteh, Uda, Adik, Usu, something of this order. Apparently this is no longer 'cool' and thus my children uncles, aunts and grands

Majority: Is NOT Always Right

2010-07-28T21:18:00.002+08:00

People say that democracy is the voice of the people, since the majority speaks, right? Yeah... 'right'. Believe me when I say that the voice of the majority actually doesn't even know what's good for them. It happened to me. I recently volunteered to be in a committee to organize a team-building event for the great blue giant potato chip company I work in. There were about 13 of us committee

Conversation: Exposing the Minds of A PR-Leaning Non-Partisan Vs Puteri UMNO Hardcores Without Fail

2010-01-26T15:14:00.000+08:00

Below is a cut-and-paste of a Facebook conversation that I had between myself and two sisters who are hardcore Puteri UMNO members. D, is myself (no, not Diana Danielle), while H and N are the sisters. What's below is almost 100% verbatim, except for some irrelevant jests and jokes that I removed for the sake of privacy, so please don't mind typos and grammatical errors in the England (yes,

2009: The year of Adaption, of Re-adjustment

2009-12-24T10:54:00.001+08:00

It feels just like a week ago when I last wrote my piece on 2008 year-in-review, and now it's already the end of 2009. How time really flies. If I had thought that 2008 was the year of change, 2009 would be the year of adaption, of re-adjustment. By the end of last year, I made quite significant moves which impacted my finances, and by God I really underestimated the impact. I was hit hard, and