Signs of Life

Of Oil, Seahorses & Crocs

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:42:00 +0000

Last week, my girlfriend visited me here in Miri bringing some much needed warmth from Semenanjung. I gladly became her tour guide for her short stay in Miri.

Our 1^st stop is the Petroleum Science Museum situated on top of the curiously named Canada Hill. This is where it all started, where oil was first found back during the days of the White Rajah.

Situated in front of the museum is a structure almost a century old, Well No 1 affectionately known as ‘The Grand Old Lady’, ignoring the obvious phallic symbolism behind the tall erection.

Exploration & production of oil moved offshore after the oil on top of the hill has been sucked dry. A few production platforms can actually be seen from the top of the hill, churning out thousands of barrels of oil per day that earned Miri the unofficial nickname of Oil Town.

Entrance to the strikingly designed museum is free but sadly many of the exhibits are in bad conditions.

After the short history lesson on oil & how it catalyzes the growth of the city, we visited another symbol of Miri - the Seahorse. While not as famous as their feline friends of Kuching, the mascot of the city can be found everywhere - in the middle of a roundabout, on key chains, on the signboard of a food court etc.

Perhaps the largest of them all is the Seahorse Lighthouse, which took us a couple of wrong turns before finally finding the place.

How a city known more for its oil came to be associated with the sea creature is unknown, but statues of seahorses in the middle of a busy roundabout are definitely more aesthetically pleasing than a monument of oil barrels.

The next day, we went to Brunei, a country so boring it deserves a blog post of its own.

On the 3^rd day & running out of places of attraction to go, we decided to visit Miri’s Crocodile Farm. Entrance fee is quite steep at RM 10 & since it’s a Monday, the place is eerily deserted. There is a mini zoo if crocodiles aren’t exactly your cup of tea.

Not much to see though except for some bored looking monkeys, a sleeping leopard cat, a hungry & desperate stork chewing on rocks, a pair of stressed out sun bears and what the sign claimed to be the world’s most dangerous bird, the Cassowary.

The desperate stork

But the star attraction is of course the crocs. We climb up the wooden platform, built using planks with gaps in between so you can have a good look of your killer in the unfortunate incident of one of the planks giving way, to have a better view.

Crocodiles aren’t very animated or active creatures, preferring to lie around for hours on end under the sun. Having been around since the time of dinosaurs, I believed such behavior to be the pinnacle of evolution.

It’s supposed to be feeding time at 11.30am but perhaps due to the global economic slowdown, there isn’t any chicken throwing feeding frenzy that day. I am sure the crocs aren’t happy with such cost cutting measures. Somebody bail out these poor crocodile farmers please…

Just before the exit is the obligatory souvenir shop, for those who preferred their crocodiles dead and in a variety of colours.

Before flying back to KL, she bought some black pepper & rattan baskets as souvenirs from exotic Sarawak. That concludes our little tour of Miri city and it will be a couple of months before we see each other again.

There Is Something About Miri

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Kolok Mee

Miri people have an unhealthy obsession with kolok mee. There are stalls selling the exact kind of noodles EVERYWHERE!

Kolok mee is actually like wantan noodles tossed in oil, top with minced pork & char siew. Unlike wantan mee though, it does not have soy sauce so it looks pale in comparison.

It's simple & cheap, you can get a bowl at around RM2.30. But I find it bland & oily. The popularity of this noodle really baffles me.

Maybe it's an acquired taste. Maybe it will slowly fall in love with it. Maybe I will even crave it when I went back to KL. But right now...I am just not that into it.

This is kinda cute

Pimp My 4WD

I had this impression that many people in Sabah & Sarawak drove 4WD because of the bad condition of their roads. But I found out that it's only partially true here in Miri.

You are more likely to find Myvis & SLKs (Small Little Kancils) on the roads than pick up trucks. That being said, pick up trucks are a common sight around town.

And they are not ordinary 4WDs mind you. The 4WDs here are usually extensively modified with large chrome grilles & bling bling wheels. They make the Kelisa-with-oversized-exhaust-pipes owners in Semenanjung look like wussies.

The roads in Miri aren't that bad either. In fact, I am surprised the pick up truck isn't as popular in KL, it will be perfect for navigating our pot hole filled roads.

This is just desperate

1Malaysia

Aah..this is the latest buzz word coined by our beloved & highly respected PM. I can probably imagine the reaction of the people here in this part of Malaysia to be...

"Har? What is that guy on the TV talking about?"

People here in Miri learn to coexist in harmony with each other. Not far from our office, a church stood side by side a mosque sharing a common perimeter fence.

Some Chinese can speak Iban, while the Ibans can speak Foochow.

Just last week, while I was 'enjoying' my non-halal kolok mee in a Chinese kopitiam, I saw a Muslim family sit a few tables away ordering food from a Muslim operated stall situated in the same shop.

I must be the only one who noticed it as the other patrons continued enjoying their breakfast without batting an eye.

1Malaysia? People here have been living as one all along.

That Sinking Feeling

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:24:00 +0000

The tranquil surroundings of the training ground

" Intern will most likely be required to commute to our offshore facilities "

I was quite excited when I found out about this in my confirmation letter. After all, not everybody gets the chance to commute to an offshore platform in the middle of the sea.

The closest I have been to it is in PetroSains, but instead of fighting for tickets with hyperactive schoolkids for entry to the platform, this time I am going to the real thing.

And because of that, I need to clear 1 last hurdle before I am deem worthy.....the Basic Offshore Safety Emergency Training

The 3 day training is conducted at SMTC's training ground not far from our office. We get a rough idea of what to expect from our conversation with colleagues who had done it all before.

Of course, they told us it's going to be a fun & enjoyable ride. Yeah, right...

First thing that you will notice after stepping into the training ground is the large swimming pool. You see that 2 storey high platform in the pic, that's where we are supposed to jump from as part of the training.

But for the 1st day, we did not do any water related activities. Instead, we learn all about FIRE & FIREFIGHTING. For the practical training, each of us took turns to enter into a Smoke Room, which if you haven't realised already, is a room completely filled with smoke.

The Smoke Room is actually the little container
beneath the helicopter

Don't be fooled by the small size of the room. It's very dark inside, you won't be able to see a thing. The trick here is to keep your right hand in constant contact with the wall & sooner or later you will reach the exit.

Then we moved on to extinguishing a fire with, well a fire extinguisher. This is the same thing a bomba will demonstrate to you during one of those dreaded fire drills. Somehow, I haven't tried doing it before because I was *cough* too shy to volunteer every time they came to my school.

There is no exception here though, so everybody has to do it ala Burning Flame.

On the 2nd day, we did our Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET). And yes, it is really as scary as it sounds.

For the HUET, we are supposed to use this thingy called the Emergency Breathing System (EBS). This thing is suppose to help us breathe 'normally' when we went underwater. We had to breathe through our mouth instead of nose, it is quite a challenge and definitely not 'normal'.

Now is a good time to start panicking

Then, we got into a fake helicopter & where they slowly dunk us into the water. Once the water reaches chest level, we all deployed our EBS. Before long the whole heli went underwater & PANIC kicks in!

I unbuckled my belts quicker than you can say 'Houdini' & immediately drag myself out of the damned thing thru the window.

Ever wonder what it feels like to be inside a spinning
washing machine?

It's very scary, more so for a non swimmer like me. I am not even using the EBS correctly, just virtually holding my breath & clinging on for dear life.

The worst part is we had to get back in for another 2 rounds. For the 2 rounds, the heli was capsizing & we were being turned upside down. It's even scarier as we remained underwater for a longer period of time.

Can't believe the company actually paid RM1000+ for us to undergo this kind of torture. It's like volunteering ourselves for waterboarding.

The whole heli sinks faster than the global economy

The 3rd & final day is also spent mostly in the pool. This time we had our lifejacket on & had to do all the survival techniques such as chain swimming, huddling & the survival circle. I actually enjoyed this part, with the lifejacket on you felt like you are lying on top of a giant water bed.

Doing the survival circle

And finally before we can get the safety endorsement, we had to jump from 8 metres into the pool! Suddenly the platform looks so much higher than the one I remember seeing during the 1st day.

Looking down to the wavy waters underneath will make you develop vertigo instantly. But there's no turning back from there.

When it's my turn to jump, I strode up to the platform & stood at the very edge of it. One hand covered my nose while another held on to my lifejacket. Then, I took 1 look below to make sure there's no obstacles. Took a step forward & just plunged downwards.

The most important thing here is to cross your legs, or else there will be no more happy hours for you according to my trainer.

With that, I concluded my BOSET Training. I got my safety endorsement, a certificate & a car sticker that reads...

I SURVIVED SMTC!

Suddenly In Miri

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:24:00 +0000

It's been months since my last blog post. In fact, I am suppose to blog about my trip to Melaka but everything came to an abrupt end during the intense period of studying for my finals.

Didn't even log into my Blogger account for ages. Obviously, there will be a massive gap in the timeline of this blog.

I was enjoying life in KL, went to Melaka during my last post...then suddenly *poof* I am in Miri, Sarawak now.

The obvious question will then be, what am I doing here in The Land of Hornbills, Kolok Mee & Kenny Sia?

*answering my own question*

Well, I am here to do my internship, attached to a large/huge/gigantic multinational company for 20 long (hopefully not miserable) weeks.

I am not going to name the company though, in case I need to badmouth them here in my blog in the future. Due to my tendency to procrastinate, I am actually already into my 2nd week of internship.

I depart from LCCT on 12th April. Since I will be relocating myself there, there is quite alot of things to bring along. My 2 luggage bags looked like it's going to burst open anytime.

And when I check in both my luggage bags, imagine my horror when I found out that it was overweight by a whopping 7kg & for that I was charged an extra RM105! That's almost the price of my flight ticket itself!!

My friend's luggage bag was even larger, he can even fit a washing machine in there if he wants to. And for that he was fined close to RM200. That makes me feel a whole lot better ha ha

It's like going for the movies & buying another seat just to put your popcorn. Thanks alot Mr Tony Fernandes.

Two hours later, we arrived in Miri. The airport is so much better than LCCT. It makes LCCT looked like Tesco with check in counters & lots of chairs.

For all you ignorant city dwelling people who thinks Miri is just a small shanty town. It's actually a Bandaraya which puts it on the same level as *gasp* KL.

We checked into Imperial Hotel in the heart of Miri. We get an amazing room with kitchen, washing machine, Astro, a double bed & daily buffet breakfast to boot...all paid for by the company.

We lived like kings, at least for 5 days.

It has been an enjoyable 1st week in this part of Malaysia. Will try to blog more about life from the eyes of a KLite in Miri, but don't get your hopes too high though ;)

Menara Taming Sari

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:52:00 +0000

It's good to be back blogging after a long absence, was kidnapped by Choy San as Renaye will say.

Truth is, things had been rather hectic lately but still, I managed to find some time for a trip to Melaka over the weekend. The place certainly transformed a great deal since my last visit...

Noticed that there is a newly added phallic symbol at the heart of Melaka called Menara Taming Sari.

It's actually a revolving tower named after the keris belonging to the (fictional?) local warrior, Hang Tuah. Hang Tuah meanwhile is the idiot who killed his friend out of blind loyalty.

The legendary keris now is said to be in the possession & part of the royal regalia of the Sultan of Perak. We need verification from Datuk Nizar for that though.

A ride on the revolving tower cost RM 10 per person with MyKad. The cashier insisted on seeing ours before giving us the 50% discounts. Oh, well...

The 7 minute ride is supposed to offer you a glimpse of the development taking place in Melaka.

From above, we get a good view of the Eye on Malaysia ferris wheel, another newly added tourist attraction. Are they trying to turn Melaka into a World Heritage Theme Park now?

On a clear day, you can probably see pirates cruising along & lording over Selat Melaka as well haha

The sampan is actually the Maritime Museum, a must visit for every rombongan sambil belajar to the Bandaraya Bersejarah.

Nothing wrong with that of course, for museums are great places to learn about the past. A place for antiques, old & out dated stuff.

Ahh...that explains why there is a Muzium UMNO here ;)

Red Cliff 2

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:40:00 +0000

What better way to usher into the New Year than having a bloody and violent Chinese history lesson at the movies right? And we can all thank John Woo for saving the CNY movie genre with this 2nd part of Red Cliff.

After feeling slightly cheated by the trailer for the 1st movie, we are finally treated to some awesome battle scenes in the 2nd. But not before another hour of intense build up & strategizing.

Do I have to remind you to wear your helmet every single day?

Well, things are never that easy with the Chinese. Even war acquire a deeper, more philosophical meaning.

Listen as Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) & Zhuge Liang (Takeshi) spout out fortune cookie quotes, Sun Tzu's teachings and Confucius sayings at every opportunity.

Also, this being a John Woo film, expect to see some trademark stuff from the director like...

His fetish for white doves

The bird look tasty roasted or deep fried

The theme of brotherhood. Hmm...is it me or is the relationship between Zhou Yu & Zhuge Liang really pushing the boundaries of 'brotherhood'?

Sometimes brotherhood takes a
bad seat when you need a smoke

And Chow Yun Fat leaping out sideways with two guns blazing. Nah, that was just wishful thinking on my part.

Sliding down the rails & toothpick is optional

Apparently, the Chinese also invented many of the methods employed in modern warfare.

Biological warfare, grenades, sophisticated crossbows and kamikaze attacks were all used in the battle thousand of years ago.

Heck, we even saw the soldiers play an ancient form of football (called Cuju) with skills that would make a Brazilian proud.

Ahh...another testament to the greatness of Chinese civilization. This will definitely make your skin glow a brighter shade of yellow. Just perfect for the New Year.

Do The Right Thing

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:50:00 +0000

The banners are up, security suddenly tightened, posters and articles trading accusations filled the walls of faculties. All these can only mean one thing...the campus election is around the corner.

Once again, the fight is on between the pro-aspirasi and pro-mahasiswa factions.

Although, student bodies are prohibited from being affiliated with any political parties, it's little secret that one faction is pro-establishment (pro-aspirasi) while the other is anti-establishment (pro-mahasiswa)

Student politics are a reflection of national politics, no matter how the authorities try to conceal it.

Perhaps mirroring the political situation outside of campus, the odds are heavily stacked against the opposition in the campus polls as well. The authorities are known to throw their backing behind pro-aspirasi candidates to ensure their victory.

During my 1st year, all Chinese students were made to attend a gathering to listen to some talk by the representatives of the Chinese student committee. We were told specifically not to vote for the pro-mahasiswa or 'green faction'

This is what happen when you let them win

If they came to power, the Chinese students will suffer. There will be strict enforcements on our attire & entertainment will be forbidden (except nasyid performances). Our campus will be turned into a Taliban approved learning centre!

Those possibilities alone are enough to make us gullible 1st year students make the 'right choices'.

Random picture, nothing to do with this post whatsoever

And for those of us who live in residential colleges, rumours that we will be kick out of college if we voted for the 'wrong' candidates will be passed around every year.

College authorities made it clear that they support the pro-aspirasi candidates. More intimidating is the fact that the ballot paper is marked with a serial number traceable to our names.

Doesn't matter whether those rumours are true or false, the majority wouldn't want to take the risk.

Nobody really cares about student politics anyway. Student activism is severely curtailed in Malaysia unlike their counterparts in other countries, where they are influential in initiating political, social & economic changes.

Student activism means standing in from of a tank to make a point

But here, the candidates are reduced to fighting over petty issues like prices of food in cafetaria and the bus schedule.

I hope I do not get into trouble for my rantings. Did I not mentioned that threats and intimidations aside, the campus elections are 100% clean & fair. And I promise that when election comes, I will do the 'right thing'

Der Die Das

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:31:00 +0000

My German classes are starting next week. I will be taking Level 4 but unfortunately, I can still hardly string a proper sentence in German. Listening to native speakers is a challenge but...I am going to persevere.

I know, it might not be as cool as learning Japanese or Korean. Yet, I am glad I am learning German as an extra language because :

1) when I see an object, I will quickly classified it as masculine, feminine or neutral. In German language, everything falls into those 3 categories.

So, a table is masculine, pig is neutral, a cup is feminine etc etc...

2) it makes me want to try & watch a German movie. I did watch 'Der Untergang' eventually.

It's a great movie about Hitler's downfall...but I gave up trying to make out what they are actually saying in German halfway through the movie. Reading the subtitles are so much easier.

3) when I order a burger at McDonald's, I knew that 'ich liebe es' written on the box means 'I'm lovin' it'

4) I found out that Deutschland is actually Germany, not Holland.

5) I discovered that some English words, such as kindergarten are borrowed from German.

6) I can spell using fancy alphabets like ü, ä, ö and ß

7) I will not starve to death if stranded in Germany, but what I eat will be limited by my vocabulary, meaning - bread, sausages, potatoes & onion soup.

8) I can pronounce Michael Ballack & Bastian Schweinsteiger's name correctly.

9) whenever I watch Project Runway (can't believe I actually admit it), I like hearing Heidi Klum bid farewell to the contestant using the German phrase 'auf Wiedersehen'

10) I can now curse in four different languages.

Double Doses of Donnie

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:30:00 +0000

The Americans have SuperMan

The Japanese have UltraMan
The Chinese have Ip Man

My heart has been filled with heavy anticipation ever since the released of the impressive trailer for the movie, Ip Man. After watching the movie last week, I can safely say that the movie surpassed my every expectations.

It was so good, I watched it TWICE! Yeah, I know I am such a sucker for Donnie.

The movie was set in Foshan (Wong Fei Hung's kampung) during the 1930s. During the time, Foshan was thriving under the economic boom & the affluent residents took up martial arts as a hobby.

The bustling town centre even has its own Martial Arts Street where countless martial arts school are situated in close proximity to one another. Each specialising in a different sect of kung fu.

Little known fact #1 : Ip Man can kill 2 stones with 1 bird

Ip Man (Donnie Yen) though isn't the master of any of them. Rather he is an aristocrat who lives in a Western style bungalow, and did not seem to need to work for a living.

He spends all his time practicing Wing Chun much to the chagrin of his wife.

Little known fact #2 : Ip Man can sneeze with his eyes open
& lick his own elbow

Now, when it comes to acting I didn't expect much from Donnie. But as Ip Man, he is unbelievably restrained & subtle, even funny. This just proves that miracles do happen during the festive season.

In the 1st half of the movie, we saw Ip Man taking on opponents in a mostly friendly manner. Carefully making sure to get his wife's approval through eye contact beforehand.

Then, the Sino-Japanese war broke out. The once bustling city was devastated. Food were scarce under the harsh Japanese rule. The Chinese are fragmented in spirit & martial arts became the unifying force. Sounds familiar huh?

Little known fact #3 :When Ip Man smokes, the cigarette gets cancer

The storyline may be generic but the usually cardboard villains get a more sympathetic treatment here.

The story is quite engaging but we all came to see some serious butt kicking. And it doesn't take long for that to happen on screen.

The fights are the best I have seen for a very long time. Absolutely jaw dropping stuff.

Little known fact #4 :Ip Man is so fast, he can run around the world
& punch himself in the back of the head

The Wing Chun style is authentic, distinctive & a joy to watch on screen. Those machine gun like punches still amazed me even on repeated viewings.

The fights can be brutal & bloody. But the amazing choreography from Sammo Hung makes it all look like poetry in motion. Those evil Japanese deserves them anyway.

Little known fact #5 : During WW2, the leading causes of

death of Japanese are....1. Heart disease, 2. Ip Man, 3.Cancer

Against Ip Man, the Japanese karate exponents doesn't even stand a chance. During 1 particular scene, he took on 10 of them & leave a pile of bodies behind (a nice homage to Bruce Lee's similar scene in Fist of Fury)

Ip Man is like a one man army. How the Chinese lost the war against the Japanese is beyond me.

Donnie faints after hearing that Tony Leung is going to play Ip Man.

Well, this is not the only biopic on the Grandmaster. Wong Kar Wai is said to be making a movie about Ip Man with Tony Leung playing the title character. This must be some kind of joke. C'mon Tony? The last thing I wanted to see is Ip Man butt naked!

Anyway, a sequel this time with Donnie Yen reprising the role is currently in the works as well. I am excited already.

As you have probably noticed, I am struggling to fit in more hyperboles to describe the film. So, if you are just going to watch 2 movies before the year ends, watch Ip Man TWICE!

Trapped Inside a Disco

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:36:00 +0000

Bush wants you to shut up

The Americans apparently had been employing a new method of torturing detainees being held in Guantanamo & Iraq....by using music.

Extremely loud music played directly into the ears of detainees, designed to induce sleep deprivation, prolong capture shock & disorient detainees during interrogations.

I think this is one of the cruelest form of torture, right there alongside water boarding.

We all knew how music can totally mess up people's minds. After all, we too had our own Guantanamo moments before.

Those orange jumpsuits are as bad as the music

Like the neighbour who insist on sharing his love for heavy metal music with you. Or radio stations that keep on playing the same songs repeatedly throughout the day.

Just how many times can you listen to Soulja Boy in a day before you start contemplating suicide?

The prisoners were subjected to higher degrees of brutality of course. One detainee describes being left in a pitch black booth for up to twelve hours with the heavy metal music blaring.

Imagined the royalties they would have earned

Unsurprisingly, heavy metal and rap are most often featured on the torture playlist. Some of the most common being Metallica's Enter Sandman, Drowning Pool's Bodies, AC/DC's Shoot To Thrill & Eminem's White America.

I think the prisoners will go equally crazy if being forced to listen to Mandopop love songs by Fahrenheit, Twins or F4.

The guards do have a sick sense of humour, like choosing the song Staying Alive for torture when the victim is certainly wishing for otherwise. Blasting prisoners with Britney Spears's music, so that they too suffered like the rest of the world.

Some of the choices are bizarre like the Sesame Street theme song & Barney's I Love You, You Love Me song. I agree with the Barney song though, it traumatises my childhood before.

Let me entertain you with a song, my only song

The irony here is that, America being a country that always positioned itself as the defender of human rights are violating them so blatantly. Nobody should be subjected to such sadistic form of torture....

Nobody, not even that irritating neighbour of mine.

Gambling in the Dark

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:28:00 +0000

For many Malaysian Chinese, entering Genting Highland's casino is treated like a symbolic passage into adulthood.

Being able to enter means that you have now reached the age of 21, matured enough to decide who to vote for & how to squander your wealth.

Me and a few friends went to Genting for over long overdue initiation 2 weeks back. Now, when it comes to gambling, the Chinese have a long list of superstitions. You can find some of it here.

Chow Yun Fat doesn't seem to have a problem with dark colours

I was wearing a black T-shirt for the trip, one of my friend (let's called him Superstitious Boy) quickly pointed out that bad brings BAD LUCK. Superstitious Boy was wearing a bright red shirt & God knows what underneath for maximum ONG-ness.

Being a man of science, I brushed aside his comments. I would love to see his expression when I came back down with 2 suitcases full of cash. As if trying to proof a point, I brought along a black jacket too.

I would have 2 of those please

Once inside the casino, we walked around before settling on a table playing Big Small, exchange our cash for chips & observe...

Trying to identify a pattern...Big, Big, Small, Big, Small, Small, Small, Big again, then Small.

Finally, I conclude that there was NONE.

I tried counting cards, problem is they used dice!

So, I sat down & placed my bet. I was inconsistent, winning some losing some. But what really irks me is my friend who was standing behind me.

Whenever he wanted to place his bet on the table, he would leaned forward & put his hand on my shoulder. That's a BIG no-no when it comes to gambling, but I am a man of science remember?

Oh, I think I should also mention that Shoulder Toucher is BALD, just like a MONK!

Soon enough, both me & Shoulder Toucher lost all our chips. Meanwhile, Superstitious Boy was on a roll, his stack of chips keep on multiplying.

That's my exact expression when winning

He was evidently enjoying himself, while me & Shoulder Toucher was reduced to walking around aimlessly & queuing repeatedly for free drinks (might as well get my money's worth!)

At the end of the day, Superstitious Boy exchange his chips for cold hard cash, while I make it a point not to mentioned the 2 suitcases full of money earlier *zipped*

I still have faith in science, but I must admit on that day I got my ass kicked by 5000 years of Chinese superstitions. Final score :

SUPERSTITIONS - 1
SCIENCE - 0

Of Men & Umbrellas

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:53:00 +0000

I has been raining heavily in Kuala Lumpur this past few days. As Malaysians, we are all used to this 2 weather conditions : it's either raining cats & dogs or it's hot as hell.

Therefore, owning an umbrella seems logical. It shields you from the sun & also prevents you from getting wet. Unless, you are me that is.

I have a disdain for umbrellas...

You see, I have my own unique way of dealing with what Mother Nature threw at me.

If it's just drizzling, I will RUN. If it's raining slightly heavier, then I will just RUN FASTER. If it's really pouring, then I will wait....and when it's lighter, I will repeat either of the steps above.

I do not want to be known as the Wally with a Brolly

I do not have the habit of bringing an umbrella along with me. It has been that way since as far as I can remember.

I remember owning a raincoat during my schooling days as I insist on the NO umbrella rule. Needless to say, I do not use the raincoat either when it's raining. Only flashers & serial killers use them.

You don't see soldiers scampering away looking for umbrellas when it rains, do you? So, maybe it's a guy thing. Something to do with the Y chromosome I am sure.

There must be an umbrella somewhere inside that bag

Personally, I find umbrellas quite troublesome. It's amazing how nobody has perfected the umbrella even though it has been around since ancient China.

It's flimsy, easily broken & flips upside down during heavy winds.

Bush having trouble with the umbrella. Okay, no surprises here

Some people chose to use those big golfing umbrellas that you can hold a Chinese wedding dinner underneath. I hate those even more.

They are the express buses of the umbrella world, they forced others out of their way by bullying them with their size.

One more thing, how do you enter your car while holding an umbrella anyway? It's a no win situation because you are bound to get wet.

That's why when it rains, I became Forrest Gump. I just keep on running.....

Prison Break Coming to an End

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:28:00 +0000

Prison Break is coming to an end & the current season will be the last. This news came from Wentworth Miller (aka Michael Scofield) himself during an interview here.

This is bad news indeed for I have been following the series faithfully for four seasons.

It's surprising to learn that the series suffered from poor ratings in the States. I personally enjoyed every bit of it but I think a few bad decisions cost the series it's ratings.

If live action doesn't work, maybe we should try cartoon

One of them being the decision to kill many of the more interesting characters in the series. In fact, so many characters ended up dead, I had trouble keeping count.

I understand the deaths were meant to drive the plot along & create some shock value. They are trying to say...it's dangerous world out there if you are a escaped con. And I think we got their message.

Fox River sounds like a nice place to settle down

But when the writers went on a killing spree, it loses the initial shocking properties & make them look desperately out of ideas. It's like, whenever the writers ran out of ideas, they gather in a secret room & vote somebody out of the show.

When they chopped off Sara's head in Season 3, I think many viewers just gave up & subscribed to Astro On Demand. At least, those TVB series always have happy cheesy endings.

You definitely do not want to drop your soap in here

The new characters introduced are not as colourful as those that died. Case in point : Wyatt the big bad hitman added in Season 4.

What the writers had in mind was probably a cold blooded, emotionless hired killer. But Wyatt turns out to be a dull, slow & clumsy looking gorilla.

I am so dull, my victims pleaded for death

Also, how far can you stretch a series about prison breaking anyway? It's a minor miracle the show lasted for four seasons!

In Season 4, we don't even see any prisons as the series took on an entirely different direction. My teacher used to call it lari daripada tajuk.

I guess it's only logical & appropriate to finally end the series. I will definitely miss it. After all, it isn't easy to find another series that manages to make engineers look so hot & desirable *sigh*

All engineers look like this

James Bond Never Dies

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:01:00 +0000

I have never been a fan of Bond, James Bond. But the last movie, Bond Episode 21 : Casino Royale was good. It was a much darker & grittier movie than expected. Which makes me look forward to watching Bond Episode 22 : Quantum of Solace (see how I make the titles less confusing this way haha)

Continuing from the previous installment, they decided to make this new one even DARKER & GRITTIER with almost zero humour! Now, this makes the Bond purists very unhappy. They want their Pierce Brosnan back!

I am through with you Bond, I am moving to Wisteria Lane!

I am glad they didn't listen though. When your Bond girl turns into a Desperate Housewife & chooses a plumber over you, you know that it's time for a makeover.

A visibly happier Teri Hatcher

Of course, Bond movies being Bond movies, you MUST have these :

Opening Credits

Bond holding a pistol. Check. Bond firing a gun. Check. Bond falling into water. Check. Silhouettes of nude gals. Check. Theme song sung by famous people. Check

I think they get the traditional Bond opening sequence spot on. And I will give them extra credit for managing to put it all off without reminding me of any Stephen Chow spoofs.

Gadgets

This new Bond isn't much of a geek, the only gadget he possessed was a Sony Ericsson hand phone. He very much prefer using his kung fu fighting skills to get out of tricky situations, most of the time he ended up killing his opponent much to the chagrin of M.

As for cars, we get a glimpse of the Aston Martin DBS which was mercilessly destroyed (again) very early on in the film. For a list of all cars featured in the film go here

And Q is still nowhere to be seen...

The Bond Girls

We have got Gemma Arterton & Olga Kurylenko as eye candy this time around. Though Olga is tougher than your average Bond girl, kicking ass together with him just like an Ukrainian Michelle Yeoh.

I love man with big guns : Agent 47, Max Payne now Bond

Bond only beds Artenton in the movie. And thanks to our thoughtful censorship board we have to rely on our power of imagination to guess what happen.

Well, it's only a small price to pay to ensure we do not let dirty Western culture pollute our innocent minds.

Villain

In keeping up with the times, the villain in this episode is a *gasp* freaking ENVIRONMENTALIST who is hell bent on taking over the world....one natural resource at a time!

I will not hesitate in adding melamine in your milk

All his konco-konco drove environmentally friendly hybrid cars. I wouldn't be surprised if he separates his trash or brings his own reusable chopsticks when dining out.

Hardly menacing at all. I bet Bond isn't losing any sleep over this guy.

He didn't even look the part of a Bond villain. What no scars on the face, bullet lodged inside the head or shedding tears of blood?

This is what Bond villains should look like...

For greater results, add mini sidekick

Humour

This movie is dead serious from beginning till end as James Bond was in an unforgiving mood. I miss the humour and witty lines from the British spy.

We don't even get to hear him say 'Bond....James Bond'

All in all, Quantum of Solace is never near as good as Casino Royale. Let's hope they got the next movie right.

If not, then we should really bring back Pierce Brosnan for James Bond : The Musical.

That will really make the purist jump off buildings

Obsessed With Flags

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:40:00 +0000

I hasn't been very prolific lately, largely due to my final exams. I am now down to my final paper so I reckon I should sneak in a post in between studying ; )

Anybody with a Facebook account should really try the game, Geo Challenge. How can a game about identifying flags and maps can be so addictive, I really have no idea. But I am currently hooked on it.

It's fun to see how many flags or countries you can identify....at first. Then, you realised your friends just pip your high score. And that's when things started to get UGLY!

It is now officially a race with more than just pride at stake here. The highest scorer also wins exclusive bragging rights during the upcoming Christmas gathering.

I am now obsessed with getting the most number of correct answers in the quickest possible time! I Googled the maps of Europe and Africa, memorising the the locations of EVERY major city....I think my Geography teacher would be proud.

I came across a lot of flags during the game. And I can safely say that Europe has some of the most unimaginative flags. Almost all of them consist of three stripes, either horizontal or vertical. Even the colours are alike.

The Middle East is another area with similiar looking flags. It's like they are copying each other when designing their own. Somebody should sue them for plagiarism.

I also came across flags with more creative designs, like the vibrant flag of Seychelles. I could not pin point Seychelles on the atlas but I can tell you their flag is pretty just like a rainbow.

Not to be mistaken with the Gay Pride flag which coincidently look just like a rainbow too.

Of course, if you let the flag designers run riot with their imagination then this is probably what you will get. A castle and a key from the flag of Gibraltar. This flag reminds me of Super Mario, I had no idea why.

What is a castle without the mythical dragon right? The flag designers probably had the same question too. That's why they came out with such kick ass flags as Wales & Sri Lanka.

Ok Ok the second one was probably a lion. Still it was a lion holding a SWORD. How cool was that!

Wales

Sri Lanka

The Kenyans put a tribal shield with 2 spears in the middle of their flag. Maybe they are trying to send a warning...'All Intruders Will Be Speared To Death'

And then there is the flag of the Isle of Man. Which had exactly the same symbol from the Air Badak Cap Kaki Tiga. What a weird source to draw inspiration from...

The flag of Nepal deserved an honourable mention too, for being different. Instead of a rectangle, it's the shape of 2 right angled triangles merged together. I suspect it was designed by Mathematicians.

Talking about beautiful flags. Apparently the Peruvian flag has been voted as the most beautiful flag in the world. Now that's a bit unfair because no one told me how to vote!

I would definitely vote for the Jalur Gemilang, even though it look suspiciously like the flag of another nation. Yes, that one.

My Pic in The Star

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:11:00 +0000

My picture was featured in The Star last week, but due to my current period of intense studying I do not have much time to blog about it.

To be more precise, my picture was featured in Thumbnails on the 20th October. It won 1st prize, which means I am RM 100 richer! And to save you the trouble of scavenging back your old newspaper, which you probably won't, I have conveniently provide you with a link to the picture here.

On second thought, I might as well post the picture in my blog. So here is my winning masterpiece...

Boxed In : Can anyone help him? This man is wondering
how will he be able to manoeuvre his car.

The caption above isn't my own though, The Star probably thinks that mine wasn't good enough for national consumption, so they made one up themselves.

The shot was taken at a parking lot directly opposite Wisma MCA. I was waiting for my gf there, feeling bored I took out my phone & starts to fiddle with the camera. Since I am not a cam whore & cam whoring in front of Jalan Ampang can be quite embarrassing, I took some pics of the surroundings instead.

The parking lot is really crowded with cars blocking each other's way. At first, I took some pics of the chaotic situation. And then this poor guy came along....

He was trying to remove his car but it was blocked by another vehicle in front. That guy look lost, trapped in a sea of cars.

In fact, he was trying to get the attention of the parking attendant, who took quite some time before removing the blocking car. And more than enough for me to capture it using my cutting edge 2 megapixel camera ^~^

Donnie Yen Kicks Ass

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:31:00 +0000

Good kung fu movies are hard to come by these days.

Jet Li had stop making them, Jackie Chan isn't exactly in his prime anymore while Sammo Hung is contented with working behind the scenes. Things are certainly not looking good for kung fu cinema.

Thank God we still have Donnie Yen!

Okay, forget about Painted Skin where he was used to provide comic relief rather than kicking ass & cracking heads. While you are at it, erase your memories of Dragon Tiger Gate too which felt like a super long shampoo & Nokia commercial.

Donnie Yen returns to form in his new movie, Ip Man. Ip Man is famously known as Bruce Lee's sifu & a master of Wing Chun.

The trailer is out & looks darn impressive. This is what Donnie Yen does best....kicking ass & cracking heads. Watch out for scene where he fired rapid punches like a machine to the chest of his opponent. Poor guy

Watching it makes me want to ~~download the movie as soon as it was available~~ watch it in the cinema come December 18th

Eagle Feeding in Langkawi

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:31:00 +0000

The beautiful island of Langkawi got its name from the combination of 'lang' & 'kawi'. 'Lang' from the Malay word helang meaning eagle & 'kawi' from Sanskrit meaning marble.

We got a not so subtle reminder of the origin of Langkawi as soon as we arrived at the jetty. Beside the jetty stood a gigantic eagle looking out towards the sea, ready to take flight.

Aside from the monument, we did not see any real eagles as we went round the island in our rent Proton Saga.

We even took a cable car ride up Gunung Mat Cincang but at 710 meters above sea level those eagles are still nowhere to be seen! How odd.

That is until we took an island hopping tour. One of the highlights of the tour was eagle feeding. For that we need to take a bumpy speedboat ride to the nearby island of Pulau Singa Besar.

However before we set off, I am keeping my expectations real low.

I was expecting eagle feeding to be like a wait & see kind of thing. Throw some meat into the water & wait patiently for some eagles to swoop down on it. If it's your lucky day maybe you will see a few.

As we approached the island, the operator switched off the engine & let us drift slowly to the feeding location. And I quickly realised it was not like what I had imagined.

There were easily over a hundred reddish brown eagles swirling in the sky above us. It was quite a sight.

Then, the operator took out some chicken skin & threw it into the sea. The eagles need no invitation as we watched them swoop down majestically for their food.

Two other boats carrying tourist are doing the same thing too. The eagles over there are so spoiled. No need to hunt for food ^~^

And at last, I found the elusive eagles of Langkawi.

What’s In a Product Name?

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:55:00 +0000

I came across this interesting post in Neatorama recently about product names & the deception behind it. Product names don't necessarily reflect the truth of the products, here is one example taken from the post

HÄAGEN DAZS

Sounds Like: An imported Scandinavian product.

The Truth: It was created by Ruben Mattus, a Polish immigrant who sold ice cream in New York City, who used what the New York Times called the "Vichyssoise Strategy":

Vichyssoise is a native New Yorker. Created at the Ritz Carlton in 1917, it masqueraded as a French soup and enjoyed enormous success. When Mattus created his ice cream, he used the same tactic ... He was not the first to think Americans would be willing to pay more for a better product. But he was the first to understand that they would be more likely to do so if they thought it was foreign. So he made up a ridiculous, impossible to pronounce name, [and] printed a map of Scandinavia on the carton.

The ice cream was actually made in Teaneck, New Jersey.

The post did a good job pointing out 'clever' product names but such marketing ploys are not unique to America. We do have a few of them in Malaysia as well. Here are some of the names that comes to mind

VINCCI

The name sounds like some high end Italian footwear maker. The shops are plastered with gigantic posters of Caucasians modeling their shoes to complete the illusion that it originates from Europe.

Truth is, Vincci is a Malaysian company under Padini Holdings Berhad. But I don't think that will stop the ladies from flocking to their shops especially during the Raya sales.

Other brand names under it includes Padini, Padini Authentics, PDI, P & Co, Seed and Miki.

1901

The name sounds like an established American hot dog chain with a long history. The design of their stores & pushcarts were reminiscent of hot dog stores from the States. And with a menu that consist of product names such as New York Chicken & Chicago Beef, did little to suggest otherwise.

Truth is, 1901 is a Malaysian company set up by Tengku Rozidar & Ahmad Zakir at the height of the financial crisis. Their approach proved to be very successful spawning 70 outlets by 2007 that many people still mistaking it for a American hot dog chain.

BIG APPLE DONUTS & COFFEE

Mentioned donuts & the first things that comes to mind are Homer Simpson & overweight American cops.

So, when Big Apple Donuts & Coffee opened in Malaysia, it definitely sounds like a chain store from America. The name & logo featuring the iconic Chrysler Building suggest that it originated from New York.

But the truth is, Big Apple Donuts is owned by a Malaysian, Mike Chan who discovered the finer points of making donuts from the United States.

BATA

Bata is a leading footwear manufacturer & marketeer in Malaysia with over 220 stores! Of course, we all knew & loved Bata for their school shoes. I remember fondly the yearly trips to Bata before the school semester begins to purchase new shoes.

Bata shoes are a part of many Malaysians school days. It is also an institution that is uniquely Malaysian right?

No, truth is Bata Shoes is a large, family owned shoe company. It is currently headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland,. It has retail presence in over 50 countries & production facilities in 26 countries.

Malaysian Deception or Malaysia Boleh? You decide ^~^

15 Weird Things About Me

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:01:00 +0000

My apologies to Bernard for delaying this for so long. I have been tagged & this is what I need to do...

1. Each player of this game starts off with 15 weird things/ habits/ little known facts about yourself.
2. People who got tagged need need to write a post of their own 15 weird things/ habits/ little known facts as well as state this rule clearly.
3. At the end, you need to choose 10 people to be tagged & listed their names
4. No tag backs!!

Okay, so here it goes

1. acura is actually a brand of car sold in the US. I chose it as my nick cause it sounds exotic & mysterious. Not anymore, I guess.

2. I am terrified of dogs. They scared the daylights out of me.

3. I am a Taekwondo 1st Dan Black Belt holder, so think twice before you mess with me ^~^

4. I hate boy bands. The boy band era during the 90's is pure torture. I am just glad I survived it with my hearings intact.

5. I sleep when I am tired...when I am bored...when I am stressed...when I have got nothing to do...when I have got too much to do...when I am hungry...when I am, erm I guess you get the point.

6. I am only good in 1 sport : FIFA 08

7. I am currently taking German level 3, yet I still couldn't string a proper sentence in German.

8. I DO NOT forward or see the need to respond to chain mails.

9. I will watch any type of sports shown on TV. I even try watching golf in the middle of the night. And I think I have found the cure for insomnia.

10. I am nocturnal. I usually sleeps at 3am & wakes up around 1pm. My dad said it was because I was born in the year of the Tiger & tigers are nocturnal animals. Hmm...my dad always have answers for everything.

11. I was born in the year of the Tiger.

12. I am a 3rd year mechanical engineering student. I took it because the government told me to do so & erm, because I am scared of blood.

13. I was once a fan of pro wrestling, the WWE. I was so obsessed I go to school one day & locked my poor friend in a Figure Four Way till he taps out haha Oh, by the way...Please Don't Try This at Home (but they didn't mentioned anything about schools *wink*)

14. I still don't have a Facebook account.

15. I was kissed by a transvestite once. I happens after a tiger show in Haadyai & I was only 7 or 8 years old then.

Stop The Arrest!

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:49:00 +0000

Image from jelas.info

This is really too much!

1st, they detained Raja Petra under ISA for supposedly insulting Islam. Raja Petra saw it coming & even mentioned it in one of his post. True enough, after they lifted the ban on Malaysia Today, they promptly arrest him the very next day!

And later on, they arrested the lady reporter who reported about Ahmad Ismail's RACIST remark in Permatang Pauh. The Sin Chew journalist Tan Hoon Cheng was also arrested ISA. She was arrested for merely reporting the truth!

The racist son of a bitch only got a 3 year suspension for his remarks. The reporter got arrested under ISA. I am no supporter of ISA but this is a clear case of DOUBLE STANDARDS!

And as I type, Teresa Kok has also been detained under ISA.

I am seething with anger now!

Nobody deserves to be held without trial. Nobody deserves to be detained without a chance to defend themselves! It is inhumane to do so.

To those who authorise the arrests, all I can say is....Fuck You!

The Unsung Heroes of Merdeka

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Another year, another Merdeka albeit a quiter one this year. For many, 31st August means countdown concerts, expensive fireworks & a massive morning parade to celebrate Malaysia's independence.

The problem is, they get the date wrong every year! Malaysia was established on the 16th of September 1963, that's the date of our 'real' independence!

31st August 1957 was just the independence of Malaya, Sabah & Sarawak only gained their independence on the formation of Malaysia 6 years later.

You can understand why their so pissed now when the government insisted on holding the celebration on the wrong date.

The formation of Malaysia was a merger of Malaya + Singapore + Sabah + Sarawak. They are suppose to have the equal status as the whole of Malaya (Peninsula Malaysia) but look at them now...downgraded to becoming 2 of the 13 states making up the country.

The celebration of Merdeka are heavily politicised and littered with inaccuracies...

We were made to believe that one party, Umno was responsible for the nation's independence & for that we must be forever grateful. By negotiating with the British, they secured independence without shedding a drop of blood.

Without shedding a drop of blood?

What about the communists who fought against the Japanese then the British? We might not subscribe to their ideology, but their fight against colonialism must be recognised.

What about the struggle of the other Malay party, PKMM? They were the exact polar opposite to Umno - very anti-British & left leaning, described in our history books as 'radicals'. In fact they were the 1st party to adopt the battle cries of 'Merdeka!'.

Their members were caught & jailed by the British who saw them as a threat, preferring to chat with their pro-British counterparts - Umno.

And the contribution by the coalition of AMCJA-PUTERA? The name certainly sounds familiar.

The contributions of all the different factions using different means to fight against the British were simplified, reduced to a few sentences in the textbooks. So, we only learn that our independence was presented to us on a silver platter.

How untrue...it's time we recognised the unsung heroes of Merdeka.

If you have the time, this documentary, 10 Tahun Sebelum Merdeka should be an interesting watch ;)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Argentina Olympic Champions...Again!

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:31:00 +0000

The Olympics have ended & it has been great. And the best thing (after Lee Chong Wei's silver medal) is that Argentina have successfully defended their gold medal!

Argentina won 1-0 against Nigeria in a match with all the hallmarks of a final - slow, tense & low scoring. Both sides were cautious & it took one magical pass from Messi (who else?) to release Di Maria for the winning goal.

Of course, I can't do a post of their triumph without mentioning their 3-0 demolition of Brazil in the semis hehe The Argentinians were defeated by Brazil by the same scoreline for 3 times in a row, so this is sweet revenge! Okay, this may be the Olympics, whereby most of the players are below 23 but this is no mickey mouse tournament.

The Brazilians wanted the gold medal badly. Just look at the disappointment on Ronaldinho's face after their loss. But fortunately, stylish possession football wins this time! This time, Brazil failed to bullied their way to victory using brute strength & systematic fouling.

I am surprised Dunga still get to keep his job. How can a Brazilian team played so defensively, so without flair? Joga Bonito is long gone, it's in the Argentinian side now.

And back to the gold medal, it's the second after Athens. On top of that, Argentina also won the World Youth Championship in 2005 & 2007. It's amazing the amount of talent they are churning out!

Messi has been such a vital player in Barcelona & the national senior side, we often forget he is only 21! Not to mentioned the likes of Aguero, Gago, Mascherano, Di Maria etc etc. Guys like Banega & Lavezzi can't even get a place in the starting line up at the Olympics. The future definitely looks bright.

Now, the only thing left to be done is the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Vamos Vamos Argentina!

Month of the Hungry Ghost

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:02:00 +0000

It is currently the 7th month of the lunar calender, or the Hungry Ghost Month according to the more superstitious Chinese. A month whereby the gates of Hell are supposedly opened & spirits wander the world of the living.

During the entire month, you are supposed to go back home early, burn offerings to the deceased on roadsides & staged opera performances for 'them'. The timid ones will be scared shitless during this month as ghost stories and tales of personal encounters are passed around.

Those real encounters are all mostly urban legends with the locations & other details changed liberally to suit the storyteller.

Guess you heard the one about the midnight bus that you are not supposed to board because it was not meant for humans before (even spirits need to rely on public transports these days)

What about discovering the very scary fact that your school was an execution ground during zaman Jepun? Try sneaking into school grounds at night & you might just catch the Japanese soldiers marching around or heard the screams of their victims. (Hmm..but I thought my school didn't even exist during that time)

Then, there is the nasi lemak seller that sells his rice through the outside window. The only problem being the occupant is living on the 4th floor, so the seller must be floating on thin air! (or has a very long ladder)

Also, the story about a guy waking up only to discover a little boy sitting on the top of the cupboard watching him sleep. And the story of a hotel occupant discovering a corpse hidden underneath the bed. And the toilet stall haunted by someone who committed suicide in it etc etc...

I am pretty skeptical about these supposedly 'real' encounters but there is nothing like a good ghost story to liven up the atmosphere. So, I will gladly do my duty & passed the stories around hehe

Happy Hungry Ghost Festival everyone!

Beijing 08.08.08

noreply@blogger.com (acura) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:35:00 +0000

This past few weeks has been quite hectic, coupled with no internet access in my residential college makes me unable to blog. But today is an exception, I am back home to watch the Olympics opening ceremony on the supposedly auspicious date of 08.08.08

The Beijing Olympics is already so over hyped even before it started & the opening ceremony shrouded in secrecy. I was excited but without astro, I had to rely on RTM 1 for the telecast. The self proclaimed 'Your Olympic Channel'

Being the official rights holder to broadcast the Games, any channel will grab the opportunity to provide intensive coverage. Well, any channel except RTM 1 that is. Because when I tune in at 8pm (the time the opening ceremony was suppose to begin) they were still busy spreading government propaganda, oops...I mean reporting the news.

The biggest show on earth is starting, anybody who wants to watch the news can tune in to other channel. Why do this? I had to wait for the end of the news before I manage to watch the telecast. That means a good 30 minutes gone.

Well, the actual ceremony is a bit disappointing for me really. It was supposed to be a showcase of 5000 years of Chinese culture, very grand yet lacking the 'wow' factor. I dunno, maybe it's due to my overtly high expectations or the fact that the Chinese culture is all too familiar to me. Or because I miss the first 30 minutes of it. Dammit!

When the competing countries started marching in, it was exciting at first. It's good to see Malaysia as the 10th nation coming out. After that, it's a fight to stay awake. But I made it all thanks to the RTM commentators for providing comic relief.

Like when New Zealand came out, one of them mistaken it for Swaziland. I also appreciate them providing me with useful facts, like Senegal is from Africa.

The marching in thing dragged on for almost 2 hours. 204 countries are participating & I can safely say I only knew about half of it. Erm...maybe less.

It's a relief when it ended & we can finally proceed to the most anticipated moment, the lighting of the Olympic flame. The guy running while hoisted in mid air is quite awesome. Once lit, fireworks exploded over Beijing.

But RTM decided to end the telecast before the fireworks show is over! Thanks RTM...you guys are really my Olympic channel.