PianoForte

Troubled Net Connection

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:59:00 +0000

After evening nap the net connection seems to be slowing down.

No idea what happened, can't sign in MSN, then webpages loads extremely slow, everything seems to just slow down.....

I hope this can be remedied latest by tomorrow. Of course I hope it could be solved ASAP!

Interesting Biology Experiments

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:26:00 +0000

Monday's Bio lecture class is interesting, we're doing 2 experiments to prove that how immobilized enzymes can benefit us.

That's in technical terms.

In a more general terms, we're actually carrying out a glucose dip test and a pregnancy kit test.

It is something new to us, as we wouldn't need such test for now.... Glucose dip stick test is to test the presence of glucose in the urine. If it's positive result, you're likely to be a diabetic or happen to have high blood sugar level. As for the pregnancy test, do I need to explain its purpose?

Ms Chong prepared the test kits, while 2 guys contribute their samples. Tang Yang the sporting boy volunteered himself, and then try to find another partner. He asked me but I refused lol. In the end Li Hong went with him.

Along the process he made lots of jokes that all of us couldn't stop laughing. That guy actually want to pee in the lecture hall behind the white boards! LOL.... funny guy. Ms Chong also couldn't help herself but can't stop laughing.

So the heroes went to the loo to collect the urine sample, and then tested with the glucose dip stick.

One of them's test result (negative). Do not think that is an apple juice... (~__~)

Ms Chong comparing the test result with the colour chart. Negative result.

Tang Yang with his "beer" lol.

Two different samples. Again I remind you, this is not an ordinary beverage!

A sample with positive result (darker result compare to the other 2).

Ms Chong testing the pregnancy kit. We've got a sample from a pregnant lady.

Positive result for the pregnancy test, result in 2 lines in the 2 windows.

Very interesting indeed. Ms Chong told us last year she tested the pregnancy kit herself. In the end she couldn't sleep for that night. The reason is pretty obvious and she doesn't need to complete her story, heh.

P/S: Bryan you missed this stuff on Monday! But you can see the results here. :)

What A Day....

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:59:00 +0000

0830: Woke up 30 mins earlier before the alarm rang.

0930: Left house for college.

0950: Hand over a gift for Val.

1000: First class of the day, Physics lecture.

1100: Chemistry practical.

1110: Received message from friend asking help for organising an event.

1230: Went to CIT to online.

1300: Went back to Chong Hwa to help friends to sort out their problem.

1355: Rush back from Chong Hwa back to college to attend the next lecture.

1410: Managed to get back when the teacher just started a bit. Didn't miss much thankfully.

1455: Drive my car to park at a better spot in TBR. Luckily there's a car just came out and I immediately slot in.

1510: Last lesson of the day, Physics lecture.

1610: Went to collect football gears and head to the field and play.

1635: Started to rain, but still keep on playing the game. Game under the rain is fun!

1730: Game over. Scored 3 goals, yeah! But everything is soaking wet.

1740: Fetch my mom back home.

1805: Went to pasar malam at Sri Rampai with sis to get our dinner.

1910: Reach home.

1930: Eat dinner after shower.

2030: Writing this post. Tired... zzzz.....

False Alarm!

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:43:00 +0000

Things just happened fairly quickly within 20 mins, it was all out of sudden. Phew.... glad it's solved now, everything seems to be messed up at a moment, and then resolved in just a matter of seconds.

It starts with me finding a battery which I wanna recharge it, and then noticed the batteries are odd numbers. One of 'em is missing, checked the drawer where I kept the batteries, nope, no sign of it. Keep on searching on the other drawers and the desk, still can't find it.

Mother hand me a few notes for allowance, so I as usual take the wallet from the usual spot. To my horror, my wallet wasn't there! Was freak out because as an organised guy I'm aware of my belongings, and to see my watch is there but the wallet is gone, that puzzles me. Usually I would place the wallet and the wristwatch together, so if one of 'em gone missing I would notice it immediately.

Temporary abandon the search for the puny battery for something more important. I can't lost the wallet at this moment because it contains lots of important cards like identity card, student ID card and driving license. Without these I basically dont need to goto college tomorrow.

Was panic, search my car seat for any sign of it, not avail. Search around the house, still can't find it. OMG.

Called my aunt whether she accidentally took the wallet as she stop by our house moments earlier. Negative in reply. Sigh.

I was very stressed out, until my sis actually found it inside my mother's bag. (-__-")

Upon discovering this, I came up with a conclusion that my mom accidentally took my wallet and put into her bag while her wallet is actually still left on the spot. Since our wallet looks similar so it's possible that we might mistaken with each others.

Just after that while continue to search for the battery, she actually found the battery covered underneath pike of stuffs on the desk. Hahah! Double bingo!

It was a real, though momentarily shock as I'm very afraid of losing my belongings. Given my reputation of keeping things well, it's a real shocker that I actually lost things.

I just hate the trouble to find lost items, or lost any sort of opportunities. Hate and fear of losing things, I guess that is my weakness. It just simply struck me hard when that really happens, thankfully it's all fine now. :)

A Call From Dell

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:51:00 +0000

Evening received a phone call from a Dell personnel. He called regarding a matter I reported to Dell Support through e-mail.

Last week there was once when I boot up the laptop, the screen went flashing with different colours and beeping sound. Was shocked with this error, immediately soft-shutdown it (by pressing the Power button for few secs to let it turn off itself instead of plugging out the power cable, which can damage the laptop).

Thankfully the laptop works normally after that. I backed up my important files, and then lodge a report to Dell regarding this matter.

My report:

INCIDENT INFORMATION
******************************

Incident Type:Computer
Operating System:Windows Vista 32-bit
Computer Skills:on
If you are getting an error, please include the exact text of the message.

Description of problem.
When I boot up the laptop, the screen turns blank and then came up with different colour (red, green, yellow) flashing on the screen with beeping sound.

Description of any troubleshooting steps you have taken.
Pressed the power button 'til the laptop switch off. Try to boot up again and it works like normal.

I got this reply on the next day.

Dear Ling Fan,

Thank you for contacting Dell Online Technical Support. If you have contacted or tried contacting Dell recently regarding this issue, please let me know.

From your email, I understand that your system is having blank screen and color flashing when booting up. If I am misunderstood your concern, please do let me know.

I am concerned with the problem you are having with your computer. Please do not worry as I will help to resolve the issue very soon.

To isolate the problem, kindly perform the following:

Please run the Dell Diagnostic to check on the hardware. This test will generate an error if a hardware fault is found.

a. Insert Dell Resource CD (Dell Drivers and Utilities CD)
b. Restart system. Press immediately when Dell splash screen appears to enter into the Boot Menu.
c. Choose to boot with CD/DVD
d. Run the 32 Bit Diagnostics/ Diagnostic test.
e. Choose to run the Extended Test.
Note: the test will take at least 3-4 hours to be completed.
f. If there is any error reported, please provide me with the complete error message and the category the error falls into.

To be safe, I would suggested that you to back up your data for in case.

I would appreciate if you could monitor your system over these weekend and feedback to me the status of your system.

Ling Fan, in case we could not reach you via your primary phone, kindly feedback an alternate contact number (mobile phone/Office phone) if you have any.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have further enquiries.

For your reference, your case number is: 3031884

Take care and have a nice weekend!

Thank you & best regards,
Alex Ooi
Dell Services - Technical Support
ANZ & SA - Online Team

I actually send the report on Thursday and they replied on Friday. Today (Wednesday) they decided to call me to check out is there anymore problems or not. Thankfully nothing happened til then.

No, I didn't run the hardware diagnostic test as what they recommended because it took up to hours to complete it.

Well, at least Dell's Support is responsive and attentive. I didn't expect to get such call because I thought it's solved "online", but it's good that they approach the cusomter "offline".

Their service is good, but the quality of the products remain doubtful as I've problems with their hardwares.

The Dell LCD monitor I ordered back in 2006 was faulty less than one year of use, so I got it replaced with a new one. Since then I've no problem with it, at least until now.

My sis' Dell XPS laptop broke down just not long after its one year warranty expires. Bad luck for her though. At least it's sorted out now.

I dunno whether the other companies, namely Acer, HP/Compaq those have such kind of service or not. Is it good? I dunno. For now I'm quite satisfied with Dell.

Business Dress Code for Guys

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:18:00 +0000

Your choice of business apparel speaks to your professional behavior and credibility. It is important to understand how to dress for business if you wish to promote yourself and your organization in a positive manner.

In men's clothing, fashion does not change significantly from season to season but business attire is about being professional and not about being fashionable. It's about presenting yourself in a way that makes your clients feel comfortable and confident with you. Dressing for success is still the rule. The professional businessman should keep in mind these few points when deciding what to wear to work.
Choose a conservative suit in navy, black or gray either pinstripe or solid. The quality of the material speaks as loudly as the color and can make the difference between sleaze and suave.
A solid white or blue dress shirt with long sleeves offers the most polished look. The more pattern and color you add, the more the focus is on your clothing, rather than your professionalism.
Ties should be made of silk or a silk-like fabric. Avoid the cartoon characters and go for simple and subtle if you want to enhance your credibility.
Socks should be calf-length or above. Make sure they match not only what you are wearing, but also each other. A quick glance in good light into the mirror before heading out the door can save embarrassment later in the day. Check for holes as well if you'll be going through airport security and removing your shoes.
Shoes should without question be conservative, clean and well polished. Lace-up shoes are the choice over slip-ons or flip flops. Don't think for a minute that people don't notice shoes. Many people will look at your feet before your face.
Belts need to match or closely coordinate with your shoes. Once again, quality counts.
Keep jewelry to a minimum. In a time when men sport gold necklaces, bracelets and earrings, the business professional should limit himself to a conservative watch, a wedding band and maybe his college ring.
Personal hygiene is part of the success equation. Freshly scrubbed wins out over heavily fragranced any day of the week. Save the after-shave for after hours, but never the shave itself.
The finishing touch for the business man is his choice of accessories: briefcase, portfolio and pen. When it comes to sealing the deal, a top of the line suit, a silk tie and a good pair of leather shoes can lose their affect when you pull out
the ball point pen you picked up in the hotel meeting room the day before.
The Queen of England is reported to have told Prince Charles, "Dress gives one the outward sign from which people can judge the inward state of mind. One they can see, the other they cannot." Clearly, she was saying what many people are reluctant to accept; that people judge us by the way we dress. In all manner of situations, business and social, our outward appearance sends a message. Either you show success or you denote failure. Make the difference.

What'sup?

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:19:00 +0000

An update on what will going to happen within this month.

So just after we finished our AS exam last month, now we're embracing Test 6 which is planned sometime in late July, though Chemistry test 1 begins next Wednesday.

Sis CLH will be back in town after completing her degree in Shanghai. Hah now the home will not feel so empty then. I just hope everything goes along well and hopefully the volcano would never erupt, I simply can't stand it others went berserk because of small matters.

Meanwhile, these few weeks to come I'll be busy training for the football competition which will be held at the end of July and early August. Looks like my position is locked as the Left-Back. Tuesday will be playing a friendly match against another team.

Was thinking to get myself a new pair of football boots since the current Predator is kinda worn & the bladed studs are not suitable to play on the college field.
I wanna get this Nike Air Legend, but too bad I don't have that much money now. :(

Ah well, July is a month where everyone will started to get real busy. Everything seems to be moving at a faster pace and will only slows down near the year end. Regardless whether which field you're in, this is definitely not a time to slack around.

Ringtones

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:57:00 +0000

Just created a few new ringtones for my phone. Decided to share it here. :)

Wind Path ("The Path of Wind" from Totoro OST, a composition by Joe Hisaishi.)
Link (350 kB)

Myung ("Myung's Theme", from Macross Plus, Yoko Kanno's composition.)
Link (420 kB)

FF8 Crystal ("The Loser" from Final Fantasy VIII OST, Nobuo Uematsu's theme.)
Link (983 kB)

The ringtones are saved under mp3 format. All are edited from the original songs using Audacity.

New header design

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Previous:

New:

A rather modest design I would say, planned to reduce the size of the header because it looks too big on a 1024 resolution monitor. It looks small on my screen though (1280), so previously I set the pixel larger so that it looks nice on 1280.

This design is based on the Kagaya wallpaper, really nice graphic there.

So what do you think bout the new design? :)

2009 Adidas football boots

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:04:00 +0000

It's been awhile since I received any news about the future of football boots. Recently found these pics on the net, clearly showing what Adidas is planning to release for year 2009. It wouldn't be too long until the next generation football boots to be released in year 2010.

Here's the pics, click for larger view.

Adidas TUNiT F50.9

Other than the aesthetic design, basically this is the same boots as the previous F50.8 series.

Adidas Predator PowerSwerve

4 colours that planned to be released. Looks like Beckham's gonna get his new boots as well, this time is a ClimaCool boots.

AdiPure II

Don't expect too much change in it's appearance, as AdiPure series is mean to follow the retro styling. A tough competitor for Nike's Tiempo Air Legend.

New season football boots

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:41:00 +0000

So the new season is just one month to go, players are eager to take on the new season with the new boots.

(click for larger view)

Adidas TUNiT F50.8

Adidas AdiPure

Adidas Predator PowerSwerve

Beckham's golden boots, available here.

Nike Tiempo Air Legend II

Nike R10 Dois (new Ronaldinho line)

Nike Total 90 Laser II

Source: ProDirectSoccer & Soccer.com

College Trip?

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:32:00 +0000

During Bio lecture Ms Chong asked for our opinion regarding organising a field trip for us ABC class lecturemates. It's been quite a hectic life as we're having lessons and exams through out the year, so Ms Chong decided to give us a break by organising such trip to be exposed to the nature.
As a city-guy, I'm looking forward to it!

The initial suggestion is goto FRIM, which is located just 30 mins from college. Since there's the clash in time, so we're asked to think of any other solutions. Besides, some of the lecturemates are regular visitors to FRIM so not many of them would wanna go there. I went there just once, and that time I don't have much time to explore the forest.

In the end we came up with suggestions to Cameron Highlands and Fraser's Hill. Both are hillside retreats, one is highly commercialised while the other one is more relaxing. Either way, we've to spend at least 1 night there.

Ms Chong actually wanted to make a day trip, but since we requested for it, she'll have to ask the head of school then. It's quite hard for her alone to manage more than 50 students at one go, so we'll need another lecturer to go along with us. Mr Low seems to be reluctant to go when Ms Chong brough up this matter, so I guess it would be our job try to persuade him to go with us.

Anyway if he really can't make it, at least I think Mr Yap or Ms Ong would be OK to follow us along since we're getting along well with them, just that maybe we'll have to compete with Mr Yap for the food, heh.

'til now we dont really know where we'll be heading, according to the plan it'll be sometime around Sept, just 1 month before the A2 exam. Hmm, it would be an exciting trip if it really works out.

Am looking forward to spend the final time with friends before the deadly exam! :)

Unusual Day

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:24:00 +0000

Hahah! Glad that everything is solved now! Phone's working again, yay!

After 2 lectures I straight away went to Low Yat Plaza. The journey took about 45 mins to reach there. Who says our public transports aren't reliable? Though it's troublesome to switch to different lines, at least the ticket fare cost cheaper than some other countries.

Left the phone to be fixed by the technician there. Says it's software error so have to reformat the phone. Luckily all the songs and pics are saved in the memory card so I didn't really lost much things.

Decided to browse around the mall while waiting the phone to be reformatted. In the end I got myself a Philips SHE 2500 earphone. Decided to try it after spending a year using Creative's base EP50 earphone. It cost RM 19, cheaper than I expected. Haven't really try it out yet, so can't tell whether it's good or not.

When the phone is done, I rush back to college to attend the last lesson of the day, Physics Practical. My timing was just good, I have 15 mins spare to get my lunch before the lesson. Missed Bio & Maths Applied lectures, but it's not so big deal because nothing much important covered today.

Parents has been nagging me to take the car for service and maintainance. Since the class ends earlier so I send it to the local workshop to fix it. Everything's done within 30 mins, now just wait for my father to pay up the bill, heh. I noticed the car consumes more oil before service.
Nowadays people is more concious about the car's fuel efficiency. Any defficiency will cost quite a sum as the fuel price burns a bigger hole in everyone's pocket compare to last time. Oh well, we're not alone, the world is being hit hard by this as well.

Anyway, am glad that everything is solved by today. Life could be a little easier for tomorrow, after today's hardwork. :)

Uneasy Sleep

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:05:00 +0000

Automatically woke up at 7.40am, 20 mins before the alarm rang. Thankfully I've managed to scramble out of the bed myself instead of relying on the alarm, which can be risky as sometimes the alarm tone isn't strong enough to wake me up.

I think I slept sometime close to 2am last night, occasionally woke up awhile, so less than 6 hours of sleep, I can feel the body doesn't feel right if I didn't take care of myself at this moment. I hate to get sick!
It is a blessing the class starts at 9am, or else I would've problem getting myself up.

Later will be going to fix the phone.... I felt guilty bout skipping classes but at least I won't miss much skippin' them! At this moment my top priority is to get the phone fixed, else normally I would stay for the lessons 'til the end.

'til then, I've to prepare for going to college!

* Luckily the left foot's injured somewhat cleared, I don't feel any pain now. Phew! 'cause later I've to walk quite some distance from the train stations....

Troublesome Phone

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:07:00 +0000

Just now after transferring files from the memory card, my phone Nokia 5310 seems to have problem.
Insert back the memory card, boot it up. Ended up a screwed screen. It stuck at the screen where you set the time and date, and then the screen just went blank.

Had no idea what's wrong, gonna take the phone to the phone dealer in Low Yat Plaza, sigh.... troublesome.
Planned to skip a few classes tomorrow around noon in order to get the phone fixed ASAP.

Now my solution is separate the Nokia 5310 function into two.

For the phone function, I'll just simply put in the sim card into the Nokia 1110 I previously use.
As for the music player, I'll count on the Creative ZEN Nano Plus, which I'm quite satisfied with it (except the memory size which I regret now). I abandoned it after I got the Nokia 5310, since the built-in music player is good enough to satisfy me. Shees, I just simply can't live without music!!

It's 1am now and I haven't sleep. Although tomorrow's class starts at 9, I suppose to be sleeping now. Blame it on the 3 hours nap I took in the evening. It's just exhausting after spending the entire morning on futsal.

The make the matter worse, during the morning game I got my left foot injured again, at the same spot by the same guy again.... Don't wanna blame my mate, because I just simply block the ball at an awkward position. I just hope the injury will ease off after few days.

Otaku

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:49:00 +0000

Heard of Otaku (御宅族) this term? It is actually a term in Japanese referring to people who're obsessed with anime, manga(comic), games & idol etc fanatically. It can also be used to describe nerdy and geeky people too.

Typical otaku's room.

I find myself being more or less an otaku now. I've been following quite a few manga lately, and now I'm rewatching Gundam SEED Destiny again since there's no fresh Gundam actions. Gundam 00 season 2 will only available in October, still got few months to wait.

Impulse VS Freedom

As for manga, I've been catching up the latest Naruto episodes every week. Sometime I read back earlier chapters to refresh some of the storyline and the character's development.

Naruto

Do you think those stuffs are just merely time-wasting and energy-consuming? It's just for the sake of pleasure and entertainment? Either way, there's something that worth we take note of, and to learn how to see things from a fantasy world's perspective.

Yeah, there's no doubt that everything in the manga or anime is purely fictional and artificial, made up by those artists and the plot doesn't exist at all in the reality. Whatever happened in the manga/anime, will not affect the real world.

One of the most significance part I like about all these stuffs is the music. I previously talk about 2 Japanese composers, Joe Hisaishi & Nobuo Uematsu. Both are excellent composers and I believe there's still more great composers out there yet to be discovered. These 2 figures are not strangers to the otaku circle, many of their fans are otakus as well. Music composition for otaku is a lucrative business I tell you, it's no kiddy stuffs.
You can check out some of their works by clicking their names which will link you to post that I've written about them.

Actually I learn quite a lot of things from reading all the comics and watching the animes. Some of it are not as simple as you thought, there are points that worth we took into consideration that can be compare or applied to our world.

Sometimes I take the plot and settings of the manga/anime as a simulation on what could the people would do given the current world fall into a state like that. Normally people wouldn't think about it, but should anything happened in the real world, we might as well take a few advices and inspirations from those fictional ideas that could be useful at the given situation.
I can't quote any notable examples here, but there's posibilities that we could learn one or two strategies from those fictions.

After all, creativity and imaginary is part of the process to came up with solutions, isn't it?

There's a problem to deal with the fantasy world though. Sometimes those world is too good to be true, and some people couldn't justify for themselves to differentiate the reality and the fictional world, which they confuse that the fictional world is the reality, while the real world around them is just an illusion and ignore it. t

We've seen in serious cases, those people could go nuts with their mind and ended paying up their precious life on something that doesn't exist at all. Though this is extremely rare in Malaysia, elsewhere in Japan or some other countries it is not something fresh.

These kind of unnecessary stress can be avoided, if one is clear with what's going on and think properly to take any actions into consideration. They must believe the fact that what's inside the fantasy world is not practical, appropriate or really works it out.

Yea I do speak of possible turning tips and tricks in the fiction used in real world, but of course you must have common sense to utilize it (sounds contradicting myself lol). Even in the real world, it's not everything could be useful or worthwhile also. There's more factors that we have to take into considerations too, before deciding what action should be done.

Talk about manga/anime, the storylines will never fail to introduce romance theme in it. I dare to say almost 99% of the manga/anime I came across would touch onto this section, especially the protagonists. There's the element of surprise and suspense that will makes everything much livelier and interesting.

Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne, one of the couples from Gundam SEED series.

I for one, sometimes fall for this. The relationship between the couple in the storyline seems to be too good to be real, I have the thought that how good it will be if this really happened to me, I'd be very happy then.
The truth is, reality is cruel and harsh, and one have to face it no matter how you deny and ignore it.

Romance in the fictional world seems to be the perfect couple, or a few choices for the protagonist to choose from. Sometimes it's very exciting to follow the storyline, because we're eager to know who they would end up together.

Well most importantly, no matter how real the story sounds to you, don't get too carried away by the fantasies' influences. The best is to enjoy all the stories while sticking your feet on the ground. :)

SMS & CGS

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:25:00 +0000

Natural instinct awakes me early this morning. I knew I've something to do today, so I wake up 45 mins before my alarms rang. Yep, alarms, not just two, but I've set 3 alarms in total! Well just in case you know.... overslept isn't my habit bit it does happened before. :S

Reached SPUS around 8am. Today is actually the parents-lecture day, where the parents will be coming to the college to have a dialogue with the lecturers regarding their children's studies. My parents didn't know about this as I hijacked the letter. Besides, I know my parents wouldn't have time to come to the college to be "lectured" by the lecturers. :)

The reason why I turn up in SPUS is because I'm helping the SMS (Science & Maths Society) for their science exhibition. Though I can only help them for awhile, but yea it's better than none isn't it? Was kinda surprise to see everyone's settin' up everything so fast, and all the booths are packed with lots of stuffs. Now this is something interesting, the science exhibit in school last time is nothing compare to this SMS's science exhibit!

I felt a bit awkward I'm the only white-shirt there as the rest of them are in the black SMS t-shirt. I haven't get mine, and chose the wrong colour instead. :S
I didn't take any pics from there, probably will take some pics from Bryan since he's the official photographer of the day.

I helped them a little while until 9.15am when I received Yin Wan's call asking me to attend the CGS gathering at Sports Complex. Hmm.... was little bit of distance walk from south-west to the north-east, but nevertheless I still made it in time.

Last year I somehow signed up as a member of CGS (Career Guidance Society), though this is the 2nd time I join their activities. It's like an annual gathering for society, to welcome the newcomers and let everyone get to know each others. It's about time to pass the baton to the next gen....

Played the ice-breaking games with them. I "won" the firs game by losing my shoe. In the end have to go on stage do something silly to get the prize and my shoe back.... (-__-"). Anyway was grateful with the prize, Munchy's cookies, nice.

Stayed up for the gathering til the afternoon. There's this DISC talk presented by the speaker Mr Alan See, the same guy who gave the workshop last year which I attended. Since I've attended the workshop before, the presentation was introduction for the new members to attend the workshop on next week.

Had a lunch at the cafateria, was quite good although limited choices of dishes. Chit-chat abit with Yin Wan before moving on to SPUS again, to check things out whether I can help them out to clean up after the science exhibit. I actually wanna stayed up for the CGS gathering til the end but thinking that SMS there might need someone to help them to clean up so I went there then.

Apparently they're almost done with the tidy up, so I have almost nothing to help there. Just when I'm decided to head back to join CGS's activity again, father called, asking me to get back home ASAP to wait for a parcel. Oh well, looks like I'm done for the day. The time is just around 2pm, still a little early to head back home lol.

Well, both side's activities are kinda fun, just too bad I couldn't follow both 'til the end. Sometimes I wish I could summon shadow clones, just like Naruto.... kage bunshin no jutsu! So that I can attend different events at one go!

Football Training

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:56:00 +0000

While walking in the corridor to attend the last lecture of the day, I saw Martin brought his boots together, so I asked whether the gang is having a game or not. Usually I ask them to play, but this time kinda surprise to see they planned ahead of me.

They wanna practise for the coming Sports Carnival, and I wanna join them too. Last year joined, but was trashed out of the tournament at the very first game.
This time we have a proper team and we know most teammates quite well as we played together for quite some time already.

After the Bio lecture at 1pm I rush back home to get my gears and then head back to the college straight away. Was very lucky to have a vacant parking space not so far from the football field.

At first they wanna play me as the keeper as they've yet to decide the players. But they decided to try me for the defenders. We have players that could run in different roles so we're sorting out the positioning.

In the end I settled down myself in the left-back. They say that I'm suitable to run on that side since there's 2 stocky-build centre backs already. So now, the back 4 is almost settled, R-L: Jeffery, Guna, AK & me.

Personally, I knew that stationed as CB is not really my best position but worse come to worse at least I still can take that role if needed.
For LB, heh I can only think of Philip Lahm, who's a successful right-footed LB for Germany & Bayern Munich. I just hope that I could slide tackle someone during the game. >:)

For the other roles they haven't decide yet because today not all of the players are present. For weeks to come we will have similar training again from time to time. I hope that more players would turn up so that we could build our team before the registration begins.

It is important to train everyone earlier as we're racing ahead of our opponents. So far I only saw the other SPUS football team but how good they are, we'll find it out on the game then.

I dunno when the Sports Carnival will be held. My mind told me it's in July but checking last year's post I realised it's actually in August. Anyhow, have to be mentally and physically prepare for it.
This time we're going to win the tournament! :D

Training can be exhaustive.... right now I'm not really in the mood to do anything else. It is still too early to go for sleep. Tomorrow still have to go back college for some activities so I don't think I can had enough rest, unless I not going for Sunday's futsal game then. I'm tired.....

Financial Management

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:28:00 +0000

I guess people around my age should be aware of the money figures now.
I used to have no clue about the financial figures at all, when the adults discuss the car or property cost how many Ks, I have no idea how much it cost because I can't relate it to something valuable I know by that time.

Now, I'm clear with most figures, how much everything cost and how much one should spend and so forth. I have to learn all this by myself since a person will eventually have to learn how to deal with this when you're getting older.

I didn't take any economy-related subjects at all, though I found it more useful than science since you can apply the economy stuffs pretty direct, as oppose to science which needs you to carry out experiments to prove the result.

I am aware that at this age I shouldn't be rely on parent's financial assistance for most of the time. I'm big enough to work for my own life, but since I'm studying I can't really go on working, not even part-time.

Other than working for part-time job during holiday breaks, I did earn a little through blogging. I may have mention it, yea I do earn a sum of money online via advertisement. It's working pretty well for me,

I don't think it's nice if I disclose how much I actually earn, but it's good enough to cover my AS exam fee. It doesn't cover my course fee tough, if I could I would have pay for my own course fee already.
I don't wanna put on more burden on my parents, so if I can pay it for myself I'll do it. Now I plan to save up the money to pay for my A2 exam fee, which fortunately cost lesser than AS fee, phew!

I do admit I spend quite a lot especially during the PC Fair. That is the only time when I flush most money down in one go. Now I'll have to plan a budget for upcoming August PC Fair, argh.....

Currently on the list is an Altec Lansing earphone which I saw last time. It doesn't cost that much thankfully, less than RM 30 for a good quality earphone.

Yes, as an audiophile I will try to get the best gears around so that I can enjoy listening to music as the best quality I can afford. So far I'm satisfied with the Philips headphone I using for computing.

For now I've to spend money wisely for the rest of the month. Starting from August I'll have to spend a lot again....
Thankfully there will be a paycheck in July so I'll probably get hold of the hard-earn cash before August, hopefully. :)

So, do you have any sort of financial plan for yourself? For a long-run, it's extremely important to have a basis for managing your own finance. If you have one or two tips, feel free to add it here. :)

College's Computer Lab

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:49:00 +0000

These days I spend quite a lot of time in the college's computer lab because after I dropped GP.
I realised I had lots of time to kill. Sometimes I even have 2 hours free time, which I spend 1.5 hours inside the computer lab. Hmm....

I dunno whether I spoke about this before, that if you want to get a place in the lab, you have to be at the right timing. It is still possible to get a place even in the peak hours (12-2pm), if you go in at the right time.

For me, I usually will go there 10 mins before the hourly mark. That time, there'll be people coming out from the lab as they might be heading for the next class or do something else. That time you can easily get to use the computer very fast.
More than 5 minutes after the hourly mark, you'll be lining up with the rest of people waiting their turn to use the computer. You may have to wait up to 15 mins or more before your turn though, so it can be pretty time-wasting Q'ing outside there while looking people surfing.

Inside the computer lab I believe there's more than 200 computer units here, and during peak hours the occupancy rate reaches the max.
Furthermore, some may complain that the network speed is very slow due to the large amount of web-surfers.

The computer lab is divided into 3 rooms. The first room is the biggest, hosting more than 100 computers, while the other 2 is much smaller, roughly 20 computers per room. Those smaller rooms are mean for computer lessons.
I found out that all 3 rooms are having separated networks. Since those 2 smaller rooms are serving less computers, so the net connection is pretty smooth and the loading speed is still acceptable. As for the first room (which I'm using now), it is not as bad as last year, the pages still loads but at a slower pace, better than not loading at all.

Another thing I like is the headphones here, I simply love to listen my music collection with the headphones! It may look worn off after being used by the students all the time, it still delivers good sound. I recommend this Philips SBC HP195 if you're looking for a good headphone.

Time's almost up, will talk about college stuffs again next time, ciao for now.

Blogs I'm reading regularly.

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:25:00 +0000

Since I dont have anything bout myself to write here, I decide to introduce you all some blogs that I usually read.

Some of the links I've posted right on the side-bar, but I guess you probably wouldn't notice it since it's placed near the bottom. I'm still yet to figure out when I will start to sort things out. :S
So here it goes.... will sort out one by one alphabetically!

Chan Lilian - 5xMom
I guess she's the most famous blogging aunties around. I follow her blog for quite some time already, since 2005 I guess?

I found her blog interesting because she's quite up-to-date and her posts gave me another perspective for seeing things. She usually blogs about her family, daily life, food, politics etc.

Dont worry, everything she wrote can be easily digested, if you're a Malaysian and understands Manglish and a few Chinese dialects, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading it.

Besides her main personal blog, she do maintain a few other blogs specifically for different topics. The other blogs I like is MalaysiaBest & Penang Street Foods, both are food blogs which I drools whenever I read them.

Thanks to her, I got my domain PhantomCLF.net! :D

Chris Pirillo
Chris is one of my first tech guru. Watched his show "Call4Help" on TechTV back in 2003, when I first got my DSL line, the time where I started my "age of discovery" of the Internet. :)
I learn a lots of stuffs from his program, some I still use it since now, like Flickr. Too bad the show was discountinued in 2004, this guy went missing.

Found out about his blog few months ago while searching for some tech stuffs which I landed myself into this familiar mentor's blog, yeah!

Chris' blog is kinda geeky and nerdy, catered for those techno-savvy guys.
One thing his blog is special is that there's the live video stream running 24/7 which you can watch it on his blog. His blog posts are usually accompanied by a Youtube vid he recorded, it's sort of a vlog (video blog).

If you think you're a geek like me, you'll find his blog very informative and useful at some points. Do note that his blog loads quite long though, at least for me, mainly is because the live video stream stuff he's putting on.

Danny Choo
Just found this blog quite recent, few months back I suppose, while in the midst of finding Gundam infos.

Danny is a UK-borned Malaysian Chinese whom currently residing and working in Tokyo, Japan. His father is the famous Jimmy Choo, the shoemaker of the late Princess Diana, a fact I only found out like last week after reading his blog for months.

Danny's blog covers quite a lot of stuffs, but mainly is life he's having in Japan, from company works (he founds his own company, Mirai Inc.), to otaku stuffs (Gundam, figures, manga/comic, anime etc), and sometimes a piece of his daily life.
One of his most notable feat on the net is his Dancing Storm Trooper video he recorded in the busy streets of Japan. You can have some laugh here in this and this video.

If you're a fan of Japan culture, you'll sure love his blog! Reading his blog is like getting closer to Japan lol!

Jason Mumbles
He's a net buddy whom we share a lot of Gundam stuffs together. Hailed from the historical city of Melaka, he's a photographer for The Star and an avid food lover, a gourmet I would say.

Like his profession, his blog mainly consist of FOOD, FOOD and MORE FOOD. Occasionally he blogs about other stuffs like photography, friends & family, life and something else.

One thing I dislike his blog is that whenever I read his blog when my stomach is empty, I would suffer from mental insult by his food pictures. Reading him enjoy all the glorious food out there while I'm starving, I felt like wanna grab those food from the screen LOL!

Looking forward one day we go eat together lol!

Kenny Sia
Probably the most famous personal blogger in Malaysia. Every post he made will definitely spur up something, at least it tickles your sense of humour. Reading his blog is all about laughing your days off. If you need an instant impression about his blog, read one of his latest entry here.

This guy travels a lot, though he's based in Kuching, Sarawak, most of the time he's flying all the way around the region, either clubbing in KL, enjoying the natural wonders of Oceania, or exploring the best of the South-East Asia.
Sometimes reading his old posts may result in unexpected or forgotten jokes, which would make you laugh 'til your stomach ached.

Feel free to hop into his blog if you think that you need something to boost your mood.

LiewCF
Liew is one of the first few professional bloggers here in Malaysia. He resigned from his job sometime ago to concentrate on serious blogging.
So what is the nature of his blog? Geeky techno stuffs again....

I learn one or two tips from his blog, one of them being earn some $$ online. So far it works pretty good for me.

There was once I bump into him in LRT. Hah, he looks just like a geek in real.

Paul Tan
Paul is one of the most reliable source for automotive industry, locally and abroad. Unlike those fellas I mentioned up there, Paul isn't a geek, in fact he's the pro when it comes to cars.

I rely on his blog to check out new cars in the local market. He did quite a lot of reviews on cars, as well as showcasing future models. I also learn more in depth about our local car industries, namely Proton & Perodua.

If you feel like wanna drive something, you might check out his blog there.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamand - Che Det
The most talk-about new character arriving in the local blogsphere, the blog of our former Prime Minister. He just started to blog in May, but unique visits hit 1 million just within one month. Checking at my blog stats, I still have months to reach my first 1M visits, heh.

Tun M is a great man I highly respected, not just because of his brilliant brain, but also because he was my father's boss. He may be a controversial figure while he's still in the office, but he has all the reasons and visions behind all his decisions which some people may find it insane & irrelevant for the time being.

Since he's the top man of the country for more than 2 decades, basically the nature of his blog is all about critic the current government and the policies. Likewise, it's a heavy-political influential blog.
Oh, his daughter Marina blogs as well. I guess she's one of them who persuades Tun M to start his own blog.

One thing however, I'm dumbfounded with Tun M is his decision to choose Abdullah as his successor to be the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Like the Chinese says, "圣人千虑必有一失". A wise man may made mistakes as well, but this is a critical mistake he has made.

I hope you could find something interesting from the blogs I usually read. Here's a tool I highly recommend to follow up all the blogs is this, Google Reader.

It's very easy, just throw in the blog's link into the subscription, and you'll be notified with all the new posts the blogger just published.
In this way, you will save a lot of time to browse through all the blogs everyday checking for the updates. Now you can just hop into their blog to check out the new stuffs whenever they're on.

Also, Google Reader integrate well into iGoogle.

DBKL = Blood Sucker

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:48:00 +0000

Today 11am went to TBR with the usual gang for our lunch. While walking near the place I parked the car, Tang Yang noted there's this DBKL officer standing beside cars, holding something on his hand. I was shocked because that guy's bike is just placed RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY CAR OMG!

Crap!! He's giving out the summon (locally referred as saman)! I did something stupid I think, I drove the car away thinking that I might've "escaped" from the summon, I'm wrong. While driving randomly in TBR I only noticed the summon has been neatly placed under the wiper, duh!

I'm trying to find another place to park in TBR but because that time almost everywhere has been parked or blocked, I can't do anything much but to park to the usual spot under the track. Lucky for me there's a car just moving out when I'm getting near there. But still.... I can't avoid the summon after all. :(

Sigh, the summon cost me a bloody RM 100.... Last year I heard the summon is RM 30, then increased to RM 50, but now, RM 100!!! WTF?!?

This year seems like the DBKL officers are more "hardworking" giving out summons. Hmm.... does this means that DBKL's having financial issue here? Trying to find excuse to suck the people's money?
They came here almost weekly, at a random weekday, and at a random time.
Pity us students, have to fork out extra RM 100 to pay the damned summon.

I can't do anything much to protest, I've tried to avoid them by any cost, but seems that today my luck runs out. Damn DBKL blood leechers!

SAY NO TO DBKL!!
ANTI-DBKL!!

Just found out this video regarding DBKL's summon. WTF!!

Craze Futsal

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:35:00 +0000

As usual, every Sunday morning have a game of futsal with the gang. It's been a few weeks I didn't join them since I'm having the darned exam. Nevermind that, at least I can stretch my muscle a bit more now. :)

Today's game, pretty much equal in terms of both teams. We're just playing against friends so after all it's a friendly match. Sounds nice and easy isn't it? Not until we start the game.

I for one, was one of the rather unexpected character I would say. Sometimes I could just run into the opponent but sometimes I just stand there let the guy pass through me. Weird eh?

As for the opponent, there's this pair of brothers playing very well. Didn't play with them that frequent, so have to try some time to get used to them. The bigger sized brother is much calm defensive player, while the other brother is a rather speedy lad with fancy footworks shouting in the game. Had quite a tough time to deal with them though.

Tried a few shots on goal from some distance away. I'm a freak in long-range shots, but this time I found myself stuck between my boot and the ball. Most of the ball went off the target, either high over the bar, or deviate from the goal.

My first try on goal looks nice, I slide down to hit the ball in, but the keeper is standing at the right position to block it off. There's a few more shots I made but it's all well-blocked by the keeper, or the shot is too weak to penetrate into the goal.

My first and only goal in the game came from a free-kick. Was trying to distract the keeper by looking at the left side, which looks like I'm going to cross in there, but in the end I pop one easy low ball to the right while the keeper keep an eye on the left.
Heh, I dedicate the goal for her, a feat my Argentine friend Tommy taught me, to dedicate every goals scored for someone that we care and love. :D

Switch myself to be the keeper for awhile. I used to play as keeper but I've switch to playing on-field. That doesn't stop me from maintaining my keeper quality, though I must admit I ain't the best around. Managed to made a few fine saves, as the opponent's attack seems to be pouring in pretty fast. Oh well, at the end I conceded 3 goals I think, all from low shots. Consider my weakness, as I'm not trained to dive into the corner to made the save. The only thing stopping me from becoming a decent keeper is that I dunno how to react at the critical moment, to dive, jump or stay-still.

We played for 2 hours, and was exhausted after the game. It's been a long time since I played such highly-competitive game. Argh, my body ached when I get back home.... even now when I'm writing this, it still hurts, especially the leg muscle. :S

Euro 2008's demise

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:54:00 +0000

The Dutch knocked out.
The Croats knocked out.
The Ports knocked out.

If Italy has the upper hand against Spain, I better quit watching Euro 2008 for good.

A real shocker to see all the good teams are knocked out in this manner. I didn't expect those 3 on-form teams are knocked out by their opponent, which are mainly the underdogs.

There's some reasons why I dislike Italy, perhaps is because their style of playing and especially Marco Materazzi. I do admire a few Italian players though, namely Andrea Pirlo & Gennaro Gattuso. Too bad Francesco Totti no longer play for the Italy national team, he's such a good player.

Given the current gameplay, I just hope that the final would be Germany VS Spain, and the German panzer will win this tournament.

Jolene's Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (CLF) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:50:00 +0000

Was invited to attend Jol's party while in college yesterday. She turned 19 on 19th of June, a nice number combination!

Drove to her house in the evening, there's a few girls there already. Vivian, Ching Ying, Seow Ling & Melissa were there since the class ended at 1pm. Suyin, Xin Xin & Lai Mun reached moments before I do. Now, where's the boys? Hmm.... Tang Yang couldn't come for some reason, and the guys are missing in action due to delays & lost directions. Since I'm the only guy there, can't really do anything much but to feed myself with the good food.

Ah glorious food! Ching Ying is a great cook! The mutton she grilled is just nice! There's no "smell" in the meat, just a piece of lamb chop grilled to its perfection! Oh yea, the chicken wing taste nice too! Was busy helping myself with all the nice food while waiting for the guys to turn up.

I'm done with my 1st round, decided to help up abit to grill the meat. Hmm.... I realised that to get the mutton cooked isn't as simple as it seems. You can't tell if it's ready by just looking at the meat. It requires a sustain amount of knowledge to determine whether it can be served on the table already or not.
Take it out too early, people would complain the meat is still raw; take it out too late, they'll say the meat is quite stiff to be chewed. All the meat we served are "supervised" by Ching Ying the chef of the day.

Joined the rest of the people for card game and dancing DDR on PS. "Heart attack" is a fast-paced & exciting game, first time playing it but pretty much catch up with the concept relatively fast. As for DDR, hahah I'm not that good with it, but still it's fun to play.

Catch up with the rest of guys who reached late. Luckily there's still food for them, so we decided to settle down, have another round of meal, hanging out together chatting and joking. Ah, talk about fun time with friends!

We took a group photo before leaving, well the photo have to get from Vivian since I didn't bring my camera there.

It's a nice party, with all the nice food and good time hanging out, heh thanks again for the invite Jol! Oh yea, happy belated birthday again! :D