Saturday, March 31, 2007

My DAY !!!

Yes it's my day today being my birthday that is ... a very Happy Birthday to me !!! hahahahah ...

The plan is to go out with my friends get drunk and hopefully not embarrass myself too much ... or is that even possible .. getting drunk I meant ...MUAHAHAHHA

Thanks Janice for the early birthday wishes and guess who else remembered my birthday .. it's good old Lina

Here is a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY from all of us at JobStreet.com, and we wish you many many happy returns! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Thank you for being a JobStreet.com member and we wish you all the best in your career and a great year ahead.

Best regards,
LiNa, JobStreet.com

Friday, March 30, 2007

Emi Fujita - Camomile Classics


Always on the lookout for different kind of music this post got me to try Emi Fujita's Camomile Classic album. Thinking that I've heard of the name somewhere before, I took out my cd collection which by the way was collecting dust under my bed after my long break from the audiophile world and there she was in one of my audiophile voices collection album.


Knowing that I will definately love her singing I got hold of the Camomile Classis album. The songs available on this album are

  1. Over the Rainbow
  2. Melody Fair
  3. All My Loving
  4. The Rose
  5. I'll HAve to Say I Love You In A Song
  6. Lovin' You
  7. The End of The World
  8. Best Of My Love
  9. And I Love You So
  10. Try To Remember
  11. Walking In The Air
  12. If
  13. Leaving On A Jet Plane
  14. Over The Rainbow (Reprise)
  15. Proud of You
  16. Rainbow Bridge
Camomile Classic takes familiar songs and then strip them down to include her lovely vocals acompanied with some instruments. As soon as you play the first track Over the Rainbow instantly you are rewarded with plucking/picking of guitar followed by Emi's lovely vocals. The combination of guitar and vocals just puts you in the mood and closing your eyes you can really imagine all your problems flying away as you really fly over the rainbow .. okay it just sounds good .. trust me !!!

Being of Japenese origin in some of the songs you can actually hear her ascent come into play but soon after you will forget about her the way she pronounces some words as her lovely vocal soon takes you to another world. Somehow the way she sings reminds me of Keiko Lee.

Some of my favourite tracks are
  • Over the Rainbow
  • All my Loving
  • Best Of My Love
  • And I Love You So
  • If
  • Leaving on a Jet Plane
Overall I love all the songs in the album and if you're into vocals albeit the weird ascent once in a while you're bound to love this album.

Spartans! Enjoy your breakfast, for tonight we dine in Hell!

What more can I say about this awesome movie that hasn't been said already. As soon as I saw the trailer in the cinema I knew I had to watch this no matter what. I had no idea who starred in the movie nor wat was it about cause I didn't want to build up my expectation before the show so after finally watching the show all I can say is DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNN !!!!

The show is basically based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller and directed by Zack Snyder and starring Gerard Butler (King Leonidas) , Rodrigo Santoro (King Xerxes) , Lena Headey (Queen Gorgo) and many other talented faces that adds their own character and flair to the movie.

The show is roughly based on the Battle of Thermopylae. The Persians try capturing Ancient Persia but are met with daunting task of battling King Leonidas and his army of 300 spartans.

This is madness! Madness? This is Sparta!

If you thought the graphics and CGI in Lord of the Rings was awesome wait till you check out 300. I was blown away with the cinematography and the background on some of the scenes are absolutely stunning. You can see the amount of time and care put in to ensure every detail is captured and displayed to the audience.

Come back with your shield, or on it

The sarcasm, one liner jokes are also so subtle that you have to pay close attention to actually get it. The fighting scenes are just awesome with just enough Matrix like fighting scenes. The splatting of blood, flying of body parts is also done with flair .

What better way to enjoy 300 than catching it at a nearest cinema but if you want to whet your appetite first then check out the trailers in HD .. yes HD is the only way to enjoy movies at home !!! hahahahhah :D

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Sick like a dog

Arrrghhhh running nose, sneezing, coughing ... total blurness. I hate getting sick even though it gives me the chance to stay home and have some much needed sleep but I hate the side effects that it brings. Don't even get me started with the stupid medications. Hate it when I'm sleeping nicely dreaming wonderful things and then my alarm rings cause it's time to take medicines .. grrrrrrrrrr ...

Excuse me while I go and get my medicine and head over to my bed and get some rest.Hope I get well soon cause I want to go out tomorrow night and partayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy :D


Wednesday, March 28, 2007

No Black Tie


Made my way to No Black Tie last night to once again listen to Rachel and her trio bring the place alive with some of my favourite jazz tunes. Somehow I managed to get Eelyn and Estee to come along as well since they said they wanted to go there for quite some time. As I got out of my car when I reached the parking I was suprised when I saw a familiar face and even more suprised to see Tyler coming out of the car as well. He was heading to Palate Palette for dinner with some friends. Since he was early invited him to join us in NBT while waiting.

We got a place while waiting for Cynthia to arrive. When she arrived and after all the introductions, she left me and went for dinner ... mana boleh !!!! Rachel had some salad with little small fried soft shell crabs. When I meant little it really was little no bigger than my thumb. hahahahahaha ... Tyler soon left as well and Rachel got ready for her performance.

It still amazes me the way she sings and how different she talks. Estee even asked where is all the voice coming from .. hahahaha. Sometimes I wonder as well. Rachel even let Eelyn pick a few song .. hey where got fair .. my last request also haven't play yet ... pfftttttttttt


Cynthia came over with some friends and joined us during the 3rd set and before long it was time to say goodbye but not before Rachel sang her last song from Ol' Blue Eyes. Rachel said she will be playing next month with her dad who plays the sax. Definately will not be missing it. Have to mark it on my calendar just in case .. hahahaa :D

Sunday, March 25, 2007

The Juggler

Here I am sitting in college waiting for class to start as usual on a Sunday morning but the difference today is that there is no class.... DOOOOHHHHHHHHH ... I remember waking up this morning to check what time is the class cause I didn't want to come early like last time and wait for class to start but at the same time I didn't check the date of the class ... damn bodoh rite ... damnnnnnnnn ... must have lost a few brain cells recently .... hahahhaahah ... will figure out what to do with my day after this post ..

Anways last week was the 15th day prayer after my grandmother passed away and we finally did the last rituals to send her off to a better place .. I was on leave on Thursday and Friday to recover from the lack of sleep. On the 15th day prayer we had 3 prayers one about 8pm .. one at 12am and another at 3am and then drove down to Morib at 4am to continue prayers and finally send her remains into the ocean back to mother earth and finally reaching back at my uncles place at 9am ... tired and hungry we took a shower and rushed out again to the temple to do the final prayers ... had lunch and went home and knocked out until the next morning on Firday which luckily I took the day off.

Metup with Andre and Tyler for lunch in Uptown and I had this nasi lemak special with kambing,sotong,udang and ayam. This was to make up for the two weeks of being vegetarian. OMG the food was awesome either that or my taste buds finally could work again .. After lunch I head over to Kepong to get my monitor replaced and now I have a spanking new 21" flat screen CRT monitor running at 1600x1200 @ 100hz .. MUAHAHAHHAHA ..everything looks soooooooo big or so small depending how you look at it !!!! Initially wanted to get a 22" LCD widescreen but didn't want to spend too much on a monitor as I wanted to get some other stuff as well ..

Went for class on Friday night and then to Zouk to celeberate their anniversary .. more on that later and stayed out the whole night and morning only to go back and shower before going back to class again at 2pm .. hahahahahhaha .. can't blame me for forgetting some stuff here and there with my hectic schedule now can you .... :P I farking hate statistics ... arggghhhhh lucky it's not going to come out in the exam and will only be contributing to the assignment cause I don't think I can cram all those damn formula's into my head ... and hope to remember them when the time comes ..

So that's what I've been up to these past few days and the reason for the lack of updates ... I was busy being the juggler and I think I need more practise at it ... hhahahaha after all practise makes perfect rite :D

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Mukshin - Everyone has a first love story to tell

Everyone has a first love story to tell


A little late on the review but better late than never. I've wanted to watch Mukhsin ever since watching the trailer in the cinema and knowing that Yasmin Ahmad was involved in it made me even more excited especially after the success of Sepet and Gubra and not forgetting the fact that this movie won a few awards internationally. The song which was used in the trailer called Rain(Hujan) is simply brilliant.

So the story is basically a prequel to Sepet where Orked meets her first true friendship with a boy named Mukhsin who soon later on finds that friendship can soon turn in love. From the beginning of the movie itself Orked parents are potrayed as being different and this is even more obvious when Orked's father Pak Atan starts playing his music and when it starts to rain Orked and her mom Mak Inom run out to dance in the rain.

Orked is different from the rest of the girls around and prefers spending her time reading books and going to football matches with her dad. The movie had me in stiches as I laughed loudly at the many funny scenes and lines the movie has to offer. Pak Atan nonchalant attitude is also priceless especially how he has this blur looking face.

Some of the funny moments that I can recall were
  • Orked threw away the bullies bag off the bus
  • Orked teaching Mukshin English while he takes her around with his bicycle
  • Mukhsin using heaps of gel on his hair and having holes in most of his clothes
  • Mak Inom punishing Orked for throwing the bullies bag off the bus
  • The scene where the song Ne Me Quitte Pas was sung
and loads more that I can't really recall at this moment.


The story truly has included many Malaysian cultures that we see everyday for instance the nosy neighbour who is more interested in what's happening in Orked's home rather than her own or how Pak Atan has calculated how many times he can go and get credit from furniture shops without pay back on time.

It also brings back memories to the yesteryears where there weren't board games or internet and kids had to actually go out and interact with each other and have fun. As soon as I saw Mukshin playing "galah panjang" it immediately brought back memories and not forgetting numerous other activities that children nowdays have not even heard of. A friend of mine who went to see the movie with me kept asking me what "galah panjang" was and how it's played. Hahahahahhahaha

There were a few parts that I didn't really understand how it connects to the story of Orked and Mukhsin for example how Mukshin brother goes out drinking and looking for entertainment to the wee hours of the morning or the part where the neighbours husband goes out looking for another woman leaving his pregnant wife behind.

The part where Mukhsin went for the last time to visit Orked before he leaves and asked her if she had read the message on the tail of the kite he had given her. I still wonder what Mukhsin wrote on the kite that got Orked to run all the way to look for him.

Overall I absolutely loved the movie and how it showcases the friendship and love through the eyes of 12 year old Mukhsin and 10 year old Orked and most importantly of all it's about second chances and how only a few of us will ever have it.

Monday, March 19, 2007

The Myth of You and Me



I finally got around to finish reading this book after a few months. The Myth of You and Me is basically a story about a special friendship shared between Cameron and Sonia and how they became good friends at the tender age of fourteen. They were practically almost always together and shared many firsts together like best friends do. Everything seems perfect and they had a special relationship that only few are lucky enough to own.

So what could possibly happen until Cameron hates Sonia so much until years later even after receiving a letter from Sonia informing of her marriage she refuses to reply. Oliver Doucet a famous historian for whom Cameron was working for had secretly been corresponding with Sonia and had to force Cameron to take on a final task to hand deliver a gift to Sonia as stated in his will when he passed away.

So begins the adventures of Cameron in her quest to find Sonia and deliver the present to her. What draws me into the characters is how they are never honest with themselves and how incidents around them have changed them for better or worst. It also potrays how Sonia and Cameron are able to hide their flaw from the rest of the world except each other in fear of people not accepting or liking them.

Those who have lost a close friend either by drifting slowly apart or a sudden break caused by some incident will definately be able to relate to both the characters in this book but what caught me offguard was how the author decided to end this book. There definately isn't a fairy tale ending waiting to tell you that everything will be okay and that life goes on but the funny thing while I was reading this book was the amount of questions I was asked by my female colleagues as to why I was reading this book when it was about the friendship between to females and who asked me to read it. Hahahahah

O Heroes ! wherefore art thou ?

First of all arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Okay got that out of the way. Heroes will only be airing episode 19 on April 23 which is like a month more. How can they do this to meeeeeeee .. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO .. and what makes it worst is episode 18 is such a cliffhanger ending with Sylar and Peter finally facing it off with Mohinder lying on the floor.

Episode 18 also saw the introduction of a new character Candice Wilmer played by Missy Peregrym who helps the "Company" and Bennet. Here's an interview of her on G4’s “Attack of the Show”. She definately makes a great addition to the already awesome cast of Heroes.




Apart from that there's also almost everyone's favourite character Hiro who is trying to steal the sword that supposedly will revive his "missing" powers. OMG so many things are happening and I can't wait for the season to resume cause it's killing meeeeeeee ....

Headphiles unite

What do a bunch of audiophiles with a limited budget who want to enjoy their music without waking up their neighbours in the middle of the night do ? Introducing the headphiles - audiophiles and their headphones which is now becoming a cheaper way to enjoy high quality music.

Since I've always been interested in music and have heard a few audiophile (stereo) solid state amp setup that starts from a modest RM 2k all the way to more than I will ever want to spend on a sound system with tube amps setup I was wondering how a small pair of headphones would be able to match such setups. So I decided to join an headphilers gathering at one of the members house somewhere in KL.

First of all thanks goes out to the host who has graciously allowed us to use his room as a gathering point at first I was in doubt as to how 20 people are going to fit into a house let alone a room until I saw the picture of the house we are suppose to go to.


So I reached there slightly after lunch time not knowing what to expect as this was my first time attending such a gathering but as everyone started coming one by one the fun part began and the headphones were brought out to be tested.

Now we're not talking about those normal headphones that you find in the supermarket or Jusco or your normal retail stores but these are audiophile grade headphones that you have to either get from a proper audiophile/hi-fi shop or order it from overseas. There were the likes of Sennheiser, BeyerDynamics, Grado, AKG and a few more brands that I can't recall at the moment. There were also some IEM that made an appearance but obviously everyone was eagerly waiting for the appearance of the AKG K701 and Grado RS-1.


The AKG K701 will set you back about RM 1.5k where else the Grado RS-1 about RM2.5-2.8k if I remember the prices correctly. Yup just for a pair of headphones !!! Well lucky for me I will not have to fork out that kinda money to have a listen to them and see what the hype was all about. There were too many people surrounding the K701 so I decided to head straight to the RS-1 and test them out. The first impression I had was how real and airy the acoustic guitar sounded. You could hear the plucking of the strings in great detail but then again the headphones were amped which would have definately made a difference as well.

I also had the chance to test out the HD580, HD650 and Allesandro MS2i. All of them hover around the RM1k range and though I have always liked the sound of the Sennheisers I absolutely loved how the MS2i sounded and it plays a wide range of music. I manage to listen to them amped and unamped and though it did sound kinda dull with a lower soundstage it still sounded awesome to me. OMG here comes the poison ....

Other headphones that made their apperances together with their amps to drive them and not forgetting the various sources available.



Thursday, March 15, 2007

Free coffee


What better way to start your morning even though is not that early by a cup of free coffee. YES FREE !!! Head down to your nearest Starbucks today from 10am to 12pm to get it

Monday, March 12, 2007

shit happens

Just when you thought your day couldn't get any worst and shit happens. Decided to take the bus to work today and as usual took the bus from the normal location but he dropped me off somewhere further and I had to walk to the office which was like a 10 mins walk.

So when it was time to go back I waited in the same place I usually do but I was a bit late because it suddenly started raining so I missed the 6pm bus. Waited for the 7pm one and everyone's else bus came except mine. Something definately is not right so I walked to the main station which was like a 15-20mins walk which didn't really bother me since it was nice and cooling under the setting sun. When I reached there only do I notice an A4 paper stating the bus that I usually sit has changed routes. Common sense would be to paste this notices in the places that the bus is no longer going so that people like me wouldn't have to wait there like a bloody moron .. dumbasses !!

Lucky for me all this while I had my trusty GPRS connection to keep me entertained while waiting or else I think I would have died in boredom. Also to add salt to the wound someone who was suppose to come to KL soon had delayed the flight and will only arrive early April .. booohoooo .. SHIT HAPPENS !!!

Friday, March 09, 2007

Goodbye

Grandmother took her final breath on 7th March 2007 at 3:40pm leaving behind 5 sons and 3 daughters and many grandchildrens. May she finally rest in peace knowing she has single handedly raised excellent succesfull childrens and grandchildrens. She will be missed tremendously by everyone close to her.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Tragedy

Yesterday was a very emotional day as I and my family members spent almost the whole day in the hospital awaiting news about my grandma's condition. She was admitted on Monday because she suffered a stroke and got worst on Tuesday. I took half day from work to join my relatives who were already there since early morning. By the time I got there she was already in a coma and the doctor is waiting for her to stabilise before drawing any conclusions but from what he has described it definately doesn't look good as her brain has already suffered a lot of damage and seeing that this is not her first attack.

Here I am in the office now waiting to attend a meeting and will take the rest of the day off in the hospital hoping and praying. It just all seems so sudden and not getting to see her with her eyes open one last time really saddens me.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Babel


The show won quite a few awards which naturally intrigued my curious mind to go and see what the fuss was all about. I heard some people saying the show was rather slow and after I got out the cinema I could feel a numbness in my head because it was really DRAAAAAAAAAAAAAGY !!!

One thing for sure when the rating was for 18 and above it definately wasn't kidding with some nudity and sexual content and what's even more astonishing was it was not sensored even though in some movie kissing scenes were cut. Interesting ...

The show potrays the love between father and child, husband and wife, brother and sister and how all of them some how or rather are tangled in their own problems and issues and how one single event can tie them all together.

With the show keep switching between characters and plots somehow I didn't really connect with any of the characters and their situation and issues they face. One thing for sure Brad Pitt looks old and Cate Blanchett could have done a lot better other than what her character potrayed.

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Ghost Rider


After seeing the trailer and then hearing big names like Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes I was certainly excited to watch this movie and made it one of the must see shows for 2007. Even though I've been getting mixed reviews from friends on the show I decided to see it anyway.

Those who were into the comics said the show pretty much sucked and didn't really follow the proper storyline but heck just watch only la. The effects for the movie were pretty awesome especially when Johnny Blaze first transforms into Ghostrider and how the bike also evolves. I never knew how Ghostrider got his chain which can be seen wrapped around him and I don't know if what the movie potrays is true or not but at least it made sense at that moment.

The sad part about the movie for me was if Blackheart was so damn powerfull and all knowing wouldn't he know that if he consumed the souls Ghostrider could just use the Penance Stare and kill him ? A bit the dumb la and also the Caretaker .. what the heck he transforms just to ride along side Ghostrider ? I thought least can see him in action but noooooo ..

Overall it was an okay show with great effects and mediocre performance from award winning cast who weren't able to really showcase their talent.

Feeling appreciated ?? NOT !!

Had our anual company dinner last Saturday night and it was different from the previously held dinners due to the fact that this time around we had our very own performance from each team where the best performance get some prizes and glory for him team/house. Apart from that they also had a Mr and Miss award where the winner will also win some voucher but the funny thing was the lady winner gets a tiara from Habib Jewel as well unlike the guy who if I remember correctly only gets a RM 150 voucher. How come like that one ???

Anyway the theme for the night and overall programme was not too bad. At least this time around the host did a good job of keeping the crowd entertained though some of his jokes a bit the dumb lor .. the performance from the guest artist also was good and she made the effort to come down and greet each and everyone of us .. amazing thing was she can still post and take pictures and sing at the same time .. hahahaha awesomes ..

But the most dissapointing thing of the night is not that I didn't win any prizes though the main prize which was a trip to Gold Coast was very much welcome but it's due to the fact that some of us were suppose to be recognised for their loyalty and service from the company and were suppose to be given some kind of token of appreciation but instead all we got was 30 secs of fame while our name was being projected on the screen. That's it !!!! After working here and sweating blood and tears for more than 5 years and that's all we deserve ?? What's even more dissapointing is one of my manager's name didn't even appear in the list !!! OMG if it was me I would be crushed and hurt .. tremendously !!!

Just wait ... after I finish my studies the first thing I'm gonna do is start applying for a better job that recognises my efforts and makes me feel appreciated ... there comes a point in your life when the appreciation for your hard work is equally as important as getting cash rewards !!! IDIOTSSSS !!!! roarssssssssssssssss

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Chap Goh Meh

Yesterday was Chap Goh Meh which marks the 15th day of the Chinese New Year and it was a full moon. So did anyone manage to go and collect some oranges floating down the river/lake ?? hahahaha


I spent my Sunday by waking up and continuing my Greys Anatomy already towards the end of Season 2 and I better start getting my hands on Season 3 as soon as possible. I know I'm a bit outdated compared to what's being aired on TV now but at least better late than never.

Got a msg from Estee informing about the MPH warehouse sale in PJ and since I wanted to get some books (I haven't even started reading the books I bought the last time .. hahaha) I decided to go have a look. Being the last day of the sale the place was packed. Parking was a nightmare and the amount of books people buying you must think they have loads of time on their hands cause some of them were buying in the dozens. You won't know how much you miss having that certain someone by your side until you grab an interesting book and turn around to share your opinion only to find an empty space or a total stranger next to you *sigh*. Got myself some books and one of them is Richard Branson - Losing My Virginity


After that tiring and sweaty ordeal went to have drinks in SS2 Skycafe. We were definitely the noisiest group there because we ended up playing Jenga and after a few games of poker and uno it was time to go home and have a quiet evening. Classes are about to start soon and my weekends will be packed once again with classes and studies and assignments *shiverssss*