ghosts

of jams and road blocks

2008-07-15T22:14:00.003+08:00

Those going to work yesterday would have been cursing and swearing as the normally 'smooth' road jams were worsened by the multiple roadblocks covering most major roads heading into the city and especially the ones heading towards Parliament.

What's the point of these road blocks? For public safety? What would demonstrators do? Throw bombs? At least tighten security around the August House instead of blocking every single road.

The most annoying part of all was the policemen who were manning these blocks were just sitting at the side of the road while they turn a 3 lane road into a 2 lane one.

Clearly, they aren't interested in the security of the people since they just sit around while the morning rush, potentially having many cars with protestors in them, passing them by while they chit chat at the side.

A nuisance? Definitely.

Necessary? Definitely not.

squeeze my finger please

2008-07-15T14:50:00.006+08:00

It was a crazy past weekend for me. 5 of us went up to Raub (that's in Pahang for those who are geographically challenged) to kick off the Prostate Awareness Campaign which will be held until August.

Prostate Awareness Campaign schedule

Cramped in a Honda City, 3 surgeons and 2 medical officers were off for a weekend of asking men above the age of 50 about their urination speed and their sexual health. The hospital was a pretty nice place. Small, but very green... typical for a small district hospital. Manned by 6 medical officers, the hospital sees its fair share of motor vehicle accidents and the medical officers get to see civilization on their occasional trips to HKL and UMMC while sending patients there. Of course, that trip back to civilization is short lived.

(L-R): Mr. Amit, Mr. Kantha, Dr. Narmada, Mr. Warren, me.

The hotel we stayed was a el-cheapo budget hotel, which if you ever drive past it, you would never ever think of staying in it. The receptionist there, a mixed breed of male and female, greeted us and we got our keys to the rooms. The rooms weren't too shabby but still... could have been better.

dodgy... I know.

see how the 2 single beds are covered in kids' sheets?

Saturday was the first day of the campaign and the response was pretty good. A quiet town like Raub, and you would have been shocked with the amount of people lining up even before the 9am registration. We managed to hit close to 300 patients over the two days. By the end of the day, judging by the amount of per rectal exams we were doing, our index fingers were basically disintegrated!

Weapon of choice... fully loaded with KY Jelly

Most of the patients were there hoping to get free samples of Viagra. Unfortunately for them, we only had samples of Cardura and Xatral (meds for enlarged prostates) and they had to go out and buy them Viagra if they need them. I even had an 84 year old man who could barely walk asking me for Viagra!

that's just some of the boxes of Cardura that we had

Pfizer took us out for dinner on Saturday night at the famous fish head curry restaurant, Ratha, and it was really good. We even had packs of the famous groundnuts from Sempalit. On the way back from Raub to KL, we also stopped by to sample Raub's durians. Good stuff man...

the famous fish head curry in Raub... excellent stuff

definitely not looking forward to the next whole day of PRs

durians... 'nuff said

Having seen 60 plus patients over two days, giving them a nice jab up their butts, and going back to work the next day without going home (was on call) has been pretty exhausting so I think I'll get some shut eye now.

A very successful first leg of the campaign!

Samsung SGH-i780 review and a few more things

2008-06-24T15:21:00.005+08:00

The review is finally up. Longest review I've ever written for Mobileburn.com but that's expected since the phone packs a whole load of features except the kitchen sink. Interested parties, click here to check it out!

We finally got the keys to our house last weekend and now the headache begins... Grills, what to renovate, what colour to paint the walls with, which dining table to get, what colour would our kitchen be... and the list goes on.

the street in front of our new house

there it is...

Work wise, everything's pretty static at the moment. The same old calls, same old endless clinics, same old crap certain colleagues do to piss you off... but I did manage to learn how to stent and remove stents in patients. Females so far since I am not allowed to touch the flexible cystoscope (previous history of medical officers wrecking quite a number of them) which is used on males - managed to sneak around and use it twice though... shhh.

That's it for now. Post call and it's time to nap before hitting the gym. Oh, the Beauty and the Beast musical is on this week. Will be watching it this Thursday. Updates then.

I feel insulted...

2008-06-06T21:34:00.002+08:00

because the Prime Minister has resorted to asking us, the Rakyat, to tighten our belts instead of cutting down on Government spending.

because the Government has earned so much money in excise duty and sales tax from all our ridiculously priced cars, and yet there's no idea where the money went.

because Petronas says it will go bankrupt after making RM570billion in profits.

because Petronas has given the Government RM335.7billion and yet again, no idea where the money went.

because the Government is now teaching us to drive with a lighter foot, and save fuel, instead of coming up with a real way to lighten the Rakyat's burden.

because the Government keeps reminding us our fuel prices are the lowest in the world without taking into consideration that our salaries are also one of the lowest in the world. Dollar for dollar, Mr. Sleepyhead.

because the Government thinks that Rm625 a year will make a difference when petrol prices have gone up, food prices are going up, transportation fees are going up, electricity tariffs are going up, daily necessities are going up in price, and the list goes on.

because the Government thinks that the 15% increase in civil servants' pay was a proud achievement although it fails to realise that the amount of time they took for the payrise, inflation rates have already gone up by at least triple that increase.

because there are just too many things to say about the state of affairs in this country today and there's just not enough time because I need to find extra jobs to survive.

Thank you, PM... Thank you, BN... Thank you for everything you've done.

busy holiday

2008-05-10T18:41:00.003+08:00

I've been on leave since Labour day (that's 1st May for those who are that ignorant) and there hasn't been a single day where I've just sat down and relaxed.

Marriage registration was on 3rd May at the Maha Vihara buddhist temple at Brickfields. After that it was massive gymming at True Fitness in Pavilion. A very nice gym but they don't provide towels... not a good thing. Anyway, I only paid 30 bucks for a trial month which lets you try out every single class in the gym. Still considering joining on a long time basis but I prefer a gym which provides towel so will have to start hunting.

The gang minus Irene before the registration

We also went to PD and the old KL train station for our pre-wedding photoshoot. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so we didn't have real clear blue skies with white clouds... sigh. Just too bad. Will update the post with some pictures once we choose our photos. Should be fun. We used Van Gogh studios for our wedding photos and our photographer was Adam, the Art Director of Touch Group. We kinda chose this studio based on his portfolio. You can check out his blog here to see some of his work. Pretty good stuff!

Khim going through the 1 hour plus make up session

It's gonna be back to work for me on Monday... hope I'll still have time to go gymming... kinda fun ;)

there's light on the dark side

2008-04-15T23:13:00.004+08:00

I've been using the Palm OS since my medical school days. Although not as hardcore as some who had the infamous Palm Vx, I started off my Palm experience since they came out with their first colour screen PDA, the Palm m505. The screen was nothing to shout about, pretty washed out when viewed under the sun, and the resolution was pretty crappy. A few months later (or was it a year later? Can't remember.), Palm came out with the updated version, the m515, with a much better screen. I upgraded instantly and the screen was just glorious.

I stuck with the m515 since then until they came out with the Tungsten line of PDAs. I didn't pay much attention to them since I was pretty happy with my m515. I have to admit, being a student, I didn't use much of the PIM (personal information management, i.e.: calendar, contacts, tasks... etc) applications much. Instead I used the PDA mainly for... Bejeweled! Can you believe that? It was the most freaking addicting game on a handheld since Tetris!! Everyone was borrowing the m515 to beat each other's scores. Others with handhelds also got their copy of the game and started playing. It was just nuts... Well of course I use it for ebooks and also medical applications as well since they provide a fast and intuitive way of looking up some quick facts. Pretty cool.

Years passed by... the year I got my first m505 was 2001. My next PDA was the Tungsten T3. Infamous for its slide out 320 x 480 screen and on-screen silk screen... that machine was simply amazing. After awhile though, I got tired of carrying 2 devices at one time and finally caved in to the Treo 650. I stuck with that till the 680 came about. The QWERTY keyboard of the Treos have always been the benchmark for all other QWERTY keyboards and nothing comes even close to the Treos. I just love a full keyboard... I can type much faster than using T9 on a normal keypad.

7 years after using the Palm OS, I have finally succumbed to the power of Windows Mobile (WM). Although still not a fan, I have to admit the OS is much more powerful in terms of multimedia functions. I wouldn't have bothered with the WM OS if it wasn't for this beauty...

Samsung SGH-i780 - looks similar to the smartphone version, the i600 but not at all the same

Slim, QWERTY keyboard, all the connection options in the world, built-in GPS... all in a 120gram package. When I first saw pictures of this phone going around the internet, I knew if I was gonna switch to WM, it was gonna be this phone. However, I put it off knowing very well Samsung will price the damn thing so high it would be crazy to get it. Imagine my surprise when I saw the price tag of RM1999 with a 4GB microSD card, an extra battery, screen protector and a nice battery casing cum charger thrown in. That's not all... the price is negotiable (Hint: I got it more than RM200 cheaper than the listed retail price)! To cut the long story short, I was sold.

Slimmer by almost half the Treo 680. Didn't compare with new Centro though...

Having been so used to the Palm OS's snappy interface, I'm still coming to grips with the WM system. It's more tedious getting things done but definitely, you can get more things done on WM. I even tried the GPS system on the Samsung... I never knew what the hell was so great about having a GPS system. The only GPS system I ever used were my eyes, and hands on the steering wheel, and the occasional studying of maps before I begin my journey... But after using it for a day... I now understand why people are just so nuts about GPS. It's just so god damn geeky! And I'm sure people with poor sense of direction would just love it since they can now just drive and drive and drive without planning ahead and just by listening to the somewhat robotic voice from the phone, get to their destination.

Drive 2.5km and turn left... - Trying it out this evening while heading towards Jusco Kepong

I won't spend so much time typing about this phone now. Will be working on a review about it for Mobileburn.com and will link to it from here.

Until then... Yes, the dark side is brighter in its own geeky way but if PIM is your primary concern, Palm OS is still the best. Make no bones about that.

Nightwatch Optimus Prime

2008-04-07T17:01:00.003+08:00

Stumbled across this repaint edition of the Transformers movie Optimus Prime. It comes in a dark turquoise/cyan blue with silver flames instead of the red/dark blue with red flames original. Pretty cool... I missed the first original Optimus Prime the last time around coz... I don't know... I just didn't buy it and when it went out of stock, I just couldn't get it anywhere (no, I won't pay extra just because it's out of stock... not that mad). So since it comes with a new colour, which I think is a cool colour combo(although, the original is still... well, the original)., I decided to get this instead.

From L-R: Deluxe Bumblebee, Leader class Nightwatch Optimus, Voyager class Optimus

Basically it's Optimus with the All Spark power running through ~~his veins~~ him. So he gains stealth abilities but why in the world he's blue, I have no idea... shouldn't it be black? Or at least some darker shade. *shrugs*

bugger... he's big!

Sorry about the background in the pics. Wasn't up to prepare a background... :P

details are extraordinary

details get lesser when class gets lower... obviously.

No Budget

2008-04-07T16:46:00.003+08:00

I'll be starting my calls soon, this Sunday to be exact. Was supposed to be a Saturday but luckily a colleague wanted my Saturday slot and I took her Sunday slot. Why lucky to be on call on a Sunday? Well, I get to go home after morning clinic on Monday! That's roughly about 11am?

Last week there was a 'meeting' with the Deputy Health Minister. Heard from colleagues who went that it was a load of bollocks and all the minister did was beat around the bush. Issues like our pay rise was discussed where the minister promptly replied by saying the Ministry has no budget and we as doctors should not talk about pay... Hey, exempt doctors from all loans, bills, petrol costs, food costs then! By the time we get our LONG overdue (as described by the MoH itself) raise, my friends who are working in the private sector would be earning 5-digit salaries and by the time we get our promotion, inflation would have taken its natural course and our RM6K a month salary would mean nuts.

Someone brought up the issue about Sg Buloh hospital being short of MOs. I know that for a fact as I have a friend there working in the A&E dept slogging to his death, working 2 shifts a day. It's crazy! And all the Deputy Minister (DM) could say was, "It takes 3 years to build a nice hospital, but it takes 6 years to train a doctor... so please be patient and all we can do is wait." What the hell?? Typical politician answer.

No wonder doctors are leaving for the private sector as soon as they can and many are leaving the country to seek greener pastures. And about the brain drain issue, all he could say was,"If people want to leave, what can we do? Let them leave... we'll just train new doctors." What an idiot.

The Huge Divide

2008-03-17T19:01:00.005+08:00

It's Day 4 in HKL (not counting the weekend) and I must say that I'm pretty much enjoying the work there. I was chucked to the Urology department as the O&G dept was full to the brim. It was either Uro or Paediatrics. No way I'm gonna work with kids... I'm just bad with them! My interest is bringing babies to this world, not working with them while they grow up ;)

A typical day in the Uro dept starts at 7.30am where we have rounds. No more blood taking or branula setting for me unless it's a difficult one or there's culture and sensitivity involved. Otherwise, the nurses will get them done. The best thing is that I do not have to give any freaking IV medication for the rest of my life!

After the rounds and settling the ward work, it's down to the clinic where we see quite a number of patients everyday. If you've ever been to a clinic in a government hospital, you will know what I mean. The stream of patients coming into your room is endless!

After clinic, you're free to do whatever you want. Work ends at 4.30pm. It ends at 2pm (or earlier) if you're post call. This is what I call humane work... The jump from house officer to medical officer is such a huge difference, it's a huge and deep chasm!

Walking around HKL, I found this very interesting elevator system. It is constantly moving and it doesn't have doors! There are two entrances, the one on the left goes down, and the one on the right goes up. It never stops and it works like a cycle - if you reach the topmost or lowest floor and forgot to jump off, you will be in pitch black darkness as the lift switches over to the other side and goes up/down again. This is excellent since you don't have to wait for lifts and it's always constantly moving.

You really have to try this lift out if you're ever in HKL

I'm currently still tagging since I'm very new to Urology. I'll start my calls next month. Can't be that bad since there are 8 of us and that would mean roughly 4 calls per person with 1 weekend day each.

Besides work, Kim and I have been going around shopping and such for our wedding registration day (coming soon!). It's never easy buying clothes when you are looking out for certain styles. However, when you're not looking for something... everything seems like a good deal and you end up buying some stuff that's not needed.

I got my wedding present from Kim during the weekend. It's a Meistersinger No. 1 single hand watch. It's a manual wind watch and it only has one hand. How do you tell the time on that thing? Easy... every marker is on the face is actually 5 minutes of time. So for example in the picture below, the time is slightly after 9.20pm. You can't tell if it's 9.23pm or 9.21pm but hell... no one really cares about that right? If you need such pinpoint accuracy, get another watch! It actually comes with a black leather strap but I got the brown one for free so I decided to swap it for the time being.

Watch for the year 2008 - a wedding gift actually from Kim - thanks baby :)

That's it for now. I need to shape up and lose some weight. Got myself a nice pair of Nike Frees yesterday at a discounted price so that should encourage me to burn some calories... hmmm... maybe tomorrow... nah, next week...

HKL, so huge it's a state of its own

2008-03-12T18:35:00.004+08:00

It was my first day at work today, reporting to the Timbalan Pengarah of Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL). This isn't really the first time I'm going to HKL, I did go last time but only to the Paeds/Psychiatry building. A few things have changed since then notably the parking system. It's now run by a private car park management company called Imej Parking. This means anyone who wants to drive into HKL will have to pay for parking unless you can maneuver yourself out of there within 15 minutes. If you ask me, hiring someone to manage your car park does help in some ways to better 'manage' your parking lots but it also causes more congestion outside the hospital since everyone wants to park for free beside the road. RM10 a day to park in the hot sun, on a poorly tarred (if that's what you can call it) road isn't something many people want to part with.

Anyhow, after going around HKL twice thinking that I can find a parking space inside, I had to resort to parking outside in an open space (also charged the same rate as the ones parked inside). The parking inside were mainly for staff, and basically since I was only going to report for work this morning, I wasn't a staff yet.

With no idea where the heck was the Perkhidmatan office, I finally asked my way through (with poorly given directions by the various Information Counters) to the Perkhidmatan Office. Then I was told to see the Timbalan Pengarah (TP) whose office was in another building. Finally, after 30 minutes of walking and asking around, I managed to get myself to the TP's office. She gave me a choice of either going to Paediatrics or Urology. Having experienced neither, I was trapped. I wanted to work in O&G! Not in any of these two! But O&G is 'very full' at the moment... so full that they can't have an extra helping hand, an extra keen and interested set of hands... Thinking that urology might be better (related to gynae, at least) than having to handle screaming kids, I took up urology instead. The TP was delighted with my choice, thanking me instead... somehow I felt that I might have fallen for her bait...

After all that, it was back to the Perkhidmatan office again to fill up a million forms, finding out that I won't be getting my pay until UMMC sends them my latest payslip (a call to UMMC resulted in a "Kena tunggu lah. Banyak nak settle ni..." - how typical) and I think that's going to take a really long time. Once I got all those forms settled, then it was to the Urology dept. Another set of forms, and then I got lost trying to get to the Admin office to get my photo taken for the hospital name tag. Another form to fill! Then off to the Pejabat Penyeliaan (I don't know what's it called in English; Supervision Office? Doesn't make sense) to apply for my car park season pass - more forms to fill in.

After filling in all these forms, I had to bring them all back to the Urology Department to get them signed by the Head of Department who incidentally wasn't around today. Thank goodness a consultant walked into the office when I was there and she signed them all for me... Otherwise, I'll never get anything done today. After getting them signed, it was back to the previous offices (mind you, they are waaaaaay far apart) to submit them.

Ridiculous isn't it? Why couldn't the urology department just stock up on all these forms so that new incoming Medical Officers (MO) or House Officers (HO) can just fill them all up and get it signed on the spot and then just submit it to the respective offices? It was so cumbersome, annoying and plain stupidly inefficient, wasting a lot of my time just walking from one place to another. Yes, Government offices are like that... they just never change. 50 years later, it will still be the same. This time, HKL would be even bigger and more congested, so walking from one building to another would take triple the time I took today. Good luck!

I left after getting everything done since it was already close to 2pm and my new colleague (the one in charge of all MOs aka team leader) did say there isn't much to do today. Tagging starts tomorrow and calls start next month... so begins a new chapter of my somewhat better working life. More updates soon!

1182.8km traveled in less than 36 hours... Seremban - Kedah - Seremban - KL

south to north, and back south again

2008-03-10T22:34:00.003+08:00

It was a weary drive up to Kedah this morning. Started off at about 6.30am, hungry and pretty much depressed. Was a pretty long drive up, roughly 5 hours plus if you don't count the stops we made.

12pm - Was at the doorstep of the Kedah health dept. My future awaits me. No idea regarding where I'll be for the next 6 months/1 year/3 years...

12.15pm - "Dr. Ong? I thought you have been transferred to HKL?" asked the HR clerk over there. I was in a bit of a shock. The clerk, disbelieving that someone who is supposed to report in KL would drive up 550km up to Kedah, quickly flipped through her book and there it was... "~~Dr. Ong Jin Khang~~ tukar ke Hospital KL" - name struck off and those beautiful words written there in all its glory.

I was flabbergasted, wondering if it's all real. Then I got the letter in black and white in front of me stating that I was supposed to report in HKL on 1 March 2008. It was already 10th. No one informed me about this. A quick call to UMMC and HKL revealed that they didn't have a clue as well. I guess this had to be a last minute thing with the Ministry after my appeal did not go through in the first meeting and now it has!

Now I'm in Penang spending the night here before going back tomorrow and then reporting in HKL on Wednesday. It's been a long drive up (all wasted as I can't claim back all the mileage) but hell, I'm back in KL again... nothing else matters anymore!

Things are starting to look really good again... :)

a new future

2008-03-08T00:00:00.000+08:00

It's Polling Day today, a day where Malaysia's future will be decided, a day where a new future begins (for the next 4 years at least), a day when I've decided to start blogging again but with a new blog name.

I contemplated deleting all my previous posts but decided against it. They are, after all, a part of my life. As Steve said, this blog is a way of updating friends and family alike about my whereabouts and whether or not I'm still alive. Moreover, I'll be moving to Kedah on Monday (10th March) to work. Hopefully not for long but that depends...

Why the change of name and design? I guess new beginnings deserve changes and change is what I've been through in the past year. I'll not bore you with every single detail of what happened since the last post but stuff will pop up from time to time, I promise.

I have no idea how to pack for Kedah on Monday actually. The thought of leaving everyone behind and going to work in a different state, so way up north, with not a single friend there, is pretty daunting. I actually have no idea how it's gonna be traveling back and forth. Hopefully it won't be a faraway hospital, further up north, then driving back might not be as crazy.

I'll be back on the 28th though for the weekend. It will be Kim's and my marriage registration weekend plus my dad's birthday too during that weekend. So it's more like a 'kill 2 birds with 1 stone' thing. Yes, you read right... registration. Signing one's soul away. Joining the silly men's club (so says my future father-in-law). Unnerving to some... but I'm pretty much looking forward to it.

Alright then... many more things to do before I leave. Will update here when I know which hospital I get in Kedah. Til then, sleep tight and make sure you cross the right choice today... vote smart, vote right, vote for a change.

back from the dead

2007-10-31T12:30:00.000+08:00

nope, i'm still alive and kicking. It's just been too mundane in life to post abt anything interesting here. Nothing exciting here, no siree.

This is actually just a test post, trying out blogging on the ipod touch using the stone age speed wifi network of the hospital.

I'll post a summary of the events of my life soon, i promise. Until then, do be patient. I know it's been six mths since i poated anything on this blog, but rest assured, a real post will come soon.

Cheers!

God Damn Medical!

2007-04-07T23:58:00.000+08:00

It's a rude shock for me going from my ortho posting to medical. It's like throwing you in a cell with 10 horny guys waiting for you to bend over to pick up something. I've never had to manage rounds, take bloods in between rounds, write stuff down that the specialist mutters, and at the same time try to remember which beds need branulas and bloods to be done.

3 days in Cardio and I'm still in shock. Calls will be packed from next Wednesday onwards, being on call every 2 days no thanks to a bullying team leader who said, "hey you're new, you have to suffer..." WTF?!

Oh, and not to forget... Both my weekend calls are first calls... the heaviest and craziest of all!

I finally got my automatic chrono which I've been eyeing for some time. The Valjoux 7750 movement is a very well known movement used even in the ultra expensive Panerais. However, they modified the placements of the subdials and date for this model... so I'd say it's a modified 7750 movement... The rotor still rotates freely though and I can feel the watch wobbling when the rotor is rotating at full speed even when my hand is stationary... pretty weird at first.

It's another Hamilton (probably my last since I've got 3 of them already) but this time it's the Navy Frogman. It has a silver dial (finally a silver amongst my blacks, blue and white) and it's made of titanium. Some might not like the 2 huge crown protectors but I love them as it gives the watch a very unique look, very cool. Most of all, I love the titanium casing and buckle which gives the watch the rugged but classy look.

Here are the pics of the newest member of my growing collection...

I love those crown protectors... and not to mention that huge casing made of pure titanium goodness!

the watch is pretty big and thick... 43mm in diameter, and 16mm in thickness

Yup, another rubber strap. A titanium strap just doesn't suit the Frogman well IMHO...

That's it for now... gonna watch football, not much chance for it next time...

1/5 closer to being a Medical Officer

2007-03-17T09:12:00.000+08:00

I'll be ending my honeymoon posting in Orthopaedics next Friday. By then, I'd have learned a few important lessons...

1) Never be an idiot and help everyone who asks you for help. Those favours will hardly ever be returned.

2) Nurses are your best friends - get close to them and you will get peaceful nights of sleep during your calls.

3) Nurses can be a pain in the ass as well. For example, calling me at 2.30am to do 3 post-op reviews and forgetting to tell me about one more, which they call again at 5.30am to wake me up. And then asking me to set a branula for a patient whose antibiotics are due for 8am (normal working hours, not oncall hours) if I'm good enough. Result? Ask them to fuck themselves and set the branula on an 80 year old psychiatric patient all alone at 5.30am in one try. Hell yeah!

4) Lecturers are very important to your future career. Sucking up to them is a necessity, sleeping with them is optional but definitely better. But of course, I don't swing the other way so all I do is help with research and make the boss happy. At least I'll have 2 studies on my CV to show and yet no actual sucking up done unlike colleagues of mine.

5) Ortho is the most chilled out posting and yeah, I would love to be an ortho surgeon and make loads of money but work half the time of others! Muahahaha!

6) Finally, there are bad colleagues and there are bad colleagues. Useless, incompetent imbeciles who think they are too damn good to do their own work and leave them for the on-call person. Worse, a colleague who seems to be sleeping with the lecturer and has his backing will be showing you how mighty she is, not doing her work, and yet flaunting about how hardworking she is.

Goodnight.

thank you FedEx

2007-03-01T01:00:00.000+08:00

Look what came in the mail yesterday... it only took 1 day for FedEx to get this delivered from Singapore. Their tracking system is top notched with very detailed info.

my 2nd Hamilton box. I have a thing for Hamiltons; low price with great quality.

The black box holds a metal box inside; note the brushed aluminium look which gives it class.

got the blue faced Multi-Touch (same functions as the Tissot T-Touch) with rubber strap.
It should have come with a dark blue strap but instead it came with a black. Much better IMHO.

Sorry for the lack of updates. it's been work everyday for me and I was busy losing money during the CNY break.

To make things easier, I'll just post pictures with short captions from now on... whatcha think?

the best just got better

2007-02-09T01:05:00.000+08:00

If you're a frequent reader or a close friend, you should know by now that I frequently write reviews for a mobile technology site called MobileBurn (if you really didn't know, you should hang yourself with your mouse cord now). What you don't know is that in all the 2 years of writing reviews and playing with countless phones, I have yet to find a suitable replacement for my Treo 650.

That changed yesterday...

muahahahahahahahahaha

definitely better looking!

Yup, I succumbed to it. It's not much of an upgrade from the Treo 650 but the form factor, antenna-less design, more RAM, and a friendlier Phone app just got to me. I actually told myself not to buy the Treo 680 but I just couldn't resist...

I shall now patiently await the arrival of the next Treo... No matter how fond I am of Sony Ericsson's range of phones and their impeccable UI, nothing beats a Treo when it comes to typing SMSes, checking email, and of course making quick medical references.

The best just got better.

update

2007-02-03T07:32:00.000+08:00

Maybe I've been lazy. Maybe I've been busy. Maybe I'm frustrated. Maybe I'm just not interested anymore.

Those are the answers if you're wondering why this blog is so quiet and full of cobwebs. Life has been pretty mundane and there really isn't anything worth typing about. Yes I've been lazy to go online, preferring to watch videos and movies. You might see me online but I'm nowhere near a click of Trillian.

Busy? Yup, I've been busy although still not as busy as my friends in MoH (Ministry of Health - general hospitals) hellholes. If there's one thing I learned from my 2 months working experience, it's the fact that none of your colleagues can be depended on. You may be the most dependable, covering for others when they are in need, but when it's your turn to need help... you know what I'm gonna say.

Frustration might be another reason. Now I fully understand why I was richer when I was a student. I've not bought a single thing since I got my first pay. Can't afford anything without digging into savings. This sucks. Working sucks.

Maybe the interest has waned... Current interests include finding ways to push that tiny 1.5L engine of my Swift and make it look more 'garang' since alot of my bosses have been making fun of my 'feminine' car. Doesn't look more feminine than a Myvi to me though! Anyhow, got my car tuned by Suzuki Malaysia to release the throttle to 100%, boosting torque thus giving better response now. As they say, "Shiok ada mari!"

In the end, maybe it just takes too long to get to this page on my crappy BT-cramped Screamyx line in KL.

And thus we begin a new year

2007-01-02T16:55:00.000+08:00

I know it's been really quiet around here. It's just been work and sleep for me the past few weeks so there really isn't much to blog about.

Work's alright, after being transferred from team to team on a weekly basis. I think I've finally settled in to the trauma team which I'll be in for the next 2 months or so (unless they decide to put me in another).

With not much excitement in the wards, I had some fun in the minor operating theatre though and it was pretty cool removing K-wires and cysts. Nothing compared with what the others are doing in other hospitals.

Anyhow, it was a great start to the new year especially when I received something from a patient of mine... makes you feel you're actually doing a good job.

And after doing 2 calls on 30th and 1st, I'm pretty beat. Gonna nap it off now until dinner.

Happy new year everyone!

Hong Kong

2006-12-25T19:00:00.000+08:00

Finally, Hong Kong photos are up... sorry for the delay and the lack of posts. Haven't been in the mood and alot of things have happened in the past week.

Do check out the photos and drop comments if you want...

Cheers!

After 1 week...

2006-12-08T18:32:00.000+08:00

... it's excellent! I actually enjoy my work. Who would have thought that I'd be disciplined enough to wake up every bloody morning at 0545hrs and then head for work at 0620hrs just to get a spot of parking near the mortuary in UMMC?

I don't learn as much as Steve does coz all I do is take bloods, set IV lines, clerk patients, follow the MOs and specialists around like a lackey, and get orders from nurses (yes, in UMMC, they are the boss of you... but treat them nice and they will be nicer).

Anyway, it's been a psychological boost as well working the past 5 days. I've readied myself to spend at least 12-15 hours per day in the wards but in UMMC, you almost always go home by 7pm. As for me, I'm in Orthopaedics and kinda 'unlucky' to be in one of the busier teams, so I get off at 5pm whereas others get off maybe by 4pm.

I'm not complaining of course since the rest (of my friends in other hospitals) are really working their asses off. Kinda envy them in a way (a tiny way, mind you) that they get to learn and do more stuff than the crap that I do.

The colleagues are good too except for one or two idiots (as usual) who are snakes and like to cause problems to the team.

Well, it's the weekend and I don't have to work! Woohoo!!

HK photos will be up by Sunday, really!

Back from HK, straight to work

2006-12-04T00:35:00.000+08:00

Just got back from HK last night and still adjusting to the scorching heat of Malaysia. Still tired too. Will update with pictures of the trip soon but for now there are only 2 words to sum up the entire trip - shopping and eating.

Have been busy packing the whole day today and moving my stuff up to my apartment here in KL. Finally got everything settled and my room looks good. Just missing a few things here and there (i.e.: a shoe rack coz the one outside can't accommodate all my shoes).

Need to go to bed now since I have to wake up at 6am tomorrow to avoid the jam and report for work at UMMC. So here are some pics of my room...

my tiny workstation

the bed i have to sleep on for at least a year... pretty good though for its price!

my only link to sanity... even the Dreamcast made it up here!

Sorry if the pictures seem a little blur... too tired to hold my camera still enough for 1/2 second shots...

Til the next time... goodnight.

time's running out

2006-11-24T21:43:00.000+08:00

I feel like I really need more time these days. Although I'm officially on holiday, I feel exhausted every single day! I just don't know how come I'm fully booked til I don't even have the time to sit down.

The past week has been spent running around KL, covering almost 400km over the past 4 days... it's crazy.

Brought my sister to Money River (read it in BM if you don't know where it is) to get her pink DS... yes pink, the colour I actually thought of getting in the first place. I still think it's a cool colour... but no regrets about my dark blue machine.

definitely a girl thing if you're into pink

Bought my mattress, table and cupboard from a furniture shop near my condo. At least I don't have to fix my own cupboard. That would have been hell considering how much trouble it was fixing up my bed frame from Ikea... and to think it's the simplest of them all - the kind that looks like planks on the floor - it was harder to fix up than my old Ikea bed frame.

After a back breaking Thursday, it was another muscle straining Friday since I had to go get my sister's stuff from Sunway. She moved out of Ridzuan Condo today while I got my furniture delivered.

I'll update with pictures of my room once everything is nicely settled in - curtains and other smaller stuff aren't in yet. Will be away in Hong Kong the next week; my last holiday before I start work in UMMC.

Have a great weekend guys!

first piece to the puzzle

2006-11-13T15:09:00.000+08:00

settled for a Toshiba Bomba Flat 21" with component input. now have to find them cables.

next: furniture

IMU song

2006-11-08T02:05:00.000+08:00

I used to think we had too much free time in Bukit Jalil during our pre-clinical years... now I think the juniors have even more free time than us...

check this video out on YouTube.com

Cool shite!

still quiet

2006-11-08T01:38:00.000+08:00

i know i know... but really, nothing much to type about! However, I have been house (or rather, room) hunting for the past few days. Search began in SS17 near UMMC but it was to no avail. Although rooms were aplenty, they were just in terrible condition and the rent rate was just not justified.

Luckily for me, I found an ad on PJNet about a room available in a new condo, Prima Midah Heights in Taman Midah, Cheras. RM300 inclusive of bills. So after visiting the condo, I was pretty impressed coz the place is just so new. The road out of the condo also leads me straight to the Connaught interchange which connects to the Federal Highway. Took me 15 minutes to get to UMMC the other day on normal traffic (loads of cars but all moving at the speed of 80km/h). So technically I should be able to reach UMMC in 10 minutes since I'll be travelling in the mornings at 6plus.

Here are pics of my new place. Will update with pics of the room when I actually move in. Now I"ll have to get some furniture, a TV and definitely a bed.

Prima Midah Heights... new, big apartments, cheap. I like!

this is the block where my apartment is...

By the way, these have kept me busy...

i just wish i had more time...

been rather quiet

2006-10-30T23:04:00.000+08:00

i'll just summarize what's been happening lately... nothing much to blog about actually...

1. Had a birthday lunch with friends last Friday.

2. Had a really nice cake baked for me too last Friday.

3. Spent some time back home in Seremban.

4. Lost RM150 in Genting.

5. Got my letter from MoH stating that I've been posted to UMMC.

6. Spent a few days thinking whether to appeal or to just accept UMMC.

7. Decided and deferred my posting til December as I'll be off to Hong Kong at the end of Nov.

8. Working on reviews now to get enough cash to spend in HK.

9. Had late lunch in Jogoya, Starhill... only the RM68 session is worth paying for.

**all photos were taken with the Nokia N93

WarioWare Twisted!

2006-10-19T21:22:00.000+08:00

Thanks to my sister for this lovely birthday present!

the hologram picture shows how you should play this game...

She got me the last copy of WarioWare Twisted (WWT) from the official Nintendo counter in Jusco Midvalley. Yeap, there is an official Nintendo counter in Malaysia! This is certainly good news since you can hardly or rather, NEVER find an official game company selling their products in our country thanks to our reputation as a piracy ridden nation (apart from Sony of course where PS2s are sold in Sony outlets).

the gyro sensor is built-in into the gamepak resulting in a huge bump!

This is a pretty cool game since it consists of over 200 microgames (micro coz each game or level lasts only 5 seconds max) and the way you play is by twisting your gameboy machine. The gyro sensor in the gamepak senses motion so that's how it translates your movement into the gameplay mechanics. The DS is of course capable of playing GBA games so this game fits perfectly.

can't lay my DS flat anymore with the WWT gamepak inside...

... so gotta face it downwards instead. GARGH! Scratches!!!

I also have the latest WarioWare Touched which uses the touch screen instead. Pretty intuitive gameplay, as you would expect from Nintendo.

Fun Fun Fun!

N93, everything but the kitchen sink!

2006-10-19T21:11:00.000+08:00

Managed to get my hands on the Nokia N93 and E50 for review yesterday. All I can say is that the N93 rocks!

twisting and turning, the N93 is a giant clamshell.

Yeah, I know the K800 from Sony Ericsson can take better pictures for a much lower price. But hell! The N93 is really really cool from the materials used on it to the way it can twist and turn!

not only does the N93 comes equipped with a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, it also has 3x OPTICAL zoom!

Close friends will know I'm pretty much a Nokia hater (but yet named the Nokia expert by a Finnish mag) because of their lacklustre phones - no worries, my reviews are unbiased and most Nokias get a Highly Recommended considering there are alot of Nokia fanatics who just can't get used to any other phone UI. Anyway... the N93 is the phone to get if you don't mind the bulk and you have the cash to spare... the E50 on the other hand would be a great upgrade for those who loved the slim form factor of the old 6100.

E50 - slim, sleek, stainless steel finish... perfect, almost.

God damn! Now i can chat with my DS!

2006-10-14T15:47:00.000+08:00

The homebrew (self-made apps programmed for handheld game consoles such as the DS and PSP) scene for the DS is really something to be looked into. While I'm not the kind to waste space on my miniSD for movies and MP3s, I was particularly thrilled when I read about the availability of an app called Beup Live which is basically an MSN client for the DS.

After figuring out how all these homebrew stuff works, I finally got it running on my DS...

the interface is pretty cool and it has similar looks as the Messenger Live.

testing it out with Brad... damn it's cool!

That's it for now. I'm busy playing Yakuza now on the PS2... smashing people's face into walls is pretty addictive.

holy crap!

2006-10-13T11:19:00.000+08:00

I can now watch my DivX movies on my PS2!! Not that I'm gonna do it often but hell, it's good to know that it can be done! With ease!!

that's Grey's Anatomy running off my PS2 via SMS. Just grab the CD image from this site and burn, follow the instructions on how to run ULaunchELF and enjoy!

Sorry about the lousy quality pic... was too excited and took the photo with my Treo instead.

Don't know what's wrong with the Tag-Board. Even the site is down. Just post comments the usual way then.

Happy Birthday to meeeeee

2006-10-12T17:19:00.000+08:00

I know it's a week early but I couldn't stand it. With time running out before I start slaving in hospitals, I decided I had to go out and buy my own birthday present...

I'm 6 years late but who cares! I now have over a thousand games to choose from!

Wii, 360, PS3...

2006-10-10T13:27:00.000+08:00

Not sure what's up with me these days but the gaming demon in me is starting to surface again. I'm someone who can hardly sit still in front of a PC and play a game for more than 2 hours (ask Steve) and I've not done that for many years now... not since the days when my Dreamcast used to be the top, next-gen gaming console.

On my PC, I've only liked playing FPS games such as Quake and the latest, FEAR. I hate the installation process, ~~cracking~~ registering the game, and finally realizing it has taken up too much space on my hard drive...

This is totally different with consoles where you just pop in a disc and play all you want. The only thing that held me back buying a PS2 in recent years was the fact that I have no one to play it with... I don't expect my sis to play it with me since she will give up in the end (who likes playing something they keep losing in? :P).

So the question is... should I get one? I like the 360 coz it's pretty much state of the art now with PS3 not coming out of the factories anytime soon... I expect more delays from Sony. I also like the Wii which is totally revolutionary in terms of game control...

Or should I just stick with the 6 year old PS2 which has a humongous library of games?

Hmm...

Congratulations to Khai Yeong & Karen!

2006-10-08T13:32:00.000+08:00

The first couple from my batch to tie the knot, Khai Yeong and Karen had their wedding dinner at the Grand Bluewave hotel at Shah Alam last night.

After a quiet start to the wedding, the 3 IMU tables started making alot of noise especially during the must-have Yam Seng sessions! Khai Yeong was turned into a red lobster within minutes and very nearly got too high for his own good all thanks to us making him down glass after glass of wine.

Here are the pics from last night...

the girls at our table

the happy new couple pouring the champagne

IMU-ians before the Yam Seng party started. Notice normal face KY.

then it began...

our table with the bride and groom. Notice red faced KY and tipsy Karen...

just before going home... Karen looks so tired so I guess KY's day ends after the dinner *snigger*

back online

2006-09-28T22:17:00.000+08:00

back online. they worked pretty fast this time...

will be off to Cameron for the weekend and till then, nothing to think about!

Gucci anyone?

2006-09-27T16:45:00.000+08:00

I'm currently thinking of reverting back to the old wallet instead of using my money clip + card holder combo. Not that I'm entirely comfortable with that idea but it seems to be pretty good timing since a dear friend is working in Gucci at the moment and (hopefully) will be able to get good prices for the wallets.

Ah well, if the price isn't right then I guess I can save a few hundred bucks to put into some other watch/gadget fund which hasn't really materialized yet. Speaking about watches, I haven't bought a single watch yet this year and it's almost my birthday. Maybe I should get a nice watch for myself... hmmm... too bad the mobile phone industry is pretty dry at the moment with no new releases into the markets (launches excluded since these models won't be out for some time). Otherwise, I would be reviewing them like crazy to earn some moo-lah to spend.

Internet is down again in Seremban. Wonder how many weeks or months it will take them this time to fix my problem... TM is a real fucked up company.

Til the next time, ciao!

Back from Paradise

2006-09-23T17:59:00.000+08:00

Got back on Thursday night and I was too wiped out to post anything. After sorting out the 500 plus photos, deleting ugly ones and resizing the good ones for online posting, I'm finally ready to upload all of them. I won't be uploading all my photos of course, that would be downright stupid or insane. But I'll be posting the nicer ones on my Flickr site and the ones here will be more of a short commentary of my trip.

Here we go!

this is the first time I'm travelling from the LCCT so for those not in the know, you have to line up and walk to the plane... don't think insurance covers you being hit by a plane.

that's the plane we took to Bali. it's one of the older and smaller ones.

while Kim was busy training her brain with Big Brain Academy...

... I was about to fill my stomach with the Air Asia nasi lemak. This pic will definitely be appreciated by Steve who didn't have the time to photograph it before whacking it down.

We stayed at Rama Beach Resort and Villas. This is the pool at our hotel... just like the picture found on the AirAsia website.

Once in Bali, we took a cab to our hotel (only 5 minutes from the airport) and headed out to the city centre. That's not our hotel. We were just refering to our map in front of some other hotel.

just like KL eh? This is the new Discovery Shopping Mall

As you can see, beach creatures come in all shapes and sizes...

there are hundreds of kites in the skies of Bali. This one has the longest tail i believe...

We met up with Brenda and her sis along with her boyfriend. Thanks to Danny, we traveled around at local cost. This means the ang mohs pay almost 3 times our price...

this is the Kia Visto we rented and Danny drove us around in. Traffic in Bali is not heavy but it's tough to drive along the narrow streets especially with people and wildlife (chickens, dogs) lying in the middle of the road.

the girls planning where to go next... this means another shopping district...

this is the abandoned building where the second bombing in 2005 took place

we have to wear sarongs when entering temples or holy places

this is taken in Sukawati where you can get really cheap carvings, slippers, t-shirts and many children and women begging for money...

This is the Salak fruit which tastes like... ehm... something that we've never tasted before.

we watched a play called Kecak before dinner. It's about Prince Rama and his lover Princess Sita who got kidnapped by the evil King Rahwana.

dinner was at Jimbaran Bay where we paid pretty cheap prices for the delicious seafood. The view was also fantastic... that's found on my Flickr site.

the next day we went to Tanjung Benoa for snorkelling. Again, we paid about 60,000 rupiahs per person (~RM24) for the boat, equipment and a trip to some turtle island. Damn cheap!

it was pretty cruel to see all the turtles in captivity but according to them it's some sort of reserve... I have my doubts though...

the bird wasn't the least bit interested...

we headed to Tanah Lot to watch the sunset and because it was going to be high tide, the water was coming in. During high tide, the temple is inaccessible by foot because it would be surrounded by water. This is one of my favourite shots from the whole trip...

Sunset at Tanah Lot... it's mesmerizing and romantic... Wish we could have gone to Uluwatu though. Some say the sunset there is even better...

Ayam betutu... Balinese cuisine, very spicy, very diarrhoea inducing, very not my thing...

that's how you end up looking if you eat too much ayam betutu

we had more Balinese cuisine for lunch on our last day. This is Sate Lilit which is basically tuna and chicken mixed together to be satay. It's served in a mini grill with mini charcoal... pretty cute.

this is Nasi Bali - a mixture of vege, sate lilit, tum be siap (chicken baked in banana leaves), pepes ikan (similar to otak-otak) and 3 kinds of rice; white, Barak (red one) and Kuning.

Kim had her favourite Gado-Gado for dinner before we left for home...

the final group pic we took before we set off for the airport...

cheapest thing in Bali... Polo shirts... no they are not imitation goods, they are the real deal... So happens the Ralph Lauren factory in Indonesia is licensed to produce these clothes at local prices (without the Ralph Lauren tag of course... just Polo) ... excellent shite. They have Ralph Lauren branded ones as well at double the price (still way cheaper than here) but what's the point since the quality, design, mini details are exactly the same? **dunno why the pic just doesn't appear rotated

We'll definitely go again in the future... Maybe Jakarta this time... hmm... okay, it's dinner time... these photos took me more than 2 hours to deal with. Have to catch up on my DS gaming! Remember to check out the other photos in Flickr if you're interested.

Ta!

Bali here I come!

2006-09-17T19:09:00.000+08:00

will be away for the next 4 days in Bali... until then, stay tuned!

wonder how much more luxurious is the deluxe room compared with the standard...

A Birthday night out

2006-09-16T15:42:00.000+08:00

this post is a little late... exactly 5 days late actually. It was Johnathan's birthday on Monday and we had a nice dinner at Delicious in Bangsar. Later we had drinks in Starbucks with Irene joining us late...

John with his new cufflinks

the rest of us in Starbucks

scandalous...

Glad you liked the present man... it was a real headache thinking of what to buy.

Campbell Sudoku Challenge

2006-09-15T18:15:00.000+08:00

In case some of you might have been wondering what have I been up to the past few weeks, I've actually been working part time at Campbell's roadshows. Yes... it's the Campbell Soup roadshow where I was in charge of handling the Sudoku games. I finished working with them yesterday after 10 days of travelling and alot of manual labour setting up the booth and stuff like that.

PS: I've not received my money yet from Maybank... bastards.

"Here we GO!"

2006-09-06T20:51:00.000+08:00

that's what Mario always loves to say... and that's what I'll be hearing alot of from now on thanks to this...

decided to go with the dark blue (enamel navy) coz it's just so cool to look at. Black would have been better but that costs so much more...

they actually gave an extra stylus. I don't see Palm giving me an extra stylus from all the handhelds I've purchased from them...

dual screen... yup that's what DS stands for... not damn sore... :P

Crocodile Hunter no more...

2006-09-04T20:34:00.000+08:00

Steve Irwin, the infamous crocodile hunter that you see frolicking around with crocodiles and all other kinds of dangerous animals was killed earlier today...

Read more about it here.

It's really sad that he was killed this way... I really enjoyed all his shows although sometimes they are really crazy but heck, that's the fun of watching them!

I'm very sure the world's gonna miss him... no more "Crikey!"

DS = Damn Sore

2006-09-02T17:45:00.000+08:00

I finally decided to take the plunge to get myself a Nintendo DS Lite especially after trying it out on my home WiFi network. So I made my way to Sg. Wang and hurried to the ATM machines. Not knowing where the hell is the Maybank Kawanku ATM, I settled to withdraw from an RHB machine instead... big mistake.

The machine took ages to spit out my cash and finally when there was activity, the message, "Please remove your card" appeared followed by "Please insert card". I was like, WTF?! Thinking that the machine was faulty, I went over to the other machine next door.

*Pressed on balance enquiry* and to my horror!!! My account was debited from the previous transaction!!! KNN CCB!!!! My money evaporated just like that!!!!!

So I had to make a report to Maybank and now I think I'll have to wait up to 2 weeks for my money to be returned to me. Stupid fucking procedures... are they gonna pay me 2 weeks' interest? I know it's not much but what if I need the money in a life or death situation? Damn stupid Maybank...

So in the end, I have so much less money in my bank account and no DS to play for the weekend... damn sore man...

red roses

2006-09-02T17:36:00.000+08:00

got these for Kim when we realised they were thick stemmed roses. Now let's just hope they bloom beautifully...

No post editing except for resizing. I overexposed the photo so as to make the background glow white, giving the roses a sense of pureness...

Panasonic FZ-7 - ISO 200, F/2.8, 1/3 sec

Dinner Party

2006-08-28T18:51:00.000+08:00

Had a small party last Saturday to celebrate my cousin, Yen's graduation and mine. Rushing off to KL now so this should sum up the atmosphere on that night...

not yet the whole family (mum's side) but close...
Notice me wearing the latest MU jersey? Yeah... they won 2-1 that night too :)

Pecan Portrait

2006-08-23T19:43:00.000+08:00

Since we were all taking our portraits and family photos, how could we leave Pecan out of the picture? This is a really great shot of her... sweet and innocent... The FZ-7 is fan-fucking-tastic!

Photoshoot

2006-08-23T19:21:00.000+08:00

Had our family photos taken today at Fotorex and I decided to bring my camera along to capture some of the frenzied preparations before the shoot. Well ok, not frenzied but it was kinda fun seeing my parents and sister getting all dressed and made up for the occasion. My dad, who was at first very reluctant to even wear a tie was enjoying himself in a full suit.

#$%^@ buttons!

Sis getting make up all over her face...

Most of the pics are on my Flickr site but here are one or two from this morning. The whole package was pretty expensive as we added alot of extras in the end. the photographer, Siang, was pretty good although some of the positions and framing could have been a wee bit better. Nonetheless, great photos and we ended up choosing 20 for our album instead of the original 10.

Mum and dad looking their best ever since their wedding!

Everything will be ready in 2 months. Yes, 2 freaking months! The frames and canvasing of the pictures will take some time I reckon. We had lunch after the shoot at Delicious, Bangsar. Excellent pasta and of course the sinful chocolate cake. Check out my Flickr site for the photos taken at Delicious...

is that Ferhad? He was also eating at Delicious this afternoon...

... cont'd

2006-08-22T16:00:00.000+08:00

I succumbed to my temptations and tore out the packagings from both the transformers. Damn, it's tough removing the package. It was as though these things were made of gold...

Took me about 20 minutes transforming Nemesis Prime too... These alternator series are definitely not for kids!

it's not bad really... he can twist and turn just like how u see them in the cartoons... cool!

Megatron stands menacingly over my study table...

More Than Meets The Eye

2006-08-22T02:02:00.000+08:00

Remember the days when Optimus Prime was a truck and Megatron was a gun? These days you get them in all kinds of versions.

I grabbed these 2 today when I spotted them in Jusco Seremban. It's not Optimus Prime, mind you... it's Nemesis Prime. Decepticon version of Optimus. Muahahaha! Looks much cooler in black too! He switches from a Dodge RAM pickup. This is from the Alternator series where robots are transformed from real cars - Subarus, S2000s, Mustangs, etc. This is the best looking of the lot IMHO.

Megatron is a tank this time and this holds true to the upcoming movie in 2007. This is the die cast version and made of a mix of metal and plastics. Can't wait for the movie! WOOHOO!

Both are still in their packaging as I still don't wanna remove them... maybe I can sell them on EBay for a much higher price ;)

Another update is that I've found a job promoting Campbell soup (sad ain't it?) in colleges beginning this Thursday... better than idling around and it brings in pocket money for travel and gadgets :)

**all photos were taken with the FZ-7. Haven't had much chance to play with it but it definitely has alot of potential and offers lots of flexibility.

Everything's done... finally!

2006-08-19T22:05:00.000+08:00

The convo is finally over and I am now officially a hospital slave... overworked and underpaid is also called a slave... exploitation... that's what a slave undergoes!

too tired to post a long one... here are 2 pictures from this morning...

it was difficult to get everyone together for a shot like this one...
sorry about the bad picture... the lighting was really really poor...

And this is the most expensive piece of paper... A quarter of a million for it!

it has been a long journey these 5 years... bittersweet memories abundant...

Oh, I got my early birthday present from Kim too! A spanking new FZ-7 camera!

my new FZ-7 with the lens hood on

It's gonna replace my FX-2 since that's gonna go to my sis who's flying off to Australia... Can't wait to try it out for my upcoming Bali trip :P WOOHOO!!!

Turbo? NOS? Hell Yeah!

2006-08-16T01:19:00.000+08:00

This is what I've been driving for the past few days...

Anyone up for pinks?

UPDATE:

just won and resprayed this cool RX8 from a chick I smoked...

viva's over!

2006-08-07T19:58:00.000+08:00

Finally got myself to study yesterday; yup, one day before the viva. I'll keep this short since I'm not really in the mood to blog. No time available... *grin*

0830: Arrived at IMU and realised that I was supposed to be at IMU only at 1030...urgh!

1030: Levels of stress were high in the waiting room as the other candidates were speculating who our examiners were. Toilet time.

1100: The first candidates went in. Toilet time.

1130: My turn. It was kinda funny since the external examiner took me on paediatrics for 25 minutes. That only left the annoyed surgeon with only 5 minutes to ask me on surgery. The external examiner was a real funny guy. He actually asked,"I'm gonna ask you some difficult questions. Are you game for it?" Wonder what would have happened if I said no... hmm...

1200: Done! Yup, kiss my university life goodbye man... the real hell begins in 2 months but for now, the only thing on my mind is fun fun fun fun fun!

Now to wait for the results coming out this Thursday which coincides with our oath-taking ceremony and photography session... IMU is already hinting everyone passed even before we started our exams... LOL!

Gotta go for dinner... ta!

everything but study

2006-08-04T23:57:00.000+08:00

the past week has been hectic... not for studying though. The exit viva is on Monday and I have not touched any of my books!

I spent the whole day on Monday fixing my car at Weez Auto, PJ. They have eliminated almost 95% of the squeaks and creaks in my car (no thanks to the stupid roads of Malaysia) and also ordered parts that needed replacement. Good service from the Suzuki headquarters I tell you... just a simple email to the PR person and voila! Instant response and the next day, the engineer is onsite at the service centre to oversee repairs. The technicians there were scared to shits...

So after my car has been fixed, I decided to bring it for polishing at Autodetailer. Darren, the guy in charge there, told me their showroom finish polishing service costs RM740. I almost fainted.

So I chose the next best thing - sealant. It cost RM210 but Darren was nice enough to throw in extras such as slight polishing and basically removing most of the gunk and overspray on my car's surface.

check out the reflections of the E70 on top of my car... the damn phone was sliding off too!

After about 4 hours at Autodetailer, my car was finally done. God damn! it was so fucking shiny and smooth... Steve even commented that my car looked damn new... hahaha.

Today, I washed and waxed the car again. The waxing should help to protect the sealant so at least my RM210 investment will last longer... they don't last for months ya?

nothing like having ur car reflect everything... beautiful... ahhhhh :P

Yup, so there you go... no studying done at all. There's just no stress to it. very bad...

sigh.

a recollection of the final week of BP

2006-07-29T23:03:00.000+08:00

Finally, I have the time to post some pictures from the final week of my life in Batu Pahat. The last day of paediatrics ended with a luncheon provided by Dr. Tan, a junior medical officer at Hospital Batu Pahat... I'll let the pictures do the talking...

during the morning passover, when everyone else is asleep... soocheng is busy studying!

this is the favourite brunch of ours (steve, kent and i) in Batu Pahat. Record stands at 3 days in a row!

the girls enjoying their cake and drinks

the group that survived Sem 10... 2 persons are missing from this picture though...

the last class I'll ever have for a long long time...

I might have complained a whole lot about Batu Pahat all the time I was there... but when the time came to leave it for good, it was different... no excitement, no looking forward to home, no looking forward to better food... I guess it's the thought of not being amongst close friends... not that there are many in IMU, but those who are count the most...

More pictures can be found at my flickr site...

it's done

2006-07-28T16:40:00.000+08:00

just got back from submitting my portfolio. Massive correction work was done yesterday at 1am, and then I just realised that punching holes is quite tedious and god damn... I really hate it!

Now to start studying for the viva...

it's done

problem is... i don't know how to study for it...

Pink? Icy Blue? White?

2006-07-24T13:18:00.000+08:00

I've made up my mind... I'm definitely going to get one of the new Nintendo DS Lite machines. That is unless I change my mind in the next few days...

So what are the colours available? There's the very very common white, the fingerprint magnet dark blue (and black, which is coming), the slightly girly but very nice colour icy blue, and finally... the girlish colour of all.... PINK!

look at the royal pinkiness on top! arrangement is exactly like the list of my choices now.
Picture is from lik-sang

I was thinking of getting the pink since it would be the rarest but then would it be a stab into my manliness? Can a colour change a guy into a more feminine one? I wear pink shirts... nothing wrong with that... plus using a pink DS Lite would make others think that it's not mine and many won't think I'm that childish :P

Ah hell... I might just get the icy blue in the end... or the plain boring white... darn it, i just wanna play Mario Kart online!!!!!

the big rush

2006-07-11T11:33:00.000+08:00

it's only 4 more weeks before I have to go through the last exam of my university life. 2 more weeks here in Batu Pahat and I'll be liberated from the bore of this old town.

i have not found the time to sit and blog, take photos to post. This is due largely to the tons of work I have to do - reports to type and hand in, forms to fill for job application, classes to go to, and finally, phone reviews that I have yet to start on...

so til I find 5 minutes to spare... ciao

Sri Medan Community Health Project

2006-07-04T13:10:00.000+08:00

The last weekend was the first weekend I spent in Batu Pahat because of the Community Health Project. We did screening for the folks there, gotong-royong, and we spent the night in a multi purpose hall. I won't type alot for this... just check out some of the pictures below. More pictures are available at my Flickr photo album.

A damn good shot of Joy going for the ball during the netball game. Watch how the ball is in motion and everyone is nicely framed in the picture.

the sweetest girl in the whole of Sri Medan

Things were getting busy at the registration counter. With no flash, the whole feeling of a busy environment can be portrayed in this picture.

it was a detention centre. We were caught for smoking weed.

Miss Chinese International contestant reliving her childhood... a really good shot with background motion blur.

the whole group after gotong-royong

iGallop or iSex?

2006-06-27T20:57:00.000+08:00

Have you guys seen the latest OSIM product, the iGallop? It's supposed to simulate horse-riding which can strengthen your thighs and back and abs of course. Click here for the ad if u haven't seen it before. I removed the YouTube clip as it was taking too long to load for some... annoying. Anyway, back to the main topic...

Notice how it's just like a soft porn movie clip? The way the girls gyrate on the machine as though they were riding hard on a guy? I tell you... it really really looks like they are having a time of their lives... check out the look on their faces!

So I was wondering... why don't OSIM sell some additional 'accessories'? This would be a real hit with the women I tell you... I mean, of course these 'accessories' will not be advertised, but they can easily send special catalogues to women from their large database, or offer a package deal...

What 'accessories'? Well... maybe the iVibrator... something that resembles the all time popular Rabbit vibrator (made famous in Sex and The City)...

when you're all alone, the rabbit will make your wildest dreams come true...

Just attach the vibrator to the handle infront, of course OSIM will have to remodel the shape to make it fit properly, and then integrate the speed control of the vibe on the handle as well... voila! you get yourself an iSex...

introducing the iSex... full credit to Steve for helping me out with the Photoshopping

I tell you, it will strengthen more than just the back, thighs and abs... orgasms will be abundant and didn't you know orgasms can help you shed off alot more calories than just plain exercise? just ride the fucking thing morning and night, results guaranteed!

Damn... women don't need men anymore.... and OSIM will be super fucking rich!

ps: wait til you see old women or young children riding on this machine... very disturbing... fuck...

**OSIM, iGallop, Rabbit are trademark names belonging to their respective companies... iSex is a name belonging to wtf?!... ride away!

hand model?

2006-06-26T18:04:00.000+08:00

Was thinking of adding hands to my phone shots... I meant using a hand model to hold the phone while I took pictures of them...

Here are a few sample shots... the hand doesn't belong to me... it's Kim's...

it was tough at first coz it was my first time shooting phones with hands...

this gives you a rough idea how big the phone is and how small the keys are

This is the other phone I have for review, the Nokia 3250 music phone. Quite thick.

So what do you guys think? Good idea? Everything was done in a rush so of course, things will be much improved with future phones... and of course, thanks to Kim I don't have to use my own ugly hands to hold them phones :)

England win the World Cup? what a load of bollocks!!

2006-06-26T01:17:00.000+08:00

Gerrard made some of the worst passes in the game...

Yup, that's right. And that's coming from a fan. From the horrible performance earlier on against Ecuador, they will be out the next round against either Portugal or Holland. However, they might get lucky since both Portugal and Holland have also failed to shine...

it was just not Rooney's day...

Everything was going wrong for the English... Gerrard's passes missed their targets, Lampard's shots all went way out wide, and Rooney was bullied by both Ecuador's central defenders. Obviously, the ref was a little blind when the 2 Ecuador defenders obstructed and fell Rooney when he was all clear for goal. Fuck...

or even Lampard's.... most of his shots so far in the tournament have gone wide

Now I'm gonna miss the next England game on Saturday night coz I'll be spending the night in Sri Medan, some God forsaken place, for no fucking reason at all. We're there for community health service where we have to take blood pressure readings and glucose levels for the residents there. But why the hell do we have to stay the night??? The dictator of the class said it's for continuity, we can't just leave after the health checkup.

Okay fine, then we'll just play some football with them in the spirit of the world cup. then have a nice dinner around the fire, hopefully not eating one of us, and then get home. Why stay the fucking night? and the ironic thing is that he said,"I want to get us all home as early as possible on Sunday..." What the fuck for? that's worse ain't it? stay the night, and disappear the moment the sun's up.

Thank goodness the Germany vs Argentina game is on Friday night... otherwise, the class dictator's head will roll... a real power crazy fuckhead who uses lecturers' names to threaten us... asshole.

ipod replacement? maybe...

2006-06-25T02:15:00.000+08:00

Having played with the N91 for a day and finally getting myself to synchronise my 3.5gb music library into it, I realise that this phone is pretty capable of replacing my iPod mini.

The use of the new Windows Media Player 11 to transfer music is very intuitive. As long as you have WMP 10 and above, it will recognise the N91 as a portable music player and transfer.

windows media player 11 looks awesome...

The new WMP 11 looks fantastic and is Microsoft's answer to the popular iTunes. Although I still feel it's not as friendly as the iTunes but it does look a heck lot better. Songs are divided into albums in the music library with the corresponding album art. A very nice touch. One minor gripe is that WMP will definitely convert all your MP3 files into WMA before syncing it over to the N91. This takes up more time but fortunately, it doesn't convert the files on your harddisk... I'd sue Microsoft if it did!

Conversion takes place before the synchronization... tedious process when you have 500 over songs

So how does the N91 perform as a MP3 player? It's fantastic! It sounds good with my Sennheiser PX100s and the remote that comes with it works like a charm and also functions as the mic for handsfree talking. Imagine talking to your girlfriend/boyfriend with a pair of Grado S60 headphones...

Well, you will have to wait for my final review on Mobileburn.com for my final verdict. So far, the N91 seems like a very capable phone + MP3 player. Apart from the disappointing low res screen (176 x 208 pixels, yes it's low res by today's standards especially when it's running on the 3rd edition S60 which has fonts that look best in 240 x 320 pixels) and a form factor which many would deem as ugly, I think the N91 is superb and yeah, it can replace my ipod mini... one less thing to carry!

164 grams of insane technology

2006-06-23T23:57:00.000+08:00

Recently launched here after being announced ages ago, the Nokia N91 was said to have failed to capture the iPod toting market. Weighing a hefty 164g, it is much heavier than an iPod Mini which also has a similar 4GB microdrive as in the top heavy N91.

Clad in stainless steel, the N91 feels really solid and heavy with superb build quality. With WiFi built-in, first impressions tell me I've got myself a new favourite phone... I'll update you about it in 3 weeks' time since that's the amount of time I have with the phone. Here are some pictures for you to drool over...

the phone is huge, over 2cm longer than my K750i and is wider at the top (to accomodate the microdrive)

slide open to reveal the tiny keypad. surprisingly it's usable but I might hate it later on...

check out the stainless steel battery cover... it's damn cool... 2-megapixel camera is non auto-focus.

the N91 found my home wifi network without a hitch. Just key in the WPA key and we're good to go!

HTML pages aren't adjusted according to screen size on the web browser but there's a 'mini map' which allows you to see where in the world you're looking at on the webpage...

fuckwits

2006-06-21T16:51:00.000+08:00

if you think being a doctor is all grand and almighty, think again. I know many of you are gonna be doctors or doctors already, and many of you might disagree with me. But I am gonna make my point anyway.

Medical students are a different breed of people. They stab, they beg, they suck up, they do anything for a slice of the cake which wasn't meant for them anyway. Yeah of course there are the few (the very few) nice people, who are fortunately in my close group of friends, but beyond your close niche, you better watch your back.

I've been a victim myself many times. Being jacked is fast becoming my middle name. I know and I expect my colleagues to be self centred pricks but it doesn't get any worse...

I forgot to return the keys for the IMU room today. I admit it's my fault. It was in my pants pocket and I did not realise until a colleague, X, called me. They needed the room at 4pm. It was already 4.01pm. What better timing. So I agreed to go back to the hospital to return the key coz they were so adamant. Wait a minute.... I think this is gonna be a jacking session again.

So I returned the call, no answer. SMSed asking if they could find another room to use since I'd take quite a long time to reach and their class would be delayed. No reply...

Okay, better go then... on the way there, received an SMS from X - Jin Khang has to come NOW. There are no rooms available. Obviously the SMS looks like it was forwarded. Alright, looks genuine, they were probably looking for rooms and someone SMSed him. So I continued rushing my way through traffic to the hospital.

Less than 5 minutes after receiving the SMS, I reached the main entrance where X had agreed to wait for me to get the keys. No X in sight... not even his fucking shadow... So I waited for about 3 minutes. SMSed him to tell him I'm already there waiting. Called him 5 times, no answer.

Finally he answered the call... "We just started class, just pass the keys to the office *click*"

The fucker hung up on me after making me rush all the way to the hospital, did not even have the courtesy to let me know they already found a room, and made me wait for 5 whole fucking minutes at the main entrance.

Yes, it's my fault for not returning the keys but at least have the courtesy to let me know you already found a room so I don't have to rush and wait and keep calling and sms-ing. The worst thing was... I expected this to happen... and it really did... it's just so so so sad...

Now I understand someone once told me that he does not want to work in a hospital with IMU graduates. Most of them cannot be depended, are not trustworthy, and will eat you for breakfast if you're nice to them.

So you think doctors are noble? Well I know the doctors-to-be around me are shrewd and cunning self centred fuckwits... fuck you all assholes!

ps: they all come in different varieties but I can safely say that 100% of them are self centred jerks. There are other qualities too... some are calculative like crazy, some are just too kiasu, some are manipulative, some are power crazy, etc etc etc... I could go on... come have coffee with me and I'll tell you more tales...

Other examples of fuckwit colleagues...

1. Example of being kiasu... this is considered VERY MILD.

2. Nosey pricks who spread/say shit about you...

3. Another example of how untrustworthy they can be...

when u're watching Brazil play...

2006-06-20T18:56:00.000+08:00

... don't you just hate the way they disappoint with their lousy performance?

damn stressed man...

... don't you just hate the way the fat ass Ronaldo can't even kick a ball?

ooh look!! fatty missed his kick! bleh...

... don't you just love the fans?

spot the pervert... oops... he's been pinpointed already!

getting extinct or are you just being ignorant?

2006-06-19T19:18:00.000+08:00

You know how age catches up with you when all your relatives start asking,"AH BOY, when are you bringing your girlfriend leh..." or "AH GIRL, eggs run out leh... when can we meet Mr. Handsome?"

usually, us guys don't give a toss about such comments (sorry if you do, u must be some kind of a loser) but for the girls, it gets a little too touchy and it's like a nuclear bomb in them. Mention the B word and they will all explode complaining,"You think so easy meh?! All the good ones are either taken or gay! worst still, alot of them are dead too!! they are getting extinct!!!"

So is it true? Are worthy men getting extinct? or is it the same likewise with the women? All the beautiful and smart ones are being snatched up by ugly blokes while the damn jeng ones are... well, also taken up by ugly blokes.

I beg to differ. The next time before you complain about the shortage of men, look around you. See the guy in the corner reading a book? He might be a hidden gem. Well yeah, he doesn't look like Tom Cruise (or Brad Pitt or whoever you like) but he might be the one for you. Have you ever taken the opportunity to actually get to know him? It all boils down to being choosy and fussy about the 'Right' guy. Instead of looking at a black spot, why not look at the white background? What's right and what's wrong anyway?

They are not getting extinct... they are just being blocked out.

But damn... wish I could say the same about the shortage of hot chicks these days... :P *runs and hides*

short update

2006-06-19T02:23:00.000+08:00

with all the world cup craze going on, it's been alot of sleep depriving footie watching these few days. and it's gonna continue for the next few weeks.

Pecan's doing fine... here's a shot of her with her E-collar, or the lampshade as what we like to call it.
it was taken off this morning and she's been running around like a rabid dog all day!
Created a snack - take 2 crackers and a slice of cheese, pop it into the oven for 2 minutes and voila! Wallace and Gromit would be really proud...

the RAZR headset is here

2006-06-16T14:50:00.000+08:00

got this in the mail today. Gonna replace my aging HS850. The material used on the outer casing is the soft touch rubber compound found on the black V3 and the V3x. It's superb!

it retains the same sharp and sleek looks of the razr handset...

stones will kill my bladder

2006-06-11T20:50:00.000+08:00

not exactly my bladder but Pecan's. Yup... after 1 week of bloody urine and increased frequency (in other words, pee-ing everywhere), Pecan was diagnosed with bladder stones. She underwent a major operation yesterday to remove the stones from her bladder and there were four of them. Yup 4 struvite stones, all sharp and pointy, all the while scratching away at her bladder wall...

Here are the stones... MMC card thrown in for size reference... they are pretty big for stones. In a human, it would have hurt like shiteeee...

She's doing better now but hardly eating. Just standing or sleeping around like a zombie due to the pain.

Ah well... it's not easy being a dog...

pain? huh? Ape tu?

2006-06-05T20:31:00.000+08:00

it's absolutely appalling to know that many Malaysian youth today have no clue in English at all. For example, a 21 year old patient came in today and the doctor spoke only in English as he's from India.

Doctor: Hello, how are u today?

Patient looks dumbfucked, no idea what was just said to him. Kept quiet for awhile and then started pointing at his leg...

Patient: Doktor, kaki ku sakit la bile ku jalan.

Doctor: Oh pain? Very pain or just a little bit?

Patient looks even more dumbfucked, clueless...

This is the part where we had to cut in and translate into Malay for the poor sod.

It's ridiculous... how did he even pass UPSR? English is taught since you start off in Standard 1... unless of course he was never educated in the first place. It's terrible. You can't even understand the word 'pain'? Or the simple and not to mention extremely common courteous question of 'How are you'? Get yourself shot man, you're an embarassment to everyone!

Oh... he's a civil servant working in a government office... Guess English isn't a requirement...

BAH!

ps: my letter to NST appeared today... they cut off quite abit, expectedly... yeah it's about the pansy TM

more reviews to do!

2006-06-01T21:29:00.000+08:00

i'm swamped! so many phones arriving for review... I just got the Nokia 6280 and a brand new N71 for review today. Will be reviewing the Nokia 3250 next...

Meet the 2 new members...
and the whole family...
dun u wish u have a job like mine :P

TM, the fucking pansy company

2006-05-30T00:04:00.000+08:00

It has been exactly 28 days since I lodged a report to TM regarding the DSL signal loss at my home. I have been without a Streamyx connection for a month and all complaints to TM have fallen on deaf ears. I have been told a different story each time about the root of the problem and as always, given empty promises that the problem will be solved within 2 working days.

Even speaking to supervisors who claim that they have given out specific orders to solve my problem did not help. The latest story in this saga is TM blaming their supplier for the port at the exchange. They said that it is being repaired at the moment. Why can’t they just replace the cards at the port? Why do I as a paying customer need to wait such a long time for a card to be repaired? This is not the first time I am facing with the same problem. It also took TM a month to replace my card last year in November 2005. Before that, it was a lot of time wasting with procrastination and department hopping. I was pushed to different departments on several occasions including the activation department which has nothing to do with my problem.

What is going on, TM? Your claims that your customers are not just numbers and promises to upgrade your service have not materialized. It takes weeks to solve a connection problem, always putting the blame on someone else, i.e.: Your modem is faulty, our supplier is taking too long, our technician has not given us feedback. Even escalating a problem takes ages as your personnel have to email instead of reaching them by phone. I was appalled when I was told that my case is now handled by higher management and no one can push or ask them about my problem. The next time I called, I was told that my problem will be forwarded to higher management. Why am I being told stories? Is this the way a privatized company works? Does a problem always need a letter to the local papers before it can be solved?

Even calls to the call centre isn’t free anymore, being charged a local rate for calling a 1300 number. It feels just like daylight robbery. Maybe the government should take a long hard look at all these problems with TM before embarking on making Malaysia a centre to fight cyber terrorism.

another razr

2006-05-26T14:12:00.000+08:00

no no... not another mouse. Just got the Motorola V3x in the mail due for review... useless motherfuckers at the local mags and papers just don't know how to take care of phones... the V3x is covered with scratches... it's such a pity for such a beautiful phone. that's the Malaysian attitude for you... real bigtime fucks...

Anyway, it still has the drool factor... and the UI has been given a huge makeover... it's much friendlier now and faster too!

i just got razered!

2006-05-22T00:33:00.000+08:00

got fedup with my cheapo RM20 laptop mouse so I got myself a nice Razer Krait to use with my desktop while the old Logitech G1 goes to my laptop...
damn this mouse is cool... the packaging includes the driver CD, manual and a car sticker for you to show off that you're a razerhead. It's pretty cheap too, just below the RM100 mark for an optical mouse that's 1600dpi instead of the usual 800 (my G1 is 800dpi). A higher dpi means higher sensitivity and you don't have to move your mouse as much to cover a certain area than a usual 400-800dpi.
the sides of the mouse are lined with rubber grips which glow orange. yeah abit 'jeng' but pretty cool in the flesh... The buttons are oversized and have a non-slip coating to them. this gives a very nice feel to the buttons. The scroll button is located pretty near the edge of the top of the mouse, this is just perfect for my fingers as I usually have to bend my index finger quite abit to scroll.

I also got myself a mousepad. it's a gaming mousepad by Everglide... they are the manufacturers of the Razer Mantis mousepad so they are basically the same. Just that one has the Razer logo and that logo will cost you an additional 40bucks. wat a waste of money plus the Titan comes with a neat metal cylinder for you to transport your mat from one LAN party to another... cool shite!
The mousepad is HUGE... the Mantis is even bigger! Luckily there's space on my table for it... *phew* The fabric is some special Fibertek which is some synthetic shit that's so damn smooth. ideal for fast paced gaming... excellent stuff. goes well with my Krait too :P
ok time to pawn some Orcs...

Jin Khang in Finland

2006-05-19T01:13:00.000+08:00

No no... not a holiday trip. But Mobileburn.com was recently featured in the Finnish magazine Bisnes.fi and I was mentioned in the article as a Nokia expert *ooooo...

Here you go... have a look at the article...

I know I know... most of you guys don't read Finnish. So here's the translation...

'Everything about mobiles - and a bit more'.

Next time you consider buying a cell phone, check out MobileBurn. The site focuses on business mobiles and BT-devices in a way that you usually associate with wines, cigars or TM [a Finnish pub, roughly similar to PC Mag].

MobileBurn offers news, discussions, and rumors, but its most important feature is the reviews. The site grades them into three categories: not recommended, recommended and highly recommended.

Before the grading a reviewer runs through the features of a phone in detail. For example, the site Nokia-expert Jin Khang goes on about the Nokia N90 for nine pages. They also have pictures, which can help you to evaluate the different features of the camera. Finally Khang gives the plusses (beautiful screen, good camera, 3G, lots of memory) and the minuses (sluggish, software issues, big and heavy, lack of vibrate) and decides to recommend the phone. "I'm not saying it isn't good. I'm just saying that the Nokia N90 is a capable mobile phone, not great."

MobileBurn is run by Michael Oryl of Philadelphia. Previously in the software business and technical leadership in the financial services, Oryl has run the site for four years, the last two full time. "I started the site when I was on an extended holiday in Germany. To pass the time I wrote reviews about phones I got from my American friend."

MobileBurn makes its money from ad sales. The half a million visitors per month are mainly under 35 and belong to the early adopters group - the advertisers' favorites.

According to Oryl, the goal of MobileBurn is to show its audience new and cool stuff "show the average person that this is what they should desire". So what?

"I'm myself now playing with the Nokia N80 and I like it a lot. It has among other things a 3-megapixel camera. It's pretty cool", Oryl responds in an e-mail from Nokia's Nseries event in Berlin.

pure genius

2006-05-14T01:39:00.000+08:00

it's been a long wait (5 years to be exact) for the latest TOOL album but i received it today in the mail direct from Canada. Took a freaking 14 days for it to arrive but heck, it's worth the wait!

TOOL is well known for their out of this world CD packagings, not to mention every album of theirs use up all 80 minutes of a CD with some tracks spanning over 20 minutes, so long that they have to split the track into 2 or 3 shorter tracks

the first TOOL album I ever bought was the Aenima album which had limited edition casings that let you view 'animated' graphics on the album sleeve. The previous album, Lateralus, had a transparent sleeve which dissected the artwork page by page, revealing human anatomy and weird art... it was fantastic and worth every cent i paid!

This time, they are simply genius... they included a pair of stereoscopic lenses for you to enjoy their art in 3D. I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves... pure genius...

it's something like a digipak packaging this time... cardboard. Notice the lenses?

Weird artwork... intriguing... so typical TOOL

the album sleeve is stuck to the packaging itself and it's really quite thick with alot of art

a safety precaution??? i guess they can give you a migraine...

peek thru and know the world of TOOL

goodbye shithole

2006-05-03T21:16:00.000+08:00

only for a week...

yup, having a week's break next week. a much needed break since it's been traumatising in the darn surgery posting.

lecturer is a real killer... he can talk and talk and talk without pausing for water. imagine how long he can talk if he had a bottle of water handy *gulp*

well, gotta pack. lack of posts... yeah i know... not really in the mood or rather, not having the proper energy levels to think of blogging at the moment...

cheers

quiet days

2006-04-28T11:26:00.000+08:00

yes it's hectic down here in BP. blogging will have to take a backseat for now.

til later...

Happy 18th Birthday!

2006-04-18T23:17:00.000+08:00

I've known you for 18 years,

I've seen you say your first word,

I've seen you shed your first tears,

I've seen you being absurd...

Irritating and sometimes a pain,

It's weird to see the years go past,

Everyday now part of our memory lane,

I'm glad you're my sister all grown up so fast...

Happy 18th Birthday :)

pure massacre

2006-04-17T18:10:00.000+08:00

it was after a downpour,

the insects were out in full flight,

flying, somersaults, happy to the core,

on comes 4 bright dots of light,

unaware of what's coming,

the insects continued with their jovial frolic,

SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT a-SPLATTING,

what was left were carcasses for me to pick...

had to wash my car... AGAIN! only after 3 days. GEEZZZZ

the kid in you

2006-04-12T12:13:00.000+08:00

ever thought of playing with that Decepticon you still keep lying in your drawer? or maybe those Mask toys you still keep in that old shoebox on top of your cupboard? Okay... maybe you don't even know what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the kid in all of us. I still have urges to mess around with Optimus Prime, kicking his ass with Megatron and Shockwave. But it's usually harmless, and does not affect others. I'm talking about the childishness in certain people. I've seen quite extensively the extremes of some in certain imbeciles. Classmate, friend, relative... some of them are really immature in thinking.

It's really sad coz they just don't realize how it affects the people around them. I'm sure many of you have encountered such morons who have no regard for anyone but themselves... or they usually talk incoherently, making stupid comments, bringing in their brothers or mothers or fathers or great grandfathers into their argument trying to make them sound right.

No fucking way it's gonna win you any argument by bringing in the whole family tree! For fuck's sake, just listen when you know you're not that intellectual and stop being such a know-it-all.

That's not all... that's just 1 example from the many I've seen in the numerous 20something-year old children. I can fill up an entire page just describing the various scenarios where a childish dick can irritate the hell out of you.

I don't know what's wrong with these people... not a happy childhood? or too happy with their childhood, they never want to grow up?

It's sad... but life's like that and you just have to kick them hard when they least expect it. Accept it coz there's no stopping it, just like how 'wanna-appear-goodie-2-shoes-can't-swear' will just have to accept that fuck's spelt fuck and not fcuk.

Happy 3rd Birthday Pecan!

2006-04-08T12:29:00.000+08:00

it's a day early but it's gonna be really busy for me tmr so I won't have time to post.

She's 3 this year... that makes it about 36years in human years... or less. I'm not so sure.

Here she is after her bath and a trim of her fringe... how ungrateful of her to stick her tongue at me! but she's so cute :P

*phbbttttttttttttt*

still got it!

2006-04-05T00:25:00.000+08:00

Quake 3 LAN FragFest at Steve's earlier on... Looks like I've still got my railing skills intact!

1.5 hours post call

2006-03-30T06:32:00.000+08:00

it's been a long day... i've been up since 7am yesterday, and it's now 630am the day after. I was on call in the labour room. Managed to deliver 1 baby but the stupid nurse did not put my name on the birth certificate application form as the one who delivered the baby. It's just too much! I spent 4 hours with the patient monitoring her blood pressure too. wtf?! i deserve some credit man!

Okay, i've gotta go... have to be in the wards in half an hour's time... sigh... and then class is up til 4pm today. I'm just gonna collapse... with my unfinished portfolio which is due on Friday. This is crazy... but one look at the innocence that is brought into this world, things just pause...

Life's on hold when you gaze into the most innocent of eyes...

beautiful ain't it?

birth of twins

2006-03-28T16:13:00.000+08:00

It was my first time in the operating theatre in Batu Pahat. Pretty cold in there compared with the one in Seremban.

I was there to witness the birth of a pair of twins. That was cut short by the fact that the patient was a doctor's relative. So we as students were chased out. Geez...

Anyway they were both girls and it took a minute for the younger to follow the elder out of their mother's womb. Took a pic of them... very cute...

elder's on the right, she's the darker skinned one...

for horny people

2006-03-27T22:28:00.000+08:00

it's amazing... the name of the ingredient fits its effects...
if u don't know what I'm talking about... head over here to know the benefits.

back to work

2006-03-24T18:31:00.000+08:00

after a long hiatus, I'm back to my usual phone reviewing part time job. At least I can get some extra moolah to save up on a long holiday after I graduate in August. Better to take a good and long holiday before the slavery traps me in...

First off will be the Nokia N70...

Very cool looking but functions just like the old 6680.

Camera menu has been revamped though...

Well, that's all for now. very busy for the next few weeks... oh, think i'm getting the Motorola V3x... Muahahahahaha!

secretaries

2006-03-22T16:28:00.000+08:00

have u ever noticed the frantic copying of notes some students just love to do? It's nothing wrong really if you're only taking important notes, and not the every freaking word the lecturer/doctor/nurse is saying...

for instance, today I managed to peep at one of my colleague's notebook while words were being frantically scribbled. The nurse in the dialysis centre was busy telling us about how dialysis is done and what the patients have to go through. She mentioned a special syndrome where the patients would get after awhile being sick and tired of having to go through so many sessions of dialysis. It's called Fed Up Syndrome.

My colleague wrote it down... with definitions...

of ducks, portfolios, rain and weddings

2006-03-20T22:31:00.000+08:00

ok, an entirely nonsensical title to a post long procrastinated on... the truth is, life's not been that interesting enough to warrant a post here.

first off, ducks. I'm a great fan of the duck rice here in Batu Pahat. Ask any of my classmates and they will tell you. it costs only RM2.50, add roasted pork and it costs an additional 50sen. It's dirt cheap. It's not like it's extraordinarily nice... but it's decent. And that's saying quite alot about the sad state of food here in this town.

Portfolios. They should be banished. A total waste of time if you ask me. What's the point of writing out discussions about our cases, learning issues, associating them with IMU's 8 outcomes... what a load of bullshit. We should be doing clinical stuff, saving people, not writing dumbass reports! Assess us on our practical stuff, on our knowledge while in the wards... isn't that what Doctors should be? Not IT specialists or typists who can type the best reports by playing around with words and phrases. God damn!

Now we come to rain. What's rain got to do with anything? People in Subang are having trouble keeping their trees in the ground, people in KL are stuck in jams caused by heavy downpours... They should consider shifting down here to Batu Pahat where rain is such scarcity. It just refuses to rain here. When it rains, it drizzles... for not more than half an hour. Want a free sauna, avoid jams, see trees stuck in the ground? Come here in Batu Pahat and visit my place... it's very close to being a sauna. Just add water and watch it evaporate.

Weddings... something I'm beginning to see alot around. You know you're getting old once you attend alot of weddings and funerals. A big congratulations to my classmates Karen and KY who are about to tie the knot after we graduate. I know you haven't made any official announcements but we all know about it already ;) Congratulations again guys!

That's it for now. Til the next stupid title I can think about...

wifi in Batu Pahat

2006-03-08T17:01:00.000+08:00

finally got the network running in my place in BP... at least it provides some consolation to my otherwise shitty life down here...

sometimes...

2006-03-05T11:50:00.000+08:00

... not every journey ends at the destination you wished it would...

... not everything is under your control...

... our priorities may not meet...

... even love is not enough to conquer all...

... it's so so sad that there's nothing we can do...

... you just have to let go, even if she's the love of your life...

... you have to think for what's best for her...

... you just have to suck it up...

... life is just unfair.

Batu Pahat...

2006-03-04T15:46:00.000+08:00

there was never once I had a happy day in Batu Pahat... I'll just go through briefly coz typing about it is also very depressing...

Day 1 - Cleaning... the seniors are real hippies... I doubt they ever cleaned the house. The fan was caked with dust, and the floors were coated with so much dust that even mopping it over 5 times, the dust was still there! The toilets... My god... they were a fucking disaster... you wouldn't even want to pee in any of the toilet bowls...

Day 2 - First day at work... it was mostly briefings and the introduction into the next 6 months of our life in BP. Of course, scare tactics were incorporated to instill fear in all of us... bah!

Day 3-6 - These days were spent in the hospital moping aroundcoz lucky for me, I started off with the most relaxing posting. The rest of my colleagues were in a mess, running here and there, staying in the hospital til 5am delivering babies, trying to get cases for our portfolios...

lunchtimes and dinnertimes were spent going around BP looking for the famous good and cheap food... first of all, I have not eaten any good food... they were all lousy with the exception of a duck rice stall which was pretty ok and cheap, and also a shop selling Roti Bakar with Otak-otak.

The worst thing about BP is that they just don't have proper drinks... my favourite Kopi Si Peng tastes like crap and Teh Si Peng tastes like milk+sugar+water+tinge of tea... terrible!

Other than that, BP is also infested with Mozzies (mosquitoes) which are an entirely different breed from the ones you get here... they are really psycho... even with full netting, they still somehow get into my room... i noticed they always hang around my door, and the moment i open the door, they rush right in...

Sigh... things aren't really looking good for me too in other areas of my depressive life... but that's another story for another day...

Looking forward to the Singapore trip next weekend though! Singapore Zoo here i come!!

I'm leaving...

2006-02-26T11:23:00.000+08:00

... not on a jetplane... but driving down 2 hours and 15 minutes to a little town called Batu Pahat. This is where I'll be spending the next 6 months of my life as a Semester 10 student before I graduate in August...

It's not that bad... nice food, cheap food, hot Batu Pahat chicks... but the totally terrible thing about BP - I've no internet connection. I'll have to apply for it tomorrow after class. Don't know if I have the time for it since it's gonna be the first day. Need to get it done fast.

Modem, wireless router, everything's ready...

Signing off now... until next weekend then.

toilet dwelling

2006-02-23T22:29:00.000+08:00

alot of us have this habit of staying on the can for a long time... it's as though the most productive time you can have is when you're doing your thing on the bowl...

some even call their toilet bowl the epiphany bowl... thoughts just happen when you're on it, some relevation or whatever... i don't know, but it has happened to me before i guess...

for me, it's also my favourite time of the day although DiaMonD thinks it's disgusting to have personal belongings in the toilet... while on the can, i can read the papers, play PDA games, read a book, study, and even post this on my blog (yup, i've done it! blogging while doing it!)...

wonder what other things do people do while in the midst of business... hmmm... of course sex isn't possible unless they have a fetish for smells...

alright, gotta go... where's that toilet paper...

networking at last!

2006-02-22T16:26:00.000+08:00

i've been trying and trying for the past few months ever since i managed to get my wifi network running in my house to get file sharing and printer sharing to work. everytime something would go wrong and the infamous "network path not found" always popped up.

after an intense night of tweaking and fiddling around with Windows network options, i finally managed to share files and also the printer!! Goddamn!!! it feels so damn good to be able to watch movies that are residing in my PC's harddrive on my laptop :) and it also feels so damn good to be able to print wirelessly from my laptop.... excellent shite!!

now i'm sitting in starbucks typing this... mmm dun think i'll be carrying my laptop around to coffee joints just to use the wifi... not very practical... just geeky...

gtg, time to hit the road to get to KL before the jam starts!

sleek in black

2006-02-21T21:45:00.000+08:00

i've finally got my first ever laptop... i was on a budget so it's no fancy shite...

got my hands on the Fujitsu S2110. People who know me will probably be laughing coz i've always been pretty hard on Fujitsu, naming them expensive junk... but the price (RM3999) and form factor plus 3 years warranty is something to die for...

here are the specs and pics of my new babe :)

AMD Turion 64-bit 1.6GHz with 1mb cache (not the 512kb cache)
256mb RAM (upgraded to 768mb)
40gb HDD
Dual layer DVD writer (WOOHOOOO)
13.3 inch screen
Wireless support for A, B and G networks :)

and the best thing of all... only 1.84kg :)

i realise i have alot of stuff in black... cooooool :P

original price was about 5988 bucks but they were having this promotion so it was going for only 3999... yea maybe it's an AMD on a laptop but alot of reviews online have given the Turion processor a good rating... so let me try it out and decide :)

it's really cool in an all black scheme and it's made out of magnesium alloy... however, there's a downside to this - fingerprints... very easily smudged...

it's only RM3999!!!!!

the aim of the game

2006-02-17T18:27:00.000+08:00

none went for borderline viva,

11 went for distinction viva,

none failed,

1 got the distinction,

EVERYONE passed!

as William Wallace would cry out...

FRRRRREEEEEDDDDDOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!

the study group that did it all in just under 2 weeks!
no need to study so hard wannnn :P

as Dr. Zain said... the exam is only a game... and the aim of the game is to pass all of you...

final paper

2006-02-16T00:21:00.000+08:00

actually, not a paper... more like a drama exam. Go in, act out, inspect the patients, examine them, ask them questions... all playacting... but they are real patients with real signs...

scared out of my wits coz it's 40% and it's a must pass portion of the exams. The semester 7 students knew their outcome today... no one in borderline viva = no one failed. Good news for them.

hope it will be the same for us. Anyway, i've got another 13 hours to go before i start my final exam... after this, no more exams for a LOOOOOOOOONG TIME!!!!!! WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

killer paper

2006-02-14T00:08:00.000+08:00

it was a killer... nothing else to say... sigh. i just hope i pass it, and not fail it...

Happy Valentine's Day to all the couples who get to spend it together... sigh...

10% tomorrow

2006-02-12T23:28:00.000+08:00

tomorrow's exam is gonna contribute 10% to my total marks... OSPE... the most vague kind of exam you can get. Anything can appear, anything can be thrown at your face, anything to make you shiver, anything to screw your marks...

mental note... it's only 10%...