Wednesday, June 30, 2004

EOS 1 STUDY BREAK

It's been 2 days now since Summative 2, and the EOS 1 Finals is looming more and more closer ahead... And yet I have barely started revising my Summative One stuff... The sooner I leave my home for Vista the better! I can nv study here at home! Too many distractions/temptations to resist!

I'm really crazy over Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major: Andante now... Wonder where I can get a cd with that beautiful piece... Oh ya I've watched Harry Potter and the Prisoners of Azkaban yesterday. I know, it's pretty late to watch that now, but heck, with all the tests going on, wat can I do? I kinda enjoy the movie, and I have to say it's quite well-crafted. Looking forward for the sequels, since I've given up reading the books from Book 4 onwards... it's juz too blardy long! Hahahaha...

Okie, gotta continue my studies now, at 3:23am... Sheesh...

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

ONE DOWN, ONE MORE TO GO

Summative 2 has come and gone! And of all the tests and exams I've taken for all these years, I have to say that I faced this one most calmly and confidently. After reading most of the notes for 3 times (excluding BS and Biostats, naturally), I juz can't read anymore on the very day b4 my exams. Indeed, I've being studied so much that I actually felt sick of studying!

Also, after all the prayers from my beloved brothers and sisters, I really really feel that I'm really blessed. Indeed, ever since I've entered IMU, God has showered so much blessing over me, that the only phrase that I could use to describe this overwhelming sense of security and being loved is from David's Psalm 23: My cups overflows... Why would God love someone as unworthy and lowly as me? Even now I'm really awed at his infinite and conditional love, and how I'm completely indebted to him!

Well, as for the test... It was OK, more on the easy side... But I DID make a lot of careless mistake. For example, if there are 30% thymine on both strands of a DNA, and many percent of cytosine are there? Without much thinking, I wrote 70% down... ARGH... That was a really STUPID mistake la! Not to mention getting lots of negative markings for the MCQ!!! Still, I'm confident that I could at least get an A- la... But I do hope I can get an A though... I really have put in a lot of effort for that test!

Can't study after the test, so I finished watching 2 movies, Amadeus and yet another Studio Ghibli anime, Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind. For Amadeus, well, I guess it's pretty decent biography of the musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart la, but I'm really impress by the wigs, costumes and stage operas though! As for Nausicaa, needless to say, director Hiyao Miyasaki has again proves that he's a genius. I was a bit disappointed at the artwork and the music at 1st, but since this is his first work ever, it's forgivable. Yet this is one of the deepest movie I've watched too, eventhough it's animated, and is much better than all the countless thrash movies produced nowadays. I'll have to collect all his works one day!

Saturday, June 26, 2004

DESERVE A PLACE

34 of the 128 "unlucky" STPM graduates who wanna enter med school will be "dumped" to IMU in the next September intake. I'm not very happy with this idea initially, since getting straight A's doesn't really equate "guarenteed entrance" to med school! There's a lot of other factors that should be considered, like what's the motivation behind it, the candidate's interest etc.

But fortunately, IMU wisely choose to interview them 1st b4 determining whether to accept them or not, unlike other private universities. For that I'm thankful. The competition to enter here is bad enough, and an extra "guaranteed acceptance" for 34 students is a very unfair idea to me. I mean, wat about the ppl who got straight A's for their pre-U? Are they "less worthy" to enter med school than the STPM straight A's scorers? Therefore, the only fair way to do this is to let everyone has an equal chance of getting accepted, without any of those "privileges".

And I seriously hope that those who are accepted in the next intake will appreciate their place here as much as I did mine. I kinda estimate that for one place taken in IMU, 2 others can't make it. So I sure do hope that all of them will be serious about them becoming future doctors. (Whoa... A whole group of potential new students juz entered the library now! Must have been a tour of the library after the IMU intro talk! One of my batchmate mentioned "disappointing batch"... Heehee)

Talking about ppl who I strong feel that they're not supposed to be here, one of the student's comments posted on the notice board has been seriously bugging me. He (since he use the 'f' word, I guess it's a he) actually complaints that IMU cheated his money and are producing "study freaks". HELLO?! Wat do u expect a med student's life to be? All play and no work? Clubbing every night and partying everyday? And starts saving others life after u graduate without the need of requiring the huge pool of knowledge needed?! Sheesh, I can't believe he can actually make it thru to IMU. Ppl like these DUN DESERVED to be here!

Hmmmm... I think it's high time I go back to my studies now...

Friday, June 25, 2004

AND THERE GOES SEMESTER 1...

Have my final lecture of semester one yesterday... Sigh... Now that semester 1 has come and gone, I kinda feel sad for it... Probably TJ's fault for being so sentimental about his 1st sem when I meet him again on my very 1st day at IMU. Orientation soon followed... So memorable yet so horrid... Heehee...

Time really flies here. 4 months juz flow past in a blink. And the amount of stuff we have learned in this short 4 months would have shock all my friends who aren't in med school! Hahahaha... And to think that this is the EASIEST semester in IMU! Whoa, I see more challenges ahead of me... provided if I pass my sem 1 of cuz!

Oh well... I guess there's no point for me getting sentimental now. Life has been good for the past 4 months in IMU, and I have really enjoyed myself and dun have any regrets at all for choosing medicine and IMU. Well, b4 my sentimentalism destroy my mood for studies, I better stop reflecting on "the good old days" now...

All the best to Sem 1, Sem 3 and Sem 5 students for the Finals! Oh and all the best to my fellow batchmates in Summative 2 next Monday as well! May God bless you all!

(Man, this sounds like the end...)

Thursday, June 24, 2004

-VE MARKING

After months of speculation, I've finally got the truth. There IS negative marking for us sem 1 students after all! Man Dr. Reddy seriously need to undergo a Basic Communication course for being misleading us to think that there is no negative marking for us after all. Wat he was trying to tell us is that we won't have our negative marks carried forward, i.e. if we got all 5 answers wrong, the minumal mark we could get is 0, and not -2.5. Silly guy...

I'm having a dilemma now... So in case I'm not sure about the answer for MCQ, should I juz leave it blank and got a zero, or juz simply "shoot" and risk a negative marking of 0.5 mark? For the past 12 years, I've been trained to answer ALL of my questions, no matter I know the answers to it or not... So I guess it won't be easy now to break the habit. Argh... I hate the system!

And to all the seniors who are constantly whining on how lucky we sem 1 students are and how we only score high bcuz we dun have negative markings, turns out u guys are wrong after all. We dun score high bcuz we're lucky... we did that bcuz we're good! Hahahaha...

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

FUNNY, BUT LACKS NOVELTY



When I was reading Bored of the Rings, I can't help but chuckle, even laugh out loud till my tears came out, in almost every pages. The good thing about this parody of The Lord of the Rings is that the authors do know about J.R.R. Tolkien's style, and instead of merely poking fun on the great book, they do imitate Tolkien's style once in awhile (albeit in a very twisted way), and that's when it shines.

The few parts that really stick to my mind are the toll at the river when Frito was chased by the Nozdrul, how the quest fell into Frito's hand, how the Fellowship is formed, Riders of Roi-Tai on their murderous merino sheeps, all kinds of vegetables attacking Isinglass, the history of the Kings and Stewards of Twodor, Schlob and other mountain resorts (that IS the title of the chapter), and the ride to the Black Gate (or should I say, the escape FROM it).

Still, I can't help but feeling a bit disappointed on how that the book by itself is not a standalone. It only makes sense if u have already read The Lord of the Rings (I read four times myself), and in the end, after u finish the book, I realized that it's not really a story at all by itself. Juz a string of jokes tied together by relying on the plot of LoTR...

In conclusion, I guess this book is good for a few laughs, but overall, it definitely lacks novelty. Not really worth buying though.

Monday, June 21, 2004

GOOD MOVIE IN AN USELESS PIRATED VCD

After I've waited for the past few months for the oppurtunity to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in cinema or at home with a pirated DVD (so long as everything looks clear and I can hear everything), I finally gave in and bought the pirated VCD version of it, eventhough I know I will surely regret it... Turns out I'm both right and wrong.

Well, usually after I finished watching a worthy show, I'll blog about it. And this is DEFINITELY a good show, but I dunno yet juz HOW good izzit. This is simply bcuz the quality of the VCD is HORRIBLE, juz as I expected it to be. I can hardly hear half of wat the characters are talking about, and the subtitles aren't really helpful, since they only appear once in awhile. And the camera frequently runs out of focus too, which I find to be really annoying.

Still, from the little that I could comprehend from the movie, it definitely has impressed me. I'm trying to imagine how much more I'll enjoy the movie if I could get everything there is in it... Well, either I have to wait for the movie to show in local cinema (i have no idea why it isn't shown yet... It doesn't have excessive sex/violence scenes or watsoever) or for the DVD to be distributed. Till then, I won't blog about it.

And now I definitely have to study. 7 more days to Summative 2, and I still have Repro, BS, Genetics and Biostats to cover... ARGH...

Sunday, June 20, 2004

DOGGIE IS ALL GROWN UP!

I planned to blog this earlier, but always forgotten about it. Remember the black puppy I used to have at my house earlier? It was sent to my dad's factory a few months ago to be cared for by the workers there, since we dun have sufficient time to spend with the dog and the dog is so hyperactive that it had to run all over the space, knocking down all sorts of things and chewing all sorts of chewable stuff (e.g. the washing machine water hose). Well, I get to meet it again a few weeks ago...

The dog has grown, that's for certain... but it's not really much taller... But it's definitelt longer! It kinda resembles a Welsh Corgi, except that it lacks the elegant long fur Welsh Corgi has... So I guess it must have been a cross-breed. It really looks adorable with its oversize ears and short legs with a rather long body. It even recognizes me! Always get excited and active when it sees me, jumping around, licking or lie flat on the ground for me to pat it.

My parents asked me if I wanted to bring the dog back home again, but I guess it's enjoying more here in the factory than back at my house, since it has a bigger space to run around now. So I guess it'll be best for it to stay there for the time being leh... I'm kinda fond of the dog now though... N I dun really mind it licking all over my hands anymore...

Anyway, some of u may notice that I keep switching the use of "he/she" and "it" when I refering to dogs in different blog entries... The reason is because I'm dunno which is better! I do know "it" is more accurate, but it is a bit hard to use la... Am I suppose to say "it enjoys itself"?? Hmmmmm...

COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA WORKSHOP

Went to the Petronas Philharmonic Hall today at KLCC for the Count Basie Orchestra Workshop... One of the 1st thing that I realized there is that the workshop is actually meant for Jazz fans (as in ppl who are well versed in the history of the development of blues, jazz, bebop etc) or really talented musicians. Nonetheless, I did enjoy myself there. And I can't help but suspect that I will soon grow to really love jazz music...

Anyway, the 1st session was a forum from some of the old timers who has performed with the late Count Basie in the past. Nothing much interest me then, since I know next to nothing on the history of jazz/swing/blues etc. But when the hands-on session finally began, I started to swing with the music. Man, jazz is infectious! And wat's more impressive, it's all impromptu!

Since this is a workshop and not a performance, only a few of the Count Basie Orchestra ppl played there, and the other half was consisted of a few Malaysian Philharmonic players. While 1 few of them are quite good, I'm really embarassed with the others. It is so evident that their level of mastery in nowhere close to the orchestra ppl. But since this is impromptu stuff after all, I gotta give credit to them. Overall, it's an enjoyable experience, and really worth it for RM 10!!!

Hope I actually got to watch a real orchestra performance in the future... Cheapest seat for RM 150!!! So I guess it won't be anytime soon!

Friday, June 18, 2004

WHERE DOES LIFE BEGIN?

An interstellar burst
I'm back to save the universe
Radiohead - Airbag


Where does life truly begins? Does it starts rite after the fertilization of an ovum by a sperm? But then again, both the individual sperm and ovum ARE alive at the 1st place, rite? Then, if a bunch of newly fertilized cells are aborted before they have human features such as head, limbs etc, izzit murder? I mean, during the blastocyte stage, they are merely 16 cells or so. Disposing them doesn't equates to murder rite? I mean, when u cut urself, u may actually "killed" more cells than that... So why izzit unethical?

And, wat if a couple has found out that their 1st child has cystic fibrosis (a genetic disorder), and wanted a 2nd normal child? The probability of them getting a normal child is 3 out of 4 (I'm including "carrier" status as "normal"), yet there is still a chance that their next child will be abnormal too. One way to prevent that will be retrieving ovums from the mother and sperms from the father and fertilize them in vitro. Then, a normal fertilized ovum with no genetic defects can be inserted into the uterus and there u have it, a normal child!

But if there are 10 ovums that are fertilized and only 1 is normal... wat u do with the other 9? We were discussing this in our PBL sessions when I straight away answer that they could be disposed la. As I expected, it shocked many ppl there. The majority argues that all 9 fertilized ovums are "lifes" themselves, and to dispose of them is murder. But I can't help but wonder... Do u actually grieve when a slough of ur cells are cut out from ur body during injuries? Do u call it "murder"? Of cuz not! They are juz cells after all! No conciousness, thoughts, feelings... NONE!

And if we argue that we should juz leave all to chance, that who will bear the responsibilities when the newborn child has cystic fibrosis? Of cuz, most of us will say it's God's will, and thus it is no one's fault. But as future doctor, my aim is to save life and reduce suffering, isn't it? Do we have the right to decide whether this child should come to this world with a disorder that will probably kill him in 30 years time, eventhough treatment and etc will be given unto him? Not to mention the years of suffering he/she has to go through!

Few months ago, someone sued his parents for giving birth to him with cystic fibrosis. Yes, I agree, that's outrageous, but now that we have the ability to prevent such tragedy, shouldn't we do so? As a future doctor myself (at least I hope I can be), it is my duty to prevent such tragedy from occuring. Therefore I dun think killing of a few fertilized cells equates murder, and should be done for the good of humanity when necessary.

I would also like to blog a bit on Eugenics... But I guess I dun have the time now... Tai Chi class will begin in 30 minutes time. Meybe next time la!

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

I've finally added the Comment Boxes. All credits go to Yee Pei and Azzedin!!! Thx guys for helping me out!!!

Also, I added a whole bunch of links to my fellow bloggers, and added an additional Anime Reviews section.

Now that I've wasted 1 hour plus doing that, I guess it is only my juz reward to take a nap NOW!!! >=)

INQUISITIVENESS & HELPFULNESS

A friend of mine asked me a question when he was stuck while studying his lecture note. Since I can't give him a 100% accurate answer, I told him wat I think the answer should be, and asked him to check the textbook for a more accurate answer. Guess wat? He's too lazy to find that out, eventhough the textbook is easily available to him then and there! Well, since I wanna know the answer myself, I checked it out & told him later...

But I can't help but wonder... If u have chosen Medicine as ur course and aspiring to become a doctor in the future, then u should be at least interested in the stuff u r studying. Then how can u be "lazy" to get the answer to ur questions? If the condition is not very convenient, or ur friend can help u out then and there, that's ok. But if no one can help u, isn't it best, no, isn't it a MUST that u look for the answers urself?

Then, there's this other guy. I have some difficulty recalling a learned concept in CPU, and so I asked him a simple question which only require a simple answer. If he needs to pay attention to the lecture and therefore he can't explain it to me there and then, that's fine on me. And if I have a textbook with me which I can check, then I should have look for the answer myself (I dun have it btw). But not only did he refuse to asnwer me, but give me a rather sarcastic reply to show how stupid I am not to know the answer. Ouch...

Why do some ppl have to be SO mean? I really can't understand. All I asked is juz a little help, and I dun mind if I dun get any. But wat did I do to deserve such a insult? When I dunno something, I SERIOUSLY dunno something. I nv ask sumthing juz for the sake of annoying someone, even if the answer is so obvious to that person. How do society promote the value of bu chi xia wen (Mandarin - nv be ashamed to ask) if everyone is so not keen on enlightening others? Sigh...

B4 I enter IMU, I kinda imagine the ppl here to be helpful, friendly & inquisitive (all of us are aiming to be future doctors right?), and although I have to say that I'm not totally disappointed now that I'm here, I still can't understand certain ppl here. Why are they here in IMU at the 1st place? I have no idea...

DUBBING/SUBBING DILEMMA

The problem with local distribution of anime DVDs, whether izzit a full-feature anime or a series, is the horrible English subbing (at least to me). And no, I will not watch any anime in English dubbing, unless I have watched it all once in Japanese (with English subtitles, of cuz). Why not dubbing? Try watch the BM dubbed version of Slamdunk and u'll get the picture (btw, that was the worst dubbing I've ever heard of in an anime).

To be honest, not all dubbing are bad. I enjoyed the Cantonese dubbing of Crayon Shin Chan, and of cuz the lovable Doraemon in BM (ah... those were the days...) Yet from experience (not much, to be frank), most dubbing tend to suck. And I mean really really suck. The voice acting is an ESSENTIAL element in any animation, since we do not remember juz the appearence & personality, but also the voice. A bad dubbing can literally destroy a well-crafted anime title (again, think Slamdunk).

Therefore, there leaves me with only 1 alternative (I can't understand Japanese!): Watching it in Japanese with English subtitles. But there's another problem... Some subs are really really awful!!! And I dun mean awful only in the sense of grammars. Heck, they can't even get the spelling of the characters' NAME right!!! The worst I have seen is Vicious (the villain from Cowboy Bebop) is subbed as Ri Chasu!!! Oh come on, it can't be that bad right? NO, IT IS THAT BAD!!!

And now that I've found out that Eric actually owns the DVD series of Trigun and he wanted to sell it to me at a lower price, I'm really hesitating to buy it, not bcuz of the investment involved, but the subbing problem. He said that it is understandeble, but I can't expect much from it... Man, if only all anime DVDs for sale here in M'sia are fansubs (far better subtitles made by fans)... Sigh... Well, gotta consider this well then...

Monday, June 14, 2004

ANIME, ANIME, & ANIME!!!

I juz spent the last couple of hours reading all the reviews and forum of a yet another cool anime website that I've found juz yesterday, Point Blank: Concise & to the Point. It's amazing to read all the discussions the anime fans are having, for I juz can't get enough anime fans around me to start a discussion, bcuz:

1. Our taste in anime varies.

2. Our conclusions are so vastly different, there's no focus at all. Serial Experiment Lain is the best example in this.

3. There are juz SO FEW anime fans in M'sia!!! Matt certainly is right. We are a retarded nation!!! Anime has gotta be the best media available to us, and so many of us are so ignorant of it!!! Dun believe me? Juz ask around. Wat do ppl think of anime? I can almost guarantee u that most of them who has nv watched anime b4 will say that it's full of violent crap and sexual perversions etc etc. Argh, such ignorance and prejudice!!!

Anyway, I'm glad to find that I'm not the only few fans of Cowboy Bebop (considering that both TJ and James his friend dun really rank Cowboy Bebop very high). To me, it's the most stylish anime out there, and wat's better, it has plenty of good materials and substance to support it (Kinda like the 1st Matrix movie: stylish, with brains). ALthough the my favourite fictional character is not in it, Cowboy Bebop still has the best overall cast. Each and every one of the main characters: Spike, Jet, Faye, Ed, Ein, Julia, & Vicious have sufficient back story or interesting traits and personality to make u feel attached to them. Which is why the ending is so saddening to me (I will spoil no more!!!) Oh, not to mention the EXCELLENT music. No compliments will do it justice. Yoko Kono is nothing less than a GENIUS, and the music can only be described as PERFECT.

The forum of that website also helped me in my selection of soon-to-be-bought anime titles. Previously, I always refered to the few anime review sites that I have linked from my blog b4 I make a decision to buy the costly anime titles. Although I'm glad that most of the anime I bought are as good as the reviewers claimed, there are a few (Vision of Escaflowne & Record of Lodoss War) that I think is good, but not worth the tremendous amount of money I've invested into. Now that there's actually lots of ppl discussing about the titles in the forum, I can get a wider perspective of the anime I have in mind to buy.

And now, I've reached to my conclusion: The next anime DVDs that I will buy are... Cowboy Bebop The Movie: Knockin' on Heaven's Door, & Trigun!!! >=)

Sunday, June 13, 2004

RECORD OF LODOSS WAR



Well, I have finally finished the 13 episodes OVA of Record of Lodoss War... It's quite a good anime, but certainly not great or spectacular. I can't really say that I'm disappointed, yet it's quite evident that there's a lot that can be improved on. The characters themselves are interesting, their armor design fabulous, but the plot and historical/geographical background are incredibly muddled. There seems to be a lack of focus for the storyline, and the character development is a bit too underdeveloped.

Also, the whole thing is very stereotypical and full of cliche... Ever since I have read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings, all other fantasy seems to be juz mere copycats. As for Lodoss War, it heavily resembles the classic Dungeons and Dragons RPG, and the whole anime has a role-playing feel with it. So I guess any RPG fans will be delighted by it. As for me, I was hoping for something more epic, more emotional, more fleshed-out. Tolkien's Middle Earth is unbelievably well conceived, full of its own history and different languages of different races (and Tolkien seriously creates and designs each languages, and therefore each sylables have their own meaning and each languages actually have its own grammar and stuff). The only works that came close to Tolkien's are Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (which tragically, seems kinda lost in its own over-complicated plot now), and Frank Herbert's Dune, of cuz.

It's kinda sad that I started off watching excellent anime but can hardly find great ones nowadays... Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbour Totoro still remain my fav anime, while Cowboy Bebop, Grave of the Fireflies & Serial Experiment Lain come next. Still, I'm looking forward to 2 of the much-talked about anime, Akira and Ghost in the Shell. Guess I getta spend more money very soon...

THE GHOST OF RADIOHEAD'S PAST?!

I have given up hope on MTV and Channel [V] lately, since no good music seems to play from it for the last few years. Imagine my surprise when I saw 2 of Muse's MTV. There I was, in the student lounge, watching Anthony and Matthew playing Settlers of Catan, when an excellene britrock MTV was played out on Channel [V], Muse's Time is Running Out. I was fairly impressed by it, and the MTV was followed by another Muse's MTV, Sing for Absolution... And I was dumbtruck then...

That song still swims around in my head now. Perhaps u guys have watched the MTV b4, sumthing on a rocket launching off to space with a facially-emotionless guy singing in a spacesuit. The voice is SO SO SO SOmuch like Radiohead's Thom Yorke that I'm convinced it was their ghosts there from The Bends/ OK Computer era, whining/screaming/singing emotionally and almost pitifully... And I know that I seriously have to buy their Absolution album ASAP!!! I'm so sick of waiting for Radiohead to release albums that sounded like their earlier days! Maybe Absolution is wat I've been waiting for for the past 1 year since my discovery of Radiohead & Coldplay!!!

I guess I should still have hope on MTV and Channel [V]... For all the tons of crappy and rubbish musics they play, occasionally u could get to hear some great songs... If only they stop playing all those horribly disgusting Britney Spears MTV... Sigh... I guess that will be too good to be true... Pls MTV/ Channel [V], more Britrock!!!!

Friday, June 11, 2004

THE SETTLERS OF CATAN





I'm not sure should I be happy or mad now that I have discover this awesome board game The Settlers of Catan (no Matt, there's no ' between "Ca" & "tan"), thanks (or no thanks) to the intro by Matthew. I kinda suspect that I'm starting to get addicted to the game, although Matt's home-made version of the game is far more inferior aesthetically from the original version (if u see that white manila card Matt has been carrying around lately full of hand-drawn hexagons, u'll know wat I mean). And let's juz my priority shouldn't be on games now for the next 1 month...

It's been ages since I am actually excited by a board game, since Cluedo about 5 years ago I think. (Risk is juz too complicated and time-consuming for me, and I have always hated Monopoly). The game isn't exactly complicated, but it is hard to describe without actually playing the game. Sufficient to say that it involves establishing settlements and gathering & trading resources on the island of Catan. The best thing about the game is that the layout of the island is almost nv the same each time u play it, since thet are made of hexagonal tiles with different enviroments randomly placed. The strategies and luck needed throughout the game are quite balanced too, that is, to my opinion.

Of cuz, Matthew could probably tell u a great deal more about the game if he ever blogs about it in his blog. I'll try to persuade him to do so. In the meantime, I'll have to force myself NOT to play the game anymore at least till the end of Summative Two... I still have loads of studies to do!!! <=)


JUMBO Catan!!!

Thursday, June 10, 2004

GREAT ANALOGY

I planned to blog about Dr. JPJ's (John Paul Judson) almost childish behaviour in the lecture hall yesterday (yet another lecturer waiting to be shot at)... But after the excellent lecture he gave us today, I guess it's better for me to blog some good stuff bout the lecturers than all the negative ones...

To be honest, I nv really liked JPJ's lectures... Maybe it's bcuz Dr. Durbar Charkarboty's lectures are so much more superior than his. I was slightly disappointed that I found JPJ's lecture on the anatomy of the sexual organs more on the boring side, since I always find them very interesting. I mean, it's the genesis of a new life after all! But today's lecture on Fertilization & Implantation are actually both amusing and informative.

JPJ use the analogy of The Amazing Race as an analogy of fertilization. 200-300 million participants (the sperms) took part in a race full of obstacles and challenges (the acidic enviroment of the vagina, the relatively long distance the sperms has to travel etc.) to win the grand prize (the ovum!!!). There's even the fast forward (suitable condition will increase the speed and probability of fertilization) and detour (sperms ended up at the wrong place... the GI tract for example). In the end, there will only be one winner to get the grand prize (only 1 sperm will make it to the ovum). After 1 of the sperm becomes a winner, fans and supporters will carry them up and throw them to the air (the cilia of the fallopian tube will rise and propels the newly-formed zygote towards the uterus). Cool analogy eh?

I used to dislike the use of analogy in teaching, since it almost always give a inaccurate picture of the real events, either it's too simplified or too comical to be actually informative (some of Dr. Hla's analogy, for example). Yet JPJ's The Amazing Race analogy is not only amusing, but very educational too. Maybe I shouldn't pass harsh judgement on the lecturers so swiftly in the future... >=)

ON-TIME DISTRIBUTION OF LECTURE NOTES

1st there was Dr. Vishna, and now Dr. Su Chen... I kinda hate it when I can't get my lecture notes on that day itself, since that means that I couldn't at least read thru the notes once at the very day the lecture is commenced. According to some research, if we dun revise wat we learn within 24 hours, 90% of it will juz disappear, followed by 90% for the next day, and 90% for the next and so on. Therefore it is important that I get to revise my notes on the very same day with the lecture...

While I'm usually a forgiving person, I'm really annoyed and disappointed by Dr. Su Chen today... All of us (well, almost) groan after she announced that we'll get our ecture notes tomorrow, and guess wat's her reaction? She actually told us angrily that we should not groan, bcuz at least we WILL get our notes. I found her attitude disgusting. I mean, not only she did not APOLOGISE for not being able to distribute the notes to us in time, she actually got ANGRY when we groan... Hello, it's YOUR INEFFICIENCY that causes us so much trouble, couldn't u at least be a little bit more APOLOGETIC? Sheesh...

Let's hope this problem will not extend to the coming sems... Although I guess for Dr. Vishna's case, it's beyond any hope...

Monday, June 07, 2004

FORGOT TO MENTION...

Argh... I forgot to record down the total number hits to my blog on the 1st anniversary!!! Eeeek... Anyway, there's 2706 hits now... So I guess it should be around 2700 hits on that day. Juz for my personal record... :p

Sunday, June 06, 2004

THIEVE!!!

I was woken up by my bro and told to look at my dad's car in the afternoon... and was shocked beyond belief! The glass at the right front door of the car was knocked down! And the car was parked at my house's front lawn all the time! Imagine someone coming into the front lawn on the afternoon, with 4 ppl in the house, break the glass and steal a Touch n Go card without us noticing! Man...

How that guy (guys) can be so daring and so skillful (we seriously didn't hear a thing!), I have no idea. I have very good reasons to suspect the foreign construction workers working juz opposite my house to be the ones responsible. The glass was a thick one, yet they manage to remove it without causing so attracting any suspicions... I have to give them credit, they're good...

But it's kinda stupid how they went thru so much trouble juz to steal my dad's Touch N Go Card... They "earned" an extra RM 80 or so, but my dad need to pay around RM 500+ (Maybe even reached a thousand, who knows) for the fixing bill... It's seriously illogical... Oh well, thank God they did not steal other stuff in the car, like the expensive camera my dad borrowed...

Gotta be more careful next time...

Saturday, June 05, 2004

BLOG's 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

"MY VERY FIRST POST ON MY VERY FIRST BLOG!! Well, not quite... I've abandoned 1... oh nvm that, it's a new beginning!!!"

Can u believe it? That very line was written exactly a year ago, at the 5th of June 2003!!! My blog is 1 year old now!!! Woohoo!!! Man, time really flies!!!

I juz finished reading the entire blog entry for the past 1 year!!! There's almost 360 posts I think!!! Whoa... Took me more than an hour to finish it...

Here are some highlights!!!

MY 1ST DAY OF TEACHING, JUNE 11 2003, WEDNESDAY


CHAOS, ANARCHY N MADNESS

Chaos, anarchy, madness... Those are the 3 words I can think of about the classes I thought today... Now I understand what Piggy must have felt in Lord of the Flies... These kids are uncontrolable!!! Most of them have no interest in learning at all!! Everytime I tried to teach, my voice was drowned out by the voices of the students!! ARGH!!! >=@ Oooo I'm so tempted to ignore them all and just continue on my teaching!!!

Yet... yet there are always this small group of ppl who are sincerely interested in learning... I'm really in a conflict now... Should I just do my stuff and finish the sylables (really need to rush, the last teacher didn't finish the sylables for last semester), ignorant of the chaos of the classes, or should I spend more time on making them understand, helping every single individuals?? While I was teaching, a few male kids keep playing with the human anatomy model... It was a upper part of a female body chopped in half... plastic of course... The guys keep playing with the supposed female u-know-wat!!! Eeeww.., it's sickening!!! Then there's another girl crying at the corner bcos the class monitor blacklisted her... And there was a guy who was constantly bullied by a group of losers... AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I also am in charge of the reading session of the ENTIRE MORNING CLASSES!!! I actually need to recite a Chinese poem everyday, then read out the explanation of the poem n the biography of its author!! Me, reciting a Chinese poem?! Every morning from Tuesday to Friday?! And I also need to come for work at Saturday bcos of co-curriculum... AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIII!!!! NUTS NUTS NUTS!!!

And how am I going to teach without having all the books the students are using?? The whole thing is so disorganized!! I'm like thrusted into another world without any guidance except for a few oral instructions!!! Out of 9 periods, I need to teach 7 periods everyday!!! I'm teaching Math, Science, Kajian Tempatan n Kemahiran Hidup, in 5 different classes!!!! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! I'm going mad!!!!


A CONFESSION: WHY I LIKE TO VISIT OTHER PPL'S BLOG (JUNE 26)

Y do I like to visit other ppl's blog?? Well, it all started when I enter college... I met so many different kinds of ppl, so much different from ppl I have known for so many years b4... It all these ppl... fascinate me... I get to see things differently from other ppl's perspective, and understanding others needs and desire... I'm like... experienced so so much different... sensation... and it really thrill me!! All of my life, I've never seen n heard so many different thoughts, so many different views, so many different thinking, so many different opinions!!!

And then, I've found out about this amazing thing called blog... I've discovered it when I was looking at the ICQ user details of a few of my frens... And on Jayne's, I've found this address to her blog... I visited it, and it was then that I've found out that through blogs, u can.. like... step into the shoes of another person, and looking at things in his or her perspective temporary... I dunno for others, but it's very effective to me!! I'm kinda like... getting a taste of other ppl's life... A life I never have... And sometimes... another life I LONGED to have...

Well, I guess here comes the negative side... When I'm very depressed or intimidated, I've this tendency of wishing I'm not me... Wishing that I'm someone else... Wishing that I dun have to go through what I'm going through... Longing to be more... normal... Yes... normal... part of the group... not an outcast... I suffered from severe loneliness in my form 4 and form 5 life... I'm just... so so different from my peers... I tried to be like them, I tried so so hard to fit in, I wanna be... accepted... and I failed... It's so so depressing... <=( Even now, I suffered from that too... from time to time... By reading all these entries, I get to see things from others perspective... To see what keeping them up... and down... And to know that... we're not very un-alike after all... We all have our ups and downs... And after I felt better, I'll go on with my life...

I often feel bad when this cycle repeats again and again... Why am I so... weak?? Why can't I depend on God totally?? Y must I be a slave to my emotion?? But I guess no one can give me the answer... Unless God chose to unveil it to me... So I'll keep on searching... keep on searching... as I did b4... keep on searching for the answers... for the solutions...


LAST DAY OF TEACHING

SO IT FINALLY ENDS... OR IS THIS JUZ THE BEGINNING??

Today's the last day I'm teaching at SJK (C) Kong Hoe... Wa... Many students want me to write my personal details in their memo books... Last minute rush... I must have wrote in at least 15 books, without including 20+ others I've wrote earlier... They keep surounding me at my desk and asked me to remember to sign... Kinda felt like a star... Heehee... I've met the teacher that will replace me yesterday... Explained all the stuff he needs to know... Hopefully he can handle the kids better than I can!!!

As I tidied up my desk b4 I leave, I can;t help but feeling a bit sense of loss... And as I walked to my car, thinking that I may be leaving that school for good, I kinda felt a bit sentimental... I've drive here to teach for 23 days only, yet I'm already missing this place... if not the students!! Weird... I could almost swear about a month ago that I'll be glad after I quit my job and will never teach again... But now, I can't help but wonder... Will I return to teach again? By the end of the second semester, the students are probably having their holidays already... But perhaps... next year? Dunno... perhaps... perhaps... For now, I can't wait for next week!!! >=)


MEETING ASHA GILL (SEPT 21, 2003, SUNDAY)

Today is an unusually GREAT Sunday... Have lunch at Shangri La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur... The hotel is juz BEAUTIFUL... Easily the most beautiful hotel I've seen... The design is juz so interesting... The food is SUPERB...Ranging from fried mee, to dim sum, to oysters and baby lobsters, to wasabi, to cakes n ice creams... But something even better happened... Well, while eating, I noticed a bunch of ppl who really look out of place... Punkish hairstyle, female smokers, tattooed arm... But there's this one girl who really look VERY familiar... It was not until I finished my meal, when I walked past the bunch of ppl, that I heard THE voice... The unmistakable unique voice... EX-CHANNEL [V] VJ, ASHA GILL!!! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! I turn n look, n I saw IT'S REALLY HER!!!! She look kinda different without her makeup... but IT IS HER!!! Juz to confirm it, I keep walking past the table... Asha was smoking n chatting with her pals... ASHA... at the same restaurant with me!!!

I soon told all of my relatives about her presence... No one seemed impressed... Sheesh... That's one girl who's known all over Asia, and they're juz so... so... ignorant bout her!!! My mind was racing then... Should I ask for her autograph?? But she's no longer a VJ... Could it make her sad or mad if I reminded her of her past job?? Maybe I should juz gave her privacy... So I end up did nothing... No more then 5 minutes away from the hotel, I regretted my foolish choice... I mean, wat is there to lose if I ask for her autograph? NOTHING!!! Oh Thomas u fool!!! >=( Now I'll regret it for the rest of my life... :'-( It's a chance of a lifetime... and I let it slipped... SOB... I've learned my lesson anyway... Seize the oppurtunity!!! Some of them only come once in life... I let them slipped!!! Sigh...


MEETING WITH A LONG LOST FRIEND (DEC 6 2003, SATURDAY)

The highlight of the day: I've finally met Jarrett again! After 4 years since we last seen each other in the airport, returning from the Gold Coast- Sydney tour! I entered the bowling place at Sunway Pyramid at 4.50pm, walked towards lane 31 (he told me he's there), and a guy sitting on a high bench caught my attention at once. Funny, I know it's him even b4 I recognize his face. Kinda like an instinct or sumthing. He dun seemed to notice, so I juz walked towards him, and sit beside him. Still he seemed oblivious. I turned and juz said one word, "Jarrett!" He instantly smiled and ask how did I recognized me... I was so happy then! Here's a long lost friend, finally found! Hahahaha...

We chat quite a lot then, but he seemed a bit nervous with the bowling tournament... No, not nervous, tensed... He has some friends along with him, but it's ok, I guess... I nv get to know their name, but I did talk with them, a little... The tournament lasted from 5.30pm to 6.30pm. He dun do so well in the 1st round, but on the 2nd, he improved much. On the 3rd, he started off with 3 consecutive strike, and almost made a full consecutive strikes but for a couple of glitches. He seemed very controlled all the time, and mildly confident. When the tournament is over, he said that he'll probably get around the 10th place, and we juz lepak there, waiting for the results and announcement...

It seems that they really take a long long time... about 30 minutes! I felt a bit bored then, since Jarrett moved around talking to his friends... When the results are out, turns out that Jarrett was in the 3rd place! He himself was truly surprised!! So he got his prize (the "ceremony" didn't start till another 20 minutes... Dang slow!) Guess wat? RM 150... and that's it! No cert, no trophies, NOTHING!!! Duh... his friend won 1st prize, RM 500... Anyway, we went for A&W for dinner... And Jarrett belanja my meal and his friend's. It was then I felt a bit bittersweet... We're about to parted again, and the next time we may, MAY meet again is next year, or even 5 years later... Sheesh... Well, at least better than nv get to meet!

I followed him back to the bowling alley again after that (he has to passed a key to his friend), then the guys were moving towards the exit... They're going to Jln Chow Kit by taxi, and I figured I better dun tag along, since I will be back home VERY late if I did follow. So we parted at the entrance/exit... And the feeling I have when I parted with Einstein that day returned... Until now I'm still wondering did I made the right choice... It soon rained later (heehee, suckers!)...

Sigh... Now I have this mixed feeling of mirth and sadness... Nevertheless, I really thank God for that short 3 hours of reunion... I'll always cherish it!! Since I've always pray for guidance and comfort, and rarely praising God for all the blessings he gave me, I'll take this oppurtunity now: Thank you God, for the wonderful 3 days you have given me! How much more so for the prom tomorrow! Thank you! ;)


CAUGHT IN THE ACT (DEC 12, FRIDAY)

Imagine this... Me and my family went to the Kampung place at Berkeley Garden, and a pirated VCD/DVD seller approached me. I asked for the DVD folder, and I flipped through it, searching for any DVD of interest... A while later I noticed a malay approach the guy and give a light slap on the back, but I dun really took much notice of it. If I did think more about it, I'll realize it's weird... Cuz that place dun sell halal food. Suddenly, a stranger grab lightly on my wrist, and fear gripped me in that fraction of a second.

I raised up my head, and saw that it's also a malay guy, in his middle age. He said he's a police, and showed us his ID, and a few other guys behind him. Then he asked me for my IC. My mum looked stunned, and later she told me that she feared they gonna arrest me or sumthing. But knowing that looking through pirated VCDs/DVDs ain't ILLEGAL, I asked back, "What for?" He replied, "The DVD folder was urs, rite?" "Heck no!" "Then whose is that?" "That guy over there!" After that they juz ignored me and arrest that vendor. I instantly felt relieved, but was alert all the time, until I went home safely without getting arrested... Heehee

I guess the cops thought I was a pirated VCD/DVD vendor too, selling the goods to my family. I guess the clothes I'm wearing was a bit out of place, and therefore suspicious... I was still wearing the long sleeves shirt I wore to the CPU graduation! I must have look like a salesman indeed! Lol. Well, gotta wear plainer clothes to eat next time! =D

Well, it's a relief that nothing bad happened. Guess I'll be more careful buying all these pirated stuff in the future...


MOST EMBARASSING MOMENT IN MY LIFE (MAR 12 2004)

EMBARASSING INCIDENT AT THE MAMAK STALL

I was eating at the mamak stall with Heng Jeng and a few of my batch mates (Brandon, Ling Wei, Darren and Michelle) after having CG at Dexter's place... After we finished our food, it's 2.20am already, and I'm really very sleepy then. We walked to my car, and I was really surprised when somehow my key only fitted halfway thru the keylock. I looked into my car, and noticed that the lock was only half-locked, and the front door at the other side was not locked. I went to the other side, open the door, and tried to open the driver's seat door.

A strong smell of tangerine fills my nostrils when I did that, and I was a little confused when suddenly a man half-shouted at the driver's door side, "Hey man, is this your car?!" (in Cantonese). I was so shocked that I looked around the interior of my car, and realized that IT'S NOT MY CAR AFTER ALL!!! I was like, "Oh shit man this is so embarassing!!!" and kept apologizing to the angry guy. Imagine how this all must have looked like to him... A bunch of uni students surrounding his car at 2.20am in the nite and trying to open the doors! We must have looked like a group of thieves stealing a car rite in front of everyone! Gosh...

I embarassingly rushed towards my car a few parkings down the way. That guy drove his car angrily away, and I was a bit worried then will he be following my car back and bashed me up or sumthing... Thank God none of that happened. My friends then kept on laughing and saying that they're confused when I approached the wrong car and about to ask me whether I git the rite car etc etc. I wasn't really listening then, for I was so embarrassed I feel like sticking my head into the ground! Wat a doofus I am!


There u have it, folks! Man... I really wanna celebrate this great day! It's a birthday after all!!! Maybe next morning!!!

Thursday, June 03, 2004

SPORTY DAY

Man I'm tired... Went all the way to Taman Megah, PJ to play badminton with the SOS + Eugene, Sarah, and Wei Ming rite after lecture and lunch, then after I returned to IMU, went to the Bukit Jalil Aquatic Centre... And now I'm in the library, trying to finish up revising today's lecture AND earlier lectures, since Summative is coming... Blegh...

I started on the badminton game in a very bad mood, for I seriously really longed to swim at an Olympic-sized swimming pool, or at least 1 that is close to that. Having missed last week's session, I made up my mind that I will let nothing stop me from swimming there. But when I finally try out playing it... I still suck. Hahaha... Espeacially when it's my turn to service, since I can't even hit the shuttlecock sometimes! But I can see that I've improved since the last time I played it (which is like a decade ago...), although I have no idea why... I suspect that if I start practising now, I may actually improve my badminton skills to an acceptable level (i.e. not embarassing myself in front of everyone). Well, maybe during the holidays la~~

Rushed back to IMU with Sarah in the car. Since Brandon asked me to drive "them" there, I agreed to do so... At first I thought "them" is about 4 ppl... It turned out that it's only him and Ling Wei!!! And I have to pay RM 1.50 for the parking fee when the stadium is less than 1 km away from IMU!!! Sheesh... Well, I certainly will not drive there next time! I rather walk or talk LRT!!!

I was kinda awed when I finally entered the place... Man, the swimming pool is huge! I nv actually seen an Olympic sized swimming pool in person! Merely swimming from one end to the other is tough! And although I know I'm nv really good at swimming (I'm not meant for sports), it is only today that I actually realized how much more I need to train and learn after seeing Lawrence and his friends raced all the way to the end. I need 2 times their time to actually swim from one end to the other! Yvinne wasn't very happy with the guys performance... Heehee... But I guess I still have lots of time to practise!

Swimming at the aquatic centre was damn fun, and even better, the entrance fees are paid my IMU!!! I'm most certainly am going next week for the training, and continue to do so in the future. Now, time to study!!!!

GARLIC SUX

"Garlic sux". This shall be included as one of my motto from today onwards. And I'll add another principle that I will now follow: "Nv eat anything I hate eating, even if everyone if forcing me too. I will not ingest anything against my own will, lest I throw up and all hell is unleashed."

Still, I nv thought raw garlic can be so revolting and distasteful. I seriously almost puked when I was forced to take part in a game designed for the Sem 5 leavers, but since they were short of one guy, I was "offered" by my "dear" fellow batchmates as a "willing sacrifice"... Sheesh... But thank God I was able to draw out from the game b4 I have to stuff a cili padi into my mouth... That's really too much for me.

The 1st year anniversary of my blog, June 5th, is a-comin'!! Since it's a Saturday, I'm really worried that I can't blog then, since my PC is currently infected by virus... Well, if that's the case, I'll go all the way to my dad's office to blog then! Or forced my dad to bring back his laptop! Nothing will stop me from blogging at my blog 1st year anniversary!!! Hey, maybe I'll held a celebrationt too! >=)

Tuesday, June 01, 2004

SCHIZO

1 of my fren called me a schizo b4 (read Jayne's testimonial on me at Friendster, the earlier 1), but I have nv take it seriously... until now. I juz realized last night that my different batchmates has different impression on me, and they're divided into 2 categories of time:

1. Those who see me more often in the morning/afternoon, and
2. Those that see more often in the evening/night.

For those who only know the "morning/afternoon me", I'm nothing but a blur, annoying, slow fool... Ask any SOS member, and they'll explain the term "Thomasified" to u. I am very used to that "me" by now, since that's "me" for the last 10 years or so. But it's this other "me" that seriously bugs me. I was complaining about how most of the girls in out batch are so busy studying that I dun get a chance to know them all while playing fusball when Ben suddenly pointed out that I myself spent most of my time studying too.

My initial thought is to deny it, but then I started pondering... Why makes him say that? I guess it's bcuz Ben (and a few others) only see a part of me, the one who is only active at night and totally non-existing during the day. I won't deny that I work hard in my studies when I'm in the mood for it, but the only problem is it only happens when I'm in the mood for it. And the peak of that mood for me begins in the late evening and ends at around 1 am.

Funny that I only realized now how different ppl perceive me as such different individuals. Crazy, wacky and annoying in the day, serious and nerdy in the night... Am I a schizo??!!


Yes preciousssss...