Playing Badminton at Guthrie Hall!

Okay, Ashman, Ashman's dad, Hari, Hari's brother, Alvyn, Hazwan, Hadri and I went to the Guthrie Hall this morning to play badminton.
We reached there at around 9am and we planned to play until 11am.

They had to clean up the hall first because the hall was used for some sort of event yesterday and the floor was littered with trash.
So, we started to play at around 9.10am, I think...

We played a lot of sets. Most of the time I was teamed up with Hadri.
These were the teams that were decided upon:
1. Hari and Ashman.
2. Ashman's dad and Hari's brother.
3. Hazwan and Alvyn.
4. Me and Hadri.

It's weird, you know, because it's like Hazwan and I switched brothers - Hadri's with me and Alvyn's with Hazwan!
Anyway, after I played a ferocious set with Hazwan, I went to the sidelines and took some pictures with my handphone.
Here they are:

At 11am, everyone decided that they wanted to continue playing until 12pm.
But unfortunately, Alvyn and I had to go back at 11am, as scheduled...

Oh well, conclusively, we had a lot of fun!

I just loved the sound of shoes squeaking against the floor and the wonderful echo produced when smashing a shuttlecock...

It was great!

Anyway, I have to prepare my speech for public speaking tomorrow...

I've decided to talk about the "Benefits of Chess" instead of the "History of Chess", because I think talking about benefits will be less boring than history.

So far, I've gathered the information and read through it all already.

I have a rough picture about the benefits in my head.

Now, all I have to do is convert everything that I understand about the topic into an interesting speech...

That doesn't seem that hard, right? Right? [ sigh ]

I'll do my best...

Finally, I went to Sunway Pyramid yesterday to watch a movie.

It's called "Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief".

I have one thing to say about this movie - The special effects are awesome! Especially the fire, lightning, and water effects! Simply awesome!

Overall, it's a very, very good movie, and I recommend that you watch it!

Well, I better get to work on my public speaking speech!

May the Force be with you...

A Hectic Week...

Woah, I haven't been blogging for almost a week already!
My blog seriously needs an update!
I guess I haven't been blogging this past week because I was rather busy...

Let me recall everything I had to go through this week...
Ummm, I had my very first Additional Mathematics test yesterday.
It was kind of easy, actually...

The first question involved simultaneous equations.
According to teacher, it is supposedly the "hardest" question in the test.
And she was right, I guess. I made a slight mistake - I factorised the quadratic equation instead of using the quadratic formula.
When I realised my mistake, I was seriously panicking because I had only around 30 seconds left to erase and correct my mistake ( the test was only half an hour long )!
Fortunately, I managed to correct the mistake just in the nick of time!

The other questions were rather easy, in my opinion.
I managed to finish all of them in less than half of the allocated time!
Well, at least it's over...

Anyway, Sehran, Ashman and I plan to do a drama about friendship ( and indirectly, unity ) when it is our turn to present at the "Laman Atmar" ( For those of you who don't know, the "Laman Atmar" is a small area adjacent to my school canteen. It's kind of like a mini-park cum stage )...
Just yesterday, we did a rehearsal at the Guthrie Hall after school until around 3 in the afternoon.

While we were rehearsing, Zi Kent came along and took a video of us playing out the drama!
Ugh! I sure hope he deleted that video he took!
I wouldn't want him to go and show the video to everyone!
It would ruin the surprise! [ smiles ]

Besides that, I have to do a drama for Bahasa Melayu as well!
My team ( which consists of 15 people: Me, Sehran, Hazwan, Jannah, Evo, Syazween, Diyanti, Nani, Iman, Arif, Aleef, Iqbal, Jia Huey, Tian Hui and Alison ) is tasked by Pn Salahsiah to play out the drama "Gelanggang Tuk Wali", which is a drama about Silat...

It's due next Wednesday, which in my opinion is too soon!
My team is going to do a rehearsal next Monday. We can't do it on Tuesday because most of my team members will be at Taekwando practice...

Now, you may think that training for two dramas in two completely different languages is too much for a guy like me to handle.
But guess what?
I somehow managed to get myself involved in public speaking too!
I went to participate in the public speaking competition organised by Sunway University College after Pn Marina announced it during the school assembly this morning.
But I think what encouraged me to join in the first place is the fact that Hazwan, Jas, and possibly Evo are going to participate as well. And the prize money amount is staggering - RM8000 for the first prize winner! Even just the consolation prize is RM2000!

I have to prepare and memorise a 3 minute speech about any topic I fancy.
I'll have to stay back at school next Monday to present the speech.
Only the 2 best public speakers will be chosen to represent the school in the real competition.

Since we get to choose any topic we want, I think I should talk about something I am most familiar with, namely Chess!
More like the "History of Chess", that is!
I've become quite familiar with the history of the game of Chess ever since I had to do that speech for the evaluator back when I was in Form 3...

Oh well, I'll just give it my best shot and hope for the best!
It doesn't really matter if I don't get selected to represent the school. I would have at least tried my best, and that's good enough...

So let me see, what's my work list for the weekend?
1. Practice for the Bahasa Melayu "Gelanggang Tuk Wali" drama.
2. Prepare and memorise a 3 minute speech for public speaking ( most probably about the "History of Chess" ).
3. Complete any unfinished homework.
4. Go and play badminton at the Guthrie Hall with Ashman, Hazwan, Hari, Sehran and a few others on Saturday morning.
5. Watch "Star Wars Tech" on Friday and "Star Wars - The Legacy Revealed" on Saturday on the History Channel! ( Top priority!!! )

Well, it seems I'm gonna have one helluva' busy and hectic weekend!

May the Force be with you...

"Andrew vs Jannah & Sehran"

The video's done uploading!
I had to compress it from 420MB to 23.3MB.
So, obviously, the quality of the video here won't be as good as the quality of the original video on my computer.

But no matter.
The video quality isn't that bad...

Well, here's the video:

So, what do you guys think?
And no, I don't wanna hear comments about the bad video quality. I already know that it is a flaw that can be improved, so there's no point telling me about it.
But feel free to comment about anything else related to the video, kay?

The sentence at the end of the video is "Embrace The Dark Side...", just in case you were wondering.

I know that due to the bad video quality, the words at the end of the video can't be seen very clearly.

So before you go and comment about the wordings at the end, bear in mind that I've already told you about it!

Anyway, I've posted the video on Youtube ( As you can clearly see, the video player above is of "YouTubian" design... ).

Here's the link:

Lightsaber Fight - Andrew vs Jannah & Sehran

Plus, I've added the link in my "Jump To Lightspeed" link list, so you guys don't have to look for this particular post in the future.

Finally, this is my 180th post on Blogger.
Just another 20 posts and I'll reach 200!
Yay! [ smiles ]

May the Force be with you...

Another Lightsaber Video!

Okay, remember the lightsaber video Sehran, Hazwan, Jannah and I took?
Well, I've finished rotoscoping the video!
Plus, I'm done with the post-production processes of the video as well!

And guess what?
I only took around 4 days to complete it!
The video is around 2 minutes long, about 30 seconds longer than "Andrew vs Alvyn".

However, I must admit that the video quality isn't very good.
At most times, the video is smothered with pixels, and the camera is shaking around quite a lot...
Don't worry, I compensated those flaws with improved lightsaber graphics and sound effects.

Anyway, you all know that videos usually take a very, very long time to upload here, right?
So until the video is finished uploading, I'll let you guys take a sneak peek of the video.
Here are a few snapshots:
Well, I need to compress the video before I can upload it here.
Hopefully this process won't take too long...

Standby for the video guys!
I'm gonna upload it in my next post...

May the Force be with you...

Chinese New Year 2010 pictures!

Okay, I'm back from my Chinese New Year celebrations at my hometowns ( Johor and Malacca ).
I didn't really count the number of "ang pows" I received this CNY, but I don't really care anyway...

I took quite a lot of pictures using my 3.2 megapixel handphone...
Since I'm not in the mood to explain everything that happened to me this CNY, I'm just gonna let the pictures do most of the talking!

Well, here they are:
BATU PAHAT, JOHOR

"Yee Sang" and some sort of scallop soup...

No reunion dinner is complete without fish!

Cousin Samantha - She's never afraid of the camera!

Cousin Ken Siang. What a joyful little guy!

Cousins Chloe, Samantha and Ken Siang...

My brother wasn't aware that I took this picture! Haha!

Well, nothing much happened in Batu Pahat.

After my family visited my great grandmother, we got in the car and headed to Malacca.

Oh, by the way, I didn't get to finish my History homework at Batu Pahat, so I had to finish it all in the car!

Here's a picture my brother took while I was doing the homework in the car...

"Hmmm, apakah matlamat pendidikan di Sparta?"

Soon, we reached my grandparents house in Malacca.

We reached there in the middle of the afternoon, and the weather was unbearably hot, I tell you!

Despite being near the sea, we had to turn the fan on to full blast because it was so hot!

Anyway, here are some pictures I took while I was at Malacca:

MALACCA

A steamboat and BBQ combination - Awesome reunion dinner!

Look at all that food! [ salivates ]

Gosh, I don't wanna say anything about this picture!

One of the things I like about going back to Malacca is that I get to watch full episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars!

He looks very busy. Best to leave this guy alone...

"Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan"!

Woah, this 1Malaysia column behind me is considerably tall!

The beachfront near my grandparents' house...

This beach was actually reclaimed from the sea. So technically, I actually stood on water!

I just love taking scenic, "atmospheric" pictures...

Well, there you have it.
After we bade farewell to our relatives at Malacca, we were on our way back home.
We reached home at around 10pm.
Well, that concludes my experiences during this year's Chinese New Year celebration...

Anyway, about the lightsaber video, I'm still working on it.
Hey, I just got back from my CNY celebrations! You can't expect me to finish it that quickly!
I'm gonna start working on it again as soon as possible...

Well, this is it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2010!

I'm just here to wish everyone out there a happy Chinese New Year!
Gong Xi Fa Cai!

For your information, my family and I are gonna be leaving for Johor tomorrow, and we're gonna be there for around two nights, I think.
After that, we're going to Malacca, and we'll be spending one night there.
So, I guess I won't be back until Tuesday.
Oh well...

I don't think I'm gonna be so happy this Chinese New Year, due to the fact that my teachers supplied me with literally a bag full of homework!
Seriously! My whole bag is filled with homework!
I've got homework for Chemistry, Biology, History, Civics and Mathematics!
Ugh!

Well, I plan to finish all of it ASAP!
My current objective: Finish all of my homework before next Monday.
Two days is plenty of time for me to complete all my homework, right?

Anyway, remember the lightsaber video I took with Hazwan, Sehran and Jannah?
Well, I forgot to mention that altogether, we took 10 video files.
And so far, I've successfully rotoscoped 3 out of the 10 video files!
But I've still got a lot of rotoscoping ahead of me. I plan to complete everything by the end of the Chinese New Year holidays...

So conclusively, I'll be gone until next Tuesday, I've got a tonne of homework to complete, and the lightsaber video is 3/10 of the way done!
Once again, happy Chinese New Year, everyone!

May the Force be with you...

Another Lightsaber Project To Work On...

Alright, I just got back from school.
That's right, I stayed back at school to film another lightsaber video with Hazwan, Sehran and Jannah.
Kar Wai, Zi Kent and Jooi Foong were there as well.

We took the video at the pathway which is located between the secondary school and the primary school.
It's quite secluded. So luckily for us, there was no one around to see what we were doing...

The whole video was recorded using my 3.2 megapixel handphone.
I think the video quality isn't as good as the video quality in my father's handphone.
But oh well, my phone IS 1.8 megapixels less than his...

Anyway, the video involves Jannah and Kar Wai sitting on a bench. Jannah's using her handphone and Kar Wai's reading a newspaper.
Then I come out of nowhere with my lightsaber and stab Kar Wai. Jannah retaliates with her hidden lightsaber and a short fight ensues.

My lightsaber skills are too great for Jannah and I overpower her.
Sehran comes to the rescue by taking Jannah's lightsaber and attacking me.
A fierce fight commences, with me having a slight advantage over Sehran.

Sehran taps into the Dark Side of the Force ( gets angry and enraged ).
He cuts my abdomen and knee areas, causing me to fall to the ground.
He jolts me with a burst of Force Lightning, which results in my death.
Finally, he takes my lightsaber, looks at the camera and does some sort of war cry.

All in all, the filming process only took more or less around half an hour...

So, I guess I better go and start rotoscoping!
So, don't expect me to blog so much after this. I'm only gonna start blogging frequently again after I complete this project...

Well, wish me luck!

May the Force be with you...

CNY 2010 Celebration at Setia Eco-Park!

Alright, I admit, I actually forgot to blog about something that happened last Saturday.
I'm here to blog about the Chinese New Year celebration that was held at the Setia Eco-Park Resident's Clubhouse.

It's like any other typical Chinese New Year celebration - Red lanterns and banners, tangerines and pomelos, a Lion dance, fireworks, yada, yada, yada...

Ugh, I'm just not in the mood to explain everything!
So I'll just post the pictures I took during the event and be done with it...
Because you know what they say: A picture contains a thousand words!

Here are the pictures I took...

What a festive atmosphere!

A guy in a Chinese deity costume handing out tangerines to random people. Typical...

How original - A long beard...

Prepare to be vanquished, Pomelo!

It's the Year of the Tiger, duh!

Just another Lion Dance...

The Lion looks kind of intimidating, don't you think?

Artillery strike! Woot!

Fireworks!

More fireworks!

So there you have it.
This is where I was last Saturday...

That's it for this post.

May the Force be with you...

Sports Day is Over!

Okay, I just got back from Sports Day at my school...

Remember when I said that I joined the marching squad for PBSM?
Well, today was the big day.
No more rehearsals, this is the real deal!

I rushed to the PBSM rendezvous point at the basketball court.
I got in line. And a few minutes later, we had to march out on to the field already, which was much, much earlier than expected!
So we did our best to synchronise our movements as a unit, and miraculously, it all turned out quite well!

After saluting the VIPs at the main tent, we marched our way towards the middle of the field, where we were ordered to remain in line and stand still.
We had to go through two unbearably long speeches: One from the Headmistress, and another from a VIP whose name escapes me...
I was sweating bucketfuls, but I couldn't wipe the sweat off because I had to remain still!

Finally, after the opening speeches were over, we were issued orders to march back to the basketball court.
After that, the marching squad was dismissed.
Well, at least it's finally over...

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I got free food from the canteen because I particpated in the marching squad! Yay!

Anyway, most of my friends didn't come to school today, either because they have urgent matters to attend to, or merely because they're lazy...
I did meet a few people I know.
Let me just try and recall them. I met: Nani, Iman, Marr, Sarah, Lee King, Theeban, Winnie, Sam, Yi Ling, Jaslyn, Hari, Ah Keong, Dashana, Amirah, Aisyah, Raimi, Marr, Su Lin, Wai Loon and Loshvindra.

Yeah, that's pretty much all the friends that I can remember meeting with today.

Anyway, I started playing an MMORPG ( Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game ).
It's called "RuneScape". I'm sure you've heard of it...
Ashman asked me to try it out, and so I did.
So far, my Combat Level is Lvl 37.

But honestly, some people playing the game can be very rude and inconsiderate.
I was innocently training my character's strength level, minding my own business, when suddenly, some stuck-up bloke just runs up to me and insults me by calling me a "noob"!
Honestly, I really hate those kind of people!
Ugh!

Well, yeah, that's pretty much it for now.

May the Force be with you...

I Got a Webcam!

Alright, after I got home from the PBSM marching squad training, I was surprised to see a weird-looking orb on top of my computer.
After a few seconds, I realised that it was a webcam!

Yes! I finally got a webcam!
No more tedious typing in Messenger!
Now I can just talk to whoever I want to talk to face-to-face!

Anyway, I tested the webcam with Ashman.
The video quality was okay, and the audio quality's not that bad, either.
Here's a snapshot:
So, yeah, the purpose of this post is pretty much just to inform you guys that I have a webcam now...

Kay, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

"Sukantara"...

Okay, I just came back from school...

Today, all Form 4 and 5 students had to participate in a "Sukantara", which consists of 3 events - a 100m sprint, high jump and shot putt.
I managed to pass the 100m sprint and the shot putt, but I failed to get pass the high jump...

Anyway, after the "Sukantara" was over, we headed back to class.

During English, Jannah actually wanted me to "teach" her the basics and principles of lightsaber combat!
Apparently, she wants to be in my next Adobe After Effects lightsaber project!
Unbelieveable, right?

So, I taught her the fundamentals of each lightsaber style:
1. Shi-Cho = Simple and basic movements.
2. Makashi = Elegant, accurate and precise movements.
3. Soresu = Resilient, solid and defensive movements.
4. Ataru = Wide, aggressive, acrobatic-assisted movements.
5. Shien / Djem So = Parrying, counter-attacking movements.
6. Niman = Moderate, medium-type movements.
7. Juyo / Vaapad = Strong, ferocious movements.

I'm not sure if she actually understood what I said!
All she knows how to do now is brandish and swing the sword around like a barbarian!
But it's perfectly understandable, I guess. She's just a "padawan", after all!
Well, if I do make another lightsaber video in the future, I'll be sure to include her in it, because she badly wants to be in it! [ smiles ]

After school finished, I had to go for the PBSM marching squad practice.
I quickly rushed to the assembly site. All the other members of the marching squad were there already.

So, we practiced marching. Apparently, today's the only day that we'll get to practice.
There's too much stuff going on on Wednesday and Thursday, and there's a full rehearsal for Sports Day on Friday.
We only got to practice for around one and a half hour, and that's it!
But I think we did pretty well, and hopefully the squad will be able to perform admirably during the rehearsal and on the actual Sport's Day, which is on Saturday.

Well, that's it for now.
I'm gonna type another post immediately after this one - I want to blog about something else and I don't wanna cram it into this post.

May the Force be with you...

No More Prepaid Credit...

Alright, here I am, updating once again...

Okay, I'll type the important stuff first.

You guys all know I'm using Prepaid, right?
Well, guess what? I'm completely out of credit.
Yup, that's right - RM0.00, literally.
So, I obviously won't be calling or even messaging anyone until I go and top up my credit...

Other than that, I actually signed up for the PBSM marching squad for Sports Day.
Don't ask me why, kay? I just wanted to join for some reason...
So, I have to stay back until 3.30pm tomorrow for marching practice. Same goes for Wednesday and Thursday.
Remember, don't ask me why I joined!

Ummm, let me see. What else?
Oh yeah, for those of you who are going to SBP ( Sekolah Berasrama Penuh ), including Jabbar, Haziq, Kamal, Syamim, Rifqi, Zur, Raisz and Amir, I wish you guys all the best and I hope you all take good care of yourselves, yeah?
Honestly, I'm really gonna miss you guys, especially Rifqi, Raisz and Zur, because I just got to know them this year...
Well, good luck to all of you, and bye!

Well, I guess that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...