SMKBJ Hari Keusahawanan

Alright, I'm here to blog about my school's "Hari Keusahawanan" Carnival that was held yesterday.

I didn't manage to blog about it yesterday because I had to blog about the "Setia Eco-Park Weekend Breakaway - Exotic Seafood Experience" instead.

So, yeah, here goes.

Okay, first of all, there are two main reasons why this Entrepreneurship Carnival was held. Firstly, it was held in conjunction with "Hari Keusahawanan"...

Secondly, it was held to raise the funds required for the construction of a shelter roof at the front of my school.

Anyway, let's move on to the "SMKBJ Entrepreneurship Carnival" from MY perspective...

I left for school at 7am. The Carnival only starts at 8am, but being a prefect, I had to be there earlier than all the other students.

So, when I reached school, I noticed that several rows of chairs had been neatly arranged in the middle of the assembly area, facing the stage. I immediately assumed that those chairs were for the parents and other guests. But then I realised that there were too few chairs to possibly accommodate all the parents and guests that were coming. I continued to wonder who the chairs were for while I headed towards the Prefects' Room...

I was surprised to see most of the Prefects standing or walking around idly. I asked Hazeeq, one of my fellow Prefects, what was going on, and he simply replied "nothing...". A while later, Hazwan arrived...

After chatting with Hazwan for a while, Firdaus, Farhan, Hazwan and I were told to follow En Saiful to assist him with coordinating the traffic outside the school. Hazwan, Firdaus and I had to prevent any cars from parking on the left side of the road and only allow them to park on the right side of the road, so as to ensure that the road remains clear and the traffic flows smoothly. Farhan, on the other hand, had to make sure that only the teachers' cars could enter the school gates - Vehicles belonging to parents and other guests who are not teachers were not allowed to park inside the school gates...

The four of us continued to perform traffic duty for quite some time. Then, Encik Saiful told us to go back inside the school. Apparently, the Prefects had to gather at the assembly area, along with the PRS, Librarians, and for some reason, the school Choir.

When Hazwan and I reached the assembly area, we realised that the chairs were actually placed for us Prefects and all the other special student bodies. We had to sit there and listen to all the various speeches from all the VIPs that would be arriving for the Carnival.

Oh, and as for the normal students, they didn't have to gather at the assembly area. Instead, they had to assemble at the school field...

After all the VIPs were done giving their speeches, the "SMKBJ Karnival Keusahawanan" was deemed official by the beating of a ceremonial gong. After that, the school Choir did two performances: They sang a song ( I'm not sure what the song is ), and then they performed some choral speaking.

Finally, the VIPs proceeded to visit all the booths in the school, and the Prefects, Librarians, PRS, and the school Choir were dismissed...

Okay, so now, the boring part's over.

Hazwan and I went to 4 Beta's booth, Booth #39, which was located somewhere near the school's guard house. Everything was already set up and neatly arranged, ready to be sold. Pn Salasiah asked Hazwan and I to help out by carrying two giant bags of ice from the canteen to the booth.

So, Hazwan and I carried one bag each. But it was easier said than done! The ice bag was freezing cold, and I had to carry the bag with my bare hands! I think my hands actually went completely numb for a while!

In the end, we successfully managed to escort the bags back to the booth without dropping them or anything. What a relief!

After that, Hazwan and I still had to perform Prefect duties, this time at the 2nd and 3rd floors of the school. Apparently, the 2nd and 3rd floors were completely off-limits to everyone, except the school workers. So, the Prefects had to make sure that no one gets on to the second and third floors...

We had to work in 35-minute shifts. Hazwan and I had to fill in the 8.45 - 9.20 shift...

So, Hazwan guarded the 3rd floor, while I guarded the 2nd floor.

Pn Ezareen came to check on us a while later, and she actually told Hazwan and I to "barricade" the stairwells with chairs!

When our shift ended, Hazwan and I proceeded to the school canteen to visit 4 Epsilon's booth.

We saw Ashman and Hari, both of who were busily selling ice cream.

Then Hazwan told me that he wanted to go and buy himself some breakfast using his coupons. And that's when we parted ways.

Soon, Ashman and Hari finished their shift, and they decided to go and buy themselves some lunch. I tagged along, but they didn't seem to care much.

We walked around. And in the end, they found a booth selling fried chicken. So yeah, that's what they had for lunch. They went back to their booth to eat, and after they were done, they headed to the assembly area. I was bored following them around, so I headed back to the canteen.

Somewhere near the canteen, I found Hazwan again, along with Sakthi. They were alternately rotating a large, circular and metal object filled with lots of ice. And submerged in the ice was what appears to be hollow, metal cylinders filled with milk of various flavours: Chocolate, Soya Bean, Milo, and Strawberry.

Apparently, they were making ice cream. The milk in the cylinders would freeze when submerged into the icy water for a certain period of time. Ingenious...

Sakthi was getting tired by the time I arrived, so I agreed to replace him. I had nothing else better to do, anyway! So, while I was rotating the metal container, Hazwan explained that we were actually doing this for the Prefects. Pn Nik Salida, one of the teachers in charge of the Prefects, came shortly afterwards and told me everything about this little ice cream operation.

At first, it was kind of fun. But as the day wore on, it got quite repetitive. And I got real pressured when Hazwan left to clean the cylinders, leaving me alone to cater to the demands of the customers. And boy, were there a lot of customers! Too much for just one me to handle!

Then, Hazwan and I decided that it was time for us to take a break, but we couldn't leave just like that! We had to find some other Prefects to take our place. I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find anyone. Then Hazwan went to search, but he too was unsuccessful. Finally, we spotted Hazeeq, Aisyah, Mukhzin, and Liana near the Koperasi Sekolah, and they agreed to take over the ice cream operation!

Phew! I thought we'd be stuck there for the whole day!

A few moments later, my father, mother, and brother arrived at my school. My mum provided me with RM10 worth of coupons so that I could go and buy myself some lunch. I bought some fried noodles for RM4, and a can of 100 Plus at my class booth ( Booth# 39 ) for RM2.

So, I still had RM4 to spare. I decided that maybe I should just buy some ice cream at 4 Epsilon's booth, but only after I finished drinking my 100 Plus.

When I reached Ashman's booth, I was immediately bombarded with sale offers! Sam wanted to sell me a milkshake for RM2, whereas Aruleena wanted me to buy some sort of food that looks a bit like "otak-otak"! Talk about being "rambang mata"!

I didn't want to spend my money right away, of course. I went to the school field where I found my mum and brother. I talked to them for a while, then I went back to 4 Epsilon's booth. I tried to order some ice-cream from Ashman, but he was too "distracted", and he didn't cater to my request! Unbelievable, right?! So, in the end, I gave RM2 to my father to buy some keropok, and I used up my last RM2 to buy a can of Coke, again at my own class booth.

In the end, I left the school early, because I had to follow my parents back home...

So yeah, that's it.

I hope you didn't find my point of view of the "SMKBJ Hari Keusahawanan" too long!

But if you do, well, bear in mind that that's how I blog!

Oh, and sorry, Hazwan and Sam! I don't think I'll be able to actually shorten my posts! You guys will just have to bear with it! [ smiles ]

Well, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Setia Eco-Park Weekend Breakaway - Exotic Seafood Experience

Alright, I just came back from my school's "Entrepreneurship Carnival"...
And I have to say, I am quite exhausted!

Anyway, I have to blog about the "Setia Eco-Park Weekend Breakaway - Exotic Seafood Experience at Sekinchan and Kuala Selangor" that I went for yesterday...
I'll blog about the Carnival in my next post, kay?

Okay, let's get started...
Oh, and uhhh, throughout the tour, I took some pictures using my handphone. My brother and father took some pictures too - Alvyn used my family's Fujifilm FinePix A340 Digital Camera, whereas my dad used his handphone.

Ummm, my family and I had to go to the Green Canopy Lifestyle Business Park at roughly around 8am for registration. There, we were told that the tour party would depart from Setia Eco-Park at 8.30am. We were also treated to a light breakfast while waiting...
Here are some photos...
At 8.30am, our tour party boarded a bus that was waiting just outside the Setia Eco-Park Clubhouse.
Apparently, each of us were already assigned to a seat on the bus by the tour organisers. Fortunately, my family got the seat numbers 17, 18, 21, and 22, which we were all adjacent to each other. My parents ( seats 17 and 18 ) sat in front, and Alvyn and I ( seats 21 and 22 ) sat behind them.

On the bus, there were also two television sets: One at the front of the bus, and one smaller one in the middle. They're both suspended from the roof of the bus, and are retractable to save space. Throughout the tour, in order to prevent the tour party from getting "bored" on the bus, the tour organisers would play episodes of Mr Bean using the televisions.
And it kinda worked, I guess... Personally, I don't find Mr Bean that hilarious - I tend to just smile at his silly antiques, and nothing more. But some of the members of the tour were laughing themselves crazy, which shows that the Mr Bean episodes were doing their part, at least...
Here's a picture of the interior of the bus. Sorry if it's a bit blurry. The bus was shaking around quite a lot, making it very difficult to snap a picture in it.
At the front of the bus is the TV that I was talking about, halfway showing a Mr Bean episode...
Our first stop is the "Dragon Rice Factory" in Sekinchan. Here, they produce "Dragon Rice" ( duh! ). A lady explained to the tour party about the process of harvesting the paddy, purifying, processing, yada, yada, yada...
Truth be told, the lady was actually speaking in Mandarin! And you guys should probably know by now that I do NOT speak any form of Chinese whatsoever. So, I just "pretended" to understand what the lady was talking about. Everytime, she looked at me, I simply nodded my head and smile!
Here are a few pictures we took during the visit to the Dragon Rice Factory...

After the lady finished her explanation about how Dragon Rice is made, she led us over to a counter at the front of the facility, where we could purchase the rice...
After that, we boarded the bus again. When everyone was on board, the bus started moving towards the main road, but at a very slow pace. This, I assume, was so that we could enjoy the view of the surrounding paddy fields...
Since the bus was driving quite slowly, it was the perfect opportunity to take some pictures of the paddy fields from "inside" the bus!
Here they are...
After we exited the paddy field area, we went for lunch at a local Sekinchan restaurant. It was called "Guan Seng Loong Restaurant", if I'm not mistaken...
Oh, and since this was an "Exotic Seafood Experience", obviously, they served all kinds of "exotic seafoods"...
They served a variety of dishes: Fried "Kam Heong" crab, claypot shark fish soup, butter prawns, "Kong Po" Mantis Prawns, Clay Pot Tauhu, Steamed fish, and fish maw.
Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take any photos while we were having lunch at the restaurant... Sorry...

Right, after our lunch at Guan Seng Loong Restaurant, the next destination on our tour was Pasir Penambang, which is located in Kuala Selangor.
According to our tour guide, Pasir Penambang is apparently famous for its seafood restaurants and seafood merchandise, such as fresh fish, prawns, cuttlefish, etc etc... So the tour organizers allowed us to go and buy stuff at Pasir Penambang.
Honestly, it reminds me of my hometown in Malacca for some reason...
Here are some pictures I took while my parents were busy purchasing stuff.

After our little "shopping spree" at Pasir Penambang, we boarded the bus again. Next stop, Bukit Melawati, the remains of the famous fort which was constructed in the 18th century.

The journey there was rather short. And along the way, somehow, my brother managed to sneakily take a picture of me! Unbelievable!

When we got there, the tour guide told us to wait in the bus for 10 minutes while he purchased the tickets for us. Once the tickets were bought, we boarded a tram that would take us to the top of Bukit Melawati.

[ smiles ] I clearly recall the tour guide warning us that the Silver Leaf Monkeys at Bukit Melawati are known to snatch all sorts of stuff, including spectacles! Really?! Well maybe it's true, I guess. But anyhow, I wasn't about to risk anything, so I carefully hid my handphone in my bag.

When we got to the top of Bukit Melawati, the first thing I saw were a whole lot of monkeys running around everywhere! And there were some people who were selling food such as long beans to tourists, specifically so that they could feed the monkeys...

I even witnessed a monkey pouncing onto a tourist's chest just to grab the long beans the tourist was holding! It was quite funny actually, especially the tourist's reaction! [ laughs ]

Anyway, we did the usual sightseeing around Bukit Melawati ( I even accidentally scratched my eyelid on some barbed wire! Ouch! ), and we took a lot of pictures along the way.

Here they are:

After we were done sightseeing at Bukit Melawati, the tour proceeded to the "Taman Ikan Air Tawar Kuala Selangor". And yes, as the name suggests, this facility exhibits various species of freshwater fish, among other things, of course...

We didn't stay there very long, and we couldn't take many pictures there because most of the fish showcased were kept in aquariums. A nuisance, really, since if we tried to take a picture of a fish in an aquarium, the picture would turn out having a reflection or glare on the aquarium's surface, making the picture look horrible... Oh well...

At least we managed to take a close-up picture of an iguana! [ smiles ] We took it after we had visited roughly all the freshwater fish exhibits in the facility...

Her are the two pictures we took during the visit to the Taman Ikan Air Tawar Kuala Selangor"...

After that, we boarded the good ol' bus again, and now, we were headed to "Yu He Swallow City".

It's a man-made habitat for Swallows, and also acts as a facility to collect and process bird's nests, which are highly valued for their health benefits...

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take a picture of the Swallows in the facility, because it was too dark - Even my handphone's camera flash wasn't powerful enough to penetrate the darkness! Only my dad's phone was able to take a picture clear enough to see a bit of the Swallow's dark habitat... And even in that picture, it was still quite dark!

Right, basically, a lady showed us around the "Swallow City", explaining about how the facility functioned along the way.

First, she said that the Swallows would have to mate first, and only then would the Swallow couple build their nest. After a certain period, the bird's nest will be collected, processed, and finally sold to purchasers...

Here are some pictures we took during the visit to "Swallow City"...

After the visit to "Swallow City", it was almost 6pm. Therefore, for our final destination of the tour, we boarded the bus once more and headed to "New Beggar Delicious Restaurant", located in Ijok. Dinner will be served there...

This restaurant is apparently famous for it's uhhh, "Beggar" dishes ( Go and search on Google if you don't know what a "Beggar" dish is! ).

So yeah, at "New Beggar Delicious Restaurant", we were served the following dishes: Famous Beggar Chicken, Famous Beggar Duck, Famous Beggar Pork Leg, Famous Beggar Fried Rice, Famous Beggar Soup, Steamed "Bai Zao" Fish, Prawns, Crab, and a variety of fruits.

Honestly, I ate quite a lot during dinner! A bit too much for my stomach to handle, actually! But seriously, the food was very good, especially the giant prawns! [ salivates ]

Well, I didn't take the following pictures. My father did. I was too busy eating!

After dinner, we boarded the bus for the last time.

And before we knew it, we were on our way back to the Setia Eco-Park Clubhouse.

The journey took roughly around one hour, and by the time we got back, it was already 8.30pm.

When I got home, I put my bag down, headed to the living room, and collapsed onto the sofa...

And so concludes the "Setia Eco-Park Weekend Breakaway - Exotic Seafood Experience"!

Wow! Wasn't that fun?

[ smiles ]

Okay, then. There's no school tomorrow, so I think I'm going to blog about my school's "Entrepreneurship Carnival" tomorrow...

Don't judge me for being lazy! It's just that I'm tired of staring at the computer after typing this particularly long post, and I need to spend some time away from the computer!

Okay, standby for my next post tomorrow, alright?

May the Force be with you...

The Causes and Effects Of Teenage Problems

Okay, I've finally finished typing my article about teenagers.
I've decided to type about "The Causes and Effects of Teenage Problems". I don't know why. It's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the word "Teenagers".
So, yeah...

I took roughly around 3 hours to complete the whole thing.
I used 1 hour for research, and the other 2 hours for typing and double-checking my article in Microsoft Word.

Ummm, the total number of words in my article is 1276 words, excluding the title, which far exceeds my teacher's expectation of 400-500 words...

Well, since I've got nothing else better to do, I might as well post my article here for you guys to read...
Here it is...

"The Causes and Effects of Teenage Problems" by Andrew Ho
Drug abuse, peer pressure, internal conflict. These represent a mere smattering of the many problems plaguing the teenagers in our modern world. Teenagers, whose ages are ranged between 13 and 20 years old, are also known as "adolescents", and they are faced with many problems concerning their health, behaviour, welfare, and social life. Often, these problems are detrimental to teenagers not because of the nature of the problems themselves, but because most teenagers are simply unable to fully understand and comprehend the danger involved when faced with these problems. Bear in mind that adolescence represents the transition of a person from childhood to adulthood. Therefore, many adolescents are often inherently naïve and unaware of the seriousness of teenage problems, and will inevitably succumb to them. Point being, they do not know what they’re getting themselves into and are unaware of the many consequences they would have to face. Complications are also aroused due to the fact that adolescents have a strong urge of "wanting to try out new things", without assessing or even fearing the consequences.

There are many problems that are generally faced by every teenager upon reaching adolescence. Some of these problems arise because of puberty. Puberty brings about significant changes to a teenager, both physically and mentally. For instance, notable changes in a teenager’s physique include the growth of pubic hair and change in bodily figure, whereas a teenager’s mental changes involve increased awareness of the opposite gender, as well as becoming more self-conscious.

The changes brought about by puberty are very important for the development of a teenager, particularly concerning the reproductive system. But there are some changes in puberty that can bring about several serious problems for an adolescent. Excessive levels of sebum produced by the sebaceous glands during adolescence may cause the gland to become clogged with sebum, thus causing inflammation of the skin and leading to the development of "acne". Apart from scarring, acne often has a strong psychological effect on teenagers as well, such as low self-esteem, for example. And in some cases, teenagers face depression and even suicide due to the psychological effects of acne.

Another problem commonly associated with puberty is the development of mental health disorders. Many teenagers only start developing various mental disorders after puberty or during adolescence. Examples of such include mood disorders, depressive disorder and schizophrenia, all of which become first apparent during adolescence, and may lead to the risk of suicide in some severe cases. Eating disorders, for instance anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, also develop rapidly during adolescence, and may have a serious impact on a teenager’s health. One particular mental disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also abbreviated as ADHD, is a less well-known cause of teenage problems, but is a cause all the same. ADHD commonly develops during childhood, and conditions normally improve before a child reaches adolescence. But if no specific action or treatment is carried out during the childhood stage, it may continue developing even after a person reaches the adolescence stage. This is also known as "Teen ADHD". Teen ADHD, as its name suggests, is a disorder that causes hyperactive and impulsive behavior in teenagers inappropriate to their age. This could often lead to teenagers suffering from Teen ADHD to involve themselves in many negative social activities, because they lack a sense of fear and restraint, due to the nature of the disorder.

Besides puberty, teenage problems can also be brought about by the influence of a teenager’s "friends", otherwise known as peer pressure. Teenagers experience very active social lives during adolescence, and during the course of a teenager’s adolescence, he or she will eventually meet many people and befriend them. Most of the time, friends are often beneficial, providing help, moral support and whatnot. But sometimes, the problem of peer pressure begins to kick in. The so-called "friends" would pressure a teenager to "fit in" among them, and the teenager, whether willingly or unwillingly, often gives in to their influence. Therefore, peer pressure can be defined as the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to the group’s norms. This often leads to teenagers getting involved in negative activities due to the influence of their friends, such as smoking, robbery, committing acts of vandalism, et cetera.

Family status is also a very common cause of many teenage problems. The two types of families often associated with this fact are families in a state of poverty, and "dysfunctional" families. Families in a state of poverty have little or no income, as well as a lack of basic needs, including food, clothing and shelter. Thus, teenagers who are brought up in this kind of family often find themselves forced to commit acts of robbery, theft, burglary, pick-pocketing, and in some cases murder and prostitution, in order to support their family. "Dysfunctional families", on the other hand, are families in which conflict, misbehaviour, and often abuse of its individual members occur continually and regularly. This lack of empathy and understanding can seriously impact the behaviour and personality of teenagers brought up in dysfunctional families in a negative way. Teenagers often have mixed feelings of anger and hate towards their parents or siblings, and the temptation of running away is very hard to resist. Furthermore, teenagers brought up in dysfunctional families exhibit a lack of self-discipline, and therefore have a tendency to involve themselves in various negative social activities, such as drug addiction and alcohol consumption. And sometimes, teens from dysfunctional families also suffer from paranoia, poor self-image, low self-esteem, and even suicidal thoughts.

Teenage pregnancy is also another teenage problem that is rapidly becoming an extremely serious issue. Sexual intercourse and copulation without the use of contraceptives or birth control methods will lead to underage adolescent girls becoming pregnant. This can often deprive them from pursuing any form of higher education, let alone complete their secondary education. Nowadays, most of those who are already impregnated often commit one of two horrible acts in order to avoid parenthood. If the baby were still unborn, they would kill the unborn baby by means of abortion, thus taking away an innocent life. If the baby were already born, they would simply dump or throw the baby away. Both acts are considered heinous crimes. And all of this happens because many adolescents do not think twice before acting – sacrificing their education and their future merely for their own lust and indulgence.

Undoubtedly, teenagers will inevitably have to face a wide multitude of problems in their lives once they reach the adolescence stage, whether they want to or not. The real question is whether they will be able to "understand" the reason why the problems occur, "assess" the consequences of everything they do, and most importantly, be able to "control" themselves. Then, and only then, will they be able to avoid many teenage problems that can seriously affect their future. Take for instance, if a teenager "understands" the negative effects of smoking, then the teenager would be able to "assess" that smoking would lead to various types of diseases and health problems related to the respiratory system. And lastly, the teenager will be able to "control" him or herself from smoking, despite the teenager’s inherent feeling of "wanting to try new things".

Conclusively, teenagers should be more conscious about the many problems they face, and must be able to avoid them by being aware of the consequences of each and every thing they do. Hopefully by doing so, teenagers will not have to throw their lives away, not to mention squandering their chances for a bright future.


So, ummm, how was it?

Well, at least I'm finally done with it.
Now I can enjoy my weekend in peace! Yay!
Two more days until school re-opens, people! I can't wait!

May the Force be with you...

211th post...

Alright, guys. Sorry I haven't been updating my blog lately.
I was, ummm, kinda busy...
When was the last time I updated my blog? Uhhh, let me check...
Wow! 11th June? That means that I haven't been updating my blog for a whole week already!

Anyway, ever since the events of my last post, nothing interesting has happened at all.
I've just been stuck at home, bored to death...

Well, because of that, I guess its a good thing that my English teacher assigned me to write an article about anything regarding "teenagers", right?
I'm not sure how I got myself into writing this article. And I myself clearly know that I don't want to do this. And it's true - I don't want to do it! Once again, another responsibility that I am unwilling to undertake has been thrust upon me...
Oh, how I wish I could just say "no"!

It all started last, last Friday, which is the day just before the beginning of the school holidays. I was standing at the back of my classroom, 4 Beta, trying to pass the time by watching a game of "Congkak". Suddenly, my English teacher called me from the front of the classroom.
When I finally managed to make my way to the front of the classroom ( Trust me, it's not easy, coz' there are a lot of inconsiderate people blocking the way who refuse to budge! ), the teacher praised me about my essay in the mid-term examination ( something about being the sole survivor of a horrific plane crash, if I'm not mistaken... ). Then she asked if I was interested in writing a 400-500 word article for the school magazine.
I was very, very tempted to just say "no". But she was a teacher, and knowing me, I dare not reject her offer, especially since I was standing right in front of her!
So, I tried to delay my answer by asking what I should write about. The teacher replied that I can write about anything, preferably about "teenagers". After that, I was in a dilemma, and in the end, I had no choice but to just nod my head and say "Yeah, sure. No problem, teacher...".

Oh well, at least it's an English article, and not a BM article ( I don't think any of the teachers would select me to write a BM article for the school magazine any time soon! ).
And the best part is that I get to use the computer to type my article! Yes! Thank goodness that I don't have to write it all on paper! ( Remember the essay questions during my Mid-Term Examination? )
So yeah, how hard could it be to write a 400-500 word essay about anything regarding teenagers? Shouldn't be much of a problem, right?
Like I always say, I'll just grit my teeth and do it!
[ sigh ] But not now. Maybe after lunch...

Okay, besides that, I started playing two games on Facebook.
The first one is a game called "Fishville". Yeah, I know. Sounds a bit silly for a guy like me playing a game like "Fishville", right?
Well, when I started playing this game, I realised that "Fishville" is mainly about long-term gameplay. Point being that its not fast-paced.
It's all about buying fish, waiting for them to grow, and then selling them for money and XP ( Experience points ). And the thing that makes the game long-term is the fact that the fish take a very long time to grow, with an average growth time of one day to just level up. And a fish only reaches its "Adult stage" at Level 4. So technically, it will take four full days for your fish to reach its "Adult Stage". And remember, I used the term "average growth time", which means that some fish can even take almost 8 whole days to reach the Adult Stage.
Other than that, "Fishville" players can spend their money on decorations, new fish, new tanks, etc...
XP, on the other hand, is used to increase your overall Level. With a higher level, more variety of fish will be available to you, plus a whole lot of new decorations, and the ability to own more than one tank.

Right now, I'm only at Level 14, and my tank can only hold a maximum number of 25 fish.
As compared to my other friends, Sehran ( Level 39 ), Hazwan ( Level 39 ), and Jaslyn ( Level 40 ), all of whom already have more than one tank, each brimming with more than 30+ fish!
I DID say that I wasn't very good when it comes to long-term games such as "Fishville"...
The fish take such a LONG time to grow!
Oh well...

Soon after I started playing "Fishville", my brother discovered another game on Facebook.
It's called "Ninja Saga". And in many respects, I prefer playing this game more than "Fishville", primarily because it involves combat-based gameplay.
Basically, we all start out as first-tier "Genins" from the 5 main elements: Wind, Fire, Thunder, Water, and Earth. Then, at Level 20, we have to take the "Chunin Exam". After doing so, you'll get a certificate and the official ranking of "Chunin". After that, according to my brother, you'll become a "Jounin" if you manage to reach Level 40 and successfully pass the "Jounin Exam"...

Well, right now, I'm a Level 34 pure Fire Chunin. But I can't take all the credit for this - My brother has taken a very strong interest in this game as well, and he's been using my Facebook account to train my pure Fire Chunin extensively. And I guess he's more knowledgeable about this game than me as well.
He's the one who taught me that each element provides unique bonuses to their respective users.
Wind Element: Allows for quicker reflexes, therefore often allowing a Wind Practitioner to attack first, as well as dodge enemy attacks more frequently.
Fire Element: Fire-based abilities deal much more damage compared to their counterparts from the other elements. The damage of fire-based attacks is further augmented by the "Combustion" stat, which greatly boosts fire-based damage.
Thunder Element: Critical Strikes are dealt more frequently with this element. Many Thunder-based attacks deal very high damage ( not as much as Fire, though ), and some have the capability of paralysing the enemy.
Water Element: Practitioners of the Water Element have higher CP ( Chakra Points* ) as compared to practitioners of other elements. They also have the ability to effectively heal themselves using the "Refresh" abililty.
Earth Element: Practitioners of the Earth Element have higher HP ( Health Points ) as compared to practitioners of other elements. Many of the Earth-based abilities serve to increase an Earth practitioners defensive capabilities, making them notoriously difficult to defeat.
[ *CP ( Chakra Points ) are used to use abilities during combat. Each ability requires a specific amount of Chakra to use. For example, the Fire-based "Piercing Fire Dance" costs 250 CP. If your Chakra Points reaches 0, then you would be unable to use any abilities during combat. CP can be replenished during combat using the "Recharge" ability. Doing so effectively misses a turn, however, and would allow the enemy to inflict damage. ]

In addition to elemental abilities, there are also the Taijitsu and Genjutsu combat abilities that can be learned.
Taijitsu basically involves melee attacks, very much similar to martial arts. Taijitsu attacks are extremely powerful and can deal very high damage at the cost of very little CP. However, every Taijitsu attack used drains 5% of HP...
There are only three Genjutsu abilities available, two of which can only be purchased using tokens. The first two Genjutsu abilities can stun the opponent for 2 and 3 turns respectively. The third Genjutsu ability incorporates hypnosis, putting the enemy to sleep for 3 turns. These Genjutsu abilities are extremely useful, despite the fact that they do not deal any damage...

Well, I think I've said enough about "Ninja Saga".
If you want to find out more about the game, you can go and check it out yourself on Facebook.
But personally, I find this game quite enjoyable.
In fact, it reminds me very much of a flash game called "Sonny", and its sequel "Sonny 2".
The graphics are almost the same, and the turn-based gameplay is all to similar...
Hmmm...

Well, I think I've rambled enough for now.
I think I'm going to start typing my article about teenagers now.
Wish me luck!

May the Force be with you...

Sunway Pyramid Outing!

Alright, I went for an outing with my friends ( Hazwan, Hari, Jabbar, Sehran, Lee King, Jaslyn and Ee Lynn ) at Sunway Pyramid yesterday.

And guess what?

I'm actually too lazy to type about absolutely EVERYTHING that happened during the outing! So, unfortunately, I'm just gonna simply break it down into point form. Quick and convenient.

Awww, don't be too disappointed!

Okay, here goes:

1. Arrived at Sunway Pyramid.

2. Rendezvoused with my friends at Popular Bookstore.

3. Had lunch at Subway.

4. Browsed around near the ice-skating rink.

5. Went to Baskin Robbins.

6. Followed my friends to video arcade.

7. Went to TGV Cinemas to watch "Shrek Forever After".

8. After the movie, I went back to Popular Bookstore to meet up with my mother. Went back home.

Wow! Wasn't that an exciting day!

Okay, NOW, I'm going to go through and explain each and every point, starting from my arrival at Sunway Pyramid!

Let's go!

1. Arrival At Sunway Pyramid

My mum, brother and I arrived at Sunway Pyramid. I had to go and top up my handphone's Prepaid credit. So, we headed for the telecommunications area, on the top floor, near the ice-skating rink. My mum gave me RM10 and asked me to look for the store that had Prepaid Top-up service for Maxis. So I searched, and in the end, I managed to find one. After that, I called Hazwan, and he told me to meet him and the others at Popular Bookstore. My mum gave me another RM10 for lunch. My brother didn't want to follow me to go and meet my friends for lunch, so he followed my mum.

2. Rendezvous With My Friends At Popular Bookstore

I headed downstairs via escalator. First, I saw Jaslyn, standing in front of Popular Bookstore, apparently busy talking to someone on the handphone. As I approached Popular, I saw that Hazwan, Hari, Sehran, Lee King, Ee Lynn and Jabbar were all there. Then, we decided to go and have lunch. We had a little bit of trouble trying to decide where to eat. But finally, we all found ourselves outside Subway. So yeah, we made up our minds that we were going to have lunch at Subway...

3. Had Lunch At Subway

Well, since there were a lot of us, we had to combine three tables together in the middle of the restaurant. Then, we queued up to order our, uhhh, Subway "submarine" sandwiches ( That IS what they're called, right? "Submarine" sandwiches? ). Anyway, there was a specific way to place an order in Subway: First, choose the type of sandwich filling you want. Second, choose the type of bread you want. Third, they'll ask whether you want extra cheese on your sandwich or not. Fourth, they'll ask you what type of sauce or vegetable you want in your sandwich. And lastly, they'll ask you if you want to make it a set meal or not. After I successfully managed to go through the order-placing process, I was honestly shocked to see the price of the sandwich at RM11, and my mum only gave me RM10! Crap! Thank goodness Hari was kind enough to pay off the extra RM1 for me ( Thanks, Hari! ).

After that, I sat down at my place and enjoyed my sandwich. The sandwich I ordered, the Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich, was quite good. While we were eating, Ming Jet and Evo came along. I took out my handphone and started taking pictures immediately after I finished eating! Hee hee!

Here they are:

Okay, after I took those pictures, Sehran was worried that I had taken his picture, so he told me to give him my phone, so that he could erase any pictures of him. But he didn't know that Lee King was the one who was holding my handphone at the time! So when I told Sehran that I had lost it, he instantly snatched my bag and began rummaging through it! Then, he found my latest "Star Wars Examination" paper in my bag! He showed it to everyone, and they all freaked out! Too bad none of them wanted to try and do the examination - I wanted to see how badly they would fail! [ smiles ]

Anyway, after we had all finished eating, we left Subway, and since we had around 2 hours

before our movie, "Shrek Forever After", started, we headed towards the ice-skating rink.

4. Browsed Around Near The Ice-Skating Rink

Okay, somewhere near the ice-skating rink, I took a picture of the ice-skating rink with my handphone. I don't know why. I just did. It could partially be because I wanted to show that the rink was seriously crowded with people!

See for yourself:

Isn't that a lot of people?

Well, we walked around the area for a while more. Then, we went upstairs. Suddenly, Hazwan and Sehran broke off from the main group and headed towards an area filled with stores that sell trinkets and all sorts of other miscellaneous stuff. Apparently, Sehran was looking for "Itchy Powder" to throw at Ashman! But sadly, after lots of searching, we couldn't find the store that Sehran was looking for. After that, we went to Baskin Robbins, which was in the Pyramid Atrium.

5. Went To Baskin Robbins

Before we entered Baskin Robbins, we headed nearer towards the center of the Pyramid Atrium. I randomly took a picture of some massive footballs, which were suspended from the pyramid's interior ceiling...

Alright, at Baskin Robbins, most of my friends wanted to buy themselves some ice-cream. Only Sehran and I decided not to buy any.

So we chose a table there and listened to songs on Hazwan's handphone. Suddenly, a campaign lady came up to our table and talked about something called "PKYMS"... If I'm not mistaken, it was something to do with a welfare society.

I don't know how to explain it, so you can go and check it out at this link:

http://www.pkyms.tk/

Here's a picture I took while the PKYMS campaign lady was busy "campaigning"...

Oh, and I actually managed to take a picture of Sehran, without him attempting to delete it off!

Sorry Sehran! Just stop being so paranoid about getting your picture taken! Haha!

6. Followed My Friends To Video Arcade

After Baskin Robbins, we still had almost one hour to spare before "Shrek Forever After" started.

So, all my friends decided to go to the video arcade. Of course, I hesitated at first. I kept in mind that the video arcade was a very "bad" place to be. But in the end, I had no choice but to follow them.

As I entered the arcade, my ears were flooded with the deafening sound of gunfire, explosions, car crashes, et cetera. I felt like my ears were about to burst or something! It was horrible!

I'm amazed that the people inside there couldn't care less about the unbearable noise!

Anyway, I didn't want to play any of the games in the arcade. I only managed to see Hari, Lee King and Sehran play a racing game called "Dayton USA" ( Uhh, I think that's what the game's called... ). The best part is that all three of them were actually racing against each other! It was hilarious! One of the funniest parts was when Lee King drove straght into Hari's car's side, sending both of their cars flying! I forgot who won in the end...

By then, it was around 2.45pm, which meant that the movie was about to start soon. I saw Jas bringing my brother into the arcade. Then, my mum came, and she gave me RM5 so that I can buy a drink for Alvyn and myself. So, I told my friends to meet me and Alvyn in front of the TGV cinema complex at 3pm.

7. Went To TGV Cinema To Watch Shrek Forever After

I bought a large Coke for my brother and I, with RM1.20 left to spare. Then, I checked my watch, it was already 3.05pm, but my friends were nowhere to be seen. They must have been still in the arcade. So I called Jas on my handphone, but the background noise was so loud that she couldn't hear what I was trying to say. So I met her outside the arcade and told her that it was time to go and watch "Shrek Forever After". Then, she went inside to call the others.

A short while later, all my friends finally arrived at the TGV Cinema complex. We presented our tickets and headed inside to look for Cinema No.9. Unluckily, when we reached our intended destination, the movie was already playing. So we hastily tried to find our seats, but it was quite difficult because the room was very dark by then.

At last, all of us finally managed to sit down and enjoy the movie.

Overall, "Shrek Forever After" is quite a good movie. It was very funny and hilarious, and the storyline wasn't half bad either. Personally, I enjoyed it very much...

I guess Hazwan got really excited when Rumpelstiltskin mentioned the line "no one is smarter than me!". Hazwan even went as far as to idolise Rumpelstiltskin!

However, the movie was disappointingly short - Roughly around 1 hour 30 minutes long, excluding the credits...

8. After The Movie, I Went Back To Popular Bookstore To Meet Up With My Mother. Went Back Home.

Well, after the movie was over, we exited the cinema and headed towards the Blue Atrium. There, I had to bring Alvyn to Popular Bookstore so that our mother could bring us back home.
So, I bid farewell to my friends and headed to Popular.
When we got there, I asked Alvyn to show me the "exclusive" gameplay screenshots of the upcoming video game "Star Wars The Force Unleashed II" that he had discovered earlier, during when I was with my friends at Subway. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to find the magazine in which he saw the screenshots. Oh well...
We met our mother in the bookstore, and after that, we headed to the car park. And before we knew it, we were on our way home...

Well, I actually wanted to type this post yesterday, and I did.
I was typing halfway, when suddenly, I realised that it was WAY past my bed time! I didn't want to infuriate my mother, so I quickly shut down the computer and quietly ran to my bedroom.
By then, this post was roughly around halfway done.

Wow! I dare say, this is quite a long post!
So, I think I had better stop here.
Oh, and finally, to all my friends who accompanied me during the outing to Sunway Pyramid yesterday, thanks a lot, yeah? You guys are the greatest!
And of course, I would also like to express my gratitude to my mum, who sacrificed so much of her time for me and my brother. Thanks!

Well, that's it.

May the Force be with you...

Force Lightning Rocks!

Alright, I've just completed my latest Adobe After Effects Force Lightning project.
And remember in one of my recent posts, when I said that this video wouldn't be all that it's cracked up to be ( Due to the on-the-spot choreography, horrible location, and whatnot... )?
Well yeah, it's kind of true. Kind of...

Anyway, I've decided to name the video "Force Lightning Rocks". I actually considered just naming it "Force Lightning", or "Force Lightning Is Awesome" and stuff like that. But all of them just didn't sound right...
Oh well...

Oh, me and my brother intentionally created this video for fun, AND to showcase my skill at creating the Force Lightning effect in Adobe After Effects.
It is NOT a serious project in any way! It is merely for fun...
It was filmed just a week before my Mid-Year Examination, for crying out loud!
So, don't be too disappointed if the video doesn't live up to your expectations or whatever...

Right, here it is...
Oh, and one more thing!
Before you watch the video, please, PLEASE, make sure the quality is set to 480p, NOT 360p, okay?
Trust me, there really is a big difference in quality! So please, make sure the quality of the video is set to 480p before watching! ( This applies for all my other videos too, yeah? )

So, uhhh, what do you think?
And of course, you are very welcome to provide me with some "constructive criticism"! Please, I acknowledge it! I need the feedback in order to make my upcoming videos better! [ smiles ]

Oh, and notice the "YouTube-ian" design of the media player above.
It means that my video is already on YouTube.
You could go ahead and watch my video there by following this link:
Force Lightning Rocks!

Well, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Random Setia Eco-Park Pictures!

Okie dokie, this post is gonna be a real quickie, kay?
I just came back from a walk together with my mum and brother.
And I "randomly" took some pictures with my handphone along the way. And I have to admit, I took some really awesome "atmospheric" pictures of Setia Eco-Park!
[ smiles ] What can I say? Hehe!

Here they are:

Well, there you have it.
And I did say this post was going to be a quickie...
So, I think I'm gonna stop here. Anyway, the point of me posting now is to post the random pictures of Setia Eco-Park that I took, that's all...

May the Force be with you...