Feel The Force...

Happy CNY 2012!

2012-01-21T14:53:00.002+08:00

Well, here I am...
Sorry I haven't been blogging for the past 20 days. Since the start of the year 2012, I've been kept really busy. And when I say "busy", I really do mean "busy"! Haha!
Hey, college life is hectic! Literally tonnes of homework, assignments, and long lectures... Not to mention running around the campus like a crazed lunatic...

Don't get me wrong, I love college life! It's a welcome change from the dreary, classroom orientated atmosphere of government schools which I have been so accustomed to for the past 11 years. Plus, I've met so many new, awesome people in college! [ smiles ]
I'll probably have to take some time to get used to college life though! It takes time to adapt, you know!
But don't worry, I still have time for other things besides college. I won't lock myself from the rest of the world just to sit in a corner and mind my own college business! And speaking of which, I won't be so easily consumed by the monstrous amount of college work that lies ahead of me. Hopefully... [ gulps ]

Anyway, I've got a whole lot of Mathematics: Specialist homework to complete. So, time to return to the main reason why I began typing this post.
To everyone out there,
Happy Chinese New Year 2012!
Gong Xi Fa Cai!

May the year of the Dragon bring you lots of good luck, joy, happiness, health, and prosperity...

Alright, I've gotta go now...

May the Force be with you...

Happy New Year 2012!!!

2012-01-01T01:23:00.001+08:00

Well, it's over. It's all over. The year 2011 is over...
I have mixed feelings, really. This has been a year full of ups and downs for me. Okay, fine, in a sense, I've had 80% "ups" and 20% "downs"... [ smiles ]
Right, right, I know what you guys are thinking - Now I'm just starting to sound weird!

Hmph, don't blame me! It's past midnight! 12.48am, to be exact! And I tend to act a bit "funny" when I'm deprived of my precious sleep! But still, during the first few moments of the new year 2012, I've mustered what little energy I had left in me in order to update my dear blog! I mean, it is the start of a whole new year, for crying out loud! Who wouldn't want to blog about that???
I don't usually like to toot my own horn, but yeah, you can just refer to me as a dedicated Blogger! Hehe!

Anyway, let's get straight to the point, yeah?
To everyone out there...
Happy New Year!

Forget about past mistakes. Forget about the problems that have been weighing you down like stones in your shoes. Forget about your painful experiences and sad memories. Get rid of any dead weight. The start of the new year symbolises the opportunity to start anew, and to shoot for new hopes and dreams!
May the new year 2012 bring happiness, prosperity, good health, and success to all of us!

Well, looking back, 2011 was a good year for me. A wonderful year, in fact...
I was in my high school glory days. I've raked in many awards and achievements. I ranked high in my co-curricular activities. I've made my school, SMK Bukit Jelutong proud. I've befriended loads of new people. I've faithfully served my school as a distinguished and honourable School Prefect with unwavering obedience. Ahhh, I'm going to miss my high school life...
And I've went through the toughest challenge in my life so far ( SO FAR! I expect the worst is yet to come... ) - And that challenge was the SPM Examination. I've went to battle and returned, surprisingly alive!

And of course there's You...
2011 would have been a very academically inclined year for me. A year of torment and suffering. I think I would have gone crazy with the sheer amount of studying and revision I had to go through.
But then I met You. And suddenly, You brought light and cheer into my otherwise dark and gloomy world. You made me see the light, and You've certainly changed me for the better. You gave me pure determination to go on and persevere, just when I was about to give up.
And for that, I'd like to thank You so much for everything, especially for being the best thing that has ever happened to me... 2011 has been a wonderful year for me mostly because I met You...

And yeah, it's 1am now. It's been an hour into the new year, and I would very much like to hit the sack right now. I'm not nocturnal, you know!
This is Andrew, signing of for now...

May the Force be with you...

Merry Christmas 2011!

2011-12-25T15:01:00.001+08:00

Hey there!
Alright, it's 25th December 2011, so today's officially Christmas Day.
Hence, to everyone out there, I'd just like to say...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope 2011 has been an awesome and wonderful year for you guys. It certainly has been for me!

And I apologise for not blogging about Christmas Eve. I was so exhausted yesterday, and I desperately needed to rest, so I could only blog about Christmas Eve on Christmas Day itself...

Okay, basically, on Christmas Eve, I woke up at 8am, then I went to Sunway Pyramid. And honestly, I had a really great time there! One of the best times in my life, in fact! The Christmas decorations were beautiful, and for the first time ever, I actually managed to get a good seat at the TGV cinema complex ( something which is notoriously difficult to accomplish! ). Oh yeah, "Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked" was awesome! Hehe! Go watch it, because I certainly enjoyed it! [ smiles ]
I was at Sunway Pyramid until 4pm. Then I went home to freshen myself up. A while later, my family and I were on our way to my uncle's house for a Christmas Dinner party. The dinner was great! There was turkey, spaghetti, and other types of tantalisingly delicious food. After the dinner, we ate "tang yuan" while watching the Grand Finale of X-Factor.

I stayed up until midnight. And yes, I DID plan to blog about Christmas Day as soon as the clock struck 12. But I couldn't, even if I wanted to. Why?
Reason: I was tired, duh!
So, the only thing that I could bring myself to do was to post "Merry Christmas" on Facebook before finally hitting the sack and calling it a day...

Well, that's it for Christmas Eve, a very wonderful ( but exhausting ) day for me!

Hmmm, I guess that's it for now.
Once again, merry Christmas everyone!

May the Force be with you...

Christmas is nigh...

2011-12-23T13:49:00.002+08:00

Oh my, it's been quite a while since the last time I blogged!
If I'm not mistaken, my last post was about the English Language Society ( ELS ) Outing at Subang Parade. Which means I haven't updated my blog for a week already! Yikes!

Well, it's not that I don't want to blog. I really do! It's just that I don't like to post stuff that I deem unimportant. I usually blog about significant or interesting events in my life, nothing more. I don't go ranting about what I eat for lunch everyday, or my trips to the gym, et cetera... And ever since the ELS Outing until now, nothing interesting happened! Well, okay, fine, some stuff DID happen, but those stuff are simply not worth the effort to blog about. Hope you guys understand that, yeah?

Oh, and if you were observant enough, you might have noticed that I have been using Naruto pictures in my posts, instead of the normal Star Wars pictures. Yup, that includes the picture above ( a picture depicting Kakashi Hatake vs. Itachi Uchiha ). Well, ummm, there's a very, very simple reason for that...
I am undeniably a Naruto fan!
I don't know since when I was a fan, but the fact remains that I am one. Naruto is great, and I don't really care what the critics and Naruto-haters ( if any ) say about it. I enjoy watching Naruto and I'm proud to admit it! [ smiles ] It's all thanks to my brother, Alvyn, a die-hard Naruto fan. He's the one who introduced me to Naruto in the first place, and before I knew it, I was fully immersing myself into the Naruto universe...

Right, Christmas is nigh...
And honestly, I'm not expecting many Christmas presents this year. Yeah, I know, most people are under the impression that Christmas is all about the presents, Christmas trees, snow, more presents, Santa Claus, reindeer, holly, and even more presents.
But let us not forget the OTHER part of Christmas - kindness, love, and compassion for others. Tis' the season to be jolly, yes, but Christmas also represents the opportunity to strengthen bonds between people, including friends, family members, relatives and acquaintances. All the pretty presents, vibrant decorations, and festive cheer should "complement" this opportunity, not overshadow it! My point being that we should not forget about the true meaning of Christmas: forging and solidifying our "hubungan silaturahim" with other people. It's not merely about the presents, people!

Hmmm, okay, I think I've gone on long enough.
I'm just gonna add one more thing before I end this post. And this is quite important. Regarding my tertiary education, in fact...
After much debate and discussion, my parents and I have come to the conclusion that I will be continuing my studies at Sunway University College. As for the Pre-U course, I will be going for AUSMAT ( Australian Matriculation ). Well, I'm interested in furthering my studies in Australia, so the guys at Sunway recommended that I should enter the AUSMAT Pre-U programme...
And at last, I get my own room! I don't have to share a room with my brother anymore! Wahoo! And that means I won't have to put up with his unbearably loud snores any longer! [ smiles ]

Well, I guess that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

ELS Outing at Subang Parade!

2011-12-15T22:50:00.000+08:00

Hello there!
Well, the title says it all, doesn't it? [ smiles ]
This post is going to be about the SMKBJ ELS ( English Language Society ) Outing at Subang Parade...
All the ELS members were invited. Of course, as the former Vice President of the ELS, I was invited to join this outing, and definitely more than willing to attend!

Alright, let's cut to the chase.
I rendezvoused with Darren ( ELS member ) near the MBO cinema complex at around 12.15 pm. He was with Afiq and Imran. Soon, Hazwan ( former President ), Hadri, Pn Thamil Selvi ( ELS advisor teacher ), Jia Hui, Rachel, Aaron, and other ELS members started to arrive. At around 1 pm, we had our lunch at a fast food restaurant called "Carls Jr", which was just beside the MBO cinema complex.

The best part? Pn Thamil actually paid for our meals! Okay, well, not ALL of us! Just the Form 5 former members ( Me and Hazwan ). Yup, that's right, we both got our meals on the house!
Hehe! Thanks, teacher! You're the greatest! [ smiles ]
Here are some pictures I took during lunch...

Mmm, Carls Jr. charbroiled burgers!

My Carls Jr "Famous Star" burger... With cheese...

Well, I guess there's "some" truth in this statement, right?

Picture taken just for fun...

Behold, the ELS members!

Yeah, it was fun! We laughed, talked, ate, then laughed some more! Truly a momentous and joyous occasion that I will never forget!

Of course, as soon as everyone was done eating, Pn Thamil organised a little "ELS meeting". The objective: To discuss about the upcoming ELS plans and activities for the year 2012. I thought it was a great idea, because if the ELS members started planning now, then they would still have half a month of holidays to make preparations for next year. This will undoubtedly ensure the activities organised by the ELS next year will run smoothly... Hmmm, come to think of it, I'm certainly going to miss being the Vice President of ELS...

Anyway, after we said our farewells and goodbyes, the ELS members dispersed and went their separate ways. But since we were just beside the MBO cinema complex, some of us ( including me and Hazwan ), decided to watch a movie.

In this case, we made the decision to watch Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol. The movie would only start at 3.00pm, so we still had around half an hour to spare. Hazwan and I went to the MPH bookstore and browsed around, while Afiq, Aaron, Imran, and Rachel decided to go uhhh, shopping... At 2.50pm, we went back to the MBO complex, bought popcorn and drinks, and headed into the cinema.

Overall, MI4 was great! Awesome, in fact! Fortunately, I didn't really have to watch the previous Mission Impossible movies to understand the plot. Of course, I'm not going to blurt out the whole story-line of MI4 here. I'd hate to post "spoilers"!

So, I'm just going to recommend this movie to you guys. Seriously, it's a really good movie.

Go watch it!

Well, I guess that's all I can say about the outing...
It's late, I'm tired, and frankly, I don't intend to make this post a long one.
Conclusively, it was a great outing, and I had a really good time!

Okay, I guess that's it for now...

May the Force be with you...

Back From Thailand!

2011-12-09T14:13:00.001+08:00

Hey, guys! I'm back from Thailand!
Well, I actually came back to Malaysia yesterday and around 5 or 6pm, and trust me, I wanted to blog as soon as I returned. But unfortunately, there were a whole lot important matters I had to attend to first.
For instance, I had to wash the dishes left in the kitchen sink ( they were in the sink since 5 days ago, before I left for Thailand! Ugh! ). Then, I had to unpack all my stuff, of course. And after that, I also had to post all the pictures I took at Thailand on Facebook. And before I knew it, it was time for dinner! After dinner, I had a whole new batch of dishes to wash!

Considering the fact that my body was begging for some much needed rest, I mustered what little energy I had left to settle all the tasks stated above... Once I was finished doing all the stuff that needed to be done, I trudged to my bedroom, collapsed on my bed and had a nice short nap! Ahhh, what a relief!

After my nap, the pictures were already uploaded on Facebook. I wanted to blog, yes, but then I realised the special 2-hour season finale of the Challenger Muay Thai series was showing on AXN. My brother informed me about it. And hey, I love that TV show! So, I had to postpone my plans to update my blog... By the time the show finished, it was too late to blog, and so I had no choice but to hit the sack.

And here I am today. Fulfilling my duty to this blog. Updating it to prevent it from being blanketed by dust or surrounded with cobwebs. To all my beloved readers, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but the reasons why I blog are:
- because my blog is somewhat of a digital "diary", where I store my most important or relevant experiences, as well as the events that I've been through.
- merely for your reading pleasure, so you can get a little "glimpse" into my life...
- to hone my command of the English language, and to keep my writing skills sharp.

Alright, alright! Enough of that crap, yeah? Let's get back to the main topic: My vacation to Thailand! [ smiles ]
Honestly, I'm itching to get my hands on my Playstation 2 right now! Haha! ( Don't judge me! ) So, instead of explaining every detail about the Thailand trip, I'll try to simplify everything as best as I can.
Okay, here goes...

DAY 1:
- Arrived at Phuket International Airport.
- Went for City Tour at Old Phuket Town.
- Went to Phromthep Cape.
- Checked in at The Royal Paradise Hotel Phuket.

DAY 2:
- Took a boat ride through mangrove swamp, heading to Phang-Nga.
- Went to "James Bond" Island ( an island which was used as a location in one of the James Bond films )
- Went to Jungceylon Mall.
- Walked along Bang-La Road.
- Walked along the roadside of Patong Beach.

DAY 3:
- Went for Phuket Island Safari ( activities include ox cart riding, traditional farming presentation, visit to orchid gardens, Muay Thai / Thai boxing presentation, kayaking, elephant show and elephant riding )
- Checked in at Dewa Phuket Resort.
- Went to Nai Yang beach for dinner.

DAY 4:
- Explored the roadside of Nai Yang beach.
- Borrowed and watched 2 movies from the hotel, "Thor" and "Captain America".
- Went to Nai Yang Beach. Walked along the beach.
- Went swimming at the Resort's swimming pool.
- Dinner at one of the restaurants near Nai Yang beach.

DAY 5:
- Hmmm, honestly, nothing much happened during the 5th day. We just lazed around the hotel, then checked out and immediately headed for the airport.

Phew! And that's it! Simple, no? The whole story is a a bit more long-winded, and I had to shave of a few things, but overall, this is the stuff that happened during my trip to Thailand.
If you want, you can head over to my Facebook page and take a look at my photo album regarding this trip.
I tell you, the sunsets were amazing! One of the high points of my trip to Thailand, besides the food, which was tantalisingly delicious! Haha!

Well, I guess that's it about Thailand.

As a final note, since I passed the computer test for driving, I'm going for the Kursus Amali at the REDA centre tomorrow morning...
Oh, and as for National Service, I have been placed in the 1st batch ( starting January ) and my camp is located in Chenderiang, Perak... I don't really know what to say about this. Oh well...

Well, that's it for now...

May the Force be with you...

Off To Thailand!

2011-12-03T20:33:00.001+08:00

Well, it's me again...
To tell you the truth, I'm really exhausted! In fact, I don't really have the energy to update my blog right now, after what I've been through today!
But, I still managed to drag myself to the computer and reluctantly force myself to click the "New Post" button on Blogger...
Anyway, I've got some important things to post about, and today's kind of like my last chance to do so ( You'll know why later... ).
[ Oh, I don't really have much time, so I'm gonna make this post as SHORT as possible, yeah? I'm sure that'll make a LOT of people happy! Ha! ]

Right, as I mentioned in my previous post, I'm going on a family vacation to Thailand tomorrow. I'll be there for 5 days, so I'll be back next Thursday...
Apparently, based on what I've heard from my parents, there's going to be elephant riding, Muay Thai performances, floating markets, a lot of buffet meals, and loads of other stuff. In fact, they even mentioned that the schedule is going to be so jam-packed with activities that we'll barely have time to rest!
Well, I've got a lot of "work" ahead of me! I predict that a large amount of pictures will be taken during this trip, even more pictures then my trip to China! Haha!
I'm super excited. Can't wait! [ smiles ]

Next, I went for my Ujian Memandu Bahagian I ( Teori ) today.
Ugh, it's a LONG, LONG story! Seriously! Even if I wanted to, I simply don't have the willpower to explain about it here!
Here's what happened ( simplified! ):
1. Went to the REDA ( Rakan Ehsan Driving Academy ) centre in Klang.
2. Shuttled to a MYEG centre ( Uhh, somewhere in Klang too??? )
3. Registered, took a seat, and waited for a very, very, very long time!!! ( Because there were a lot of other candidates there as well )
4. Finally entered the computer testing room.
5. Started doing test. At question number 5, the whole system crashed! Pffft! Luckily that didn't happen the second time through! Ugh!
6. Got immediate results ( I PASSED! Hehe! 47/50 questions correct... )
7. Waited for the van to bring me back to the REDA centre ( Ugh! More waiting! )
8. Finally returned to the REDA centre. Passed up my result slip, then made an appointment for my Pre-L Kursus.

After that, my father came to pick me up. We went back home, rested for a while, then we had to go out again! We went to Puchong for lunch, went to IOI Mall to purchase some necessary items, then we came back to Setia Alam. We went to the weekly "pasar malam" to buy some nasi lemak for breakfast, then we went to eat dinner at a steamboat place. Finally, at around 8pm, we reached home... Since I was practically out and about for the whole day, I was completely exhausted and drained of energy!

Well, I don't want to prolong my post any longer. Hee! [ smiles ]
So, I'm gonna stop here...
Farewell guys! This is Andrew, signing off...

May the Force be with you...

SPM 2011 Is Over!!!

2011-11-30T18:13:00.001+08:00

Well, the title says it all! I'm finally done taking my SPM Examination! Wahoo! After many months of constant studying, hard work, and sleepless nights, it's all finally over!

Ahhh, the feeling of joy inside me is overwhelming! Truly indescribable! I can finally plop myself in front of my computer without having to worry about studying... [ smiles ]

Should I worry about SPM results now? Hmmm, maybe a "little" bit. But I think I did pretty well in all the papers, so I'm quite confident of getting good results... Hopefully I'll make my parents, all my teachers, and everyone proud...

Of course, I am aware that many Form 5 students out there still have several exam papers to go through...

To anyone who hasn't finished their SPM exam, I'd just like to say good luck and all the best! Stay focused all the way! It'll be over sooner than you think!

It sure feels great to be blogging again... It's been so long...

Based on my archives, my last post was in July. So I haven't been blogging for 4 months! [ Gasp ]

Ugh, regardless, it's time to brush off the cobwebs and clear the dust off my blog. Now that my SPM exam is over, I don't have to study around the clock anymore, so I have the freedom to allocate a bit of my time to update my blog now and then...

After the last exam paper ( Biology 3 ), my parents brought me to a Driving Academy ( Rakan Ehsan Driving Academy ), somewhere near Klang. Yup, that's right, guys. I'm finally going to learn how to drive! At last! I've been wanting to learn how to drive ever since I turned 17 this year. But at the time, I had already decided to focus all my attention on studying for the SPM Trial Exam and the real SPM Examination.

Anyway, I have to attend a "kursus" about driving at 8.30am tomorrow. I originally intended to sleep late and wake up late tomorrow morning! Ha! But looks like I'll have to put that notion aside for now...

Oh, and I've gotta start hitting the gym again! Hehe!

Ever since I started preparing for the SPM Trial Exam, I didn't really have the time nor luxury to go to the gym. Most of my time was spent with my head buried in books...

Well, okay, to be completely honest, I've also been secretly doing some push-ups while I was "studying" in my room. Hey, I've got to maintain my fitness too! It provides me with more energy to study more efficiently! And yeah, that's a true statement! Haha!

I guess the thing that I'm really looking forward to now is my family vacation to Thailand. We're going this Sunday, and we'll be there for 5 days. Including my family trip to China, this will represent my second overseas holiday so far. Seriously, I'm really excited about this trip. I could definitely use a good vacation after the suffering and torment I've been through these past few months! [ smiles ]

Well, I don't intend on making this post a long one ( Although I think I already have. By accident, of course! ). So, I think I'm going to cut it short here...

As a final note, I'd like to thank all my teachers for giving me the guidance I needed for the SPM examination. Without them, I think I'd really be blur and lost! I'd like to extend a very special thanks to my Add Maths tuition teacher. Believe it or not, I used to be horrible in Add Maths! But thanks to him, I've come to love Add Maths very much, and my recent Add Maths test results is proof of my mastery of the subject.

And of course, to ALL my fellow friends and companions, thank you guys so much for making my schooling life worth it! Honestly, you guys are great!

And a very special thanks to my extra special friends, the "Chess Gang"! The great game of Chess has truly strengthened our bonds of friendship to a great extent! Haha! We really had great times together. Rain or shine, day or night, through thick and thin... I can't help but smile when I reminisce old memories... Thank you guys so much! [ smiles ]

Right, I guess that's it for now...

May the Force be with you...

Dying Breath...

2011-07-22T17:35:00.003+08:00

Well, I admit, my blog is on its death bed...
Dying a painful death... I knew this day would come...
It truly isn't quite like what it used to be...
Reminiscing about my blog's past, I realised that I was once pumping out two, three, and even four posts in a single week! A phenomenal feat, but sadly, it's over now...

I'm not the Blogger I once was...
I've changed. Now, I spend almost all my time with my head buried in textbooks and reference books. And when I'm not reading, I'm furiously scrawling answers in my activity books, or writing long mathematical calculations that are often one page long... That's the life of an SPM student, folks... It's NOT easy...

My hectic study-schedule has forced me to toil around the clock. As a result, my blog has been gathering dust, withering helplessly since the long absence of its owner.
As each post-less day passed by, I became more and more engulfed in my studies. All the while, life drained away from my blog, becoming weaker and weaker... Slowly dying...
And now, here we are...

It really pains me to say this, but the Blogger will have to let go of his blog......
After 253 posts over the course of 3 great years, my blogging endeavour ends here......

Okay, enough of my misty-eyed, "doom and gloom" rambling! Now before you start crying or something [ Hehe! ], I said my blog is "dying"! So technically, it's not actually dead!
Let me break it down to you.
Here's the truth: SPM is around the corner.
Conclusion: I've got to study like a crazy madman.

Well, since I'm gonna be studying like a crazy madman, I obviously won't be able to update my blog ( Some people have said to me that it's a complete waste of my precious time )...
So, in order to abide by my revision schedule, I'll have to abandon my blog. But not permanently! Obviously, once the SPM exam is over, I'll be able to revive my blog once again. But for the next few months, I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave my blog alone...

Well, I actually have tonnes of stuff to blog about. These include interesting stuff that's happened BEFORE this particular post, and stuff that's going to happen AFTER this particular post.
However, time does not permit me to blog about the interesting stuff...... Yeah, it's sad, I know. But it's the unfortunate truth...

Well, since I'm not gonna be posting anything until after the SPM Examination 2011 is over, I might as well say what I need to say, even though it is a bit early:
To all SPM 2011 candidates, study hard, study smart, and good luck in SPM 2011!
Hey!!! And don't forget to wish me good luck too, kay? Haha!

Well, gotta go study now...
I'll be back after SPM is over...

May the Force be with you...

Shortest Post Ever =)

2011-07-21T21:03:00.001+08:00

There's a lot of spider web in this blog... so i'd decided to help to clean it...
Before i start, i need to say that this post will be a bit confusing... i think i will be the only one who will understand what am i writing...

i'm quite happy lately, because many happy things happen in my life... i should forget the past, and appreciate everything that i have now =)

Today, i'm quite blurrr~~ dunno why... i got many information wrongly... Bio seminar should be on tomorrow, and i thought is today, luckily someone told me =.= and i dunno how to do b.m., that make everyone doubted my A+ in exam... people keep scolding me for being blurr, and people kept annoyed me =p that's all for today... i think this is the shortest post in my blog of all the time... p.s. this is what call short ok?

p.s. i didn't say i love u doesn't mean i don't... i am, u know i am... i just didn't say it out... one day i will say it, to you =) sorry to annoy or irritate you... i'm quite looking forward to this Sunday, are you??

Loving,
ME... ( you-know-who )

Raptai Ke-2 dan Kejohanan Sukan SMKBJ 2011

2011-06-25T16:05:00.012+08:00

Okie dokie, it's blogging time!
But I'm a bit tired this time, so this particular blog update won't be that long...
Well, the title says it all, doesn't it? This post is gonna be about the second Raptai Kejohanan Sukan SMK Bukit Jelutong, as well as the official Kejohanan Sukan Tahunan SMK Bukit Jelutong 2011. Both events were held at Stadium Shah Alam...

Well, since I don't want to type too much, I guess I'll just let pictures do the explaining, yes? Yup, I took pictures during both events ( But I only managed to take pictures while I was off-duty as a PBSM Medic. I obviously couldn't take any while I was working, right? )

The Raptai pictures were taken by none other than yours truly! [ smiles ] However, I would like to thank Jia Sheng ( fellow PBSM ), who helped me to take most of the pictures during the actual Hari Kejohanan Sukan SMKBJ... I couldn't do so myself because I participated in the marching procession...
Of course, there are many, many other pictures of the Kejohanan Sukan Tahunan on Facebook, uploaded by my other friends who attended the event. You can go and hunt for them if you want...

RAPTAI KEJOHANAN SUKAN SMKBJ 2011:

Behold, Stadium Shah Alam!

Haha! We PBSM actually got to race around the track, too! [ smiles ]

Just bought some food... We were seriously hungry!

Ummm, the girls on the medic team!

The guys on the medic team...

Pictures of the Stadium from the 3rd floor, if I'm not mistaken...

It was super windy from where I took this picture!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that before 3pm, the number of injuries was relatively few. The events were 1500m and lompat jauh ( long-jump ). But AFTER 3pm, the number of cases suddenly increased by a drastic amount! And when I said drastic, I meant drastic! ( FYI, the events were 800m, 200m, and 4x400m ) In the end, we had like over 30+ cases of injuries!!! Ugh!

Nothing beats this on a hot, scorching day!

Extremely annoying person! Haha!

A bullet from the pistol fired by the pengacara...

Prize-giving... I was damn tired then...

Hehe, no comment! [ smiles ]

HARI KEJOHANAN SUKAN TAHUNAN SMK BUKIT JELUTONG 2011:

Guess who?

The "Bendera Kejohanan"...

Marching band from SMK SSAAS...

It's that "Bendera" again...

Polis, PBSM, KRS, and Bomba marching together...

Part of the Earth( Blue ) marching procession...

The Jupiter ( Green ) marching procession...

The wind was really strong, you know! We were REALLY struggling to keep that flag steady!

The Martians from Mars ( Red)...

Marching prcession of Mercury ( Yellow )...

More random pictures...

Getting ready for the Teacher's running event...

Acrobatic performances
( Sorry for the lousy pictures! I was seated quite far away... )

Well, that's more or less all the pictures I have saved on my phone.
I think I actually have a few more pictures here and there, but I'm really tired and I don't have the energy nor will to go and search for them...
If you want to look at more pictures regarding the event, I suggest you search for them on Facebook. This time round, my photography is unreliable because I was working as a PBSM medic at the time...

Well, I'm exhausted. I just got back from the Kejohanan Sukan Tahunan SMKBJ 2011 today, and I feel like almost all my energy has been sapped cleaned from my body!
I'm just as tired as the athletes themselves, as a matter of fact! [ smiles ]

So, I guess I'll stop here for now...

May the Force be with you...

Raptai Hari Sukan SMKBJ ( 22nd June 2011 )

2011-06-22T15:32:00.002+08:00

Whew, I'm extremely exhausted right now!
I was quite reluctant to actually blog about the Raptai Hari Sukan SMKBJ ( 22/6/11 ), because I was so tired...
But somehow, miraculously, I found myself sitting in front of my computer screen, glaring at the Blogger Dashboard. After hesitating for a moment, I urged myself to click the "New Post" button, dug out one of my Darth Vader pictures from my SW picture folder, and here I am! [ smiles ]

Well, today, my school held the first Raptai Hari Sukan SMKBJ. It's kind of like a "rehearsal" before the actual Hari Sukan event. And I mentioned that this is just the first Raptai. The second Raptai is going to be held this Friday at Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam. Finally, the real, official Hari Sukan SMKBJ will also be held on Saturday, also at Stadium Melawati.
FYI, this represents the first time the SMKBJ Sports Day will be held in a stadium. Previously, Hari Sukan SMKBJ was always held in the school field every year. I guess I can consider myself quite lucky, since this is my final year in high school, and I'll get to experience what Sports Day in a real stadium is actually like!

Anyway, I was chosen to represent PBSM in the official opening ceremony. Me and 3 others ( representatives from Kadet Polis, Kadet Remaja Sekolah, and Kadet Bomba ) were selected to lead the ceremonial marching procession, holding some sort of "Bendera Kejohanan" or something like that...
So I guess that means I'll have to stand stock still like a statue in front of the VIPs for what may seem like an eternity. But oh well, I don't really mind...

Oh, and today, besides the rehearsal, we had the final rounds for acara "lontar peluru" ( shot-put ) and acara "tarik tali" ( tug-of-war ). I participated in the latter ( tarik tali ). I was representing the Red House ( Rumah Mars ) along with 9 other people from Rumah Mars. Each Sports House had to send 10 people to represent their own respective houses in the "Tug-of-War" event...
Besides that, a House team is considered to be the winner of a match when they successfully win two rounds against the other House team.

First opponent: Rumah Mercury ( Yellow ). I was honestly quite nervous before it started. But miraculously, we won the first "tarik tali" round against Mercury! I was both surprised and overjoyed, and immediately my anxiety quickly converted into confidence as we geared up for the second round against Mercury. After an initial struggle, Mars won the second round against Mercury as well!
After our bout with Mercury ended, I almost felt like collapsing! My whole back was aching, my hands were numb, and I felt like my muscles were swollen or something! Plus, I was literally smothered in flour! Fortunately, after walking around for a few minutes, I felt my strength return to me, and I could finally feel my hands again! Haha!
I was just in time to see the Blue House ( Rumah Earth ) go head-to-head with the Green House ( Rumah Jupiter ). Earth lost both rounds to Jupiter. Which means Mars and Jupiter were officially the finalists for the Tug-of-War event.

Later, it was Earth vs Mercury, to determine which House would claim 3rd place. In the end, Mercury won both rounds.
And at last, the final match, Mars versus Jupiter. Epic moment. I actually began to feel nervous and uneasy again. The line-up for Jupiter's Tug-of-War team was seriously intimidating. Everyone looked so huge and big-sized!
After a few words of encouragement from Theeban ( Head of Rumah Mars ), the match started. I braced for the worst, and it came. I felt like a 4WD Truck was pulling me forward! Yet, my team held firm, and a few moments later, we fought back. And to our astonishment, we won the first round against Jupiter!
Brimming with joy, we got ready for our second round with Jupiter. But alas, after a long and heated struggle, Mars lost to Jupiter. With the score tied, the last match was held to determine the winner. Unfortunately, Mars also lost this round to Jupiter. Which means Jupiter's in Ist place, Mars is the runner-up ( 2nd place ), and Mercury's in 3rd place...

Well, I'm glad it's finally over! It was tough, but it was a great and exhilarating experience! After all, 2nd place is better than nothing!
Later, the Girl's Tug-of-War event took place. I was actually glad to be just a spectator! It was during this event when I discovered that the pinkie finger on my left hand was bleeding... Hmmm...

Well, the fireworks are over. After some prize-giving, we all went back to class...
I passed up my Modern Maths homework to Pn Goh. Then, Pn Hamirizan ( Bio teacher ) taught us about the Nephron and its role in human osmoregulation ( Something to do with blood osmotic pressure, water, salts, and uhhh, urine. ).
After school, my mother brought me somewhere for lunch. When I came back home, I didn't hesitate any longer. I straight away went to my room and collapsed onto my bed!
Ahhh! The feeling of relief was truly overwhelming! [ smiles ]

Well, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

250th Post...

2011-06-21T15:48:00.004+08:00

Hmmm, it's been more than a week since my last post.
I've been kind of preoccupied lately since the Mid-Term School Holidays ended and school re-opened... [ sigh ]
I was unable to allocate some time to update my blog last week...
Oh well...

Anyway, there are a few things I wanna blog about in this post. I originally planned to blog about these last week, but due to certain "unforeseen circumstances", I just couldn't!
Right, let's cut to the chase...
Oh, and don't worry, I'm not planning to write a long post today! Honestly, I'm just not in the mood...

Well, beginning on Friday last week until yesterday afternoon, I was completely deprived of the Internet! Yep, no Facebook, no Blogger, no YouTube! Nothing! Ugh, and the worst part was that I really needed to do some additional research on the Internet regarding the PBSM article that I was tasked to write!
The Internet-free weekend that I went through actually made me realise how dependant I am on the wonders of the Internet and the World Wide Web... Well, I learnt a valuable lesson - Next time, I won't take the Internet for granted anymore!

Oh, I mentioned "PBSM article", didn't I? Yeah, since I am the Chairman for my school's PBSM Unit, I had to write an article about PBSM. The reason? So that it can be published in the upcoming school magazine... Well, actually, I'm not the only one who has to write an article. The other Societies, Uniformed Bodies and Clubs also have to submit an article regarding their own respective co-curricular activity.
And since I had no Internet access last weekend, I had to borrow my father's laptop and bring it to my residential area's local Clubhouse so that I could utilise the WiFi service there! Yep, it's tedious and troublesome, but there's no other better option, is there?
Ugh, I'm just glad that I've finished the article and passed it up already...

Furthermore, I went for a lecture about Forensic Science last Thursday at INTI College, Subang. The lecture was mainly conducted by Dr Dwight E. Adams, the Director of the Forensic Science Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma, USA, and he has over 20 years of field experience with the FBI.
Well, I guess the lecture was rather interesting. He talked about all sorts of stuff, most notably the usage of DNA techniques for investigative purposes and identification. We also managed to watch some CSI, too! Haha! Ummm, I guess the food provided was adequate, and after the lecture was over, we also got a tour around the INTI College campus...
[ Well, I actually wanted to devote a whole post just to blog about this Forensic Science lecture, but oh well, I'm not in the mood to write long posts... ]

Oh, speaking of CSI, the English Language Society had a fun little activity yesterday afternoon. Yup, it has something to do with Crime Scene Investigation. Well, kind of... [ smiles ]
Hazwan and I thought up of a "murder case" for the ELS members to solve. They didn't actually have to go and perform an autopsy or collect samples or whatever. Their job was to interrogate 6 suspects, gather as much as information as possible, and then conclude who's the murderer. Got it?

The Sehran Murder Case
The crime: Sehran was murdered ( Not for real! He's still alive, don't worry! )
Location: SMK Bukit Jelutong, Block B
Time: 7.30am - 8.10am
Suspects: Ashman ( Sehran's best friend ), Loshvindra ( Sehran's "girlfriend" ), Tian Hui ( A student heading for choir practice ), Iman ( The person Sehran is having an affair with ), Andrew ( troubled School Prefect ), Airah ( Sehran's mentally-ill, "sociopath" sister )

Well, the case is quite interesting. Each suspects' story is interrelated with one another.
Unfortunately, I don't really have the time nor energy to type out the full murder scenario here [ I need to go and do some Add Maths exercises after this ]. All I can say is that Ashman is the real murderer...
The funny thing is that everyone thought that I was the one who murdered Sehran! Unbelievable!

Oh no, in my efforts to keep my post short, it turned out to be quite long in the end!
Well, you know I didn't mean it, right?
Haha! [ smiles ]

Well, I guess that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Last Day of Mid-Term School Holidays 2011

2011-06-12T15:36:00.002+08:00

Well, as much as it pains me to say this, but today is the last day of the Mid-Term School Holidays.
Which means school will officially re-open tomorrow! No, the horror!
Ugh, I'll have to wake up at 6am in the morning, reluctantly tolerating the irritating ringing sound of my alarm clock, abruptly interrupting me from my beauty sleep!

[ sigh ] Oh well... That's how it has to be, I guess...
Anyway, ever since TRAAM 2011 last Saturday, I've been dying of boredom!
There were practically 2 things that were keeping me alive all this while: Computer games and Gym work-outs!
I'va already finished all of my homework, so every day when I woke up, I didn't really have anything to look forward to, except laze around the house like a zombie...

Ahh, for me, computer games are a great source of entertainment, a remedy for alleviating boredom. PC games allow me to delve into another world, nay, another reality, giving me a sense of freedom as compared to the limited boundaries of the real world. I can literally conquer the world, fight infinite legions of Stormtroopers, and even change the course of history itself! All of that is made possible by PC games. Geez, I should stop talking about computer games now, shouldn't I? Even I'm a little creeped out with myself! [ smiles ]
But of course, I would like to pay tribute to my beloved PC games that have kept me occupied during the course of the last uneventful, boring week! Without them, I most certainly would have gone crazy or something!

And of course, there's the gym.
I've been hitting the gym quite frequently during the holidays.
School holidays are the perfect opportunity for me to exercise and work-out at the gym. During normal school days, my schedule is so hectic and jam-packed that I barely have the time to go to the gymnasium.
Plus, my parents just got me specialised half-gloves. The gloves protect the skin on my palm while I'm lifting weights. Yeah, terrible things can happen to my hand if I'm not careful. In fact, the skin on my palm has already started to peel off because I've been lifting weights without protection. So that's technically what the half-gloves are for...
Hehe, now I can freely lift weights without constantly having to worry about my palm anymore! [ smiles ] But my mother warned me that if I become too muscular, I might actually appear short, stubby, and even fat! I'm tall, but not THAT tall! Well, not tall enough to have Arnold-Schwarzenegger-type muscles anyway! So I guess my new plan of action is to maintain my current build, that's all. In my opinion, my muscles are already well-developed, and my body looks good enough right now as it is... ( PS: I'm not showing off or whatever, alright?! I just don't know how to say it any other way! Haha! )

Well, I've received many complaints that my blog posts are intimidatingly long...
So, I've gotta cut it short! I actually got a little "carried away" about the PC game and gym thingy... Hehe, a thousand apologies?
Alright, let's put it this way. I'm just gonna blabber out everything else that I've got to say, okay? I'm not gonna elaborate too much... It's gonna be as simplistic as possible!

I went to my mother's new kindergarten center ( Bright Kids ) this afternoon. She's now working as a teacher there, and today's actually the official opening. There was a funny clown. I ate a lot of food. I spilled some "cendol" on my trousers. There was a performance involving a group of little girls dancing to the song "Nobody But You - Wonder Girls". It rained.
I went for my haircut. The usual barber was missing. I had difficulty explaining my custom hairstyle to the replacement barber. My final haircut didn't turn as good as I expected it to be. It sucks. However, my brother and father thinks it's "okay"...
I watched a lot of movies that I never got to watch before. For instance, "Gulliver's Travels", "I Am Number Four", and "127 Hours". The best one I've watched during the holidays is "Shutter Island". It's seriously an awesome movie full of intrigue and suspense. I loved it. However, I'm rather disappointed with the fact that I didn't manage to watch "Kung Fu Panda 2". Oh well...

Whew, that was harder than I thought! The urge to add elaborations and expansions to the points above was unbearable! Fortunately, I managed to resist that urge, and et voila, you've got the simple, down-sized version of my usually long posts!
Now imagine if I had actually blogged about my mum's kindergarten, the haircut, and the movies in the long version! Haha!

Well, I guess that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Taylor's Race Across America ( TRAAM 2011 )

2011-06-05T12:26:00.011+08:00

Well, I participated in Taylor's Race Across America 2011 ( TRAAM ) which was held yesterday at Taylor's University, Lakeside Campus.

We were required to form a team of five Form 5 students. My team consisted of me and four of my friends ( Lee King, Hari, Sehran and Kuok Fung ).

Guess what our team name and slogan is?

Our team name is "Super Nerds"! Haha! And our slogan is"we may be nerds, but we're super nerds!"

It's catchy, right? At first, it was just a funny joke during our team discussion on Facebook. But after that, no one even bothered to give any new suggestions for our team name. So, on the day of the race itself, we all decided to use the team name "Super Nerds"!

Oh, and we decided that our team colour would be red... It would turn out to be a good colour choice, because we would coincidentally be the only team who wore red shirts during the race! So, it kind of makes our team stand out from the others! Haha! [ smiles ]

Right, let's get started, shall we?

I arrived at the Taylor's University Lakeside Campus first. Sehran and Lee King came a few minutes later. The three of us went to register ourselves first. We were exploring the campus when Hari called. We met up with him and Kuok Fung at the Main Entrance later and brought them to the registration counter.

Then, we discussed about our team name and "cheer". Like I mentioned before, we willingly decided on the name "Super Nerds", and as for the cheer, it's so ridiculous that I don't even want to explain about it here! Seriously, it's pathetic! Luckily, we only needed to do the cheer once throughout the whole event...

During registration, the lady at the counter told us to go to Lecture Hall 9 at 8.30am for briefing. So, we took this time to discuss about some stuff and explore the campus a bit.

I managed to snap some pictures while we were walking around the campus.

Part of the Taylor's University, Lakeside Campus...

Team "Super Nerds"! Haha!

At 8.30am, we made our way to Lecture Hall 9 for the TRAAM briefing. We were given a short introduction about the Race, plus a little bit about the American Degree Transfer Program ( ADP ). Then, we were instructed to proceed to an open area outside the Lecture Hall for a warm-up session. After the warm-up, each team ( If I'm not mistaken, there are a total of 18 teams ) had to present their own "cheer".

After that, we went back into Lecture Hall 9. Here's some of the rules and regulations that I can recall regarding the race in general:

1. Teams will be given a special booklet, also known as a "passport". Teams must bring their passports to each checkpoint ( CP ).

2. After completing the challenge at each CP, teams must let the ADP students in charge of the CP "verify" the passport by imprinting an official chop on the passport. They must also jot down the marks that the team has achieved at that particular CP in the passport.

3. Teams must proceed to each CP in a specific sequence as written in the passport. Teams are not allowed to skip to the next CP without completing the previous CP before it.

Each CP is named after a US State, for instance Utah, Maine, et cetera. The CPs are scattered all over the campus, and teams are required to locate them. Furthermore, the race is not about who finishes first, but is based on a point-accumulation system...

Right, the race was scheduled to start at 9am and end at 1pm, so teams are given a timeframe of 4 hours to complete all 15 checkpoints in their passports.

At 9am, all the teams in Lecture Hall 9 were shown a video clip about Taylor's American Degree Transfer Program. After watching the video, teams must answer 10 questions about ADP correctly in order to receive their passports. Luckily, my team was one of the first to finish the questionnaire, so we got a headstart! [ smiles ]

Okay, here's where the fun part begins.

Now this is a really, really long race! And we needed to do a LOT of running around in order to get to each CP!

I'm gonna explain about all 15 CPs and their respective challenges in point form, for your convenience of course! I know you guys just hate reading long-winded essays, so I'll have to break it all down into a simpler form...

Oh, and I can't recall all the particular names of the CPs ( Remember, I mentioned that each CP is named after a certain US State... ). I only remember some of them, so I hope you guys don't mind, yeah?

Right, here goes.

1. CP 1 ( Florida ): Mastermind - One of us ( in this case, Lee King ) was selected and given a piece of paper. There were four colours written on the paper. He is not allowed to show us the paper or tell us the names of the colours on the paper. Then, the ADP students gave us another piece of paper with five colours written on it. And so, our task was to guess the colours written on Lee King's paper. There are three important things to consider:

- The "types" of colours guessed must be correct.

- The specific "sequence" of the colours must be correct.

- Colours CAN repeat themselves.

If you don't understand, I don't blame you. This particular game is kind of hard to explain here. We had to let the ADP students at the CP repeat the rules twice before we finally understood what to do. What I can tell you is this game tests our ability to analyse and try out different possibilities. In the end, we managed to guess the colours on Lee King's paper correctly, and we did it pretty quick too! Even the ADP students were stunned that we finished so quickly! It's either we're plain good, or we just had a lucky guess! [ Points: Maximum ]

2. CP 2: Name the Movie - This one was a nasty one. We were shown short video clips of several movies, and we had to name the movies that the clips were from. There were 11 clips in total. And there's a catch: we could only name the movies AFTER the video clip sequence was finished. So this game tested our memory as well! Unfortunately, my team only managed to name a mere 4 movies ( The Dark Knight, Toy Story, Inception, Titanic ). The other 7 movies were "old", classic movies! We couldn't even guess what the names of the old movies were! So we had to go through a one-minute time penalty... [ Points: Decent amount ]

3. CP 3: Calculation - Yay! I love Maths! And this CP was all about Maths! A little bit of Add Maths and a little bit of Modern Maths here and there. We managed to get through this CP with little trouble. We are the "Super Nerds", after all! Haha! However, we didn't have enough time to finish the "Kakuro" puzzle, but we still got a substantial amount of points for that. [ Points: Almost maximum ]

4. CP 4 ( Maine ): US quiz / US MAP Puzzle - Okay, here, teams had to answer as many questions as they could regarding the US before time runs out. Then, teams had to assemble a jigsaw puzzle of the USA, with the US States as the jigsaw pieces. Here's where I thought to myself, "Yes! Thank goodness I actually memorised all the US States AND their locations in the USA!". I practically had the US puzzle in the bag!

But, we were stuck here for quite a long time. Almost half an hour! Wanna know why? Because there were 2 teams that were already there when we arrived, and they were taking their own sweet time trying to finish the jigsaw puzzle of the USA! So, we did the US quiz first ( we got 7 correct answers, which was tolerable ), and after that, we still had to wait for the other teams to finish completing the US jigsaw puzzle!

They were allowed to peek at a map of the US if they didn't know how to arrange the US states in the puzzle. It was pure torture waiting for them to finish that US puzzle! When it was FINALLY my team's turn to do the jigsaw puzzle, I unleashed my fury by completing the puzzle in record time. I didn't even have to refer to the map they provided! The ADP students were awe-struck! At least my efforts of knowing the names and locations of the US States by heart finally paid off! [ Points: Almost maximum ]

5. CP 5 ( Utah ): Fill the Cup - Teams had to fill a cup with water using only their hands. The worst part was that the pail of water was 15 meters away from the cup! Only one team member could transport water from the pail to the cup at any one time. And halfway while you're running with the water, the ADP students will ask you questions regarding the state of Utah! If you answered correctly, you could proceed and deposit the water you were carrying into the cup. If the answer was wrong, you had to drop the water you're holding and start all over again!

I tell you, this CP was frustrating! In the end, we miraculously managed to fill up almost 75% of the cup. And we got extra credit from the ADP students because we sang and danced for them too! Haha! So we got like 10 extra points for that! [ Points awarded: Almost maximum ]

6. CP 6 ( Nevada ): Fear Factor - Well, our team got to do Fear Factor. There's actually 3 different challenges in this CP: Worms, Fear Factor and Fashion Catwalk. We had to role a dice to determine which one we would be doing. So we got Fear Factor. There were 4 boxes, each containing unknown "substances" inside them. Each box was for one team member, and each team member had to guess what was inside the box. The so-called "substances" were actually salt, tomato, cincau ( black jelly ), and egg. I was unlucky, because my box was the one with the egg! Ugh! And it doesn't end there. The team then had to finish drinking a cup of revolting bittergourd and banana juice! For some reason, Sehran volunteered to finish it all by himself. After he gulped it all down, he seriously looked like he was about to throw up! But then, he surprised everyone by grabbing another cup of bittergourd+banana juice and finishing that one, too! The whole room literally burst with laughter! Though I'm not sure if my team got extra credit for Sehran's heroic act! [ Points awarded: Almost maximum ]

7. CP 7: American Idol - Yup, as the name suggests, this challenge is all about American Idol. But we didn't know about it until AFTER the challenge was complete. When we first got to the CP, two of our team members were selected, Hari and Sehran. Both of them were brought into a room. Kuok Fung, Lee King, and I had to wait outside. When the three of us asked what the challenge was about, the ADP student in charge outside the room said that he couldn't tell! We only knew what the challenge was when Hari and Sehran finally emerged from the room. The two of them had to match American Idol contestants with their respective seasons. Apparently, it was easier said than done, and unfortunately, Hari and Sehran didn't manage to score any points for our team in this particular challenge. It was a real let-down, but oh well... This setback actually made us more determined and drove us to do better in the following challenges. [ Points: No points awarded ]

8. CP 8 ( Hawaii ): Sumo-wrestling - Well, I'd say this one was the most fun. Three of us had to put on a sumo costume and try to wrestle with the ADP students. We had to do it one-by-one. And man, I seriously underestimated the opponents! They were huge, and I'm guessing quite buff, too! We had to push them down on to the mat in order to score points. No punching, kicking, shirt-tugging, and tripping was allowed. Fortunately, our team managed to get the highest score among all the other teams in this challenge! Hari's match was legendary! He literally lifted the guy up and slammed him to the ground! Pure awesomeness! [ Points: Almost maximum ]

9. CP 9 ( Illnois ): Balloon Game - This CP was handled by a group of Korean ADP students. We had to blow as many balloons as we could within the time limit. The balloons had to be big enough, otherwise they don't count. Oh, and for every five balloons blown, we get to answer a bonus question for bonus points. Overall, our team managed to blow a decent amount of balloons, and we managed to get some bonus points for answering the bonus questions, so the points we got were quite okay... [ Points: Decent amount ]

10. CP 10: Jeopardy - Ah okay, we had to run all the way upstairs for this one! It was seriously exhausting! Right, Jeopardy is a gameshow which is remarkably similar to "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader". But there are a few differences, of course. There are 25 questions ( 5 categories with 5 questions each ). Each question in each category is worth a certain amount of points ( 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 points ). The higher the points, the harder the question. The categories are US History, US Presidents, US Authors, US States, and US Singers.

If you answer a question correctly, you get the points that the question is worth. Example, you answer a 40-point question correctly, your team gets 40 points. However, if you answer the question wrongly OR you don't provide an answer within a 20 second time limit, points will be deducted from the team's total points. Which means it IS possible to get a negative score! Luckily, teams have the option to drop out of the game at any time if they are comfortable with their current score. Many teams left the gameshow with zero points, but thankfully, my team managed to get a decent score of 40 points.

At first, our score lingered around zero, because everytime we answered correctly, we would then answer wrongly on the next turn! But luckily, we made a breakthrough: Lee King answered a US Singer question correctly ( Beyonce Knowles ), Sehran, Kuok Fung and Hari, answered something regarding Elvis Presley, and I managed to give the correct answer regarding the US State Massachusetts. My team decided we were comfortable with 40 points, so we decided to drop out with this score... [ Points: Decent amount ]

11. CP 11: American Football - Well, we actually got to play American Football! Well, not the full game anyway, just part of it. We learned how to "pass" and "punt" the ball. Of course, they let us practice for a while. The challenge was to complete 5 passes, and successfully punt ( kick the ball ) 5 times. Points would be awarded for every successful attempt. Our team did quite okay in this challenge, considering the fact that it was quite windy, and we had to adjust to the football's trajectory. There was even a time where Hari kicked the ball so high that it actually went all the way over the fence! Haha! [ Points: Decent amount ]

12. CP 12: Spell-It-Right - Here, we were given a bunch of cards with different letters written on each of them. We had to spell out the names of US cities using the cards provided. For instance, if the ADP student told us to spell "Syracuse", we had to find the correct cards and arrange them in the correct order. This challenge was rather easy, since I was quite familiar with the names of the US cities that he told us to spell, such as Milwaukee, Honolulu, Minneapolis, and several others... [ Points: Maximum ]

13. CP 13: US States - Alright, this was my time to shine! In this challenge, there's a map of the USA on a table. Each of the states was covered with a flap, so you can't see the names of the states. We were given a map of the US, then they gave us some time to memorise the states on the map, especially their locations. Of course, I didn't have to do that, since I already know the US States like the back of my hand! When the time was up, an ADP student would read aloud the name of a state, and we had to open up the correct flap on the US map on the table.

I was practically doing this challenge myself! I got each and every single state correct! Everyone was astonished! Someone even asked me "Are you a robot or something?". Haha! This particular challenge was a breeze, and I actually enjoyed it. I managed to get a perfect score for this challenge, and my team was awarded maximum points! Hehe, I feel so proud of myself! [ Points: Maximum ]

14. CP 14 ( New York ): Snakes & Ladders - Well not exactly "Snakes & Ladders", per se. Okay, this game involves 1 Jumper, 1 Dice-roller, 1 Runner, and 2 people to answer questions. The jumper has to hop across the "game-track" on only one foot. The dice-roller, uhhh, rolls the dice. The Runner has to collect slips paper containing questions from the ADP students everytime the dice is rolled. Then he has to pass it to the 2 people who are tasked to answer the questions.

In this case, Sehran's the Jumper, Hari's the Dice-roller, Kuok Fung's the Runner, and Lee King and I had to answer the questions. The questions are regarding mostly about the US Economy. Points would be awarded for each correct answer. Overall, we managed to score a tolerable amount of points in this challenge. [ Points: Decent amount ]

Alas, we never managed to complete the challenge at the 15th CP ( Oklahoma ). By the time we finished the 14th, it was already 1pm, so we had to make our way back to Lecture Hall 9. This is partly due to the fact that we were delayed at the 4th CP ( Maine ), which is the one with the US quiz and jigsaw puzzle. Too many teams were bottle-necked there, and teams had to go "one-by-one", so it was agonisingly slow, and we lost a lot of time there. But even if we did get to the 15th CP, some people say that it has something to do with dancing...

At 1pm, all the teams returned to Lecture Hall 9. We were debriefed and rested there for a while before we were allowed to go for our lunch at the campus' cafeteria.

Here are some pictures I took...

Behold, Lecture Hall 9...

The organisers...

It's Sehran!

Guess who?

Seriously, this wantan mee was delicious! The best part was that it's free!

Part of the Taylor's University, Lakeside Campus...

Team "Super Nerds"!

After lunch, we went back to Lecture Hall 9 once again for the closing speech and prize-giving ceremony. Dr Reinier Bouwmeester, the Dean of the American Degree Transfer Program, gave the closing speech. Then, the prize-giving ceremony commenced.

Only 6 positions were available. 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place, and 3 consolation prizes for the 4th, 5th, and 6th Places.

My team managed to get 5th Place! [ smiles ]

Well, we did do rather well, getting nearly maximum marks for most of the CPs. I guess the challenge that really dragged us down was that American Idol challenge. Oh well...

Dr Reinier Bouwmeester during his speech...

Way to go, "Super Nerds"! Haha!

After the prize-giving ceremony, there was a brief picture-taking session. Then, we were allowed to leave the lecture hall and go home.

My team and I lingered around at Starbucks for a while, chit-chatting and talking about the Race. Then, Lee King's sister sent us back to Bukit Jelutong. I waited at Hari's house for a while, and finally, at around 4.45 pm, my parents came to pick me up...

Well, conclusively, it was a really exhausting, but fun-filled and interesting day! I had so much fun and I managed to learn a lot of stuff about America. TRAAM was a really interesting experience and I enjoyed it very much...

And of course, I would like to thank my friends ( Lee King, Hari, Sehran, and Kuok Fung ).

Great work, guys! We made a great team!

Thank you so much, yeah?

Woah, this is an extremely long post!

Yeah, yeah, I know I promised to keep it simple! Haha! Sorry, yeah?

Well, I guess that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Lazy To Blog, But I Blogged Anyway!

2011-06-02T11:08:00.013+08:00

Right, to be absolutely honest, I really wasn't in the mood to update my blog when I woke up this morning...
The reason? Uhhh, I guess I'm just lazy!
After I woke up and had my breakfast, I went to my computer ( which was already turned on since early in the morning, thanks to my "light sleeper" of a brother. How convenient... ) Of course, the first thing I did was check on my Facebook page, hoping for something interesting. After staring blankly at the Homepage on Facebook, I signed in to Blogger, and finally, here I am!

Well, I do have several things I want to blog about...
Firstly, a few of my friends and I have participated in "Taylor's Race Across America" ( TRAAM ). Uhhh, I think it's organised by Taylor's American Degree Transfer Program. Anyway, it's going to be held at Taylor's University, Lakeside Campus this Saturday from 8am until 4pm.
And as the name suggets, it's all about America, of course! We were advised to brush up on our general knowledge of America. So, I actually memorised all 50 US States, and I roughly know each of their locations on the map of the USA. I've been reading about US history, including the 13 Colonies, the Civil War, the War of 1812 ( War of Independence ), America's Independence ( 4th July 1776 ), et cetera. I'm gonna read more about USA history later. Seriously, it's interesting! Haha!

Well, I can't wait for this Saturday! Regardless of whether we win or lose, it's gonna be a really fun and interesting experience! [ smiles ]

Besides that, I'm going to Sunway Pyramid next Tuesday to celebrate one of my friend's birthday.
Seriously, I consider Sunway Pyramid as somewhat of a mecca for teenagers! Everytime I go to Sunway Pyramid, without a doubt, the majority of the crowd there will consist of teenagers and adolescents.
And, either coincidentally or purposely, all the outings I've been together with my friends were all at Sunway Pyramid, nowhere else! What could make this place so attractive to teenagers? Is it because of the Egyptian themed decor? Or is it because it is located in the heart of a major population area? I wonder...
Oh well...

Well, at least I have some interesting stuff to do during the holidays! Otherwise, my life would be so dull and boring, trapped at home, with nothing but homework and my beloved computer to sustain and prevent me from dying of sheer boredom...
Speaking of homework, I've already completed most of it, and I'm glad to say that I am on track to meet the deadline that I've set for myself.
I should be able to finish up all the homework by the end of this week, period.

Well, I think my post is rather long already, so I should probably stop here...

May the Force be with you...

Mid-Term Examination 2011 Is Over!

2011-05-27T14:27:00.002+08:00

Finally! Mid-Term Examination 2011 has finally come to an end!
It's finally over! Ah, I feel like flying!
Time for some much needed rest and relaxation!!! [ smiles ]

And the best part is that tomorrow marks the first day of the Mid-Term School Holidays that's gonna last two whole weeks! Oh yeah!
But of course, there's a hiccup. Our beloved teachers have graciously supplied us with a massive pile of homework to keep us occupied during the school holidays...
Well, it's not exactly referred to as "homework", it's more like "Program Terancang Cuti Sekolah"...
Ugh...

Seriously, there's work for almost every subject! As much as it pains me to do so, I'll list them all down here for your reading pleasure:
1. Bahasa Melayu - Two essays ( Bahagian A: 200-250 words, Bahagian B: >350 words ).
2. English - Five "journal entries".
3. Modern Mathematics - SPM 2009 Maths Paper 2.
4. Sejarah - Two sets of P1 History questions.
5. Additional Mathematics - Model Test, corrections for Mid-Term Add Maths Paper 1.
6. Chemistry - Question Paper regarding vulcanisation of rubber and Electrochemistry ( Voltaic Cell )
7. Biology - Question Paper regarding Mitosis and Meiosis.
8. Physics - Skills Practice Activity ( Heat, Specific Heat Capacity )
9. Pendidikan Sivik - [ Yup, that's right! There's even h/w for PSK! ] Folio about "Jenis Kerjaya, Usaha, & Impian Dalam Kerjaya Yang Dipilih". And guess what? This assignment accounts for a whopping 50% of my Mid-Term PSK Examination!

Well, it will definitely take a substantial amount of time to complete all that work!

Anyway, about Mid-Term Examinations...
The first and second weeks of the exam were actually quite okay.
First week: BM 1, BM 2, English 1, English 2, Physics 1. Still tolerable...
Second week: Add Maths 1, Add Maths 2, Modern Maths 1, Modern Maths 2, Pendidikan Moral. [ Oh, Teacher's Day was on Monday, and Tuesday was Wesak Day. Sorry guys, I'm too lazy to blog about Teacher's Day! Haha! ]

Now, the third week is the "killer" week! All the so-called heavyweight subjects were crammed into this week!
Third week: Sejarah 2, Chemistry 1, PJK, Biology 2, Biology 1, Sejarah 1, Chemistry 2, Chemistry 3, Physics 2, Physics 3, Biology 3, PSK.
Notice the difference between the 3rd week and the first two weeks?!?! Ugh... For some people, including me, getting through the 3rd week seemed like an eternity! Time really passes slowly during examination periods...

Well, about today ( the last day of Mid-Term Examination ), there were only two papers left, Biology 3 and PSK.
When the bell rang at 10.25am, signifying the end of the PSK Paper and the Mid-Term Examination, the thunderous cheer of all the students echoed througout the school. It was awe-inspiring. Truly glorious.
And you know what? Some people were even surprised that I was still carrying out my Prefect's duty ( guarding Staircase D ) even though the Exam just finished! They were saying things to me like "Wei, apasal ko ni masih tugas lagi? Exam dah habis la wei!". Seriously, it was damn annoying...

I was really looking forward to finally playing Chess today... Alas, I never managed to play a single game! Well, I DID manage to play a few moves, but then Theeban suddenly said that there was a Prefect's Meeting in the Prefect's Room.
Oh well, maybe next time...

Well, I guess that's it...
I gotta go enjoy myself "while I still can", if you get what I mean! [ smiles ]
I'll start working on that gigantic pile of homework very soon. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it all by the end of next week. Then, I'll have another week to enjoy before school re-opens...

Happy holidays!

May the Force be with you...

250th Post...

2011-05-06T18:58:00.006+08:00

Alright, my Mid-Term Examination is coming up soon, so this will probably be my last post until after the Exam is over.
The Mid-Term Exam will last for about 3 weeks...
[ sigh ] I sure do miss the good old times when examinations were merely 3-5 days long!

Anyway, I'm gonna blog about school...
Today was, uhhh, rather interesting...
But unfortunately, I don't really have the time to give lengthy explanations. I need to go and do some Physics revision. So, I'm just gonna summarise everything up, alright?
Okay, here goes...

1. I gave a speech about Chess to the non-Muslim students - The Muslim students were required to be at my school's weekly "bacaan surah yasin" session at the assembly area. The non-Muslims gathered at the school canteen instead. Pn Goh Soh Lian told me to give a speech to the non-Muslims at the canteen, so I talked about the "Benefits of Playing Chess"! [ smiles ] Too bad Hazwan and Sehran weren't there to listen to my speech. I'm sure they would have been "proud"! Haha!

2. Chemistry Lesson - Alright, I'll split what happened during Chemistry into two parts:
i) Helped Tian Hui with her presentation regarding the vulcanisation process of natural rubber.
ii) Conducted an experiment to determine the differences between an alkane ( CnH2n+2 ) and an alkene ( CnH2n ). It was quite interesting.

3. English - Jannah's group gave their presentation about Chapter 6 of the Literature novel: Step by Wicked Step ( C6: Pixie's Story - The Pains In My Life ). The acting didn't really make much sense, but at least it was hilarious!

4. History - En Din didn't come into class. A replacement teacher came in instead and told us to do our own work. Hazwan and Sehran trotted off to play Chess without a moment's hesitation, of course! I decided to try and complete some of the immense amount of Literature homework that Pn Thamilselvi had graciously provided us! Then, I helped Alison with some Add Maths homework before heading to Staircase D to carry out my Prefect's Duty...

5. Recess - Carrying out guard duty at the staircase, as usual. Then, Jit San came along, and we started talking about all sorts of random stuff. At 10.45, I made my way to the canteen, and something truly "remarkable" happened! I couldn't believe my eyes! ( It's hard to explain exactly what happened, coz' it's a Prefect thing! Haha! )
Some students were busy spectating someone's car being towed away outside the school. After ordering them to go back to class, I went back upstairs for PJK class.

6. PJK Lesson - Uhhh, we discussed about "Seks Abnormal" and it's consequences... Yeah, it's in the textbook and it's part of the syllabus. We talked about homosexuals, bisexuals, HIV/AIDS, incest, et cetera. Yeah, that's PJK...

7. Modern Mathematics - Ahhh, Maths with Pn Goh Ah Choun! Today, it was all about Transformations. However, I had not completed the work papers that Pn Goh provided us previously ( Wednesday, if I'm not mistaken... ). Luckily, I managed to finish it all without teacher actually noticing! How? Doing it under my desk, of course! Hehe! Thank goodness I have no problems with Transformations, otherwise I would have been in real trouble!

Well, that's basically it...
Now, I gotta go start revising!

Wish me luck for my Mid-Term Examination!

May the Force be with you...

A Little Spare Time...

2011-05-01T18:34:00.004+08:00

Okay, since I have a bit of free time, I might as well take the opportunity to update my blog, right?
I managed to finish my Chemistry homework AND still have the time to go to the gym! Ahhh, I haven't been to the gym in ages! It feels so good to finally be able to work-out again! [ smiles ]

Anyway, after revising Chemistry for almost 4 hours, I actually started to enjoy doing Carbon Compound exercises! I particularly enjoyed esterification ( process of forming esters via reaction between an alcohol and a carboxylic acid.
Eg: ethanol + propanoic acid → ethyl propanoate + water, C2H5OH + C3H7COOH → C3H7COOC2H5 + H2O )
It's quite fun actually, once you get the hang of it...

Right, if your speakers are on, and they're NOT muted, you should probably be able to hear some music playing.
That's the sound of my Mixpod music player that I've just added to my Blogger page...
The reason: I was on YouTube, recording "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith, when I stumbled upon a Daughtry song, "Over You". Of course, I decided to check it out, because frankly, I like listening to Daughtry songs!
I listened for a while, and it turned out that "Over You" was quite an awesome song! It's a wonder how I never came across it before...

So now, my music playlist has two songs ( Two should be enough, don't you think? ) :
1. Over You - Daughtry
2. Life After You - Daughtry
I really wanted to include David Cook's new song, "The Last Goodbye" into my playlist as well. I DID manage to find it on YouTube, but strangely, it doesn't appear in the Mixpod search list... Oh well...

Okay, I don't intend to make this post a long one.
Besides, I don't really have anything else to blog about!
Well, as a final note, I really DO need to get a haircut! [ smiles ]

May the Force be with you...

Finally Back...

2011-04-25T17:58:00.001+08:00

Woah, I haven't updated this blog for quite a while now!

It's been more than a month now!

Well, I didn't have a choice, you know! It's not that I didn't want to blog ( I'm not lazy! ), it's just that, due to certain unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to update my blog!

I hope you guys are not mad or anything...

[ smiles ]

Well, I will tell you this: There's a WHOLE lot of stuff that I should have blogged about during my 1 month absence from Blogger... But sadly, I didn't!

Oh well, what's done is done...

Notice the picture of Kakashi Hatake I posted.

Don't jump to conclusions! I am NOT a Naruto fan! It's a long, complicated story that I don't really feel like telling now...

Anyway, I'm just gonna blog about what happened today...

In the morning, we had an official assembly. It was really, really long, due to the fact that our school participated in a lot of tournaments and events recently, and that equates to a lot of prize-giving!

And the worst part was that I was sweating like MAD, I tell you! My blazer was swelteringly hot! Talk about being uncomfortable!

After assembly, nothing much happened...

Add Maths just breezed past. Teacher provided some homework. End of story.

We learned about neurones during Biology.

PSK was technically a free double period. We were "supposed" to practice singing the school song, but somehow, we didn't in the end...

Nothing much happened during Moral, either. Teacher just provided some information regarding the Kerja Kursus Pendidikan Moral folio. That's it...

Ummm, after school, Hari, Hazwan, Jas, Ashman and I went to Domino's Pizza for lunch. I actually brought my own lunch ( fried noodles ), but regardlessly, they insisted that I had to follow them to Domino's anyway...

We ordered 2 pizzas ( I managed to eat a slice! ). After we finished eating, we started to talk about various types of vegetables! I don't really know how the vegetable conversation started, but I have a hunch that it has something to do with green peas...

After that, we went to check out some shop selling "soft" ice-cream.

Then, we started walking back to school. We arrived at around 2.40, I think.

We made our way to 5 Epsilon...

Played uhhh, "consultation" chess... Discussed about Chess... Talked about Chess... Chess... Chess... Chess... yada yada yada... And before we knew it, it was already 4.15pm. And guess what? We only played ONE Chess game!

Hazwan and Jas went back...

Then Ashman, Hari and I played THE most hilarious Chess game ever! Seriously, it was hysterical!

We laughed until we cried! And our stomachs hurt so bad because we were laughing too hard! I tell you, even as I'm typing this sentence, I still can't help but crack a smile as I remind myself of that particular Chess game!

Haha! Oh man, Ashman and Hari, you've made my day!

Well, I guess that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Trip to China!

2011-03-16T14:43:00.004+08:00

Alright, I'm gonna make this one a "quickie", alright?
I'm honestly not in the mood for typing long posts now...
My family went for a trip to China for 5 days ( 10th - 14th March ).

The four main places that we visited were Nanjing, Suzhou, Shanghai, and Hangzhou...

We also had a host: My mum's good friend, Aunt Jennifer. She was our guide during our visits to Nanjing and Suzhou. She was very friendly and we really appreciate her hospitality...
Right, firstly, our flight ( AirAsia X ) touched-down at Xiaoshan International Airport, Hangzhou. There, a driver, Mr Xia, was waiting for us. We had a brief lunch at McDonalds before he sent us to Nanjing.

At Nanjing, we met Aunt Jennifer at her house. She took us out for dinner, and later she brought us to Confucius Square...
After a bit of sight-seeing, she brought us back home and we hit the sack...

Okay, I'm just gonna roughly blog about the itinerary for each location of the China trip in point form...
Yes, it's gonna be quick and simple! I already I told you I'm not in the mood for writing long essays! [ smiles ]

NANJING

1. Went to Mount Xijin ( Purple Mountain ) and headed to the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum.
2. Lunch at Wanda Plaza.
3. Visited the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall.
4. Went to Zhonghua Gate and walked along the top of the City Wall of Nanjing.
5. Went back to Confucius Square for some more sightseeing.

SUZHOU

1. Our trip to Suzhou was centered mainly around our visit to a historic Chinese "Water Village". The scenery was very authentic and peaceful and the waterways in the village were absolutely beautiful...
We strolled around before taking a high-speed bullet train to Shanghai.

SHANGHAI

1. Arrived in Shanghai Zhabei district and had lunch.
2. Made our way to Holiday Inn Express hotel and settled in.
3. Took Shanghai MRT and visited Yuyuan Garden.
4. Made our way to the Huangpu river and walked along the Shanghai Bund.
5. Headed to Nanjing Road for dinner.

6. Took MRT back to hotel.

HANGZHOU

1. Took high-speed bullet train from Shanghai Hongqiao to Hangzhou railway station.

2. Took a taxi to Crystal Orange Hotel.

3. Strolled along the scenic West Lake.

4. Had dinner at the famous Zhiweiguan restaurant at Renhe Road.

5. Went back to West Lake to see the "Musical Fountain" performance.

6. Walked along West Lake back to Crystal Orange Hotel.

Did I forget to mention that it was unbelievably COLD in China?!
It was actually spring time. Actually, it's like the period of transition from winter to spring, so the temperature was still quite low...
Well, it's okay in the afternoon, but it's really cold in the morning and at night!
Hmmm, for example, at Zhabei District, Shanghai, it was so cold in the morning that when you breathe out from your mouth, the water vapour condenses right in front of you, so you can actually see the vapour cloud in front of your face! It's quite fun to do that, to be frank! Haha!

Uhhh, at the Shanghai Bund, there was a relatively strong wind blowing, so the "wind-chill" factor kicked in! ( The wind actually "blows" away the natural blanket of warm air surrounding your body, making you feel much, much colder! )

Okay, moving on...
On the last day, we had a morning stroll along the West Lake. Then we had breakfast at a roadside noodle shop. We met a guy in the noodle shop who was willing to bring us on a tour around the perimeter of West Lake, AND bring us to the Xiaoshan International Airport later. For a price, of course!
Well, that meant we didn't have to go through the trouble of hailing a taxi!

He brought us to many iconic places, including the Tomb of General Yue Fei, a Dragon Tea plantation, and the "Broken Bridge". We even got to get close-up with an old Chinese Type-62 Battle Tank!

After that, he took us to the Xiaoshan International Airport, so we could catch our flight back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After we boarded the plane, the captain announced that the flight was delayed for another half an hour... And during the flight, we experienced turbulence and some bad weather!
Luckily something "terrible" didn't happen...

At around 8pm, we were finally back on Malaysian soil. I've got to admit, KL looks awesome from the plane at night! The intricate network of lights criss-crossing one another was truly a sight to behold!

I took many pictures during the trip to China. I uploaded them on Facebook. You can check them out at this link:

Pictures of trip to China

Oh, and the earthquake that hit of the coast of Japan was horrible! I was shocked when I heard the news! A magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter scale?! That's insane!
And the ensuing tsunami seriously wreaked a lot of havoc and destruction. I feel sorry towards the people of Japan and I honestly hope their recovery from this unprecedented disaster will be okay.

And then there's the damaged nuclear reactor thingy...
Apparently, a leakage has occured at one of Japan's nuclear reactors, and according to forecasts and predictions, South East Asian countries are in serious danger from the nuclear debris...
Well, I just wanna tell everyone to be careful and stay safe!

I guess that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Career Planning Seminar at TAR College, Setapak, KL

2011-02-17T18:36:00.007+08:00

Right, here I am once again...

I hope you guys don't mind the "Assassin's Creed 2" picture on your left! Yes, I know I'm deviating from my ummm, tradition of only using Star Wars pictures for each of my posts.

But hey, shouldn't I have the freedom to post whatever I want?!

Hence, I won't be using Star Wars pictures all the time, yeah? I'm gonna be using various types of pictures from now on, just to keep my options flexible...

Anyway, moving on to more important things...

This morning, several Form 5 classes, including my class, went for a seminar about "Career Planning" at Tunku Abdul Rahman ( TAR ) College, Setapak, Kuala Lumpur.

Well, to be absolutely frank, I'm quite lazy to blog about EVERY single detail!

So, I'll just keep it short and sweet, alright? No long descriptive essays. I promise!

Right, let's get started...

There were three buses. My class boarded one, but since there was extra space, we had to share the bus with another class.

Uhhh, along the way, there were traffic jams occurring around two tolls: The first one is right after the Bukit Jelutong toll. And as for the second jam, well, I don't really know what that place is called!

Here are some pictures I took while on the bus, using my trusted 3.2 MP handphone...

Right, after what seemed like an endless journey, we finally arrived at the TAR College campus.
A lady took us on a tour around the TAR College campus, showing us many of the important facilities, such as the swimming pool, library, gymnasium, dormitories, et cetera...

Again, more pictures:

After the tour, we headed to a hall, where the "Career Planning" seminar commenced. We were given a talk on how to choose careers that best suited our own respective personalities. It was rather interesting...

Then, representatives from the different "schools", such as the School of Business Studies and the School of Social Science and Humanities, to name a few, each gave presentations regarding their respective Schools of Studies...

After that, we were provided with "refreshments", in other words food and drink, of course!

After a final group picture, we boarded the buses once again, and before we knew it, we were heading back to Bukit Jelutong.

Some pictures during the bus ride back to school:

Well, that's all I've got about the trip to Tunku Abdul Rahman ( TAR ) College.

And, of course, I kept my word! No long, boring essays in sight! Haha! [ smiles ]

May the Force be with you...

"Another" New Profile Picture!

2011-02-15T19:47:00.003+08:00

Well, for me, it's been one heck of a tiring weekend!

Seriously, it was exhausting! The "Kem Kepimpinan Exco 2011" at the Dusun Eco-Resort, Bentong, Pahang was really tiring! But it was fun, and I got a lot of sweet and memorable experiences that I will never forget...

To all my friends who accompanied me during the Exco Camp last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, thank you guys so much! It was by far the best camp I've ever been through! [ smiles ]

Maybe when I am free next time, I will try and blog about the Exco Camp. But right now, I kinda have my hands full. So, stay tuned, yeah?

Anyway, while I was at the Camp, my father and brother bought a new family camera.

I was personally impressed, because it was 16.1MP camera, and was capable of taking 720p HD videos!!!

I took the opportunity to make a new profile picture...

Yeah, be skeptical if you want! But honestly, I swear, my arms are REAL! Obviously the result of hours at the gym, or possibly genetics ( or both! )

But I assure you, they're not fake! Come and see me personally if you still don't believe me! Haha!

PS: I am NOT showing off or whatever! I'm still as humble and modest as I'll ever be! [ smiles ]

Anyway, besides the awesome resolution, I made some new adjustments to my lightsaber blade.

1. I've increased the glow radius, to cope with the higher resolution.

2. I adjusted the red colour of the blade ( just a bit of tinkering ever since my last colour template )

3. I added a small lens flare at the starting point of the blade, near the hilt.

Well, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Chinese New Year Pictures 2011!

2011-02-05T17:14:00.017+08:00

Well, now that I'm back home from the Chinese New Year celebrations with the rest of my family, I guess I'll have to blog about it, right?

But I'm a little pressed for time at the moment, so I'll just let the pictures that I took do most of the talking, yeah? [ smiles ]

Don't worry, I'll add my annotations for the pictures...

Alright, first stop, Batu Pahat, Johor.

1. CNY Reunion Dinner!

Shark's fin soup...

Mmmm... I can't deny that shark's fin soup tastes REAL good!

This is actually my second bowl of soup, if I'm not mistaken...

Of course, you can't celebrate CNY without fish!

My brother's bowl of shark's fin soup! Haha! ( He's the one holding the spoon up )

Ummm, it's quite hard to explain this one, because there's all sorts of food in this one particular dish...

Prawns galore!!!

So many meat dumplings... Honestly, we couldn't finish all of them!

2. Fireworks!

Unbelievably LOUD!!! I am NOT exaggerating!

Hee! "Sprinkler", or "sparkler", or whatever...

The head in the bottom right corner is Alvyn's head.

The face says it all: "I'm bored!"

Aunty Mei Teen, together with "You-Know-Who"!

3. Last Day at Batu Pahat:

RAWR! I demand a can of 100 PLUS!

Dear cousin Samantha!

And now, on to Malacca!

1. Well, I only took one picture on the first day of our stay at Malacca. It's a picture of my brother and my cousin playing a good game of Chess!

Here it is!

"Clash Of The Titans"! Haha!

2. Second Day at Malacca...

My father, mother and I went to the Equatorial Hotel at Malacca Town to meet up with my mum's friend from China. My brother didn't want to come, because he was busy engaging in an "epic" Chess battle with my uncle! [ smiles ]

Anyway, let's get on with the pictures, shall we?

Chicken Rice Balls! ( FYI: This represents my first time eating Chicken Rice Balls! )

3. While my mum was "catching up" with her friend from China, my dad and I went to "explore" the surrounding area, namely Dataran Pahlawan, the newly opened Hattan Square, and Mahkota Parade...

a) LION DANCE PICTURES ( Bleh, I'm lazy to annotate these! Heehee! ):

b) "Explored areas":

Guess who?

Behold... Mahkota Parade...

It's a field, located on the premises of Dataran Pahlawan Malacca Megamall, in case you were wondering...

Well, that's Dataran Pahlawan, and the building next to it is the Equatorial Hotel...

4. Just before heading back home...

We went to eat at a "buffet" dinner, courtesy of a friend of my grandparents...

There were both Chinese and Malaysian cuisine available. And when I was done eating, boy, I was stuffed!

Tonnes of mouth-watering food! [ salivates ]

The "bee hoon" was really good! Seriously!

Does this picture make you hungry? Haha!

The Malay food section! Satay, curry-puffs, etc... You name it!

Well, after the "buffet" dinner at Malacca, we said our farewells, and before we knew it, we were on our way back home.

We arrived back at Setia Eco-Park late last night... I was obviously too tired to update my blog yesterday, so I decided to update it today! ( Duh! )

Well, there you have it...

Oh, and remember the long list of homework that I showed you guys in my previous post?

I actually managed to finish everything!

I tell you, the overwhelming feeling of satisfaction is indescribable!!! Haha!

So, I guess that's it.

May the Force be with you...

Happy Chinese New Year 2011!

2011-01-30T18:50:00.004+08:00

Yes, I know, you don't have to tell me...
I am aware that I am not blogging as frequently as I used to!
But I DO have my reasons, you know!

Anyway, if you realise, I've been deviating from my "tradition" of inserting a Star Wars picture for each of my posts. If you just roll your eyes over to the left, you'll see a picture of the Prince of Persia, from the game series "Prince Of Persia" ( duh!!! ).
Yup, I'm currently hooked to the game ( particularly Warrior Within, which is the second installment ), mostly because of the combat system.
Personally, I think it's an awesome action/"platformer" game, but it CAN get a tad difficult at some points...

Well, it's the start of the CNY school holidays, and because of that, the teacher's have graciously supplied us with mounds of homework! I think I have homework for EVERY single subject! Let me try and list down the homework that I have to complete by the end of the Chinese New Year holidays:
1. Bahasa Melayu - Essay about "Ciri-ciri Anak Cemerlang".
2. English - Essay about "My Biggest Challenge In My Life" + Find 30 idioms, their meanings, and examples.
3. Modern Mathematics - Graphs Of Functions II
4. Pendidikan Moral - 3 or 4 "Tugasan Harian" essays ( I've already completed 3, and I'm gonna move on to the 4th one soon... ).
5. Physics - Draw two sets of continuous coherent water waves ( so that teacher can highlight the points of constructive and destructive wave interference/nodes and antinodes... ).
6. Biology - Several essays regarding Chapter 1: Transport.
7. Chemistry - Pg 14 to 23 ( Chemistry Module F5 ) + Complete Experiment 1 in "Student's Manual" + Chemistry CNY assignment, downloaded from "SMKBJ's Chemistry website".
8. Additional Mathematics - Chapter 1: Progressions.
9. Sejarah - Read about "Penentangan Penduduk Tempatan di Perak Terhadap British" and prepare for presentation regarding the same sub-topic.
10. Miscellanous - Homework from Add Maths Tuition and Mandarin Language Class.

Of course, I managed to shoot down most of the EASY tasks first ( eg Modern Mathematics... ).
I plan to finish off the rest of them very soon, hopefully before I go back to Johor and Malacca to celebrate Chinese New Year! Wish me luck!!!

Hmmm, besides that, I was trying to improve my keyboard typing speed just now. My father taught me a technique and I was told to practice in Microsoft Works Word Processor.
As I was practising my technique, I suddenly felt a strong urge to write a one-page mini-story...
Haha! I couldn't help myself! I LOVE writing stories!

I typed out the first sentence:
"…As the hazy, dappled sunlight streamed through the thick jungle canopy, Alvyn sighed with utter admiration."

After typing that first sentence, I wanted to continue the story. I didn't really care about how the story actually BEGAN... I just wanted to describe "Alvyn's trek through the forest" as creatively as I could! [ smiles ]

Here's the rest of it:
Nature had its ways of showcasing true beauty, and at its best, it can be truly awe-inspiring. He continued his trek through the forest, amidst the melodious tune of chirping birds and various other rainforest inhabitants. Unbeknownst to him, a strange shadowy figure was stealthily watching him from the tree-tops.

Suddenly, Alvyn swung around, tightening his grasp on his trusted broadsword, Ashok. He scanned the jungle canopy. He had caught a glimpse of the “shadow” creeping behind him along the tree-tops. Sweat trickled down the nape of his neck as his vision narrowed.
The next set of events unfolded in the blink of an eye. The mysterious “shadow” pounced on Alvyn. Caught by surprise, he felt a sharp pain on his torso. It was then that he realized that the “shadow” had plunged a sword-like weapon into his left-rib.
Despite the blinding pain, Alvyn summoned the courage to yank the sword out of his body. He stumbled backwards, and with Herculean effort, swung his broadsword towards the “shadow”.

The “shadow” retreated a little. Panting heavily, Alvyn looked on as the shadowy mass of dark clouds and smoke began to transform into something that looked eerily similar to a human’s body. The “shadow” unfurled its hood, revealing a face that was all too shockingly familiar to Alvyn.
“You!” Alvyn cried. The “shadow” was comprised of none other than Alvyn’s own flesh and blood. It was his evil elder brother, Andrew.

“Yes, my brother… It is I, Andrew!” Andrew exclaimed.
“WHY?!” Alvyn screamed, “Why would you betray me?”
“No more talking, brother! Your very presence irritates me! Let us end this!” Andrew replied. Unsheathing his Shadowsword, Andrew charged and slashed at Alvyn’s breastplate armor, leaving a huge gash across Alvyn’s chest. Alvyn, enraged by his brother’s betrayal, retaliated with his sword, despite the steady stream of his own thick red blood flowing from his ruptured breastplate. Andrew parried the onslaught with ease.

“You’re pathetic, Alvyn! You disappoint me! Let me put an end to this!” And with an almighty yell, Andrew plunged his Shadowsword into the already mortally wounded Alvyn. As the last moments of his life drained away, Alvyn was stricken with grief and anger, accepting the fact that he was defeated and put to rest by his own brother’s dark hand.

After drawing his final breath, Alvyn finally succumbed to his fate. He slumped to the ground, closed his eyes, and died…

Haha! That was dunb, right?
Yeah, I know. the ending sucked bad, but hey, it was merely just for fun!

Well, that's it for now...
Finally, I'd like to wish everyone:
Happy Chinese New Year!
GONG XI FA CAI!
May the Year of the Rabbit bring you great prosperity, happiness, and joy!

May the Force be with you...

Very, very busy

2011-01-14T20:44:00.006+08:00

Hey, you guys! It's me again!

I guess my blog still has some life left in it, right? [ smiles ]

Well, Ashman, consider yourself lucky that my blog's not dead yet!

Ha! I'm not that lazy!

However, I have been quite preoccupied lately...

Besides the usual supply of homework and assignments ( presentations, et cetera ), I've got several new burdens to add to my work heap:

1. "Tugasan Harian" essays for Pendidkan Moral. I've got to write 6 of them. So far I've only completed 2...

2. Kerja Kursus Komponen Sastera ( KOMSAS ) Bahasa Melayu. This one's a real pain in the a**! A complete analysis of the novel "Interlok" by Abdullah Hussain, PLUS synopses for each and every prosa tradisional, cerpen, and drama in the KOMSAS textbook! The worst part is that all of this represents 15% of my March Exam BM grades!!!

3. I've recently been elected as:

a) Vice President of the English Language Society ( ELS )

b) Pengerusi of the Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah ( PBSM )

Well, I'm sure you know that I've got a lot of work and responsibility now!

So, I most certainly won't be blogging very often. That's the grim truth...

But I'll still try and update whenever I can, kay?

Well, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

First School Day of 2011

2011-01-03T16:00:00.003+08:00

Hello again, everyone!
Gosh, my blog has already started to die...
This COULD very well be my last post! Yes, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've actually lost the will to blog!
Uhhh, this is probably because I don't receive a whole lot of feedback nowadays, regardless of what I blog about.
Oh well...

Anyway, today's actually the first day of school.
So, I woke up at 6am this morning to get ready for school.
Ugh, how I hate waking up early in the morning...
Truth be told, I was really envious of my brother ( he's an afternoon session student ) this morning. Why? He was still fast asleep as I was getting ready for school...

During the assembly, various teachers presented their own speeches. Honestly, I was sweating like crazy! I'm not sure anyone actually noticed, though. I just hope they didn't.
Well, I was wearing a blazer! And what do you get when you cross a guy wearing a blazer with typical Malaysian weather ( in this case warm and humid )?
Lots of heat, and therefore, lots of sweat too!

After that, there was a brief Prefect's meeting in the Prefect's Room. Then I headed up to my classroom ( 5 Beta ).
5 Beta's class teacher this year is Pn Thamilselvi, and she teaches English. For me, this was totally unexpected, as I've never had an English teacher become my class teacher before!
So far, for my class, I know that Pn Hamirizan is still the Biology teacher, Pn Rohaida is our new BM teacher, and there's a chance that Pn Goh Ah Choun is going to retain her role as our Modern Mathematics teacher...

Well, Pn Thamil came into class first, and she initiated an "ice-breaking" session, but technically, everyone in 5 Beta already knew each other fairly well. I looked kinda' ridiculous when I stood up to tell everyone my name, location of residence, and all the other piles of gibberish that I usually tend to blabber out during "ice-breaking" sessions.

Uhhh, after that, Pn Hamirizan came in and gave us a little introduction about Form 5 Biology. She also covered a bit about the first chapter of F5 Biology - Transport ( transportation / circulation systems in the human body and plants ).
After that, we went for recess. Well, just the normal students, that is. We Prefects had to carry out our duties.

After that, I played a game of Chess with Ashman. I was actually supposed to play with Hari, but astonishingly, Hari had made a shocking resolution for 2011 - He had declared not to play chess in school! Yikes!
Well, Ashman played White and I played Black. He started the game with the immediate 1. Nf3 ( The Reti Opening ), and I countered with 1. ...d5.
The game continued with me somehow achieving a Caro-Kann pawn structure. Ashman castled Kingside, but I guess he didn't notice, or more likely didn't WANT to notice, that I had a Queen-Bishop battery ( Queen on c7, Bishop on d6 ) and a Knight converging on the h1 square. Only the Ashman's King and Knight were defending h1. He ignored the convergence threat, which struck me as odd. What was his motive at that point? Some sort of Zwischenzug?

Well, I took the pawn on h1, and at the same time, I jeopardised his King's safety on the Kingside. After that, I managed to land my Knight on a nice hole within Ashman's territory. By the end of all the sequences and combinations, I lost my Bishop on h1, but I had 4 passed pawns to my credit ( two on Queenside, two on Kingside ). Plus, he had a deactivated dark-squared Bishop on his backrank and my two rooks were ready to fly into action along the c-file.
But I had to adjourn the game when Pn Rohaida, my BM teacher for the year, came into my class...

During the final period, Pn Thamil came back into the class. We held the elections for the positions of Class Monitor, Assistant Class Monitor, Secretary, Treasurer, and the various AJKs ( Ahli Jawatankuasa ).
Uhhh, the new class monitor is Nafis, his assistant is Sabrina, the secretary is Shereen, the treasurer is Kee King, the AJK Perabot is Alison, the AJK Kebersihan is Tian Hui, the AJK Keceriaan is Fatiha, and the AJK SPBT is Loshvindra.

Well, that's practically it for now, I guess...

Remember, this MIGHT be my very last post on Blogger!
So, don't really expect me to publish any new posts, unless I really want to in future!
This is Andrew, signing off.

May the Force be with you...

Season's Greetings 2010!

2010-12-25T11:04:00.003+08:00

Well, nothing much need be said here...
Today's Christmas, so...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Oh, and for all the Form 3 students out there who achieved excellent results in your recent PMR Examination, congratulations!
And for those who didn't, there's always SPM coming up! Don't be too hard on yourselves, kay?

Okay then, that's it for now...

May the Force be with you...

Choreographed Martial Arts Fight!

2010-12-21T16:13:00.008+08:00

Yeah, I am definitely aware that I am not blogging as frequently as before.

But hey, I only blog when something important or interesting pops up! I don't really blog about stuff like my feelings, random topics that just so happen to pop into my head, or whatever. That's not my "style"! [ smiles ]

Well, I did go to school yesterday for a Prefect's meeting ( it's about "top secret and confidential stuff"! Can't be revealed here! Hehe! )

One thing I did notice was that some areas of the school had been renovated over the holidays. The stairwells and the Open Hall, to name a few. Furthermore, many of the doors have been repainted, and construction of a shelter just outside the school compound is underway...

Anyway, my brother and I had been planning to choreograph a martial arts video for quite some time now. Yup, that's right, "martial arts"...

No more lightsabers for the time being!

And so, we managed to make our very first choreographed martial arts video!

Last Saturday, we practiced on our hand-to-hand fighting skills. We only knew a few techniques from several different martial arts styles. We learned about them mainly from the Internet...

Uhhh, if I'm not mistaken, the fighting style in the video is mainly just a mixture of moves from several distinct martial arts styles.

Neither Alvyn or I utilise just one fighting style throughout the video. We just jumbled everything up and linked several techniques together to form combinations...

Right, I'm sure you wanna see the video for yourself now, right?

Well, you've got 2 main options:

1. You could go to YouTube itself to watch the video. Just click the link I've so kindly provided for you below,

Choreographed Martial Arts Fight

2. Or you could watch it here!

[ FYI: We used a 5.0 MegaPixel handphone camera to shoot the whole thing. Although the framerate is quite smooth, the video is still a little blurry! My apologies! ]

Well, there you have it.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "It could have been better!"

But this IS my first martial arts video, and obviously, there will always be more room for improvement...

So yeah, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Family Trip to Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Agricultural Park

2010-12-13T12:10:00.007+08:00

Okay, guys, I'm updating my blog again!

For the past several days which I haven't been blogging, I actually had the unspeakable notion of abandoning my blog and letting it rot for good!

Then it dawned upon me - My laziness was getting the better of me!

I pulled myself together. And so, here I am! [ smiles ]

And it's a good thing that I snapped out of my lazy state when I did, because I finally have something interesting to blog about.

Just yesterday, I went on an outing with my family to Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Agricultural Park, Shah Alam.

The weird part is that the location of Bukit Cahaya is actually not far from where I live ( Setia Eco-Park ). It's so near, I honestly believe that it's possible to cycle there from my house!

But because there is no route that exists to connect the two areas, we had to travel along the NKVE, head to Bukit Jelutong, and then make our way around Shah Alam in order to reach the Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Agricultural Park!

Yeah, I know, it's unbelievable! But it's true! After exiting Bukit Cahaya, if you make a right at the road fork after the main gate and keep driving along the road, you'll come across a housing estate which is just adjacent to the area where I live! Ugh!

Instead, we were forced to go the LONG way round, through Shah Alam and the NKVE highway! Talk about being so close, and yet so far!

Anyway, my family and I had loads of fun at Bukit Cahaya.

Unfortunately, I simply don't have the time to blog about it all in detail...

But I did take some pictures during the trip. I guess I'll let them do the story-telling, yeah?

As the old proverb goes: "A picture paints a thousand words..."

[ I originally intended to simply upload the pictures on Facebook, and then provide a link to that album in this post. But I've decided to directly upload the pictures here anyway, whether you like it or not! No need to thank me! Haha! ]

Alvyn and I at the "Four Seasons Temperate Garden" simulation facility. It was winter season, and it sure was cold!

Snow?! In Malaysia?! No... That's... That's impossible!!!

Brrr! The worst part was that I was wearing a simple light T-Shirt with no sort of insulation whatsoever!

Errr, peace out?

Ummm, if I'm not mistaken, this is part of the Garden of Ornamental Plants...

"Annoying photographers..." thought Alvyn. "Don't they have anything else better to do?!"

Yup, it's a random picture of a tree...

Another random shot taken by yours truly...

Uhhh, I took this shot from an observation tower, if I recall correctly...

My newly adopted "gang sign"! Haha!

Ummm, those clouds look interesting...

Alert! Random shot!

Well, there you have it...

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that I wanted to blog about this yesterday, but when I came back from the trip, I was utterly exhausted and literally drained of energy! I couldn't bring myself to even touch the computer!

The only thing I was able to do was trundle to the fridge, grab a bottle of cold water, collapse myself on the couch in the living room, turn on the TV, and watch "The Amazing Race Asia - Season 4" on AXN...

It's too bad the team from Malaysia ( Ethan and Khairie ) got eliminated... They were my favourites...

But oh well, I'm okay with the two Richards winning the Race as well! [ smiles ]

Besides that, I watched two new movies recently: "The Karate Kid ( 2010 )" and "The Chronicles Of Narnia - The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader".

Both movies are very good, and for those who have not watched these movies, I personally recommend that you should go and watch them if you can. They're awesome!

Movies that I'm gonna watch soon:

1. The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

2. Legend Of The Fist - Return Of Chen Zhen

3. The Social Network

Well, that's it for now, I guess...

May the Force be with you...

End-Of-Year Examination Results 2010

2010-12-02T10:55:00.005+08:00

Well, I went to school with my mother today to collect my Final Examination result slip.

To be honest, I was actually quite nervous!

We left the house at around 9.30am, I think...

When I reached the school, the guard told us to head to the School Office to collect my results.

On the way, I met Farhan and Firdaus. They were there earlier and they've already collected their own result slips. I greeted them. Apparently, the two of them were the first to arrive, according to the security guards record book. Their names were at the very top of the list.

Then, Farhan told us that I actually got the No.1 position in class!

Frankly, I couldn't believe my ears! He reassured his statement and insisted there was no mistake. He said that when he was collecting his result slip, he caught a glimpse of my position in class.

I couldn't believe it! The "No.1" position in class!

My mum and I made our way to the office. I told Pn Zanariah that I was from 4 Beta. Then someone handed me my result slip and told me to sign another piece of paper ( I think it's my co-curricular marks ).

After signing the paper, I looked at my result slip... I was rooted to the spot, staring at the paper in bewilderment as my mother queried the man at the desk about my position in the whole of Form 4.

Yeah, I'm real sorry if you can't see the wordings on the paper clearly. I haven't really got used to my scanner! [ smiles ]

Alternatively, you could...

1. Just click the picture of the result slip above and when the designated web page pops out, just zoom in.

2. Actually download the picture, and use whatever picture-viewing software on your PC to zoom in on the picture.

Well, there you have it - My results for the End-Of-Year Examination 2010...

However, there is one slight hiccup. In the result slip, my marks for English is recorded as 94, when in reality, I actually scored 97 for English!

On the way back, my mum told me that something should be done about this. Apparently, this setback could actually affect my chances of receiving the "Terbaik dalam Matapelajaran Bahasa Inggeris" award!

Honestly, I'm not sure if anything CAN be done...

Oh well...

Well, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Outing at Sunway Pyramid, again!

2010-12-01T11:28:00.012+08:00

Well, I went on an outing to Sunway Pyramid ( Yes, again! ) with my dear friends yesterday...

And, well, to make a long story short, it was fun! [ smiles ]

Uhhh, I originally intended to just explain everything about the outing in point form, but since I'm not in a lazy mood today, I guess I'll just type out everything in detail...

Right, let's get started...

My friends had left for Sunway earlier that morning, so they were already there before me. Ashman called me while I was on the way, and I kindly asked him to book a ticket for me. I wanted to watch "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1", due to the fact that I'm an ardent Harry Potter fan!

I finally reached Sunway at around 10.30am. Once there, I made my way to the rendezvous point at TGV Cinema. But before I got there, I met up with Hazwan. After we greeted each other ( he pretended to say "hi" to someone behind me! ), we both made our way to TGV Cinema, where my other friends were waiting.

A few moments after I arrived, most of them went off to watch movies other than "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1", such as "Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale" and "Unstoppable"...

Hmmm, how was Harry Potter 7 Part 1?

Well, it's kind of nice, I guess...

The visuals were brilliant, and the actors were superb.

It's a shame they had to split the 7th part of the series into two parts... After Voldemort stole Dumbledore's wand and cast some sort of spell into the sky, the movie ended in a "cliff-hanger". And I personally don't like cliff-hangers... And yes, that includes Star Wars as well...

Hey, but don't get me wrong! I still like both Harry Potter and Star Wars very much!

After the movie ended, we stretched our limbs for a moment, then we went for lunch.

Many of us opted for TGI Friday. But Hazwan, Jas, Ashman, Jannah and I decided to have lunch somewhere else. I don't know about the others, but I personally thought that the price of the food in TGI Friday was way too expensive! All the meals were RM20+, and that's before you add in the 5% tax!

So, Hazwan, Jannah, Jas, Ashman, and I went to a place called "PappaRich".

Personally, I don't know much about this place, but according to my other friends, it's a highly recommended place to eat. ( Go and Google it if you want to know more... )

At least the pricing was better. Most of the meals at PappaRich were only priced at more or less RM10. And the portion was quite decent as well...

Here are a few pictures I snapped during lunch. Once again, I used my trusty Nokia 6303 Classic handphone camera.

Oh, and keep in mind, my handphone is incapable of taking clear pictures in low-light conditions, as proven by the pictures I took during the annual Prefect's Dinner this year...

Right, after lunch, we made our way to Sunway Pyramid's bowling alley ( aka the "Pyramid Mega Lanes" ). On the way, I took a random picture of the ice-skating rink...

All of us met up at the Bowling Alley a while later, and we went to rent our bowling shoes ( you can't go bowling without them! ).

This actually represents my very first time bowling. And I have to admit, I wasn't very good. My score was embarrassingly low compared to my other friends' scores!

But I DID manage to get one lucky strike. [ smiles ] But after that, my ball regularly ended up in the gutter...

I clearly remember Sehran mentioning to me after one of my failed attempts: "No more beginner's luck!" [ smiles ]

Here are some pictures I took during the bowling session...

After that, we exited the bowling alley and made our way to Baskin Robbins. But we split up on the way. Lee King, Kuok Fung and Ee Lynn went somewhere else ( I don't know where! ); and Evo and Jannah had to get something from a hardware store.

Some of us, including myself, went to MPH Bookstore. Hazwan and Sehran were making quite a ruckus by jokingly laughing ( rather loudly! ) at books with silly titles! Ashman and I, on the other hand, were frantically searching for books regarding, yup, you've guessed it: Chess!

Soon after, all of us rendezvoused at Baskin Robbins. I didn't really intend to spend my money on Baskin Robbins ice cream ( I personally think that RM6+ for one blob of ice cream in a cup is utterly ridiculous... ).

Then, Hazwan told me and Sehran that he always wanted to try the fries from "Ireland's Potato". Apparently, they specialise in making fries...

Hazwan and I made our way to the TGV Cinema ( The Ireland's Potato outlet is located near the cinema... )

I didn't expect one serving fries to cost RM8.80! Expensive, in my opinion. But we bought a cup of fries with sour cream topping anyway... Hazwan, Sehran and I, out of the goodness of our hearts, agreed to pay for the fries, only to watch it being gobbled up by the others! Haha! That's how generous we are! [ smiles ]

Here are more pictures I snapped...

At around 5.30, it was time to head for home. So we made our way to the Main Entrance of Sunway Pyramid, where we had to wait for our respective transports home. Some of us, including me, had to follow Hazwan's mother back home, whereas for the others, well, I'm honestly not completely sure about them...

Here's a picture of the gang at the Main Entrance...

Well, that's it about the outing to Sunway Pyramid...

May the Force be with you...

First Mandarin Lesson...

2010-11-27T14:26:00.003+08:00

Right, I'm only here to let you guys know that I just went for my first official Mandarin language class just now...

The lesson begins at 11am and ends at 1pm.

I was actually the first to arrive at the ICLS ( Inter-Cultural Language School ). I think I reached there at around 10.45am.

A few moments later, other students began to arrive.

And finally, at around 11am, our teacher arrived.

She's not as I expected, especially due to the fact that she's actually a Malay.

But despite that, she CAN speak Mandarin fluently. In fact, I think she can speak Mandarin better than Bahasa Melayu!

Well, we learned about Pin Yin consonants, vowels, intonation, and several complimentary words...

Then we moved on to basic phrases concerning introduction, greeting, and asking about names.

Later, we had to do some pair work. I teamed up with a guy named Hafiz Ramli ( He's 20 years old, if I'm not mistaken ). We had to practice with each other using the provided dialogue text. It was, well, kinda fun, I guess...

This is just the beginning of my endeavour to learn Mandarin.

There are still many more lessons to come. And in the meantime, I also have to learn the language from other sources, such as television shows, dramas, movies, et cetera.

But I've yet to actually communicate efficiently in Mandarin. Not yet, anyway... Soon...

I'm only familiar with a few words in Mandarin. I've still got literally hundreds of words to learn!

Well, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Finally, a PlayStation 2!

2010-11-17T10:18:00.007+08:00

Well, my father bought a PlayStation 2 yesterday night...

It's a Slimline model , to be specific...

Honestly, I wasn't really expecting him to buy it so soon!

Anyway, I helped to install the PS2. I have to say, I am rather disappointed with the "complementary" games that came with the PS2.

Thank goodness they provided "God Of War"! In my opinion, that's the only awesome game among all the complementary games!

My brother was all smiles. He got to try out "God Of War" on the PS2 first.

Frankly, I was thoroughly impressed with the astonishing graphics and fluid performance.

I mean, I never dreamed of owning that level of graphics on any of my PCs!

As for my brother, like I said in my previous post, it was a dream come true for him!

Take a look for yourself!

Well, Alvyn already scouted around on the Internet, and he came up with this list of awesome PS2 games:

1. Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith - The Video Game.

2. Star Wars The Force Unleashed

3. Star Wars The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes

4. Star Wars Battlefront 2

5. The Matrix Path Of Neo.

Well, that's the list so far...

Oh, he's planning to borrow "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith - The Video Game" from his dear friend, Hadri this Friday.

It's supposed to be one of the best Star Wars games available for the PlayStation 2, due to its superb animation quality and intuitive gameplay / lightsaber combat system.

Well, I only managed to play the PS2 for like 15 minutes ( while my brother went to get a shower )...

Honestly, I have yet to truly master the skill of balancing on a wooden beam using the analogue stick in "God Of War"!

I think I died around 5-7 times before finally making across the ravine!

Okay, that's it for now...

May the Force be with you...

Year End Break 2010 has begun...

2010-11-15T15:34:00.004+08:00

Today's actually the last day of school!

Yay!

The one-and-a-half month long, Year End school break has finally begun!

Well, officially, the Year End Break is supposed to start on the 20th of November, which is actually this Saturday. But school is closed on Tuesday in order to prepare the SPM Examination Hall, whereas there's Hari Raya Aidiladha on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

So technically, the Year End Break has started almost a whole week in advance!

Okay, let me recall about school today...

Ummm, I carried out my Prefect duty at the school gate, as usual. After that, I went upstairs to class...

Basically, I spent most of my time chatting with my friends, particularly Lee King and Sabrina.

I talked to Lee King about the PlayStations 2 and 3, the Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360, computer graphics, console video games, et cetera. You know, "guy's stuff"...

After that, I read a bit of "Reader's Digest" before chatting with Sabrina. We chatted about all sorts of interesting stuff. My gosh, we talked about so many different topics that I actually forgot about almost all the stuff we talked about! Well, it's good to have someone to chat with when you've got literally nothing much to do...

I chatted with Sabrina until recess, if I'm not mistaken.

During recess, I was the ONLY Prefect who was carrying out "filter food" duty.

The other Prefects who were supposed to be assisting me with "filter food" duty were Kim Yen, Hari, Farhan, Sakthy, and Acap, but the 5 of them were nowhere to be seen. So I was alone...

However, because of that, I got praised by Theeban during the Prefect's Meeting afterwards.

Honestly, I didn't expect Theeban to praise me out of the blue!

But anyway, thanks Theeban! Your praise really motivates me to carry out my responsibilities as a School Prefect better in the future...

Well, that's it about school.

Okay, let's move on to Chess, shall we?

I'm trying to adopt the French Defense into my repertoire of openings for Black.

The French Defense is characterised by the moves 1. e4 e6.

This opening is renowned for its solidity and resilience. The solid defense achieved is stable, extremely difficult to break down, and is not easily compromised. The idea is to create an impregnable defense, particularly concerning the normally vulnerable f7 square, weather the ensuing White assault, and finally counterattack the enemy position.

Yeah, I am aware that I have a reputation of being an aggressive, attacking player.

However, I'm actually becoming more and more interested in the idea of "hypermodern" openings and the fundamentals of defensive and counterattacking gameplay.

For instance, I've started using my once favourite White opening, the Benko Opening ( 1. g3 ), and utilised it to great effect in many of my recent games.

Of course, I won't totally abandon my roots in classical Chess gameplay.

I don't intend on completely ignoring my central, Classical openings, such as the good-old King's Pawn Opening ( 1. e4 ), or the venerable Sicilian Defense ( 1. ...c5 ).

The reason why I'm delving into the concept of defense and counterattack is to merely "broaden my perspective" in Chess. In other words, I can't just stick to only one playing style and cling on to that for the rest of my Chess-playing career, can I?

Point being, my interest in the hypermodern fundamentals serves to ensure that my repertoire of openings remains flexible, as well as improve my performance in all aspects of the game as a whole...

Okay enough about Chess...

Besides that, since my brother achieved 5As in the recent UPSR Examination, he might be receiving a PlayStation 2.

Well, good for him, I guess! It's kind of like his dream to actually own a gaming console!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed ( Because I also want to play that PS2! )

Haha!

Well, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Uneventful Day...

2010-11-10T18:29:00.005+08:00

Okay, I'm here...

Yeah, I know, I haven't updated this blog for nearly a week now...

But that's because there really is nothing much to blog about nowadays!

No trips, no interesting stuff, no exciting happenings, nothing!

Well, I'll still try and update whenever possible. I won't just let this blog die.

Andrew Ho is NOT a quitter! [ smiles ]

Anyway, school today was kinda boring. A lot of people went to the badminton tournament at Dewan Adang...

Very few prefects were present at school today. In fact, Hari and I were the only two Prefects who were on duty during the assembly!

And during recess, only Hari, Jas, Hazwan, and I were on duty!

I was unbelievably bored in 4 Epsilon ( 4 Beta was technically abandoned! Except for Iqbal... He slept in there, I think... ).

So, I played Chess with Ashman, Aizat, and Hazwan...

That's basically it actually...

After two games with Hazwan, I went to get my Biology paper from Pn Hamirizan. Then me, Evo, and a few other students listened to Pn Hamirizan's comments and tips regarding the Biology papers, especially Paper 2 ( Subjective and Essay Questions )...

At 1pm, we all went back home...

See? Nothing exciting or interesting, right?

Oh, I forgot to mention that my body was literally "aching" throughout the whole day...

It could be because of the intense and strenuous exercises I had to go through on Tuesday morning. It's "olahraga" training, and it's NOT as easy as it seems!!!

Well, I only went to try out just for the fun of it and see how it's like! I'm not actually intending to qualify for anything!

Oh, and for the Primary Six students who are going to receive their UPSR results soon,

Good luck, you guys! I hope you all get excellent results!

Well, that's it...

May the Force be with you...

An Exhausting Morning...

2010-11-03T14:47:00.004+08:00

Okay, truth be told, I'm utterly exhausted!
This morning, my school organised the Form 5 Graduation Ceremony at the Dewan Bukit Jelutong.
We Prefects, as usual, had to carry out our duties to make sure the whole ceremony goes on smoothly...

All of us had our own respective duties to carry out.
I was part of a group of Prefects ( consisting of Aleef, Syazwan, Vivek, Yusof, Aiman, and myself ). We were personally hand-picked by Theeban and tasked to manage the main stage in the Dewan BJ, especially concerning the VIP's seats, amplifiers, et cetera...
We also had to help out with the other Prefect's duties wherever applicable...

Throughout the morning, we just hung around backstage, waiting for the VIPs to finish their speeches, and maybe completing a few miscellaneous tasks in and around the facility...
When the VIPs had cleared the stage and proceeded to the special seats in the audience, the six of us had to remove the speech podium, chairs, tables, and flowers on the stage in order to make space on the stage for the students' performances.

After the traditional dancers' performances were over, I had to help Mukhzin with his amplifier.
Man, it was heavy!
I had to carry it on to the stage and set it up so that Mukhzin could carry out his musical guitar performance.

Soon after, the ceremony was officially over, and the photography session had started.
We had to help Cikgu Azman stack up the chairs in the main audience area.
We also helped to clear the stage, pack up the many bags of graduation gowns, and load the lorry with school property for transport back to school...

Overall, it was a tiring and exhausting morning, but I think we all did a great job!
The Graduation ceremony went on smoothly, and I'm personally proud to have done my part[ smiles ].

Well, that's it for now.

I'm rather tired and I think I'm gonna go and get some R&R...

May the Force be with you...

Final Exam 2010 is Over!

2010-11-01T14:28:00.005+08:00

My End-Of-Year Examinations are finally over!
At long last!
2 months of non-stop studying has come to an end!!!

Anyway, in my opinion, the Final Exam wasn't as tormenting or stressing as I originally thought it would be...
Maybe it's because of the harsh experiences I had to go through during the Mid-Year Examination ( which FYI, represents the first time I ever sat for an SPM-standard examination ).
So, I guess I now know exactly what to expect in an SPM-standard examination...
[ sigh ] No more 180-word essays...
No more fully objective History papers...

Yep, it's an SPM-orientated exam style from now on...
[ gulp ]
Now I realise how EASY the UPSR and PMR Examinations really were! [ smiles ]

Okay, enough of my ranting...
Let's cut to the chase, shall we?

Uhhh, let me see, I'm planning to learn how to speak Chinese, particularly Mandarin, maybe around a week from now.
Hey, I mean, Chinese IS my mother-tongue, right?
Anyway, I've got around a month or two ahead of me. Why not use the time to pick up the language that I'm actually supposed to be able to speak?
Well, hopefully, come 2011, I'll finally be able to speak Chinese...

The new Headmistress for my school has finally arrived.

Her name's Datin Aisyah, if I'm not mistaken...
Anyway, this morning, we had an official assembly to welcome her arrival to SMK Bukit Jelutong.
And guess what? When everyone stood up to sing the National Anthem, there was a malfunction regarding the PA system, so the music was barely audible!
Talk about bad first-impressions!

Lastly, I have to follow my family back to my hometown of Malacca at the end of this week, if I'm not mistaken.
So, yeah, I'm just informing you guys about it, that's all...

Alright, that's about it for now...

May the Force be with you...

Family Vacation At Sitiawan, Perak...

2010-10-03T17:37:00.017+08:00

Alright, I'm supposed to be studying for my End-Of-Year Exam right now ( which is only like around 1 week away!!! ), but since I just came back from a vacation with my family, my parents were lenient enough to let me blog about it! [ smiles ]
Anyway, my family and I went to Sitiawan, Perak for a 3 day, 2 night stay at the Best Western Marina Island Resort...

Well, honestly, I wouldn't call this particular family trip a "holiday", actually. In my personal opinion, I refer to this trip as a "food vacation", because we spent most of our time there hunting for the "famous" and "recommended" food outlets that my mother and brother researched online!

Right, I really don't have the time to provide you guys with a lengthy explanation about this "food vacation", so I'm afraid I'm going to have to break all off it down into point form. Simple and easy for you and me, no? [ smiles ]
My father and I took a whole lot of pictures during this holiday. 56 pictures, to be exact! This beats the previous record of 40+ pictures! ( the 2010 Prefect's Dinner, if I'm not mistaken )
The pictures were taken using my very own camera handphone ( 3.2 MP ), my father's handphone ( 5.0 MP ), and my family's Fujifilm FinePix A340 Digital Camera ( 4.0 MP ).

Well, let's not waste any time, shall we?
[ Oh, PS: I won't be annotating the pictures below, yeah? There's too many of them, and I need to go upstairs to study my Physics! ]

DAY 1:
1. Depart from Setia Eco-Park.
2. "Bak Kut The" lunch at Chai Chin Restaurant.
3. Arrival at the Best Western Marina Island Resort.
4. Explored the Mariana Jetty Terminal.
5. Hunt for the famous "James Cendol" stall near the Maha Mariamman Temple.
6. Back to hotel. Rested for a while.
7. Dinner at Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock Restaurant.

DAY 2
1. Breakfast at hotel. Lazed around in hotel room for a while.
2. Searched for the Sitiawan Cheong Cia Gong Pian, famous for its "Gong Pian" biscuits.
3. Headed to Yee Si Restaurant, famous for its "siew pao".
4. Headed to the Pasar Awam Kampung Koh to eat some famous "loh mee" for lunch.
5. Went back to hotel. I successfully completed my Additional Mathematics homework!
6. Went to the Lumut Jetty Terminal and Lumut Waterfront.
7. Dinner at the Villa Seafood Restaurant.

DAY 3
1. Breakfast at hotel.
2. Lazed around in hotel room. Checked out at around noon.
3. Lunch at Pun Chun Noodle House, famous for its duck noodles.
4. Arrived back home in Setia Eco-Park.

Well, there you have it.
Yeah, I know. There are SO many pictures!
But oh well. I'm an amateur photographer at heart, and I just LOVE taking pictures with my beloved 3.2 MP handphone camera! [ smiles ]

Okay, I've gotta go and study my Physics now... Bye!
Oh, and wish me luck for my End-Of-Year Examination, kay?

May the Force be with you...

Lightsaber Duel: Andrew vs Alvyn - Short Face-Off

2010-09-02T19:23:00.004+08:00

Right, here I am...

Sorry, I haven't been updating my blog as frequently as before. I'm becoming lazier and lazier by the minute! [ smiles ]
Anyway, I finished rotoscoping and editing my latest lightsaber video.
It's called "Lightsaber Duel: Andrew vs Alvyn - Short Face-Off"...
The name says it all, actually - It's a lightsaber duel, it's between me and my brother Alvyn, and it's quite short ( only roughly a minute long... )

The difference between this video and my other videos are:
1. This video was taken using Jannah's camera, so there's a substantial quality improvement over my previous videos.
2. Alvyn and I incorporated "memorised combat sequence choreography" ( We plan each and every maneuver, memorise them, and then carry them out during filming. No more spontaneous combat! )
3. I had to re-download all my audio FX ( remember in one of my earlier posts? I mentioned that my computer had to undergo a complete system recovery. I lost EVERYTHING! ) So yeah, there might be a bit of bad audio quality in this video.

Well, here it is...

Well, what do you think?
Personally, I don't expect it to be perfect.
Alvyn and I did this just for fun, actually. It's not a really serious project.
I actually wanted to use the song "Requiem For A Dream" for this duel, but finally I decided that this video isn't "epic" enough for such an epic battle song...
So, I used "Forest Chase" by Corner Stone Cues instead...

Finally, I have an important announcement to make:
I have to start studying for the End-Of-Year Examination now. Yup, that's right! Which means that I will only have limited or no access to the computer from now until the end of the End-Of-Year Examination...
My parents, especially my mum, really want me to do well in my Final Exam. So yeah, I'm gonna try my hardest to get good grades!

This is Andrew, signing off for now...
Try not to miss me too much! [ smiles ]

May the Force be with you...

Fire Effect...

2010-08-19T20:51:00.003+08:00

Yeah, I'm done with my new profile picture...

And no, it's not lightsabers anymore...
It's the "Fire Effect"!
And of course, I did it all on good ol' Adobe After Effects! [ smiles ]

Well, take a look at the pictures for yourself...

So how are the pictures?
Oh, what about the effects? Does the fire look authentic enough?
[ Note: The background is actually a composited black screen that I illuminated with a red lens flare in Adobe After Effects. It's all digital - It's not a real background! ]

Oh, FYI, I didn't actually WANT to take the second picture ( The one with double flaming hands! ).
My brother thought it would be "appropriate" for the fire effect...
I suppose he's right, right? Does my pose in the second picture look "appropriate" to you guys? Hehe!

Oh, and I actually wanted to attempt the "green screen" effect, but I scratched the idea. It was a bit too complicated and time-consuming for me......

Anyway, I'm gonna use one of the two pictures as my new general profile picture...

So yeah, that's it.

May the Force be with you...

August Test 2010 is over!

2010-08-19T16:26:00.004+08:00

Alright, my August Test is over!
So, here I am, finally updating my blog again...

Well, actually, there's quite a lot of interesting stuff that happened during my 3-week absence from Blogger.
Unfortunately, I can now only remember some of it. Let me try and recall:
1. Went to the National Museum. My brother's "Bengkel Kecemerlangan UPSR" was organised by Kuntum Magazine here, so while waiting for his UPSR Workshop to finish. I followed my parents into the National Museum. I also took a lot of pictures there too. But I'm too lazy to upload them here! [ smiles ] You can go and check them out on Facebook if you want...
2. Lost Adobe After Effects! Err, my old computer refused to boot up for some reason, and the worst part was that I did NOT back-up all my programs, files and folders! I had no choice but to run a full system recovery ( re-setting the computer to its original factory conditions ). I lost EVERYTHING! [ cries ]
However, my little brother somehow managed to download Adobe After Effects again, despite the fact that it is EXTREMELY difficult to get Adobe After Effects CS4 nowadays... I owe him big-time!
Plus, after this incident, I learned a valuable lesson - I have to make sure I back-up my essential files and folders from now on, just in case something like this happens again!

Well, that's all I can remember...

Oh, I'm planning to make a new profile picture.
Of course, I'm gonna incorporate some "special effects" into the picture! [ smiles ] I can't wait to be working on Adobe After Effects again! It's been too long! WAY too long!
Stand by, yeah?

Uhh, and finally, here's an important notice:
I'm only going to get to use the computer until the end of this month.
Starting on 1st September, I have to start studying for my End-of-Year Examination...

So yeah, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Prefect's Dinner 2010 Pictures

2010-08-01T12:53:00.016+08:00

Okay, in my last post, I said that I would post the pictures I took during the Prefect's Dinner 2010 that was held yesterday, right?
Well, there sure are a lot of them! 43 pictures, to be specific!
That tops the number of pictures I took during the 2009 Kuantan holiday ( There were around 40 pictures during the Kuantan trip, if I'm not mistaken ).

Oh, and before we move on to the pictures, I would like to apologise, because some of the pictures are rather blurry. Like I mentioned in my last post, this is probably caused by the dim lighting at the hotel. So, sorry for any blurry or pixelated pictures, yeah?
( Please, no comments about the pictures being blurry, unclear, or pixelated, kay? I don't wanna hear about that... )

Well, here they are:
Well, yep, that's all of them.

And now, an important announcement:
Starting at 4pm today, I will officially be banned from touching the computer until the end of my August Monthly Test.
Therefore, I won't be able to update my blog until then...
Wish me luck for my August Test, yeah?

May the Force be with you...

Prefect's Dinner 2010

2010-08-01T11:35:00.003+08:00

Alright, I went for the Annual Prefect's Dinner 2010 at the Grand Blue Wave Hotel, Shah Alam yesterday...
And I'm sure you guys are dying to hear about it, right? [ smiles ]
Okay, let's start from the top, shall we?
[ WARNING: VERY LONG POST AHEAD! ]

Right, at 2pm, my mum brought me to Hazwan's house. Then, at around 3pm, Hazwan's dad brought Hazwan and I to the Grand Blue Wave Hotel, which is roughly a 15-minute drive from Hazwan's house.
The dinner is actually scheduled to start at 7, but we had to go there early to help out with the preparations and whatnot...

Hazwan and I made our way to the first floor. We had to rendezvous with the other Prefects in the Rebana Hall. When we reached the hall, we saw Aisyah, Amirah and Liana were already there.
Well since I was in charge of decorations, I had to blow up the balloons and tie them. I asked Hazwan to help out.
I tell you, blowing up balloons and tying them up is the most rigorous, not to mention hazardous task I've ever been through! Aisyah attempted to blow up a balloon, and it exploded in her face at point-blank range! The same thing happened to me too - While I was blowing the balloon, it just exploded in my face, and I felt as if someone just smacked me hard on the face!
We had to tie up the balloons too. And seriously, it's frustrating! My fingers hurt like crap trying to tie the knots on the balloons' necks, and somehow, my left index finger and right thumb actually started bleeding! Unbelievable!

Theeban, Arief, and Raihan arrived a while later. Theeban handed me my AJK tag ( It states that I am the "Deco Wizard"! Hee! ), and I had to wear the tag throughout the duration of the Dinner.
A while later, Hari arrived at the hotel. Hazwan, Hari and I then went up to the 17th floor to check out our room ( Yup, the Prefects decided to book some rooms, so that we could put our bags there, change, shower, et cetera. ). The room was quite nice, I guess...
We dumped our bags and made our way back to the Rebana Hall. By then, Jas was there already.
I was happy to see several people helping me to inflate the balloons. But then there was another problem, I had not tape! I mean, I HAD tape, but the tape wasn't very good ( It wasn't sticky enough! ). I asked Amirah, and she could only provide some masking tape. Unfortunately, the masking tape doesn't allow the balloons to stick for very long. Man, I was frustrated!
At last, Pn Nik Salida arrived, and she brought some decent rolls of tape along with her. Thank goodness! Right there and then, all my problems were solved!

Okay, since I was done with my balloons, I helped out other people with their tasks. I helped to sort out the gifts, fix the red cloth lining on the main stage, and helped teacher with the hampers...
At around 6.15, Hazwan, Hari and I decided to get ready for the Dinner, which was going to start at 7pm. So we made our way to our room on the 17th floor. When we were done sprucing up, it was already around 6.45pm. We went back downstairs. Almost immediately, Theeban told me and Hari to go down to the lobby and keep an eye out for the VIPs ( Form 5 Prefects and teachers ). We had to greet them and inform of the Dinner venue...

Time flew by, and guess what? The VIPs were very late! The Grand Entrance was scheduled to start at 7.30. But even at 8pm, most of the VIPs had not arrived yet!
Well, our Headmistress came at around 8.30pm, I think. Finally, Hari and I were allowed to go back upstairs...

After the Grand Entrance of the teachers and the Form 5 Prefects, there were the speeches.
First up was Arief ( Head Prefect 2010/2011 ), then Amin ( Ex-Head Prefect ), then Pn Nik Salida ( Discipline teachers' representative ), then En Mohd Din ( PK Hal Ehwal Murid ), and finally Datin Aisyah Jaman ( Headmistress ).
Immediately after the speeches, we were allowed to eat. It was a buffet dinner, and there was a whole lot of food! Uhhh, there was rice, fried noodles, steak tenderloin, mutton, mixed vegetables, fish fillets, and a whole lot of other stuff that I can't remember...
So yeah, dinner was rather satisfying.

While everyone was eating dinner, there were lucky draws and performances.
The Form 1 Prefects did their performance first, followed by Forms 2, 3, 4, and 5.
After all the performances were done, there was a "slideshow" depicting pictures of the senior Prefects.
Then, there were the games. After that, there was the awards and prize-giving ceremony.
And then, there was the karaoke session.
Lastly, there was the photography session...
In the end, the Prefect's Dinner 2010 came to a close at roughly around 11.45pm...
So, after taking a few pictures and singing Happy Birthday to Evo ( her birthday's on 1st August! ), Hari, Hazwan, Jas, Evo, and I made our way to the hotel lobby. We hung around there for a while, and at 12 midnight, Hazwan's parents came to take us back to his house.

I slept at Hazwan's house that night. And the next morning, my parents came to fetch me back home...

So yeah, that's Prefect's Dinner 2010!
Oh, and of course, I DID manage to take lots of pictures using my handphone!
And trust me, there's a whole lot of them! [ smiles ]
I'm gonna post them all in my next post...

Oh, however, the pictures are kinda blurry and pixelated, probably because the lighting at the hotel was rather dim, so the pictures don't turn out very good...
But oh well...

Stand by for my next post and the Prefect's Dinner 2010 pictures that I took!

May the Force be with you...

My 16th Birthday!

2010-07-30T18:16:00.004+08:00

Well, the title says it all.
Today's my 16th birthday!
And so, I am now officially 16 years old! [ smiles ]

Right, uhhh, I went to school today...
Immediately after I finished carrying out my canteen duty, I made my way to the Prefect's Room. Apparently, there was a Prefect's meeting regarding the annual Prefect's Dinner ( which is going to be held tomorrow, FYI ).
The meeting lasted almost two whole periods, which means that I skipped double periods of Physics.

I'm supposed to have PJ class after Physics class. So, after we Prefects were dismissed from the Prefect's meeting, I immediately went to the school field for PJ. After I changed into my PJ attire, I rendezvoused with Hazwan, Hari, Sehran, Ashman, Jannah, Jas, Lynn, Evo, and the new German exchange student at my school, Tim.
We planned to play football. But in the end, Hazwan was too lazy to play, whereas Ashman, Hari, Sehran, Tim and I were forced by teacher to play football with the "other" boys ( The "professional" ones ). So, unfortunately, we couldn't play with the girls... Oh well...

Well, I still had quite a lot of fun playing with the "pro" football players. Hari, Sehran, Nafis, Acap, Syamim, Afrizal and I were on one team, while Ashman, Tim, Lee King, Farhan, Kuok Fung, and a few other boys whose names escape me were on the other. My team lost, 6-3, But I don't really mind. I still had a heck of an awesome time!
In that game, I rammed into Farhan dozens of times ( Sehran's orders! [ smiles ] ), and I actually accidentally slammed Tim's face with my forearm while trying to steal the ball from him!
It was great, and I had lots of fun! I'm looking forward to playing football again next week given the chance... Farhan actually declared during recess: "Andrew, I will have my revenge on you, next week!" Haha!

Right, after PJ, I cooled myself down in the Open Hall. Then, I made my way upstairs for Add Maths class. But the Add Maths teacher was absent. Several of my classmates wished me "happy birthday". Then, somehow, the whole class started singing the "Happy Birthday" song! All I could do was just smile away!
After that, I helped Jannah to, uhhh, "cut bottles" or something like that...
The Add Maths teacher was also absent after recess, so I took the time to do the English Comprehension homework. When I was done with that, I chatted with Jannah and Nani for a while, before I had to go to the Prefect's Room again for ANOTHER Prefect's meeting. Hence, I had to skip English class! Which means that today, I skipped both Physics and English! [ smiles ]

Uhhh, honestly, the second Prefect's meeting was kinda boring.
Basically, throughout the meeting, Theeban talked about how the Prefect's Dinner will be carried out tomorrow. The Form 4 Prefects had to come early ( around 4pm ) to help out with the preparations, decorations, PA, et cetera...
The Dinner is supposed to start at around 7pm, and ends at 11.30pm. ( Therefore, I will be sleeping over at Hazwan's house after it's over... )

So, yeah, after the meeting, I hung out with my friends near the school gate until 1pm. Then, my mum came to fetch my brother and I from school. We went to Setia Alam to choose my birthday cake. And finally, we went back home...
Well, that concludes my explanation of the stuff that happened at school today...

Bottom line is...
It's my 16th birthday today, and I'm officially 16 years old now! [ smiles ]
Oh, and forgive me for the long post! I know I ought to just notify you guys that it's my 16th birthday today, but, knowing me, I just love to blog about every single detail, and the temptation of blogging about what happened at school today was just way too hard to resist! Haha!

And finally, to those of you who wished me "happy birthday" today ( whether on Facebook or in real life ), thanks yeah? You guys are awesome!
FYI: Almost 40 people wished me "happy birthday" on Facebook!

May the Force be with you...

SMKBJ "Open Day" 2010

2010-07-23T14:34:00.002+08:00

Alright, I just came back from my school's "Open Day", where the students' parents are invited to come to school to collect the students' exam result slips, as well as discuss with the teachers about the students' progress, behaviour, etc...
Being a Prefect, I had to be at school by 7.05am, and I'm required to wear my blazer as well ( Obviously to impress the parents who are coming to the school! [ smiles ] )

Alright, when I arrived at school, our new Head Prefect, Arief Izzuddin, instructed the new Prefects to greet the parents when they arrive and help them get to their child's class.
Now, being an "usher" for the parents during Open Day is one of the toughest duties a Prefect has to perform, according to Theeban. An usher has to be friendly, good with people, and most importantly, memorise the specific location of each and every classroom! Tough, huh?
And guess what? Since I'm considered a new Prefect, I had to become an "usher"!

Well, there were quite a lot of Prefects that had to become ushers as well. Apart from the new Prefects, Hazeeq also told a few of the Form 3 Prefects to become ushers as well...
We ushers had to station ourselves at the front part of the school. Whenever parents arrive, we had to greet them, and then one of us had to escort the parents to their child's classroom.

We started "usher" duty at around 8am, I think. It was quite okay, and I soon got used to the heat generated by the warm air trapped within my blazer. Miraculously, I wasn't sweating that much either. Thank goodness!
Plus, I also managed to roughly memorise the positions of the classrooms by remembering the first letters of the class names.
For Form 3, "LEDOGZBS" ( Top floor: Lambda, Epsilon. Second floor: Delta, Omega, Gamma. First floor: Zeta, Beta, Sigma. )
For Form 4, "QBEOLDGZ" ( Top floor: Quartz, Beta, Epsilon, Omega. Second floor: Lambda, Delta, Gamma, Zeta. )
For Form 5, "BEZOGSL" ( Top floor: Beta, Epsilon. Second floor: Zeta, Omega, Gamma. First floor: Sigma, Lambda. )
Honestly, I was quite nervous at first. I was particularly worried about misleading the parents to the wrong classroom, or escorting them around the school in circles without ever reaching the correct classroom. Fortunately, everything went on smoothly...

At around 10am, I decided to take a short 5-minute break. I went to drink some water. Then, I met Jannah and Nani somewhere near the school canteen. We chatted for a short while, then I needed to return to the front part of the school to resume usher duty.
I continued usher duty. In the morning, I estimate that around 13-15 Prefects were on usher duty. At 10, there were only around 7-8 Prefects left. At 11am, only 4 or 5 Prefects remained, including me! Unbelievable!
My legs were seriously tired after escorting the parents up and down the stairs. Finally, at around 11.30am, I bumped into my mother on the top floor, after I had just finished escorting a parent to 5 Epsilon...

We made our way to 4 Beta ( my class ) to meet with my class teacher. Along the way, I met up with Hazwan, Sehran, Matthew, and Kent. After discussing some stuff with Pn. Salasiah ( class teacher ) and Pn. Hamirizan ( Biology teacher, who was sitting next to Pn. Salasiah... ), my mother and I proceeded downstairs. While we were on our way to the front gate, my mum and I met Lee King. We talked about "tuition","why many people didn't do well in their Add Maths exam", and some other stuff that I don't remember...
After that, my mum and I went to Giant for a while, and at 12 noon, we went to SKBJ to pick up my brother. Then, we were on our way home...

Well, yeah, that's it about Open Day...

May the Force be with you...

216th Update...

2010-07-16T19:49:00.003+08:00

Alright, guys, I'm finally here, updating my blog again, after a period of inactivity of almost 11 days...
Uhhh, let me see... What have you guys been missing?

Okay, I went to school today. All the Muslim students had to go to the Dewan Sime Darby for some sort of "Preview ABJZ", whereas the non-Muslim students were required to assemble at the school's Open Hall...

Well, the teachers in charge of the non-Muslim students had prepared some activities for us...

Okay, let's begin, shall we?
The first activity of the day revolved around an environmentally-themed song called "Hijau" ( I forgot who the artist was ). All of us were each given a paper, which had the lyrics of the song written on it, but the lyrics were incomplete. Therefore, it was our task to try and complete the lyrics. To accomplish this, the teachers would play the song via the school's PA system. Quite easy, if you factor out the muffled sound quality, of course! I couldn't make heads of tails of what the singer was singing throughout most parts of the song! Ugh!

After we listened to the song, we were then tasked to create a song of our own, using lyrics based on the environment. This was considered our second activity of the day. So, Jas wrote down some lyrics, and in the end, my group ( Hari, Jas, Lynn and Evo ) had to "rap" out the song on stage! Jas, Evo, and Lynn recited the lyrics, whereas Hari and I had to shout "yeah, yeah!" everytime there was a pause in the lyrics. Technically, the performance was a disaster! But oh well, I agree with the teachers: "It's just for the fun of it!"

After that, we were all dismissed to the canteen, and we had to return to the Open Hall at 10.30am. The best part was that free food was provided - Fried rice with fried egg. Not bad, in my opinion. My group decided to eat in the Nature Lovers Society room. We also decided to play "Truth Or Dare", a game where a person, based on specific conditions, must either tell the absolute truth or perform a dare.
I chose to perform a dare, and Lynn suggested a crazy idea. According to her, she was halfway eating her fried rice when she randomly dared me to climb through a broken window at the back of the NLS room, go around the building, and come back into the room through the front door...

She didn't expect me to actually go and do it! They were busy chatting about something else, so I quietly went to the window. I saw a chair with a plastic bag on it. I removed the plastic bag, climbed onto the chair, and prepared to go through the window! Then and only then did the others realise that I was actually willing to perform the dare! Of course, I managed to climb through with little effort, made my way around the building, and came back into the room through the front door!
Well, to be honest, this little feat was nothing compared to what I had to go through during the second Prefect's Camp 2 weeks ago...

After that, we had to go back to the Open Hall. For our third and final activity, we had to build a tower using old newspapers and sellotape. The teachers told us that we had to be creative when designing our tower. Furthermore, we had to build the tower as high as we possibly can, while ensuring the tower's stability and structural support, so that it won't collapse or topple over.

So, we started rolling up sheets of newspaper to make "newspaper cylinders", which would act as our staple building material. We constructed the base first, first using the common square-based configuration, and later incorporating my triangular-based design, to decrease the amount of cylinders used. After we had a sturdy base, we decided to drastically increase the tower's height by using the paper cylinders as "pillars". When we realised that the pillars were swaying around, we added "support beams" to strengthen them. We also added support beams to the base of the tower to further increase its stability.
We continued adding more and more pillars and support beams, until the point where our tower was actually taller than Jas! [ smiles ] Then, Hari insisted that we should construct the tower even taller! And so we continued to add more pillars and support beams! Finally, we connected the four upper-most beams together, and as a finishing touch, Lynn actually prepared a flag to place on the top of the tower! The finished construction: A looming structure that towered over me, Hari, and even Theeban himself!

Well, yeah, that's practically much everything interesting that happened today...

In other news, today represents my last day of being a mere Trial Prefect. On Monday, I will officially be a real, genuine, bona fide, School Prefect! Wahoo!
Blue shirt, red neck-tie, black shoes and swanky blazer, here I come! [ smiles ]
Oh, and speaking of neck-ties, the Koperasi Sekolah was closed today, so I couldn't buy my own Prefect's neck-tie yet. So I had to borrow Hari's spare tie for now. I'll have to purchase my own tie on Monday...

And now, about my progress in Ninja Saga! ( For those playing Ninja Saga on Facebook, do read on... )
I am now a Level 44 Pure Fire Jounin. And my current arsenal: Explosive Kunai Formation, Raising Fire Explosion, Raising Fire Combo, Fire Wave, Starfire Explosion, Dual Fire Wave, Fat Woman Transformation, and Refresh Rank 5. I'm currently training my character to Level 48, when I can learn the newly released Lvl 48 Jounin Fire Jutsu, Fire Bird Rider.
Plus, I actually defeat the Hunting House World Bosses, Ginkotsu and Shikigami Yanki, on a daily basis! I can take on Ginkotsu solo, but unfortunately, I can only defeat Shikigami Yanki with the help of my friends...

So, uhhh, yeah, that's pretty much it for now.

May the Force be with you...

Eco-Hero!

2010-07-05T18:49:00.010+08:00

Alright, guys, I'm here...
Sorry I haven't been updating my blog. I've been extremely busy lately...

Uhhh, throughout the past week, I:
1. Went to the "Second Prefect's Camp" at Teratak Riverview, Ulu Bernam, Tanjung Malim, Perak for 3 days ( 2-4 July )... Tonnes and tonnes of interesting stuff happened there, but unfortunately, I simply don't have the time nor effort to blog about it all! Well, at least you guys know that I went for it! [ smiles ]
2. I've been quite preoccupied with "The Star NiE Mini-Magazine" competition thingy... Who knew making a simple 3-page mini magazine could be so stressing and frustrating?
3. And then there's the usual mountain of homework, graciously supplied by our loving teachers...

Okay, then...
I bet you're wondering why my post header is titled "Eco-Hero", correct?
Let me start from the very top...

Uhhh, Pn Azlina ( my class English teacher ) instructed my classmates to divide into groups of 5 people. Each group had to create and submit a 3-page mini-magazine relating to the theme "A Better Life".
However, Jannah, Evo and I already created a group before Pn Azlina instructed us to. The other two people in our group were Jas and Lynn, both from another class, 4 Epsilon...

Well, my group decided upon the sub-topic "Environment", since Jannah, Lynn, Evo, and Jas were all members of the school's Nature Lovers Society, so I assumed that they had loads of experience about stuff related to the environment...
Fortunately for us, Jannah already typed a main article about how to save the environment beforehand. So, obviously, the magazine's focus for this issue would be about what you can do to save the environment, hence the term "Eco-Hero".
But wait. That's still not the reason why this post is titled "Eco-Hero"...

In the "NiE Mini Magazine" competition, there's also a video clip category. Along with the mini-magazine, contestants can submit a video clip based on the theme of the magazine...
So, my group decided that we should also submit a video along with our magazine. And Lynn proposed the idea of incorporating my lightsaber rotoscoping skills into the video...

So, yeah, I made another lightsaber video... But again, just like "Force Lightning Rocks", I don't consider this as one of my serious lightsaber projects. Anyway, moving on...
On filming day, two of my friends decided to join in: Lee King and Ashman. They appear in the final video as well, even though they're not part of our group.
So, uhhh, the video, titled "Eco-Hero", stars:
- Myself, as the lightsaber-brandishing Eco-Hero.
- Ashman, as the "bad guy" who litters.
- Jaslyn, Lee King, Jannah, and Lynn, as the civilian onlookers.
- Evo, as the girl who litters at the end of the video.

Alright, I guess it's only right if I post the video here...
So, yeah here it is.
Oh, and a warning, at one point in the video, the video and audio quality will reduce DRASTICALLY! I'm not by any means exaggerating! Seriously! Our 14-Megapixel camera's battery went dead while we were halfway filming, so we had to resort to a 2-Megapixel handphone camera instead...
So yeah, I apologise. And please, I don't want to hear any comments about the horrible quality, kay? Seriously, make sure you tell me something I don't know!

Well, yeah, that's "Eco-Hero"...

Oh, and FYI, we started filming on Tuesday, but we didn't manage to finish filming, so we continued on Wednesday. I only received the video files on Thursday.
And the deadline to submit the NiE mini-magazine was Friday! And the worst part was that I had to stay back at school on Thursday until 5pm for extra-curricular activities! Unbelievable, right?

Normally, rotoscoping and editing a video usually takes around at least 2 to 3 days. But in this case, I had to finish both editing and rotoscoping the video by the next day!
So, I had to work late into the night. But I wasn't alone. Jannah and the others kept me company via Yahoo Messenger. I'd like to thank very much them for doing so...

I finished rotoscoping the video at roughly 1am, and I finished converting and applying the audio at around 2am. After adding the subtitles and publishing the completed video, it was almost 2.30am! My God, you wouldn't believe how sleepy I was at that time!
So yeah, I actually managed to rotoscope and edit a lightsaber video in a mere 8 hours! I never thought I could do it, but somehow I did... I really just wanted to abandon the whole thing and go to bed, but I was determined to finish what I started. So, I persevered, and in the end, I actually did it... I was so glad when I could finally shut down the computer, head to my bedroom and get some much needed shut-eye......
I'm just so glad that that ordeal is finally over!

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

May the Force be with you...

SMKBJ Hari Keusahawanan

2010-06-28T12:06:00.003+08:00

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

2010-06-27T15:22:00.018+08:00

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

2010-06-18T21:18:00.006+08:00

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...

2010-06-18T12:40:00.003+08:00

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!

2010-06-11T12:45:00.001+08:00

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!

2010-06-08T20:19:00.005+08:00

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!

2010-06-03T20:43:00.009+08:00

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...

2010 Mid-Term Examinations Are Finally Over!!!

2010-06-03T15:40:00.003+08:00

Alright, guys, I'm finally back! The Mid-Year Examination is over at last!
And the two-week long 2nd mid-term holiday starts this Saturday!
Wahoo!
Anyway, let me try and recall everything that's happened ever since I had to stop using the computer until now...
[ WARNING: This post might get a little boring, as I'm going to crap about stuff like Prefect's Camp, etc. And you guys DO know that I tend to blog about every single detail. So, don't say I didn't warn you! ]

Ummm, I went to Prefect's Camp a week just before the Examination. It was on the 7th of May, if I'm not mistaken, and the exam started on 18th May. The Camp lasted three days ( 7, 8, and 9 May ).
Since it was a "Prefect's" Camp, all the Prefects were there...

During the camp, me and the other prefects went through the most strenuous schedule I have ever been through, jam-packed with all sorts of "fun" activities! Oh, did I say "fun"? My mistake! [ I was being sarcastic ] I meant tiring and exhausting!!!
There were night walks that lasted until more than 12 midnight, some sort of blindfold game at 3 in the morning, extremely rigorous morning exercises, and loads more! What "fun", right?!
Overall, over the course of two nights, I think I only managed to get around 5-6 hours of sleep!

And worst of all, I had to sleep in the same tent with a guy called Harshana ( At least, I think that's how his name is spelled... ).
The camp facilitators offered us a tent that could fit 4 people inside. So, Hari, Hazwan and I had to look for one more guy to share our tent with. And almost coincidentally, we saw Harshana standing in front of us, and Hari immediately brought him into our group.
It was the most terrible mistake he ever made!

With Harshana in our tent, it was no small feat to actually manage to fall asleep! Harshana would be singing songs like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" all night long, like an old, broken radio! And he would be blabbering out all sorts of nonsense just like Sehran does, which made it utterly impossible for the rest of us to go to sleep!
On the first night, we went to sleep at around 2 or 3 in the morning. Hari, Hazwan, and I all looked forward to a good night's sleep after an exhausting day full of "fun" activities. But Harshana was surprisingly still quite active, and he was determined NOT to let the rest of us fall asleep! Whenever Hari didn't respond to Harshana's questions, he would tickle Hari until Hari woke up again! He would also sing various types of songs, and he irritated us even more when we realised that he had snuck over to the entrance of the tent and unzipped the tent's front cover! I think we only went to sleep an hour after Harshana's shenanigans!
On the second night, we were ordered to go to sleep at 12.30. Hazwan and Hari decided to sleep outside the tent, out in the open assembly area, where it was cooler. They thought that by doing so, they would not only escape the sweltering heat inside the tent, but they would also manage to get away from Harshana. I decided to stay inside the tent - With Hazwan, and especially Hari, sleeping outside, I'd have more room in the tent for myself. Hazwan and Hari both assumed that Harshana would not disturb them if they were outside, but they were gravely mistaken! In order to both annoy me and the other two outside, he actually positioned himself at the ENTRANCE of the tent, so that one half of his body was on the inside of the tent, while the other was on the outside! By doing so, he is effectively able to irritate me, Hari and Hazwan effortlessly. But fortunately for me, he was actually more preoccupied disturbing Hazwan and Hari outside, so he completely forgot about me, and I was able to get a much-needed 3-hour sleep.

Well, yeah, that's Prefect's Camp...
A large duration of the Camp involves participation in the so-called "fun" activities.
But other than that, well, yeah there's nothing much, really...
But I did have a great experience, and I learned a lot of useful stuff about being a Prefect. So yeah, I think Prefect's Camp was quite interesting, and "fun"!

The week that followed after Prefect's Camp was rather uneventful, and the long 3-week Mid-Term Examination period was equally uneventful! I'm actually surprised I survived those three weeks without any signs of mental damage!
However, my fingers were "severely" injured on the first and second day of the examination!
The first day was the Bahasa Melayu exam, and my fingers were fine in the morning, before the exam.
But during BM Paper 2, while I was furiously writing my 400+ word essay about "Peranan Keluarga Dalam Pembangunan Sahsiah Anak", I realised that I was seriously pushing my ring finger and my little, pinkie finger to the limit! I was scrawling on the paper so furiously, that I didn't even know that the part of my ring and pinkie fingers that rubbed against the surface of the paper were red in colour! I continued to push my fingers to the limit, despite the throbbing pain. After the exam, I showed my "injuries" to my friends, and they all decreed that exams were "bad for health"!
Man, I have to say, BM Paper 1 and Paper 2 are two of the most grueling examinations ever!
There are no objective questions anymore ( This is SPM we're talking about, people! ), and a majority of the "minor" questions in Paper 1 were more like mini-essays, each demanding an explanation of around 70-100 words! And that's just Paper 1! Paper 2 is where the LONG essays are! And since these two examinations are back-to-back, the fingers are really going to suffer!

Okay, this week, on Tuesday, we Form 4 students had no exams, apart from a few people who were taking either the Chinese or Tamil exams.
So, Hazwan and I helped to paste the names of the classes' lines at the assembly area, so that the students would be able to line up more systematically, and the assembly process would proceed more smoothly as a result.

After that, Pn. Goh came along and requested for some help from some of the boys in my class who were not taking any exams that day. She wanted us to "break chairs" - point being, we have to demolish the unused chairs behind the canteen and dispose of them in a giant rubbish heap to be transported away from the school.
And then the most hilarious thing happened to Sehran!
I can't help but laugh to myself everytime I think of it!

But since Sehran's my good friend and I don't want to embarass him, I'm not going to blurt out what REALLY happened to him on that faithful day.
Instead, I'm just going to say this - Whenever you come across Sehran, make sure you refer to him as "Yellow-thread"!
Yup, that's right, "Yellow-thread"!
DO NOT ask why! [ smiles ]

Well, yeah, that's pretty much everything interesting that's happened since the last time I blogged until now.
Now, I have to:
1. Work on a Force Lightning project that Alvyn and I filmed before the exam ( It's unbelievably crappy - Choreography was done spontaneously, there was no camera man, and the lighting and location was horrible. But hey, we were bored! PLUS, this would serve as a pre-runner to my upcoming, serious project: "Andrew vs Ashman"... )
2. Create a "Star Wars Examination" using the computer! I actually created a Star Wars Exam paper already, and the first person to take it was none-other than Alvyn! He got a 76, a B, which is disappointing, really. Then I showed the paper to my friends, and they all liked it in a weird sort of way! And when I hinted that I was going to create a Star Wars Examination paper using the computer, Hari even asked me to create a copy for him and the others as well!!! Who knew a little bit of doodling in a note book could actually lead to the creation of a whole new examination?!

Well, yeah, that's it for now.

May the Force be with you...

No Picture? [ gasp ]

2010-05-03T18:50:00.002+08:00

Alright. I can't believe I'm doing this, but I'm actually typing a post without inserting a picture for the very first time!

All my posts until now have at least one picture in them, until now!

Wow...

Well, there's gotta be a first for everything!

Anyway, there IS a reason why I'm not inserting a picture in this particular post. It's because I'm NOT really supposed to be using the computer right now... My Mid-Year Examination is in 2 weeks time, and therefore, my mum has forbidden me to even touch the computer.

But she let me use the computer now, most probably because I've been killing myself completing Sejarah notes this afternoon. So, she gave me a bit of time of to rest, and I took the opportunity to update my blog.

So, yeah, I had to type this post in a hurry ( She only gave me roughly around 5-10 minutes )...

So basically, I guess the main reason why I'm here is to announce that my Mid-Year Examination is in 2 weeks time.

And so, I won't be updating my blog until its over...

Wish me luck for my Mid-Year Exams, yeah?

May the Force be with you...