There's a background story for everybody.

Today I'm gonna tell why Emoody has frown face and why he likes sunshine, a lot.

When he arrived at the store last year (before Trevor paid the 'ransom'), he loved to play with his friends (mostly bears)

One night, they played hide-and-seek.

Emoody hid himself into a store room and found himself locked inside the room.

He tried to shout but because the store room was sort of like sound-proof so nobody could hear.

Further more, last year there was this credit crunch, so the store's business was no good (hence, the staff didn't need to go into the store to take out new stock)

End up he stayed in the cold, dark store room for 3 days 3 nights (he'd rather say that it's 3 nights 3 nights because there's no daylight at all)

Since then, he became emo and hence the frown face.

And because of the 3 nights 3 nights incident, he loves sunshine a lot, nowadays.

In my previous post, I reviewed about the pillow mist.

This time, I'd like to talk about the essential oil - used for oil burner.

L'Occitane's cost RM70 while The Body Shop's cost RM55. (as of Feb 09, LOL)

In fact both product shouldn't be reviewed together.

Because L'Occitane's can really aid to sleep better (with AOC Lavender essential oil)

The Body Shop, on the other hand - probably the promoter listened to my request badly (or I mentioned it badly) introduced me the essential oil to - purify.

Testing had been done to me and my sister, we both didn't sleep quite well with The Body Shop's.

Yes, the word 'Gently Purity' said it all.

Searching in google returned the result that they have 'Deep Sleep' essential oil.

But since the effect wasn't that good for their pillow mist range (I have 'Deep Sleep' pillow mist)
So I shall rest my case.


Again, L'Occitane wins again, the extra RM15 premium is really worth it and if you are ok with lavender smell (I didn't quite like it, initially), go for it.

Rating:
L'Occitane AOC Lavender Essential Oil - 5/5
The Body Shop Gently Purify Essential Oil - 2/5 (though, it could be a mistake by the staff)

I think I've been waiting for a wake up call.

I think I've been very comfortable this year - at least for the past 10 months.

But yeah, this is the year I enjoyed the most ever since I had started working.

In terms of work-life balance, I think I couldn't ask for more.

With two months till the year end - it'll be time to seek for wake up call.

Else I don't think the wake up call will come anytime soon.

P/S: All the best, Emily

Yah, I know it doesn't look tasty.

One of the thing that me and Ian like to eat is the vegetarian food in Kampung Subang area.

This time (actually it's two weeks ago) I had nasi lemak's rice, plus some tofu and mock meat with curry gravy.

I like the mock meat taste, but of course, since it has heavy colouring, I shall rest my case to say that it's good for health.

But I like to eat tofu and egg.

So if one day I'd like to be vegetarian, I guess it shouldn't be a really big problem :)

Photo taken while it was drizzling. Taken with my beloved C901

So after the previous post, Tee Chong told me that actually the hotel was opened long time ago.

It's called Heritage Station Hotel.

Thanks and sorry for the misinformation.

Further searching on Google, local newspaper The Star has an article about preservation of this heritage, here

Hope the heritage can really be preserved. I'd say it's one of the icons of Kuala Lumpur.

Last week my parents asked me and my sis for advice on what shoes - they wanna wear for leisure walk + probably some countryside walks.

We didn't think much then brought them to sports wear shop.

Father got himself a pair of Adidas, my mum 'complained' that the design of the Adidas & Nike was ugly so she 'compromised' for Fila (ek hem, it's actually the price tag that didn't look so 'pretty')

But after a few days, I discussed with my sister:

Why we didn't think of Crocs?

FML

(This is a respond to a friend's post)

Yah, I didn't know why I suddenly got so much of idea to blog.

So I blogged.

Trevor FTW!

I've always against to rule something or even a country by religion.

Conflicts between religions had caused wars and disaster for centuries.

Different people can already have different view on a matter - measure it by different religion will only complicate the situation.

So, making country a secular state is something worth thinking.

Racism, on the other hand is also equally bad.

Within the same race, there are people who can think that they are 'they are superior'.

And having rules and policies that favours a certain race will only cause disharmony and won't help unity at all (let alone, causing racism)

If you insist to rule by religion & race, I'd suggest 'Human' as the sole race and 'Human Rights' as the sole religion.

Ruling by religion & race, I can see 1Malaysia can never reach its objectives.

I'd say it's the best instrumental from Oasis

I like this song. It's repetitive but it gives me a lot of imagination - of the sky, of the village, of an happening event, of loneliness, of the joy, of etc.

Too bad, after 18 years, Oasis had become a history.

The video was just so so, btw

It's nice to listen to Colbie Caillat again. This new song is something refreshing - at least not rap, not R&B and not another American Idol product.

That's the summary

Yes. But at least, I blogged something.

10 posts to 100th of the month!

Many of the people are afraid of the superior.

Yes of course you need to give them respect.

(It doesn't mean you don't need to respect your subordinate.)

Most importantly, you have to understand that your superior still needs to:

1) Queue up when paying at the counter
2) Shit like all of us do.

Just the same human, after all.

Sometimes when you help someone without asking for returns,

and they take advantage,

It's time to keep your helping hands.

It will save everybody's time.

Not for these two weeks

Today I wanted to eat McDonald's meal as lunch.

But when I went out of my office, I thought about earth (sounds like talk cock, but McDonald's meal come with a lot of packaging that's not good for environment) I thought about my weight.

So, I had fried noodle.

It's a bit salty - I'll tell the uncle next time.

And yes, it's been two weeks since I last had McDonald's meal :)

。哪里開始哪里結束，畫上了個句號


(no such thing la, what's past is past, don't care where it started where it ended)

Most importantly, learn from the past and move on.

You'll only have the 。 when your life ends :)

I admit, it's a bit of showing off

This is my breakfast: Rice + cereal drink
Not shown in the picture: A glass of fruit juice

I mean, it's even more than my sis' lunch!

But I'm not complaining - I couldn't be grateful to have such a loving mum.

The whole family against her to work so hard, actually.

But she said it's for our own good.

Thanks mum, I love you. (But I really need to cut down my weight)

Aging KL Train Station

There are a lot of old buildings in Malaysia that can be heritage.

But many were demolished.

I once heard the old KL train station will be converted to a hotel.

I hope the heritage can be preserved - which will be a good selling point.

I'm investing, someone will do the testing

RM152 spent.
This isn't a lab test.
The person isn't a guinea pig either.
I hope the outcome is good :)

Stay tuned

My sister sort of said 'even my last hope is gone'.
But I don't feel sad.
Cos no commitment has been made.
But sometimes I do feel scared.

I tried that last month. Sweet with a bit sour taste (not sweet and sour, btw :P )

I dunno what benefit it gives but hopefully it's just good for health.

Not cheap btw (RM28.90)

Just in case you are in Seremban and you need to buy Siew Pow (non Halal), try this one.

It isn't bad.

P/S: Your 1 1/2month old siew pow is still in my fridge, do you still need it, Ian?

Haha I love this ad.

You'll probably have to see it twice to get what it means.

And yah, getting drunk may help to see what is not, too!

Happy Halloween!

Streamyx felt threatened, at last.

I applaud the internet service provider to start advertisement war.

This is a WAKE UP CALL for the monopolised internet service provider Streamyx (aka Screamyx).

So, the winner will be the consumer, hopefully :-/

秋天快過了。

看來馬華的斗爭結果是--小孩鬧翻，一會兒又排排坐，吃果果。然后又有小孩搞亂。

最重要的是，民心已失，更何況，誰也不像得到了天下。

我的建議可能會很偏激--我會建議關閉UMNO，MCA，MIC與等等種族主義的團體。

這，才能真正達到1Malaysia的目的--團結。

My office was featured in the photo, just FYI :P

I wish I could try this one day.

To win it, first you'll have to learn how to lose it.

- Warren Buffet

That summaries what most of the people thought.

You can see the details of the review result, here

But I'll just take a few points:

1) Import duty on CBU & CKD cars maintained.
2) AP system is not scrapped, again
3) Vehicles 15 years and older will have to be tested annually for roadworthiness.

To elaborate the points:
1) Means we'll still have to enjoy the expensive foreign car, if we can't bear with the local made car, which is also unfortunately, at lower quality.
2) With no import duty on CBU & CKD, AP is not needed in the first place!(Thanks to Weihan for the correction)
3) The options are rather simple here:
i) Owner of the 15+ year-old car will need to go to Puspakom annually to test the car.

At least RM100 will be spent, and hours (or, days?) will be spent on waiting the checkup to be completed
ii) Sell the car and get the rebate of RM5k, which can only be used to buy national car.


Enough of these cronies shit!!!

Only 3 parties will get the benefit
i) Govt
ii) Puspakom
iii) National car manufacturer + seller


And I'll just repeat the same old point I've been stressing all this while:

With the incomplete public transportation system that we have in Malaysia, car is a necessity rather than a luxury

So why do you want to put burden on the citizen?

That's very 1Malaysia.

People (suffer) First, (exploitation) Performance Now

Tough

This project is tougher than I thought.

Spent few hours still get not much of positive result.

Still learning to use the software.

Optical Character Recognition is definitely not quite a fun thing to do.

It's simply a step backward

So, credit card holder will be charged RM50 per card, annually starting next year.

The reason behind this move was to 'reduce the card holder's amount of card'

What do I use with my card?

1) So that I don't carry much of cash
2) Do online payment (for online shopping)
3) Direct debit for my bill

I'll further justify on the points:

1) It's not safe to carry that much of cash in Malaysia
2) Obviously, I can't use cash for online shopping
3) With the slow service I face at the payment counter, I'd love to do direct debit - I don't have to queue up, I don't have to drive, I don't have to find carpark.

With electronic transaction as a norm nowadays, based on what, the government has the right to impose this RM50 for owning something that gives convenience?

That's very 1Malaysia indeed.

(Charge) People 1st, Performance Now (to charge)

I'm like an aunty, sometimes.

So, got the value pack and after 1 1/2 month, I finally make it as daily consumption.

Sigg bottle - completed my 'To Do List', finally.

Big muaks thanks to Ian who bought me the bottle as my birthday gift.

I'm still reluctant to use this expensive bottle.

Now, I seriously believe that there'll be no more birthday gift.

Thanks!!

The other way round

Instead of sweet -> gum like previous post, Extra gum has become Extra candy

TreVesco in action

This is the 4th contest I take part this year - in fact, in slightly more than one month time.

Tag line: My No.1 moment at Mount Kinabalu peak - with teddy bear as my trophy!

Is 譚焙元。

But in the English name, it's the other one.

Reason being when I was small, I was very weak in those days.

I always fell sick etc

My grandma went to the temple and found out that my original name 禾粦 contains 'water' element, which is not suitable for me.

Therefore, 焙元 was selected (it has 'fire' element).

My mum told me that since then my health condition had improved.

Staying awake at night with baby is definitely no fun.

Seeing my colleague arriving office like the victim in Yomeshu ad, I've decided to compile a CD that consists of classical music to aid in sleeping.

My main focus is on Bach and if that option is out of resource, I'll then look for Mozart's.

Currently, I have:
1) Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1: Prelude and Fugue no 1 in C, BWV 846 - Prelude
2) Minuet in G major, BWV Anh. 114 by Johann Sebastian Bach
3) Minuet in G minor, BWV Anhung 115 by Johann Sebastian Bach
4) BWV 817 Suite Nr. 6 In E-Dur - Allemande
5) Ouvertüre D-Dur BWV 1068 - Air

Is there anything that you could suggest?

Just a basement carpark of The Curve

That's what my sister thought and said yesterday.

The colour combination is indeed a la New Zealand Natural ice cream.

Middle row, extreme right was me

Ok, MCYB sounds like a foul word.

But it stands for Mun Choong Year Book.

I'll be starting to scan and make the electronic version of the Year 1995 Mun Choong year book.

So till then, have fun ;)

Road -> Grass lane


Where people were picnicking for breakfast on this lovely Sunday, as part of the food, song and art event.

Read more at BBC

Found an interesting article that tells about its origin.

Click here to read. (in Chinese)

Dream on

That's the USD figure that a man demanded from Bank of America, due to a poor customer service.

Hello, even Bill Gates has USD50billion only.

A calculation had been made - in order to achieve that "Thousand Billion Trillion" dollar, a total of 5427 Earth, filled with 6.8billion Bill Gates in each planet, to achieve that.

via BBC


On the other hand, I think it's quite achievable in Zimbabwe currency - where 100billion Zimbabwe dollar can only buy three eggs.

via Wikipedia

I think it's really getting out of my hand.

My weight is now 80KG.

It's back to the place where I started my gym or workout or KK trip training session, a year ago.

Damn.

Ever since last Sunday, I've been feeling tired.

Very tired.

It's not because I'm demotivated in work or life.

It's not enough rest I guess.

And yah, like the Chinese say, heaty.

I should go and grab some sleep now.

Tomorrow will spend another day in Klang.

*This post is potentially sexist*

My friend, who's a Malaysian but not raised in Malaysia, found and concluded that many girls in KL are materialistic.

(Actually, I guess people living in big city tend to be materialistic, no?)

But some even to the extend that, they only look for good prospectus candidates, such as banker, lawyer, doctors etc

(That, will become unfair to the non-highly-ranked-professional workers)

What's worse, there are girls who don't look pretty, both external and internally.

Yet they demanded high quality boyfriend.

(Ok, it's a nature of human to be ambitious)

But that will only make those capable guys into 'exploitation mode', they exploited (very likely to be, sex) and they make the girl 'disposable'

Because there'll always be the next girl who can offer the same thing (or service?) because of his 'capability'

(This, looks like a bad cycle)

So I started to understand how the nickname such as "bitch", "whore", "bastard" can be applied.

Bottom line: Ask Yourself What You Can Offer To Others In Love And Not What Others Can Offer To You.

(Waiting for sunrise, enjoying the cool breeze, taking photo with tripod.)


Two weeks ago I went to Broga Hill, in a random way. (I sort of like accepted the invitation, suddenly)


Apart from the breathtaking sunrise view (a cheaper and easier way to observe sunrise too)


I also get to take some nice photo...


Using my beloved LX3 with upgraded firmware - to take art-like photo (thanks to the new high dynamic preset)


And it's nice to gather with secondary school friends.

Even though Broga Hill is kinda far from KL (further beyond Semenyih, at the Selangor-Negeri Sembilan border) but it's good to bring yourself back to nature sometimes, what's more, it's free.

In US, 'distracted' pilot missed the landing spot by 240KM because of 'heated discussion'

National Transportation Safety Board, however, speculated that the crew could have fallen asleep when they missed the destination.

Either way - it's not really funny, it's SCARY!

via BBC

Yesterday I got couple of dreams.

First I dreamed that I was playing parachuting.

It was really fun

Second one - I was in a Facebook like network - somehow I got to know my friend is owing money. Then the loan shark was looking for me as I'm the friend.

Third one was the one that woke me up. I was facing an old tree, without much leaves.

Somehow, the tree was 'approaching me'.

There's a big hole in the middle of the tree. As it approaches me, I saw there's a person staring at me inside the hole.

I opened up my eyes and felt scared.

Then I also somehow felt that the chair in my room was approaching me. (and I'm afraid that suddenly an object would appear on the chair, staring at me)

This is when I fully awoke and wasted an hour of sleeping time.

Analysis:

First: Yesterday, I was discussing with my friend about high end outdoor activities
Second: Actually, my friend still owes me money, with my wallet left with few notes, so subconsciously, I wanted the money back :P
Third: There's a neighbour passed away few days ago, the ceremony is still on-going.

Power of Dreams - remained as dreams.

This season of F1 was one of the most exciting in recent years.

Not only the scoring kept everybody tensed, it's also very interesting to know, the 'new' team Brawn GP got the World Drivers' Champion & Constructor Champion title in its debut year.

Brawn GP isn't new after all, it was renamed after Honda decided to withdraw from F1 sports 10 months ago.

Then the same team delivered, under different name.

So can I say, the power of dreams might just remain as dreams, sometimes?

Literally, it means the 'wedding invitation', where you'll need to give 'red packet' (literally, it is a way of giving money to during celebrated occasion) to the newly-wed.

So, congratulation to Harry Tee.

And thanks to Tee Chong for helping me to take the invitation card.

iCopy?

Nokia is suing Apple for infringing patents on mobile phone technology for the iPhone.

- Ten alleged patent infringements involve wireless data, speech coding, security, and encryption.

- 40 firms - including most mobile phone handset makers - were allowed to use the firm's technology, but that Apple had not signed an agreement.

- Nokia claimed in last two decades, they invested approximately 40bn euros (£36.2bn; $60bn) on R&D.

- Earlier this month, Nokia posted its first quarterly loss in a decade amid falling sales.

- Meanwhile, Apple reported profits of $1.67bn in the three months to 26 September.

Interesting photos from the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009.

Are we still able to see these 50 years later?

(Details) Via BBC

7 seems like the magic number

I've read and heard a lot of good comments about this new Windows.

I guess I'll give it a try, once Microsoft releases the first batch or two of the updates/patches for this brand new OS.

It's good to know Microsoft had done something right, finally, at least.

Nov, 1985: Windows 1.0


Dec, 1987: Windows 2.0


May, 1990: Windows 3.0


Oct, 1992: Windows 3.1


Aug, 1995: Windows 95


Jun, 1998: Windows 98


Sep, 2000: Windows ME


Oct, 2001: Windows XP


Nov, 2006: Windows Vista


Oct, 2009: Windows 7

With all these comparisons, you can tell that Windows have come a long way, for the past 24 years.

For details, visit this link, via BBC