User Problem.

But before that, a little about myself according to a personality test, quite accurate if you ask me except for the part bolded and underlined:


The Duty Fulfiller

You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done.

You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings (wtf?).

Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you.

Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy.

In love, you are loyal and honest. If you commit yourself to someone, then you're fully committed. For you, love is something that happens naturally. And you don't need romantic gestures to feel loved.

At work, you remember details well and are happy to take on any responsibility. You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer.

How you see yourself: Decisive, stable, and dependable

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, conservative, and egotistical


Now back to the main topic, one of Junn's favourite actually. I still remember his comment when Jacklyn failed to boot her spanking new Sexy Red Dell Lappie for the first time, lols and to be honest, I had the similar thought BUT alas, that was not the case. In the end, had to opt for reinstallation of OS due to failure in identifying the root problem, my guess is the booting somehow pointed to some backed up OS instead of the host one. Oh well...

And you know what, just because I work in the IT industry, many assume that I would miraculously have the knowledge to solve whatever issues they face on their PC, regardless of hardware or software or network. Usually the older generation with young kids as our generation utilizes Google, the one stop solution to all your troubles. If I were to charge 10 bucks for every single consultation, I would have a steady flow of side income to supplement my meagre monthly salary *daydreams*


The following would be a case study, based on a true account, on one of the typical cases of user problem. Names will be changed for anonymity purposes:

* received a call from User A then passed to User B who has been delegated with the troubleshooting task. Issue with opening file of unknown type.

* due to insufficient data, solution to request assistance from owner of file requested.

* received call from User C, now delegated with troubleshooting task for the earlier incident. File type finally identified as PDF from a mail attachment, failure on opening with Adobe Reader 9. Suggested to open file with PC 2 but denied, reason insisted, PC 2 not installed with Adobe Reader.

* request for attachment to be sent over for testing and verification, request approved.

* attachment not received, call initiated to User C. Resent sequence initiated.

* mail received in SPAM folder due to typo in email address *log interrupted - wondering how come type in email address still can reach my SPAM folder one, really tak berapa faham loh* Request for attachment to be resent, approved.

* User C forwared the failure notice mail instead of the actual mail containing the attachments, tolerance level peaked, vulgar log about to be initiated. Re-requested attachment to be sent.

* User C installed Adobe Reader 9 on notebook, still facing issues in opening said PDF file. Attachment finally received, said PDF files opened successfully in PC installed with Adobe Reader 8.1, wonders if issue due to version difference, non-backward compatible. Case similar to MS Office 2007 files having the new 'plus X' extension, denying access by the previous office versions unless saved in compatible mode.

* Reported findings to User C and suggested to have version 8 installed instead of the latest one, it might just do the trick *half an hour later* Received SMS from User C stating that the file has been successfully opened, thank you note attached.

* Called User C, found out that PC 2 already had version 8 installed prior to this. Failure to utilize secondary resources in the initial stages as suggested have caused unrequired delay and time wastage which proved to be quite costly in overall.

* Informed User C of urge to punch her on the face and also recommended her to punch herself on the face, it might just do some good.


And that ladies and gentleman, would be one of the classic cases of user problem which can be loosely defined as human error, problems caused by inability and refusal to accept possible workarounds in due to reasons only known by Users A, B and C.

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Flower Power.

These mini-potted plants are courtesy of Sis, bought during her little weekend getaway in Cameron. Taken last weekend early in the morning due to the accuracy of my biological clock jolting me awake by seven in the morning, without fail everyday. Flower Power series coming up soon, I hope, as long as I find the time to filter through the pictures taken in the garden that day.

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Play. Rewind. Play.

Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I’m longin’ to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me


I am typing this additional paragraph because about a minute ago, what I wrote suddenly vanished when I switched between the editing and the composing interface, and the autosave coincidentally saved right at that moment after failing numerous times earlier on. Kinda eerie if you asked me. Below is as recalled.

Been humming to the tune of the above verses from Dream a Little Dream of Me over and over again for the whole day, quite addictive if you asked me. Funny because I really don't recall listening or overhearing this song of late. And right at this moment, the addictiveness reminded me of the mandarin tune, I'm waiting for you to return home (wo deng zher ni huei lai) which is quite frequently used in horror movies *shivers* Oh shit, now I'm starting to hum to this tune, hhmmm, why do I feel like I'm scaring myself? Well, better stop with all these nonsense thoughts, don't wanna start recalling on other eerie stuff/tunes.

Out of the blue, I rewatched The Terminal yesterday, still enjoyed the movie very much even after, I kinda lost count but I would put it around 20 times. Tom Hanks is absolutely brilliant, he's definitely one of my favourites. First got to know about him from Forrest Gump, I'm sure most of you out there have watched this one at least once and if not, surely you've come across the line "Life's like a box of chocolate" somewhere in your life. Then there's Sleepless in Seattle, Apollo 13, That Thing You Do, The Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan, Castaway, Catch Me If You Can, The Da Vinci Code, bits of Band of Brothers, voice for the Toy Story series, Cars, Polar Express, I think that's most of it, kinda impressed at myself as well.

Before I end this, let me just express the total disappointment towards myself for still being unable to find an effective solution to the issue that I am facing at work now. For this, as a form of motivation (or torture), should I not solve the issue by end of tomorrow, I shall abstain from eating my favourite mempelam (slightly raw mango I think) for the rest of the week but tomorrow afternoon still can eat okay? Power Up!!!

On Operation Daylight Robbery
Should anyone have noticed it in the beginning that is. Nothing more than Matt (who has forcefully discovered the existence of this little virtual dwelling) and I heading towards the OTHER level armed with a paper bag to replenish our ever declining supply of junk food and instance drinks, that's coffee for me. Operation was successful and should be able to last the few of us for this week and hopefully, the coming week as well.

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KungFu Sejari.

Direct translation, Single Finger Kungfu but I prefer Point and Shoot Technique lols. Stolen from the Dragon Ball Z series, first introduced by Tao Bai Bai to kill Son Goku (forgotten what chapter and lazy want to find out), executed by focusing vast amount of Qi on finger before releasing to create a laser like effect. I know youre not interested so I shall stop here.

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Fish Head Noodle.

Latest on playlist that has been looped over and over again, songs from Khalil Fong's Second Album, This Love (though I think I am missing Track #4). Has been spreading the love yo! His blog here.


So, I was brought to the Jalan Pasar area last Saturday morning to have fish head noodle which is supposingly to be one of the more awesome ones. To be exact, the stall is located in THE lorong opposite SRJK (C) Chin Woo, next to SRK Jln Pasar, pretty easy to spot if you ask me, who is superb in getting lost woo hoo.

Oh, bet you didn't know I was from SRK Jalan Pasar (2) back in 1990-1995. Ah, bitter-sweet memories of the past, days of donning sexy white short sleeves coupled with equivalently sexy blue shorts. Just kidding. To be honest, upon reaching, I was more interested in my ex-school rather than the noodle but that's a secret between you and me okay else next time no more free food so shhhhh!


Only until the very moment when orders were placed, I got to know there's no fried version and deep down inside, I already know that this gonna be a torturous meal since I don't enjoy the boiled one very much. The torture was prolonged by 45 minutes of waiting-in-hunger-plus-stomach-grumbling even after calling them to pre-book, you tell me siao or not? The thing is, without booking, if you reach later than 9am, be prepared to head home disappointed I tell you, seriously.

Anyway, although I don't really enjoy it, I have to admit that the broth was really "sin tim" which can be loosely translated to a fresh sweetness and not forgetting the chinese wine which enhanced the taste tremendously. The generous amount of fish head spelt disaster to both Jacklyn and I, not helping that her parents actually ordered a large portion for each of us plus two smaller portions as backup. Well, at least I didn't diligently picked out every single piece of fish head no matter the size like some one else ahems. And the texture of the noodle was a little on the rough side, not to my liking.

Typical old school hawker stall setting, you don't need no signboard, you don't need no proper facilities, you don't need no comfortable environments, all you need is good food.

Red, hot, chilli plus cili padi no pepper.

Superstar, look at the generous amounts, totally a blessing if you enjoy boiled fish head very much I'm not kidding you.

Must show something revolting else my name is not Jed.

Since it was free food, I couldn't recall what the price was but I remember hearing something around 11 plus for 1 large, 1 small and 2 drinks from another customer. And all pictures above taken using my camera phone in case you wanted to know. That's all for now, I shall continue layan-ing my family members watching the Astro Talent Quest 2008, I'm rooting for Debbie to win anyway who I feel is the most talented within this bunch and ironically, her brother, who was a winner many, many years ago, is performing as a guest artists currently. It runs in the family I guess, he he he.

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Budak Sekolah.

He, He, He, He, He

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Sing with Me.

This the season to be jolly,
du-du-du-du-du, du-du-rian,

I can eat from one to twenty,
du-du-du-du-du, du-du-rian,

Jacklyn says its very smelly,
du-du-du-du-du, du-du-rian,

After eat you don't come near me,
du-du-du-du-du, du-du-rian.


Note to others: The above can be sung to the tune of Deck the Halls, a Christmas carol, just in case you did not realize. And also, the above is based on a true story. And also, also, I had durian last Friday, yesterday and today, not only my breath stinks now, even my pee. Jacklyn and I have finally come to a mutual understanding that my cravings for the king of fruits is the same as her hatred for it and I have been fore-warned that no durians will be allowed in our home next time, the car porch would be the final limit.

Not forgetting, random snippets of conversation with friends and colleagues (X and Y may be representing different individuals in each scenario, I hope none of them reads this, lols):


X: *after receiving the file* Eh, how to install this application ah?
Me: Just stare at the icon intently and shout INSTALL.


Me: Eh, where's Gunung Ledang located ah?
X: I dunno woh.
Me: You Malaysian ah?


*replied in IM to Jen* I am in my car.
I was planning to type "I am serious" and reply verbally to my colleague "I have an umbrella in my car" but somehow it got confused.


Me: *At 6 pm* Alright, time to go home.
X: Half day ah?


Me: Ei, where do you guys want to eat ah? *fyi, there are 3 locations to choose from*
X: Anywhere is fine with me but Restaurant X *looks at Y*
Y: Where also can but dowan Restaurant Y *looks at me*
Me: Look at me for what as if I have a choice.


X: Need a drink, I'm gonna go make a cup of tea.
Me: Okay, kopi panas kurang manis satu take away thank you *passes cup to X*


X: I stood there silent for a moment before looking at Y and asked him, what's chicken breast in cantonese ah?


X: *during lunch* How come Y always went off without us able to notice?
Me: Because he is ninja.


Okay that's all goodnight and bye-bye I need to get some sleep. I tell you ever since Jacklyn has been car-pooling with me to work, I had no choice but to reduce my sleeping hour by another 30 minutes, hence, having to wake up by 6.45am oh the agony! But then kesian her also lah everyday have to walk from Menara AIG in Jalan Ampang to Menara Dayabumi but what to do since her working hours is only up to 5pm.

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On This Monday Morning, again.

The second awakening, someone must have been really angered by the fact that I managed to avoid the massive congestion on previous Monday that they elaborately planned for an oil spill along the route I use in the morning to ensure that I get stuck for the longest duration possible. Yeah, there must be someone doing that *nods firmly* That's my theory for this morning's unusually congested MRR2, and if you think you started off your Monday badly, think again.


On a different note, Jed was a loyal user of Photobucket (basic) until the day the images takes a lifetime to load on his blog from his home. I know it must be due to the ISP typically going for quantity instead of quality by aggressively signing up new users onto the already heavily loaded bandwidths.

So, out of frustration and the need to find an alternative, I made a switch to Imageshack (basic) hoping for better days which did last for a while. I personally find the site pretty unreliable, there's the occasional unable to load, unable to complete upload, pictures not loading on the blog and so on. The thing is, it works perfectly fine most of the time in the office, but not when home, sigh.

I am now seriously considering to purchase a personal web server to host my images but the chinese in me objected, why pay when there's something free, he says. So, what say you my fellow friends?


Noticed that many peeps are falling sick lately as well, friends, colleagues and even family members. Hence, I am exposed to germs and viral infection the whole day, everyday, so dangerous yo! Must be the unpredictable weather that's causing this widespread, contagious disease. So, please drink more water, eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise regularly during this period yo, you don't wanna end up lying on the bed whole day eating bland and tasteless food.

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Congratulations.

You have succesfully spent your precious weekends doing absolutely nothing at all. Not only did you not spend at least 2 hours studying as planned, you also failed to give your car a wash resulting it to be covered in layers of dust due to renovation works at home, failed to purchase a keyboard as needed, failed to revamp your blog layouts as decided, failed to head out for a morning jog as promised resulting a bigger and rounder tummy ala 3 months pregnant, failed to update your blog with the current status of the renovations as determined, failed to whip your camera out for at least 50 pictures per weekend as resoluted hence the reason to remaining a noob forever and ever, failed to visit the cinemas to watch Hellboy II or Red Cliff as motivated by the trailers, failed to pump air into your car tyres as required waliao later must remind self to do so else very dangerous and that's about it. Congratulations again as you have been awarded as the champion of laziness and procrastination for the week of 14-20 of July 2008. Cheers, rejoice and bask in the light of glory, I mean shame.

cheers and yum seng to the new Apple flavoured Anglia Shandy which I felt tasted almost the same as the lemonade one, the flavour not distinct enough to feel the difference

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Back Then, Back Then.

Let's see, it has been close to 3 months since I've moved permanently back to KL and to be honest, there are times while stoning in front of the PC that I realized, I kinda miss life in Singapore. All those long, peaceful walks to the MRT stations in the cool morning breeze, occasionally bumping into parents walking their little ones to pre-school. Sometimes taking the feeder bus as the station's located right in front of the block I was staying, the temptation was really hard to resist when laziness kicked in.

Braving the frequent and rapid but fully packed trains into the city, constantly crossing fingers hoping for the newer ones which are more comfortable and better ventilated, usually armed with my trustworthy Nintendo DS and Creative MP3 player while observing how everyone else is holding onto a PSP + iPod combination. Once in a while, a chick or two would appear, distracting your attention momentarily from the console's screens. Making my way to the office from the station through multiple walkways, stopping to get a dose of coffee as the aroma of freshly brewed coffee lingering through the walkways can be irresistable at times.


Lunch hour can be pretty hazardous at times, any places you can think of is just fully packed, like the chinese saying, people mountain people sea. And it doesn't help when seats that you thought was empty has already been pre-booked using a packet of tissue paper, something Uniquely Singapore. I would be earning a comfortable side income for collecting and selling every packet that I come across. Lunch can be a rewarding experience, young ladies all dressed up in formal attire, which is a plus point for me, in abundant, what better view can one actually ask for?


Dinner was either with friends (if its KYtheMonkey then its Carls Jr. for sure) or colleagues but most of the time alone, I have no problem eating by myself other than the occasional issue of lack of seats where I'll just do a take away or having difficulty in deciding on what to eat. Ah, the cheap kopitiam food that often comes in a huge variety, also the occasional food bazaars beside MRT stations. The rest of the night was either spent catching up on Singaporean drama series and other random shows or shopping for groceries or spending time in CD or book shops YES I am that boring because shopping is not my thing. Most of the time when Jacklyn was down here, navigating through Orchard Road from dusk to dawn, I just spend my time with the Nintendo DS, trailing her, its a win-win situation.


And those carefree weekends, if not working that is, spent splurging on buffets after buffets or movie marathons, not a blockbuster missed at any given time. Once in a blue moon we'll organize a trip to places of interest in Singapore, like Geylang, lols just kidding okay there's really nothing interesting over there unless you know what. Or else, just stay home and rot the rest of the day away doing watching TV, doing laundry and watching more TV. Oh, and I kinda missed those long bus journeys (5 hours at least) to and fro KL especially on Aeroline coaches because flights are deemed expensive, not by me just so you know.


Okay, I should stop here before someone got bored to death reading my adventure-less life back in those days.

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The Dark Knight.

Is a movie that should be listed in your must watch LIST and also a movie that you'll absolutely regret for missing,

i. like how you finally decided to stop investing in 4D tickets and the next day, the number you have been diligently buying for the past year strikes first prize

ii. because everyone and I really mean every SINGLE person you know is/will still be talking about this movie. Being the person left out of the conversation is bad but nothing can be more worst than being revealed to the storyline bits after bits

iii. and by the fifth day after the release, you have a vague knowledge of the whole content of the movie thanks to relevation from your family, friends, colleagues and random person you bumped into talking about the movie


Needless to say, its just plain awesomeness, even more than Orang Besi which btw had a funny translation for its title in Mandarin but I couldn't recall it at this moment. So much suspense throughout the 2 1/2 hours plus that you'll be kept glued to your seat even when your storage tank is about to burst. And so many twisted and unexpected scenes but perhaps that only applies to me since I was already too mesmerized, also there's always this feeling like you know something will definitely happen but don't know what or how.

Okay, I'd better stop now before ending up revealing too much and getting punched in the streets by random people for doing so, lols. Oh, and the late Heath Ledger was really awesome as the Joker and since the character is not dead in this installment, I foresee the producers would have a hard time searching for someone to take over the role. Someone did ask me if there was a dedication to him somewhere throughout the movie and I didn't notice any, there's a possibility it might be during the credits, anyone?

Okay, I'm really, really stopping now. THE END.

Oh, just one more thing. This is not a movie review and I feel that categorizing this movie under Untuk Tontonan Umum is kinda inappropriate, all parents out there might wanna think twice before bringing your little kids to this movie.


Random fact of yesterday:

On our way to BTS from Imbi for Dark Knight with Junn and his pals which I have to shamelessly admit that I have totally forgotten their name wtf, while awaiting for the traffic lights to turn green at the front, a Suzuki Vitara (I think) came from the right and indicated that it wanted to come into our lane (head straight to BTS instead of turning in Sungei Wang wtf I provide such detailed description). So, naturally, I turned left (as in my head because if I turned my car then bang into them lah wtf) to have a look at the driver cause naturally I don't like others cutting into my lane unless I know you yes I am that selfish cannot ah? I always curse drivers on the fast lane after a fifth car managed to cut in front of him/her because that's my maximum level of tolerance wtf.

Okay, anyway, because the Suzuki car was a little ahead of me, I managed to see the backseat passenger first and guess who it was. One, Two, Three, cannot guess ah so char one you I have already given a lot of clues on the paragraph above. It was Suet Li and I had Jacklyn confirmed it after staring for a while I am not hallucinating okay? Oh, and Barry was in front as well and I guess the driver was the other person in one of the pictures in her blog eating nasi lemak.

So, at that moment, I was thinking whether I should wave to her or just act casual (never met in person before mah)? Cause by waving I might just look like an idiot waving at random people beside me, lols. Then I wanted to whip my phone out to take a picture but that's even more weird right, like some king of pervert or stalker or paparazzi. I wanted to write "I read your blog" on a piece of paper but all I have was a small resit and no pen, I should henceforth keep more blank papers in my car for these occasions. Hence, we were pretty much discussing on what we can do when the lights turned green and it was already too late.

Thinking back, I wonder why was it so difficult to just bloody wave and say hi, hmmm... Eh, wait a minute, I think this was the second time I bumped into her, the first was in MV when she was doing some promotion work thingy.


Another random fact of yesterday:

Some random lady made Jacklyn really, really pissed off by ignoring her notification that she was cutting the queue by waiting at a non-existance lane then proceeded to create a scene by talking to some cinema employees who actually doesn't really give a damn as long as you don't make his life more difficult. In the end, much to our displeasure, she managed to cut the queue. Bitch. Thinking rationally, can't really put all the blame on her also as the management could have arranged the barricades and signs properly to avoid all these confusions but then again, can't ignore the fact that she's still a bitch.

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Strange Phenomenon.

On a peaceful Wednesday evening when I happened to look up to the sky after cleaning the porch. Its one of those weird formation of clouds rarely seen or perhaps its just me but honestly lah, this is really the first time I saw something like this. Shaped like an arch across a huge area and looked as though it was formed by a super huge ass airplane gliding through. But in actual fact the assumption is impossible because:

1. Planes aren't supposed to fly so low unless it'll be landing or crashing soon

2. No plane is that huge and able to achieve such speed to cause such cloud formations

Anyway, I'll let you be the judge for yourself. I know, I know!!! Perhaps its a sign that some tragedy/disaster is about to happen? *play X-Files theme in the background* I want to believe. Eh, silap, that one is for existance of extra terrestial beings right? Pictures after this, so, what think you?

the end-right of the arch like cloud formation. notice how the shape looks as though it has been dragged along by something in high speed?

the beginning-left of the formation

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Double Spicy Chicken McDeluxe.

Have you tried the new Double Spicy Chicken McDeluxe from McDonald's (obviously, duh) lately? The McValue set comes with Onion Rings instead of the same old fries but it also costs a BOMB, about RM16 something for a medium set and by McD's standard, this is indeed on the pricy side. A word of warning though, this is indeed spicy stuff and I can safely say that the double effect applies to the burning sensation as well.

Double Spicy Chicken McDeluxe (for the third and final time) with Onion Rings in the background, ta dah

Have I successfully made you hungry yet? Yes? No? Anyway, my verdict which I don't think really matters lols, not really worth the price loh and what's with McD nowadays, keep on coming up with those double stuff nowadays, the initial dual McFillet then there was the HUGE BigMac and now this.

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On This Monday Morning.

I would like to express my deepest sympathy to those stuck in a traffic condition so massive that its almost beyond belief, like those scenes you watch in movies where there's a catastrophe with everyone trying to escape. I was fortunate enough that the route I took was not that badly affected though a stalled car did cause some bottleneck.

Operation set up roadblocks at various prime roads and highways causing intolerable inconveniences to drivers not forgetting wasting precious fuel was deemed a success by the Prime Minister as well as the Police Force in preventing supposingly planned street protests/demonstrations. I wonder if they would be saying the same should I place them in the said congestion without having any police personnels paving the way for them.


Since the blocks were already planned, it got me wondering why was the public not informed prior to this, at least we could take an alternative route to avoid these unnecessary wastage, of time and resources. Or was I actually ignorant enough to have not noticed these announcements? Or was it to be kept a secret so that those planning to attend the demonstrations would not be aware of the blocks?

How much more of these random disasterous events do we still need to go through, none could tell. Let's hope that the time of realization arrives before its too late.

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Final Installment.

I think I have really short attention span, one minute I am typing out this post diligently and the next thing I know, I've started surfing around for updated blogs to read or engage my character in the most ferocius battle with ever respawning monsters in Nostale which by the way, has reached Level 38 and obtained its Warrior Speacialist card. Nevermind if you don't have a clue on what I am babbling about, I'm sure that 99% of you who read the above thought I have gone nuts for a moment then.

Roses among thorns on the left and no idea what made them laughed out load with Junn bagaikan had his mata kena tembak laser

Looking back on the things I've done, I was trying to be someone... Eugene tak layan

Junn, Jen, jEri, Joshua, kakaka

Bearbricks in very compromising positions + jEri popping up out of nowhere just like pop-up errors you get when using Internet Explorers

Left: Eri doing her thing. Right: Rames doing his thing.

THere you have it, THE END of the white photoshoot series. I hope you all have enjoyed them as much as the fun we had in taking the photos.

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Friday Night.

Was a night of many happenings, including:

- the battle against extreme hunger because someone promised to pick me up around seven but was still missing by eight due to some issues and cleverly decided there's no need to inform me about the delay. BAGUS!

- lols at jen for hollering jacklyn's name outside her gates because the doorbell seemed to have malfunctioned which prior to the discovery, I questioned if she had actually pressed the correct doorbell.

- spending time at Starbucks in QueensPark trying to login in messengers, watching movies, reading magazines, updating blogs, chit chatting, snacking and many other random activities

- not forgetting to mention, feeding mosquitoes as we were still hanging around long after they've had their lights and cooling fans off. WE RULE!

L is for the way you look at me, O is for the only one I see, V is very, very extraordinary, E is even more than anyone that you adore can

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Thursday.

Is the day of night market or better known as Pasar Malam locally, not that I have ant non-local readers but just for the sake of generalization, for Taman Cheras. The following is the common purchase of myself and Jacklyn during our trips to the night market, either in Taman Cheras, Taman Midah or Pandan Indah. I had always wanted to pay a visit to the one in Taman Connaught on Wednesday nights but have no idea what's keeping me from doing that. A wild guess would be laziness.

Jacklyn's Purchase:
The Usuals > Pirated Music CDs or DVD Movies, Pandan flavoured Apam Balik (Jin Loong Pau) which is available in Pandan Indah's night market

The Occasional > Assam Laksa, Buttered Corn, Dau Fu Fah, Fried Seafood Tofu, Sugar Cane Juice

The Randoms > Clothes, Rojak, Pastry for Breakfast


Jed's Purchase:
The Usuals > Fried Sotong, Coconut Juice, Apam - prohibited by Jacklyn from eating too much for health reasons

The Occasional > Assam Laksa, Baked Salted Chicken (Yim Kuk Kai), Chinese TidBits - prohibited by Jacklyn from eating too much, also for health reasons

The Random > FatMan Steamboat (Lok-Lok), Fried Kuey Teow, Curry Fishball - because I do it at random, she couldn't keep track of the consumptions hence extra freedom


Now, it can be safely concluded that a walk in the night market is a very unhealthy activity, at least for yours truly. With that amount of junk I am consuming everytime I take a trip there, even 739 body combats a week cannot help me.

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After Work Routine & Stuff.

There was a dead kitten in the middle of the road this morning and from afar, it looks intact. A young man then picked it up with some newspapers, placed it on the sidewalks and covered it, with ease. It reminded me of the time when I faced great difficulties in doing the same, perhaps I should have used newspapers instead of just wrapping my hand with a plastic bag. The feeling is like holding onto something that's non-object but motionless. Anyway, after that, the other cats that has been hiding beneath an old Nissan inched closer towards the dead one, then backed off again, in repetition, like some kind of ritual. Didn't stay to observe further, the risk of getting stuck in a massive congestion was getting higher by the minutes.


And below has been my after work routine for the past few days, without fail unless I reach home much, much later than usual. And I'm still asking Mom the same question over and over again, when will the renovations be completed. The answer that she provided has been the same thing one time after another as well, very soon, very soon.

1. Heads to Taman Cheras on the way home to tapau dinner if Mom unable to cook

2. A quick change of clothes before intensive scrubbing of the car porch, if required

3. Begin sweeping and mopping in hunger

4. Start sweeping and mopping the upper levels, still in hunger

5. Makan, at last. Dinner time has been getting later and later



Due to lots of long distance driving during the weekends, I finally managed above 350 KMs, something that I have not achieved for a very long time. For a short moment, I was wrapped in a sense of triumphant, basking in the light of glory. And since I'm touching on this topic, about a week or two ago, I sent my baby over to the workshop to have the CD player fixed, after ignoring it for like, close to a year. So yeah, if you think you procrastinate a lot, think again. The mechanism to eject the CD has malfunctioned resulting them to remove the whole CD player thingy.

I was left with an empty area for a few days and the final damage, 350 something inclusive of a relay to manage the power surge during engine start-up, so they said. Changed to silicon wipers as well since I'm still using the original ones, lols. Honestly, this is the first time that I'm spending so much on my baby, other than the servicing fees of course but it will soon be history as the tyres are screaming for a change. Eh, wait, there's something wrong with the sentence but who cares lah right? Right?


Uhrm, I notice that lots of people are planning to hop or already hopped onto the dSLR bandwagon lately, perhaps the price for entry level machines are really dropping to a very affordable level day after day. I have friends coming to me, seeking advice and opinions on their planned purchase, the usual brand against brand comparison which I sometimes find hard to answer, its self preference okay, hee-hee.

Anyway, not like its a bad thing because its better to directly go ahead for dSLRs and learn from it slowly rather than follow my footsteps of getting a pro-sumer first, there's totally no point in doing that loh. Thinking back, I still regret my decision to do so back then, it was a total waste of money although I did manage to learn something here and there. You can definitely trust me on this.

Are you sick of the pictures yet? LoLs!

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A Rainy Tuesday Morning.

It started around 5 something in the morning, the pitter patter of heavier than usual raindrops awaken me from my slumber. A quick visit to the washroom later, I hoped back onto bed and was quickly asleep wrapped in the blanket that provided me with much needed comfort and warmth. But all too soon, I found myself in the car, stuck in possibly one of the worst traffic congestion of my entire life, caused by the rain earlier on. So bad that it took almost 2 hours for me to reach the office, normal duration would be around 40 minutes, sigh.

From what I heard through the radio, there were flash floods in some places causing the water to rise above waist level, then there were uprooted trees as well as accidents and pile-ups, fuh. Mother nature sure has a trick or two up her sleeves in screwing up causing a disastrous start to your mornings. Anyway, more pictures from the photoshoot and I promise this will go on until you're absolutely sick of looking at our faces, lols.

Sunday morning rain is falling, steal some covers share some skin

Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable, you twist to fit the mold that I am in

But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do, and I would gladly hit the road get up and go if I knew

That someday it would bring me back to you, that someday it would bring me back to you

That may be all I need, in darkness she is all I see, come and rest your bones with me, driving slow on sunday morning, and I never want to leave

p/s: Juuustttt in case you're wondering, it's Sunday Morning by Maroon 5.

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Moo-Moo-Vees.

Of Hancock which I find to have a sudden awkward twist mid-way and a very moderate ending. The character development of our superhero was great but only up until the part where he was eventually accepted by the society, hence the good beginning. Then, as the mystery surrounding our superhero was revealed little by little, certain scenes felt childish while others were kinda rushed through, causing a sense of disappoinment. Its like the lingering taste of pure black coffee in your mouth after a delicious round of vanilla ice-cream or rum & raisin in my case.

I kept on wishing there were more when the credits started to roll and indeed there was, so be reminded to stay in your seats first but then it was not enough. The way I would put it, even Will Smith was unable to save the disastrous second-half of the movie, sigh.

Something for the guys, Charlize Theron was extremely HOT, HOT, HOT!!! So hot that it didn't just sizzle, it burnt!

Of Wanted, engaging and almost captivating storyline or perhaps its just because I'm a sucker for these stuff, societies with secret agendas and such. The whole experience would have been so much better if all the swearings, really loads of them, were not omitted one after another, making the conversations difficult to follow at times or more like, ruining the mood. I mean, the movie was already rated 18SG, what's with the endless censoring!

Though I have to say, in the process of making most of the characters oh so cool that would keep your eyes wide opened and jaws dropped in awe, lots of scenes were overdone. Nevertheless, its still an enjoyable movie. Anyone planning to test out their ability in bending the you-know-what please include me, lols.

My only advice, not to expect too much from the previews and not to be seated too front in the cinema, too close to the screen. Else, you'll miss loads of the actions. And also, Angelina Jolie is also hot but can be hotter, lols.

Another random picture from the KLCC photoshoot last Sunday.

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06.07.08.

Photoshoot in KLCC park in the morning, sparkling white attires against the lush green background, really a sight to behold to the extend that even the guard approached us, lols. Just kidding, it was for an entirely different reason. Attendance was less than expected but still fun a-plenty. A quick preview of thousands of pictures from various cameras available.

Many, many more to come if I'm not lazy, lols. And let me just say that after the above photoshoot, I love my 400D even more. ah jen, ah drian, lai, 50mm, lols.

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Le Bait.

Took my cash rebate previous Thursday afternoon, barely a week after it was announced on the papers that those who renewed their license after June can begin collecting their rebates. I was pretty surprised by the fact that there were only 3 other individuals ahead of me considering it was the Pejabat Pos Besar that I headed to. The whole collection process was relatively simple, no hassle, free of fuss and inclusive of the waiting time, I spent like, less than 10 minutes in the post office and I walked out RM 625 richer.

The following is a quick guide which is only applicable if the vehicle is registered under your name and you yourself collecting the rebate, should you find a need for it:

1. Bring along your thumb, your brain and your identity card (IC) to the post office and yeap, that's all you need

2. Take a queue number provided you can write really fast or there's a long queue ahead of you. Fill in the cash rebate form which is free btw and the particulars required should already be all in your head

3. Upon reaching your turn, head to the counter and submit your form. Your IC will be requested now for verification purposes

4. Your thumbprint will then be marked on the form, yeah, the manual way with the black liquid then a segment of toilet paper for you to wipe the remaining ink off your thumb

5. And walah, you get your rebate just like that, easy, peasy, french fries so greasy wtf


Now, for something behind the scenes. It's an article which I have no idea on the level of truthfulness, I'm just replicating what I received in my mail inbox. You do the thinking and justification yourself but I'm open for discussion if you feel like it. And I just found out there's a link to the original author of the article so I'll just post the link instead of copying the entire thing over:

Pak Lah and His Cronies Screwed Us Again!


Have you made your contribution to Pak Lah yet? Unfortunately, I already had because I chose to believe.

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Night Shots.

Images taken from either 13th or 14th floor of a condominium building in Setapak. Have to appreciate the view while still can because another block of condos is in progress right infront of where I was standing, so sad right? Summore the developers had the nerve to charge higher for supposingly KL view, the same one is responsible for the new block. That's why when buying house have to see the master plan and enquire about future developements as well.

Anyway, taking these night views have made me realize on the importance of a tripod, no matter how steady you think your hands are, its just not steady enough. And yah, I did notice the foreign particles existing in the pictures when editing, a little bit above the horizontal and vertical centers. Time to clean the lense up a little, or maybe its the filter, I hope its not the sensor since it's supposed to have built in image sensor cleaning system *worries indefinitely*.

Angle #1: KL City in view, KL tower somehow blocked, wasted

Angle #2: I seriously dunch knows where I'm looking towards. Jen, yunno ah?

Angle #3: Some lakeside developement thingy and still unsure looking towards where but should be Setapak kwa.

p/s: Its Independence Day in the States by the way, not that I know anyone there, lols. *suddenly feels like watching ID4 again, neh, the one with Will Smith in it.*

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And It All Comes Down.

I'm not even exactly sure how to put it into words. Its the bitter feeling I get whilst browsing through news of our nation with great difficulties lately, not merely clouded with sadness and disappointment, its way beyond that. The sheer number of publicity on our politicians as well as the government, with none of them having any positive effects or impacts is so overwhelming that I'd rather not or worse, don't even dare to have the slightest thoughts of what is to come.


On one side, you have an ex-prime minister commenting negatively on the current one and on the other hand, an ex-deputy prime minister providing much of uncalled for drama, whatever the truth may be. Then of MPs of some components accusing their ex-parties of misconducts, oh the irony, also of MPs making sensitive remarks then apologizes which proves to be a norm of conduct for our representatives.

Something similar to what the government always do, implement new policies one day and scrap it the following day(s), like the ban on foreign vehicles refueling at our stations, the bi-monthly salary plan and many more that I couldn't or choose not to recall.


So much time spent pointing fingers in a blame game, discrediting one another, digging up previous faults, yada yada and blah blah you get the point, who's actually getting all their actual and important issues resolved, like looking into the plight of the rakyat? Outsource to charitable organizations, get things done for free perhaps.

Has the issue of the fuel price hike which has already caused a ripple effect, with costs of practically everything on the rise been forgotten amidst these rama-berdramas? Our public transportation, what is to become of it? A friend has noticed a huge surplus of commuters to the already peaked rail system lately, almost packed to death was the scenario she provided. Let it be? Or how about the construction and developement sector, with rising costs in materials, what will be done to prevent a total halt in this sector, with various mega projects already put on hold.


Promises made but nothing concrete proposed, nothing said and nothing done. Well, at least nothing that we can see with our very own eyes or maybe its just me.


And street protests and demonstrations, don't get me started on that. I guess it all started with the BERSIH rally, now everyone from every quarter is holding a rally for practically everything, FREQUENTLY. Not happy? Let's gather for a protest! Not satisfied? Let's organize a demonstration, woo hoo. I have nothing to do this weekend, you too? Let's hold a rally hurrah.

If you really want to send a message across, my suggestion is to put some heart into planning and hold a really massive one, non-violence of course, enough to get noticed, really get the message sent across to the ones intended and be remembered, then its a success, something like the BERSIH one. Now you see all those small, small, tiny, weeny ones at various locations that causes nothing but traffic jams and puzzled onlookers. Sure, we read them in the news but it never really had any impact, right? Sheesh. I am not advocating them btw.


So, we're reading all these from the local media which is supposingly to have been filtered by certain people and yet, we're still seeing all these. From a personal point of view, as it has always been, I would dare say that we're pretty used to them but imagine the thoughts running in the minds of potential foreign investors, tourists or whatever sort of people that would potentially be bringing investments, knowledge, technology, moolahs to our beloved country.

With millions and millions of ringgit spent in bringing Malaysia into the eyes of the world, be it for economic or political causes and benefits, it felt as though we've just flushed everything down the toilet.


I think its really difficult to have a government that manage and looks after the welfare of the rakyat which in turn provides support, even if its not a full one, to them. It has always been and will always be the every man for himself scenario, like how we're being promised higher subsidy, free water, this and that, RM6000 per annum for those earning less than RM6000 if the Opposition comes into power.

Will anyone actually question where is the money coming from, who's paying all those additional costs? Or rather, the people receives the benefits with open arms, spends it foolishly then complains again that nothing enough is being done for them. Isn't it better that the costs for all these short lived benefits be invested into something more feasible like infrastructure and education for long term results? For the future generation?


There's so much more to be said but I am just one individual who has grown with Malaysia for the past 25 years, educated by the system implemented by the government, working and living within their laws and policies, and contributing back to the society whenever possible. I did this post not out of anger or respite but of hopelessness to my home country which instead of striving forward, has been remaining static for the longest time.

I might not have all the knowledge or information to be providing the best picture of the current situation but what I am writing is based on what the people governing wants us to see, as a normal rakyat and of my humble personal opinion.

I am not even sure how many would actually read this post completely but nevermind, it shall serve as a reminder for myself in the future that there was a time when I had totally given up on my beloved country.


"There will be a day when the leaders and the rakyat shall work hand in hand for the benefits of all, but that day, is not today."
jed - 03/07/08 - KL

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Sini Tebuk, Sana Tebuk.

The dreaded renovation has finally begun which also marks the beginning of a nightmare-ish phase for me for I have been indirectly assigned with the role of assistant cook or food delivery guy when the kitchen is unuseable and master cleaner, mainly focusing on sweeping and mopping, for many, many days to come. So called househusband in training, lols.

The bathroom is getting a complete makeover, Mom finally had enough of the rotting wooden panels supporting the door. The stairs and storage room gets new tiles, while the wet kitchen, this one, I am totally clueless what would be done there, tiles as well perhaps? So far, I've only seen lots of hacking there.


And finally, after all the above, a new coat of paint which I find pretty necessary especially along the stairways hurrah. I think miy parents have very much been influenced by Jacklyn's constant non-constructive critisms on my wall painting skills not being up to standard or in other words, sucks. So, they decided to go ahead with hiring professionals to do the job using which costs a lot more but only uses a fraction of the time I needed.

On the topic of paying more as well, fortunately, Mom managed to get all the tiles required before the current increase in price after constant urging from me upon knowing from Jacklyn's Dad about this news. Saved a lot there yunno?

Clockwise from top-left: Plastered steps and tiles, wet kitchen with loads of hacking and holes on floor to hold the new tiles better, more-more tiles and the storage area in progress.

Another view of the hacked wet kitchen, another view of the stairways tilings in progress.

Now you can start to imagine all the dusts from drilling and hacking, also the bits of hardened plasters and cements from the tilings. I am really, really, like seriously really looking forward to the day the renovations would be completed and my daily chores does not include cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning anymore.

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Can't Do This?

Do that instead. Lols, pretty sure some of you are wondering what in the world I'm talking about. Well, since yesterday night, I was trying really hard to get my images uploaded to imageshack but to no avail, which proves to be really frustrating. Maybe its just me but I find that nowadays images stored in photobucket loads pretty slowly or worse, isn't able to load at all. Hence, I sacrificed the luxury of snoozing a little longer to try uploading early in the morning instead and guess what, it got through! Hurrah! Without wasting anymore time cause I still need to do my morning business and then head to work, here's one of the miracle pictures.

Taken outside my house while waiting for the longest time for the queen to get prepared and head out for lunch or something, this is bunga kertas by the way.

And so the wise man says, early bird gets the worms (burung awal dapat cacing), which proves to be quite relevant in this case, I hogs ze bandwidthz. Anyway, I think I am starting a very bad morning habit, no prize for those guessing correctly and I already have one person in mind who would be able to do so.

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