Please divert your attention to double-jays.blogspot.com =P

I Remember when Him and I....

Friendster......

The other day a friend came up to me and told me he finally deleted his Friendster account. I don't blame him... for a couple of reasons:

1. Facebook

2. If you're from Malaysia, it's in Malay... whether you like it or not. =___=. (sure you can change it to English, but it will change back to Malay again)

3. GLITTERY TESTIMONIALS SPAM

4. Weird people seem to be adding me o_o.. Like Coco.. or Samual De'Lozo or someone like that.

5. Weird adverts and spam

6. It's so.. not "in" anymore.

7. The interface just plain suck.

However, most people would forget the one thing that made Friendster what Friendster was, and why we cherished it so much in the past. Those little testimonials that friends write to us. Those things people write to you about how cool you were, how fun, how kind, or sentences that started off with "I remember when him and I...". Those are words that you could never get back if you delete them.

But if you do, do try to get past all the gliterry testimonial spams and find those that are filled with meaning. It's sometimes nice to read nice things people say about you. It's not vain... don't worry. =P. Try it! It's worth it. You'll get a good smile on your face when you read them. How young we were then, and how we have created a mental-wall in front of us to not say those "childish" things anymore.

Here are a few good ones from mine! Sorry if it's embarassing for some of you! =P

TaNiA (before we were together)

11/30/2004 12:07 pm

here goes...Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday

to ALVIN... Happy Birthday to You!!

oh...vin has finally out from the

teens...20 liaw wor (30 November

2004). here's my pressie for u...a

testimonial...haha. i knew vin

somewhere last yr but only got to know

him well enough this yr. alvin's a cute

guy...he's round, looks good enough to

hug and squeeze but never dare to try it

on him.lol...he's a great fren to have,

he's rather lame and he humours me

lots. he enjoys looking for frens to keep

him away from loneliness and

darkness. he visits my house in miri

often. he comes to use my toilet n later

heads to my fridge and sticks his head

in it while he scavenge for food. vin's

motto: "thy shall consume while thou

shall look upon"...hehe. anyway, vin's a

great fren, a good company to have. all

the best to u...remember me always.

quack quack~ cheers, aH duCkie =)

Ian

05/16/2004 2:44 pm

Alvin has a heart of gold, people mess

up his house, leave beer cans piling

in his room, pieces of lasagne on the

floor, snore his room to bits, and

he's still smiling, I feel bad man.

I've known him since I was 15, that

would be like what, 6 years? well time

flies, and in that time I've seen

alvin grow from a relatively shy boy

into a man with touches of shyness.

He's fair with big drooping shoulders

like that roswell guy whats his face.

Used to enjoy the times we spent

hanging out at his house, playing his

ps2, didnt get to do much of that this

holiday unfortunately, next time round

gonna stay longer so we can hang out

properly. God bless always,n always be

who you are ;)

Adrian

04/17/2004 11:10 am

Alvin - known him thru ChristTeens.

Alvin has been a great friend - very

helpful, very nice, very cooperative.

Good with games (always ask him to

help with the CSS games :>)

Know him as Jolly Alvin - he's also

always smiling bah.....hmmm just want

to wish you all the best with your

studies and may God bless you in all

your Godly pursuits :)

Ngee-Huat

04/11/2004 3:19 pm

another m_PeR0r member....remember the

fun we had at cyberstation down at

bintang there..hehe....good old

days...wish we could go thru that one

more time...alvin's a very nice guy,

he can be a good listener if u have

probs but i rarely ask him to listen

to me coz he thinks i crap too

much....i think all my frens think i

crap too much..hehe...so

anyways...catch you soon, lim teh

2getehr with loke they all la!

Teck Wei

03/29/2004 9:03 pm

Alvin someone who always "pang sat",

someone who always like to "jio" people

but at the end still lose to people

hhaha actually, we juz know each other

not long ago, yet both of us still can

talk a lot of things hahah maybe both

of us ve the same hobby that is "EAT"!

Anyway, he is a nice guy and i m proud

to know him :)

Greg

02/05/2004 2:39 am

He was born in the matrix. He could

change the matrix in any way he wants

or see fit. It was he who released the

early few of us and revealed to us the

real world. The Oracle predicted for

his return and that it will hail the

end of the War and of the Matrix.

Jo-Ann

10/27/2003 6:47 am

vin! hmmm..first met u as falcon!cs

sniper,wif the whole linkun gang..tho

we met during the orientation day at

the beach..sorry, forgot! :$ i remember

vaguely,does tat count? :P but i've

told u all tat before,rite? so..bout

vin, he's a nice guy! really..he

brought me out to eat when i was half-

starved!hehe..remember the time we went

wif james to pizza hut,n the waitress

was like "how many ppl eating?" cos we

ordered so much? hahaha..tat was

great,im so proud i finished my share!

haha..extra cheese too :) n the times

ah cup, me n "fiona" were chatting?

intro-ed u to lotsa guys..who totally

fell for the hot babe! hahaha..

hmmm..but he gets impatient really

fast, n there was also this time he

accused me of "using" him! :( buek~~

haha..jus tellin it as it is,no

offense,ya? anyway i do treat u as a

fren!hehe.. thanks,vin!

HuiLin Leona

11/26/2003 4:23 am

kwan tzen yet, alvin -- 7D2A0821,

841130-13-****, mirian, sarawakian,

pure patriotic malaysian, ex

josephian, curtinian, self-named

Falcon ^_^ , proud owner of KWAN

bookstore miri (imperial mall), owner

of PSII & big big TV, driver of a dark

blue wira QMB 8027 (some super durable

car that survives from scratches/dents

even after the harsh driving of the

reckless owner who goes over curbs &

fly over bumps i.e. senadin bumps),

proud bearer of the surname "KWAN"

(ancestors must be laughing away there

as a result of overhappiness hahha),

father-to-be of Kwan Tung Mien, bajio

keh, sensitive boy, self claimed 'keh

si' (oh really? hehhe), boy with

resistance to change, friendly?, kiasu

cin cin (wouldn't even give way to

girls!), really helpful?, hardworking,

messy boy, kinda religious, banana

chinese, flirty, kuai cai, pan sat

boy, pan ke ai boy, lil bro of 2 sis,

etc. etc.

Zunliang

10/25/2003 12:33 am

Alvin!...one of the oldest friend i've

known..and perhaps the oldest friend i

still keep in touch with more

actively....thanks for letting me stay

at ur place during my trips to

miri...but in return, u should thank me

for the company? hehehe....haf known

him since primary 1 though we weren't

in the same class..but first got to

know during catechism in primary 1!

He's quite good in writing poems

too...especially the *purple rose of

eden* one....that's a classic! anyway,

hope to see u end of this year

Ok..now I feel vain..LOL but anyway... if you do find yourself in the gutter, log on to your "mouldy and cob-webbed" Friendster account (according to Janeh =P), and just take a read! Cheers!

"I'll do it tomorrow"

-It's not a good thing...

Arrghh, if there was a Most Used Phrase Award, and there was a "I'll do it tomorrow" category, the award will definitely go to me. It's been four weeks since I've started my new job. Wooo, time flew by like how Airasia fly to Macau.

It's hypocritical on how I posted a blog post on procrastinating, and how I fell victim to my own advice. Procratinating on finishing a blog post that I've been working on for a gazillion years, resolving some issues that I have back in Miri, BUYING A NEW SHAVER (it's rusted =.=), and some small workload that I have at work....

---I'll do it tomorrow---

Tidbits - If you add your boss to Facebook. Don't forget it.

Some of you may have already seen this somewhere. It's been going around recently, even in forwarded mails. I've read it over and over again and it gets even more hillarious each time. Compliments to Iggy for posting it in his wall post in Facebook =P

Some say it's fake, but who cares. It's still funny... peace out~ =)

Small Matters

A long time ago, when I was in primary school and my father was still around, he would go up to his empty land next to our house every evening and pluck every single weed he could find.

I'd always wondered why he did it. Something that he would never miss doing even if he came back late from work. One by one, just plucking off any grass, weed or flowers. I would never think much about it at that time, because it is something so insignificant...

plucking off small weeds.... hmph...

Time passed by; weeks turned into months; months became years. After my father passed, I have forgotten about his weird habit of plucking weeds on his land up the hill. Until recently, when I went up the hill again to visit that small piece of land that my father used to spend 15 minutes of his time everyday.

That empty land that I have remembered had turned into a bush area with all sorts of trees and plants with giant weeds that it is impossible to get rid of with bare hands now.

I regreted not asking my father,

"Pa...why do you have to pluck the weeds and flowers everyday when you come up here?".

But then, I think I would know the answer to that question.

"Son, I pluck the small ones now, so that in the future, it won't turn into something hard to get rid off. Small matters left unresolved may turn into something big to handle."

We cannot run away from our problems no matter how big or small they may be. Don't ignore the little ones before it gets bigger, or don't be afraid of bigger ones, because no matter how big the problem is, it is never ever too big.

To my late father, whom I have the utmost respect for...

Ninjas on my roof

Some people and ducks say my blog posts are too short. So here's a post to feed the word hungry people. Actually sometimes I keep it short, like many people, when I read someone elses blog, I tend to skip through a block of text if i spot a picture at the bottom and forget about reading them. Unless there are no pics, I would just continue reading the texts until the end. Haha.

THE END OF AN ERA IS ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE. o_o

I will soon leave the unemployed group once more. Things like waking up without the sound of alarm clocks and just waiting for lunch to come during a weekday are going to be just a faded memories and norms of yesteryear~. I'm not estatic about it, but I sure am glad I have something to look forward to and the future does not look as blur as before. Like someone had just switched on a vaccuum cleaner and started sucking all the smoke away so you can see the room more clearly.

If you could step into a time machine or found the Back fo the Future time travel car and go back to 2005 and told 2005's "me" that in the future I would be working as what I am about to do, the 2005 "me" would say you had too much Pepsi Twist until you are going crazy to say such things. It's something that I would never thought I'd be doing. But I'm sure you all agree that things always change, and plans always change. That is why I wonder why people would like to think of a long term plan. Most of the time, it wouldn't be what you'd hoped it would be. How many of you can honestly say "Yeap, just as a predicted. I am now what I was planning to be or do in the past". I bet not many. o_o.. But I am lucky to say at least that this job is kind of in the scope of my future plans and what I want to do in a long run~

I'm back in my hometown at the moment but will be going back to Miaw in a week's time. I have been staying in Miaw for exactly a month, and I must say, I kind of enjoy it. The food is nice and the people are great. The roads are confusing to me though, but it's something I can overcome. :P.

The first time when I saw the building that I was going to work in, I was, like "AWESOME".It's a square-ish looking tower with a roof that looked like it came out of a ninja movie, I kid you not. It made me wish I was a ninja and I could glide all the way to work everyday. I know what you're thinking...there are fat ninjas out there ok. As a matter of fact, they are more stealthy cos their feet are spongey like, so they walk with less sound.

Anyway, I didn't have the chance/time to take the pic of the building, but I got this off the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website. It looks like a Japanese empire building and the Gang Leader is hiding on the toppest floor, or in the middle. Which is safer? o_o Top or middle? Ya ya the picture looks shitty, but the building looks better in real life.

This is another angle of the building with compliments to osweld_buggy. I think it looks better and you can totally see.... not that much =___=. Anyway, the building is actually owned by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. These group of people always had a knack for making their buildings look like it's from the 15th century, like these:

Chinese Chamber of Commerce Batu Pahat

Chinese Chamber of Commerce Singapore

Ok so the Miaw's Chinese Chamber of Commerce building does not look as awesome already after you look at those. But still ok la. I still can totally imagine a ninja jumping off from the roof doing what ninjas do best... what do they do best? Assassinate? o_o.

Here's something to make you imagine better on what I am talking about. Excuse me for the poor editing.

I am not going to say the name of the company, just incase they are watching... you never know what they are capable off~. I find it ironic however that I am working in the CCC building even though my Chinese speaking SUX DOODY.

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Have you ever find yourself sick? Lol. Ok of course you have. Ok let me complete the sentence. Have you ever find yourself sick, and sitting in a medical clinic waiting for your name to be called out by a female nurse that always seem to have that monotonous tone when they do call out your name? It's ALWAYS the same tone! They have have a class on "how to call out patients name" during their nursing school days. The "lobby" or "lounge" area where lots of sick people wait always have magazines or newspapers to keep you occupied and not feeling bored. Most of the time they are outdated magazines, probably 10 or 15 years old. Believe me. It's the most obvious in Chinese medical clinics like Chan or Chin or Wong Clinic. Another stereotype are Chinese salons which never fail to supply one particular type of entertainment books. Lau Fu Zi (Old Master Q)'s comics! YOU CANNOT DENY THAT.

Anyway, back to the subject on medical clinics source of entertainment. Apparently some of them are having an upgrade. I went to the Chan Clinic at the main bazaar in Miaw for my medical checkup for my job application and they had another other things to keep the sick people occupied.

It's about high time. Those poor aunties and uncles or kids can now keep in touch with their Twitters and Facebook no matter where they go, even visiting the doctor when they are sick.

Random

I'd always thought if I'd ever find myself in a position where I had to come up with a name for a hair salon, it has to be connected to hair styling in some way like "Wow-Nice-Haircut Studio", or at least the name of the head stylist, like Alvin's Hairstyling Studio. I've come across many weird names, but this one made me stop and stare for a few seconds wondering whether the owner is a game geek or he just can't wait to get sued.

METAL GEAR SALON. HAIR. BEAUTY. HEALTH

For those of you who don't know what Metal Gear is... here's a very brief explanation :P

C'monnn.... I'd rather name it Final Fantasy Salon, or Warcraft Hair Studio. It's like as if Solid Snake from Metal Gear retired and didn't want to fight for money. Instead, he cuts hair for money....

Roti Boom

What's Roti Boom Telur? o_o...

I'd imagine different things in my head on what probably it'd might be. Maybe some of you do know what's in it because you'd probably order it before, but I did not dare to order it. Who knows what might come out of it. Was it created by a suicide bomber? They planted TNT inside the roti? what? what?..=.=... or does it go boom like a balloon when you poke it? It's driving me crazy! I shall order it in the future when I go to that interesting stall once more... or probably Roti Milo..sprinkle milo powder on top of the roti? hmmm...

Aussie Revisited

Ah, Australia...

The only country where you can win a boobjob as a prize.

They are always known for their rugged-ness and open-ness to the public, where you are "kind-of" allowed to swear on tv too. My two years of study there seems like a blur now although it has only been 4+ months since I've came back to negara-Malaysia-yang-ku-sayangi.

Since I was young, I've always thought myself to fit in very nicely in an ang-mo country, since I'm a self-proclaimed banana. I remembered last time in Primary 1 or 2, for God knows why, I used to tell people that I'm English, even though I had black hair and bermata sepet. Actually the only thing banana about me is that I do not speak Chinese very well, cos' everything else about me is 155% Malaysian-Chinese. I have traditional Chinese values inside of me (I think), nothing beats Chinese food in a long run and I love Chinese New Year! Okay, that doesn't sound very convincing. But, the point being, while I was there for 2 years, I'd enjoy the different culture and seeing different things and places, but no, my roots is where I want be, to grow up in, to get married, to raise kids, and to die here. I complain about Malaysia from time to time, so does everyone, but I love it. Some people might argue that 2 years isn't enough to get the Aussie-fied feeling, but it's sure enough for me! I'm glad to be back =O)

I said nothing beats Chinese food in a long run because in short term, there's bound to have a craving for something else like Italian, Malay, American (by American I mean McDonalds :P), Mediterranean, Japanese and what not, but in a long run, if I were to be stuck on a desert island and I could only bring one chef with me, it's gotta be that guy from "if Yan can cook, so can you" show.

During uni-breaks Tania and I would go see different parts of Western Australia, because it would be dead boring if you'd just stay Perth the whole entire time. During the road trips, you'd just see patches of greens with farm animals like cows, goats and sheeps to name the usual. They are those types of cows that you'd see on milk cartons and soft toys I guess. When ever we go on the trips, they are always low-budget and we would try to save as much as possible. Like stopping by cheese and chocolate factories where they would have free tastings. I would try to take as much as I can home in a bag. See? 155% Malaysian-Chinese!

Me greedily tasting the yucky paste chilli sour thingy they had at the choc factory.

Tania sitting at one of the wineries that we've went to. They are all bald and grape-less cos' it's during winter and there are no grapes to harvest at this time.

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Our trip to Melbourne was pretty fun. The main reason why we decided to go there in the first place was because of the very cheap plane ticket thanks to Soon Fatt. It was AUD 9.90 per person to Melbourne, tax inclusive. We went around the city together with the Great Ocean tour, where we get to see the sea-lines and the 12 Apostles which are just giant pieces of rock-blades.

The flies in Melbourne are horrible. Here, there are 15 flies on my back just 10 seconds after shoo-ing them away. They would fly back again to your back with confidence that they won't get swatted. Man it looks gross here. For the record, it is not because my back or jacket stink, the flies stick on anyone they can find. =__=

I got to meet one of my close primary school friend, Zunliang too while I was in Melbourne! Wow..I'm a nerd o_o...

The trio in the trip to Melbourne with Shin Woei joining us too! It was during one of the stops we had while joining the Great Ocean Tour.

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Gelare Ice-cream and Waffles was the place where I got my pocket money from. Lol. It was my part-time place and working there was awesome. Except for half price waffle Tuesdays which were... not so awesome. Tuesdays are always hectic and busy, because Australians sure love their ice cream and waffles!

<--- It's me together with my boss Rachma. Her favourite words are "Be good okay?", "Remember to put on your hat" and "Alvin go make waffle batter".

I had my own taste of Australian customers and how they are can be so different. Some are VERY nice, and are just total douchebags. Here's one of the many conversations I had with douchebags...

Douchebag lady : Can I have~ A Mug-uccino? (There's nothing like that in our menu)

Me : Erm..sorry?

Douchebag lady : A Mug-uccino

Me : You mean a Cuppuccino?

Douchebag lady : NO. A Mug-uccino. It's a Cuppucino in a mug instead of a cup!

Ever heard of it?~

Me: : Oh. A large Cuppucinno. =_=

Douchebag lady : Yes. Thats what I said. A Mug-uccino.

With her furious eyes and angry face, it's as if it's such a common thing a large Cuppucinno is called a Mug-ucinno. I should have served her "Mug-acinno" in a bowl instead so I can say "Here's your Bowl-ucinno lady". I've been called a doofus, a f*cker, being shouted at a few times (both kids and parents alike) and more. But it was all in good fun. I had people praise me on my cup of coffee and waffle making too. There's nothing more pleasant than someone complimenting on something that you make during a hectic day's job! Do visit the shop if you're ever in Perth! It's at Westfield Carousel beside Hoyts. You can't miss it! Now Rachma owes me something for the free advertising.

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No matter what, my stay in Australia was great, due to the fact that Tania was there to experience new things, food and places with me. I cannot wish for a better person to be with than her in the place of the unknown. =)

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After all of that said and done, Malaysia is still where I call home. I feel more relaxed in the same time could claim myself to be part of a country that I was born and raised in rather than a country that I do not belong to. Sometimes life can be tough and be full of challenges, but when there are family and friends out there to support you every step of the way, life is always worthwhile!

G'day Mate! See you later lah!

"No" what?

I was walking into the public toilet with Ah Teo one weekday morning after a breakfast at Crown Tower, when I spotted a peculiar sign on top of the emergency light. It was just a blank NO sign with nothing in the middle of it. Usually if it is a no smoking sign, there would be a cigarette bud symbol in the middle, or no food; a burger and a drink. But this one, there's nothing in it o_o..

I have taken the liberty of thinking and listing a bunch of possible things that the "No" sign is for, which they probably ran out of budget and did not get to finish it. It was in the public toilet, so that would narrow my list down to a few possibilities on what could be the "No" sign was for.

If you have any other ideas on what the "No" sign was probably for, please feel free to share with us =)