Something Fishy Happening With YM...

It is a fact of life, those of us who sit in front of the PC or laptop everyday will use some form of Instant Messaging (IM) Software... and of course Google... Internet.

It is also another fact of life that when you spend a lot of time sitting in front of the PC or laptop, we will become dependent on the Software.... and Internet.

It is also another known fact that people who use IM will prefer to use that to speak to another colleague who is just seated less than 5 feet away... Go figure.

So, when one popular IM goes down, it causes a slight ruckus amongst us....

OOIII!! YAHOO MATI LIAO!! MATI GAO GAO!!! -----> Me make announcement... :P

However, it is also a known fact that those of us who sit in front of the PC or laptop everyday will often rely on more than one form of IM account.

My taskbar is just full of different IMs and I'm not fond of using those 3-in-one or many-in-one IM software as the interface is often confusing and I don't get the full features as I would get with using the normal IM provided by those big companies. (^^)

Oh well, come after lunch, we all had some funny problem with Yahoo! We can't explain why.

We're finding it difficult to login and when we do, after chatting for a while, we get disconnected for no reason.

Lucky for those of us kia-su and kia-si folks who have more than one IM a/c. We just continued chatting elsewhere using another competitor's IM software...

Friend #1: Eh... Can you connect to Yahoo?
Me: Can... Wait.. dc liao. (dc = disconnected)

....

Me: Bla bla bla... bla bla.... (on YM)

** waited for 10 minutes **
...

** colleague walked over. **

Me: Eh! Didn't you get my message?
Colleague: Huh??
Me: Aiyaaa... YM died...

....

Friend #1 (thru MSN): Can't connect to YM still. :(
Me: Yala. I think some tmNut must have capped YM traffic by mistake...
Friend #1: Hahahhah

Shit. It's taking me freaking longer and longer to connect to YM. I keep seeing that smiley face and I feel like bashing it in because it's taking me so long to connect. I can go off to boil water, cook an egg, make tea, wash the dishes and come back and it is still not connect. WTF!!

If some TmNutz is reading this, please check to see that the port 5050 is not blocked and that traffic coming from cs*.yahoo.com is just for YM chat, ok???

BTW, doubt that the sys admin had anything to do with this as I still can't connect to the f**king YM from home. I did my tracert and etc but found that although there was latency in looking up the yahoo.com domain, it wasn't all that bad.

Two is a Better Number Than One...

I'm not talking about the buy-one-free-one, where you'll end up with "two" of something. But isn't it interesting that nature gives you two of everything?

Don't try to be naughty here, but just think about it...

You have two eyes,

Two ears....

Two nostrils to breathe from...

Two things sticking out of your.......... (OI!! no dirty looks here), sides of your body - arms

Two legs...

Two small round little things with helps you procreate the next generation.... (yes, it's either testes or ovaries, you may have referred to them as "balls")...

It is just natural that nature thinks in two's.

Two-by-two....

I'm just talking nonsense here. Kekekeke... Please bear with me.

Anyway, just over the weekend, a couple of friends of mine got hitched. One of it is my close friend from work, while another I met through a dog enthusiasts forum.

Well, for one thing, having another person in your life certainly makes things a lot more "interesting". The reason why I state "interesting" is that it is not all happy-happy-joy-joy all the time in a relationship. Believe me, its a lot of work!! However, at the end of the day, we being social animals, we would like a little bit of company.

I'm right behind you... I'm in front, protecting you...

Although I'm for one who cherishes my "alone time", but I can't help thinking that life would be so dull if I can't share it with another human being or dog. After all, God gave us two hands/arms and it is complemented with another pair of hands/arms...

*Alamak.. Talk rubbish again...*

Anyway, I'm doubly happy because of all these nuptials in June (since it is the wedding month). I also have great news that my little baby sis is getting married soon! Her fiance popped the question on Sunday night after dinner, asking my parents for permission. Very old school and gentlemanly. Guys, take note, ya?

To Harsha and Mary, Congratulations & God Bless!!

To Joo Ann and husband (I can't recall his name... ), Congratulations & God Bless!!

Pssssst... How are the photos I took for this blog entry?? **Pai Seh asking for comments**

Happy Belated "Bak Chang" Festival

*Phew*.. I just got back from my Bangkok business trip and am still very tired from it.

Anyway, it was a very very short trip and I didn't managed to upload my "bak chang" wishes...

Yummy... Yummy... What is under the wrapping is more important...

I'm not sure about the origins of how this festival came about, but all I know that we have lovely "bak chang" or 粽子 which literally translate to "meat rice dumpling". Anyway, it is normally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival as stated by... you guessed it.. Wikipedia. ;)

My aunt happened to make the Nyonya version of the rice dumpling, which is basically a rice dumpling filled with sweet and spicy minced meat. As I recall, it is made with adding the Chinese 5-spice. The minced meat is cooked first before being packed into the glutinous rice prior to being "steamed" or "boiled" in hot water.

My late grandmother used to make very lovely bak chang which consisted of fatty pork. We always look forward to the fatty pork bits.. *slurp*... Just thinking about it makes my cholesterol level shoot up a few points! (^ ^)

Unwrapped in all its glory.... *SSLLUURRRP*

Anyway, thanks to Aunty Mag for making this lovely batch of "chang" for us to "chang" our stomachs with.

Meanwhile, happy "chang-ing"... Kekekee...

Monthly Gifts..

A conversation with some friends reminded me about something... which occurs monthly...

NOTE: The nature of this post may not be suitable for young kids. Though, puberty is a fact of life which you will go through one day. (Some never get out of it)

Friend 1: Can't make-la... Got my "aunty"...
Me: I see. Then, we'll postpone the dinner-la.

Friend 2: I'm feeling rather sh*tty today, got my "friend visit". Talk to me another time.

Friend 3: No wonder I had a craving for all things meaty... "AV" today...

Me: Sorry-la. My temper is a bit short today. Must be PMS
Friend: Yea-la! Suddenly kena marah for no reason. Must be-la...

Anyway, what I'm talking about is the monthly condition of having your menses. No... No... This is not the time we lose our "senses", but some guys keep saying it as "that time of month-la".

What irks my curiosity is, what do you call your monthly menses? Here's a list that I've compiled...

"Best Friend Come"

"Aunty Visit"

"3rd Aunty Visit"

"My Friend"

"Nehhhh... My monthly period... shhhhhhh" *spoken softly*

"Period-la"

"Banjir" - Heavy Period

Anyway, call it what you want, some are relieved that it does come; some hate it like hell because of the pain they get (due to fibroids, etc); but it is something we females have to live with until menopause.

However, i hate it when guys use this against us.

Guy 1: You got your period esit???

Guy 2: Ok, I'll stay out of your way. Looks like you are having PMS...

ARRRGGGHHH... Sometimes, people can get a bit grumpy for no reason at all. Maybe its because they didn't have a good night's sleep or they are under some stress. Maybe they had a bad morning caused by terrible traffic or by other idiotic colleague. *Sigh*...

Anyway, there is a funny side to this. One friend's boyfriend used to joke that whenever she had her period, another chance for a baby is lost. Which is true... cause the coming of the menses signals that the lining in the womb is destroyed. However, it is just 'cute' the way he said it. (^ ^)

Whatever it is, this "monthly gift" is our female species special gift because the female species (not counting asexual reproduction) of most animals are able to bear offspring. So, even if you feel nauseous, bitchy, sh*tty, lousy... embrace the fact that this is our "monthly gift".

I Am S.O.R.R.Y

I got a very very angry SMS just now....

Anyway, I am sincerely sorry if I have caused you some hurt by exposing some story about your bulu...

So... I'll say this...

Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry

Ok? (-.-)

I'd guess I'll pull down the posts then. Just give me some time, ok?

Photos In The Rain

I've been fooling around with my camera lately, a pretty antiquated Nikon Coolpix 5900.

So, I've been trying to learn some of the features of the camera as well as practice some basic photography skills of "composing your shot"... despite the rainy weather we're having in Malaysia.

So, when it was raining heavily this afternoon, I thought to myself, a great way to learn how to photograph rain. Boy, it isn't easy. For one, I don't have a weather-proof camera and so, getting water on my camera is a no-no. Another thing is, I didn't want to get wet and neither did I want to stand with an umbrella in the rain.

Finally, the skies opened up for just a bit for me to take a few shots. I still had to use an umbrella and my mother thought I was going nuts. Hehehe...

Anyway, I like this shot because the brown pole breaks up all the green of the bougainvillea plant set against the ivy-covered wall.

To show how heavy the rain was, I pointed my camera at the giant ceramic vessel we placed in the garden and got this shot...
I had to use a flash since there wasn't enough light. The photo was captured using ISO200.

The rain had pretty much stopped to a drizzle and so, I decided to have a close-up macro shot of the flower from our drumstick tree, planted next to our garden swing. I like the look of water droplets caught on the leaves and flowers. It makes the picture sooo refreshing.

This probably the best shot of the lot, showcasing my antiquated Nikon's ability to take a great macro shot. I had to take this shot with the umbrella over my head. You can see a hint of sunshine creeping through at the edge of the photo.

I still have a long way to go in my study of photography. (^ . ^)

For one thing, I have to look at things like how a camera looks like an item, be it landscape, potrait or objects.

Angie Goes Shopping... Seriously!!!

Guys do it.

Girls do it.

Kids do it.

Your father's 2nd cousin's 2nd aunt also do it.

Heck, even my dog does it.

OIIII!!!!!....... Don't think dirty here... OK??? My blog does not have PG-13 stamped all over it. I think it is rated U-for everyone to read. Kekekeke... (^^)

I decided to take a break. It was time for me to indulge in something I have not done in a long while..................

S H O P P I N G !!!!!!!!

Today, I have shopped like I have never shopped before.

I would have done EV proud.

My loot - ARRRhhhhh...

As you might have known, I am unlike most Malaysians. If you ask any Malaysian what they did to relax most of them would say, "Shopping-lor..."

Malaysians love malls and shopping. If Olympics were ever to be hosted in Malaysia (I don't think I'll be able to see this in my lifetime.. not as yet), I think we might list shopping as a sport. We may not have the largest malls in the world but we do have a lot of malls. More malls than libraries. That's shocking.

Anyway, whenever EV hits KL, she will drag me to go shopping, because I have the "kaki" (legs, a.k.a car) to take her around. She does not want to drag another friend to go along because the other friend is too scary of a shopaholic for her. Imagine this...

Me: Waaaahhhh!! What happened to you?? Look so "chan" (haggard) one???
CPP: Yeah... Very tired. Lots of work. Just got back from Bangkok after 1 week there.

Me: Wahhhh... What did you do? Wrestle with the elephants there?
CPP: No-la... Just went shopping. Actually, it was a company trip.

Me: Serious??? 1 week?? Your company trip is to go shopping in Bangkok??
CPP: No-la! The company trip lasted the weekend. They did the tourist thing, a few of us did the shopping thing.

Me: What you mean??
CPP: When the rest of the group went out to see all the tourist stuff, my colleagues and I went shopping around Bangkok.

Me: Oohhhh... Wahh.. You extended your stay... Wasn't it expensive??
CPP: Not really. We switched hotels to a less classy one. After all, our objective was to shop until closing time and then balik to the room to tidur only. No time to eat also, just grab some bun and water and keep walking. No time to pee/poo as well because that would waste time.

Me: ** Jaws wide open **........ Then, how about transporting the thing back?

CPP: My Gawwdd!! Don't remind me. I had to get those big, huge plastic bags, you know, with the stripes and all to pack all my barang back.

Me: (o_______0) Is shopping in Bangkok really thaattt cheap??

CPP: My Gawwdd!!! It is!! It is!!! I think I shall do it again, next year!!
Me: **pengsan**

I know I can't keep up with this woman. She is probably EV's sifu. I remember from my Uni days that they did hook up once to go shopping at Richmond (a suburb near the Melbourne city centre, Australia). EV came back and said that she was "keng" (expert, excellent in Cantonese).

However, I do have this thing about gadgets and etc. Only a true "Nerd God" will be excited about PC Fair (held twice a year). Yeap, I do make a countdown clock to PC Fair every year. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a gadget phreak. EV makes a lot of noise about me spending unnecessarily on gadgets when it could be better spent on clothes, shoes and other human-beautifying products.

Anyway, for you shopaholics out there, I heard that come 16th June 2007, the sale would begin again. (By the way, the website is not functioning just yet...)

God help me should EV come down that time... (o______0)

The Bulu Conversations Part 3... (OMG!!)

EV has just returned from Shanghai after spending a week terrorizing the townsfolk there.

- POST REMOVED AS REQUESTED -

Foto-la...

I just realized that I don't have a label for Photos and so, am just creating one.. (^.^)

Anyway, on Friday, I had a day off since the company recognizes Agong's b'day on 1st Saturday of June.

Yes, yes... Agong's b'day will always be 1st Saturday of June, regardless of when his actual b'day is. Anyway, this is just an official b'day for the Agong.

So, I decided to scout around the garden to take some photos. I've been playing around with my aged Nikon Coolpix 5900 for a while now, learning to use some of the advanced functions without a manual. Kekeke.. I'm a geek and hence, by default whenever we get some gadget, we're such lazy bums that we don't read the manual at all.. *phhbbbbpppttt*

The first picture I took were of the pandan leaves which my father planted in the garden. We brought this over from our old house and we frequently use it for cooking and also as car de-odourizer. My Dad heard that pandan was very effective in removing odours from cars as well as prevent cockroaches from entering it as well. So, he used to place a few pandan leaves (knotted up) in our cars.

Imagine how the smell of pandan + durian is like... Mmmmmmm... Heavenly!!

Later, I thought that people would be bored with looking at just pandan leaves and so, decided to take a picture of the lonely hibiscus flower blooming in our garden. Hibiscus flowers tend to bloom during the dry season. However, lately due to the wet weather, we didn't get many flowers and so, just had one flower to look at.

My dad also planted a guava plant - I think back in 2000-something. We got it from our granduncle's place in Kepong that Chinese New Year. So, he brought it back to try to plant it. As of now, the plant still stands at 3-feet tall and still growing.... slowly. Not sure why it can't grow... Maybe need Snoopy's help to "fertilize" it. Kekekee...

Here's another herb which we almost take for granted in Thai cooking - sweet basil. My mom got this from her friend and after we planted it, it multiplied like crazy!!! My mom likes to use the leaves when cooking with eggs. Tastes absolutely yummy and sweet!

Anyway, it was raining very heavily on Friday and after the rain, I went out to take a few nice photos too. This is the best picture I've taken.. :P

Anyway, I didn't just take pictures of plants all day long. I also managed to take one photo of an inanimate object...
I'm not sure why the clock is stuck at 4:59. Anyway, this is an old, wind-up clock which requires frequent maintenance by winding up the spring. We also have to oil the spring if we want it to work. However, we've not used it in a while because my sis finds the chimes to be irritating. Yes, it chimes every half and full hour.

Of course, aside from all of this, there's my trusted camwhore - Snoopy... :P She's my favourite subject to photography because she's a natural and always, her white body makes a very nice contrast against any background. Hahaha...

Snoopy: Oiii!! Don't simply take my photos without asking for my permission first, ok???

Anyway, I'm still trying to get a foothold on this digital photography. Somehow, one must always remember that what you see with your eye may not be what the camera "sees".

Recently, while scouring dpreview.com, the samples gallery for the Canon PowerShot G7 caught my eye. Now, this camera was released in September last year and the photos were fantastic! Got to tip my hat off to the photographer who took those beautiful shots which showcased the camera's sharpness very close to the fine image of what a DSLR can produce.

Some of these pictures I've corrected using Picasa, a lovely tool by those nice folks at Google. I've blogged about them quite some time back. Anyway, have a look at Picasa if you can't afford to buy/install expensive apps like PhotoShop. ;)

So, I'm still learning... OK? :P

Scam!! Scam!!

Did you get this recently??

That someone called you and there's a recorded message telling you that you've missed a hearing at the Malaysian High Court?

It's a SCAM. The news was finally published here.

My Dad picked up one of these calls a couple of days back. He looked very grave as he listened attentively to the phone. When I drew nearer to him, he said, "Listen" and then laughed. He turned to me and said, "I think its a prank call".

I agreed with him. If you had to turn up at a Malaysian High Court for something, you'll first receive an official letter - Surat Rasmi (in BM), not some phone call.

Anyway, we speculated that this "architect firm" - which uses our house phone number (by accident) probably got into trouble or something. Yes, we still get the odd phone enquiry from some law firm or developer about "TK Architect" from time to time.... (@___@) Each time we have to insist - This is a house of residence, not an office!!

A couple of days later, my Dad received an e-mail from his friend regarding this scam involving some recording played on the phone about you missing a court hearing or something. They would ask for your details and etc. I'd guess naturally, if something urgent and important like this were to happen, you would first want to meet up at the balai polis (police station) or something.

Oh boy... For a moment there, I thought the burst pipe at the courthouse at Jln Duta had caused so much havoc that the courts were calling up the wrong people for the wrong thing. ;)

So, if something like this were to occur, just be on your guard.

The Bulu Conversations Part 2...

- POST REMOVED AS REQUESTED -

Working With Jerks...

All celebration aside, this season was a pretty good one for MU (Manchester United). I have been waiting for the day to come when the team would rise like a phoenix from its ashes. (^^)

Anyway, I digress... (as usual).

I'd guess my post for today is something which we all encounter at work at one point or another. If you have had the luxury of not coming across some jerks in your workplace, be very grateful. Anyway, I just finished a book some time back called "The No @sshole Rule: Building A Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't" by Robert Sutton.

At some point in time, I am very sure we have encountered some unpleasant people at the workplace - the sadistic boss, or the braggart/gloater colleague. Surely, you must have felt "I want to kick this guy in the face" or if you were intimidated very badly, you felt like you were totally incompetent and wanted to leave the workplace.

Anyway, this book proved to be a bit of an eye-opener as these jerks, although may be quite capable at work can make the workplace so toxic that it may be detrimental to the organization in the long term. Companies may praise these jerks for their efforts but these jerks tend to leave a trail of destruction behind them which costs companies more $$$ to clean up.

So, first and foremost, how do you identify the @sshole in the workplace?

There are a couple of tests, according to the book and I've witnessed this myself too...

• Test 1: After talking to the alleged @sshole(s) (everyone is not an @sshole until proven otherwise..), does the person feel upset, humiliated, de-energized or belittled? Do you feel worse about yourself?
• Test 2: Does the alleged @sshole(s) often target people who are less powerful than at those people who are more powerful?

Besides that, you may also observe some of the interaction these @ssholes display at work...

• Personal insults
• Invading one's "personal space" - if played wrongly, could lead to Sexual Harassment
  
• Uninvited physical contact - Sexual Harassment??
• Threats and intimidations, both verbal and non-verbal
• "Sarcastic jokes" and "teasing" used as an alternative insult delivery mechanism
• Withering e-mail flames
• Status slaps intended to humiliate their victims
• Public shaming or "status degradation" rituals
• Rude interruptions
• Two-faced attacks
• Dirty looks
• Treating people as if they're invisible

I have a colleague which displayed about 99% of all those actions towards me. One day, he suddenly touched my hand with his finger and said, "eeee.. So many spots. So ugly!! You should take care-la!!!"

I was shocked. I did not invite his "touch", neither did I welcome his comment. I can't help it if I have freckles as I had been exposed to the Aussie sun for 2.5years. Anyway, I brushed his comment aside and ignored him.

At times, this guy who will come back to visit the company, will talk to everyone except me. So, I'm treated as invisible, even from the day I joined, he did not want to interact with me at all. So, I just ignore him, since it is his loss that he made one friend less.

Anyway, this guy is a classic jerk as he brags about things such as having a lot of enemies and even laughing about it!! Oh well... Darwin's theory of natural selection is interesting enough to produce humans of varied characteristics and personalities in this world - he is certainly one of them. Just have to celebrate variety for variety's sake. ;)

So, the question arise is that now, that you have identified a jerk at the workplace, what can you do?

Well, since we're equipped with a fight or flight response, depending on how strong-willed your personality is, or if you're a bigger jerk than the @sshole is, you can face off but do it with dignity. If you're not as strong willed, it is probably better to avoid this @sshole as a form of self-protection.

Remember the notion of mindsets? Re-framing the situation from a negative to a positive one would make your life a bit easier. I have had the "joy" of being yelled at by my ex-boss for a job he asked me to do but ended up being his mistake. He wasn't a man big enough to admit it at the time and so, decided to be a "temporary @sshole". I just took the situation as a means to be more pro-active in the future. Dealing with the situation calmly did calm my ex-boss down and in the end, he did admit that it was his mistake.

Also, remember the saying "Lose the Battle, Win the War"? Look for small wins. No one is perfect, even @ssholes slip up. If you are fast enough to catch this, you can possibly turn it around to hit him where it hurts and he may never want to confront you again. An example in the book mentioned about one employee whose boss often violated her space and often ate her food as he passed by. One day, she placed a bit of chocolate-flavoured laxative on her desk and he took it! When she told her boss what it was, he wasn't happy but he never took her food again. ;)

Another tip to use is to detach emotionally from the workplace. Work is work and you just have to leave it as that. Besides, we should never use work as a form of crutch to form our personality or life. It is just simply not worth it to get worked up over such people. This of course, leads me to another point - support systems.

Get support from other victims but don't turn it into a @sshole-bashing session as it rarely solves any problems. Support system would mean it is a safe place where you can "chill" after a bad session to get back to "normal". It is good to surround yourself with positive thoughts and people in order to survive the ordeal.

I've already mentioned that we should minimize contact with such @ssholes, but sometimes, we should also hope for the best. Maybe this person has some issues which cause him to act this way. Perhaps using a psychological approach, we could "re-program" him but that rarely brings any success. That @sshole should realize his actions first in order to initiate change. If he is in a state of denial, there is no point in trying to persuade him to change.

The last option in dealing with such @ssholes in the workplace, is to leave. Find another more positive environment to work in. However, ensure that you leave with your self-esteem intact. However, there is no guarantee that you'll find an @sshole free environment but at least you know how to deal with them.

Anyway, the book also talks about implementing the No @sshole rule but this can be hard to implement. At the end of the day, we should all strive to make the workplace a more pleasant one since we spend nearly more than 1/2 the day there.

Hairy Situation...

For those of you who were looking for Mix.FM's DJ Pietro's Chest-Waxing Session, look no further!! The link is at Mix.FM at --> http://www.mix.fm/05/mix/gallery/view.asp?id=50

Heheehe....

This reminds me of a post of mine with EV on some "bulu" (hair) story some time back. (^ ^)

Anyway, I'm inspired to do a Part 2 of the Bulu Conversations with EV. Stay tuned!! **peace**

A Bridge With A View...

The day started off rather interesting... Aside from the fact that the weather was extremely warm for May... (^^)

Anyway, when I got to the office this morning, I found my colleagues waiting at the lift area. I thought that it was a bit early for lunch... :P

Me: What are you guys doing here?
Colleagues: We're waiting for you-la!
Me: ????
Colleagues: Got safety briefing, put your bag down and hurry up!

Once I opened the door and put my bag down, my other colleague asked if I was joining the safety briefing and I said "Yes". Then, it was a blur as a few others rushed out the door to quickly head down for the safety briefing.

There was a bit of miscommunication between our office manager and building management. At first, when we registered for this month's briefing, we were informed by the building management that the class was full and we would have to register for the next briefing. However, come this morning at about 10:30am, we were asked by the building management about our attendance..... (?????)

Anyway, we managed to slot ourselves in the class and had a very interesting session. We were explained about the evacuation procedures, where the fire extinguishers were placed, where the stairwells were, which lifts to take should there be anyone requiring help (the responsibility of the floor manager and assistants) as well as various information about the building.

The presenter was very good and made the session interesting by adding little anecdotes and jokes to keep the serious class light-hearted. Certainly, it made us remember the safety briefing a lot more memorable.

After the presentation, we were given a short tour of where the exits, important safety and emergency help devices were. We took a ride up to Level 42 to take a look at where the stairwells and service lifts were located as well as how certain devices worked. The scariest bit came when....

Our presenter led us to the sky-bridge and opened the door for us to have a look...

If you haven't guessed it by now, I'm working in one of the offices in KLCC, one of the tallest buildings in the world. :P

Anyway, when the presenter opened the doors of the sky-bridge, the scariest thing occurred.

No, not that the bridge was swaying like the song "London bridge is falling down..."

No, not that for a fact, that we were XXX KM above the street level, so much so that if we jumped off this bridge, we'll end up being "flat-matter" on the pavement...

The scariest thing was........ THE OTHER PARTICIPANTS IN THE CLASS WHIPPED OUT THEIR DIGITAL CAMERAS TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS!!!

Our safety briefing became a tourist stopover...!!!! (o____0)

Participant 1: Come!! QUICK!!!! Pose here, lai dat.. lai dat... Come!! Come!! Take picture!!

Participant 2: Woi!!! Let's go to the other end and take photos!!!

Participant 3: Wahhh.. The view so nice.. *snap* *snap*

My colleagues and I could only stand in awe watching these people take photo after photo. LOL...

Yes.. Yes... There were a few camwhores there... (^^)

Anyway, for me, since non-human subjects were my favourite photography subject, could only snap one little picture from the very centre of the bridge.


At the very centre of the bridge there is an port-hole window where you can look up and observe the building. It seems that at this very point, you can see that the building is swaying. However, most of us could only see clouds moving.. (^ ^)

Well, it was a very interesting start to an otherwise drab Thursday.... :P

What To Do If Someone Blocks Your Car...

My family got into the e-mailling mood and she related something really funny to us. So, the idea for this entry and contents of it, I got from my aunt. :P

Aunty Julie, I give you full credit, ya!!!

This is very common in M'sia... Where some barger will park his car indiscriminately anywhere (even in front of a DO-NOT-PARK sign) and so, at times will block another person's car.

Aunt's Colleague: Barger-la... This idiot is blocking my car, so difficult to go out!!
Aunt: Yealo!!!
Aunt's Colleague: Ok, let me try to get out...

** after many many many zillion minutes, later... My aunt's colleague managed to get out **

Aunt's Colleague: Barger-la (wipes sweat)... Wait, must teach this feller a lesson...
Aunt: What you gonna do? Scratch his car-ar?
Aunt's Colleague: Worse than that... Got pen or paper?

Aunt's Colleague: **scribble ** **scribble** Nah!! Gao Tim! (Cantonese for "done or complete")
Aunt: WAAAHHH.. POWER!!!!

My aunt's colleague left this note to the owner of the vehicle...

May a thousand birds shit on your car and dog pee a thousand times on your 4 flat tyres if you continue to park illegally

That has got to be the best note ever!! HAHAHAA...

It did work for a few days but then, it started all over again... (0___o)

Snoopy Has Moved House!!

No... I don't mean that my dog has physically moved house. ;)

She has moved her blog from an old one which she "hijacked" from me back in 2005 to a new home @ Wordpress.

Anyway, do check it out from time to time as she is an outspoken Jack Russell Terrier with a mind of her own. :P

It's a more interesting site with lots more photos too. Kekekee.. I do hope to put up a video or two of her in action - IF I CAN CATCH HER FIRST!

Right now, she's asleep as it is definitely her "doo-doo"(bed) time.

Snoopy's blog (Snoopy's Dawg House) --> http://snoopygirl.wordpress.com.

Sigghhh...

I'm finding it hard to sleep, but I have to sleep, despite the results.

It is a sickening feeling to watch your team lose despite doing their best. Nevertheless, it was good football and a great start for the new Wembley stadium.

Anyway, I believe the boys did well despite the pressure and being a rather young side still. I believe they will only get better and better. As I have said in my other post, we still need to shore up our defences, straighten up our frontline in order to get more goals in the next season.

Well, congrats Chelsea for winning the FA Cup.

However, my hats off to our boys in red, the Reds Go Marching On!!

When Will We Ever Learn...

It was a rainy Wednesday morning here in Kuala Lumpur. ('_')

I woke up to a nice "light and sound" show at about 5:30am. I thought to myself, "Oh heck!!! The roads are going to be clogged"... and I promptly went back to sleep. (^^)

Anyway, no matter how good or bad the weather gets, we have to move our butts off our bed and drag our tired and unwilling (or willing for some of you passionate folks out there) bodies to work. I decided to wait out the rain a bit before venturing out.

Eventually, I found myself on the NKVE (New Klang Valley Expressway), which led me from Subang Jaya all the way to KL (Jalan Duta to be precise).

Halfway through my journey, I attracted a visitor at my car's tail - a brown Waja, tailing me closely at about 100kmph despite the rain and slippery roads on the fast lane. I usually ignore the guy, looking for a chance to safely manoeuvre out of the way so that he could pass. However, I got a bit cheeky. I decided to speed up a little to see if he could "catch up".

He did not tail me so closely but then, after the Bukit Lanjan turnoff, I decided to stay on the middle lane because I wanted a safe drive. I thought to myself, "Nasty bugger...@#@$@@!$#@#$! Heavy rain still want to speed..."

Just before the Jalan Duta toll, I decided to switch back to the fast lane and just then, the cars decided to stop abruptly. I managed to stop in time since I wasn't following the cars closely. However, cars behind me had to do some emergency manoeuvre so that they don't hit the cars in front of them. Wow.. It sure was a close call. (o_0)

Anyway, there was a nasty jam and so, I cut out to the middle lane and while driving by, I noticed the brown Waja again. He was the one who caused us to stop abruptly as he failed to stop in time. He had hit a gold-coloured Vios. It was a nasty accident as his front bonnet was bent out of shape and the Vios's bumper was dented inwards.

***Phew*** That is karma at work.

When will we learn? We are not F1 drivers whose cars are equipped with dry/wet tyres suited for all road conditions. Besides that, didn't that driver learn about the 3-second rule while following another car?

For those of you who took a "kopi license" (*ahem* paid a bribe to get your driver's license), the 3 second rule states that while following a car, you must be at least 3 seconds away. That means, you try to count a static object by the roadside as the car in front of you passes it. Once the car in front of you pass that object, you start counting down - "One Mississippi, Two Mississippi..." until you pass that same object yourself. If you can't count pass Two Mississippi, you're tailing too close to the car in front of you.

Oh well, this incident has taught me a lesson - don't drive too fast while on the NKVE. After all, reaching your destination safely is more important than reaching there fast.

It's Here!!! Minutes to Midnight...

It has been an agonizing 6 weeks. Not that I'm on a diet or anything, but I have been waiting for the launch of Linkin Park's latest album - Minutes to Midnight.

Anyway, for all those who have been wondering about my IM status message, I was counting down to the day I could pick up my CD. So, when I got to work this morning, the first thing I did was to grab this CD.

I can now declare that I have been following this band ever since I heard their first song - "Crawling". Sure, it was edgy and that was my feeling then. I can't comment on this album yet but the guys have matured in their music - even Mike Shinoda has branched on out his own personal project with Fort Minor.

Anyway, I'll definitely take my time to enjoy this CD. Woo hoo!!!

LP ROCKZZZ!!!!

[Update - 4:02pm]
I've just finished listening to the CD (multiple times) and the CD is less edgier than the last one. More so because the band has announced that this album allows them to experiment with a few things to express their creativity.

The songs which I find very good are:

• Track 2 - Given Up (good way to destress)
• Track 3 - Leave Out All The Rest (nice!!!!)
  
• Track 6 - What I've Done (launched as single 6 weeks back)
• Track 10 - In Between (vocal + base line only... really cool!)

Anyway, enjoy the album. It is another good one from the boys. ;)

Do You Code Like This? - The Answer

If you recall my last post, I posed a question like so,

System.out.println(true?false:true==true?false:true);

Anyway, this is a small Java code. If you are ensure about the notation, it is a shorthand for "if...else" statement.

The ?: notation is explained as follows,

( [boolean-expression] ? [true-part] : [false-part] )

An example of the use of the "?:" notation is as follows,

int i = 5;
System.out.println((i < 10)? true: false);

The result should print out "true".

This notation certainly saves a bit of time but it tends to make code very difficult to read.

If we return to the question I posed, if we were to rewrite that statement, we would get the following:

if (true) {
false;
} else {
if (true == true) { false; } else { true; }
}

Was this flow-control what the developer wanted to execute? I apologize for putting the next if statement in a single line but it was to differentiate the nested-if statement.

So, what is the answer?

If you were smart, you would have taken this code and pasted it in a class, compiled and executed it. (^^)

The answer was.... "false". LOL!!!! Obvious, right?

Remember that you can not have a variable named after a Java reserved keyword, so, there was no way that "true" or "false" were variables. ;)

I do advocate the use of the "?:" notation, but only when it is very clear. I would not condone using the "?:" notation when there is a big chunk of code in between each true or false parts.