Farewell, Batu Pahat...

Hello, dear readers. This particular post is a special one, since it will be the last post I will publish here in Batu Pahat (in a long while). I will be leaving this town which has been my home for the last 17 odd years, and travel up north, to start life anew as a university student. Will leave on Sunday early morning, so please pray for me, guys!

Anyway, this post will feature mostly my friends whom I will no longer be able to see for some time. But of course, priority is family, so this first part is for the people closest to my heart... Will miss all of you while I'm studying away from home.

Dear dad, thank you for being there for me all the time. Even though you are always so busy, you never sacrificed your time with us, and made us feel secure and protected from every angle. You are the rock in my life, dad, and I know that whatever you do, the love, the instructions and the the chastisements, you meant it for my best interest. Through you, I see what my Father in heaven is like, and for that I am truly grateful. Love you lots, Dad.

Mom, you are the perfect mom from heaven that everyone dreams they had, and no matter what, I would never have chose anyone else to be my mom. I know that you would most probably be the most worried among us for me, and I know that you will be praying for me every single moment, without fail. Thank you mom, for all the love mom, for I know that your whole life is one act of sacrifice and abounding love for each and every one of us children. Love you to bits, Mom.

Malcolm, dear brother, you have been the closest companion I ever had, through all the years. All through the videogames, the music, the loads of fun we had, you were the one that put up the most with all my nonsense and playfulness. Love you, bro, and study hard, do well so that you may one day carve your own path with the Lord's grace. Fear not and lament not, and I will always be there to help you if you need me. Love you too, Mal.

Dear Girly, I will miss not being there with you and arguing with you (=>) while I'm studying. But remember, I love you, dear sister, and I would not have any other person in the world to be my sister besides you. Grow up strong, dear sister, and let the Lord be your guide all the way. May you grow to be even more beautiful inside and outside than you already are, and become a patient, loving and caring person, a glowing jewel reflecting His glory. Love you, dear Amanda.

Now for all my friends here in my old class, thanks for all the wonderful memories during my time in Form 6. Looking back, I thank God that I stayed back, so I could meet all of you. To my brother Rafi, miss you bro, keep in touch, and remember this crazy fella when you become a big time politician... Hehehehe... To the crazy fellas there, WK, SY, YK, PT, KR, SZ and of course AM, best of luck to all of ya, all the best, and live life to the max! SK, may you accomplish what you desire in that field... The four girls in the second row, CS, LL, SC, and SS: best of luck! XY: hope you enjoy yourself in Sabah, and don't you dare forget me! SQ, good luck! and KN, best of luck and don't be a stranger! The crazy four Malay guys there, don't go too nuts okay! Especially Affandi, Zainal and Lebai, thanks for the memories, old and new!

Now to the people among my old friends and my brothers: Yeong Tai, Kwan Wen and Tai Seng. YT, may good fortune and luck be with you bro, and may your life be filled with joy. KW, be cheerful always bro, and study hard. TS, enjoy life in your new/old environment, and remember to 'jio' me 'lateh' when I come back... And Song Lin, my bestest bro, Y NOW ONLI I REALISE U DIN TAKE PHOTO WIT US? Celakatoi betul. Anyway, to you bro, thanks for everything, for listening when I needed to talk, for cannoning during the fun times and supporting me throughout school life. Will miss you, bro. And for all those whom I have not mentioned, be you from HS, tuition classes or just in passing: thanks for the memories and don't stay far away. Without all of you, my life would never be this complete.

And of course, dear Lord, thank You for all I've experienced, all I have learnt, and most importantly, Your love, mercy and grace you have showered upon me all the time. Looking back now Father, I see Your Hand at work and I praise You, for You love me beyond my imagination, and have my best interests at heart. Without You Lord, I am but dust. Please Lord, continue to smile upon me and hold me close to Your side, even as I walk this path You have set before me. Let me reflect Your light to the world, that I may glorify Your name.

Goodbye, and good night all!

Varsity's Beckoning...

Hi all, been a long time since I updated my site, like some people have been telling me... =< Well, been busy lately (as you will see in a while) and besides my quite considerable store of anime is being 'updated'. In other words, I am hurrying to read and watch as much anime before I depart to a place where Streamyx is not available... University, that is... Hehehe.... Well, shall I start with what some of you may already know, my placement in the Malaysian public universities? This period of time is one of the uplifting periods of my life, and also one of the most draining...

Well, it began on last Monday, when I got up as usual (12-ish, mind you...=>) and checked the online site of the MOHE (Ministry of Higher Education) website for changes... Nope, nothing there... And not an hour later, Yeong Tai called me with an urgent question... (editedfor flavour, LOLZ)

"Hoi, wat did u get?"

"Huh?"

"IPTA (Malay acronym for public universities) lar!"

"WAT? Just checked wat! Nothing mar..."

"Go n check again lar! Got dy!"

Hurried again to the website, whereupon I discovered a new link to the website where you find out what course you got, and where. Huh, angka giliran? Oh that... Where is my STPM cert again (!)... Oh ok...

Then I saw it, in bold letters:

TAHNIAH! Anda telah berjaya ditawarkan program seperti berikut :

PERUBATAN (DOKTOR PERUBATAN)

UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA

And my mind went..... what? Anyway, not funny, I know. What WAS funny was the fee structure... I also applied for Medicine in IMU, and the total fee due to that prestigious university was a whopping total of RM 333,000.00 . *jaw drops* And here, my father and I burst out laughing when we saw the total fee due for UKM : RM14,000.00 (or something around that). That was a difference of, what, 300,000 ringgit? Looks like my dad will be able to afford a new Mercedes with the money saved.... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....

Anyway, the website for UKM was slightly strange as well. When accessed, they will ask you for their answer to the offer, online. The problem was, if you accepted the offer using the fields there (didn't try rejecting it, I won't cut off my head unneccessarily, alright!?) and you refreshed the page, you will STILL see the same fields there, asking the exact same thing... Hopefully it dosen't matter THAT much....

And today was the tiring day. Now, the background. Yesterday I was in JB, seeing my granddad for what was going to be the last time in a very, very LONG while (don't ask about it, I won't be seeing freedom in the form of holidays anytime soon). Then Yeong Tai messaged me, telling me that tonight Vincent Ki was calling for a 'la teh' session (little did I know that the occassion was his birthday... Happy birthday, Vincent... Again...) at 9 pm. Made it back at 10.30, and rushed there to chat and swap stories around. Then, of all people, Chee Kim appeared. Nothing against him, but sessions with him around, in my experience, turn out to be all-nighters as we laugh and laugh and laugh at his cannonades at all manner of subjects, mostly off-colour. As expected, we went home at about 2 in the morning, when the proprietor started looking, no glaring at us... Did I mention that the 8 of us drank a total of RM 9 in tea and such (all paid for by the birthday boy, of course. Thanks Vincent). I think our faces will be on the blacklist of the shop very soon...

And the next day, business as usual... Or maybe not. At 6 - sends siblings to school. Around 7 - reaches home and plonks on the bed again. 7.30 - wakes up to wash-up and head to the outpatient clinic along Jalan Kluang for the clinical check-up required by the university. Get the picture? Not to mention that when I got there the place was packed, and I had 2 and a half hours of running to one counter, running to the opposite counter to pay for the urine and X-ray tests, running back to the urine counter, and a whole lot of waiting around doing absolutely nothing. Actually, the latter accounted for 80% of the time I spent there. And after getting a light breakfst and dozing for a few minutes in my dad's office, sped to the other side of town to get the X-ray done. Yet another bout of waiting here, though here the lines moved noticably faster due to the speed of the X-ray machine, though the snag was the girls requiring an extra 3 minutes each to remove clothing that matter (my guess is even an X-ray can't go through so many layers of cloth) and get their rays done. No offense, just an observation. Sorry girls. =p

Anyway, after getting the X-ray, sped back to the outpatient clinic to get inspected by the doctor, FINALLY! yeap, good question. But don't ask me why, I have no idea... Well, finished EVERYTHING at 4.15 pm (my mom helped with the payment of the initial fees), 7 hours of waiting (almost!) with only 3 hours of sleep and a light breakfast in between. Came back in time to send Malcolm off to tuition and to crash for 2 hours of peaceful sleep on the couch... Ah, bliss.... Finally.... ZZZZzzzZZZZzzZZZZZ...

Fathers...

I am biased, I know, but this is the World's Greatest Dad!

Father - Amazing Love, Hillsongs Australia

Amazing love has won my heart

I am in awe of all You've done

You gave us Jesus, and with Him

You freely gave us everything

Amazing love sets me free

From all that would weigh down on me

You are my strength, my help, my friend

And my hope, life without end

Father, my Father

I'm so secure in You

Your perfect love

Drives away all my tears

Father, I love You

For You have loved me first

And I am grateful

For amazing love


This is a belated post in honour of Father's Day. A big shoutout to my dad: the family man, the diligent bread-winner, and the one who gives without wanting to receive. He has brought all of us three children up in discipline and love, always giving us the best, often witholding his portion for us (especially when it comes to food =>). He is different than some parents (and most Asian parents) because he displays his love in tangible means: hugging and kissing us. And he puts family ahead of everything else like money, work or pleasure. He is always fair and just, never blindly siding with any faction when we siblings get into an argument. (and that is often enough =p) In times when discipline is needed, he is suitably strict and would not brook any nonsense from anyone. This post is in honour of him, my father, and I say that I am truly blessed to be his son.


And that again, another Father is also there, this time unseen, but every bit as loving and protective as my earthly dad. Heavenly Father, this post is also about You. In times when I needed help, and no one could understand me, You were there, crying with me. In times when I thought my heart would break, You were there holding me. In times when I was frustrated, lost, and unfairly blamed You for everything, You never turned away, but You gently guided me, saying that it would be alright in the end. When through Your power I succeeded, You were there celebrating with me. But most of all, Father, You gave me something no one else could: life as a son in Your Kingdom, and eternal life. Though it took Your Son, and broke Your heart, You did it, because of love. Oh Lord, Your love is unimaginable, and I love You, because You first loved me.

To all fathers out there, Happy Father's Day.

Full Metal PANIC!

Okay guys, I know I've not been very recent with my updates, so bear with me... Sort of blogger's block, of sorts... Okay, same excuse again, I know... Anyway, this is an anime I really, REALLY enjoyed, so let us get down to da review!

Okay, ever met some of those so-called 'freaks' that go on and on about a certain subject nobody wants to hear? Yeah like this one right here *points at self*, the anime freak, can't stop spouting nonsense bout anime... Meet any war-freaks? People who can name each and every gun on tv, and give running commentaries on war techniques and facts when a military-themed movie is on? Well then, met anyone who actually acts like a born-on-the-battlefield soldier? Well, if these musings are remotely striking a chord somewhere (or if you actually understand what the heck I'm saying), imagine a real-life, teenage dyed-in-the-wool specialist soldier pushed into school after spending all his years on a battlefield. Real messy, no?

Welcome to the world of Full Metal PANIC! then, boys and girls! Yeap, I meant exactly what I've been rumbling about up there.

Sergeant Sagara Sousuke, codename URUZ-7, is a soldier of Mithril, a top secret NGO that operates in secret around the world, protecting world peace via covert military operations. An Arm Slave (AS, giant machines armed with heavy artillery and armour, used as an extension of the pilot's body... Just think of it as a very low-tech GUNDAM) specialist, he was born and bred on the battlefields of Afghanistan, therefore his life was that of constant war and survival. An excellent soldier, he has served in many missions for Mithril, and was recently attached to the submarine Tuatha de Danaan, under the command of yet another teenage prodigy, Teletha Testarossa. In one of the early episodes, in a battlezone while covering for civilians, he recovers and pilots one of Mithril's top secret AS, a prototype model known as the Arbalest unit, equipped with the mysterious Lambda Driver, a mode that apparently synchronizes the actions of the Arbalest with the brain-waves of the pilot, allowing for feats impossible for ordinary AS. As the original technician died in a raid, he is the only one currently capable of piloting the said Arbalest. Then he is sent, for reasons of age, to Japan, where he is to go undercover as a high school student to protect a girl known as Kaname Chidori. (the gal with the blue hair above... Don't ask me why anime characters have all these funny hair colours...) Well, with juggling two jobs, protecting Kaname AND piloting Arbalest to save the world, that must relly be the limit, isn't it? Well guess what. As he has and always been a soldier, HE HAS NO IDEA HOW TO ACT THE PART OF A NORMAL HIGH SCHOOL KID. Get the picture? No? Ok then, let me spell it out for ya... Kaname, from the very get go, guessed that Sousuke was trailing and watching her, what with all the FBI-style gunpoint interrogation techniques on people who just wanna talk with her... When asked for a diversion to steal term papers by Kaname, he threw a smoke grenade into the room... Blowing up the locker room because he was suspicious of a love letter in his locker... The list goes on...

However, you are wrong if you think that this anime is all about laughter and fun. A secret organization, the anti-thesis of Mithril, Amalgam, is on the lookout for Kaname. To the point, they are after her secrets... No, not those Secrets! Kaname, as it turns out, is a Whispered. Okay, for the lost... Whispered are exceptional individuals that possess secret technological knowledge that are either buried within their subconciousness or are present in their active conciousness. Kaname is one of the former types, while Tessa (the captain of the de Danaan, Teletha Testarossa) is the latter. In order to obtain this so called Black Technology (which actually gave birth to the Lambda Driver technology), Amalgam seeks these individuals out for ends only they know. So you still get that war and battle fix, fans of military battles... However, like all anime, what's an anime without some good old love angles (or rather triangle in this case), especially when it is punctuated by a lot of laughter and slamming on the part of the poor hero... Haih... *grin*

Alright, review time! This anime stretches over 2 seasons, Full Metal PANIC! and the sequel, Full Metal PANIC!: The Second Raid, so it is quite a long one, with an added spin-off called Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu. (some maintain that Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu IS the second season, but I'll leave the debate there...) Both Full Metal PANIC! and The Second Raid focus on war and the development of the angle between Sousuke and Kaname, his growing frustrations with the Arbalest and the hounding of his footsteps by Gauron, an old adversary while he was still in Afghanistan. Fumoffu, however, is a spin-off with ENTIRELY 100% laugh-till-you-drop scenes. So if you want the anime itself, with the character advancement, love triangles and haunting war scenes and the sort, take the two proper seasons. IF you have a bad day and wanna laugh till you drop dead, take Fumoffu. Honest. This is now my recipe for laughter online, with Hardo Gae coming in a close second. Hehehehe... All in all, a great anime, lovely artwork (though some scenes may not be suitable for young kids, you know, slight nudity, gore, violence, yadda yadda yadda...), real military operations and fleshed out characters. Definitely a 5 star rating from me, anytime.

Gundam SEED : Destiny

Sorry guys! Slightly busy these past few days, as some of you can attest to, not being online on MSN... Anyway, lets start on yet another part of the Gundam SEED series, Gundam SEED : Destiny. Oh yes, before I forget, to those who are new to the Gundam scene, there are actually a few series of Gundam running currently, like Gundam Z, Gundam Wing and the like... I personally have not seen them all, so I really won't know about them...

Anyway, Gundam SEED : Destiny is the continuation of Gundam SEED, taking place a few short years after what happened during the end of the Bloody Valentine War.

WARNING!! SPOILER PARAGRAPH!! It has been a few years since the Bloody Valentine War, where the country of ORB was destroyed, or more accurately, blown up by its leaders to deny the advancement of the forces of the Earth Alliance under the influence of Blue Cosmos, a group of miliants with powerful members committed to eliminating the Coordinators at all costs. With the murder of the father of Athrun, Patrick Zala by his own subordinate, the destruction of GENESIS, a giant beam cannon in space, and the death of the mad ZAFT commander Rau Le Creuset, the war between Coordinators and Naturals was brought to a halt by a treaty mediated by ORB, now under the control of Cagalli Zula Athha, the twin sister of Kira Yamato. The war now seems like a memory, but somehow in that uneasy peace, a sinister force lurks...

The beginning of the series shows Cagalli travelling as an ambassador to the ZAFT colony to meet the new leader of the ZAFT forces, Chairman Durandal in the care of her bodyguard, none other than her lover, Athrun. There, the couple meet with an attempt to steal three special Gundam prototypes from ZAFT by Extended pilots from Blue Cosmos of the Earth Alliance. As Athrun protects Cagalli, they meet the young pilot, Shinn Asuka, piloting yet another new Gundam, the ZGMF-X56S Impulse, a Gundam said to be the most advanced and efficient one yet, made up of three different parts fired from its mothership. This enables the Impulse to change ammunation and recharge its power at any time to suit the flow of combat. However, all these fail to catch the thieves, who escape with help from their captan, the enigmatic Neo Roanoke. Deciding to travel with the Minerva, the mothership of the Impulse, they find out that Shinn is actually an ORB citizen whose parents and sister were wiped out during the attack on ORB by Blue Cosmos. Shinn still bears a deep seated resentment and anger towards ORB for failing to protect his family from being killed. The situation worsens when a group of rogue ZAFT pilots, acting on revenge towards Naturals decide to plunge the floating destroyed colony 7, now remade as a shrine towards Earth. Despite the efforts of ZAFT and Athrun, the colony hits Earth, causing the survivors of the accident to incite war against Coordinators again. At roughly the same time, a failed assassination attempt on Lacus Clyne forces Kira Yamato to once again climb on board the ZGMF-X10A Freedom which he has sealed up in order to find those responsible and to save the universe from tearing itself apart from war again...

Well, reviews! As the sequel to the Gundam SEED series, I find that if you liked the original series' conspiracies and twists, you would love ths series. And again, there are machines aplenty here, for the mecha fan. The development of characters here is full and well-thought out again, and the artwork certainly has not deteoirated since the last series. All in all, another good anime to absorb yourself in, and who knows, it might even get you thinking... a lot!

Camping at Singapore!!! Or not...

Okay! Right back from Kuala Lumpur and on to Singapore! The plan was to spend a few nights there under canvas, going fishing, blah blah blah... So took off on Saturday morning and headed to the Second Link. Stopped by at the R&R there for some breakfast. Really nice setup there, with nice garden chairs and everything. Had a not-too-bad breakfast before we sped off into Singapore...


Once in Singapore, we headed directly to our aunt's place, jumped into the car and went on a 'trip'. The plan was to go on some obscure package for Malaysians (apparently you pay the same amount as Singaporeans, but in Ringgit! So, 5 ringgit for a 5 Singapore dollar trip...) but ended up in Vivo City, a nice shopping centre located near the harbour front. After that, sped off to Sentosa to.... look at the beach and to let the small kiddos go up into the famous merlion. At this point, No of 'Tourisy' Trips Went On: 0. Well, it is alright, not really interested, anyway...


After resting up, went for a HUMONGOUS Japanese Buffet at Suntec City. It was Heavenly! LOLZ... The tempura was nice, the sashimi was good, the crab was supreme, the teppanyaki beef was.... Okay, better stop before I start drooling all over again. Hahahahaha... Now I really am pissed that I can't show you the pics... Celaka...


Anyway, spent the night INSIDE the house, no fishing, unless you count fishing the koi inside my aunt's pond... Woke up the next morning to eat breakfast and do what I do best on Sunday afternoons: sleep. LOLZ. Went to Marine Cove on the East Coast Park for cycling, tandem style! A note to those in front when cycling a tandem: try your hardest to control the bike and don't let the fella at the back determine your speed, and the fella at the back: STOP MOVING YOUR NODY FROM SIDE TO SIDE!!! Anyway, had McDonalds there, played some arcade games at one of the sorriest arcades I have been to, really bare... It was the kiddies' idea, you see...

And now! Finally! Pictures! Saw these beauties at the park while waiting for the transports to arrive: Now everybody say: WOW!
Especially love the Harley here... The male side of my family has a fascination for bikes, but barred from having any by Mom... Anyway, had a late dinner/supper at this resturant: Different Taste... Some sort of soup, with crab and mushrooms, and whatever...
Curry fish head! With lots of bendi! (Lady's finger)
Chicken in sweet and sour sauce...
Kangkung! Or at least I think that's it...
And fried chicken... Not bad...

Anyway, went back to the house to pack up and get ready to go home. After blowing out the cake for one of the kids, we went back to Batu Pahat, somehow satisfied with the trip, even without the camping and fishing... Largely due to the scrumptious Japanese buffet, hehehehe... Okay, last picture before it ends: a family photo.

The birthday kid is the one in pink, Joyce. Below her, Jayn (the youngest) and Faith (with Flurry the dog). Uncle Woon is there beside Faith, and my aunt is between my bro and mom. Okay? Good. Gotta go now, so see all of you soon!

I'm Still Alive!!!

Dear readers, sorry for the wait, but I AM BACK!!! *Applause please...* Actually I have been slightly busy the past week, running here, there and everywhere... *runs away from readers booing and throwing things at him* Ok, ok! Bad excuse, I know! Sorry, alright!

Anyway, in the tradition of my mentor, Dr Symeon Chiam, now currently working his butt off in Alor Setar Hospital and unavailable to do his usual act of blogging, I will now present you with a few juicy parts of my last trips... However, even though I was pretty pumped up (yeah right) to tantalize your taste buds in that manner, it looks like an internal glitch (I'm not saying anything) has somehow denied me that pleasure, because I no longer have the photos... Alright, whatever...

My KL trip was part of a last minute decision to apply to IMU, as a safety net of some sort in case my other applications did not go through. So, went there to hand in the documents and wait a day for my interview at the same venue, and also to satisfy a craving of some sort.... At Coliseum!!! Yes, a wonderful and historical cafe/restaurant where you can get one of the world's best Mixed Grills, at phenomenal prices! LOLZ... What a pity that the photos are not around... Anyway, stayed over at my aunt's house, full with dogs and cats, beautiful ones... There's a total of 3 dogs and 8 cats in the household. ('yikes!' do I hear you say?) However I only saw Cadbury, Patches, Pebbles (the 3 dogs), Mickey and Coco there... All the rest of the cats have apparently been er, scouting out the neighbourhood... Spent an afternoon with my cousins when my return home was pushed back, (due to unavailability of tickets to Batu Pahat, hahaha) whereupon I played an extremely violent game...

Get the picture? It more or less chronicles the story of the 'new' Greek God of War, Kratos, the Shadow of Sparta. It is VERY bloody, so please don't pick this game up if you are squeamish or are under 18... Played this really interesting game as well:This is a really nice one, with nice graphics and such. Okay, lets say that the hero is the size of a pea. Then, the colossus is.... a coconut. Something like that. Now to save the damsel in distress, you have to kill off a certain number of colossi (I think that's the plural, oh well). So you have to climb the gigantic colossus using their fur and girdles (wonder who does their tailoring) with only your bare hands, a bow and a magical sword. Cool, huh?

Got back on Friday, and that is that... And right after that, went over to the island of the Merlion, Kiasu Land, Singa(ber)pura... But that is a story for another time....