So long and Thanks for all the fish

I woke up 5am today!
Why? Well that is a life of a QA. We have to wake up early in the morning and test new production changes. Of course we can’t change any production system during normal working hours because that would impact our users, so here I am to test the new codes. The good thing about is, I am the only person in the building at the moment, no noisy workers and no one to bother you while you are blogging =P

I completed my work at 7 am, so I am now having my breakfast, milo cereal I brought yesterday. Actually the cereal is not bad, different from the usual all bran cereal I get, but heh I have to try something new… you only live once.

Guess what, it is my birthday this weekend ! Yikes! I am going to be 2& years old!
Man am I old… I remember when I was 10, I would looked up to my older cousins in the 20s and stare at them in awe. Now that I am in the same age bracket, all I know is that I am still lost in this wide world and I still do not know what to do with my life.

Every year I go through this crisis where I try to justify to myself that I have achieve something in my life after another year has gone by. To tell myself that I have not squandered another year away on procrastinations and pure laziness.

What have I done this year?

I am still working in the same company (4 years now)
I have moved out of home
I did not further my studies
I got married
I am broke

I visited Thailand
I work 6 days a week
I own a car of my own (Toyota)
I have no share portfolio or financial plan
I am saving up to buy a place of my first home

So what now?
Have I wasted my year or have I achieve something?
How do I quantify my achievement and failures? If so why should I?

Last night I went back home to have dinner with my parents. It was a cold and rainy night, so it was great to have a nice home cook meal. We had mee hoon in soup with meat balls and fish balls. It was a simple dish my grandma made but it tasted wonderful so I had 2 servings.

After the wonderful dinner, my mum had to wreck the evening by making me clean up old room and throw away all my stuff which I don’t need. This is want of the reason I rarely see my folks, because they always have something for me to do, when I am back home. I have left home for close to a year and everytime I go back home, I am asked to either fixed their computer for clean/fix something up. So I guess last night was no different. They had packed all my old things into a few boxes and my mum wants to minimize the number of boxes, so she asked me to check each boxes and throw away anything I did not want.

Thank god that she did not ask me to throw away my extensive collections of comics. Oh yeah why don’t I just take all my stuff back to my place, why I would love to, but the place I am renting at the moment can’t even fit a tenth of what I have. Anyway during my clean up I found a few interesting things.

I guess it wasn’t surprising that I still had all my notes from high school and my notes why I was in Uni, but the most amazing find was a letter from my old best friend from Malaysia Wong Li Soong. Man I have not seen or heard from him for over 10 years. In those times we used to write letter to each other every month (note 1988 before GUI emails clients). Man we were so young an innocent then, it was one of the saddest time in my life. I had to leave all my friends and not just move to another town but to another country. I remember the first few months after our migrations, I used to secretly cry in my bed, because I missed my old friends and also because Aussie kids were laughing and bullying me because I talked funny. I remember that I was the only Asian kid in the whole class.

But what am I to do? I was still in primary school; I can’t go back to Malaysian since my family is now in Australia, and so I was stuck here. It was hard, but I guess it is true in what they say, if it doesn’t kill you, it just makes you stronger. So I had to learn to speak Australian, try to lose my “Lah” and try to fit in.

In the course of trying to survive my new environment, I began to lose touch with my old friends from Malaysia. In the end I was only in contact with 3 friends Li Soong, Teo Eugene and JM (who eventually became my first love). I went back to Malaysia in 93/94 to visit them, man it was great. To talk about the old times in school and to see how much they have changed. Sadly after that get together we all started to begin to prepare for our tertiary education. The last I heard Li Soong went to Canada to study and Eugene, I had no idea where he is.

So anyway now here I am reminiscing of the good old days and trying to figure out what should I throw and what should I keep.

Should I keep the old letters I had from my old friends from Malaysia? If so why?
Should I keep the old lecture notes?
Or should I just trash everything and begin a new…?

Finally the first Australian Idol series is finish, we now know who is the winner and we can finally go back to enjoying some good old American serials =P

For the last 6 months, my TV was commandeer by the "Boss", so that she could watch her Aussie Idol. After last night finale I thought I would find some respite from the constant karaoke singing, but I fear not, it has now been announced that there will a International Idol and another American Idol coming out soon!! (as early as next year)

What am I to do?
How can I survive another barrage of losers singing old musics??..

To celebrate the wallabies trashing of New Zealand All blacks here are some jokes to poke fun on the all blacks:

Q. What do you do for a drowning New Zealand Rugby player?
A. Nothing. You could drag him to the top, but he'll choke anyway.

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Q. What's the difference between the All blacks and an arsonist? A. An arsonist wouldn't waste 5 matches.

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The All Blacks are bringing out a new bra! Plenty of support, soft and no CUP!!!

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Did you hear that the NZ Post Office has had to recall their latest stamps? They had pictures of the All Blacks players on them. People couldn't figure out which side to spit on.

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Did you hear about the Kiwi politician who was found dead in a All Black jersey?

The police had to dress him up in women's underwear in order
to save his family from the embarrassment.

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Four surgeons are taking a coffee break. The first one says, "Accountants are the best to operate on because when you open them up everything inside them is numbered."

The second surgeon says, "Nah, librarians are the best; everything inside them is in alphabetical order."

Third surgeon says, "Try electricians. Everything inside them is colour-coded."

The fourth one says, "I prefer New Zealand Rugby players. They're heartless, spineless, gutless and their heads and bums are interchangeable."

Courtesy of Joy tech.

I finally saw matrix revolution on the weekend. I must say that I am disappointed with the lack of action and wire-fu in the Third instalment of the series, but overall it is still a great movie and a great series. Man is Persephone a hottie or what! It is such a waste that she doesn’t even have any significant camera time on the movie.

And what happen to the Morpheus, he looked like he has gain a few pounds and lost all his faith and strength? In the first 2 film he was portrayed as the indomitable character, but in the third film he looked like a scared little bystander, even the “kid” saw more action than him.

In the end, I am happy to say that I really enjoyed the film. It is definitely not a Hollywood ending which is always great to see. I know lots of people really like to dissect the movie and find the hidden meaning, but who really cares. It is a movie, if you enjoy it then it is a good movie.

Got the link from wena, looked interesting =)

10. Being told to "think outside the box" when you're in a freakin box all day long.

9. Not being able to check e-mail attachments without turning around to see who's behind you.

8. Cubicle walls do not offer much protection from any kind of gun fire.

7. That nagging feeling that if you press the right button, you'll get a piece of cheese.

6. Lack of roof rafters for the noose.

5. The walls are too close together for the hammock to work right.

4. 23 power cords - 1 outlet.

3. Prison cells are not only bigger, they also have beds.

2. The carpet has been there since 1976 and shows more signs of life than your coworkers.

And the number 1 drawback to working in a cubicle....

1. You can't walk out and slam the door when you quit.

My official time was 28 mins 17 seconds, but it took me about a minute before I cross over the starting line =)
Not bad I guess, but I think I could have done better. Remember that I had been having issue with my foot, well it was inflame by the 4 kM mark... I think I have torn a ligament of something on my toe, I'll have to speak to a physio later today to check it out. I am still limping so I am guessing that it is pretty major.

In any case it was a good run, I had to walk for about 5 mins during the race to give my foot a rest, because the pain was excruatiating, but I still completed the run which I am quite happy of.

The fastest time was 16 mins I think and in my group/company I was the third fastest, so I am pretty proud of that =)
Anyway you can checkout some pics of the event on the official JPMorgan Site.

It is tommorow at 6.30 PM. So hopefully after my month of training, I 'll be able to finish this race on a good time =)
wish me luck! =)

My time last night was 22 min and 29 seconds in 10 rounds.

So I am hoping for such time tomorrow.

I'll let you all know Thursday =)

Cheers

An online diary of a London call girl

Of course it is still not as interesting as the adventure of Sixth Seal =)

This is baby Eion. Nothing really shows the beauty of the world like a new born baby. May God bless you and your family little Eion.



Hush child,
Let your mommy sleep into the night until we rise
Hush child,
Let me soothe the shining tears that gather in your eyes

Hush child,
I won't leave I'll stay with you to cross this Bridge of Sighs
Hush child,
I can help the look of accusation in your eyes
In your eyes

The world is broken and now
All in sorrow
Wise men hang their heads

Hush child,
Let your mommy sleep into the night until we rise
Hush child,
All the strength I'll need to find, I'll find inside your eyes
In your eyes

~Sting~

Got this from Wena.

A kind soul! Which Journal Site Are You?

Friday

Man that was a bad day. Had a fight with the boss/wife in the morning. Heated words were exchange and angers flared. It was a silly argument, but I guess all arguments are silly. I was late to work, and I could not think or work the whole day.
Thank god that we reconcile later in the evening when we both at home.

Man it was scary, cause I walked out of the argument and went to work... So I did not know what she did. I felt empty the whole day and I was scared that I might find all her things gone, but luckily it didn't.

We are not OK now, so it all ended well...Woo Hoo!!

Saturday

We woke up at 10am and had a quick breakfast and clean up out apartment. Man I hate vacuuming! The only good thing is that the apartment is really small, so the vacuuming is kept to a minimum.
Then we went to visit one of out friend who just gave birth to a baby boy. I got some pics, so when I have time at home, I'll upload pic of Little EION.

Then we went back to my old home and visit my Grandma and have some of Grandma's cooking !! Yummy! Man was I hungry =)
Made sure grandma was ok and then went home.

Sunday

Worked at my dad's shop. It was bloody hot and busy! I do not like summer!
Bloody flies!
After work, we went to Church. I am now a choir boy for the local church... Woo pee =P
Met some friend from SFC and we had dinner at my apartment. Cooked some yummy food but as always forgot to take the pics.

Yes I have too much time on my hand.
Yes I can't think of anything to write.
Yes this may be the Longest URL
And Care factor = ZERO! =)

Courage is resistance to fear
Mastery of fear
Not absence of fear.

~Mark Twain~

Minishorts asked and so I comply. Enjoy

• Regular underwear or G: Don't care unless I am allow to see it.
  
• painted nails or not: not
  
• Bra or sports bra: Is there a difference?
  
• Cute n' mysterious or wild n' sexy: Cute and Sexy
  
• Dressy or casual: Depends on the occasion. Dressy only applies for functions.
  
• Dark or blonde hair: Dark hair. Blonde hair just looks too ditzy for me.
  
• Long or short hair: Long hair definitely!
  
• Dark or light eyes: Dark Eyes. Eyes you can get lost in
  
• Long or short nails: Short nails. You know how painful it is when you get scratch with long nails! OUCH!
  
• Hat or no hat: Why hide your beautiful hair under a hat?
  
• Good or bad girl: normal?
  
• Fat or thin: Neither. Someone who can be comfortable with their weight! You know how hard it is to handle a girl who have weight issues?!!
  
• Hair up or down: Whatever she wants it to be. Your hair, your choice.
  
• Jewellery on or none: If you have it, flaunt it.
  
• Short or tall: I am 183, so you must be tall enough for me to kiss you without bending too much =P
  
• Curly or straight hair: Again whatever takes your fancy.
  
• Pants or dress: Practicality is the key. You are not going to wear a dress on a bush walk and you are not wearing a pants on a formal dinner.
  
• Tan or fair: natural
  
• Freckles or none: No preference
  
• Indoor or outdoor: Both. Love the beach, bush and the bedroom.
  
• Shy or outgoing: Outgoing. Carpe Diem!
  

One of our Portal developer is leaving tomorrow and we have to think of something to engrave on his cup... and here are a few suggestions: [only funny for geeks]

(1) The Ron Jeremy of Infranet
(2) The Infranet Hedgehog
(3) This mug to be jammed up an Infranet poid
(4) Show me the flist
(5) Zzzzzz I was just having a test-nap
(6) Stand back! This mug may contain core dumps

It is out!
Man I can't wait to see it, but I am guessing I won't have time till next week. I read on the of review "Matrix Revolution Review" and it sounds promising.

Trinity is going to kick butt!! YEAH!!

10 rounds in 23 mins and 37 seconds

NO improvement..yikes!

The race is on the next wednesday @1830 on Centennial Park. I am told that I am going to get a free company T-shirts... woo pee doo =P

Recently my local Chinese video store has a sale on, so I brought 5 VCD for 38 aussie bucks, which is quite cheap. Bare in mind the only Hong Kong movies that I watch is Jet, Jackie and Stephen Chow movies, so my knowledge on HK movies are pretty limited to action movies. So this time to extend my repertoire I tried some drama/romantic comedy and/or comedy action movie.

Surprisingly I last night saw a very thought provoking movie which made me think about my life. The Movie was called "Tempting Heart". It was made in 1999 and supposedly won some awards, but I had no idea when I saw the movie yesterday.

The Movie was basically about a Love Triangle, but not a typical love story.

There was a question which was pose in the beginning of the film, "If you believe that fate decide who you meet and love, does fate also decide when you break-up".

This question echo and resound in my head, it reminded me of the past, reminded me of my first. As they all say you could never forget your first and trust me I tried. Is it wrong to think about your past, about your first when you are with someone else.

I have known her for over 20 years, since primary schools in KL. When I left for Oz, we kept intouch and we finally got together when I came back to KL for my summer holidays. Man was it bliss...After so many years pining someone it was amazing to finally be together. The months we were together went by too quickly and in the end it was time for me to go back to Oz. The pain was excruciating. I could not do any work for months, we were talking on the phone every month and we were writing letters (note: pre-email era...yikes I am old!) to each other every day. I guess it was not surprising that in the end it was too much for her. The waiting, the loneliness, to have someone but yet you can't touch or talk to them when you want. Long Distance Relationship never works.

We promise to keep intouch, we were still good old friends. She even came to Oz to study, but since she was on the other side of the country, it was not easy to see her. We were both in Uni and that took most of out time.
At this stage I still had feeling for her. One time I even planned to go across the country to surprise her. I save up all my money and I check for accommodations and flight ticket, I even got a pressy for her birthday. But in the end, I chicken out... I don't know why but I didn’t do it. I guess I fear that if I go and see her and get rejected again, it would kill me. So I took the easier road.

Years later when we finally meet, it was when she came over to Syd for a holiday. She called me up and ask me if I wanted to meet. And I said, of course. I could remember how excited I was, how much I wanted to see her. When I met her at the lobby of the hotel... I also met Boyfriend.

I am finding that it is getting harder and harder to blog. Sometimes I can't find time to think let alone blog and sometimes when I have time, I have no idea what to say. It seems that all my time is spend working, run, watch TV and eat. My work is boring, the challenges of a new job looks more and more appealing everyday. This is why I admire my fellow bloggers Sixseal who seem to be always invited to parties and going to some place interesting, minishorts, who always seem to have dilemma after dilemmas and Wena, always eat the best food.

Me, I think I can show how quite life can be. Here is Oz, I have never found any great night life, except for pub crawling. It was fun when I was in Uni, but now just can't handle my hangovers anymore. So what kind of fun do I get myself into?

1. Meet up with old friends I guess, but most of them are married and they all have their own life to live.
   
2. Watch a decent movie? yeah I am still waiting for the next Matrix
   
3. Read a good book. Any recommndations
   
4. I use to collect comics, but now the comics are too expensive. AU$5.00 per comic! Man it use to be AU$3.50
   
5. Spend time with my partner. Yeah I guess we do, but what do we do?
   

Boring eh....
Maybe I should take up a new hobby? or just go on a holiday ?
Maybe if I get a decent pay I would......

Monday
10 rounds in 22 mins and 15 seconds

Tuesday
7 rounds in 16 mins and 29 seconds

I guess it is an Ok time, hopefully I can improve my time before the run on next Wednesday. Fingers cross.

Kill Bill vol 1 is the 4th film from the infamous director Quentin Tarantino. It was a much anticipated film by the fans of Tarantino, but personally for me, I didn't even know about this film until they were promoting the film on TV.

So what can I say about this film, well it has VIOLENCE!!, Pure unadulterated violence. I think you must be a fan of the old HK/Japanese Martial Arts movies to really appreciate the violence and the lack of story line. Even before the actual movie started Tarantino really tried to re-create the feel and flow of the old Martial Arts films, by using the old "Run Shaw Productions" film introduction.

The basis of the story is about an ex-assassin who survived a murder attempt on her life and now after 4 years, she is back for revenge. The "big bad dude" is Bill (David Carradine). We don't actually see him in the first volume, but I am sure everyone knows the famous "Kung Fu" actor.

Although the fight scenes was great(since the fight choreographer for the movie is Yuen Woo Ping, the same choreographer for the matrix series), it is never the same a watching a real martial artist fighting. No matter how much an "Actor" tries to fight, they are never as smooth as a real Martial Artist. Uma Thurman, Lucy liu and Vivica fox are no martial artist. Their moves are so "angular" and uncomfortable. In any case the fight scene is still kick arse compare to DareDevil.

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Oh just remember a side story, during the preview, Freddy Vs Jason was on and there was a bunch of young girls sitting behind us. They were all talking about the preview and this is how it went:

[Girl 1]: Oh..I wonder what this movie(Freedy vs Jason) is about..
[Girl 2]: It's a sequel from two other horror movies.
[Girl 1]: Sequel to what movies??
Minute of silence..
[Girl 2]: emmm.. I think the movies are Freddy Krueger and Jason.

And I am thinking...YOU LOSERS!! You don't even know What movie it was !!

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Anyway back to the movie, if you are a Bruce Lee fan, you will be able to spot lots of scenes which are similar to the old Bruce Lee movies. So if you like the old 70s Martial arts film then you will love Kill Bill, where blood, gore and missing limbs are a norm.