Merry Christmas!!

Hey all!

How's it going? Christmas is almost here! Yay! No, I don't celebrate Christmas, but there's no reason not to celebrate the spirit of Christmas, aye? Spending time with family, a season for forgiveness, buying presents, basically a public holiday :)

Maybe Esmonde can give a Christmas 101.

Anyhow, my internship takes a back seat this week, which is a good thing. I could use a breather. But it has got me thinking real deep, about my future. I never really gave it much thought; I just assumed I'd know when the time comes. That time is soon, like really soon, I'll be graduating. And then what?

I honestly don't know, but I guess only I can figure that out. Let's move on to something happier! Like surviving 21st December 2012!! For some reason I had the impression that there was going to be some plenary alignment on that day (Must be from some research I did when the movie 2012 came out 2 years ago). But I did a quick google search that morning and realised that nothing's gonna happen! Nothing special or out of the ordinary anyway. Only the Tang Yuan(Winter Solstice) festival, like every other year.

So not much yay! after all. Christmas is tomorrow, and I have good news! I have finished drafting my short story's outline! Yay! Should be typing it out soon! :D

So, Merry Christmas everyone!!

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Draw Me Like One of Your French Girls, you said? ;)

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Rudolf the Red Nose Lion...?

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Imma find you in the middle of the night and we'll be the best of friends >:)

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Just A Lil' Something

There hasn't been much activity here on Ocean's 1/2 lately. I truly apologise for that. I've been going through some really personal issues, couple that with exams and what you get is an idle blog. I had plans of shutting this blog down for good, but it seems so much of a deja vu that I'm questioning my perseverance and if it's not for my own lack of will.

Anyhow, here I am. I realised one thing though. The more I write in my private journal, the less I write in my blog. I guess the amount of time I have for documenting my life is limited. That brings me to another question - How do you strike a balance between documenting your life and living it?

Take for example, a camera. I sometimes find myself busy snapping away, or recording something, usually a very precious moment that in the process of doing so, I have essentially failed to enjoy the present. And all that is left are some pixels to remind me of my foolishness. What do you think? Leave me a comment below :)

Anyhow, I have a little more time on my hands now, so I do have a little something for the blog in the coming weeks. I had this idea of writing a series of short stories, much like a weekly thing, but didn't really had the guts to kickstart the project, till I received 2 tweets. 2 encouraging tweets from what I thought was a non-existent reader base. So, that really got to me and I'm happy to say that I have started. I'm not exactly sure how this will go, but I'm just gonna go with the flow, there isn't really a plan. Haha..

Here's a sneak peak :) I hope you enjoy it!

"Just to be politically correct, I don’t know what love is, or what it feels like, because it’s just such a big word to use, but if I were to give it the wildest shot, this is as close as it gets. It’s better than all my fantasies and imagination put together. This is what I would call love. Well, at least for now."

I haven't even named the short story yet..haha. Perhaps when I've written more material, I'd give it a fair title.

I guess this should suffice in making up for October's Wrap Up which I did not write. Till then, I'll probably post a couple more photos from Penang :)

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Cricket

All pictures were taken in Monash Sunway campus for a Photo Competition. But since it's over now and nope, I didn't win, but I thought I'd share a couple of photos I took. Enjoy =)

Ridiculously Photogenic Guy?

I believe it's called pitching the ball.

And this guy's batting the ball.

If you'll notice, the chairs have replaced the wickets - the 3 poles the baller is supposed to hit down. (shown below). Well, I think simply because there's no wickets in Monash? Another point to note is that these cricket players are mostly non-Malaysians, either from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Sri Langka. Looks like Malaysians like their badminton too much for cricket!

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Deja Vu

Déjà vu, from French, literally "already seen", is the phenomenon of having the strong sensation that an event or experience currently being experienced has been experienced in the past.

Of? My blog going down. I've not been updating as frequently as I used to. Maybe because I'm busy (that's an excuse), I have nothing to say (also an excuse) or simply because nobody actually reads what I write (partially true).

At any rate, I always have a need to find the purpose in everything I do, and in this case, if no one's reading, why bother? Or is it more for me than for others? Then isn't a private journal a more worthwhile candidate, what with all this privacy concerns?

The answer is. I don't know. I just felt like I ought to write something down before the next Wrap Up. Maybe I'll post a picture or something later. 

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Wrap Up: September 2012

Somebody wake Green Day up!!! hahahaha.. September is officially gone today, but I could not have asked for a better month! Ever! Really!

My friends would know by now why. Perhaps if you ask me nicely, or bribe me with ice-cream, I'll tell you privately. Safe to say, that I'm happy as can be! :)

What else? Winning the men's badminton doubles gold medal in the Inter Buddhist Youth Games was also a sweet sweet achievement for me. Especially when all odds are stacked against you. Emerging champion after such a battle is the sweetest victory! Badminton was definitely one of the highlights of this month, joining ever so many games with different folks.

The other major event was the Monash Annual Ball. It was fun to dress up and see all your friends dressed up albeit all the complains about the organisers. Lots of drama going on in the FB page, of which I contributed only one two comments.

Most importantly, I think I grew this month. A lot. Hopefully not physically, but emotionally. I learned a lot of invaluable lessons on connecting with someone, taking initiative, and risking it all. And it was all worth it. See Quote #14.

I got distracted seeing that I can't remember what other notable stuff happened, and I thus searched for a good journal app on mobile and the Web. But no luck so far. Anyhow, till then.

Top 3 posts in September: Titanic., The Hitchhiker's Dilemma, Quote #14
Total Pageviews in August: 1404 << I don't know where all these views came from!

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Quote #14

I haven't posted anything new for quite some time now. It's safe to say that many exciting things have happened, and I'm very happy with this :) I thus leave you with a quote that has changed my life quite a bit over the past few weeks.

"To get something you never had, you have to do something you've never done" 

- Anonymous

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Wrap Up: August 2012

Wow, what a month it has been! University stuff starts building up momentum and with that comes all the pressure and workload all at once. Anyhow, the results for the MyMonash moments competition was announced. I was so confident of winning one of the top prizes, based on view counts and entertainment value, but sadly, my video "Only in Monash" was only worthy of a consolation prize in the eyes of the judges.



If I said I wasn't disappointed, it would be a downright lie. But this simply goes to show you can never be too sure in a competition, and expectations only kill you that much more. Nevertheless, with the small amount of money I received, I decided to treat all my cast and TRCHQ a sausage mcmuffin breakfast!! That's 20 of them, I think! And it was worth it, just seeing their faces light up at the sight of free food :)

But, the story did not end there. A guy from Monash Abroad (that's the department that deals with exchange students) took a look at all the videos from the competition and decided to task me with producing 2 videos to promote Monash Sunway as an exchange destination! It's very exciting, yet very challenging as well, what with my Final Year Project and everything that's going on. But I said yes anyway, so it's a done deal.

Speaking of videos, there's another one that I recently made for the Canon Legria competition. Check it out here! The winning entry will be judges solely based on votes, so I guess, it's gonna be one hell of a begging session next week. Although I did receive some positive comments, most response was that it's confusing and they couldn't understand the video.. That's because the video is actually much longer than that, but because of the 2 minutes restrictions, I had to do it flashback style, which probably wasn't such a good story telling method for the clips that I shot. Anyhow, we'll see how it goes, and if you're free, why not give my video a vote? Much appreciated!

As for the month of September, I couldn't have asked for a better start than today! Men's Doubles Champion in the Inter-Buddhist Youth Games. It's was one heck of a nail-bitter and an impossible test of mental and physical limitations. I'll probably give more details later when I have the time, but it's safe to say that we played 3 matches, with a total of 8 games. That's 2 rubber sets! But in the end, it was all worth it :)

And it's also safe to say that I'm looking forward to the following weeks of September, expecting very exciting developments! Till then, have a good weekend ahead guys!

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Chasing Storms

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I'm Not A Brown Board!!

Taken on Penang Hill. 

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MBS AGM

I've designed quite a few posters in Monash, so I thought why not share it with the world? So, here's the latest one.

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The Saddest Face of 2012

I'm still a bit emotional over last night's match to be honest. To non-Asians, that's THE match between Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan. I don't usually write about these, but I just felt like I need to blurt a few things out. One of my friends posted this, which sums it up pretty well:

"Couldn't ask for a better finals. Could only ask for a different winner" - Kevin T.

As I watch Twitter's trends, a lot of people are saying not so nice things about Lin Dan; like the famed "Skills win you medals, but attitude win your hearts" and even Namewee made a song about it.

To make it crystal clear, I'm with LCW. All the way. But it's certainly not fair and totally unprofessional to condemn the opponent. In my honest opinion, Lin Dan did NOT reach here by accident, nor was he born Superman. He worked really hard to get to where he is today and this is eminent by the way he celebrated after yesterday's victory - running around the stadium like a mad man, hugging his coaches and even giving a hint of tears. Furthermore, you can clearly see him blaming himself for every minor mistake he made - like how he slapped his head about 5 times once. Any man who did not work hard for something, cannot possibly taste victory as sweet.

To Lin Dan's credit, if anyone more, even just slightly, deserving than LCW to win that gold medal yesterday night, it has to be this man. 

And this is what his fans had to say about LCW, which I find is absolutely true and honest in the biggest rivalry in badminton world:

 "This post, is from Lin Dan's Fans Club in China. It reads

Thank you very much, Lee Chong Wei, Thank you for being such a noble and worthy opponent, and thank you for 10 years of company - without Lee Chong Wei's worthiness, there will not be any Lin Dan's worthiness; without Lee Chong Wei's persistence and perseverance, there will not be any progression for Lin Dan. Lee Chong Wei missed his first Gold Medal, but he didn't fail. We felt for his cries. [SHARED/RT] When we cheer for Lin Dan's victory, please also remember Lee Chong Wei. You both are the best."

And to all those trying to console Lee Chong Wei by saying that it's okay, silver is enough, I can't help but feel a bit insulted by that statement. Lee Chong Wei did not train his ass off for a silver. He did not overcome all the negative criticism in Beijing by emerging as a much more whole player for a silver. He did not gave up when Misbun quit, nor did he let any political crap get to him for a silver. And he certainly did not recover from his injury for a silver nor whatever happened to his Father trying to commit suicide get to his head. He was in it for the gold. And the most disappointing part "is not able to hear the Negaraku being played in London". I think above all, his biggest disappointment is letting his fans down, letting Malaysia down, letting us down. And this.is.the.saddest.face.of.2012.

P.S. Someone suggested to play Fix You by Coldplay to LCW. I can't agree on a better song.

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Wrap Up: July 2012

July. Ahh, you're such a funny month! I can't say you've been the most busy or productive month, and yet you're not the most boring either. It's been quite a ride and most of the time a good month.

Let's see. July spells winter break, and yet a break is hardly what I got. Things kinda slowed down after Penang Trip, but as usual the taxi driver routine kicks in right after. And soon, it turned out to be McDonald Friday as the Olympic Cup collection begins.

For the most of the month, time was spent with the family, Dota or otherwise.

The last week of the month marks the beginning of a new semester and I was brought back one day earlier to attend BGF's Counselling Workshop. I actually felt that it inspired me to be a better photographer than a counsellor because of one of the videos showed about Dewitt Jones. He is a National Geographic photographer and his philosophy used to be "When I see it, then I'll believe it". But soon, as he went out each time to capture photographs, he said that his view began to change. It began to challenge everything he was taught from young and his current philosophy now is "When I believe it, I'll see it". Simply put, his concept is to Celebrate What's Right in The World and when he goes out believing he'll get a great shot, he usually does.

Anyhow, here I am back in university; in my final year. Can you believe that?! I can still remember clearly the day I took a great gamble going away from Form 6 to enrol in Sunway University. And the many times that I doubted myself. The many times I said I would change course if I failed anyone one of the subjects. And yet, fate, or karma has never allowed me to do just that. So here I am! I believe I have changed for the better, relearning skills I used to have and having better understanding at that. Maybe I'll talk about this more in another post.

Well, this sem promises to be uber interesting, what with the start of our Final Year Project. All the drama that has already unfolded right in the allocation process. The Inter-Buddhist Youth Games, and all the usual happenings around uni! Till next time, ciao!

Top 3 posts in July: Titanic., Review: The Dark Knight Rises, The Penang Post Part I
Total pageviews in July: 495

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Review: The Dark Knight Rises

First off, let's get 2 things straight. The previous installment was very long ago, and I can't remember much except that it was epic. Secondly, it was epic.

So, the expectation for this was high, like way up in the sky high. And needless to say, these kind of expectations aren't good. Anyhow, that's that and the movie was watched yesterday as part of a meet-up with high school mates plan.

I wouldn't say it's bad. But it just ain't as epic as Joker. I mean come on, seriously. The Dark Knight is way too epic and it totally overshadows this one. There ain't much Batman action in this one. The cape only gets worn like what, 3 times? And Christian Bale is getting too old for this. The fight scenes are too "kaku" for me. It's like some oversized body builder trying to be agile, him and the Bane, if you get what I mean. Speaking of Bane, he just lacks character, again as compared to the Joker.

The storyline is also a bit of a let down compared to the previous one, where Joker has lots of twists up his sleeves. This one's a bit straightforward and we could keep pointing out some silliness of certain scenes. Like how the bad guys didn't flood the reactor in the very beginning, thus eliminating any chances to stablilising the bomb. Not to mention also the autopilot thing, which suggests that a happy ending is always a must. Bla bla bla.

Nevertheless, the movie is still watchable, but would appear simply as another terrorist trying to explode a bomb in the city. My ratings? 6/10

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Heartbreak Payphone

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The Penang Post Part I

Super-delayed, I know! So let's get started right away.

The Penang trip came to light during the semester when one of my coursemates suggested a trip after the exams. It got draggy, as how every decision is with the mechatronics bunch, but in the end, it was a groupon deal on car rental(which we didn't buy in the end) that really got things rolling.

Long story short, one day after our exams ended, we headed to Penang by bus! Everyone came to Puduraya/Pudu Sentral in the morning. Short breakfast at the food court and off we went on the 8.30am Konsortium bus.

*Before I proceed further, I'd like to apologise for the coming photos as they will not include any of our faces. To check us out, go Facebook :P

Bus was uneventful. On hindsight, it was a decent bus, decent driver, decent speed and decent stop intervals. Go Konsortium!

Anyhow, we reached Butterworth at about 1pm and made our way towards the ferry terminal with, yes, with  all those luggage. The terminal has one of the funniest, probably oldest mechanism. You have to pay by coins and there's a manned counter there just to exchange coins for you. *facepalm* Btw, it was RM1.20 towards the island and free on the way back.



The ferry is awesome. I'm officially in love with ferry rides =) The view is beautiful, almost out of Malaysia. Water's pretty clear (It IS the ocean after all!). The ports are lined with petroleum companies, sampans, tugboats, ships, and cruises. Going towards Penang, you'll get to see the famed Penang bridge on your left, and skyscrapers like the Komtar tower and the clock tower right in front of you with mountains in the backdrop. Have I mention I like ferry rides? :)







The ferries are named after islands, like Pulau something. But look at ours!

Anyhow, we reached Weld Quay.

*Before I continue, I'd like to warn you that this post will be pretty long as it also serves as my personal documentary*

Yes, anyhow, we reached Weld Quay. There were 3 options from this point to get to our hotel - bus, taxi, legs. I don't know how it was decided but 8 people somehow decided to lug all the overweight bags right through Little India to Love Lane from Weld Quay. Must have looked like some refugees, come to think of it.. haha

Nevertheless, we arrived in Red Inn, a converted hotel situated in Love Lane, off Chulia Street. It's quite a achievement, really, considering the hot sun, the amount of weight carried and the distance we walked blindly guided by instincts and a GPS.

Not only that, we decided to not rest much and went straight to our first stop. Probably cause we were literally starving at this point - 2pm. So, you've probably guessed the first stop by now - food! In particular, Nasi Kandar. Line Clear Nasi Kandar to be exact.

Ordering Nasi Kandar is crazy I tell you. It's so chaotic, yet so systematic, you have no idea what you just did! Haha... Everyone seems to be shouting something, scooping something or counting something. You only get to order when the guy stops and ask you "Makan?". And then goes on to guess your dishes. Seriously, they don't really ask you what you want, they just take it for you..LOL I wonder if it's a sales technique to con tourists like us. Mine turned out to be RM12.60, simply cause I fell for his kambing suggestion. Oh well, being con is part of the tourist experience isn't it? haha


Next up, cendol! To be honest, I don't know where it is? Thank goodness for Le Boss and his GPS. It's the famous Teo Chew Cendol apparently, so yeap, we got to freshen things up with this icy dessert. And then, there's always the guy who doesn't take beans...


We then went to Komtar to find our best friend LGE towel cause there will always be one guy who forgets something. In this case, it just happens to be the same guy who doesn't take beans. You know who you are ;)

Towel in hand, we took the free bus to get home. But we missed our stop (that aunty la!) and ended up visiting the beach. Walking along the beach, we arrived at the Esplanade (I think) and Fort Cornwallis (which these bunch of Engineers decided wasn't worth the entrance fee by reasonable arguments, LOL) and settled instead for a bird and bird-shot infested place plus super duper slow service coconut shake. Seriously, don't ever come here. Ever. It's near Fort Cornwallis and it's tempting, but just don't.


After that, we just decided to walk back to Red Inn as we didn't want to wait for the bus. Back home, it was rest, rest and more rest till we were hungry. And when we were, we simply walked out to Chulia Street which has street hawker food every single night. Awesome place. Dinner was simple. I had Yi Fu Mee (I think), which is like Yee Mee but bigger and friend KungFu style, if that's what you call it.

Then it was back to Red Inn for card games! Chor Dai Di and Bluff till we were too tired while Le Boss and Deputy Le Boss planned the next day itinerary. I know, Best Friends Awards needed here. Haha, so that's it for Day One!

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Wrap Up: June 2012

.....aaaand it's June already. totally should have use cheesetal's technique of scheduling posts. Now I'll have to recollect from the start. Couldn't find much in Project 365 Grateful. I think it's as good as abandoned?

But June's pretty straightforward for me. For the most of June, it's exam period, so study like mad cows day in day out. But also in June, I made yet another video just cause I can cause I can't stand the thought of some vlogger winning the Nokia Lumia 900 when I didn't even try a tiny weeny bit. So I came up with an idea that uses the least amount of resources, yet still funny, I hope. See it here. Yet nope, I didn't win, but at least those who did were good videos, so I'm not to unhappy.

Right after my exams ended, it was Penang, Penang, Penang. <-- *This could be the title of my unwritten Penang post! :O* So yeah, expect more of that next week as this weekend, I'm strengthening my leg muscles and growing thicker face skins trying to sell Celcom Broadband in PC Fair.

And before I sign off, I did watch a lot of movies + London the Summer Musical. Click on them to see  a little review and what I think of them.

That's it for my June! Gotta get to work now. Ciao.

Top 3 posts in June: Cause I don't wanna die!, What Have I Done?!!, Preview: Penang!
Total page views in June: 339

P.S. My video entry for the MyMonash Moments contest has been uploaded here.

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Let's Sail Off Into the Sunset

Again, just another preview of the upcoming Penang album that I have yet to sort. This was taken in Batu Ferringhi as the sun was setting and the crescent moon visible just below the pine leaves. Just like sailing off into the sunset in an epic movie ending.

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Cinderella Man

This is one hell of a movie! After the flunk from watching London the Summer Musical, this was refreshing and inspiring! Russel Crowe's performance as amazing! After Gladiator and this show, I think I'm a fan of his already.

This is one movie that doesn't overdo things. As in the fights are not too imba. They are real, they are gripping and they take you with them every step of the way. It's also very heart warming to see Russel as the family man, how he teaches his son not to steal, how he did everything he could to not send his children away, how he persevered through the Depression.

What's more? It's based on the true story of James J. Braddock! A must-watch!

Ratings: 9/10 

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Review: London The Summer Musical

So, there was free tickets to watch this production courtesy of I-don't-know-who for Monash and SUnway students. Tried calling a few friends, but it seems like no one was interested? But anyhow, I thought I would just go and watch it anyway since I have nothing better to do.

This would be my second theatrical performance (not sure what to call these kind of shows) after The Secret Life of Nora.

Well, let's get to it then. To be honest, it was a big disappointment. I like London, I like musicals, there's so much to like and I wanted to like it!

But it turned out to be quite a bore. There's hardly any storyline, the whole impression was that they were selling a concert with a very bad line-up of "popular" songs.

A song is sung after every 5 lines of dialogue or so and the songs doesn't even complement the story! It was as if it's there just because it's a big hit and they thought everyone would like it simply because they knew the song.

What's worse is that the male leads isn't very good at singing. Words were lost(cannot be heard) and they seemed to be trying too hard to sound too theatrical (pulling notes everywhere and anywhere giving wrong emphasis).

Overall, what it comes off as is a show with a bag of cheap tricks, with virtually no storyline. Most importantly, it feels like a rip-off as there wasn't any human-touch to it, no real emotions. Everyone was smiling simply for the sake of appearing happy, cheerful and energetic. There was however, one girl in the back-up crew that caught my attention. I don't know her name, but she's the shortest and I think she has real potential.

In conclusion, I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're a first timer to these kind of shows with nothing but peanut expectations. The only songs that made a bit of impression was Can You Feel The Love Tonight and One Thing.

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Preview: Penang!

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Cause I don't wanna die!

The other day when I saw JinnyboyTV's vlog about a competition for 3 Nokia Lumia 900s, yay! Another chance at a smartphone! Till I scrolled down and saw the dateline. It's right smack in between my final year papers, so I basically gave up.

However, about a week later, I had a sudden epicphany (epic epiphany) on how to join this contest without filming a single scene! Hitler parody video!

I know it takes less effort compared to other submissions, but it still took effort and lots of brain juice + sleepless nights. Nevertheless, here it is! Done, right before the dateline (16/6/2012)!



It's probably not the best video out there, but you've gotta agree it's out of the box, right? =) Well, I sure hope so. And may the best video wins!

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What Have I Done?!!

You see, I kinda like sitting down and just watching a movie in bed, or the couch, or the theaters, basically anywhere besides a chair. And I think for the past 2 weeks or so, I've watched more movies than the whole semester combined! Hence, the title of the post... What happened to swot vac week?! Anyhow, I'm gonna list them here not unlike a Hall of Shame...

Oh, and do note that some are for 18+ audiences only. In no particular order:

A spin-off from my favourite TV series, Burn Notice. This is the second time watching, not that action-packed as my first impression. 6/10

Warming up to MiB3, I've decided to actually catch the first 2 MiB. To be honest, I had quite high expectations, and to be honest it wasn't met in this one. 5/10

This one's a bit better. 6/10

Puss. Is it weird to that I find the female cat hot? haha a lot of exaggeration, some kinda lame, some pretty good. although the catching the golden chick scene was kinda short, and the great terror's eyes didn't match the mother goose's. 6/10

For the most part of this movie, I didn't know who's who. Yeap, not even Justin Timberlake. I kept wondering who's that guy that looks like Will Schuester from Glee. But it was a pretty good film, very good humour, a bit of a plot and very sexy indeed Mila Kunis. 7/10

Cold blooded Jason Statham is the Mechanic. Especially loved the ending, though predictable, it only lives up to expectations beautifully. Oh, and this is NSFW, not that I knew. 7/10

This is definitely NSFW, but not in the way you would think. It's actually more like a high school kinda movie with a twist. 6/10

Don't watch. 2/10

One of the best movies ever! Seriously good, even the disgusting gore some parts were well placed. Although not historically accurate, who cares? We're watching a movie not a documentary. 9/10

And I also finished 2 TV series I left hanging.

Well, yeap that's about it. And throw in Criminal Minds Seasons 1 & 2(still there) and you kinda know why my bed's so warm!

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Wrap Up: May 2012

It felt like only yesterday I wrote the warp up for April. Ok, so I was late for April. Not gonna let that be a habit, so here I am writing this little post up for your viewing pleasures.

Started with a bang - the Ajahn Brahm Public Seminar and also the Selangor State Wesak Celebration MC gig. Read about it here.

Most prominent project in May? For any other Engineering student in my batch, they would probably say TRC3000! Well, that and the MyMonash Moments short film competition! The video has been completed and was submitted just this afternoon, but I'm not sure if I can publish it just yet. It is a competition after all.

But throughout the writing and filming and editing of the video, I have learnt SO MUCH! I met so many people, or rather so many sides of the people I thought I knew, people I pass by in the corridor but never really talk to. It's just such an amazing experience. Which reminds me that next time I start a project, I should probably write a day-to-day journal on the project since I have kinda short term memory for new things.

But luckily, there was Project 365 Grateful as an incentive to write down what little I'd like to share with the blogosphere.What I'll say is this: It's not easy casting people, but most everyone I asked sportingly agreed to help out :) And for the part of the friend whom I pass by in the corridor but never really talk to, here's a snippet I wrote about him:

"Grateful to finally found a friend who has and who is willing to lend me his DSLR so I could record my video tomorrow. I know I've not been the best of friends with him, and yet, the fact that he so willingly lent me his RM3k++ camera without a second thought just blows me away! Even friends that I know weren't quite as willing. So from now on, I pledge to try my very best to be a better friend, to not judge and to open up my heart and give everyone a chance. Grateful to find such a beautiful soul =) Thank you for showing me that."

I asked many people, most don't have the kind of camera I need, others not so willing to trust me with their gear, and when I almost almost hit a brick wall, I decided, you know what, let's just ask. And he immediately agreed! No second thought. I.am.blown.away! And not just one day, but I extended a bit and then borrowed again for the second part of the shooting. Couldn't have done it without him!

Another side project of mine was helping my ESC course mate do a voice-over for their presentation (Sakyamuni Dharma Centre). It's yet another new experience and yes, again I'm very happy to be able to help! I'm trying to get the slideshow so I can post it up here. Look out for it!

Also, May marks the end of the semester. All that is standing between me and freedom are four bloody   paper. Wish me luck!

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The Calm Before the Storm

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The Bee Gees

The Bee Gees. Where so I even begin?

A couple of week ago, for some reason, I stumbled upon Bee Gee's Too Much Heaven, and starte listening to their songs. Before that, a search in my playlist for Bee Gees would turn up only Let It Be(i don't know why it's here, should be The Beatles), You Win Again and Words.

I wouldn't say I haven't heard their songs before, but I never knew it was them! It's just soooo high pitched and I initially thought it was sung by a girl - think How Deep Is Your Love and Stayin' Alive.

Well, now I know better. And as I ran through one clip after another on YouTube, I kept seeing prayers like "keep fighting, Robin" all across. So, naturally, I started to wonder what's up?!

A little bit of googling and Wikipeadia let to a reading their biography of sorts. Initially, I didn't even know that they were a group of brothers! I knew they were great and all, but being brothers and 2 of them twins! - it's just s amazing!

Well, last Monday morning, I heard the news of Robin's passing away from cancer and immediately, Bee Gees was on replay. I couldn't understand why, but I guess all the names I grew up listening to are passing away one by one. And to think that I have just discovered their songs makes it even worse!

Anyhow, I'm sure the Bee Gees music will live on forever and I'll keep tuning in to find more undiscovered gems of theirs. May peace be with you, Robin, and godspeed.

Here is a poem I wrote on monday night:

Roses are read,

Mondays are blue,

Robin, you're dead,

We'll miss you. 

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Quote #13

I had this thought while I was stuck in the jam. Many people, Malaysians in particular are very concerned with studying. Not to mention having a very straight-forward, maybe even naive mindset of "I go to school to study. I shouldn't be wasting time doing anything else, otherwise I would disappoint my parents, become a road sweeper, bla bla bla". I would have to disagree.

I believe that

"We were born to learn, not study." -Le me

Learning is different from studying. Learning comes from many different sources and can occur at any point in time, anywhere, anyhow. Learning is what we make of a situation. It can be an obstacle or a lesson learned. This is different from studying. Studying in itself is not bad, but to say that I go to school simply to study is wrong and should be discouraged!

Besides, the concept of studying is reading, understanding and being able to somehow apply or regurgitate back what we read. Things we read from books someone else wrote. Someone else who thought their way is the best. Someone else who thought the system would fit everyone. Someone else who thought it he understood you better than yourself.

So you see, the "learning" system, or the "education" system is flawed in that it tries to fit everyone into a system designed by one person, who from his point of view would have greatly benefited himself. But not everyone is the same, not everyone fits into the mold, we're not cookies.

This is where learning differ from studying. Learning is questioning something simply because we're curious about the answer. Learning sparks interest. Learning doesn't feel like a chore, or a responsibility, or studying.

 "Learning is not compulsory, it is contextual. It does not happen all at once, but builds upon and is shaped by what we already know. To that end, learning may be viewed as a process, rather than a collection of factual and procedural knowledge." Wikipaedia

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Ajahn Brahm Public Seminar @ Sunway

Since this is a delayed post, and way too far back for me to remember much details, I shall just copy and paste what I wrote in Prohect 365 Grateful: 

D-Day. Alarm rang at 6am. Woke up at 6.30am. Supposed to fetch 2 people at 6.30am! !@#$%^&*! Anyhow, rearranged a few things and luckily I managed to keep my cool as I know I'm one of the few who take punctuality seriously. And I was right. People kept pouring in after me. Anyhow, I'm really happy to be taking photographs of all the people there. Helping out here and there and basically be a free agent. :) See here. Also met a lot of new friends, public, renewed old friendship. Very grateful for all that. 

The pictures are uploaded in Facebook. And only today, I managed to find some time to finally sort and upload the remainder of the photos I took!

Part of the Monash crew!

The registration booths

Ushers at various entrances

Packing up the hall

Ajahn did a brief walkabout much to the delight of the snappy happy folks

Lunch Dana for the VIPs

and canteen food for the mortals..LOL

Booths selling books, t-shirts and lots of stuff!

Ajahn says Y U NOO HAPPY? =)

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