Journey to the West

Bangalore

I departed from Mangalore at 5pm, reached Bangalore at 6 something. Then i took a hotel nearby and rested there till 2am. A taxi picked me up to the airport and off i go to Dubai at 4am. Au revoir India!

Dubai

The flight was 3 and half hours, before reaching the gulf. When i stepped down on the airport, i'm already at a very very big and nice duty free shopping center. There're so many varieties of perfumes, watches, electronic stuffs etc, all are cheap (drool..) iPod 30GB is only RM900+, wah.. However, i can't get caught up in shopping too long this time as i have a transit flight to catch.
The way to gate 39 is just too too far away, and the airport is longitudinal in shape, so i walked n walked very fast for the 15 mins before reaching the Gate. Then, off i left the beautiful gulf at 8am local time. But, i'll be back to have a good look at those cheap stuffs during my return flight as i'll have 5 hours before my transit.

Frankfurt

The flight got delayed for 1.5 hours, and i was so worried that i can't catch my train which is at 2.54pm. So frustrated. I prayed and prayed. However, the experience of the flight is so good that it overtook my frustration. Every seats have a personal LCD mini computer, and inside it has 100+ movies, 100+ CDs, and 40+ games. There's a controller for everyone to control their movies like a remote control and also play their games like on a game pad. I'd watched 2 movies on the plane - 'Goal II', 'Singing in the Rain', and listen to some musics while sleeping. One miraculous thing that happened is that when i reached Frankfurt Flughafen, it was only 2pm, at which i expected to be 3pm plus, thank God, i can still catch the train!!

After the custom and all, i was rushing like mad to the Bahn Station. (Bahn=Train). The station is very far away, so i had to run really fast and on the way kept asking people to make sure i do not get lost. When i reached the machines to retrieve ticket, i was like, OMG, all in Deutsch, and the train is 10 mins time. Ka Guan already bought me the ticket and i just have to is key in the number, but i duno how. So i asked the information counter and kind enough he straight away came and pressed everything for me within 1 min. After getting the tickets, i ran to the terminal, and at last, reached 5 mins earlier, phew, thank God.

The train is very nice and smooth and quite and fast. The sceneries outside is very green and clean, with all the typical 3 storeys cottage styles houses. The place is filled with green pastures and trees, and the whole package is very clean and clear, unlike the brownish color of India. I had to change the train after i reach Stuttgart, and after 3 hours of train, i finally reached Albstadt-Ebingen, and i saw my friends already waiting there for me.

Albstadt

Ahh, at last i reached my destination. The weather is cold and windy, and all my friends are in jeans and shoes and sweater, except me in a normal t-shirt. At first i liked the weather very much, so i wanted to wear like normal in India (slipers and t- shirt), but then the wind defeated me. SShhiivveerriinngg.. Roy and Brian and Ka Guan cooked dinner for me- pork, vege, chicken and eggs, all in chinese style, mmm, not bad. After dinner, when i looked at the clock, it says 8pm, but when i looked out at the windows, it is still blue bright (???? summer time, daz light last till 10pm, toink!). India time is already 12am( here is 3 and half hour slower, which means i'd gained equal amount of life, hehe). I'm tired already, very sleepy instead, so i straight went back to Zhang Zhi's house. There's no fan and AC, as the normal weather is already cooler than Genting.
So i got onto the fordable bed, covered myself with blanket, and dozed off....zzzz....

Till i woke up at 9am the next day, writing this blog, wearing long pants and a wind cloth.


p/s: Sorry i cant make put on any pictures cz i do not have a cam, and my new k810i is coming only on the next 2 days, hopefully before our Spain trip on Friday. All i can do is put up a hand drew picture.

Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Outside my windows are all rain drops... It had been raining heavily non stop since the past 2 weeks, and it'll last for another 1-2 months, zzz... I'm writing now with my instant noodle beside me. I'm not a big fan of instant mee, but since it's raining so nicely, lazy to go down to the mess.
It's the monsoon season now in Mangalore, and seafood will be scarce... Fruits now are scarce too, mango season is ending. Yum, miss the Alfonso mangoes here, but actually most of the high qualities ones are being exported (sold RM10 each in Msia), and the market and stalls here only sells second graded ones, the few i bought are invaded by worms, swt..
Outside my window is actually a mango tree, but it produces only cute small green mangoes to feed the birds, zzz..

Life is kinda boring now. Exam hang-over, but all my other neighbors already studying like hell since the first day after exam, swt!! The weather is super cooling and sky is always dark, make me being in a gloomy mood all the time.. Besides, since Caryn had went back Msia, my life is being reverted to single, which means super simple and super free and super boring..
The conclusion is: exam hangover + rain + cooling weather + boring = sleep, sleep, sleep (plus some gamings)..Super hard to wake up in the morning for classes and even postings now, aiks.. Super hard to sit down and study.
But from today onwards, i must start studying seriously already, since there's only half a year to my Final. Had also been committed to reading 5 chapters of Bible everyday, and hopefully i'll be consistent with all these.

Had just reformatted my comp (every half a year). Now, i changed the whole theme into Vista-like, from last time of Mac OSX Tiger..Now had been using my 'Mac' for half a year, it's time for another challenge. Plus since Mac Leopard is already releasing, makes my Tiger look outdated, hehe. Here's the link to the pic of my XP-Mac desktop:
Added whole lots of extra functions to make the whole package look nice, more Vista-like, and many cool features such as highly functioning dock, windows shadows, transparency, widgets, thumbnail of taskbar etc etc.. Here's a screenshot of my desktop.

What Hurt the Most?

Sometimes, i really don't understand.. I don't understand why God has to let out so much of sufferings.. Why God like to punish 'good' people? Why faith are always not replied by blessings? Why most of the times, our prayers just wouldn't be granted..

I dont know whether our God is really THAT good.. If He's really that good, why life cannot be a little bit more fluent and smooth? (i din ask for more, just little bit).Why people with lots of faith suffer but people without faith succeed? Why people who believes in he Lord in Heaven does not see or hear Him? Why those who believe in miracles never witness it? Why people who reject the Lord can still be successful? This leads to a doubt in me whether He wants us to glorify His name through our success? Why we have to be standing below ordinary non-believer? Why He wont want to perform at least some small miracles which can changes lives? Why He does not gives us a good testimony so that we can shout out His name to the world? Why He doesn't want great things happening so that people can see that He is truly the Lord of Heaven? Why He always cast doubts on people like me and Caryn and some others? We failed, but still press on, kept faith; failed again, press on, worked harder, kept more faith; failed again! have even more faith, work even harder, hopefully there'll be harvest in the end; but still, the ending is a bad one- it doesn't solve the problems now, but created a even much harder situation...How many times are we supposed to go through testings and problems? How much faith is actually enough?

Since young i have many many doubts on God.. At one time i doubted whether the Bible, or of what Christian so called the 'words of the God', is really true and totally applicable? Is there really not a single faults in it? Is it really that powerful? Besides, does reading Bible often makes your life better? Does praying more makes you feel better? Does going to church every week make you a better person? Does singing and praising Him makes you a happier person? I doubt all these... I think blessing is a gifts, a grace, not that you earn it or you work hard for it, but it just depends on whether God wants to give it or not.. Does a sinner will not be blessed? In fact in many cases, grace are pured on sinners more often...

I'd just finished reading 'The Alchemist'.. I was touched by many of the teachings in the book.. Though it's not a Christian book, but it makes a lot of spiritual sense.. For example, it says: The whole world is made by One hand, by spoken words (no doubt bout it); every single thing in this world is all linked together (true), and the most important thing that bind them all is a thing call Love (Yes); God tells a language that everyone in this world understands, but it all depends how carefully you listen and observe the omen..

Everyone is created with a destiny, it depends whether you wan to fulfill it or not - either way is not wrong: fulfilling your purpose makes you feel 'satisfied' and more complete, but without fulfilling it, life goes on as ever, just lack of something (so what?)..
"If you really have the heart and will to go after something, the whole universe will help you to do that" - i think it's rightly so when refer to God as well, because a loving God and omnipotent God just doesn't have 'one' way for you, but one of the biggest gift He gave to us human is 'choices'.. We have our own freewill to do whatever we like, and if it is pleasing in His eyes and does not disobey the Laws, i believe He will still bless us and help us..

Besides, does it mean other religion is wrong? I don't think so.. Just as what CS Lewis said: Every religion in this world, even the queerest ones, has its own very truth. It's just like arithmetic, there are many many ways of solving the problem, but there'll be only one final answer. All things are from One, and in the end it'll all return to One... Besides, does it mean being a Christian is better or 'cooler' than being a Buddist or Muslim or Hindu, No! I believe everything can leads to the very core truth, and maybe, Christianity is the closest among all.. But still, i hate religions, or even want to discuss bout it.. Religion is the worst enemy of this world- it provoked too much wars and complications, from the very beginning of the age till this very moment, every war that happened are actually, though indirectly, a Holy War.. That's why i always refer our christian believes as a "relationship", not a religion..

There's One God (or i should say triune Gods) who created this earth, then out of love created us- the human beings, and out of love, he guard over us and longs for a intimate relationship with us, which is why He sent His only begotten son Jesus Christ to die for us... And one day, He will come back again and destroy everything and make all things new again.. But in this difficult times, why He seem so distant? Why there's no miracles, no blessings?

Still, i don't understand a shit.. In this time of darkness, faith seems so faint, and it's so hard now to ever make another leap of faith... Why? Why?

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Had not been posting for a long time.. Was busy for exam, and besides, there's particular nothing significant (and at the same time, publishable) events happening to me.. So now, just to round off my semester with some thoughts...

I'd just finished my exam 3 days back... The past 3 weeks time were hard, especially for a person like me... Study and study days and nights but still couldn't finish the scope, if not can't remember well , if not mix up every classification of drugs or bacteria or pathogenesis, if not couldn't reproduce my thoughts systematically on the paper.. I'd tried hard to do much better this semester, but in the end, the results was quite bad as well, aiks...

The time table of this semester is more free, basically 5 hours less of study time in a week compared to last semester, GOOD!!! Can sleep less in the class and more on my bed.. One stupid thing i hate about is that there's no break AT ALL after our exam- the very next day itself was the starting school day of new sem, damn!! Almost half of my classmates bunked the classes and went back home or traveled some where else... So no mood to study now, and am just reading story book in the classes now..

I'm not going back to Malaysia, though most of my friends do.. But nevermind, because in 1 month time i'm flying off to GERMANY for 13 days!! (from 11th July till 24th July).. I'd always wanted to visits all my good old friends over there in this 5 years time when they're still there, and i think this is the best time to go, since i don't feel like going back.. Already bought the tickets and settled most of the transportations.. The schedule is like this -

Mangalore <-> Bangalore <-> Dubai <-> Frankfurt

Then, me and my friends over there will travel to SPAIN days!! Then might go FRANCE also!!
I'm already counting chickens for the days to come.. Already started dreaming of the Germany where the cruel dictating legend lived during war time, the land once filled with fear and blood but now pride and modernization... And also can't wait to see the beautiful and traditional Spain full of unique culture.. And not to forget for the few ours of my time at one of the richest country in the world-United Arab Emirates: the world one and only 6-Stars on-the-water hotel; the place where the richest people all over the world invest their money in; the palm-tree-shaped artificial lands with the most luxurious houses on it; the land with no trees but full of concrete buildings arranged like Lego blocks when seen from above..

On top of all the excitement now, i'm facing some problems right now.. First of all, I need a 'companion' through out my journey, and since i'm travelling all alone, what i need is a good gadget and a good book.. Me have no camera, no mp3 player, and only carrying a noob old hp in my pocket..In the beginning, I was thinking of getting an 30GB Ipod , for my unique collections of musics and some movies and pictures.. But now i'm attracted to Nokia N73 Music Edition.. The current Ipod can't satisfy me: too short of battery time, too small of screen, the resolution of the screen is too bad for watching movies, and it's still too big of size and weight.. I'm doin all kinds of research on N73 ME now, then at the same time discovered SE K810i.. Liking both of them and comparing.. Conclusion is: N73's pic is not as good as Sony's, but n73 gives 2GB free memory and have bigger screen; k810 look damn cool, has Xenon light which make night photos good, and N73 can't take night photos, slow in response and hangs a lot... So verdict is? I really don't know yet.. Will try out both phones at the shops to decide...If worst come worst, i'll buy back SE w810i, cz i still love it very much and i think it's still the most lovely and stable and durable phone...

Second problem, a bigger problem: money money money.. My air ticket to Germany is bout RM2500 to n fro, my local flight RM230.. My dream gadget cost bout RM1500, and my estimated spending in Spain will be about at least €600, n i will bring €700 just in case(RM3200)..
Now, my active bank account has only RM 2800, damn.. (most of my money is in FD, which i can't take out after few months time).. Daddy, i know it's bad to ask money from u, i never want to, but i have to, aiks.. I'd never thought traveling in Europe will be so expensive... i expected to spend ol RM 5000 in my trip, but now it cost bout RM 6000+, plus i really need a new gadget with me now, to keep me occupied for the long hours in flight and airports and trains etc...

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted

On 2005, i blogged about the most exciting football comeback in history in UEFA Champion's League.. In 2005, Liverpool were 3-0 down to AC Milan but the Reds came back 3-3 and won the penalty shootout to lift the cup for the 5th times in our history.. This year, 2007, Liverpool met AC Milan again in the Final of the most ludicrous club football competition in the world.. Last night, we lost 1-2 to Milan, 'thanks' to 2 goals from Pippo Inzaghi.. Dirk Kuyt brought one goal back for Liverpool at the 89th minutes but the stupid referee blew the whistle 30 seconds earlier, disallowing Liverpool to make another miraculous comeback this time, shit, i've had the feeling that Liverpool will score at the very very last seconds for the past few days when i played PES with friends, and go on to win 3-2, but shit, referee blew the chance off... Anyway, this is not the thing to be blamed..

In the 1st half, Liverpool played so so well, controlled the game completely and was attacking and trying, had some good chances but just missed a goal, until right before the end of 1st half, Pirlo's frrekick at the edge of box was very luckily deflected in by Inzaghi's body, damn!!!

Then in the 2nd half, Liverpool started attacking again, made some changes by putting in Kewell and Crouch, but goal just couldn't come, until 84th minutes when Liverpool left too much space behind and Kaka got the ball and had too much time and finally made a pin-point pass to Inzaghi who slotted the ball very cooly and skillfully passed Reina into the empty net.. "Fuck!! 2-0 down, with 6 mins left, can we do a miracle again this time?" Hopes came when Liverpool got a corner and the Agger headed the ball to Kuyt and Kuyt headed the ball into Milan's net.. 2-1!! 3 minutes to go!! Possibly another God intervened miraculous comeback by Liverpool? No! whistle is blown!!! Fuck!! Disappointed, devastated, discontented, but not discouraged, disheartened..

We had beaten Barcelona, the best team in the world; Chelsea, the richest team in the world to come to this final, but to lose in the final is just heart breaking...Yea, we lost this time.. But we fought really hard, we ran like mad and our energy level was like so high that we were non stopped trying and fighting... We played really well, controlled the game totally (Manu fans, this is how u should play against Milan, haha) However, what matters most in the end of the day is the results. No matter how badly u play, a win is a win, and no matter how hard we tried, a loss is a loss.. But at least, the players can come off the pitch with their heads held high, saying: We'd done our very best, only that luck wasn't not our side this time. Even though we lost, our fantastic fans are still giving an applause and ovation to the disappointed players, singing "You'll Never Walk Alone"We'll try harder next time, play better, buy in more world class players and be more consistent next season. Take the defeat as an experience and learn from mistakes, and be stronger mentally. Who never lose? When there's a winner, there must be a loser, life's like that. Just walk on, walk on, all these defeat you can leave behind but continue to walk on to the future.. Go Liverpool FC!!

When you walk through a storm,
Hold your head up high,
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm,
There's a golden sky,
And a sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown....

Walk On! Walk On! With hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone....

You'll never walk alone

Walk On! Walk On! With hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone....

You'll never walk alone.

The Boxer

I had watched some boxing movies for the past few days. Why boxing is the best sports movies around? Why not football or basketball or whatsoever? That's because boxing, though not the most famous sports in the world, reflects human nature the most. It is the most brutal, most deadly sport, yet full of struggles and high spirit. Every boxers fight for they own course, be it pride, money, family, friends, company, believes, dreams etc.. We all fight, everyone fights. It might be a physical fight, or mental fight, or even spiritual fight. Everyone has dreams, and we will fight for it. We fight for our career, for our loved ones, for our hope, for our faith, for our country. Sometimes we fall, we lose, we bleed, but what matters most is that how you gonna pick yourself up again within the count of tens and start fighting another time. Here're 4 very great boxing movies i'd watched:

1. Rocky (1976) - Silvestre Stallon
Winner of 1976 Oscar Best Picture. I decided to watch this after i watched Rocky Balboa(2006) not long ago in cinema. Who doesn't know Rocky series? It is as famous as Star Wars, and there're total of 6 episode. It tells about a good young fella name Rocky Balboa, a middle weight boxer who takes delight in helping people, guiding young people who're in the wrong path, and never stop dreaming of his dream. I enjoy his kindness showed towards pets; his innocence while courting his love Adrian; his trueness towards his best friend, Pauli, and his determination to keep fighting. You'll get motivated by watching this, especially during his training sessions. The most memorable scene for me is when Rocky rejoicing over his successful training in front of the Great Library.
Favorite quote:
Rocky: I can't do it.
Adrian: What?
Rocky: I can't beat him.
Adrian: Apollo?
Rocky: Yeah. I been out there walkin' around, thinkin'. I mean, who am I kiddin'? I ain't even in the guy's league.
Adrian: What are we gonna do?
Rocky: I don't know.
Adrian: You worked so hard.
Rocky: Yeah, that don't matter. 'Cause I was nobody before.
Adrian: Don't say that.
Rocky: Ah come on, Adrian, it's true. I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.

2. Cinderella Man (2005) - Russel Crowe
Nominated for 3 Oscars. This movie tells a true story of 1930's middle aged boxer James Braddock who lived in the era of the Great Depression, at which the rate of unemployed is highest in America history, including a Braddock who has a wife and 3 children. Boxing no longer earns him a living and his powerful right hand is inured. However, in oder to save his family, he decided to fight again. His love for his family and his determination carried him through inspiring and unpredictable wins in the ring. He showed that heart is bigger than skills. His achievements inspired many Americans who 're suffering during the period, and people started calling him Cinderella Man. This is a very touching movie, and the fighting scenes are the best i'd ever seen.
Favorite quote:
Jim Braddock: You think you're telling me something? Like, what, boxing is dangerous, something like that? You don't think working triple shifts and at night on a scaffold isn't just as likely to get a man killed? What about all those guys who died last week living in cardboard shacks to save on rent money just to feed their family, 'cause guys like you have not quite figured out a way yet to make money off of watching that guy die? But in my profession - and it is my profession - I'm a little more fortunate.

3. Million Dolar Baby (2004) - Hilary Shwank
Winner of best picture in 2005 Oscar. It tells a story of a poor girl, Maggie, who wanted to be a boxer. Former boxer, Frankie(played b Clint Eastwood), at first reluctant, but at last touched by Maggie' determination, decided to break the rule and train a girl. Maggie came out to be successful, and bought a house for her unloving mother and sisters. However, mishap happened during a fight and she's paralyzed. The final 45 minutes of the movie is very heavy and moving as we struggle in the case of euthanasia. This is a very different kind of boxing movie, very touching.
Favorite quote:
Frankie Dunn: I swear to God, Father, it's committing a sin by doing it. By keeping her alive, I'm killing her. Do you know what I mean? How do I get around that?
Father Horvak: You don't. You step aside, Frankie. You leave her with God.
Frankie Dunn: She's not asking for God's help. She's asking for mine.
Father Horvak: Frankie, I've seen you at Mass almost every day for 23 years. The only person comes to church that much is the kind who can't forgive himself for something. Whatever sins you're carrying, they're nothing compared to this. Forget about God or heaven and hell. If you do this thing, you'll be lost. Somewhere so deep you'll never find yourself again.
Frankie Dunn: I think I did it already.

4. Raging Bull (1980) - Robert De Niro
Undeniably one of the best movie ever made, combined by the best actor of all time and the best director of all time, Martin Scorsese. Raging Bull tells the true story of Jake LaMotta, a middle weight champion who is on his way of self destruction. His rage and violence made him unstoppable in the ring, but there're a lot of inner struggles. We will hate this character but at the same time sympathize him. His feeling of insecurity towards his beautiful wife Vickie, his doubtfulness towards his own loving brother Joey(played by Joe Pesci) , and his lack of self control towards his sexual desire and his short temper made him loss everything he once earned. Raging Bull is undoubtedly De Niro's best performance in his career, and he deservedly won the best actor in 1980 Oscar, as he gained
Favorite quote:
Jake La Motta: Did you fuck my wife?
Joey LaMotta: What?
Jake La Motta: Did you fuck my wife?
Joey LaMotta: [pauses] How do you ask me that? I'm your brother and you ask me that? Where do you get you're balls big enough to ask me that?
Jake La Motta: I'm gonna ask you again, did you or didn't you? Just answer the question.
Joey LaMotta: I'm not gonna answer that. It's stupid. It's a sick question and you're a sick fuck and I'm not that sick that I'm gonna answer it. I'm leaving, If Nora calls tell her I went home. You know what you should do? Do a little more fucking and a little less eating, so you don't have to blame it all on me and everybody else, you understand me? You're cracking up! Ya' fucking screw ball ya'!

Battle of OS

Windows Vista is out. The whole worlds of softwares and hardwares are influenced. What struck my mind first was the"system requirement for Vista", and the requirement seems to be:
2.0 GHz Intel Duo Core, 2GB of RAM, takes up 15GB of HD spaces (XP takes only 1.2 GB), and 128MB of display card. Woah! What a ridiculous requirement!!
U need these specs for optimum performance, which means no lagging, no waiting, smooth animation and able to open many programs at once.
I think NON of the PCs at home right now actually supports Vista perfectly, and so upgrades are absolutely necessary. Why upgrade to Vista when you can upgrade past it? Get a Mac, once and for all.

Revolution vs Evolution:
All newer version of Windows are revolutionary. It takes u into a totally new hype. You need to start all over again to learn the place of each icons. Most of the changes in Vista are actually unnecessary. Microsoft 'change for the sake of changing'. Now, user need to find harder and press more clicks to get to something. However, Mac OS X had been evolving steadily throughout the years. Mac had done a much better job in R&D. They bring you new improved stuffs in newer versions instead of changing things unnecessarily. Apple 'change for the sake of serving better', keeping their simplicity. See, in the past 6 years since XP, Mac had come up with 5 versions of upgrades, and Microsoft only 1. What was Microsoft doing all these while? Ah ha, busy tackling spywares and viruses.

Why I Love A Mac?

1. Look and feel
Vista does look much better than XP, but compared to Mac, still a far cry. (ps: most of the icons in Vista are actually Mac-look-alike.)

2. Secure
Mac has no virus... One, because hackers are busy attacking Windows who dominated the market (market share: 95% Windows; 4% Mac, 1% Linux), and two, Mac work in a much safer and stable background.

3. No spyware
Mac has no spyware or malware problem. All softwares that comes with Mac are totally stable and their performances are adjusted to the optimum.

4. Fast
Mac has no lagging, no hanging. It brings out the best from 64- bit Intel Core 2 Duo 4MB L2 Cache and other specs. That's what you need for speed.

5. Easy
Mac's learning curve is easier. Vista are way too complicated for older people, busy people, and even for advanced users as more clicks are needed. Mac make your life easier and better.

6. Everything's ready
Mac comes with the best softwares. What software Windows Vista actually provides? Erm, Windows Movie Maker which cant even make a good movie; Photo viewer who can do nothing except, ya, viewing photos; Windows Media Player which basically can only play musics and movies; IE7 which even though claimed to be more secure but actually not; newly added Windows Defender which acts as anti-Spyware program but still misses too many Spywares. (ps: you cant even type or make slide shows. Why? You still haven spend extra money to buy and install Microsoft Office.)
With iLife you make a movie, publish your own podcast, create gorgeous coffee-table books, produce a Hollywood-style DVD, state your views in a daily blog, make beautiful music etc.

7. Safe
The MagSafe Power Adapter. No cord attached. Imagine u tripped on a PC wire, "bang!" Ur PC fall and gone. You tripped on a Mac wire, "pop", the plug unplugged just like that, Mac intact on the table. Cool!!

8. It just works
No hardware drivers needed, no reformat needed, no nothing. Simple? Cut out the hassles of PC reformatting every time you got a virus attack and take up hours for system reformat, programs installation, drivers installations blah blah blah. With Mac, open the box, everything is ready. Plug in anything, they just work.

9. Relates well with PC
Who say Mac is not user friendly? No games? No Network? No programs installation allowed? No way to interact with a PC? Tell u what, Mac comes with perfect LAN n wireless networking with all PCs; Mac has Microsoft Office!! Mac has MSN messenger and Yahoo messenger; Mac allows only good softwares, not stupid malwares or whatever cool stuffs you need cz Mac already has the best stuffs; and many many games nowadays works on Mac.

10. Trend leading
Windows Vista is an OS Microsoft created in order to become more like Mac. Mac takes months to develop, but it took Microsoft 6 years to imitate a Mac. Now that Vista is out "Woahh, see, we're now quite similar to Mac OSX Tiger!!" But so what? Mac OSX Leopard is already around the corner. Who's faster? Mac is leading the trend and Microsoft is playing catching up and copy-cat.

11. Value for money
Mac is hardly affordable? A MacBook cost around RM4000-5000. A PC similar to the spec Mac provide? RM4000+. Forget another RM200 on anti-virus program, another RM100 on antispyware program, another few hundreds on hardware upgrades. Mac is expensive? Haha. Get a Mac, you'll use it for 5 years without s single upgrade; get a PC, prepare yourself extra money in the future for any malfunction or repair or system upgrade or program license renewal.

This is not an advertisement for Apple. All these are just my personal insights and dream. After some serious thoughts, doing some research and reading some reviews, i decided to share my views. Buying an Apple? Well, at least not so soon for me. Upgrading to Vista? Don't think so. Right in front my desk now is still an Acer laptop with WinXP. It had served me right and i love it and am enjoying it to the max. The most i did was to make my PC look like an Mac: (grin)
To see the cool funny ads: http://www.apple.com/getamac/

Pigs

It's Chinese New Year eve. We Malaysian chinese gathered at Hao Ming Chinese Restaurant to celebrate this year of pig. There are total of 2 batches of Malaysian here in Mangalore now. We seniors + juniors + invited msian indians and local indians + friends from Manipal (altogether 47 of us) booked half of the restaurant to have a reunion dinner on CNY eve. There were lots problems on making this dinner: money problem, menu problem, number of people problem etc, but i was glad the thing still turned out to be a success. We had some specially made chinese food, and the taste were great and the amount is enormous. All of us ate like a pig but still there were a lot of left over. We enjoyed meeting our fellow Malaysians who're together stuck in this foreign city; talking to each other; and taking pictures together. The dinner started at 7pm till 10pm. After the dinner, we played fire crackers till 11. Then, i went to gamble with friends while drinking wine in the apartment till 4am. I won some amount of money, which made up of the wine i sponsored, haha. The next day, which is the first day of new year, my friend Meng Yee organised an open-house. The girls prepared some nice food and cookies, and we guys helped in the arrangement of table and serving the guests. We invited all the Malays in our batch, and all of us had some great time together too. At night i was already damn tired but fun. At least this year we had a better new year than last year:there're more chinese here, more events, more food, and i won more money, hehe... I was very relieved that the dinner was a big success cz all responsibility was on me. However, next year i'm hoping for a better one cz there'll be even more Malaysians coming... Okay, that's all.. Wishing everyone a happy chinese new year 2007.

恭喜发财，身体健康， 学业进步， 生意兴隆， 猪年行好运。

Twenty Something

ON BIRTHDAY (12th FEB)

(Caryn n Me n cake)

(Those who surprised me)

(Eggs on the head)

(Bday presents)

Omg, 22 already!!! 21 sounds to me still only as a very young fella just put his feet into adulthood, but 22, hmmm, sounds quite old to me lo :( Times don't fly, the last time i wrote a blog on my 21 year old was like ages ago to me... 22, oh no, i'm now belonging to a group of 20+, omg, feeling old now...

Well, went to church in Sunday morning(one day before my bday), and pastor prayed for me (as he always do praying for bday boys and girls on that particular week)... Once i reach hostel from church, got a surprise present from Caryn - a men's traditional Chinese cloth 唐装.. was so touched, she actually made an effort of going to a few tailor to complete the cloths for me in time... Thankx u so much... At night, Caryn told me she's going to celebrate with me earlier, while my other friends are going to celebrate with me on Monday itself. But when we reached Diesel Cafe, the restaurant is already flooded by familiar faces. Wow, surprised again!! Bout 20 of my friends were there. There was birthday song, a chocolate cake, singings by friends, photos sessions, many presents & cards, eatings, chattings etc etc... I was having some real fun..Thanx people.. After dinner, second round with Caryn's batch mates in a pub, and me and she for the first time together did disco dancing, haha, thinks it looked weird.. After that, when we reached hostel, my hostel mates are already waiting for me outside with 'frozen eggs'. Omg, the eggs smashing sessions hurts a lot cz the shells are damn hard, ouch!! Was full of egg yolks n egg white and flour on me by the time they're satisfied.. After took much effort to wash up, there're more presents from Caryn- some cute stuffs... Thank u again dear...

On the real day of my bday, nothing much happened.. Received wishes from dad, mum, and friends.. At night went to celebrate with Caryn alone at Amazon Restaurant... That's all for my birthday...

ON VALENTINE (14th FEB)


Lovely, romantic, sweet, special, warm, tender, precious, melodic (out of words to describe it). Gave her roses, cards, teddy bear, and brought her to a candle light dinner.. Glad to have you as my valentine dear...

Battle of Browsers

I'd just installed Internet Explorer 7.0 few days ago due to some auto update of my Windows.. Well, all these while, for more than half a year, i'd been using Firefox and i'd loved it much more than the previous IE6.. I loved the Firefox's "tabbed-browsing", the simplicity, the stability, the 'smoothness', the security, and the add-ons... However, last October 2006, Microsoft came out with IE7, and Mozilla came out with Firefox 2.0, and there'd been a lot of protagonist and antagonist on each major browser... Now, in order not to be bias, i'd personally tried out IE7 to compare the appeal of both users to me. Here's my views and verdict:

1. Interface:

IE7 had improved so much from the previous version (Imean, to be more like Firefox2). The whole IE7 had changed for the visual sense of Windows Vista, and the position for each buttons are 'reshuffled' and the colors are much more cool now. It has all the functions of FF2, and with a bit of extra in the "Quick Tabs" view where u can see all the opened tabs in one windows, looks damn cool. However, the File, Edit, View etc bar is lost, and instead integrated into other buttons. But, though FF2 are quite loss out in case of visual appearance as it is almost the same as it's predecessor FF1.5, i still prefer the simplicity, and user-friendly buttons of FF2, cz otherwise u'll have to adjust urself to whole new positions of buttons in IE7 (while FF2 is more traditional and similar to the old IE6). The "Refresh" and "Stop" buttons are too small in IE7, which is hard to click, and the "Favorites", "RSS" and "History" are all in one buttons, which add to more mouse clicks compared to FF2. However, i like the "Open new tab" button situated right next to a new tab in IE7, as compared to non in FF2. One more thing i wanna stress is that now, IE7 oso has a search bar as FF2 now, BUT, FF2's search bar contains "search suggestions", where u half way typing the words, there'll be a long list of suggestions for ur typings, and this features is not there in IE7. So, the verdict is that i'll stick to FF2.

2. Memory Usage

I'd tested it personally, and had read some reviews too. IE7 use much more memory than FF2. This is the case- the more tabs u open, the more memory the browser use. When i open 6 tabs, FF2 uses 100MB, while IE7 uses 130MB. Besides, IE7 seems to me a bit slow in response when u open too many tabs, while FF2 still performs smoothly. IE7 hanged few times in just few days, while FF2 never hangs in more than half a year. Besides, there're too much "error in page" in IE7 when you're viewing some sites containing videos, and FF2 never had this poblem. So the winner here: FF2

3. Installation

The installer for IE7 is 15MB, and FF2 is merely 5MB. Installation of IE7 takes 15 mins, while FF2 is only less than 3 mins. Plus, u need a genuine Windows in order to dl IE7, while FF2 can be used by any pirated OS. And ya, when you're downloading the installers, or any other files, the download feature of FF2 is way much better as it can be paused and resumed, not like the stereotype IE7 download style. So? Winner is FF2 again.

4. RSS Feed

This is a future thingy where u can get instant live updates of contents in a website without even opening the site. Both function similarly, but the difference is, when u open the subscribed RSS, IE7 needs to show the contents in a new windows, but FF2 shows it all in a drag down menu. So, i thot instead of the way IE7 shows the contents, why not the user straight away go to the website itself? It takes the same 'effort'. Weird. So, the winner is FF2 yet again.

5. Security

IE7 has very much improved security compared to previous IE6. Both are very good in avoiding spams and poisoned websites. There's those phishing filter thingy on both browsers, and the way they prevent dangerous websites are good. But, IE had always been the target for hacker and viruses, so u never know how long the IE security will stand strong. Besides, if your comp suddenly hangs, and u're visiting large numbers of site at one time, FF2 automatically restore all the sites you are viewing before the comp hangs, while in IE7 there's no such thing- you have to manually choose the options to reopen the tabs you are viewing only when u press the X. So, winner, though slightly, goes to FF2.

6. Blogger

My blog looks weird in IE7, i dunno y, the fonts are italic and orange in color, when it's supposed to be straight and blue. And posting in Blogger is better in FF2 because when i copy-paste some lyrics from a website using IE, the positions of the words are all rearranged, only FF2 gives me exactly the same format of the lyrics to be appeared in my blog. And oso, there's no Copy-paste function while writing in Blooger, and there's no auto "spell-check" in IE too. So, i found IE even more weird. Winner is, of course, in favor of my personal web page, is FF2.

7. Add-ons

FF2 have plenty of add ons available to be downloaded. I just love the "Movie Downloader" where u can dl videos from YouTube etc, but IE cant offer that. The Appearance of FF2 can be changed anytime easily, and so, appearance for FF2 is much more flexible compared to IE7. Even though IE7 now has add-ons too, but it's very below par.. The choices are very limited. Besides, the update on FF2 for add ons are so much faster and to view all the add ons is simpler too. IE7 is still much much behind in this case. So, winner is, for sure, again, FF2.

Generally, for me, Firefox is always the pioneer in creativity, and IE7 is only the follower. It's like comparing Rachaminoffs's 'Flight of Bumblebee' with Maksim's. Even though sometimes the latter generations sounds and looks more smoothing and appealing, but still the respect and credit of creativity goes to the earlier generations. That's why i'm very particular in music and movies choices. I'd always supported the pioneer.
Long live Mozilla Firefox!!

One

I'd just added a side banner on my blog "Make Poverty History"...
Here is the song sang by U2 which fit perfectly to this campaign.. This song remains my all time favourites- the lyrics, the meaning, the vocal, the music... If only people understands more bout this song, this world will be a better place to live on... We're different but one, so why not live as one and cut out all the hierarchy shit, the racism shit, the religious shit, the politics shit...

Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now?
You got someone to blame
You say
One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
One love
We get to share it
Leaves you baby if you
Don't care for it

Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well it's

Too late
Tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to
carry each other
carry each other
One

Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus?
To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much?
More than a lot.
You gave me nothing,
Now it's all I've got
We're one
But we're not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
Then we do it again
You say
Love is a temple
Love is the higher law
Love is a temple
Love is the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then You make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what You got
When all You've got is hurt

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other

One...
One...

Sien...

It's Saturday night, i feel damn sien here...This afternoon had been playing PES 6 with Ramakrishna, such fun.. Yesterday had been out having fun wit Caryn for the whole day. But now MSN nothing to chat, no one to play game with, no movie to watch, no friends to talk to, no place to lepak, no Liverpool match, no mood to study, aiks, sien sien sien, Saturday nights in India sux..

Had been back to Mangalore for 2 weeks after one month holiday in Kuantan. 4th semester had started. Last sem's results are out, it was really really bad. (Shit, have to really get serious in studies, cannot skip classes anymore, and more importantly, must concentrate in classes, cannot sleep..) In this semester, we have postings for Pediatrics; Obstetrics; Skin; and Respiratory System, as compared to last sem's Medicine and Surgery.. Classes are as packed as ever, sien, hardly to take a breath and rest... Chinese guy friends here all sieness, always lock themselves in rooms, have not much things we can do together or share to each other now.. Had started playing football more often now, since Inter-class is coming. Had not playing my guitar very often, sien, dunno wat song to play... Aiks one word, everything feel so sien sometimes... However, most of my free time now are spent with Caryn- we go out and eat together, go shopping together, or just simply talk to each other...Thankfully she's always there to talk to me, to cheer me up, to take care of me, to cook for me, and accompany me out. But this sem onwards we have to go out less often cz we both had agreed to put study first, and to save more money too... Last sem we had been going out too often and spent too much, which is the main reason why we did so badly in our exams.. Nowadays, she'd been going to library very consistently, and sometimes i did study in library after class too... Hopefully we will have more self control and use our time more wisely.

Though it's only 10pm, but i'm feeling tired and sien, dunno y oso... Argh!!! There'll be no more holiday for us this year, so the next time i go back Malaysia would be next Dec. But hopefully, if there's free time around June/ July, i would like to travel somewhere, and my priority is Germany! (Hopefully have some company to go with me).. My holiday last month had been good and relaxing- good gaming experiences with bro, good food, good shopping malls, good weather, etc... However, one thing differ from last time is that i no longer feel sad when i come back India, i think it's mainly because Caryn is here with me... She's just 2 streets away back in Kuantan, and she's just one block away here in Mangalore, hehe...

New Year's Day

New year's eve is on Sunday, a bloody Sunday, where Saddam Hussein was hanged... I dunno him well, all i know is that he's a dictator, a radical Muslim, a man who initiated some terrorist attacks on Jews country. Other stuffs, i dunno, not that interested to know, and plus there's absolutely no way to get to know, because can u really trust the press? I absolutely don't think so, cause nearly nothing much is true in the press. This Saddam Hussein reminds me of the "Saddam" character in South Park movie, a dead Saddam who play homo with a character called "Satan" in hell, what a funny and notorious movie, haha..

Well, all is quiet for me, on New Year's Day. Stay at home, watch tv, online... Christmas was quite quiet as well, went to church for dinner and celebration, but we didn't stay back for countdown, stayed at home, and wished each other... Anyway, what matters is that at least i'm home for christmas and new year, to feel the warmth of family, to unite with the people i love, to be where i truly belong...

Well, 2006 had passed. And i think i'd changed a bit. My relationship with my friends back in Kuantan had become less intimate, as expected.(Well, cant help it, we all grows in a different environment now). Had not watched any movie back home, not interested. Did some shopping, bought some new cloths, new jean, new shoes.
Time goes by so slowly for me in India. Every hour is boring and hardly passed. However, my life in the second half of 2006 had been very interesting because of someone. Thank God He sent her. One thing 'significant' in my year is that i'd lost 3 handphones in 1 month time. Damn, lost my Sony Ericsson w810i when i sent it back to Msia for warranty; lost Mahen's Nokia 8250 in the auto; lost Rhema's Sony Ericsson z300 in the auto again... What the heck! Was so so pissed and feeling fucked up. I gave up on anymore phone and survived 3 months without a cell phone (Hooray! what an achievement, haha) I'm now using my old Nokia 7210, still very durable. Am still thinking whether to get a new white w810, had been dreaming of it for a long time, but could have saved that money for other better purpose, aiks, i really dunno. (i still need an mp3 player and a digicam, argh!!)
So now, my brief overall preview for year 2006:

1. Study: Well, passed my First Year MBBS.. Now on 2nd year, and things got tougher and busier. New lecture rooms, new labs, the whole campus of KMC is brand new now as the board earned so much from the students, especially the Malaysians.. New batch joined in, and we're upgraded to seniors, and people respect us, hehe.. Imagine ppl calling me "Sir Sir", syok-nya!!
New Year Resolution: To get 1st class in my 2nd year final exam in the end of year... Put more time in study...

2. Sports: Had not been playing much football in my 2nd year, because most of the time is spent going out with someone, hehe.. Never went to gym, cause i find it boring... However, one thing i'm glad is that i remembered my kungfu i abandoned long time ago, and had been practicing it regularly...
New Year Resolution: To play football more often, to be good and break into the first team of my class team... To practice more kungfu, to get stronger and tougher...

3. Games: Had not been playing much games since 2nd year, but still completed Faber. Played some Unreal Tournament 2004, Football Manager 2007 (won everything with Liverpool in 4 seasons, 620 points in Hall of Fame, woohoo!), and Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (no more FIFA for me). Now since i'm home and have ntg to do, had been playing some Dota as well, and finding out that so many things had changed, and i'd became a noob once again, aiks.. (feed and feed..) :(

4. Movies: I do not watch much movie this year frankly speaking. But the best in the whole year for me is Martin Scorsese's "The Departed". It is the Hollywood version of Hong Kong's Infernal Affairs, but Martin made it his own movie, his own style.. 2 thumbs up!!

5. Books: I'd read The Godfather, and Angels and Demons. I like both very much. Godfather is a classic thriller about crime, power, sex, and dark politics. The book and movies had impressed me a lot on behaving as a man. Angels and Demons is another book by Dan Brown, about Christianity, bout Catholics, but i really do think it is much better than the crappy Da Vinci Code. Am now reading The Last Don by Mario Puzo, continuation of Godfather.

6. Liverpool: Won FA CUP 2006 in a thriller final with West Ham! Aiks, we Liverpool fans were full of hope in the begining of the 06-07 season, because we have a much better squad than last season.(which we finished 3rd in EPL) But things are not as good as expected now. Already lost 6 games in the league so far. But one thing to be proud of still is that we are still in all 4 competitions, and there's still hope for everything. Bloody ManUtd are top in the league with 6 points clear, and are in super top form, bloody hell!!! Anyway, a great new year present Liverpool FC gave me is that they won Bolton 3-0, 3rd in the league currently, and both Manu and Chelsea slipped up :P
New Year Resolution: Hoping Liverpool to win at least a cup and ManUtd to fall, hahaha (evil laugh, cz i still think Manu squad is too small to win the league)

7. Spiritual Walk: Had been going church more oftenly (because there're more Malaysians? More chicks? haha) Started boy's cell group in my room, though sometimes do not feel like doing it, but still will do. Hmm, had not been reading bible oftenly. I'd tried, but it never last, i just couldn't have the discipline to read everyday. (Please pray for me)
New Year Resolution: To grow stronger in the spiritual walk with God. To expand the cell group, and hopefully, to make a youth concert, InsyaAllah.

Last but not least, hopefully this year will be a peaceful and wonderful year. Saddam is dead, a big devil has fallen... But what lies ahead? We do not know. Just hope everything goes out fine. May God bless me. It's a new day, but it's not a new life. Everything lives on... and on...and on...

"Yeah...
All is quiet on New Year's Day
A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's Day
On New Year's Day

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it's true it's true...
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one

I...I will begin again
I...I will begin again

Oh...
Maybe the time is right
Oh...maybe tonight...

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

And so we're told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes
On New Year's Day"