Not lookin so good....

Hey... u there!!!.. yeah u...

Ever tried makin soup??? looks easy dun it?? n it is!!! :D

but have u ever tried adding some Tom-Yam paste in order to make it a lil more spicy?? i did....

i looked at that bowl of soup n thought, its a Big bowl.. surely i can add some MORE tomyam paste!!!

Hehehehehe... hehehehehehehe... n hehehehehehehehe some more....

All I need now is a BIG pitcher of oatmeal, n I can look forward to spending this evening in a VERY pleasurable manner...

I'm gonna go pass out my intestines now....

TMNT: Raising (S)Hell Indeed!!!

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back on the Big Screen!!! Bigger, Badder, Meaner, n Greener than ever before!!

Generally speaking, I like how the Turtles are portrayed as all grown up and evolved into their own.. What's particularly interesting to watch is the way conflicts and contradictions are portrayed into the movie, thus making our shell-backed heroes much easier to relate to with a much-needed human element (something which was evident to a much lesser extent in the previous 3 TMNT movies)..

Raphael n Leonardo have always been my personal favs among the awesome foursome.. Raph with his unusually short temper and vicious appetite for the battle, and Leo with his calm demeanor and unending desire to be the best leader/student as is humanly (or turtle-ly ???) possible.. The previous 3 movies always involved, as a subplot, the 2 dudes clashing against each other, Leo trying to establish harmony between the turtles along with a sense of brotherhood, and Raph always eager to shoulder the entire burden himself but preferring to operate independently...

All these qualities are displayed to some extent in this 4th installment, but what particularly appealed to me was that for once.. FOR ONCE... Raph triumphs over Leo in their personal battles... They've always shown Leo to be the psychologically superior one in the previous movies, but atleast they gave Raph the credit of being physically superior to Leo... atleast for the time being neways... N i Love the way they portray Raph's Anger...

Ofcourse, we cant forget the duo that completes the collection: Michaelangelo n Donatello... Unfortunately, I felt Mikey n Dony were pretty much overshadowed by Leo n Raph n their ongoing feud... Dony's technical side is displayed well, thou (thankfully) not to a nerdy extent... They dont show him comin up with new gadgets n stuff as in the cartoons n previous movies, but rather as the one who sorta establishes some sorta control over Mikey... Mikey, on the other hand, should have been alot funnier... The trailer definitely hinted at Mikey being his usual comic self, which he was, but once again, he was slightly overshadowed by Leo n Raph... Mikey does have his moments thou, so the rare joke from him would def get u cackling (or giggling, or laughin, grinning.. wutever tickles ur fancy..).. Overall, I wish there wud have been more from Mikey n Don.. but given that Raph n Leo n the ones I've favoured ever since I first caught them streaking their naked turtle rears all over NYC, I'm not too angry bout that...

Who can forget April O'Neil n Casey Jones?... turns out they've hooked up, n Casey has to face the typical guy problem of deciding if he wants to pop the question, or consider other options... n this may sound weird, seein as this is an animated movie, but April actually looks alot hotter than her appearances in the previous 3 turtle-flicks!! Nuff' Said.. n speakin of Hot, I'm kinda glad they got rid of the Shredder in this flick, cuz the babe replacin him cant be described in words!!! Karai Hot, an awesome fighter, speaks with a really deep n husky voice... Just the kinda babe whose hands I wouldnt mind dying by... ofcourse this is all animated, so let's forget I said all that...

Last but not least, the ever-lasting Splinter!! When Splinter came on screen (not literally!!), he first resembled those 2 possums in Ice-Age 2... but then he started speaking, n the vision turned back to that of a choking rat... Oh well... he's still old-lookin, n wise, and seeks to bring his sons, the turtles, back to working as a team... Big Dreams, this guy!! He still keeps counseling his sons during individual sessions bout how they've gotta keep trainin, bonding, blah blah blah... how does this guy keep living??? my guess: he charges the turtles for hourly sessions...

Neways, soooo.. seein as how I've gone on n on bout wut I liked most bout the movie, I'm gettin kinda tired now.. so i'm just gonna giv u a quick outline on the story, but I wont spoil it for u too much, so u can still enjoy it when u catch it!!

Basically, the movie starts off with an introduction to the supposed-baddie, who F***ed up 3000 years ago by turnin his entire brotherhood into stone in exchange for immortality (with the old 'I-wanna-conquer-the-world' dream), with the teeny-tiny side effect of unleashing 13 monsters into the world... who are also immortal, btw... so now he seeks to rectify his mistake...

Leo, meanwhile, is completin his trainin in a jungle somewhere in Central America, but is reluctant to return home, feeling he wud be more needed protecting innocent villagers...

Mike goes into showbiz, entertaining kids at bday bashes n parties by dressing up as.... You Guessed it!!!: A Ninja Turtle!!! Go figure...

Dony's Workin from home as a one-man call-center IT Helpdesk Technician... Sigh, we know bout that, dun we ppl..

N Raph.. well, Raph cant stand losin the old glory days, n after watchin 1 too many Batman/Spiderman movies, takes to the streets as a nightly vigilante...

Splinter's meditating.. still...

April n Casey have hooked up.. its not made clear wut they do...

So basically, Leo, thru no reasoning, decides to return to the Big Apple, and the 4 shell-backed dudes get curious when their arch-enemies, the Foot Clan, r helpin round up huge monsters, when its evident to them that the Shredder has, in fact, gone on to a better place, hence leaving them without a guiding force...

I'm gonna leave the plot at that... Tellin u anymore wud be ruining things for u.. So get out there n watch it!!! cuz its not just for the kids, its great for the child within all adults too!!!

On a final note: I noticed they didnt display the turtles' obsession with pizza at all in this movie.. maybe its cuz they'd already hammered that fact with all previous installments of the TMNT series.. personally, I think it has sumthin to do with NYC bein the first city in the US to ban trans-fats, so maybe there's this whole health-conscious drive going on...

Waiting...

I'm waiting for something...
Waitin ever so patiently...
Yet I dont know exactly what it is I'm waiting for...
I don't even know if what I'm waiting for will come to me...
I dont know if leaving what I have right now wud be throwing away the opportunity of a lifetime...
I dont know if I CAN leave what I have right now...

What I DO know, is that I'm sick of waiting for things...
I'm sick of waiting for things to happen to me...
Sick of waiting for things to come to me...
Sick of worryin sick bout possibly throwing away the opportunity of a lifetime...
Sick of worrying about the future...

I'm sick of being told to adapt to the circumstances n modify my strategy...

I say 'To Hell with circumstances!!! It's time to start creating opportunities n start taking some chances!!!'

That felt better... slightly....

Damned Manipulators!!!

Have you ever come face to face with a manipulator?? u know.. those damned ppl who r too frikkin lazy to do anythin themselves, but instead love askin friends to do their damned work for them.. n not to mention, the friends realize wuts up with the manipulator, but dont mind helpin out once in awhile n not make a big fuss bout it...

its really idiotic... the manipulators think they're gettin away with stuff here n bein all high n mighty with ppl doin their work for them, n the friends just dont care, as long as its once in a while, n not all the damn time...

I recently had the misfortune of comin across such a person n gettin friendly with em... a (highly irregular) classmate in Mandarin class, he's been here for the last 4-5 months or so now, so u cud say he still doesnt know the place nearly as well as i do..

neways, basically the dude's been an obnoxious SOB since Day One... pretty much loves overshadowing others, n obviously enjoys givin the impression that he's got it made in life, with not a worry to his mind on how to make it big in business.. heck, so far all ive seen him do is talk bout his plans... have seen him preoccupied only with stuff other than business... oh well, to be honest, i dont really care bout his business n how he makes his money... may he have God's blessing in all his endeavours.. i just wish he'd realize wut a pompous ass he appears to be everytime.. atleast he does to me, neways..

it starts with us all going on a trip to some remote mountain regions.. the dude asks pretty much every member of the group to snap about a dozen pix (EACH!!!) of himself in various modelling poses, so he can send them back to his family... i dont know bout anyone else out there, but if i sent my mom pics of myself modelling, stranded on some remote mountain region in the middle of nowhere, the first question outta her wud be: Are you even gettin any work done??? def not the impression id wanna giv her :P

Most recently, the dude asks me to show him around to a couple of gyms in the city, cuz he cant friggin decide which one he wants to join... first of all, im not damned tour guide... u wanna get shown around??? get a local!!! they LOVE doin this stuff!!! neways, so i took him to a couple of gyms that i knew bout... all he can do is start mocking them for their lack of equipment or being too expensive for the facilities provided...

Wuts hilariously suspicious is, he just kept looking for ONE particular machine in every gym: The reverse Hamstring Extension machine... i have NO IDEA y he wanted to work on his hamstrings using that machine so badly.. maybe he suddenly found out that a good lookin ass on a guy can attract attention :P .. or maybe that's his thing.. some ppl are abs freaks, some r chest freaks.. apparently, this guy might be a hamstring freak...

neways, back to the topic.. so he sits down to negotiate membership fees with the management in my gym... id informed the guy beforehand that i got a good deal outta them cuz i was a continuing member, so they gave me a good renewal discount... now this guy's tryin to get the same deal outta them... so in the middle he asks me to remind him again how much im payin... at this point, i blew a gasket... i didnt get up n tell him to get out or anything (i dont own the damn place, u know :P ).. i told him i'd tell him later... once we're outta the place (n he didnt sign up, even thou the guy went as low as he cud for a new member), i tell him that i dont want u asking for that same amount cuz im a renewing member, n he def wont offer u the same deal, even thou im bringin u in as a friend...

I dunno if wut i did was right or wrong.. i was pretty much sick of him tryin to wrestle in on every good deal n spoil things for everyone else... i mean, if he'd asked for the same fees as i did, n he probably still wudnt have signed, since they wouldnt have come that low, that pretty much wud have screwed things up between myself n management, wudnt it??? n im already a member of that gym, so i wud have had to face the music, when he'd probably happily be workin on his hamstrings in some other, cheaper gym... so, i feel i did the right thing...

Neways, he keeps tellin me all along that there's another gym right next to his home thats really amazing, has more facilities than mine, n its really cheap... n he had some flimsy ass excuse for not joining that one... bullshit... ive had too experience with bullshitters to not recognize one when i see him... its like they'll deliberately portray themselves as high n mighty, n then do sumthin just for the fun of 'trying something new' or doin u a favour.. WTF??? n there r PLENTY of bullshitters in this place... keep showing everyone wut kinda stuff they've pulled off, wut kinda stuff they do.. Love playing Mind Games... i especially detest ppl who feel they must make every frikkin incident in their lives a bloody mind game... wut they dont realize is anyone can play mind games, its just that there r those who choose to do so, n there r those who choose not to...

To finish off the topic, last nite after mandarin class i happened to meet the guy.. i asked him wut gym he's joined, n it turns out he hasnt decided yet... this isnt a University or Job ur deciding on, its just a gym!!! n then he tells me, he wants my help in purchasing body-building supplements (they were on display at my gym).. i recognized this as another wild goose chase right away (not to mention, realized right away he had no plans to work out, just take alotta supplements n hope to God he'd resemble Sylvester), so i replied that my gym always overprices drinks n supplements, so ud be better off lookin for them outside... thankfully, that shut him up, atleast for the time being...

So to end this post, y the heck do ppl feel like they have to manipulate others, take advantage of them, and then feel all smug bout the fact that they were successful in gettin others to help them out?? i say they're seriously deluded... little do they realize that were their friends to simply tell em to 'F**K OFF n do their own bloody work', they'd come crashing back to earth pretty damned fast!!!

n to be honest... ive observed this quality primarily in my own-countrymen... i really hate to say this, but its true... its no wonder we're so behind in the world...

Testing, Testing...

Just made some changes to the Blog template... Finally upgraded to Layouts on Blogger, and everything has become impressively easier to manage... takes a few minutes to get used to the new tools n stuff, though..

Neways, I thought i'd spruce the blog up a bit, so that it wouldnt appear to be so dull all the time... I've added the shoutbox, and a clock for the region of the world where im at these days, so check it out n lemme know wut u think...

Next on my list of stuff to change on the blog: The Name!!

Now if only I could do sumthin bout my writin skillz... hmm...

Tonite, we dine in... Arrggh!!! MY EYES!! MY EYES!!!

I saw 300 last night... needless to say, it was Kick-Ass!!! You can easily see why men and women flocked the the cinemas to watch this blockbuster: The women went to drool over the mens' bodies.. The men were attracted by the lure of a bloodfest, and I expect some (unfortunately) to drool over the mens' bodies too...

I read bout their workouts online, and no doubt about it, the grueling routines definitely showed some impressive results... The cast of Troy (yes, yes, ladies.. except for Brad) would have been put to shame...

Anyway, as much as I enjoyed this bloodfest which mainly involved millions of big naked men bein virtually raped by 300 MUCH bigger naked men, all armed with sharp, pointy weapons (no pun intended), I couldnt help but burst out laughing at the following thought:

There's a scene in the movie, right after the Oracle disapproves of the King's plan to defend Sparta against the Persians, where the king vacates to his chambers and decides to get all touchy-feely with his wife.. That scene commences with the following image:



I wouldnt care if I had the proud honour of bein a soldier enlisted in the "Strongest Army in the World!!".. The LAST thing I'd EVER want is to be walking down the streets, take a look up at the gorgeous moonlit sky only to find my Mighty Bearded King peering down upon me from his balcony, flashing his 'Royal Subjects' to the entire street...

Can u imagine if, in Malaysia, you had Badawi mooning half of KL from the balcony of his luxurious home?? or Bush flashing Washington from his balcony on the White House?? (No pictures provided here, thankfully)

I dont know how my mind got hard-wired to pick up this stuff... Sigh...

Oh n while we're on the subject of 300.. I couldnt help but notice somethin suspicious... :

The great mystery has been Solved, PPL!!! Osama isnt hiding in a cave in Afghanistan dependin on some dialysis machines!! He's posing as Gerard Butler n hiding out in Hollywood!! No wonder them stupid Americans cant find him... they've been lookin in all the wrong places...

The Way of the Dragon

This is a SERIOUSLY INSPIRING anecdote I got from 'Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body'.. I read this quite a while ago and wanted to post it up earlier, but was too lazy to locate the exact text.. Alas, here it is:

Stirling Silliphant (a student of Lee's) relates an interesting story that perfectly embodies Lee's attitude toward progressive resistance in cardiovascular training, as well as his refusal to let a person - in this case, Silliphant - underestimate his own physical potential:

Bruce had me up to 3 miles a day, really at a good pace. We'd run the 3 miles in 21 or 22 minutes. Just under 8 minutes a mile [Note: When running on his own in 1968, Lee would get his time down to 6.5 minutes per mile]. So this morning he said to me "We're going to go 5." I said "Bruce, I cant go 5. I'm a helluva lot older than you are, and I cant do 5." He said, "When we get to 3, we'll shift gears and its only 2 more and you'll do it." I said "Okay, hell, I'll go for it."

So we get to 3, we go into the 4th mile, and Im okay for 3 or 4 minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I'm tired, my heart's pounding, I cant go anymore and so I say to him, "Bruce if I run any more" - and we're still running - "if I run any more I'm liable to have a heart attack and die." He said, "Then die."

It made me so mad that I went the full 5 miles. Afterward I went into the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it. I said, you know, "Why did you say that?" He said, "Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it'll spread over into the rest of your life. It'll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level."

Thought-provoking, aint it?

You're makin me angry... n ive got nowhere to vent...

I cant help it... I've got to find another outlet to vent... the Idiot (check earlier post 'Bitterness Personified' for more info) is up to her usual antics again... Obviously I'm not going to do anything about it... because I cant... my hands r virtually tied up...

I'm not going to list out again exactly what frustrates me so much.. I'd just be repeating myself.. its pretty much what ive mentioned before, but this time she's taken it to an even higher level.. primarily cuz she realizes my hands r pretty much tied up...

God!! she's one of the main reasons I cant wait to get out of here... everytime I see an INKLING of a hint that she's been in the vicinity, I start fuming... its not that I'm normally a short-tempered person.. she's just pushed me a lil too far than im comfortable with.. n continues to do so, thou in a more subtle (but still In-Your-Face) manner... I've got to be completely honest... I dont think I've ever met anyone more obnoxious, more self-centered, more devious, more irritating, more complaining, more idiotic person in my life...

The best I can do right now is go on ignoring her as long as humanly possible, and to work on gettin the F**K outta this place ASAP.. I dont even wanna bother my family and discuss this with them anymore, since I'd just be lowerin myself to her level by complaining, and they wouldnt be willing/able to help out in the first place... nevermind... I shall save my frustrations for better use, at a more suitable time...

I believe John Dryden said it best: "Beware the fury of a patient man." Ofcourse, I dont mean to display my fury anytime in the near future.. I simply pursue the idea of one day inflicting the same suffering upon her... Call me a sadist, but there r some things i just cant let go...

On a relative note:

"Patience, n. A minor form of dispair, disguised as a virtue." - Ambrose Bierce

Quotes of the Day

MORE QUOTES!!! Get em while they're fresh:

This one's primarily for the martial artists out there, but definitely serves an inspirational purpose for the rest of us as well:

'Let an opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let an opponent smash into your flesh and you fracture his bone; let an opponent fracture your bone and you take his life! Do not be concerned with your escaping safely; lay your life before him!' - Bruce Lee

I came across this next one while searching forums for info on settin up MySQL over webservers:

'Keep your friends close, and your databases closer' - Unknown

The geeks among us would find this hilarious... for the rest of us, a weak smile at best...

Out of Ideas

I want to change my Blog name to something a bit more unique. The current name (Life as we know it... or do we...) is overused, and terribly cliched...

Unfortunately, I'm all outta ideas for something unique and creative.. I guess this is why I'm stuck in IT: I lack a serious sense of creativity, except in scenarios where it is least desired...


Ideas, anyone???

Unblocked: Blogger!!!

The Damage has been undone:

Blogger has been unblocked by the ISPs in this friggin region.. Im guessin the authorities conducted an intensive lock-down, inspecting each blog for content incriminable as plausible libel :P (I sincerely hope they flagged my blog for that... Over-Paranoid Bastards!!!)..

Neways, thanks to anonymous surfing I was still able to access Blogspot... N now ive regained the right to Comment!!!

Quote(s) of the Day

Chanced upon these quotes over at Wikipedia. In the state of mind I'm currently in (see the post below this one), they happened to lighten my mood just a wee bit, so I thought I'd share them with you all. Who knows, it might just help uplift someone's spirits:

1) "If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank" - Woody Allen

2) ""Sometimes I lie awake at night and I ask, Why me?" And the voice says, "Nothing personal your name just happened to come up."" - Charles M. Schulz


Update (2 mins later):

I just happened to find another juicy one 2 mins after I posted.. so here it is:

"I think crime pays. The hours are good, you meet a lot of interesting people, you travel a lot." - Woody Allen

Sigh.. of All the Dumbest mistakes...

I've been kinda depressed lately.. Ok, thats puttin it mildly, I've been REALLY depressed lately... n this time I have a reason.. its not just one of my mood swings, which can sometimes change as frequently as stock quotes.. Anyways, gettin back to the matter at hand..

I recently had an over-the-phone interview with a prospective employer... The job was great, n to be honest, I havent seen one like that anyplace else... I wud have been recruited as a trainee, learnt all there is to learn bout ecommerce, be paid as much as any other employee.. n best of all, I wud have returned to KL!!!

So anyways, the 1st interview went great, n I got an immediate scheduling for the 2nd phone interview.. That caused alot of confusion due to the timezone differences between interviewer and interviewee (for a while there I was under the impression that I was bein blown off in an entirely unprofessional manner).. the 2nd interview finally took place.. it went fine... turns out I wasnt equipped with enough practical experience for 1 of the 2 posts I applied for, but I turned out to be just fine for the 2nd post (the trainee post)... I was confident I'd get it, n in my mind I'd already packed up n left for KL...

n then 2 mins later I get the interviewer's message, apologizin for not askin me earlier, and inquirin as to my expected salary... Now the salary range specified in the online job ad was quite high.. dreamy, to be honest... but obviously i didnt go for the max possible... I specified a range that pretty much justified my coming down to KL all the way from china, and was bout midrange of wut they'd offered.. ofcourse, I mentioned the salary wasnt important at all to me, wuts more important is the work n the learning experience, n I would definitely go lower...

alas, I feel that fine point was my undoing. I received the apologetic email the next night when I got back from Mandarin class... Family didnt seem so surprised, statin I may have asked for too much money, n that racial factors may have come into play as well... I can understand the part about the racial factors.. but askin for too much money??? sheeshh..

you know how u feel when something REALLY bad happens, and some smart-alec comes up with some advice that they cud have just simply mentioned in passing to u so that you cud have conveniently side-stepped the situation?? u get that immediate, immense 'Gee-thanks-for-not-givin-me-that-lil-peice-0f-advice- earlier-and-now-shoving-it-into-my-face' feeling, dontcha?? thats how I felt.. nothin against my family, ofcourse.. theyre among the wisest n smartest ppl i've ever known, especially when it comes to these matters
.. but i just couldnt help but feel slightly resentful at not having received that "Go for Rock-Bottom pay when ur a foreigner n have a long shot" tip BEFORE I stumbled thru the interview... i mean, its not like im a fresh grad lookin for his first break...

Sigh.. so basically thats it.. Now it just keeps hittin me that I may never get to go back to KL, nor even get out of this Godforsaken country... I'm gonna be stuck here workin as a damned 'errand boy' for the family business for the rest of my life, arent I??

Mom spent the better part of an hour that night over the phone explainin to me I'd pinned down too many hopes on that 1 job, n that I shud have gone all out n sent resumes as far as Kingdom Come!! Well, thankfully, that chance hasn't gone by yet, so I'm sending out resumes as far n wide as possible... To my friends in KL/Singapore, if you know of any MNCs out there currently hiring foreigners, do leave a message letting me know!!

I know I shud be more positive, have a better attitude bout this, but I just cant help but feel that interview was my best shot at gettin somewhere, n I blew it up with my own big mouth... n im gonna be stuck here for good, n not make it anywhere in life... n i get this naggin feeling that even the resumes Ive sent out so far wont make a single impact or get me a single interview appointment..

Is this the way everyone feels at some point in their career? just completely despondent n void of hope?? or is it just my negativity kickin in Big-time... maybe I'm just feelin this way cuz pretty much everything's been screwin up for me Career/Education wise since the last year or so...

for now, I guess until i can do something about my job situation, I'm just gonna help out here at work n giv it all i've got, even more so than I've been doin so far, startin Monday morning...

of all the F***ED up mistakes a guy cud make, this HAS DEFINITELY GOT TO BE AMONG THE TOP 10!!!


Update:

Sigh.. this incident just hurts so damned much, I cant even finish proofreading it, cuz it just stings that much more goin over it everytime... wut happened to the good ol' days when all that hurt was screwin up things with ur girl in high school/college??

Blocked: Blogspot!!!

NOO!!! This is.. stupid.. no its not just stupid, its INFURIATING!!

ISPs in China (or atleast the ones in my region) have once again decided to use their proxies ever so efficiently in blocking Blogspot blogs... Add this to the already blocked Wordpress.com and multiply.com blogs, and u get the idea where these ppl are going... Not to mention Google was at one point prevented access to (users still aren't allowed access to ALL of google's facilities either.. e.g. Google Video)... i wonder wuts next.. YouTube, i bet..

What is it with this country's government? Are we not allowed to express freely our opinions? I understand if the ban is imposed upon their own citizens, but to restrict foreigners from doing the same... arrrghhh, i cant even begin to comprehend the situation... I'm willing to bet money that the only reason Google has been allowed access to is cuz they realized how beneficial it can be in promoting China's business activities... Screw it ALL, I say!!! I wouldnt be here if I had the choice, n I wouldnt think twice about leaving...

P.S. Check this out... ur denied access to blogspot.com sites, but strangely enough, I have no issues logging in to Bloggger.com and accessing my Dashboard... so basically, that means I can freely express my opinions and thoughts, but I cant go back later and review them????? :S

all i can say is... Thank God for Anonymous Surfing!!! ;)

Post-midnite ramblings...

Its approaching 5am on a Sunday morning as I write this... What's keeping me up, u ask? The Cricket World Cup 2007... Its not being televised here within the mainland, hence I keep myself updated through Cricinfo.

No spectacular matches goin on... I'm just bout done watching Pakistan and Indian being raped (literally!!!) by their opponents, Ireland and Bangladesh respectively... lets say no more on that...

also keeping me up is the notion of preparing for my upcoming (rescheduled) technical interview... I know I can kick ass at the technical crap, but its been awhile since I last actively practised the technical crap, hence am a bit rusty... But I gotta giv it all I got... the job in question may not appear to be much to the average onlooker, but there's alot ridin on it... maybe too much (at the risk of puttin all my eggs in 1 basket again... i think i do that too often..) so I'm hopin for a lil luck here...

On another note, I noticed I havent been blogging much lately... so I shall come up with another one of my 'old skool' anecdotes to relate to y'all... very soon... keep checkin for updates... i know, its probably interesting to none but myself, but heck, ure here for a reason, arent u? ;)

Ok, its past 5am... n I had a really tiring workout earlier today... so i'm gonna hit the sack now n take full advantage of the Sunday ahead...

the Dark(er) Side...

My dear friend Kalamari has shoved upon myself the honour of revealing my own 6 idiosyncrasies for all to read about here, so that I may freak out the few friends I choose to keep (in the dark) and therefore totally eliminate any and all possibilities for a shot at a regular social life.

I seriously dont know why, at this point, I'm choosing to ignore my Spider-Sense when it goes BLING!! BLING!!( or is it BUZZ!! BUZZ!! ?? never too sure about that). But hey, ive ignored it before, made shitty mistakes before, never learnt a lesson from em either, and this can be another one of those mistakes to go into the archives...

ofcourse, I dont share this without compensation... upon sharing my abnormalities, I receive the honour of deciding the same fate for 6 other individuals... or Chosen Ones, if u will...

So here we go... First, the rules:

Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 idiosyncrasies (abnormal behaviour, habits etc.) as well as clearly stating this rule. After you state your 6 weirdness you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their multiply id / blog names / nicknames at the bottom of your blog. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says "You’re tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.

Ladies and Gents!!! The 6 nominees are:

1) I cant stand silence. I cant help it. It doesnt matter if I'm working, driving, u name it. I need something running in the background: music/TV. It doesnt even matter If I'm watchin or listenin attentively or not, just the background noise keeps me at peace. The only time I prefer silence is when I'm trying to sleep. Heck, even then, a lil music or leaving the TV on doesnt seem so bad to me... Wastage, i know...

2) I overthink stuff. Its just in my nature. For some reason I spend too much time thinking bout an opportunity, that I just let the opportunity pass away thinkin bout it. Scarlet Johansson cud be standing naked at my doorway holdin a box (not just a pack, an entire frikkin box!!) of condoms, n I'd be thinkin bout the repercussions (Ok, i exaggerate.. its not THAT bad... i think). But frankly Ive noticed I've let 1-2 many good opportunities slip away doing too much thinking... even thou it might not always be a bad thing.

3) I have a fear of animals. There... I said it, admitted it.... I'm a zoophobiac (I hope I got that right).. Though I'm not actually a full-fledged animal hater... I love going to the zoo, I enjoy watching animal documentaries, I've even had pet tortoises.. but for some reason I dont enjoy the idea of laying my hands on animals every chance I get.. THAT I avoid religiously.. sure, ive had minor incidents of close contact with animals n i never freaked out, but i guess i havent had much experience (or fond incidents) of growing up with animals, so thats probably y i'm this way.. being chased by dogs and goats (a LOOONG time ago) didnt really help the situation... n i HATE CATS!!! which is kinda paradoxical considerin the Arabic meaning of my name... neways, ive said it a million times: I only love animals if it gets cold enough... ponder that, if u will...

4) I collect scrap. No, not to the point where I own a junk yard and go up to ppl's places n ask for their daily junk. I just have the habit of thinking twice before throwing anything away. A certain receipt may not be thrown away in case I need it for refunds. A business card may be kept safely for future reference. An old raggedy shirt might not be thrown away so I can use it as my 'handyman' shirt. Alot of the stuff I keep may also be for sentimental reasons... yeah yeah, ok, u got me.. i can be pretty sentimental at times, but Damn if im gonna write that as 1 of my abnormalities... I'm a MAN!! and we men hide our damn sentiments... ur gonna have to get me drunk or friggin pissed off to see any of that side... anyways, the show must always go on...

5) I need my daily dose of alone-time. Though I dont really know if this qualifies as an abnormality. Pretty much everyone I know needs some time everyday to 'reflect' on their recent ongoings. I dont exactly install sound barriers in my room, place yoga mats n get down into some weird Kamasutra pose n meditate (hmm.. shud giv that a try sometime...).. I just need to be alone for a few minutes, be it while driving on my own someplace, lyin in bed, while takin a long walk... never in the washroom thou.. aint no thinkin goin on in there :P .. abnormality #1 still applies here thou.. I'm perfectly capable of doin some deep-thinkin with Metallica, Seether or Nickelback blasting away in the background..

and for the Grand Finale...

6) I (sometimes) go commando at nite...

I'm gonna give u a lil time to let that sink in....


Ok... That's bout all the time u get to ponder that one before I add my own reasonable explanation.. Its a habit I picked up during the HOT, HUMID summers I spent in Dubai... even with the air-conditioners on at nite, one was often left pondering over the possibilities for makin the nites a little more bearable.. Its not something I indulged in during my months in the UK.. I doubt my roommates would have lasted long knowing the only protection from permanent loss of sight was the darkness... It was not the case in KL thou... y'all know wut the weather in KL is like, and that definitely merits yours truly's choice of.. ermm, nightwear... Mind you, never did it when we had guests over... n its not like id go streaking thru the house at nite like some REALLY freaky version of Shrek, either... i was safely contained with the boundaries of my room (and its many windows).. and thats all I have to say on that.. end of discussion..

So... Thats 6 of may various quirks.. I expect my friend count on Friendster to be goin down any minute now... doesnt matter anyways... my true friends stand right by me.. right here... ermm.. where'd they go?? Dammit!!!

N before I forget: Joining us next time on Share-it-All-N-Die will be:

1) El Diablo Corneo
2) Bodicea
3) Malcolm
4) Andrew
5) Munaks
6) Kotak (as u mentioned, u had a few more to share ;) MuahahahaAHA..)

Winners will be notified via MSN Messenger.

No comments??? No wonder!!!

Hey ppl...

I just realized why I havent seen any comments on my blog for quite some time now...

It turns out I had the 'comment moderation' option enabled, but I never caught sight of it on my Dashboard up until just now... Therefore I apologize to all those who read and have commented on my posts, but never received any replies...

But then again, this is life, u never get properly rewarded for ur actions, n it aint easy getting recognized... n since I just taught u all such a tough lesson in life for the cost of a few comments, you should be eternally grateful..

I shall expect your Thank You comments to be dropping in any day now...

unleash the Wolverine within!!!

Damn... I dunno wut got into me last night... no, no i dun mean in bed (well, thats an entirely different story), i meant at the gym...

I was actually kinda tired going through my capo workout.. but for some reason got really pumped up when it was time to hit the weights... so i headed over to the squat rack to start workin on my legs... ive got this routine where ur supposed to increase the weight u lift every workout, thereby adapting ur body to lifting more and challenging urself more everytime, lest the previous weight becomes the slightest bit easier for u... for more details, check out the Push/Pull routine series at Gregg Avedon's site... Try it out if u feel like revving up your workout a little...

anyway, so i load it up with 90kgs to start off with... for some reason the squat rack seemed really unstable while i was lifting... i get to my 3rd set, load it up with 110kgs... i start lifting, n one of the supporting beams falls apart.. sheeesh... was kinda embarassing, like being the kid who thinks he's Lou Ferrigno or sumthin n lifts way more than he cud handle... the trainer knew i cud handle it thou, so no worries... neways, we fixed up the rack quick, n i got on with my workout.. maybe ive sorta exceeded the limit on the squat rack.. but it cant be.. its just 110kgs, after all.. maybe it just needs repairing... im proud of myself to be able to handle that kinda weight thou... it means im progressing as predicted in the program..

I really got revved up workin my arms, thou... i progressed to doing 50lb dumbell curls!!! thats a high for me... heck, im not even sure if they have dumbells heavier than that in the entire gym.. it wasnt easy thou... pretty much shat myself doin it.. :P

there's sumthin bout liftin that kinda weight that gets u goin, if ur like me... sorta like having 300lbs over u on a bench press (havent progressed that far yet.. all in due time thou): when u have all that weight pushin/pullin u down, u can do one of 2 things: u either get really, REALLY pissed n motivated to lift it, or u ask for help from ur spotter... i did the former, partly cuz i knew i had it in me, but mostly cuz I train alone (so no spotter :P)... and mann, i got Wolverine PISSED!!! nothin was more fulfilling than completing the set and throwing down the dumbells... i know, i know, 50lb dumbell curls are probably peanuts to alot of people out there, but for me, it shows gradual progression in my strength training...

its stuff like that that keeps me headin back to the gym for more... stuff like that that keeps me working on my capoeira moves, knowing it'll all pay off eventually...

Cant wait to hit the gym again tonite... its Chest day today :) i wont hit the 300lb mark anytime soon, but atleast im challenging myself...

Muslim Pickup Lines... Hilarious Stuff!!!

HEhe... this is some funny stuff.. for my non-muslim readers, ive added a glossary of Islamic terms (ive tried explaining to the best of my limited knowledge.. i hope im not wrong, but u'll get the gist of it) that may be unfamiliar:

1. "OH MY GOSH! I just saw part of your hair, now you're obliged to marry me."
2. "I'd like to be more than just your brother in Islam."
3. "To watch you pray is a sin of its own."
4."Will my platinum VISA cover your dowry?"
5."You can't play basketball with a jilbab on, marry me, and we will go one-on-one our entire life."
6."Muslims are supposed to have many children, and I am willing to do my part..."
7."Assalamualaikum, so what time does a Hoor Al-3ayn like you have to be back in Jannah?"
8. So, read any good Surahs lately?
9. Do you believe in the hereafter? Oh you do? Then you know what I'm hereafter.
10. Lets get married so I don’t have to lower my gaze every time you walk in the room
11. I've had to fast every day since the day that I first saw you.
12. Do you work for the FBI ? Because you've just abducted my heart.
13. Your father must be a terrorist, because you're da BOMB!
14. Would you like to help me wake up for Fajr?
15.. Are you a Shiite? Because when I saw you, I said to myself, "She aiight".
16. Do you wanna date? I bought a box full when I went to Madinah.
17. Girl, you fine. I see praying five times a day has paid off.
18. That's a nice burqa. Can I talk you out of it?
19. I need to break my fast. Can I have a date?
20. I didn’t trip over my robe, I fell for you.
21. I know Halal meat does a body good, but damn, how much you been eatin'
22. Wanna pray in jamaat, shoulder to shoulder, feet to feet?
23. "*guy looks under girls hijab* "sorry, i was looking for the made in jannah tag"
24. "After seeing you, the first thing I said was Mashallah. The next was Inshallah!"
25. "Are those legs halal?"


Glossary of terms:

Halal: Term usually used to certify meat from animals slaughtered according to Islamic Law.
Burqa: Dress worn by Ladies (usually in arab countries)
Jannah: Heaven
Hijab: Headdress and/or Veil
Mashallah: A word used to praise the work of God
Inshallah: Literally means 'By the Will of God, it will happen'
Hoor-al-Ayn: Angel
Surahs: Quranic Verses
Shiite: Member of the Islamic tribe 'Shia'
Fajr: Prayers performed at the break of dawn
Madinah: One of the 2 holy cities located in Saudi Arabia. The other city is Makkah (or Mecca, depending on how u pronounce it)
Jamaat: Prayer in congregation

And a pathetic little attempt at political humour:
FBI: Free Bush's Intelligence

Bitterness personified...

I really need to vent right now... I admit, Im not really good at controlling my anger... I'm pretty good at not displaying it in public, hence most people close to me wouldnt know me to lose my temper when things go wrong. i'm more often known to be jovial, or intensely quiet when problems surface...

In private, however, its a different matter... my ideal venting routine would start off with smashing furniture (a la Hulk) and preferably end with cornering the people responsible for the outrage and spending the next couple of hours pounding them until i hear the sweet, sweet sound that signifies the cracking of ribs (a la Rocky Balboa)..

Like I said, thats my ideal routine... Haven't ever tried it out though, since I have yet to achieve the required level of 'pissedoffness' to go thru the routine.. Instead, I prefer to bottle my rage, which sometimes leads to mild headaches, bouts of depression, and damaged personal effects, until I'm either distracted by something more important, or I fall asleep... I expect an aneurysm sometime in the near future... Its a disease, and I admit I need help... ur more than welcome to dish out advice at this point...

I dont even know where to begin, so I'll go on rambling in a way that would probably make sense to noone but myself, this being one of those situations where u 'had to be there'...

I guess reading this post up to this point has put u in a similar state of frustration, so I'll get to the venting. While I wont be naming anyone, I will, however, be writing in the first person narrative and maintaining every last bit of hope that the person I'm referring to comes across this post somewhere over the Net, and realizes the true extent of hatred I reserve for them, instead of the meagre amount of minced words I have unwillingly unleashed in their presence:

You are the biggest suck up I have ever met... Due to some reason you appear to have upset your own family, and are now intent on creating havoc within others...

You have been provided a home for yourself in a separate location in the workplace, yet you insist on spending as much time as possible within my own home, cooking, leisuring.. Why do you not understand that people prefer to have a little privacy within their lives and do not wish your presence upon themselves during every waking moment??

You came home late at night drunk, actually DEAD DRUNK, on a number of occasions, whereupon i found u lying unconscious outside the door... had i wished to treat u the way u deserved, i would have left u lying on the street till you came to ur senses.. instead i dragged u to ur room and waited there till 2am so ur incoherent wailing, highly reminiscent of 2yr olds, subsided... i decided not to mention this to the family, as it was irrelevant to work, and therefore was of no consequence...

u are consistent in advising my family on what to do with MY future... firstly, what on earth gives you the right to discuss my future with my family in my absence... n secondly, i do not understand y my family does not see through ur well-disguised ruse as a means to merely dispose of me and send me away where i wont be in ur way or in ur face again..

u act like youre god's gift to the world, but ur afraid of taking a 2hr trip to the nearest city on ur own, for fear that the driver might be dazzled by ur 'astonishing beauty' and force himself upon you.. you should understand that no man would probably even touch an immature b**ch like yourself with a 10-ft pole if you were the last 2 living beings on the planet and the continuation of the entire human race depended on your getting together...

you are the most irresponsible person i have ever met... you manage to misplace your office/apartment keys 3 times within 3 months, not to mention lose a handphone and drown a second one within the same timeframe... how my family believed you capable of shouldering such a huge responsibility as they have placed upon you, is beyond my understanding...

You are a lying, fu***ng telltale of the highest degree... no matter what you may do, you portray urself as the most innocent of angels... once someone corrects you of ur mistakes, however subtly it may be, you immediately go wailing (once again, highly reminiscent of a 2-yr old) to the nearest authoritative figure present, and complain about the 'scolding, telling off, and shouting' you have just been handed down...

you act like you have all the sense in the world.. you supposedly advise my family on business matters, but lack the common sense necessary in choosing an appropriate driving school and making sure you dont get duped when buying a car... u lack the courage or the common sense in facing a person after you bang their BMW thanks to your comprehensive driving skills.. very mature...

you force yourself upon this house, calling it your own home... yet you lack the decency to obey the same rules the ppl of this house follow... you leave dishes/pans/cups uncleaned after your cooking... you throw about ur belongings and never bother to clean up.. you cudnt be bothered to pick up ur personal effects after you have been to the washroom, and leave them lying about scattered over the sink... you take over dishes and cutlery into your room, but once again lack the decency to bring them back washed and cleaned so that others may use them.. you expect others to bang upon your door and ask that you graciously allow them to take back what you 'borrowed'..

when all is said and done, you do not even possess even the minimal decency to face the person and talk things through to work out the problem... you prefer to sit and sulk in your apt (the one time you probably return to your own apartment) and call up the nearest person who will listen to you and complain about ur horrible situation... and then u SMS the person you have a problem with and ask them y they dislike you, and y theyre creating problems for u, and that ur not scared of them but only tolerating them... u fail to understand that you are the one being tolerated, since the family has placed responsibility upon you, and the sole reason you are being tolerated in the first place is because it would do more harm than good... if not, well, you would not possess the fingers required for sms'ing long ago if something could be done about you...

all in all, you may pretend to be an angel of the highest degree, and you may take upon urself so much responsibility that my family may even adopt you as a daughter (thats not happening, thank God.. its just a worst-case scenario im presenting)... i, however, will never even then take u as a sister, regardless of whether that decision causes me to sever my own ties with my family.. the only thing keeping u going right now is the fact that youre earning a living for urself, while i have to unwillingly resign to a state of unemployment while helping out with the family business... and i admit, if i can figure out how to handle the business world, there's more than a sufficient income in it...

i would more than willingly sacrifice a major income for a better, happier life... I'd be perfectly happy with a 9-5 job, regardless of the low pay... but I keep myself here for now, as my family as aspirations, and I can help out in fulfilling them...

I would love nothing else than to be locked up in a room with u, and have the key thrown away, and carry out my ideal routine as outline above, while at the same time venting out every bit of my frustration upon you as i have just done so upon my readers (for this, readers, i apologize)...

I will, however, (and I amaze myself at my ability to) keep my anger reigned in, since as i mentioned earlier, it would probably do more harm than good... there must always be an outlet though, and I can happily say that's where my gym workouts come in: capoeira and weight-training have provided me with a decent outlet so far, and I use my anger to push myself harder.. to improve every kick, to lift more weight... (i once again send out a heartfelt thanks to my capoeirista friends/instructors, as they remind me of better times... and those times will return, if i have anything to say about it)

I have also, this one time, decided to blog out my frustrations, at the risk of exposing myself as a raving lunatic for the world to see.. but oh well, cant win em all...

therefore, for now, i am choosing to be the better person... I will not lower myself to tell-taling.. I will not lower myself to immature scheming... and i will just devote myself to helping my father, and concentrating on my workouts, and eventually getting the F**K out of this country ASAP...

For now...

I think i'll call up mom for a bit, see how she's keeping up... then back to work...

Later...