GEEKY RAMBLINGS

Poem: Singapore Tourism

2011-12-17T03:43:00.000-08:00

SINGAPORE TOURISM

Once I was bit by a travelling tic,
So away I did to Singapore Republic.

And having taken my refuge there,
I sampled its tourism fare.

The following I thought worth to pen,
So take heed, o Singaporean:

Oh your malls are proud and commercial
They boast your success economical

Your marvellous public transportation
Excels throughout your entire nation

Your warrior lads do Herculean feats
Your maidens are lithen-limbed and sweet

You're a paragon of efficiency
Naught compares to the Lion City

But as I was bound on the homeward tack
You said "Thank you sir, please come back"

Well the whole point of this poem's to sing
My answer, which is the following:

"It once was in me to visit you again
But then you tried to drown me in your f***ing rain!"

- GitP -

- Copyright © CHOY JI IAN 2012 -

Poem: Spiderweb Jewels

2011-12-01T23:48:00.000-08:00

On roofing rafters,
Hung

A delicate construct
Clung

A cobby chandelier
Dangled

With dewdropped mists
Tangled

The shimm'ring silk
Threaded

With glist'ning pearls
Beaded

On Nature's necklace,
unwearable

By mortal hands
untouchable

Spiderweb jewels
unownable

A tiny masterpiece,
Insect.

A touch of God
Perfect.

- GitP -

- Copyright © CHOY JI IAN 2012 -

Sucker Punch

2011-10-30T04:11:00.000-07:00

Does not deserve the bad reviews. A mental, moral, allegorical, musical and visual extravaganza. Would that I could do half as well, I'd be a happy man indeed.

"Everyone has an angel. A guardian who watches over us. We can't know what form they'll take One day, old man; next day, little girl. But don't let appearances fool you. They can be as fierce as any dragon. Yet they're not here to fight our battles, but to whisper from our hearts. Reminding that it's us. Its every one of us who holds power over the world we create.

You can deny angels exist, convince ourselves they can't be real. But they show up anyway, at strange places and at strange times. They can speak through any character we can imagine. They'll shout through demons if they have to. Daring us, challenging us to fight.

"Who honors those we love with the very life we live? Who sends monsters to kill us, and at the same time sings that we'll never die? Who teaches us what's real, and how to laugh at lies? Who decides why we live, and what we'll die to defend? Who chains us, and who holds the key to set us free? It's you."

Wounds of the Soul

2011-09-21T03:18:00.001-07:00

Wounds of the soul take a while to heal.

Once again I let my heart and my mouth get away with me. Once again I let myself get emotionally involved.

An interesting quote comes to mind. "Those who wear their hearts on their sleeves, bear the danger of people ripping it off."

Also: "He who stands up gets hammered down."

Any who may have doubts about who I am, what I am, any who would judge me for what I did, just remember this: I tried the best I could.

The Most Surreal Phone Conversation I Have Ever Had (Condensed)

2011-08-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

Me: Hi I'd like a Ramadan Pair Combo. Just checking, this is the one with the Seri Ramadan Pizza from Pizza Hut?

PHD: Sir we are Pizza Hut Delivery, we're different from Pizza Hut.

Me: ... Oh? How so?

PHD: Sir we deliver freshly baked piping hot pizza to your house within 30 minutes guaranteed with no delivery charge sir.

Me: I see. Well, I'm ordering the Pizza Hut Seri Ramadan pizza, it's the same right? I checked the menu at the Pizza Hut website menu?

PHD: Sir the Ramadan Combo is on the Pizza Hut menu. This is Pizza Hut Delivery sir. You might want to check the Pizza Hut Delivery website menu sir, not the Pizza Hut website menu.

Me: Oh, is there a difference? Right, why don't you tell me if you have a similar combo?

PHD: Sir Pizza Hut Delivery offers a Ramadan Pair Combo that costs RM34 and...

Me: Does this Ramadan Pair Combo have a Seri Ramadan pizza in it?

PHD: Yes sir, the Seri Ramadan pizza which is a scrumptious traditional crust pizza topped with delicious satay sauce, masala chicken, pineapple bits, onions, red chillis, tomatoes and cilantro sir.

Me: I see. And this is different from the Pizza Hut Seri Ramadan pizza, how?

PHD: ... it's the same sir.

Me: ... Oh, right. I thought you were going to tell me something that actually was appreciably different from the Pizza Hut Seri Ramadan pizza.

Science & Faith

2011-08-22T23:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a day late but I don't think I'll mind, it's not like anyone else reads this.

Results are out. All I can say is: science failed me but faith did not. Now if only I can knuckle up to the current semester's workload, innstead of bumming around downloading albums and reading...

...which recently includes Mike Gayle and Jodi Picoult, surely a major change from my usual Jeffrey Archer, Andy McNab, etc. Both writers' styles are quite different. Where Jodi Picoult twists, turns, flashes back and forth and loves to spring surprises on a reader, Mike Gayle lays out all his cards and then develops them in front of your eyes.

"In your head you think you love me because we see the world the same way, we look at things the same way... but it's not about what you have in common, it's the way she makes you feel in your heart. And the heart wins everytime."

His novel Brand New Friend really strikes deep, and is rather quotable. Not sure I'm used to all the emotion, but I absolutely must study such authors' works in order to be able to write emotional scenes and plots effectively. Also I should work on my prose, for which Jodi Picoult is a good example (though J.P. can really throw a mean plot-twist as well.)

(Yes, I used the My Sister's Keeper movie adaptation cover instead of the original. That's because I prefer the movie ending, plus OMG! Abigail Breslin! Alec Baldwin! Cameron Diaz! A-B-A-B-C-D! I absolutely LOVE the cast, they're all so great!)

It's a toss-up which I like better, Salem Falls or My Sister's Keeper. Probably both. Problem is I now wish I could write like Jodi Picoult. Although I should develop my prose to be like hers, I must resist the temptation to attempt a full Picoult-clone.

And musically, I have just discovered the joys of thickly-incomprehensible Irish accents, near-falsetto alt-rock and questionable electronica riffs intruding into the drums. Yep, meet The Script and their new(ish) economic-depression-inspired album. Everyone knows the oh-so-meaningful 'For The First Time' by now, but there's also gems like 'Nothing' and 'Science & Faith' hidden on their album with the rather nice cover.

'Science & Faith':

You won't find faith and hope down a telescope,
You won't find heart and soul in the skies,
You can break everything down to chemicals,
But you can't explain love like ours.

Silver Linings

2011-07-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

Despite the overall sombre tone of my blogposts to date, it's not true to say life's been a complete b!+c# to me. Maybe half of it. Perhaps. This weekend I've been taking stock. More accurately, this entire semester I've been taking stock.

In university I have few friends but good friends. So far they comprise: 1 annoying smartarse, 1 sensitive but steadfast fellow, 1 interesting, hard to approach but still friendly personage and 1 extremely happy-go-lucky, feel-good character. There are a couple of other acquaintances besides who make pleasant company, but these 4 - plus I - are the ones who hang out together.

We have fun. Well, there aren't any girls in the group, but that allows us to have other types of fun - bro-type fun.

We study hard. Very hard.

We sit for exams.

That's all there is to it, really: periods of relative quiet broken up by chaotic flurries of activity. The phrase 'poetic violence' comes to mind, but there is nothing poetic in it, just steady perseverance and nights of frenetic mental activity.

It's not much of a university life, but silver linings, silver linings. All too soon it will be over.

What does that make me, really? A university student who has never had a university 'life' per se, at least as per the popular conception. At 19 I have never had a girlfriend - I'm rather alone in that regard. At least I avoided the pitfalls of crushes and puppy love - mostly - but scary thoughts: how will I know how to treat her?

A mathematical equation, thusly: (trial + error) - trial = error. Please be forgiving, love; it looks like the first few months at least will probably involve a lot of me blundering about.

Of course we are told that the university life popular is hyped, glamourised, that it is all unnecessary and a waste of precious time. This precept I have faithfully obeyed, but looking around me I wonder: have I really done the right thing? Is it wrong if I were to, say, slow down my pace, pick up a few experiences here and there - writing, recreational, is one thing, writing under a deadline, and professionally, is another. I would like the latter experience.

Had I the freedom I might have taken up Literature, Journalism, even Creative Writing. Talent I have, and the mind, but the opportunity for formal training, no. Or rather, the opportunity is there, but I cannot avail myself of it.

Sometimes it can be said that the little projects that like-minded visionaries that are embarked upon in university are a test model for real-life campaigns. Does this then mean that I am missing out on a potentially vital phase of test-marketing and experimentation? Could the success of my life-goals be in jeopardy because I dismissed the seeds of these early beginnings as too much a waste of time to plant?

After the corporate career climb it is said that the leverage of networks and acquaintances can provide one the boost to get to even loftier positions. Lacking the opportunity to socialise in the university with a wide range of individuals, am I lacking this important (?) component to success? Are my efforts doomed to fail?

I am a logical person. I study, I analyse; I project, I forecast, I budget, I extrapolate. But I can no longer predict with certainty whether what I do is right, or if I am denying myself precious opportunity here. The potentials of consequences avoid my grasp. The future becomes too obscured to foretell.

Faith is all I have left... all I cling to.

So Here I Am...

2011-04-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so I got overly ambitious... as usual. Sue me. Either way, the 365-picture-year thingy? It ain't working out. And I'm falling prey to what I'd like to call Sophomore Study Syndrome. It's becoming painfully difficult to really study, really revise to the max like I did last semester (oh hells, last semester!).

January - Bummed around. Introduced to new, more varied ways of bumming around.
February - Shit gets serious. Still bumming around.
March - Things get seriouser. Find some new friends; lose an old one.
April - Here we are.

Some good shit happened. I got to know some friends and family better. I'm learning to trust the people around me more (which is something, considering I'm naturally fanatically suspicious and secretive to Illuminatic levels). I even think I've found a girl worth waiting for. Now all that needs to be done is to get her to notice me. And I mean notice me in a less of a nice-neighbour way and more of a life-partner way. Yes, I know... gayyyy.

That being said, some bad shit also happened. My eczema, the ass of which I thought I had kicked six years back, struck back. And that's nothing compared to well, having your best friend (and partner in heinous, heinous crime - skipping school en masse, insulting fat wimmin, etc.) up sticks and move off to Arse-tralia (it is Down Under after all).

Altogether though, I'm still in the red as far as life's concerned. I think I'm on the verge of... I don't know, depression? (Wow, that statement sure sounds gayyy...) All I've been wanting to do recently is live in the past. Or live in... somewhere else. Not Earth. Earth has been too painful for me in recent times. To quote my dear friend Tony (in one of his extremely rare bursts of brilliance), I have "nonexisting intrinsic motivation".

I wish I could talk to somebody, but there are only 3 people I want to talk to at the moment.

The 1st one is my (worse) third, and because of my chat with you I'm writing this. But you're busy, and I'm busy, and the Internet is no substitute for face-to-face communication.

The 2nd one is 4783km away, and although once upon a time we could easily connect on a nonverbal level, we're drifting apart, and I'm watching it happen as helplessly as a flailing baby in a damn crib. It's enough to make a saint swear, only I'm too sad to swear.

The 3rd one is... you. The one person I wish I could bare my soul to. I long to spill out my innermost secrets to you, but I can't trust you. I wish I'd spent the past years building up a relationship, a rapport close enough that I could tell you exactly what I think, using the exact words I want to use, and you can understand me exactly, but because I didn't trust you, I can't. And now when I need to, I can't turn to you for help. I can't tell you what you mean to me. And it's in a way my fault.

Forgive me; I'm wallowing desperately in sentiment and self-misery (as if you don't know it by now, reader). Let's cut to the chase. I'm treating this post as a (highly limited) confessional of sorts. To use an oft-worn cliche, I'm picking up the pieces. I don't know if it's too late. It probably isn't... probably. To quote Linkin Park's awesome "Waiting For The End" (which has been my favourite song ever since the album's release) "Picking up the pieces now / Where to begin? / The hardest part of ending is starting again."

I don't know for sure if I can pull this off. But I'll be damned if I'm not going to try.

Resolutions

2010-12-31T12:20:00.000-08:00

Well, another 365 days, and it's the first post of the new year. Happy 2011!

I've made only one resolution, a very big one, this year. The resolution is:

I WILL FIND MYSELF.

I don't know who I am. If I did before, then I don't know who I am any more. I think I used to know, but now things are getting... complicated. This year will be pivotal. This year, I'll know who I am.

Review: Tangled

2010-12-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

Went to watch Tangled a.k.a. Rapunzel with my siblings and cousins. Now, I've been critical of many of Disney's recent films, but although my initial reaction was "Whaaaat?!" the fact is that this, Disney's 50th Animated Movie, is as good as Beauty and the Beast. No, it can't beat my all-time favourite Lion King, but it makes the grade.

Great animation, interesting plot, crisp voice acting, good supporting cast, good songs*... Thank you, Disney!

*Speaking of which, the main song in Tangled IS, I believe, a match even for Beauty and the Beast!

I See The Light

This song is seriously awesome!

I Miss You

2010-12-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

Quick one before I go to bed.

Two days ago I woke up and asked myself, "What do I need to do today?" and was delighted to find the answer is "Whatever the heck I want to!"

The bliss will last till January 3rd. And in the meantime, I'm scrambling to do all the things I wanted to do during the year but never had the time to... such as updating my beloved blog!

I don't agree with a lot of Owl City songs. Some are zany and quirky, too many are just plain weird. But one thing I've got to say - Vanilla Twilight at least is poetry. Would that I could write something as beautiful as,

I'll watch the night turn light-blue
But it's not the same without you
Because it takes two to whisper quietly

The silence isn't so bad
'til I look at my hands and feel sad
Because the spaces between my fingers
are right where yours fit perfectly

But Adam Young is wrong on one point. When I think of you, I feel lonelier than ever.

- GitP -

Poem: Endless

2010-11-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

Endless

Endless swatches of blue and blue,
And an endless stretch of sand,
For endless dreams of days to come
And endless memories of this land.

Oh, the endless swell of the deep blue seas,
And the endless combers 'pon the shore,
Bring back endless days of endless play
In those endless days of yore.

Where endless Time, stopped, stretches on
Through the perpetual endless noons
That's where we'll wander endlessly,
O'er those endless yellow dunes.

Above the endless gulls swoops gracefully
Through the endless rays of sun
In these endless days of purest innocence
Before this endless life'd begun.

Where at night the endless host of stars
Cast o'er the endless sheets of sky
Twinkle down on endless dreams of dreams
On forever endless you and I.

When I'm finally tired of the endless world
With all its endless woes and cares
I'll return to those endless beaches
Where I know youth and laughter's endless there.

- GitP -

- Copyright © CHOY JI IAN 2010 -

Reviews!!!

2010-10-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

Past weeks have been such a whirl of ups and downs. Mock exams, progress tests and quick tests... yuck! On the bright side, the end is in sight and recently I've been relaxing my mind a little in the tiny patches of calm that separates the storms. So this blogpost is all about reviews!

Surprisingly, I loved the Expendables! It's slick, tight, straightforward macho action, which is a GREAT relief after seeing lots of neo-feminine, metrosexual, emotionally unstable, sparkly males in the cinemas lately... and you know that you know what I mean. It's very videogamey, I could call it Modern Warfare: The Movie and no one would know any better. At times, that's good.

The book, not the movie (I don't dare touch the movie after reading this!), is terrible. It's like Twilight for boys. The setting is like Dungeons & Dragons fanfiction. The protagonist's characterisation is flat and unreal, mainly because he has no partner of the same age to act as a foil. The plot is predictable and requires a good helping of luck to be believable. In short, Eragon is exactly the kind of feeble, immature save-the-world fantasy crap I'd expect a 15-year old teenager to write. No depth whatsoever. I learn nothing from this book.

Reeling from the horror that is Eragon, I beat a quick retreat and checked out my favourite Irishman's Airman instead. And what a wonder it is! Although I started the first few pages with a very cynical bent, and initially compared the setting (unfavourably) with BioShock, I realised that Airman is truly one of the best young adult novels ever.

The writing is sharp and slick. The characters are well-rounded. The protagonist can't shoot flames. All he has are his wits, perseverence and a whole lot of hard work; very realistic. The conflict is real, not contrived; no saving-the-world crap here, but what's at stake for the protagonist is far more personal: honour, family, a childhood love and the most precious thing a person possesses - his soul.

It's very violent. It's gritty (much as I hate to use that word) and grimy. There's an air of hopelessness about the storyline at times that can just kill the reader's will to continue... but continue the reader will, because you really want to know just what could happen next. It's a historical novel that almost could have really happened, yet it's fast-paced enough to avoid falling into the same category as Charles Dickens' tales or Le Miserables, which is a really very miserable book by the way.

It's EPIC.

Ah yes. Avatar: The Last Airbender. The latest movie by the director we love to hate... and I can see the reason why. It sucks! It's slow and plodding! I literally fast-forwarded the movie to get to the bending bits! Most people complain Expendables didn't have a plot, but that's the point; it's not supposed to have a plot, you just wanna run around and blow things up like in Modern Warfare.

The Last Airbender is an action/adventure movie trying (and failing) to attain the complexity of a drama, just like Avatar (the blue skinned one) is an action movie that tried (and failed) to attain the universal depth and appeal of Star Wars. The acting is terrible, but that's to be expected from idiot child actors (the same reason why Harry Potter only starts getting good around Half-Blood Prince; that's when they finally learned how to act!); Aang and Katara (Noah Ringer and Nicola Peltz) especially suck. And the bending... oh, man, the bending.

I rather liked the Airbending actually, but it's too... combative, too tough and solid. There aren't enough flourishes; the style more suits Firebending. The Earthbending is excellent except for that one animation error (if they picked up that rock and threw it with their hands, it would have moved faster!). The Waterbending is... lame. Waterbending is supposed to be based on tai chi, but what I saw looks more like modern interpretative dance than anything else. Same for Firebending. I expected a lot of solid kicks and punches for Firebending, what I got was... ballet.

That pretty much describes the whole movie actually. It needed to more resemble a kung fu show, but it turns more like a full-length live-action cartoon for kids... except the kiddies would probably get bored in the non-actiony bits. Sighhh...

Much

2010-09-22T13:43:00.001-07:00

So much has happened since I last donned my school uniform, and I wish I could do it just once more.

So much has happened since Raya break, and I want another one already.

So much has happened since I last updated this blog, and I don't know what to say.

SO I'LL TELL THE TRUTH.

...

So much has happened since I last saw you, and

I miss you already. Very much.

vs. The World

2010-08-20T05:24:00.000-07:00

It's been 4 weeks since I posted! Woohoo, record!

Anyway... it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I'm running from one end to the other fighting the fires that spring up out of nowhere and no time to breathe. But on those few occasions when there's time for me to sit down, catch my breath and live... well, I guess they're worth all the rest of it.

Dad: "She gave you a doll, and you threw it away? Nice."

Finished BioShock 2 after procrastinating the last level for weeks. Honestly, you know you suck when you procrastinate finishing a game. Starcraft 2, here I come... I hope.

"Hell, it's about time."

I've just realised what a lot of catching up I have to do, since (re)discovering a lot of old pals through the amazing power of . Seriously, though, I think a big sit down in a nice coffeeshop is in order.

Ameline, we've got six years of secondary school to catch up on.

Matthew, same goes for you mate. (Seriously how many years ago was it?)

Joanne, Jordy, we've got eighteen rather wasted years to make good for, eh?

Aaaaaand in other news:

Rightly said to be an "Epic tale of epic epicness". Number 1 on my to-watch list!

Reflections 1

2010-07-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

It's me again, back at work at 3:26 in the morning. Homework again. Who ever said university life was easy? (Actually it is, but only if you're not studying ACCA). So here I am with a pile of sandwiches next to me, a mug of tea and my Top Hits 2010 playlist set on 'shuffle'.

Pausing to reflect, as my days get more and more hectic, is becoming vitally important, but what comes out of these reflections must be written down in order to gain anything from it.

It's been a year plus since my last song with the Rangers. I can't say I'm missed much; I certainly skipped plenty of meets during the final stages. But I needed and still need those weekend hours, and in the zero-sum game of time allocation I'm afraid Rangers is very much at the bottom. I miss the companionship, I miss the camps, I miss the people... but it's time I woke up, I know.

Thing is, the ideals of my stint with the Rangers were gone long before I left. Somehow, that's sadder than I thought it would be. As one of the very few Rangers with a tenure of 13 years spanning the turn of the century, I feel like I'm the last of a species watching extinction come struggling, slowly but surely. Maybe that's why I've checked out Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park duology from the university library.

On to the main point of my reflections: We each have our individual paths to follow, our own road to destiny. This has been an oft-repeated feature of my writing of late. No person's life is the same, and we all make different decisions, have different things happen to us, take different avenues of travel on the path to our destiny. You can't really say one is better than the other, only that experiences are different.

Take Demi Lovato. She's younger than I am by a good seven months, but she's an international star on the upward track to success (if she doesn't pull a Lohan or a Vanessa on the way up) with a helluva bankable voice and a personal worth of Quite-A-Whole-Lot-More-Than-Me. In comparison I'm a number-one 'shower star' and worth substantially less (although I have a lot of potential, really!).

Similarly, there are people around me in the university who came up through the system slower than I did; most of my 'Back Of The Lecture Hall Gang' are a good four years older than I am. We'll probably graduate together, but when we do I might get the chance to earn a premium salary for four extra years, four years that they'll never be able to recoup.

But that's the current picture as formed by events, experiences and decisions of the past. The question is, where will we all be fifty years from now? Nobody knows. Demi Lovato's secret nude pics might show up any day (not likely, but it's possible). Someone might stumble on my fics and offer me a publishing contract for the next five years (ha! I wish).

A time machine would be really handy.

Oh well, on to less philosophical topics.

I thought We The Kings were a bunch of long-haired pillocks, and I still think so. Still, every now and then, they do accidentally stumble on something marginally worth listening to (okay, it's very much worth listening to. Happy?). It's sappy, simplistic, emotional, juvenile crud, but it's catchy. And of course it features Demi Lovato, which explains partially how all of the above came about.

We'll Be A Dream - We The Kings feat. Demi Lovato

Do you remember the nights
We'd stay up just laughing
Smiling for hours
At anything
Remember the nights
We drove around crazy in love

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be a dream

Do you remember the nights
We made our way dreaming
Hoping of being
Someone big
We were so young then
We were too crazy
In love

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be a dream

Whoa whoa
Whoa whoa
Whoa whoa

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be

When the lights go out
We'll be safe and sound
We'll take control of the world
Like it's all we have to hold on to
And we'll be a dream

Saturday. I look forward to Saturday.

- GitP -

Living Free and Working Hard

2010-07-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

As I write this, it's 3:30 in the morning. I'm working my way through a pile of notes on the Contracts Act 1950, NPV cashflow statements, and most of the Billboard Top 100. The whole week I've been having classes from 8:00am to 6:00pm. Last Saturday - Saturday! - I had classes from 8:15am to 5:30pm, less half-an-hour for lunch.

My schedule really sucks... but then, you know what they say; work hard play hard.

This Friday, right after class ends at 5:30pm, I'm going to Singapore solo by bus to visit my uncle's family. I hope to get a lot done on the bus (hint: I'm in a poetic mood). Next week Jordy is coming to town, but I've got Saturday class again. It looks like my schedule that day will be Tax from 9:00am to 5:30pm, before adjourning to Sunway Pyramid for dinner with Jordy and Joanne.

What a beautifully chaotic life I live.

One of the things I'll miss, however, will be the carnival day at SMK Cochrane. Although I tell myself I'm well shot of the place, and good-bloody-riddance too, I can't help but feel a little bit wistful. I have zero to negative feelings about Cochrane as an alma mater, but what wouldn't I give for one, just one more school day with all my old friends by my side, not scattered to the winds, and not a care in the world but what comes tomorrow.

Chris Daughtry is right; the years go by and the time just seems to fly, but the memories stay the same.

September - Chris Daughtry

How the time passed away all the trouble that we gave
And all those days we spent out by the lake
Has it all gone to waste?
All the promises we made,
One by one they vanish just the same.

Of all the things I still remember
Summer's never looked the same
The years go by and time just seems to fly
But the memories remain.

In the middle of September we'd still play out in the rain
Nothing to lose but everything to gain
Reflecting now on how things could've been
It was worth it in the end.

Now it all seems so clear, there's nothing left to fear
So we made our way by finding what was real
Now the days are so long that summer's moving on
We reach for something that's already gone.

Of all the things I still remember
Summer's never looked the same
The years go by and time just seems to fly
But the memories remain.

In the middle of September we'd still play out in the rain
Nothing to lose but everything to gain
Reflecting now on how things could've been
It was worth it in the end.

We knew we had to leave this town
But we never knew when we never knew how
We would end up here the way we are
Yeah we knew we had to leave this town
But we never knew when and we never knew how.

Of all the things I still remember
Summer's never looked the same
The years go by and time just seems to fly
But the memories remain.

In the middle of September we'd still play out in the rain
Nothing to lose but everything to gain
Reflecting now on how things could've been
It was worth it in the end.

- GitP -

My Days Are Getting Longer

2010-06-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been four weeks since I've last touched this blog. But my, what an eventful four weeks! Semester finals came and went - very, very exciting, but what a relief now that they're over!

What with exams, and football, and driving down the quiet coastal roads, and meeting friends, and part-time work, I've been so busy

Tomorrow I'm starting a new life at last. I hope it'll help me achieve my dreams.

Unlike the previous movies, I have a feeling that this is going to be AWESOME!!! The fight scenes and the soundtrack alone ought to be worth it!

Birthday Greetings: Like Unto A Sister

2010-05-31T06:45:00.000-07:00

It's cheesy, corny and just a little bit weird to 'adopt' somebody as a so-called sister. I don't like 'adopting' so-called sisters and brothers myself, barring one (1) exception.

We first met in Standard 3 in a quaint little neighbourhood school called SK Taman Midah (1). Now, the unfortunate combination of me being a little too short and she being a little too tall meant that at that point in time she was twice my height. So for obvious reasons I didn't feel comfortable hanging out much.

But she always greeted me unfailingly with a smile and a cheery wave, and I guess that's one of her most characteristic (not to mention lovable) traits.

I have to admit that, in Standard 6, I believed she was quite rowdy. She sat in the back of the class with the gang; Weng Fei, her, Blaise, Siew Li, Jolyn, Joey... I confess that I only went back there to talk to Weng Fei and Joey; I was still uncomfortable around girls and hence I wasn't very welcoming to them. However, she always treated me like any other friend and struck up friendly conversation whenever we were around.

In Form 1, due to unforeseen circumstances I was ripped out of my comfort zone and thrown headlong into a way different world from the quiet, sleepy neighbourhood school that I'd spent my entire life in. SMK Cochrane was a city-school in more than just classification. I was lost and bewildered in a melting-pot of kids from different economic, social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

It was she who reached out a welcome hand in friendship and plucked me out; and over three eventful years we grew to like each other a lot. It began with a mutual fondness for reading and a liking for passing notes in class. Yeah, we had our rough patches, but it all worked out in the end. Soon we settled into a kind of comfortable acceptance of each other's strengths and weaknesses, which is much, much more than most friends do.

(You can see she likes me too.)

I would like to be able to report that I was the first one to find out she got herself a boyfriend, but as it turns out I was the last... mainly because I couldn't take hints and she couldn't give anything more substantial. After that, well, I'll have to admit that I was pretty uncertain about things for a while, but then he's a nice chap, and now a very good friend of mine too.

Who is she, as a person? Well, despite her outgoing personality and external devil-may-care attitude, as someone with a bit more privileged knowledge than most (or so I'd like to believe), I can tell you that she's a lot more than just the dumb blonde she tries so hard to be. In fact, she's probably one of the smartest girls I know, and I'm proud to say that I know quite a few smart ones.

(Note: that is NOT me on the right.)

She's quite sensitive, and that's as much a strength as it is a weakness. She's incredibly perceptive, which I really admire about her, and she's also quite sharp. Cut through her happy-go-lucky outer crust and on the inside you'll find that she's quite serious and down-to-earth. That's not to say she doesn't have her faults (as do I) and that's part of why we're such good friends: we never hesitate to tell each other off.

It's... difficult to put much of this relationship into words. We're closer than 'just' friends, but this friendship is not romantic in nature (don't make the mistake of assuming so; I still have not forgiven the last person to think that we were BF/GF). We're not quite brother or sister; some things I tell my sister I can't tell her, while some things I can't tell my sister I can tell her.

We're close enough that I can tell what she's thinking and she can tell what I'm thinking. We're close enough that at times we can communicate pretty well with the minimum of gestures and without saying a word. Heck, I can even make sarcastic jokes and she'll get every nuance of it, and sometimes I laugh at a joke she makes even before she completes it, because I know how she'll complete it.

I guess we're just really very good friends. I hope we will always be.

(Yes, that IS me on the right.)

P.S. She's probably going to read this (not half the reason being that I just told her to over the phone) but actually I just want to say... Happy birthday. I'm really happy you're my best friend.

- GitP -

Because

2010-05-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

BECAUSE

Because I'm not you.

Because it was exactly the same for you and I.

Because I faced the same temptations you did.

Because you couldn't handle it.

Because you couldn't face it.

Because I didn't succumb.

Because I stuck to my guns.

Because I'm a better man.

And that's the difference between you and I.

- GitP -

'Cause I'm The GEEK IN THE PINK!

2010-04-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

Today I was in a bad mood.

Now, unless you don't know me very well, by now you should know that I have an (in)famously bad temper. In fact, running into one of my classmates from primary school, one of the first things that classmate said was "Oooh, looks like your temper's not so bad already!"

And of course, immediately I thought to myself: "YOU WANNA SEE HOW MY TEMPER LOOKS LIKE THESE DAYS?!"

But I digress.

I was in a frightful temper today, and it was because of many, many things. Amongst them was:

1) Lack of sleep, because I spent two hours the previous night teaching somebody the birds and the bees (gack!). Seriously, I am the bestest big bro in the whole darn universe...

2) Disappointment, because I thought I was going to meet somebody today and I didn't. And of course, this someone is very dear to me, having been good friends with me for, what, six years?

3) Embarassment, because of course, when you're rushing out of the house to buy something it's a one-in-a-million chance that you won't remember your wallet... and today was Lucky Number 1,000,000.

4) Stress, because my exams are in June and we're starting intensive revision and there's a lot of people banking on me and driving exams are this Friday and I don't know if I'm prepared graarghnskdlfhl...!!

But on the brink of what was going to be a major mental meltdown in the middle of Tesco Extra Cheras, what should I hear issuing over the speakers but what I adopted as my very own theme song!

Excerpt:

I don't care what she might think about me
She'll get by without me if she wants

Well I could be the one to take you home
Baby we could rock the night alone
If we never get down, it wouldn't be a letdown
But sugar don't forget what you already know

That I could be the one to turn you on
We could be the talk across the town
Don't judge me by the colour; confuse it for another
You might regret what you let slip away

Like the GEEK IN THE PINK!

The timing was good enough that it was like a movie being made of my life; a scene straight out of Ocean's Eleven or Zombieland or frickin' Transformers - cue protagonist, cue conundrum, cue theme song, cue solution carried out to the rise and fall of crashing thematic orchestra or peppy poppy finger-snappy R&B...

And so, today, at that moment, with my very own theme song ringing in my ears, I closed my eyes, let go of everything, and for a moment I saw once again my path, as clear as crystal. Once more I know where I've been, where I am, and where I'm going. Once more, the feeling of self-assuredness and confidence which is key to so much of me came back to me.

And when I opened my eyes, that confident feeling stayed with me as I sallied forth into Hell with naught but a bucketful of water, an easy smile, a relaxed gait and a firm determined step.

- GitP -

GITP's Basic How-To Guide To: Embarrassing Yourself

2010-04-12T01:43:00.000-07:00

The Geek In The Pink's Basic How-To Guide To:

Embarrassing Yourself (In Public)

Step ONE: Walk into the college toilet while packing your books into your bag, thereby ensuring that you're not looking where you're going.

Step TWO: Look up from your bag and notice that there is only one other person in the toilet, and that said person has a very nice behind. Admire.

Step THREE: Realise suddenly that such a pretty posterior does not belong in the boys' toilet.

Step FOUR: Look left, and notice that there are no urinals against the wall.

Step FIVE: Look right, and notice that the stick figure on the door wears a skirt.

Step SIX: Look down, and notice that the tiles are coloured a lovely shade of pink.

Step SEVEN: Look up, and notice that the aforementioned only other person in the toilet (who is totally cute by the way) is staring at you quizzically. And she ain't no male.

Step EIGHT: ~~Ask for her phone number~~ RUN.

- GitP -

A Day In The Life: The Sequel

2010-04-08T04:08:00.000-07:00

wake up wash up toilet quick bite outside now clutch down oil up don't speed low gear turning climb hill high gear downhill big roads your driving memang not logical first pole left right right third pole straighten car clutch up oil down back home what to eat for breakfast homework homework homework lunch sleep dream sleep dream wake up toilet snack jacket bike mp3 mints helmet college cold nice jacket pretty girl work up guts approach sorry i have a boyfriend already tax tax tax damn this is boring what am i going to eat for dinner law law law back home facebook =) homework MSN pergi tidur yes mum MSN some more tidur now alright alright sleep dream sleep bad dream sleep NEXT DAY SAME WHADASHIT !!!

TAG: Ianology

2010-03-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

This is fun, I haven't done this for so long! Thanks Jordy! Copy & paste this note,type your own anwsers,post as (yourname)-ology.

***********FOOD-OLOGY************
1) What is your salad dressing of choice?
CHEESE!

2) What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Tony Roma's for ribs, Venezia's or Italiannie's for Italian, plus all number of mamak and hole-in-the-wall joints... I LOVE FOOD!

3) What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it?
Rice. I do that all the time. Noodles. I did that before. Potatoes. I want to do that someday.

4) What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Pepperoni and cheese! Simple but delicious.

5) What do you like to put on your toast?
Marmalade. With butter.

**********TECHNOLOGY***************
6) How many television sets are in your house?
2.

7) What color of cell phone do you have?
Grey with black highlights.

***************BIOLOGY******************
8) Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right, but being ambidextrous would be cool, yes.

9) Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
What kind of question is this anyway? No, I am wholly intact and functional!

10) What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A malfunctioning computer that died while under warranty, yay!

11) Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No, although I sure came close to it a couple of times.

************BULLCRAPOLOGY**************
12) If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
Yes. That way, I'll make sure to live as much as I can before then.

13) If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
I'm happy with Ian =)

14) Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
Heck, I'd do it for fun.

************DUMBOLOGY******************
15) How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
One. They're good for camping in, but not much else.

16) Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
Got caught driving with improper license =)

17) Last person you talked to?
My mum.

18) Last person you hugged?
My mum =P

**************FAVORITOLOGY****************
19) Season?
Dry season. Perfect camping weather =D

20) Holday?
A real holiday? On a beach somewhere, with clear blue seas around me, a pina colada in hand and a couple of pals to a share a tent with... Bliss...

21) Day of the week?
Saturday. There's something... restful about a Saturday. And the nightlife is good then =D

22) Month?
December, 'cause of Christmas!

***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************
23) Missing someone?
Yeah...

24) Mood?
Somewhat angry.

25) What are you listening to?
Kingdom of Rust, by Doves. It's from the Zombieland Soundtrack.

26) Watching?

27) Worrying about?
Backstabbery.

***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************
28) First place you went this morning?
Salak Selatan, Sri Petaling, Bukit Jalil, Bandar Tun Razak... 'cuz driving lessons was first thing this morning =D

29) What's the last movie you saw?
Avatar. I watched the last twenty minutes of it, for the fighting =D

30) Do you smile often?
No. My 'standard' face is almost a scowl.

***************QUESTIONS***************
1) Do you always answer your phone?
Yes. Or else my Dad kills me =(

2) It's four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
The last time that happened, somebody fell off his motorbike and another somebody was worried, so she messaged me...

3) If you could change your eye color what would it be?
I always did like brown...

4) What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
What the heck's that?

5) Do you own a digital camera?
Well, it's more like the family camera...

6) Have you ever had a pet fish?
Loads. And I will have more. I like fish.

7) Favorite Christmas song?
Gee, this is hard... What Child Is This, Hark The Herald Angel, White Christmas, Silver Bells, Oh Holy Night, Silent Night... Oh I know! Winter Wonderland, Jason Mraz remix =D

8) What's on your wish list for your birthday?
A return to the past =/ Failing that, a reunion.

9) Can you do push ups?
Duh...

10) Can you do a chin up?
Yes.

11) Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
Nervous. Worst case scenarios are what I think of =/

2) Do you have any saved texts?
Yes, from some very special somebodies =D

13) Ever been in a car wreck?
Wreck, no, crash, YES.

14) Do you have an accent?
Yes, when I speak in Cantonese =(

15) What is the last song to make you cry?
I don't cry over songs.

16) Plans tonight?
Accounts homework =/

17) Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Yup.

18) Name 3 things you bought in the last week.
Food.

19) Have you ever been given roses?
No. Roses suck...

20) Current worry?
Will I ever be published?

21) Current hate right now?
Blabbermouths and backstabbers.

22) Met someone who changed your life?
Who hasn't?

23) How did you bring in the New Year?
Celebrated with family.

24) What song represents you?
Oh, come on! Of course it's Geek In The Pink by Jason Mraz =D

25) Name three people who might complete this?
Debbie, Mei Jin, Jolyn... they're the most 'taggy' ones...

26) What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Dismantling a recalcitrant computer. Hooray, warranty is still valid =)

27) What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
Clutch down, oil up =)

- GitP -

A Poem Not By Me

2010-03-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

For my Form 5 friends, for Jolyn (Happy 18th Birthday!), for Pepper, for Rangers... for you. Rest assured I do remember you forever.

Separation by Faye Jones

Life is not lived without knowing separation.
It manifests because of desire
Or sometimes from desperation
But most times it is brought by fate.

It is one of life's painful sorrows.
There is nothing as heart wrenching
As to know separation will fill our tomorrows
Or the agony of communion never again.

We are together only for a time.
Connecting is fleeting.
We say, "You are Mine."
But all too soon our time together is gone.

To survive separation of loved ones-
We must have no regrets,
Because when the ineffable comes,
Guilt-free memories are our only salvation.

- GitP -

Birthday Greetings: My Funny Friend

2010-03-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

When I first met him in Form Two, I must admit that my first impressions of him weren't much. A scared, frightened, nervous little waif, thrown headfirst into a brand-new school with nary a friend to cushion the landing.

He ended up sitting next to me. To this day, I'm not sure why, but I, I took the time and effort and extended a tenuous hand of friendship to the 'newbie', feeling completely sure that this guy would prove to be a complete nerd and waste of time.

And for a time, I thought I was right. This guy was a complete nerd and waste of time, that is, when he wasn't telling tall tales about his extraordinary exploits in his old school. When he was regaling me (the only soul he knew at the moment) with his tales, he was a pain in the ass. I mentally stuffed my ears, nodded and said, "Yeah, sure."

To this day, I can remember what it was that broke the ice: John Grisham. Finding a fellow fan of his legal thrillers was the precursor to finding that we had rather more in common than we thought. Exchanging John Grishams and Jeffrey Archers became exchanging numbers and chat addresses became exchanging something more intangible: true friendship.

By the end of Form Three, we were thick as thieves. Better yet, I'd introduced him to my circle of friends and they in turn enjoyed this new and refreshing addition to the gang.

Come Form Four, we found ourselves on the debate team together with Chantelly and Gonzo, not to mention sitting next to each other in class and generally enlivening things up (especially English class). By now, we had formed something of an inseparable partnership. We were Batman and Robin, Mario and Luigi, Abbott and Costello, Groucho and Marx (mostly the latter).

Form Five, with all its various trials and tribulations, threw us together in ways I'd never thought of. Some of these involved some climbing of walls, some avoiding of teachers, and some sneaking back into school...

This is no boast, but I guess from certain outside opinions, I'm the leader of the duo. In actual fact, I'd say this isn't true. It's a fifty-fifty partnership for sure. Anthony has taught me as much as I've taught him. I thought I was tough; well, Anthony's shown me what tough can really be like.

Beyond that, however, is the important thing: he's been there for me when I needed him.

To most eyes, he's naive, crass, loud, rude and generally disrespectable (all true). But that's not all that he is. Through my eyes I see a person exactly like any other and yet with a unique charm of his own.

I see a boy, not yet a man, with aspirations of inverse magnitude to his humble beginnings.

I see a boy, not yet a man, filled with simple wonder at what others take for granted.

I see a boy, not yet a man, who covers up a thoughtful, kindly soul with the put-on exterior of rambunctious, ne'er-do-well playboy.

I see myself, and maybe that's why I like him so.

Happy eighteenth birthday to my funny friend: Anthony Chan.

A Bad Time

2010-03-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

It's not been a good time for me recently.

I feel rather lost at the moment, a sailship in the center of a storm, buffeted to and fro by rising crises and adversity. From Pepper to Rangers to results, it feels like life has been dealing me a particularly bad hand of cards lately.

Even a day out with my dear friends has done nothing for me, except help me forget for a too-brief period of time.

Yes, there are endless so-called 'inspirational' platitudes with which one can read on the 'Net, but they are just that... platitudes.

And above all considerations... I can't write. I can't compose. I can't fashion a line of prose with which to soothe myself as I stare down into the abyss of depression and self-pity.

I've failed even myself.

Goodbye

2010-03-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

“Where shall we lair today? for from now, we follow new trails.”
- The Spring Running, Rudyard Kipling -

Goodbye, and good luck in your wanderings, Pepper. Remember always that I loved you, and if you decide to come back, know that there's always a place for you here.

My Brain Hurtssss...

2010-02-02T06:22:00.000-08:00

I thought I had seen the last of Additional Mathematics at 4:31 p.m. on the 25th of November 2009.

Guess what... I THOUGHT WRONG!

In accounting for costs, we use lots of mathematical formulae and ratios to calculate all sorts of information the boss might want to see. Now, many of these are simple, or at least the equivalent of Form 5 Additional Mathematics.

Imagine my horror this evening when I discovered that many cost accounting formulae consist of advanced versions of Add Maths formulae... more precise, more exacting, and yes: more difficult to calculate.

Simultaneous Equations are often used in accounting for various purposes.

Form 4 Index Numbers figures heavily in following financial trends, but is called 'simple index' in accounts. Other index systems used include price weighted average index, Paasche index and Laspeyre index...

Form 5 Geometric Progression is also much used in investment to calculate investment rate of returns and the time cost of money for capital investment appraisal. Here, at least, the calculations are relatively simple, but the formulae are complicated.

None, however, are more complicated than what Form 5 Linear Law has become; the formulae here are really very complex and can produce weeeeiiiird numbers that will seriously throw off your answer if you don't round right or miss a couple of decimal places.

I'm sorry if I sound like I'm rambling (this are the Geeky Ramblings after all!) but I'm not thinking straight and I just want to get all this off my chest... PHEW!

- GitP -

Food Art

2010-01-31T23:33:00.000-08:00

Smashing Smorgasbord: Created in the style of the Swedish smorgasbord; an open-face sandwich on rye bread constructed with a combination of herring, fish roe, cress, onion, lettuce and mashed potato.

Wonderful Wrap: A lettuce wrap created in the style of the California roll; constructed with a combination of herring, fish roe, cress, cheese onion and lettuce.

Munchy Mouthful: A one-bite snack created in the style of the Italian bruschetta; herring, fish roe, onion and potato on a slice of bread, garnished with cress.

And now, some music while we eat!

Con Te Partiro (Time To Say Goodbye) - Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman

Birthday Greetings: The Ah Long

2010-01-31T01:05:00.000-08:00

This post is a special post, dedicated to one of my dearest friends. He is You. Yeah, I meant You. (No, I really do mean You).

I first met You in Standard Four. At the time, to be honest, I pegged him for a big clumsy guy; the kind of good natured teddy bear you will find in every class. You brought with him to 4 Unam a large complement of loud and boisterous friends.

Chant was always getting in trouble for talking with You and their friends. One day, You asked a question of the BM teacher. It was funny, his way of talking, and the class laughed at him. In frustration at not being able to get his point across correctly, he attempted to clarify himself, which only made matters worse.

"CIKU! CIKU! SAYA ADA SOALAN!"

But in the midst of ridicule and adversity, as he struggled on to deliver his question, I believe I glimpsed inside his big 'clumsy' exterior to the soul of a jolly, friendly guy who was smarter than he let on. I befriended him, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Fast-forward to secondary school.

Throughout Forms One through Three I rarely saw the big guy who had become one of my good friends as we were in different classes, but we made the effort to stick together and found that we were a a like-minded sort and were growing in the same directions. It helped too that we had a similar appreciation for good food.

In Form Four, we ended up sitting next to each other (separated by an aisle), and the back of the class was always jolly and boisterous with Numb, You, me, Tony, William and TV all in a row. In the crucible of high school, we formed a friendship that has remained to this day, and hopefully beyond.

You is an endlessly cheerful person with the hugest smile I've ever seen on anybody, a full-blooded full-toothed grin that stretches from ear to ear and crinkles his eyes. At the same, time, as befits his namesake, he insists on maintaining a 'dorsal fin' hairstyle that always got him in trouble with the teacher.

Walking the corridors of the school together, we'd chance upon the discipline teacher and he would hide behind me. Him being a BIG sort of guy and me being a LEAN sort of guy, the overall effect was hilariously incongruous.

It's his birthday today. He is a fellow goat, like me, on the Chinese zodiac; a fellow January baby. Here's many happy returns of the day, and here's to many more years of that huge grin.

Happy 18th Birthday, YOU/YU!

Types of Friends

2010-01-27T10:15:00.000-08:00

A musing from a recent conversation with Jordan. How does one classify friends? Well, to put it in a rather morbid way:

1) Acquaintances are people who open up the newspaper, see your obituary and say "Gee, I knew this guy. We were at school together."

2) Casual friends are people who open up the newspaper, see your obituary and say "Damn, I knew this guy. We were at school together, it's too bad he's dead."

3) Good friends are people who find out the very next day after you leave, and say "Damn, Old So-and-so is dead! I didn't even know he was on his way out; I gotta go to his funeral, man!"

4) Best friends are the people who hold your hands, and say "Goodbye, old buddy" as you leave.

Morbid, but true.

- GitP -

Dear Diary...

2010-01-16T22:53:00.000-08:00

Excerpts from the Geekinthepink Diaries:

Entry 1: Dear diary, I am now stuck in this worm-eaten office in this flea-ridden shack town in the hinterland known as Taman Orkid near Cuepacs. Fifteen minutes have passed, and I'm bored already. My conscience tells me I should study for my Highway Code exam. I tell my conscience to shut up.

Entry 2: Dear diary; I've now been in this pestilential cesspit of an office for thirty minutes. My conscience won. I have now read my Highway Code textbook for the past fifteen minutes. It's so interesting I fell asleep from sheer excitement.

Entry 3: Dear diary; forty minutes after entering this lice-infested moth-eaten shanty that pretends to be an examination center, I went out and walked around Taman Orkid. I spent ten minutes wandering through economy rice shops and five minutes watching street children play badminton in the backalleys. They're cute. They also think I'm a pedo.

Entry 4: Dear diary; fifty-five minutes after being dropped off in this rubble-strewn dung-laden slumtown named Taman Orkid, I sit in the office waiting for my name to be called. Twenty names later, I walk out. No dice. In despair I enter the local cybercafe.

Entry 5: This is good stuff man. The PCs facing the front of the cybercafe are full of 10 year old kids playing DOTA, and the PCs facing the back are full of 25 year old kids playing poker. The air is full of mouse clicks. Everybody's feet is on the table, a few are on the monitors.

There's a floor-to-ceiling partition separating the back from the front. I walk through and visibility drops to 10 feet; this is the Smoking Section. I look around; it's full of 10 year old kids playing DOTA and 25 year old kids playing poker. The sole difference is that each of them has a full ashtray on their tables and a near-empty cigarette box on their chairs.

Entry 6: I have now been stuck here in this verminous fly-collecting mud hut they call an official Highway Code examination center for the past hour and a half, along with sixty other sorry potential drivers (and Yee Thoong, the only familiar face around here). Finally I get a nice plastic chair with a nice plastic table to put my elbow on, and fall into a restless sleep.

Interlude: What the...? Where am I? Oh, wow, that is one hawt chick. Damn, doesn't she feel cold dressed in that lil' thing? Ooo ooo ooo, she's looking this way. Wow, what a bombshell of a smile. Hey there, angel. Come here, sweet cheeks. Come to papa. Oh, yeeeeeeah...

Wha... what? Aw damn... I'm awake.

Entry 7: Dear Diary; it's now past three hours I've been here and I can't stand it any more. I don't care if I fail this sorry worm-eaten flea-ridden pestilential lice-infested moth-eaten rubble-strewn dung-laden verminous fly-collecting slummy shacked-up mud shanty cesspit of a Highway Code. Just

G E T M E O U T O F H E R E !!!

Not All It's Cracked Up To Be...

2010-01-07T00:23:00.000-08:00

Nope, college isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I thought I'd have a lot more time on my hands to pursue my own pursuits (yes, poor sentence structure, but I'm in a hurry).

I thought I'd finally have the time to make a move on dozens of projects I've been planning.

I thought I'd catch up on my reading.

I thought I'd play a few games published more recently than 2004.

I thought I'd jog, swim, camp, hike and climb a couple more mountains.

I thought I'd blog more often.

Now, after two full weeks of marginal costing vs. absorption costing and tax residency vs. non-tax residency, I realise...

I THOUGHT WRONG!

(P.S. why the babi hell am I writing in technicolour???)

P-tam! P-tam! Paintball!

2010-01-01T00:27:00.000-08:00

"There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result."

- Winston Churchill -

I believe that. BOY, DO I BELIEVE THAT!

The whistle blares, and I run. Already people are firing; opportunistic shots as they scramble for cover. Choosing a far left position from which to outflank the enemy while Anthony on my right lays down covering fire, I sprint.

whizzzz-SPLAT! A pellet crackles as it hits the wall just behind me. I'M TAKING FIRE! I get down and slide behind cover, ripping my pants and grazing my elbow, but then I hastily scramble into a firing position and lay down a few rounds myself.

Darting down a ramp in the converted parking lot, I crab-crawl while carefully keeping my head down and out of sight. Peering cautiously over the wall, a flash of movement catches my eye, and as I lay down a few more pellets, some return fire comes my way and I hit the dirt again.

Someone else has joined me, and we cover the flag we are supposed to be protecting. Unfortunately, three brave souls dash forward and grab it. We stand, guns held almost at hip level and work the triggers as fast as we can. P-TAM! P-TAM! P-TAM!

Two of the opposing force go down; one for each of us, and the third is tagged by a team-mate, but the flag is transferred rapidly and we lose this round.

Paintball is fantastic, almost nothing quite like it. Everyone shoots well (must be all the Left 4 Dead and Counterstrike we've been playing) and it's hard to win by rushing.

What can I say? I can only remember snippets of what happened...

...raising my head to shoot somebody and getting sniped from his buddy on the left...

...exchanging fire with somebody, changing positions and then plugging him as he rushes...

...a near-missed pellet sliding along the parting of my hair (thanks Cmdr. Kester!)...

...an ambush turning into a Wild Wild West style quickdraw match (hey Hansel!)...

It's all very visceral... darting from cover to cover, exchanging fire, the solid P-TAM P-TAM P-TAM of the markers punctuating the air, the wet smack! of breaking pellets and splashing paint, the almost graceful flight of the pellet from your marker, gliding over apogee and dropping down to shatter and splatter on an object or person.

Oh, and for those who ask: No, getting hit in the mask doesn't hurt. Yes, getting hit in the unprotected body will hurt. No, paint doesn't taste nice. Yes, I'M GOING TO DO IT AGAIN!

AW YEAH!

A Special New Year!

2009-12-31T07:09:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

For my fellow '92 babies (not forgetting Juliet!) and I, this is a special New Year. Do you know why? It's because on 31st December, 2009... we are officially 'graduated' from high school.

AW YEAH!

Forgive me, but I can't curb my enthusiasm. You know all those books and notes and reference texts and stuff? WELL I DON'T NEED THAT CRAP ANY MORE!

AW YEAH!

So what do I do with all that defunct, impossibly OBSOLETE junk?

AW YEAH! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY, FROM THE GEEKINTHEPINK!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

"Every Christmas is better than the Christmas before. I guess it must be because I'm growing up." - Laura Ingalls Wilder.

A few words. Friends, let us not ever forget the true meaning of Christmas; not merely a wintry celebration of feasting and frolic and fun, but a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, of the coming of our Saviour.

Merry Christmas, from the Geek In The Pink.

Poem: The Slums

2009-12-15T12:34:00.000-08:00

I've always maintained that stress and overwork takes all the creativity out of my head. Many a time I've sat down at my desk to write, but I just couldn't squeeze anything out of my brain.

Well, I'm happy to report that after just 1 week of rest and relaxation (oh-my-goodness-it's-been-one-week-since-the-end-of-my-school-life) I'm on the road to recovery. Dear readers, I present you: The Slums.

The Slums

I walked through the slums today,
Past shoplots painted dark and gray.

Past sewers brimming with the rains,
Past limpid, stagnant, filth-clogged drains.
Past careworn beggars in the five foot ways,
Staring sightlessly at the ends of days.

Past hawker centers and noodle shops,
Past mamak stalls and chap fan stops,
Where diners ate in the growing dusk,
While street cats yowled in the roadside musk.

There sat whole families three generations old;
One hand grasping a full rice bowl,
Deft chopsticks gripped in the other;
The squalling toddlers fed by careworn mothers.

On an errand, or a late-night lark,
Youngsters whistled in the dark.
Squeaking rats scurried in the gutters,
While shopkeepers pulled down great metal shutters.

In the dirt and filth and black decay,
Life goes on from day to day,
Eking existence through joys and sorrows,
Scrabbling stubbornly for brighter morrows.

Final 5U Class Party '09

2009-12-11T20:48:00.000-08:00

Well, in Weng Fei's words; WE HAD A BLAST!

I arrived at the party relatively late at 3:30pm with party supplies, ice and the extension cord for the grill. By that time, everyone was already starting to dig into the (non-grilled) food, of which there was plenty. We had ayam raba courtesy of Weng Fei and Anthony's raba-ing skillz, grilled fish and steamed potatoes (since we're not using charcoal, why are the potatoes in aluminium foil??? Frankly, I don't know either).

We ate and ate until about 5pm, then the others went to play at the nearby playground in order to 'burn off the calories'... Although I would have liked to follow, Jia Jia and I had to clear up. 5U's eating habits are actually quite messy =/ Maybe it's because we have so many food lovers.

But don't take my word for it. Check out the photo evidence XD

Preparing for the party...

Ayam raba...

The two main consumers... Faiz was munching even when we were packing to go home...

You can see Jia Jia in the background 'jaga api'... she really helped a lot in grilling and clearing up...

Fadhly taking a nap... He helped to grill much of the food...

EATING!!!

Taken during the 'break'...

WE'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER 5U!

-GitP-

P.S. I'm blogging from the largest cybercafe in Singapore. More pictures to follow tonight!

The End of an Era

2009-12-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

And that's that. Chemistry, and with it the end of my secondary school life, is now over. It's the end of an era. Goodbye, school; hello, world. My friends and I; we now stand on the cusp of the precipice of adult life, with all its attendant cares and wears.

For better or for worse.

I'm just a little bit scared. But for now, I'll sit back, grill some wings over a barbecue fire (class party this Thursday!) and enjoy the sweet smell of accomplishment.

My secondary school life is now over.

-GitP-

News From The Front Line, Part 3

2009-12-03T02:09:00.000-08:00

Well, that's it. Physics is down. Now there's only one more left to kill... Chemistry. Oh, how I hate Chemistry. Never before has there been such hate as the hate I have for Chemistry.

But this is it. This is the last one. The big one. The final one. And all my previous Chem results notwithstanding, I will give this one my...

BEST...

...SHOT...

...EVER!

In order to psyche up any blog readers who may be reading this, and in memory of dearly departed (from Cochrane) and sorely missed (by some similarly-eccentric few) Mr. Fahmiey...

"IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!"

(...be thankful I didn't put up the OTHER two videos... 'John Cena' and the 'Other Other One'...)

News From The Front Line, Part 2

2009-11-25T01:57:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging right now, having just finished Additional Mathematics. I'm so screwed, I think I dropped at least sixty marks all told from Papers 1 and 2... and I'm not even sure of the others. Ah well; I always knew Add Maths would be my downfall. That, Sejarah and Chemistry.

My exam schedule has resolved itself. Every day, I fast to keep my mind sharp. I found out I can think clearer with next to nothing in my stomach, so I skip breakfast and lunch. Maybe I eat a small bun sometime around lunchtime, but even that's rare. The real events begin when I get home, usually around 4:30pm.

4:30pm - Eat. Eat and eat and eat. I have breakfast and lunch to compensate for. Standard meals: rice, noodles, bread, with lots of lauk, noodle sauce and almost 1 liter of water by the time I'm done.

5:30pm - Check my mail, shower and then sleep.

8:30pm - Wake up, have a late dinner (eat some more!) and then nap (light sleep).

10:00pm - Wake up feeling fully refreshed. Eat some more (supper!), shower again (to get the sleep out of my eyes) and then start work.

02:00am - Go to bed, but usually it's light sleep only, and I tend to wake up every now and then and take a brief read through my notes. I fall into a deep sleep around 04:00. The earliest I've slept is probably 03:00 (the night before English for Science and Tech).

It's not the healthiest living, but it works, and it works well. I have Biology, Physics and Chemistry up next, which will be challenging. Without the help of my Father, I know I can't possibly do it. With that, the evergreen Twenty-Third Psalm comes to mind.

Amen.

News From The Front Line, Part 1

2009-11-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

Well, six days after my previous post, I'm back again, having passed through the fire and come back out again feeling very, very scorched.

Bahasa Melayu is a fifty-fifty proposition at the moment. On the one hand, I think I did well in my essay and KOMSAS papers. On the other hand, I am feeling worried for my Tatabahasa and Novel components, partially because I can't remember what the hell I wrote.

English is a no-contest win, and I'll be posting up my essay when all this is done. I exorcised some demons writing that essay, and if it doesn't leave the examiner in a reflective mood I think I'll have failed as a writer.

Sejarah was a pain in the backside (and writing hand!) but enjoyable to study for, in an impromptu reading circle set up in our BM teacher Pn. Nor Azmah's classroom. I'm satisfied with my essays, and a conservative estimate of marks gives me a B+ at the minimum, so I'm hoping for an A.

English for Science and Tech was a blast. A Physics question (report on Friction, it's Effects and Applications) came hurtling out of left field this year without warning, but I think I lobbed it back with interest. In the words of Nick-O, "Yup. I think that was overkill."

In any case, as a Pure Science student I may have passed through the fire but I'm not out of the woods yet, and the Valley of the Shadow of Death awaits further up. Cheerio.

No, I haven't cut yet, mainly because TMNet in my area happens to be equipped with fibre-optics =). I like this ad though, and not just for the innuendo: See if you can spot my name, the na pek (feminine man) and the Indian aneh.

Russian Roulette, or SPM Objective Papers In Two Words

2009-11-14T06:34:00.000-08:00

Four days to SPM, I find myself tearing through notes, texts and revision books as the end draws near. It's hard to think that after eleven years of formal education, it's all ending soon, with exactly one 'normal' school day left, followed by around twenty days of examinations. After that, well, my status changes from "Schoolboy" to "Unemployed".

It's the end of an era.

Sigh.

Well, if there's anything that can cheer one up, it's music. Music with good melody, rocking rhythm and a talented voice. And the good thing is that an interesting piece has just been released.

This is "Russian Roulette", from Rihanna's new album. Now, ordinarily I listen to instrumentals of "Unfaithful" and try to ignore the whiny "Take A Bow" as much as possible, but the so-called 'darker' and 'edgier' songs Rihanna's pushing out now are much more interesting (and less annoying).

Maybe it's because Rihanna is actually putting some feeling into it, instead of doing whatever the producers tell her to do. I can understand that; "Russian Roulette" rather accurately describes the way we answer SPM objective questions; uncertainly picking an answer we're not quite sure of, hoping against hope that the little black bubble we're filling in is the correct one.

It's just like Russian roulette, in which you fire a revolver that has five empty chambers and one loaded bullet at your head. It's all about chance (what are the chances this is the correct answer?) and it's all well and good until the firing pin strikes a chamber with a loaded bullet, and then BLAM!

A note on the videos: The above is NOT the official video, it's fan-made. However, it is one of the BEST music videos I've seen, vividly reminiscent of a James Bond opening scene. Five stars without reservation.

Wanted

2009-11-08T08:43:00.000-08:00

Darn you, hormones. Darn you all to heck.

Karma Is A Funny Thing, Puan S...

2009-10-26T01:10:00.000-07:00

Phew! So much to talk about, so little time. Arrgh! Between SPM (23 days away), friends, family and various other commitments, my beloved blog hardly sees any updates any more (and less traffic).

'Graduation Day', a largely symbolic ceremony devoid of much function or meaning has come and gone, and with it a distinct feeling of RM50 spent for I'm-not-quite-sure-what. Thanks a lot, SMKC... not.

Speaking of which, some laughable incidents occurred over the weekend. SMKC is launching a massive anti-graffiti campaign, after a toilet that had been freshly repainted the night before was immediately 'radically redecorated' within a matter of hours. GO COCHRANE!

Some interesting observations sprang from this: girls tend to hit harder than boys, when it comes to verbal sparring (written or spoken) and the girls graffiti their toilets worse than ours, surprisingly. Picture evidence will be up soon.

Oh, and an open reply to Puan S, the headmistress of SMKC:

Dear Mrs. S,

I fully agree with your words this morning. "Orang yang jahat akan menerima balasan," you said this morning. Evil people will receive their just deserts. In other words, what goes around, definitely does come around. While I'm not a believer in karma, I think that this time you have hit the nail on the head.

I fully agree that hooligans are evil little sh!ts. They are the scum of the earth. They are (to use a favourite expression) the slimy gunk at the bottom of the rubbish bin of life.

I fully agree that said hooligans should they ever grow up (physically, even if not mentally) and become teachers in other schools will receive their retribution. They will receive their just deserts. They will have graffiti scribbled all over about them, their body parts, private habits, family connections, and mental status.

These evil people who delight in the misery of others and who should be blasted to the very depths of Dante's nine levels of Hell will suffer later when they too become teachers. 'Cause what goes around comes around.

The surest proof of that theory is this: what went round, Pn. S, just came back. And karma bit you right in the @$$, along with Pn. H, En. Z, and all the other scum that populate the offices of SMKC. 'Cause one thing I know; you fully deserve every single epithet ever written up on the walls of SMKC.

In your own words: "Orang yang jahat akan menerima balasan."

- GitP -

At Times Like These...

2009-10-20T01:35:00.001-07:00

Sitting in the classroom today making plans for all sorts of hijinks after the big S P M, it suddenly struck me, as I glanced at the notice board, that we have twenty-nine days left till exams.

Twenty-nine days till exams.

Twenty-nine days of secondary education.

Twenty-nine days until, well, the end.

The end? The end. The end of eleven years of (generally wasted) formal education. Of a phase in life. Of an era. Of, well, a time when the world passed surely but slowly by, and there was always a holiday at just the right time (oh, man!). Of a time on which we will surely look back and say, "Yeah, those were the days."

Sigh.

As you, dear reader, can obviously tell, I'm in a melancholic mood. And when I'm in a melancholic mood, I listen to songs that make me feel better. Hence, the song currently playing.

No prizes for guessing where it's from, or the original singer.

- GitP -

Look At This Photograph...

2009-09-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

...every time I do it makes me laugh.

Every time I do it makes me...

- "Photograph", Nickelback -

- GitP -

No Holiday Is Complete Without...

2009-09-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yep, I think I'm only the second to do this (mostly because I'm fed up with Add Maths). TAG time! This time around this TAG is courtesy of Jo from her FB, and of all things she had to ask me...

My Ideal Wedding

1. How old are you?
Almost 18 and ancient, if you believe my friends

2. Are you single?
For better or for worse, yes. Very much so.

3. At what age do you think you'll get married?
Am I even going to get married? I thought I was going to hang out in a bachelor pad with Tony and Sharkboy all my life (Geez, that sounds so gay!)... Okay-lah, if I do find the right girl then probably mid to late 20s. Not too late.

4. Do you think you'll marry the person you are with now?
(Ref. 2)

5. If not, who do you want to marry?
(Ref. 2) I guess, my future unknown as-yet-to-be-announced fiancee?

6. Who will be your bridesmaid & bestman?
Hmm. Bridesmaid would probably be whoever she picks, but the bestman would probably be my brother.

7. Do you want a garden/beach or traditional wedding?
Hmm. Beach and traditional. I happen to know this nice place down Port Dickson way... =)

8. Where do you plan to go on honeymoon?
As yet, there is no input from my charming bride-to-be (Ref. 2) but

9. How many guests do you think you'll invite?
Hmm. Close friends and relatives, so yeah... many.

10. Will that include your exes?
Depends on who my exes are, and what extent of relationship I have with them. I don't think there'll be many exes anyway =D

11. How many layers of cake do you want?
Three lah. If there's too many it'll block the faces of the bride and the groom =D

12. When do you want to get married, morning or evening?
Morning. Evening is for dinner and partying =D

13. Name the song/tune you'd like to play at your wedding
Jeez, here we go. Uhhh... I have no idea. I don't want anything contemporary, Can You Feel The Love seems so Disney, Pachelbel's Canon is nice but every piano 8th-grader the world over has done it a gazillion times, and when you think about it My Heart Will Go On is wildly inappropriate.

However, I do know the song that I'd like to play during the honeymoon, as we drive off into the sunset. This one right now on my blog, "This Is Where I Came In" =D

14. Do you prefer fine dining or just normal spoon, fork and knife?
Fine dining, doh!

15. Champagne or red wine?
RUM! =D Nah, gimme champagne. I always did have a taste for the bubbly.

16. Honeymoon right after the wedding or days after the wedding?
Right after, probably. Though not right-right-after, as in drive-off-into-the-sunset right-right after. More like 'sort out the aftermath of the wedding and then go on holiday right after'.

17. Money or household items?
If you're talking about gifts, ang pow will be most welcome =D

18. How many kids would you like to have?
Two... or three... or whatever number she wants, if she would like to raise the Choy United football team it's my pleasure =D

19. Will you record your honeymoon in DVD/CD
Yeah, very popular these days. Honeymoon, per-haps, but if I don't watch out I might be Soi Lekked =D

20. Wedding Card?
I'd probably end up emailing half the lazy buggers on the list.

21. Whose wedding plan would you like to know next?
YOURS!

One More Leg

2009-09-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

Well, Trials are over. The second-to-last leg of the SPM circuit is done, but we've still got one more lap to go. That's how I'm treating this whole thing; not as a sprint, not as a relay race, but as a marathon... steady she goes...

And now that Trials are over, let's have some video fun! I'm swamped with my little creative media projects right now, or else I'd show off some interesting (but incomplete) stuff I've written up, but in the meantime:

MUSIC!

'You Belong With Me' - Taylor Swift (finally found a video that won't get banned by Youtube just a day after posting)

PATRIOTIC, FUNNY, SARCASTIC VIDEOS!

'Meter', featuring good ol' Khairy, Namewee, Amber Chia, Baki Zainal

And DOGS!

(Pepper, left; Honey, right)

Wait maybe two more days. This term break I'll definitely post a story or two!

- GitP -

Physics According to the GitP

2009-09-08T03:16:00.000-07:00

Constructive Interference:

"Hmmm, I thought you were supposed to be studying? What's your exam tomorrow? Biology? Can do or not? Can score A1? What did you get for your previous exam? What did your friends get? What did the top guy get...?" - Mum

"Ohmigawd, Choy, I'm very scared la... Sejarah! Sejarah! Study!" - ChanLy

"Difficult? You think now is difficult ah? Next week syiok man, Chemistry Physics Add Maths one after another... and still got Sejarah leh on Friday?" - Mr. Shark

Destructive Interference:

"Ken Yuuuunngg! *slaps* Ahhh! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! You slap me too many times, I must slap you back! *shrieks, main kejar2* Enough lah! Woi! Slap you back!" - Debb

"You wanna listen leh? You wanna listen leh? Come lah, I show you la, my new MP3 handphone..." - Anthony

"Hey ah, can you download some songs for me? And the 'Up' movie? And the new Pokemon game coming out September 12th?" - Sister

- GitP -

Holidays? Yeeeah...

2009-08-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Anyone having fun this holiday should be shot... and that goes for all you smug "I've completed my trials!" SABs out there (that would be SiewL, TSM and Josie, I guess).

Wish me luck. I'm going to ~~waltz~~ Latin (heh!) into this SPM thing feeling the most unprepared since I turned up at PMR English with a heck of a stomach problem (don't ask!). However, here's something funny I came across:

See if you can identify all the songs! I got almost all, except the one after Macarena!

After using Facebook just a few weeks I feel a little like this already =(

Cochrane's Unofficial School Song

2009-08-07T10:48:00.001-07:00

Usual music tastes in SMK Cochrane are divided between a) Malay bands, b) HK and Taiwanese singers, c) filmi music (Bollywood music) and d) the international mainstream. Of course, the demographical distribution of music tastes is self-evident; Malays listen to Malay songs, Chinese listen to Chinese songs, and Indians listen to... filmi. And almost everybody listens to international mainstream. Yeah.

The funny thing is, I realised just the other day that this particular song has reached a heretofore impossible level of popularity in SMK Cochrane. In quick succession on more than one day, I pass by a Chinese guy, a Malay guy and a band of Indians humming or outright singing it under their breaths. Heck, I find myself mouthing the catchy lyrics to the first stanza and chorus!

I wonder why. Why has this song seeped so insidiously into our collective subconscious? Why has this song broken down traditional barriers like no other? Why am I blogging about this song?

Maybe it's because our very own 'rock' band played and performed it for Teacher's Day.

Maybe it's because there's something vaguely inspirational and uplifting about this song, mixed a tablespoon of romance and just a dash of teenage independence (read: rebellion).

Maybe it's because this indie local band just happens to be rather catchy, and have good music arrangement (though their lyrics need some work).

Maybe it's because... this has become SMK Cochrane's unofficial school song.

BUNKFACE - Situasi

Diskriminasi menjatuhkan aku
Reputasi kini menjadi bisu
Dan aaaaaaaku, ku layu
Di situ

Mengharapkan sesuatu yang baru
Itulah impian aku

Chorus
Dan bila kau menghilang
Musnah la, musnah impian
Tuk menggapai bintang
Terangi hidup ku
Ku mahu kau tahu
Engkaulah, destinasiku
Dalam ingatanku... oh oh oh...

Kerana diri ini tak daya lagi
Menempuh hidup yang ku temui
Dan aaaaaaaku, ku tunggu... oh oh oh
Di situ

Mengharapkan sesuatu yang baru
Itulah impian aku

(Chorus)

Doing The Hard Thing

2009-07-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a little bit of Geek In The Pink philosophy: You always have to have someone who can do the hard thing.

Let me explain. What are hard things? Hard things are tasks which people don't like to do, often because it puts their necks on the line, embarasses them or requires them to put in too much effort. Examples of hard tasks I've seen range from standing up to a bully, working extra hours, defending the weak and (of all things!) apologising.

Oh, it's always good to be polite. It's always good to be diplomatic. We should definitely sit down and talk things over. BUT THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE FOR SITTING DOWN AND TALKING IT OUT, AND A TIME AND A PLACE FOR ACTION!

When no one wants to step up, no one wants to act, no one wants to say "ENOUGH!" and be willing to enforce his will with everything he has, that's when evil and injustice will flourish and prosper. This is what Martin Niemoller said of the Holocaust, in which 11 to 17 million 'undesirables' in Germany - men, women, children; Jews, Romani, non-whites - were systematically murdered:

Pushy people think they can get their way by browbeating society into submission. Whether it's vandalising public property, gangsterism, trying to find loopholes in rules, emotional blackmail (a female favourite!) or bullying, they think they will get their way by being rude, aggressive, threatening. When no one steps up to challenge them, that's when they succeed, and all hell breaks loose.

Bruce Wayne got it right. People and society need a White Knight who can save them by being nice, by being a righteous symbol to look up to. However, Gotham also needs a Dark Knight to right the wrongs, punish the wicked and stamp out evil.

And, with Niemoller's words in mind, even if there's no one else who will speak up, I will.

STOCK OUT

2009-07-25T04:48:00.000-07:00

Well. Hari K went pretty well, for certain definitions of 'well'. Two words: Stock. Out. Yep, we ran out of stock (literally: it was soup stock) in the middle of business. End result: 100 bowls of soup sold, 50% of what we counted on getting. All thanks to certain people with half a brain jammed up their... ahem... posterior orifices... who made a great big cock-up.

Cock up.

Sometimes, I really wonder. Some people complain if they're not given a part to help out in. On the other hand, when you do give them jobs to do they screw up the whole place. The very least that could've been done was to inform that the soup stock's running low, maybe we should arrange for another source?

No. Not a word till the penny drops.

The penny drops.

How could such a big blunder have happened? Didn't everybody know we were making at least 200 bowls? Can't they count? What's the point of scoring strings of A1s in Maths and Add Maths if they can't multiply a frickin' bowl of soup by 200? Damn, in the real world people get fired for stock-out mistakes. Add to the communication problems we've been plagued with, and its a wonder the whole operation wasn't a complete balls-up.

Balls up.

Gross incompetencies aside, I'd like to sincerely thank all those who helped make our revolutionary Restaurant idea (first real sit-down place in SMK Cochrane's history!) a success. Special thanks goes to YShan, for pioneering the sit-down idea and for creating the prawn head (pics please!). Also, Chant for the sweets, and Tony for running things as well as he could.

Kudos and more thanks to those guys and girls who helped out even when they didn't need to; you know who you are. And once more, give me a chorus of:

Laksa is good!
Laksa is so good!
Laksa is so laksa is so laksa is so GOOD!

By the way, Nick's put up some nice pics from our classmates and I took a relevant one from him:

Bring it on, Reaper!

So tell me, how many of you have actually faced down Death, and lived to walk away?

- GitP -

P.S. "Hi guys, how are things?" "Oh, the situation's normal: all f-ed up."

Carnival and Responsibilitylessness

2009-07-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

Another piece of artwork brought to you by the Geek In The Pink. This one is for class 5 Unggul's laksa stall for this year's school carnival Hari K 2009, and a pretty good effort even if I say so myself. Thanks a lot to Josie for colour guidance!

This was made using the same techniques developed by yours truly to create the LEO Club badge, which, incidentally, has been accepted and will be used for a commemorative badge for this district's 2009/2010 Joint Installation!

I'm so tired nowadays. Running around juggling the 5U Laksa stall prep, Language Month, school life, tuition, social life, Royal Rangers... I'm just sick and tired of all the running around, having to remember a hundred and fifty things a day, my efforts not being appreciated, my personal life at a near standstill, people expecting great things of me...

And all this from the Geek In The Pink, who prides himself on being young, single, carefree and deliciously responsibilityless (is that even a word?). I can now fully understand Sam Witwicky's dilemma. I DON'T WANT THIS RESPONSIBILITY!

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing" and all that. Damn you, Optimus Prime!

Still... the only comfort I take from the troubles I'm having is that somehow, some way, I hope all this helps me be a better person.

Then a hero comes along,
With the strength to carry on,
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive.

So when you feel like hope is gone,
Look inside you and be strong,
And you'll finally see the truth,
That a hero lies in you.

Language Month and Other Fun

2009-07-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Phew, what a week!

Down with fever, sore throat and flu from Thursday to Sunday. Really really felt like total crap. As such, I couldn't handle some of the Language Month preparations at school and had to relay instructions and plans to Tony via handphone from my sickbed. Thank God for people like Tony, KC and Stephy. Language Month would really suck without them.

Language Month. A grandiose concept, promising integration of the various Malaysian communities, as represented by the Malay, English, Mandarin, Tamil and Arabic languages. It started with so much promise on Monday, but even after all the effort we put in - all those hours, all those proposals, all that brain racking - it feels like such a disappointment.

Sure, it's one of the greatest events SMK Cochrane has ever seen; entertainment, activities, fun, friendship... But the fact is that it could have been better. It could have been so much better. To my fellow prez of the BM Club; Faiz, you think you know what's red tape and politics? You think you know what's lost opportunity? You don't, buddy. You don't.

Tuesday I got sidelined for my little public speaking jig. It was very fun. Met up with some old friends - Joshua and Shirley, if ever you're reading this, please leave some word in the chatbox! - and some new ones too (Hey Adam, Nanthini, Jo Een!). I estimate that of 19 participants, only ten of us are really any good.

All of these ten are the cream of the crop of Kuala Lumpur's English speakers, and I believe that I'm probably around number five. We had so much fun together; I felt like I was bantering with a bunch of clones of myself. Man, it feels good to be part of such an elite bunch.

Hey, any of you guys out there, contact me!

- GitP -

The Love of My Life

2009-07-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

SQUUUUUEEEEEEE!

Revenge of the Tagged

2009-07-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I've finally gotten round to watching Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Initial response is WOW! Just... WOW! Some people complain that it's too long, that there's too much action and not enough plot, but hey; RotF is a typical Michael Bay movie, and his style of movies suits the Transformers just fine.

Amongst the things I liked about RotF was the BOOMING soundtrack, the AWESOME 'bot battles, the MIGHT of the military (should've been titled Revenge of the US Army), SIDESWIPE (Damn, he's good!), EPIC action scenes, BOUNCY Megan Fox...

What? Oh come on, you were all thinking it!

I got TAGGED four times (Nick-O, Debb, MJ and Sharky) so this is way overdue.
1.Besides your lips, where is the favorite spot to get kissed?
-Cheek, duh! Should be "besides lips and cheek..."

2.How did you feel when you woke up this morning?
-"I'm going to school to get my report card. Whoop-dee-doo, not. I'm so watching Transformers when I get back..."

3.Who was the last person/people you took a photo with?
-Family, while eating sushi... hah!

Debb, eat your heart out :D

4.Would you consider yourself spoiled?
-Am I? Might be. I try hard not to be.

5.Will you ever donate blood?
-Yeah, but I'm a kilogram or so underweight (NOT underage though =D).

6.Have you ever had a best friend who was of the opposite sex?
-Chant, Josie, Debb... these girls all give me a different (non-male) perspective of life...

7.Do you want someone to be dead?
-What kind of a question is this...?

8.What does your last text message say?
-nite

9.What are u thinking right now?
-I want to draw a webcomic!

10.Do you want someone to be with you now?
-Not particularly, it's late, I'm tired and I'm sleepy.

11.What was the time you went to bed last night?
-4am. Blame studies and ELS reports...

12.Where did you buy the tee you are wearing now?
-Jaya Jusco. It's a white shirt I wear to sleep.

13.Is someone on your mind right now?
-Yeah. Poor B; why must he make so many enemies?

14.Who was the last person who texted you?
-SiewL.

10 lucky person to do this tagged (going according to bloglist).
-MJ*
-Nick-O*
-Kyung
-Lynnie =D
-Numb
-Sharkboy*
-Tony
-Debb*
-Chant
-Josie
(* Go find some more tags for us!)

15. Who is no. 2 having a relationship with?
-Nick-O? Can't say, I might get ISA'd or have the 'little girl detective' chasing me again...

16. Is no. 3 a male or a female?
-Kyung? Hard to tell. Body male, emotions female, love life transsexual...

17. If no. 7 and and no. 1 get together, would it be a good thing?
-"Tony and MJ". Sounds like a cross between a romantic comedy and a horror movie. Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) will play Tony. Get me the popcorn; this will be WILDLY entertaining.

18. What is no. 10 studying about?
-Probably her Latin dance gig. Speaking of which; I NEED LESSONS!

19. When was the last time you chatted with them?
-Yesterday at Open Day or MSN.

20. Is no. 4 single?
-Lynnie? Vehemently, violently so =D

21.Say something about no. 2.
-Nick-O? Serious guy, doesn't let his light side out often enough. Likes older women (duck and cover!)...

22.What do you think about no. 2 and no. 6 being together?
-Nick-O and Sharkboy? Gayyyyy... I wonder who'll be on top =D

23.Describe no. 9.
-Big Boss to some, Little Sister to others, but she's done me more (and bigger!) favours than I deserve.

24. What will you do if no. 6 and no. 7 fight?
-Tony and Sharkboy? Kick both their butts, handcuff them to each other, force them to talk it out... and make some more popcorn =D

25. Do you like no.8?
-Debb? Yes, duh! she's my friend. She is overemotional, demanding and immature, but she sees and hears things no-one else can!

Nothing about no. 5? What kind of Tag is this? No. 5: Pretend-to-study-but-actually-sleep KING!

GitP Graphics Design Agency

2009-06-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

Ooooh, yeah...

The GeekInThePink Graphics Design Agency is now up and running, with its first project already completed and delivered. Orders welcome. First-come-first-serve basis.

Also a part of the GeekInThePink Group of Companies:
GeekInThePink Corporate Identity Design Agency
GeekInThePink Literary Agency

- GitP -

Collateral Damage, Pt. 1

2009-06-22T01:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back from camp. Actually, I've been back for TWO WEEKS already, but I've been too busy to make a post.

- Last week: catching up with exam papers and all, and ranting at Goh. No mood to blog.

- Tuesday: catching up with homework.

- Wednesday: Maths and Add Maths classes. Maths is really useless, I learned next to nothing useful, and got rained on. I practically swam home.

- Thursday: Shoes got irrecoverably wet, so I skipped school. Chemistry and Physics, where I got beaten up by an angsty Debb the whole time, as well as the whole way home. Seriously; get a grip! It's YOUR fault the only thing you could say was "Bye!"

And that brings us to today. I hate to post up all this bad news before Camporama, but I just have to. I haven't slept a wink since 1pm Thursday afternoon, mostly 'cause I'm catching up with PEKA assessments and chasing Moral project papers.

Then this morning, the school drops a bombshell on all of us. There will be group punishment the likes of which has never been seen before; the ENTIRE Forms 5 and 3, boys AND girls, will be publicly caned.

Uh-huh, yeeeeah.

Why this unprecedented, unethical and marginally-legal move? Because students have not been showing up for their extra tuition classes, provided by the school... taught by the same teachers who are generally so good that we end up going to the tuition centers for some real lessons.

Here's the catch. I'm not involved. I haven't been conscripted for the extra classes, either because I'm so bliddy brilliant or the teachers have given up on me. Go figure. I'm collateral damage, along with probably 200 other students, since there are only about a hundred students on each list (Forms 3 and 5) of extra-class conscripts.

Anyway, the sadistic little twit who's going to get off on the caning (let's call him Rosie) starts playing the psychological game; "Whoever wants to complain may do so, but if I don't find his/her excuse reasonable he's in for it!" Eventually the cur is leashed by none other than Uncle Sham, who doesn't have the guts to see 400 students get caned in 1 morning.

Eventually, we are let off with a stern warning; "Why didn't you show up for extra class? You lazy students are still dreaming your way through class. Only one Form 3 student scored straight 7 As in the Trials. Buck up in two weeks with full extra class attendance, or you're all screwed."

Dear reader, decide for yourself how outrageous this is. If I allowed myself to say all that I want to say about this, I'd run out of blogspace. As it is, this post is already waaaaay too long, so I'll sum it all up in two sentences.

This mass caning is unethical, unfair and illegal by Malaysian Ministry of Education rules and regulations. As for why we don't attend your extra classes, well, that's because on the same days you've assigned extra classes to, we're paying good money to go to superior classes at tuition centers where we spend literal hours actually learning how to pass our SPMs... stupid.

- GitP -

Geektionary

Collateral damage - He accidentally got in the way of the bomb. Tough sh!t.
Cur - Dog; male equivalent for bitch.

What Do You Do When...

2009-06-17T05:02:00.000-07:00

...your English Language Society teacher-advisor walks into your English lesson, and she spends half the lesson insulting you in front of your classmates:

"Wah, his oral assessment scores are so bad ah?"

"These are not the marks an English debater should be getting..."

"You should put in 100% effort into this..."

"Perhaps the school sent you as the debater because there was no one else they could find..."

"Perhaps you are only an average person..."

This is typical of the verbal abuse I have been receiving ever since the start of this year when I began working with Goh. Thoughts are bursting through my head right now, and they are not pretty. I'm confused, unsure of myself, and in the heat of the moment I can only rely on my instincts and right now you don't want to hear what they are telling me.

How DARE she do this to me! Does she really think she can get away with it? Can Goh be so incredibly stupid that she thinks I'll take this lying down? Does she really think she can insult me to my face and escape unscathed?

Does she think she can hide behind the fact that she is a teacher and I a student, that she is a woman and I a gentleman? She may think she is in a position of enough power and authority that I will not dare to object, not dare to defend myself; she may think she is getting away scot-free, but you know what?

As this blog is my witness, I say this to the whole world:

I will never forgive, and I will never forget. Mark my words, and mark them well. SOME way, SOME how, I will make you pay for this.

- GitP -

Going to Camp

2009-06-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

So I'm going off to camp and won't be around the next few days. Got to get back in touch with Mother Nature, you know. As that gay idiot Razazu would say, "Kena rasakan sentuhannya..."

And there's nowhere better to feel good ol' nature gentle touch than a four-day jaunt through good ol' Malaysian rainforest. Mega biodiversity country, yeah!

Yep, in that good ol' forest there'll be lots and lots of...

...mega biodiverse venomous pit vipers...

...mega biodiverse mosquitos...

...mega biodiverse poisonous centipedes...

...mega biodiverse singing cicadas to serenade you the whole night long...

...mega biodiverse tiger leeches itching to suck the blood from all your unreachable spots...

Yeah, I love going to camp.

- GitP -

HERO

2009-06-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hero
Originally performed by Mariah Carey

There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid of what you are

There's an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you know will melt away

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive

So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you

It's a long road
When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold

You can find love
If you search within yourself
And the emptiness you feel Will disappear

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive

So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you

Lord knows dreams are hard to follow
But don't let anyone tear them away; hold on
There will be tomorrow
In time You'll find the way

And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive

So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth

That a hero lies in you

Let's Emo-cise with the Geek In The Pink!

2009-06-01T06:23:00.001-07:00

Alright everybody, let's emo-cise!

Let's begin by stretching our imaginations! Okay everybody, imagine that we're the most unluckiest people in the whole world! Streeeetch... and streeetch... 1-and-2-and-3-and EMO!

Feel that tingling sorrow and sense of despair? Good!

Let's warm up with some moping and feeling sorry for ourselves! Everybody practice sitting on your bed and thinking about how everybody in the whole wide world hates us! Be sure to switch off your mobile and scream "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ME!" at everyone who tries to help!

"NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME!!!"

Okay, now we've got all our emo-muscles flexed and warmed up, let's do some REAL work! Start thinking deep, dark thoughts everybody... I want suicidal ones! "Nobody loves me! My family hates me! My enemies are all backstabbing me, and my friends are all leaving me alone! I don't want to live any more!" Start picking up your mobile phone and reply to all those encouraging messages screaming at them to go away and leave you alone!

If you have blogs, update them with an emo picture and a short one-liner like this:

I HATE EVERYBODY IN THIS $@#%&-ING WORLD!!!

Phew! That was a good workout, wasn't it? Really got the sweat flowing, didn't we? Let's begin to cool down, boys and girls.

Let's start with some pick-me-ups. Get your mobile phone and read all the replies your real friends left you:

"Hey, if you ever need me I'm here you know...
I'll stick with you through thick and thin..."

"You'll always be my best friend,
even if you yell at me..."

"Hey, since you're so down,
wanna go to the cinema together?"

Ahhh... that's nice. Now that we're all well emo-cised, let's go have a nice cup of tea or Milo or coffee, and then go to bed. We'll feel muuuch better in the morning.

And if we don't, we'll just EMO-CISE again!

- GitP -

My New Cousin and a Crappy Teacher's Day

2009-05-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I've got another baby cousin, courtesy of my uncle and aunt *wink*. Joshua Ananda C. To put it simply, I'm just stunned. To think I spent the first five years of my life essentially playing all by myself all day with no family but my parents, grandparents and unmarried uncles.

Now I have two siblings, three cousins and a boatload of buddies from Taman Midah (1) to Cochrane through to Aminuddin Baki and Seri Bintang Utara. Life is good.

Teacher's Day celebrations were rather so-so. I was so proud of 5 Unggul's participation in the presentations; KYung, Faiz and Azrul of course got loud cheers, and Boon will always be my favourite drummer! I think my class teacher En. Azhar kicks butt with his guitar-plucking skillz, but I definitely do not want En. Razak on my team, the traitorous little kill-stealer.

Most presentations were okay. Joel ruined most of the songs with his atrocious piano-tuning. Pn. Hell is a real 'big pao' in her all-white pocong costume (looks just like the 2nd ghost in the Proton advertisement, know what I'm saying?), but hey, that's better than looking like ham yok chong in her KRS uniform. The 'fashion show', to me, came off as mere attention-seeking by a bunch of camwhores, though.

Of particular note, however, is the dance towards the end of the ceremony. Now, this dance is touted as a muhibbah dance noted for its representation of the main cultures in Malaysia's 'unique' multicultural society, bla bla bla.

So what did the dance amount to? Oh, let's see, thirteen Malay dancers dressed in Malay costumes dancing a Malay dance to a Malay tune... and a small segment in which they wave tudung saji (Malay food covers) decorated to resemble cat faces. The dance ends after a Malay version of a fan dance with a series of body spasms that's supposed to represent 'belly-dancing'.

Pictured: ~~Chinese~~ Malay fan dance

Hey, wow, I never knew Chinese fan dance and Malay dance is so similar. It's practically identical! And the dance ended after the 'Chinese' segment... gee, I guess there aren't any Indians in Malaysia, but there must be some Arabs, since belly-dancing comes from the Middle East. And you know, those Orang Asli aren't mentioned at all, they must be, like, extinct or something!

"Multicultural Malaysia, Hooray*!"

- GitP -

*So a man flies to Sarawak in order to exploit the Orang Asli and score some cheap land. He hires a guide who brings him to meet with the local tribesmen, and makes a speech, saying "I will trade five cigarettes per person for your ancestral lands."
The tribesmen yell, "Hooray! Hooray!"
Satisfied, the man decides to go back home and start bringing the land developers over. On his way out, some of the village kerbau walk across his path, farting and crapping all the way.
"Watch out," says the guide. "Don't step in the hooray."

50th Post: Musings on Teacher's Day

2009-05-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

50th Post: Musings on Teacher's Day

This is the fiftieth post of Geeky Ramblings, home of the Geek In The Pink.

* * *

Tomorrow, our school will be holding Teacher's Day celebrations.

Today, we students experienced an intensive spot-check by prefects and discipline teachers lasting at least twenty minutes per class.

Today, some male students rebelled and objected vehemently when asked to go to the toilet and take off their pants to prove they were not bringing any contraband items, essentially submitting to a strip search.

Today, a teacher scrolled through a girl's confiscated mobile phone, reading messages at her leisure.

Today, a teacher informed my friend, "Although I congratulated your team mates,I will not congratulate you for representing the state of Wilayah Persekutuan in a competition. This is because in my opinion, your personal standards are dropping." By personal standards, this teacher means not wearing prefect uniform, even though it is after school hours.

Today, a teacher tried to show off his 'superior' (limited) command of language by writing French, German and Spanish catchphrases on the blackboard in order to intimidate the less experienced students. The same teacher thinks its a great joke to imply that students are retarded and whistles at them and gives commands like they were dogs.

Today, a teacher suggested that during the teachers' banquet to be held during the celebrations tomorrow, students be confined to the assembly grounds under prefect control for half an hour. Talks are now underway to convince the Headmistress to let the students go home early.

Today, my Biology teacher Pn. Faizah handled eight individual students' test-paper complaints at once while standing up in front of the Biology lab in the hot, humid Malaysian climate. The front of the Biology lab has no fan. Pn. Faizah has also marked more than half of the one hundred and eleven Biology papers from our class, and has promised to deliver the rest by tomorrow, Teacher's Day celebrations notwithstanding.

I will not elaborate any further. All I have to say is this:

The respect of students is earned, not commanded. Students are more knowledgeable, informed and mature than many teachers suspect, and can easily see through frauds. Likewise, students can tell when a teacher has their best interests at heart, when a teacher is working hard, when a teacher is telling the truth... or not.

I will not take off my pants. I will not let you near my mobile phone, and I will raise all kinds of extremely unpleasant hell if you attempt to read my messages. I will consider it an insult to be so insincerely 'congratulated' by such a poor specimen of a human being. I will not show off my knowledge of stupid catch phrases in other languages to people who have no way of responding. I will wilfully ignore any whistles and any form of summons that do not refer to me by name.

I will personally honour and salute those teachers who are deserving of my respect.

Geeky Ramblings wishes Happy Teacher's Day to those teachers who know you deserve it. For the rest... get out of my sight.

- GitP -

Review: Star Trek XI

2009-05-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

Bus tickets downtown: RM3.60

Cinema tickets: RM8 per person

Popcorn and drinks: RM8.50

The look on a Romulan madman's face when the USS Enterprise bursts out of the rings of Saturn firing a hailstorm of phasers and cheating you of your revenge? Priceless.

Immediately after Physics Paper 3 finished, five of us cut classes, jumped over the wall and hit the nearest cinema for some weapons-grade dilithium-powered relaxation. Listening to my friends cheering as one of my favourite science-fiction ships - the USS Enterprise - attacked the enemy Romulan ship with a firestorm of phaser bolts and photon torpedoes, I thought to myself:

Talk about heaven? This IS heaven.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is offical. The Geek In The Pink gives Star Trek ten star(ships) out of ten!

Absolutely The Most Memorable Quotes:

Pavel Chekov (with accent): "Ensign authorization code Nine-Five-Wicktor-Wicktor-Two."
Computer: "Authorization not recognized."
Pavel Chekov: "Okay... Ensign authorization code Nine-Five... V-V-Victor... Victor-Two."

Pike (the ship is not entering warp): Mr. Sulu, did you disengage the parking brake?
Sulu (laughs): No sir, I can't figure out what's wrong.
Spock (speaking literally): Did you disengage the external inertial dampeners (a.k.a. brakes).
Sulu (closing his eyes): No, I didn't (disengages brakes).

Scotty: I am going to beam you aboard that ship where every sane ship has their cargo bays. There shouldn't be a soul in sight. (beams Spock and Kirk to the Romulan ship's bridge)

"LIVE LONG, AND PROSPER!"

"Kan I Dah Cakap..."

2009-05-25T06:26:00.001-07:00

One of the best - if not THE best - Malaysian TV commercials ever. Five stars!

The Revenge of the Fallen

2009-05-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen is coming soon. And I don't care for cost nor SPM, I AM WATCHING IT ON IMAX THE DAY IT HITS CINEMAS!

This is "New Divide" Linkin Park's latest single from their unreleased 2009 album, specially written for Revenge of the Fallen. Chris Bennington provides great vocals and the band is rocking my socks once again, but check out the Revenge of the Fallen's (3rd and 2nd) trailers!

I can make several predictions based off the trailers, some spoilers and my knowledge of Transformers lore (SPOILER WARNING!):

1) There will be a sexy girl named Alice who is actually a Decepticon.
2) There will be Insecticons, or Insect-Decepticons.
3) Those guys blowing up the aircraft carrier? Starscream and his personal Mat Rempit gang, the all-jet-fighter team the SEEKERS.
4) Scorponok sacrifices himself to give Megatron a 2nd shot at life as a Cybertronian tank.
5) There will be a giant Decepticon battle-bot made up of seven Decepticons combining themselves together.
6) The annoying Sector Seven agent Reggie Simmons reveals to Sam that another Transformer is hidden on Earth inside a pyramid.
7) This Transformer is the Fallen, one of thirteen original Transformers who turned evil. If he is revived, he will seek revenge on all Transformerkind (hence, "Revenge of the Fallen").

Now, the BIG SPOILER:

Sam and Mikaela are now going to university. However, Sam's brain has accidentally been imprinted with a navigation map from the fragment of Allspark that shows where the Fallen is hidden on Earth. He and the Autobots try to find where the Fallen is, but additional Decepticon reinforcements arrive who try to kidnap him.

At some point, they try to torture the information out of him, presumably to activate the Fallen and use the Fallen to kill off all the Autobots and destroy Earth. The Autobots (plus reinforcements) rescue him, and they all go hunting for the Fallen's pyramid to prevent the Decepticons from activating him.

Phew.

I'm very sure Revenge of the Fallen will be the movie of this summer... hands down. Its release in Japan is June 8... gonna see if I can DL the movie early!

"AUTOBOTS, LET'S ROLL OUT!"

- GitP -

Barely a Week In...

2009-05-13T03:20:00.000-07:00

What I want to do:

1. Drink a nice hot cup of tea
2. Eat some nice buttered toast with thick-cut marmalade
3. Wrap myself in a warm blanket and sleep for ten hours while dreaming of Gunung Tahan

What I have to do:

1. Drink herbal tea (Grandma: "It's good for your brain!")
2. Munch on nuts and kacang puteh to stay awake
3. Study Add Maths

WHEN WILL IT END?! THE HORROR...!

P.S. Stupid Panda Cleaner, poke poke poke 'cause of those two SBS idiots!

P.P.S. KYung has got EXCELLENT TASTE!

News From The Front Line

2009-05-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

Q: Apakah akibat orang yang suka berjudi?
Me (last line): "...pendek kata, matilah dia."

Q: Kedatangan tetamu istimewa itu disambut dengan mesra dan baik seperti kata pepatah:
Tony: "Seperti rusa masuk kampung."

Oh yeah... rusa masuk ke kampung, indeed (Pic: Venison with pepperberries, asparagus and mash).

Q: Berdasarkan sebuah novel yang anda pelajari, nyatakan dua latar masa dan huraikan peristiwa yang berkaitan dengannya.
Faiz: "Siang, petang, malam."

"OBJECTION!"

2009-05-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

That's it. The end of our dream. Back to reality.

But we'll have sweet memories of our experiences this year for a long, long time to come. Samples include:

Pencadang #3: "Izin laluan; bagaimanakah dengan Mesir yang terletak di tengah-tengah gurun yang tidak mempunyai air..."
Tony: "Bukankah Mesir mempunyai oasis dan Sungai Nil? Yang Berhormat tidak tahu fakta inikah?"

Pencadang #1: "Izin laluan, Yang Berhormat."
Tony: "SILAKAN, YANG BERHORMAT!" (violent arm thrust)

Speaker Dewan: "Usul penting bertajuk 'Kemahiran berfikir dengan kritis dan kreatif menyediakan pelajar berpotensi cemerlang dalam pelajaran dan kerjaya' yang dibahaskan hari ini oleh pihak pencadang dari Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Bintang Selatan dan pihak pembangkang dari Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Cochrane... ditolak!"

Pencadang #3: "SMS boleh merangsangkan otak muda dan memupuk minat dalam amalan membaca..."
Tony: "SMS merangsangkan sel otak? Pada pendapat saya, SMS lebih merangsangkan sel barah-lah!"

Tony: "Kita telah berjaya mengalahkan SMK Sri Tasek!"
Pn. Noor: "Hai, tidak dapatlah saya balik kampung hujung minggu ini..."

And many more besides. The scalps of every school in Pudu Zone except Teknik KL, the state representatives, hang from our belts. Our team's star performers comprise mostly students from 5 Unggul, supposedly the "best class with the worst reputation" in the whole of SMK Cochrane.

We've shown once more that we are the best in Cochrane and some of the most elite Kuala Lumpur has to offer, and shown it in the best of ways. The only answer I have to our critics and detractors who still insist on decrying our accomplishments is...

"IZIN LALUAN!"

- GitP -

I'm Back!

2009-05-04T12:34:00.001-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I know; I haven't been on for a while. Just kinda busy lately, okay, with Diagnostik coming up and all =/

Here's a video to keep all of you quiet; Simon Cowell gets challenged by the worst singers who ever pretended to be Alvin, Simon and Theodore.

Note that once again, Simon's done some good in this round. Lippy's little followers went on stage looking like the most forlorn, miserable unconfident people in the world. It's obvious Lippy's been putting them down with her att-i-tude. Perhaps after Simon's little boost (notice their smiles?) they'll be a bit more self-confident and willing to stand up to Lippy, heh?

Proof that Simon really is the best judge ever.

- GitP -

P.S. What's up with you guys and privating your blogs? Now my blog-bar won't get updated = (

Pepsi-Cola Nostalgia

2009-04-24T00:58:00.000-07:00

Today I watched the prefect girls playing a weird 'basketball' game in which there was a lot of tussling and wrestling and such. Nick-O commented "Prefect girls begitu ganas!"

Those words... ahh, what a sudden wave of memories wash over me.

Suddenly I'm back in Standard 4. A foggy chant rings through my head; "1, 2, 3...! Pepsi Cola, ice-cream soda, Proton Saga, buatan Ma-lay-si-a!" At the final syllable, the finger of the chanter rests on 'It'.

Tension as 'It' ponders - clockwise, or counter clockwise round the ring? He chooses... clockwise movement! He tenses, coiling his muscles in preparation for the spring. His 'victim' also prepares himself for the wild, sudden start that is the only thing that will save him from being an early loser.

Adrenaline pumps through muscles as everyone else watches with held breath.

POW! And it's over in a second. A quick double-sidestep at the last moment - barely missing that sly kick of a foot - and the victim is safe! Now the hunter becomes hunted; he sets his eyes on the next boy down the line, and...

SCOOOOOOOORE!

The striking foot takes the boy by surprise; a deft twist in mid-air and the attacker just manages to lash out the foot from beneath the boy. "Out! Out! Garib! Garib!" Wide-eyed, the fourth boy down the line stares at the victorious attacker; he is next and he knows it.

And so play continues, until there are only two left. These two commence a furious tap-dance of split-second strikes until one of them steps back with an "Ouch!" and a bruised toe.

Rules are simple. Every turn you can make one move, be it a step or a jump. Try to hit the foot of the next person with your own, and avoid the strike from the person behind you (or the person you attacked, if there are only two players). Regional variations apply.

This is Pepsi-Cola 1-2-3; fast, violent, chock-full of fun... and nostalgic of days long past; when analogue was modern technology, digitalisation was unknown and Internet was a thing of the future.

I turn to Nick-O and say, "That's ganas? You remember a game called 'Pepsi-Cola'...?"

- GitP -

Intervensi, ELS and Friends... Sigh...

2009-04-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

Intervensi 2 is over at last. Just two memorable events that occurred during Intervensi are:

(IM)MORAL EXAM
wL asks: "Ei, what is the answer to question 1(a)?"
My answer: "Diamlah, exam-lah! Tak bertanggungjawab langsung!" which is the answer to 1(a).

The Moral students were laughing their heads off, while the Pendidikan Islam students were all, "What's so funny?"

CHEMISTRY EXAM
Stupid, stupid me constructed my graph of CO2-against-time wrongly, mixing up the y and x axes. Ten minutes before time and two graphs to do, I ripped out some graph paper and started scribbling furiously. At 15 seconds to time I began stapling the papers together (whew!).

If only my personal life were as simple as studies. Life is so complicated now. The things that once gave me pleasure and enjoyment now become a source of hate and loathing for me.

I wanted to make the English Language Society successful and help make my members' dreams and wishes come true. But now, ELS is like hell for me, and I'm saddled with a teacher-advisor-dictator who seriously hates me.

Sample conversation: "GitP, you as the president must make sure your members know what to do. I see you are the kind of person who like to do things at the last minute. Don't give me vague answers. You must not have your head in the clouds but firmly on the ground. And don't ever do an impromptu speech, I don't know what nonsense you will say in front of Pengetua... don't speak nonsense... bla bla bla..."

Seriously, by the time this teacher reaches the third sentence of any conversation I am boiling inside. Readers who know me know that I am a very patient person, but when it is the last straw - snap! - well, a woman scorned the fury of which hell hath no, but piss me off and you're liable to get a very close-up view of my knuckles and a free dental plan.

I think of my temper as a light switch. This light switch is very hard to push. It needs a lot of pressure to switch on the light. BUT, when the switch is finally flicked on, the light is intense and long-lasting. No one, but no-one, gets away with insulting me to my face. Come hell or high water, I WILL get my revenge.

Also, I've been having problems with my friends. Everybody except Sharky and Tony are hitched up with a partner or something. I don't know if I'm jealous or not - I don't think I am - but I feel just a bit lonely and abandoned. Well, thank God for Sharky and Tony anyway... I don't think I'd survive without those two.

- GitP -

Enough Is Enough, Part 2

2009-04-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it.

This afternoon, Cochrane's own gang boss - an Indian, of all people (heh!) - led a force of predominantly Chinese (and a number of Malay) Cochranean students to 'enforce' the neutrality of the JJ-Cochrane 'turf', so to speak. Nominal allies from SMK Yaacob Latif also made an appearance.

The gang that has been terrorising students walking through this area consists of 15-20 people, led by a reform school dropout on a pitted and scratched white Kawasaki sport bike but who usually relies on a Yaacob Latif-ian 'underboss' to handle the daily 'takings'. Usually 3-4 robberies were conducted a day, always on students. Known victims include SBU-ians, SBS-ians, St. Gabriel-ites and of course, Cochraneans.

The afternoon began with a gradual gathering of Cochraneans around the bus stop area right after school. Certain students began securing exits as the Cochrane gang boss confronted the underboss, who delayed matters while he called his leader.

The leader soon arrived on his Kawasaki wielding a length of pipe. Jusco security, already alerted by the unusual goings-on (too bad they weren't so alert during the robberies) had a heavy presence in the area but otherwise allowed events to unfold. They did however run off the leader since he was armed.

The gangs departed to a more secluded area to conduct negotiations. While talks were ongoing, the Cochraneans took care to surround the area and prevent a quick getaway. The Cochraneans pulled off what was essentially a show-of-force, although no money or possessions were returned, because of some internal problems.

It is unsure at this point whether the gangsters will dare to show their faces after this. Presumably their activities will be more low-key. Only time will tell.

For the moment, however, for once in my five years in this school, I'm proud to be Cochranean.

- GitP -

Now for some light-hearted video fun!

Enough Is Enough!

2009-04-13T07:53:00.001-07:00

Recently, SMK Cochrane has been terrorised by a spate of robberies. Many of the victims are my close friends and school acquaintances.

These robberies happened around places like the Jaya Jusco bus stop and the alley connecting SMK Cochrane to Jaya Jusco. However, the attacks have come closer to our doorsteps; this morning, at least one student was robbed at the very gates of our school.

Enough is enough!

These parasites of society have been feeding off us for far too long. Now they even dare to take our money in broad daylight, in front of the school, in front of the school security guards, indeed in front of our friends.

Enough is enough!

We have to stand up and take the fight back to the enemy. We have the numbers and the strength to do so. When these robbers are on our doorsteps, they are on our turf! They are threatening our people! They have become too bold, and I say that the next time this happens, we should not hesitate to strike back!

It is perhaps too much to ask that we extend our influence all the way to the front of Jaya Jusco. But if you ask me, it is not too much to ask that when two guys on a bike drive up to our gates and demand cash from one of us, we should all mob them, pull them off their bike and show them the meaning of fear.

Out in the alleys and streets, I agree that there is nothing we can do. But this scum of society should not be allowed to terrorise us even on the very doorsteps of our school! We need to find our balls and stand and fight.

Otherwise, there's nothing to do... but to lie down and die.

[/rant]

A Tragic Equation and Friendship Appreciation

2009-04-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

I learned a curiously interesting and yet terribly tragic little equation a week ago.

Equation: i/s + b/f - c/f.

Accounts students may recognise the terms used. But the mnemonic my teacher used to describe this equation was:

"If She (a girl) gets a Boy Friend, (she will) forget all about her Close Friends."

That one struck a chord with me. Perhaps this is because I have 'lost' two of my closest friends to their significant others. I suppose this is because a simple platonic brotherhood pales in comparison to the lusty fires of a romantic relationship.

I've been 'burned' twice already. Thank goodness I still have Tony to keep me mostly sane. But in light of my experiences, is there any wonder then that I am now completely through with high school and BGR (boy-girl relationships) and dating and stuff?

I find that the definition of the word 'infatuation' describes a typical BGR fairly well. Wikipedia gives us the following "Infatuation is the state of being completely carried away by unreasoned passion or love; addictive love." Needless to say, I never expect such relationships to end well.

But I don't wish to dwell on that today. Instead, I'm going to turn today's post into a Friendship Appreciation Post.

To the following; I just want to say I'm sorry if I've behaved like an arse to you. I sincerely and genuinely cherish our friendship, and I want it to be a lifelong relationship so that next time on an unspoiled island beach paradise somewhere, we'll be kicking back sipping pina coladas from carved pineapples and reminiscing all the times we spent together in our 70-year-old lives.

Off the top of my head, in SMKC; Tony, Shan, KC, Yu, Deb, Chan, Wong, YYik, Appu, CheeH, KYung, 'Zrul, Ex-Mushroom, Frankenstein, Nick-O.

Ex-SKTM-ers; Ju, Kess, Kev, KAmirul (you rascal!), Jo, TSM, Rupe, Blaise, Siew Li, Kung, Iqbal, Acap, Farisa, Aqidah, Liyana, Hafizah.

RR-ers; Josie, Lisa, J-Raj, Dom, Ben, David, Daniel, and last but not least... Cyril.

It's likely that my dream will never come true. For starters, I don't know if I'll ever see any of you again, especially those I've lost contact details of. Also, even if I want to be your friend I don't know if you want to be mine.

But I can hope. And I can dream.

Why I Support Simon

2009-03-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

Simon Cowell.

Many people hate 'Nasty' Simon for his adjudication antics on "American Idol", "America's Got Talent" and "Britain's Got Talent". Sarcastic, sharp and with a tongue more caustic than pure chlorine, why is he always on the talent shows?

Answer: Because he's straightforward, honest, knows his work well, knows the music industry well, and - above all - he knows the importance of not wasting your life on a singing career when you suck... seriously.

Everyone wants to be nice and tell you, "Oh, you sing well... just not too well, but you have a chance." Simon will tell you, "Honestly, your singing is terrible. You karaoke the words. You don't bring anything new to the music. The industry will chew you up and spit you out."

In my opinion, better he tells you now than he tells you later, after you wasted five years and a few thousand lobbying the music companies to sponsor your failed album.

But to see someone who impressed even Simon (and on a bad day, no less!) , check below.

Notice that despite Connie being six, cute and all, Simon's first concern is her singing ("She was pitch perfect!"). That's the kind of critic he is - professional to the last.

Why Earth Hour Is A Really Futile Gesture

2009-03-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yeah, well I know I'm going to draw tons of flak for this, but I am one of the Earth Hour critics.

There, I said it (duck and cover!).

Fire in the hole!

What is Earth Hour? Well, most people know by now what it is, but do they know the purpose?

Earth House is a symbolic event held on the last Saturday of March every year, when people are encouraged to switch off all lights possible for one hour. Supposedly, this event helps promote conservation and awareness of environmental issues amongst people, and also reduce electricity usage.

This is important because the generation of electricity produces lots of carbon dioxide and methane that causes global warming and the greenhouse effect.

Well and good. However, there are a few problems with 'Earth Hour', and its objectives.

Promoting awareness - I'm sorry, but I think we've reached a point in which most people in developed and developing countries are already aware of environmental issues. Heck, my grandmother lectures me on global warming.

The sad fact is that right now, anybody who gives a damn about the environment is already pretty highly aware of environmental issues, and everybody else knows about things like global warming and stuff, but don't give a damn.

Reducing electricity usage - You don't need a PhD to understand this one. Common sense tells you that using less electricity an hour a year is hardly going to affect the environment much. Better that you should live a healthier lifestyle throughout, no? Just going to bed fifteen minutes early each day will recoup a year's worth of Earth Hour in four days. Fifteen minutes per day per year equates to ninety years' worth of Earth Hours.

Despite what the idiots and the kera-jaan would like you to believe with their 'sedikit-sedikit lama-lama menjadi bukit' crap, the kind of electricity saved by the whole world in one hour per year is pretty inconsequential.

And don't quote me on that. Just ask wiki.

PhD = permanent head damage

Excuses - Of course, Earth Hour is mostly there so that politicians and people who don't give a damn can take the opportunity to flaunt their 'Earth-awareness'. On that one day, a fat greasy little slob is going to walk up to you and while contributing to the methane in the atmosphere through his anus, he's going to say:

"Hey you! (fart) Did you switch off your lights (fart) for Earth Hour?
I DID! (fart) Why don't you be more environmentally friendly? (fart)"

Idiots.

Face it people - Earth Hour is a futile gesture. And as futile gestures go, I've seen a few that are worth a lot more than Earth Hour.

[/rant]

GitP

Review: The Princess Diaries

2009-03-20T20:07:00.001-07:00

Hi all!

All too fast, our week blessed relief is over. Soon it will be back to the daily grind. For some of us (who unfortunately cannot make it online as her laptop is busted) this week was apparently not even much of a holiday, since work took up most of her 'day and night'.

I've been drawing enough flak over my choice of reading material, so here it is, the first ever review on GeekyTalks; my full-blown no-holds-barred criticism of:

THE PRINCESS DIARIES

(Warning: Spoilers, in more ways than one.)

In a word; crap.

The Princess Diaries trilogy collection I read consists of three Princess Diaries books, 1, 2 and 3. As far as I can tell, Book 1 introduces Mia and the supposedly-complex relations of her world, Book 2 complicates matters further and Book 3 wraps things up in a tidy finish with a happily-ever-after ending featuring Mia and her best friend's brother.

That's the summary. Now for the meat of the review.

The Princess Diaries are written in diary form, a.k.a. an epistolary novel, which means a novel told to the reader via letters and documents that were written by characters in the novel's universe. While this is an interesting medium, I can only see what Mia is thinking and what she thinks others are thinking, which rather limits the novel in my opinion. More on this later.

Book 1 introduces the cast and characters and what they do. Towards the back it is written well, but in front it is far too lurid that I almost threw it away at that point. However, after an hour or so of Add Maths I was sufficiently bored that I picked the damn thing up again.

After some time, Mia tells us that she has become the sole heir to Genovia, a quaint little kingdom somewhere in Europe. This news is the premise of the whole series, so I will not comment on it. It sets the stage for the conflict in the book; her 'princess lessons' and relationship problems with friends.

I told you earlier Mia does not interest me; that is true. She does not. My impression of Mia is very dim; she is flawed, shallow, and stereotypical. This impression does not change. Meg Cabot has not done the literary genre any good through Mia.

If you subtract the introductory stage from Book 1, you are left with nothing but Mia. Shallow, shallow, shallow.

Book 2 develops yet more characters, all of which are as boring as Mia. Her best friend, Lily is a bitch plain and simple. I have no idea why this character is considered 'lovable' by fans of the series; she puts down people just as much as Lana Weinberger (fellow student and sole 'antagonist' of the series), the only difference being that Mia tells us that Lily is funny and hence readers assume she must be, since it is Mia's diary we are reading after all.

Michael, Lily's brother and the crush of Mia's life, is not much more developed than Mia's boobs (of which she irritatingly complains/refers to every six pages or so). He is always portrayed as kind, knowledgeable and a stalwart friend. He never gets angry. As Mia's crush, IMNSHO (In-My-Not-So-Humble-Opinion) the only good thing going for him is his looks. Michael is a good indicator of the depth of Meg Cabot's writing, i.e. less than the water level in an evaporation dish at 12:30pm in the middle of the Sahara.

Overall, Book 2 is boring. The conflict in the book i.e. Mia's getting to grips with her royalty and Lily distancing herself from her friend for unreasonable reasons (heh!) is yawn-inducing.

Book 3 is supposed to end things with a flourish. Perhaps Meg Cabot's writing got better as she became more comfortable with the medium and subject, because the writing in this book far outshines the far-too-thin Book 1 and the mediocre Book 2. Book 3 plays around with a well-developed universe, but it still falls far short of mind-blowing for me.

Book 3 introduces Kenny. Once Mia's Biology partner and friend, somehow - some way - he and Mia have 'hooked up' and are now a pair. Never mind the fact that Mia spends three-quarters of the novel fantasising over Michael; all through this she is apparently carrying on with poor oblivious Kenny.

Kenny is, I think, the best character of the series, possibly because he showed so much promise. He could have been a strong character, if only Meg had spent less time on Mia-and-Michael and more time on Mia-and-Kenny. As it is, I get the barest minimum glimpses of Kenny, Mia's supposed boyfriend (reduced to a mere annoyance in the latter part of the novel) before the relationship is speedily ended towards the back of the book in a universe-shattering confrontation.

Universe-shattering? For Kenny, perhaps. His disappointment is palpable and understandable; despite keeping his end of the relationship up, Mia basically waltzes away with buff-and-brains Michael while Kenny is swept aside, realising too late that Mia never liked him and probably asking himself just why Mia entered into the relationship anyway.

This question is easily answered by the discerning reader: Because Meg Cabot said so. Since the Kenny-Mia-Michael isosceles triangle (with clueless Kenny being the tip farthest from the relationship) forms the bulk of the book's conflict, if Meg hadn't made Mia hook up with Kenny, Book 3 practically falls apart for lack of material.

Anyway, Mia, suddenly 'unshackled', seizes the opportunity to woo Michael.

Told you she was shallow.

Michael conveniently decides at the same time that it's all or nothing and reveals his feelings for Mia via - wait for it - a computer game. That's right. A computer game he designed. In real life, Michael would be nerd-fodder for our shallow Mia (then again, it's unfair to apply the words 'real life' to a novel about a girl who suddenly finds out that she is a princess).

The Princess Diaries are disappointing. The characters are half-developed and their motivations are questionable. The plots are half-baked and contrived. The ending is a travesty. The author should be shot.

In a word; crap.

- Geeky In The Pinky -

Post Script: As much as I have thoroughly lambasted the Princess Diaries, I cannot deny the fact that Meg Cabot made herself a crapload (literally) of money off the Diaries (all ten of them, so perhaps that's ten craploads). Perhaps most girls really are as shallow as Mia, and thus can 'connect' with the character.

If this is true, then the popularity of the Diaries (and its shallow-fellow Twilight) is a revealing insight into the mind (or lack thereof) of the average teenage girl.

Holidays

2009-03-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Holidays are upon us. I took a day off on Saturday to get some reading in, working my way through T.H. White's classic The Once and Future King, which is about King Arthur, his family, Merlin, the Knights of the Round Table... and how it all fell apart.

Of course, having read it I'm beginning to despise Disney's sickly-sweet version of it. The Sword in the Stone is exactly what Merlin speaks against in the book. I shall say no more, but The Once and Future King is really required reading. It's written in simple English, too!

Other than that I've been reading - dare I say it? - Princess Diaries. Sure, a lot of it is rather trashy, but there are some interesting points in it. Inevitably of course, I find myself empathising more for the sidelined people like Kenny, and pay very little attention to Mia or Michael.

Won an online writing competition, and found a great song in the process - Free Life by Dan Wilson. Certainly very thought provoking!

Free Life - Dan Wilson

Let's take a little trip down where we used to go
It's way beyond the strip, a place they call your soul
We'll sit down for a while and let the evening roll
Don't worry about the time, we'll find a place to stay
The people down here seem familiar in some way
Look kind of like we did before we got so cold

In the air the questions hang
Will we get to do something?
Who we gonna end up being?
How we gonna end up feeling?
What you gonna spend your free life on?
Free life...

Let's fall in love again with music as our guide
We'll raise our ready hands and let go for the ride
Down into unknown lands where lovers need and hide
We got these lives for free, don't know where they've been
Don't know where they'll go when we are through with them
The starlight of the sun, the dark side of the moon

In the air the questions hang
Will we get to do something?
Who we gonna end up being?
How we gonna end up feeling?
What you gonna spend your free life on?
Free life...

It seems so long ago, those empty afternoons
With nowhere much to go and nothing much to do
But sit up in my room and let the world unfold

In the air the questions hang
Will we get to do something?
Who we gonna end up being?
How we gonna end up feeling?
What you gonna spend your free life on?
Free life...

Certainly fitting stuff for a teenager on the cusp of adulthood!

Phoenix Rising

2009-03-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

Redesigned Phoenix Hawk BattleMech from BattleTech

A phoenix is a mythical bird with a tail of beautiful gold and red plumage. It has a 500 to 1,000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of myrrh twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again.

The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible — it is also said that it can heal a person with a tear from its eyes and make them temporarily immune to death.

(Text adapted from wikipedia)

(Image courtesy of www.classicbattletech.com)

Nostalgia

2009-03-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

I know I haven't been updating much, but I've been pretty busy of late. Business first; I hear that my blog has been getting some extra readership lately. PLEASE, please please put in a word or two in the chatbox to the left; it's only polite to say hi. Thanks.

Well, where were we? AH yes, I was busy... well, busy looking at old photos and remembering good ol' SK Taman Midah (1).

The nerd gang...

Man, I miss the place. I regret not taking more pics to remember the school by. What I do have... well, it's rather lacking.

UPSR 5As scorers, which meant practically everybody...

In 6 Unam, our last class, people were really clique-y, but I like to think I was friends with everybody... at least, I don't think I had many enemies.

The names and faces just roll through my mind. There was the 'nerd gang', comprising myself, Kevin, Kessler, Ian and Julian. There were the four Nurs I remember the most; Nur Aqidah, Nur Liyana, Nur Hafizah and Nur Farisa. And Deb went around with Yallini all the time, while Choo, Jolyn, Kung and Ameline stuck together.

Because of where I sat, Melissa, She Mei, Rupe and fooled around each other a lot. Once, Rupe leaned backwards and got her meter-long hair (we measured!) stuck in the zip of her schoolbag, necessitating ten full minutes of agonised disentangling by She Mei while the rest of us laughed uncontrollably.

Blaise, Chantelly, Joey and Yu were always together at the back making the most noise, and I often stopped by to chat. Of course, I can't forget the others... Naim, the class joker; Aizat, the 'double-personality' guy; Asyraf, forever loyal; poor Lokman Hanif, always being bullied badly by his aunt; Leong Lee Keong, tall, specky and delightfully geeky; Iqbal, the best prefect boss I ever had...

Candid pic...

Gosh, we looked so young then. Then, we were just kids; now we're growing up into young men and women. Sigh, how the years pass. Now we're scattered to every corner of Malaysia. Should we have made better use of our time together?

I don't know. All I know is that what time we had, we spent well in laughter and companionship; I shall regret nothing I did then.

Nothing.

News Flash

2009-02-27T01:30:00.001-08:00

JASON MRAZ IS COMING TO MALAYSIA!!!

Oh, and MEI JIN IS A BIG MUSHROOM!

Song: Study Study Study

2009-02-22T04:39:00.000-08:00

Dedicated to my classmates, friends and all students sitting for their 'big' exams everywhere; a song by GEEKINTHEPINK PRODUCTIONS...

Study Study Study

Pink: Geeky In The Pinky
Blue Italics: ~~Accomplices~~ classmates

I work all night I work all day to get hold of twenty 1A's,
Ain't it sad!
And still there never seems to be a single moment left for me,
That's too bad!
In my dreams, I have a plan; to sit next to a smarter man,
I wouldn't have to work at all I'd get his answers copy 'em all...

Study study study!
There's only study in a student's world,
Study study study!
Always study in a student's world,
Aha, aaaah...
All the things I could do if I didn't need to study
It's a student's world...

A man like that is hard to find; another scheme comes into mind
What's the plan?
Examiners get thirsty so how's about some "do-it coffee"?
What a plan!
So I must leave, I'm gonna go; get some money and earn some dough,
But if I'm caught by ACA my life will never be the same...

Study study study!
Why must study? It's a student's world,
Study study study!
Must go study in a student's world,
Aha, aaaah...
All the things I could do if I didn't need to study
But it's a student's world...

All: "It's a student's world..."

Post Intervensi

2009-02-20T01:14:00.000-08:00

Well, Intervensi is over.

I did terribly, mainly because of lingering problems with Add Maths, Physics and Chemistry, with an over-reliance on last-minute study killing me in the Bio paper when electricity in my house went out. Incidentally, so did the Internet and my house phones, both taken out in a lightning strike.

Intervensi was a real wake-up call. I think I need to start studying SERIOUSLY.

On a lighter note, CSL has joined the (far too few) ranks of my readers, especially delighting in my emo-filled poems (takes a bow!). Please come out of the shadows and hit the Chatbox every once in a while? Either today or tomorrow I will release the first few episodes of my first novella, "The Rivals", for my dear readers' enjoyment.

I ponteng-ed school today and fixed up the phone lines, believing (correctly, as my friends tell me) that no teachers would enter the class today. Spent at least 3 hours plus sorting them out, and subsequently making sure there were no software problems affecting my Internet connection.

Also, GeekyTalks extends its profound sympathies to KYung, and hopes that he will successfully fight off the C4-wielding teachers of our beloved SMK Cochrane, ~~extort~~ collect money from the (poor) members of the Badminton Club and master the phenomenally-difficult art of Spelling The Damn Headmistress's Name Correctly.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

2009-02-15T23:34:00.000-08:00

Well, that's that.

I sent off the proposal paper to Pn. Goh and Pn. Lim. Comments? "Quite well done, quite professional." Also, "...we're very interested in it, but do you think you can sustain a once-a-month publishing rate?"

Can we?

Can we?

Let's see. Enthusiasm is high, and we have a lot of leeway to start formatting the typeset. Right now, it's all systems go. Let's see.

Another pic from Singapore, taken just outside the Singapore Science Centre:

"OM(Gosh)WT(Fish)BBQPWNZORD! Dinosaur! Run!"
"Oh lookie, there's a dinosaur..."

Planning for a Newsletter

2009-02-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

Man, this weekend is going to be killer. And I mean that in the WORST possible sense.

In addition to preparing for Intervensi, homework, tuition and accounts, we of the SMK Cochrane English Language Society are gearing up for the proposal tender and eventual production of the first ever monthly Cochranean English-language school newsletter!

This is a massive, high-flying, high-visibility project that, to tell the truth, has been my pet peeve since early in Form 4. Now that I have the resources, capacity, political clout, personal power and authority to do this, I feel that we really have a chance for this project to take off.

This newsletter will potentially set the benchmark for student magazines everywhere. Some of my more interesting innovations include colour pages, advice columns, interesting articles written by students for students, and - get this - Cochrane Personality Profiles!

Even though tuition, accounts, homework and school life in general has been weighing heavily on my mind, I can't help but be buoyed up by this project which I feel may just become my lasting legacy and contribution to the school.

But there's still a long way ahead of us. I hope and pray that we can go the distance.

Oh, and here are some pics (thanks to my arTsy-farTsy cuzzin Lydia's obssessive camera-pointing and photo-snapping) from Singapore:

This is the Old Supreme High Court of Singapore. Very old, very beautiful, very architectural, very... arty. Not exactly my 'thing' at all.

Ho hum.

THIS, on the other hand, IS my thing.

The photo's angle doesn't show most of it, but in the window of the Adult shop are adverts for condoms, featuring three happily-smiling red, yellow and green condoms. Man, these Singaporeans are so law abiding, even their condoms are arranged in traffic light format.

Which, come to think of it, is brilliant! Imagine a newly-wedded couple in bed, the wife talking to her husband:

"Green light go... oh yes... yes... YESSSS... yellow light, slow down! Slow down! RED LIGHT! STOP! I SAID STOP! STOP!"

What happens next?

"'Ello, sir, can I see your driver's license?"

Tired...

2009-02-03T04:49:00.000-08:00

Man, this week has been a killer.

I never thought it possible, but now I'm so busy I haven't updated this blog for over a week now... Phew, so many have happened, so many things to say, so many things to record!

My schedule is really packed now. In addition to school, I have to attend chess on Mondays, chair the English Language Society on Tuesdays, attend tuition on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, swimming on Saturdays and church and Royal Rangers on Sundays... phew! Talk about busy!

I am now really feeling the pressure to perform as the president of the ELS. Arrrgh, I still wonder if we should do something for Valentine's Day! I mean... do people expect it? Do my members expect it? Do I have a duty to my members to at least show 'face' a bit and organise something?

Then there's school, and homework, and tuition, and accounts, and... GRRRRR! *goes mad*

On a (slightly) lighter note, my classmate and friend YYik got into trouble yesterday. Poor dude fell asleep in class, and our nice new English teacher slams the table with the textbook. YYik jolts awake and brings his fist down on the table with an echoing SMASH!

Silence.

She says, softly, dangerously, "Why did you hit the table?"
He says angrily, loudly, "Well, why did YOU hit my table!"

Next thing you know, she whips out her handphone and rings the discipline teacher. The prefects come in to haul YYik away, but end up taking away Calvin, a scrawny, nerdy little kid with not much of a voice. Later they come back and 'arrest' the real criminal...

As for our English teacher? She runs away and bursts into tears in the staffroom...

Now, this would all be comedy gold if not for the fact that it's deadly serious for our friend YYik. Anyway what do we do now, since our English teacher just ran away?

Talk. Crap. Joke. Pretend to fall asleep and bang each others' tables.

Sleepy...

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA FTW!

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping...?

2009-01-23T04:57:00.000-08:00

First up, a happy and very joyous Chinese New Year to all my friends and relatives!

I just love Chinese New Year, don't you? Dried pork meat, lots of types of cookies (YUM!), candied fruit, boiled sweets, and not forgetting... angpow and wunlup (blackjack!). Funnily enough, I only play wunlup and samcheong (3-card draw) during CNY, not chor dai di (Chinese poker). That's reserved for camping trips (YEAH!), when you're safe and dry in a tent, its raining outside, and you're boreddd...

I love traditional Chinese sweets. Candied fruits,
candied peel, all sorts of sweet and gooey glutinous stuff, boiled 'ding-ding' sweets, biscuits and cookies of all sorts... Mmmm...

Since I sometimes have tuition near Petaling Street, I like going there to look for traditional Chinese snacks. They remind me of my youthful days. I especially love preserved mangoes, crystallised fruits and candied coconut, both the yellow chunky version and the white 'strips' version.

Today was the last day of school before the week-long Chinese New Year holidays, and it was quite fun. Although we had a thoroughly-boring ceramah on some (de)motivational crap in the morning, as well as some Add Maths later on, most of the day was free and easy.

At first we were quiet, even though we had so much free time... Then later on all hell broke loose; football (more like foot-bottle) in the back of the class, taking pictures with illegally smuggled cameras (in the hands of a prefect, no less!), and of course...

...sleeping.

Make no mistake, I love staying up in the cool, quiet solitude of night, with mysterious shadows and sounds... but I also love sleeping! Whether in day or night, in a moving car, on two school chairs, in a cold wet tent on the certified most-difficult-to-climb mountain in South East Asia, or in my warm bed at home... I enjoy sleeping.

Sleep is restful. Sleep is relaxing. Sleep recharges your energy. One can sleep almost anywhere, almost any time. When I sleep, I remember fun times with friends, family and classmates.

And when you wake up, you feel so refreshed, so energetic, like... like... like a vampire rising from the grave...

w00t! Underworld FTW!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

GeekyInThePinky

Club WHAT?!

2009-01-21T02:17:00.000-08:00

Hello, readers!

Yeah, yeah, I know the poetry has been getting rather frequent of late, but it's great therapy for me to stick it up here, so there! Anyway, for your reading delight I'm going back to the life and times of the Geek In The Pink, so comment please!

Just yesterday I turned seventeen. For real. Haha, that puts me one up on a lot of you folks, nyah nyah (except Josie; she's got me beat by two days). All I can say is... I feel old, yes, and one of the signs is that I wish I were younger, maybe by two years. Then I wouldn't have to sit for SPM this year!

But I console myself by thinking that if I had indeed been born in 1994, I wouldn't have had you guys for classmates and friends, and that, dear readers, is something I would never want. For better or for worse, you've all helped shape my personality and character, and I thank you.

I got one heck of a great birthday present on Tuesday. I was made the 2009 president of the English Language Society.

OM(Gosh) WT(Fish) BBQ Pwnzord!!!*

*copyright protected, you patented-swear-word stealer (you know who you are!)

What?! Him?! Club President?! The shiftless, irresponsible, morally-reprehensible GitP, an actual club president? What in Mercy's name have the voters been smoking? Ganja izzit?!

Oh, yeah.

But seriously, readers; I am now the President of the ELS in Cochrane. Never mind the fact that there are a grand total of eleven members in the Society. This President vows to make good, long-lasting changes to the ramshackle state of the Cochrane ELS and leave a lasting legacy to future generations of shiftless, irresponsible presidents to come.

Among the targets I'm striving for this year:
1. More visits to charities, most likely in collaboration with Leo (and BM Club, and Multimedia, etc... joint ventures are really easy when all the Presidents are in the same class and have known each other for years!)

2. Publication of SMK Cochrane's first English-language monthly student edutainment newsletter (and the trend-setter of a new standard in newsletters, hopefully!)

3. Additional co-curricular activity points to be enjoyed by all members, and grooming of succeeding club presidents who will lead the Society in 2010 smartly and wisely.

4. Fun and fellowship throughout the whole year, and formation of friendship bonds that will last for at least a couple of years after this whole debacle is over.

Tall order? Heck, yeah. Too much for the Geek In The Pink?

HECK NO!

Poem: Betrayal and Sequel

2009-01-15T13:49:00.000-08:00

Betrayal and Sequel

I - Awareness

Betrayal is here
Her footsteps on the threshold
Of my beating heart.

Making herself known
Perfume wafting through the air
Into my nostrils.

Pleading, persuading,
The cloying sickly stench of
Sweet, sweet betrayal.

Standing before me,
Arms held out to embrace me,
In a trait'rous grasp.

Her lips on my skin,
Puckered in the red-lined smile
Of a Judas kiss.

Taking her warm hands,
I feel the cold caress of
Her thirty pieces.

And in that moment
Of sober, stark awareness
All warmth departs me.

II - Nature

Her red lips whisper
Sweet endearments in my ear
Sweet poison'd soothings.

Lips speaking my name,
Lips stained crimson with my blood,
Lips red and brazen.

Too late I realise
I've opened Pandora's box
Unleashing Lilith.

Now I understand
The nature of three sixes
The name of Nero.

Now I understand
The pain of betrayal, all
Its forms and guises.

It is velvet-sheathed
Hate masquerading as love,
This is Betrayal.

III - Resurgam

Betrayer, my love;
You forget what prey you trap,
What bird you ensnare.

You forget who'm I
I who have known you so long,
You forget my steel.

You forget my strength,
You forget my resilience,
You forget my blade.

Hate will make me strong
Anger will forge my sword and
My rage-tipped arrows.

I shall drink of it
Drowning on cauldron-birth'd wrath
On hell-spawned fury.

Though it corrupts me
I will embrace the shadow
And be one with it.

IV - Sequel

Oyez Oyez, and
Oyez once more, O tyrant
Take heed these my words.

O cruel dictator
Feasting on the bones of your
Vanquished enemies.

O foul vulture
Gorging on your carrion,
Be wary and cautious.

For every Caesar
Will meet his own Ides of March,
Will meet his downfall.

Every Napoleon
Will meet his own Waterloo,
Will meet his own doom.

And I, O Betrayer,
I the jester, I the fool
I will be your death.

- Copyright © CHOY JI IAN 2008 -

SPM Year... What Are We GONNA DO?!?!

2009-01-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

What have I gotten myself into?

Where do I even begin?

SPM year... sadistic teachers... mountains of homework... and this inescapable stressful emo-tion squeezing in on me... tuition (yes, I never thought I could stoop so low as to go to tuition!)

And I, I was foolish enough to say, "Bring it on!"

Well, they brought it on.

In heaps and spades.

Wagonloads, bulldozer and backhoeloads, dump trucks showering me with tons of the stuff.

But you know what?

"What we do in life echoes in eternity."

That's right. Don't give up, my boy. Let's do it. Let's get it done. Let's do this thing. Let's DO this thing!

"Forth, and fear no darkness! Arise! Arise, Riders of Theoden! Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day... a red day... ere the sun rises!"

I won't be beaten so easily! I WON'T BE BEATEN SO EASILY, SPM! YOU HEAR ME?!

"We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive!"

I WILL SURVIVE! I WILL SURVIVE!

"Spartans! Let's stomp the yard!"

I WILL SURV... no, wait.

Ahem.

"Our arrows will blot out the sun!"

"Then we will fight... IN THE SHADE!"

Ahh, that's more like it.

I WILL SURVIVE!

2008 Was Fun, But Let's Rock 2009!

2008-12-31T23:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not a very New Year-ish kind of person. Really. One thing I absolutely hate to do is to celebrate the going-out of the old year and the coming-in of the new year. The only thing New Year celebrations serve to remind me of is that I just got a year older (ditto for birthdays!).

Mostly I'm reminded that I'm one more step on the road of my life, a little bit closer to adulthood, reaching the end of my childhood and schooldays (especially this year!) and following the same line of reasoning, a little bit closer to death. Each New Year, I feel OLDER. It doesn't help that my birthday is in mid-January.

So... all the more reason to live life to the freakin' MAX, BABY!

2008 was a pretty successful year for me. Early in the year I climbed both Bukit Nuang and Gunung Tahan, which was a very life-changing experience. I then plunged headfirst into the unique world of Form 4, and throughout the year I watched as my friends and I grew up, matured, changed slowly into different people than what we were the previous years.

A few weeks' worth of VERY rudimentary taekwondo and a whole lot of swimming did me good, I think, and the English Language Society taught me a lot about winning political battles (more on this later!). Entering the Chess competition was fun and I learned why pro chess is really unhealthy (yuck!). Some public speaking and joining the school's Debate Team was another life-changer, sharpening my mental and verbal skills to a degree I've never seen before. Oh, and I really enjoyed (in a good way) our tit-for-tat, Josie!

In July I got a dog named Honey, a highly-intelligent German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix who loves me to bits. Later in the year, taekwondo gave way to some stuff I needed to do, as well as tuition, but the trade-off was really worth it.

In the middle of the year, I was very depressed and emotional, but since starting a blog for the sole purpose of relieving inner tension (like right now!) I feel rejuvenated! Where previously my writing was at a minimum, now I can't stop the flow!

At the end of the year, I and my cousins JCow and Lyd hit the roads of Singapore by coach, bus and MRT and all on our lonesome, and we toured approximately 30% of the island's sights and attractions in just 4 days! During those 4 days we walked a lot, played a lot, ate a lot (love that Orchard Road ice-cream!) but most definitely didn't sleep a lot!

At the end of December I went for my Undang-Undang lecture (bore!), polished my DotA skillz (heh!) with close buddies from Johor, fixed up a roomful of shelves (wall to wall and floor to ceiling!), ripped apart a bunch of PCs, got to see a metalworks foundry up close and personal, and banged the KL nightlife 10 days running (due to a series of fortunate circumstances).

So 2008, for me, was great. Despite conflict, setbacks, many personal problems, backstabbery, politics, rivalry, etc. etc. ad nauseam, I made it through, and thoroughly enjoyed taking on all comers in the process. 2009? Bring it on, baby. Bring it on.

Geek In The Pink

Christmas Christmas Time is Here...

2008-12-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

Yeah, Christmas. Sigh...

Call me a romantic, call me sentimental, but Christmas brings memories to mind.

Not too long ago Christmas was a fun occasion. On Christmas Eve my extended family on my mother's side would gather at Grandmother's (mum's side) house to celebrate. There would be one big 'makan' and a lot of good-natured chatting and horsing around followed by prayer and a spot of Christmas carol-singing.

I remember playing with different colour schemes on the Christmas tree, which some of my less adventurous cousins didn't approve of. Once we even tried a 'snowy' tree design, with shredded bits of cotton all over the place.

Come stroke of midnight (and not before!) the kids would hit the tree and crack open the presents. I don't know, but in those days we really were surprised by some of the stuff we got.

Some years (3, I think) the three groups of kids (my siblings and I, Lydia and her brother, my cousin Michelle and her sisters) were asked to present short sketches. While we had some rather insipid presentations, others were quite well-received.

Some sketches I remember include a very Christmasey charity theme from Michelle and her sisters, and a Sound of Music 'Goodbye'-style "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" by myself and my siblings that received several encores.

These days? Hah. I think I could repeat Marvin the paranoid android's line from Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: "Life? Don't talk to me about life." It all started after Grandma died.

A full month before Christmas, my aunt wants me to think up and submit a list of ten items she can choose from as a gift. Sure, this system retains part of the fun of not knowing what exactly you're gonna get, but it just takes away part of the game we had poking and prodding the presents and guessing what gift who got.

Then the five branches of the family bicker among themselves about who's going to contribute what for the potluck dinner. After that they decide whose house they're going to use. On the day itself, we show up, have a big 'makan', sing a bit, then its presents at about 10pm and off to bed, because it's an early day tomorrow.

Bah. What a bore. Tell you the truth, early bedtimes and holidays DO NOT MIX!

Sigh. There's a lot more bickering nowadays. Grandma held us all together. Without her, well, on my side we're still willing to put in the effort, but some other relatives just don't want to have to bother with the family.

This Christmas season, I'll download a few dozen Christmas songs, play them on my MP3, listen to them and dream about Christmas pasts before going to sleep. I'm going to get the hymns, not the stupid insipid little 'Santa Clausey' crap they listen to nowadays. I hate the blatant commercialism surrounding what is essentially a religious festival nowadays. Just one more reason to get away from it all.

Merry Christmas, and God bless you all. If any of you feel like you want to come to church and see what the heck this Christianity jazz is all about, just give me a ring, 'kay.

The Geek In The Pink

Back and Beautiful, Baby!

2008-12-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

Hi guys! I’m back from Singapore! Hang on while I get the photographs, but in the meantime here’s Blog Post 1 from my backlog. It’s a Tag from Jo from way back, and I’ve been putting it off for ages!

Ahem. Anyway, here goes... my first ever tag!

1) Do you think you're hot?
Nah. Being hot is for girls. I prefer ‘suave’ and ‘debonair’…

2) Upload a picture of yourself.

Cowa-freakin'-bunga, yo!

3) Why do you like the picture?
The sheer exuberant spontaneity of it sums up my philosophy of life perfectly… plus it was taken while I was with my best friends.

4) When is the last time you ate pizza?
What kind of question is that? Yesterday.

5) What is the last song you listened to?
I’m Yours by Jason Mraz, ‘cause I’m on holiday and it's a holiday song!

6) What are you doing now besides this?
Working on a story and getting ready to go shopping.

7) What name do you prefer besides your name?
I don’t. My name is who I am. People call me either ‘Ian’ or ‘Choy’, and I’m happy with both.

People I tag:
1. Sharkboy
2. Josie
3. KC
4. Numb
5. Nick-O

8) Who is number 1?
A brother ‘goat’ on the Chinese Zodiac and one of the few people I’d trust to cover my backside.

9) Number 3 is having a relationship with?
Not telling! But she (the girl, not KC) should work at Zoo Negara, she managed to tame KC the ‘lady-killer’.

10) Say something about number 5?
Lego maniac and THE best artist I’ve met so far. Being the prefects' ACA gives him the power to eat prefects (my mortal enemies!) for breakfast, so we get along GREAT! :D

11) How about number 4?
He is an idiosyncratic irritating innocent lil' infant. How's that for ASSonance?

12) Who is number 2?
In order of increasing awesomeness; girl, dancer, Royal Ranger, Tahan climber, my personal muse, poet, writer, survivor, friend.