legend...lasertag...dary!

On Monday 17 October 2011, I organised a lasertag event at Star Command, Trocadero Centre. It's situated above Piccadilly Circus tube station.

Link to Star Command:
http://ultimatelasertag.co.uk/starcommand/london-laser-tag-prices-and-packages.asp

We had 3 great sessions of lasertag! There were 26 of us, split into 2 teams.

The red team won the first game and the green team won the second game.

After the second game, the Star Command guy asked us whether we wanted to have a free for all for the last game, or still play the team game. There were too many of us for the free for all, so we chose the team game.

And the third and final game was won by... wait for it... the red team! Hurrah!

Team members' individual weapon numbers:

 

Red Team:

1 - Shafiq Shamsuddin

3 - Hilmi Ramlan 

7 - Hanis Hanisab

8 - Mohd Naqiuddin Husri

9 - Fadhli Mustaffa

13 - Shahmir Shamsuddin

14 - Amirah Mohd Zaki

15 - Syafiq Johari

16 - Norsharin Alias

17 - Ameira Tuan

18 - Putri Syaidatul Akma

19 - Nurul Huda Abd Karim

20 - Aby Raja Hafida

Green Team:

1 - Tuan M Kamil

4 - Muhammad Arif

8 - Aina Mohsin

9 - Almaz Azlan

10 - Aisyah Mohd Noor

13 - Ashraf Salim

14 - Puteri Gadis Iwana

15 - Izzu Dean

16 - Zaila Idrus

17 - Woan Chiun Ng

18 - Basir Radzali

19 - Azmi Nik

20 - Shasa Aziz

We were all given individual sheets on our scores and detailing who we shot and who shot us. And I got the most scores on my team. Heh. But Arif, from the green team, got the most points overall.

All in all, it was a very fun event! Will definitely organise another one insyaAllah.

wingardium leviosa

That’s levi-OH-sa, not levi-yo-SAH, okay?

I’ve just watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 yesterday and so finally, I’ve watched all the Harry Potter movies, and read all the books too. My first Harry Potter ‘experience’, if you can call it that, was watching the first movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I have to admit, I didn’t really understand what was going on then and didn’t think it was a very good movie.

So I then read the book to try to understand more and see what the big fuss was all about, and I actually enjoyed it. I watched the movie again and then I understood. It wasn’t a bad movie after all. Having said that, it’s not very good either as movies adapted from novels should be understandable by those who haven’t read the book as well, no?

Anyway, since then, I read all the books first before watching the movies. Well, you couldn’t actually watch some of the movies first then as some of them weren’t even made yet. Heh.

For those of you who don’t know about Harry Potter (*gasp*!), here is a list of all 7 novels:

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Well, in the US, Book 1 is called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone instead as the Americans don’t understand what philosophers are.

Book 2 introduced us to the first horcrux, Tom Riddle’s diary, although it wasn’t specifically mentioned as one. It was a good book and Movie 2 was rather good as well.

Book 3 was when dementors were mentioned a lot and where Harry met his godfather, Sirius Black. I was actually expecting the dementors to be much larger and more horrific, but they weren’t that big in Movie 3. Well, I guess before watching the movies, we have our own versions on how some of the creatures would look like in our minds.

I liked Book 4 as it contained a lot of action, first the Quidditch World Cup, and then the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I was really disappointed that Movie 4 didn’t show any World Cup action, but just some opening action for the Final. Come on, it’s the World Cup, there should be at least 5 minutes of World Cup Final action in the movie!

I don’t like Book 5 very much as Harry is very very very emotional in that book. He’s angry with everything and everyone. However, in Movie 5, this isn’t shown very much, maybe because you can’t actually know what he’s thinking, or maybe like me, the director didn’t like that Harry was too emotional all the time. *Shrugs*.

Then in Book 6, there wasn’t much excitement I guess. When I read the novel, I felt as if it was just a filler to build up to the finale. However, when I watched Movie 6, it didn’t feel like a filler at all, but a stand-alone movie, and a good one too. Kudos to the director and the writers!

The finale (Book 7) was very good. Movie 7 Part 1 was quite alright, but it was rather slow-paced in my opinion. Part 2 was much better. There were a lot of action and some funny scenes and it was a very good adaptation of the book. Of course, even though they’ve split Book 7 into 2 movies, there are still things that are left out, which may disappoint some people.

That’s the problem with movie adaptations of novels. With the novels, you can know what the characters are thinking and there are more explanations on the events, which help you understand the story better, and enjoy it a lot more. With a movie, you can enjoy the action and special effects, but the storyline must also be enjoyable and understandable. Otherwise, the audience may get lost a little. Unfortunately, not everything can be included in a movie, as it’ll take too long.

Having said that, I really enjoyed the Harry Potter series; novels and movies, and I’m sure I’ll still enjoy them when, not if mind you, I read and watch them again (and again). :)

Note: Please ignore this paragraph if you haven’t watched the final movie. Spoilers ahead! You’ve already watched it? Good! It’s nice watching the cast grow up in the movies, from when they were small in the first movie, to their now mature looks. It was rather funny though, seeing the “19 years later” part. I knew the ending as I’ve read the novels, so nearing the end of the final movie, I was thinking, ‘Who will be playing the kids when they’ve grown up?’. It was a pleasant (and hilarious) surprise to see the same actors playing the same characters, with extra makeup (and special effects?) to make them look older!

On another note, is it just me, or does Seamus Finnigan (Devon Murray) look exactly like Wayne Rooney? If someone were to make a Wayne Rooney movie, Devon Murray should definitely play him!

Anyway, readers out there, please let me know which Harry Potter book and/or movie that you like the best. It would be really good to hear your thoughts (if anybody is reading this post of course). Just drop a comment in the comments link below.

Thanks, and Expecto Patronum!

england 3-1 egypt

I went to Wembley with Amer, Apiq and Kat to watch the friendly match between England and Egypt. Headed there straight from work, meeting them at Marylbone station along the way.

I must say, Wembley is huge! Humongously huge. Yeah, I know, incorrect grammar but the stadium’s really big. And it looks good too. Inside, the atmosphere was great. We were in the home fans section but there were a few Egyptian supporters who seems to be a bit sesat sitting there as well with a huge Egyptian flag.

The funny thing was that when Egypt scored the first goal, there was another group of fans leaping for joy near us in the home fans section! However, I didn’t see them getting told off or jeered at. But then England scored 3 goals in the second half, so the celebrations were much much louder.

We had good seats because even though we were at the top section, our seats were in the front row so we had a really good view. Plus, all the goals were scored near where we sat. In the first half, Egypt scored a goal while England scored 3 in the second half.

Here’s what I think of the England players’ performance, with scores out of 10 in brackets:

1 – Robert Green (6)

Had an ok game. He produced a confident display and will probably be England’s first choice keeper in the World Cup. Oh now I know what the keeper does while play is at the other end of the field. Jumping around feeling bored I guess.

2 – Wes Brown (7)

Pretty solid display. Defended well and also produced some good crosses. Had a few bad passes as well though.

3 – Leighton Baines (6)

He was ok overall. He did try to create space on the left flank but it seems that nobody wanted to pass the ball to him. When he did get the ball near the opposition’s penalty box (which was passed to him by Milner might I add), he crossed the ball which indirectly helped Wright-Phillips to score England’s second goal. Defensively, he is ok but lacking in pace.

4 – Steven Gerrard (5)

Not a very convincing display from the Liverpool midfielder. He lacked the energy that he usually displays for his club. Maybe it was a friendly, but he should show more effort in chasing the ball.

5 – Matthew Upson (5)

He was a bit shaky in the beginning, probably due to nervousness. It was his slip that let Zidan go through and score Egypt’s goal.

6 – John Terry (7)

His first kick was quite bad but improved throughout the game. The boo boys were on him in the beginning but it died down in the end. Good defensive work.

7 – Theo Walcott (4)

He was quite inefficient. It seems that he doesn’t know what he’s going to do with the ball. He’s fast but wasn’t very good as England’s right winger.

8 – Frank Lampard (5)

Played ok but not up to his usual standard. Missed two sitters in front of goal. His passing was ok I guess.

9 – Jermain Defoe (6)

Had some good runs, but he didn’t seem to click with Rooney. I think he’ll be one of England’s main bench warmer if Rooney stays fit throughout the World Cup.

10 – Wayne Rooney (7)

Had a few sparks here and there. Was a bit more effective in the second half after Crouch and Carrick came on, but not as amazing as he should be. All of England would want him to stay injury-free for the World Cup.

11 – Gareth Barry (7)

Had a good game. Did his job well, helping the back four.

The subs:

20 – Peter Crouch (8)

Man of the match performance. Was at the right place at the right time. Connected well with Rooney but not with Carlton Cole. Had several smart flicks and good passes. Did some defending as well during set-pieces.

15 – Michael Carrick (7)

Had a better game than Lampard whom he replaced. Lots of good passes.

19 – Shaun Wright-Phillips (8)

Much much better than Walcott on the right wing. Really fast and quite intelligent with the ball. He set up England’s first goal and scored the second.

13 – James Mliner (8)

England seemed to have more pace after he came on. Played well on the left wing, which was mostly empty before he was on the pitch. Roamed to the right a few times as well.

22 – Carlton Cole (6)

Didn’t have much time to have an impact on the game but was ok nevertheless.

Wow that’s a bit long. I can’t comment on Egypt’s players because I only know 1 or 2 of them. To me, their best player was Mohamed Zidan. Not only did he score their only goal, he was also a real threat to England and outpaced the defenders many times.

Overall, England didn’t actually play very well, but they did play better during the second half. Crouch’s performance could earn him a starting position a few games in the World Cup. Come on England! =)

age++

In C++, age++ is equivalent to age = age + 1, which just means increase age by 1.

You dah kat ofis ke?

Belum. Tengah siap2 ni.

Boleh tak tolong bukak pintu?

I had a surprise visitor in the morning of my birthday bringing breakfast, flowers and presents! =)

A breakfast of delicious home-baked New York cheesecake and hot white tea. I was given a lovely hand-made card and a nice portrait of myself pencil-drawn by her. Then, after work, there was another present: an iLap! *More smiles.*

Thanks Nina! :)

For dinner, we bought risotto and sushi and ate at home while watching HIMYM.

A couple of days later, had a great time with some friends eating dinner at Nandos.

Thanks Nabilah & Belle and Arin & Amer!

Pretty awesome birthday if you ask me. =)

i couldn't believe it actually snowed heavily in central london!

Yes, that's right. It snowed! In central London! This was the most snow I've seen since I've been living in London. It wasn't sleet or the overnight-only snow, but actual long-lasting snow! I'm not sure if that's the correct term to use but I don't care, because it was a lot of snow bebeh. Actually, it was the heaviest snowfall in UK for nearly two decades. Usually when the weather forecast says it's going snow, it actually doesn't, so I didn't have my hopes up when it was forecasted to snow on Sunday night (1st Feb).

wah, all white (i'm not just talking about the roads and cars)

Lo and behold, it actually did snow that night. Quite a lot too, for central London. It was a good thing we went to Satay House for dinner. After eating, it was still snowing outside and since the road outside wasn't busy, we were able to have a good snowfight on the roads, getting our white ammo from the parked cars.

Okay, I thought, let's enjoy the snow now because there won't be any tomorrow. And I'm very glad that I was wrong.

view from my window on monday morning

The next morning, everything was white! Woohoo! I checked the TFL website and found that all the buses were cancelled and most of the tubes were suspended or experiencing delays. I couldn't get to work and couldn't do any work from home. There was nothing else that I could do, but to go to Hyde Park (*smirk*).

the snowman family (cue the adams family tune)

The snow was a few inches deep. I had never seen this much snow in London before and was very glad that I stayed here. The Queens House ladies had already built a snowman with kids when I arrived. I just helped them to build a mini-wall around the snowfamily. Oh and I also helped them 'whiten' their clothes (*another smirk*). By noon, the other final-year students (plus one sesat penultimate-year student of course) had joined us there.

man down, may he rest in peace

The snowfights were fun, but unfortunately one had fallen, all covered in snow. I never thought I could really be in a picture like that. Hehe. How I wish heavy snow would fall again, but that's unlikely, so now I'll revert to that pessimistic view of the weather forecast again. What's that you say, it's predicted to snow next weekend? Lies, all lies!

happy january

I haven't updated this blog for ages now. It's not that I have been very busy with work, but it seems that my life has been full of activities these past few weeks, which is of course good because it shows that I have a life after all. Woohoo! Oops, I wouldn't want to celebrate too soon lest I become very occupied with challenging projects at work.

So the last couple of weeks of 2008 were spent with my family. My parents and 3 smallest brothers were here on holiday. Well I guess I can't call one of them small anymore. Fauzan has grown much much taller since I last saw him and his voice has gone a bit deeper. It won't be long before he outgrows his Abang Long. Faizuddin is his usual cheeky self and Faiq is becoming a very cute 3-year old. Yeah, I had a good time with them.

Faiq became easily tired after a walk outside (of course he did, he's just 3 years old!). So while we were sightseeing in Southend, which was where my parents did their A-Levels, they bought a stroller from a second-hand shop. He really liked the stroller and liked to sleep in it too, and Faizuddin also had fun pushing the stroller. My parents didn't bring the stroller back to Malaysia, so now I have a stroller in my flat. Whoever wants to borrow it, just let me know ok.

Then came the hanging out with friends who are still in uni. It was a very pleasant coincidence that I had the day off when they suddenly felt like going bowling and skating. So I joined them. In just one day, we bowled, ate waffles and went skating. During bowling we were separated into 2 lanes and the team who lost had to belanja the winning team. Even though we had a poor start and were conspired against by the pins machine thingy, we (Ahmad, Bone, Nina and I) eventually won. Terima kasih ye belanja, Baya, Aida, Yaa and Belle. Skating was fun too albeit the sakit2 kaki due to the very hard skates. And we also had dinner at Tinseltown the next day.

At New Year's Eve, I thought I wanted to go see the fireworks but it was freezing cold outside, so I invited some friends over for makan2 and maybe you could call it a house-warming session. In theory, the view from my flat which is on the tenth floor faces London Eye directly so we should be able to see the fireworks. However, there's this one building which obstructs the nice view so we could only see the skies being lit up slightly and some few sparks which managed to avoid that fireworks-view-spoiler building. I do apologize to my guests for this. By next year, I will make sure that building won't be there anymore. Muahaha. Well, at least the TV was on that night.

And then I turned 24. Yeayeah. Thanks for the surprise party, girls and guys! I really appreciate the effort. The spaghetti carbonera and karipap were delicious, not forgetting the Chicken Cottage and profi'telos'. And thank you very much for the cards and presents. I like them all. I was actually thinking of writing some wise words because, you know, I am a bit older. Nah... malas la. Hehehe. Anyway, it was a great birthday for me. Plus, playing Cranium at the weekend was very enjoyable too. Like the game said, you'll never believe what your friends are capable of doing. Great fun!

On another note, the strikes by Israel on Gaza are really really saddening. They say that they are reacting due to the attacks by Hamas, but to take it out on such a huge scale without any mercy is inhumane. For goodness sake, those children and innocent people are helpless! Nothing good will come out of this. They'll just incite hatred towards them especially from the Muslim community. How despicable! I do pray that the days to come will bring peace to the victims in Gaza and to all those facing injustice in this world...

lunch with housemaster

In Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar (KTJ), we stayed in 'houses' and each house had a housemaster and/or housemistress, usually British. I was in the Nadzimuddin house and we had David and Karen Hitchman.

They are currently in the UK and we had lunch with them at Khan's today, which was organised by Chia Wei. Last year they came as well at around this time of the year and Chia Wei also organised the lunch then. Mr and Mrs Hitchman must be really proud of Chia Wei, the boy they've seen growing up has become a man! Hehe.

Anyway, it was nice meeting them again and also seeing my juniors, who have grown taller. Man, when I left KTJ, Ashari was damn small, and now he's freakin' tall, but still as thin as a lidi. Hehe.

The Hitchmans will teach in KTJ for another year and then they'll retire peacefully in Cyprus. And Mrs Hitchman was proudly saying she has a Facebook account, so I'll just wait for her to post the photos there then, and hopefully someone would tag me (or I could just tag myself). Hmm, I should probably search for her account soon then...

finally graduated!

Alhamdulillah, I have now officially graduated from Imperial College London with a Master of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree. We actually received our results about mid-July, so I don't know why our Commemoration Day was held a few months later (22 October to be exact). Nevertheless, I'm happy to have attended the ceremony and it's now time for the next chapter of my life: Work!

My mum and sister attended the ceremony as well. And it was nice to meet my friends again. It was a bit expensive because it was held in Royal Albert Hall. But maybe it was worth it. Big maybe. Anyway, thanks to everyone who came and congratulations to fellow graduates!

Oh and thank you very much for the tie and card! =)

I'm now a graduate. Yeayeah!

Tips for next year's graduates: Wave to the camera when you're on stage, like I did. Well, I just angkat my tangan, but best la jugak. Hehe.

eid in london (again!)

Salam Aidil Fitri everyone. So it was the fifth time that I celebrated Eid in the UK, away from my family at home. How fast time flies. The sad thing is I thought I won't get duit raya for 4 years only because of my 4-year course, but by the time I get to beraya at home (whenever that is), I wont be eligible to get duit raya any more. In fact, I have to give the angpow by then. Oh man. (Please bear with my immature thoughts for now since I'm not in the golongan bekerja just yet.)

At open houses here in London, I realised that I knew less and less people each year. And now, most of my friends are already back home. But raya was still fun though. Sometimes you'll meet your old friends and most of the time you'll make new ones. So it was nice to celebrate Eid with old and new friends while current friends aren't around. But now these old and new friends have become my current friends and hence the current friends which I mentioned before aren't so current anymore, but have become old friends but can still be current friends in the future. Haha pening x baca?

Eid mubarak!

merdeka carnival 2008

Perpaduan teras kejayaan. A new Merdeka theme for Malaysia's 51st year of independence. And there's a new logo too. Well, I hope that there's still a large amount of perpaduan among the people of Malaysia, especially with all those racist remarks that has been flying around in the country. Okay, let's not talk about that shall we. Too boring (plus menyampah). It's time for something more fun and interesting.

Okay then. A Merdeka Carnival was held on 30 August at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre in Hertford, UK. It was organized by the Malaysian community in the UK and also the Malaysian High Commission. Yes, I know that Merdeka falls on the 31st and the organizers know that too, but I'm sure they had their reasons for choosing that date. Anyway, I'm sure glad they chose Saturday instead of Sunday because it was a very nice and sunny day, which is rare here since it's nearly the end of summer. FYI, it was rainy and gloomy on Sunday, so well done, good choice of day!

The initial plan was Nina, Wan Aimran and I were to go to the carnival together. So we went to King's Cross train station at about noon. We were just about to buy our tickets when Aimran saw his cousins, Lia and Wawa somewhere in the queue behind us, and they were also heading to the carnival. The more, the merrier, and cheaper. You can buy group train tickets for 3 or 4 people which are even cheaper than tickets with a youth railcard.

Anyway, the train journey to Hertford North Station took about 40 minutes. There we met Noraini who was all alone crying and sobbing, waiting for the shuttle service to come. Okay, she wasn't crying and sobbing, I just wanted to add a little drama. Hehe, sorry. And then there were six. According to the Merdeka Carnival leaflet, there was a free shuttle service. We thought that the service was a shuttle bus, but apparently there were shuttle cars instead.

When we arrived, there were many people already there. What did you expect? It was already past midday. A lot of Malaysian families were there. And the weather was lovely. There were many stalls selling **drum roll** Malaysian food! What got me excited weren't the ABCs or the nasi lemak, you can get those in many places in the UK, but the roti canai. No, not the frozen ones, but the ones you buy at the mamak's. It's been a long time since I've eaten one of those. The roti canai were expensive, but worth it. I also ate some murtabak and aiskrim Malaysia (I'm not sure what its real name is, but it's the frozen asam ice cream which I ate).

Towards the end, there were some activities held: musical chairs for the kids and tarik tali for the women and another for the men. I must say that there was some intense rivalry during the musical chairs. Those kids were very competitive. Very very competitive. The men's tug of war was tight as well. There was a third round to determine the winner but sad to say that the eventual winners cheated. There was supposed to be 13 men in each team, but during the last round, one team had 14. Haih, tarik tali for fun pun nak main tipu ke?

Cheating aside, it was a very nice day to eat Malaysian food while lepaking on the grass with friends, old and new. Jeff and Hana also came to the event. And we also met friends of our new friends who were also friends of other friends who were friends with some of us and/or some of our friends. Or to put it short (and less confusing), it's a small world.

Happy Merdeka and also happy fasting!

notting hill carnival

The annual Notting Hill Carnival took place from Sunday 24 to Monday 25 August this year. I just heard of it a couple of days before it took place. I didn't know that there was such a carnival even though it's my fourth year here. Well, this is the first time that I'm staying in the UK during the summer, so I forgive myself. Heh.

Wan Aimran was the one who told me about the event and I planned to meet him there on Monday. I also called a couple of friends from high school, Arin (@ Aghain) and Kat, who I haven't seen for a while to meet up there. Adzmel, who was also staying at Ammir's for a while, went with me to the carnival.

Since I'm not bothered to write about the history of the carnival, here's an excerpt from Wikipedia (click the link to read more):

Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which takes place on the streets of Notting Hill, London, UK each August, over two days (Sunday and the following bank holiday), since 1965. It is led by members of the Caribbean population, many of whom have lived in the area since the 1950s. The carnival has attracted up to 2 million people in the past, making it the second largest street festival in the world, after Rio. It is also often compared to Karneval der Kulturen in Berlin.

The event was heavily policed. There were a lot of people and so we didn't get to meet Wan Aimran there. Sorry ye! But we did find Arin and Kat, who were there with Afif, also a friend of mine. The carnival was quite good and the parades were very colourful. They really enjoyed themselves parading down the streets wearing their costumes. It was fun.

I do pity the residents there though. They have to put up with all the noise the whole day outside their homes. And most of the shops were boarded up. There must have been some riots of some sorts during the previous years to make the shopkeepers be extra careful. Or maybe the council was providing them with the boards for safety reasons. I don't know.

Anyway, it was a good day to go out and see the colourful parades. Maybe I'll go again next year.

peak district

It seems that this blog of mine has sort of become a games review blog. What can I say, I've a lot of free time to play them. Well, when I first started this blog, there were many entries about food, so maybe you could say that I used to like eating but now I like playing games. Hehe. So now I'm not going to write about any video games but I will mention some food. I'm writing about something that I haven't done much this year: traveling.

I'm currently staying at Ammir's apartment in London (thanks Ammir!). Ammir's not here. He's already back in Malaysia after a month traveling around South Africa, Australia and New Zealand with Faizal. Sometimes Pear, Colin and Alvin will stay here as well.

Pear's currently in Leicester and since I haven't been there before, I decided to go there last week for the weekend (that's the weekend before last weekend). It's a small town and the guys there were asking me why I went since there was nothing much to see or do there. But I don't mind, plus I've made some new friends who are either medic students or recently graduated doctors. Boleh la mintak tolong (for free) kalau sakit nanti.

Last weekend, I went there again because I was joining their roadtrip to Peak District. I arrived on Saturday and how lucky I was that they were having a BBQ that night. Delicious. Okay, that's the end of the food part.

wow, i can('t) see klcc from here

Now the traveling part. The next day, Pear, Fidod, Fathi, Fifi, Nazimah, Farah, Sara, Fiza and I went to the Peak District National Park in two cars; one for the guys and the other for the girls. The weather was nice and sunny when we arrived. Everyone were wearing clothes suitable for hiking except for me and Pear. We were wearing baju nak pegi town, but the hike was still enjoyable. The area we were hiking to was Stanage Edge. It's a long line of cliffs made of gritstone.

Once we got to higher ground, the scenery was beautiful. And lots and lots of photos were taken of course. We noticed that in spots where it's nice to take photos (with beautiful scenery plus cool rocks/cliff), there were lots of tahi kambing. Maybe it's their toilet? It must be nice for the sheep, enjoying the view while doing their business. Very strategic locations. Heh.

9 of us hiking and posing all day

We even had a small barbeque up in the hills and played Uno as well. It became hotter during the afternoon and I was slightly sunburned. Padan muka, sapa suruh belagak xnak pakai sunblock. Anyway, we had a nice walk at the hills and cliffs. I didn't feel tired during the hike, but once we were back in our cars and were heading back to Leicester, all the tiredness suddenly came to me. I couldn't keep my eyes open and went straight back to sleep. Kesian gila Fathi because all us other guys were sleeping while he drove the car. Ehe.

Thanks for the trip guys. I had fun. So what's next, the 'Great Backpacking Trip' eh Nazimah and Fiza?

sightseeing with adik2

Three weeks ago, I presented my final year project which meant that I had completed my degree (yeay!). A few days later, my two sisters and one of my brother came to London. Liyana had just finished her degree at Essex while Musfirah and Faqihuddin were on holiday from their studies at UiTM.

anti-clockwise from top left: piccadilly circus, strawberry picking at esher, clacton, funfair at colchester, university of essex

So the next whole week was spent sightseeing with my adik2. And we even got a new adik called Hyree who claims he's 17 years old, which made him elligible to become my youngest adik to be in the UK at that time.

We only went sightseeing in the UK (London, Colchester and Manchester). Places that we visited in London were the usual: London Eye, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Greenwich, etc. Oh and of course, shopping at Oxford Street and Piccadilly Circus. We went fruit (and vegetable) picking at Esher as well.

anti-clockwise from top left: london eye, champions league and EPL trophies, old trafford, royal greenwich observatory, imperial college

Liyana brought Musfirah and Faqihuddin around Colchester for a couple of days. The four of us then went to Manchester to see Old Trafford and we took pictures with the two trophies. Yeay, we've held the Champions League and English Premier League trophies! While we were in Manchester, we visited our old flat and primary school in Salford. We were there for 3-4 years when we were kids and it was good to know that the teachers there still remember us.

The jalan2 with adik2 was fun. Dah lama tu x dapat nak kacau diorang. Hehe. And the other way round too of course. We had a great time. Thanks to those that went along with us for taking the photos. Pandai pose jugak my sisters and brother ni. Just like their Abang Long(?).

army of two

Like its name suggests, Army of Two is a game focusing on a team of two people who are private military contractors or mercenaries, Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios. They were in the US 75th Ranger Regiment before joining the Security and Strategy Corporation (SSC), a private military company. Army of Two is a third person shooter game, which for me is much much better than a first person shooter (less pening) and it's especially made to be played by two people. Well, you can play alone because your AI partner is quite ok, as in he won't die easily and he'll follow your commands, but it's a lot more fun playing with a real buddy.

Okay, let me talk about its graphics first. Awesome! It's as nice as Gears of War (and much better than Kane and Lynch). The water texture is beautiful. But of course, you can't just admire the well-designed graphics and drop your gamepad when playing the game, because then you'll get killed by the enemy. Now about the controls, they're a bit slow when aiming but quite okay overall (again, better than Kane and Lynch).

What makes this game very unique is its Aggro. What's Aggro? Basically, it means attention, as in if you're shooting the enemy, then their attention will focus on you, so your Aggro will be higher than your partner. If you have a bigger and more powerful weapon, then your Aggro will be higher as well. There's an Aggro-meter in the screen where you can see how much Aggro you have. Well, what's the fuss about this Aggro thingy? If a player's Aggro is very high, then all the attention will be on him, and his partner will then be 'invisible'. The 'invisible' partner can then sneak up behind the enemy, or snipe them from long range or do any other strategical manoeuvres to defeat them.

help, i need somebody, help, not just anybody, help

If you get shot, you can regenerate your health by staying away from the line of fire. But if you keep getting shot, your screen will turn red and it's very difficult to see your surroundings. Then, you'll 'die' temporarily and you won't be able to move around anymore and your partner needs to come help heal you. He can drag you to a safe place to heal you and while he's doing that, you can still shoot enemies so that your partner doesn't get shot while healing you. If you're dying and you don't have enough time to find cover to regenerate your health, you can feign your death so that the enemy won't shoot you anymore, but if you do it again, they won't be fooled twice and they'll definitely make sure you die.

There are many instances in the game that require two people to do. There's the step jump, where a player helps his partner get up a wall and once his partner is up, he is then pulled up. There's also the co-op snipe, where the 2 players snipe one or two targets at the same time. This move is cool if you want to take out two guards at once, or if you want to blow up a gas barrel or tank. When parachuting and driving, one player controls the parachute/hovercraft while the other shoots or mans the turret respectively. If you're controlling the parachute, you'll need to stabilize it so that your partner can aim and shoot properly. But sometimes it's still difficult to shoot even though the parachute is very very stable (and somebody learned it the hard way *cough* Marwan [bukan nama sebenar] *cough*).

back to back

The back to back manoeuvre is really cool. It's like that ending scene in Mr. & Mrs. Smith where they're surrounded and they just shoot all their enemies while they're back to back. Well, in the movie they didn't get killed, but in the game, you can get killed if they keep on shooting you. What? You haven't watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith? Then, too bad for you, you now know the ending. Heh.

Another unique thing about the game is its weapons system. You can't pick up weapons as you go along, you can only pick up ammunitions. The weapons need to be bought. There's a wide range of weapons to choose from and they can be upgraded once you buy them. And if you have a lot of money, you can even 'pimp' your gun, which means that your weapon will have a gold/silver coating. Cool. You can also waste your money by buying masks, which doesn't make any difference to your stats. Hyree and I have already pimped many of our weapons and we've also bought masks for our characters. Money wasters!

For me, the bad thing about the game is that most of the enemies are Muslim terrorists. There are even suicide bombers in a mission in Afghanistan. They come barging at you before exploding literally in your face. These terrorists really give Islam a bad name. So sad.

Anyway, we (Hyree, Ammir, Pear and me) have all finished the whole campaign each. Once you've finished, you automatically own all the primary weapons available. Hyree and I have already started playing the game again using the hardest level, Professional. We've finished the third mission and there's three more to go. Oh we've also finished playing Halo 3 last week, or was it the week before. It's a first person shooter game, so I wasn't pretty much interested to play, but main je. The game was quite okay though. Marwan's currently playing Army of Two with Ammir now. He still hasn't finished it yet, but he's nearly there. Hmm, I'd better plug my ears while he's finishing the game. Heh.

poynt wezt

Ammir and I bought Marvel: Ultimate Alliance about a couple of weeks ago. It's an action role-playing game (RPG). If you don't know what RPG is, don't worry. Xde masuk exam pun. If you don't know and still wanna know, there's always Answers.com. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is a game where you control Marvel Comics superheroes to perform missions in order to defeat the evil Dr Doom's team of supervillains, the Masters of Evil.

The good news for us (me, Ammir, Hyree and Pear) is up to four players can play the game at the same time. It's played on one full screen, which means the TV screen isn't split into how many people are playing. But the bad news was we only had three controllers, so there was usually one observer.

mari kita belasah orang jahat ni beramai2

In the game, you can have your own team of superheroes, where you can increase your team's performance based on the points that you collect. After experimenting with different characters, we chose Wolverine, Human Torch, Deadpool and Captain America as our team members. It was time to pick the team name...

Ammir: “Chamberlain United dah ada. Point West la pulak.”
Hyree: “I tukar la jadi Y dalam Point.”
Ammir: “Gedik nya.”
Fadhli: “Alang2 nak gedik, tukar S jadik Z dalam West tu.”
Pear: (Hanya mampu pandang slack dan ketawa.)

So there it was, Poynt Wezt. Make sure you pronounce it properly: “Poynt Wezzzzzzzzzzt”.

poynt wezt (from left): wolverine, ghost rider, the human torch, deadpool. captain america and thor were busy fighting bad guys while this photo was taken.

As we progressed, we added Ghost Rider and Thor to our gedik squad. You have to make sure that your team has a good balance of different powers to ensure that the whole team don't die easily. I usually used Wolverine because he heals quickly and his melee attacks using his claws are cool, and the Human Torch because he could fly and has a controllable fire projectile. Pear liked Deadpool, Hyree used Captain America and Ghost Rider, while Ammir preferred Thor.

We had already finished the game last week. It's kind of open-ended, meaning certain choices that you make during the game have their own consequences. Pear has just bought a new blue controller, so boleh la main 4 orang skrg, try characters lain pulak, and main the 'hard' level.

On another note, we've finished playing Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, but the game's not worth an entry on its own. Game tu x best. Nak control x best, cerita x best, even the different endings weren't satisfactory. The only good thing about it was its sniper zoom. Memang sedap la guna sniper. But overall, Hyree couldn't wait to finish it so that he could sell it. Heh.

thorpe park

Since our exams were all done and over with, we went to Thorpe Park to chill and have fun. I know, I know, we still have our projects, but rilek dulu, chill dulu. It was a good thing we went on Saturday since it was a good sunny day sandwiched by rainy days. Special thanks to the organizer Siti Sofia. Say thank you everyone! Thanks to Hyree, Pear, both Hanafi's, Syafa, Lai, Sofia, Baya and Ijah for the wonderful time we had (tiru ayat Hyree, but I really do mean it).

logger's leap, basah sikit naik ni

Here are the rides that we went on that day:

1. Quantum
2. Zodiac
3. Vortex
4. Logger's Leap
5. Colossus
6. Chief Rangers Caroussel
7. Nemesis Inferno
8. Rumba Rapids
9. Flying Fish
10. Tidal Wave
11. Stealth
12. X:\No Way Out

If my memory serves me correctly, this is the order that we went on them. The rides in red are the Extreme Thrills, the yellowish brown ones are the Thrilling and Fun rides, while the blue one is, well, ermm, the scariest one of all, the Young Thrill Seekers.

nemesis inferno, adik kepada nemesis at alton towers

The first couple of rides were 'warming up' ones. You can't just go on the 'heavy' ones straight away. Kalau tidak, nanti cramp. Compared to Alton Towers, Thorpe Park is smaller. That's better because it made it quite easy for us to get to the rides that we want to go to. We didn't need to rush.

If you go there, there's this one ride that you shouldn't miss. It makes you dizzy, you'll feel pressure in your stomach and the wind blowing at your face. Which ride am I talking about? The one and only Chief Rangers Caroussel. Heh.

this is the scariest ride ever

There was also a basketball throwing game that I played. I had three shots to get the ball in the basket. Unfortunately, all my throws didn't go in. Dah la Hyree rakam, and he's probably gonna upload it at YouTube (noooooooooo!!!). Haih, how embarrassing! In my defence, the hoop was a bit tall and small (excuses, excuses).

As you all probably can see, we were prepared to pose at the camera at each ride since we knew where they were. Since there were ten of us, we couldn't fit everyone in one picture. The most that you could fit in a ride was 8, and that's on the Rumba Rapids. We had 10 people, so the logical way to split us up into 2 groups is to have a ratio of 5 and 5 right? But somehow it turned out to be 6 and 4. Hmm.. I wonder why.

“(yang kiri) ni boat bdk2 3rd yr. (yang kanan) ni sume bdk2 4th year. hampeh discriminate siot.” - hanafi tony

We prepared our own lunch to eat that day. (All of us except one, that is. Mana burger special?) Thanks to Syafa, Lai and Sofia for the popia, Baya for the pasta and Ijah for the muffins. All were delicious. Sori la our sandwiches takde la sedap mana ye.

The Flying Fish was the only ride that I tanpa segan silu nya seated at the front seats. It was a 'mild' roller coaster. Hyree and I even did sleeping poses in front of the camera, but we didn't buy that photo. Menyesal la pulak. Since we didn't buy it, I've recreated it and now I present to you the Sleeping-on-the-Flying-Fish photo:

oops, wrong photo

Oh sorry, my bad, wrong one. That's the Sleeping-on-the-Train-because-we-were-Tired-after-a-Whole-Day-at-Thorpe-Park photo. Here's the recreated one:

flying fish zzzzz

The Tidal Wave was the wettest ride of all. We knew what we were in for, but we still went for it. Beratur panjang2, lama2, lepas tu naik ride, basah kuyup, siapa punya idea nih? Heh. After getting all our clothes wet, it was really cold waiting to get off the ride. Time tu jugak angin nak tiup kuat2. Freezing.

Some of the high-demand rides had really long queues. Special thanks to our timekeeper Ijah for informing us how long we were in the queues. They usually took 30 to 45 minutes. We even played Old Maid while waiting to get on the rides. Apologies for the gossiping during queueing, especially on the Nemesis Inferno and Stealth lines. Selamba je buat scandal. But what else were we supposed to do. Hehe.

All in all, it was a really fun day. Thanks again everyone! Oh and I'm sorry that the not-speaking-to-Fadhli thing didn't go so well. Better luck next time! Hehe. And here's Hyree's brief post on that day. When's the longer version coming out?

*Update (2 June)* - Hyree's slightly longer version is already out, including some comments regarding what I've written here (oh I agree it's Lai's fault too), and a 10-minute video. How I wish a few minutes of that video would be erased. Heh.

i miss basketball

I've been on a study marathon for the past few days, and it won't be stopping soon. It's a good thing there was an IC MSoc Leavers' Party the other day at Hyde Park. And what a nice and lovely day it was. (Sorry, no leavers' party photos here. Check facebook. Don't have facebook? Too bad.)

Dapat break jap from my studies. Dapat makan2, main frisbee, played some football and take loads of pictures. Heh. But I miss basketball! Wanna play, but there's no time. When was the last time I played? Early March. *Sigh*.

training at westway in february
(from left: kiko, pear, hanafi, ammir, hafidz, fadhli, raf)

sheffield games march 2008

Oh bola keranjang.

Why is my final exams starting next week? Why not the week after?
Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Bus. Cat. Ball.

tinseltown birthday + tea palace

pear and kiko's birthday celebration at tinseltown

Happy 24th birthday to Pear and happy 23rd birthday to Kiko!

Since their birthdays were close, we celebrated them together at Tinseltown. There were 16 of us there. Ramai orang sayang Pear. And Kiko.

birthday boys and friends

Semoga panjang umur murah rezeki.

afternoon tea at tea palace

Tea Palace is a rather posh restaurant at Notting Hill which serves, jeng jeng jeng, tea. You can choose from a wide range of tea there. Ammir, Wan Aimran, Hanafi and Imran went there for the tea. I went there to dress up actually. Heh. And to try out a new place and lepak with friends of course.

care for a cup of tea?

Here are the tea we ordered:

Ammir's: Lemon Myrtle
Grown in the coastal rainforests of eastern Australia. It has proven anti-bacterial and immune boosting qualities and gives a naturally caffeine-free, refreshing infusion with a lemon-lime taste which may be enjoyed hot or cold.

Fadhli's: Paradise Found
A magical blend of the finest black tea with pink rose petals, yellow sunflower petals and blue cornflower blossoms, with a tropical, delicately perfumed taste.

Hanafi's: Authentic White Tea
Only grown in the Fujian province of China, where the delicate buds and leaves can only be picked for a few weeks each year. White Peony is a rare authentic white tea with many buds. It has a mild, refreshing, delicately sweet taste.

Wan Aimran's: Organic Lavender Grey
Earl Grey blended with organic lavender from Provence, for a soothing, fragrant taste. A perfect tea for the evening.

Imran's: Afternoon at the Palace
A blend of single estate Darjeeling and China black teas, and has a refreshing light, aromatic taste.

Guess who's tea tasted the best? Mine la. Hehe. The rest tasted quite okay (except for Hanafi's).

wahai hanafi, sungguh ku tidak tahan mendengar kata2 mu itu

The best part wasn't the tea drinking or the food (though the food were quite good), but it was Hanafi's numerous comments. I honestly think if someone were to compile all of Hanafi's brilliant comments, it would make a great book. Here are some examples:

“Gula ni lambat betul la larut.”
“Carrot cake ni tipu la. Takde carrot pun. Ada sliced carrot kecik2 je kat atas.”
“Haih. Rosak majlis.”

Sorry la if I've misquoted you, Hanafi. Hehe.

chamberlain united

pro evolution soccer 2008

Football is a great game. Watching and playing it is fun, especially if you have great company. And playing a football computer/video game is a lot of fun as well. I like both the Pro Evo and Fifa series of football games. Pro Evo has a very good gameplay, while Fifa has very good graphics. But if I had to choose between the two, Pro Evo would be the one for me.

The Master League in Pro Evo is excellent. We'll play a football team consisting of very sampah players and use them in the league and cup tournaments. Pear, Ammir and I created a team called Chamberlain United in the Master League. Last year, when Firdaus was here, he named it Chamberlain CF. You should be here enjoying Pro Evo 2008 with us, Fil!

The original players in our team were terrible; the likes of Giersen, Minanda, Dodo, Jaric, Ordaz, Castolo, Ruskin, Burchet, to name a few. So we had to get a couple of players with our limited budget to help our squad. I chose Park Ji Sung and Kezman. And Ji Sung has been the captain of Chamberlain United ever since. Yeah, go Park go!

Usually, 2 of us control our team. And when Ammir singgah rumah, the three of us all played. Of course, it's very frustrating when our terrible players can't pass where they're supposed to and frequently lost the ball to the opposition. So when the first transfer window opened, we bought Mexes, a big, strong defender, Coppola, a defensive midfielder, Rubén Olivera, an attacking midfielder and Exposito, a sideback. And we also loaned an experienced goalkeeper, Rüştü Reçber because Ivarov is damn bad. Since then, Olivera has been one of Ammir's favourite players. If the ball falls to Olivera and Ammir's controlling him, he would run past defenders and attempt to shoot, and most of the time it would go in. Go Olivera!

“i am very proud to be joining chamberlain united and in mr fadhli, they have a great manager”

At last, we won Division 2 and were promoted to Division 1 although there were many restarts due to some losses. Ehe. We bought new players to strengthen our squad for the new season: Kim Yong Dae, a keeper, Radoi, a central defender, Huddlestone, a midfielder and Cavenaghi, a striker. So now we had more good players to reduce our frustrations of terrible players losing the ball too easily and tiring quickly. Oh, and we also changed our jersey from white to black. From being innocent to being dark and mysterious. Heh.

We won many games, but there were also draws and losses of course and the occasional restarts. During the midseason transfer period, we bought Guardado, Rosino and Gavilán, all versatile midfielders. Now with a pretty good squad, we can challenge for the Division 1 League and Cup trophies. And in the next season, the Champions League Cup (or whatever it's called in Pro Evo 2008). Go Chamberlain United!

*This entry is dedicated to Firdaus, who I'm pretty much confident has his own Master League team right now. Any suggestions of good players to buy, UltraFil?*