makan2 at philip court + les misérables theatre trip

Philip went to the theatre to makan2 but got miserable in court because he tripped. Aargh. Not only do I suck at Photoshop, I also suck at making cool random sentences from some given words. Nampak sangat x kool.

Anyway, Sofia and Lai invited us over for lunch (and dinner) on Saturday. It was supposed to be a gathering of 3rd and 4th year EEE students, but most of the others were already away sightseeing somewhere. The only 4th year students were me, Pear and Hairy and we were the only guys there as well. The other guests were Syaza and Baya, with a special appearance by Akid, a 2nd-year Chem Eng UCL student. Memang bukan 3rd year, 4th year, EEE, mahupun IC. Hehe.

mmm lots of food. eh apa pandang2? gi sambung main uno

They cooked a lot of food: nasi hujan panas, lauk ayam, acar, mi sup, soto, begedil, jelly. All delicious.

Sofia: “Lai suruh beli pewarna merah tau untuk nasi hujan panas tu, tapi I cari x jumpa. So I beli je la warna hijau. Akid kata boleh je.”
Lai: “Tak mahu. Nak warna merah.”

Since the last time I attempted a blueberry cheesecake was a failure, I made another one and brought it there as an extra dessert.

sedap lauk tu. and yes, we all want peace in the world

After eating our late lunch, (3.45pm can still be considered as lunch right?) we just lepak2 and played some games. We played uno, vampire, another version of chikupang which I don't know the name and which I'll just call bzzz bzzz (Hairy made up the sound, go and ask him why), dam haji, kickboxing, liar and bzzz bzzz (again and again and again and again and again).

While playing vampire (it was Syaza's first time)...

Baya: “Ok. It's now morning. Syaza died last night.”
Syaza: “Eh mana ada. Mana boleh! Tak. Tak mati! Weih kurang hajar. Sapa bunuh aku nih??!”

family photo + blueberry cheesecake photo + heating up for dinner photo + bzzz bzzz photo

We stayed there for quite a long time. Several helpings of food were eaten as well. It was nice hanging out with them. Terima kasih ye cik lai dan cik sofia. We should do this again. Jom study group sambil makan2 nanti. Hehe.

Then on Monday night, I watched Les Misérables with Lin, Lina and Sofia at Queen's Theatre. It was the first time I watched a West End show (even though this is my fourth year in London). What a loser.

quiz: how do you pronounce les misérables? A. les meesghabel, B. lay misghaab, C. le misghable, D. none of the above, E. all of the above?

The show was a musical all the way through. No normal dialogues. It was nice. A good show. Lin bought the tickets through Oyster, so we got a relatively cheap price. Apa Lin? You belanja sebenarnya? Oh terima kasih banyak2. Ke you nak masak2 pulak dengan Lina? Hehe just kidding.

gears of war

Ammir bought the game Gears of War online and it arrived on Tuesday. Pear and I were still in college when he told us the good news. It was already evening then and Pear was so excited that he went straight to Ammir's apartment instead of going home.

I was very hungry so I went home first. On the way, I met Hairy who was on his way to Ammir's. I was excited too actually, so I packed my dinner and brought it to Ammir's. When I arrived, Pear and Hairy were already playing the game, so I ate my dinner while watching them play.

After eating, Hairy let me play. I'm not used to playing third-person shooter games, so it made me dizzy for a while. And I kept getting killed as well. Hehe. The good thing about playing the 2-player co-op mode is that if you get killed, your partner can revive you by tapping you on the back. Weih bangun la, lembik betul mati2 ni! And, we can also use unique and cool flanking manoeuvres to defeat the enemy.

we gears are shootin' them hideous locusts

In the game, Player 1 is Marcus Fenix while Player 2 is Dominic Santiago. They are both soldiers or ‘gears’ of the Delta Squad who are fighting to save the human inhabitants of the planet Sera from a relentless subterranean enemy known as the Locust Horde.

The plot is simple, but the gameplay is fantastic. And playing it on Ammir's HDTV makes it the more satisfying not to mention beautiful. Another cool thing about the game is it doesn't have a health bar. Instead, there's this Crimson Omen, a cog shaped icon which grows brighter to indicate increased damage. If the skull come out, then you're dead. If you want to play, I recommend using the chainsaw bayonet. It's damn ‘nice’ finishing your enemy with the chainsaw. Oh the irony.

Well, after 3 nights plus 1 afternoon, we've finished the game in Hardcore level. So that's that eyh. Nah, now we can play the Insane level. More enemies, easier to die. Are you insane enough to try?

maulidurrasul

On the 12th day of Rabiul Awal, the great prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born.

O Allah, shower Your blessings on Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.

Allahumma salli 'ala saiyidina Muhammad.
Wa 'ala ali saiyidina Muhammad.

i suck at photoshop

During yesterday's unproductive day, I stumbled upon this photoshop tutorial website. Inspired by one of the tutorial, I decided to create a picture using my new found knowledge. Here's what I did:

What kind of picture is that? Deprived of any creativity what so ever! What's that at the back? A train? What does the picture mean? And what terrible choice of colour! And who's that ugly fella? What kind of pose is that? So pathetic. Horrible picture! Sigh.

Hehe what is this? Masuk bakul, buang sendiri dlm tong sampah?

Oh Nina, I made sure there were no typos here.
=)

eee/ise malaysians dinner

If you're wondering, EEE is Electrical and Electronic Engineering while ISE is Information Systems Engineering. Both are under the EEE department at IC.

The Malaysian second years of our department organized a dinner for all the EEE and ISE Malaysians. It was held at Oscars, a Mexican restaurant in Whiteleys, Bayswater. The great thing about the restaurant, besides the good food, is that they serve halal meat and chicken. Nice.

Good choice. But I've just eaten there on Tuesday with Pear, Lai and Sofia. Dining out for two nights in a week at the same place. Well, that doesn't happen often to me. Not in the UK. Maybe in Malaysia. Wait a minute... nope, never happened before. Ehe. But I guess it's okay since Lai belanja on Tuesday. Hehe thanks!

Since I've eaten the Mexican Grilled Burrito on Tuesday, I decided to try their so-called ‘Famous’ Sizzling Fajitas. It was delicious. If you want to eat there, I recommend the burritos and the fajitas. Don't pick the Three Amigos or the Shredded Shimi. They don't taste quite nice. The rice is a bit tawar.

Okay, enough about the food. It was nice to meet my juniors there, some of whom I've never seen before. But since I'm not very good with names, I'd probably forget some of their names later. Actually, I did forget a couple of names once we've finished eating. Sorry! Like I told the guys at my table, everyone should be wearing name tags during the dinner, so we don't need to ask “Erm.. what's your name again?”. But at least now I know which ones are Malaysians.

Anyways, massive thanks to those organizing the dinner. It was a good night with good food and most importantly, good company.

malaysia lost, but malaysia won

Malaysia lost...

Kiko, Halim, Hairy, Colin, Hanafi and I went to Birmingham to watch the All England Open Badminton Championships semi-finals on Saturday. Only two events involved Malaysians. The other Malaysians, including last year's men's doubles champions, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong had already lost in the earlier rounds.

The first match was between Malaysia's doubles pair, Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and South Korea's Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae. The Koreans won the first set. The Malaysians fought back and won the second set. Most of the crowd were cheering for Malaysia. Shouts of ‘Malaysia Boleh!’ frequently filled in the silence.

During the game, one of the Korean players disagreed with the ref's decision. He kept protesting and then he hit the referee's seat with his racquet. What happened next caught me by surprise. The ref actually showed him a yellow card. I never knew that could happen. So what happens if he does it again? Will he be given a red card? Will the team be disqualified?

Anyway, the final set was tight. Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah were leading 20-16. Only one more point to win the match. Alas, the Koreans had a stronger mentallity and eventually won 23-21. Sigh. Why couldn't they finish the game off? It was very disappointing.

The next match was between Lee Chong Wei and China's Chen Jin. I had high expectations because Chong Wei had beaten Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia in the quarter finals. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very good game. Chen Jin won and rightly deserved it. So that was the end of Malaysia's journey in the All England Open.

Malaysia won...

Halim kept receiving text messages on updates on the General Election 2008 in Malaysia. So we were informed of all the latest results even though we were in Birmingham, without any internet-connected laptops within our reach. I knew that BN would lose a lot of seats, but I didn't anticipate Selangor and Perak falling into the opposition's hands.

Nevertheless, congratulations to the rakyat for making BN open their eyes. Talks of BN being confident of retaining their two thirds majority, retaining certain states and winning a large majority in other states were just that. Talks. Words that come out from arrogant people who have lost touch with the people that they are supposed to be representing, the rakyat.

If one was only reading and watching the local media, one would be very surprised by the results. However, those who have been surfing the net on the goings on in Malaysia wouldn't be much surprised, since they have been exposed to the country's less flattering realities.

I seriously think that BN has underestimated the power of the internet. They have been criticizing bloggers and saying they were detrimental to the nation. They didn't realise that their action would just make people retaliate and despise them.

The opposition however have used the internet to their advantage. News that will never be published in the mainstream media is available on their party's websites. It's not just the opposition that write blogs, neutrals also have their own blogs, giving their critical views on both the government and the oppositions.

I think the fall of certain states and also the Wilayah Persekutuan seats was mainly influenced by the internet. People are more aware. They don't depend on the mainstream media only. Come on BN, the rakyat aren't dumb folks who need to be guided in everything that they do. They have brains you know, and they can think. Berfikir secara kritis dan kreatif.

Of course, there are many other reasons that caused BN to fall. Ethnic tensions, crime, and inflation are some of the major concerns of the rakyat.

Now it is up to everyone elected by the rakyat, whichever party they are from, to pull themselves together, and work for the people. It's time for you to fulfil the promises that you have made. Now that Plan A has been successfully implemented, I hope that your Plan B, Plan C and so on are good, if not better.

Work not for yourselves, but for the people that you represent, since you are the wakil rakyat. Our voices. Our concerns. Please don't let us down.

impromptu makan2

Somehow on Friday, Siti Sofia, my IC MNite benefactor (hehe thanks), and Lai were invited to our humble abode for dinner. Syafa, Baya and Lin were also invited, but they were too tired and/or busy and maybe a bit segan to come.

Since it was Pear's turn to cook, he was the main chef. He made nasi lemak with some help from Sofia (who claimed that she hasn't cooked for a long while) and Lai. He also made croissant pudding for dessert. Meanwhile, Hairy was recording everything with his camcorder and I took photos using Pear's camera. Hmm.. maybe I should buy my own SLR camera someday. Wan Aimran already bought one a few days ago. Naaah.. I'll just use theirs first while I can. Hehe.

Oh, I baked a blueberry cheesecake the night before, but it didn't turn out well. Boohoo. Tu la, lain kali xyah la nak buat kek kul 1 pagi. But I just served it since we had guests. Sori eh x sedap.

After eating, the five of us played Uno. Despite repeatedly saying “Tak tau la camne nak main”, Lai won the first game. And maybe the second one as well.

“Mana ada orang main camtu.” - Lai

I think she had a mild ‘culture shock’ watching how we played Uno. With the ganging up and the occasional “Ooops terjatuh kad draw 4”, who wouldn't, especially if you're used to playing nicely, or maybe not used to playing at all. If Colin was there, then I'm sure the game would be much more interesting. Much much more. Hehe.

Ammir also dropped by. He ‘monitored’ our Uno game while eating the nasi lemak.

Best lepak2. Cik Sofia & Cik Lai, bila korang nak masak pulak?

(Ni kira belanje jugak la kan, Sofia. Ehe.)

check and balance

So it's now the end of February. Those aspiring to be their respective wakil rakyat have just one more week to campaign in Malaysia. A lot of money has been spent by BN to ensure they regain their majority in parliament.

During the last election, they had a landslide victory. I guess people saw Pak Lah as this good and religious guy who would stamp out corruption in the government, especially after the Mahathir era. Look how that turned out.

I don't deny that BN has brought a lot of progress to the country. Hey, after decades in charge, they should have achieved that, or else they would be a very big failure.

What I'm concerned about is the amount of corruption and scandals that seems to be swept under the carpet. They seem to think that just because the majority voted for them in the elections, they can do whatever they want. Their arrogance let them pijak kepala those who are weak, those who cannot defend themselves. They close one eye to friends who are in wrong and people's complains just fall on deaf ears.

what we need is check and balance, not cheque and balance
(disclaimer: reference in this picture to any specific commercial product, process, service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise is/are purely coincidental)

So that's why I'm hoping that BN will be denied a two thirds majority. We need check and balance in the government. We are all human, so we make mistakes sometimes. Hence it's the duty of the other people in power to correct these mistakes. Since in Malaysia it is forbidden for members of BN to disagree with the party, the opposition should be acting as something like the conscience of the government.

In the UK, the official parliamentary opposition party have their own shadow cabinet. They have shadow ministers who provide counterpoints to the ministers of the government. It is their responsibility to pass criticism on the current government as well as offering alternative policies.

This is a great concept since the government will always ensure that they are doing the best thing for the country and the people, because if they don't, the opposition is there to correct and criticise them. By criticise, I don't mean the kind that usually happens in our parliament, where grown adults fight like small children who just lost their favourite toy. What I mean is respectable, positive criticism.

Now I don't think this could be applied in Malaysia. Not currently anyway, and maybe not for the next 10 years as well (or probably never if we can't change our close-minded and 'I'm right you're wrong' attitude) . This is mainly because the opposition isn't strong enough. It's true, they have finally decided not to contest in the same area, but they are still not as strong as BN. Nevertheless, they are getting stronger.

It pains me to have to watch all this from afar. I really would like to join in the 'action' in Malaysia. For those of you who think that my reason not to register/vote is unacceptable, I would not hold it against you. I just hope that you could respect my decision. Unfortunately, respect for people is very much lacking nowadays.

So people, if you ask me, I'll tell you to vote for anyone other than BN candidates. But then we don't know if the opposition is good enough or capable to run an effective government. It's a catch-22 situation. If they want to be elected, they need to show that they have experience and are very much capable, but to have experience, they must first be elected by the people.

So what should you, those who will be voting, do? Will you choose BN because you like what they've been doing so far (progress, economy, corruption)? Or will you choose another party, whose candidate you see as untried and untested? Well, that's up to you to decide.

Use the greatest gift Allah has given you (Allah means God for those of you who don't know, and I also don't mind non-muslims refering Allah as God). Or if you don't believe in God, then use the greatest asset that you have. No, not your heart. That just pumps blood you know. And it's not the hati either. It's your brain. Your very smart and intelligent brain. Use it. Wisely.

“Change we can believe in.”

house nite

Last Friday night, Flat 2 Chamberlain House residents (me, Hairy, Helmi, Hanafi, Pear) plus our usual guests (Ammir, Colin, Faizal) and Hanafi's friend, Dzul (or D-zul or however you want to spell it, I don't know hehe) went to Fulham Broadway to watch Jumper. It's a movie about teleportation, starring Hayden Christensen (that Star Wars guy) and Samuel L. Jackson.

Faizal arrived a bit late, so we left without him (Hanafi was late as well, but that's another story). When the movie finished, we were surprised to find that Faizal was seating behind us.

“Eh, camne kau ada kat sini? Teleport eh?”

Well, the movie had some good action sequences but the ending was terrible. The plot wasn't developed very well. Nevertheless, Pear brought along his new SLR camera, Nikon D-40, so a lot of nice photos were taken.

We then went back to the tube station to go back home. All except Faizal that is. He mysteriously went off on his own. Hmm.. he must've wanted to teleport somewhere where we couldn't see him.

colin and hanafi liked their photos very much

Back at home, we made chocolate peanut butter fudge, poured it on waffles and sprinkled almonds on it. Deeeeelicious!

Pear wasn't the only one who's invested on something new that week. Hairy bought a new camcorder, Everio GZ-MG36EK. He's already posted a couple of videos. Check out his first video about 2 clones and a cup here. Here's his second one, recorded while we were making the chocolate peanut butter fudge:

mari bersama mari bersama...

Maybe I shouldn't have posted this video, since the last part is quite embarrassing for me. Haha.

We then played Uno. Colin (usually an Uno victim) was really enjoying himself, especially when he finished early and when he successfully beat Hairy and me. If you want proof, just go ask Hairy for the recordings that night. You could hear Colin's laughs a mile away. Hehe jangan marah eh Colin.

Jom house nite lagi!

symbiosis software ltd

“Hello. I’m Muhammad Fadhli Mustaffa. You called me on Friday, but I couldn’t answer your call because I was busy.”
“Hold on Muhammad. Let me get your file.”
“Okay.”
“So how do you think you did during the Assessment Day?”
“I think I did okay.”
“Good. Well, the good news is you did really well.”
“(Hmm.. kalau ada good news, mesti ada bad news.. the bad news is we had too many qualified candidates, and I’m afraid your application isn’t successful…? ) Okay.”
“And I’m pleased to say that we’re offering you the job.”
“(Yes!!!) Thank you! Thank you.”
…

A few days later…

“Fadhli, parcel ko dah sampai.”
“Parcel?”
“Aku ingatkan videocam aku yang sampai tadi. Tengok2 parcel untuk kau.”
“Aku x order pun apa2. Eh written job offer sampai dalam kotak ke?”
“Bukak la tengok.”
“(Opening...) Yup. Offer.”
“Ada casing kecik lagi dlm tu. Mcm case laptop.”
“Ehe ada bag jugak.”
“Seronoknya.”
…

To the other companies, thank you for your interest, but I regret to inform you that I no longer wish to pursue the application process to your respective companies. I wish you all the best in your search for fresh qualified graduates!