guess whos back.back again

yeap..i'm back once more.
delay in posting was due to my extended adaptation period in universiti malaya. horay! i chose local! im so patriotic. haha.
anyway, since the wifi in my room sucks,(my room mate needed 30 minutes to access friendster)
blogging, msn-ing, or even loading the google start page has been near impossible unless i decide to spend my day in the library or on the floor of my college lobby.
oh well. latest updates.

26/7/08
7.00 am : rat in my room is snagged. this blasted rat sneaked into all three of our cupboards and pooped n peed in the top racks. weird rat fetish. thanks to the efficient and reliable rat trap, culprit is apprehended. btw, this rat chewed my tie, the wood in my friends cupboard, my chocolate biscuits( it left the high fibre biscuits alone though) hmm..

8.25am : um bus refuses to stop for me and carey. this seems to be a pretty normal phenomenon.

well, as the wise men say, one shouldn't complain about one's new surroundings. he should merely adapt to it and embrace all that comes with it, be it rats, creaky beds, sucky wifi, and the like.
the sooner one learns to love his new environment, the sooner he will stop wishing that he were somewhere else having the comforts that he should already have.

however, i'm not that guy. planning to move out if i get the chance :p .

heal the world

"heal the world. make it a better place,for you and for me and the entire human race", sang michael jackson.

one of the most meaningful songs i've ever heard.

we all know the world is dying and its because of us humans.

-global warming-

-deforestation-

-improper waste management-


melting of glaciers
sinking of low lands
unpredictable weather patterns
increase in temperature
loss of animal habitats
extinction of certain species
shortage of food
air pollution
chronic diseases
contaminated water



and so many more.. just check out this link
this is not fictional.it is really happening. just imagine, when will this happen to us?

when will our forests completely disappear? when will all the icebergs melt? when will all the animals become extinct?

the most important question : what am i doing about it?

do we really want to wait and see when it will happen?

why not make a change?

why must we wait for others to do it?

why don't we become the ones who make that change?

it just takes a few extra steps in our daily lives.

turn off electrical appliances when not in use.
carpool, or better yet,take public transport.
plant a tree.
refuse a plastic bag.
be a vegetarian for one day a week.
recycle your waste.
tell someone to do any of the above.

be the change.
spread the awareness about the environment,
the simple things you do will go long way.

good luck mother earth.

post-miracle youth conference

organized by aiesec upm,this conference lasted for 5 days and was held at universiti putra malaysia.
it was a great camp, full of learning and stuff. heck,we even planted trees!
while most people bring back photos and contacts home with them as souvenirs from the camp, mine was even better!
i went to the camp wif a huge backpack, and came back to ipoh wif a heavier backpack, the contacts of a whole bunch of people, and three rocking foreigners!
me and saimun came back with michael from the usa, cynthia from canada, and marieke from holland, how cool is dat!













from left : cynthia,marieke,michael,cheonyuen,me

the trip back to ipoh itself was as bad as it could get. the hecklers in pudu has upped their game. oh shit. since it was the holidays and a friday, the smaller bus companies took the opportunity to raise their prices to almost double the rate. and this was done by those bus companies that you would usually try to avoid.

normal ticket back : rm13.40
ticket on that day : rm25.00
company name : hasry enterprise (???)
bus time : 5.00pm
bus arrival: 6.30 pm (wtf)
usual boarding area : pudu
our boarding area : some back alley
usual bus preferred : express bus
our bus : bas sekolah (freaking cold air con tho)


oh well. we arrived back to ipoh around 10pm. time for ipoh food! since all we has at camp was rice with meat and veges, for one meal,we even had three different types of potatoes!
anything we could get, we wanted. so we ordered vegetarian wa tan horand fried bihun.
hmm..wat do you get when you give a foreigner some slippery noodles and a pair of chopsticks?
the picture of the mess should not be posted here, but you can imagine.haha


the following morning, me and cheonyuen took them to gua tempurung. yes,again.sigh. but the experience was worth it. almost everything was the same as the last visit, but this time it was freaking crowded! and we got dirtier than the last time. souvenirs from tempurung. hmm.

but the thing is, you never appreciate something you are have when you live in an area too long.have you ever noticed the beautiful limestone hills in perak? or the great temples in the caves there? so, after the caves, we adjourned to one of those temples (forgot the name). saimun joined us for this.
it was a great cultural experience for them, and also for me.
we had our fortunes read there too! super cool place.definitely worth visiting.














later on in the night, they had a truly ipoh experience. know those taiwanese sausages? the super hot flavour? yea,that one. those who got pranked by me before will know about this.
michael was quite eager to try it, and jerry (this is a upm dude who did matriculation) just had to try it, simply because he was from matriculation.haha.
after a few seconds of chewing.

jerry : not that hot la.

(after a few more seconds)

michael : (eyes had turned red, starts to drink guiness)

jerry : (tears start streaming down, drinks chinese tea and then spits out saliva into a Styrofoam box)

cheon yuen : (sweating and drinking now)

me : (immune to the evil sausage. its my fifth time)

it took several minutes, a few glasses of chinese tea, some guiness, some tiger, and some ipoh heong peah(!), and jerry stopped crying, michael looked normal again, cynthia stopped laughing.

it was funny. at the camp, they were the organizing committee and facilitators, and we were the delegate. tonite, we were drinking guiness together, unforgettable.

well, they left for kl at 130pm today, off to do even more meaningful work at an orphanage.michael,cynthia, and marieke,you guys rock.thanx for all the memories! we'll miss you guys!

gua tempurung

lovely day, why not visit one of peraks most famous tourist spots..gua tempurung! a total of 7 of us went to the area located just after gopeng town. the last time i came here, we had to drive through the muddy road,and the parking resembled nothing more than a vacant mud field.

lo and behold,when we arrived today, the road had interlocking bricks! oh thank you perak's tourism committee. we were kinda early today and had only 7. minimum requirement? 8 people. oh well, we had to wait for more people to arrive.
the course we were going to face today was labeled " paling mencabar" and cost us 22bucks! it had better be worth it. 1st thing we noticed when we got down from the car was the toilets.

to pee or shit before going in : 30sen
change clothes : rm1!!

daylight robbery!
one of us suggested that we could just pee in the underground rivers later inside the cave.genius.
(names have not been published to protect privacy)

moving on, another group of 9 arrived soon after, and off we went led by our fearless guide. this guy is amazing! one moment he would be lagging far behind.when we turned around to look for him, he would suddenly appear in front of us! the caves must have a secret system of shortcuts specially designed for guides to impress the visitors.















the 1st stop inside the cave was called "golden something something" .didn't pay much attention cause it wasn't really that interesting. from there, a view overlooking the entrance of the cave was visible.
our guide pointed out various rock formations that supposedly looked like

1) a cowboy ( only the hat was clear, face looked deformed)
2) pregnant lady ( creepy, the hair was like those ghost movie characters)
3) dragon ( hmm looked more like a rusty golfstick)
4) race car driver ( now this one looked cool)
5) a leg?? (strange but true)
6) a face (looked like it was screaming,and had only once nose hole)


and a few more that i don't remember. seems like all these guides do around here is stare hard at the stalactites and stalagmites trying to imagine it looking like something, so that when the next batch of tourists came,they can professionally say things like,
"nah! tengok sana, stalaktit ini macam kelawar!"

well,we did see some bats in the cave.
then soon after,we went to an area called wind tunnel. very cooling.arguably the coolest spot in the cave, literally.

next stop, "top of the world". this spot was 150metres above ground level. from here, a super huge stalagmite was visible. guide said that for the stalactites and stalagmites to join, it would extend 1inch every 100years. hmm,and it would only take a few seconds to kick down a thin one..hmm..tempting.
we had the ultimate caveman experience when the guide asked us to turn off all the torchlights. kinda relaxing if you don't mind not being able to see anything, not even silhouettes. now we realy felt like cavemen. no lights, no watches,no handphones!

ahh,our journey was going to become very challenging soon after. 1stly, we had to walk in the water which was ankle high. piece of cake.

knee high. ooh..the 22bucks is starting to seem worth it.

waist high.hmm,it can't get any more challenging than this.

well,it went on to the point that we has to crawl in the water and dodge low hanging stalactites. all of us got scratches on our palms and knees.

i personally had a horror movie moment while crawling. the water was freezing cold,and we were crawling in a single file. as i was pushing my arms forward, i felt something!not a branch or rock. something soft, like a human arm or leg.

" omg..please let this NOT be something dead"

at this point i could feel the goosebumps starting to rise. turns out it was only saimun trying to overtake me.damn.

this experience is not recommended for those who fear tight spaces and getting soaked up to your neck. but for those who enjoy an adventure, it is totally worth it.

among the inhabitants of the cave were bats(duh), cave spiders (like the ones they eat in fear factor), prawns (weird but true), and tiny fish.
pity those cavemen back then.

dhilip and william actually drank the water dripping from the stalactites. supposed to be pure mineral water, but who knows, it could be mixed with bat pee. hmm they are still okay so far. safe to drink.

overall, the experience was great, adventure was definitely worth it, doing it together with friends ,priceless. or so it goes on those credit card ads.

after posing for some pictures at possibly the most 'un-tempurung' places, somewhere near the exit point, we went to kampar town for lunch.
guess what, 1st we had kfc, from that, klg. soon after, ffc. and now.......myfc!

it even had an autographed picture of some artiste inside with the myfm logo. myfm branching out? one wonders.
the food sucked. my spicy chicken tasted like sweet charsiu. the medium fries were in the most miniature fries-holder(?) i have ever seen. the best tasting food there? the drinks! my coke tasted like coke, sprite tasted like sprite ,and so on. there was a live ant in dhilip's ice lemon tea though.
















p/s : RIP to dhilip's shoes, left behind in tempurung cave where it enjoyed the final moments of it's life. we'll be back!

chowchow duty

you know what they say, pets are therapeutic, pets are great to relieve stress, pets are great for this, pets are great for that,pets can prevent heart attacks, and so on..

i'm sure they meant perfectly trained dogs like you see in the movies. remember samantha from the movie 'i am legend'? or the great heroic lassie? yeap, they are the kind of dogs people talk about.

what about puppies?? hmm, i had the chance to find out exactly how therapeutic they were. it took less than 15 minutes with them to find out what puppies are all about.
the puppies i had to babysit were of the chowchow variety, yea, the one that will end up looking like lions with black tongues..hmm














puppies begging to be let out of the cage.

note: they have been perfectly well behaved in the cage, all have pooped and peed.

conclusion : safe to release them with minimal risk of having to pick up poop and wipe pee.














puppies are released.
aww..how cute..i'm just gonna chew on this slipper a little. notice the tear on the slipper near its paw. collateral damage.

to all of you aspiring puppy owners out there, this is what puppies are all about.refer pictures below.seriously.














picture 1: hmm..does this stance look familiar?














picture 2 : oh..now i remember where i've seen that pose before. tadaa! puppy produce! thank goodness this one is dry.

puppies are all about eat, sleep, poop, and pee. whenever i let them out, they run riot! it goes something like this,

puppy 1 poops, i rush to put newspaper on intended target area,
puppy 2 pees.
i rush to wipe up puppy 2's pee before puppy 3 steps in it.
puppy 3 starts stepping on puppy 1's poop.
puppy 4 waits for me to get distracted.
and then puppy 4 poops.

me: argh! not again!

puppy1: grrraufff! (chews pee soaked newspaper)

me: go away! go away ( try to pick up poop)

puppy2: yip!yip! yip! ( steps on some poop and starts leaving shitty paw prints around)

me: no!no! (try to put them back in the cage)

puppy4: (quiet.too quiet)

me: (turning around to check on puppy4) noo!!! i thought you just pooped !

puppy 1,2 & 3: (seize the opportunity to escape from the cage once more)

thats the routine each time they get loose.
but for the trouble they cause, and the bite marks they give me,
its totally worth it. cuteness prevails in the end.
haha i don't even want to describe the feeding sessions..come and see it for yourself!

bigmac bonanza

on the 7th of may, me, guojian,saimun and keith made a day trip to kl for the ntu pre-departure briefing! during this period of time, the bigmac promotion was going on.heard about it? yeap, that one

two all beef patties,
special sauce,lettuce,
cheese,pickles,onions,
on a sesame seed bun.

all done in 4 seconds. sounds impossible? try it! anyway,back to the main story.
upon arrival in pudu, we discovered that the bus touts were becoming bolder compared to the last visit.

last visit : " eh, lengchai, mau pergi mana? mau kl,ipoh,johor,penang pun ada" (no touching law applies here)

most recent visit : "eh lengchai, mau pergi mana? " (puts arm on shoulder) " baru tiba dari ipoh? sekarang mau pergi johor tak? ya!! sekarang. mari mari! "(starts ushering you towards a ticket booth with a name like Mayang Sari or something) they've gotten bolder! they use physical contact now..hmm.

solution 1) smile and shake your head ( other ticket touts will come after you)

solution 2) walk away as fast as possible (ticket tout will mutter something like "lansi betul! saya tanya baik-baik kan!")

after getting out of pudu as fast as possible,we proceed to berjaya times square. we had time to waste,so we decided to catch a movie!
being typical ipoh people, the cheap offer attracted us like ants to sugar.
"whoa! iron man 7 bucks on wednesday! must be our lucky day! destined to watch la"

we enter imax theater. supposed to be a theater specialized for 3D films.

guojian : wah the screen so big! (typical ipoh fella)

me(thinking) : ei,why my chair can move up and down wan..loose d izit.aiya, kena con rm7 d. damn it!

turns out the seats were part of the whole viewing experience.haha (can't blame me, no such technology exists in ipoh yet)

show was great, we exit the shopping area soon after and head to sungei wang mcd, armed with mcd bigmac chant vouchers.
during the journey,


(before)










keith & carey:
twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettuce
cheesepicklesonionsonasesameseedbun!
yes!! can under 4 seconds d! got free bigmac to eat later.

we reach the mcd outlet, wait for the tiny guy holding the stopwatch to appear. fellow mcd lovers were staring at us from left and right.
timer guy appears,

carey : two all beef patties,
special sauce,lettuce,
cheese,pickles,onions,
on a sesame seed bun!

timer guy : (shows her stop watch), okey, boleh!

keith : two all beef patties,
special sauce,lettuce,
cheese,pickles,onions,
on a sesame seed bun!

timer guy : (shows him stop watch), okey, kurang empat saat.

my turn, i couldn't exactly talk very fast, so,

me : two all beef patties,
specialsaucettuce,
cheesepickleoniobun
bunbunbunBUN!!!!

timer guy tries to lean closer to listen, but too late, i've finished my jumbled up chant.
i raise my hands in celebration, acting like i've succeeded, putting pressure on the timer guy,

me(thinking) : give it to me, give it to me. i know i screwed it up, but you didn't hear it.

timer guy still looks confused. he shows me the stopwatch. 2.58 seconds! woohoo!

we pose as a group in mcd, proudly displaying our free bigmac coupons like how those nerdy kids who scored straight As would hold up their transcripts.

piece of advice to those who intend to try the chant: don't memorize,they let you read, and if you can't speak fast, say it really softly and mumble it. when you are done, act as though you won the lottery. recipe for success.

(after!)











anyway, the ntu briefing was a waste of time. lasted an hour, overcrowded room, nerdy guys everywhere.oh man!!

plus points : 1) we got to use the 5-star toilets at ritz-carlton hotel. score!
2) we ate nandos for the 1st time! try the spiciest peri-peri flavor.

thank you generous mcd guy who kept slipping us bigmac chant vouchers which other people threw away. we remember you!

when in a foreign land, do as foreigners do

ever heard the saying " when in rome, do as romans do" ? don't know who coined it and why. but it can be modified to " when in a foreign land, do as foreigners do" .
during a recent trip to singapore with cheekeen and guojian, somehow we felt obligated to act like the locals.

reason : so that singaporeans won't look at us and think, " this guys must be malaysians." or at least we didn't want to make it too obvious.

if you have ever been to singapore, you must be visually impaired if you somehow fail to notice all the ipods and sony psp's wherever you go.
on the mrt, you decide to stare around.

look left: geeky guy completely focusing on his psp.

look right: middle aged guy in a suit with ipod headphones in his ears. yeap, the unmistakable white headphones. what else could it be?

heck, while i was traveling on the road, a pick up truck filled with foreign workers zooms past.
guess what i saw, foreign dude (possibly bangladeshi), sitting in the back of the pick up with his gang, white headphones in his ears!! omg! and to think that i don't even own any headphones of any kind, forget about those white iconic ones.
one day on the mrt, fed up of seeing ipod headphones on almost everyone,

me : wei guojian, pressure la.everyone also got ipod or psp. i think its compulsory for all singaporeans lah.

guojian: you also go and buy one la. you said wana buy psp right..

me: i've got an idea, lets go ochard or bugis later and just buy the white headphones. plug it in our ears and pretend that we're listening to something.

guojian: haha! the other end leh?

me: just stick it in your pocket la. shake your head a bit. they won't know the difference wan.

guojian: if fall out of your pocket d then how?

imagine this scenario : you are on the mrt, wearing fake ipod headphones attached to nothing, shaking your head to imaginary music, and then someone taps you on the shoulder. you look up at the guy with similar headphones in his ears, and he says, " excuse me, your wire has popped out" ...oh the embarrassment!

another big difference over there in singapore is how courteous their drivers are. remember those zebra crossings in malaysia? technically, when a driver sees a pedestrian trying to cross, he should stop and allow the pedestrian to cross, even better if he puts on a smile and waves to the dude.

situation in singapore: you see a crossing,start to walk, but a car is fast approaching. you stop. driver flashes at you. you notice car is slowing down. driver waves at you to cross. you think, " oh,how nice!", and you smile at the driver. driver thinks," you must be malaysian". you cross the road unscatched.

situation in malaysia : you try to cross. you see a car a bout a mile away approaching. you put one foot on the crossing. driver accelerates! you move forward another step, he starts flashing his headlights and goes even faster! third step, he smashes on his car horn. " PONNNNN!!! PONNNN!!!" you retreat. another step forward and you'd be malaysian roadkill. as driver speeds past, he gives you a dirty look, sometimes even the finger. typical.

while we were in singapore, it only made sense that we took a picture with that famous symbol of singapore, the merlion. that was the plan on night two. we headed out to the mrt station with a renewed sense of energy, come on,the merlion! woohoo!!
we board the train, sit down, well actually we stood again a minute later.

me: ei, where is the merlion thing ar?
(we look at each other cluelessly)

ahh,plan busted. we went to clarke quay instead. on the bridge at clarke quay was some aboriginal guy playing some long horn. we assume he was aboriginal because of the music. sounded like the sound of a jungle swarmed with frogs and occasionally, he knocks on a small stick. his music went something like this,
" oarrgghhuuuuargggghaaouuueee, tik! tik! tik! "

cheekeen gave the guy 20cents for his efforts anyway. aboriginal dude must be thinking," damn! this fellas are cheap.they must be malaysians"
oh well, when in singapore, try to do as singaporeans do.

p/s: the The merlion (simplified Chinese: 鱼尾狮; pinyin: Yúwěishī ; Tamil:கடல்சிங்கம் ) is a statue with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. Its name comes from a portmanteau of mermaid and lion and is is located at marina bay.















its as the name says, riverside point.















me and gj