..no place like home..

Today my blockmate Nabeyl and his friends went off to Spain, for their winter holidays. 2 days before, my other blockmate Shazli-kun went off to Egypt with his friends, also for winter holidays. And me? I'm stuck in my room, because of some circumstances which didn't allow me to go to Europe, or someplace else. But I guess my time will come, and it is just a matter of time indeed. There are places I wanted to go, for obvious reasons, one of it would be Mekah, so I will exclude that from the list below. These are just random, and the numbers bear no significance.


1. Tokyo


Since I'm such a Japanese freak, its only natural that I want to come to Tokyo. Not just anywhere in Japan, but Tokyo. Its metropolitan city, the colors, the bustling people in and out of the commuter trains, plus some cute chicks hehe. I've always been a fan of Jdorama, anime and manga, so I always wonder what it is like to be in the real place of all that. Its a place full of robots, technology, but yet in the midst of it, they still maintain that Eastern culture that we Asians are all proud of, shyness, modesty, and some other stuffs. Please ignore that some of them are perverts though.


2. Bandung


Basically all of the makciks, puans and old women of Malaysia know this place as a shopping haven. And I don't have a clue why is that. Theres a rumor circulating that my great-great ancestor originated from this place, until they migrated (illegal immigrants perhaps? =p ) to the Federation of Malaya, way before the Kamikaze Japanese came. But heck there are no basis to this story, so I rather doubt that. But still, to come to this place sure would bring some happiness, and perhaps I would stumble upon some dude who looks like me, hhaha.



3. Leuven


It is the education city of Belgium, just a small country, sandwiched between the Netherlands and the frog legs-eating France. My family resided here for 4 years when my dad came here to complete his course in Neurosurgery. It brings a lot of memory to me, and I did make some really good friends, regardless of the religion. I spoke some damn good Dutch too. But now I forgot lah. I don't know where they are now, and it would be nice to see them again.



4. Cordoba


Its in sunny Spain, so who can blame me? I always wonder what the heck happened to the relics of the old great Spanish Caliphate, when the Spanish and Portuguese were mostly Muslims, and built a great civilization, education, monuments and sorts. I know that there are places that they have restored, mosques, palaces and the esthetically beautiful garden. Gotta love Spain.


5. New York


The Big Apple as the Americans fondly call her, the business district of the USA by all means, is a must see place. The Statue if Liberty is there, Times Square Garden, the island of Manhattan, and all sorts of places. Many movies has taken place in New York, and that is why I always wanted to experience all of those things myself.



6. Rome


I'm a big fan of the movie Gladiator, so this is only natural. I wanted to visit the great Coliseum, where men fought with beasts, or with themselves, and humanity ( I mean old roman citizens) allowed that to happen, just watching with excitement. Plus I guess there are also other nice places, old relics when the fought with Troy and the Spartans..Well I don't know I'm not that good in history..


7. Liverpool


The city with the river of Mersey, home of the Beatles, Liverpool FC and the blue scum Everton FC, is a medium sized industrial city of England. Its a must see place for me because yes I'm a huge Liverpool fan, and I must see the Anfield Stadium in real, if only for once, so that I can tell the story to my children and grandchildren. You'll never walk alone.

..half empty or half full..

This is my latest addiction, Mobile Suit Gundam 00. I liked Gundam, but I never really followed them before, but now that I have the chance, its very2 cool. The timeline is like ours, only 300 years later. Turmoil in earth energy resources has made rich Middle Eastern countries now very poor, since oil is no longer the major need at that time, but huge solar power is. The world is divided into 3 major blocs, containing 300 or so countries.

AEU, Advanced European Union,the equivalent of today's European Union, is the most underdeveloped of the 3 blocs. Indeed, the flag is almost the same as NATO's.Most of the European countries govern this union, but it also includes nations of the African continent.

HRL, the Human Reform League, is the equivalent of former communist nations such as USSR and today's People's Republic of China. The whole Asia, Siberian Russia and Australia is under its control and indeed it is the second most advanced of the 3 world powers. Its military strength is almost parallel to the Union.

Union, or World Economic Union, is the most advanced of the 3. The USA and all the countries in the American continent is in its power, including Japan. They are technologically more advanced and reputably the most civilized.


Now I'm watching until season 2, the robot battles are very cool and the hero is a Middle Eastern dude, codename Setsuna F. Seiei, real name Soran Ibrahim, a native Krugis (some sort of place in modern day Iraq) and the bad guy is a war-crazed terrorist, Ali Al-Saachez, who kinda looks like Osama Bin Laden but for his red hair. My friend Radzi, an original Gundam enthusiast says that the robot battles aren't really that good, but the excellent storyline makes up for it.

..stand by me..

..hello another way..

The Brilliant Green is among my favorite J-pop/J-rock artists, because behind all those sort of heavy guitar riffs and shit, there's a cute voice and the pretty Tomoko Kawase, its vocalist hehe. I first heard their single back in my schooldays when I was watching the Jdorama, "Overtime" starring GTO's Takashi Sorimachi with their single, Sono Speed De, which I don't even understand what the meaning is. Well for me that has always been the case. I could care less about the lyrics. I only care about good music. Since I have been educated playing the piano, (forced by my mum..) there's a few select of genre that really tickles my fancy. And The Brilliant Green just had the be one of it. By the way one of the guitarists kinda looked like my ex-roomate heh.



All their singles are awesome, and the latest, Ash Like Snow was credited as the opening song for the anime Gundam 00, which sounded heavy, but still, the same spirit as the singles before it. Vocalist Tomoko Kawase married its guitarist Shunsaku Okuda and the band kinda had a rest for some 3 or 4 years before if I'm not mistaken.. At that time Tomoko has her own project and went solo with the aliases TommyFebruary or TommyHeavenly with rather different style and genre. The Brilliant Green are often called "Buriguri" by their fans..which sounded to me rather silly.. A distinction of Buriguri among other bands is that they always and always add certain English words in the lyrics..which makes it quite catchy lah..though at times it doesn't really make sense heh.

..stained glass..

To all Employees:

Effective January 2009


Dress Code

1. It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a pay raise.

2. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore you do not need a pay raise.

3. If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a pay raise.




Sick Days

We will no longer accept a doctor's certificate as proof of sickness.

If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.




Holiday Days

Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday & Sunday.




Compassionate Leave

This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend to the arrangements.

In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early.




Toilet Use

1. Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the cubicles.

2. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the cubicle door will open, and your picture will be taken.

3. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company notice board under the "Chronic Offenders" category.

4. Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sanctioned under the company's mental health policy.




Lunch Break

1. Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch, as they need to eat more so that they can look healthy.

2. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.

3. Chubby people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a Slim-Fast.

..sun burn..

Yesterday as I had chat with my good mates Boo and Azzam, we talked about how the world these days has changed. Previously for us, there were only Gameboy, PlayStation, Digimon and Cyberpet as entertainment. Heck, we waited patiently every Saturdays and Sundays for our favorite Doraemon cartoon shows, eventhough I had my ears pinched by my mum because I kinda delayed my Maghrib hehe.. For those more adventurous or perhaps itching for more dirt, we played guli, gasing, tenteng gajah (did I spell it right?), galah panjang, konda kondi and the sorts. I kinda miss those days really. Days when girls for me are just meddlesome, yuckie, and at that time I don't even know why I have to even communicate with them. This proves to be an obstacle for me in my later years as I became shy talking to girls haha. I really was. I remember when I was in standard 6, I think her name was Aimi, the teacher asked all of us in class to sit boys and girls side by side, and Aimi used to always kick my chair at certain times in frustration. I don't even know what her problem was about, seriously! PMS kot...And I was even a school prefect. Damn it I don't even have self respect in my own class.. But I think by now she has become a good grown up girl, with less temper I hope,heh.


But really, those were the times when I always go out with my little Shimano bicycle, making my own adventures around Bangi. By that time there were even less houses than now, so there were more places to explore. There was some small hutan, and I think there was even a small hut where I guess somekinda person lived in it..I don't quite believe it but there was a small rakit near there,just beside the hut I think. Thats because that place used to be a lombong, and when there's nothing else, it had become some sort of tasik lah. I always come there alone. Well, when I tend to think of it now, it was kinda chilling really. I mean, I could have been kidnapped or anything! But I guess it was ok to be adventurous since I'm not cute and there's no commercial value to kidnap me anyway haha. I don't think even my parents know about my whereabouts at the time.


I used to always ponteng ko-ko (co-curricular activities) on Saturday. Because it is just damn boring! I'm not a fan of Pengakap and all those rules. So I just attend the morning clubs and sports activities while sneaking out at the end, just to go to Pasar Mini Kiat Seong and try to get hold of the latest comic book out that week hehe. This I usually do with my good buddies Salleh, Afif and other anti-social kids like us. When I get hold of the latest Mutiara Naga (Dragon Ball) comic, it is usually the proudest moment of my life among my peers hehe. Internet was scarce those days, so we don't really know the ending or next episode of Dragon Ball. It was really different than now.


Kids these days have it easy. Parents give them mobile phones to them as early as 7 year olds. I don't quite understand it though. And kids these days rarely play outside too,getting the sunshine they need. All they do is watching Astro, perhaps chatting online, getting busy with Friendster or Facebook and busy SMSing their buddies. "Hey dude,nak kua men bola x?" "Jom." What a waste of money! They are neighbors, just come and ajak je lah. Its a real situation by the way. And they are getting cocky too nowadays. I miss my kiddy days...

..miss gold digger..

Have a good laugh...

A guy's rules:

At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down


Finally , the guys' side of the story.
( I must admit, it's pretty good.)
We always hear ' the rules '
From the female side.

Now here are the rules from the male side.
These are our rules!
Please note... These are all numbered '1'
ON PURPOSE!


1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat.
You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Saturday & Sunday sports. It's like the full moon
Or the changing of the tides.
Let it be.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport.
And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a Problem.
See a doctor.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't Expect us to act like soap opera guys.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are.
Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of them makes you sad or angry, then we meant the other one


1. You can either ask us to do something
Or tell us how you want it done.
Not both.
If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched.
We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say 'nothing,' We will act like nothing's wrong.
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle, besides we know you will bring it up again later.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really .

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as football, rugby,
Or golf.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this.
Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;


But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Pass this to as many men as you can -
To give them a laugh.

Pass this to as many women as you can -
To give them a bigger laugh

(credits - author unknown)

..come as you are..

We begin with a Chinese flick,the House of Flying Daggers, featuring canto pop king Andy Lau,Taiwan-Japanese dude Takeshi Kaneshiro and cute little chinese Zhang Zi-Yi. It tells about a group of anti-government rebels calling themselves the House of Flying Daggers,who can throw daggers almost telepathically like a remote controlled helicopter to the enemy. Andy and Takeshi stars as the good guys with Zhang of course the damsel in distress. Or rather this time more appropriately, the distressing damsel. The film is full of twists and turns, befitting an epic movie, but what catches me the most was its rich cinematography and its blend of colors, which was simply majestic. Every fight scene has its own rich vein of colors and the martial art was of course nice lah. There is a bit of porno here and there but nothing too heavy hehe.. A warning for people is that you might get a bit stoned watching this because for me lah, its too long to watch and it doesn't really gets me jumping of my seat, I mean yes its a love story but come on lah, a bit of action doesn't hurt eh. So for short, you guys might get asleep watching it, but its a marvelously crafted piece of work anyway.



Definitely,Maybe is perhaps currently my favorite romance film. It gets a positive response too from film critics and rottentomatoes.com. It is about how a single and blue collar dad telling his daughter of his past love life, live after college, the girls who always give him the shit although he has been very nice to them, and the story of knowing which of the girls was actually her biological and real mother. Apparently this little girl didn't know all her life who the mother was. So her dad decides that it was time to tell the whole truth and story to her. Its a sweet and twisted story, which stars Ryan Reynolds of the sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place fame and the very adorable Isla Fisher. Apparently in real life, Isla Fisher is the fiancee of Sascha Baron Cohen, better known as the dude who plays Borat, Ali-G and the crazy king in the movie Madagascar. Damn! Anyway, its a good movie for those who are bored of action flicks, sad dramas or too much cartoon, perhaps indulging in a bit of a probable real life situation would not be too much of a bad idea.


Death Race is a damn good movie. No shit. Its all action,and nothing more. The Transporter dude Jason Statham plays as the hero who has to don a mask and race for his life in order to get out of the prison. He's actually just an honest worker trying to make an honest living when he was framed for killing his wife. So the head warden of the prison, a lady called Hennessy (that's like whiskey) offered him the terms so that he can go back out of jail. So he became the masked racer, Frankenstein. I'm lazy to tell about it all because I'm tired but just go watch it lah. If you're a fan of old Playstation gore games like Twisted Metal, or even Burnout, try this one out. I give it 4 stars out of 5.

..sing for absolution..

Yesterday I played futsal when Zupa and the GM dudes invited me to join, and heck, I have no qualm since its been ages since I played I guess. I was itching for some action and so I played for 2 hours at the Sportzal. There were 15 of us so the money paid for the court doesn't seem that much lah. I was actually kinda late because it actually started at 6.00pm, while I was still stuck in the bus at 5.50pm. I hate traffic jams, crammed places and too many people, so I got pissed and went out at the very next bus stop.


Later I found out that there were a collision between 2 cars just not that far from the bus stop that I went out from. What a commotion. In Russia, in order for the insurance company to fully assess the situation and pay you back in some sorts, (I'm not well equipped with the insurance knowledge btw), you must not move the car from its spot and contact the nearest traffic police so they can do a report of the collision. So while it is actually a small problem in Malaysia, its really an object of ridicule for me to watch here in Moscow. But I guess they have their own bloody reason. That is for sure.



I got bored so I watched some Japanese dramas (J-dorama for short) to fill my boredom. Behold, "Code Blue". No, my friends, its not pornography. Rather, its a serialized drama of situations happening in Shoyou University Hospital (SHOHOKU,rather fittingly) in the Emergency Room.Shohoku specializes in fast acquired first aid, medical personnel and medication delivered,as they send in doctors,a flight nurse and take back critically affected patients, yes, by helicopter. This system is called, Dr. Heli. The Japanese has a knack for making the English language a mockery so I'm not going to comment about the cheekily named system.



Each episode present viewers near accurate situations that all medical personnel encounters, and I can also relate to that. And I can also foresee how I will become in the future,and sadly to say, I guess its not too much fun at all.. =( Oh well, I'm just currently on my 8th episode and perhaps I will continue my marathon until the end. Jambu dude Yamashita Tomohisa of the "Nobuta wo Produce" fame leads with his egoistical and cold manners as intern Dr. Kousaku Aizawa. I'm not going to talk about all the other actors because I could care less and I just like watching the damn dorama.



Oh and in particular I like that one playing the flight nurse, Higa Manami. She's a doll, hehe (^.^) She plays an icy and i-could-care-less attitude flight nurse.Just go to daddicts, Google them lah, then you guys can torrent for free. Oh and of course be good and seed la a bit,others also want to watch lah.

..crimson tide..

I completed Bones Season 1 and well besides the headache of the long marathon, I think I kind of get the hand of how they handle things. And usually the killer is someone just newly introduced in the aforementioned episode and blablabla me as a diligent watcher just have to guess who have the most motive and which of the dudes are able to do such horror things to a fellow human being. That is,doing something until there's only bones left. Which is actually the point of this drama series.





Oh well so I decided thats that and I'd better carry on watching other series perhaps. Almost finished Criminal Minds Season 1 so maybe after that I'll continue watching Pushing Daisies. I was actually kinda cool watching Pushing Daisies because its witty,smart and cute but perhaps too much color in the set was spoiling my groove at the time.


Lately I spend more time on Facebook rather than Friendster maybe because I have the dudes that I really2 know on Facebook,rather than Friendster who mostly I don't even know. But I guess that really doesn't make a difference since both of them are just a waste of time and space haha. Don't you deny that. I'd much rather read The Star, ESPN Soccernet or football365.com but hey, people need to know your whereabouts, right?




Mostly these days I spend my time cleaning my room over and over again. Perhaps trying to find empty papers for me to scribble on or for use of the printer.






Yes. I am a cheapskate. But only on certain occasions lah. I do indeed indulge in the male need of shopping,branded stuffs, and who says guys don't have the knack of shopping? Its just that we dudes find it hard to get what we really2 wanted, and sometimes the style and type of clothes or the price that we really wanted are just not available. Of course with a little homework before going to battle, or rather shopping is mostly helpful. But its all useless talking about that now. I'm currently broke! Huahua.

..hanging by a moment..

So the holiday has kind of started and surprise surprise I have nothing much to do! Well actually there is 1 week of class to go but I doubt many of them will bother about it. These past days has been rather boring and lifeless. And cold too. -15'C with blizzard, snow and wind, and don't tell me that is not cold! I guess that is Russia. Yesterday went to Thai Airways' office, firstly at Domodedovo International Airport because I guess since its an airport,it'll always be open lah. But hey,its closed because of holidays,or the other reason they gave,because they dont have a flight that day. So off I went to the Moscow center at M.Smolenskaya when the office was also closed!




Ramblings apart, today I went again at the Moscow center and breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was opened, so me and Peter could confirm the date of our flight back to Malaysia, ermm.. some time in July lah, just to be safe. But to say the least, it is extremely cold these days in Moscow. If you're a tourist in Moscow currently, I doubt you can find a colder place than this. Beats your refrigerator even perhaps haha.



Its been only like, what 9 or 10 january and already I'm out of money. Sort of. Haha. Dont really mind since I'm just staying in my room, watching tons of Family Guy and pirated movies but still, I need money to play football! Lucky I saved some I guess.



Ate veggies for the second straight day. Hurrah for me! Although the sambal seafood cocktail did cover up for much of it heh. Because its winter, I planned to get a bit of fat a little. So I guess I'm gonna sleep more,watch some more crap that I've downloaded,eat junk food and drink lots of Pepsi. Come on, that never hurts,right? I'm off watching movies. Cheers.