A Busy Week

Its been a very busy week for me. This is clearly indicated my sudden absense from blogging, a obvious detoriation in my posting as compared to previous weeks. Work have suddenly shot up the roof. Request are coming in like no body business like a typhoon or tsunami coming in without any warning. It could be due to month end but it is indeed not a pleasant feeling having to continuously stare at the computer and fingers kept busy with replying mails and logging tickets. No matter how fast I try to do, backlog are eminent. Today figure stands at 130++ in the Profile folder. Man, what a rollercoaster ride.

Here are some of the things that I managed to sneak in a few hours my time.

Appreciation Dinner at Shangrila Putrajaya

A few of us were invited for a dinner as a sign of appreciation of the work we had done in making sure we pass quarter 3 signoff of being SOx compliance. Yes, it sucks...I mean SOx. The profile team in which I am apart off had managed to achieve a feet that some may have thought to be a great success. Indeed it was as failure to comply would result in failure to have a license to operate. Simply put as, we be out of a job if we ain't doing anything about compliance. SOx have become apart of our daily life. Work that is to be done need to be complied to this standard. Despite the complexity that it entails, the solution was quite simple. Make sure that the request receive is inputted correctly into SAP and there is evidence recorded in the form of ticket. By making sure we adhere to it, we had to be extra cautious. In the end with some QA process in place, we manage to pull it off and thus awarded a VP recognition in the form of a dinner.

We were allowed to choose the place of dinner. In my mind, I wanted the most expensive that I could get my hands on. Indeed there was no budget attached to it and I wanted a place where I wouldn't afford to go unless I made a few Gs a day. Shook. Jogoya. Fine Dining. KL City where all the cuisine can be found. It would be nice. Unfortunately, I had to put that dream aside and face reality by going somewhere nearby, Putrajaya. Shangrila to be precise.

I have never been there before. It was quite a nice place from outside except the entrance where there is a road that leads to a basement where trucks unload goods for the hotel. However, the view inside was magnificient. We headed to the Coffee Terrace to have our dinner. Menu was brought to us. First thing that came to mind, "Why so little choice wan?". Yeh, you could count the hairs on your leg and it be more than what was on the menu. I decided to go all our by having a complete meal. A starters of seafood salad, a bowl of freshly made mushroom soup, a main meal of a medium well done rib eye steak and a dessert of tiramisu top with a cup of mocktail called "Brightness" and a cup of coffee to end. Quite a lot to eat I must say. Well, I wanted to take a pic of the complete set but gave away the though as soon as my tummy began calling out to eat. Yet, I manage to snap a picture of the rib eye that I had.

Overall, food was just alright though I wish it could be better. I guess that what you get when going to a hotel to eat, a place I never did fancy eating.

After dinner and having some extra, I did a quick tour around the place. It was breathtaking to see the interior and architecture of the place. A great idea to bring the outdoor, indoor. The high walls and curve foyer where the rooms were gave an illusion that it an open air concept finish with a garden in the middle. Even the lounge where the conference room were had trees aligned aside it giving an illusion of being in a forest setting. Here are some of the pics that I managed to snap to give you a wanting to visit this beautiful hotel if you are around Putrajaya.

A Visit by the VP of Downstream Finance

It was quite an interesting engagement session. This was mainly attributed to a D&I (Diversity & Inclusiveness) presentation that we did prior to the engagement that encapture the year. Projects such as SOx and ISIP were some of the highlights coupled with the many festivities that Malaysia had or will be having in the year. I was roped in to be the MC of the event, my second attempt of doing so as well as the voice over for the presentation. The idea came about a day before and with a few hours practice, we had managed to come up with a colourful presentation. I was quite puzzled with the initiative taken and after thinking about it, probably it was because he was the Finance guy. Impressions are always important for future benefits.

Frankenstein in Love

Macha Kelvin had been all excited about this play. Having sent many mails to remind us about it and to get us going for this. It was a play that I wanted to see mainly for the cast line up for this theatre show. It would be a debut directorship for Gavin Yap as well as a debut theatre performance for Melissa Maureen (Gol & Gincu, Table for Two, Realiti). I for one was keen to see Ari Ratos, one of my favourite theatre actor. There were all together 11 of us; the machas, my sisters, Terry's bro and friends and a couple of my friends to. It was always good to bring people for theatre. There would be more if not for those who couldn't make it or some I had in mind to call.

I totally enjoyed the play thoroughly. The lighting was magnificient, a great effort by Ling And Swee especially the opening scene where the lights went from left to right giving an impression of a ghostly setting. Yes, it was about frankestein. Not really. Humans that have joined up by various human parts of other half dead human. Zombies in short. Based on the summary, it was suppose to be a love story. However, I did not get any of the "love" from the entire show. What I got was a very political plot, great lines, superb acting and most of all, comedy. It was rather interesting also to be in an audience where most of them were theatre junkies themselves. It was sad to see the place half filled despite the great performance.

Met up with my theatre guru, Mano Maniam where Don, Terry, Kelvin and myself were under his guidance. It was great to meet him again and see all well despite going through a unhealthy period. It really did bring back good memories of my theatre days. Wish I could have a sense of it in future. Many artiste came to where we were mainly to thank Mano for his support, his second time viewing it. Douglas Lim, Rashid Salleh, Melissa Maureen, Gavin Yap. They all came to where we were yet none were appreciative for us coming to support theatre. I was hoping for, "Thanks for coming. Hope you enjoyed the show!" but we were practically ignored though I tried to share a smile with them. It give me an impression that theatre people are arrogant. A far different perception when meeting senior theatre actors who were more inviting. It is sad how theatre are perceived or how being artistic is related to homosexuality. Why can't art be friendly? Why can't art be ART? An expression of creativity and talent rather than a character that feels it exuberates art.

Too bad I did not take more pics as I was caught up with Mr. Mano conversation.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Allow me the priviledge to pen my post in Bahasa Melayu.

Tibalah masa di mana muslimin dan muslimat mengakhiri sebulan puasa dan bersama menyambut hari yang dinantikan iaitu, Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Rumah dihiasi dengan pelbagai perhiasan, langsir ditukar dan lantai dibersih untuk menyambuat kedatangan saudara mara dan kawan yang datang untuk bertegur sapa serta menjamu selera dengan juadah yang hanya dapat dirasai pada masa ini. Keinginan untuk menjamu rasa daging rendang, roti jala, ketupat, lemang, dodol dan lain lain membuat lidah aku berair.

Ramai diantara rakan kerja saya telah mengambil cuti panjang untuk balik ke kampung untuk meraikan hari yang muhibbah ini. Jalan-jalan di Kuala Lumpur yang biasa sesak dengan kereta nampak lapang. Masa untuk ke bandar yang biasanya mengambil 1 hingga 2 jam untuk sampai dikurangkan kepada setengah jam atau lebih baik lagi 15 minit. Apabila saya ke pejabat hari ini, kereta yang biasa membanjiri jalan raya tidak kenampakan. Saya boleh mengambil masa sendiri serta meletak kereta saya di bawah basement yang biasanya penuh apabila saya tiba to tempat kerja. Suasana di pejabat sunyi serta kelihatan agak kosong. Hanya segelintir orang kelihatan yang terdiri daripada ahli kumpulan saya yang terpaksa datang untuk memberi 'support' kepada negara yang tidak cuti seperti Australia, Hong Kong, Phillipines dan China. Ini memberi kesan kepada permintaan yang biasa diterima dari e-mel atau panggilan menampakkan kekurangan. Ini memboleh saya sedikit masa untuk menulis di blog saya serta membuat latihan yang biasanya tidak dapat dilakukan pada hari yang normal.

Dengan itu, saya ingin mengucapkan...

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

Maaf Zahir & Batin.

kepada semua muslimin dan musliman di Malaysia serta di serata dunia yang menyambut hari ini. Harap anda semua dapat menyanbut hari yang mulia ini dengan penuh kegembiraan. Bagi mereka yang ingin melawat dan menikmati suasana rumah terbuka, senarai rumah terbuka di seluruh negara boleh didapati di sini.

Untuk mengakhiri 'post' saya, nikmatilah iklan Petronas yang selalu meninggalkan kesan nostalgia di hati kita.

Iklan Petronas 2005

Iklan Petronas 2006

Iklan TV3 2006 (Star Wars Parody)

Beautiful

The match between Arsenal and Reading was simply indescribable. Speechless. Classic. Beautiful football was indeed witness in this game as Arsenal trash Reading 4-0 with some exquisite team work and passes that exposes Reading defences. If you had missed the match, here is a snippet of some beautiful play.



I could still remember the year when I began to be interested in football. It was the year 1998 after the World Cup in France. My attention was drawn to a particular midfielder who caught my attention and drove me to want to know more about the club he plays for, Arsenal. Emmanuel Petit. The combination of Petit and Viera who marshalled the midfield to such excellance that it brought about the treble for Arsenal.

It was a starting point in my life when I began to be interested in football. Many of my friends were knowledgable in the football scene. Most of the conversation that I had with them seem to align with the football scene. I was indeed lost. The calculation of points in the table. The different position involve in football. The players in a team. The transfer saga that goes about during the open window. These topics were all but jargons to me. It was then I started to learnt about football by reading papers. When Internet came into my life during university, my source of news was to be Soccernet. It was during this time I had undergone a daily informative training of what football is all about which in turn enhances my admiration for the club I adore so much, Arsenal Football Club.

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Arsene Wenger can be by far the best manager I have seen so far. My admiration goes to a point of his ability to spot raw talent and turn them into superstars. There are many real life stories in Arsenal in which young talents come in and develop into extraordinary players. Its like jagged stone being polish into a gem. I can say no one in the Premier League or even at any club in the world is able to have this gift of spotting talents.

Its hard to state my preferences on my best player in the team considering Arsenal is a team orientated team whereby no one stands out individually but they stand out as a team. By far, my favourite would be Thierry Henry for his exquisite class and ability to create and score beautiful goals and Cesc Fabregas for his ability to fill the void that had been left from the departure of Viera and the ability to fill in any part of the midfield whether it be attacking or defensive. I also admire...

Toure for his all out defensive stature that at times can be a towering effort for most team,
Eboue for his perfect pin point crosses in the deep end that had created many beautiful goals,
Hleb for his intricate move and trickery to go against defence,
Van Persie for his pace and grit to shoot at any chances available,
Rosicky for his lapping runs and shooting ability from afar,
The strong and ever brave Lehmann who have proven his worth as a difficult keeper to beat, minus the antics that he displays that catches people of guard.

The players that I mention are all in their twenties expect for Cesc for is 19 and Lehmann who is 37. A young but matured squad. Players that I hope to see more of is the towering Adebayor in getting the ball in the box, Gallas shift into the middle from leftback of defence partnering Toure for a formidable pair, the rising of Clichy in leftback after the departed Ashley Cole, the emergence of Flamini who had done well as a cover in both midfield and defence, the recovery of Abou Diaby and the rising start we all see in Theo walcott who resemble King Henry.

The more I go on about speaking about the talents that Arsenal have I would not stop. It is evident each time you watch an Arsenal game and irrespective of the outcome of the game, one will always be entertain by team Arsenal. I can't wait for their next game that Arsenal will play whether it be in Carling Cup, Premiership or Champions League. Thanks to Youtube I wouldn't miss any match despite not having Astro.

Star Wars Shortened

Jedi Master Terry sent me a very interesting video link from Youtube. Star Wars Shortened. A must see for all who are interested in watching a condensed theatrical version of the Star Wars movie. Enjoy!

Star Wars Shortened Part 1

Star Wars Shortened Part 2

Star Wars Condensed on Sky News

Disclaimer: Video are highly recommended by the Jedi Master himself, Terry. Thanks dude!

Love Conquers All

Malaysian conquers at film fest. Director's quiet and elegant love story wins major award in South Korea.

This was the headlines read on page 47 in the World section. Wow! US$30,000 was the prize money. A local film maker Tan Chi Mui have set the stage again for another accomplishment in Malaysian movie. I must say we are being recognise globally for our work. Unfortunately, this is not the case in our own back yard. Though I know that art films may at times be rather slow in nature, I hope to catch a glimpse of it when it reaches our local cinemas. But before that, would be catching Rain Dogs when it opens in GSC on 26 October 2006.

Trailer 1

Trailer 2

Pop Up

As I waited for my 'char kuay teow' to be 'tapau', I headed to the nearest shop to get the day papers. It is not often I buy newspapers since my company provides Sun for my daily dosage of the news coverage. Just wanted to grab a piece of the news considering that it was the weekend and I believe there would be some interesting news or stories to read.

Paper engineering. Paper artist. It caught my attention. An interesting article written by "The Star" resident author on books, Daphne Lee who apparently have an intesting blog on books as well. The article can be read in Lifestyle column of the Star page 20 under Reads column.

It was pretty interesting to the elements of art and presentation of stories in a rather fun and interesting manner where pictures can be displayed in a 3-dimentional fashion which would help rouse creativity. In my mind, I feel like getting hold of these books, not as book collection but an art piece considering that it is made by hand. I love the intrinsic details being put in bringing to life stories such as "Alice in Wonderland", "Jungle Book" or "Wizard of Oz". What was more interesting is the book on Star Wars which this dynamic duo would be releasing come fall 2007 which I believe Terry would simply get his hands at it. Maybe I might be the first to.

Here are some interesting links that I manage to search that may get you interested in pop-up books.

Robert Sabuda
Matthew Reinhart
Mark Hiner
Kami-Kobo
Ron van der Meer
Keith Mosley
Nick Bantock
David Hawcock
Jonathan Emmett
John Patience
Joan Irvine
Wonderful World of Pop-Up And Animated Books

A Journey Through The Scriptures

Time 9.30pm. I was late. My initial plan to wake up at 8am for church went down the drain when I saw the time. It was already too late for me to go to church considering that I intend to visit Acts Church, the church I attend when I'm working weekends. By the time I get out from bed and have a quick shower, it would be already 10am and by then, the service would be mid way. So, I decided to get my Daily Bread and do my devotion with it before I headed out to the nearest shop for lunch and I'm on my way to work. Its rather rare that I do my devotion. I do admit this and hope to be able to do it consistently which I fail most of the time. Sigh!

Well, today devotional material was about, "It is finished" which spoke about Christ death on the Cross and His purpose on Earth. It is true that we have dreams and most of the time these dreams are hard to realised. We have plans, dreams and resolution penned out yet its so hard to accomplish all we have set out to do. Distraction come into the picture and find ourselves deviating from what we have set out to do. At times, I do find it frustrating but I guess it takes alot of perseverance and faith to have our dreams realised.

The passage of the day was taken from John 19:25-30. I decided to read the entire chapter just to know what it is all about. There were many thoughts that went through my mind at the point of reading it.

The law was mentioned. It seems that the law had been used by the people to fulfill His destiny on the Cross.

Pilate believed that Jesus was indeed the King of the Jews. It explains why he procrastinated with the public on Jesus cruxifition to a point that he could even make a decision of not letting Jesus to be crucified. Pressure from the public drove him to make a decision of crucifition yet he made it a point to uphold Jesus among the people who were against Him.

What is significance of Gabbatha (Stone Pavement) and Golgotha (place of the Skull). What is the relation between these two places?

The details of the prophecy to a point it describe the action being played out.

"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."
"They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing."

Jesus said, "I am thirsty."
A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips.

"Not one of his bones will be broken,"and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."
But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water

The preparation of Jesus burial was arranged by two man named Joseph of Arimathea (disciple who feared the Jews) and Nicodemus (a member of the Jewish ruling council, Pharisees). What is the significance of these two men with Jesus's burial?

Alot of revelation can be expounded from this passage. Its funny how I have begun to appreciate each verse the Bible have. Never have I appreciated it that much. I wonder why at the time have I begun to display an interest in the words that is spoken. Its not that I don't before but appreciating it which makes me wonder what it means.

Happy Deepavali

The festival of lights. The indian community in Malaysia will celebrate their most auspicious celebration of the year. Friends and family will throng the many open houses available where glorious food will be serve. Mutton curry, Chicken Curry, Putu Mayam, Tosei (my favourtie), Capati, Dhal and not forgetting the Muruku. In my deepest thought, I can think of the sweet coconut candy. Yummy!

As our nation goes on a long holiday considering that Hari Raya Aidilfitri will take place in a few days times, office if empty. Highways are jam. Small towns and kampungs will be flooded with people. On the other hand, its the same for me as I am required to work through this festive season so that I can get my break in Christmas and Chinese New Year. Yes, working in IT support does not allow one the luxury of enjoying your festive seasons but I am still able to live with it. Everytime I think of how nice it is to be like the rest to be able to enjoy holidays, I sit and think of those who do not have such luxuries for example security guards, police, soldiers, and promoter at supermarket. It just a holiday. I guess Malaysians are spoilt for choice considering the number of holidays we have. If you stay in states like Selangor, Negeri Sembilan or other states, these holidays amount the most. Some are holidays you don't really need a holiday. That is why I got use to working during holidays. At least I get a parking space in the basement and have the freedom of space and time to do what I cannot do during normal weekdays.

For those celebrating Deepavali, Happy Deepavali! As a token of greeting, checked out Petronas advert. There is also one on Hari Raya. Thanks to Youtube, I was able to scour the site for other Petronas Deepavali ad. Brings back good memories and how these advertisement have developed, thanks to Yasmin Admad flair in telling a story on diversity. Sit back and relax. The Hari Raya ads will preview in the coming post.

Petronas Deepavali Advert 1998 -2001
Petronas Deepavali Advert 2000
Petronas Deepavali Advert 2002



My favourite until this year's advert,

A Trip Down Kajang

What to do on Friday? A good question. Guess Fridays is the day in the week where most working individuals like myself look forward to.

The end of the hectic weekday, the beginning of restless weekend.

I decided to take a trip down Kajang. It has been quite some time since I had ventured to this rustic down known by many as the haven for Satay. I did miss eating Satay Kajang in K-town. The famous Haji Samuri Satay Kajang could now be found even other states as well. Though I wish I could got myself a few sticks of the succulent satay, it would be for another day. Join the Kajang lads, Don and Sanny for dinner at one of the local Chinese Restaurant. It was beginning to rain. The town was packed with people wanting to do their last minute shopping prior to Deepavali, the festival of light the following day.

Don then brought me around Kajang town to sight see. Though it was dark and there were hardly much one can see especially when it was raining, it open my eyes to another side of Kajang which I have not seen. Cluttered would be the word to describe. It used to be not as cluttered. Development had caused the town to shrink as building are errated all over the place. We stop at one of the supposedly famous "Sup Daging" stall. A good weather to be stopping for a bowl of soup. The cold trickling raindrops coupled with a steaming hot bowl of 'sup daging'. I've drank better soup before. Maybe it was due to the starchyness that is not up to my liking. All in all it was a good bowl of soup and an interesting conversation with Don. One of those moments when you can have a decent talk. A conversation that is not all the time about lame jokes and crap. A sharing of life, faith and deepest thoughts.

I truly enjoy one-to-one conversation. An oppurtunity to know someone better. Its quite a rare occasion to even have one considering our busy schedules. More to come, I hope.

Open Season

The machas were out again for another weekly meeting, this time with a movie. It was just the three of us; Don, Kelvin and myself as we made our way to Kota Damansara for a night with "Open Season", the new animated movie which we happened to catch on the date of the premierre as well. Both Kel and myself were left scavenging for food as we awaited the Don to arrive. My initial attempt to try Ikea Buka Puasa feast was unfortunately unsuccesful as it was full house and there was a long line eager to wait in queue for a taste of Swedish buka puasa. Come to think of it, RM15.90 for buffet dinner is quite a bargain which explain the crowd who were there. I had a sneak peak at people's plate, not all were licked clean giving me an impression that it was either they were full or the food was not up to satisfaction. Hard to say but I knew the cakes look extremely appertising. Well, maybe it could be that I was very hungry.

Both of us then ended up at one of the cafe between Ikea and Ikano named "Big Ben". The food was so-so considering I was pretty disappointed by the presentation of my half roast chicken which looks pathetic. Fortunately, it did not suck as it cost the same as the Ikea dinner. Kel had a mixed platter which look good. The ice kacang was quite worth the money considering of its size and could easily accomodate two people. Overall, not a recommended place to go to if there are other options available.

This would be my third animation of the year after "Over the Hedge" and "Cars". The three machas headed to Cinema 7 (which was sponsored by Nokia) to catch the movie. Trailers started to be show. Not easy to get us to be in the cinema hall early for trailer. We usually stroll into the cinema 10-15 minutes from entrance time. As we entered, we managed to catch a very interesting Japanese movie. Can't remember the name of the movie but it had to do with some superhero. Seems quite cool let alone I've not seen a Japanese movie in a cinema before. Have always wanted to watch one of those Jap or Korean movies which coincidently are mostly love stories. It would be weird to be calling the machas to watch Asian love stories where the ideal person to watch with would be a girl.

Anyway, Open season begun. The summary from IMDB,

"A grizzly bear named Boog (Martin Lawrence), domesticated by a park ranger, Beth, helps deer friend Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) escape from the mullet-sporting hunter, Shaw. When the animals escape to the forest the pair become lost just as hunting season begins, made worse by the fact Boog doesn't know how to survive outside of his beloved ranch. Elliott and Boog develop a strong bond not only between themselves but also with the wild animals and attempt to drive the hunters out of the forest."

It was quite a hilarious show considering that I laugh most of it. I soon began to compare the show with "Over the Hedge" considering that animals were involved. I still prefered "Over the Hedge". By far, its the best animation I've seen this year mainly because of the jokes that were involved which got me in stitches from the very beginning until the end of the show. Not many shows can do that to you but it did. As I was discussiing with Kelvin, it was indeed the character that was involve in the movie. Much better developed as compared to "Open Season" which saw many characters but some seem to be there but not stand out. I was histerical everytime when the porcupine decided to do his impromptu appearance in the movie.

"Buddy!" That line really caught me unaware and got my bursting into laughter. Simple yet its presence was felt. Its what one would call, "Keh Leh Feh" character. There were some scenes that reminded me of Narnia especially the attack of the forest animal and the hunter. Graphically it was quite good, quite relistic fur and water elements. Well, can't compare to "Mr Incredible" graphics which was outstanding. A good movie to watch just for the fun of it. Enjoy the trailer!

A Revelation in The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Dad mentioned about New Creation church as he came back from work. One of his collegue actually listen to the messages online. I remember attending this church when I was in Singapore. It was a culture shock for me. One is to see a pastor who was like a celebrity while another was see lines of people queueing up for church, something which is very uncommon in Malaysia. As we sat over the table for dinner while opening the online sermon messages which was available via video steaming. Technology nowadays allow us to spread the message in whatever form possible. If you are free, have a listen and I know that you be blessed as much as I have.

It was interesting to see a young and vibrant deliver a message, a message that we commonly hear and know of. The story about the five loaves and two fishes (Luke 6:1-13).

1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.
3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages[a] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."
13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

It was rather interesting as he expounded on each of the verses. Hearing these verses in depth brought a revelation that each statement made had a meaning, a powerful meaning when it is cross reference with other verses or the historical details of the Bible. One of the powerful teachings that caught my attention was verse 11, "Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish." As much as they wanted.

God blessing is continuous and every flowing. When He gives, there is no stopping. The stopping comes when we say that it is enough. God limit the flow of blessings when we say it is enough. Do we limit God? Yes, all the time because God never limits. That is why when when he blessed, they couldn't even stop it. In the end there was left with 12 busket. Why 12? Initially, I never realise the significance of the number. It could be that each busket was for the disciples who had helped during the feeding of the five thousands. Or it could be that could purposely left 12 busket as an indication that He always remember the Jews, the chosen people despite him leaving to minister to the Gentiles (verse 1). God's favour upon His chosen generation.

As much as the revelation I had received from listening to this one and half sermon messages, there were a couple of things that bothered me. The idea of commercialisation in the church especially those that have a huge amount of congregration. The likes of New Creation, City Harvest, Hillsongs. All spell out mega churches. Its amazing to see the growth they have gone through. However, its another side to see how commercial it has became. I sit and wonder sometimes is this all necessary. Pastors are put on pedestals where their name are publicise. Joseph Prince. Kong Hee. Brian Houston. Jesus?

I choose to believe that each church whether it be big or small are made for a purpose, to reach out to the various types of people group with different type of preferences on what church is like. However, at times I find it hard to comprehend the irony of living a humble life as compared to a life of popularity and fame. Is this the result of success? Are we able to project ourselves in a way that we had done this on our own strength. If not, shouldn't the glory or appreciation be extended to God himself and not our individual self. Pride may soon set in unnoticely. Its debatable. But debates are neverending unless we choose to stand on our grounds on certain aspects of church, a principle that would keep us on par with his teaching and not caused us to fall away into darkness.

Time

Time. 24 hours a day.

Each second, each minute, each hour.

It bounds our everyday life whether we like it or not.

Eight hours of sleep, Eight hours of work,
An hour for lunch, an hour for dinner, half hour each for either breakfast or tea.
Five hours left for either a trip to the cinema, hanging out with friends at the local mamak stall, surfing the Net, blogging, indulging in a hobby, lazying around or spending it all at work.

A day has gone by. A month seem to pass by. A quarter emerges. A year vanishes.

Time. We are all bound by it.

I try to find a time in life where our life are not bounded by time. It doesn't exist. Even being in God's house is bounded by time.

Punctuality. Being on time. Starting on time. Ending on time.
1/2 hour for praise and worship
45 minute for sermon.
People come, people leave.
The whole cycle repeats week in week out.
A ritual, a religious activity

I stop and think. Is time that important in life? It is. No doubt about it.

Without time, we will not be able to finish our work that we had plan for.
Without time, we will be late for our appointment or even an important interview.
Without time, we will just be wasted lazying around and thinking we have all the time in the world.

Though time is important, I do wish at times time should not be a measure for everything. Time can at times be a boundary for many of us. I for one do not like boundaries.

Boundaries is something I find a struggle with. Mainly a struggle to express myself. Maybe because a huge part of my life was bounded by boundaries.

Couldn't do this. Couldn't do that.

Without boundaries, I am myself.

I am comfortable doings things. I am comfortable giving ideas, strategising and planning. I am comfortable being me.

However, I must admit at times I need boundaries. Boundaries that would keep me from straying from being me. A balance in boundaries set upon ourselves in order to develop to become who we are, what we are meant to be.

Well, I guess I do wish that time does not exist. Not for time to stop but the absence of time. What would it be? I don't know. Just imagining how chaotic it maybe without time.

Wow! How they do that?

How to start a company without much modal?

I have always thought that starting a company requires a huge modal. The need to save a lump some of cash or get a loan from the bank to start a business. I believe that the conventional way of starting a business. However, I was surprised when I was told how one person manage to start up a production company with just a rented office, two PC and a couple of tables and chairs. This production manage to break even within the year and have not grown to become the only private production company that is capable of producing a life show. These show are not your normal shows but shows that is seen by the thousands of Malaysians. One would imagine the workforce behind this production company that is able to produce series and shows on TV. However, you be shock to know that it only takes 11 people to produce all of these show. The dirty dozen as some may call them.

How do they do that?

One leg kick, as the Chinese describe. Able to do almost everything in production. Filming, Conty, Editing, Scripting, Producing. Everything you can think of in production anyone of the eleven is able to fill in. It seems like huge task. No specialisation. But I understand what they means. Its not only in production only. Its even in IT as well. The ability to know everything.

It was a rather amazing conversation to know that it takes more than money to start a business. What is needed is ideas and passion for the industry in order to build a succesful business. It does give encouragement to aspiring entrepreneur. Interesting!

The Devil Wears Prada

This is no chick flick. Yes, not a chick flick.

Looks can be deceiving. Heard of good reviews from this show and when the call came to watch it, I gladly took the oppurtunity. It was from a group of friends I knew but were not that close with. An oppurtunity to watched with a different group of people namely Esther, Joshua, Kae Ee, Michelle and Jason. Off we met at Summit, a place I used to go for my movies which I had now progress to either GSC 1U or Cathay Cineplex.

Fashion was the outer clothing for this show. A fresh grad looking to start her career as a reporter ends up in a famous fashion magazine company. To be the assistant of the self absorb, demanding and fashion sensitive editor. Without any sense of fashion or knowledge of what the fashion world is all about, she was roped in mainly to prove if a smart fat girl could peform in the ever demanding fashion world. It was rather challenging to adapt to the demands of the editor but her perseverance soon paid out as she was able to not only perform but also transform herself into a fashion accentric girl. As demands increases, her personal life soon faded away. Life was more about work than about being herself. The change was so fast that she did not even realise who she had become. Her relationship with her boyfriend and friends began to be affected. It was difficult. But the temptation were great. Meeting with various editor of various magazine and publishing was something hard to say no to. It would be a pathway to accomplishing her dream job.

Realisation soon set in that life is more than achieving one's dream or goal in life. Was it worth giving up who she really was? Not if it was going to affect everything that had come to love and cherish; family and friends.

I could still recall watching Princess Diaries when I saw one of the most beautiful actress I have seen in ages. The purity that personifies through her acting caught my attention. Not forgetting her great features whereby the width of her mouth could be liken to Julia Roberts. It was sad to hear that she had gone to reveal more than she should in her recent movies which distorted her purity which everyone had come to appreciate. I saw that purity and innocence once again in this movie. Anne Hathaway did a great job portraying a naive and ignorant fresh grad who soon became a fashion icon herself. Merryl Streep who played the boss was outstanding. Her grey hair reminded me abit of Glenn Close in 101 Dalmation. Besides these actresses, it was the clothes from famous designers like James Holt, Dolce & Gabbana, Lagerfield and the whole lot of designers that adorn Anne Hathaway that was simply the Wow factor of the show. Boy, she was HAWT!

Choices was inner message that the movie tried to portray. In every circumstance that we are in, choices are needed to be made. Even at times when you think that we do not have a choice, we actually do. It is up to us to stand up and make those choices. At times, it is hard. Temptation is great especially when it comes to achieving our personal goal. A measure that can be taken to see if our decision are rightly made is the effect it has with people around us. At times, it is better to forget about our dreams because people are more important.

"What good is it if a man gain the whole world, yet looses his soul." Do not loose yourself. Enjoy the trailer.

Home Alone

Alone. No one around. Parents and sis were in KL. I had return home because I was scheduled to play. It was quiet. I didn't feel like going out. Lazy. Just wanted to be a slob. Sat in front of the TV and channel surf.

In my idleness............................................................

Some were good, some were not.
Felt a sense of loneliness.
Wish I had someone to talk to.
To share my thoughts, to be heard.
I began to recall a friend whom I used to talk to. We could talk about anything under sun.
It felt good.
I lost that friend as time past.
It was difficult at first. I soon began to get used to it.
I missed those times.
Now, much of my thought are kept within. At times, some may hear of it. Much is still within.
I am still waiting for such a friend.
A friend I could talk to.
A simple request, a difficult respond.

Career have started.
A year or so have passed.
I enjoy working.
No exams. No studying.
Perfect for someone like me.
At times it gets hectic, at times it just plain sailiing.
Love to contribute. Love to initiate.
Despite the tight deadlines and the urgency of certain issues, I like it.
Something different instead of the mundane routine of work.
Answering calls, Attending to emails, Logging tickets.
Working with various people.
A challenge.
Where do I go from here? Do I stay? Do I move on?
Alot to think about. I wonder if this is neccessary.
Constantly reminded to live by the day.
How can I if I do not plan?

One of the fear that human have is inability to control a situation.
Unable to plan. Unable to see where the future is heading. Unable to do anything.
Handicapped.
Trust God?
Hard to follow especially when you would need to leave everything and Let God.
No control.
Uncertainty.
What do the future holds?
Where are we going?
Outsourcing?
SAP? Leadership? Management? Business? Passion?

Am I falling way?
Serve in church but not active.
Do not attend CG, Do not attend Young Adult
Undecided over Drama Ministry
Commitment. Can I?
Feeling neglected. Feeling out of place.
Am I not comfortable? Am I just avoiding because of pride?
Who can I be accountable to?
Distant.

Feeling dejected.
No respond. Silence.
Is there something wrong with me?
I feel. I think. I'm scared to tell.
Scared of rejection
I don't want to regret.
Trying to care. Trying to be a friend. Trying to give encouragement.
I see potential.
I don't know why but I know.
I struggle. Tried to erase it yet the thought still looms.
I dreamt.
Is it the coming of age? Is it time? When is the right time?
Shall I pray? Shall I fast?
I want to share the joy. To share.
To learn to be a better person. To complement. To support. To grow up.

Family.
Love them.
Yet I struggle.
A hedge of protection. Protective.
Still treated as a kid.
When can I be treated seriously despite the playful side of me?
Should I change to being serious to be taken seriously?
Am I a joke or just a good boy?
I want to take control of my life. To do things I would like to do.
Life is short. My dreams are big. How can I fulfill it?
Am I selfish to think of doing my own things?
Independance.
Can I be trusted? Can you let me go?
Am I mixing with a bad company?
Have I change?
I just need some encouragement.
I cry. The sensitive part of me.

TV. Media. Advertisement. Entertainment. Popularity.
Being in the spotlight.
Shooting a film. Getting involve in theatre. Having my own event company.
How do I get there? When is the right time?
Should I follow my heart? Should I remain where I am?
I wanna be creative. It is through creativity that I find myself.
To be able to innovate. To exchange ideas. To visualise.
Pictures is what I see. Words I hope to read.

Open. Transparent. Good.
Lost at times.
I need You. Can I overcome it? How? When?
Purity. Holiness. Habit.
I think too much. Life is simple with direction.

.............................A rambling of my thoughts.Blah!

Shake & Bake

Excellant reviews. I had to see it.

It was a night out with the machas. Mat was back and we were off to our favourite hangout venue, 1 Utama. Dinner was planned prior to the movie. In the end, it was myself, Terry and Kelvin who were game for dinner. After much consideration, we decided to head to TGI Fridays for some spoilings. Rm39.90. A set dinner of a main course, starters and dessert. Quite a decent price for a meal. We decided to go with our main course but choose a different starters and dessert from the menu so that we could have a taste of everything. Food was alright. Nothing really that outstanding that would caused me to come back for more. Service on the other hand was horrible. It took some time for a waiter to get our orders, have our dessert arrived considering we were catching time and calling for the bill that took ages to come. Not a pleasant experience but couldn't care less as we were rushing for our movie, as usual.

Taladega Nights? I finally manage to say it out after having some problem just pronouncing that name. Talalageda lah, Talalaladegala lah. Aiyo! Even Mat's uncle thought it was a Tamil movie.

It was quite an interesting movie. There were a couple of good laughter while there were some they didn't really tickle me that much. Being an American movie, the jokes at times missed the mark. It was hard to laugh and enjoy the movie thoroughly, thanks to the not so enthusiastic crowd that created a not so condusive enviroment of laughter. For me, it was an alright movie but the other machas really enjoyed themselves. We were like the only group of people laughing our heads off while there were a few giggles going around in the hall. It did felt strange and stupid but we that didn't deter us from laughing.

Will Farrel can really be a joke with a straight face. Its rather confusing, whether to laugh or to be serious. I didn't recognise Ali G. Though that he was the guy with ski cap, dark glasses and a moustache. He apparently was thin, clean shaven and could see he had hair on his head. His supposedly French accent was simply a laughing stock.

Comedies a great fun to watch especially when you be watching serious movies for quite some time. I do like comedies, if the jokes is funny. However, I still prefer dramas and movies that have a story behind it. Feels its worth the money I pay for a ticket. Maybe I'm the type that prefer movie with substance, a message that can be conveyed that can either encourage the audience or spur a thought or two. Well, thats my preference but don't let my comments deter you because like they say "A good movie is in the eye of the audience that watches it". Forget about reviews, a movie is good if you like it.

Here's a a sneak preview of the movie. Enjoy!

Walk His Trail

The footstool players. A familiar drama team among the Christian community in Malaysia. I remembered watching their last performance "Let Go, Let God" at SIBKL about two years ago. I had heard that they had previously past through Seremban and hearing of another oppurtunity, I could not afford to miss it. I made my way to Full Gospel Tabernacle, Seremban with sis, Don and meeting Terry there later. There were not many people during the play, I believe about half of the place was full. I guess many had church activities and would not be able to attend. Publicity was not entirely extended to all churches which could be a reason many did not know that they were giving a presentation. I on the other hand could not wait for the show to start.

The drama told of a story of five missionaries who had the desire to reach out the ingenious people, Auca in Ecuodor. This tribe stayed in the inner most part of the jungle and were hard to come by. Many say that they were nurtorious in nature which describe their name, savages. It was amazing how five brave men trusted in God for the Word to be reached to these group of people not knowing that their live will be taken from them, leaving behind their wife and kids.

It was a very sad tale as the drama foretold the story adapted from the journals of these men. The images and clips providing a glimpse to the actual event help to bring the audience back into time to witness the story of these young men. A first for the Footstool players to venture into media. It was not overdone yet it maintain the live drama side of it. I was very much impressed by the narrator played by Dorothy Lee who told the story as Elisabeth Elliot, the wife of one of the missionaries. Her eloquency and voice projection caught my attention. I soon found out that she had graduate from Speech Therapy which clearly explains her perfect narration. Much of the scene were simple. Props were minimal. Many new actors and actresses from various churches seem to breathe new blood to these drama group. I am still impressed how they have grown from a ministry to an inter-denominational drama group. I applaud your effort.

Going back to the drama, it seems like a lost for the five men who died. But their death birth about a revival. The tribe whom they had tried to reach and who killed them began to accept Christ. Their name had been change from Auca to Waodani which meant "people". They had grown and even venture to neighbouring villages to reach out. Some had even died for that cause. The men who had murdered the missionaries were now leaders of the Christian group in the tribe. What touch my heart was forgiveness. The son of Nate Saint, Steve was baptised by the murderer of their father. He even called them"father" and "granfather". How could they forgive the man that had murdered their father? The only answer would be God's love. A love that know no boundaries. I was touched.

Can I have that much courage to reach out knowing that I would die for my effort? Am I strong to forgive my enemy who had done me wrong? There is much to learn and I can only pray for His guidance.

I bought some materials which were available. For those who know me well, I am no reader. Books that I have are either left unread or half read. However, I wanted to read about their experience and how they had deal with the circumstances that had befallen them. Its a start and I hope to start reading more.

If want to catch them, here are the venues of their new performance;

Sat 7 & Sun 8 October 2006

Full Gospel Tabernacle, Subang Jaya Wisma Eagles, 5 Jalan TP4, Taman Perindustrian UEP, Subang Jaya

Sat 14 & Sun 15 October 2006

Wesley Methodist Church, Klang 4 Jalan Bukit Jawa, Klang

Sat 28 & Sun 29 October 2006

Canning Garden Methodist Church, Ipoh 23 Jalan Keliling, Canning Garden, Ipoh

Sat 4 & Sun 5 November 2006

The Life Chapel, Petaling Jaya9 Jalan 17/21E, Petaling Jaya

For more info on the performance, do check out Footstool Players

For more info on the story, please check out the following links;

http://www.hcjb.org/about_us/history/the_missionary_martyrs.html

http://www.plymouthbrethen.org/page.php?page_id=545

http://www.atanycost.org/DidTheyHaveToDie.htm

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/001/30.38.html

http://www.laza.org/eng/strength.htm

http://www2.ups.edu/arches/2004Fall/featureMysteriousWays.html

Pasar Ramadan

It's been almost a week since Ramadan had started. Our fellows Muslim friends go into a month of fasting. As dusk come, people congregrate at their respective homes to break fast and pray a thanks to God for sustaining them through the day. Food are applenty during this time of the month and pasar ramadan are set up almost everywhere. Thanks to Don igenious suggestion, my sis and I jump on the bandwagon to pay a visit to Ampangan for a taste.

And a taste we got as we went through the row of stalls line up under the shade to see which was the best looking stall that would satisfy our tastebuds. It was like we were on a fast as well as we jostle among the crowd that were there to buy food back to break fast. Everything was nice and we grab a few Malay delicacies that can only be available during this ramadan. What was even more surprising as to how food was sold off so very quickly. Thinking of coming back to the stall after going through every stall was a bad idea as by the time we came back, it was time to close shop and head back home. I was suprised how people respond to food. Buy, Buy them ALL! Such a good business that I don't even mind setting a stall myself.

Happening Uncle

Got a sudden call from my parents for a meeting with an uncle from US, a friend of my grandfather. Quite an impromptu meetup. Another dimsum session.

We met at Min San for our brunch session. The uncle in a Las Vegas cap greeted us. Dad and mum were up at grandpa's house listening to his stories till 2am. Quite impressive I must say considering my parents would have already head the sack by then.

I had no knowledge that he was actually older than my grandpa. 82 years old. Looks can be deceiving. Clearity of mind. Younger in person. It was amazing to see such a young old man. 28 is what he feels like. He actually had a heart for my grandpa to come and find him by taking a KTM to Seremban. They had been friends since 10. Came along way from being friends to distant relative of ours. Climbing coconut trees, lastik and fishing were some of their memories back then.

One of the other things that I was pretty impressed is that he travels frequently at an age that many of us would not even dare to venture out of our own garden. He would be going to Cambodia in a few weeks time, alone. Imagine an 82 year old man walking up Angkor Wat. Man, I really wish I had that energy at that age. It would be really cool to be able to do all of that and not sit at home and watch Wah LonToi.

Firefighting

Its been quite a tense week. An atmosphere I kinda like considering the challenges that comes with it and also it break the normality of work. I always like things to be different. Variety. That is why I find diversity, a trade you find in Malaysia interesting to me.

Its been a week since I had been assigned to join the Profile and Security team. I can say that I volunteer to be apart of this team considering the need of starting one. For me I know that complaining about something which does not work, does not help anyone at all unless you step up to the plate and try to do something to rectify that problem.

This idea was suggested during my last GPA. However, it never materialise until an issue require it to be set up. Its ironic at times how ideas are only actioned when something happens. We had failed an audit check prior to third quarter signoff. A hoohaa was created. We were got into a room to discuss on an issue that had brought about the failure. This was followed by another meeting to come up with strategies in dealing with it.

One of the interesting I had taken notice is how three managers went about dealing with it. There was one who was explaining the complexity of the issue and trying to get feedback on how to deal with it, another was defending the process that we had in place and how it was difficult to achieve perfection while another took notes and tried to see the route cause of the issue. I asked myself who am I in the eyes of those three leaders. I guess it would be the latter as I would sit and hear what others have to say before bringing up my points.

I feel at times things are done in a rash. Many times wanting a quick solution but not planning on achieving a suitable process that would bring about less implication in future. Everything seem to NOW.

We need a solution NOW.
We need to change something NOW.
We got to start doing something NOW.

Plans are left aside and at the end of the day, we are just dousing a flame not putting in place a rescue effort in tackling a wildfire in fire. It just amazes me at times how different leader have different way of working. There is no one correct method. Many of times its just preference we choose in order to get the job done which would work best for us. There is more to learn about leadership. I am beginning to with all the web based training I had enrolled in. Pretty interesting.

Eyes Wide Shut

Marriage. A convenant we keep until the very day we die. A commitment towards a person we have come to love.

I like their company. Very open kinda guys who would be able to carry any conversation. Like any typical machas. Despite the difference in age, I feel very comfortable like they were peers. They were married. Have a family.

I felt rather uncomfortable when they were checking out other woman. Commenting of woman who came in and out of the chap fan shop in a rather crude manner. It felt funny.

I knew they were married.
I thought they will keep their eyes only for their wife.
I expected them to move on with life with a new perspective in life.

Men. A ravaging beast seeking to devour the next victim. At that point of time, I felt like a woman. How to have eyes run all over you. It would indeed be a rather uncomfortable feeling. Felt like the movie "100 girls" when the guys became a woman for a week and felt how it was to be a woman. It is sick but thats men. A lustful beast.

Although it felt uncomfortable, I knew at least I would not take that path. I promise that I would keep my eyes only to the one I had come to love, the one I would start a relationship and hopefully progress to spend my entire life with her. It is not easy being a men with lustful desires but I believe if we try hard enough and seek His help, we can go through life loving the one we love truly in heart, soul and mind. I have yet to find her but I know she is out there. True love waits and I hope when I do meet her, I can have the courage to tell her my true feelings. An area I need His help.

To those who are in a relationship or married, love her with all your heart and let not your eyes wander. Deception are always pretty, it gets ugly when it starts to eat you from the inside and destroy what love is. I am writing this hoping to remind myself then even before I meet her, I can keep my eyes for her.

A Short Laugh

Brought back great memories. This was a reminiscene of life in MMU Hostel. Just to give you an idea where I spend four years of my life at in uni. Quite a good shot considering this were made by 1st year students. Enjoy!

Goodbye Boys

I wanted to watch. I couldn't find tickets to go. I guess I would have to buy the VCD or wait for its premierre on local cinema next year. It was a movie I was looking forward to considering my liking towards Bernard Chauly direction. A fan of Gol & Gincu. Saw him last night at OIAM. What will it be? What will the similarity and difference be? I can only wait and see. A sneak preview...



Another note, I read in the newspaper that there a couple of movies coming out either this year or the next from.

Susuk
Cinta
The Red Kebaya

Cool Malaysian Movie Links;

Filem Malaysia
Monsoon Pictures
Doghouse73Pictures
Red Communication
Redfilm
Metrowealth Movies Production

What A Day!

An eventful day it has been. Had no idea that I would be able to do all that I had planned out to do. It was indeed a happening day for me. Here are details of my happening adventure.

BMW Art Showcase

I headed down to the city. It was the time for prayers as many congregated at the nearest mosque for the Friday prayers. I was hoping to get myself a space at the RM5 per entry parking near to the KLCC park. However, I believe my timing was not that good and I had to proceed to the KLCC carpark, which I had tried to avoid. Why? Go figure.

After waiting for my sis from Malacca and having a quick lunch at the foodcourt, we headed down to the gallery. I had initially thought that the place would be adjacent to the Petrosains due to my recollection of my last visit there. However, I found out that it was on the 3rd floor instead. Upon filling out our details and storing our stuff at the available lockers, we proceeded into the exhibition area. I guess my expectation were higher than expected. There were only 4 out of the 15 cars on display. A small exhibition considering that the remaining cars are travelling around the world. Malaysia is the first stop for this exhibition. I wonder why Malaysia. It seems that our facilities are of world class standard considering the space (though I though it could have been bigger) and the temperature control of the area.

The exhibits on display were 1976 BMW 3.0 CSL by Frank Stella, 1977 BMW 320i by Roy Lichtenstein, 1979 BMW M1 by Andy Warhol and 1989 BMW M3 by Ken Done. Out of the four exhibit, the works by Frank Stella was the best for me as the artwork was very detailed although it was just black and white. I guess it was an advantage since it was the first car I saw in the exhibition. The other cars were displayed in pictures. Out of the picture I saw, I was particularly impressed with (check BMW). Maybe it was due to the detail I admire in an artwork and I have always like aborignal arts because of their colour and detail. It was a relatively small exhibition by contrast to the publicity I received. The videos were quite impressive considering it showed the artist vision and steps in transforming that vision on the car.

It was a great combination of art and technology. A marriage between both that was conceived by BMW. Even as we speak, the 16th car is being work on by an Icelandic artist. For more details on the exhibition and the artwork, please visit BMW Malaysia site.

6th HOMEDEC 2006

Upon learning that another exhibition was nearby, I made my way to the KL Convention Centre for HOMEDEC, a local home deco exhibition. I remember attending one in Mid Valley early this year and was impressed by the many products on display. There were many vendors and exhibitor displaying their products that range from home appliances to home deco. This would be an exhbition for interio design enthusiast or home owners who are curious to find what other things that could add to their home.

One of the things that caught my eye which I did not take a pic of was a fan. Yes, a fan. It was not any other fan. It was a fan with projector in it which would display a movie image while the fan was spinning. It was simply an amazing invention for me considering the many water fans we see everywhere at Starbucks or even at the petrol kiosk. Another medium of advertising that media buyers could consider.

Here are some pics of my visit to Homedec.

One in A Million

Off I went to PWTC where everything seem to be happening over here. Matta fair lah, Property fair lah, Fotokem fair lah, One in a million lah. I guess it could be the cheaper rental rates that had everyone in one place. I had initially wanted to go and take a peek at Matta fair. But without any destination in mind, guess I did not bother to venture in.

However, I made my way into the Fotokem fair where I checked out the Olympus mju 725SW, Nikon SLR, Canon Powershot S3 IS and Canon EOS 400D. I was pretty impressed with the Canon model especially the Powershot that enable picture taking while on video mode.

After grabbing a quick bite, we headed down to the line of people queuing up to get into the venue. Too bad we were not able to catch the red carpet that was a floor below us as we were hoping to get some good seats. Thanks to my sis and Sean who works at 8tv that I was able to bring along some friends as well. We sat at the right side of the stage. As people began to move into the hall, I was quick to notice many local celebrities coming in. There was a row of people from "Gol and Gincu" and "Realiti". There was even a row of people from Fly FM. Marion was simply gorgeous in what I pressume a Tom Abang Saufi dress. Various other celebrities were all in the hall as well. If you are not into local acts, these people may remain unknown to many of us. It was great to see people you watch on tv just sitted near you.

The show started of with contestant from the top 12 giving their individual performances. The top 3 finalist mainly Suki, Faizal and Alif came on stage to perform a group presentation followed by individual performances. The highlight of the night would be Faizal as he blew us all away with a medley of "We Will Rock You", "L.O.V.E" and "I Don't Wanna Be". There were the best songs he had presented thoughout the competition and what better to combine them all in one performance. It was spectacular and had many in their seats stand up for a standing ovation.

However, popularity and sms votes may not be enough to justify Faizal great performance. He had the lowest votes but manage to succumbt to second place after his impressive peformance got everyone getting out their mobile to vote him in. In the end, it was the Seremban lass who beat the odds of securing one million ringgit. Imagine being 16 years old and becoming a millionaire. She even havent sat for her SPM yet. However, it was a trill to see one of your favourite made it through. I was utterly impressed by her rendition of "Gemilang" during auditions, her explosive comeback after not making it to the Top 10 and her constant number of votes that made her the top on most weeks. It was achievement that lauded great praise. I wish her all the best in her music endeavour and her dream to teach children.

As for Faizal, I may consider buying your album because of the experience you left us that night. It totally blew me away.

The Banquet

Perfect. It was a movie that I could not comprehend the details that was involved in making the movie. Some say its a Chinese interpretation of Hamlet. A Shakespearean story which I have yet to read or hear about. It was simply beautiful. The videography was outstanding. The detail in the camera angle and camera skill. One of my machas notice the opening scene whereby the empress walk into a hallway. If you notice that the focus of the camera is not only on the object which is the empress walking but also the background as well. There would always be a focus when taking a shot. However, the focus seem to be focus on both. Our assumption would be there were two camera shooting the same scene in order to give that 3D perspective to it or the graphic was really good.

I was impressed with the set and also the colour involve that brought to the audience a relialistic rendition of what is believe to be Shakespeare with a local touch considering Empress Dowager did exist. Scenes are not overmade that would give the audience a sense of fakeness. It was simply breathtaking to see the sword play which did not seem to be martial arts but a dance instead. It is simply not easy to get such a perfect shot unless this is taken on countless takes.

The story was also tight with poetic sentences providing a deep meaning to what was being said. The lines were not many but when spoken, brought about such deep philosophy. This is coming from a person who knows no Mandarin but was reading subtitles. The subtitle was spot on. Even my Chinese speaking friend was reading the subtitle as the Mandarin that were used were old Mandarin that at times may be hard to comprehend considering the poetic lingua to it.

I could say that this has to be one of my most perfect movie this year. Some may say that Hero is better. I do admit the swordplay in Hero is far more better but to watch an allrounded movie is rare whereby each detail of the movie is displayed so well that I was dumbfounded. Note that this is coming from a person with no expectation whatsoever of the movie and I believe this is the best attitude in watching any movie. Money worth I can say. If you're free, catch the movie. If you feel the same as I did, leave me a comment to justify that my taste in movies ain't that bad. Some eye candy trailers to get you started.

S.O.A.P (Snakes On A Plane)

The movie macha had an itch to watch a movie. The past few weeks have been a dread for us since there were no interesting movies shown considering our usual weekly movie nightout. It was soon decided we be watching "Snakes on a Plane". A corny show with a corny title. Fortunately watching the movie machas had made the show more lively with the intermission laughted accompanying the show. It was relatively good movie. Forget about the story line because as the title suggest, its just snakes on the plane. I mean, snakes were everywhere and to see an anaconda breaking the bones of a passenger and swallowing him full simply brought back memories of "Anaconda". Checkout the snippet to the movie and the corny music video at the end of the movie. A spoiler I must remind you for those planning to watch the movie.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE (STORY TELLING)

How often do you get a chance of watching a theatre about the gospel in a Malaysian theatre? This would be a first.

I had thoughts of watching this play. It reminded me of the play that I had watched previously at Acts church where David Sambora did a one man theatre show of King David. When the oppurtunity came to watch it at Actors Studio Bangsar at a discounted rate (RM18.50 instead of RM37), I could not resist the invite. Together with Terry, we went on a journey to the past as Bruce Kuhn recited the story in the Gospel of Luke in the King James Version. Impressive to be able to do that alone with the King James version. Imagine doing a solo theatre performance of Shakespeare in the Old English.

The story that was foretold were not entirely from the book of Luke. Not all the stories that were mentioned were told in this one and half hour play. In order to do that, it would be more time consuming and I believe that not everyone sitted in the hall are able to go through it. Everything about the play was simple. Minimal props of just a bench and a half body column was all there was on the stage. Light ended to the effect of the play as the colours depicted different scenarios in the play. The characters in the book of Luke was differentiated by the varied intonation of voice. The intensity of the play was further enhance by the varied speech technique going from an accelerated pace to give a more tense moment to a suttle soft voice that depicted peace.

Overall the show was good though at times I do admit my thoughts were strayed away. It didnt capture my attention to the fullest which I believe is due to the fact that it was not as entertaining. One of the audience even commented that he almost slept due to a tiring day at work. However, it was rather interesting to note that there was Q&A session after the show where curious audience asked various question about the show.

It was nice to be back at Actors Studio. The feeling of being near to the stage where the actors presented their story is simply amazing. I wish at times I was on the stage but that time have yet to come to past.

A Short Brainstorm

Movies. A subject that I am especially interested in. It was one of resolution to come up with a short this year. A short that I hope to enter into the Malaysian Video Awards. Almost end of the year and I hope I am able to achieve it. A group of my machas namely Terry and Don decided to head down to one of the famous Sri Petaling dim sum join to brainstorm. I wanted to start somewhere and hopefully we could get some inspiration by just sharing our ideas over some delicious dimsum. Food can always be a good "mangkin" in getting those thoughts out. It was quite interesting to hear each of our ideas being brought forth. Some may appear twisted, others may sound corny. I was looking for that Malaysian touch. A subject I intend to incorporate if I have a chance to make one. Hope by this small brainstorming session that we could start somewhere, probably shoot some stilts that would incorporate a powerful message that would appeal or be relevant to the local community.

I am always a believer that media plays the most important role in sending out a message. Whether its a full length two hours movie or a short 15 minutes caption, the message must go through. I wonder what that would be.

Pileup

This was the scene of the accident along KL-Seremban Highway, a pileup of 20 vehicles. I only managed to document the remaining part of the jam and accident debris since there was not much I could do in the 2 hours jam which would normally take me around 45 minutes to get back. Well, accident happens. Be careful on the road.