KIVA HAN

Let me introduce you to my favorite spot....Kiva Han


Kiva is what you need after a days worth of battling on the school grounds doing programming and decision analysis and simply facing your boring TA spill out more information on quadratic regressions than you wanted to know. It's spring break and road trips spell fatigue to me. The best way to spend break is to laze around and do nothing. 'Cos believe me you can't ever do nothing during school. Yesterday i spent most my day on campus and at Kiva with plenty of reading material (albeit depressing stuff) at hand and my trusty sketchbook. I had the whole top floor to myself and it was heaven.

I was armed to the teeth with news on the war yesterday I had to take a breather a couple of times to let it all sink in. Thank god for PC Magazine. Aaah....what some binded pieces of paper can do to quench a girl's fetish for electronic goods. You may call me a hardcore technophile. I drool over the latest technology like a boy over a Playboy magazine cover. If only money dropped from the sky as often as EGBU-27s over Baghdad...

The March to War


Click here for larger and more images of my day at kiva

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!!

aaah....can you hear that? birds chirping, people frolicking on the grass, wind blowing....oh and that would be my roomie talking in her sleep again :p
anyway, yesterday was so nice. the nicest day in march to date. i spent the whole day outside lying on my back reading, snapping pictures and sketching; something i haven't been doing much as of late.

Around 6pm i headed to The Climbing Wall and had an hour and a half of muscle-tense fun. i never knew one could use so much energy on the forearms before. i succeeded in climbing to the very top on my first try (yay me!) of belaying.

Note to self: do not go wall climbing with boots.

However when it was my turn to belay, i got jerked up a foot in the air when the 183 pound climber fell. lucky i was anchored securely. if not, that would've been an interesting sight. i got pinched and managed minor rope burns on my pinky too, but it was all worth it. i'll definitely be going again soon!

I'm so happy it's Spring Break. i promised myself i'd be doing some reviewing but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. It's such a pity though that in such nice weather newsstands are stacked with news on the war. let's not go there today.

Anyway, take a peek at Spring in CMU here!!!

4 A.M. BLUES

Ramen noodles at 4 in the morning is not a good idea.

Neither is doing decision analysis simulations on queing problems.

... i need a hug :(

T40

everybody....
say hello to my new friend...
...the new T40.

THE PENTIUM DILEMMA

The advancement in processors have a big effect on my life. IBM's newly released T40 is the first of its kind - running on Pentium-M. And just 20 hours after it's release, it has been the very bane of my existence.

---

[01:17] yazmin: would you get the T40 or the T30?
[01:17] yazmin: if u were buying a laptop
[01:17] yazmin: need opinion
[01:17] yuenlin: uh....
[01:17] yuenlin: i dunno much about the t40
[01:17] yuenlin: heard its cool
[01:17] yazmin: heheh
[01:17] yuenlin: generally i'd buy an ibm laptop
[01:17] yuenlin: and no other brand :P

---

To begin with, I'm a very picky shopper and would normally take months to research on the specific subject before deciding to purchase it. After growing up with the belief that speed is everything, it's pretty devastating to learn that performance means a lot more than just clock speed. I need somebody to convince me that it is actually true a 1.6GHz laptop running on a Pent-M outperforms a 2.4 Desktop running on Pent 4-M

---

[00:00] yazmin: i don really see the upperhand except for it has better battery life and is lighter
[00:01] yazmin: and yeah better graphics card
[00:01] Izan: thinner also i think...1 inch
[00:01] Izan: but in the end, it's your money and whether u think those things are worth the extra 100 bucks
[00:01] yazmin: but i don see what the point is if its slower
[00:02] Izan: it's actually not slower
[00:02] yazmin: wait for extra 100 i get what the t30 has to offer plus a smaller and lighter laptop?
[00:02] Izan: it's internal pipe cache is larger, 1meg vs pentium 4m's 512kb
[00:02] Izan: so means it can process more things at once
[00:02] yazmin: ok
[00:03] Izan: thus the 1.5 is on par with something between pent 4 2.0 and 2.2
[00:03] Izan: the 1.6 actually beat a pent 4 2.4 desktop in alot of apps
[00:03] yazmin: oh?
[00:04] yazmin: and for the t30 this isnt true?
[00:04] Izan: t30 uses the pent 4 m, which is basically a pent 4 with stepscale tech
[00:04] Izan: http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.html?i=1801&p=15
[00:06] yazmin: ok
[00:06] yazmin: so it'll be worth buying over the 2.2 T30?
[00:10] Izan: optimum config for 2.2 t30 is 2219 with 128meg ram
optimum for t40 is 2399
advantage... better ram, lighter, thinner, better battery life, worth 180 bucks to you?

---

I have bombarded Izan with multiple questions and by tomorrow morning I'm pretty sure he'll be handing himself to the psychiatric ward in glee. But a laptop is not something you buy often, so I guess questions are essential. Plus a large lump of money is involved.

---

[00:27] yazmin: ok
[00:27] yazmin: wait from what i understand
[00:27] yazmin: the 1.6 outperforms the 2.2 desktop
[00:27] yazmin: but this doesnt mean its faster
[00:27] Izan: 2.4 desktop
[00:28] yazmin: just that performance better la
[00:28] Izan: lesseee now how do i phrase this
[00:28] yazmin: heheh
[00:28] yazmin: give u a tough time
[00:28] Izan: the 2.4 counts faster, but it's slow to use its data
[00:28] Izan: the 1.6 counts slower, but gets data out the door faster
[00:29] yazmin: counts faster?
[00:29] yazmin: eh?
[00:29] Izan: process things faster
[00:30] yazmin: ok
[00:31] yazmin: apa diff process and gets data faster?
[00:32] Izan: ok, say at a giant eagle ada dua check out lines
[00:32] Izan: each check out line ada cashier and bagger
[00:32] yazmin: oo metaphors
[00:32] yazmin: ok
[00:33] Izan: so say line a has a person that enters the price really fast, finishes in like 5 mins, but the bagger is slow and bags everything in 10 mins
[00:34] yazmin: k
[00:34] Izan: and the other chekout line has the cashier entering price slower, say at 8 mins, but bagger does things fast, finishes in 5 mins
[00:34] Izan: ok, the cashier is the main processing part of a cpu and the bagger is the pipeline
[00:34] yazmin: pipeline?
[00:34] yazmin: ok
[00:35] Izan: everything thats related to moving data in and out of cpu
[00:35] yazmin: like burning cds?
[00:36] Izan: thats a different bandwidth, or can say pipeline, but ppl dont say pipeline for things outside cpus
[00:36] Izan: that's restricted by the cd drive's speed
[00:37] Izan: and hard drive transfer rate is determined by it's speed and type of interface, ata33 ata66 ata100 ata133, and type of configuration, parallel, serial, raid, alot of things determine how a whole computer performs
[00:41] yazmin: lalaaalalalal
[00:41] yazmin: ok
[00:41] yazmin: so wait
[00:42] yazmin: kiranye overall this is good?
[00:42] Izan: ya
[00:42] yazmin: from ur metaphor i understand la bagus
[00:43] yazmin: but i don really get the part abt "everything thats related to moving data in and out of cpu"

---

I'm pretty set on getting the T40 now. But somehow there's still some uncertainty on my part. Mainly due to the fact I'm a sucker for faster machines. I just wish my daddy was the guy who owns IBM, then I'd have him make one tailored for me.

And yeah, you can conclude from my chat-log that I am that dense.

SMACKDOWN, ANYONE?

AN INSOMNIAC'S CURE

I'm pretty sure I have insomnia. I've never really been able to function properly during the day, but come nighttime, my brain finally thaws and starts to work (albeit at an extremely slow rate).

And so i make hemp bracelets and watch the Disney Channel at 4 in the morning.

oh yeah...my sister just completed her own website. Shame on you IT and CS people who don't have one :p

THE QUINTESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

I went to the mall with Izan on Thursday. He needed gloves and a new pair of jeans and I wanted to take a look at some laptops at Best Buy. 3 minutes after our arrival we were at the men's department looking for jeans. Izan got 2 pairs out of the rack and went to try them on. 5 minutes later he paid for a pair and we headed to Dick's (go figure). He found a decent pair of gloves and we were out of the store faster than you could say "Chelsea Clinton!". Izan was done shopping in less than 45 minutes.

I figured since it was barely 4pm and we had all day, why not go check out some tracks since mine keeps shrinking into a pair of Barbie-sized pants after washing. So we went over to this sports shop and went looking for one measly pair of tracks. 4 shops and 2 pretzels later I still hadn't found a pair I liked. Either it was too long or it made me look too fat or it was plain ugly. The last bus home was at 7.15pm so there was no time to go laptop surveying, but that wasn't a priority anymore. Finally, 12 minutes before the bus arrived, I grabbed a trackbottom (and a tracktop that was on sale. It was irresistable I tell you!) and went to the counter.

And so ended my outing to the mall.

I failed to do what I had planned and had spent all day looking for something I didn't want in the first place. And Izan did all he needed in 45 minutes. The quintessential difference between men and women.

Anyway, yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble. I haven't read all semester and thought it would be nice to get some new reading material besides the Thai Place Cafe menu pinned to my board. Yusno needed to be back before 2 to catch the bus to Seven Springs. So I lingered a few minutes infront of the fantasy section before quickly grabbing the Dragonlance trilogy without a second thought. I had been meaning to get it since last semester but never did. Then I went over to the history section and browsed through. A little variety would be fun. It was amusing how all the books under World History were related to Iraq, Iran, Palestine History and The Middle-Eastern Religion. And of course not to forget, North Korea. My eyes trailed to the Current Issues rack and saw books titled Bush At War and The Taliban and The Biography of A Terrorist. I randomly chose a book called Forbidden Truth: US-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and The Failed Hunt For Bin-Laden (which was interesting and revealing. But I guess I didn't really need a book to tell me that corruption and greed played a part in all this. The US consumes oil a percentage 8 folds that of its population - isn't it obvious? But the details were amusing, nontheless). Anyway, all this took about 30 minutes. Quite a record since I have been known to sit infront of a rack for half a day without buying anything in the end. So I figured all I need to help me decide was a little urgency. Now I know this, I guess I will schedule all my shopping plans 30 minutes before the store closes down.

Today I've started on my Dragonlance series. To which the Kiva guy pointed out that he used to read them too. Back in grade school.

CLONE ME, WHY DONTCHA

Last night we played basketball with Julian, Charles and Dan. It was 4 against 3, and we got creamed. Oh the humiliation.

But it was all good. I haven't had so much fun playing basketball since PE back in school. It seems that the older I get the lazier I become. Not your average lazy, but so lazy that walking from my bed to my desk is a chore. Reason #1245 to get a laptop...lalallallalalala.....

The others are going skiing today, leaving me to mope around the apartment. I'm in Spring mode now and I don't feel like freezing in the snow anymore. Besides it's the Midterm Break and skiing sounds like too much work. Work no good. Sleep, yes.

For those of you who are worried I might bore myself to tears (should death not get to me first) I have been amusing myself with Sonic Foundry, a studio recording software. I managed to record my retardedness and kept it on my desktop as a reminder as to why I shouldn't play the guitar. However, it was fun fiddling with it. Another ingenious creation resulted by the proliferation of CD-ROMs. The pace of it all.

All this breakthrough in technology leaves almost no boundaries as to what can be achieved nowadays. Heck, even sheep are cloned, let alone humans (stop it Zavos! Clone plants instead!). Cloning. Let's talk about that, shall we?

We have seen many wars and have been scarred by numerous human blunders (stupidity, more like), but will cloning finally be the end of humanity? Have we suddenly discovered the potential of the human brain that we now want to play God? Or is this just a competition to quench the biologists' thirst for recreation? I believe that cloning can be advantages to the human race; for instance a stem cell can mend an injured heart pretty much naturally. But need we clone ourselves? First off, it's like the freakiest thing ever. We hardly even know what the consequences are. Didn't Dolly die young? Didn't it take over 200 embryos to make one Dolly? Somehow by some reason I really have no explanation to, I sense that eventually all this cloning business will only bring us suffering. I could give a scenario of things that could happen (all invalid of course) if I let my thoughts run wild, but I don't feel like going there. Besides I might make myself look stupid. But bottomline is, we should let God run the course of human creation. We know that a tip of a particular gas in the air will imbalance the ecosystem and that an illegal frog brought to Australia might screw the whole food chain (this fact is based entirely on The Simpsons), so why don't we take our meddly hands off all of this? Let's not find out what the consequences are. Watch Star Wars and learn.

It's 10.30am and all this thinking is not good for me. Me go eat now. And remember, don't clone anyone.

OH, THE POSSIBILLITIES

I signed up at kawanaku.com last night and found my long-lost best friend, Yayzah (well...not so lost...it's just that i haven't bothered to contact her for like, a zillion years). She even left a message for me at the message board. Which i think was really sweet :) Yayzah, if you're reading this, I miss you too!!!!

We went to the same primary school at Bukit Bintang. I remember, because of the fact our names both started with "Y" we'd tell people we were related (isn't that just like a 7 year old? Similar names mean people are related. Oh how simple the mind of a child works :)). And we managed to fool just about everyone in school that we were cousins. However, I left to study at Tun Fatimah while she stayed behind with my 100 or so friends to continue high school at BBGS. I would have stayed along with them to happily mosey (I hardly think so) my way through high school together if it wasn't because of that darned Malory Towers. But no regrets. Well, I got her number off the site and called her up. Boy was she surprised! We talked for a good 40 minutes before I ran out of credit. It's amazing, but she hasn't changed a bit. And it wasn't the least awkward talking to her. I can't believe I had the nerve to not call her up after all these years. Bad myn.

As soon as we got off the phone there was a moment of mass emailing of pictures and address swapping. Technology never fails to amaze me. And all the while that I was reunited with Yayzah (signing up at kawanaku.com, finding her number, calling her from my cell, emailing photos), I never left my chair. Thank you Len Kleinrock.

LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS

My Decision Analysis midterm exam is super weird...

First off, it's designed to make you fail. There are about 20 multiple choice questions, each worth 5 points. However, for every question you answer you have to put the probability of it being right. Say you think A is right, and you're pretty sure it's the answer, so you put a probability of 0.7 beside it. That'll be how sure you are the answer is. Since you think A has a 70% chance of being correct, then the other options will either be assigned equal values of the remaining probability or you can assign values for yourself, just as long as they all add up to 1.

Anyhow, your mark for each question depends on the probability you put beside the correct answer. And if it so happens that A was correct and you put a probability of 0.7, then you gain 3.71 marks. If it wasn't, and instead was C (which you put a probability of, say, 0.1) you get -3.30. You don't get the full 5 unless you put a probability of 1. Duh. Now this is because the points are determined by an exponential curve. Which mathematically proves that

if A was correct (and you put a 0.7), then 5+3.60674 log(0.7) = 3.71 points
if C was correct (and you stupidly put a 0.1) then 5+3.60674 log(0.1) = -3.30 points

Now, due to the logic of this exponential curve and the fact that we know maths can never lie, it is also true that if you're super confident, you might also be super stupid. An example....

You look at a question and think, "Why, I know the answer for this! I'll put a probability of 1 'cos I'm frickin sure it's A! ". I'm sure we've all felt this way at some time or another while doing an exam, and when we get back our paper, it turns out we're wrong. Don't lie. It's happened to all of us. BUT...if you did this in THIS exam, and put a 1 beside the answer you thought was right, then obviously all the other options B, C and D would have a probability of 0. And using our trusty log system, that would give you a....let's see..

if C was the answer (and you had a probability of 0 for it, since you already put a 1 beside A) then 5+3.60674 log(0) = - infinity

Woohoo! This, obviously, will cause you to flunk the exam. And it's pretty hard to pull up. heh.

So now what? Put a probability of 0.25 for all answers? This'll give me a 0 for the exam, but hell it's a whole lot better than getting a negative infinity!

THE SWEETEST THING

isn't that just the prettiest smile you've ever seen? :)

VALENTINE

i got a niece!!!!!

I wrote something for Valentine's. :) (I promise it's not as cheesy as it sounds :D)

PIZZA SESSION

The work load this semester keeps me awake every night that my normal consumption of caffeine has rendered insignificant. Even the guy at Kiva has noticed my unusual absence.

I spent 2 hours attending my Decision Analysis TA session. Which is always fun because Lynna is great. Plus today all of us ate more pizzas then we did homework problems.

Tomorrow I have my Fundamentals of Statistical Modelling exam. And what better time to be sick :(

STRESSED SHRINKS

Happy AidilAdha all!!!

It was so slippery today. On my way to class I counted the guy infront of me slip 3 times. I let him walk a couple of feet ahead so that I could estimate which parts of the sidewalk I should avoid. My plan worked.

In a study to measure the level of stress given a particular department a student majors in (in this observation the case study were Business, Engineering and Psychology students) it was found that Business students are less stressed. No surprise there. But check this out. The group of students with the highest level of stress turned out to be non other than those future shrinks. Well well. Who would've guessed. All that info on Child Development and Personality Dissection (I made this one up) must've somehow gotten to them. It seems that by some reversal order of the universe, stocks and bonds just might be better for your health.

Either that, or the economy is healing.

SADISTIC SPORT

i played squasy today.
i played til my hand bled. really.
oh and i literally whacked yusno's butt. really really.
with the ball.

YET ANOTHER FACELIFT

man i've been nusy! <-- that was me touch typing :p ....

anyway... this has been the most hectic first 4 weeks of my entire academic experience. but it's all good. so far.

lately i've been thinking... my site was way too bright. hence the change. better? i haven't had the chance to update the rest of my pages, but I think those hardly ever get visited anyway. i might work on those, i might not.

well i better stop and do some dadss now since i've been putting it off for so long. i guess i'll update my entries as soon as i get the hang of my current schedule :)

OL' GEEZER

I am virtually on the brink of leaving dear old two-oh.

BOOKS, BOOKS, AND MORE BOOKS

I think I've bored myself into reading too many (many can be relative - in my case probably more than 5 books per semester) classics. A tad too much of Golding and Wharton has made me crave for some lighthearted books. Preferably those with non-existent worlds and incredulous characters.

Today I spent most the day at Barnes & Noble specifically looking for the Landover Series. I had all five in my hand when I suddenly felt that $37.49 (plus tax) was quite a steep price to pay. Considering I could get them at a run-down second hand bookstore for lots cheaper. Even the guy who regularly sells his books in cardboard boxes at school might sell them for a buck a piece. Anyway, being me, it was either I get the whole series or not get any at all. I was dying to have a series of books to read but I figured I'd wait a bit and get them online. Or from the guy who sells his books in cardboard boxes.

Anyhow, I simply had to get at least something from B&N since I was there. So a friend introduced me to some other Fantasy authors I should get instead. I almost got me the DragonLance Chronicles Trilogy (trilogies are good since they're cheaper than, say, a series with 5 books ~ duh!) but wasn't so sure if I should. So I put it back and spent the next few hours picking up other books and putting them back on their racks. Ho-hum...

I almost got Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters too since Choke was out of stock, but eventually put that back aswell. Anyway, I came back home empty handed (sobs) but I found some sites on fantasy and fantasy authors I kind of liked:

http://www.sff.net/people/Amy.Sheldon/recommen.htm
http://www.sfandf.com

WHERE'S THE RUSH?

Hello!

I've 2 more weeks of slacking and enjoying the holidays and I've been taking an extensive break away from the computer. I've never felt so rested.

Anyway, I'm psyched about this coming semester (as always :p) and by some freak of nature I'm missing that sudden rush of adrenaline each time i desperately try to finish an assignment the night before hand-in. hmm.

Well, here's my tentative schedule for this Spring. Let's see how long these courses stay in my timetable...

2003

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

DECEMBER SUMMARY

SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!!!!

hehe....busy busy...anyway, had a great snowball fight last night! Naturally I was, as Usamah puts it, "the sitting duck" which was continuosly the target of snowballs and more snowballs. I think I managed to get the most snow in my sweater too, courtesy of Azlan and Amir. The other girls did fare better than me.



Fact number 1: Some creatures eyes glow in the dark. They reflect light back through the retina.

Most animals that are active at night have eyes that glow to improve their night vision in order to make it easier for them to catch their prey.

Anyhow, I managed to play til my legs went numb. By the time we reached Kiva for some good old coffee, we were cold, exhausted and wet. Oh, and the guy behind the counter even got a shot at me. The little prick.

As soon as Lynn and I reached our apartment, I took off my sweater and a few pounds of snow (which was conveniently 'stored' by Lan, no doubt) came out. Apart from managing to bring back snow from our little game, I also got a bad sore throat and a slight flu. Yeargh! Snow makes one feel alive.

Well I've been missing much of more important entries, so let's recap a little:
Nov 22 - Last minute scramble to get Philo paper due
Nov 23 - can't focus anymore....hurryupthanksgiving...
Nov 24 - hurryupthanksgiving...
Nov 25 - hurryupthanksgiving...
Nov 26 - hurryupthanksgiving...
Nov 27 - Thanksgiving hols is finally here!!
Nov 28 - slack off big time...muahahahaha!
Nov 29 - THANKSGIVING! I cooked turkey!!!!!! (no casualties)
Nov 30 - Shopping at Grove City! Spend spend spend!
Dec 1 - Tries in vain to complete 500 pages of philo
Dec 2 - Last minute scramble to prepare for philo exam
Dec 3 - Panic panic panic!
Dec 4 - ARIF AND AFIQ'S 2nd BIRTHDAY!!! *hugs*
Philo Exam and Programming Mastery (I passed my Mastery! yay!)
Dec 5 - SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!!! last day of classes for the semester!
Dec 6 - SNOWBALL FIGHT!!! Woohoo!

...the uneventful summary of Yazmin's life....2 more papers and I am done with this semester. Fini. Perfetto. Compleo.

OK... I now have to feed myself and lounge around a bit before I start cracking on my books again. Have fun and take care all!

NEED I SAY MORE?

needahobbyneedahobbyneedahobbyneedahobby...

BZZZZ

Why is it "as busy as a bee"?

Bees don't go to school. They don't have gazillions of homework. They don't stay up all night reading on Nozick and Structure Considerations and calculating Chi squares. Heck they don't even have to sit for JAVA Competency Exams!

It's registration week. I'm finally going to get to choose what track I want to pursue. Funnily enough I've chosen Stats/Data Mining. Maybe a double in Communication Design aswell. I'm so hyped about Spring semester. It's like that every time. At the start of a new sem I'd be all geared up to perform my best; even planning on a 4-flat. *snort* Then by the time it's mid semester I'd just be happy enough to get a B. Sometimes even a C. Just as long as I finish the semester. And then, when it's that time of the semester - registration week of course - I feel like starting off all over again and can't be bothered about the present sem. What a joke.

Whatever happened to dignity.

Anyway....I still think it should be "As busy as yazmin".

LOST IN THE WEB

The internet is indeed a dangerous tool.

Yesterday I had planned out everything; do Stats at 8pm, Philosophy at 10pm, have a coffee break at Kiva, and then start Programming at 12 (till god-knows-when). Then suddenly in the midst of calculating some Confidence Interval thingimajig, Fatma goes and messages me and gives me this link -> www.Dictionaraoke.com

I laughed so hard that I swear I could feel my stomach starting to open up and have my guts fall out....but that could've been the result of my Kurma I cooked...hmmmm.....Anyway! To top it all, Arthur then messaged me and gave me this link -> www.Googlism.com

Seriously it was agony. It was bad enough that I wasn't getting any homework done. But later I treated myself to some French Soda and oogling over Amir's, King's and Shahril's guitars.

Sigh.

Someday I think I'll pull the plug.

LAZY SPELL

Obviously I've been busy.
And lazy.

Well...this is going to be a tough week - and i don't mean exams or quizzes or food festivals (heheh) - it's just that i've had this delusional idea that last week I was so free and had no homework. Apparently I wasn't. And now I have all these assignments and stuff from last week I have to complete this week.

And of course it doesn't help when you've got a book that you simply can't put down. And I mean this literally.

And updating my site doesn't help either.

ps: bal i want my star back. hahahahahahhahaha ;)

THE MOTHER OF ALL FOOD

Woohoo!!! The Malaysian Food Fest 2 was a huge success!!!!!

I could go into details, but I'm still quite tired. Even after sleeping the whole day :p. Let's just say for now that it was all great and the time and energy spent was really worth it. Oh! And we made a clean profit of over $1,000!!!!

We sold satay, roti canai, nasi lemak, lok-lok, karipap, cekodok, popiah, jemput jemput, prawn noodles, teh tarik and ABC. For the prawn noodles and the roti canai, we actually made them on the spot. Shahril and Usamah did all the "menebar"ing of the canai and Jeremy cooked his famous noodles live for the customers. It really was like a pasar malam, no joke. Really, it was impressive...especially since everything was done entirely by students. Even if I do say so myself.

Once again, we have made our mark in CMU. KUDOS TO ALL BUDAYA MEMBERS!!!! *hug*

We rock!
MALAYSIA BOLEH!!!

take a peek at the Food Fest here!

MFF STRIKES AGAIN

Oh man this has been such a hectic week!!!

MFF2 is going on full speed ahead. It's this Friday and the advertising and coupon-selling and the whole preparation has been wild. I've just got back from chalking (writing on sidewalks with chalk on-campus as a form of advertising) with Usamah, and though we're pooped, it was fun. Specially fun when you feel like it's vandalism, only just not quite....hehe..

We've been selling coupons for Friday 3 days running, and tomorrow will be the last chance to promote the Food Fest. So far we've sold 793 coupons which totals up to $365. I'm beat. But it's all great :D

Last minute preparations are going on and the normal hussle is stepping in. My team will be making karipap, popiah and cekodok tomorrow to get ready for the sales on Friday. Feeling a little frantic here. But things'll go well. InsyaAllah.

MALAYSIA BOLEH!!!!!

FURBALLS ARE YOUR FRIENDS!

hehe....look at what i've been up to...


been so bored lately....apart from the fact that it's the exam week and i have tons to do...hence, the creation of these thingies! BUDAYA is planning on another food fest - MFF2. This time with games. It's scheduled 2 weeks from now and we haven't started scratch. Off-topic though: I'm just so glad my Intermediate Microecons has been pushed back. Philo was yesterday, open book, and i spent half the time flipping away through the pages like crazy. Naturally, couldn't find the answers in it. Oh well. At least I have me furballs :D !!!

PHILOSOPHICAL MOOD

Am currently reading John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism essay with Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite in the background.... how conceptual is that!

No, I'm not in mode of truth-seeking or in any karma quest of some sort... simply preparing for a philosophy exam this monday. And I happen to find Maxwell a good theme to complement philosophical theories.

Anyway, me schedule has been tight as of late. But I'm sure I can squeeze some time to go paint-balling this weekend :p. I'm not any good at it and actually spent half the time hiding among trees, bushes, logs (whatever's big enough to cover me, basically) the last time around. This weekend I'm pretty much prepared to get shot at. Pile on those sweaters!!!

Oh!Oh! I received a bouquet of flowers Tuesday morning. From an 'anonymous friend'. Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it :D

CODELINKS

I'm working on a site to help friends code in html. It's not much really and I've only gone through 1 topic so far. In time though I hope to have a site full of html codes so ppl can refer to them. Anyway, in case you're interested, it's called webCODES and you can click on that to get to the link. Comments are very much welcome and do let me know what you think of it.

BLOG MANIA

ugh... finally finished setting up 2 blogs in blogspot; for the atu gals and for my alma mater...

i'm not gonna post the links in just yet. maybe soon tho :)

A WOMAN'S BEST FRIEND

I just signed up for neopets!

However I haven't chosen a pet yet. They're all quite cute really (in a mutant sort of way). Plus I don't exactly know what I'm supposed to do yet. Somehow I feel that my pet might die very soon tho....

Here, help me choose a pet!

CHOCKFUL ON CAFFEINE

I've consumed two cans of expresso and half a bottle of mocha frappuccino. A whole litre of anesthetic won't put me to sleep now.

Guitar class turned out to be fun. I managed a decent session without revealing my retarded skills. But that was just today.

THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH

Curses. The commenting system's down.

And it's raining.

I've updated my prose page though. Just added one measly essay. Some ramblings about economical issues. Boring stuff really. But if you have time to waste (don't we all :p) go ahead and read it. It'll put you right to sleep :)

Oh! And I think I owe Dahlia an appology for not playing tennis today. Darn these resolutions.

WHERE'S MY SKILLS?

Just got back from watching Insomnia (Al Pacino, Robin Williams). The plot was ok. And the scene where Al chases Robin was priceless... two old men doing a chase scene...

Tomorrow is my first guitar lesson. I'm partly excited, partly nervous. I hope the instructor will forgive my skills; or lack thereof.

Before I forget, I got me a digital pen. It makes drawing on the computer so easy. There's a pad you use to write on. And it also acts as a mouse. The software that came along with it is super cool too. Check out the results here. Disregard the drawings and focus on how much the texture looks as if it were drawn on paper with a pencil.

I'm planning to pull an all-nighter. But without the aid of caffeine this time around. Shucks.

SICKENING SIRENS

Either the people around Oakland here get sick a lot, or they just like burning houses....

My room overlooks the road, and every 5 minutes there'll be a siren screaming away. Without fail. How festive. And if you're really lucky, there'll probably be someone across the road jamming away at 3 in the morning.

Anyway, I've finally fixed the flooble chatterbox, and also inserted a comment form. So go ahead and spill your guts out. And that specifically goes to you, Arthur. You goat. Baaa.

Man, I'm bored.

CSS

Hah! Guess what's different? Yes... gone are those ugly big fat fonts.

Silly as it may sound, I just figured out how to use the CSS Style Sheet *blush*

Anyway, I was thinking of a change. Orange is a bit too gaudy, don't you think? Well, until I come up with something not so punishing on the eyes, we'll just have to bear with this.

CONNECTED

Yay I'm finally connected to the internet!!!

I spent hours chatting last night with nabe instead of studying though. sigh.....must suffer the consequences i guess...

.....must.....get away....from....computer.....

nggghhhh!!!!

THE DISCONNECTED BABYSITTER

my room still has no internet connection yet. how dull is that? anyway, i've taken up guitar lessons and will be starting this sunday. yay! apart from that, i've also started babysitting :)

THE JAPANESE SURVIVAL KIT

...here's an email my brother sent to my elder brother and his wife after receiving 3 singlets from them in Japan:

Dear Kak Azi-san and Along-san,

To show my humble appreciation of so noble a gift, I want to teach you all some VERY IMPORTANT japanese phrases, essential to your survival in the land of the rising sun. Wakarimasu ka? Yoi.


Repeat after me please:


Ohesotte nani?
What is the meaning of my bellybutton?

Anata no gosenzo sama ni kao o awase rare masuka!
Get ready to meet your ashamed ancestors!

Sozo ijo no mono deshta.
That was different.

Suiteki de atama ni anao akararete iru yona kokoromochi deshta.
It was like drops of water boring into my skull.

Kazoku sorrote no seppuku ga yokatta.
I loved the part where the whole family disemboweled themselves.

Watashi no nozomi dori no shinikata deshta ne.
Their deaths perfectly expressed my deepest desires.

Omawarisan! Chikan o tska-mate!
Police! Arrest this pervert!

Nanashi no nihon no michi no kado ni imasu!
I am at the corner of two nameless streets!

Okikute ugokasenai Fujisan mitai da.
He looks as grand and immobile as Mount Fuji.
(To be used at Sumo contests.)

Ahoka! Sodai gomi!
Shame! Public Humiliation!
(To be shouted at baseball players when they err.)

Nihonshoku o tabesukete inai yabanjin desu.
I am too barbaric to eat a Japanese breakfast.

Osoroshii kangae nimo osoware mas.
I have many evil thoughts.

Ebi no idaina saigo desu!
How honorably shrimp struggle as they choke to death!

Anata wa haru ichiban no sakura no yoni utsukushii.
You are as beautiful as spring's first cherry blossom.

Shijin ga suki desuka?
Which poet is your favourite?

Anata no hiza ni suwattemo yoroshii deshoka?
Do you mind if I sit in your lap?

Sekai ichi no ginko ni otsutome desune.
I see you work for the largest bank on the planet.

*(phrases were taken from http://www.muppetlabs.com/~netropic/japanese.html)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SIS

I have programming in half an hour's time.

... on a lighter note....Today is akak's birthday... so Happy Birthday kak!!! Hope you have a great time and lots of great things to look forward to.

muah muah!

NEW RESOLUTIONS TO IGNORE

yep I'm back at school!!!

new apartment, new books, new resolution.... *cough cough*

... let's see how long this one'll last :p

anyway, this is the 3rd day already and so far so good. I just realized that my art page had a few errors before. I've fixed them though so now you can check out my meaningless doodles.

FAREWELL SUMMER

heading back to pittsburgh tomorrow at 2230 hours.... *sobs*

bye bye summer.... hello sophomore year.

eek.

MALESYIA E KAERIMASU!

aaahhh... back at last...

Tokyo was great!!! Went to tons of places; Disney Sea, The Forum, Japanese gardens, the Imperial Pace, Ginza, Shinjuku, Hurujuku...and even the pasar!!!

It was extremely hot though, and we walked most of the time. We went sightseeing and shopping everyday and didn't waste a single minute of the 8 days we were there. We'd get up at 7 each day and leave for the train station at 10am. Then we'd travel around Tokyo and be back at home at around 4pm. Everyday. Occasionally, we'd rest awhile and head back out at 8pm.

Once in Takashimaya, we felt a tremor on the road. Scary as it may seem, it was actually quite interesting.

Tokyo is a really awesome city. And I couldn't help but realized how self-sufficient these people are.

The trip was totally worth the money and I seriously am thinking of going back someday to explore Japan thoroughly. Sore feet and crammed coaches aren't gonna stop me :D

...oh! And I'll post pictures later...

NIHONG E IKIMASU!

woohoo!!!! off to tokyo, japan tomorrow!!!!

sayonara people!

A HOPEFUL AUNT

wow... it's been awhile...

have too much to tell obviously, that i dont know where to start :)

well for starters, my crochet is almost done. it shouldnt take this long to complete really, but in my defense, it was hard :p. i'll give you a sneak peak later on.

i'll be leaving for Tokyo, Japan to see Arif and Afiq this August. things aren't really confirmed yet, so let's just keep our fingers crossed eh? :D

DOUBLE THE SORROW

...sent Arif and Afiq to the airport this morning...

*sobs*

SHOPPING AND THE CITY

Back at last!!!

I've been staying at The Ascott apartments near KLCC these last few days, so you can guess what I've been doing the whole week... heheh... What better time to live a minute away from the shopping haven that's having 50% off sales in it's stores !!! (evil grin)...

I'm still tired from my shopping craze, so I'll spare you the interesting details.

STITCHES AND CRAFT

A few days back I went to this shop with my mum, owned by her friend. It was called "Stitches and Craft" or something like that and the auntie specialized in sewing; namely crocheting, cross-stitching, hard-edging and other things involving needles and thread.

Anyway, then I had this crazy idea of learning how to crochet! hehehehehe.... It's not as easy as it looks though, I must tell you that. Well, so far I've only mastered doing chains (not!!!! :p), but it's all good :D

At least I do have a new hobby now ;)

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Oh joy! Turkey won!

I must say, I was at the edge of my seat watching the match. After the first 3 goals the game was really mostly thrilling (and we all know how I hate suspense :p). One thing for sure, Turkey's goalkeeper was the star (doesn't he remind you of the guy in 'The Mummy'????). Rustu is a natural human shot-stopper. Korea did play awfully well though and frankly, I was relieved when I heard the whistle.

Just finished watching Ocean 's 11 (wipe that smirk off your face :p), and it's not so bad.

Well me off to bed. Having breakfast at a kedai mamak tomorrow morning. Yippee!!

THE LOYAL TYPIST

I've finally updated my art page. It's got a lot of old stuff I did about 2 years ago. I also changed a bit of the layout for that page so it's easier to see the pictures now.

Am helping abah type some stuff for work. I've become his loyal typist... heheh. Along wants me to send over some pictures of Arif and Afiq. The poor lad must miss his sons. Oh well. Serves him right. 'Cos we'll miss them terribly too when they leave for Japan with him in July ;p~

FOOTBALL JITTERS

Everyday I wake up looking forward to seeing what my nephews are up to next. It's never boring and I never tire of snapping pictures of them. They're just so adorable!

Arif and Afiq are asleep right now. And I'm secretly praying they'll wake up in a minute. hehehe..... doubt it though... it's already past midnight.

Brazil won against Turkey. No surprise there. Football isn't exactly my favourite game. Not so much 'cos I'm not fond of it. Just that I can't take the suspense. Maybe I take after my dad. While mak is screaming at the players on TV, you'll see me walking to and fro to my dad's room to tell him what's happening, thus missing some action. I'm his mobile commentator. Not that I mind. At least it spares me the dreaded suspense. I just hate being left on tenterhooks. Well, I'd place my money on Brazil. But it would be a nice thing to see Germany win instead.

Here's a picture of Arif today.

PICTURE OF THE DAY...

SUMMER UPDATES

Akak's back!!!! And Arif and Afiq will be leaving in 3 weeks time ...sobs...

Well... I've finally fixed my little FTP problem, which has been the reason for my long absence on the web... if anyone cares anyway :p. I've also gotten my hands on a new lappy (not mine) so I just might add more stuff on my Prose and Art pages. Got some old junk I'm prepared to upload on my site for all to see.

OK then... there's only one computer at home and my sister is already hinting me to quit :p. 'Sides I wanna watch TV anyway.

Toodles!

KENDURI

We had a kenduri doa selamat on Sunday for my brother who's leaving for Japan soon. Friends and relative came by and the food we catered was excellent. There's no end for praising Malaysian food. It's just not said enough :D

It's been a week since I got back and I'm beginning to wonder how I ever survived 13 years in this godforsaken heat. Oh well. It's not like I go out much anyway.

My sister will be coming home in a week's time. Then I can finally get my shopping gear ready and head to the mall with her!

HOME SWEET HOME

Yay!

I'm back at home now! I spent the last 22 hours sitting on the plane and now my bum is sore. Anyway, I'm so so excited and so happy! Arif Afiq greeted me at the airport and I was really shocked to see how good looking they've become.

Well, I'm pretty tired now and I think I should hit the sack. I predict that I'll be sprawled on my bed for the next 3 days, at least. Due to jet-lag of course :p

ALL ABOARD!

In approximately 5 hours I will be boarding the plane to Newark...

I can't sleep tonight! I'm so excited to go home. All my stuff is packed and I've dumped them all in the living room already. Come 3am I'll hop in the bathtub and get ready to catch the 5am bus to the airport.

I'm excited and I have the travelling jitters.

Malaysia, here I come!!!!

SOON IS NOT ENOUGH

yippee!!!!

i'll be going home in 2 days time!!!

DREAMER

hmmmm.......




You are a dreamer. Constantly filling your mind with fantasies, you withdraw inside yourself in order to experience these more clearly. You dislike people and the distractions they cause. You are eccentric and lack a firm grasp on reality. You experience a wide range of emotions, and can often times be dangerous to yourself and others. You need to focus more on the real world.

Your song is: Solitary Shell

Which degree of inner turbulence are you?

This quiz was made by Dionae

BUFFALO

WOW!!! it's been a really hectic week.... and lots has happened :)

a day after we got back from DC i suddenly got a bee in my bonnet buzzing away to get me to go to Buffalo, where the Sports Carnival was held. and so at the very last minute (sorry Yusno :D) i decided to tag along to make a fool out of myself playing basketball.

anyway, Buffalo was great. met old and new friends and we actually got to go to Niagara Falls in Canada!!! it was amazing, and although the weather was suicidal, it was all worth while. then there was this Ambassador's Award thingy in Hilton and there we had a fine meal. oh, and my team got 3rd.... there were 3 universities participating, naturally :p

well.... the reason for my long absence on the net is partly CMU's fault. they sadistically cut my internet connection, so now i'm left disconnected to the world. i've also realized that a computer with no internet is simply a box with no fun :( ... but that's just me.

the good thing though, is that i've finally gotten the strength to pry myself away from my chair and walk around. the last 2 days have been really fun and i've only just discovered that Pittsburgh does have its very own 'T'. yes nabe, we have one too. i've busied myself doing shopping for my family and at the end of each day i'm ten times happier and my wallet, ten times lighter :D

... also, i have a little secret to share... i am now the proud owner of a mega-pixel JVC GR-DVP7u digital camcorder :D!

TNB GATHERING

Just got back from DC! Was quite a trip and I'm rather bummed out now. We stayed there for a night and didn't really get to do much sight-seeing. Oh well... guess I'll just have to go there again :)

YTN scholars also had a little gathering , which was really fun by the way. Met up with dear Encik Azman and Kerr and Syeka aswell. We didn't really get to see each other much, but i'd say the meeting altogether was short and sweet. Especially since there was food involved :) Apart from that, i got to witness the opening ceremony of the Malaysian Embassy by our Prime Minister, who indeed gave an impressive speech. There were cameras all around and I hope they caught me on video to broadcast back home...hehehhe...

Well... I'm rather tired now and I can't think much on an empty stomach. Only consolation is that my hand still smells of the briyani i ate 2 hours ago....

BROTHERLY LOVE

... some brotherly advice from my, uh, brother...

"... Also ive learnt that if you want something done right, someone has to take a really strong stance and call the shots and insist that everyone plays their part. Sometimes this makes people not too comfortable with you, but its worth it when at least some of the people appreciate why you had to be such a hard-ass."

thanks ngah!

POETRY FOR DUMMIES

As i was busy packing (throwing random stuff into boxes, rather), i came across scraps of papers from past courses. and here's something i found from my Creative Writing class i took last sem....

...an exercise on how to write poetry:

Without worrying about whether or not your poem "makes sense", compose it by following the steps below:
1. Name one thing you've obsessed about in the past week. Make this the title of your poem.
2. Make an immedate observation about your hair at this moment.
3. Give the reader of your poem an instruction.
4. Make a confession.
5. Give the shortest instructions for preparing your favorite home cooked meal.
6. Contradict what you said in #4.
7. Qoute something your parent(s) or friend(s) want to believe about you.
8. Write a word you've never spoken.
9. What did you dream last night.
10.Use a simile to describe how you felt before you sleep.
11.Tell the punch line (only the punch line) of your favorite joke. If you don't have a favorite, make one up.
12.Without using a simile, describe a nearby object.

... i spent two nights working on this, and here's
what i came up with...

.................read it and weep Poe!

HERE...

funny...somebody asked me how my desktop looks like.
well, here you go....

IN SEARCH OF TRUTH...

as a hobbyless person, i scour the web in search of entertainment and the meaning of life... and here's a site that comes close to exposing the 'real thing'...



...live and learn, people...

DEAR NAZA

Happy Birthday!!!!

myn

ALMOST MIDNIGHT BREAKFAST

At the end of every semester, we have this "Almost Midnight Breakfast" buffet thingy where they serve free food. It's this time of year when we get to have our ommelettes done by the Deans and see their cooking skills. It was really nice, and although we had to wait in line for like almost an hour (I might be exaggerating :p), we finally got to stuff ourselves with free ommelettes, free crummy waffles, free dull hash browns and lots of other free food!! they may not be of top quality, but hell! as an (almost always hungry) student, anything goes!! :) And it was fun actually. To think i missed last semester's buffet...

AND ANOTHER ONE...

Which Nokia handphone are you?


...and I'm supposed to be studying History...

POTS AND PANS MAY BREAK MY BONES...

i cooked yesterday!!!! ..... and it's been 12 hours since, and still nobody has suffered from severe food poisoning :p....

no, i'm not the best of cooks. i do help around the kitchen at home and all, but i usually leave the cooking to my mum. she's the maestro. besides, i wouldn't dare risk my dad's tummy and my other siblings'. their poor tummy's just might not be able to handle whatever it is i cook....hehehe.... anyway, i managed to cook a decent meal yesterday (with the thanks of Izan, my mentor), and those who ate it, lived to see today. yes, miracles happen :) and on top of that...they did say it was pretty yummy :D

well...despite my cooking skills (hehe :p) i now must leave in search of breakfast somewhere around campus....

Some innocent cornflakes seem to be a likely target. Bon appetit!!!

THE END OF THE BEGINNING

The end is almost near.....

It's hard to believe, but my freshmen days are almost over....time flies....I have 3 finals coming up, then I'm very much ready to go home. Yay!!!!

I've found a "secret" hideaway recently.... heh heh.... not exactly secret, but secret nontheless because nobody else really knows what place it is I'm talking about *wink**wink*. Anyway, it's good to go around being undisturbed sometimes, and just let the best of companies share your space.

I've rested enough this afternoon. So I guess I'll just pump in some caffeine tonight for my nightly marathon. I think I've transmogrified into a nocturnal being.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING REALLY

oh gawd! slap me silly, somebody!... i just won an Award!!!!!

i've only just gotten back from a late night chat with a good friend when i decided to do my routine email check. i didn't bother checking my hotmail - that one's specifically reserved for junk mail :p - but i check my mulberry and lycos every hour or so (depends on my boredom factor - okay, so i need a hobby :p~ ). anyway, just as i was about to sulk for not getting any mail from any random good-looking hunks, i saw one from Golden Web Awards!!! alright, now don't be shy to admit you've never heard of the Golden-watchamacallit Award...who has right? but so what?? it's an award, and i won it! hehehehe.... yay me!!

wow! i got so excited i had to go to the loo twice...

well then...excitement aside, i now must rest. it's very exhausting being happy you know :)

SATAY FEST!!!!

We Malaysians rock!! heheh...really we do... finals are just around the corner and during what most people would call the 'crunch time', we go do a Satay Fest. Yes, we Malaysians do live to eat :)

Two nights ago was total chaos. Lynn and I made the nasik impit, which did turn out fine (of course we had to sacrifice a lot of rice to finally get it right :p) and the others were busy sticking harmless bits of chicken meat on sticks till the wee hours of the next morning. Then at 4:30pm yesterday we opened the Fest with a couple of heart-warming (to the Malaysians of course) Malay songs. We also had a teh tarik stall and we made ais kacang too. It was really fun and really worth the sleepless night of concocting syrup and roasting nuts.

Kudos to all BUDAYA members!! Love all of you! muah muah....

I officially smell of smoke and satay now. yum yum!

CELEBRATING ALONG

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALONG!!!

PICTURE UPDATES

I've finally updated the Pictures page. Hope you have fun looking through it.

BUGGY!

wow.... Spring Carnival's come and gone...
I went to see the fireworks finale and it was surprisingly fun. It's funny how a few colorful combusting explosives can make even the most brutal person sit and stare at the sky in silence. I, however, kept sqealing because it was just so pretty!! hehehe... Anyway, I think I sprained my neck looking at the sky like that for too long.

I woke up surprisingly early this morning just to watch the Finals for the Buggy race, but it was called off because of the rain. Anyhow, I did get to see what 7 o'clock in the morning looks like :p I'm very familiar with 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 AM.... but 7 is like the witching hour where people who've stayed up all night suddenly doze off for a snooze before they actually start the day like normal people. So I usually miss that time of day and wake up only to see 9, or maybe sometimes even 8.

Well I tend to have breakfast tomorrow, so I guess I'd better hit the sack soon...

Weird, but I sometimes crave for those measly pancakes they dish out in Schatz.

SPRING CARNIVAL

It's Spring Carnival!!!

It's a decent 75° Farenheit today. I woke up a little earlier than I would have on normal days just to see the Buggy race which is all the craze during Spring Carnival. A cursory glance will tell you that it's just a bunch of idiots running around and pushing some buggy thingy. Actually, that's not all. There's another idiot IN the buggy!!! hehehe... no no, really....the Buggy race is simply fun and the excitement of watching it is really contagious. It's amazing how they build these buggies just small and slim enough to fit a grown man. You could really say that Buggy racing is like street luging only just not quite. See what I mean? hmmmmm.....

Anyway... there's a Jazz ensemble later this afternoon and I'm really looking forward to it. I rarely go out of my room. I think my bum has a love affair with my chair. So I guess it owes me some music to jazz me up :)

PSYCHO PITTSBURGH

Oh man, it is wickedly hot today!!!!!!!!!!! It's a whooping 80° Farenheit and I'm simply melting in my room.

It's almost as if I'm being punished for being cute.

Well Spring is finally here, that's for certain. The Sun's out most of the time and trees are growing their leaves back. Poor things... they've been bald long enough. Oooooh...hold on...my Weatherbug is chirping... there must be a weather warning...

"THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 10:00PM EDT

Urgent - Immediate Broadcast Requested Tornado Watch Number 95 Storm Prediction Center Norman Ok 602 PM EDT Mon Apr 15 2002
The Storm Prediction Center Has Issued A Tornado Watch For Portions Of Eastern Ohio Northwest Pennsylvania Lake Erie
Effective This Monday Afternoon And Evening From 615 PM Until 1000 PM EDT.
Tornadoes... Hail To 2 Inches In Diameter... Thunderstorm Wind Gusts To 60 Mph... And Dangerous Lightning Are Possible In These Areas."

... talk about schizophrenic weather ... oh well... the thermostat just went up a notch and seriously, I think can hear my ears whistling.

Think I'll sit on my bed awhile and call up my sis. The heat is making me sleepy and my head sluggish. She might be able to help. She's a pharmacist.

GARBAGE

...these online quizzes are ruling my life!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrghhh!!!



.... i also tied with Spirit....whatever that means...

NO REGRETS

just said bye-bye to my friends on IRC. man, i miss them :(

i used to scoff at people when they said school's the best time of your life. yeah right. whatever. but now, school is all i miss :) we've all gone our ways but i do hope we'll stay in touch. i could be 40 and i'd still act like a 17 (or 13) year old when we get together.

our conversation just now revolved around "kak akma dah dapat anak!!" and "fatiha nak tunang!!" and stuff like that. hell, we're even talking about marriage (some of us :p). i'd never thought the day would come when our conversations wouldn't only be about crushes on history teachers (*wink* *wink*) and how rude our juniors were ("tak pernah aku jumpa junior rude camni!!!" <-- familiar? :p) suddenly it's all about being aunties and talking about careers. face it: you're getting old.

20 isn't a bad age to be. but it isn't the greatest either. 11 years of school has really spoilt me, and suddenly being thrown into the "real world" is pretty shocking. i used to wish being 16, and when i was, i used to wish i was 20. now i wish i was back in school. you were never really expected to make any big decisions. and even if you did make any, and you messed up big time, it was ok. i always thought 20-year-olds were mature and would always know what to do. i also thought that being 20 you'd automatically (by some biological mechanism or something) know how to behave and act and live your life. i'm still waiting for that mechanism to kick in.

no, i don't hate my age, nor am i saying that being 20 sucks. as far as i'm concerned it's fun and it can be a ball :) it's just that i can't get over the fact that i've already lived those 19 years of my life and that i'll never be able to show my receipt to God and ask for a refund. those days are gone for good. but i think i enjoyed my past. and i'm glad i have school to thank for :) i guess i'm content with how i used up those 19 years of my life...

...and actually, i don't think i'll ever want a refund...

QUIZ ALERT

You think?


The Band Quiz By Rahel

BOSTON BREAK

I've been in Boston for approximately 11 hours and 17 minutes and already I love it here!!!

Sitting for 13 hours in a bus is no comfort ride. After the first 5 hours I was positive that my butt was paralyzed and that my legs were made of jell-o. Sleeping was pure torture and I'm pretty sure my neck had dislocated at least 20 times due to heavy nodding. I imagine I must have slept with my head crazilly bobbing everywhere like those little dolls with spring necks people place on radios and dashboards.

...but it all paid off when we got off the coffin-on-wheels and saw good ol' Nabe :) Boston is such a pretty and interesting city and their great hosts - some lads and lasses by the name of Nabe, Bal, Aina and Anand :) - simply made the uneventful ride worth it. The minute we stepped in Boston I was struck by a 'sweater frenzy' and Lynn and I crashed into the MIT Coop for some MIT stuff to show off back home. Then we headed over to Bal's place to ruin his day. Later the four of us went to Harvard Square and fed ourselves to two lobsters, a couple of unfortunate squids and some shrimps. Oh, and there we met Anand - this guy from some school called Harvard...heheh :)

Anyway...bottomline is, Lynn (who's sleeping and hogging the bed, bless her) and I enjoyed our first day in Boston and I'm beginning to really hate MIT for rejecting me. God knows why they did that (heheh :p) Sigh. But hey! My heart will always be in Carnegie Mellon :)

WEDDING BELLS

hello! I've added a new wishlist page. I spent all night doing it because I simply couldn't sleep with my congested nose and splitting headache. Maybe staring at the computer just soothes me, I dunno. Anyway, just check it out if ever you run into a brick wall thinking of what to buy for my next birthday (heh heh).

I'll be leaving for Boston tonight to catch up with some gossip with my buddy Nabe. We're all excited that a friend of ours will soon be stepping into the very sanctified bonding of marriage. We're all so happy for her but pretty pissed that we won't be able to attend the wedding :( However it's a consolation that Lynn, Nabe and I will be able to hook up together and share our grief...and of course happiness for the new couple...hehehehe....

Anyway, to dear Ijerq, may you have the best wedding ever and may god bless the both of you. Semoga berbahagia dan berkekalan ke anak cucu!!!

FIT TO DIE

*pant* *pant* *pant*

....I've just gotten back from the gym playing basketball with my friends, and MAN am I low of stamina!!! (*wheeze*)
I was hardly dunking (or missing, rather) my 3rd ball when I started to feel like I'd just done a 400 metre lap...ten times!!! I know I'm only twenny and all, but already I feel like a mother of two and that my days of playing netball and "galah panjang" were decades away.

A few days back my roomie Lynn and I were talking about our good ol' school days and of how we used to suffer the physical torture as a cadet. We were at our peaks back then. It was 50 push-ups a day, 50 square jumps, 100 star jumps and a whole lot of taking crap from our seniors (not that I'm complaining because we had our fair share in our senior year :p) Anyway, we had the stamina of a hundred Venus Williams' and Ali's attitude to boot! yeah baby! Bring it on!!!

...but that was years ago. Now here I am, 3 years later, gasping after a couple of measly hoops. I could make my cadet comrades cry in shame.

I had attempted to do a few exercises just to prove myself I was in shape. This, of course was done in the privacy of my own room because I sure as hell wasn't going to embarrass myself infront of 10 or so fit and muscly hunks (sigh~). So, I got on the floor and positioned myself to do a few push ups. 1...2...3............... that was it. Next thing I knew I was lying prostrate on my vacuum-intended carpet. Cornflakes were overtaking the greyish patterns. Nevermind I thought. Maybe I was starting a little too fast. So I got on my back and began doing sit ups. I managed 20 in less than a minute. Yeah baby! I'm back!!! However I had to suffer the next few days of an aching tummy which intensified infinitely whenever I laughed, coughed or sneezed. And it didn't help to have a flu and watch a couple of downloaded Friends.

It is a little too late now for new year's resolution, I know. But I vow that I will jog at least every morning for the rest of my life and practice a healthy diet.
...But first, I need to get me a pair of decent running shoes.

I'M A GREEK GODDESS, YES I AM!

...interesting...



See which Greek Goddess you are

SPRING DROUGHT

yes yes.....i changed my site once again :p

sounds like i have too much time on my hands huh? anyway...i know its orange (for god's sake!!! are you color blind??? is what you're saying right now) but i figured, hell...this is my site...if i want it orange, it'll be orange...and if i dont want it to be computer friendly to those low resolution computers, it wont be! so please bear with me.

i'll be leaving for boston this thursday for my spring break so i'm simply killing time rotting infront of my computer. I'm gonna have to start looking through my programming and econs soon though. Well I guess that's it... I think I need to retire to my bed for a bit...at least until 3 o'clock because that's when they're done installing some new water valves in my building....

....yes, I haven't showered yet :p

FACELIFT

Hello again!!!!

Yay! I've finally edited this site to be what I hopefully think, is a better site. The old one was not only a terribly planned site, it was also disasterous in Netscape!! A few days back I accidentally opened it in Netscape, and I almost had a heart attack....it was horrendous! The layout was distorted and tables were overlapping each other. It was total chaos. I could have easily won the "What-the-hell-is-this-site???" award, had anyone come across it in Netscape a month ago. Anyway, I've also successfully got me Blogger up and running. Farewell to those awful days of editing and updating and facing those evil-evil tables and cells.

Yes...it's been awhile...but I've been really really really busy lately: programming, tests, programming, programming....oh, and did I mention programming?? :p Anyway, I've also been working on another project (which InsyaAllah I hope to launch soon), and I've only just successfully dissentangled myself from the ever-addictive grasp of the web. I am mentally and physically spent. So, if I hear so much as a peep from people saying my site is not friendly to small 15-inch moniters (shouldn't those be extinct by now????), I'll smack 'im with my shoe. So there.

Well, it's way past my bedtime, though really 'bedtime' is relative nowadays, and I need to get up early to catch up on my work. So g'night!

UPDATES

mornin'.

I have a calc test tomorrow.... well technically it's today... *sigh*... I'm really not looking forward to this because the mid-term break is so close by.

Anyway, I've added a new feature to this page - the ChatterBox (for those unobservant enough :p)- so you guys can start a forum or whatever. It's real cool and I hope it'll be full soon. Just drop by and say hi or start a nasty rumor or something. Anything's welcome. Well almost anything. So leave a note eh?

Well I'd love to babble some more but I can't. Need to do some last minute reviews on my test, then hit the sack. Guess I'll just have to bore you with my daily musings tomorrow then. But for now, wish me luck!!!