2011大總結

2011也到了尾聲，對於時間的飛逝，今年的感觸是特別的深啊。因為，真的，今年時間過得超級快，感覺還歷歷在目的事情，原來早就已經是去年，前年的事情了。2011年，就這樣，在還停留2010的幻覺中，不知不覺，不帶走一片雲彩的，結束了！

2011其實最引人注目的其實是大馬的政治，八仙過海，各顯神通。今年大馬的政壇其實還真的是多姿多彩，卻遺憾的事，留下的罵聲其實也不少。我對政治的涉獵不深，其實可以說是我對政治一點興趣也沒有，但是我還是知道一些。

砂勞越州大選今年真的非常熱鬧，突然之間，砂勞越就像是被遺忘已久的珍珠似的，一旦被發掘，個個門派就開始紛紛出招，一時間，砂勞越的幾個夜晚裡，充斥著不同的承諾，一樣的批判，熱鬧十分啊。

再來就是709大集會了，大集會的目的是否成功傳達呢？不知道。但是這集會卻真真的撼動了不少人的心啊，對於政府後來所做出的舉動，不少人民，只有失望不已。

我的2011呢？到底過得如何？我其實也懵懵懂的，就這樣的告別2011了。

1. 但是起碼，我的thesis終於也完成了，雖然還在supervisor評估中。
2. 參加了兩次的conferences，雖然表現麻麻地。
3. 終於出國了，和朋友一起到Medan走了一趟，雖然沒有幾個人曉得Medan是哪裡。
4. 今年收到了蠻多的紅炸彈，祝你們幸福！
5. 哎呀，終於在今年，我第一次踏進了Sitiawan戲院，和k-room，哈哈。
6. 第一次做兄弟，而且一年就做了三次兄弟，三次裡，有兩次就被人拔了腳毛！有仇嗎？
7. 參加了教會的羽球比賽，打的蠻過癮的，雖然名次較後，而且還犧牲了我的腳拇指，但是還是很痛快。
8. 對了，差點忘了我的智能手機。
9. 還有，我也開始有了小小的投資，起碼是個起步吧。
10. 在2011結束前，和朋友去了一趟Langkawi，我可是期盼了很久的，終於達成了。
11. 最後一件就是最可惡的，我被人“玩笨”！

24年的人生咯，我覺得2011是我過的最最最快的一年，我想當我以後想起當年事，2011怕是會被我遺忘！！明明期間發生的事不少，也不小啊，怎麼就是覺得2011真的不留痕跡呢？

薇恩 - 救。情歌

薇恩，這個名字對很多人其實陌生的很，但是因為最近我都有在看ntv7的電視劇，《甘榜情願》和《黑色夕陽》，而這兩部劇的主題曲都是由薇恩來演繹，所以，我對薇恩有了最起碼的接觸，聲音的接觸。

第一次聽薇恩是因為《甘榜情願》，這部戲其實很不錯，新加坡的新傳媒製作，而且，這戲的主題曲《舊情。歌》，其實我覺得寫的恰到好處，不知不覺的，莫名的體會到戲中兩個命生的不好的女人對命運的無奈。那時候，我就覺得薇恩的聲音很乾淨，也有情感，不知道是不是因為我看了那套電視劇的關係，我覺得薇恩也唱出一種無奈的感覺。不過那時我一直以為薇恩不是個年輕的歌手，因為無奈之餘，我還覺得有點滄桑的感覺，哈哈。也許是因為歌的旋律的關係吧。

薇恩 - 《舊情。歌》

後來看《黑色夕陽》時，又是薇恩唱的主題曲，《黑色疑惑》。這歌又顛覆了我對薇恩的想法，因為這歌可是有着明顯的搖滾的曲風！因為要配合電視劇的故事情節，這歌一開始其實有種詭異的氣氛，然後到副歌時節奏突然轉換，企圖呈現一種緊張的氣氛，但是我覺得副歌其實有點破壞了這歌的感覺。不過還真的不得不佩服薇恩的唱功，副歌的音其實有點高，但是薇恩唱的似乎不費力，一下子就到了那個位子，贊！

薇恩 - 《黑色疑惑》

整張專輯停下來，其實發現薇恩很像所謂的變色龍，首首歌都有着不同的曲風，呈現了薇恩的多變化，但是是件好事嗎？薇恩的聲線其實非常的清亮，簡單，有厚度，而且也很悅耳，但是，辨識度我覺得可能就少了些。我一直沒有辦法馬上就認出那是薇恩的聲音，可能是因為這張專輯太多變化了，而且，非常要命的一點是，有些歌，我竟然覺得有些其他人的影子。

這歌不知道怎麼的，我覺得一開始的那兩句，有點Olivia Ong的感覺。但是這歌卻呈現了薇恩輕鬆，帶點對情人說悄悄話的感覺，飄逸之餘，還帶點厚度，句句紮實飄進你的耳朵。

薇恩 - 《我會》

《找自己》這歌聽過太多人唱了，但是薇恩的演繹我還蠻喜歡的，可是不知道怎麼的，我有種潘嘉麗的感覺，我在想薇恩會不會是新加坡人啊。

薇恩 - 《找自己》

《關懷方式》，應該是薇恩和阿牛合唱，而這歌其實也是翻唱新加坡藝人陳漢衛的歌，應該是新加坡電影《七月俏佳人》的主題曲。在這首歌裡，薇恩又有不同的表現，雖然一樣和《我會》帶點輕鬆的曲風，但是這歌薇恩的音色就偏高，帶點甜蜜愉快的口吻。

薇恩《關懷方式》

不同於《關懷方式》的對唱，《說愛》就比較感傷，但是我聽不出男聲是哪位，哈哈。

薇恩 - 《說愛》

专辑曲目：
01.我会
02.找自己
03.关怀方式
04.It's so beautiful
05.流星
06.合二为一
07.完美
08.旧情歌
09.黑色疑惑
10.说爱
11.Part of your world

其實就整體來說，這張專輯算是很不錯了，薇恩在這張專輯裡彰顯了不同的音色，也許是因為這張專輯比較像張合輯，把以往薇恩唱過的歌擺在一起，所以才會出現這種多變的曲風音色，畢竟有些歌是專為某些電視劇寫的。而且專輯的介紹其實也多多少少說明了這張專輯裡不同的薇恩。

薇恩＝单纯＋舒服＋好听，不要溢美的包装，是为了让情歌在众多混乱的发声体中，找到救赎！

有點不得不說，薇恩的資料其實少的可憐，我都還不知道薇恩到底是馬來西亞人呢？還是新加坡人？哈哈。不過有好音樂就好，何必在乎這些呢。

Android: Zooming

I found the example of code for android pinch zoom. You can find the example from here and download the codes from the website of 3rd edition of Hello! Android.

Well, it is best if you able to debug using your android phone instead of the emulator, it is pinching zoom, requires two touch points after all.

First of all, let's look at the xml layout file of the example i downloaded from the website i mentioned earlier.

It is just another ordinary layout file, except, one property, android:scaleType is added to the component. We are dealing with zooming process, to enlarge or scale down the image. Therefore in order to enable the picture to scale accordingly, android:scaleType="matrix" is added, and later the image matrix can be set using setImageMatrix(matrix) if the scale changed.

another ordinary onCreate() function

Yes, assigned touchListener to the image as we have to touch the image to zoom right? Here comes with the main part of the example. Before zooming even starts, we need to get the pointer where we pin on the image. Therefore we need MotionEvent which is able to report the axis value (x,y) and the motions. 

• MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN - A pressed gesture started, that's when someone press on the screen
• MotionEvent.ACTION_POINTER_DOWN - A non-primary pointer has gone down, in my definition, it captures the second point when someone press on the screen without let go of the first press
• MotionEvent.ACTION_UP & MotionEvent.ACTION_POINTER_UP - When a pressed gesture was let go
• MotionEvent.ACTION_MASK - Handles multi touch
• MotionEvent.ACTION_MOVE - A change happens during a pressed gesture

It is better to show the pseudocode to explain the process.

When first press gesture happens,
         Get the axis value of the pressed location,
               If second press DID NOT happen,
                       The action to be taken when the press gesture moved is DRAG (drag the image around to    
                                        show the other part of the image which might covered outside the screen)
                       Then using matrix.postTranslate() to get the part of the image at the pointer after the move
              Else
                      When  a second press triggered, calculates the distance between the two pointers, and                      
                      calculate the middle point as well (because the scale starts with the middle point)
                      The action to be taken when the press gesture moved is ZOOM
                      Calculate the distance between the two points after moving
                      Calculate the scale between the two distances measured
                      Then using matrix.postScale() to enlarge or scale down the image matrix
Set the image to the current matrix

spacing() function is used to determine the space between the first two fingers, the reason of calculating the space is because the author would like to set a constraint to ignore the event if the distance is too small.

midPoint() function is used to calculate the middle point of the first two fingers, as the scaling process always starts from the middle point.

the declarations

Declaration again, the code above is downloaded from Hello! Android, and please refers here for further details. 

The explanation above is only explaining my understanding regards the code. Thank you.

Merry Christmas + Weirdly Surprise

Yeah, it's Christmas time again, Merry Christmas everyone.

My Christmas always the same when i was at home, joined the church carolers two nights ago, then attended the church Christmas service this morning, and enjoyed the performances from the bro and sis. I was used to play a role before i went for my study, but now, i am one of the audiences, time flies dont you guy think?

It should be an ordinary Christmas week for me, but yet, yesterday, the Christmas eve, i received a call, and it broke my ordinary Christmas mood, well, i wasnt saying it was bad, it was definitely something different. Why was it so different? Because, i was being fooled by a jackass!!! I am not trying to say i am so smart that i can spot the lies immediately when i heard one of them, but at least, i thought i was aware enough to be suspicious when i heard one of them. Ironically, i overrated myself.

When i picked up the phone, he asked me, where was i, and i told him that i was at home now, and he told me that he was at Kuching now, thought of asking me out, wanna buy me a buffet lunch\dinner. I was stunned for a few seconds, then my memory started to flash back to the last time we had lunch together, oh ya, i did ask him to buy me a buffet lunch at Four Points hotel, and i wasnt expect he would keep that in mind, because clearly i wasnt being serious as i dont remember that! Got to admit that, i felt warm and touch when he said that, because he remembered what i said before, and he keeps that in his mind. Guess that's the reason i chose to trust him immediately when he said he was at Kuching, even though i know that his friend's wedding dinner is on tonight, the Christmas night. I asked him though, why wasnt he being invited to the dinner? He told me that he didnt know the groom much, just another see-and-nod kind of friend, i felt weird but i chose to ignore my instinct. Then he started all the bullshits, said i should have told him earlier that i am at Sitiawan now, then he will come to Sitiawan and Ipoh, try the local cuisines. Then he started bringing out his intention, saying if i was at Kuching now, he will sure buy me a buffet, and asking if i would do the same if he comes to Ipoh one day. Well, from my place to Ipoh, it needs 2 hours driving, and i dont know Ipoh at all, but since he already brought that out so clearly, i have to say yes right? Thought of i would still have times to prepare because he wont come any day sooner right? But hell no, i should have say no, thousand of NO!!! 

When i thought i was talking to him across the sea, he was actually in a car, heading to Cameron Highland! I should have notice all the weird background sounds came across through the line. It was very noisy, some people were talking. And the line isnt so stable, it had been on and off for so many times when we talked through the phone. We were barely hearing from each other, it shouldnt be like that if he was at Kuching! I should have aware of this!! But yet, because of the stupid emotion, it blinded me! When he told me that he was at Perak, heading to Cameron Highland, i lost my sound for few seconds. Then realized all the things he said early was just try to lead me, step by step, stepping into his trap! CRAP! Well, i wasnt angry with all the lies, i felt like, crap, what did i just agree on?! I said if he comes at Ipoh, then i will buy him all the local cuisines! And clearly, he is invited to his friend's wedding dinner, and he will be at Ipoh from 25th to 26th. Crap, crap, crap!!! But lucky me, the line was so unstable, therefore we ended the conversation, i told him i will call him the next day after he got back from Cameron Highland. That gave me some times to think about it.

I thought of asking him to come to Sitiawan, though i told him that Sitiawan does not have much special local cuisines, but at least, it is where i grown up. I can still show him some places here, but Ipoh, it is just another new place to me.

Today, i called him, and we had a little talk. I asked him to come to Sitiawan, but he is with a bunch of his friends, all are invited to the wedding dinner, and he supposes to stay with his friends since most of them they havent meet after the graduation. And i would feel uncomfortable with his friends because i barely know them. Therefore, we just called it off, oh yeah! Since he already called Waiyee, and Waiyee will be their hostess. He doesnt need me lah, haha.

Then we talked about some other craps, like he said that i must invite him to my wedding, but he said then again, even if i invite him, he might not coming because, the friendship of ours, isnt enough to the stage, because i never helped on his homework, never helped him cheating during the exam, and bla bla bla. Jit jit jit, is this something that you would say to your friends? If you asked me if i felt angry or upset when i heard he said that? Hell no, i felt funny, i wonder what's his friends reaction when they heard he said that in the car!!! Then i said if he wanna invites me to his wedding, he better prepares the flight tickets, and he said sure, because our friendship different from the others, sure buy you tickets. I just couldnt stop myself rolling my eyes, but one lesson learnt, never take serious with what he says, ever again. He defended himself, saying that 99% of what he had said were true, hell i said, 99% of what he said were lies! The line was bad, after the line broken, we stopped calling as well, because we had came to a sense already, i am not going to find him, and he is not expecting me, and the less, were just talking, like he said, 鳥話!

Though i was fooled by him, but i appreciate for his call, at least he brought something new to my Christmas. 

Kind of different experience after all!

  

Langkawi Trip

This was the third time i had planned to go to Langkawi, and finally made it!!! Seriously!!! 

The first plan was decided on 2008, with a bunch of secondary school classmates, but plan cancelled because "someone" flew all the way to Thailand with her bf at the very last minutes. Well, she finally told us this year that the Thailand trip was actually a must-go trip, things happened between her and bf and they needed the trip to smooth the tensions.

Then last year, us, the Uni friends, decided to go for a trip, because we never really have the opportunity to go on a trip together, everyone just couldnt wait to head home every holidays. So we decided to go to Langkawi as some of us never been to that island before, plus all the seductive duty free chocolates and liquors, tickets to Penang was cheap as well. That trip somehow blew away due to unforeseen circumstances, at the end, we spent a night a Penang, like we planned, then headed home separately the next day. Thanks to that trip, my laptop's adapter was broken, and i experienced the worst and scared to the hell flying experience when i was on the plane back to Kuching from Penang, with PeiFung. Man, that was scary, it was a super cloudy day, and it seems to rain heavily in any second, and the flight captain, he somehow made up his mind, instead of flying slow, he speed up the plane. Huh, imagine that the whole plane was colliding with the air, swaying non-stop ever since it took off. Luckily it only took not more than 10 minutes to get through the heavy cloud. Huh, seriously, i wasnt afraid that the plane would crush, touchwood, but it was like sitting in a roller coaster, you know that you wont be thrown out yet you would scream like no yesterday still, that was exactly how i felt right at that moment, but i hold the scream back inside my heart, i would probably kill myself if i allowed myself to scream!!!

Then at last, this year, by the end of 2011, the same bunch of classmates asked when were we going to have our next trip after the Medan trip. Then i suggested to go to Langkawi again, seriously, I wanted to go Langkawi so badly, i wasnt not going to lie, it was all about the chocolates and the liquors, haha. And this time, everything went smoothly, we departed from Sitiawan on last monday, 12th of Dec, spent two nights there.

Initially, we planned it was 4 person trip, me, Melisa, PuiSee and ZhiFang, the same geng went to Medan few months ago, but Melisa brought a friend who is from Taiwan, introduced herself to us as XiaoBa, we were fine with it. It is good to know a new friend, especially from Taiwan, haha. Got to mention, the boat that we were taking to the Langkawi from the dock, so damn cold!!! I tot i would freeze to death for a second!!! It was Langkawi that we headed to, so it never cross my mind that i would need a sweater!!!

When we reached Langkawi, having our lunch at Kenny's Rogers, then got the car, headed to the Zackry hotel, checked in, then started our journey in Langkawi. Our first stop was to the handicraft center of Langkawi, because there was an exhibition of handicrafts, and it was the last day of that exhibition. Well, initially we tot we would see something different, yet, those were ordinary pieces. Then we headed to the well-known Black Sand Beach. I tot we would see a beach with a wide cover of black sand, but disappointed. 

The underneath of the sand is black in color instead of the black sand on top of the beach. And the black sand, lack of attraction as well, i tot it would be glamorous, shining with the sunlight, perhaps too much pollution and some human selfish behaviors, businessmen altitudes, this place is dying.

It was getting late, and we needed to head to the dock again, because Melisa's family was coming as well. Her mom, and her three sisters. Our trip, started with 4 people, ended up with 9 people, and me, PuiSee and ZhiFang somehow, like the strangers, accidentally joined their family trip, sweat. After taking Melisa's family to their hotel, we went for a little walk around the area. There are so many shops selling the beach wears, restaurants, and hotels, We were all hungry, so decided to look for a place for dinner. When we passed a Zon Free emporium, Melisa's mom and sisters decided to go for shopping instead of dinner, woman nature, haha. So the five of us, went for dinner ourselves, we stopped at a thai seafood restaurant, but we ordered for ordinary Chinese style food because XiaoBa is from Taiwan, Chinese style food is actually a better option. The food, just ok, but not worth for the price, but we knew that Langkawi isnt a cheap place to visit to. 

After the dinner, we went for a little shopping, haha, PuiSee wasnt plan to buy much chocolates before we came to Langkawi, but when we started to shop, she was so tortured, buy, or not buying? She did shop a bit, ZhiFang, a teacher, buying for her students, how nice. And me, sure couldnt stop myself, how much i bought? Ha, that's a secret, haha.

When we got back to hotel, took the shower, then we started to play card game again, but without punishment this time, how come we didnt buy any beer like we did last time in Medan, and the beer is so cheap in Langkawi. I guess we just forget about it somehow. 

The next day was the island hopping, we went to three viewing points, stayed an hour each at the two islands we stopped, and few minutes at the points to see the real eagles. 

on our way to the first island

a few minutes walk to the lake we headed to

the lake!

We saw lot of monkeys on the first island, and those monkeys are fierce, PuiSee was holding a plastic bag with the snacks, one monkey jumped to her directly, and rubbed the bag, wah, u should see that scene, the monkey wasnt going to stop until it got what it wanted. PuiSee was scared, and screamed, and throw the plastic bag away, and the monkey went straight to the bag, and run once it got the bag. Gosh, never show your plastic bag in front of the monkeys!!!

the eagles

When we reached the viewpoint to see eagles, we saw some of the visitors were feeding the eagles, we dont know we were going to see eagles, so we didnt bring any food, so just pure taking photos.

last destination

last destination

This time, we applied lot lot lot of sunblock lotion, we were all scared with all the burnt we experienced in Medan, haha. Luckily we only stopped for an hour. We headed back to hotel after the island hopping because some of us were so wet, but the three of us took a short shower as well. Then we went for lunch, another Chinese food restaurant, the food was much nicer and price cheaper than the restaurant we went for dinner. 

After the lunch, our next destination was the cable car. God, so many people were in the line to get into the cable car!!! We waited for almost an hour for our turns.

             

Unlike the cable car to Genting, this cable car trip, it was scary!!! I think i has slightly phobia of the height, huh!!If you asked me if i wanna to experience it again, my answer is definitely, hell no! Even though the views up there are nice, and the weather is windy and slightly low temperature, but that's it, no second time. 

you can feel the bridge is swaying when the wind blow...

After we finally stepped on the land again, it's dinner time. We went to a japanese restaurant, Ukaizan Japanese Restaurant. At first i tot it would be only the five of us, so we suggested to go to that restaurant, but Melisa family came along, and the prices, expensive!!! But the sushi are nice, and sushimi are definitely fresh,  you can feel the sushimi melt right in your mouth. One minus point of that place is too much mosquito, you might want to do reservation, reserve a table indoor. 

Ok, night time again, it's card time, and this time, we bought some beers, 3 bottles of Hoegarrden, and 1 bottle of Vodka cocktail. ZhiFang was sick, Melisa was sick, XiaoBa needed to take care of Melisa, so only me and PuiSee were cool enough to drink the beers. We spent the night playing cards, drinking, chatting, and we were me, PuiSee and ZhiFang, Melisa and XiaoBa were both sleeping in their room. We had our moments though. 

It finally came to the end, the next morning, we spent our breakfast in a normal noddles stalls, then waited for Melisa family members to finish their breakfast and getting ready to go to the dock, and stopped for shopping. That was our last stop to continue our shopping, we learnt quite a bit in choosing wines, there are three types of wine, according to the salegirl. Merlot, tends to a bit sweetness. Carbernet Sauvignon, tends to a bit bitterness. I wasnt sure about the name of the last one that the girl showed us, it was a bit spicy, the reason of why i could still able to recall those two  types is because PuiSee bought Merlot and I bought Sauvignon, haha.

A small incident happened almost caused the three of us couldnt pass the boarding room. The guards asked for the prove that we had spent at least 2 nights in Langkawi as we bought liquors. Any receipts like the car rental, accommodation receipts that could prove we spent two nights in Langkawi will do. Come on, we didnt know that, plus all the receipts were with Melisa,and she wasnt with us, luckily i realized that we bought chocolates during the first night in Langkawi, and PuiSee used her credit card and therefore she kept her receipts, huh, that was a prove, luckily.

It might be a bit rush, and we didnt visit a lot of places there, but yet, we had our fun. Poor ZhiFang, this was the second time she went a trip with us, but both trips caused her fall sick, haha. Looking forward for the next trip!!! But before this, saving is important!!! Haiz...I wasnt even dare to make a list of how much i spent in Langkawi...speechless...    

   

Buddy's Wedding

The very first big event of my Dec was attending to Tommy's wedding. Tommy and I, we were met on 2nd July 2006. I remember the date so clearly because he was my housemate back then in the days when we were in our university, Unimas. He and I were more than just normal housemates, we were both also students of Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, different major though. And one year later, I became Tommy's roommate, and also coursemate because I changed my major to his major! Not to forget to mention that back in the days, only 4 chinese students in our apartment, and the college management actually arrange the students into the rooms according to the birth order. And guess what, Tommy was born in 30/12/1986, and his roommate, Waihor, one day later, 31/12/1986, and I, another a day later than Waihor's, 1/1/1987, my roommate, born in April 2006, that was a bit like the outlier, because he passed the test and skipped his standard 4. Because of the sequence, Tommy was our big bro (da ge), Waihor, the second bro (er ge), me, the third bro (san ge), and Lingxuan, our little bro (xiao di). My name was kinda hard for Tommy to remember i think, he received English education since he was small, so he used to call me san ge. There was quite a while, i was well known as san ge in our faculty. Even today, Tommy's wife also calls me san ge, haha,  what a big honor!

When Tommy asked if can i be one of his brothers, the soldiers to fetch his wife in the bride fetching session, i was so neglected, and i made sure some of my friends agreed to become the brothers, then only i let Tommy knew my answer, haha. But things happened, Yew wasnt coming, Waihor unable to make it in the last min due to his family matters, Waikit and Joo only reached Tommy's place at the midnight, only me, reaching Batu Pahat where Tommy's parents stay and the wedding held, at 5am of 2nd Dec!

Tommy's wedding was on 3rd, which means 2nd was his wedding preparation day, and i had no where to go, so i followed Tommy went around the town, settling the accommodations for his wife's family (his wife is from Pahang), and also the friends that coming from different places in Malaysia to attend the wedding. It occurred to us that we had nothing much to do during the afternoon, only to make sure that the accommodations were ready, but we had no idea that troubles were starting approaching us.

Like i mentioned earlier, relatives and friends were coming from different places, and you cant expect them to arrive at the same time. Yupe, troubles came when relatives and friends started to showing up one by one. Tommy was so busy answering the calls, looking for people, bringing them to the houses, things, suddenly things started getting messy, and someone was starting to lose his temper, haha.

It was a awful experience, because we were having a small car gear problem when we were on the way to take bride's relatives while the bride was sitting in the car as well. The car broke down right in front of traffic lights, and next to a shopping mall, which is always crowded with cars. Though Tommy brought the car gear issue with his dad before, we were driving his dad's car because Tommy's car was getting ready for tomorrow bride fetching session, uncle told Tommy that just a little techniques required to change the gears, not a big deal. But when the car clutch finally lost it's function, Tommy got upset. I was super awkward because i was the outsider when he talked so loud to his father, and losing his patience to his wife as well. We were forced to push the car aside, because the car broke down in the middle of the road, it was hard because we blocked the corner to the mall, so we had to make sure we manually parked the car in the right place so that we wont block the way. Gosh, that was my first time ever, pushing car in the middle of the road!!! And so many people watching when they passed by.

If this happened during some normal day, then it wont be that pissed off, but it happened one day before the wedding, and the relatives were still waiting for Tommy to take them to the houses, it was too much to handle at once. Tommy had to call his friend, another brother came to take his wife to take her relatives to the houses. I think we spent more than half an hour to wait for the helps. Luckily someone stopped by and checked for us, and told us that it was because of running out of clutch oil. Tommy's uncle came afterward, and temporarily settled the issue, as long as the clutch oil that we filled enough for us to drive back to Tommy's parents place. Then we changed another car, continued to take the friends to the houses. And it was around 9pm, and Tommy and I were starved, especially Tommy, he wasnt taking lunch because he lost his appetite.

It had been quite a rough day for Tommy, haha, my final job was taking Tommy's real blood and fresh brother to the house where Tommy's relatives going to stay at. And then I was done with my day, while Tommy and his bride went to see their friends at another hotel.

As for the bride fetching session, me, waikit and san joo were a bit quiet, staying out of the war, haha. But the challenges werent too hard, it considered as nice if compared to Chiam's one. Just that, two times of my experience of being the brother, my leg hair were torn for two times!!!

The wedding was actually quite merry, Tommy and his bride were Form 6 classmates, so they have common friends, and when a group of old friends stay together, they brought a lot of fun to the wedding. In the other hands, us, the friends from the university, were a definitely a quiet group. Waikit, San Joo, Kent, and Choon Hui were quiet sitting on their tables during the wedding dinner, while me, waiyee, and her bf sitting on another table next to theirs. We were all so quiet, so so so quiet compared to other tables. Of course, me and waiyee did talk a lot, also with her bf.

Tommy were so drunk, so drunk that he couldnt remember we took picture with him and his bride before leaving the dinner. He said he didnt see me after the dinner, only remembered taking picture with waiyee, sweat.

It was a tired journey, but it was worthy. Tommy and Shiny, wish the two of u have a great and happy future ahead!!!

Home Guard

Do you have any idea what is the term Home Guard meant? Yupe, for those who are very good or were very good with our country history, Home Guard is a familiar term to them. But sorry lah, as for me, I had no idea what the term meant until this morning, when I checked with my sister who just sat for her PMR. Home Guard was actually a team of people team up to patrol the village during the night curfew when communists were active back in the days. 

Why am I checking this term? Well, the story started with my grandfather, who already passed away, was one of the member of the Home Guard, and his friend heard of the news few days ago saying that the Home Guard or their partners (if the Home Guards already passed away) can register themselves to claim for, I dont know, maybe payment, maybe fund. Well, this isnt the first time already, my mother told me that they had done it about 10 years ago, and claimed RM1000. Seriously, I had no idea about this, yesterday was the first time I ever heard of this claim.  

And since I am at home, I got the work to register for my grandmother, and the registration center is set at Police Station. But seriously, I only knew that my grandfather was a some kind of night guard during that period and how in the world I was supposed to explain to the police why I was there? I had no way to turn to, then I realized I can actually check with the history books, and since my sister just finished her PMR, and she is proud with her history results all the time, I should probably ask her. She checked, and found the term, Home Guard, I wasnt so sure about that, but at least, I got a term, and it is better than I go to the police and yi yi ye ye, confusing the police. Luckily, it turned out that my sister was right, before I even speak it out, the stationed policemen spoke it out when I only said the word "register...". 

Therefore, for once in my life, the first time I ever stepped in the police station, was to register for the claim for the Home Guard for my grandmother, she is the beneficiary.  

Now I only realize how amazing these old folks in receiving news!!! The newspapers never mentioned a thing, I think, and no letters received, yet these old folks are still able to know when to register, where to register. Hand up!!!

Android: Splash Screen

I guess almost every app has its own splash screen, maybe by showing the title of the app in an interesting way, or promoting own company or own production, but an interesting splash screen had became a must-have component to show some sophistication of the product.

As usual, starts with creating a new project. 

Remains the originally created .java file and main.xml file untouched.

We need a splash screen page and a main page, and since we already had the main page when we first created the project, we need to create another class file for the splash screen page.

Hence, the next step is to create a new layout and a new page for the splash screen. Dont forget to include an image into the @drawable folder. I named the layout as splash.xml.

After that, i create a new page for the splash screen and i named the class file as SplashClassApp.

Splash screen will disappear itself after few seconds, hence, we need to apply Thread activity to initialize the splash screen activity. In the code above, the splash screen will display for 5 seconds, sleep(5000), and once it is done, the app will continue with the next activity which is showing the first page of the app, by the codes below,

One thing to bear in mind, when we first created the project, the originally created page will always serve as the first page to be displayed when we execute the app. Splash screen however should display before anything else, so now, we need to change the manifest.xml, to alter the order of the page displaying.

And that's it. You will have ur app with a nicely designed splash screen!!!

20-11-2011

昨天，是11月20日，其實我一直都不知道昨天是有著這麼一個意義的日子， 20-11-2011，兩個2011，難怪昨天那麼多人擺喜宴，而且還都是下午1點正入席！！

我一位中學的朋友就在昨天結婚擺喜宴，也因着他的大日子，我們幾個中學朋友有個機會見見面，聚一聚，不然每一年都是只有在年初二的同學會上見一次。不要誤會，我不是特別熱衷於一定得有個聚會，和老朋友見面的人，但是前天和昨天和朋友見面的氛圍，其實還真的挺不錯的。大家說說笑笑，也少提大家工作生活上的事務，有時開開黃腔，大家都不提自己生活上的壓力，朋友聚一起，沒有比較，沒有吹水，也沒有晒命，大家就開開彼此的玩笑，聊聊一些小八卦，例如，誰誰誰拍拖了，誰誰誰分手了。雖然有點對不起結婚的朋友，因為我們基本上就是把它當成一個同學聚會，新郎哥其實也沒有時間和我們一起胡扯，哈哈。喜宴的散場，就也代表我們同學會也該散場了，大家都說，明年見！是啊，就是明年同學會再見面了。

大家都有各自的生活腳步，面對不同的生活人際壓力，久久一次的見面，把自己原本生活上的一切暫時拋在腦後，忙裡偷閒，也挺不錯的。

喜宴散場回家後，我很累，我也不知道我為什麼那麼的疲倦，但是我又接到一個教會朋友的電話，問說晚上要出來喝茶嗎，因為有朋友從KL回來，即將結婚的朋友。我拒絕了這個朋友在上個星期五的邀約，再拒絕的話，其實就真的不大好，所以，我也只能點頭了。和中學朋友不一樣，昨晚出來的朋友，都是一雙一對的，都結婚了和即將結婚的，只有我單身，而且當中又有懷孕的，話題和中學朋友就真的不是同一個等級的了。中學朋友，就是聊聊當下的事情，天寬地闊的聊。和教會的朋友，已經踏入人生第二階段的他們，聊的，既然就是結婚，兩個人生活，孩子類似的話題，我的天，我還真的有點格格不入呢。

不過因為我和即將成為新娘的朋友很要好，所以基本上我就只能和她聊了，有不少的想當年，哈哈。但是基本上還是不錯的，這一聊，也是晚上8點多聊到將近12點。

20-11-2011，對我來說基本上是沒有什麼意義，其實它也沒有什麼意義，就是有點紀念象徵性，就是特別的一個日期。但是在這個我認為沒有意義的日子，我卻過得還蠻有意義的，一天，和兩班不同的朋友見見面，找回一些我們認為已經遺失的東西，原來我們以為生疏了的友情，其實只要一個簡單的見面聊聊天，其實我們就能找回當年大家吵吵鬧鬧，哭哭笑笑的日子了。

不是每段愛情，都能一輩子；但是一些友情卻是，一輩子的。

這是我第200篇文，我也很久沒有寫寫自己的生活故事了，這篇文，我就獻給我的朋友們，我也許是個冷淡的混蛋，但是就像我說的，有些友情，其實是一輩子的，也許沒有常見面，常聯絡，但是只要有個機會聚在一起，一切，都有可能回到當年我們瘋狂吵鬧的日子。

時間會遺失，但是它留下了痕跡；

記憶會模糊，但是它刻下了永恆；

熱情會冷淡，但是它創造了悸動；

過去，也許是真的過去了，

但是只要我們回頭看，

過去，也許就還歷歷在目，

有些事情，真的，

是一輩子。

張衛健 -月圓了

“我什麼都沒有，只是有點吵

如果你也感到寂寞，我帶給你熱鬧...”

對張衛健的印象，自然大多都是來自於他主演的的電視劇裡的痞子形象。我個人其實是非常排斥痞子風格，每回看到以痞子形象為主的電視劇，我的心總是癢癢的，總想一拳打在他們臉上，呵呵。

既然是自己的電視劇，張衛健自然有時不只現身，還獻聲，唱唱片頭片尾。對於張衛健的歌，我印象最最最為深刻自然就是這篇文一開始的那首了，《你愛我像誰》。查過了，張衛健其實也出了蠻多張的專輯了，但是，我基本上也沒有什麼印象，較有印象的可能就是那些片頭片尾了。

雖然張衛健主演的角色老是給我一種吊兒郎當的感覺，但是他唱起歌其實一點也不郎當啊，感覺上句句都是穩打穩紮的，唱進我心，沒有電視裡的吊兒郎當。唱歌的張衛健給我一種成熟穩重的感覺，他的聲音其實是厚實，感覺上一句一句打樁似的，慢慢的滲進人心。

揮別5年，張衛健在7月帶著全新的專輯《月圓了》回返樂壇。

月圓了，第一個感覺就是中秋了。至於中秋了，最讓人有所感發的自然就是，回家。

《月圓了》這歌其實就是述說那些在外為生活奔跑的遊子們想家的心思。身為藝人，回家成了他們最奢侈的想法，這歌，不只是唱出了遊子的思鄉之情，更唱出了張衛健自己四處奔走而不得回家和家人聚聚的無奈。歌詞裡有幾句唱的非常的好，

年少还不懂离别 只想飞的更远

一心只想着外面的世界

长大以后才发现 家已离得很远

突然有想哭的感觉

《你值得我等待》，副歌的第一句給我一種在2008中國奧運會時推出的奧運歌，那種，情緒高昂澎湃，拼勁十足的感覺。雖然有點突兀，但是感情裡，其實有時候就是需要這種勇往直前的一種拼勁，《你值得我等待》，顧名思義，自然就是得勇敢堅持！我覺得這歌還真的不錯！只是，這MV怎麼，是和狗的互動啊？？！！

《一夜年少》找來了梁漢文合唱，他們之間的友情在圈內圈外都為人熟之。年少時一起玩樂，受罰，歡笑，哭泣的玩伴，長大後，是不是還是那個不變的朋友呢？是不是當兩個人各奔前程時，回頭依然還看得見他的背影呢？這歌唱的，就是一輩子的朋友，一個當全世界背叛你時，還有個朋友默默的站在身邊，支撐你走下去！張衛健和梁漢文的聲線竟然如此的搭，我還真的聽不出那個是哪個聲音。

這張專輯其實還真的很不錯，沒有華麗的技巧，沒有高亢的高音，只有淡淡，溫和的唱出思鄉，對愛的堅持，豁達，友情的慶幸。

【專輯曲目】:
01. 月圓了
02. 你值得我等待
03. 對她好一點
04. 如果你只是怕寂寞
05. 抄首情歌說愛你
06. 一夜年少
07. 如果我們堅持下來走到今天會怎樣
08 我的秘密情人
09 一夜年少(獨唱版)
10 她的微笑
11 嘻嘻哈哈

Android: Flipping Gestures Activity

Flipping feature, I guess that is a feature that is inevitable to all touch screen apps. It is very cool to see the pages changed just by a fling, buttons no longer required. Sometimes, buttons could be very tedious!!!

As for android programming, in order to perform the flipping gesture, the best way of doing it is to include the OnGestureListener. However, be aware of the library to be imported, there are two libraries contain this listener with different implementation, which is the android.view.GestureDetector and android.gesture.GestureOverlayView. You should import android.view.GestureDetector in the project.

Since OnGestureListener is a interface class, there are several functions you need to include into your project, whether you like it or not.

• boolean onDown(MotionEvent e) 
• boolean onFling(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float velocityX, float velocityY)
• void onLongPress(MotionEvent e)
• boolean onScoll(MotionEvent e1, MotionEvent e2, float distanceX, float distanceY)
• boolean onShowPress(MotionEvent e)
• boolean onSingleTapUp(MotionEvent e)

Since this post is working with the flipping feature, we will only work with onFling function.

First of all, starts with a simple layout.

As you can see from the layout above, a new component, ViewFlipper is included into the xml declaration file. ViewFlipper is working as a flipper that contains the multiple views of your design. From the layout above, I created three TextView where each represent different pages when I fling my apps later. 

As usual, declare a ViewFlipper instance in the main file.

After that, in the onFling() function, add the code below,

velocityX is indicating the x-axis coordination when you fling, if you fling to the left, velocityX is less than 0, therefore it will show the previous page, it shows the next page otherwise.

android.R.anim.fade_in and android.R.anim.fade_out are animation moves that provided by android itself. These animations help to show an animation movement when we fling the pages. Refers here for more animation movements.

If we only included the codes above, it wasnt done yet! The codes above are written for the when a fling gesture detected. However, how did a touch screen device detect the fling or scroll, or other gesture activities? 

In android programming, we need to declare GestureDetector instance to detect the gestures that were applied to the screens. Includes the codes in the red boxes into the onCreate() and creates new function onTouchEvent(). 

That's it!!! You can now fling your apps!!!

許茹芸 - 許茹芸的微醺音樂，你聽見了（我）嗎？

我忘了我第一次聽許茹芸是什麼時候了，但是我記得那時是因為《淚海》這歌才認識了許茹芸。但是我對許茹芸的印象一直就停留在《淚海》這歌。當然不是說許茹芸後來的歌不好聽，只是實在不是本人的那一杯茶啊。

許茹芸的芸式唱腔，輕輕飄飄的，用著氣音柔柔的唱出每一首歌，可能是因為這樣的唱法讓我每次聽得昏昏欲睡，所以我就下意識的少聽許茹芸的歌，但是我還是有比較喜歡的一些歌，例如，《獨角戲》，《心得》。

許茹芸最近推出了一張翻唱專輯，《許茹芸的微醺音樂，你聽見了（我）嗎？》。

我覺的這專輯名稱取得還真的是很貼切，整張專輯聽下來，爵士的慵懶，舒服，真的就有微醺的感覺。聽著聽著，感覺自己就好像閉著眼，微微搖晃著手裡拿的一杯紅酒，慵懶的躺在一張黑色沙發上，偶爾微微伸展自己的肢體，彷彿自己就好像生於歐洲中世紀的貴族。

專輯歌單

1. 夜。微醺

2. 老實情歌

3. 巴黎草莓

4. I wanna be loved by you

5. 浪人情歌

6. 只愛陌生人

7. 藍色啤酒海

8. 春光乍泄

9. 秘密

10. 向前走

我絕對不是爵士的粉絲，但是這張專輯卻很合我的胃口，可能是新的編曲的關係，打翻原先對這些歌的印象，有種既陌生又熟悉的感覺，所以我還蠻喜歡這裡頭的歌。

這兩首歌是我這專輯裡最喜歡的，其實還有《老實情歌》，但是youtube裡找不到，就算了吧。

許茹芸 - 秘密

許茹芸 - 向前走

Android: Font Style

Tired with all the common fonts provided originally by Android code? Well, we can always do some alterations and bring some fun in it!

Default Font Types: 

There are five font types provided by Android, DEFAULT, DEFAULT_BOLD, MONOSPACE, SANS_SERIF, and SERIF. In order to change the font style, one can add android:typeface attribute into the XML declaration file of the components that support font styling, TextView for instance.

Other Font Type:

Do not like any of these default font types? Wanna something different and eyes catching font? Sure, get the ttf file of the font you wanted, and place it in ./assets folder (normally it is auto generated when you create a new project, else, create one manually). In this example, I downloaded a font here, named JoeHand2. Since we are going to apply the custom font, we do not include android:typeface into the TextView declaration like  what we did above.

Then in the onCreate() method, add the codes below:

Font Size:
Wanna change the font size? Sure you can, add android:textSize attribute into the XML file. There are several commonly used units, sp (scale pixels), px (pixels), dp (density-dependent pixels)

Font Style:

Surely we cannot forget one of the biggest attributes of a font, the typical font style, NORMAL, BOLD, and ITALIC. Add android:textStyle attribute, and the available values for this attributes is "normal", "bold", "italic". You can also specify "bold|italic" to apply two styles at once.

Font Color:

Sick with only black and white font colors? You can make a different too! Add android:textColor attribute!

Text Shadow:

Whenever I design with Photoshop, I am super thrilled with all the appearance properties provided by Photoshop. Though I had been complaint a lot about not to "shadow" everything, I just cant get enough!! 

There are four properties used to customize the text shadow.

• android:shadowColor
• android:shadowRadius
• android:shadowDx
• android:shadowDy

Unlike FontSize attribute, these attributes do not require any specific unit 

That's it!!! Now you can change the font properties whenever you like!!