Treasure Hunt - Melacca

Yesterday i woke up 5am in the morning, and it was Saturday!!! I joined my colleagues with our company treasure hunt event and we had to reach Sunway by 7am, so, i had to wake up on 5am! I had my housemate to  take me to Wangsa Maju before 6am, had to wake my housemate up just to send me to Wangsa Maju, i never hesitate huh? hahaha. 

Let's focus on the treasure hunt, there were total 8 teams, each made up  by 8-10 ppl. Our team supposed to be 10 ppl, but ended up with 8 ppl only because the other two were engaged to other business. But this did not put us in a bad position, because actually they only wanted 8 ppl in one team, somehow the news was a bit off when it came to our department, we gathered 10 ppl, and i was the last one registered in the list, haha. Anyway, we ended up forming a team with 8 ppl as well, so i guess it was fair to other teams afterall. 

There were two departments involved in this activity, us, ICT department, and SuperPages department. Never heard of SuperPages? Never mind, because i also dono what that is until my colleague told me that it is something similar to YellowPages, in an advance way, haha. Like i said, there were 8 teams, and our ICT department only able to gather 1 team, 1 vs 7, we were definitely in a very bad position in winning right?

This treasure hunt started from Sunway, 1 check point at Sunway, and then another 1 at Seremban, then the 5 more check points at Malacca. Our team definitely started up strong, because we solved the first clue within 10 minutes, while the others still cracking their head out for solution. Thanks to my teammates, they are certainly fast thinking machine, a glance on the clue, already figured it out. It was a decipher code clue, first clue was 10 characters of SUPER PAGES given, and then second clue was 10 digits given, then a bunch of digits given for us to decipher. Actually each digit given in clue 2 represented the character in clue 1 correspondingly, then based on the letter sequence, we deciphered the digit into letter, then got our first check point location. When we walked to our cars, the other teams were shock that we done so fast, "what? they done already?" , "so fast?" . Tell you the truth, it felt AWESOME, even though i didnt contribute anything, hahaha.

The second clue was requesting us to bring some 'treasures' based on the poets given, and those were definitely tough! Here one of the clue is,

Bring me a pack for the snack lover

From a bin and plot for flowers

Its content in part is a word for money

And that which means cut known to many

The snack of the right brand only do I want

If you are half right, half points to give I can't

Able to figure it out what that is? The answer is Cashew nut, Tong Garden brand! And we were able to crack this! What an achievement!!! I just couldnt believe that we were right on spot! Hahaha. As for the second item, it was solved by our teammates in the another car. There were 2 parts in our second clue, one was to figure the treasurse, and another was try to figure the sentence based on the hints given. For eg,

24 H in a D = 24 Hours in a Day

This one is much easier, but it wasnt as easy as we thought it would be, for eg,

88 K in a P

18 H in a G C

No idea right? haha, ended up we googled for the answers, it turned out to be,

88 Keys in a Piano

18 Holes in a Golf Course

Who would have thought that? Thanks Google. Wasnt fair? Well we are ICT team, what we know the best? Make use of the technology to the max! I bet our teams also googled the answers, but i think there were few teams didnt, based on their reactions during the answer reveal section. The answers are obvious if you google, so no way you would get it wrong, unless you did not google! 

Even though we able to figure them out, but my team, one car was too way behind another. The car that i was in, we reached there earlier, saw few teams already made it to the checkpoint, but lucky for us, they didnt seem to be able to figure the clues out. But as we saw they all run towards the petrol station's mall as the time went by, and we still didnt see any sign of the other car of our team, we got a bit anxious! Even though it wasnt a competition of speed, which mean no points given even you signed in the checkpoint first, the points were depends on the answers we answered based on the clues. But still, who wouldnt want to be the first? At last, when we saw another car of our team arrived, we were finally able to move on!

The third clue was Rebus Puzzle . This one was a bit tricky, we didnt google it at first, because some of them were easy, like,

means Stay Over Night

But we did got some tricky puzzle,

The former one means Up To No Good, and the latter one means Scrambled Egg. 

Anyway, we ended up to google for the answers, and we didnt know it is known as Rebus Puzzle, so basically i was just googled, Doogon Doogon puzzle, ahahaha. We struggled the most with the below one, which we cant google for answer, because so far, no answer just yet!

HOTONIGHTW?

means, How About Tonight, because HOW is around TONIGHT, and around=about, so the answer is HOW ABOUT TONIGHT!

Genius! But somehow, we able to guess it right, by common sense!!!! We were screaming when the answer was revealed! Because we all thought we must got it wrong, but who knows, common sense saved us!

Then we reached Malacca, and started our walking hunt! 10 clues were given, and each clue represented a shop's name. Some of the clues were just slogans of the shops, but some we need to depend on our imagination, for example, self location. 

self = my

location = place

so the answer was a restaurant called My Place. Tricky? Ya, it was!

But thanks to one of our teammates, Mr Paul, he definitely a true observer, he answered 7-8 out of 10 questions, while the rest, 7 of us only able to come out with 2 answers! 

This challenge took us so long until we lost track of time, this challenge ended up with a task of taking picture where all the team members enjoying the chendol. And when we were sitting in the shop, waiting for our chendol, I noticed that the hour is late, and asked when was the checkpoint close, checked, and gosh, only 15 minutes left, and we havent figure where the checkpoint was. No time for us to enjoy the chendol slowly, we're all in hurry, finished as fast as we could, then started running. Along the way, we saw the other teams were still trying to solve the challenge, that was quite a relieve, hahaha.

When we got to the checkpoint, there was one team ahead of us, it was obvious it was between us and them. 

The next challenge, was trying to figure out the answers of few history questions. The answers can be found in St Paul, and the museum. We failed to finish it all, because we just couldnt find the answer of that particular question, who is the name of Nicoleas Muller's wife? Even Google failed to provide answer. 

Once we done, we were requested to take a photo in front of a truck, with several items that listed in the challenge. We dont even bother to find those items, just applied whatever we had with us.

1. 2 x Headband (we had a malay teammate, solved one, then using handkerchief as the other one!)

2. 2 x sunglasses (We got two, though mine one not exactly the sunglasses, but still appear dark under the light!)

3. 2 x weapons (umbrella!) 

4. Wig (well, using the girl's long hair, and put them on the top of another teammate, who is bald, creative!)

5. Sarong (I got towel!!!)

Once we finished taking picture, we saw the other team coming, and that was the first team finished the previous challenge, which means, we were back to the top. But we got a bit carried away by the last challenge. It was a matching challenge, match the image with their name, not so tough. But when we were done, we need to submit our answer to the last checkpoint, we were just too relax, and thought the last check point must be so far away based on the map given, so decided to go back to take our cars and drive to the checkpoint. The last check point was actually only 6 minutes away based on Google Map. We figured that out, and then decided to go to the last check point first. And that's when we lost our chance to check in first.

But like i said earlier, that was not a speed game, it was all about the answers we submitted. So when the answers were revealed, we did pay attention to other teams, guess what, we had a great chance of winning this! I personally feel not good to reveal the team position started from the last place, because it just meant you are the loser, haha. Anyway, there were tight scores among those teams, but certainly not the champion. The organizer said, the champion really deserves it, as the champion team was 27 scores ahead of the runner up. Of course, the champion was our ICT team! We felt so so so awesome!!! Especially we won by such a big lead!

It was fun, but we didnt have much interaction with another teams, everyone busy with their answer searching, and preventing other teams overheard the conversations too, haha. 

And Malacca, damn hot! The sun is a real damage!!! Got all burnt by the end of the game!

That was fun, tiring too. I honestly wasnt contribute anything, hahahaha, but i shared the honor! Hahaha. Never hesitate right? 

Songs of my March

I was watching Brit Awards yesterday, and i found out there are some amazing songs that i never heard before,  beside Adele of course, haha.

Ed Sheeran - Lego House

Ed Sheeran - The A Team

Olly Murs - Heart Skips a Beat

Olly Murs - Dances with Me Tonight

The Wanted - Glad You Came

One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful

US and UK music styles, definitely show a great different!

第一个月

一个月的时间，是长呢？还是短呢？随着年岁的增长，时间只有越过越快的感觉，对我来说，一个月，简直是短的可以啊。可不是吗？上个月的昨天，我向我的公司报到，正式的成为上班族。一转眼，一个月就这样过去了，有点浑浑噩噩的感觉，哈哈。

与同事的相处也还蛮不错的，大家都有说有笑的，我也算是打破我的一贯的沉默，打从一开始就试着打开话题，认识我的人都知道，当我面对陌生人时，我大多都是保持沉默，也只有在我认识的人面前比较疯。但是我这次其实再次打开我自己，就犹如2006年当我刚到大学报到，我那时也是非常的放开我自己，尝试去认识一些新的朋友，结果，我认识了一些一生的朋友，有好的，也有“不好”的！！！哈哈哈，没有啦，大家都是“好”朋友，很高兴认识了他们，5年，长达5年的日子，因为他们而变得有趣，在古晋的日子也变得不再那么难熬，呵呵。

告别了5年熟悉的地方，我来到了KL，上一次来KL实习时，是2008年，长达6个月的实习，我其实没有交到非常要好的朋友，因为那时，也许一些事情的发生，让我在那段时间有点封闭了自己，我那时，真的，有点讨人厌吧，哈哈哈。今年，再次回来KL，我找回2006那时的自己，我也才知道原来，我真的可以有很多废话，哈哈哈。我觉得我的几个男同事是闷骚型，其实我自己何尝不是呢？在陌生人面前正经八百的，不苟言笑，其实，认识我的人都知道，我有时，疯狂的很啊，哈哈哈。

一个月了，是时候真正的要步入轨道了，我不期望我会有多大的成就，但是我希望我可以呈现最棒的自己。也许你会觉得我有点自大这么说，我一直认为，我代表的不只是我自己本身，还有就是我的大学。当然，我觉得我不只是我自己而已，我们每个人其实都必须有那么的一个自知自明，我们所表现的，不只是我们个人的能力，还有培养我们的大学，尤其是，我们的大学，Unimas，还不是太为人所知，我们就是最有力的宣传了，哈哈哈哈，有点自大不是？哈哈哈。

最后一句，加油吧！仰望属于我们的未来！

Department Dinner

I planned to go back home during the last weekend, but our company CTO had invited our IT department colleagues to go over his house to have a dinner. It is a yearly event, our CTO will invite all from the IT department to his house, having a dinner once a year, something like the team building event. Well, should i say lucky me because i joined the company only for 10 days, then i joined the first team event? Haha.

At first i was reluctant to join, because i am still a very new man in the department, not really get to know my colleagues every well just yet. However, things turned out to be quite fun, i had my time. Though i might be the joke of the day, sweat.

Working as a developer always a stressful job, especially when you faced some stubborn bugs which just dont want to go away from you. I used to call my friends name and talked to them whenever i felt tired solving the bugs, and i was facing the same situation last friday, but i had no one to talk to, because everyone seem so serious about their jobs. So during the dinner, i aske them if they get frustrated when they solving bugs, because i was scared to be the only weirdo, because i normally point my fingers on the monitor, and mumbling about why, why, why. My assistant manager thought i bang my head to the monitor whenever i feel stressful, when she heard about the monitor but without letting my colleague finishing up the whole sentence. Hence the joke seed planted into someone's heart.

Then after dinner, our manager suggested to have a simple game, every one taking a piece of paper, then wrote down the person and the question that you would like to ask among us that night. And one more encourage statement for anyone in the room as well. It was a simple game, but torturing us a lot, because we dont know what to ask, or who to ask. And i was the last person submitted the paper, sweat again.

Well, guess what, i was one of the popular person being asked, three times, and two statements to me. Here are the questions.

1. What is your favorite food?
2. How many girlfriends do you think you would have until you get marry?
3. What do feel like working in this company?

The first and third questions were pretty normal, but the second question, bloody hell, i last my tongue for few seconds before answering that. As my answer, hehe, sure 1 lah, hahaha.

Then the statements. Both statements mentioned about the bugs solving things, that i can talk to them if i feel like, and dont bang my head on the monitor!!! Gosh, how embarrassing, yet a lot of fun.

We celebrated one of our colleague birthday as well, and she definitely showed us a very good way in cutting cake, bizarre though, haha. Show you guys if you guys buy me a cake lah, hahahaha.

Conclusion, it was a very nice dinner, and i finally got to meet my boss, the CEO of the company, and he is able to remember all of his stuff's names, that's impressive, mine was the exception though, haha.

     

生活

天色依然灰暗，晨光依稀朦胧，
然而，

准时响起的闹钟，唤醒许多嗜睡的灵魂，
按下闹钟，容许自己继续的赖在床上一会。

起床，梳洗，早餐，出门，

天也亮了。

都市的早晨，

缺了清新的空气，少了宁静的氛围，

却，

多了匆匆的人们，加了节奏的人生。

总是在巴士上，快铁里看见闭目小憩的上班族，

渐渐的，也能在摇晃拥挤的快铁里，

闭目偷睏养神。

早晨，应该是朝气勃勃，

都市的早晨，却是暮气沉沉。

少了激进，少了动力，

仿佛一切只是为了工作而工作，

为了生活而生活。

对于一天的开始，大家都期盼着那一天的结束。

不对的工作，着实抹杀了一个人对生活的热忱。

刚开始工作，

对这份工其实有着明显的期盼，

期望能有不错的表现。

但是事与愿违，有处处碰壁的感觉，

虽然知道现实的需求，和学校里的要求有着明显的差距，

真正面对时，却还是措手不及啊。

但是，人生不就是永久的学习吗？

起床，工作，下班，睡觉，

不变的生活的规律。

但是，如何在这规律里寻找愉快，

却是落在每个人的手里。

每一种生活，都有一百种的生活方式，

选择，掌握在自己手里。

是晴天娃娃，还是雨天娃娃，

你的抉择。

巧合

新年终于在昨天，过去了。非常难得，今年的元宵节刚好落在 Prophet Muhammad's Birthday的隔一天。很巧的，元宵节是落在星期一，而星期一是补假，所以很多人就以为今年很特别，以为咱们政府怎么这么好，今年元宵节竟是假期。其实不是，只是就是那么的刚巧，碰在一起。而且，元宵节的隔一天就是大宝森节。二月的一开头，大马的三大种族排排队，过过节，1Malaysia，有时候，世事就是那么的巧。

对，有时候，有些事情就是那么的巧。我从没有想过我和大学里的同学竟会有一天成为同事。对，同事，我在我工作的第一天，在游览公司的设有的face book时，真的是face book，里面全是同事的大头照，我看见了一张甚是熟悉的面孔，然后再看看名字，心里马上惊呼我的天，怎么是他？？！！但是因为在我的工作的办公室里，我没有看见他，所以我就以为他可能在总公司或其他部门，也许不会碰到面。我和他，老实说，还真的只是点头的陌生人，因为是不同科系，但是这位仁兄的故事，我倒是听过不少，褒多过赞就是了。我和他倒是从没有合作的经验啦。

结果，第二天，早上，他突然的就出现，还对我说了一句，“I think i know you”，我就说，“We were from the same uni ba”，然后只是随便聊聊，他好像很忙似的，收了东西，又出公司了。后来才从另一个同事那里知道，他其实长时间会呆在client side，可能是做support的吧。

如果只是这么一件事，我倒也不会觉的世事有多么的巧合。但是我在吃午餐的时候，我碰到了我2008年在NEC的同事，一个和我较好的大姐姐。当我看见她坐在我对面的桌子时，我有一刹那的愣住了，而她其实也意想不到会看到我，一下子也没有认出是我，哈哈。我们放下自己的午餐，然后聊聊，互留电话，以便再约一起吃饭。

也许是世界真的很小，也许是KL本来就不大，街头分开街尾撞见的几率其实也不小。但是有些人，就是住在你隔壁，你一个月里搞不好也不会见上一次面。也许是巧合，也许就是有缘，茫茫人海里，第一次见面接触不稀奇，但是分开后却又能重逢，几率则不大，要把握。时常听人说贵人相助什么的，也许他们就是自己的贵人，也许自己就是他们的贵人，人际关系吧。

明天得开工了，希望自己能有好的表现吧！加油！

奔波一月

距离上一次的文，竟然有一个月之久了，我还真的不是普通的懒惰啊，呵呵。但是在过去的一个月里，倒是发生了蛮多的事情。在那短短的一个月里，我奔波的很啊，比起去年从大学回来后的四个月里，上个月，可以堪称短期内最为忙碌的一个月。更别提新年也是落在上个月。

早在去年十二月时，我就有找工作的打算了。在我原本的计划里，也的确是时候开启人生的另一章节了，虽然有些事情并没有完全的跟着我的计划进行，例如，在学业上。所以在度过我人生第25个生日后，我就开始投入寻找工作的状态。不知道是不是自己也太挑剔了，其实我也只是在选地点，公司的地点，因为对KL真的不熟啊，所以就只能选一些lrt能到达后，走路能到达的地方，结果，我就只选了两件公司。

在一月八号，我终于有了第一次工作面试的经验了。表现的好吗？我觉得还好罢了，呵呵。但是我不曾意识到，如今的面试其实都有所谓的altitude test，test的表现，我就真的觉得，麻麻地罢了，哈哈。在我前去另一件公司面试的前一天，我收到了第一件公示的录取通知，当下我真的非常的挣扎，是接受还是拒绝呢？我明天还有一个面试哦，到底要怎么做呢？仓促中，我选择接受，其实也是因为我对这件公司感觉很不错。如果你问我什么感觉，我也答不上来，就是感觉啦，哈哈。就这样，在面试后的第四天，我有了我人生第一份正式的工作了。当然，我也曾经在中学放假时做了将近六个月的侍应，和三个月的收银员，也有长达六个月的intern经验，但是这份工，是真正的宣示我也进入人生的另一阶段了。

然后，一月十六号，我飞往古晋，收拾东西，见见朋友。短短的两天两夜，其实真的是不够，感觉好匆忙啊。匆忙之余，还很累呢！但是和朋友见面，聊天，倒也是件美事，尤其是我人生的前五年，就是和这一帮人度过，能再见聊天，时间非常难得的事情啊。当我们每个人都开始自己的人生时，见面，就难了，尤其是还隔了南中国海！

古晋回来后就是新年前夕了，今年新年我过的特别的累，因为把精神都放在桌上联谊了吧，呵呵。也许是年龄渐长的关系，身体精神不如以前了，哈哈。

年初四，我搭朋友的车，又前往KL，送一些东西过去我即将居住的房子，就仅仅是送东西，然后当晚又搭巴士回家了。奔波的很啊。

然后二月一号，我也得真正的出门了，因为隔天就是我开工的日子了。

我算了算，上个月，我仅是去KL就去了三次，来回三次！能不奔波吗？

进入二月了，也开启了我人生的第二章节，希望我能好好的，努力的，尽心的，专注于我自己的工作上，加油吧！

你好, 2012

噔！噔！噔！ 2012也在大家的迎新送舊心情下，和2011落幕下，隆重的登場了。其實一年的第一天沒有什麼大不了的，雖然也不少人都會在新的一年裡，寫下自己在新的一年裡的盼望，但是其實，1月1號對很多人來說，只是另一個公共假期，另一個普通天。

但是，1月1號對我來說，真的不知道是喜是悲啊。每一年的倒數後，我就突然的又長大了一歲，今年，25了，感覺離30歲好接近啊，雖然很多人都認為我看起來已經接近30了，痛！！

不知道從什麼時候開始，我就不再寫什麼新年的新盼望，哈哈，因為基本上實現的，少之又少啊！所以，我還是覺得，順其自然吧。

今年的生日，我在家裡過，少了大學朋友的陪伴，不得不說...耳根好清靜！！！哈哈哈。沒有啦，其實一直以來很慶幸有他們這一幫朋友，我也只有上了大學後才真正有所謂的生日慶祝，所以，謝謝你們！

雖然我人不在古晉，但是他們還是想了一個很很很無言的想法，既然在這一天把自己facebook的profile picture換成我的照片！幸好，響應的，不多，哈哈哈哈。

今天沒有什麼大搞作，早上起來去教會，然後回家睡午覺，看看書，看看戲，滴答滴答，時間就這樣的過去了。

不過昨天和中學老老朋友，黃小姐一起去唱k，一起陪同的還有另一個黃小小姐，她的妹妹，我和這黃小小姐其實是在麻將桌上認識的，因為每一年我都有上黃小姐家打打麻將，而黃小小姐就被我們抓來湊人數！三個人唱了三個小時，很盡興！還有，黃小姐買的起司蛋糕，很不錯！！！起司的口感很是不錯！！非常的濃！

我的最小弟弟去年12月時去做工了，嘿嘿，既然他是第一次拿薪水，我怎麼可能放過呢！但是我原是只是說說讓他給我買個蛋糕。結果他還真的說他給錢買蛋糕，呵呵，可見平時我也是個不錯的大哥唄！

蛋糕是我妹選的，錢是我弟給的，哎呀，不要太羨慕啦，哈哈哈哈。

2012，不管是不是世界末日，日子還是要過，希望在新的一年裡，大家都能有平安和喜樂，健健康康的，笑著面對每一天。

25歲的我，自戀的拍一拍！！

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!!!