Thursday, February 26, 2009

Bad Habits Die Hard

So anyway, its 12.36am, i gotta wake up at 7.30 in the morn tomorrow, haven't been sleeping well the past few days and can't sleep now for the very same reason and i guess the most reasonable thing to do is . . .blog. Which i haven't done for quite a while. Anyway yeah. I just felt like it and so here i am again.

Well i've gotten back to studying stuff now after my 1 year break from all things academic and am smack right in the middle of this whole Foundation Course thing in UNSW and i have to say, there are a few things that happened to me while i was studying overseas in a new environment that i would kindly share with you . . .

1) Forget about the new environment, its bollocks. After about maybe what .. . 3 days in a new place you will most DEFINATELY find a group of friends who are in the same position as you to hang out with and hang out with em which pretty much eliminates the whole lonely-boy-in-a-strange-new-environment thing. .. . .well thats what happened to me anyway.

2) You will miss home. True you might be comfortable where you are but honestly, nothing beats the place you've been warming your sorry arse for the past 18 years, and you inevitably start thinking back on all those good times at home and the places and parts of town you frequent(or used to anyway)

3) You will miss your parents. Yeah its true. I mean i see hints of it in some of my friends like always being on the phone with their parents during lunchtime(internet calls via skype or someshit of course) or talking fondly about mum's stupendouslyawesome cooking. So yeah, its in these times that you'll just realise how much you miss those moments about them like my mum sitting on the rocking chair with her glasses worn low on her nose with the light of day coming from the window behind her, or my dad surfing the net with both legs up on one side of the table and a glass of whiskey on the rocks on the other side (singing weird russian folklore music optional)

4) You will use your native language more than English regardless if you spoke pretty much English for the whole of your life. This of course only applies when you have other countrymen of yours to speak the language to. I guess its just something about talking behind someone's back in front of them or just doing something thats not of the norm.

5) People from China are everywhere. Nuff said.

6) You're eyes would be held fast and ripped open to all the itty bitty flaws of the education system of your motherland( i don't know why, but when a person from China says this word it just reminds me of the Soviet Union, and i don't mean Russia or something but the actual Communist faction which was the Soviet Union). And i have to admit it is quite depressing to find out that you've been gaining knowledge from a SERIOUSLY flawed education system for all your life.

7) You'll miss the food of your country. This was the very first thing to hit me i would have to say, but i don't think it hit me THAT hard. Maybe cause besides the fact that i do miss the good old Char Kuey Teow from down the street or Pork Soup Noodles opposite Kayu or the Wan Than Mee from Chulia Street, i am rather enjoying the local/international cuisine here in Sydney which i have to say. . . is pretty damn good.

8) You'll meet new people and if you come to UNSW foundation year, most of them will be China-nese. Which is not really a very bad thing i have to say. I mean they do have their quirks and their poor english language skills but they make up in it with almost monumental-like hard work and some bad-ass mathematics skillz. Well most of them anyway.

9) Indonesian girls are H-H-H-H-H-AAWWWWT !!! And they're real nice too. Well actually, indonesians in general are a pretty nice bunch. They're always real cool and relaxed kinda and always joking around and stuff. So yeah its pretty easy to get along with them and get along with em i do.

10) Jokes and a hearty laugh transcend everything. Or, you could say, if you're not an absolute asshole and don't mind being a fool one in a while then there's no place in the world that would be alien to you. I guess its just about putting yourself out there through the proper mediums is one of the easiest ways to learn new things and have a good time at it.

Well i guess thats all i'll write for now. I guess i'll try to get some sleep now. And trust me on this, i will be back. . . soon. :D

Friday, August 08, 2008

Just Passing Through

So. 3 months later on and here i am again. Okay okay. . . i'll stop ragging about my lack of appearance in my blog out of some misplaced guilt.


"And in further news . .. " I had the most invigorating chance to go back to me dear old school for some time wasting and I have to admit I had some real monkey business/deranged/anarchist times there as per usual. From breaking the chem lab apparatuses to tap dancing while i'm on prefect's duty. Good times good times. MUAHAHAHAHAHHA -ha.

Oh yes , before i forget , in my very wide readings in the internet i came across this interesting fictional character of those old noir-ish novellas about ultra-suave detectives ,damsels in distress and of course nazis in every shadow. His name was Doc Savage. Pronounced Sau-vah-dge i think. A little background information for you readers , Doc Savage was raised to be one of the world's most powerful intellect and a man of unparallel strength. And like all the upstanding ,non anti-heroic kinds he has a heart of gold as well . . . not to mention gold irises that can have mesmerising properties. Meh. Thats what i call old skool cool.

Doc Savage


For those of you wondering , yes i read alot and yes most of what i read is comics. =D.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

*Post*

2004-5
2005-2
2006-6
2007-3
2008-3


Thats the number of posts i have posted so far. So yeah . I'm an enthusiastic blogger indeed . So yeah, anyway . . loads have happened since the last time.

ONE being me going all the way to Australia to study in a pretty distinguished university and come BACK to Malaysia to study in my high school and will GO back to Australia to do the same thing but at a later date. Confused? I'm not surprised. Either way , I'll be doing my degree in Mechanical Engineering ( i hope) in UNSW , Sydney and thats that. A little bit of Machiavelli in there for you :)

TWO ab-so-lute-ly LOVED my very short time in my first 2 weeks in UNSW foundation year. Really good stuff. The learning / teaching method is a breath of fresh air for a person who's pretty much never really had a good learning experience in my 10 plus years of being a student in Malaysia. No offense but its the truth , the Malaysian Education System needs a little bit of work. Well besides the education system ( You must thinking to yourself , what the hell am i doing wasting my time reading this article from this piece of shit GEEK NERD ?!) I met a BEVY of beautiful ladies , great gents and really grew to like em a LOT. Will definately look them up when i'm down over there.

THREE after all these years of midnight snacking , fast food , 5 meals a day , 3 bowls of rice a meal , and a LOT of weights . .i finally put on about 5 kgs. Yeah. Thats a pretty good increase of mass , people. Usually it's either no increase or in exam times a decrease in weight. Hold up , before i go any further let me just tell you my stats. I'm 176cm which is about 5 ft 8 and am . . no ...WAS only 55kgs. Thats pitiful. Real real pitiful.

Oh yeah , i almost forgot . My heart is all out for the citizens in Sichuan and Myanmar who are suffering tremendously due to natural disasters. The local papers published a particular article which really tugged at my heart. In the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake , a doctor was trying to get around and do his best to help the children who were hurt and were still stuck in the rubble. He said that in one incident he found a little boy whose leg he had to amputate. This little boy told the good doctor ' Uncle , go on and cut my leg off , I don't need it , just get me out '. The doctor , only equipped with a fire axe , a pair of scissors and no anaesthtics good to work on the dirty deed. This brave little boy suffered through the ordeal and as the doctor pulled him out from the rubble ,he died. To suffer so much and die after that . It just makes feel thankful for everything that i have and to cherish the good life i have compared to those who are suffering.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Konnichiwa Egypt (Part III)

12th February 2008 , Tuesday

Woke up at the ungodly hour of 3 in the morning yet again. This is due to the 3 hour drive to the temple of Abu-Simbel . So essentially we had to give the bus about 6 hours to drive to and fro from the temple and had to back by lunchtime for the other activities in store for us on the day.

The hotel was kind enough to pack us breakfast in these cardboard boxes cause we most definately were not gonna be able to be back in time for breakfast. Most of us didn't really eat much at all cause everyone pretty much went to sleep on the bus. Me being me couldn't really sleep and so just stayed up and looked at the scenery outside. At around 3.00 in the morning there was pretty much zero visibility outside BUT since we were in the middle of the desert and far away from any man made light source from cities, the stars shone like i've never seen them before. The whole early morning sky was literally GLITTERING with all the stars. And then it happened.

I swear on my life that i saw a shooting star ! It was a tiny little white thing with a short streak at its rear. However , it didn't really shoot across the night sky like you see them in movies but rather in a small area of the pitch blackness of the sky. I thought to myself , "what a magical moment. .simply magical" and then i proceeded to wolf down my hard boiled eggs from my packed breakfast. It too was absolutely delicious.

Reached Abu-Simbel around 6 something in the morning. Went right to the toilets and proceeded to see the 2 huge ass-ed temples .

Abu-Simbel , as i said before , is one of the must-go-to places when you're in Egypt as it is seriously pretty awesome to look at. Furtheremore, one of the temples was transported stone by stone from the rising Lake Nasser to the neighboring island to prevent its complete submersion in the lake. If Mr Habibi didn't tell me that i would've thought it was right there from the get-go.

From left to right : Ramses II when he was 30 , 40 ,50 and 60( which is when he shaved)

Abu Simbel and I

Pictures weren't allowed to be taken inside the temple not because that mummies or ancient curses would arise if you do but rather they wanted you to BUY the pictures from them. Smart buggers. Inside the temple , the walls were filled with 'propaganda' pictures or rather pictures of the pharoah ramses giving a nice ass-kicking to his enemies and the like.

So after having our share of sand , blocks of stone and of course Ramses II, we bopped back into the cruise for a quick shower and lunch. After some more mid-eastern cuisine we went off to other places like High Dam , Temple of Philae. I'm sure that a quick reference in wikipedia will get you the specifics of the places as to me they are both wonders of architecture that has me thinking . . "These fucking egyptian must've been born with hard hats on em ! "

So at the end of the day we had a nice Felucca ride across the Nile. Now a Felucca is kinda like a boat that doesn't use nothing but wind for propulsion. It was alright i suppose. But the kicker of it all was what my sister asked me. She said something like .. . 'Hey why's this Egypt trip so rude?' My reply was . .' What do you mean?' . .she said 'Well first there was a Labia Party and now there's a Fellatio Ride .. .wtf man?! ' By that time i was laughing like a man outta Bedlam. If you don't know it already , my sister's a real piece of work.

Anyway, to end the day we were to spend a night in a Night Sleeper train bound for Cairo which would take about 12 hours . . i know.. crazy right? Well it was a 6pm to 6am ride so we were pretty tired by then. The train 'rooms' were a disgrace. They consists of 2 bunks , one on top of the other and enough room for the legs of 2 petite ladies if the sat straight up . . man , I've seen dustbins bigger than those rooms. But i have to admit , sleeping on the top bunker was the best sleep i ever had in some time. . . it was like being in a baby pram all over again. Lovely, simply lovely !

Living Da Vida Loca In The Train


13th February 2008 , Wednesday


Wake up call was at around 6.00, breakfast at 6.05 and got out at the Cairo Station at around 6.35 and got onto ANOTHER bus to the one . .the only The Pyraminds of GIZA !!

So you've seen them in pictures, you've watched The Mummy more than once. . Well so have i before i went to Egypt but STILL i was shocked and DUMBSTRUCK when i saw the sheer size and beauty of it. I mean seriously , go ahead and laugh at me but when you get your sorry asses to Cairo , Egypt and see the big bitches with your own two eyes you'll know what i mean. They . Are . Beautiful. In an enigmatic kinda way.























fooling around the pyramids


We didn't actually go INTO the pyramids but it was possible. According to one of me tour-mates , it was REAAAALLLY narrow.. like barely enough space for your shoulders narrow, and it was low as well, where he had to kneel and bend his head down alittle bit. And thats just the half of it. As you proceed deeper into the pyramid , which is kinda like a huge V tunnel where you'll have to descend and then ascend , the air gets thinner and thinner and it gets harder to breathe. So if any accidents were to happen while you're in the tunnel it'd be REAAALL hard to get anyone in to help you or get you out in time.

So anyway , after seeing the fullness and pointyness of the pyramids ( and not to mention some intense camwhoring) we set off to the next point of travel. The Sphinx !! For those of you who aren't too sure what the thing i mentioned is , its the thing with a body of a lion and a head of a human. OR you could see it in the ensuing pictures.

The Sphinx !

The Sphinx ! with me and my sister

The Sphinx ! , Coco Chanel cameo and a bad kisser


So there I was . . a few feet from the protector of the pyramids. Too cool , man . . . too frickin cool ! ZOMG! i almost forgot. Well in between The Sphinx and The Pyramids , I had me a goddamn CAMEL RIDE ! As in a real , walking , smelly , bellowing CAM-ELL !! Well actually they weren't that smelly . . . or rather they weren't smelly enough for my rubbish sense of smell to pick up any smell. However , i DID notice a peculiar smell wafting around me and the other people who went for the camel ride . .though it wasn't foul in any way . .it was more like. . .musty-ish. Hahah.


Me , the camel and camel boy

So anyway , after that we went for lunch and the proceeded to some Papyrus Factory where they showed us how papyrus was made old skool style. And this is where i , according to my mum , wasted my money on papyrus bookmarks. Shee-esh. Talk about cheapos. Anyway , the rest of the day was back at a new hotel getting some R and R after a pretty badass day. Lol

14th February 2008 , Thursday (Last Day)


The first thing on the itinerary today was a visit to the Muhammad Ali Mosque and no, not the boxer but the 'founder of modern Egypt' . Initial thoughts about the mosque were ; "A mosque? Right. Y'all go on ahead. I'll be taking a nap in the bus. I've seen one too many mosques back home already" . This however was not to be. It was a mosque in name but a citadel in practicality in ancient times. I don't know much about ancient or modern architecture and the sort and haven't really seen my share of it all but GOD-DAMNIT ! The mosque was simply beautiful. Y'know i'm wondering if i'm using the word too much. Beautiful i mean. Heh. But seriously , there's no other word to describe it. Every inch of the place was beautifully made with a very royal kinda feeling to it. The interior of the mosque had a certain vastness in it. It isn't particularly huge but it seemed that way.

Although it wasn't that big inside , it is still pretty hard to give sermons by shouting alone so the place is built with a natural speaker system which was demonstrated by our good friend , Mr Habibi. He shouted the words 'Alaaaaah Ooh Akhbah' (this is by no means the real spelling of it but just what is sounds like when he said it ) and the words reverberated throughout the whole mosque. Echos. Pretty cool stuff for a 151 year-old mosque.

The Muhammad Ali Mosque



At the Entrance


Inside the mosque

Awesome awesome stuff indeed. Well after the mosque the rest of the day was pretty much dull. We went to a bazaar to get some knick knacks for the peeps at home and we had a surprise for dinner. We got our first taste of Egyptian Chinese food. Hahah. Our first chinese food in ages . .or rather 8 days. I have to admit that the food there was pretty good by my standards. Quality was good but as for quantity. . we didn't quite had our fill yet when the food ran out. HAHAHAH. Yeah. . .heh

So that was pretty much our whole experience in the Egypt.

I didn't get to ride no roller coasters but i rode a camel ,
I didn't get to see Mickey Mouse but i got to see The Sphinx,
I didn't go to a beach with blue seas but i did go to a temple in the middle of the desert,
I didn't get to see the Empire State building but i saw its equivalent 3000 years ago,
I didn't see lush tropical rainforests but i saw endless dunes of sand and dust ,
But more importantly , I didn't go there for a holiday , I went there to see with my own 2 eyes the oldest and perhaps one of the greatest civilizations in known history.




Monday, February 18, 2008

Konnichiwa Egypt ! (Part II)

10th February 2008 , Sunday

As I said before , we (my family and I ) went for an 'optional tour' which was a ride in a hot air balloon around Luxor and to watch the Egyptian sunrise from 1500 feet in the air. Unlike in Malaysia , sunrise in Egypt does NOT occur around 7.00 something in the morning but rather at about 5.00 in the morning. . . that being said , we had to wake up at the ungodly hour at 3.00 in the morning. "3.00 in the morning?!" i hear you say , yeah . . 0300 hours indeedy ! We had to be out of the cruise hotel by 3.30 , get onto a van , travel to another hotel(not a cruise hotel but a real one) and get onto a boat to travel to the other side of the Nile River.

The Nile River , before i forget , is a friggin long river that splits Egypt into 2 parts , East Bank and West Bank. Apparently , the ancient Egyptians whose lives revolved around both the Nile and the Sun used the direction of the sunrise as "Life" and sunset as "Death" . Thus , most of the tombs and temples can mostly be found on the West bank.

Anyway, as i was saying , we popped into a long motorboat and had our breakfast , consisting of a cup of Nescafe' instant coffee with sweet cakes (which were unbelievably delicious i might add) in the boat. After breakfast and on the way to the East Bank , our pilot for the hot air balloon , who introduced himself as
Rageb told us about the safety precautions , positions to take during landing and things not to do in a hot air balloon. An example, would be not exiting the basket in mid-journey. :P

left to right : Mr I-Forgot-His-Name who was our guide for the hot air ballon ride,my mother , me
and Mr Rageb.
PS: By the gods , it was cold

Skip forward half an hour and we're boarding the Hot Air Balloon. Now there weren't just one or two or even five hot air balloons but more to 10 of em all big , round and juicy . . . um. . i meant big , round and colorful . The hot air balloon was pretty big as it was split into 5 different compartments . . . 4 on each side of the basket for the passengers and 1 in the middle for the pilot. .that being Rageb.

I s
hared a basket with 3 of my fellow tour-mates and the rest of my family had a compartment of their own. This is mainly because 1 compartment can only take about 4 people . After sufficient blasts of heat into the balloon we had
LIFTOFF ! But , it wasn't exactly Apollo 13 . . . it was more of a slow but consistent climb up from 10 to 50 to 100 to 1000 feet . At the top we saw many sights that pictures could tell a thousand words could not . .













left to right : both my sisters , Rageb the pilot , me












A small town below us where even as high as we were , we could hear donkeys braying like donkey Armageddon was near

















My basket homies














MORE hot air balloons !















So i guess you could say that i really enjoyed myself up there. The sights i saw when my eyes were with those of the eagles soaring in the sky were beyond a doubt breathtaking and awe inspiring. Every single second spent seeing the sunrise from that altitude was priceless and incomparable to seeing it on land or in pictures. It was romantic with a touch of wonder in the whole thing. And of course , thank god i didn't fall down.


After the whole thing , we all went back to the cruise ship feeling extremely impressed by the hot air balloon ride. Upon reaching the ship we had a REAL breakfast eggs and all. . speaking of eggs , i have no idea why but i found the eggs on the cruise EXTREMELY scrumptious , till i had 2 friend eggs and 2 omelette's. Now THATS some egg-loving i haveta say . . Hahah

After breakfast , the whole day was more or less a l o o o o n g rest cause we had to sail to the
Esna Locks to get to Edfu Temple. So typically , i had to try out all of the facilities the cruise had to offer . . . which consists of a foosball table , pool table , ping pong table , sundeck , bar and spa. I tried em all cept for the pool table and spa cause you had to pay for it and a cheapo like me won't pay 5USD per hour for a bloody pool game. Oh , and there were weights too ! Since i haven't really tried bench pressing before i had a little go at it on the sundeck.

left to right : excitement , pain , wipe out

So anyway , when we reached the Esna Locks , which was in the late afternoon , we could not get in right away as there were other cruise ships before us.

Now you might be wondering what this Esna Locks is i'm referring to. Well , its essentially a giant bathtub for your cruise ship. No , it is not for cleaning the ship but to raise or lower according to the height of water in the Nile. You see , the River Nile is not totally flat and one part of it is higher than the other( approximately 3 to 4 storeys high ). So , ships like the one i was in at the moment was not built to traverse down a mini waterfall/rapid , and frankly i don't wanna be in a ship that size even if it was built to handle it. Therefore , these crafty Egyptians made a giant drain in which the ship would sail into it and stop while the entrance and exit of the drain be closed . Then , the water will rise or fall gradually according to the height of the Nile where you're heading. I have to say , these Egyptians are fucking awesome.

As i was saying , we could not get into the Esna Locks till later in the night so we just sat there by the shore. At that time , most of my family members were having a nap as they didn't have much sleep in the previous night. Me on the other hand , could not sleep and so i went out onto the sundeck and read the book i brought with me. And so i read and read and read until the damnest thing happned.

I heard someone shout "HELL-LOWW !!" from below. Shocked by the sudden shout i moved to the side of the boat to see who or what was it. Apparently , they were clothes vendors who were selling clothing and towels to tourists.
This salesman , who was wearing a shoulder-to-feet one piece was shouting his prices and then he suddenly threw up a piece of clothing in a plastic bag.
It seemed that if i wanted to purchase something , he would throw up the said thing and we would start to bargain to get a price equally agreeable to both parties. After achieving that , i would replace the clothing thrown up by him into the plastic bag ALONG with the money. He would receive the 'package' and return me the purchased clothing. Well, i didn't buy nothing really , i only just saw the whole transaction from other tourists who bought it. :P Which reminds me , there were at least 20 or more of them peddling their wares to all the cruise ships waiting for their turn to enter the Esna Locks which means this happens everyday for them. What a way to earn a living !

After dinner , we had a Galabia Party where everyone dresses up as sheikhs and parties or something. We didn't go for that one as we just got too darn lazy and fell asleep right after dinner.


11th February 2008 , Monday

Visited yet another temple in the morning . The temple being Edfu Temple in Aswan. Once again I was dumbstruck and filled with awe and the scale of the temple. Being at least 3 storeys high and about 80 metres in width and filled with figures depicting the pharoah smiting down his enemies ! And the thought of this building being built nearly 2500 years ago! Totally
unbelievable ! Its pretty obvious that ancient Egyptians were both architectural geniuses and very united.

Our esteemed tour guide explained the whole temple from the meaning of the hieroglyphs and
the various places in the temple. There was the pylons , center court ,vestibule and most importantly of all , the 'holi of hollies' . . . what?! Yessir, thats what i was thinking when my tour guide said that. Apparently , he was meaning the Holy of Holies. Hahah. The holy of holies was a place where the idol of the God the temple was dedicated to was placed to worship.


Edfu Temple




After Edfu we went back to the ship and did practically nothing once again for the whole day. Once the sun had set however we went to the Kom Ombo Temple. Apparently , this temple looked much better at night rather than in the day. Couldn't really disagree on that when i saw it.

This temple was dedicated to 2 gods which was quite rare as most temples were only dedicated to 1. Them gods being Horus , the god of the sky (the one with the falcon's head) and Sobek , god of crocodiles (the one with a crocodile head)

The temple was much like Edfu in terms of the characteristics but had 2 holy of holies rather that 1. However, in Kom Ombo there were mummified crocodiles on display. Some of the effigies on the wall were chiseled away as it was used as site of pilgrimage for christians in the olden days and idol worship was against their religion.
Crocodilus Mummifus

Once again, we were told of another 'Optional Tour' . This one being a trip to the famous archaeological site of Abu-Simbel or a trip to a Nubian Village and the former being the pricier one. At first , everyone was pretty smitten with the trip to the Nubian Village as it also had a 25 minute camel ride but after reading some of the picture books and seeing pictures of Abu Simbel , everyone jumped the bandwagon and went to Abu Simbel instead. Rightly so too as it was one of the highlights of Egypt.

To Be Continued









Saturday, February 16, 2008

Konnichiwa Egypt !

16 days , 5 months and 1 year since my last blog post. . . and suffice to say i'm pretty glad i didn't just pour out 7 shades of nonsense that pops into my head for a superficial feeling of self importance. But anyway i've finally acquired a truly worthy topic to write about which would be my trip to Egypt.

Now i do not profess to be an avid scholar of Egyptian theology or of it ancient civilizations and the such but i do know enough of it not to get lost in its very intricate stories and the such. This substantial amount of knowledge is usually obtained by the usual ways . . which are either the internet or hitting the school history books which unfortunately have but a tiny dot of it in its pages. Rubbish curriculum we're having i say! Well anyway , i acquired my interest of the ancient Egyptian civilizations due to my avid readings of the Chronicles Of Conan comics where in it there's is a country called Stygia whose denizens are depicted as malevolent and shady in which there are blood stained altars to dark gods and ancient creatures that do the bidding of the high priest Thoth Amon . . These Stygians are represented very much like the Egyptian masses we know from depictions from various sources like movies and pictures. So anyway, my journey into the deserts of Egypt begins as such. .

Pic:Conan Of Cimmeria

8th February 2008 , Friday . .
Departed Penang International Airport to KLIA via MAS and had to wait there for about 6 bloody hours in transit. It got so bad that I personally forked out about 12 ringgit for a pack of Malaysia's tourism playing cards . . . . yes i know, stupid. . but SERIOUSLY , matey(s). .it was THAT boring. Oh and me and my family had a scrumptious dinner at an absolutely delightful restaurant called Mcdonalds. Yes , McDonalds. My sister wanted to have KFC but then again we thought better of it as we had KFC for more than 3 times in that week alone so it WAS kinda sickening.

The plane ride itself wasn't too bad. . .for a 7 hour flight i slept pretty much through the bulk of it. THIS of course being a rare incident as usually i'd preoccupy myself with watching movies back to back on the personal entertainment unit.

9th February 2008 , Saturday . .
Reached Doha Airport sometime in the early morning. . at what time exactly i really cannot remember and am to darn lazy to look up in the itinerary :D// Anyway spent a few hours there for transit and got to know of the nasty characters in my tour group which i will try my best to characterize now :

(Characters are in order based on the first pictures i can find of em in my camera :D)

The Predatress / Pigretor / Lion Queen


Most of her nickname's come directly from her very outlandishly styled hair, which as the names tell that it is EXTREMELY frizzy and might be a fake but i know not if that be a fact or not. She travels with her friend where my and my sisters concocted a story where she , a soon to be Predator (as in the alien from the AVP films and not a animal that hunts prey ) travels with a human guide(that being her friend) and is here on earth in the guise of a human to learn more about humanity to hunt em. . . . Such fantastic imaginations do we Chin siblings have eh? Haha

The Nasty Family
Now here's a whole family thats a real piece of work. The Nasty Family lives up to their name in every bit. The family consists of :
Strokeface - Primary father figure whose face is constantly in a state of a very bad case of constipation
Nasty Mother - Primary mother figure of the clan who keeps pushing and shoving others around to get to the front of the line . . . and the line being a line to get into a plane.
Uncle Lim - The Brother in law of either the primary figures. . .and no his name is NOT Lim but is a name given to him because of a striking resemblance to my
dad's friend whom i call Uncle Lim. Now this piece of the Nasties dresses like he's going to a board meeting every single day in the dusty , hot , sunny deserts of Egypt
NeferDOODOO - Daughter and most probably eldest. Now SHE'S got serious issues. Naming a few would be ; she walks like she's strutting her stuff on the catwalk of some Winter/Fall Collection , she covers her nose when she enters the museum because (i can't even explain how) of the smell of stone , she also asks the darnest of questions for example on the fourth day of the tour , personally asked our tour guide what he did for a living. . . our tour guide of
course gave a perplexed look at replied as best as he could to her "I'm a tour guide"
The Son - He. ..is the only sanity in a family of the insane. Relatively quiet and mild
mannered but is strictly dominated by NeferDOODOO as a kuli (slave- labourer) and translator for the English Language


The Valentine's Day Couple

A married couple who are very close and still foster a romantic bond which i've rarely seen in couples of their age whom by the way they already have 5 children. The husband's unbelievably patient as he translates nearly most of the explanations given by our tour guide to his wife that doesn't really speak English. The both of them have more love in them than the whole busload of us put together. Simply unbelievable!



Mr Habiby / Habibi


Our Egyptian tour guide who's an absolute hit. . . . if it weren't for the fact that the general population of the tourists in our group were pretty unresponsive. However, he had a patience with us that i found myself admiring. Furthermore his charisma was like so that every time he speaks you'll definately want to applaud him as he makes such a show of it . He gets his name from an Arabic name pronounced as Ha-Bee-Bee which means 'darling' or 'loved one' which he uses it to call our group but his real name's Mr Khaleed . As a tour guide he does his utmost best and fully utilizes his impressive amount of contacts everywhere to facilitate our tour. He even sometimes pays couriers with his own money to bring every single person's bags from i end of the station to the other while at the same time bringing some of the bags himself. He likes to use the word 'super' and i have to admit that he is simply super.

So anyway after about an hour waiting in Doha we then proceeded to get onto ANOTHER flight which lasted for about 3 hours to Luxor Airport. Its here that we met with Mr Khaleed and then took a bus to our first destination. . . The Valley Of The Kings . At this place ,were the tombs of the long deceased kings or rather pharaohs of ancient Egypt who were buried together with various 'personal effects' to be used in the afterlife. During the bus ride I saw some of the Egyptian youth literally RAIDING a truck filled with sugarcane which stopped due to really bad traffic. . . These kiddies just ran up to the trucks and pulled shoots of sugar cane and proceeded to eat them . Now i half expected the truck drivers to jump out of their trucks and shout their lungs out at the younguns and the other half of me expected the truck drivers to just reverse and roll em over. :D Evidently , the drivers did neither and just ignored them. . . Must be quite normal in these parts i suppose . Anyway , as i said before, we were on our way to the Valley Of The Kings which was totally unexpected as I thought that we were firstly going to check a hotel or something to freshen up and apply sunscreen and the such. . . unfortunately checking into a hotel and freshing up was the last thing on the days itinerary . However , as dirty and nasty( in a physical sense of the word and not personality-wise) as i was i still pretty much enjoyed the whole day. At the valley , we were given the first look at the ticket which is used to enter the valley and to visit only 3 out of the 22 tombs. Similar tickets like that were used to gain access into most of the tourists sites throughout the whole of Egypt. I'm unsure of which tombs but i'm very sure i visited one or perhaps 2 of the tombs which had the name Ramses which isn't all too hard by the way as there are about 5 tombs with pharaohs who have the name mind you. The tombs were dug into the ground and were rather big where 2 ground men could walk side by side with their arms outstretched at their sides. The walls of the tombs had various (of course) hieroglyphs that still retained some of their original colour....impressive is it not? That for more than 2000 years the colours neither faded not were destroyed by time. . . .However , i was pretty disappointed when i realised that the mummies were NOT in the tombs but in the Egyptian Museum .

from left to right : Mum , Eldest Sister , Me

PS: Mum's reaction to me commenting what a sunny day it is :P

Biohazard suit of sister as seen in the above picture


So after the valley , we popped back into the bus and went to the temple of Queen Hapshetsut or for easier pronunciation , Hot-Chicken-Soup as said by Mr Habiby . Queen Hapshetsut , in the shortest possible way explainable, was a queen who could not be king because of tradition ended up being King of Egypt because of a story told by the High Priest of Egypt at the time to the general public.

Posing in front of the Temple.

Inside the Temple at the one and only entrance

Oh, before i forget we were surprised by the friendliness of the Egyptian people in general. At the sight of us they'd ask where we're from and greet us by saying either "Nihao" or "Konichiwa" which were hello in Mandarin and Japanese respectively. The vendors were especially. They were always approaching everyone and telling you the prices of their wares like "10 pounds ! 10 pounds" and if you just ignored them they'd then say "Okay . . 5 pounds ! 5 pounds! " which was pretty hilarious the first time i heard it ! Khaleed, the tour guide , told us all about their hustler nature before we met them but still i was shocked when i first experienced them.


After our predetermined time wandering and taking pictures in the temple we proceeded back into the bus and off to visit the Colossi Of Memnon. In the bus we were told about various 'Optional Tours' where you can do more stuff in your stay of Egypt but have to pay for it. Khaleed told us about our first optional and one of my most memorable experiences lie there. He told us about touring the surrounding area in a hot air balloon which cost about 100USD per person. The currency of Egypt which were Egyptian Pounds or L.E were about 5 pounds to 1 US dollar. More or less RM 1 is to L.E 1 for us. We didn't agree to going on it right away but in the end the temptation to watch the Egyptian sunrise at about 1500 feet above in the air was overwhelming.

At the Colossi Of Memnon we were told about it in detail at how its name , "Memnon" was given to it by the Greeks who saw them and thought they were of a Greek warrior named Memnon. These giant statues served as protectors to the mortuary temple that was built in the ancient city of Thebes by Amenhotep III. Little did i know that there would be so much of "-oteps" or "-amuns" till i lost track of which were which and ended up calling Tutankhamun , Tutankotep and Imhotep , Imhamun !

Mum and Dad at the Colossi Of Memnon


After the Colossi of Memnon we went to an Alabaster Factory and was shown how statuettes and various furniture like pots were made using alabaster , granite and basalt. They also showed us how to differentiate the real deal from the fakes as seen in bazaars or roadside vendors. By this time the whole group were all pretty tired, dusty , hungry and were over zealously eager to get back to the hotel so it was over pretty fast and everyone just jumped back into the bus.

When we arrived at the hotel or rather a cruise ship called "The Nile Cruise" we went right away to our rooms and got about to freshen ourselves up. Since dinner was a few hours away i'm very sure almost everyone took a nice long nap.


Dinner was surprisingly good and I found out that I enjoyed middle eastern food very much. I had stuff like plain vegetable soups , kishkeh salads , chicken kafkas , mid-eastern rice which does not taste at all like the rice we can get over here , stewed lamb , and pita breads. I had a piece of everything they had to offer and loved all of it ! After dinner , there was a show where a Belly Dancer was invited to give us a show. . . . until now i have yet to be sure whether she was a he. . . or the other way round as Khaleed told us that transsexuals were not exactly alien to the belly dancing scene are were in fact pretty darn common. . . .Scarrry...


The Belly Dancer( Sex Undetermined)




To Be Continued . . .
























Saturday, July 15, 2006

Insights

Well, i've been mainly babbling about nonsense which no one in their right mind would be bothered about....which clearly notes something is very wrong with me...but whatever i've not been the one to care much for other people's thoughts about me...or am i? i'm kinda facing an identity crisis right now..."a subjective sense as well as an observable quality of personal sameness and continuity, paired with some belief in the sameness and continuity of some shared world image. As a quality of unself-conscious living, this can be gloriously obvious in a young person who has found himself as he has found his communality. In him we see emerge a unique unification of what is irreversibly given--that is, body type and temperament, giftedness and vulnerability, infantile models and acquired ideals--with the open choices provided in available roles, occupational possibilities, values offered, mentors met, friendships made, and first sexual encounters."

Thus, i've been doing a lot of stuff lately to try getting a better perspective of what i intend to do with myself in the future and have reflected on the deeds i've done and things like that. I can't really say that i've come up with much but all i know is that i definately do NOT want to live a "relatively normal life". I mean seriously, repetition of daily activities for the duration of one's life is kinda dull is it not? So does it surprise me that what i do nowadays seem EXACTLY what i'm trying to avoid doing. Not really. With the looming shadow of school life and the tiresome problems of adolescence i guess its pretty normal for kids to be awfully repetitive in their daily lives. However, i ain't complaining that much. Its kinda like a case of win some lose some. Except i tend to win more...after all, not everybody has travelled to half the places in the world when they're only 15.

Anyways, i'm trying a new approach in my blogs now. I've read some of my fellow blogger's blogs and their moments of incredible amusement(for the readers of course) so i said what the heck and decided to give it a shot.

Today was a Saturday and well during MOST Saturday's people go out and take the town. I went to a local shopping centre as most kids do in this day and age. However, today was a mildly special day as the Young Enterprise Programme( some programme to expose young kids today to the trials and tribulations of business) of my school were having their Annual Sales( a weekend where they sell the stuff that their handmade items,with themes that differ each year ,that they've been making for HALF a year to the public.) I decided to pop in for a visit with the false pretense of supporting my school.

My true intentions of going were of course to escape daily life and also to scope some of the girls from OTHER schools participating there too. I was not disappointed. There were many of them there but only a tiny speck stood out.( I suppose its perfectly normal for school boys to look at school girls isnt it?) Anyways, aside from the girl scouting a friend of mine brought along her distant relatives from california. One of them, a guy, hung out with me and my pals(who were also here on the false pretenses of supporting their schools). All in all, i wasnt too bad a day. Oh, and i finally watched Wedding Crashers. Sweet,sweet movie it was.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Omnia Mutantur,Nihil Interit

"Omnia Mutantur,Nihil Interit". Everything changes but nothing is truly lost. Saw that from the 10th volume of the Sandman chronicles. It got me thinking of how our lives change day by day but when end up staying the same in the end. A revolution of some sort where we start out and wind our way back to where we started no matter what we do. I've had this experience and i intend to share it with any who pops by my blog. There was this boy.He wasn't very smart, or very good looking but he had..perhaps..imagination. Always lost in a world of his own creation and oblivious to the real world. This all changed when he met Her. He saw Her once or if he was lucky.. twice a week. They didnt talk much..hell, they didnt talk at all and(like those incredibly soppy romance novels) she didnt notice him much....perhaps she didnt even know he existed. How he learned of Her name i havent a clue but this he did. It was admiration from afar and whenever he retreated to the world in his mind he would often think of Her as his very own heroine or damsel in distress. He wanted to get closer to Her..talk to Her but he lacked the spine to do so. Then came a day where he could not see Her at all. It was a depressing moment for him and he cried. He ACTUALLY shed a tear.Nay, tears. Years after he would look back upon that moment and laugh but deep down he knew that he would've done it again, and again and again if time repeated itself.He eventually forgot how she looked like but things have a funny way of turning out. True enough almost a decade later, she came back into his life. Unfortunately, he did NOT fall in love with her instantaneously and confessed his lifelong love for her and they wound up happily ever after. THIS,after all isnt a novel by Nicholas Sparks(an author of romance novels for those of you who dont know). He was surprised to see Her and couldnt believe that it was actually Her. But alas, 9 years can do many things to someone and all that he felt for hHer was already long gone. Well ALMOST everything. There was still an odd nostalgia and a hint of a smile that is lost as quickly as it surfaced everytime Her name is mentioned but that was all. Things change, but nothing is truly lost. Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Sympathy For The Devil

There comes a time when a person finally opens his/her eyes and sees the world in all its glory.It is a dreadful time where one views the world as nothing but a cold deceptive bitch.The lucky ones finds this out quickly and therefore remain relatively sane,the normal ones find it out eventually and their sanity remains totally if not mostly intact whereas the unlucky ones find it out a lil too late and notice that their dreams are actually nothing more than misty deceptions and false hope.Here's my point of view. I've seen "inspirational" taglines that you'll most probably find incredibly funny or ignore totally.Once i actually looked up and told myself that words like this actually meant something.Now..i would think twice about that. What am i talking about? Well its those sentences like "Treasure Your Friends", "Be Nice To People and People Will Be Nice To You", and stuff that usually would ask you to be an utter saint. I aint saying that these sentences and it ilk are WRONG. Heck i wouldnt even know how to....i'm babling..i'm just trying to say that HOW are we supposed to actually be GOOD when everyone else is just trying to get you to do the OPPOSITE.Which means...CAN saints actually live in a world full of sinners?The answer is YES..with buttloads of perseverance and perhaps even a job(firemens,police,doctors,yada yada yada)but i aint talking about them, i'm refering to the general public who's main shoutout to any problem would be "EVERYMAN/WOMAN/CHILD FOR THEMSELVES!!" and "It's a dog eat dog world".Usually i'd go on and on about how sucky humankind has been but this aint no project to write the wrongs of the human race.Nay, far from it. Its only a viewpoint of a simple 15 year old.Anyways...what i'm meaning to say is...For a world with an estimate of 6,525,605,731 and more everyday,it does seem kinda lonely doesnt it?

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Shit happens...constantly

Hmm...well...in the weeks..nay, months since my last entry nothing much has happened.. aside from one very,very traumatising experience.Well first of all i'd like to say that nothings happened to ME but still it happened to a friend..a friend whom i've known for say about nearly 7 years now. He's a dude and he's a lil bit chatty at times but one of them friends that are oh-so hard to come by now a days...neways..well here's the story, he was walking from point A to point B(point B which was a church) which wasnt very far either in the middle of the afternoon. Everything seems normal when BAM it happens. Well.... nobody is entirely sure what happened so i wont say nothing about it.Just the fact that he got his front portion of his skull(around the forehead) fractured.Plus, he was in a coma and he's now half unconcious.Dont ask me what half concious means though but i was told that he's Half in Half out.Get what i mean?? Oh...and i almost forgot.DId i tell you that he was only 16 years old?Well now i have.Now dear readers, i will kindly ask you how the FUCK can shit like this happen??Man,nobody knows how he'll be after he "fully recovers".We ARE after all talking about damage to the brain and from what i've heard COUNTLESS times is that whatever you do, do NOT mess with the pound of stuff up there in your skull.Sheeesh. I'm pretty scared for the dood,I mean shit like this is BOUND to have repercussions...hate being a pessimist but yeh cant dismiss the fact altogether y'know?Loss Of Memory,Mental Retardation,Being A Vegetable are only a few of the things that could happen to him....*sighs*He's a smart,young,passionate youngling with the world as his oyster. By the gods i hope that he'll come out okay.....when i first caught word of this i thought it was some kinda sick prank or something but no, unfortunately it was the truth....cripes..its all comes down to this i suppose shit happens constantly and always in an instant and no slower than that.With only 1 life and the expectancy to expire after 75-80 years after production is kinda lame. So,do whatever you want/must/can/should/would for there may not be another chance to do it.

Friday, March 31, 2006

Of Good,Evil And Beyond

Well...I've been thinking about this for sometime now.Good and Evil. Supposedly acquired by adam and eve via the tree of knowledge or something like that..(hey i dont read the bible!!so dont ask me for the specifics) So, because of our intimate knowledge of good and (most probably) evil, we(as in humankind) got our asses kicked out of paradise.If you ask me..i think it was a good thing. I mean, there is a saying that goes like "too much of a good thing can be bad"...or something.Its TRUE! Where's the challenge when everything's all nice and perfect...SUUUUURE its easy but it'll be just bloody boring. Anyway,back to good and evil..seeing the modern world we live in where evil and sins are just an everyday oddity we read in the newspapers. For example "suffocated baby found in plastic bag in the trash" or "maid in coma because of corporal abuse" so on and so forth. Evil is everywhere and we dont seem to be bothered...much.I'm not saying that there isnt any good in the world but seriously ..its a dog eat dog world and everyone has the everyone for himself mentality.This is most depressing seeing that the good people in this world are the minority. It truly is sad. The people who offer help are seen as a means of constant exploitation. And whats with the people with the as my mum said it herself "self-righteous macho" act ,the infamous "holier-than-thou attitude" or just being a pompous prick. I mean they put themselves as the people of higher class when they're just in the same sick diseased world we live in. Through this it is plainly obvious that honour too is also scarce among the people of earth. Honour among your friends. Honour among your family. Honour in the outside world.Honour for yourself. It is all that and more.We are good,evil and devilishly sly.Each one of us having the ability to shape the world into something better than what it is now OR quicken the world's descent into hell.It is the choices WE make.Not God or his host of angels.Not the Devil or his legion of the damned. They're just the audience of the movie called "Earth and How Quickly Humankind Can Fuck It Up". God bless the freedom of speech

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Return Of The Dark Knight

ZOMG...its been like a millenia since i last added something here....and yeah...i think i should start bloggin again.after all our mothers always taught us not to waste something needlessly.Well its been nearly like what...1 whole year and i think i lost a little...nay..a LOT of spunk(if i had any that is) that i've had (which makes it a whole lot worse if i didnt have any in the first place) and through continuing where i left off i hope to regain some of my lost jedi-quasi-dimensional-uber powers(cut me some slack here i'm desperate).Anyway,I'm more or less same from the old sebastian in the physical sense except a lil addition of height and perhaps dare i say...WEIGHT??? and then some.My life and social life has improved a lil since a year ago..i'm actually starting to notice girls rather than trying to make out with the ps2...(lol) and thats about it...okay i can't seem to think of any changes so i'll just list down whats similar.
a)fucked up face
b)crazier than the joker
c)still a lil tanned if not just a little bit more
d)still have perfect eyesight.
okay thats about it....not like any of you know how i look like but lets just pretend you do..TEeheheheh..and thats it for now....
"Here's looking at you kid"-Rick Blaine

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Hack the system.Discover the truth

"Anarchism has but one infallible, unchangeable motto, 'Freedom.' Freedom to discover any truth, freedom to develop, to live naturally and fully."
--Lucy Parsons
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
--George Orwell
"..it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority to set brush fires in people's minds."
--Samuel Adams
"The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."
--Stephen Biko
"[The state] can't give you free speech, and [the state] can't take it away. You're born with it, like your eyes, like your ears. Freedom is something you assume, then you wait for someone to try to take it away. The degree to which you resist is the degree to which you are free..."
--Utah Phillips
"When in the course of.. development, existing institutions prove inadequate to the needs of [sentient beings], when they serve merely to enslave, rob and oppress [sentient beings], the people have the eternal right to rebel against, and overthrow, these institutions.''
--Emma Goldman[quote modified by Neo for relevance.]
We go on, day by day, hour by hour.
We go on.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Random thoughts

Its been awhile since my last post but then again i dont have much to say anyway...here's my newest installation.Enjoy

I incur someone's wrath when I breathe
I incur someone's wrath when I touch
I incur someone's wrath when I look
I incur someone's wrath when I am bad
I incur someone's wrath when I am good
I incur someone's wrath when I am hurt
I incur someone's wrath when I am alive
I incur someone's wrath when I am happy
I incur someone's wrath when I am sad
I incur someone's wrath when I succeed
I incur someone's wrath when I fail
I incur someone's wrath when I love
I incur someone's wrath when I am passionate
I incur someone's wrath when I try not to
I love when I am not supposed to
I have passion when I am not supposed to
I have steel when I am not supposed to
So in this place where I live in ..what am I supposed to have?
It is the thing that keeps me going
It is the fire that burns when I am out
It is the ice that is in my eyes wherever I look
It is the bitterness that comes whatever I taste
It is the abyss that is my love
It is the ravine that is my hunger
No, it is not you. Neither is it love. No far from that.
Ladies and gentleman, hate is eternal and so is love
It is two sides of the same coin.
We cannot love without hate
We cannot hate without love
Unless.......you are me.

Friday, December 17, 2004

Vampires

Vampires.Homo-nocturna as we people have so convineantly invented for them. You have to wonder who they are, how they work and most importantly, what does it feel like to be among them. Stalking and hunting people in the depths of night....amking us look like Coca-cola bottles waiting to be popped.Well scientifically speaking its quite sensible...think about it.....Vampires are dead creatures OR things that cease to function. Maybe that is why they require blood...to function...like petrol for a car.And the engine...well u might have guessed it...the heart. Thats why you have to stake it.Whoever OR whatever made vampires had thought a lot about it though dun u think..hah. anyway shifting from scientifically to metaphorically. if vampires did exists i wouldnt think they would advertise their presence....i mean come on so much power and if us greedy, scheming humans somehow managed to get a hold of it or maybe shape it, it would be byebye for their kind.So if they actually DID exists how would it feel like to be them??Imagine being almost invincible.Anyway if they did exist we would have probably heard abt them or their killings more likely heh..As for the "type" of them , there is the Anne Rice type which are the elder vampires... with dark gifts to power them and there's the Max Shrek type or if you are more familliar with the Nosferatu title which are the ugly but strong ones. With long fingers to curl around their victims necks or stuff like dat anyway dats all dat i can write for now so......................... Au Revoir!!!

Monday, December 13, 2004

Perfection(this may well be anything but good)

Perfect. Perfection they say comes with a price. In todays world perfection is everwhere anywhere and nowhere. For example do you remember saying "Mmm.... this coffee is just perfect!!" or "My would look perfect with this handbag.." etc etc. Yet there are people who say things like "Nothing in this world is perfect" or "Nobody but god is perfect". If you ask me , i think god has made his/her share of mistakes . What mistakes you ask me? Well he made....us. His presentation of himself as some would put it. Anyway back to my point its true that nobody considers him/herself perfect in any sense but think about it we are perfectly UN-perfect . So those among us with low self asteem should contemplate and see the reality of it all. Like i said earlier , perfection is everywhere , anywhere and nowhere. Its only how you see it not how you become it.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

Its Been Awhile By Staind

it's been awhile
Since I could hold my head up high
And it's been awhile
Since I first saw you
And it's been awhile
Since I could stand on my own two feet again
And it's been awhile
Since I could call you
And everything I can't remember
As fucked up as it all may seem
The consequences that I've rendered
I've stretched myself beyond my means
And it's been awhile
Since I can say that I wasn't addicted
And it's been awhile
Since I can say I love myself as well
And it's been awhile
Since I've gone and fucked things up just like I always do
And it's been awhile
But all that shit seems to disappear when I'm with you
And everything I can't remember
As fucked up as it all may seem
The consequences that I've rendered
I've gone and fucked things up again
Why must I feel this way?
Just make this go away
Just one more peaceful day!
And it's been awhile
Since I could look at myself straight
And it's been awhile
Since I said I'm sorry
And it's been awhile
Since I've seen the way the candle lights your face
And it's been awhile
But I can still remember just the way you taste
And everything I can't remember
As fucked up as it all may seem to be I know it's me
I cannot blame this on my father
He did the best he could for me
And it's been awhile
Since I could hold my head up high
And it's been awhile
Since I said I'm sorry

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Blog Names

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