Dreams and more dreams

What is it with dreams? For the past week I have been getting one every single day when I go to sleep. Oh, they are not recurrent but they are odd nonetheless. The worst thing is that after a few hours I can't remember what was it and what's left is just a lingering memory that I have been dreaming something odd. This is rather disturbing because I'm not the one to have dreams. Maybe an occasional one every once in a while but that's all. This sudden bout of dream diarrhea is really worrying...

Updates... and Eragon sucks!

The water has gone down two days now and everything is back to normal in Malacca. It's been pretty much dry too with no rains whatsoever and certainly no signs of a flood rising again. What have I been doing? Pretty much hanging out with friends as all of them are back for the Christmas holidays.

I watched Eragon yesterday's afternoon and I would like to say that it is a complete waste of money. I feel the suitability of the actors and actresses casted was bad. They simply did not carry the characters well and the characters were not developed appropriately at all. I felt most of the people acting were wooden and it's like they did not really know their characters at all. Maybe it's excusable that the story line was hashed up to fit it in a movie but not till the point where it became so bad it was laughable.
Nobody has ever seen a dragon grow from a fledgling to full grown in seconds!

Arya, the elven princess was the worse I have ever seen. She was described to be beautiful yet strong, a steely fighter with the grace of a dancer, emanating an aura of power, but in the movie she was neither beautiful nor strong. In fact she looked weak and anorexic even when she was cured of the poison afflicting her. Her fight scene was brief and not really impressive.

Angela the witch is probably the biggest letdown in the movie. I know fans of the book wanted to see her character come to life on screen but she appeared only as a cameo. Her werecat, Solembum was the most intriguing character in the book but he was cut out altogether.

Brom was not acted out well and Arjihad was simply wooden. Need I comment on the other people in the movie? The only person I felt was up to par is the lead actor, Eragon. The others were a letdown.

Fans of the book should indeed stay away from the movie and those that have not read it, you are advised to watch some other movie.

Ps: Merry Christmas! :)

City under water - The sequel's sequel!

And the water keeps rising! Albeit being slow, it's a steady rise nonetheless and now my kitchen is now submerged. My room? Thankfully is dry and water free :)


The lake in front my house :)


My books piled high, and that's only the half of em!


And............ on a footnote, I am watching Malaysia Hari Ini on tv3 since I'm up so early because of the blasted flood and there is this news on Utusan about a girl reading 2200 books and she's only 11 years old. What the heck? I think I've read that much and more at that age. This is because what she reads and counted involves books, magazines, and comics... Comics? I bet you she read all the episodes of doraemon, sailormoon, dragon ball and a whole lot more comics and that probably made the bulk of her book count. I can easily top that and more, if only books weren't so damn expensive.

I've read a lot too, why am I on the news too? Bah!

City under water - The sequel!

Hmmmm... it seems that it has not been raining since yesterday but the water keeps rising and rising. This morning the water level was high enough to flood half of my porch and now its high enough to reach my door. Apparently, water in the Durian Tunggal reservoir of Malacca has reached its maximum level and water is being let out. This is what that is causing waters around Malacca to rise continuously. What crap!

Oh and my internet connection is still unstable, I was cut off for over 12 hours again... And the field in front of my house had turned into a lake. Hey I now live in a lake-front house with a beautiful view and a pleasant breeze. Fancy aint it?

City under water

It seems my hometown is on the verge of being submerged soon. I really thought so too until, thankfully, the rain ceased in the afternoon. It has been raining for about a day when it finally stopped. I heard on the news that several areas on the outskirts of Malacca has gone under water, and in Johor too, floods has been raging. Furthermore, the internet service has also been disrupted. I heard about streamyx not functioning for some people and I couldn't get online for more than 12 hours until now.

The weather is freezing plus everything is damp and wet. Somehow, I can't help thinking that maybe someone's wish for a white Christmas didn't come true quite as expected ...

Sometimes my words speak louder than my actions too :)

The Human Mind

It's really true. Try it and see. I could read it fluently without any stops whatsoever. Once again, the power of the human mind shines through.

Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs!

cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Tis the season to be jolly!

It's that time of the year again. My favorite festive season where I feel a distinct lift in my mood that strangely makes me lightheaded. Some may say that it has to do with the fact that Christmas always coincides with the holiday season, whether it be school holidays or university break but I beg to differ :)

I feel that the simple belief in the Christmas spirit makes it all magical. I think that Christmas is such a universal celebration where everyone alike can rejoice and make merry. It isn't so much confined to religion anymore and you do see Christmas parties being thrown everywhere and offices having gift exchanges.

To me, it isn't Christmas until you walk into a shopping complex and you hear carols blaring off all angles. Then it really hits you when see those pretty window displays that are all cutesy, and you think to yourself, "It's Christmas time again!".

Then it comes down to the age old question, "Have you been naughty or nice this year?"

A book review: Wicked

After reading about in on isorule I was intrigued but I wasn't planning on getting it. However I was at Borders and when I spotted it on the shelves naturally I was tempted to read it.

Wicked simply tells the tale of the wicked witch of of the west from the book Wizard of Oz. It describes her childhood and in particular, her days at school. Gregory Maguire illustrates the journey from a child named Elphaba to her emergence as the Wicked Witch of the West.

I would say Wicked is not exactly a good read but it isn't bad either. The author did give a new portrayal to the wicked witch of the west (Elphaba) we all know so well, making her misunderstood and not evil but I felt the other characters in the book were not clearly developed. I felt the sister (Nessarose) was pushed into the role of the wicked witch of the east haphazardly as it was conveniently so and I didn't see how the character developed into that. Furthermore, her long time acquaintance from university (Fiyero) suddenly bumped into her after a couple of years and oddly they developed a romance. Convenient huh?

The book challenges the conventional notions of what's good and what's evil and it pushes the boundaries of societal norms. The tale also has a lot of political agendas weaved into it and I felt that the author left too many loose ends in his tale. Overall I enjoyed the idea of the story but I wasn't impressed by the details.

Back from Langkawi Island :)

Langkawi with friends had certainly been superb. What more can I ask for? With lots of places to visit, chocolate shopping, gaming, great views and a wonderful bunch of friends to sweeten it all. :) It was nice that we could rent a car and just drive around where ever we wanted, making it a relaxing, free and easy holiday.


The view of the sea was obviously breathtaking, have a look.


Have a look at the Pulau Dayang Bunting or the Pregnant Lady Island. Can you see the resemblance to a pregnant lady below?




The cable car ride is certainly a must for anybody visiting Langkawi. Take it to the top and you can take a walk along the curved bridge. It is certainly an experience worth bringing home to be remembered always.




With all the yachts about it kinda reminded me of being in the Mediterranean :)


And of course the place we stayed in, Bella Vista. A beautiful name for a beautiful place. I was satisfied overall I guess, despite a few problems cropping up here and there.



And what will Langkawi be without all the animals you can find there? Fishes, capybaras, penguins, feeding eagles, mating damselflies, cute little crabs and of course the ubiquitous monkeys.

Enya - It's In The Rain

Presenting to you Enya with a lovely song - my coursemate said she's the girl with the suara macam angin :)


Everytime the rain comes down
Close my eyes and listen
I can hear the lonesome sound
Of the sky as it cries

Listen to the rain
Here it comes again
Hear it in the rain

Feel the touch of tears that fall
They won't fall forever
In the way the day will flow
All things come, all things go

Listen to the rain... the rain
Here it comes again... again
Hear it in the rain... the rain

Late at night I drift away
I can hear you calling
And my name is in the rain
Leaves on trees whispering
Deep blue seas, mysteries

Even when this moment ends
Can't let go this feeling
Everything will come again
In the sound falling down
Of the sky as it cries
Hear my name in the rain

Whoop ass skellie

I think I've gotta lay off the RPG games for a while. It just says that you play too much games when you dream you're in one. I had a stupid dream last night where I was a sorcerer wielding ice, fire and lightning partying with a knight and an archer. The bad part was that we encountered a skeleton in my house that is immune to ice, lightning, fire and physical damage. The only thing that could very well destroy it was holy damage and I the powerful sorcerer did not have any holy spells in my repertoire of spells. So naturally we were chased all around the house and I promptly proceeded to hide myself in the toilet -_-

However it just shows that the rule of the thumb while playing this fantasy games still apply. You've got to have a balance party. Too heavy on elemental spells and you're in trouble when you encounter an elemental immune monster and vice versa if your party is heavy on physical damage.

Sigh... if only I had a cleric in my party last night in my dream

Einstein's riddle

I heard about it watching a morning talkshow on ntv7. Apparently Albert Einstein wrote this riddle in the early 20th century and he said that 98% of the population would not be able to solve it. I gave it a try and it took me over an hour to get the answer. Hey I'm in the top 2% of the population :) Anyway, I think it's fake. The part about 98% of the population not being able to solve it I mean. Anyone is able to solve it provided they have the patience. Want the answer? Ask me or google for the answer...


In a street there are 5 houses painted 5 different colors.
In each house lives a person of a different nationality.
The 5 homeowners each drink a different beverage,
smoke a different brand of cigar, and keep a different pet.

The question is: Who keeps the fish?

HINTS:

1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede has a dog.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
5. The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes pall mall has birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes blends lives next to the one who has cats.
11. The man who has horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhills.
12. The man who smokes blue master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

Choices and more choices

I didn't think choosing subjects for next semester was gonna be so difficult. Already there were many problems I faced before I even registered...

Problem 1

Two subjects I'm interested in taking has clashing schedules. The practical slots for diagnostic virology and medical physiology is at the same time... and this has been the same for the last year and the years before. The excuse given is that they can't helped it. Bah! I mean how can that be? My course being a three year course and this being my second year means there is no way I can do an advancement of either subjects if I drop one of them. I took the problem up to the head of my department but she can't do anything saying that if she shifted one of the subjects then it will clash with other subjects as well. I guess it's just my luck that I'm interested in subjects that have clashing schedules.

Problem 2

Another subject I'm interested in taking is not offered next semester. It is in the course programme structure and it is supposed to be offered but then due to some circumstances it has been dropped. The coordinator for that subject is on sabbatical and one of the lecturers involved has retired or something... And once again this means no advancement for me in that particular subject. Sigh.. I have to say goodbye to haematology.

Problem 3

I have to take 4 credits from subjects out of my faculty to graduate in my third year. However third years and above are allowed to register earlier so naturally they grabbed all the good ones. I took a look and many good ones are already taken... Most that are left are subjects so boring I'll probably go into coma in class. I guess I'll wait till I'm in third year when I have the first pick of things.

World AIDS Day

I almost forgot until I read about it in the news and with a friendly reminder from Gin Jhen's blog. I'll do my little part and feature a post and keep a link to UNAIDS in my blog in support of World's AIDS Day.