Strange Nonsensical Fiction

"The koko will give you bad dreams if you don't keep quiet"

This was a situation which I observed a parent trying to silence their kid. I do not know how that would actually make the kid silent unless they just came out of a horror movie. But it is situation like this where it would leave a lasting impression.

While it might make the kid quiet, he might inadvertently have a fear for older brothers thinking that bad dreams can enter their sleep if they misbehaved.

I remember when I was young, I was told that if I pointed to the moon I will wake up with scars. While there were times it happened, and we all know it is definitely not due to the moon, but why would someone say such things? It is a very strange way to silence someone who at that age is the age of exploration and understanding. While thankfully I did not have a fear of the moon but somehow this event keeps replaying in me and whenever I come across a parent trying to silence their kids with ridiculous statements I just feel like telling them that the kid might actually remember that for life.

While there may be times when it may be too difficult to answer a kids pestering of questions or misbehavings, I still honestly think that a truthful remark or statement is better than nonsensical fiction that may hamper a kid's growth.

And I Come Running Back to You

While I ponder what to write on this blog, do enjoy the music on the video above. :)

Basically, it has been a really long time since I wrote a post or even browse to this page. If I remember correctly, it was set up as part of a hype of having a blog. Now that it is mostly dead, with people using FB and Twitter, there really is no need for a blog. But then again, this tool still provides huge loads more content compare to other mentioned services. There is no character limit and no limit to what you want to put on the blog. The only limit is what to put on the blog.

So, you may ask, what is with the blog title? Well, apart from it being a snippet of the song DJ Shah - Back To You (as attached), it just signifies that I will try to return to blogging.

For now, it will just be a placeholder for upcoming posts.

Merry Christmas 2008

Well, 2008 is coming to an end and it seems that I'm still alive! I've been absent for a while in updating this blog so much so that the tag-board is spammed till I have to delete all the posts. Since I've been inactive for quite some time, I will hence put down some of the questions you will probably ask.

• What have I been doing?
  Well, I've been busy pretty much with work. Been going back around 8+ lately fixing up issues after issues in my workplace. As for entertainment side, I had the priviledge of watching Heroes and Top Gear S12 for the past few weeks but since Heroes is on a break, I guess I finally found some time to update this.
  


• What did I do for Christmas?
  I slept past the church morning Christmas celebration as I had a late night playing computer. I only woke up at about 12+ to have my lunch and then went to Sheraton Imperial in KL with my family as they had a free stay there. After watching Vantage Point with my parents, we headed for a buffet dinner at the hotel. I came home after that while my parents continued staying there as I had work tomorrow.
  


• How have I been?
  I'm pretty OK. Although work is tiring at times, it is expected and with the current economic situation, it is best to continue to perform my best to avoid being last and getting fired (if it happens). I bought myself a new computer not too long ago which enabled me to play the hottest latest games around without any frills. This also contributed in my lack of posting in this blog.
  


• Any new hobbies / interests?
  Other than my growing interests for tech / gadget stuff, the new thing which I might pick up next is cycling. Several colleagues have pursuaded me to pick it back up and although my first attempt did not go too well, it's nevertheless something which I could see myself do in the future. I am now contemplating in acquiring a bike to further the interest/hobby.
  


• First Attempt? Didn't go too well?
  Last weekend, I attended the Putrajaya Critical Mass cycling event thingy with 2 of my colleagues. Seeing that I had no bike or helmet, I hastily borrowed them from my friends. As I mentally prepared myself for the event, in my mind I thought it will be easy with little uphill and just go for the 20+KM route. Funny thing is that I forgot to take into account that 20+KM is a very long distance and hence did not fully prepare for it. My water supply was limited and my energy consumption was a little too high at the start. At about 6-8KM in the route, I found myself extremely tired and exhausted. I pushed a little further to continue but eventually my muscles cried out and then refused to move.
  
  I parked the bike at the side and then immediately had a cram on both my calves and was then no longer able to continue. The support cars and everyone else was too far ahead and was not able to return to get me. My colleague continued on to try to get to the car fast and then come and get me. It took about 30 minutes for them to reach their car and another 30 minutes to find me somewhere in the middle of Putrajaya. Being stuck in the middle of the highway with no landmarks, unable to walk and a almost dead phone battery was quite scary. In all I waited for about 1 hour before they found me on the opposite side of the road.
  
  The experience was definitely unpleasant as every slow moving motorbike looks like a snatch theif or something. But for some funny reason, I found myself passing the time somewhat quickly by playing with a ant nest I found nearby. I spent minutes just staring at the ants moving back and forth on the ground and occasionally place obstacles like rocks and sand on their path to see how they recover or unburrow themselves.
  
  Eventually I was rescued and I was unable to walk normally till about 2 days after where the pain finally eases and I was able to walk up and down the stairs easily. Despite the setback, I think I will continue to attend that monthly event and continue to train myself to be able to complete the event and take the wonderful pictures around Putrajaya.
  


• Am I seeing someone?
  If you mean by girlfriend, the answer is no. There may be a few interests but we'll see how it goes. Am not actively pursuing but rather taking a normal steady approach and see how it unravels. If it is meant to be, so much the better. If not, at least I'm not head over heels yet. One thing for sure, i'll keep my vulnerability in check constantly taking a 3rd person view of things to make sure that I don't do anything stupid that could potentially ruin anything/everything.
  

Malaysian International Fireworks Competition 2008

As the title suggests, I was priviledged to attend the event twice. Once on 24th (Team Spain) and another on the 29th (Team Australia). It was my first attempt at taking fireworks with my compact so I thought maybe I could learn a little before moving on to a D-SLR. I borrowed a tripod and head off to the event. It was quite embarassing when I arrived there because every tripod had a DSLR attached to it and I have a small compact on it. I was actually surprised when I looked at the pictures taken cause the pictures actually turned out pretty well.

Team Spain

Team Australia (Finale)

In conclusion, the sight of countless fireworks going off one bye one is just simply breathtaking. There is no way of saying it except that it's an event one should not miss. I'll surely look forward to next year's event and hopefully it will be better than this year.

No I didn't die in KK

Haha! It's been so long since I last blogged. You guys might have thought that I have died in KK. Haha! Well I didn't but was kind of close to it when I succumbed to the cold and failed to reach the peak! GAGH!

But nevertheless, I attempted and reached the height of 3668m out of 4095m. It was quite a view even from up there. And when you're back down, you just cannot believe that you were up there less than 24 hours ago. Anyway, below are some of the pictures of the climb.

This is near the beginning where everyone is still OK

The road is long and steep

Top of the world

Actually, I think it is not that hard to reach the summit. The key points are, practice and exercise before the event and equipment. For me, I had neither as my head lamp decided to fail the minute before the climb. Left without a light, I had to follow other people's pace and hence had to use more energy to climb blindly and not knowing which step has the least inclination. I only had 4 practices prior to engaging Mount Kinabalu and that too I think is a contributing factor to my downfall. In addition to that, the coldness actually got a hold of me and broke me. I succumbed to the cold wind of 2-3 degrees celcius and after trying to hold it, my body gave up and at then, the battle is over. All I wanted was to head down and sleep.

But after thinking through it over and over and over again, I think it is possible to reach the summit if I've taken the proper steps and if everything goes to plan. I would like to attempt it again if given the opportunity and would definitely try my best to make it to the top. Do contact me, if you're going in the near future.