Thursday, December 15, 2011

1st MISI Main Board Meeting

Oh, I haven't told anyone. Except my BFF. I'm now holding a presidential position in MISI club for tenure 2012. Honestly, that was out of my expectation. I was hoping to be on much lower position as I'm aware of my lacking in so many area. Now the responsibilities have rest on me as it was officiated during the Annual Grand Meeting last Saturday. Long story short, do pray hard for me, kay?

Basically, we heated off with some introductions of the main board members. 4 girls and 3 boys. 3 Human Science students i.e. Mimi, Dani and Che Mi; 1 AIKOLian - Shamy, 1 Econs, our Mr. P - Ajip, and 1 BENLian - Dilah. Representing KAEDians, me. 

70% of the time were allocated on discussion regarding the main programs that are going to be held throughout our tenure and 20% talking about our job scopes, and picking our Exco or Bureau i.e. the one that we're going to monitor. I decided on Public and Relation Bureau. Can't blame for loving social networks!

Other than that, we discussed on arising matters, and finally closed with a mini round table session, just to make sure that we're all in the same page. 

Finished around midnight, I sent Mimi to her mahallah and headed back to mine right after. It was cold along the way. It's December... What can I say. Hopefully the flood in KL nearby IJN and HKL is going to ease down a bit.


All in all, here I am... Just done listing out the things that need to be done:
  1. Vernacular architecture assignment - to be submitted TOMORROW
  2. Lettering assignment - to be submitted TOMORROW
  3. Maths quiz on Log and Matrices - TOMORROW
  4. Intro. to Built Environment assignment - to be submitted on 21st of December
  5. Maths assignment - to be submitted on 22nd of December
  6. Graphic Communication's Port Folio Day - early January. 
  7. My very first MISI's proposal - to be done, signed by advisor and approved before 13th of January (my flight)
  8. Big Bro's wedding! 


Wish me luck, guys!

xoxo,
V
Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Movie lovers, wanna win some IMAX® movie tix for Mission Impossible 4 at #TGVSunway ?

Movie lovers, wanna win some IMAX® movie tix for Mission Impossible 4 at #TGVSunway ?

App Review | Blogger




I think it's safe to say that I'm a passionate Apple Apps user as I regularly download new apps and I know it's unfortunate for me as I honestly just came across this app today.

... And again it's unfortunate for me as the developer of this app have not yet released the iPad version. Admit it! We all love HD stuffs, right? Anyway, let's talk about this app...

First thing first, let's get into some details.

App Name: Blogger
Developer: Google
Price: Free
Category: Social Networking
Released: September, 2011
Version: 1.0.0 (up to this entry date)
Languages: English, Malay, Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian (Phew!)
Seller: Google Mobile© 2011 Google, Inc
Requirements: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch (OS 3.1.3 or later)
Sunday, December 04, 2011

Looking at the Stats...

... at the audiences section, I was wondering...

What are you Japanese been reading in my blog, huh?

It's very interesting to find out I have readers from different country...

Anyway, どもありがとうございました!!!


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Mini Break

Right now I'm at home. In Sabah! :D

I know it's only one month before we gonna have the final exam but there's gonna engagement party that there's no way I can miss it! It's my brother's, that's why!

Speaking of which, I just came back from buying so many stuffs for the hantaran things. We, the groom side will be sending 7 trays of it and of course the bride side will be giving 9 trays in respond to that.... Oh! I have to fetch the groom from the airport tomorrow, too!

Tomorrow I'm gonna be busy for the decorating part and I'll be meeting with some photographers and the invitation card designer so hopefully things will be nice smooth as I don't wanna have more headaches... Plus, I still have to do some heavy research on traditional Japanese houses as for the GC assignment, and maths trigonometry is killing me, people! ugh! IBE is definitely NoT helping as there are lots of things I have to read...

Any who ! The engagement party is on Saturday and I'm gonna have to settle things for the wedding arrangements at least on Sunday... Cause on Monday I'll be flying back to KL..

Until then, good bye November, and Hello December!

xoxo,
v
Tuesday, November 15, 2011

No... Don't

I feel like I'm stranded... Alone... With nothing.

but the worst part is, I don't know where am I to begin with. 

I was standing under the bright sun, I could feel the heat running through my veins, and my heart is burning with pain... after I saw you there. Standing. 

I wanted to scream... Out loud to you. But my voice was stuck to my throat, as if something was holding it down from the bottom of my heart. 

I wanted to run away... as fast as I can, as far as I could, but my feet was chained to the  ground, as if something was holding them down, rooted far under the earth. 

I wanted to burst into tears... Fall on my knees... and just wait there, until you come to me and tell me everything's going to be alright. But no. I can't let myself to be that weak. Not in front of you.

Again, there I was. Waiting. Waiting. For something. But even the time didn't move. All the things around me started to fade away. All the noise I heard was gone. 

All the things that matter... Defined themselves into whole new levels. 

I felt... Deep down... I tried to put it words, even an initial didn't came up. I tried to picture it in my head, but all seems dark and heavy.

Suddenly, a voice from my heart whispers a wisdom to me. I didn't know what to say, or think. But I just followed it. 

I walked away. 
Friday, November 11, 2011

What an Awesome Day!

Today, November 11th, 2011...

What so special about today's date? I don't know... other than it won't come in how many years ahead of me... Today is the only day that date 11/11/11 ...

As for me, today is a sad day. Why? Because today is someone's birthday... Someone that used to mean so much to me.

But all those feelings, all those memories are gone now... After cherishing every single moment... For the past six years, they're all gone... For good. I hope.

All those ups and downs of my life, specifically for the past six years, I'm letting them go.. Today...

Maybe, just maybe, that today also mark the day that I'm turning into someone new...

I choose to abandon most of the things that no longer define who I am, today.

Therefore, let's celebrate. This day.

No more yesterday, no more contemplating with the past... No more looking back...
Might sound cliche but this is for the best...

For the future... My future...
Monday, October 17, 2011

Awesome Weekend!

Well, the previous 3 days was just crazy! With my parents and lil' bro in KL, my big bro and his pre-fiance came down to meet us all at Seri Pacific Hotel. 

On Saturday, their flight arrived at 10 in the morning and I arrived at the hotel like 12 p.m. after meeting up with Kak Ida at KL Sentral. That night, we all went out to have dinner (and LOTS of snacks) literally everywhere! Most of the time me and mum just talked about lots of things - about this semester in Gombak campus, the start of studio  and everything, while my big and lil' bro just went out to other places around KL. 

On Sunday, we went to Times Square, did a little shopping (finally I got myself a backpack! Bought one from Body Glove) and had Papa Johns pizza afterwards. Back in hotel, mum and decided to just chill out there so me and my cousin went to The Mall, right in front of the hotel and checked out some hot sales in Adidas warehouse at second level. I grabbed some socks and a bottle water. I can't spend so much as I know tomorrow I'm gonna spend a lot! Yep! 

Finally, today, me and my parents went to Taman Melawati West Star Art Shop to get all the stuffs I need for my Graphic Communication subject. Colours, designer portfolio bag, drawing protectors, T-squares, sketch books and lots of other things. The thing about this trip is, it's not that I can't just the get the money from them and go myself but there was this once that I went to the shop and saw some girls with their parents, so.... Yeah, kinda lil' jealous over there... 

Around 12 p.m. my parents sent me back to campus and off to the airports after that. 
feeling down while walking back to Mahallah, a friend called me and asked if I want to join her and some other friends to have lunch in the campus. So yeah.. I said to myself that time, that instead of feeling sad and whatnot, I decided to be awesome! hahaha :D.. Yeah, Barney! Right back at cha'!

My room is just bit crazy right now with so many things on the floor, on the bed and of course on the table. Yup1 Let's get some shelves, shall we?


xoxo,
V
Saturday, October 15, 2011

Waiting and Jumping


Jumping dolphins! 

Oh, another one... 


Weeeeeee~!!!!!! Hahahahaha!!!

Hell, yes! I am excited! WHY? hehe... Let me tell you the beginning of today's tale first.

It's Friday and you guys know that I don't have any class starting from Friday to Monday, right? yeah, yeah... don't be jealous! Hehe

Other than replenishing my 'How I Met Your Mother Moments with Barney' supply, I pretty much didn't do anything. Right, Barney?


Watching one of my favourite episode, where we learn how to 'plot' a 'graph'...


Oh, complementing this one is Season 4's 22nd episode, 'Right Place, Right Time Episode' where Marshall had addiction with his awesome charts... :D


and this... 
Of course, this...
This, too!
Wait for it, this one...
Not forgetting... 
But of course, you guys know where this leads, right?

Oh, Marshmallow.... 

Wanting to go out but it's okay, I love my room today. =)

I went for Math tutoring at the library from 4 to 6, but decided to continue for another hour after dinner when I got an awesome text from my lil' bro. It seems that I forgot something.

My parents and lil' bro are coming tomorrow!

Which is why I decided to finish the first 2 chapters with the girls as I don't want to be disturbed until Monday. Sorry girls, but this is once-a-year-thing.

When I got back in my cube, I cleaned the room right away. After that, I did the laundry and arranged my stuffs on my shelf and on the desk. When I'm done, I'm feeling tired a bit. But I don't care.

Grab few books, started to read something. Tried to read a thing. I can't focus. So, I online instead.

Surfing and surfing and surfing. Nothing can ease my mind. Unconsciously, I'm planning this and that.

Look at me! I'm just too excited! haha I miss my parents so much! Well, lil' bro is just plus... Kidding! he just finished his PMR so this is kinda a reward for him...

Anyway, it's almost 5 in the morning and their flight will be arriving at 10.

Only now I'm feeling sleepy. :)

Okay, people. Wanna hit the bed and wake up in few hours.


Weeee~!!!
Thursday, October 13, 2011

Wonderful Day

Still feeling happy about today's Graphic Communication assignment's presentation. :D

if you guys wanna check out this so-far-the-best-piece-from-me, go here... 

Anyways, I had my lunch for the first time in KAED cafe! I know, right? The dishes were kind of awesome in term of varieties, and being cheap is definitely a bonus. 

As usual after lunch, I went to Kulliyyah of Engineering for my Maths class. The class now had moved to Level 4 but with sufficient seats compare to Level 3's classroom. 

After the class, I went back to my cube to get enough rest as I slept like 4 in the morning and woke up at 6.30. 

It's almost midnight... Owh, I forgot. Enjoy your weekends, y'all!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Not-Wordless Wednesday

I woke up like 6 this morning and went for a walk literally around the campus i.e. no shortcuts. It was great. I feel great. Fresh air in the morning is one of my favourite thing. Though we were walking side by side, me and K didn't talk so much as we kinda retreated to our own thoughts.

I snapped this while catching my breath. Seems familiar to you? This path holds special memory to me.

Guess where is this? Correct answers will get choki-choki sticks from me. =)
Then around 9 in the morning, I went to library level 4 to do some community service - Math tutoring for the first few chapters. FYI, this is just personal tutoring, definitely not under SLEU. I'm not that good to be a qualified tutor... hehe

Had lunch around 1 afternoon and decided to finish my pattern design. Love the turned out. The theme is 'Graduation'. Yeah, thanks to the still ongoing Convest'11. :)

Around 2.30, I went to KAED, Tutorial Room 10 where I had my only second (this is the fifth week, people!) Introduction to Built Environment class. Overall it was fine as we're still in general topics. Lots of global issues were brought in and the class went to discussion-mode like 80% of the the whole time. This happens a lot in merely 8-students class, that's why.

After the class, I went for my dinner alone in Mahallah's cafe and only around 9 p.m., I started colouring my pattern. 

Looking at the half-way coloured paper.... yeah, yeah... I'm coming~

That's all people! 
Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Skuad Perodua Era

... hit us the IIUM citizens! As usual, they stayed for mere 20 minutes and gave away lots of things.

I got some Mountain Dew drinks and Gardenia's waffles! They also gave away music CDs and some toothpastes and some other stuffs like cosmetics from AVON. Enough with the talking, enjoy the pictures!

Starting of the giving-away-stuffs! People were gathering and participated well in answering the easy questions given out by these guys!

Official Car - Perodua Myvi

I think this guy just got Mawi's CD.

Yes, bro.. Pull out some more! LOL

It was so much fun. Not because of getting the stuffs but more on seeing these kids (kids, huh?) so excited! 

Anyway, I met with K while heading towards Jeremy and we went back to mahallah together. Went to gym right after and took the hellish stairs on the way home... 

Owh, I snapped this before running and leaving K behind. LOL



At 8, I met up with Belle and had our dinner together at the Human Science Cafe. While we were catching up some old stories, 2 other friends came and joined us. It is nice to be with these people cause when we're together, things definitely will just go crazy! We talked, we laughed, shared stories... If it not because of my busy (really?) schedule, I definitely will stick to these people more. hahaha

I hit my cube around 11 and continued with the design intent for my pattern assignment. 


With that, au revoir!


xoxo, 

V
Monday, October 10, 2011

Of Poetry Recitation and Sketchbook

A friend of mine texted me yesterday just to make sure that today I'm coming for her poetry recitation in the ground-stage in the middle of centre area of the campus at exact 12 noon.

As per usual, I slept around 4 this morning and woke up around 11.30. Another text came in and I was very sure it's her. It is her. Took a quick shower, put on the nearest baju kurung and yesterday's scarf. Haha. I know I'm already late and the fact that I promised to come, just keeps on nagging me every single second on my way to the place.

Fortunately, I arrived exactly right before she recite her poem.

It was lovely. Really.

Damn, it was 12 something noon! But before I headed towards the HS Cafe Dry area, a poet caught my attention. According to some friends, she's a lecturer from Human Science Faculty, teaching literature. She's awesome! Check out her blog here!

Only after that I decided to get out of the hotness and went directly into the shop and grab the big orange juice and some paper cups to share with them. There, I met Za'a who was in the middle of the crowd who was waiting for Belle. We chatted for a bit but minutes after that when I turned back towards where my friends earlier were standing, they're gone. I shrugged and turned away.

There, Belle was standing, and we both thirsty. We grabbed seats and enjoyed the drinks I bought earlier and few friends were coming too. It's their rezeki, I guess.

I decided to hang out some more and thus pulled out my sketchbook and some pencils. I did some sketching and only around 3 I think, K called me to go to the Choc Fair.

We met up at Azman Hashim Building and walked towards the KAED Gallery. There are stalls set up even outside the gallery but we directly went inside. We were greeted with Strawberry Chocolate and of course, the choc fondue.

Alright, for the rest of the story, let these pics do the talking.









All in all, it was fun. Chocolates are literally everywhere! Even an anti-choc like me find this event quite amusing let alone those choc-maniacs!

Alright, I think that's all for now... I'll see you guys on next entry.


Signing out!

V


P.S.: Though it might sound lame a bit, it was the first time of my life of seeing the actual chocolate fondue with my two eyes. True story.

Looking back to the title of this post. Huh?
Should've been "Of Poetry Recitation and Chocolate Fair" though.. heehee
Sunday, October 09, 2011

Drawings! Drawings!

....and drawings! So far, I'm kind of happy with my pens and pencils... I'm hoping that colouring would be awesome, too!

We basically spent 2 weeks on pens and pencils media. We sketched, doing some renderings and shadings, got to pick random objects as sketching subjects and most of all, we got to play with different techniques.

it's very important to improve each and everyday. We literally need to go outside of our comfort zone as easy drawings means easy marks. More details means more challenges. Thus, the more challenges, the more we'll learn.

I can't really draw and that's true which is why I have to work harder! Been walking around the campus more than usual as I need to find inspirations everyday.

People, objects, scenes, and lots of other things.

I need to keep myself in the game right now... I haven't gone out for movies for like... I don't even remember! The last movie was... Fright Night! It was 3 weeks ago! Take me more than 5 minutes to remember... 


Anyway, I'm looking forward for the next week Graphic Communication class as we'll be learning about colours.

Until then, take care!
Saturday, October 08, 2011

Convest'11

Starting today, until 15th of October is the 27th IIUM Convocation Fiesta.

There many events are going to be held for this upcoming week such as Serumpun, IIUM Got Talent, Triple F Race, Islamic Performance Night, and the most I'm looking forward to: Choc Fair that is going to be held in KAED Gallery. Inevitable :D

I was walking around and saw this, but since I'm just using iPhone 3GS, the quality of the picture ain't that great (yes, papa! Hurry up and buy Nokia N9, already!) so I Googled this instead. Credit to whoever it belongs to. 


I took this myself though... =)
One of the awesome things about this fiesta, other than it being held once in every academic year, (duh, for the convocation, right?), this year's comes with a mascot. I took this picture from the Official blog of the event. Well, this seems to be appeared in one of the many themed-appearance i.e. every event comes with different style of the mascot itself. I think this is for the Islamic Performance Night...

Other than crazy traffic even within the campus, graduates with green robes and trenchers everywhere, flowers with teddy bears, a lot of smiles and pictures snapping, not forgetting the awkward looks on people who're already graduated when they say me roaming on Gombak Campus, all in all...

Well, let's just say I'm just going to look forward for the Choc Fair (even though the fact that I don't eat chocolate...). K is dragging me merely for the choc fondue so, let's just enjoy the rest of the week, k?


xoxo,

V
Thursday, October 06, 2011

R.I.P Steve Jobs

The world has changed by 3 apples so far.

The first apple was the one bitten by Eve (Hawa) and it was the start of the story of human race on earth.

The second one was the apple that fell upon Isaac Newton's head (and the tree still exists until today) and from there was the start of gravity theory.

...and comes the third one, Apple... Products, company... the least I could say is if it wasn't because of Steve Jobs and his amazing crews, Apple Inc. won't be awesome as it is today.


Thanks for your amazing ways of thinking that has given me great ideas of life. 


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Public Transport

A poor student who only goes around the campus with her scooter, Jeremy and take public transports outside the campus.

RapidKL buses, LRTs, Monorail, Metrobus... name it... I'm taking them all...

The story is after I went to Nilai with my brother and his girlfriend on yesterday, I stayed with my cousin in her parents apartment in Bandar Sri Permaisuri, Cheras, KL and around 4 this evening, I took her with me and fetched her mom from her workplace - Swiss Garden Hotel, and headed to downtown nearby Pudu Station, to buy some fabrics for the bridesmaids. We bought like 22 metres of plain fabrics, just for the upper dress and decided to find different fabrics for the lower parts.

Around 7, we went to Mid Valley and my brother called me to meet up there and I bought midnight movie tickets for them... While waiting for my brother, we all went to MPH and get some books and novels. I checked out some latest releases by Francis D.K. Ching at the Architecture sections. I also found a very simple and small book on vocabulary for Urban and Regional Planning, published by bunch of KAED students of the Urban and Regional Planning Department under IIUM. Simple yet very meaningful.

After that, we had some snacks at Secret Recipe and around 8.45, my Aunt and cousin took their leave. As my brother arrived a little before that, we decided to go around the mall, trying to get some ideas what we want to buy for the engagement presents.

I accompanied them both to the Food Junction and had some western foods. I took my leave around 10 as i don't want to miss my curfew. I was at the station exactly at 10.05 and I looked at electronic board. The next train to KL Sentral was scheduled at 10.30. I pulled out my iPod Classic, the only option I got as both my iPhone and iPad already went off batteries since this morning. Tuned to a K-Pop playlist - K-Party!

Of course, I waited till 10.30 but there was no sign of the train. The board went on blinking for few seconds. the time changed to 10.40 p.m. Fine. I waited some more. After 10 minutes, there was still no sign of the train.

Again, the board went on blinking and the time changed again to 10.50 p.m. What!?@!

Thank God, the train arrived and it took only 5 minutes to reach KL Sentral. I quickly hopped off the train and rushed to next station, bought the LRT ticket to Gombak. As I arrived in Gombak station at exact 11. 35 p.m., I went outside the station and it was raining heavily. The only option to go back to campus was via the cab. I arrived in the campus at 11.55 p.m. Phew!

Moral of the story, get a car.


Signing out!
V
Saturday, September 24, 2011

MISI Majestic Night

I just came back from one of the early events run by MISI Club which is MISI Majestic Night.

Since we're all still in the mood of Hari Raya, most of the attendees came with their Baju Raya... Including moi!

I arrived at Human Science Lecture Theatre 1 around 8.30 p.m. and these are some pics I managed to snap while waiting for others to come...





Tikah... Sarawak girl


the night started with welcoming remarks by the MCs - Bro. Fadzil and Sr. Jasmine. (Nice dress, Jinjin!)


Speech by Za'a as the Vice President... =)


A CENSERVE (short for Centre For University Social Responsibility) representative came and give out some informations about the Unit and the club itself as some of the attendees are among those who're signing up for the club.

Then, we had this amazing multimedia presentation... About MISI's issues before being recognized by the university's board...

Then, Bro. Fadzil added some commentaries few minutes before the presentation ended. The president of MISI Club, Bro. Usman Suardi a.k.a. Cecep Arjuna Seman too came up to the stage and gave out awesome speech... The final remarks was funny though.

After the lucky draw sessions, we went to other side of the building, towards two classes where there were some food provided and as we lined up, I got to meet some other friends that I haven't seen since matric... Most of them are graduating students though... (yeah, yeah.. I don't feel bad about anything..)

Ow! This is the pic of me with some of the girls...



Za'a, Sofie, Jinjin, Tikah, Me, (a girl who I haven't introduce myself to), and Nisa.


I took my leave around 11 and tagged Nisa along with me as I gave her a ride around the campus before I sent her back to her mahallah... Night ride is awesome! (Now I miss Kuantan...)

Overall, the mass gathering was fine.. It's really nice to hang out with those from the same land as mine.... It's really refreshing and no need to mention, simple and homey...

Alright, as I've got some reading to do, that's all for tonight... I'll be going to Nilai, Negeri Sembilan tomorrow with my big bro and his pre-fiancée to get some trays for the engagement day...


xoxo,
V
Sunday, September 18, 2011

Hello, KL!

Back in the campus on last Sunday! I miss the campus and everything but the KL traffic? Hell, no!

For this semester,... wait up.. wait up... say hello to my new roomie, Q! A first year Law student but she was here one semester before me and K entered this university.

...~ to my ex-roomie, I... Good luck in Kuantan! We do miss ya!

Anyways, it's been one week since the semester had started and I haven't been to either of my Graphic Communication class and Introduction to Built Environment.

Last Friday was a holiday, or I should say, "Happy 48th Birthday, Malaysia!". Yep! It's been 48 years since Sabah and Sarawak joined the Malaya (i.e. Peninsular Malaysia today).

Other than reading some books I borrowed from the library, manga on the Internet, continuing the works of cleaning up my external hard disks, and updating my music and video collections, I really got nothing else to do. (yeah, yeah, the Calculus homework!)

Q went back home and K spent the rest of the weekend either with her sis who came from Dubai or with her new friend who shared the same faculty with her.


I guess that's all for now! Today's entry is quite boring, right... ugh! hopefully more interesting happenings next week...


Signing out!

V
Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Sandakan, Again.

My Mom is from Sandakan, Sabah and my big bro was born there in Hospital Duchess of Kent, where my grandma used to work. They used to live in the quarters nearby the TB ward and according to my Mom the placed wasn't as much as crowded during her younger days. But then, 4 or 5 years ago I think, the entire neighborhood was abolished together with the a village next to it and now, there's a highway cutting short through the place that used to be my Mom's neighborhood. Though there is only small area left but it'll eventually going to be cleaned out by the government and I have to say, it's a better place now.

Thanks to Musa Aman, I guess. Even though he's from there, the development of his own district is quite slow. Well, Sandakan has a long story of illegal immigrants and if you look at the city, boy. I'm thankful to be born and raised in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. But of course the city has the potential to be the next most busy place, I hope.

Anyway, the trip to Sandakan with my family recently was the shortest we made so far. Dad drove me and Mom from Papar, around 7 in the morning while my brothers were driving with our Toyota Veego at the back.

We stopped at Ranau for a quick lunch and I grabbed some fruits and though I know it's lame but that was the first time I bought fresh cherries! Awesome!





We arrived in Sandakan around 2 p.m. and first thing first, we stopped at Jambatan 88 nearby Sim Sim Road to have late lunch. As usual, the food's nice. Fresh prawns, y'all!





We checked in at the usual Tyng Garden Hotel and had a good rest for a bit. Around 5, Dad drove all of us  to my grandma's house at Batu Putih Village, at Mile 7. The place is nearby Musa Aman's multi-purpose hall, Dewan Libaran.

In the house, my uncle Ali and his wife with their 3 children, Dila, Diba, and Airul are staying with my grandma together with my eldest uncle Alias, while my uncle Tom and his wife with their 5 children are staying at Taman Mesra, Mile 4. My youngest uncle, Amin and his wife who came back from Seremban, Negeri Sembilan were there too.

The thing about my mom's sibling is, they are 10 of them and only half is still in Sabah. The eldest daughter, my mom's sister, Mak Long is currently staying in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, the sixth daughter, Aunt Bibah, is staying in Perlis with her husband and only daughter, the seventh daughter, Ibu is currently staying in Cheras, KL with her husband and only daughter, and the eighth daughter is staying with my Uncle Amin in Seremban. The fourth son, is staying in Tuaran, Sabah with his wife and his 4 children. Mom is the third daughter in the family.

We had a long conversation among each other. Exchanged stories and updating about each other's lives well, since I've been Gombak campus only for 3 months, I didn't really get the chance to visit any of them who're staying in Peninsular Malaysia.

We all except my big bro who decided to stay some more, (he and my uncle Amin are quite close) went back to hotel around 9 and stopped by at Champ's Bowl to have dinner. I ordered my favourite dish, Watan Kuey Teow or in KL we call it as Kuey Teow Kung Fu but the Kuey Teow isn't fried with egg and boiled instead.

The next day, we all went to my grandpa's graves, the first grandpa was my Dad's uncle who was also the father of mom's half brothers and sisters (the fifth child onwards). Then, we went down (yep, the area is filled with hills) to go to the second grandpa, my Mom's dad. After reading Yasin for both of them, pray for them, we all went back to the city. Well, it was around 1 p.m. so it's time to have lunch! Dad took me to my favourite place, Ikan Bakar stall at Sim Sim Road. The sambal was awesome!

We headed down to my grandma's place and stayed there until 5 p.m. Went back to hotel after that and around 7, Dad took us all to Ocean King's Seafood and had awesome dinner there. Another round of fresh prawns and steamed Kerapu fish with other dishes.

After the dinner, Dad drove me and Mom back to hotel while my bros went with Uncle Amin and his wife to Champ's Bowl to play bowling until midnight. Me? Nah... I'm done with bowling, lol.

The next day, Sunday! Dad went to the wet market with mom and my big bro early in the morning and I stayed in the hotel and packed things up! We checked out from hotel around 10 in the morning and headed down to Kota Kinabalu and arrived in Papar around 5 p.m.

We stopped at Kundasanf Penataran Cafe and had a Raya buffet and I went around for a bit and snapped few pictures.




Even though I was so damn exhausted with the trip and everything, I still managed to prepare the awesome and fresh steamed Bawal Putih with black pepper! Haha Fresh seafoods really gets me going!



Alright, I think that's all for now...

Signing out!

V
Sunday, September 04, 2011

Finally home!

Whoa! I just got back from a very short trip to Sandakan, as I visited my grandma on my mom's side of family.

As I'm freaking exhausted right now, I'll update about the whole trip on next entry!


Signing out!

V
Friday, September 02, 2011

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

I've been searching and reading about this gadget and I think this review from TechRadar is one of the easiest to digest article out there...

You guys can check it out here...

Welcome to the top spot, Samsung.




The outstanding Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Honeycomb tablet is lighter and a hair thinner than the Apple iPad 2, and has a smaller footprint than either the Motorola Xoom or the Acer Iconia Tab A500, which are heavier and bulkier than most tablets.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a major contender.

We reviewed the short-lived Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1V already, but that thicker and heavier device has since been discontinued (It looked as if Vodafone might pick up the 10.1V tab but it is now waiting to release the newer 10.1 model).

And if you want to take a closer look at the slate, you can check out our Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 video review.

The only other important players in the tablet market, are the brilliant 10.1-inch Asus Eee Pad Transformer as well as the BlackBerry PlayBook and the HTC Flyer, which are both so-so 7-inch models.

Oh, and keep your eye on the HP TouchPad which goes on sale in the UK next month. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is currently slated to go on sale in the UK at the end of July/beginning of August.

So what sets the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 apart? For starters, this is one light and thin tablet. At just 8.6mm, it is 0.2mm thinner than the iPad 2. And you know what? At 565g it's also 36g lighter.

It's as though someone at Samsung sat down and demanded that the 10.1 have world-beating raw system specs.



The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a marvel of engineering, given its size. Holding one in your hand, you might mistake it for a truncated version of a Samsung LED HDTV, which are also market leaders. There's a slight edge around the screen that is not touch enabled, a silver edge, and an all-white back.



The device just feels right. Unlike the Acer Iconia A500 and the Motorola Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 finds that ideal balance between a pick-up-and go e-book reader such as the Amazon Kindle 3 and a 10-inch tablet that's perfect for watching movies on a long car trip.

By including Android Honeycomb (version 3.1 to be exact) Samsung has also one-upped the competition (though 3.1 has also already landed on the Transformer). The point release includes a few new additions. You can resize widgets and scroll through open apps in the pop-up thumbnails for the "recent apps" list.



The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 doesn't have a USB port, so it doesn't take advantage of the new Android 3.1 feature to support USB-connected peripherals which is a shame, but that's not the direction Samsung is going with this tablet. This is all about pick-up-and-go functionality and portability.

Samsung actually downgraded the built-in camera on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 compared to the Galaxy Tab 10.1V, which had an 8MP rear camera. Still, the new model has a 3MP rear camera, which is three times higher than the Apple iPad 2's camera. There's also a front-facing 2MP camera.

There are quite a few interesting perks and additions on this tablet. Some may seem underwhelming at first, but as a whole they give Apple a good run for the prize.



One subtle change is that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a 7000mAh battery for all-day tablet use. In our tests, it lasted about nine hours for everyday tasks. The Apple iPad 2 battery is 6600mAh.

The 10.1 also has a four-way accelerometer and gyro (the Apple iPad 2 uses a three-way accelerometer and gyro - starting to see a pattern here?). That may seem like a minor upgrade, but most of the games we tested on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 responded faster to quick turns and screen rotations, and generally worked better for controlling games. It also has great side speakers for playing music and movie audio, and plays smooth 1080p video.

And of course, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 matches the features of other Android tabs: built-in GPS, support for Adobe Flash in the browser (you still have to download it on your own), 1290 x 800 screen resolution, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the Nvidia Tegra 2 dual-core processor and Android tablet app.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a smart buy for anyone who wants a light and portable Android tablet. Google still has a ways to go on apps for Android – there are only a few dozen that are seriously worth downloading, compared to thousands of worthy iOS apps.

The ecosystem for media is a bit underdeveloped on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 as well. Sure, you can watch movies stream on the web, but for downloads you're mostly on your own.

Update:
August 5 2011: Samsung has now released a software update for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (the kernel says 2.6.36.3 but the Android OS version is still 3.1).

The 10.1 now comes with Samsung's TouchWiz software overlay which is designed to add some more features to Android by building on the foundations that Google laid down.



There is now a small arrow in the middle of the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. You press that, and can open the new Task Manager (to close and open apps), a Calendar (which uses Google Cal), a World Clock, a Pen Memo widget (for adding notes and drawing), a Calculator, and a Music Player. Each of these works reliably and adds to the value of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 beyond the usual Android 3.1 release on other tabs. Widgets stay up on the screen at all times, even when you open other apps.



Samsung also (finally) released the Music Hub, Media Hub, and Social Hub apps. There is also a new app called eBook which lets you read books you have downloaded from other book stores like Kobo, or that you have obtained by other means – such as download a free ePub file. As you might guess, the eBook app is not tied into the Kindle store, and so that means a separate app. You can add stores which are just links that take you to those Web sites to buy more books.

In the box Samsung includes a charger, USB cable and earbuds, but no case or docking stand.

Price:

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been price-matched with the Apple iPad 2, which means that devices with the same amount of memory costs the same. So the starting price will be about £399.


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I guess the only way iPad triumphed over this tablet is through the enormous collections of apps in Apps Store... SOme of my friends who're on Androids said that there're not a lot of really useful apps in the Android Apps Store - Android Market... But I believe that if we just give some more time for Android apps developer to work on that part, I'm sure it's gonna be as fun as Apps Store...



Signing Out!

V

Latest Samsung Galaxy Tab

I just got the update... Will post them later! But, here is the specifications...

Operating System: Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)
Processor/RAM: Dualcore 1GHz processor/1GB
Screen: 10.1", 1280x800 WXGA
Storage: 16GB
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR, with USB 2.0 HSPA+21Mbps
Camera: 3MP with autofocus and LED Flash with 2 MP front camera
Battery Life: 9 hours video
Size and weight: 256.7mm x 175.3mm x 8.6mm/ 565 (3G)

Price? Will update later!


Signing out!
V
Thursday, September 01, 2011

Third Day of Eid

Yep! It's the third day of Eid and finally my big bro is off duty and already here in the house after we fetched him from the airport around 7 this evening. I haven't seen him since last May so yeah, I kinda miss him.

First day of Eid, I just spent the whole day with my family at home, cooking the whole morning and served our guests the whole evening. Mom cooked meat soup with mee hoon together with chicken Rendang (chicken with herbs and spices), and I prepared the Batik cake, chicken curry, while Dad bought us some lemang and traditional kuih 'lamban' (steamed glutinous rice wrapped in leaves - these are eaten with spicy nut sambal). Not really tiring as we were done by 5 p.m. and went to my relatives' houses after that. But I turned in to bed around 8 I guess.

Second day of Eid which is yesterday was even crazier than the first day as we had more guests. Most of them are my Dad's friends from his old workplace and their families. I didn't get a chance to even step out of the kitchen. Our special for the day was the stuffed squid. This was the second time I prepared them. This year, I added extra ingredient which is black pepper to the stuffings. Bit aromatic but still inviting. Well, for me at least. We were done by 9 I think so after cleaning up the kitchen, we wrapped for the day.

Anyway, after two days of cooking, today me and Mom decided to prepare simple dishes for our guests today as we're very much exhausted. I even slept with my Baju Kurung yesterday.

Lots of things happened, and I got to meet with my cousins from other parts of Sabah. But I still think that Eid this year has not yet meet to my expectation to be as grand, as busy, and as crazy as 2008 Eid. Eid that year was a total blast. With fireworks! lol

Though it's just third day... Let's hope for more interesting things to happen...

Right now, I'm trying to pack my essentials as we're going to Sandakan tomorrow at dawn. Dad's driving so I got nothing to worry.


That's all for now so I'm signing out!

xoxo,
V


xoxo,
V
Monday, August 29, 2011

Phew!

OMG! I finally done with cleaning the house!

As you all know, tomorrow all the Muslim in the world will celebrating 'Eidul Fitri or in Malay, Hari Raya Aidilfitri...

Therefore, prior to this day of happiness...we all need to prepare our house as our relatives will be coming to the house and join us in celebrating this month.

As I'm done with the living rooms like 2 days ago, the kitchen had almost killed me today as I got rid of 2 trash bags of expired foods, ice-cream containers, plastic bags, unused boxes, etc. etc.

By the way, I just finished baking my first Batik Cake!

... And I reduced the amount of sugar by 200 grams but the taste is still awesome!

(someone's calling me)... Yes, Mom!

Alright, people! I have to go back to the kitchen!


xoxo,
V
Sunday, August 28, 2011

Go With It

After the downfall at the end of last year, well... I think it's more like...

How do I put this... It's been many years since I felt good about myself...

Though I know what's laid in front of me is going to be real tough and I might just want to kill myself at some point later, all I know that right now, I just want to go with all I've got.

Life is like a climb. But the view is great. Totally agree with Miley Cyrus for that.

Thinking back all the things that happened for the past few years, I won't regret a thing because I truly believe that things happened for reasons. Reasons that I might not know now, reasons that I might not know forever, reasons that I figured out but haven't decide whether to ignore or to learn from it.
Thursday, August 25, 2011

iPad 2

As you guys already know, iPad 2 was launched in US on March 11th this year. Therefore the launched date for our beloved country was around end of April-early May. 

When I was in Kuala Lumpur, I saw that iPad 2s were sold out within few hours in Mid Valley. There I thought, "Aww, man! Hopefully by the time I can get one myself, it's still available..."

But then, when I finally got a chance to go to the only Apple Authorized Reseller that is selling iPad 2 in Kota Kinabalu, which is Technocrats in 1Borneo shopping mall, yep! It was sold out.

But the good news is, the'll restock their products once a month and finally after waiting almost one week, the stocks arrived.

....and I got myself this awesome iPad 2 white 16 GB Wi-Fi with 3G. I took the 1.5 GB data plan from Celcom and voila! All set and I'm ready to go! Thanks Dad for this awesome birthday present! ... And getting-a-good-CGPA present... Hehe I don't need much space as I already have iPod Classic to place all my music and my iPhone to put all important apps.


The front side


The back side


I bought original cover by Capdase


iPad 2... What else can I say... I waited for this generation to come out as I expected the same with iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.. Thinner, lighter, and of course FaceTime!

This generation also came with A5 chip processor. The latest one as even iPhone 4 uses A4 chip. You guys know that all previous iPhones i.e. 1st gen, 2nd gen, 3rd gen and 3GS used Samsung processors right?

Other than that, though some of you might think that the purpose left for me to have this awesome gadget is merely entertainment, nope. Not at all as I'm planning to get myself the iWork apps i.e. Pages, Keynotes, and Numbers for iPad version so I can sync all my works and assignments in here. The photos are awesome in here as I got to enjoy them in full HD.

Twitter for iPad also one of the awesome apps as not only you can sign in multiple accounts simultaneously, you can go to these accounts easily as they're shown in single panel on the left side of the screen instead of hitting the back button like in iPhone.

Alright, then. I think that's all for my iPad experience for now at least. I'll update some more later on as I need to prepare the house for Eid celebration.


xoxo,
V