Happy Easter Folks

First, let me tell a joke.

What do you get when you cross a bungee cord, and an owl?


anyway, watch this:



its so funny.



and this is really true.



ok then, well i hope everyone had a spectacular easter (break) hehe.

i did.

weekend i was at camp Manyung, an hour away from Melbourne. beautiful place, look:



drive down to Mornington


view from my room


my roommate Chua


walked down to the beach


beautiful, no?


later that night


aaron su, on the last day


isaac su, haha they're brothers


tim took us to a nearby vineyard to have a look


really sweet garden


the guys


macro skills


with a digital camera? pfft.


so the girls had a good time there too


guys were just like, yeh its a garden

finally

the weekend is here! oh man. such a long day. oh so looooong. and now, i'll not be around for the weekend. tomorrow morning i'm leaving. somewhere. back on sunday. will take pics, should be nice. bye.

chris needs your help.

if you have experience with MATLAB, please contact chris at chlaw@student.unimelb.edu.au

if you've never heard of MATLAB, you are very blessed.


i mean.

Calculate the mass of CO2 used per day for using disposable paper towels
on MATLAB. Submit your script and answer.

srsly?


but i mean yeh. just. i.

i dunno what to do.

pictures

looks very black and white... so i thought i'd post some.


welcome to tha hood, son, this is strictly 4 my ninjaz.

ninja transform!

ninja shred.

more shred.

even more shred.

so i really like my milk tea.

but i only had water.

so i drank the water.

how was it you ask? hmm...

it was good.


there, i wasted another 5 mins of your life telling a pointless story using *clever* subliminal pictures.

sup tulang is an art

its not easy folks. i mean, i just had, really awesome fish for dinner. i got a fillet of basa and i lightly rubbed curry powder and salt into it and let it sit there. in the meantime, i fry some sliced potatoes in rosemary infused olive oil. oh so nice the aroma. sprinkled salt, and done. get the potatoes on the plate, leave the pan on, and chuck in some onions. few seconds later, in goes the fish, pan fried on both sides till the fish is nicely done, not overcooked, but not raw either, just perfect. that's what i like about basa. so easy to cook. when it was done, i contemplated taking a picture. but i was too hungry. all this time i'd been stewing some oxtail soup. some onion, tomatoes, and of course, the oxtails. i added the carrots later when i remembered. but yeh. shit. so hard to make good sup tulang.

so yeh. expect a lot of food to pop up in my posts. not much else to blog about.

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.


props to cheekoh for sending that verse to me. just looked at it and thought "wow. that's awesome timing."

life in melbourne alone is generally kinda boring wherever you are i guess. sure there's friends around, but everyone's just too tired to get up and go see each other... then you bump into each other in the market and you're like "oh... hey... haven't seen you in a while. oh you're busy... yeh, k bye."

of course there's that other crowd, "lets party yeh! go clubbing and get wasted and laugh about it tomorrow!" i don't drink. i'm not an idiot either;

Matthew 5:
33"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

"I promised God i wouldn't drink... until my a levels are over." oh yeh. real tough chris. foolish. pfft. oh well. you learn as you go along. but yeh the point is. my human reasoning for not wanting to drink was cause it was expensive and i didn't want to risk letting it get in the way of my studying. and beer makes you fat. almost as bad as coke.

so... the point of this ranting... is lost to me. really. uhm. i dunno. i guess what i'm trying to say is i'm happy with where i stand, and i'm sort of still in the process of mapping out where exactly i'm standing.

but one thing's for sure. its time to cultivate a discipline. i'm ready. i'm just sorry it took so long. thanks for waiting. here i go.

Elections?

First of all, poor show Sabah. poor show. 51 or 52 out of 54 seats... to BN?

Secondly, Anwar's performance was quite impressive. managing to forge a loose alliance with the other opposition parties was most probably why they managed to win so many seats in peninsular.

seems they're ready for change... what happened sabah? beloved homeland? what's this "why the fuck are you still talking about politics? its so boring, you think they give a shit what you think? nothings going to change anyway" attitude?

are your ready to eat your words yet? cause your west side counterparts are moving forwards, and we... still lag. lag because of political apathy. political nonchalance.

if you think about it, really BN has been really idiotic in that they kept lashing out at bloggers. well hello, old skoolers, the internet wins. Opposition, through the internet, managed to get the other side of the story across, with far more compelling evidence, despite their lack of radio/tv/newspaper accessibility. opposition was basically winning over most of the younger, educated generation.

but chris, surely we got those in kk too right ya is it not? we got internets?


yeh... internet... what do you do with it?

1. friendster
2. facebook
3. uhm... limwire...
4. ... porn?


hmm. you didn't know what anyone from the opposition was talking about did you? cause you never really heard what they had to-

oh yeh chris wait, youtube!

-ok, you never really heard what the opposition had to say. i lost my train of thought...


anyway, i'm stereotyping grossly unfairly. but the truth remains, that most of the votes in sabah came from the rural hoods, the kampungs, where BN funding and socio-economic policies are beneficial. and when i say funding of course i really mean bribe money. hmm... what happened to the educated people? oh right, they figured out that anywhere is better than sabah right? THAT, is unfair. even if you don't want to live there, at least send in a vote for that other guy.

you know, the clever one? yeh, i want a clever guy running my country someday. not someone who'll spend millions of dollars on a mosque with a crystal dome and then smile at you and say "see? what would you do without me?" when the ROADS that lead to that mosque, or everywhere else for that matter, are badly damaged, poorly maintained etc. and we're talking about roads that malaysians use, all malaysians. do all malaysians use that mosque?

priorities?

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- An international human rights group said Wednesday it fears Malaysians will not get a fair vote in this week's general elections because of an uneven playing field favoring the ruling National Front coalition.

New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Malaysia to eradicate bias from the electoral process. Opposition and activist groups say the process is rife with irregularities.

Malaysian law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz denied the allegations, accusing Human Rights Watch of discrediting the elections because "they know the National Front will win."

"To me, Human Rights Watch is biased. They are not important at all. It's only their opinion," he told The Associated Press.

Group Warns on Malaysia Elections, (March 4 2008)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/04/malaysia.elections.ap/index.html as of March 11 2008

yeh. i laughed too. ridiculous isn't it, to think that this is the kind of response an authoritative figure in our country would give.


a lot of talk of racial tension too. we're not allowed to go celebrate or anything apparently. says the sheriff, the policeman all other police call boss. worried that another racially charged riot will ensue. let me tell you something about racially charged riots. they're started by people who feel there should be racially charged issues. ie. UMNO. nah ok, that's again another unfair accusation based on rumours. rumours? yes, i've heard some rumours. but i won't bother posting them. why? because i'm still afraid of the ISA.

yep. that draconic tool that allows ANYONE to be arrested with NO trial whatsoever. you are automatically assumed guilty, and the court doesn't even DARE challenge that assumption.


check out this article. written by an Australian political scientist in malaysia, specializing in malaysian politics. i have to say, when i hear about foreigners actually taking interest in how we run our countries, its quite encouraging. because it means we might one day actually have FAIR elections, because of their pressure. otherwise we 're bound to uncover some big election scandal and that could be ok too i guess. that way, we'd learn and progress you see.




BUT. now i want to write about me.

lots of not so nice things have happened to me in melbourne, far too many to list, i simply can't be bothered.

today, no exception, BUT, i'm still freakin happy.

lets take a look.

insanely far classes to walk to.
insanely hot dry weather.
insanely boring classes.
cooked rice and pak choy for dinner, and intended to make spare ribs, since i swam so hard today. well, got the rice, got the pak choy, but i burnt the ribs. BURNT. to the point where it screamed "I AM CANCER PERSONIFIED!" so i had to bin it.
i started opening a can of luncheon meat, but the pin was rusty and i cut myself. so much blood. and eventually, using my mad engineering skillz, i managed to salvage the pin, rework the tin a bit, and finish opening the damn thing. then i had to cook it. when i finally sat down to have my humble meal, the rice was cold and hard, and my veges cold and soggy.
i had enough sense to make soup as well, boiling some ribs to use as stock. so i figured, well, i'll still have some ribs at least. not nicely marinaded but good enough.. where's the soya sauce, mm ok.
but the ribs weren't cooked. wtf? i've been boiling the soup with onions and tomatoes for 3 hours and its not cooked?
and you know you can't eat uncooked pork.
i just patched up my thumb cause all that itching and throbbing finally got my attention again.

But you know what?


I just couldn't help but feel happy today.

because I'm God's beloved. He loves me as I am, whether I reciprocate His love or not. He's not out to make my life difficult like i used to believe (whether i realized or not), and somehow my whole attitude towards life just changed overnight.

and yes Gabriel, if you're reading this, it's largely because i was listening to the Grace and Favour sermons by Joseph Prince. but yeh, today, it felt like God was constantly prodding my back and going "Take it easy son. No big deal."

"pfft. yeh. you're right. HAHA."


don't think about how much you love God. think about how much He loves you.

so i kinda lied about no more food blogging... so i might as well tell you bout my awesome STEAK AND FRIES. yep, simple gravy this time, just a reduced red shiraz sauce, much nicer, and of course fries. i have a huge patch of deep fried skin on my middle finger now. stupid fries. ahah. oh and yesterday i had fish. bought a fillet of basa fish from the market. i have no idea what basa fish is but its consistency is that of dory fish. so i marinaded it yesterday afternoon with some of chris' magically awesome pesto sauce, and then lightly pan fried it last night.

in the wise words of Mr. Silver:

"You can't cook, until you can cook fish."


Oh yes. I can cook.


wait. i epic failed at ribs.

mmmmmmmmmmhmmmmmmm...


so. bye.

Another one about food

I just cook an amazing breakfast. It was so amazing I had to tell you about it.


breakfast chris? at 4 in the afternoon?



yeh... i woke up when my alarm rang and jumped out of the shower.


and had coffee. so no time for breakfast. after the calculus tutorial (which i enjoyed actually. great revision. lol) i came home again, and instead of cooking, i just ate up some tasty riffs so righteous, my guitar got over her anguished self. oh yeh. i was really really upset a few days ago cause of some stuff ANDMYGUITARFELLANDGOTDINGED:(:(:(:(:(:(:( and there was that shitty first day. and the fuckton of work.

BUT I'm fine now. yep. got to know my neighbours and stuff, cool bunch.

now then. where was i?

right, i played guitar, and then it was time for japanese. so i went for my jap class, then went home. ok, why didn't you cook then chris?

well. i started crying.

why?


onions.


terrible stuff. and then i diced some tomatoes, and cut the other half of said onion into rings. and before proceeding, i decided i wanted to go for a swim.


how was the swim chris? never happened. i arrived at the gym after a long 15 walk. only to find out i left my trunks at home. GREAT. another 15 minutes and i get back home, half an hour wasted in stupid swanston street. i oughta start taking the trams. so, at this point, i'm like ok, i'll have some dunch (that's linner for you antarcticans). so i get out some potatoes and start slicing them finely after peeling them, and soak them in a cup of red shiraz. shitty stuff honestly. 6 dollars. but its great to cook with.

and i heated up the oil, threw in the onion rings that i stored in the fridge from just now. then drained the wine into the bowl of chopped and threw the potatoes in the pan and stir-fried with salt and pepper, and then on to the plate.

yep, that's right. Lyonnesse potatoes. good stuff. so the onions, drained, thrown into the pan. nicely caramelized thanks to the shitty shiraz, and i throw in 2 eggs beaten with soya sauce and pepper. and then in goes the diced tomatoes. then cheese (just those square singles from kraft). fold flip flip and on to the plate beside the potatoes.

while the pan was still hot, threw in a couple of slices of bread cause i didn't have a toaster. so the bread was nicely toasted with a really awesome aroma.

then the wine from before, instead of being thrown, i reduced it on the pan (that's when you evaporate it, gives you like a dark red syrupy sauce.) and then drizzled it over the potatoes.

to sum it up. most delicious breakfast i had in melbourne. breakfast. because they're all breakfast dishes.


SO. anyway. i chopped up another onion, and diced another tomato, plucked some leaves from my pot of basil, chopped up some garlic and threw it into my food processor, and then added some tomato based sauce from the supermarket, and poured in olive oil, a bit of salt. and PROCESSED it. HEHEHE so much fun. and hey presto, you have chris' magical AWESOME PESTO SAUCE. 1% stuff and 99% awesome. wanna know what it tastes like?



awesomesauce.

ok. well, i promise not to blog about food too often. its just, there's not alot else to do here. i mean everything closes at like 6. wtf? anyway. whatever.

bye guys. i'm off to study.








you never thought you'd hear that, did you?

i'm nissin my noodles

i made myself a steak today, oh so proud of myself i am. the steak itself was nice. the gravy... a little unusual. i'll give you the recipe.

1 cup Mirin Sake
(dunno how big a cup is i just poured from the bottle)

6... blobs of HP sauce
(that's basically your Lea and Perrins or Worceister)

1 handful of fresh basil
(I'm growing a pot of basil on my balcony)

1 tablespoon of honey

2... shakes(?) of black pepper

1/4 cup of soya sauce

and.. get this...

2 cups of green tea.




yeh? yeh? you're itching to try my steak now aren't you? ADMIT IT.

anyway, i got this new program for free cause my old one wasn't compatible, so now on top of garageband i have another effects processor to add to my arsenal of brutal ear-flaying recording tools. its got WAH. i love WAH. i'm addicted to WAH. i'll show you soons mkay? soons...

bye

Oh well.

i really didn't feel like blogging. first it was cause i felt like i needed to get into the swing of things, to acclimatize and stuff. when i settled in, i was just too busy. now, its 2AM, i'm jobless, bored shitless, but really lazy.

but because i'm such a hardworking person i will write something for people to read. because i know, despite the lack of solid evidence on my cbox, many of you still check my blog hoping for an update. and i do apologize for not updating, and disappointing you with every time you click my link.

hah. my arrogance is immense, just like the gaping void in my stomach that i attribute to the lack of MAGGI.

once i get a picture editing tool, i will change my layout, and probably the name of the blog too. it will be known henceforth as where'smymaggi.

anyway, bullshit aside, i'm in melbourne having a not so awesome time. not so awesome because i somehow imagined melbourne to be an awesome city with awesome people and awesomeness everywhere. all i see is people who can't drive and people who look good. and when i say look good, i mean better than myself, so perhaps not that good relative to the hot blonde surfer guy that just passed through your mind.

summer?

psh. at least i never really sweat. i mean. when its hot, its dry. when its cold, its dry. when its really cold, its wet. un-awesome weather.

other than that, i'm enjoying cooking. made really good fettucine today. without sauce reliance. and lamb rack. hehe. i swear! invited teo over for dinner. hope he's still breathing. oh well, its a good thing overseas health coverage was compulsory. wonder if it covers cancer...

uhm, i impaled my thumb with a steak knife while washing it. was really cool, i was wiping it really fast back and forth and then *splurt*, the sink and the wall tiles are dotted with crimson. or scarlet.


by the way. i need an opinion.


this is the vox pathfinder. 10W.



Orange Crush. Also 10W. about the same price.


they both have that classic look and tone. orange will give me nicer distortions (in fact, orange only gives me distortion) and looks badass. its orange! vox on the other hand just oozes vintageness. and vintageness is awesomeness.

which one? sigh. but they're both still expensive. just cheaper than everything else. except the micro-amps. you know those cute ones that fit in your pocket? yeh. that's gay. well, no, but just, not very proper. as in its not loud enough for my neighbours to hear.



this i would get in a heartbeat. if it weren't so damn expensive. of course, if you send me about 1500RM i would greatly benefit and probably be able to afford it. you will have my long term gratitude and i would repay you by playing you a nice tune on my guitar, most probably the theme song to space ghost.



i'm still looking forward to meeting up with people who are in melbourne. *hint*. if any of them read my blog. otherwise my blatant hinting will get me neverwhere.


OKAY. i'm gonna go sleep. have a great day/night (pick one corresponding to your time zone or the time you read this).