Thursday, May 21, 2009

Angels and Demons

Quote : "Religion is flawed, only because man is flawed"

I leave this for your own interpretation

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Earth Hour 2009

28 March 2009 has been chosen as Earth Hour and it's time to yet again, demonstrate our choice to contribute a little back to nature and to make a statement. Sydney was where it began in 2007, it went global in 2008 and is now in over 77 countries. We hope to reach a billion peeps in creating this awareness.

All it takes is just an hour. Wife, skip reading, kids may skip homework, I will give Warbook an hour break. And it starts at 2030 hours. If you can't do it just for an hour, Earth is doomed for sure.

Do know that this one hour will not save Earth. Are you gonna switch off all non-essentials because you really care about the planet you live on now? Or are you just in it because you were caught in the wave of hype and publicity. This stunt just shows that people are aware of such causes but I shiver to think what percentage of the population are actually doing what it takes to protect our planet after this hype wears off.

No wonder no Aliens ever lands on Earth. They probably know more than we do and find that it just ain't worth it.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

"How's Married Life?"

It's been 4 months now since our wedding day and it's funny how most people ask the question,"How's married life?" to newlyweds. And each and everytime my reply is a simple, "No change". Why should it? You love that person as much as you did before you got married, no?. If at all there is a difference, it would be either you love her more since then or you start to resent her since then. But lifestyles need not be changed just because 2 person got married. We still love to go on dates, we love to go to the cinemas, we love to window shop, we love to travel and do all the things that we were doing before. She has her circle of friends and I have mine. So I sometimes wonder what kinda answer people expect of me from that question? Could it be ....

1. Whoa, she has lots of habits I didn't know of

2. Since living together, we keep arguing

3. I wish she'd give me my space

4. She nags a lot

5. I'm glad you asked coz I can't wait to let off steam


It's perception and this kinda dogmatic mentality is driving me up the wall.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Will We Learn and Evolve

Have we really given any thoughts on how much the human race has progressed? Do we know our history? Do we even know what life was like before we were born? Well, people always imagine how 'their' life would be if ..... but what about how Earth would be like if ......

We strive to break the limits of what our tiny brain had or could achieve, always looking for progress, always looking for wealth, always looking for ways to improve lives. We tear down trees in the name of progress, bring down hills and mountains to feed the hunger of the wealthy. Replacing them with concrete and producing waste which are then thrown back to the very soil that gave the raw resources. And when I say we, that includes me. Practically almost everyone lives in concrete these days. As much as I'd hate to say that it is a drain on Earth resources, as long as the human race continue to grow, so will the demand. That is a fact none can run from.

I haven't done a movie review in a while *been too stingy to fork out 20+ bucks on 2 tickets these days*. My wife and I went to watch The Day The Earth Stood Still, starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. I've already heard reviews of the message it sends through the movie. And putting it to reality, it makes thinking people think further.

It revolves around another life form, representing several alien civilizations superior to humans, threatening to remove humans with their destructive nature (which we call progress) and by doing so, allowing Earth to heal itself before the point of no return. Keanu, playing the alien, but looking very much like an agent in The Matrix, was the messenger.

Keanu, playing Klaatu is bent on wiping out our civilizations as he felt that was the only way Earth can be saved. And Jennifer Connelly, plays Helen Benson, a biologist who tries to convince him to give us a chance to evolve when on the brink of destruction. I admire the message it tries to sent. But we are far from realising nor acknowledging the fact that Earth is dying at the rate we are progressing. An eco-system could only sustain so much.

Thus we ask ourselves this question, if we knew Earth would collapse by year 2010, what can we do, what would we do and what must we do NOW to ensure that future does not happen? I was elated when I saw the concrete structures crumbling and dissolving when the 'aliens' went on a path of destruction. How mean am I ... *not a question*

I have been watching too much Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Bangkok - First Time

I was so looking forward to getting away from KL, after weeks of being bogged with wedding details. And getting off the plane, made me realise that it has all been worthwhile, tagging my wife along with me on this honeymoon.

Now, this is my first trip to Bangkok and I had no expectations of what it would be like. The air is polluted, the streets are clogged, with cars and people alike. And to make my experience worse, I developed a fever couple of hours after arriving there. Yes, my body finally had time to break down after running around on my wedding day. My poor wife had to take care of me in the hotel room that evening, and I slept through that evening/night without taking her anywhere. And behind our room was a rail line, which the darn drivers can't seem to take their hands off their horns.

Would I return to Bangkok? Yes, if only for the mega malls, namely, Siam Paragon & Central World. The former had to be my favourite of them all. Paragon itself has its own departmental store all on its own and within it, mega brands were aplenty. It was akin to walking around Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur.

And how they deco their display shelves was simply attractive.

Rows of candles

Pens
And this is only one of many rows of pens, I can't find such varieties in KL

You know, all this while I never tried Auntie Anne's while I was in Malaysia. Fearing I would have nothing else to eat but Tom Yam all the time, I settled for a pretzel while feeling peckish. And I enjoyed it. Very nice indeed. Trust me to go to Bangkok to try this instead of back home.

Pretzel

They even had a Lamborghini Murcielago on display in the mall outlet. How cool is that?

Photobucket

When I recovered the 2nd day, we walked a little bit more and were able to see what goes on at night after seeing all the props and all during the day. They can publicly have beer festivals just outside of the mall. And there were many of them.

Chang Beer

VIP

The only cute thing I saw there was the restroom doors at Baiyoke Boutique Hotel where we stayed.
No time to visit any of the infamous Tiger Shows nor any of the temples, which the latter having no pull factor on me.

Cute
Do you know which to go to?

Well, I'm still in Phuket now. Will share my thoughts on it at a later date.

Sandy Love

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Sealed With A Kiss

There I've finally been 'allowed' to kiss the bride by the 'official' of the day. And now, I shall be leaving on a 10 day long honeymoon *switches phone to silent and screening who calls before answering*

Only a message of 'alien invasion' will get me out of my honeymoon.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Greedy Malaysians

Malaysia, a land of many opportunities. I always believe that if you work hard enough and add some savvy into what you do, there will be money to be made. In any traditional business, there will be times money is made, and times when money is lost. Name me one traditional business where money is never lost? Oh wait, toll concessionaires, they never lose money due to the lopsided contract between the government and their cronies.

How bout petrol dealers? You would think they have been making wads of cash each time the price of petrol went up. They're always claiming the discount is the same. If the petrol price today is RM1.92, they pay RM1.72 from the suppliers.

Now that crude oil price is hovering around USD67 per barrel, the government has reduced petrol price, for the 3rd time now since reaching a whopping RM2.7o. It now stands at RM2.30 per litre. What irks me are the petrol dealers who claims to lose thousands of dollars each time there is a price reduction. And that is true, not taking away any credibility to their claims. Let's have a look at how they lose.

When the price was at RM2.70 per litre, they bought the petrol price at RM2.50 from suppliers. As soon as the government reduce the price to RM2.55, they claim to have lost considerably due to the old stock which they bought at RM2.50. Even with the 5 cents profit, they cannot overcome their overheads. Granted. And it goes on when it drops to RM2.45 and now RM2.30. Everytime it drops, they cry like babies.

Well, what about when the price went up? When they bought it at RM1.72 cents when petrol price was at RM1.92, what happened when the petrol went tp to RM2.70? The 20 cents profit shot up to Rm1.o8 per litre on whatever stock they had left. And this goes on each time there is an increase. Did I ever hear, "Govt, you're not being reasonable. You've increased my profits this month and now I have no choice but to buy a new car to offset it or I have to pay higher tax. Why are you doing this to me?"

There are 2 sides to the coin, petrol dealers are mostly cronies anyway. I said mostly, not all. There are of course genuine ones. But bear in mind you money grubbing operators, this is a business you are running. Be thankful you have a business that has been generating profits for you all this while. And with any traditional business, there is NO GUARANTEE of continued profits. And to the government, stop making decisions at your whim and fancy. Give at least a week's notice of any impending increase or decrease to not only dealers, but to consumers alike. It is obvious, they have not needed to queue up at petrol stations to experience the traffic chaos when everyone rushes to fill up before midnight. Even those who do not want to be part of that rush, are stuck along clogged roads filled with cars waiting by the road side near a petrol station, waiting for their turn.

Stop crying and to the government, stop managing Malaysia like it's just a game.