adrianism...

Between Valentine and CNY, and Lent begins

"Adrian, do you know that today is Valentine's day?"
"Is it? Oh ya...hehe :D"
So far for me, every 14th of February has just been like any normal day, although i do connect this day with a very special day for people in love :) Besides that, i would also connect this day to St. Valentine, the reason behind this day. One story maintains that he was a priest serving under an emperor who forbade his soldiers to marry. So St. valentine, taking pity on these poor soldiers would secretly continue to perform their marriages. The emperor soon found out, and Valentine was put to death, hence the connection of love with St. Valentine's Day. Anyway, since i'm still single (and enjoying it :P), so i do not have to worry about doing anything 'extraordinary' on this particular day, haha! But this year, i bought a medium chocolate bar each for my sisters (Decided to show my love for them - very rare for Adrian to buy things for his sisters :P and that's the only extraordinary thing i did!) Anyway, on that day too, i fetched Joel from the airport. On the way back, he wanted to buy something from ToysWorld. I spotted this funny sign posted at the teddy bear section:

WHAT??? DO THEY NEED SUCH A NOTICE? YOU MEAN PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KISSING THE BEARS? LOL! I just couldn't believe my eyes. If the notices stated 'DO NOT CUDDLE/HUG/TOUCH THE BEARS' i could understand, since it's normal for people to look, select, hug, touch the bears. But to kiss the bears.....my gosh. The management must have recorded quite a number of people kissing the bears on the surveillence video camera :P

And time flies.....it was Chinese New Year's eve. People have been starting to play firecrakers and fireworks, and i noticed that some of the fireworks display were awesome! So i decided to fully utilies my digi camera and take a few shots of the 'free' fireworks display. It was quite hard to capture the fireworks in action, because my house is surrounded by other houses, but anyway, thanks to the tripod and whoever played the fire works in that 'particular' spot, i managed to capture quite a colorful and beautiful display (of course it would be much nicer to be there and witness the display live! :D)

I really enjoyed the show which started a bit before 12 midnite and lasted for about 20 minutes or so. My neigbor on the left was also snapping pictures/video (eh yakah Bonus?) and some other neighbors were also playing firecrakers. But soon, i discovered that another group of creatures were also enjoying themselves - in fact having a good, sumptous buffet supper - yes mosquitos feeding on my blood. So i decided to go in my house. Furthermore, the air soon became pretty smoky, as you can see from the picture.

By the way, i'm sure we all know that the playing (and buying and selling too) of fireworks and firecrackers are actually banned in Malaysia. Few years ago, this law wasn't in effect. in only came into being following cases of injuries and fires due to fireworks and crakers. On this issue, i feel that the government should not totally ban it. This practice is part of culture and in fact the playing of fireworks and crakers only adds beauty to the celebration. I just feel that people should be extra careful when playing with them.

Then came Chinese New Year. As usual, the round of visiting friends. On the 2nd day, went out with a group of friends. Visited Gen, then Sharlene, then back to Gen's. At Gen, we had a really good time snapping photos sing Bonus' camera - his cool camera could do all kinds of things, the most famous being the '10-shots' :D Besides that, Larry was asking tips of what to do on a first date and meeting a girl's parents for the first time. We all came out with funny scenarios and answers which kept us laughing all night! :D I hope to get some of the photos soon :) Anyway, here's a picture of us at Sharlene's place:

Driving in town on the 3rd day, i spotted a banner outside CB (Cherrie Berries) by Guiness Stout. It was a Chinese new year greeting, but with some extra message:

I couldn't agree more with those words of wisdom. Personally, i feel that drinking alcohol-based drinks are okay, as long as one knows how to control him/her-self, and they realise heir own limitations, as an elder man once mentioned "i've seen people drinking and drinking, but yet they are in the office tomorrow morning". 'Drinking' has long been associated with merry and joyful occasions. It is sad that many do not know how to control themselves, and end up becoming 'high', drunk, and doing lots of stupid stuffs which makes them look like fools, big fools, which they later regret (this includes figthing, having sex, some even killing, or peeing in their pants, talking nonsense.......yeah, as if i know :P but that's what i've heard and read). So know yourself, know your limits and drink responsibly. Don't blame the drink - blame yourself for not drinking responsibly. If you think that a bit is enough to make you go wild, then don't drink! (ah, easy said than done. Ah well).

Later in the night, i attended a friend's thaksgiving dinner. She recently graduated, and so in thaksgiving to God and all those who helped and supported her along her acadamic years and life, she hosted a Chinese-style dinner in Grand Palace hotel. The food was great, although i didn't eat much (my stomach wasn't very good). Then there was the Karaoke session (my gosh, Mel, her bro and sis can sing so well!), Mel's brother joked that he only sang to Oil Palm trees in the estate, and my friend Gen whispered to me saying that "no wonder the trees so 'subur'" HAHAHA!!!! SO FUNNY LA GEN! :D I decided to represent my table to go and sing. Now, this is the first time i did karaoke (if singing in the bathroom doesn't count), and i was a quite nervous. But for the sake of my friend, and also to try karaoke (otherwise when?), and since the crowd was pretty small (about 40 people), i gathered the courage to go up and sing. I sang "MY WAY" and a Malay song by Ella "GEMILANG" (which i learnt 10 years ago in one of the camps - KEM BINA INSAN 1997). Haha! What a night! Anyway, i'm so proud of my friend Imelda who is now a medical Doctor :) "You're an inspiration!".

Before ending this post, a picture to share. Don't be surprised soon if you find 'Made-in-Curtin' pineapples in DPS or E-mart or in the market (JK) :P Look what's growing in our university's garden (so cute :D i spotted 2 fruits, but they're pretty small though):

p.s. the season of lent has come. I attended Ash wednesday Mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral. The Church was packed, and there were many 'outstanding' Catholics :D (i.e. Catholics who stand outside during Mass). Well, couldn't blame them because the church was packed.

My prayer and hope, that we may continue to grow deeply in the Lord and also bring that growth to others - spritually, materially, emotionally.

problem with friendster blogs....

oh no!!! it seems that in friendster blogs, i can't upload a picture with the same file name, even though they are in different post. Because if i upload a picture with a similar name with a previous picture, it will overlap that picture. Hmmmm.... *adrian is contemplating to use a different blog service*.

Another day's adventure

Went cycling again. I wanted to go to the beach near Sribima, but the tide was high. There was practically no shore to cycle. So i turned back. This time i noticed there was a lane through a bush which had some 'radioactive' sign. So decided to check it out, since there was no sign saying 'NO TRESPASSING'. Gee....i wonder what do they store there.... Hopefully it's properly stored, otherwise humans or even the land might get contaminated.

From there, i cycled past the tank farm (Miri Crude Oil Terminal). I don't know why that particular stretch of road is always in a bad condition - potholes, stagnant water. I once saw a van got stuck in one of the deep potholes. Since then, the road was resurfaced, but now it's back to square one. Very near the spot where i took the picture of the road, i noticed some more things..... CABLE COVERS! I've written about telephone cable thefts here and here, and here i saw cable covers! However, i don't know if these covers belong to telephone or electric cables. It seems that the cable covers have landed here, along the road, and among the bushes. Hmmmm, interesting. Moving on, i cycled towards the old Lutong Airfield. I was just recalling how beautiful the airfield used to be. When i was a young boy, i used to enjoy looking at the twin-otter planes landing and the Puma helicopters flying in workers from their off-shore platform. In fact, i've travelled to Labuan using this airfield too...ah the good old days :) Now, only the airstrip remains. The control tower and the adjecent buildings have long been demolished. The airstrip is now often used for racing purposes (legal and illegal :P). Sadly, the end of the airstrip has also been used as a dumping ground. From there, i decided to head home. Along the way, i saw some logs that have been washed ashore (i guess during one of the nights when the sea was high). I also passed by the Petronas Head office and marvelled at the tall telecommunication structure. I took a short cut through the Lutong Mosque, Masjid An-Naim and also marvelled at the beauty of the building basked in rays from the evening sunset. As i arrived home, i washed my bike and was surprised to see a beautiful butterfly in the garden! What an interesting day! :)

Summer nightmare...

And the summer i'm referring to is the summer course, to be more specific, the Electrical System 204 (ES204) Summer Course. summer course refers to units offered to students for study during the summer break. I was thinking about this course right after my finals in 2006, so much so i brought the course materials to Australia during my holiday (at least i studies a bit there.It helped a lot with my understanding process suring the summer course).

Whenever people in campus meet me and ask what i'm doing, i'll say that i'm taking summer course. "Ei, but i though you're engineering. Engineering got summer course meh?" Haha! Yeah, i guess first time in history - SUMMER COURSE FOR ENGINEERING! The fees we pay is for a 25credits subject (i.e. RM2500 + RM150).

In the past, i used to wonder why summer courses were only offered to Commerce and Business students. I envied them because they had the chance to either speed up thier studies (by taking units in advance), or space it out (by dropping some units during the normal semester and take it during summer) or take things a little easy (because if they failed a unit, there is a possibility the particular unit be offered during summer...hehe)

But soon i began to realise that unlike engineering units, commerce and business units runs more of like typical clasroom setting - lecture, tutorial, perhaps some presentation. On the other hand, engineering units will include the usual lecture, tutorial, and labs (and reports) - and i tell you labs are BIG things for an engineering student. Just to figure out something sometimes take so long! Add on the assignments, mid-term test, quizzes... So imagine a summer course for an engineering unit. But still, why not offer summerfor units that do not require any lab experiment, such as renewable energy principles?

So how come i've got summer course?
Answer:Because we asked for it.
"Your class must be quite big in number, like 20 or so" some say.
NOPE! THERE ARE ONLY 5 OF US IN OUR CLASS!
"WHAT?!!" (so surprised!)
Yeah. It all began like this. Once upon a time, i mean 2 years ago (2nd sem 2005), a group of us failed this unit. Somehow, some of my friends had a brilliant idea to request from  our lecturer, Dr. Nader, to consider giving us summer course for this subject. After submitting a formal letter of request to him, amazingly, he agreed to it, on condition that we can find a minimum of 5 people from our batch. And yes, we got 5 people :D So instead of resitting this unit in the 2nd sem of 2006, we were to take this unit during the (southern hemisphere) summer break of 2006. I guess he agreed to give us this course partly because we have gone through the unit previously - we weren't a newbie to the course.

So what's so 'nightmarish' about this course? What makes it a nightmare:
1) The time frame of the unit
2) The workload of the unit
3) I just dread studying... (have to fight this feeling)

Believe it or not, although the course is run through 3 weeks (only), the number of class-day contacts are only 9. In other words, WE ONLY HAVE 9 CLASSES!!! Generally, we have lecture in the morning, followed by tutorial, then lab in the afternoon (we need to write report for the lab). We also have quiz (worth 10%) and a mid-term (worth 20%).

Well, actually i personally feel that having been through this unit before, i can sort of grasp the knowledge much better, This is true for me - every time i repeat a unit, i seem to get much higher marks as compared to my previous marks.

But this time, really thanks to David & Victor, who are so kind to assist me by lending me their study material for this course. Also thanks to Dr. Nader. You know, this course made me realise that Dr. Nader is a nice guy - he's actually very willing to help students pass. their units :) (although he appears moody at times. Who doesn't anyway?) On my part, i hsould study and try my best. Thanks also to Hafis and Adrus who made this summer course possible by coordinating our request. Thanks to Navyin and Don for signing the letter too :D.

As i write this, i've gone through 95% percent of the course time - what's left is our final exam (worth 50%) this Thursday. We will be sitting the exam together with those sitting for their supplementary exam. Wishing all my mates the best for the finals & supp!

A lesson learnt from the whole thing:
1) Don't be afraid to ask for help with regards to studies.
2) Have a preview and a fast read-thru of the subject before studying the actual unit.
3) Just try my best.

I hope to be able to continue to apply the lesson i've learnt from here. I MUST!

To The ASEAN bridge!

"I'm dreaming of a...." let me rephrase that. "I've been dreaming to cycle to the ASEAN Bridge" and i did it yesterday (does standing 200m from the bridge counts? hehe!).

I came home early from campus and doing some errands. i felt rather bored, and since the internet service is dead, aha! why not go cycling? after all it wasn't too hot, and the wind wasn't blowing that strong too (in other words, it was quite cool).

Since it was my maiden trip to the bridge by bicycle (if i arrive, it'll be history!), and the journey is quite far, i packed my tripod and camera, and also decided to use my helmet since i would be travelling the main road most of the time. I also grabbed some coins (i'm broke ok) just in case i needed to buy some drinks (on top of the 500ml of H2O i brought).

The route i took: Lot xxx Lutong Baru -> E-mart (via TUdan road. Bought a can of isotnic) -> Bus stop in front of some blue-roofed training institute (oh boy, i was cycling agaisnt the wind! Got pretty tired, so rested) -> trafficlight junction to the bridge (rested & took pics) -> arrived 200 meter from the bridge -> Senadin (via the junction) -> Promin Jaya -> Back to Lutong Baru via the Lutong-KB road.

The journey to, was hard (i kept on wanting to give up along the way). The journey back was much much smoother - maybe because after warming up in the initial journey and after resting near the bridge, but mostly because i was cycling in the same direction as the wind.

Actually. it's quite dangerous to cycle along the road toward the bridge - people speed and overtake, and huge trucks frequent that road. But well, it's an experience, and i've taken necessary safety measures and also i ask God, the saints and angels to protect me along the journey.

It took me a total of 2 hours to complete the cycling journey today. But i think actual cycling time one way should take abut 40 minutes only (beacause the journey back was much shorter, about 40 minutes only). But my stamina really not good la.....have to improve.

One day, perhaps can try to cycle into Brunei :D

Curtin Phase 2

Ask any Curtin student about Curtin Phase 2, chances that you're going to hear:

1) some grumble (when is it sprouting?!!), or

2) a blank stare (with the "what phase-2" look?), or

3) "It's coming soon. It has already been approved" (answers from patriotic Curtinians :P)

If you asked me, I would sway between answers 3 and 1 (sometimes response 3, and sometimes number 1)

You see, a day before our beloved PM visited Curtin, i was shocked to see what looked like a crane, to be set up across the AL building. In my heart, i was like: "WHAT?!!! Another groundbraking ceremony for phase 2? We already had 2 in the past!!! One between AL and LT building, and another on the same spot where this crane is" To sooth my heart, i just thought "Ah well, perhaps they were for different stages of the laucning/officiating of phase 2 construction"

Taking a closer look at the erected billboard, i noticed that this time, the ceremony was the "official commencement of Curtin phase 2 development" WOW! So this isn't another groundbraking! This is the official commencement of Curtin phase 2! This is the day the first pile is knocked into the ground! And i hope to see more piles going down!!! :D

If all this while i've been whining as to why there are no sign of development, this is the answer. We are waiting for the PM and CM to sign and officiate it...hehe. Well, i hope to see more development. For those coming back anytime soon, just know that up to the time this entry is entered, there hasn't been any new structures at the phase 2 site.

But there is one piece of good news though. Remember this entry on Curtin Updates? The extension along the convinient shop has been completed (i think about 2-3 months already). Plenty of chairs inside - looks like it's going to be a classrooms :P Oh ya. Instead of only 1 printing station at the helpdesk, the area now has 2 printing stations. Besides that, it seems that the "underground residents"* of the student coucil room has been evicted, so the incoming council members can use the room in peace (*termites la!).

Before i end this post, just a picture to share. This picture was taken after Pak Lah's visit. A "Kancil" (noun - the smallest version of the Malaysian made car, oh ya, i own one) can be a police's best friend :D (notice the back portion of the car is lower than the front)

I LOVE K-A-N-C-I-L! ;D

Prime Minister's Visit to Curtin

It seemed to me that the Prime Minister's visit to Curtin was quite a last minute decision on his part (he happened to be in Miri to open the PBB assembly). But well, he came! :) And we Curtinians (and some orang luar :P) got to meet him (for a while).

The crowd that gathered in Curtin were basically Curtin staff & their families, Curtin students (mostly the diploma and IEP students, and some degree students who happen to be around), representatives from the contruction company which is suppose to built phase 2 of Curtin, members of the press and some members of the public. It was actually raining heavily on that day, and although he was scheduled to arrive at 2pm, as usual, VIPs in Malaysia arrive much later (i was made to understand by my grand-uncle, who is a reporter, that there was a delay in the PBB assenbly, so hence the delay in Curtin).

I couldn't recall what time he arrived, but everyone was anxious to meet him. For my part, i was hoping to at least shake his hand (which i did!!! Not everyone got to shake his hand - ah well, i was just lucky because a group of students from Dubai in their national clothing happened to stand in front of me. And somehow, these group of Curtin students got so much attention from the ministers, haha! And there i was, standing behind them :D).

His arrival was a rather silent affair - no MC to annouce his arrival. The only sign of his arrival was the sudden rush of photographers to the main entrance (click-click, flash-flash). He then got to sign something (which loked like a black tile), and was ushered to the mini-exhibition on Curtin Phase 2 plans (in the process, stopping to make a few hand shakes). From there, the entourage went upstairs to the council room for a formal session (which was live-telecasted to the library reading area, where we sat to watch (while eating, hehe) what was going on in the council-room). Datuk Sri George Chan gave a speech, and then Pak Lah delivered his. Then there was presentation of some memento. By then, Tiang told us to move outside to say bye2 to him. And so we gathered outside, waiting for him to come down. He did more signing, this time to officiate the commencement of Curtin's phase 2 construction (in other words, now, construction is really going to start! I HOPE SO!!!). It was a nice opportunity to meet him :)

 

p.s. International students were told to use their national costume, while local students, their local costume. So i used a 'Tapong' a Kenyah hat :) Wished i had more 'Kenyah Gear' :)

Just as i was about to rejoice....

Just as i was about to rejoice, that my phone was alive, but now, IT'S DEAD AGAIN! After merely 3 days (and 2 nights) since Telekom contractors were seen busy fixing back the cables, the 'cable thief(ves)' has struck again! Well, i really don't know how TM is going to deal with this problem, but this problem sure is causing lots of hassle to the users (especially those who do not have handphone, and those who use the internet a lot, and those who rely on the use of fax service). I'm really curious to know who are those behind these events...

Anyway, are other reasons to rejoice! The Prime Minister of Malaysia will be visitng Curtin University, Miri Campus on Saturday the 10th of February 2007. i will definitely be going - it's an wonderful opportunity to meet the PM :) For those interested to come, know that YAB Dato' Seri is expected to arrive campus at 2pm (we should be there at least half an hour before he is expected to arrive). Btw, Dato' Seri was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Curtin University of Technology of Western Australia sometime in 2006.

Today as i drove to campus, many people were busy preparing for the PM's visit: the road sweepers were seen busy sweeping the road leading to the uni (from the roundabout near DPS), the grass cutters cutting the 'lallang' beside the 2 sides of the road nearer Curtin, the 'makcik' cleaners wiping the outer side of the doors of each room (well, at least for the G2 block - i saw this with my own eyes ok, no exageration), and Mr. Rama, the director for Media studies was also busy preparing the media lab (it was the only time i saw the doors to the media lab open, and i managed to peek into the room and look at the spohisticated media instruments, video cameras, lightings, and that huge 'apple computer' which only the media students have the privilage to touch :P) And other staffs seem to be busy as well.

Oh ya, and on Sunday (11/2/07), the Higher Minister of Education will also be visiting Curtin. He is expected to arrive the campus at 10:15am. Not sure if i will be able to make it for this one though.

I've always liked to meet VIPs - especially leaders. The last the when Tun Dr. Mahathir visited Curtin, i was very happy to be present as part of the campus' community and at least shake hands with him :) However, i missed the King's visit to the uni.

Ah well, getting back to the phone line story. i just hope that this time i won't have to wait for another 3 weeks before my phone line to be restored. It is very inconvinient, especially when i'm the only one having a handphone in my family. I really hope that this issue can be resolved. On the other hand, i'm looking forward to shake hands with the PM :)

i miss my telephone! (line)

Okay, okay. Let me put it straight: MY HOUSE PHONE IS DEAD!!! Not because i didn't pay the bill (i mean my dad) but because,  (according to Telekom Malaysia a.k.a TM) the phone cables have been subjected to theft. It seems that some people have discovered that phone cables are made from copper, and copper has high value. So to earn some cash, why not "harvest" some phone wires that are hanging nicely from the poles, or "dig out" the ones that are nicely submerged underground? After all, a kilo can fetch to about RM18-RM20 (no, i don't have experience doing this. i got the info from BP. Go find out what's/who's BP). Sigh, it has now been 3 weeks since my house became somewhat "phoneless".

Poor TM - they loose money because they have to replace the cables. Poor customers - they can't make phone calls or use internet. Poorer those customers who needed to make an emergency or important call, but can't do it. And poorest the cable thefts - even thought they get some money, they have caused the others to become "poor" by disrupting businesses,  communication and day-to-day affairs. It's sin you know to do such thing? I don't know what reasons you do it...maybe you have a family who has been starving so you resort to this technique to get money. If so, come and see me. I can bring you to the welfare. Or maybe i can give you some money. If welfare doesn't do anything, i'll fight for you! (talking about welfare deparment - hmmmm, i feel that they have to be more proactive. If people don't come to them, go and find people who they can help). Argh!

Okay back to topic - so what needs to be done to address the issue of cable theft? Again info from BP: Some suggests to make copper wire a controlled item. TM suggested that they might go wireless! WOW!! (Terbeliak mata!). Another said we need to amend the current laws. And i know a group of TM workers in kuching set a trap to capture a few culprits! An dthey did it! They manage to catch 2 culprits! These TM workers ought to get some kind of recognition for their bold initiative. But i fear for their safety. I hope they can cooperate more with the police where this "catching" business is concerned.

Ah well, what say i? i think i would do what the group of kuching TM workers did. But do we have to go cathing people forever? I think there must be a shift of mentality among our people. I don't kow why these culprits do not think a step further - that their actions can cause so much difficulties to others! I was surprised when i was told that phone disruption occured this time in the whole of Lutong area and spread to some Pujut areas as well!!! My goodness. Don't we learn pendidikan moral in school?

Anyway, thank God for handphones. Thank God for this "experience" of being "telephoneless". I begin to appeciate the telephone - a gadget which i always took for granted. I miss my (slow) internet connection too. So nowadays, everyday when i reach home, i'll walk towards my telephone, lift up the reciver (takes a deep breath), put it towards my ear, and when i don't hear any tone, %^*$^%%###$@& (translation of %^*$^%%###$@& - AIYA, STILL NOT WORKING!!!) :P

Phoneline, i really miss you. i miss your tone. Phone, i miss you too. Even though i see you, i don't hear you. So please, come back soon, k?