2nd Day of work

ooh... woke up this morning at about 5 something.. really wierd... but couldn't really sleep... checked my mail, but nothing much, check www.recom.org but nothing much too... went back to bed... and i think I managed to doze off at about 7am... woke up at about 10+ again...

and dang... i got nothing to do, again... I started to copy-and-paste all my previous posts(about 100 of them) from my old blog, to this blog page.... spent about an hour and a half doing it.... whew...

after that, I had my lunch... and then, went back to my room and started another game of Civilization III:Conquests... again... LOL

so, played until about 4pm, and I started to get ready for to work... changed and all, had some food(toast sandwich), and walked to work at about 4.25pm... reached there at 4.45pm... and today, I'm working as a runner...

A runner, basically runs... run around the different counters to make sure everything is available and everything is presentable...if something is short, I'll run back to the kitchen or to the fridge to get it out... simple enough??

well, not so, when there's this sudden surge of ppl, crowding all the counters... and those little kids dropping the food, sauces everywhere at the counter... and some of them left their trays, cutleries, cups and all at the counter... 'hey kids... behave urselves... will you??'

so, today was much busier than yesterday... and the supervisor was tough... yesterday's supervisor was much better too...

so, after the meal, it's the usual cleaning again.. we were done with the cleaning up at about 8pm... and off we go... I went back to the apartment, and returned some missed calls... well, they went eating out without me... that's totally fine... i had my dinner(sorta) at the dining hall...

had some really fresh seedless grapes as fruit... watch the tv again... well, baseball was on ... Mets vs Yankees... well, too bad, Yankees won... it was a really close match though... not bad a match... anyway, flipped the channels and landed on food network... and i think it's a marathon of the reality show :"The next food network star"... I brought down my laptop to the living room, chatted and watched the program til about 3am... or izzit 3.30am... and went to bed after that...

was exhausted from the work...

tomorrow will be really free for me... wat to do?? check back soon...

First Day of Work and Eating Out...

It's might big day today... My first day of work at the dining hall... the Mary Markley Dining Hall...

So, i woke up quite early... at about 9am... well, that's relatively early, for a college male student, on a Summer weekend...

so, i had my early brunch... and started walking to work at abt 10.30am... it's kinda far from my apartment, about a good 20 minutes walk... so i reached there at abt 10.50am, and I went to see the manager, and she led me to the student coordinator, Craig, where he walked me through my job responsibilities as a headwaiter... well, basically, headwaiter has to keep those milk and juice dispenser running, refill them when the supply is depleting, and those pop machine wiped clean... and those cereals good... and that's about it...

that's during the meal session... after the meal time, there's some clean up work to do... it's not that bad... and today, it's not a busy day, I had time to mingle around, got to know several really nice and helpful people...

so, after cleaning up, wiping those tables and sorting those chairs, by the time we signed off, it's about 2pm... well, that's 3 hours of work...

went back to my apartment, it was really hot... the sun is really scorching the Earth... and dang, i'm tanned by just walking for 20 minutes...

as I was really free and had nothing to do, I killed the entire afternoon by playing Civilization III:Conquests again... yeah... it's really addictive...

at abt 4pm, Eric, Chia Chye and Kai came to shift Chia Chye's stuffs into the storage... several boxes, and a fridge... in fact, they moved Ren Jie's and Keng Yang's 5 boxes into the storage too...

so... i played til about time for dinner, that's about 7.30pm... we planned to meet at the restaurant at about 7.45pm... oh, forgot to mention the restaurant : it's Bd's Mongolian BBQ... I reached there at 7.45pm... and as usual, they were late... well, they did called ahead...(actually I called them) and knew that they will be late, because they have to walk down from the North Campus, which is like a good 30 minutes walk...(so, I forgive u guys...)

I collected the 'buzzer'... where the server will buzz me when there's table available... met Shi Ting there at about 7.55pm... wow... it's been a long while since i last met here... about a month... i think more than a month... well, so, suddenly, I was buzzed... *bbbbbbbzzzzzz* *bbbbbzzzzzzzz*... i went to the counter, and too bad, the other eight were still on the way here, so, i told them to hold the table for us, as they will be here in 5 minutes... and she's so nice (and pretty too)...(forgot her name) and she did hold the table for us...

they came in about 3 minutes later, and we settled down... our server, Rebecca, took our orders and those hungry hyenas just went all out on the food...(it's a BBQ dinner thingy...) and it's like $12.99 for the first bowl, and $13.99 for unlimited bowls... well...

so, the food is like, veges, meats and seafood, and u select from a wide variety of sauces and spices, and have to choosing what u want, u give it to a 'warrior' where he/she will cook ur food(simple stir fry) on a huge grill pan... and that's about it.... there's side orders like bottomless tortillas and rice too...

actually, this is my 5/6th time here, my 2nd time in 2 weeks...(i came last week to celebrate my housemate, Lei's birthday...) so, i really know what i want(meats and sauce)... so, for the first round... i had those rib-eye meat, chicken white meat, some lamb, and some pork meat, with some onion, and lotsa spring onions, and lotsa little-green-leaves-like veg that has this mild scent of celery ('yin sai' in Cantonese)...and an egg...

and the sauce : 1/2 portion of teriyaki, 1/2 portion of chilli garlic
and the spices: some fresh chopped garlic, and some black pepper...

so, the queue was really long... whew... waited for a good ten minutes for my turn to get to the grill... got it finally, was really hungry at that time, as I had an really early brunch this morning... so, chowed down the food, wrapping those meat with tortillas.. delicious... and after cleaning up the entire plate, i'm up for 2nd round... i took a 10 minutes break, catching up with gossips and all with everybody... apparently, not much that i didn't know of...

2nd round.... SEAFOOD round... I had scallops, shrimps, imitated crabmeat, and salmon... I had those same amount of onion, spring onions, lotsa little-green-leaves-like veg that has this mild scent of celery ('yin sai' in Cantonese)...but without an egg this time... not that i'm watching those Cholesterol... but they were out of it at the serving counter... and i'm too lazy to wait for it...

and the same sauces and spices...
and the same cooking style too...

so, basically, got the food, and back to the table and ate the food and chatted about everything...
It's kinda funny looking at those lethargic faces as they(ppl who walked from North Campus) were moving their stuffs into the storage for the whole afternoon...

so, we just mingled and all, and we decided to leave our seats at about 10.30pm... i think...
we walked back to our respective apartment... Kai, Mel, Vivian, Poh Yi and Ivy came to visit my apartment... and they loved my apartment... "ehemm.... eheemm..." MY apartment...
becoz:

1) It's nice and clean..
2) It's carpeted...
3) It's spacious...
4) It's AIR-CONDITIONED.... muahaha...

thanks... I love my apartment too...

so, they went back to their place at 11 something... and watched the TV a little... chatted with bro a little... and went to bed at about 2am...

wat a day....

Nothing to do...

So, no more classes, no more exams(for the moment being). I'm kinda 'aimless'...

Well, woke up to this wonderful morning without a slightest hint of yesterday's headache... that's great news...

anyway, went to do more groceries shopping this morning... Got some gatorade(8 bottles), some egg noodles, some cream of mushroom soup(for my tuna casserole), some milk, some snack bars, honey roasted peanuts, bread, seedless grapes, Krispe Kreme Doughnut(really nice) and chicken stock...

got back to my apartment at abt 11.30am... had lunch(sandwiches), while watching Wimbledon Open... went to Aveda Hair Institute at 2pm for my haircut... well, now my hair is short, and back to the spikey style again... will put up a pic soon... and let me know whether center parting or spike suits me better... :P but i'll be going with spiking my hair because it's much cooler to have short hair in the blazing hot summer weather...

later that day, i went to get another bank account, at Comerica bank.... well, just like getting an account from a bigger bank... actually, I wanted a checking account from BankOne... because they are giving* free iPod shuffle. *(terms and conditions applied) And I think that those term and conditions are quite troublesome, so, I just decided to get it from Comerica...

settled all those stuffs at about 5pm... came back and started playing the game again... the next thing i knew, I've been playing it for 5 hours... and I'm kinda hungry... went downstairs(my apartment is a double-storeys... and my bedroom is on the 2nd floor) to chow down 2 doughnutes, some peanuts, some seedless grapes....

went back up and continued the game, and then went to bed at about 2am...

right before i slept, i spent quite some time, reminiscing, looking back my 10-months stay here in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA... a lot has happened, a lot has passed and a hell lot more has changed... I've learned a lot, I've experienced a lot more... Really want to thank my parents and brothers for their support... They are so wonderful in giving me all the support I need... Thanks to my father for those weeknights' calls, Thanks to my mom for chatting with me on Friday night(Eastern Time, GMT -05.00 time... Saturday morning, GMT +08.00), and please stop telling me to not to give myself too much pressure... I can handle pressure well, and I'm not giving myself much pressure... Thanks to my bros (Nigel and Gary for those instant messages) too... I really love you guys and I've not been saying these few words often enough... I love you guys!

Lots of thanks to the Chebyshev's study group too... haha... u guys are really nice and helpful... couldn't have went through my freshman year without u guys...

10 months... it's not a short period of time... but everything is still so fresh in mine... everytime I walked down the State Street, I can still remember clearly all the first time here in Ann Arbor... The first night(where all of us spent at the Betsy Barbour House), the first restaurant(which we had our first dinner, although it's really lousy and horrible), the first morning, where Putt and I and Eric and Kai walked around, exploring the streets... All the first time...

last but not least, my friends back in Malaysia and in the other part of the world(Australia, UK, Russia, India and all)... Thanks for all the messages and emails...

Thanks again...

After exams...

Happy Birthday to Daddy again... I had my Econs exam this morning... 8am... woke up at 6.30am though... Need to keep my mind up and running before exam... No way I'm gonna wake up at 7.30am, and rushed to the exam hall sleepy-headed, and trying to solve those tricky and wordy questions...

So... the exam was tough... I couldn't manage to complete it... well, left with 1 question, and couldn't solve it... I left it blank as there's 1 point for an unanswered question, while zero point for a wrong answer... while 2 points(for true and false questions) and 5 points(for multiple choice questions, choose among 5 answers)... exam ended at 10am...

took a deep breath... and *hooooooo*, what a relief feeling... no more heavy weights on my shoulder...

went out to shop in the afternoon... well, actually I just wanted to get out badly... Went to the Briarwood Mall(a pretty small mall, (for those who are familiar with the mall in Subang Jaya Malaysia), it is about the size of Subang Parade(i think it's smaller than Subang Parade)... I went there with another friend of mine, Vivian. I bought 2 pairs of shorts... well... it's summer... it's hot out there...

after that, we went to another mall... Arborland Mall...(this mall is the typical American mall) where it's not like those Malls in Malaysia, where there are hundreds of outlets, all under one roof).. It's like a square of many huge outlets... with a huge parking area in front, it's really huge... went to get some groceries...(strawberries and some hotdogs...)

got back to my apartment at about 3pm....started playing this game... not really new game, but i've been disconnected from the gaming world for about a year now... Civilization III:Conquests... got a headed after playing for abt 2 hours...(well, must be for my skipping meal again...) ate a Mrs. Fields cookies to get some sugar back into my systems, popped to Panadols, and went to bed...

Woke up at abt 7.30pm... went to Eric's apartment for the steamboat prepared by my seniors(Edmund, SeowYuen, Joshua, Lishen)... really nice food... but I have to leave early because of the MATCH at 9pm... Game 7, NBA Finals, Pistons vs Spurs... "Where legends are born!"

so, i went back to my apartment, stomach half-filled... while watching the match, I had some leftovers : Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks and some frozen mixed vegetables...

the match was really close... like 2 heavyweights exchanging punches in a boxing match... however, at the 3rd quarter, I thought we(Pistons) had them... we were leading by 9 points... but with a few mistakes, the led just disappeared in minutes... and by the 4th quarter, I surmised that the defending champion aren't going to defend their title no more...

devastated by the match...feeling depressed...

there's still this slight groggy feeling in my head, popped another 2 Panadol and went to bed... hoping that the headache will be gone tomorrow morning...

A New Beginning

After blogging for almost a year now, I think it's time for me to continue my blog's 2nd chapter here...

Why? I just like the template here better... I'm too lazy to customize more on my previous one... However, I'll still keep my previous blog... I still need to back up all those posts(feelings, thoughts, memories and all)...

Currently, I'm too tired of preparing for my econs final... well, in 11 hours... It's at 8am... (mind you... 8 in the morning, I've never been in a class that early since last year... Let alone an exam)

I've yet to prepare my cheat sheet... but I think it should be fine... considering I've my condensed notes(6 pages of it)... All I need to do now is to shrink it, and resize it, and make it even more concise, and pack it into 2 pages... and I'm all set.

Last but not least, Happy Birthday to Wei Ping(June 22nd) and Lei(my housemate)(also on June 22nd) and my daddy(June 23rd).

Really happy that Pistons won the match yesterday... Really wonderful match... Tomorrow is the FINAL... PISTONS all the way!!!

For now, it's time for me to get back to my notes(graphs, formulas, laws...)

To all, take it easy...

something to share...digress...

something to share...digress...

Read this film review about the movie 'Batman Begins' from The Michigan Daily(Summer Weekly), page 9, dated June 20, 2005. Found this amazing paragraph which I just have to share it here...

Dark Knighted by Evan McGarvey(Daily Arts Editor)...

"For those of us who were denied the singular pleasure of Batman comics by our parents, here's an unjustly quick primer: Gotham City is America's largest metropolis with a beyond-seedy underbelly. Nice, old money, philanthropic Wayne family goes to opera. Mom and Dad are killed by a mugger. Son watches parents die, spends formative years on a spiritual quest in Europe and Asia complete with martial arts training and general trust-fund spending. Boy returns to Gotham, puts on big, black rubber suit, redirects newfound thirst for vengeance and decides the only way to clean up his fair city is to catch the criminals that the corrupt city police are too lazy to catch.

Phew. Thirty-plus years of America's greatest comic book in a single paragraph."

Really concise... wonderful summary... funny...

yet to watch the movie... might go and catch it when i've the moolah... still waiting for the allowance from my sponsor...(2 months overdue...)
no wonder i'm losing weight...(my fren pohyi with really great 'maternal instinct' said that I lost weight...)

actually... i'm wondering why i'm losing weight(if I'm really am)... i spend like $25 on groceries a week... that's a lot..(quite a lot) considering i do eat out once in a while(read whenever i feel like it, which is quite often...twice or thrice a week)

so, basically, if i wakes up before 10, i will have cereals for breakfast...(honey bunches of oats(either honey roasted, or with almonds... good stuffs)..., then i'll have sandwiches for lunch... for dinner... normally, it's normally noodles(with frozen vege), or chicken(with frozen vege), or frozen entree(counter registers 6 now... the 5th being a really horrible Beef Straganoff and the 6th is a quite-good White Meat Chicken with Pasta)...

the frozen mixed vege is really simple and delicious... all i need to do is
1)pour them into a bowl
2)add a tablespoon of water
3)add some salt, pepper and garlic powder(this is the secret ingredient)
4)microwave it for 3 minutes
5)let it sits for 2 minutes or slightly longer before consuming... yummy...

so... i was too lazy to cook tonight... so, i went out to grab a BTB(big ten burritos...) really delicious... and i got a Chicken DELUXE burrito... which is quite huge... cost me $6... but it is really worth the money... i wonder how ppl can finish the $8 GRAND burritos... the normal $4 is also not small...

fyi... if u dunno wat a burrito is, (it is like meat, and rice, and beans and cheese wrapped in a tortillas...)

2 more days to my Econs exam... Econs 401(Intermediate Microeconomic theory...)
been studying quite a bit for the exam... spent like 6 hours going thru those notes and homeworks... did practice exams today... went to the review session too... will do 2 more practice exams tmr... and prepare my cheat sheet...(legal cheat sheet... a letter-size paper... both sides... wondering what i should write on it...)

Pistons games again tonight... at 9pm later...(in 22 minutes to be exact)... Sunday night lost was really a bad lost... couldn't believe it... well... a lost is a lost... a painful lost is still a lost... hopefully, Pistons can go the distance, go against all odds and win the Finals...

til then... adios... haha... take care...

Face Analyzer...

hey peeps... interesting... go check out face analyzer - THE ONLY AUTOMATED FACE READER IN THE WORLD(as claimed by them)

http://www.faceanalyzer.com/

this is the photo i used for the face analyzer... and below are the results...

46% Middle Eastern
7% Eastern European
10% South East Asian
37% Chinese

the analyzer also says that i'm a Charmer:
Personality Profile:

You have social courage and as a consequence are open and extroverted. You are seen as a well known person who is liked and is involved in many social events. You feel confident about your position in social situations and will not hesitate to say what you believe. You do not like too much responsibility, but you do not mind being in the social center. You must know everything that is going on in your greater social circle and spend a lot of time talking to others to find out the latest gossip. You tend to be friendly, but can be criticizing when you see others as thinking of themselves too much.

You prefer to work in challenging people oriented jobs where you can compete against others and rise in the ranks. Others usually like you but can sometimes be intimidated by your outspoken comments and criticisms although they do not show it.
People tend to feel comfortable around you and respect your opinion. You can use this social weight to get things done for you but usually opt not to call in favours people owe you.

-More fun-loving than Alpha Charmer
Expected Occupations: Sales representative, Teacher, Aesthetician, Hair Stylist, Artist, Actor, Social Worker, Manager

Adult Jokes...

got these ADULT jokes from a forwarded mail from my fren...
a number of them are quite good... most of them have been in circulation for quite some time...


Ladies hostel caught Fire. It took 1 hour to bring the
fire under control and another 3 hours to bring the
firemen under control.

-------------------------------------------
Wife: If I sleep with your best friend what will be
the first thought to come in your mind?

Husband: that you are a lesbian.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Why did they stop printing Pamela Anderson stamps
in the U.S ???

Because the people started licking the wrong side!

--------------------------------------------------------
Girl to hungry boyfriend: If my right leg was
afternoon meal & left leg evening meal what would you
prefer?
Boyfriend: Eating between meals !!!!

-----------------------------------------------------------
Nobody is ever satisfied, Poor men wish they were
rich, Rich men wish they were handsome, Bachelors
wish they were married &
Married men wish they were Dead!

----------------------------------------------------------
How do you teach a girl maths? Add a bed, subtract
her clothes, divide her legs, enter your square root,
leave your solution and
hope she doesn't multiply!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lady : "I want a good vibrator"

Salesman: "Ma'am ! you may select one from our range
that is displayed on that wall"

Lady : "O.K. I'll take that red one"

Salesman: "Sorry, that's our fire-extinguisher"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A divorced Couple were contesting for possession of
the child. The mother said: "I gave birth to him -
he's mine"

The father said: "I put a coin in the pepsi machine
and a can comes out - the pepsi belongs to me! not
to the machine !!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A girl says to her boyfriend, "One kiss and I'll be
yours forever."

The guy says 'thanks for the warning'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Husband Was Asked: "Do you talk to your wife
after sex?"

He replied: "Depends, If I Can find a Phone"

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Definition of a Gynecologist: Someone who looks for
problems where others look for pleasure!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Man to wife on wedding night- "Are you sure I'm the
first man you are sleeping with?'

"Of course honey, I stayed awake with all the
others!'

Distributed Computing (2)

This is another more detailed explanation about distributed computing... since our friend CrushedGuava dun really understand what i'm trying to say. So, I'll try my best to give it another shot.

So... let us go back to basic... so... basically, ur computer(processor) can do a lot of iteration of calculation every second... and if u are doing nothing with ur computer, or u are just performing simple task such as listening to mp3, typing an assignment, instant messaging, or even watching a movie, there's still a lot of unused cycles... in other words, ur cpu is not fully utilized.

So... instead of wasting it on useless flying windows or 3d-pipe or other screensavers, why not those power on performing calculations such as looking for Mersenne Prime, or folding protein.

Just to let u know, by combining thousands(actually millions) or personal computers' unused computing power, it can actually outperform the most powerful supercomputer... It's really THAT powerful...

So, do u want to be a part of such great contributions to science???

Go check out folding@home... and join the folding@Malaysia team...

Random thoughts...

first thing first... happy 20th birthday to Putt, Shi Zhou(June 16th) and Shing Yee(June 17th)...
To Shi Zhou and Shing Yee: still remember how we celebrated u guys' birthday at Papa Chop Mama Grills last year... some of last years memories:

and

and

Looking forward to meet u guys again... whenever that may be... take care guys...

Hopefully we can meet up for u guys' 21st birthday... Most probably(99%), I'll be going back home next year for 2 or 4 months...

Well, well... Just attended the last lecture for this short 8-week Spring semester... It's really crazy to know that how fast time flies...

awhile ago... i was still in Singapore, taking A-levels.
awhile ago... i was at INTEC, taking a preparatory course.
awhile ago... i was waiting eagerly to go to the States.
awhile ago... i started my freshman year at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
awhile ago... i completed 3 semester(2 and a half, considering the Spring semester is a short one).

everything is just so fast...so real... or so surreal??

anyway... all in all... it's really great time i'm having here in the States.

so, what are my summer plans??? seems like my travelling plans are going down the drain... NO Tampa, Florida... NO Seattle??... maybe i'll keep my travelling plans on a lower budget... most probably I will visit other Universities... and I'll take some classes to kill the time...

another totally unrelated to above thing...:

quite disappointed with the number of spoonfeeders in the forum www.recom.org these days...
many of them are so-called cream of the crop of the country, being awarded prestigious scholarship to pursue their degree overseas... however, it's so disappointing to see most of them to be so dependent on others... Guess what, they can be so shameless to ask question like What's SAT? What's C++ Programming? HELLO people... there's something call google... open up ur mind and open up ur eyes...

I wonder if the interviewers were to know these qualities of these 'top students' before, they definitely wouldn't get their respective scholarships.

I do starting to question the capability of those interviewers... and question the quality of so-called top students in Malaysia...

Distributed Computing...

Hey peeps...

actually, i've been using my laptops (the previous one(dead) and the new one) to run programs computing stuffs for a better tomorrow... no joke... it's a 'sacred' task to dedicate your otherwise unused and idle computing power to do stuffs like computing the next largest Mersenne Prime with GIMPS, or to find a factor witjh Seventeen Or Bust, or to folding protein with Folding@Home...

As to check a really huge number... 2^7digit number - 1(which is millions of digits long number) to be a prime or not, it takes a relatively fast computer(with high clock speed) about a month(if u let ur computer to run 24 7...

so, uptil now, afer running the GIMPS' Prime95 for like almost a year... i'm the top 10000 producer... does it really matter?? haha... nvm...

anyway, as it takes way too long to complete a number, i've decided to contribute in another way... Folding Protein... so... fold and fold... well... at least it only takes me(more like my laptop) 2 days to produce a work unit...(wonder how significant, or insignificant that is)

at least i can see 'much' progress.... watever it means... but really... ppl perceive that by keep going, moving, walking or doing watever u were doing as progressing... just like when ppl cannot decide on wat to eat or wat to do at a shopping mall... they will keep walking and walking until some genius come up with a brilliant idea which is normally back to the first idea suggested by someone else... (i'm digressing here... but, think about it... Does this happen to ur fren and u too?)


anyway... so, currently, I'm running the Folding@Home application... under the team Folding@Malaysia... u might wanna check it out... Just google for it...

Jokes to Share...

got this from Wolverinemalaya.com

quite funny... so here it goes:

Dear All,

Dress Code

It is advised that you come to work dressed accordingly to your salary. If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better, so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore do not need a raise. If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore do not need a raise.

Sick Days

We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Personal Days

Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday and Sunday.

Toilet Use

Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of the three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open and a picture will be taken. After your second offense, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the "Chronic Offenders category". Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company's mental health policy!

Lunch Break

Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy.. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure. Fat people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a slim fast.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, legations, accusations, contemplations, consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.

Happy Working!

The Management"

Hot... Hot... Hot...

It's been crazy hot out there...Seems like we didn't have Spring... The weather just turned from Winter to Summer...

yesterday... went to Kroger's to do groceries again... well... I think I goes to Kroger's about 3 times a week... well, i have to go and get some milk... and got some frozen entree(i bought 3 entrees, all from 3 different brands... i think i will be able to try all the available brand on the market by the end of August...) I'm keeping count how many frozen entree i've taken... so far, my counter reads 4... 1 chicken fingers, 1 salisbury steak, 1 chicken pot pie and 1 more salisbury steak....:P

played some soccer with my Carrie(housemate), well just kicking the ball around for about 30 minutes...(i guess) under the hot sun...
and went for a run about 6pm... it's still eff-ing hot...

oh yar... i cooked today(Friday)... scalloped potatoes and baked BBQ sauce marinated chicken...
here's the potatoes...



and here's the chicken...



the heat caught me and i kinda had a heat stroke... well... i felt light-headed and all, i assumed that it's because of the heat... I just couldn't stand the heat...
luckily my apartment has AC...

today... did nothing much... did some leisure reading(finished up the book 4 blind mice by James Patterson, and started on the new book... Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, by ZZ Packer... watched a movie... Mathilda... my housemate, Lei said that the book was really good...

and watched another movie...Be Cool...starring John Travolta, and Uma Thurman...

went to run about 5.15pm... came back about 50 minutes later... it's been hot out... and raining too... but it's relatively colder than yesterday...

watched some baseball... and then channel surf.. and saw that Sci-Fi was showing Resident Evil... and watched the show again...(it's like my 4th time watching the movie..)

bored...

that's all about it... peace out...

How true...???

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart.

In love, you feel the most alive when everything is uncertain, one moment heaven... the next moment hell.

You'd like to your lover to think you are loyal and faithful... that you'll never change.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was insecure and in constant need of reassurance.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

I don't think so... maybe that's true... But i don't think so at the moment...

It's Hot Out there...Very Hot...

It's 90+ degrees out there... Fahrenheit that's it... approximately 30+ degree Celcius... whew...
Luckily, my apartment is air conditioned... ehem... AIR CONDITIONED... :P sorry Eric... just feel like rubbing it in...

enough of that... so, I went for a job interview... not really an interview, more like job sign up... so, i'll be working in the dining hall for Saturday Brunch and Sunday Dinner starting from June 25th onwards... cool... i guess... will be working about 7-8 hours a week... this will help me to settle some bills... and maybe fund me a short trip...(still not sure whether I'm going for one...)

and another thing... i've been playing this MMORPG(Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) Anarchy Online for several days now... and like most other MMORPGs, it is really addictive... and i've been spending countless hours completing missions, to gain experience, to earn credits, to level-up my character, to buy better weapons... those stuffs...
so much so that i forgot that Tuesday is my quiz day... (and i think i screwed up the quiz today...)

well, also blame it on yesterday's Detroit vs Heat Playoff Game 7.... fortunately, Pistons won...
and also the Softball games that have been going on and on... Michigan lost to UCLA yesterday in their Championship series game 1... hopefully their will comeback and win the next 2 matches and win the series...

been busy doing dunno wat and dun really have time to cook or anything... don't know what to cook as well... any suggestion? something easy but nice...

these are what i cooked last week...
1) Tuna Noodle Casserole



Guess what am I cooking??




Yummy... really delicious...




2)Home made Fries and Teriyaki Chicken...



Nice??




this is my 2nd time cooking... 100% homemade fries, teriyaki drumsticks and carrots...(obviously)



oh yar... another thing... i'm still waiting for my allowance from my sponsors... hopefully it will come as soon as possible... i gave Cik Intan a call 2 days ago... and she said that it's processed and the money should be coming in anytime... I hope so...

and I think I will be taking classes for Summer as well... CALL ME A NERD... CALL ME A DULL BOY... but i really how am I going to spend my time if I don't take a class or two to kill some time... most probably, i'll take a econs class and another philosophy class...

that's all about it...

p/s: silly me missed a step yesterday, and twisted my already swollen ankle AGAIN... and luckily, it's not TOO bad... just as bad as the other day... it's healing now... i think i'll be up and about tomorrow...

Not a good day...

Today is not a good day... quite a bad day indeed...

woke up this morning feeling great... did nothing much for the entire afternoon...

well... i did baked some really good home made fries... really not bad... i'll upload some pics next time...

then, really bored to death... played yahoo games for awhile...

then, went jogging, but stepped into a small hole and twisted my right ankle at the first turning...OUCH.... it hurts... still does... I wanted to have a good long jog... but ended up with a busted ankle...

that's why it is bad...

I'm a materialist...

This is the result of a quiz I took... I'm a materialist... hmm... interesting... well, in some way... What do you think about me???

You scored as Materialist. Materialism stresses the essence of fundamental particles. Everything that exists is purely physical matter and there is no special force that holds life together. You believe that anything can be explained by breaking it up into its pieces. i.e. the big picture can be understood by its smaller elements. Materialist 100% Idealist 94% Cultural Creative 88% Existentialist 81% Modernist 75% Postmodernist 63% Fundamentalist 50% Romanticist 31% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

I need something to keep me occupied...

The title says it all... I need something to keep me occupied... Reading is one... clicking and surfing doing nothing is another... watching TV is another... and that's about it...

currently, i'm planning my trip to either Seattle, Washington or Tampa, Florida... i think for about a week or two... well i think 8 to 10 days is more like it...

so... i'm really bored... and when did i last update my blog?? alright... i think is the Midwest Games thingy...

so, the midwest Games is GREAT!!! The organization is awesome... Kudos to UIUC and the committee... it's really good... for not only Malaysian standard... and it's way above my expectation...

so i shld start from the first day of the long weekend to UIUC(university of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) hope i spelled it correctly... so, it all started at about 3.45pm... where my senior, Yazid picked me up near my place, in front of South Quad... and we went back to the Malaysia kampung in U of Michigan, at Northwood Housing... where i think most of the Malaysians are residing. So, there, we waited for others to come, and i the huge convoy of 6 cars (if not more) set off to UIUC at about 4.40pm... (2 SUVs, and 4 cars...I think 3 Chevy Malibu and another dunno wat car...) the one i'm in is a Chevy malibu... anyway, i'm on the same ride as Yazid (the driver), Sheikh(the co-driver), Awang and Sharence.

So, i expected a long journey and also a short congestion because of the construction work on the freeway to Chicago... but my expectation was kinda low, cos we were stucked in the middle of the pile-up for more than an hour, and that's bad...

on the way, i dozed off every now and then, and we stopped in the middle of no where..(sorry for my lousy sense of direction...), and most of us took a leak or a break, and we continued on our road trip... and stopped at Long John Silvers to grad a bite.... and I dun really like the food there becoz a) it is too oily... and b) it is too salty... the crabcake is not bad though...

and then, after dinner, we continued our 2nd half of the road, and it's about 9.30pm now...(slight digression oh yar, it's amazing that t-mobile updated the clock on my cellphone at about 7.02pm when we crossed the timezone from Eastern time to Central Time.... )

we reached our lodging place...Travelodge at about 11.00pm.... ouch my back... i jumped out of the car instantly to stretch my back... then, we went to the Union (seems like every university has it's own union building...) to register for the games... but it was closed...(it's supposed to be open til 12midnight...) but, nvm... so, there I met some of my friends from other Uni... namely, Sian Mei and Nizar from Northwestern Uni... and Nurul from the Host Uni... and...

Then, I went back to the hotel/motel... watever to call it a night... I wished... but i needed to stay up becoz some of them who were sharing the room weren't here yet... Kai and Seng Fatt reached the place at about 1am... while Faisal(or izzit Faizal) reached about 1.30am... so, ended up sleeping at about 2am...(actually 3am eastern time...)...

Couldn't really sleep for the night becoz 3 of us sharing the bed... well, and it's kinda hot in the night and it was quite cold the next morning, and too bad... Kai and Seng Fatt kinda grabbed hold of the blanket... so, the chill kinda woked me up at 5am, 6am and 7am... went to grabbed a donut at the front desk...(dunkin donuts... :P) and I'm off for the big event... well, the opening ceremony wasn't bad... but well, the speakers and the emcee are not good either... so, ppl started to have their own chats while the speakers were giving their obviously-written-by-someone else speeches... forgot to mention that the honorable guests are the Minister of Higher Education from Malaysia... Datuk Dr. Shafie Salleh and also the Ambassador of Malaysia to US Datuk Ghazali Sheikh....

so, after the opening ceremony, the launching of the games, and all, the game started at 10.40am... well our first basketball match, up against the 4-time defending champion team...Nebraska B... and fair enough, our amatuerish and never(really never) get together hybrid team who was worried that we would be disqualified becoz couldn't meet the minimum 7 team members was quashed, stomped, humiliated, screwed, and watever with a devastating score of 67 - 6... oh yar... i played for the first half only because of my table tennis match at 11.30am... and when i got there, i waited for 10 minutes, and yet, my opponent didn't turn up, so i just won my first match without lifting my racket... next match at 12.30pm...

so, i ran back to the basketball court to watch the horror butchering from University of Nebraska over our hybrid Michigan team...(with a friend from Carnegie Mellon University...and some frens from RPI....) after that, I went back to the table tennis court and won a tight match 3 - 2... wow... with the 3rd game in the ended up with a score of 14-12...(duece...) well, i'm a better player... but i'm nervous and wasted the opportunity of winning the game early on... but... whew... a win is a win... :P (i won the last point with my opponent making a mistake of serving the ball long... :P)

so, went back to the basketball court at about 1pm... this time, we played against Case Western Reserve University(CWRU)... well, we did took a lead... and we were quite close in terms of the points for most of the first half... suddenly, we just got lost, and we just threw the game... and ended losing like 11 - 20+....

and at about 1.30pm, i went to play my Quarterfinal Match... won the match 3 - 1... yeah... I'm thru the semifinal... next game at 3.30pm... right now.... i'm really starving... imagined the only thing that I ate for the past 18 hours was just a donut.... so, at 2pm, we played our last match of basketball... against the host team... UIUC... and again, we were really close at first... and made a few mistakes here and there and let them to have a comfortable lead, and that's it... We lost all our matches in the group and sank to the bottom of the table...

after that, we went to grab our lunch... well, had nasi lemak for lunch.... not bad... but it would be better if it was spicier... that's about 3pm... didn't drink the Mountain Dew becoz i've a game at 3.30pm... so, i went there with a full stomach... and whew... luckily it didn't give me a huge trouble... and i went on to win the match 3 - 0....(i think).... so, that's it, i'm in to the FINAL... tomorrow 12pm....live at UIUC...

so, the next match at 4.30pm... doubles... we waited for more than 10 minutes again... we got the free win again.... then, our opponent showed up... and they wanted to play... so, Kai and I decided to be nice and played them, and we won the match too... and the next match at 5.30pm... and we lost it... :(

so, after that, we found our friend...my housemate back in INTEC, Yik Han to be our tour guide... he led us around the campus, UIUC is not bad... nice place, nice acrhitecture... nice town... but it is more 'kampung' village-like... later, he brought us to a Chinese restaurant - Mandarin Wok... and he rushed back to work... the food was delicious... and the price is cheaper than that of Ann Arbor... well well.... i think JPA should re-evaluate our allowance... at least use the COLA....(Cost of Living Allowance) system... it's unfair for us to be paid the cheaper rate and having us to spend the high cost of living here in Ann Arbor....

after dinner, it's about 8.30pm... Kai and I walked back to our hotel...(dun wanna trouble our senior...), it's not a long walk... just about 20 minutes... reached the hotel/motel and bathed and all.... watched the basketball match... Spurs vs Suns... well, Suns won the match and was 3 - 0 up...

later, we watched the AC Milan vs Liverpool Champions League Final on my laptop... and not a bad match... those saves... and those celebration... and went to bed at about 1am....

woke up at about 7am the next morning... called home... and then, watched the F1 lived from Germany... and then, went to judge table tennis match at 9am... and then, for about 2 hours... and then, practiced awhile...and practiced with my opponent from 11.30am til 12noon... and the Final match went bad... well... he was the better player... no doubt about that... but i thought i can pressure him by winning the first match... i was leading 10 - 6 and i lost 6 points in a row...

and the next two matches went even worse... and luck weren't on my side today... with like more than 5 smashes which caught the net and bounced out of play... well.. just bad...

still, i'm happy to be the runner up... after that, we went to the Illini Union Bookstore to get some souvenirs... I got a cap and a t-shirt... then, we went back to the sports building to catch the other finals... with badminton... singles and doubles both won by my senior Kai Soon (with Izzudin for doubles)....

then, went to watch the Basketball final... and again, the team that slaughtered us yesterday...University of Nebraska B team won the match...

and then, we walked around to kill some time... and lined up for the Hi-Tea at 3pm... well, the food wasn't bad... and then, we went to Old Navy to get a pair of pants and a shirt... well... there's a performance night tonight and I got nothing but t-shirts and jeans and shorts... so, spent $25 on it... and rushed back for the night....

AND something came along and it burst my bubble... I noticed that the racket which Kai borrowed from KaiSoon which was supposed to be in my bag wasn't there... I made a few calls... and tried to go back to the sports building to look for it but couldn't find... nobody handed it into the lost and found... damn...

went to the performance night.... and there were way too many dances... and got my medal from the most 'Loved' guy, the director of MSD-Chicago... Rahim is his name...(i think)...

then, i met the nice committee person who was in charged of the table tennis thingy... and he gave me the number of the person who was there... Cat... and she told me that she saw the racket there and at that moment... Uni of Minnesota team was still there... so, I tried to ask Boon Yi of U of Minnesota... and then Der Ueng (also from Minnesota) said he saw that nobody took it, so he kept it... Thank goodness... Whew... so, we went back to thier place (Lincoln Lodge... right beside our hotel) and got it back from him...and problem solved....!!!!!

that's about 11.15pm... went back to my room to start packing, coz i'll be leaving and going back to Ann Arbor tonight... at about 12midnight... i went to Yazid's place... and then, waited for them to get ready and all, watched the Iron Chef America while waiting... and at about 12.40am, we left UIUC...

so... at about 3am... we stopped at somewhere near Michigan city for breakfast... the breakfast at Denny's was good... had a county breakfast... (3 pancakes...and 2 eggs with hashbrown and 2 sausages and bacon...) and I managed to down it...(almost... left some hashbrown) we left that place at about 4am... and continued our journey... and we reached Ann Arbor at about 8.40am... I'm dead tired... I couldn't really sleep on wheels... and I'm stucked in the middle back seat...

i'm checked my mail...and took a shower and drop dead on my bed... and woke up at 4.00pm in the afternoon.... felt a bit groggy and all... and went dinner with Eric... and had 2 scoops of Stucchi's too....(almond ice cream....nice)...

went to sleep early again at about 11pm and woke up the next morning at 9am....

had cereals for lunch becoz i didn't do groceries last week... so basically, my fridge is empty...(actually quite full, but not with my stuffs...)

so, it's Tuesday... so, had Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner... Eric and I chowed 40 wings... and was too full for any dessert..

was quite tired too... but still i had to settle my homework for tomorrow... and stayed up late... and woke up even later the next morning....

that's another story... wow.... can't imagine that i just crapped for so much....

take care...