Working as a helper at the blood donation campaign

It's really awesome I think. I've met like 2 new friends (well, we spoke a lot :)), Quan Ee and a guy studying business :P I've met tens of other people as well - the donors.

It's nice to meet new people for a brief time. A bit of chatting with new people is kind of interesting and should help my anti-social problem lol.

Anyhow, it's a bit boring and tiring but, truthfully, after seeing those people donating blood, I'm seriously having second thoughts about donating myself. Since I'm about to be on medication, so I'll skip this time but dunno about next time. Till then, I shall try to remain neutral in this matter :P

Game update

Wooohoooo!!! Yes I know it's just a game and any achievements that I've gotten through it is practically useless in real life but I can only brag so much so please allow me to 'show off' about this: my mage has finally hit the 5.5k gs mark (have to regem and enchant a bit still :P)! Yes, you have not heard wrong. Well, my druid hit the mark first - 5565GS as of current. Now, I just need to get my DK into icc and try to get into icc heroics with my ret pally. My shammy's at 5.3k, priest nearly 5k, tank at 5.3k (lousy threat generation though), holy pally at 5.2k, rogue at 5k and hunter at 5.4k. No need to mention my lock coz I kinda gave up on it. It's so hard to play it well lol. I've also realised that I sucked playing fire mage - a ench shammy with like 600 less gs than me can out-dps me >.> OMG! I sucked that much?! But I certainly can heal with my tree :P need more haste still though.

I am also proud to say my ally druid is sitting at about 5.3k gs while my rogue, after having to relearn how to play combat spec, is having 5.2k gs. My ally shammy is also at the 5.3k gs mark I think. My pally tankadin is at the 4.5k gs though. Still need to work on it :P

And, now I've realised why some lowbie (low gs peeps) have, suddenly, a icc heroic gear... alt looting - that's why :| How unfair is that? Sigh. I have lots of alts so if I really wanted to alt loot, I would have rolled for every gear that dropped lol.

Well, that's all for now. I only have like a day or two left for gaming then it's back to crappy internet at Kampar and, if Cata updates come, no WoW at all! Sigh... giving up the game is really as bad as it sounds.... zzz

New Year Resolutions (2011)

1. Relearn programming

2. Take up French

3. Further my knowledge of Photoshop

4. Play less, write more

5. Get a CGPA/GPA of 3.75

6. Try to be more active in extra-co-curricular activities

7. etc etc






I'll add more as I see fit as the year goes on. :)

Time sink

Yes that's what WoW is. I can't believe I've spent about 60 days' worth of time (do the maths - 60 days x 24 hours = 1440 hours, including those time I just put my characters there and afk :P) into this game and I'm still a mediocre player but I can play most classes well enough. Is the game really worth so much attention?

I'd say yes atm. I know..I know.. most people would say that I am addicted and I cannot and will not deny that but I still strongly think that this game is one of the entertainment that I can get back in boring Kampar. I love raiding; I love PvPing (most of the time); I love to read about whatever stuff that the PWoW community is talking about; I love to challenge my skills by soloing instances.. though I really dislike farming for stuff. I love meeting new people but sometimes, when I'm not in a mood to talk, I don't (that's like 90% of my game time). I've also realised that arguing with someone over a game is rather childish and unreasonable though I'd get very pissed off if my loot was ninja-ed by someone. Don't worry though... I can get over it someday :P

Not to mention, I spent my other free time on facebook and its 'applications' (a.k.a games). That's almost my whole day spent excluding those hours I went for lectures and for dinner with my friends. I am becoming a super nerd of sorts lol.

No wonder my chair at Kampar broke! I must have spent so much time on it that its lifespan somehow got drastically shortened.

Oh wait, I've also spent many hours watching and rewatching movies and TV series on the computer. Wow, I do spent a lot of my time in front of the computer then! Especially in Kampar...

Gosh, I really need to get a life and leave the house more often. :| Maybe involve myself in more extra co-curricular activities or something.... I can't just whittled away my life. Another year has passed and I hadn't done anything really worthwhile yet. That's dishearting... like really dishearting.

Well, it's a new year and I guess I'll post up my new year resolutions (next post). I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that they can come true :)

Possibilities

Have you ever wondered what if you did that instead of this or other variations of the same 'what if'-kind of questions?

This is the kind of question that will keep bugging you for ages - what if I had helped her? What if I spent more time studying instead? What if I've went to her CNY party? What if... what if....

If you keep thinking about these kind of stuff, won't it make you hesitate every time you have to make a decision - no matter small or big? This can be an advantage if you use the time you hesitate to think thoroughly about all other options as well as the consequences, from all angles and perspectives (if possible :P), of doing that decision. However, if you take too long a time to make up your mind - you may be at a severe disadvantage especially at making split-second decisions or the indecision may perhaps paralyze, or so to speak, you from making any decisions at all.

Thinking back to the time when I graduated from high school with flying colours, I was forced to make a decision - either to continue my studies at Form 6, find other colleges and universities to study at or take up that government TESL (pardon any spelling mistakes :P) scholarship to become a teacher. I have always wondered how would I fair if I had continued Form 6 instead or will I be able to handle TESL.

It's the road not traveled that may cause us to look back at that time and wonder, but if we keep dwelling in the past, we will never be able to move on. You've got to tell yourself - you've made a major decision that day... that time... and you will not be able to get back to that particular crossroad ever again. Life is not a PC game where you can always load your saved games. Life and time do not wait for anybody. Whether or not your decision is a good one, you will find out sooner or later and it is useless to keep thinking about it, but bear in mind that from every decision that you make, there're, for certain, good and bad sides to it. As long as you can make the best out of the decision that you have made, you will be satisfied that you have not make the wrong choice.

Though, there are also fatal decisions - the kind of decisions that will somehow lead to your ultimate death or some other horrific repercussions. These kind of decisions must never appear as an option when you are thinking of what to do next. One of the main examples is suicide.

I really don't understand why do some people value so little of their lives. Your birth to this world itself is a miracle. Heck, every molecule of your body is special in its own way. An advice to those who are considering suicide - stop weeping or whatever stuff that you're doing, calm your mind down and think about the possibilities...the stuff that you can do if you are alive. If you've lost a person in your life, there are still others out there for you.. people who cares about you. To put it simply - think about this: What if I have not killed myself? What stuff will I be doing? What stuff that I want to do but have yet to do? You might want to travel around the world; explore the Amazon jungle; see the moon up close; buy your parents their well-deserved retirement double-story house; get yourself that BMW that you have your eye on for years etc etc. Then, you'll realised that if you end your life now, you'll never be able to do anything that you have always wanted to do. Your life will be a total waste!

Life is full of possibilities that's for certain. To be able to experience these possibilities is one of the joys/sorrows of living. Bad stuff can be turned in a good one if you try harder and look for a solution from different perspectives. Life problems are like maths - there are many ways to solve it and I'm certain, if you try, you can find at least one of them.

Sure, you can spent some time thinking about those roads not taken but don't dwell on it too long - you don't want to get caught in the past, do you?

In short, killing yourself will not only severe life's possibilities (it's delights and sufferings), it will, too, inflict unnecessary pain to those people close to you (Don't say you don't have anyone close to you... that's just bullshit. You have people who cares though you may not have noticed them). Never ever put suicide as an option/ a choice when you're deciding anything. Don't always think about the crossroads in life that you think you had made a wrong turn at - make do with what you have.. and improve it while bearing in mind the mistakes that you have made so you won't repeat them again. Problems can always be solved as long as you are open-minded enough to think from various angles and perspectives to find a suitable solution. Take your time in making any major decision in life - remember that once you go down that road, you, more often than not, cannot go back. For split-second decisions, you have to depend on your instincts and quick thinking - the kind of things that you can train but I have no idea how to train them (Google's your best friend :P).

Just Thought You Ought To Know

Just thought you ought to know

You are our best teacher

Dedicated to what you do

You’ve enlightened our ignorant selves

Showered us with your vast knowledge

Surprised us with your treasured experience

You’ve gave us all you’ve got

And, of course, there’s still the extras

The ‘little’ help you gave to push up our grades

The significant smile you gave when you said: ‘Cabut lari’

The laughable moments you gave when you joke around

The funny times you gave when you -opps- ‘mis-drew’ a diagram

The exciting experiments you gave, will always make us cheer

- but no reports, please -

These moments of joy, excitement, fun and laughter

Will reside in our memories forever and ever

Just thought you ought to know

You are our best teacher

We will never forget you, my friend-teacher

Till our lives extinguished

Till the world ends

You will always remain in our hearts

Just thought you ought to know

For all the gratitude we have

Can be expressed in just three letters

Thank you, teacher

And have a Happy Teachers’ Day!!!

"A teacher's day poem that I have written for Pn Khoo D.D. :)" - S.Y.

The Complete and Utter Idiot’s Guide to Making Banana Fritters

Hello! Welcome to The Complete and Utter Idiot’s Guide to Making Banana Fritters. Are you ready? Good! Let’s start, shall we?

We’re going to begin our journey by assuming that you already have each of the ingredients and cooking items you’ll be needing to make these banana fritters. I know, it may be a bit of a stretch but we really don’t have time to take you shopping without, of course, The Complete and Utter Idiot’s Guide to Shopping.

So, first of all, we’ll need a bowl for you to mix the flour in. My suggestion would be a bowl as wide, in diameter, as your head. So reach into your cupboard and grab a bowl. Any will do. No, that’s a plate. A bowl should be round but not flat…yes, the plate is round but it is not shaped like a dome is it? Right, that’s a bowl. Now, be careful with it so you won’t break it. OK, put it down.

On the counter, not the floor, you…

Right. Much better. At least you know what a ‘counter’ is. Alright, you are ready to start, finally. You need flour.

Personally, I prefer either whole wheat flour, all-purpose wheat flour or instant wheat flour as amaranth, rye, teff, atta and peasemeal flour would taste horrible with… why you are staring at me like that? What do you mean you are running low on wheat flour? How can you possibly make banana fritters without flour? Arggh! What kind of flour do you have? Besides wheat, I mean.

Corn? Fine, that’ll do.

OK. Mix both of the flour in the bowl. Don’t dump the whole unopened packet into the bowl! You have to cut open the packet first!

Put the packet back to the counter. Get a pair of scissors. It’s something like a… Right! That’s scissors. I must have underestimated you after all.

Alright. Now, cut open the packet. What do you mean using what? Of course, you use the scissors! And, oh, I think I’ll take back that compliment.

Good! Now pour the flour into the bowl. Perfect! Pour a cup of water, drinking water, mind you, into the bowl. Use that Mickey Mouse cup, it will be fine. Nice…you can mix the flour now.

NO! No, no, no! People don’t use their HANDS to mix it! Oh, god! Go and clean you hands. And don’t tell me how to wash your hands! See? You have ruined everything! I bet your dough is full of dust and germs now.

Ugh! Never mind! It’s not like you’ll be living for a long time at this rate anyway! Right! Now, grab a wooden spoon or just… any spoon from the drawers. Hey! What the Hell are you doing with that scissors? Put it down before you hurt somebody… and, yes, that’s not a spoon, dunderhead. There! On your left! No, that’s not ‘left’! That’s ‘right’! I mean, look the other side!

That’s a fork. Oh, never mind! Just put it into the muck in the bowl and stir!

It doesn’t matter if it is clockwise or anticlockwise! You are not brewing a potion! Just stir until it looks smooth enough!

OK. Now, do you have a bunch of bananas? You have only three? Sigh. Fine. We’ll just have to use what we have then!

Get a knife. Not those blunt ones, a knife has a sharp blade. Yes, that’s a knife… what are you… no, no, NO! Don’t test it to see! Just put it down at the counter! And don’t drop it! I wouldn’t dare to see what’ll happen if you do.

There you go! Now, peel the bananas. Not too hard, mind you, or you’ll break the banana.

Harder than that. You have to a least touch the skin of the banana to peel it.

Nice! Now do the other bananas. Perfect! You are a natural monkey, no?

It is a relative of your ancestor, the ape… never mind!

Now, use the knife… BY GRABBING THE WOODEN END, dimwit! Oh, god! Alright, calm down… Now, slice the bananas into halves. You’re scratching your head. OK, let’s make it simpler, shall we? Cut the banana into two pieces. Two. More than one? Less than three? You understand? Good! Now, cut it! What are you waiting for?

Just jam it in the banana and don’t worry about hurting it! For god’s sake! Just slice the damn thing into half!

Very good! You can cut the rest of the bananas into halves. Perfect. You’re getting good with the knife. God help us all.

OK. You are ready to fry it. Quit giggling and don’t play with the knife! Just put it down on the counter and don’t give me that mournful face of yours. Right, let’s proceed to the frying. Turn the knob to light the stove and put a frying pan on it. What do you mean it won’t turn? Twist the knob the other direction. There you go.

Now, place the frying pan -it is the thingy with the plastic handle beside your stove- on the stove. Don’t be afraid of the fire, just put the pan on… alright, be afraid of the fire and use the frying pan to block out the fire. Right! While waiting for the pan to heat up, you can prepare a plate to put the fritters on. Remember? It is the round, flat thing in your cupboard.

Very good! You’ll need some kitchen tissue to absorb the excess oil when you have fried the bananas. Hey! Where are you going? What do you mean you want to get the tissue? The tissue is in here! In the kitchen! Hey!

Well, you are pretty quick. Where’s that tissue of yours? That’s toilet tissue! I did say you need KITCHEN TISSUE, did I? Well, you cannot use toilet tissue.

Because I said so!!! Anyway, it is unhygienic.

Right! Let’s just forget it, okay? We’ll just use the plate. Put the toilet roll away. Put it away! Don’t look at me like that, put the toilet tissue away!

Alright! You’re almost there! Now, you can test whether the pan is hot enough or not…I think it is most probably nicely heated up now and…STOP! Don’t touch the pan to test the heat! God! Just put your hand above the pan. If you cannot put it there for more than 30 seconds without suffering from intense pain, then it is hot.

It is hot? Good! Let’s proceed. I said stop giggling.

Dip the banana into the dough. Make sure it fully is covered by the dough. Okay, now place the banana, slowly… and don’t throw it, into the pan. I’m sorry, are you getting dizzy? It can happen, get use to it. Repeat the steps again for the rest of the bananas. One by one. Don’t just throw them all into the pan.

The dough is changing colour? OK, don’t panic. It just means that it is cooked. Now, put the cooked ones onto the plate.

After you have finished frying the bananas, turn the stove off. The other direction. Do I have to tell you every time you need to turn on or off the stove?

OK. Let the banana fritters cool down before eating it. See, you didn’t pay attention to my instructions and now you have burnt your tongue. Hey, I did warn you, didn’t I?

Congratulations. You’ve made banana fritters! Bonehead.

"One of my fav essays. A fun essay to write and to read." - S.Y.