Lazy, lazy weekend.

Didn't get much proper work done - but pretty much turned my room upside down sorting out all my drawers, files and shelves. Passed up on clubbin in Birm (sorrayyy!) and even gym Sunday cos i was a pinch under the weather. Like drinkin and a whole night of secondhand smoke was gonna go anything for a scoured throat anyways.

Anyway, like i was saying , the other day...

Wahlaueh its been ages since we had a lan party man....come la...must CS, WC, UT, BRB, ET and whatnot. Oh and have you seen the new WidowPC machines? Syiokk!!!

Uh oh that was a quick burst of UberGeek Amar. Hang on while i sort this out.

Eh what is this...don't cover cover la...i know you actually like all this right? Screw your gymming and dancing la and lepak a bitt...

I don't think so. umm NO. Crap now i forgot what i was talking about. Ah yes...

Oh so you gonna be like that hmn? Wait later i post your old pictures then you know...pictures like...
Huh? What the *NooOOOOOooooooo*!!!!!!

Fine. Whatever. This post is all yours. *fakes confident eye roll and proceeds to hide all pre-2001 photos*

Sweet. Now for some reaaally cool shit.

Review*: Star Wars: Empire at War
*more like my own two cents

Mmkay then - keeping it short, its pretty much the most playable, most gorgeous Star Wars RTS made. That said, previous attemps were utter crap. Remember the one that used the Age of Empires engine? Yes, that was absolute rubbish.

The visuals are gorgeous- shaders, bits of ships breaking off-, the score is pure John Williams and the sound is nothing less than what you'd expect of a Lucasarts game. The voice acting isnt too bad either.

The good news - no resources to worry about on the battlefields, save for credits on the main screens.

The bad news - doesn't actually involve much strategy. The 'board game' aspect of managing all your troops and assets was pretty well done, but ground and space engagements are pretty much free-for all brawls. The whole unit-counterunit balances are quite simple and underdeveloped. Despite the campaigns giving you some free rein of your expansion between 'missions' they are still too short.

At the end of the day, the only thing that makes the game worth playing are moments like these..
and of course...
If it tickles your fancy, you might wanna take a lot at the numbers that would be actually involed in a planetkiller weapon here. Warning: actual rudimentary physics involved.

Nyahahahah! *labored electronic breathing*

*Grunt Grunt*ness

Oh and Pagani has a new version of their Zonda out - the Zonda F. Check it outt....

As if there wasnt enough character in the design itself, the specs are crazy as well - a 7.3 litre Mercedes AMG V12 in a carbon fiber chassis that only weighs 1.2 tons that churns out more than 600BHP. In comparison, Porche's new Cayman weighs the same, but only at half the BHP.

Its may not match up to the Bugatti Veyron's 1000BHP, but it DOES weigh less, and it IS somewhat more practical to keep and drive ( as top tier italian supercars go) . It does cost around the same though - about half a million pounds so yeah...better start eBaying off your redolent crap now.

These photos arent quite enough, you really DO have to check out the mad interiors and panelling too. God really is in the details - now i understand why my Swiss friend said he was grinning like a twat when he sat in a Zonda at the last Geneva Motorshow.

Trouble Brewing?

In skimming my normal assortment of techie sites happened upon this announcement from Metal Storm - a company that specialises in rapid-firing projectile weapons systems.

Singapore, 20 February 2006 – Metal Storm Limited and Singapore Technologies Kinetics (ST Kinetics) are pleased to announce the successful firing of a range of jointly-developed, stacked configuration low velocity 40 mm electrically ignited munitions (EIM). The firings included high explosive (HE) munitions; enhanced blast explosive (EBX) munitions and air burst munitions (ABM). Less than lethal (LTL) munitions development will be undertaken in the future.

The firings follow from a teaming agreement that was signed by both parties in September 2005 to co-develop, produce and market 40 mm munitions for Metal Storm weapon systems. The agreement also provides for a broader relationship in which ST Kinetics would market Metal Storm 40 mm weapons systems in selected markets.

The firings, which were completed last week at ST Kinetics’ Bukit Timah range in Singapore, validate the compatibility between Metal Storm’s stacked round technology and selected ST Kinetics’ commercially available warheads.

“ST Kinetics is keen to become a total solutions provider for 40 mm munitions, encompassing both lethal and less than lethal products. We are delighted with the results of our joint developments and their compatibility with Metal Storm’s weapon systems. We look forward to capitalising on these initial achievements to further the commercial opportunities between our companies under our teaming agreement.” SEW Chee Jhuen, Deputy President (Operations) and President Defence Business, ST Kinetics.
Top right is the new Redback system mentioned in the press release, and the other pictures are their induction fired armaments mounted on treads. How cool is that!

On one hand, better invest in the company early before every other mobile armor in the region is equipped with their 'targeting solutions'. On the other hand, (singaporean) guys, is this something that we're gonna have to worry about anytime soon, really?

And does STK hire foreign talent *grins*?

You know what - you know what would be even cooler?

Fuyooooo.....not only will you never need to worry about carjackers again, you won't have to worry about anymore right of way situations either! You'd probably have to worry about the valet pressing the wrong button and putting an HE slug in your back as you bring out your arm candy for dinner somewhere posh.

Mmm dealing death from calf leather bucket seats.... suddenly reminds me of Carmageddon Damn do i miss that game.

Till my next post, here's Amar signing out with a geeky *snort*

"A place for everything, and everything in its place."

Hard, Cold Plastic / Theobromine + Flavenoids + Dopamines = *ChOCoLiCiouS*

GOD its cold. Nipple hardeningly cold. Testicle numbingly cold. Its not so much the highs of 4C and lows of -3C - its the goddamn wind and the fuckin magical combo of rain/sleet/hail that always seems to come whenever you're waiting for the bus or moving between lectures. You'd think i'd be used to it after all these years but its still goddamn irritating.

Just got an object reminder of what a *sweet deal* it was to live in Westwood today(sarcasm, incase you didnt pick it up), courtesy of dear old dad mixing up my current address with last years address, and a Warwick post employee who spoke like he had a mouthful of cotton. Got a call in the morning sayin that i had a DHL package from Malaysia, and "yeah we'll hold *unintelligible* room * unintelligible* until 4 today otherwise *unintelligible* card, alright?". Its a pretty important document ( of the supplementary chip & pin plastic kind ) so yeah..better get it quick hmmn?

In my friday blurness i assumed it would be held in the main post room near rootes since i wasnt technically staying on campus anymore. Nope. Nice long cross-campus walk in the wind to the Westwood mail room. I didn't need to be psychic to hear the chief porter going "Oh crap i thought we werent gonna see this plonker again" in his head the second i stepped in.

Happily broke and cut my old plastic after stripping the new one, when i realised that i wasnt given a pin for it. Balls. Still cannot use la like that! Anyhoo, anyone up for joining me in christening it sometime soon? Selfridges in Birm maybe - or London? Havent shopped for anything other than food for freaking donkey years.

Got agenda to go shopping sommore - need some new shoes, and maybe some random impulse buys. Need to indulge in my born-again chocoholicness too - Green & Blacks just aint cuttin it no' mo'. I need my single bean Valrhona darks and pralines. I need my Kshocolat dark choc wrapped candied oranges. I need my Charbonnel & Walker thins.

Taken waay too long ago

Tempus Fugit / Yumma-dum-dum

Time felt really weird the last week - it didn't exactly fly by, but then you're like DAAyymn its already the end of week 8. Its kinda dangerous having no pressing deadlines or labs or assignments. Annoying, isn't it - how they're holding out on our chosen lab writeup just so we'd have to do it over the hols - along with the materials assignment and other catchup studying. I feel like soo many of my fuckin brain cells took vacation and then dissapeared because of this lull period.

Wasnt a total waste of time tho. Managed to catch up on some gymming, sorted out all the boring little things, get back to some gaming ( if thats what you call raping a corvette with six star destroyers in "Empire At War"....*pchiew pchiew*) and also been muckin about more in the kitchen. Behold the fruits of my labours!



Mushroom and spinach fritatta(just for meee), otak otak(brought some for the post mnite thingy) & Moroccan lamb lemon and apricot tagine & couscous with peppers and pine nuts( for da house). Also made bouillabaisse(italian seafood stew) but was a bit malas to take nice nice pic. Recipes and instructions?

1. Google 'em or find some random recipe sites, you lazy bastards.
2. Cannot read 1 ar?
3. Fine. Give me a good enough *incentive* and we might work somethin out.

And i wonder why i'm not losing weight despite murderous 1000 calorie gym sessions. Haih.

From Glowsticks to Kerabu Taugeh

On non-food related fun - there was Metamorphosis last friday. No big deal lor - just like a normal union dance/house night with foggers, lasers, and glowsticks at 3 quid a bloody pair. A ripoff, true, but who needs stimulants or alcohol when you got glowsticks? WhEEeeeee. Gotta grab more next time tho because ppl keep nicking them - or chain them to my hands - fuyyo then can do even cooler shit. And end up somehow injuring myself-gerenti. Pic courtesy of Tanya.

Drunkenness galore with one of our own working at the bar. Cheap/free drinks galore! *Certain* people ( nope not me) got soo hancur until cannot remember what happened yesterday. Cannot say anymore. Except reiterating that its not me. hAhahah

There was also the Post Mnite Social that following weds. Ironic, no - curing PMS with PMS. Who could resist free Kak Shida food and a sneak preview of the DVD ( which incidentally is looking soo much better this year due to the more & better cameras covering the show) .Sempat debut my otak otak also ( yup its the first time i tried makin it. serious). Super deja vu when everyone started signing each other's programme books - thats like...soooo high school kan? haha nostalgic gileerrrr. Hell if i was gonna sign people's books might as well get in the game, aight? Naturally, massive camwhoring followed.


Hats off to Delene who managed to wear all three colours ( the nights theme was "Red, Blue and Yellow) plus white as well. With the twin quasi-pigtails sommore - like japanese schoolgirl superhero liddat. Kawaiii!


Might as well cram in a photo or two ( literally) from the much overdue - and thus overwritten - post about the SingSoc CNY dinner.

Just had to squeeze in a quick peep about the blackjack sesh they ran - alongside the mahjong and the karaoke. It wasnt stricly proper gambling, but there was a buy in and you got a set amount of chips in the beginning. My second hand said all that needed to be said about the rest of the night.

Nuff said. This from two decks. Insaffff.

For those expecting something more mendalam, sorrila...i'm kinda tapped out. I think that little bit about the Alba/Johansson sapphic romance was as insightful , artistic or literary as i'm gonna be for a while. Any prose i write would give away too much of what's in my head right now, and the topics that i would wanna write on are not exactly blogsafe - like my thoughts on organized religion - so just bear with a few more superficial photoposts and rants, mmkay? Luvya!

"Don't hate - appreciate.."

Listening to : mostly Cullum, Coltrane & Cokelat ( and my jiwang playlist on shuffle)

Feelin : chillllled....

Ahhhh felt so nice to get back to the gym after that 2 week total hiatus - normally would have been ridiculously twitchy and irritable after not fencing or gymming for 2 weeks but i guess Mnite rehearsals kinda made up for it in terms of entertainment and exertion. Left the gym this time trippin on two kinds of happy though - the kinda warm happy when your endorphines are kickin in to cover up all that muscle fatigue, and the narcissitic kinda happy upon finding out that the Mnite diet ( constant snacking at night , 2-3 hours of dancing everyday) lost me 4 kgs. Unfortunately most of that was probably muscle so yeah. Crap. I think my eternal spare tyre of doom just laughed at me.

Actually physically cringed when Dola Re Dola came up on my iPod the other day. Couldn't really put it down to a reflex to get in position and start counting, or just being like, really really jelak tak ingat dunia of the song. I actually remembered that i wasted precious brain cycles the other thinking how can i physically express my searing hate for an mp3 or any other digital media:

1. Burn/copy offending file onto CDR/cheap thumbdrive ( Hard disks would be more fun to break, but they don't fucking grow on trees)
2. Pulverise it. Be creative - like...think of something like dropping it in a lecture hall exit stampede....label it "Blonde jokes" and drop it by some local feminist types....or come up with something suitably sad and engineerish like flex and stress tests. Whatever. Kasi hantam jer...
3. Incinerate. Flambe, microwave, or hold up the remains to a resident 'mulut laser'.
4. Scatter ashes over the mankiest bunch of urinals you can find on uni and take the first shot at it.
5. Cackle in smug satisfaction, ignoring the precious seconds of your youth you just wasted on the whole endeavour. Personally, i would have just pushed the delete button dramatically. Dumbass.

I might not be suffering from Post Malaysia-nite Syndrome( mmm sleeeep) but i am kinda missing the dancing. Trying so scrounge up some headcount for Heat at the on thurs. It'll be sooo nice to freeform bhangra again after all that choreo - and some dancehall reggae, salsa, and arabic music. Yeah, Metamorphosis on friday will be cool and all....but house DOEs get boring after a while no matter how many lasers, fog machines and podium dancers( okay maybe you never really can have too much of the last one ) you've got.

BrokeBack-to the drawing board

I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain yet, and its not exactly high on my list either. Everyone's going like, oooh its such a good love story oooh its such a well made movie ooooh they were so sweet blah blah blah. I already don't like sappy sad romances, what more between two men. DOn't get me wrong i'm not a homophobe or anything (theres a thought - a homophobic amar) but yeah.....i'll pass.

But after hearing Puteri gush on and on about the movie and Jake Gylenhall a super chunted idea hit me - if you can make a gay cowboy romance movie to such critical acclaim, how about a movie about a forbidden lesbian romance? Sayy...between Jessica Alba and Scarlett Johansson. Make them two lonely nuns in a convent....or convicts in a womens prison or something. I tell you .....you can have a 5 year old write the script and it'll still get so many awards they'd have to make up new categories for the oscars and everything. Cue some bad photoshopping...


Come on, how is that not a good idea! I'm sure most of you - women included - are already drooling on your keyboards. MMmmm. I'm a fuckin genius.

Their incredible off-the-hook hotness combined aside, those of ya who follow scrubs would have noticed that Mandy Moore cameoed in the last two episodes as JD's new super klutzy but cute beau ( they're actually engaged in real life - lucky ass bastard) . Serious perky comel and sweet tak tahannnnn....

You can get lost for a whole day in those deep green eyes and super pouty lips. And that sweet husky voice. *drooool*

Aand i'm spent. Catcha later you ghor-geous folks!

" Love is not having to pay for sex, but instead having to pay three times more for dinner, a movie, and flowers when really, it'd just be easier to pay for sex."

First and foremost..

Warwick MSA Mnite 2006 was the bomb!

Not a cherry bomb, not a vest-mounted semtex nailbomb, but a fuckin 50 megaton H-bomb, okayy!

Everyone was clearly blown away by every single aspect of the performance - the humourous script, the superb acting , the twists people never saw coming - and of course the incredible singing and dancing as well! Even third years(warwickians and outta towners) who've seen their fair share of Mnites - Imperial's, UCLs, Notts etc over the years had a glowing review of the night. Drama, tears and laughter. The whole nine yards.

Seriously, everyone involved should give themselves a hearty pat on their backs.

The actors, for their powerful/engaging/hysterical portrayals - Syazwani deserves a special mention for being the scariest, super drama mama , umm, momma. Its like they plucked her right outta a typical 50s malay movie with the uber-bitch stepmother and the like. Phoarr!

The dancers and singers. OMFG all the singers were incredible. I don't think we've ever had soo many dances AND dancers to fill 'em out with. Especially the freshers who just can't get enough. If the next bunch of freshies are anything like this lot we're gonna hafta put up a right and proper musical! Nynna and her amazing choreo for Onjak Sekaki. The soft, demure grace of Ulek Mayang. Our amazingly queasingly cutesy, cheery and perky schoolgirl dancers. And my Hindi dancers and my amazing co-choreographer. Oh yeah not forgetting Menuju Puncak!! Another resounding " PhoARRR!!"

And of course, everybody else - dikir-ers, and the crew sidestage, offstage, and jauh gedabak from the stage. Especially those of you who had to deal with the Arts Center twats who were trying to shove us off early probably just so they can get bladdered at the union.

Oh yeah.Cheers to all y'all folks who came from north, south, east and west to catch the show.

It will be a stupidly tough act to follow.

Enough! Now for the photos!

*Warning! Rampant camera whoring to follow!*

Go Dola! GiGi, Sam, Shivani and Nadia rarin' to go


More sari-wrapped hotnessess - Ping, Steph and Tanya

The Heroine, Hero and the Mother - Syazana, Atfy and Syazwani

Some light posing with Din juuust before bhangra. Respect on learning the dance in a little more than a day, duude~!

Praying or ALSO posing, hmmn, Melvin?

Ee Ping showing off her 'dragon' and Puteri!!

Broomfield 157. go house!

Delene, dancer and kitchen assistant extrodinaire, and Nynna - mahaguruuuuuu!

Wahh all the way from Notts !

James who basically pimped up the whole play, and Marissa , the uber-talented force of nature - two of whom without which there'd be no mnite. Or at least one thats nowhere near as spectacular. * sembah *

Dikir caught from backstage. Patendu Patende!


More group shots:



And from our very own 'after party':
Its schweet being the bartender/drinks marshall/the twat pouring the magic juice

Okay that's just wrong. wrong.
The terrible trio - pouty Sam, naughty Nadia & Shivani " whaddya mean we have enough spinning" Kabra
The same three ladies after some mild substance abuse. Heh.

GoooOOOo Warwick!!

Actually i've been making a list of the things that i've been meaning to blog about. I'll just keep 'em short and slap 'em on just to get everything off my back.

Yup its that time again! rant rant rant rant

Thank god we have only one directly-attached neighbour. Tu pun we got a blooody bitchy one. They're a married couple without child - granted, we deserved the coupla of lashings we got last term because of the mass gaming sessions we got here, but lately they've been damn bitchy lorr...technically i dont even think its 'them' cos its always the flat faced bitch who comes over to complain. OOoo she can hear use typing at night oooh she can hear us talking from room to room. Mahai sommore can say something like " yeah like you're students yeah, and you can lie in bed all day while we've got jobs to go for in the morning" Pukimak la like we dont have 9 am labs and sems. Like we dont go lectures also liddat. Basically damn kurang ajar in a polite yet condescending way.

I would wish that next year they'd get a super rowdy bunch of students like the house 10 houses higher up the road and their super loud Desi parties as neighbours so she can appreciate how silent our house has been in comparison. Buuuut since we're taking this house again next year ...hohohoho its just a matter of finding the most creative way to tell her. MUahahaha.

Fox eared flat faced bitch. Just when i was planning to bake their house a little something.

Oh and a little bit about sensitive blog readers. If you somehow googled or otherwise ambled here and found something that ticks you off, tough. Again, this is MY blog, MY space, and i'll fill it with whatever opinions and rambling i like. Especially if you're malaysian - i'm sure you can identify with the occasional bit of non-political correctedness and mildly racist banter that you doubtlessly engage in back home. I'm impartial - eeeverybody will have something comin to them. Old people. Politicians. Poseurs. Imbeciles.People who embrace stereotypes. The list goes on. Why? Because its fun to lambast them, and i bet my bottom dollar you'd get a snigger or two from reading it as well. Go ahead, flame my tagboard or whatever. Here i am god. And i know where every comment and tag is from. So becareful your life, okay!

I'm also now goddamn sick of currypuffs. Wouldn't mind making onde onde again tho. Popiahs? When somebody finds me some of those stonking huge water chestnuts here.

Oh yeah while i was thinking of what to cook this morning, out of the fucking blue the menu and recipes for a six course meal hit me. Not just any six course meal - a valentine's treat for all 5 senses. I'd hate for the idea to go to waste so if anyone wants to try anything from it just ask me what you'd need to get go trolling over at Sains/Tesco and bring it over here(dont worry it wont be bank-breaking) . Plus points if you're also a single (female) who's also griping about the smug couples who are hopefully getting cheated blind by florists, confectioners, card makers and all things valentine-ny.

Scallops with ginger, mirin & miso dressing
Pumpkin and fig soup with creme fraiche & caviar
Fetuccine Amatricana with Pecorino Romano cheese
Lamb Fillet with Rosemary and Tarragon roux
Mango and Peach Pastry baskets with apricot honey glaze

and to drink , my own cocktail of fresh raspberry puree, mint, a splash of gin and topped up with champagne.

The 6th course? heh heh i'd rather keep that a surprise. No, its not something pervy.

While we're on food, the Singsoc's CNY dinner was worth every penny. YUmmy, yummy food and the right kinda ambiance with the mahjongg, blackjack and karaoke. I'd post some photos, but

a. i cant be fucked right about now
b. i pity those not on broadband who have to load my blog in its entirety enough as it is.

Had many super hilarious quotes too - but most of them either flew over my head, or are pretty much unprintable, even by my standards. But here's one i will be using a LOT :

"The girlfriend is hot and all, tapi muka laki dier macam hampas kelapa sawit!"

And here's a blonde joke to END all blonde jokes. See how long you take to get it.