another drama yesterday: planned days earlier to watch MI3 at St Lukes. Booked the tix for 6.30pm but couldn't be there on time.

Reason:

Firstly had a last minute job and was due this morning, thus not able to go home straight after work. Was planning to watch the movie at 6.30 and come back to work straight after that;

secondly, timing's not good. asked carol to pick me up using the old but not that old Harrier outside my work place at 6.10pm. Somehow the car just stopped firing up. With tickets already been bought, we had to abandon the car and walk all the way back to my flat (10 mins walk by the way) to get my own car. By that time it was already half 6....

Pretty bad. We missed the scene just before where Ethan was handed an assignment. Any interesting scenes there? Worse thing was there were no more empty seats at the back row. ....

Coming back from St Lukes with an empty stomach was a suffer. After a quick dinner at McD's Grey Lynn, we waited at my work place for the car to be fixed by roadside rescue. Not much of a rescue anyway, since the person decided to tow the car away after an hour. Bloody tiring evening.

An impossible mission was accomplished somehow.

How's your weekend? Mine's a bit mixed. A bit too much drama...

Weekend always starts from 5pm on Fridays. That's my definition, at least. I'm a Catholic. But I went to do some soul searching at a methodist cell group. I don't consider myself 'not obeying God'. I'm actually quite open to all suggestions. There may be bad things about different religions. Yet there are some things we can learn about other stuff outside the religion that we believe in. For instance, Methodist could be a bit more 'lively' than Catholicism. There is not much structured format where Catholics are that used to. But hey, I'm not against any of the beliefs. In fact, Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian, and even Catholics are all under one - Christianity. I would like to join any groups and still be a Catholic. I'm baptised and confirmed as one and I will be one for the rest of my life. Being a believer in any religion doesn't make you a 'bible' ie one who knows everything in what he believes. After all, if we were to know everything we could've been God...

Why did i attend one of these meetings? Well, first of all, I've got nothing to do at that time. Instead of the monthly corporate booze I might as well be sober and get something out of it. Secondly, Irene (a colleague of mine) has been telling me a lot about these meetings. I thought it would be a good idea once in a while to hang out with people i've never met before! Yes, it's like entering a different territory. Meeting strangers and all. It's an experience. Be it good (knowing new friends) or bad (trying to fit in to the topic of conversation that i'm not really interested in) it's still a good one. Being alone in this whole meeting sucks. But hey, it gives you a wider picture of how a methodist church cell group/meeting is run. Will I go again?.. :)

...The meeting lasted till 9.45 at night! No dinner yet at that time.. probably I was expecting some food or something but well, driving down State Highway One with so much blessing from God (rain it is!) took me to New Market Ten Pin Bowling. I was told that two clans were there: Carol's Maunsell gang (a bit downsized this weekend) and Gerald's. The night turned into a miscommunication between Jengis and me when I found out that they've left for Denny's at Northshore for Supper. Bugger. Instead of driving up to the shore to meet up with them I stayed at Ten Pin Bowling for a quick dinner while watching the Maunsell buddies playing bowling. A quick tip: if you're going bowling at 'Ten Pin', don't go for Lane 13. It sucks big time since the lane's not flat and if you think you hit the gutters initially the lane downstream will somehow steer you back, you might even strike.

Around 11.30pm got a text from Jengis. We're meeting at Orange off Queen St for pool. On my way there, got another text again informing me that Orange was not the place to hang out since there was a long queue. Suggested alternative place: Sky City. I only met up with them around 12.15. Was told that Wandy's staying at the casino and off we went to Q-City across the street for pool. When we arrived at the place and were about to start playing Gerald suggested that we head to Orange instead since they charge us a better rate (we thought so at that time). Off we head back to the car park and paid $5 for a one hour parking at the sky city. How did it turn out to be one hour? To cut short the story we had to go up and down the lift to get the stupid ticket validated.

To find a car park near Orange was an impossible mission since it's a weekend. However, we managed to find ourselves a nice little slot at Upper Queen St, just next to a bus stop. Well, the night's just started for us at exactly 1am. Pretty late eh? Well, we played for two damn hours. and the rate was actually similar to one we could have paid for at Q-City! well, at least we enjoyed it. Orange is one helluva place. Nice environment, good table, decent cues.

Friday night ended at 3am in the morning when rain started pouring again. My car was stranded in between two cars so close to mine that I had to steer mine forwards and backwards at least 6 times. in the pouring rain. Worst thing came when the bumper hit the post. Luckily no major scratches on my baby. What a night.

Saturday evening started off pretty fun as Jengis and I headed to Ohagans for a few pints of Guinness while watching the live screening of Super 14 Finals. Even got ourselves registered with the bar tender to start our collection. Not a fan of beer at all but this is good once in a while. Fancy joining the '100 Pint Club'? Head to Ohagans at the Viaduct.

Later we spent a few hours at Willy's to fix his laptop. Windows problem eh? hehe. Normal shite. Never rely too much on a computer. While waiting for Jengis to fix the laptop, I dozed off since the best show on tv at that time was 'Predator 2'... some stupid sci-fi starring a monster aka Predator who looks like a Jamaican raggae artist.

At 1am we headed to 'Orange' again for a game of pool with Wandy. Thought of finishing the evening off with a supper at a Korean restaurant. I've never had so many Korean food in one single day in my life. and it's the same old thing: BBQ pork. A pretty large portion. Cost us $10 each. Supper. Yeah, might have a big belly again if I pick up supper. I think it's a one off thing since we didn't have much for dinner, just a plate of nachos at Ohagans?

Planned to call it a night at 3am when we went to pick up Jengis's car. The drama starts here. His car was towed away! We thought the car's parked at a legitimate slot when in fact it's a bus stop. Strange as it may sound but there were so many other cars parked in that bus cage when we parked our car there. In the end we had to take a taxi to my place and drove my car to Mt Eden to get his car released.

A long night for us as the process of releasing his car was a long one: Jengis was stopped by the towyard guard just before he left. Thought it was a simple process but the guard ordered him to switch off the engine and hand him the key. Next thing we knew a car sped right out of nowhere in the towyard and stopped just behind Jengis'. The driver, looking half drunk, came out of his car with a steel bar, obviously wanting to threaten the guard. Guard stood still and held his position, warning the drunk to put down the bar and go through the normal process like everyone else. Drunkard wouldn't listen. Next thing we knew, sirens howling from a distance, and two police cars and one holden commodore arriveed at the scene. Police took care of the whole situation and drunkard was taken away....

All these happened in just 15 minutes. For a ticket issued by City Council, this is one live show worth watching.

Too bad there wasn't any video camera involved. Probably you might see Jengis on TV. "Police Ten 7".

What a way to round up the night.

In the year 2005, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in Auckland,
New Zealand,as an illegal immigrant and said,

"Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated and I see the
end of all flesh before me.
Build another Ark and save two of every living thing along with a few good
humans."

He gave Noah the blueprints, saying, "You have six months to build the Ark
before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights".
Noah was dubious about the project, because unending rain for 40 days and
40 nights is normal in Auckland, but he knew he must bow to the will of the
Lord.

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his revered
quarter acre section....but no ark.
"Noah", He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?"
"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah. "But things have changed. I needed a
building consent from the council,. I've been arguing with the Fire Service
about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbours claim that I've
violated the zoning laws by building the Ark on my property and exceeding
the height limitations. We then had to go to Arbitration for a decision.

Then the electricity companies demanded a bond be posted for the future
costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the
passage for the Ark's move to the sea. I argued that the sea would be
coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.
Getting the wood was another problem. The Greens have placed a ban on
cutting local timber in order to save the Kiwi. I tried to convince the
environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the birds. But no go!
When I started gathering the animals, I got sued by an animal rights group.
They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. As
well, they argued the accommodation was too restrictive and it was cruel and
inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

Maori have forbidden the project to continue unless taniwha are permitted
on the Ark and indigenous tribes own half the Ark after I have designed and
built it. I also have to agree to pay $150 Billion for depriving Maori of
traditional lands by means of inundation, which they allege, is simply a
case of "holy colonization".

I am bogged down in further negotiations on multimillion payments for
rights to sail the Ark on the seas of Aotearoa. Other Maori tribes have sued me
because they allege the Ark is a Pakeha version of the Maori canoe and they
have appealed to the Waitangi Tribunal to declare it tapu.
Then the Environmental Court ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until
they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.
I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on
how many Maori I'm supposed to hire for my building crew and the
requirement
for separate female toilets in case I hire a woman. Also, the trades unions
say I can't use my sons.
They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark building
experience,and they expect a day in leiu if we work weekends or public
holidays plus holiday day pay and rain allowances.
OSH has decreed each employee must be equipped with a life jacket and
personal life raft even though we are building on the mountain. When I
pointed this out, they made me provide ice axes and climbing boots for each
employee and their families,and harnesses because I was working over 3
metres in height.

To make matters worse, the Inland Revenue seized all my assets, claiming
I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.
At first the Labour government was in favour of my project because it
created building jobs on our mountain. Then they were shocked by an opinion
poll which revealed that 99% of all New Zealanders opposed a devastating
flood, and after an emergency cabinet meeting, Helen Clark announced that
Labour had never favoured floods as a means of solving problems and was
totally opposed to the project (unless future opinion polls revealed popular
support for the Ark).
She said "God should sit down and talk sensibly about the issues".
So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least ten years for me to finish
this Ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched
across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean, You're not
going to destroy the world?".

"No," said the Lord.

"The New Zealand Government beat me to it."

"Masa berlalu tanpa ku menyedari
Percintaan yang kita bina hampir terlerai
Apa salahku, kau buatku begini
Dalam dilema di antara jalan derita
Tidak pernah kuduga ini semua terjadi

Janganlah engkau menghancurkan segala
Setelah lama kita mengharungi bersama
Usah biarkan cinta kita yang suci
Dilambung ombak karam di lautan berduri
Hanya satu pintaku moga kau menginsafi semua ini..."

says everything eh?

argh what the fuck. that's life?

happy mother's day to my mother and all mothers out there. be it a girlfriend, sister, cousin, aunt, niece or whoever (as long as they're female) some how they're one's mother. enjoy. it's your day.

Lately I've been quite hooked up with Campbell Live's topics about Telecom NZ and local loop unbundling.

As a long term customer of Xtra and Telecom you know you're always on the losing side. I could have changed to Ihug or some other good competitors out there currently but I'm still tied to a one year contract with the broadband service.

Why is Telecom NZ so hated? The CEO's speech speaks for itself:

* On service pricing:
What has every telco in the world done in the past? It's used confusion as its chief marketing tool ... customers know that's what the game has been. They know we're not being straight up.
(True, in fact look at the packages they offer and compare it with services offered by Ihug. Even dumber people will know how big this difference makes!)

* On the need for regulation:
This is pretty much a manufactured grievance. You know that's the case because the only people marching in the streets about it are our competitors, not customers.
(I seriously don't agree with her. If unbundling doesn't occur, a fair competition wouldn't take place at all!)

* On the Government's expected response:
The Government is way too smart to do anything dumb here. (Telecom: you're dumb to have such a CEO doing too much straight talking)

In fact, they're digging a hole for themselves. Now take a look at Campbell Live's commercial: sponsored by Telecom? .... yet, John Campbell still bombards you.

(Source taken from NZ Herald)

como te llamas?
me llamo kevin
te presento a carlos
mucho gusto!!

ingles y espanol es similar
ingles y japones es diferente

hola! como estas?
muy bien. y tu?
igualmente. nos vemos, eh?
hasta manana

adios!

ahh.... spanish. wtf.

Don't mean to sound cheesy but some cheesy songs from high school times some times can really express what you really feel at a particular moment. A moment like this.
Lyrics of these might be a bit too simple. Tunes are not that catchy but they are very radio friendly. What sounded so meaningless during that time (at least for me) could turn out to be what I really feel now...

If you wonder what songs I'm referring to, hear me sing these. If you have the chance now:

Gil - If You Only Knew

Moffatts - I Miss You Like Crazy

First day of May, it's supposed to be a Labour Day for Malaysians. Yet, I'm working. In a foreign country. Can't believe how tiring it was today. I almost fell asleep while sitting in front of my PC. Even a strong cup of mocha couldn't help. Has working life been this unchallenging for every starters out there? Could be. Interesting or not, it's how you make of it. So, well, i'll start to look at it from another angle. Maybe turning up the music would keep me more awake. Hmm... Long list of songs in my super big hard drive.. Which song should I listen to? With gigabytes of songs in the drive, only a hundred megs of songs are my all time favourites.. you guessed it -- James Blunt Back to Bedlam. Here we go again.

Something to spice things up: take a look at the ridiculous bidding. How far people are willing to go for a simple prepaid number on Vodafone? $825!!!! Check it out at http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=54422065