Out and About

Book Sale

This afternoon, I went to the best book sale I've ever been to, which was also conveniently located on Jalan Templer, less than 5 minutes drive from my house. Spent RM140 on 10 books! And the books are mostly in very good/new condition. All the books costs between RM10 to RM20. What a bargain! I got myself titles that I've been wanting to buy but never did due to the high cost of books in this country (Still didn't stop me from spending RM99 on The Lost Symbol, and a friend told me his friend got it for RM5 when that person went to China.. so unfair). God knows when I'll find the time to read la kan. But that's besides the point.

Now my collection of unread books have reached (gasp!) roughly 20 books. Its too bad though that not all the books that I wanted was there. Spent 1.5 hours looking through the massive collection of books, and since they didnt organize the books according to genre or author, kepala aku teleng and mata aku juling. But it was worth it.

To those interested, just head to Jalan 215 off Jalan Templer, at the Pearson/Penguin warehouse. I think its gonna be on till the end of the week, and they top up with new stocks everyday, i think.

The Lost Symbol

Still on the subject of books, I finished reading The Lost Symbol last Thursday. Read half of it at home, and the other half at work, dengan selamba. Hahahhaa. Cannot help it. *SPOILER WARNING*. This book has the same formula that made The Da Vinci Code and Angels&Demon phenomenal successes. Again, its Langdon racing against time to save someone, with a hot lady as his partner in 'crime', and of course toegher they have to decipher clues on the way, the usual characters whom you think is your enemy but is not (and vice versa), cliff hanger at the end of every chapter (on average 3 pages a chapter, that's a lot of chapters!), clues hidden in plain view on popular sites.. well, if u've read DVC and A&D you probably get the drift.

Basically, the book was really good and totally unputdownable. However the awe I felt and the novelty feeling after reading DVC was absent, I think because the generic storyline was expected. Its not something new when it comes to Dan Brown and Robert Langdon. Barring the conclusion (the final secret) revealed at the end of the book which made me go (ak e laaaaaaaaaa itu je?!), it is a really good book and I would highly recommend it to those who loved DVC and A&D.

I am currently reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer, although I didnt plan to read it but my friend lend it to me and since I have to return it to her this weekend I have no choice but to read it. Have to put The Constant Princess that I've read a few chapters in on hold for now.

Malaysian Open

Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to get free tickets to the Malaysian Open (Tennis), thanks to Hakam. I wanted to buy tickets for the finals but the person whom I was supposed to go with bailed on me. Got tickets for the 2nd semis at 7pm (Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil). It was really a double bonus for me coz apart from getting free tickets, I actually got to watch Fernando Gonzales play!. From the list of players who signed up for this ATP, aku mmg paling suka dia so I felt really lucky. The only thing was that he lost to Verdasco. It was a really good game though.

The same night, I got another offer for free tickets to the finals on Sunday, but only 1 ticket. So I said no thanks. I wouldnt wanna go alone, and I've already seen the player I wanted to. So all is good. I hope more good luck will come my way (hoping to get free Beyonce tickets!). Already was offered free tickets to the All American Rejects concert but I've seen them at MTV World Stage last August.

Singapore GP

Last 2 weeks I went to Singapore GP. It was such an experience. I loved it! The organizers were very VERY good, everything was smooth sailing, the volunteers were pleasant, the atmosphere was really something. Sepang has 10 years of experience but it seems that Singapore has done it way better. If Malaysia were ever to host a street circuit for F1, fuhhh I shudder even thinking about it. It would be really2 tough, if not impossible.

So anyway, the atmosphere was really awesome, although nothing close like the one I've been to in Montreal (which had a European feel to it), but its still something. Maybe because its smack in the middle of the city, they were able to create that atmosphere that is almost non-existent when it comes to Sepang.

But its obvious that most of the spectators doesnt really know what the hell is going on, especially during the race. You can differentiate between the people who were real fans and the people who were there just because. No I'm not condeming this people, its just really funny to see them confused and really have no idea whats happening. Like for example, besides looking at the screen for updates, I also actually looked at the order of cars that races, and its not hard coz every car is different, even the ones on the same team, so it is easy to know who's driving which car. So when I saw that Kimi passed Buemi, I guess I was the lone person (around my area) that clapped and cheered (Im a fan of Kimi), but the video feed that showed Kimi's manouvre over Buemi was shown like 2 laps later, and then only everybody else cheered. But oh well. I cant expect everyone to be freaks like me. hahahahhaha. At least these people filled the stands right!

There were ALOT of mat sallehs. Keliling seat kitorang semua Brit. It was really worth it for them because Hamilton won and they sang God Save The Queen while proudly waving the Union Jack. I felt really satisfied with the seats I chose, mainly because I could see the screen clearly without having to use binoculars, and we were close enough to the speakers to listen to the commentators (when the cars are not driving past our grandstand).

We went to all the free practices, and of course the qualifying. Bashir managed to get alot of good shots using his wonderful dslr, which I have yet to take from him. There were so many things going on at the same time on all 3 days its crazy. Its like a sunburst KL meets F1. We couldve watched Katy Perry but she didnt show up (sucks!). Didnt get to watch BSB coz their concert was right after the race but we were much happier to be walking on the race track. Yes we got to do that!! Got to see the kerbs up close. Saw Rivermaya performed for about 5 minutes. Knew about this band about 6 years ago (when they were still unknown) coz I met a friend who's friend is in the band and the band actually wrote a song about her. Haha. Wanted to see Travis but somehow didn't. But none of these concerts really matter coz I was there to watch F1!. Although I reallly applaud the organizers for having all these side entertainments. Banyak lagi entertainment lain besides the concerts.

When I first heard the F1 car I just got out of Raffles Mall and I was so freakin excited. Turned out it wasnt even F1 car but GP2 car I think. Its surreal cause I just walked out of the mall. If I say the sound of F1 cars makes me excited and my heart beat races and I'm so pumped with adrenalin, I guess almost nobody could understand. Its like all those people who say to me, "why pay so much just to watch cars going from right to left, and then u wont even know what the hell is going on else where, and u still have to see the screen and bla bla bla... at least kalau tgk bola ke lain la u get to see the whole field bla bla bla" I used to be pissed, but now, I'm just like whatever. You cant compare football to F1. Its totally different. You cant expect to know whats going on at every part of the track. Its a freakin track for God's sake! So that's why its important to seat where there's a screen in front of you. And if people say kalau camtu baik tgk kat rumah je, if u still need the screen at the circuit. It is a valid point but how can I make people understand how it makes me feel to be at an F1 circuit. Its what I love I'm very passionate about it. I dont expect people to understand anyway. Like how I dont understand some other people's passion on whatever the like. But I dont go around critisizing these people. And what I do with my money is my business. At this age, I'm 27... (technically im still 26, 2 more weeks to go hehehe), we are all old enough to know how to spend and manage our money. I for one never cared what other people do with their money, like buy 2K hand bags or spending 5-10k on dslr and lenses and camera gadgets (just an example, not pin pointing to anybody in particular). Everybody spends on stuff they like and which they think are worth it to them. So just fuckin shut it. Uh oh I digress. Emo pulak. Sorry about that.

All in all, I'm really happy with the money spent there. I've paid the same amount for the tickets at Sepang as I paid for the one Singapore, and rasa macam kena ripoff je coz Singapore offered so much more with value for money. And I also got to shop!! Bought an ipod speaker, 2 handbags, some ferrari and raikkonen tshirts, found the white polo shirt that was sold out at every polo store in malaysia, got me new jeans... a very satisfying trip indeed!

We stayed at a budget hotel in Geylang.. hookers aplenty at night. LOL. My next F1 trip that I hope to go to is at Albert Park, Melbourne. I hope it will materialize next year, but there's really no hurry coz their contract's been extended until 2015. But still. its the next closest one after Singapore! The F1 circle is getting smaller and smaller with Bashir getting married soon. I looked at the couples (mostly mat salleh) who attend these F1 GPs together, seeing them both passionate about the same thing, which enables them to go to these events and enjoy and experience it together... its so nice gives me a fuzzy feeling just watching them. hahaha fehlong jap lak. ..

For now  I dont have any pictures to share coz they're all in my pc at home (Im on night shift la cam biasa). I'll post them later if Im rajin.

Padang Earthquake

I didnt want to talk about this initially, but I guess I'll mention a bit since I've been writing non stop for almost an hour. Might as well. I was working when it happened at 6.15pm. I was sitting at my usual desk and my friend was sitting in front of me we were chatting away and suddenly I felt this really horrible shake, and obviously the first thing that came to mind was an earthquake had happened.

It was really horrible and lasted like 30 seconds or more. The magnitude was not as strong throughout though. The first tremor was the worst and after that were smaller ones. I've felt earthquakes before but I was never scared. This time round I LITERALLY FELT FEAR, my heart raced pretty quickly and I was trembling a bit. All I wanted to do was run out the building but we've never done any contingency on this kind of event so I didnt know what to do and what would happen or what are the consequences if we simply left the control room and just leave the system unattended.

Afterwords when I actually have cleared my head and thought about it, it was possible to leave the system for at least 15 minutes, plus it was during off peak hours, it was possible. But at that moment, I guess none of us could think straight. it was a stupid thing not to leave the building I admit. But I guess now I know what to think and the right thing to do should something like that ever occured again. Anything couldve happened. What if this building collapsing is just something waiting to happen, dengan takde CF nye and with all the recent renovations going on. Its a scary thought, and I try not to think about it.
So anyway I googled and googled and we changed channels to cnn and awani and all but got no updates. Finally I found the USGS (US GEological Survey) which had updated its site, it was around 6.30pm. Very efficient. Earthquake some km away from Padang, 7.9 on the richter scale, at 85km ocean deep. One hour later baru other sites and the news channel had the breaking news.

Between 6.30 and 6.45pm, 3 bosses called the office and asked if we felt the tremor, and besides that, the only other thing they cared about was the system. First question (of varying sentences, but same meaning nonetheless was), how's the system? They really dont care about anything else, even the safety and lives of their subordinates. Need I say more?

December 2012 Apocalypse

So after the earthquake, me and my colleagues started talking about all the bencana alams that is happening around SEA and the neighborhood. Like the thyphoon in Phillipines and Vietnam, that red desert storm in Australia, earthquakes in Indo, tsunami in Samoa and god knows what else. And then the topic about how 2012 will be the end of the world like the westerners believe, predicted using the mayan calendar and stuff. There's even a movie coming out this november on this. And Dan Brown also mentioned it in passing in The Lost Symbol. Talk about being up to date. Its a very broad subject, just google 2012 and see what u can find.