black for a reason

Summary for the week

Friday, March 31, 2006 read close 1 speaks

A grand summary of past 7 days in 7 points.

1. Procastinated throughout the whole week trying to modify the ICOST paper that I supposed to submit. Realised I actually did quiet a few silly mistakes in the preliminary paper. Really thank God for the chance He given for me to submit a research paper to an international conference.



2. Submitted my resume to Sunway UC. Fate unknown.


(SIL: Isn't that looks familiar to you? :P)


3. Yet complete all my cover letters and resume for various colleges and universities. I wonder when my procastination will end.


(Yea.. I know it's empty...)


4. Watched Shaggy Dog, very interesting movie. Tim Allen didn't fail in making me laugh. Of course, don't expect any Jet Li style fighting scene in the movie.



5. Finally, bought a silicon case for my Motorola A1000. Very expensive, but no choice.



6. Ate porridge steamboat, and rather "tertarik" with the taste. Will try it again next time. Sorry, terlupa snap few photos. Will do it next time, if someone want to treat me again? ;)


(pirated from juliethebiscuit without permission :P)


7. Last but not least, the lamest of all, my travian city is now has a total of 205 population.




Yes, I'm sick (in a way). I guess the thesis really dried me up, completely. Need some time to recuperate.

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Food Review: Nagisa Japanese Restaurant

Sunday, March 26, 2006 read close 4 speaks

Warning: This post expound on one of the worst Japanese buffet restaurant in town. Read at your own cost.

It's always a joyous event when a person complete his thesis and submit for 1st review. This is me. I was motivating myself during my struggles in writing out every single sentence for my thesis, by telling myself I will get a sumptuous Japanese buffet upon my completion of my thesis. Indeed, today is the day that Me goes for Japanese buffet.

Few of us (Ivan, Angelynn, Vincent and I) were rather indecisive upon which restaurant should we go. As a pure authentic Malaysian, we feel that it is our responsibility to spend every single penny (I mean.. Cents) on worthy food. Sadly, Gen of Legend Hotel was fully booked. Instead of going all the way to Shogun, we decided to pay a visit to Nagisa Japanese Restaurant. The first thing on our thought is, "Heck, pay few more bucks and get a Sunway buffet. Not bad what". Well, the following story proves you (and us) wrong.

The start was good. We were welcomed by a lady who was kind enough to let us choose a table at a corner. We're a crazy, noisy bunch. We wouldn't want to interrupt other guest enjoying their moment of sashimi, sushi, etc.

Then, things weren't that right. We noticed there's little choice for cooked food. Very normal salad section (we didn't know there's such thing as salad corner for Japanese buffet), nice looking compartments with different kinds of food (sushi bar, teppanyaki, and tempura), and a nice little ice cream section just fit Angelynn's taste. We first went over to the sushi bar, and amazingly discovered that most plates are practically empty (Well, supposedly somebody raided the place earlier than we do). We're in good mood, heck, why not wait for 2nd round? So we separate in our own ways and hunt for the right food, and gather back on our table - of course, share the food ;) (Communion is our practice)

Next round, I went over to the sushi bar. Amazingly, things weren't the way it should be. They did "top-up" the food, but somehow... STINGY. Frankly, I don't expect to see such ridiculous attitude happened in a hotel such as Sunway. I guess three sane malaysian can practically wah-lap the whole sushi bar food in an instance. Still, I took half of what's available on the baby octopus serving, and went back to my seat. Serious, I took nearly half plate of it only. Take note, half plate. And the plate size should be slightly smaller than those KFC dinner plate.

I told myself, heck, maybe this is more towards an ala-carte style. Just ask from the staff at sushi bar and they will serve you more food. Nevertheless, the next thing was ridiculous. Two of us, Ivan and I, went to wait for Oysters. We practically stand in front of a big boat filled with ice, with nill oysters. The old uncle was slowly opening up each oyster one by one, wash it and put it on our plate. The whole process, we only took four. Each one. (four of us ma ;) Remember about our philosophy of communion?)

We started wondering, is this so call ala-carte, or just merely slow and stingy. Without spoiling our mood, we move next to the tempura and teppanyaki section. Tempura section was great, as there's many top-ups. Teppanyaki was the most unpleasant experience, minus the sushi bar thingy. Three cooks were present there. Two were talking, in cantonese, and one were cooking slowly. One question I would ask, I am not really particular in atmosphere, nor I have any prejudice against anyone who speaks cantonese, however, don't you think chit-chatting like nobody's business in front of a customer, in a Japanese restaurant (I reemphasize, Japanese restaurant) is rather stupid?

After few rounds of survey, I finally gave up practically and went for dessert straight. We had a great time, chit-chatting and laughing at many silly jokes that we shared. However, the food didn't pleases us at all. Strictly speaking, this shouldn't be the SUNWAY EXPERIENCE that we suppose to receive. Heck, maybe this is the real Sunway experience that everyone gets.

Of course, the waiters are great. They are attentive and nice to us. But the cooks, the food, unjustify the note that we pay. I mean, Ivan's credit card. A RM80 (after tax) Japanese Buffet is simply overpriced, and unjustifying with the level of food quality and customer satisfaction.

In simple terms, it sucks.

If you ever consider going to this "Japanese restaurant", think twice.

If you read through many positive comments through other positive blogs, read mine again.

If you are the manager or CEO of Sunway, please buck up your food, at the least. minus the chit-chatting cooks in teppanyaki section. ah.. minus the slow-mo and stingy sushi bar staff. It's unacceptable for what we paid.

Heck, now we know why Nagisa has so many empty seats on a Sunday night, unlike Gen in Legend, or even the infamous pasar malam Shogun/Saisaki Japanese Buffet.



One funny thing, we left only around 10pm, which they already packing up and ready to go home. The buffet time suppose to end only at 10.30pm, but we don't really care, since we have no much appetite for the food anyway. When we left, Ivan was joking about the staff just can't wait for us to leave. Since we're the last group of people who leaves the restaurant. Then I told him, "Heck, we didn't pay RM80 for the food. We pay for the seats".


Will stick some photo up soon.


Updated:


(My appetizer...)


(Tempura...)


(Beans, Eel and something I can't recall)


(Sushi, Sashimi, and my favourite baby octopus...)


(Some deco...)




Summary
Restaurant: Nagisa Japanese Restaurant, Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel
Price per pax: RM69++
Rating: 3 (without considering the price factor). 0.5 (consider how much we fork out for this buffet)
Comment: Unacceptable.
Slogan: Nagisa, Tak Kisah.

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Virgin X40

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Don't think dirty. My IBM X40 is now back with a virgin copy of Windows XP Pro. Clean.

I think one good thing about an IBM lappy is of its "Software Installer". Instead of installing each driver separately, IBM offers this software to install all drivers and accompanied softwares in one go. Just do it ;)

Wait till you see my dual-boot IBM with XP and Ubuntu. Superlicious ;)

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Fishy Job

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 read close 3 speaks

JobsDB sent me an email regarding a job vacancy as PHP Programmer. As it's interesting to know who wants PHP programmer, since nowadays most of the companies are looking for .NET or JSP programmers.

Somehow, it turned out to be something fishy, as this CNI PHP Programmer needs to be aged 26-30. I supposed that they are looking for someone more matured, for some perculiar reason. However, I'm not sure how you read between the lines, but for me, I find it very... fishy. Do you need to join CNI MLM just because you're CNI's Programmer? Here's the fishy requirements given:

"To coordinate and monitor internal resource and vendor resource in meeting company objective of MLM Solutions implementation and execution;"

"To undertake other activities or assignment as required and mutually agreed;"

"Aged between 26 to 35;"

"Possess good business acumen and sound analytical capabilities;"

Maybe, as a CNI PHP Programer you do need to be in the MLM tree :P as mutually agreed.



Link:
1. CNI PHP Programmer - JobsDB

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Land of Red Wine Mee Sua

Sunday, March 19, 2006 read close 0 speaks


I'm now in Sitiawan. Here's a snapshot of Sitiawan Pioneer Methodist Church.




Actually, I took this photo on Feb 2004 :P
Will upload some REAL photo here ;)

Updates:



This is the hall where we had our seminar for two days.




Herbal Medicine Pork Rib Noodles. I realised something during this trip. Sitiawan people don't eat salty food.




The shop I had breakfast. Nearby Pioneer Methodist Church. The kari mee taste like what I had in secondary school. Watered kari soup.


Didn't have much opportunity to snap, as I forgotten to bring my dear konica. So all these photos are taken with my Motorola A1000 :) Look for the 1MP size photos in my flickr.

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Real Fish? Fake Fish?

Friday, March 17, 2006 read close 0 speaks

Jeff Ooi mentioned in Fuel price hikes & changing lifestyles... regarding a phising website (www.bpapoll.org) reported by TV Smith.

Coincidently, I came across several complaints regarding bpapoll.org when I browsing through our local newspaper websites.

1. Sin Chew Blog: 政府應善用公共意見回饋網站
2. theStar Citizen Blog: I can't have my say if you shut my mouth
3. theStar Citizen Blog: PUBLIC OPINION POLL

I'm perplexed though, as everyone complained about the functionality of the site, and not of its validity.

After a search in theStar's News section, this news article appeared to be trustable...?

So.. is bpapoll.org a phising site, or a valid site setup by our dearest government?



Side Note: TV Smith's version of Public Poll.

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Interesting Conversation

Thursday, March 16, 2006 read close 0 speaks


kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
dude
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
i want to continue my thesis
joanne - Fools rush in where angels fear to tread says:
snipped - some unrelated conversation
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
into mood now
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
hehehehe
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
ciao~
joanne - Fools rush in where angels fear to tread says:
its babe, not dude
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
japanese buffet mood
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
wahahahahaha
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
well...
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
babe
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
you mean that babe?
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
ok ok....
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
oink oink
joanne - Fools rush in where angels fear to tread says:
shut dup
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
going to put this in my blog
kiawin in Japanese Buffet Mood says:
hahahahaha


Moral of the Story: Food motivates me do complete my thesis.

Moral of another Story: Don't call yourself babe.

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One Big Happy Family

Wednesday, March 15, 2006 read close 0 speaks

Out of curiosity, I check why my blog suddenly has a sudden influx of visitors...





Well... For those curious people out there... I'm not a LB member, upline, downline what-so-ever. I'm just somebody who got disgusted by LB people who ask university students to join such over-price MLM scheme which is so irresponsible, and yes, immoral. For which university you might wonder, I guess you just have to read more to know which university I'm referring to.

Still not satisfite? Follow the Anti-LB threat in LowYat.net, or Hong Kong Anti-LB MSN Group.


Silly you, if you think you can be millionaire with LB. Don't worry, I'll be first.


Btw, stop flocking into my blog. Thank you.



Related Posts:
1. Lampe Berger (1)
2. Lampe Burger.. I meant Lampe Berger (2)
3. Lamb Burger... I meant Lampe Berger (3)

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Martin Fields Overlay Screen Protector

Tuesday, March 14, 2006 read close 0 speaks





My Martin Fields has arrived! My dear A1000's screen has finally found an intimate soul - Martin Fields Overlay Screen Protector ;)

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The New World

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Oh well... I won 2 preview screening tickets for the movie "The New World", courtesy of Cinema Online. Any takers?

A side note, it's funny that, I've been watch free movies ever since 28th of February, started with Final Destination 3, Underworld 2, Yours, Mine & Ours, and lastly The New World. Thank you God!



Links:
1. Trailers and Teasers
2. The Official Website


Related Posts:
1. The Sky is Falling Down!!
2. Final Destination 3 Premiere

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Is Gubra coming soon?

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Looking at the stats for my blog, I realised many people actually visit my blog via Yahoo! with the keyword "gubra". Out of my curiosity, I search for "Gubra" in Yahoo!, did not find myself in the top 100, but discovered something interesting. (most probably I'm one of those "slow" people). DiGi has a page fully loaded with Gubra promotion and roadshow itenerary. I supposed Gubra is coming soon to town :)



PS: The site says Gubra will be in local cinemas starting from 6 April 2006. Yahoo! (No... not that Yahoo!).


Related Post:
1. Anxiety

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I'm Speechless

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Excited, Perplexed, Trembling in fear.



That's my feeling when I received the email from the review committee of ICOST 2006. It supposed to be a comfort to me, as it gives a sense of hope and recognition of my research. But some how the feeling I have now is the total opposite :P


On my way back from 1 Utama, after the show, I told God that may Him take charge of the situation, and prayed that the review committee will be merciful to me as they reject my paper, with good comments. Nevertheless, God is in control and He gave me more than what I expected it to be. Hallelujah!


For now, I need to concentrate in finish up my thesis. It's time, let's finish it! ;)





Side note: Hopefully no one accidently bumped into this entry by googling "ICOST 2006". Malu-lah :P

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A Song Dedicated to All Techies in the World

Monday, March 13, 2006 read close 0 speaks



It's been a busy week, and another busy week ahead. Here's something light for you to enjoy :) Courtesy of Google Video ~ I'm lovin' it.



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The Sky Is Falling Down!!

Thursday, March 09, 2006 read close 0 speaks



Emm... not this actually. Last week I had a chance to join "Your, Mine & Ours" Movie Contest hosted by Cinema Online. The contest is simple, post a captured moment of your family, and tag a long with a funny caption. So this is what I came out with...






Gosh.. We are GOOD ACTORS.



PS: On a lighter note.. Gosh.. I'm dead meat.

I'm not sure this picture worth 4 movie tickets for "Your, Mine & Ours" in TGV 1 Utama.

I will tell you when I watch it! ;)





Links:
1. "Yours, Mine & Ours" Trailers


Related Post:
1. Final Destination 3 Premiere

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Francis Yeoh's Testimony

Friday, March 03, 2006 read close 0 speaks





Francis Yeoh, YTL Malaysia.

Read it here



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Anxiety

Thursday, March 02, 2006 read close 1 speaks




Gubra means anxiety, releasing this week (March 2, 2006) in Singapore.

Another movie on my must-watch list :)



Links:
1. Gubra Trailer ** (Google Video, YouTube)
2. Gubra on IMDB (contains spoiler)
3. Gubra on Cinema Online Forum
4. Gubra on the Storyteller
5. Gubra at work

Related Post:
1. Are you... Sepet?

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Time is ticking

Wednesday, March 01, 2006 read close 0 speaks

Yes, time is ticking. I need your help in the mission to look for a perfect domain name for my latest (soon to be) work on a hybrid site of information and interactive portal (with so call web 2.0 technology) on youth, family and women. The site will include a comprehensive list of useful articles, discussion zone, everyone-has-it blogging service and much more services for users, upon demand.

Do give me some ideas, and do make sure it's still available alrite? :) thanks!

PS: A super nice way to check the availability is at AjaxWhois.com.

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I'm a Roman now

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Travian, a web browser-based massive multiplayer online game ;) I'm playing now... Server 3.

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