New Year Resolution 2016 and 2015 Year In Review

Hi all,
It's been a while since I last came here. You know lah, peeper busy mar.

Okay, I'll begin by taking a look back over the past 12 months. 2015 has been a ... pretty good year really-much better than 2014, that's for sure. However, I didn't manage to achieve some of the resolution I set last time around.

1) Run a 42-km marathon 
Well, to be fair the marathon was canceled due to the terrible haze condition. I was lucky someone asked me if I wanted to sell the bib a month before the event, and so I did (because I knew what was coming, you see).
2) Get a pet
Live in condo. No pet allowed.
3) Diving's licence
Got it. Yaay~~~
4) Shoot a music video
Um.. I did shoot something, albeit not a music video. Still, well, practically it's a video so yeah.
5) Publish at least one paper
I've submitted some papers but the reviewers kept on rejecting them. At least I've tried...
6) Limit facebook usage
Okay I overestimated my self discipline for this one. I'll do another one this year.
7) Visit a foreign country
I visited no one, but TWO foreign countries (Japan and China).

In addition to the abovementioned items, I've also done a timelapse video (which took 13 months to make), did multiple music covers, and visited Taman Negara by motorcycle.

So what's for 2016? What do you think I should achieve this year?
Well I think I'd like to do these:

1) Finish a book every month. Actually I can finish a book in a week but let's not repeat the overconfidence mistake again.
2) Run a 42-km  21-km half marathon. To be honest, I'm in really bad shape right now-my stamina is bad and I couldn't even finish a 5.5km run last week. To make matters worse, I've sustained an ankle injury from a futsal session in September and it's still bothering me to this day. So I think the prudent thing to do is not to rush to complete this 42-km thing.
3) Publish paper. I have planned to submit four papers this year. Wish me luck!
4) No traveling outside the country. I don't think I'll be traveling to any foreign country in 2016. Initially I have planned to visit Taiwan in 2016, but considering the falling oil price and the resulting weak Ringgit maybe I'll just settle for some random islands in Sabah or the east coast.

Alright.
Just four simple new year resolution for 2016. I think it would be wise to keep it simple and short so that I would remember to try to accomplish them all.
Lastly, have a blessed new year and a great year ahead!

Malcolm

2015 New Year Resolution and 2014 Year In Review

I know, I know, it's time for that OhyesI'mgonnasetmyselfsomeincrediblydifficult-to-achievenewyearresolutionwhichImaynotbeabletocompletebutsinceallofmyfriendsaredoingitsoI'lljustmakeoneanyway.

Yes! It's New Year's Eve today and it's time for New Year Resolution *Yayyyy*.

Okay, first things first, I've got a confession to make: I didn't complete a lot of my last year's resolution, which was actually meant to complete the things I didn't complete the previous year, and was actually written based on the things that I should have completed the year before.

Hmmmm2

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Blogger: How to Set Password to a Particular Post

Sometimes, we tend to treat our blog as a treasure trove or a record book, a safe place to write things that aren't meant for some people, and so we need to set password for a particular post to prevent people from seeing it.

But how should we do it?

It's pretty easy actually.

1) Type out your rant/confession in notepad or any other text program. 

2) Go to your blog, click template, and click edit html, and then search (by pressing ctrl+F) for "(head)""

3) Paste the following line BEFORE the "(head)".

(script src='http://www.vincentcheung.ca/jsencryption/jsencryption.js' type='text/javascript'/)

4) Go to http://www.vincentcheung.ca/jsencryption/

5) Insert your password in the "key" column.

6) Copy your rant/confession in (1) into the "plain text" column, and click Encrypt.

7)  You can ignore the Cipher Text column, and go straight to the html code column, and copy it.

8) Go to your blog to compose a new post. Click HTML instead of compose, and paste the html code copied from (7) there.

9) Save and publish.

Leave a message at the comment section if it doesn't work.

Malcolm

The Beauty of Xiaohe - A Non-Chinese Mummy In China

When I first set my eyes upon the picture of this mummy I was instantly stunned by her beauty. 

I could vividly see some faint colouration of her skin, the colour of her hair (gosh she's a redhead! Found in China for god's sake!), and her long, narrow nose, and thick lips. But amid all these, one feature stood out - the one thing that grabbed my attention at first glance was her stunningly captivating eyelashes. And I thought L'Oreal should sponsor her.
She has got to be the most beautiful mummy I've ever seen.

Image: Wang Da-Gang

She was discovered in 2006 in the Taklamakan desert, excavated from Xiaohe (little river), cemetery 5, Ruoqiang County in Xinjiang, China. Apart from her, there were other mummies as well, and they were all found in a cemetery that lies along the path that would later be known as the Silk Road - the rambling, braided trading route between Central Asia and China.

Image: en.wikipedia.org

To appreciate just how beautiful she is, you need to see the relatively pitiful condition of other famous mummies. The mummy of the famous boy king, Tutankhamun, for example, is considered a "good" mummy by many, and yet his remains have reduced to a near-skeleton condition. And Ramses The Great's. Even the "perfectly" mummified monk in Koh Samui, Thailand, is in no better if not equal condition compared to her, even though he is only dead for slightly more than four decades. And the fact that she's around 3800 years old adds weight to her charm.

King Tut's Mummy. Image: news.nationalgeographic.com

She's so perfectly mummified it's as if she had just died yesterday. So I set out, with the help of a stylus and my ipad, to try to portray how she would have looked like if she was still alive.

She's such a beauty isn't she?

And though she was found in Xinjiang, I can assure you that she definitely has no Chinese blood in her. A typical Chinese has small eyes, flat nose, small lips, and a flat face. And everything about her is the exact opposite of what you see on a typical Chinese. So she is definitely someone from central Asia, possibly from the neighbouring Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, or Kyrgyzstan. Or even Europe. In fact the Chinese government allegedly got worried about her as a proof that Europeans had entered China earlier than what's written in the official history that they decided to pull the mummy from the museum exhibition in the United States back in 2011.

Plot twist: But what if she really was a Chinese (spoke mandarin, used chopsticks and celebrated Chinese New Year), and she was on route to become the new queen of China, and got murdered by ruthless bandits marauding the Silk Road? *hair-grabbing* omgomgomgomgomg!

Malcolm

New Year Resolution 2014

New Year Resolution, the list that makes you look incredibly lousy every December.

It's time to fill myself with dreams that probably will remain as dreams.

Happy 4th Birthday To This Blog

*This post was supposed to be published in November.*

Four years have passed, and now the blog has 480 entries.

That's 120 entries per year. Holy Mother Mary indeed.

Some people persevere for a year. Some two, three, four or five.
I wonder how long will I continue to blog?

Anyway, I would be grateful if you could write about yourself in the comment section; so at least I know a little bit about my readers. Maybe just state your name, your location, your occupation, and who do you think is more handsome: Loki or Tony Stark?

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas, I'm Curious Too.

Malcolm

A Squid, A Fish, And Myself

I cook my own meal every day. Well almost.

And cutting and cleaning flesh is part of the routine I perform every single day. Yesterday was seafood day (yaaayy~), so I took the squid out for defrosting before cleaning and cutting them. I took four animals and placed them on the cutting board, rinsed them with running water and began slicing them.

外劳

前几个礼拜大马惨遭烟雾施虐，大家都受促别出门。

可是在我家窗外隐隐约约可看到几个外劳在烟雾里继续工作。继续挖泥，倒沙，为富人们继续建立富贵。
其实觉得他们很可怜下。

Updates

Over the past few weeks I've been soooooooooo freaking busy I literally had no time to blog.

And certainly no time to even read as much as I normally would.

But that doesn't mean I haven't been reading at all. There were some interesting stories to be shared but I have yet to properly study those papers and articles. One interesting article talks about how Muslims have moved on in their thoughts about evolution. Another interesting article talks about the need to face hardcore-animal-welfare-groups when it comes to some invasive species. Cats, for instance, are killing native birds and mammals for fun in many corners of the world. Animal lovers are calling for more neuter efforts, but those neutered cats will continue to decimate small animals for the remainder of their lives. I agree with the author to euthanize some of the feral cats because protecting endangered species is more important than saving your next door kitty. 

There were a lot of things to be done. Chinese New Year, research paper. Oh yeah I did finish my second paper and submitted for correction ON TIME. Then there was the PSY concert in Penang i.e. humiliation of Najib. 

Dad said during the CNY eve reunion dinner that he would like to see the empty seats filled up by the next CNY. 

IMPOSSIBRRRUUUU given the circumstances I'm in now. And I was alone again this Valentines' Day....I had a severe headache that night by the way. 

The next few months look to be pretty gloomy for me. 

Malcolm

What Time Is It In Antarctica?

The continent of Antarctica sits on every line of longitude. So what time zone should you follow if you're in Antarctica?

There are no permanent residents on the continent. But anywhere from 1000 to 5000 people, most of whom are scientists, reside in various research stations scattered across the continent throughout the year. So keeping watch of the time is very important.

Time zone is determined by the line of longitude. India for instance, is located several time-zones west of Malaysia, and hence the time in Malaysia is several hours ahead of India. The difference in time is determined by the difference in the longitude line, with each degree divided into 60 minutes.

Antarctica sits in all time zones, so adhering to the rule above means that... erm...

For practical purposes time zones are usually based on territorial claims, however many stations use the time of the country they are owned by or the time zone of their supply base (e.g. McMurdo Station and Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station use New Zealand time due to their main supply base being Christchurch, New Zealand).--wikipedia

Image: http://www.worldtimezone.com/time-antarctica24.php

Right. So the time in Antarctica now, according to this website, follows New Zealand time, which is 5 hours ahead of Malaysia time.

Malcolm

New Year Resolution 2013

Time flies. 

And the world didn't end. By the way I didn't even bother to write "survive the 2012 apocalypse" in my last new year resolution because we all knew it's nonsense.

Random Rant

I was feeling really really down yesterday morning.
SUPER DOWN AH! t('-'t)

1) I am currently a member of the sponsorship team for an NGO organizing the one of the biggest camp in Malaysia, and my job-scope includes looking for sponsors. The thing is, I didn't choose to join this team, I chose three other teams but out of respect for nobody the interviewers decided to lelong  me into this 5-person team without getting a nod from me first. I didn't get any notification, nor did I get any email telling me anything at all, until the day I was told to attend a meeting and even then I was confused because they themselves weren't sure which team I belonged. 


And they want RM100K from us 5 ugly ducklings. Great.

And despite that I've decided to do my job and be professional a little bit. Bro-Sis-mance or not, this shall not be a highlight of my life. Unfortunately there are some asses who don't really know how to speak nicely, and they, thanks to their awesome imagination, wish to build a castle in the air. Some stubborn asses lack serious knowledge about PA system-some could easily cost up to RM10K-and think it's possible to get concert-quality system, along with live-feed for free. For three fucking days. Which includes a live band performance.

Great. You go find. I play band for so many fucking years and couldn't find a shit company to sponsor us for anything less than RM3K. And. You. Want. It. For. Free. Dream. On. Asshole.

2) Some seniors in my lab recently graduated. Seats are scarce, and single-seats-with-personal-table are even more so. According to the rule we should wait for our turn to take the single seat. Unfortunately some sissy guy decided to skip the queue and jump straight ahead. Some bitches, too, jumped the queue.

But this is just a small matter. I wouldn't let this small this ruin my day. But seeing several 23++ year-olds fighting and moaning to get single seats is just pathetic.
Seriously, I have the utmost disrespect for sissy guys. They can complain about anything; too far, too hot, too steep, too full, too hard. Especially those fair-and-always-upload-profile-picture-and-don't-do-sports sissy guys. They are basically good for nothing.

3) Experiment. Yes. Another down day. =.=

4) My amplifier spoiled. The orange amp was still functional last week. Last night it was okay initially, then it went berserk. I can't dish out another RM60++ to fix the damn port. And there's only one fucking store in the entire Malaysia that knows how to fix this brand. Fucking overrated fruit.

5) There's an ass in the group that always invite me for futsal. I bet he can't even outplay a 13-year-old me--I know this sounds a little hubris but really, his basics are awful, he has zero skills, but still thickface enough to announce that he can dribble skilfully. I almost puked when he said that. The thing is, he always choose to be in the same team with me. Not only that, he loves to dictate how I play. "pass it!", "here!", "what the fuck?!", yes you read that right, he even wtf-ed at me when I passed him the ball and he failed to cushion it. Great, asshole, you'll see me in the other team tonight against you.

Seriously, life hasn't been kind to me.

I was contemplating about all these bad lucks this noon when I thought about counting my blessings. Okay lar, I obtained some things I've always wanted recently. Mom came for a visit, and fortunately both my parents are still well and healthy. And my brain is still active enough to convince me there's no such thing as luck and superstition, only chances and science.

Hm... that's about it. Not enough.
t('-'t) Fuck you life.

Poets Get The Girls?

Had a chat with a friend on facebook, and she said poetic guys get most of the girls.

That was a very depressing news for me. And the most depressing of them all being; one of her friends, a modern day Shakespears, has had like, five girlfriends, or more? He's not exactly good looking, and probably a little bit more talented than Bieber, a lil chubby, and he currently has a hot girlfriend who looks like one of those Korean movie stars.

Movie Review-This Means War

What happens when you have two spies turning against one another for a woman?
A comedy, of course. 
And This Means War is definitely one hell of a comedy you wouldn't want to miss.

Me Gusta

Messing around with Facebook last night.
This what I did.
Me Gusta~


Malcolm

最近比较烦

最近比较烦，比较烦，比较烦
最近的天气热到我满身大汗
前几个月还下雨不断
搞到我几天没有内裤可穿

最近比较烦，比较烦，比较烦
为何别人的女友都特别好看
谁叫我钱包不比别人肥胖
只好静静当宅男，而没有期盼

Image: groomsadvice.com

最近比较烦，比较烦，比较烦
面子书上的女生个个有了伴
就连最“劲”的也当仁不让
我也期待能感受到点爱的温暖

最近比较烦，比较烦，比较烦
为何镜子里的他长特别难看
是不是吃下了太多饭
才搞到现在身材越来越胖

Image: newleafhealthcare.org

最近比较烦，比较烦，比较烦
我毕业后的日子却如此沧桑
老板还怪我处事不当
被老王八蛋逼得很不习惯

最近比较烦，比较烦，比较烦
网路的速度一天比一天更慢
就连下载些简单的档案
从早上慢慢等到天色昏暗

最近比较烦，比较烦，比较烦
同年龄的朋友们都有些感叹
我们的未来像黑夜般暗淡
只求未来不用每天吃鸡蛋

Money, Money, Money

The latest trend of picking up girls?

Well back in the old days we heard our parents talked about studying hard to earn as much cash as you can because that's the easiest access to ladies.

Image: mylot.com

In high school, we'd thought "Ah, fuck that. I'm talented. I have good look. I'm athletic. I have killer abs. I have all the criteria of a good man except cash. And my manhood is bulging in my pants. Girls opt for guys like me!"

Yeah right. Take a look at this picture:

加油？

有时候我看到一些人在面子书上留言很令人冒汗。。

A：“生活起居都不如意，真是生不如死”

B：“加油！你可以！”

结论：不如你不要留言的好

A：“今天的雨令我想起当时的你。。。”

B：“加油哟 =D”

结论：你到底 get 到我在讲什么吗？

A：“哇！今天天气非常好~喜欢！^^”

B：“嘻嘻~加油~！”

结论：你每天都在叫人加油，不如去跳楼啦。

以前的我以为“加油”，是拿来鼓励人的话。在人家睡不好、吃不饱、考试不好、便秘不少的情况下才用的，比如：

“你要专心读书，加油哟~”

“加油！跑快一些！”

“加油！继续努力往前冲！”

现在我真的对“加油”的用意模糊了。人家孤单也叫人加油，加油zomok？加油孤单？加油追女？人家没说要追女wor。。
hmmm。。=.=

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