Floating Point

Back at AS for a week's holidays. It's only been 10 days. Feels like I've been exposed to so many things which I haven't really tasted before.

Part of the reason I chose penang, was because I wanted to escape. To escape from everything I was having. Christian friends, awesome church, the lifestyle I was having. I wasn't really backsliding. I was just curious to know what is it being outside a Christian circle. I was like a curious sheep, wandering to dangerous grounds, just to peak at what lies ahead.

And I escaped..

And I ran...

And I found emptiness.


Being alone out here, has taught me that I cannot live without God in my life. I'll go insane. I won't survive. I've come to a point, where I cannot afford to lose God. I'm typically holding on to Him. Have you ever come to a point, where everything is stumbling down? Where disappointments just hits you in the face. Where frustration takes over. Where you feel so helpless. Where you dream about your troubles, and wake up finding it hard to sleep again for fear of having the same dream again.

I have...

I brought it upon myself. I was the one who wanted to 'venture out'.

And I had nowhere but to look up. And to reach out my hand.

And to cry.

And God smiled and reached down.

And touched my hand.

And caught hold of it. And said ' Let's do this together.'

I had to learn to trust God in areas of my life where I am helpless. In areas where I'm disappointed. Where I was saddened.

It's a fragile thing, trusting people with the most sensitive areas of your life. That's why I'm holding on to God.

And He responded. :)

Ok you might I'm emo or watever. I don't really care.

In a way it's changed me. It's opened my eyes.

I thought working life would draw me away from God. It's the opposite actually.

Funny how things always work out the way we least expect it to be.

Floating Point

Back at AS for a week's holidays. It's only been 10 days. Feels like I've been exposed to so many things which I haven't really tasted before.

Part of the reason I chose penang, was because I wanted to escape. To escape from everything I was having. Christian friends, awesome church, the lifestyle I was having. I wasn't really backsliding. I was just curious to know what is it being outside a Christian circle. I was like a curious sheep, wandering to dangerous grounds, just to peak at what lies ahead.

And I escaped..

And I ran...

And I found emptiness.


Being alone out here, has taught me that I cannot live without God in my life. I'll go insane. I won't survive. I've come to a point, where I cannot afford to lose God. I'm typically holding on to Him. Have you ever come to a point, where everything is stumbling down? Where disappointments just hits you in the face. Where frustration takes over. Where you feel so helpless. Where you dream about your troubles, and wake up finding it hard to sleep again for fear of having the same dream again.

I have...

I brought it upon myself. I was the one who wanted to 'venture out'.

And I had nowhere but to look up. And to reach out my hand.

And to cry.

And God smiled and reached down.

And touched my hand.

And caught hold of it. And said ' Let's do this together.'

I had to learn to trust God in areas of my life where I am helpless. In areas where I'm disappointed. Where I was saddened.

It's a fragile thing, trusting people with the most sensitive areas of your life. That's why I'm holding on to God.

And He responded. :)

Ok you might I'm emo or watever. I don't really care.

In a way it's changed me. It's opened my eyes.

I thought working life would draw me away from God. It's the opposite actually.

Funny how things always work out the way we least expect it to be.

Floating Point

Life so Far

My thoughts are scattered here and there. First week of work. And it already feels as though I've been working for 1 month.

Life becomes more lonely once you start working life. Especially if you don't make new friends, you can become real lonely. It's not the same here compared to campus life. There, you have friends around you all the time. I spent sat afternoon wondering at Gurney Plaza alone for almost two hours after meeting up with my parents there. And during the weekends I'm basically by myself. Even went dinner alone. You start to miss your friends. No wonder some people suffer from it after coming out to work. I'm starting to get affected by it. I used to like being alone, when there were too many people around me. But now it's the opposite.

Now I realize why everyone is fighting to join a multi national company like Intel and Agilent. Compared to where I work, the working condition there is like a heaven. Flexible lunch hours, flexible to go out of company for meals, subsidised meals, team building among team members such as badminton, futsal, bbq, etc. No offence to the Intel guys, everytime you guys talk about your company, it just makes me feel more intimidated. The place where I work does not offer such nice 'benefits'. It's practically secluded from everything else. We're not even allow to carry handphones, or go out for lunch. No such thing as assigning to teams. bla bla bla. Working conditions and morale among workers as my place is poor. Everyone is a robot. Everyone comes to work as routined and programmed. What happen to the outside world is ignored. That's why I only came to know about our PM's wifeys' death only after working hours. Sighz.


It's different and harder to stay focus with Jesus after starting to work. Everyday's being taken up by work. And you come home dead tired sometimes. Sighz. Maybe this blogging is making me more depress than I already am.

You can get caught up in the rat race so easily. It's so easy to lose focus in the things you want to achieve. Everyday is 'just another day at work'. Before you know it you'll be 30 and be wondering what did you do with your life so far.

Coming out of CF exposes you to a lot of worldy things. My technician friend at work is giving me tips, 'tips' of how to survive in the real world. Tips such as lying, smooth talking, sex, money. It's as though I've been living in a protected world. How do I survive being succesful and being Christian in the future?

On a brighter side, had dinner with Su Chen yesterday, and went to this church, Tabernacle of Grace together this morning. It was good. Getting used to family churches. :) again I guess. Wished that I was behind the drums though. ;)

Bought myself a guitar finally :). It's exactly as Hammer's wan. And a guitar stand. All for only RM 300. I'm really broke now. Will be getting a tuner+metronome soon though. This "music-shop-is-so-close" feeling is getting me go crazy. It's only 2 kilometres from my place to the music shop. So unlike the feeling of going to Bentleys, where it's like the other side of the earth. Also found 2 jamming studios which is at the same area. They have double pedals!! :) :) No extra charge. Pity it's maxtone wans. But it's enough for my practice I hope.

Esther is coming! :) Really looking forward to having another friend here. Pity we can't meet yet. She needs time to settle down first.

This is my life as it is. My supervisor at work expects me to know stuff which I've never heard before. And I'm learning how to service and repair machines I've never seen before. Everything is slow. Everything is mundane. Seclusion and readjustment. Depressive sometimes. Now I know why people change after they start work. Sighz.

I pray things get better.

Day 1, Day 2

Today is day 2 of working at KESP. Am actually sitting in a cyber cafe nearby my place with screaming malay kids playing CS. Mood for blogging? not really. But I'll do it anyway. :P

Before Day 1

Settling down in penang is really a new experience for me, though I come here so often.Staying with my AS friends? Another new thingie for me. It's only the first day here, and we spend the whole afternoon scouting around Penang for scrumpticolous food. :D These people can literally sniff out the bestest delicacies that can be found on the island. Ever heard of fried popiah with penang's famos laksa soup? Fuyoh. My saliva coming out d. We had a eating trip. HEhe. Even had to park illegally by a road side just to taste the famos Cendol. It's a road stall, and yet it's so famos, people are literally standing by the roadside slurping it all up with a bowl in their hand.

I finally know the meaning of owning a car. This awesome feeling of freedom, it's something new. hehe. I can go anywhere I wan, anytime I wan. And it's penang!! There's everything everywhere!! Wherever you stay, it will be self contained. So unlike Cyber. BLEK.:p

Anyway, staying with my housemates is a challenge by itself. I'm constantly surrounded by bad words, 'colorful' videos, and lotsa bad comments they make about other people. I'm not saying they are all that bad, but it makes me hard to become a 'better Christian'. It's only the first day and they persuaded me not to go to church. Man. I visited Kevin Koay's church. Along with the other gang who came to stayed with Su Chen. It was good, it was good. Pray for me ya, you guys.

Day 1 and Day 2

Ok. Working life. Woke up 6.30am to find most of my housemates all dressed up real smart. Semangat-nyer. :P Fetched Chun Lai, and off we went towards our journey at KESP. Lotsa stories to tell, but I'll highlight the nice wans. :p

KESP bascially do IC chip burning processes, and PCB assembly and other processes as secondary function. It just do one of the many processes of coming up with an IC chip. I thought that my Industrial Training would be something of a lepak session, judging from the feedback I heard from my seniors last time, but boy was I proved wrong this time. First, EVERYONE in the company has to wear a smock. It's like a raincoat, but it's anti-static, for Electro Static Discharge ESD purposes. Imagine walking to a canteen where everyone is wearing blue overcoats, seating on benches eating. It's like a scene in The Longest Yard. :p You can wat I mean.

Anyway, the company it's actually one big giant factory. All I see are machines, workers, going through alll the processes . I'm thrown right into the thick of the action straightaway. Shifted into the Maintanence Department, I was given a tour of the machineary around, and asked to hel solder a torque screw driver all afternoon. REally into the engineering world. These two days I 've been given a good tour by a technician I'm suposed to hang around with. Many processes and machines have been intro-ed to me. Learn a lot. Also the programming of how to make the devices work as well. Today eaven more keng chao. My supervisor came and asked me to help built a circuit with sensors to detect and give an output whenever the limit of glue is finishing. The glue is an epoxy that sitkcs the chip to it's socket before it goes through the burn-i n processes. Man. I had to remember everything that I learned!!! CMOS, Transistors, relays. whoa. REally into engineering. I'll be setting up the components tmr.

So, I have hands-on training, as well theory as well. That's my work life so far. But if you ask me, I don think I'll go into factory work line next time. IT's mundane and very monotonous. People here are like living robots. I talked to a few technicians, made a few friends. Found out if yo're here for 5 years, you're considered like reeeeeally senior. But maybe I'm with the technicians most of the time. Engineers here are seen like some really high ranking officials.

I gotta go. my time is up. Cheerioz guys.
:)

Vater Sticks and Band

Recently I got myself a pair of Vater drumsticks. Pro-rock model. Tried it out at church the last time I played. Loved the sound, the feel and the respond from the sticks. Had no idea about the brand when I bought it, it felt good and I tested it out, so, what the heck , I just went for it.



Well, I checked it out online, and found that Vater sticks are really famous sticks. Lotsa pro-drummers and my favorite band uses it. Especially with the famous 5B power sticks.
check out who they are:


Bobby Bryar - My Chemical Romance


Jeremy Colson - Steve Vai ( chuah you reading this? )


Christ Gaylor - All American Rejects ( starting to fall in love with this band)


Christ Hesse - Hoobastank


Rob Bourdon- Linkin Park


Longineu Parsons - Yellowcard( WOHOO!)


Ryan Videkal- Nickelback

There are others. Drummers from evanscence, three days grace, korn, etc.
Gonna get myself the Xtreme Design - XD 5B soon. Sounds awesome.
Oh ya, am really going all out for either an Pearl Eliminator or Tama Iron Cobras.

Peeling

Back at cyber one day to pack my stuff before I head to penang. I don't know when's the last time I'll be able to enjoy broadband connection, if my dudes at penang decide to get streamyx. It's a tricky business, cos by applying for 3 months and then deciding to 'ffk' them, the person who's applying will be 'blacklisted', especially when we need to submit the IC for registration. We devised a plan.( evil laugh) .heheh...most probably we'll get one of our long lost grandma or granduncle's IC, who would never in this time apply for streamyx and try our luck. ( snickers)

anyway, as i was packing my stuff, I felt like with every single thing I put in the bag, it's like peeling a part of me away from here. If I feel it like this, the feeling would be ten times worst when I leave this place in 3rd sem.

And I didn't know it was that bad when I left you. I used to take you for granted. And I had too many distractions going on while I was here. I wish I realized this way before I leave. I did try. Buthen I didn't know how to. I'm amateur. I may not look like it. And I'm afraid of how you would respond. I wish I wasn't so selfish. I wanted to be part of your life. a big part. All I need is a spark to work on. I will wait. I'll learn to be patient. won't you let me? :)

And I love the way you look at me. It just simply melts my heart. :)

Highlights- My learning process

Highlights for this Semester


AW 2005
Yep. The moment we came back, we were pretty busy working on getting on AW 2oo5. Somehow, things didn't work out so well. I remember experiencing heart wrenching disappointments. But then, somehow we managed to bounce back from it. Learned a whole bunch of stuff from that whole experience. Amplify is still around, and better than ever.


Amplify
The fact is that Amplify was born more of after the AW than before. We had to tell some members to leave. And everyone wanted to move on, and achieve greater heights. So, there we are.


Falling sick
I can' t remember falling so sick before. and it's been such a long time since I fell that sick. Usually the rare moments that I'm not feeling well, it's just a day or two of uncomfortable flu or sore throat. And I had to miss fitness test because of it, but it turned out good too. And I had an angel who came to take care of me during that time. :)


Haze
Last semester, earthquake. This semester, haze. To me, the period was more of a 'happy hour' . hehe. Went midvalley during that time. And remembered spending an entire afternoon in Ericcson's cafeteria with boss and kevin just to stay out of the haze. We had RM 10 pasta there, remember guyz?

FYP
Everyone had to experience this new thing called FYP. :) Regretted not getting the engine started earlier, and had a 'wonderful ' experience being 'tembaked' left-right-centre by my supervisor and moderator. I didn't once imagined that my super-kind supervisor could suddenly cock his gun and start firing me during the presentation. But then again, through this, I've learned a lot of things, a lot of what-not-to-dos and vice versa.


Crazy Assignments
Assignments for FOE students usually aren't really taxing. But this semester we had gruelling sessions of presentation. Suddenly the dean realized that we needed to give 'presentations' in our final year. Had to worked on the BATBOT project too. and other assignments which gave us a taste of a FCMers life.


Song Writing
I started to write songs. 2 songs. Something new. Rather pleased with 1 of them. Won't say its really good. It's quite simple only, the song. Just wished that sometimes my band members will show more spirit when playing the song. Kept feeling that they are playing it just because we have to. No one has personalized the song yet. Mebe it's just me.

Finals
2 weeks of the usual exams. The thing is everything was continous. From FYP week , to assignment week, followed by finals. One after another. After the last paper, all I could feel was a sense of relief and that it has been one hard sem. No joy yet. Just tired.

Just yesterday we were jamming at YAMAHA studio when a local band dude checked us out. When we came out, he invited us to come play at The Atmosphere sometime end of this month. It was quite a waste, since 2 of us will be at penang during that time. Anyway, my point is if people think we're good enough to play publically, it's a good sign. But still, we have a long way to go. Just wanna encourage you guys, to have belief in yourself, and work hard. Don't slack. Slackers might be 'ejected'. I'm not really kidding. :P


As I looked back at this semester, I realized that I've gone through hard times and good times, which is so totally different from any other semesters. Every semester tells its own story, in a wonderful way. I've experienced countless 'first times' , experienced bitter disappointments, and bursting joy too. ( though not too many. :) But one thing I realized, is that by the end of the day, God has been there for me, though it all. How everything 'turned out ok' , is just a testimony of how my Jesus made it 'turn ok'. And how gently he speaks into my life through hard times, encouraging me to learn and to move on. And how God is so faithful to me, when I've been so faithless. I think no one can ask more from a ever loving Father, who lets hard times to shape us into stronger personalities, and yet have the patience when we start blaming Him for the wrong things in our lives. Thank you, thank You. :)


I'm bad at going-aways. Sometimes I put up a brave front, but I'm starting to feel that I'm gonna miss some people in my life, even if it's 12-15 weeks. I'm not good at saying good-byes. I don't like saying it.

I'm gonna miss you. Thank you for the precious moments we shared, though we didn't have many chances. I wish we had more. And the little notes you leave. It helps. :)

I'm gonna miss you, my little student. :P You have tremendous talent. Not many people have that. I'm serious.Scared me the first time I see you play. :) Continue in whatever way you can la. :P I hope I've managed to encourage you.

I'm gonna miss you, my 'wife'. haha. For your concern, which many people usually ignores. It's really warming. :) Don't go flirt with other guyz when I'm away, ok ? Lou kong will know wan.


Ok that's it. The above is all gals, ok. I don't go soft on guyz. haha.


I'm off the Penang. Cheerioz, people.

Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool and boring football?

Twas' the time to talk about football again. Time and time again, this blog will again highlight the 'beautiful game'. Sorry to those non-football fans out there.

Current issues about football now. Attendance at football stadiums, particular in the EPL, has dropped a certain level. A few percentage I thik. Less people are attending football games. The 2 reasons analyst came out was that 1.) ticket prices are too high. 2.) football is becoming 'boring'.
Hmm. Let's look at it this way. Chelsea dominance in the premier league. Probably only 1, 2 teams to only challenge them, and probably not a serious challenge too. High ticket prices. People rather watch at home. Sound familiar? Yep. Sounds like the same problem F1 had a few seasons back. I'm not too sure whether the problem still exist.

Anyway, talk about boring football. What makes football boring? stalemates? 0-0 draws? I guess if u define the 'beautiful game' as 22 people kicking the ball and chasing the ball around aimlessly, probably Pele' would need to redefine it again. So what makes football 'exciting'? Well let's make a comparison. Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool. After watching the entire season highlights of Man U and Arsenal, I would rate which team I like best regarding playing 'exciting football: Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U.

Yep, Man U is last. People think I'm a supporter of MU. It's true to a certain extend. But actually I'm a real supporter of attacking and exciting football.


Arsenal
Arsenal plays beautiful one touch, through-pass football. That's why its real enjoyable to watch them play. It's like a 11 people playing as one person. Deadly through passes from Vieira, Reyes, and combined with the pace of Ljungberg and superb finishing from Henry and van Persie makes them the highest goal scoring team of the league. There was even one match where Vieira had rounded the goal keeper, and could have stopped the ball right at the goal line, and roll the ball in using his head if he wanted. And if you want to talk about home-bred stars, Wenger is the master. It used to be Ferguson with his 'class of 90', but gone are the days where he turned to his own academy. Van Persie, Flamini, Fabregas. Exciting football? EPL number one: Arsenal.


Liverpool
Liverpool used to play 'boring' football during the days of Gerrard Houllier. Their dead tactics of launching long balls up front for Michael Owen to chase was getting a bad name.Score 1 goal, then defend for your lives. But since Benitez took over, I'm pleasantly surprised how much it has changed. By introducing a 'spanish taste' into the team, they now have decent passes, cool dribbles, thanks to the introduction of Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia. They still have a long way to go, but their main strength is their team spirit and determination, thanks to their engine room Stevie G. People get tricked when they see a formation of 4-5-1 from them. In actual form,they have a secret striker in Steve. He's the one who makes runs into the penalty box to connect. Before anyone knows it,the ball is at the back of the net. Good fluidity, adventurous runs, risk takers. Not bad from Liverpool.




Chelsea

Jose Mourinho has been blamed for 'boring football. During the last match against Liverpool, the anfield supporters taunted the Chelsea team ' Boring Chelsea, Boring Chelsea.' Though its through to a certain extend, they still have good movement of the ball in the field. But the difference is that they play 'controlled' football, which is the same case with MU. Control the game. Hold posession. Only take 'calculated' risks. Well, it's not wrong, in fact, it proved to be effective. They won the EPL using this. The thing that makes them 1 step above MU is that they take their chances well. that's why they still notched up plenty of 1-0 wins. And they have deadly wingers who don't waste their runs into the penalty box. As you can see, Damien Duff and Arjen Robben have managed to score plenty of goals. and of course, their expert long range 'cannon', Frank Lampard. Boring football? They play 4-3-3. How can that be still boring? It could, with their mentality.





Manchester United
Finally, MU. Ferguson has been accused of playing 4-5-1, and not reverting to the traditional 4-4-2 which was used during the 'glory days' of the 90's. The truth is, MU has lost its fluidity and attacking movement of the ball. They became less willing to take risk, and they have no really good passers of the ball. An counter attack movement can end up to their own goal keeper. Example: After a corner, Ronaldo dribbles the ball to the opposition penalty box furiously in counter attack, passes the ball to scholes. Scholes takes the ball, and looks up for options. Oops. No options. Opposition has recovered in time. One fella coming to tackle him. Pass back to Keane. Keane pass back to Ferdinand. Opposition coming to tackle again. Ferdinand pass back to van der Sar. See what I mean? It's amazingly hilarous and incredibly frustrating to watch. Makes you wanna pull your hair out. No chemistry between players. Controlled football. They have become experts in 'back-passing'. Another thing, is that they don't take their chances well. you can see the match statistics as '20 shots at goal' but with 0-0 result. They waste their chances too much. That's why they are finding it harder to get their goals. Thank God they still have Rooney to muster up some stuff, but they need to work harder if they are even thinking of challenging for the main trophy. I used to like MU because of the attacking football they play last time, but now it's getting on my nerves. Boring MU, Boring MU.



He might have to go to bring a change to the team.



Many teams are playing 4-5-1 now. It gives them more assurance of the midfield battle, though it limits their attacking options. Imagine a 4-5-1 vs a 4-5-1. 10 people in midfield alone. Crazy. Nobody can move a few metres without encountering another person. So? How to bring to ball up front? Launch long balls. Morever, every team will have a holding and defending role in midfield. Keane for MU, Makelele for chelsea, Alonso/sissoko for liverpool, and so on. Stalemates. Attackers can hardly get their momentum. result? Boring football, result? Nobody wanna watch, attendance go low.


Notice I didn't talk about the defending options. It will take another blog about it. :P Maybe it's still the start of the season. I don't know. But then again. teams like Barca are already firing it up, and they started later. I am a student and hardcore fan of the game, and I love it if anyone has comments about football. I don't really fancy 'one-minded' football fans who only support their club and other clubs 'suck', especially those people who detest a certain football club. I like exchanging good, analytical ideas with people who are open minded about the game. It's hard to find these among the comunity I live in. If there are any, I would be more than happy to chat with you . :) But then again, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying being a hardcore football fan is wrong. If it were like this, then football would have lost its passionate supporters who sing and cheer their heart out for their clubs. ;) Go ahead and support your favorite club. It's good. But don't come up with one minded ideas and simply shoot people and clubs. It's immature and stupid and frustrating. hehe.

Wow. Long blog.


He is still my favorite. I think you know why.