My Sweet Escape

Morning Joke :)

2010-10-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

The morning joke...

I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning when this particular joke from a caller caught my attention and made me laugh so much.

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There are three pontianaks. The first one is the super senior pontianak. The second one is the senior pontianak. And finally, the third one is the junior pontianak. One night, they all gathered together to show off their abilities.

The super senior pontianak flew away and came back 10 minutes later with mouth full of blood.

Sr and Jr: Where did u go?

Super Sr: Did u see that kampung nearby?

Sr and Jr: Saw..saw..saw..

Super Sr: I just ate everyone in that kampung!

Then, the senior pontianak took his chance to show off his ability. He flew away and came back 5 minutes later with his face full of blood

Super & Jr: Where did u go?

Sr: Did u see that city nearby?

Super & Jr: Saw..saw..saw..

Sr: I just ate everyone in that city.

Next, it was the junior's turn. He flew away and came back 10 secs later with face full of blood

Super & Sr: Where did u go?

Jr: Did u see that tembok (wall) nearby?

Super & Sr: Saw..saw..saw..

Jr: I didn't see...

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A bit lame isn't? but funny hahah...

well, that's all. Got to go. The incubation time is almost finishing. Currently hard at work ^__^

Till nx time

Ubat hati

2010-07-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have trouble relieving my stress and finding peace of mind, and one of the most contributing factors for that is my research work. It haunts me days and nights. I can vividly remember the dreams I've been having for these past few nights--> continuing to do my work in my dreams, running BLAST, and feeling tired to the max at the end... I guess as we get older, the way we define nightmares change as well...

By the way, Ubat hati is actually the tittle of a Sundanese song, originally called "Tombo ati" :) This song is about 5 deeds that may, Insya-Allah, become the food for a good soul...and hopefully, may also assist us in searching for some peace of mind.

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Taken from the song: Ubat Hati itu ada lima perkara:-

1. Bacalah Qur'an dan maknanya
2. Solat malam dirikanlah
3. Berkumpullah dengan orang Soleh
4. Perbanyakkan berpuasa
5. Zikir malam berpanjanglah

Photoshop: lip02

2010-04-03T00:56:00.000-07:00

Continued from: Photoshop: lip01

At last, I finally found the time to continue adding some colors to my Lip01! However, when i reopened my drawing, I realized I actually made some mistakes while using the Gradient map utility...heh (T__T)

If you care to read....let me explain about the gradient map a bit. Gradient map is used to create some effects over an existing image. So, for example, I started my drawing with just black and white. Then, I used the Gradient map to add a layer (with a color gradient between black and light brown) over the black and white image. After adding the layer and applying red color to the lips, my image was like this...

The background became light brown--so, that was okay. However, since I used a color gradient between black and light brown, the shadow around the mouth became black--so, that was not very okay (~_~) I believe the coloring might look a bit better if I had used a color gradient between dark brown and light brown...

So, i removed the black shadow...

...and added in some shadows using a darker shade of brown.

I corrected the lips a bit. Added some lighting effects on the lower lip. Added darker shadow around the lips. Done for now!!! (with a lot of other things yet to be explored) ^__^

Photoshop: lip01

2010-03-29T01:45:00.000-07:00

My paint brushes have hardened. My drawing book has no blank page left. My acrylic paints are in kampung. But, fortunately, I found a new thing to play with now: Adobe Photoshop CS4 ^_^

With a computing mouse at the tip of my fingers and a laptop turned on in front of me, I tried to learn my first Photoshop lesson: Drawing lips.

I put in some shadows and added some blurring effects.

Then I applied a Gradient map (using New Adjustment Layer) to make the background more brownish (to imitate how skin would look like). I wanted to make the lips looked more red/pink too, but I could not find the right buttons.

Since I need to do something else, I have to stop this here first. So I'm assigning myself a new assignment which is to find the right buttons to make that lips red. Till next time...:) hehehe

My first saman...

2010-03-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

Hello blog. It's been a while...

I just renewed my road-tax and car insurance a few days ago. Although I had to spend quite a bit of cash, I was actually more concerned about something else. I was worried about my saman (traffic ticket/summon)...hahah. My first saman... I was not sure what to do and the fact that having to go to police station to pay the saman just frightened me more.

At first, I though I would have to settle the saman first before I could renew my road-tax. Or else, the road-tax renewal application would be denied. So, I asked around...

1. My current housemate:-

When i asked her whether she has gotten any saman before, she said "yes" but she could not remember. According to her, it happened many years ago and she never even bothers to pay the saman. One thing for sure, she claimed that she never had any problems when renewing her road-tax

2. My labmate:-

He is a good driver.

He had never gotten any saman before :)

3. My ex-housemate (Mas):-

Mas gave me a very useful website (MyEG)

http://www.myeg.com.my/

Well. the pic below is from the MyEG website.

Eventhough this website is very useful, it might not be very helpful in my case. The reason is I received my saman roughly a year ago. Therefore, it is too late for me to be eligible for the discounts offered by the PDRM

4. My brother:-

When I was asked by my brother whether I want to pay or not, I replied "No, I prefer to pay it later". Seriously, I am not sure how much "later" it would be. But, the later the better ;p. Moreover, if I can somehow get to pay my saman at a discounted rate, then that would be so much better! My brother suggested that I should just try to renew my road-tax first. If problem occurs, only then I should settle my saman.

I went to renew my road-tax and car insurance several days ago. Two days later, the insurance agent who was helping me out gave me a phone call. Guess what? My road-tax has been renewed ^__^

I am glad! Thanks a lot...

-izahsam

Little Frog Fish

2009-12-01T03:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry if this post is quite boring. My brain is kinda slow right now to process anything complicated.

I love fish and the underwater world so much.. and watching this frog fish 'walking' on the sea bottom is just...an interesting thing to do...hahaha

Really hope i can go diving somewhere nice soon...

March of the Frog Fish

Īdu l-’Aḍḥā in kampung

2009-11-30T18:36:00.000-08:00

Assalamualaikum,

First of all, I hope it is still not too late to wish Happy Īdu l-’Aḍḥā to all my Muslim friends.

For the past few days, local TV and newspapers were quite packed with reports about animal sacrifices and updates on Malaysian pilgrims performing Hajj in Mecca. Everyone was trying to take part to help during the celebration. From doing a big act like sacrificing an animal...to a smaller act like helping to pass the sacrificed meats to neighbors :)

Whatever good deeds we are doing, hopefully Allah SWT bless us, protect us and show us the correct path...

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Back to my Īdu l-’Aḍḥā celebration, this year celebration was slightly different because we spent a night in my kampung in Batu Pahat ( it's been a few yrs already since my last sleepover in kampung). We also held a Tahlil ceremony for my beloved grandfather, who passed away on Jan 5th this year. In addition to that, we also held a 'rewang' for my cousin's wedding.

The days spent in kampung were generally quite hectic but the night was always fun and noisy (yup, i like the noisy chatting part a lot ^_^). It felt like so much things happened...dad reciting takbir everytime after prayer....cousins grilling mutton....ladies cutting onions and meats...guys cooking. Not to forget, makcik-makcik, mom, sisters, cousins, and me who frantically jumped and ran away from 'the attack' of a vicious big fat centipede that crawled out of nowhere to the place where everyone gathered to watch tv that night (sorry, ayat drama sikit). My cousins even told me the night before, foxes were fighting and chasing each other on the roof. The days were fun but too bad it felt like the weekends ended too fast.

Centipede sting would definitely be very painful!!!...ouch~_~
Image from: Leica Birding Blog

p/s: Before going back to kl, i took a quick sneak into my late grandfather's room. The room was empty and so quiet. Standing alone there, for a moment, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about him.. (Al-Fatihah..)

"State your problem...."

2009-11-18T23:43:00.000-08:00

hehehe...

i just submitted my research progress report to the grad school office a few days ago. And I just want to share a bit here what i wrote in there...

Among all of the empty blanks that I had to fill in, there was one that asked for:-

State if you encountered any problem in relation to your research

And i straight away had the answer in my mind:

The processing time that the office take to allow any purchase of chemicals/lab consumables is always too long and slow.

Imagine, how diff would it be for you to stick to your schedule and to try to finish your study in 2 year time, if every time you want to purchase anything for your research, you need to wait for 4 months for the office to release the PO (for allocation of money for Purchase Order). (My friend even had to wait for 6 months). And unfortunately, some suppliers send the items only after the PO has been released...

Hrmmm, not very sure if the staffs really had a lot of works to do coz many times when i went up to the office, i saw some of them were fbking, watching youtube, and playing games. they should prioritize their work and stop giving hard time to others...

So far, many complaints have been made to the office (dunno, i 'harassed' them twice a week, so maybe half of the complaints was from me), hopefully next sem, they'll work better... ~_~!

Battle of the ads

2009-11-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

The battle of the ads has started long ago in other countries but just recently in Malaysia...

Not long ago, the P1 W1MAX broadband (one new broadband service provider in Malaysia) released their new ad called 'potong (cut)'. The ad became quite famous until one time, it became the 'talk' of the locals and even was brought into the cabinet (instead of other more important issues...).

Interestingly, almost at the end of the ad, there was a flash of an image of a telephone cable (which is very synonym to the TMnet service provider) being cut by a pair of scissors. The cutting of the telephone cable symbolizes the 'potong' theme used by this new broadband provider. It suggests other people to make a transition to a better choice ( to p1 W1MAX in this case).

Interestingly, not long after that, the TMnet has creatively shot back the P1W1max ad by releasing a few ads especially on radio and in newspaper. While browsing through newspaper yesterday, i found myself became so absorbed and so much interested into this one new TMnet ad that I have never seen anywhere else before.

This TMnet ad shows a picture of a worried-looking man driving his car with a P-sticker (percubaan/on trial) on the front screen. Maybe he just passed his driving test. And I think the message that TMnet tries to bring to our attention is people should not believe a 'new and inexperienced' provider if the 'old' one is already good enough. The message was so funny and has subtle hidden meaning...

"btw, encik, have you wear your seatbelt?...hehehe"

Ironically, the 'P' that is used on the sticker 'happened' to look almost the same as the 'P' used in the P1 W1MAX logo ^ _ ^ ! hmmm, hehehe...

So, what would we as viewers and possible customers think when we see this 'battle of the ads'? And what benefits can we get from this?...

Honestly, I have no problem with this battle of the ads because the way I see it, I find it is quite creative and funny and able to attract attention from a lot of people. And by having more and more choices of broadband provider, we'll be the one who will get a lot of benefits:-

more broadband choices
more promotions
hopefully, better service
more plans and packages to choose from (from slower to faster connection and from cheaper to more expensive plan)

I find it good for service/product providers to have numbers of competitors because as they compete with each other, they will also improve their services or products. They don't only compete with each other to provide the best service or products, but they also offer a lot of good promotions to attract more customers. In all, customers will be the ones to get the advantages at the end.

Last but not least, in my opinion, a lot of service providers and product manufacturers in Malaysia need a lot of healthy competitions from others. Some providers provide very expensive but low quality services (slow, boring, repetitive shows(*hint*), outdated...etc). I just hope soon in the future, Malaysia will be among one of the best service providers at least in South East Asia region ^_^

p/s: peace, no real war...or...battle :p

Peribahasa

2009-10-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

"Sakit mata memandang, sakit lagi hidung yang menghidu..."

...kata Karam Singh Walia dalam Buletin Utama malam td regarding isu buang sampah merata-rata di KL. Rata-rata yang tertangkap malam tu adalah orang2 yg mengusahakan rumah tumpangan, kedai makanan and pekerja2 yang buat penempatan sementara di tapak2 pembinaan. Papan tanda dh tersergam indah, tapi masih ramai yang buat2 tak nampak juga...

Memang kadang-kadang kita ketawa bila dengar peribahasa Karam Singh Walia. Tp hakikatnya Mr Karam Singh Walia and the krew memang akan jejak orang sampai ke lubang cacing especially orang2 tak bertanggungjawab yg mencemarkan alam.

Tadi sambil tension-tension incubate antibody dalam lab, sempat jugak browse cari peribahasa2 yg pernah diubah oleh Mr Karam Singh Walia. Tunjuk budak2 kat lab semua tak boleh berhenti gelak

Antara peribahasa Mr Karam Singh Walia
1. Kemana tumpahnya kuah, kalau tidak ke bawah.

2. Tiada rotan, pelempang berguna juga.

3. Biar lambat, asalkan tak cepat.

4.Gajah mati meninggalkan gading, udang harimau mati
meninggalkan kulit, manusia mati meninggal dunia.

5.Sedangkan lidah lagi tergigit, inikan pula makanan di
dalam mulut.

6. Harapkan pagar, pagar tidak boleh diharap.

7. Alang-alang mandi, biar guna sabun.

8. Cubit paha kanan, paha kiri tak rasa apa-apa pun.

9. Ikut hati mati, ikut rasa merasa.

10. Sehari selambar benang, lama-lama benang habis.

11. Hendak seribu daya, tak hendak tak apa.

12. Membujur lalu melintang pukang.

13.Kalau sudi katakan sudi, kalau tak sudi boleh blah !!

note: Bila fikir-fikir balik, kita hidup atas bumi ni macam parasite. Hidup untuk cari kebahagiaan dunia dan akhirat untuk diri sendiri ajer. Lain-lain hal tentang bumi, kita tak endah. Ambil sumbernya terlalu banyak tapi tak pernah pulangkan secukupnya balik.

Fikirlah sendiri kan...^_^!

Big Weird Thing on Road

2009-09-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I almost hit a little gray cat who was trying to cross a road. I didnt see any remain of the cat when i used the road later in the evening, so i guessed the cat managed to cross the road safely. Well, cat or dog trying to cross a road is quite a normal thing to see. But the thing that I saw this morning was like "what?"...

I saw a big frozen beef (or pork or whatever it was) on a side of a sharply cornered road!

And believe me, it was almost the same size with the one shown in the picture!

It is weird to see how big things like beef, sofa, mattress etc could be left like that on the road, especially on rural or suburban Malaysian road. Even weirder to know that the owner could miss something big like that without even realizing it '~'!!. I am not trying to blame anyone but this usually happens as a result of irresponsible lorry driver who loads too much items in their lorry without paying attention to safety and limitation.

Pity all those road users who met with accident or had to go through traffic congestion just because there was one big weird thing on the road.

SE T303

2009-09-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

My friend has been telling me to replace my old cellphone with a new one. It has been for a couple of months since the old cellphone got some problems with the sound transmission, voice sometimes could not be heard from the other end.

So yesterday, i went to the Mines to look for a new cellphone and there was like a shopping heaven for cellphone on level 4. So, I looked around and asked some details on a few cellphones that I think I like...

cellphone guy: Okay, I show u. Do you like playing games?
Me: Why?
cellphone guy: This phone is one of the best. If u want to play tennis, u can just swing it. if you want to play bowling, u just swing ur hand too. It can detect movement!!
Me: Really? ("wow"..i was kinda amazed)
cellphone guy: Sure, and....if u want to play football game, put it on the floor and u can kick it
Me: chiss..(then, burst into laughter...)

He sure a funny one. I ended up buying my cellphone there. But I just bought a simple one. I bought a new Sony Ericsson T303 for 2++. Charger and handsfree were included. Plastic casing (protector) and pouch-bag for cellphone were given for free.

Uninvited guests???

2009-09-27T17:43:00.000-07:00

I was ironing my clothes when I heard the salam. I looked at my sister and my sister looked back at me. I turned off the iron and went out to check who the guests were. Three boys, aged around 12 year old, were grinning at me telling me "Kami datang nak beraya kak". The only problem is, it was 1.00pm on Friday afternoon, the time when Muslim guys should get ready to go for Friday prayer...

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak

2009-08-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

Ramadhan has come!! And I should start thinking on how to improve myself during this holly fasting Ramadhan. In previous years, I used to not to have any to-do-list for Ramadhan. So, I just abstained myself from food and drink and prayed tarawikh whenever i like. Come to think of it, it was like feeling 'empty' from inside. But fortunately, slowly, i came to realize that I should do something about it. Thanks to Allah SWT for opening the 'door' for me.

So I set my target. And I sit down and write down my list. It's not even a long list, just a short one, but I hope it can be the starting point for my bigger step...

May Allah SWT accept all my deeds and forgive me for all the mistakes that I have done.
May Allah SWT give me guidance and show me the correct path
May Allah SWT bless me with good health, success, good friends, and a big happy family
May Allah SWT bless me and everyone around me during this Holly Ramadhan...:)

Staining job...

2009-08-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

A full week of staining...
Currently, I'm doing Hematoxylin & Eosin staining and Immunohistochemical staining, and all these stainings are due before October...fuhhh

Between lies and truth

2009-08-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

Last night when I was watching a tv show, I was so amazed by the fact that people can tell liar by just looking at the other's face/gesture. So, being curious, I then went to search online to get more details about how to tell between lies and truth. And surprisingly, I found out that I always do all these "lies-signals" whenever I had to lie about something. Well, we all did lie before, didn't we...

So, just to share, these are the things that I found out. And knowing these "signals" might also be useful for us to prevent ourself from being cheated in the future...

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

Fake happiness

Only muscles surrounding the mouth are used.
Muscles at other parts of the face (i.e. eyes, forehead, cheeks) are not involved
Often used for polite smiles, forced smiles.

Natural Smile

Many muscles move INVOLUNTARILY
Cheeks and jaw moves up
nose may wrinkles
Eyes become squished and produce crow-feet.

BODY GESTRURE

Body language of liars

Avoiding eye contact
Sudden/excessive hand touching/scratching nose, mouth, neck, throat.
Emotion displayed is delayed/stay extra-longer than it normally is.
Expression does not fit words (i.e. face looks disgusted but lips say "i love you")
Expression only involves muscles around mouth area. Naturally, expression that is honest involves more facial muscles (like eyes, forehead, cheeks)
A guilty person gets defensive. An innocent person will often go on the offensive.
Not making direct statement. Instead they imply answers.
unnecessarily detailed-explanations.
If you detect someone is lying, try to change the topic. If you notice that he/she looks more relief, then that might be the sign that he/she is lying. Someone who is not guilty will often look confused when you change the subject.
Pupils dilate.
After he/she explain about something and when ur turns to talk has come, paused momentarily. If she/he suddenly looks uncomfortable during the paused, that might be a bad sign.

The Beautiful "Ugly"

2009-07-20T01:41:00.000-07:00

Ugly. That might be the word used to describe the appearance of the "Ugly Bat Boy". But perhaps, he is still the same adorable cat who needs food, shelter, and love in order to survive...

Ugly Bat Boy, or more commonly called as Ugly, is an 8 year old cat who live in a veterinary hospital in Exeter, New Hampshire. His previous owner gave him up when he was small. His recent owner, Dr Stephen Bassett, a veterinarian from that hospital, says that Ugly is a normal cat...except that he is ugly.

Ugly is bald in most places. His grayish thin skin and numerous wrinkles on his head can be seen easily. Although he is bald in most places, awkwardly, he still has messy flowing "mane" around his neck and his chest. The specific reason for this awkward appearance is unknown, but to me, it might be due to some rare genetic mutations that cause the baldness. I believe so because I found out from a few other website that Ugly's sister, who was brought to the hospital before, is bald too...

Ugly has recently become famous. His pictures and videos have been distributed widely over the Internet. Some of the staffs from the vet hospital also said that Ugly has become one of the main attractions in that hospital. He is free to "roam" anywhere he likes. However, I found out that most of the time, he just loves to sit near the computer at the receptionist counter. How lovely...Maybe coz he is feeling a little bit cold (since he has no fur), he tries to warm up his body using the heat generated by the computer.

To me, Ugly is lucky. Very very lucky. Despite of being ugly, people manage to see the beauty inside him. He gets good attention from the staffs of that hospital. Although I'm very far away, I just want to tell you all, I am delighted and happy to hear the story about Ugly. Thanks to all the staffs from that vet hospital for sharing their love with Ugly.

Ugly reminds me of my previous fat black cat, Taylor. He, well his story is not as amazing as Ugly, but he's still a very lovely cat like Ugly. He loved to sit on my study table, just next to my laptop, when I was doing my assignment. Most of the time, he would just gaze outside, looking at the cars and flying birds outside the window. Sometimes, he played with his toy mouse.

To get attention, he went messing around with my paperwork and biting up on my ipod cable. my friends called him "dumb cat". I could see why...

The name might not really matter in this case, whether it is Ugly, Dumb Cat...etc...it does not really matter. The most important thing is to treat them well and to share the love...share the love people!!!