Strange happenings

There are a couple of things I really want to blog about. And no, it can't wait :P

Tonight after badminton I went to eat with a fellow badminton player. (that is a common occurence, by the way :P )

We chose a table, and I left immediately to order my food. When I came back, there was a middle-aged lady (I say lady, but...not for her classiness, okay?) sitting at the table. Facing away from us, watching the TV that was at the coffee shop.

At first I thought, okay, she probably just ordered something for take-away and was waiting for her food. But as we sat there longer, eating...she didn't move away. I was thinking, what on earth did she order? Did she order something or is she waiting for someone? Or is she just here to watch TV? ('cos her eyes were glued to the TV...it could be boredom...or interest!)

Later she got up and left the table. I thought her food was done...but turned out that she had gone to sit at another table (an empty one this time). So I think she really was there to watch TV. lol

But you know, I think there were other empty tables around earlier. I don't know why she didn't sit at one of those...maybe ours was the best spot to watch TV :P

The second anecdote is simpler. We had ordered drinks, and then my friend went off to order his food. Then the drinks arrived...and the guy just walked off without asking for the money. (that has never happened before as far as I can remember) He even came back to a table next to ours to wipe it clean, and I had to ask him "How much?" I kinda wonder...was he waiting for my friend (a guy) to come back before he came asking for the money? -_- (it's true that he usually pays and then I pay him back...)

The journey: Year 2

Read Year 1 here.

October 2004: Barcelona


I have no idea why we decided t go so far away...but like the Italy trip, I was only following the others. It wasn't until later that I actually had ideas about where I wanted to go :P

(The Sagrada Familia would be an appropriate photo here, but I think it's really ugly so I'll put this one instead :P Not that it's much prettier...but it's a lot more unique ;) )

January 2005: Bretagne (Dinard, St. Malo, Mont St. Michel, Rochefort-en-Terre)

Bretagne is actually a region in the north-west of France. (It is called Brittany in English) I can't remember why, but we asked our teachers to organise us a trip to Bretagne. (maybe we learned about the region in our lessons?) I am glad they did, because some of these places would be rather hard to discover on our own.

We visited Mont St. Michel and St. Malo, two very touristic destinations in the region. We also went to two small towns (or more like villages), our teachers saying that they wanted let us see the smaller towns instead of the larger ones like Rennes or Nantes. (I did go to Rennes later on, but that'll be in another year ;) )

Dinard, a small fishing village

St. Malo, a fortified city. The ramparts here surround the whole city.
(I tried to look for photos of only scenery for the purpose of this series of posts, but unfortunately I have no suitable photo for this town :/ )

Mont St. Michel

There is one road that goes round and round, right to the top. And then we walk the same road down.

Rochefort-en-Terre, another little village

April 2005: Paris


Believe it or not, I did not visit Paris until my second spring in France. Of course, I arrived there at the beginning, and I went there again for my flight back to Malaysia the first summer, but I never really visited Paris. So in April that year, we decided to remedy that. (If I'm not mistaken, it was only Hidayah and I who hadn't been there yet)

I guess Year 2 was rather a barren year on the touristic side...only three actual destinations to speak of. But hang on...things will pick up ;)

Recap:
Oct 2004: Barcelona
Jan 2005: Dinard
Jan 2005: St. Malo
Jan 2005: Mont St. Michel
Jan 2005: Rochefort-en-Terre
April 2005: Paris

Of a messy story

Some time ago, a friend said that some books were written as if they were only waiting to be made into movies. I couldn't really think of a book that I could fit into that category, but now I've found one.

I just read Stephen Coonts' Deep Black Biowar. It is about a scientist that goes missing. The scientist's friend happens to be in a top secret security agency and it is this team that is working on the case.

(Warning: There might be spoilers ahead...though I don't really care if I dish out any spoilers for this book)

The book is full of action, and full of characters. My main gripe is that the whole story is really messy; the agents run here and there, and there are too many characters (good and bad) to keep track of everyone.

Most of the story consists of telling you how the agents are working. The tools and weapons they use (all very high-tech), how they get out of tight spots... this is why I think it might actually be better as a movie.

Most of the time we don't know what the characters are thinking. There are two agents who are in love with each other, and the only thing you hear them thinking about is the other person's safety (and whether their hormones are preventing them from acting rationally, but that's about the same thing) And there is one wisecracking agent...I'm not sure we hear any of his thoughts.

Then there is the "punchline", the "thing" that unravels the case. Pancreatic cancer cannot be cured. At the end of the story we find out that the scientist has disappeared because he had pancreatic cancer (amongst other reasons). His friend thought that he had been cured. But the other agent (the wisecracking one) heard from someone else that it couldn't be cured, and somehow put two and two together.

But I don't know how he actually made that connection. There are little bits of information scattered all over the book, and when you read it for the first time you have no idea whether it will be relevant later. And when you get to the part where you find out that it was relevant...you've most likely forgotten it and don't even know where to look.

In the end, the actual storyline is really very simple. There was just too much unnecessary stuff (including the action) in the way. Which made for a really tiring read.

#replaceawordinafamousquotewithduck

There is a hashtag going around on Twitter. It is "replace a word in a famous quote with duck".

Here are a few good ones I found.

Some pretty sound "duck" advice:

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a duck."
I am a duck! *pretends to be wise* lol

"Keep your friends close and your duck closer."
Saw this one a few times...I guess it fits with what some other people wrote: "Ducks are a man's best friend."

"Let he who is without sin throw the first duck."

"Ask not what your duck can do for you - ask what you can do for your duck."
Very popular, this one. I think I saw it more than 10 times.

"I Only Have Two Things In This World My Word And My Ducks And I Don't Break Either For Anyone #Scarface"
I don't know Scarface...but I like this phrase. Though why the person needed to put all those capitals in, I do not know... -_- So let's have it without those annoying capitals (and with some punctuation):
"I only have two things in this world: my word and my ducks. And I don't break either for anyone."
Great principle, huh? Let's all take a stand against duck abuse! (now that sounds good...an inadvertent pun for drug abuse :P )

There are quotes that made me wonder what the original word was:

"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding ducks than holding hands?"
This made me search for the original phrase; turns out that "ducks" is replacing "guns" here. I knew I'd heard it before...

"Be nice to ducks on your way up because you meet them on your way down."
And here "ducks" replace "people"; I've also heard this one before, but it's rather lame, especially with ducks...

"I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a duck."
Now for this one I didn't have to search...I know that it was a toilet seat! :P (took a little thinking to recall that, though)

"A woman's greatest asset is her duck." - Alex Comfort
I should get one! (but actually it was beauty. Ceh. :P )

Then there's this one, that conjured up for me an image of ducks on a hillside.
"The hills are alive with the sound of duck." *quack ♪ quack ♫ quack ♪*

There are also those from Star Wars fans:

The most popular one seems to be "May the duck be with you." But what about "May duck force be with you"? :P I think I prefer the latter...though it might not be so easily recognisable as a quote from Star Wars (and it's only from me...no one else seems to like duck force :P ).

And this one is not bad either...imagine a war between ducks and...whatever else :P
"You don't know the POWER of the Duck Side." -Duck Vader.
Haha, I like that the person put "Duck Vader"!

So...do you think you can come up with some good ones? I can't...I admit it! lol

Are you a human?

I just downloaded PDF Creator. Before I could download it, I had to prove that I wasn't a robot. I was directed to this page:


I find it pretty funny...and it's quite nice of them to take the time to make this rather humourous page. There was also an audio clip being played to tell me what to do (read the text on the right).

And as for the e-mail they sent me, it started like this:

Hello WP,

You're human, right?

[the rest of the message]

I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I love it when programmers (or in this case, website designers) have a sense of humour :D

More things to find space for

I finally bought a new laptop. I have been wanting to get one for ages, since my old one heats up horribly and lags a lot.

Unfortunately I am not very well-versed in computer stuff (software engineer my foot!) so I kept hesitating over different models.

So now I finally chose one and bought it (quickly), so there's no turning back. At any rate, it should be better than my old one.

I have been using Acer Aspire 5044NWLCi (whatever those letters mean), and this new one is a Toshiba Satellite C640 (it seems to be the oldest model available on the market, but whatever, I'm not that hi-tech :P )

I won't post a photo of the laptop itself, because it is a dull black :P Instead I shall post a photo of the 18 free gifts that came with the purchase, and the lucky draw "prize". (you will see why it is in quotation marks)


I'm not sure whether the free gifts were sponsored by Toshiba or by the IT Fair. (that's where I bought the laptop (by the way I really don't like the word notebook to describe laptop, to me a notebook is the paper kind, and using that word for a computer breeds confusion)) I was given a free gift voucher that I had to go and exchange at the redemption counter. The only thing I know for sure is that G-shark has something to do with those gifts :P

So, let's list them out, shall we?

1. A G-shark recycle bag
Very useful for carrying the other 17 free gifts. :P

2. Glossy paper for printing photos (5 pieces)
Useless for me...

3. Mouse pad
I'm not sure I'll use it...I haven't used a mouse pad for ages.

4. Wireless mouse
I have a wireless keyboard-and-mouse set, and I only use the keyboard because I've heard that using a wireless mouse is bad for Minesweeper. (But come to think of it, I should use the wireless mouse, and only plug in my current mouse when I'm playing Minesweeper. Hmm...that's a thought.) But maybe I can use this mouse (the new one, I mean) if I'm bringing my laptop somewhere to use. It might be easier to pack :P

5. Keyboard protector
I've never actually used one of these before...maybe I'll try it. It'll make my keyboard easier to clean. (or more like, I won't have to clean that keyboard!)

6. Headphones with microphone
Probably the most useful gift of the lot. I'll certainly try it out...headphones are more comfortable than earphones.

7. A pen
It's blue! That's a good thing, because I've received several pens of late, but they're all black. (not that I really need a blue pen :P )

8. USB LED light
I guess it might come it useful...but most probably not.

9. USB hub
I have been using the exact same type of USB hub. Except that it's purple. And it doesn't work very well (probably because it's old)...only some devices can be used on it. So I hope this new one will work fine for everything. The drawback is its shape...some bulky devices can't be plugged in. So I still need another hub.

10. Laptop lock
Again, I guess it might be useful...one day?

11. Marker straps
These aren't too bad. One of those handy things to have around the house. They're for you to keep wires from entangling themselves in each other (No mating, wires! No mingling...just keep to yourself! lol )

12. Laptop fan
I have the exact same thing, in white.

13. All-in-one USB card reader
I just bought the exact same thing, in the same colour, maybe one or two months ago. The only difference is that the one I bought has a brand on it (Pixon). (Branded goods you know! lol) Unfortunately it doesn't work too well...and neither does this new one.

14. CD-R

15. DVD-R

16. CD/DVD pouch
The CD is in one side and the DVD in the other. A 3-in-1 gift. Surprisingly, there's only one of those. I thought that with 18 gifts, there'd be a lot more of multiple-in-one gifts...

17. Network cable (1-metre long)

18. LCD screen cleaner
Like I'll use it...

When I went to get those gifts, the guy at the redemption counter pointed me to the lucky draw counter. He told me, "If you're lucky you will get a Kaspersky antivirus, but most likely you will get a book."

So here's how the lucky draw works. You fill in your details (e-mail, phone number, probably to receive spam in the future) on a computer screen and then click on a button. There are prize icons all around the edge of the screen and the blinking "frame" will stop on one of those. And most of the time it will be the "?" picture. In that case they will lead you to a transparent booth next to the lucky draw counter and ask you to catch pieces of flying paper.

Do I hear "huh?" :P

The transparent booth is raised and there's a fan below it. The floor is like an air vent, and there are small pieces of paper on the floor. You get into the booth, they switch on the fan, and then you have a certain amount of time to catch as many pieces of flying paper as you can. If you catch more than 20, you receive a Kaspersky antivirus. If you catch less, you get a Kaspersky notebook. (which is what I did)

I have to recharge the laptop battery before using it, so I can't try it out tonight. That will have to wait till tomorrow. I hope I won't regret this purchase...and also the switch to Windows 7. :s

Fixing it

This morning I was listening to Fly.FM in the car. (I recently started listening to it, after I had to reprogram my radio channels (and reset the clock!) in the car after changing the battery -_- ) They have this program called "fix it". A caller will call up with a problem they want fixed, and the Pagi Rock Crew will try to fix it for the caller.

It was my first time listening to it, but from what I heard, I think it was a recorded program (they take a call at a certain time, they fix (successfully or not) the problem and then they air it)

This morning's problem was a girl who called in complaining about a colleague's "gedikness". (it took me some time to catch that word, I tell you!) She said that the girl went about talking sweetly to the bosses, etc. And she said that everyone at the office (I'm betting mostly girls) couldn't stand her (the Miss Gedik).

I believe the caller was called Soraya...and as for the DJs, I'll just call them the girl DJ and the guy DJ :P

The Miss Gedik in question was called Hannah, and among Soraya's complaints were that she kept telling people about her Japanese name (Akira; hey isn't that a guy's name?)

I couldn't really get what Soraya wanted the Pagi crew to fix for her...I mean, okay, you find her annoying. But...then?

The guy DJ did suggest that Soraya was just jealous. And she denied it vehemently. (I believe her, by the way) Whereas the girl DJ said that she could totally relate because she knew a few girls who were gedik as well.

Then they said they would call Hannah to "fix it" for Soraya. (Huh? Okay...) And if I didn't get it wrong, all three (the two DJs and Soraya) were on the phone together to talk to Hannah.

When Hannah answered the phone, the guy DJ (I think) asked "Is that Hannah?" And she replied, "There is only Akira here, [...]" *gag* And when she heard why they were calling, she said "They're just jealous!" "They" being Soraya (come to think of it, did they say that it was Soraya?") and the other colleagues, because they told her that "everyone" was sick of her gedikness.

Now here I got confused about who was talking (between Soraya and the girl DJ), because I couldn't tell their voices apart. So I can't be sure that all of them were talking at the same time (on speakerphone), but I base that conclusion on the guy DJ saying to them "The three of you have to calm down" several times. (the three girls did raise their voices a bit, and started talking at the same time)

The girl DJ's line (at least two times) was that Hannah was using "unfair methods" to get ahead at work while the other girls were "really working". Hmm...I don't think she can be sure about that.

And Hannah's line was "Just because I'm beautiful..." (Wow, the girl has some arrogance!) She was adamant about not changing, and the guy DJ was more or less in her defense, saying that Hannah was "just being herself".

Being a radio DJ is sure difficult...you have to make sure you keep the caller happy, even if you don't agree with them. And you can't antagonize the other party either. I guess that's why having two DJs is great, they can each take a side :P

You can probably see by now that I am neither on Hannah's nor on Soraya's side. I mean, I can understand that Soraya finds Hannah's "gedikness" annoying. But to bring it to national radio? If you find her annoying, talk to her yourself! If you need a couple of radio DJs behind you...well, just don't do anything about it, chicken! (and also, what about all those other colleagues who are supposedly sick of the gedik girl as well? Couldn't she have gotten their support?)

This reminds me of the other two radio things I've written about: what a man is really like and why do women lie about their age? The first one being similar in terms of shaming someone on national radio, and the second on DJs being forced (I hope!) to be nice to their callers.

After the call, the DJs looked at Twitter messages coming in. They read out a few that were against Hannah. What I wonder, though, is whether there were any against Soraya. Or do (almost) all people think that that's the way to "solve a problem"?

Haih. You can't "fix" things like this. By going on radio, you might just make it worse.

One day only!

Last Friday I joined different people for lunch because all the Js were either not around or unavailable for lunch. Actually, I asked one of the guys (let's call him C) to call me along when he was going to the canteen. And he told everyone (okay, actually two people) who joined us that I was with them for "one day only!"

Then today the Js were all absent so I went to join them again. And C said, "I thought you said one day only?" -_-"

I didn't say that, you did! lol

By the way, when I wrote about the Js, I mentioned that sometimes some other people join us. One such person is P. He doesn't speak Hokkien, he speaks Cantonese. (so the medium of communication between the two of us is English) And today at lunch (he was there, need I say?) someone else spoke to me in Hokkien, with P just opposite us. After a while, I asked P whether he understood when we spoke Hokkien, and his reply was, "About 30% lah."

Hahaha...that's about the same as my Cantonese :P

So if I speak Hokkien and he speaks Cantonese...will it be like a chicken speaking with a duck? LOL

The journey: Year 1

I mentioned some posts back that I had something to blog about. I'm finally done choosing the necessary photos, so let's roll!

I wanted to document the places I've been during my stay in France...and that kind of post would be kinda "bland" without any photos, don't you think? ;)

So here are the places I discovered, with each town only being mentioned once, dated the first time I "discovered" it. (I'm breaking this down to seven posts, for the seven years I spent in France.)

September 2003: Angoulême


The town which became my home for two years. It might be small, but it's not that small...it's still the "head" of the department of Charente. And its bus service puts Malaysian towns to shame (yes, even KL).

October 2003: Bordeaux


We went to Bordeaux on a trip organised by Stéphane, our responsable (the person in charge of us in Angoulême). He got us an English-speaking tour guide, since we have just arrived and couldn't really understand "normal" French yet (only simple and very slow French :P ).

I can't remember much of Bordeaux... I wanted to visit it again later, but by then I was in Lyon and it was a little hard to get to Bordeaux (one's in the east and the other's in the west...)

October 2003: Tours


During our first one-week break, the whole lot of us from Angoulême went to Tours to visit the other half of our batch.

November 2003: La Rochelle


For Raya, the seniors in La Rochelle organised a gathering, which we as juniors duly attended :P I remember that it was very windy...and we did not get to really see La Rochelle's beauty until the second time we went there (for CNY), probably because the first time the weather wasn't so good (I can't really remember)

January 2004: Limoges


We went to Limoges to see Cécile, one of our French teachers. It's rather close to Angoulême. There wasn't that much to see...but well, it was fun ^_^

January 2004: St. Lary


Another trip organised for us, we were taken on a ski trip in the Pyrénées (and it was the first time we saw snow!)

February 2004: Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice (Italy)

This was our first ever "overseas" trip, with we four girls from Angoulême (Mimi, Hidayah, Maisarah and myself) together with Firdaus.

the Coliseum in Rome

My memory of Rome is of it being rather dirty, though I can't be sure that that is true :P I didn't look at the map at all during this first trip, but followed the others around.

David in Florence

I can't remember much of Florence at all. I didn't like it very much...maybe because I can't appreciate the art (like David here).

the leaning tower of Pisa...well, you know what it is

As for Pisa...well, there's nothing much to see other than this :P

gondolas (and snow) in Venice

It snowed when we were in Venice...which I will remember probably forever, because everyone told us that we were very lucky to see that, because it doesn't snow often in Venice. But that also meant that it was very cold! :P

April 2004: Futuroscope (Poitiers)


Another organised trip! Futuroscope is a science theme park in Poitiers.

Recap:
Sept 2003: Angoulême
Oct 2003: Bordeaux
Oct 2003: Tours
Nov 2003: La Rochelle
Jan 2004: Limoges
Jan 2004: St. Lary
Feb 2004: Rome
Feb 2004: Florence
Feb 2004: Pisa
Feb 2004: Venice
April 2004: Futuroscope (Poitiers)

(In italics are the places that are not in France)

Be patient, the rest will come...slowly, maybe, but surely :P

My mini Mini Cooper

Well, sorta. It is mini, at a 1:60 scale. And it was mine...for a few hours :P

We saw the KFC advertisement on TV about the Mini Cooper. I found it pretty nice, and WW was the "I want them all!" type. So one day I went to KFC with my colleagues for lunch to get a Mini Cooper.

Unfortunately it wasn't free...with the Olé meal (the Olé thing is a piece of (hot and spicy?) chicken in a tortilla with some exotic sauce and pineapple and tomato chunks) it costs RM5.50 and with any other purchase it costs RM8. I hesitated a bit when I saw the price...but I got one anyway...for WW (the car freak).

There were only four (out of six) types left...and there was no red one (the one I found nice on the TV ad) So I picked the nicest of the lot (in my opinion), and here it is:


Out of the box:


It even has a number plate (only a rear one though)



It is the pull-back kind...though without opening doors (I didn't even think about that till my mother asked, but WW said he "already checked")