I'm on Twitter

The lack of something to do today in office has lead me to join Twitter and write 3 blog posts, including this one, albeit being short, short posts.

So follow me tweet in Twitter!

Joining the Cause

The government's decision to build the 100 storey Mega Tower called the Warisan Merdeka is very much indeed worrying to say the lease.

That's why I'm joining the cause to support and promote the 1M Malaysians Reject 100-storey Mega Tower fan page on Facebook. Check out the box I attached at the bottom of the blog.

That's why, come next general election, InsyaAllah I'll be voting.

Come on fellow countrymen, lets make a change!

P90X Phase II

I'm entering Phase II of my second round of P90X, and here are my results so far.

Body Fat: 9.4%
Weight: 127lbs
Chest: 32.75'
Waist: 28.25'
Hips: 36.5'
Thigh: 19.25/19.5'
Arm: 12.5/13

I think on one of the body fat calculations, I miss calculated something. I don't believe I drastically decreased my body fat that much in just 1 month.

*Update
I figured I mistakenly calculated my 'before' body fat percentage.

Reasons Why I think We Shouldn't be Celebrating Halloween

In our nation's bid to become more 'Westernized' (read: night clubs, concerts etc), we are basically copycatting their every move. We are plagiarizing the Westerners. There is no integrity in that. Its almost like when Little Johnny's been copying his friends test answers all afternoon, and when his friend puts down 'I don't know' as an answer to a question he doesn't know, Little Johnny puts down on his, 'Neither do I'.

In one of our latest attempts on plagiarism, he are now adopting Halloween. The talk all over is about the October 31st celebration. Spooky indeed!

Now there are tons of reasons why this beautiful nation of ours shouldn't be celebrating such. Here's some of mine. But first, read a brief description and an article of what Halloween is all about.

Valentine's Day, anyone?

1. It has roots to the Christian holiday All Saint's Day. Now I know some Muslims out there are celebrating.
2. Historically, it was probably from the Celtic festival Samhain/Samuin, which roughly means 'Summer's End'. I don't believe we have such a season here. Adding to that, wearing ghost costumes, the undead, evil spirits etc just doesn't sound right. Again, Muslims, listen.

3. Halloween was brought to the US by Irish immigrants back in the days. That's why they celebrate it over there. Who brought it here? The TV?

After this, to become even more western, we might want to consider celebrating Saint Patrick's Day, the 4th of July, or even Groundhog day.

P90X, Take Two

So I finally got the urge to rejuvenate my long abandoned blog and tell the whole world (any surviving readers, at least) that I'm doing my second round of p90X! Bring it!


I actually started doing the program the first week of October. This time, I got my sister to do it. Hope it works for her as well. The results, if they come out, will be on Jan 2nd. Until then, we'll see were this journey takes us.

Here are my measurements right before I started the program.

Body Fat: 20.32%
Weight: 134lbs
Chest: 31.5'
Waist: 29'
Hips: 36.5'
Thigh: 18/19'
Arm: 12/13

Pictures? Depends on the final results!

2012

An earthquake in China, a massive mudslide in Brazil, a cyclone in India, a volcanic eruption in Iceland, cold winters in UK caused by low solar activity. One might be forgiven for thinking that these were scenes from the movie 2012.

In all reality, these are just some of the natural disasters that's been happening over the past few days. Frightening, much?? You better be!

China earthquake
Brazil mudslide
Indian cyclone
Iceland Volcano
UK winter

Antara Dua Darjat

In the US, in the not so distance past.....

"Eh aku seminggu ni makan McDonald's je."

"Eh kenapa ni? Ko takde duit ke? Kesiannye."

In Malaysia, present....

"Eh aku seminggu ni makan McDonald's je."

"Wah gile kaya ko!"


Yes, I'm definitely loving it!

Malaysian Football

I've been wanting to write another article concerning Malaysian Football ever since their historic 2009 Sea Games win last December, but never really got it going. Sigh...

Being it 20 years since the last time Malaysian soccer tasted gold in the Sea Games, even after 3 months since the success, I still think its not too late to congratulate the team. The team played relatively well during the tournament, considering the stakes that were against them, including the reported flight problems, and their label of underdogs. The nation of ours have been longing for a taste of soccer success, and these young guns duly obliged in delivering the silverware.

But lets not get too carried away shall we? For we still a far way to go.

Since the games are biannual, it means that there had been nine unsuccessful attempts in between the two golds.

This is Ridiculous

This article published in Utusan Malaysia on 14th February 2010 was just outright ridiculous.

This just goes to prove what we people already knew about the BN government: They're just a bunch of suns of beaches.

Malaysia So Hot

I remember back in the days when I was at the States, during fall, winter or spring, we would complain about the cold, cold weather. The Weather Channel website would always give the temperature outside, then include a 'feels like' temperature. The feels like temperature usually depends on the wind velocity, precipitation, etc, which usually makes it feel colder than it really is.

I checked out Kuala Lumpur's weather today and got this


Not that 34C is not hot enough already, but the feels like temperature is even higher!

Car Comparing

It's a well documented fact that we as Malaysians, pay more for our cars. Ever since the dawn of the Proton Saga launch, some 25 years ago, imported car prices have cost at least 30-60% of the equivalent locally produced vehicles. Malaysians dreaming of a City or Vios would have to settle for a Persona or Myvi. Those wishing for a Wish or Stream would have to be content with an Exora or the Alza. All for the reason of protecting our 'national pride', Proton. Well, as the Proton saga continues with no definite end in sight, lets check out the selling price for cars outside Malaysia and dwell on what if's.

Honda Accord
The Honda Accord is quite the pinnacle of car manufacturing giants, Honda. Ever since its launch in 1976, the Accord has sold tens of millions worldwide. The price for a 2.4L Accord in Malaysia is at a hefty price of RM166035.


Its price in the US? $ 21855. Equivalent to RM74683!

Toyota Vios
Those with a bit of extra money looking for a compact economy car, its always the Honda City or the Toyota Vios. The car is sold at roughly around RM75000 here in Malaysia.


Called the Toyota Yaris Sedan over in the states, the car is sold at a starting price of $14165, which equals to RM48400.

Volkswagen New Beetle
The New Beetle is quite a common car at the US. So common is the beetle that it is even available at regular car rentals. That doesn't seem to be the case here in Malaysia as the selling price for the car is RM140000. The car is considered a luxury car here in Malaysia because of that price tag.


In the States, the car is selling for as low as $18700, equivalent to RM64000 only!

MINI Cooper
Here's another 'luxury' compact here in Malaysia with its mind bobbling price of RM238560. That is a real hefty price considering the small size of the car.


It's price in the States? The MSRP is nothing but $19500. Thats only RM66635. Take that!

BMW
Now for some serious luxury. The BMW has always been my dream car, albeit never actually driven one. The sheer looks of the car was always enough to mesmerize me. That's true beauty. The usual BMW 5 series you find in Malaysia is the BMW 530d and its close variants, nicely priced at RM376800.


By comparison, the BMW 535i, which, by model number is better than the 530d, sells for $51250, equivalent to just half of the Malaysian price, RM175130! Guess I'll need to sleep on.

Ferrari
Enter Sexy.


This is the 2007 Ferrari f430 Spider. The base price in the US is $193000. The equivalent cost in Malaysia would be RM660000. That's considerably lower than the RM1.3M you'd have to pay to own one in Malaysia.

The conclusion is that the imported cars in Malaysia are priced at least double it's price elsewhere.

Surprised? Disappointed? Wth? Don't be. Because this, is Boleh Land.

Malaysian Consumers

It's quite obvious that Malaysians tend to be quite on the low side when it comes to anything regarding consuming. We tend to waste, we tend to neglect, and we tend to be naive (among others) when it comes to consuming. And most importantly, most of us know nothing about the power and rights of the consumer. Luckily, this has not gone without notice and the relevant organizations are doing their bits to help Malaysians know and appreciate their role, power, responsibility and rights when being a consumer.

Recently, I was in a Tesco in Melaka when I experienced just how naive some of our consumers may be. I was waiting for a friend running his errands inside Tesco when I noticed one of the kiosks outside the supermarket was selling slimming jeans.

Yes you heard me the first time. Not slim jeans, but slimming jeans. Jeans that supposedly shreds your fat when you wear them.

From the poster at the kiosk, the jeans were supposedly made in Korea, and there were three sequential drawings (not even photographs) of the effects of wearing the jeans over time. Amused by the crowd the kiosk attracted, I decided to pop up an ear and go listen to what the seller had to say about such 'astonishing break through technology'.

The jeans turned out not to be jeans after all. They were but thick tights that were dyed in jeans like colors with pockets drawn onto them. The selling price was 50 ringgit. The jeans were designed for ladies. And here's how the conversation went between myself, the seller, and an over zealous lady costumer who was planning to buy the jeans (OZLCWWPTBTJ) :

Myself: So what are the jeans like?
Seller: (probably not hearing me properly because of the crowd) Even guys can wear it.
OZLCWWPTBTJ: Yes, you can wear it underneath your pants. Wear it like you would wear tights. That should be ok.
Myself: (asking the seller) How would it make you skinnier?
OZLCWWPTBTJ: They have infrared.

(As things were just about to become interesting, my friend came and we had to cut short the conversation)

Even IF the jeans did work, you would suspect a person wearing it over time would come to look like this, right? :)


Unless, that is, they come up with a shirt that would go with them jeans.