Color Me Corby

I had a weird dream last night. I was Candace (Nickelodeon’s Phineas and Ferbs cartoon character). I think I’ve been watching too much cartoon. And worst, I was talking to a phone! No, not talking on the phone WITH SOMEONE at the other end talking. I was really talking to a phone! You don’t get me?

Well..

A phone was talking to me! Yikes~

To be precise, a Corby phone was talking to me. Yeahh, that's the latest mobile phone from Samsung. Comes in four vibrant colours - Jamaican Yellow, Minimal White, Cupid Pink and Festival Orange. Ergh. I must be thinking too much about the Corby phone!

I tried to recall as much as I can about the conversation with the PHONE (sounds reeeaaallly awkward!), well, this is more or less the conversation…

That Cupid Pink Corby is pretty annoying, eh? Hell yeah, it was! But you know what’s more amusing then the conversation? The colors in my dream. It was DAMN close to reality! When I woke up that morning, I wondered if the conversation REALLY took place!

But just to clear the air here okay, I DON’T LIKE PINK. I’m not in denial. I just happen to have a few pink in my wardrobe (lingerie included). *gulp*







.
.
.
.
FINE!!!!!!!!


For the record, I still have a BROWN t-shirt tucked underneath my pink cardi! Huh!

I SEE YOU: Avatar (2009)

Special thanks to Nuffnang for the free Premiere Screening tickets!

Did you know?

Did you know that Avatar wasn’t something that James Cameron came up with overnight?
Ok, that's a stupid did-you-know.

Did you know that James Cameron had this story idea AND SCRIPT since 1994?! (Wikipedia, 2009)
Yeahh, I know what you're thinking! I gasped when I read that too! But back then, he felt that the technology in 1994 didn’t meet the needs of what he wanted to do/create. Wise decision, Mr Cameron!


The Plot:

Basically, the Earth people (more like The US) had found a valuable diamond-like metal on Pandora. Pandora is inhabited by a primitive race called the Na’vi, and they aren’t too keen with the Earth humans invading their space.

Jake Sully, was brought into Pandora to replace his twin brother’s assignment in the Avatar project. The Avatar project sees human growing the Na’vi into an adult size, and thereafter; one human will be assigned to control one avatar each. But that wasn’t Jake’s only assignment. He has to learn their ways so that he can relocate them and the humans can take over.


And as cliché as any alien vs human movies, both sides have different objectives and a war breaks out. LOLS.


The Got-Me-Gasping-For-MOAARRR:

• Special Effects: Visually, this film is breath-taking. Ok, as if you didn’t expect this already! As the boyfriend kept repeating to himself after the movie, you just don’t know which is done using SFX, and which is not! Instead of just shoving them in your face, the SFX were weaved into the story magnificently, and they come off effortlessly.
• Pandora: UNBELIEVABLE how Cameron has imagined this world to be! The world of Pandora is really a world of his own. You will be captivated with the living things on Pandora and how it has a special connection to the Na’vi. Gosh, if there exist a Pandora, Cameron has to be greater than Eywa! *watch the movie to find out what or who Eywa is.
• Role Play: It’s amazing how much of the actors’ emotions you could see through their Avatar characters. But the Na’vis characters are the one that fascinates me most. They are a unique tribe with their own culture and belief system. It’s surreal. Plus, they don’t talk in a typical alien language like, kluk kluk klak klak kraak KRAAK. They have syntax, phonology, and semantics. Awesome, isn’t it? Well, Cameron HIRED a linguist to do this!
  

The Okay-Erm-Well-Yeah-Here-Goes-Nothing:

• The Storyline: Cameron may have come up with a lot of original ideas for this film, but the story was not one of them. If you take off all the special effects, the language, culture and belief system from the Na’vis, then it’s just another alien vs human movie. Plus, a white guy comes in, learns the ways of a more primitive people, then has a change in heart, admitted to it, tribe is angered, goes away, and comes back as a SUPERHERO! Wahaha… It’s like saying, “Oh look, it’s the time of the year again!” But hey, I still think it is an amazing movie! What’s ONE flaw compared to all the great stuff you get to see in this movie, right?!

The-One-Thing-No-One-Could-Come-To-An-Agreement:

• Some people thought that the movie was too long: I can’t agree more. Yes, it was a painstaking 3-hour torture in the cinema with little leg room.
• Some people thought that the earlier part of the movie is boring: Dude, this I cannot agree with AT ALL. How would you expect a story to have a story LINE when there isn’t Chapter ONE??
• But it was REALLY BORING: I beg to differ yet again. How are we to feel the special connection between the Na’vis and their mother nature if a lot of scene were to be cut? From the meaning of Eywa, to learning to ride the pa’li (direhorse) and summoning an ikran (banshee), I acknowledge Cameron for his intimate details.
  

Overall:

If given a chance (literally I meant, “If I have enough budget” - haha), I would watch this in its 3D version. It will take you on a ride and blow you away. After the movie, I went back home and dreamt of Pandora TWICE! I took it too seriously? NO. It was simply because it was THAT worthy!

Seriously, just recalling all the amazing scenes of Pandora brings a smile to my face, and a longing to watch the movie again. Uhuk2..


Rating:

4.85/5.0



* Previously, I had mistaken this movie to Avatar: The Airbender. Ahh, can't wait till next year for The Airbender!

5 Biggest Event of the Year (2009)

It’s almost the end of the year. Rewinding back to January 2009, A LOT has happened since then. Sugar, spice, and NOT everything nice has come this way. But here is the 5 BIGGEST EVENTS that has taken place this year. This list is in no particular order, and is regardless of sweet memories, or bad ones.

New Love: The Saga Begins

It was a tough fight – for him. I almost surrendered. Hahaha. Ever since I said YES LOVE send to 24627, I have been envied bad-mouthed by many. But put me down in any way you want, I know better of the person he loves. I thought to myself, why should I care? When I die, they are not the one who tells if I’m going to heaven or hell.

*Gambar kredit kepada Encik Faris Razid. Lepas ni amik lg yer! Okthxbye!*

Moral of the story: Stay calm, stay grounded. Thanks for all the challenges! Without enemies, a war could not have started. Without enemies, a war could not be WON!


Family: On Being Separated

This event has to be the BIGGEST BLOW of the year. It cannot be fitted into a new chapter of a book. It’s a NEW BOOK altogether. Mum has received so much abuse from her other half; she decided that enough is enough. I could still remember that cold morning when my brother rang me and said, “Can you pick us up from Pudu?”. From the cold tone and quite background, I knew something was amiss. And life has changed ever since. I not only carry the “eldest sister” title, I also carry the responsibility of “man of the house”.

For the first several months, I was distressed and troubled. I was busy getting the boys into school, finding home, buying house wares and furniture, making ends meet, and facing verbal attacks from my auntS. If it isn’t for the bf and the friends who extended as moral support, I think I’d be a fallen soldier by now.


Moral of the story: What goes around comes around. Always extend your arms to help the others and don’t be disgruntled. Ever since I took over the function of a dad, I have been trying so hard to make ends meet. I grumble, of course, but I don’t regret. 3 chapters later, my entire burden became ‘lighter’ when my paycheck got ‘fatter’. *winks*


Travel & Living: Beijing, China

Who would have expected that I went to the Great Wall of China ALONE? Not even myself! But I did it anyway! And what an accomplishment!


Moral of the story: Don’t try this if you do not know where the train station is, where the bus is, and most importanty; don’t try if you don’t even know where to start!

p.s. Some sign language might help to. Wakaka!!~


Celebration: A Birthday I Never Had

For some, they get to celebrate their birthday with much celebration every year. But for me, birthday was never taken so seriously. I had one request this year. I wanted to hike Broga Hill.


I got what I wished for. But that was not all. I got a dinner treat and a hand bag. Sounds nothing out of the ordinary? Yeah, I know. But the things that happened on that day had so much sentimental value. I remember it like it just happened yesterday.

And that makes it extraordinary.

Moral of the story: Sentimental value does not carry price tag.


Luck Dragon: The Birth of Falkor

Financially, it’s a burden. But if it helps to make my family’s life easier, Falkor is what I need.


Moral of the story: Be the luck dragon that I need and strike a Toto number now! HAHAHA!!



* What is there for me in Year 2010? I don’t know, but I have less than two weeks to be prepared!
* So tell me, what’s your biggest event/let down/jump this year?

Spoiler Alert: The Princess and The Frog

I'm sorry Disney, but the movie wasn't great at all. A little too relaxed;I became seriously bored in the first half an hour. And because of that, I have prepared some spoilers for this review so that readers can just watch this when the DVD comes out.

Lucky thing we got a refund due to the false alarm incident. Haha.




Spoiler 1: Tiana is NOT a princess, yet.

Rather, she's the poor daughter of a cook who continued her father's dream of opening her own restaurant. She works two jobs and saves her tips for her big down payment. When Prince Naveen arrives in town, he almost immediately gets conned by the Shadow Man. With a bit of voodoo, the prince was transformed into a frog and the prince's sidekick, Lawrence, transformed into a Prince Naveen look alike. The frog prince turns up on Tiana's balcony and convinces her of the frog tale to kiss him, but instead of the frog turning back into a prince, Tiana turns into another frog.

Ouh well, she isn't the princess, remember?

Suddenly (actually, I have forgotten HOW THE HECK they ended up there!), the two frogs wind up in the swamp, where they befriend a jazz-trumpet-playing alligator, Louis and a Creole firefly, Ray. They set out to find Mama Odie in the hopes of becoming human again. Unfortunately, the Shadow Man is in need of the prince's blood to keep his spell working, and sends out an army of creepy shadow specters to track him down.

So anyway, the two frogs finally falls in love. *yawn*



Spoiler 2: Prince Naveen and Tiana becomes frog husband and frog wife.

When they finally met Mama Odie, she told them that Frog Prince Naveen has to kiss a princess in order to get his human form back. They finally decided that they should return to town and Frog Prince Naveen will kiss Princess Charlotte before her title is stripped (I forgot why it will be stripped, *yawn*).

And yada yada yadaa, Prince Naveen was not on time to kiss Princess Charlotte. They (Naveen & Tiana) then decided to get marry the frog style.


Spoiler 3: When Frog Prince Naveen weds Frog Tiana..

Tiana gets to be a princess, right? If she is a princess now, and she kisses Frog Prince Naveen, what do you think would happen? Ahaa.



The End.



p.s. The author of this review has lost all excitement to rate the movie.
p.s.p Watching Avatar tomorrow. Will be back for MOAARR movie review!
p.s.3 Some people are so effing JEALOUS when one could write critical reviews. A little critic could really make them jump eh?

Does your blog contain annoying elements?

Confession: I do blogwalking religiously.

I do it almost everyday. Okay, maybe not religious enough? Haha. Well the thing is, I find that a number of blogs contain somewhat annoying elements. Some elements are too annoying that I would not hesitate to close the tab the moment it appears. Some elements are bearable, but staying too long on the blog may cause diarrhea. Sheesh!

Because I have kept this to myself for a little too long now, here goes a list of what annoys me most during my spree of stalking blogs in no particular order.

Auto-play music

Leave the Myspace users in Myspace, and your blog in a BLOG! Your blog SHOULD NOT be a Myspace!

This is one of the most annoying features in any blog. People could be in the office, have the volume really loud, playing iTunes on their desktop OR they just don’t have the same taste in music as you! Be considerate and don't force your taste of music on your readers, please.

Pop-ups

Whether it is a pop-up to greet your readers when they first open your blog, or advertorial, pop-up doesn’t interest people at all. In fact, I would quickly click away from any pop-up because it is a distraction from the subject of interest.

Disabling right-click

I just don’t get why bloggers love to disable right-clicks for the external links. Wouldn’t it be better if you just leave it as it is? By disabling right-clicks, you are only making your readers LEAVE YOUR BLOG earlier because they would just left-click and go (unless whatever they click opens up in a new tab). I normally do right-clicks because I prefer opening multiple tabs and reading each blog carefully. So please, don’t chase your readers away.

Too many ads/widgets/items on the sidebars

Your sidebar should be clean and simple. When there are too many ads and/or widgets placed in your sidebars, your blog might as well experience a slow loading time. This can frustrate new readers and they might leave even before the contents load. Plus, I would not bother to browse through your sidebars if it’s too crowded, or colourful. You’re trying to hard to impress, but it’s not working!

In-text advertising

In-text advertising is sort of like a combination of two annoying subjects above – pop up and ads. It's the pop-ups that show up when you hover over a link.


Another example I came across is when you hover over a link and it displays, “You have the nth most popular outgoing link.” Seriously, why would I care? Oh, same goes to snap previews. Enough said, google it.

Self-playing videos

Honestly, I don’t like it when Nuffnang’s blog writes about a new movie preview that comes with a self-playing video trailer. I prefer it to be optional because; don’t we read the content first before looking at the video??? It’s worst when you open up several posts in new tabs at the same time, and EACH video is playing at the background! Plus, it EATS AWAT my bandwidth. It would be nice if Nuffnang could re-consider this option. Heh.

Too much embedded crap

Like I have mentioned, you’re trying TOO HARD to impress us, the readers. But seriously, I wouldn’t bother to continue reading if your blog loads slowly or TOTALLY STOPS loading because you have too many embedded crap like external gifs that won’t load anyway!

Blinking text

HELLO, blinking text is SOOOO YESTERDAY! Ouch. Mah-eyeszzz!

So tell me, does your blog contain any of the so-called annoying elements? You can BEG to differ! Haha!

GSC Midvalley: False Alarm, Bad Management

Yesterday, the bf and I went for a movie at GSC Midvalley despite being broke. One hour into the movie and already feeling bored to the bone, a fire alarm broke from the next hall. Since no one bothered to see what's going on (the bf included), we continued watching the movie until, the fire alarm in our hall started ringing.

People got up and started leaving the hall. Mums and dads were seen holding hands with their kids while leaving the halls. Panic and worry can be seen on their faces. We made our way out too. Once we were out of the hall, we saw the crowd. Everyone from every other hall was leaving. Deep down, I farking hoped it was no terrorism. Haha.

We joined the crowd, frantically looking out for any GSC staff on the floor. To our dismay, no GSC staff was even bothered to see what's going on.

Since we were on a higher ground, we hollered to a man downstairs who we all thought is the manager. He was on the phone and was not bothered to look up. Only after some people started making some fuss, he looked up and simply said, "Just a trip. Nothing's wrong." and continued talking on the phone. He was seen moving from left to right as though trying to avoid any more questions.

By this time, a lot of people had left the halls and made their way out of the cinema. When a staff arrived, some of us waited to seek for explanation. A few people pressed him for details, but he simply said, "Masuk je. Takde masalah." (English translation: "Just go back in. No problem.")

When we went back into the hall, 85% of the cinema-goers had left. We continued watching the movie but felt very uneasy and at the same time annoyed because the fire alarm was still on. The movie ended 10 minutes later. Wtf. A total disappointment.

After the movie ended, we went down to see if there was gonna be any refund. A huge crowd surrounded the information counter area and two GSC staffs were seen being bombarded with people seeking for explanation. The staffs keep saying that they had followed standard procedure and by this, it means that they should WAIT for the manager's instruction before taking any action. People were getting upset and frustrated by the whole incident when later, another staff came to announce that two refund counters will be opened.

Soon, we all queued up to seek for a refund. The man that I suspect as the manager just stood there and gave some instructions to his staff.


No guilt whatsOever. No apoLogies whatsoever.


Again, he is seen moving left to right, avoiding ALL eye contacts with the customers.

If a fire really broke out, I think people could have died because of the so-called 'standard procedure'. In fact, GSC should feel LUCKY because we, the customers, were calm when the incident happened. What if some people in the crowd got REALLY PANIC and a stampede happened? What if people suffocated in the crowd?

A refund was given, but that isn't the case here. This is like washing your hands off dirt. What I am trying to underline is the ignorance of the management at handling a panic situation. How irresponsible and what a coward the manager has been. If he isn't the manager, then the REAL manager is a total DUMBASS that should be shoved from the back coward.

Alas, once again we demonstrate that any management in Malaysia is BAD management. I sincerely hope that the management had a post-incident meeting to discuss what should and what not to be done during an emergency, no matter if it is a genuine case, or a false alarm. Maybe the highlight of the meeting should be "Fast response during emergency" and "Slow-responding Managers should be fired, period".


* Movie review in the next entry.
* Just remembered that I never did a movie review for "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball". Sorry!
* Another round of FREE movie this Thursday! I'm lovin' it!

Talam BERPULUH-PULUH Muka

Ade apa yang salah tentang gambar ini?

Aku benci orang talam dua muka. Sungguh hipokrit perangai begitu. Kat depan certain orang, bukan main lagi dia nak tunjuk baik. Mahu tunjuk dia punya didikan agama yang terpuji, terbilang dan gemilang.

Tapi kat belakang, wei, aku tahu lah dosa apa yang kau dah buat tu! Tolonglah jangan buat muka double face. Sangat hodoh kau tau?! Hilang semua sifat baik yang aku fikir tentang kau!

Dah lah. Hentikan lakonan buruk kau tu. Kau takkan berjaya lah kalau nak jadi drama queen. Aku tetap yang terbaek! Erk.



* Gambar di atas tiada kena-mengena dengan entri ini.
** Sungguh la wei, takde kena-mengena dengan entri lah! Ape korang kecoh nih!

Haiku: Bloody Winter

I remember the time when we were taught Haiku during one of our lectures and the following week, I received praises for the Haiku(s) I created. Yeahh. Bloody exciting.

a bloody winter
little jack lie dead on ground
merciless wolf hunt

Bukan Aku Tak Bersungguh

Semalam aku terasa begitu fakap bila aku masih dikatakan tidak bersungguh mencari kerja. Sudah berulang kali aku katakan pada orang itu, bukan aku tak cari, aku cari, cuma tidak nampak peluang lagi.

Dari pagi tadi aku mengadap perisian Microsoft Word yang mengandungi dokumen yang perlu aku submit petang nanti. Tapi dari pagi tadi juga, dokumen itu masih kosong tidak terisi. Mata mengadap papan kekunci tapi otak entah ke mana. Aku rasa sungguh terkilan bila dikatakan bertindak macam acuh tak acuh hal mencari kerja. Ia buat aku berfikir jika aku memang tidak layak untuk apa-apa pekerjaan pun kat dunia ni. Teruk sangat ke resume aku sampai takde employer yang nak pandang?

Satu ketika dahulu bila aku masih fresh dari universiti, aku grab je kerja yang mendatang. Sebab tu bila aku habis je praktikal, aku terus dapat kerja. Dan bila kontrak kerja tu habis, aku terus dapat masuk company skang nih. No break AT ALL. Kerja kat sini memang sangat susah. Hanya bekas-bekas pekerja dan kami yang masih di sini sahaja yang tahu betapa teruk tekanan di sini. Tapi aku fikir, aku masih budak entri level*, banyak yang boleh aku pelajari. Biarlah syarikat nih jadi stepping stone aku untuk pergi lebih jauh.


Tapi nak pergi lebih jauh itu bukan mudah.


Bila aku sudah selesa dalam bidang penyelidikan nih, aku tekad untuk mencari pekerjaan yang berkenaan dengan penyelidikan juga. Tapi, kau cubalah taip "research" kat search bar Jobstreet tuh. Banyak mana je kerja "research" yang betul-betul melakukan penyelidikan? Tambahan pula, bidang penyelidikan aku bukan penyelidikan dalam makmal. Susah ok. Sangat susah. Janganlah fikir aku tak bersungguh. Cuma susah mencari pekerjaan yang kena dengan bidang aku.

Bila gaji aku dah meningkat sejak bekerja di syarikat ni, aku rasa sangat susah untuk melompat. Banyak syarikat di luar sana me-rejek permohonan kerja aku disebabkan gaji aku yang sudah agak tinggi. Gaji aku skang tak sampai 3k pun. Tapi mungkin mereka rasa, budak hingusan** macam aku tak layak dapat gaji tu. Pernah aku pergi satu interview, bila dia dengar je gaji aku, dia kata akan call me back, tapi tak pernah call me back.

Aku bukan demand tinggi sangat pun. Kalau diorang offer nak maintain gaji skang pun aku tak kisah. But I can't go lower due to personal reasons that only loyal readers of this blog would understand.


Aku TAK MAHU melompat semata-mata kerana aku rasa tertekan di sini.


I'm waiting for the right one. Aku mahu pekerjaan yang benar-benar sesuai dengan aku. Yer, aku memilih. Tapi aku tak mahu jadi staf yang keluar masuk ofiz semata-mata mahu gaji di hujung bulan. Aku mahu rasa puas hati dengan kerja aku. Aku mahu rasa ada tanggungjawab terhadap kerja aku.

Bukan aku tak bersungguh, aku bersungguh mahu menukar pekerjaan sekarang ni. Tapi aku tak mahu melompat semata-mata kerana aku tertekan kerja di sini. Kalau lah kau faham apa yang aku tulis nih. Kalau lah.. Jangan minta aku ulang lagi.


Kau faham tak? Haishh..


*Budak entri level bermasuk graduan universiti yang masih fresh.
** Hingusan di sini bermaksud mempunyai kelayakan setakat Bachelor's Degree.