Bro-hood

One of the finest friendships one could have. It is certainly an honor to be treated as someone's brother without having blood ties. It's the things we've gone through together, binds us, and somehow unconsciously, we came to trust each other 100% without a single doubt. Guys, if there is a guy friend like that that makes you feels that way, congratulations, you treat him as a bro. :)

Come to think about it, I kinda have a lot of bros. Maybe I have dis-positioned trust, where I tend to trust people more easily. I have tons of them at Taiping; most of them former classmates. The chemistry, how we talk, how we clicked together, is un-describable with words. Well now that we are all scattered apart; some overseas, some in different parts of Malaysia, but the thing is, we'd always stay silly and dorky, even 10 years later after we last knew each other (some I have knew them for almost 20 years!)

Days with bros can never be lousy or boring. Cause when bros are together, we'd make even the boring situations lively. Maybe that's one of the facts bros seldom go on vacation trips but hang out ALOT!

After finishing my final paper, I'd still have a presentation 4 days after. On normal circumstances I wouldn't have planned to come back. But since I have one bro who's going back to work in the US, which I will not be seeing for a long time, I jetted back home :)

Once in a while I come up with magnificent quotes. And when one of my friends asked me why would I come back home just for like 2 days, I lifted my left hand to almost the level of my eye, and said :"friendship"
Then I lowered my right hand, to a level just above my crotch, and said:"viva presentation".

It's not like I don't give a damn to the presentation. But in my life, one of the sources of happiness is having the friends I have now, not achieving a bloody good presentation and an effing good result...

Bro hood for life. All the best kiddo :3

When Impossible Is Just A State Of Mind

2nd paper down-ed. Logged into facebook and found that there is a possibility that my VIVA presentation (final year project presentation) could be brought forward to 27th June, literally next week.Well of course it kind of make things spicier and more nerve wrecking.

Maybe there are those among us who bemoans the sudden death timing. I don't blame them. 28th is the date of our final paper of our degree life. A 4 unit paper. You could say life or death paper. Only thing good about it is it's a MCQ paper.

Well of course if I'm one of the lucky one's who face sudden death, what can I do other than add in more effort for my presentation and last paper? Should I fret or swear the unfairness of so called "natural selection"? Should I ask for postpone?

Life in campus was never meant to be easy. Comparatively, I'd say my course is not the most extreme when it comes to work load. There are people with courses which requires them to sacrifice their sleep to complete their project (architecture)t, where in the end the schedule was so hectic that 25% of their course are meant to repeat because of not completing mandatory project datelines.

By putting what other people have given to their course, I dare say what I or food tech students put in for our degree, is so little compared to them. We need not have exhibitions, nor complicated computer work.

Having a VIVA presentation may just be one of the highlights and climax of the current semester. Rather than think it as an obstacle or problem, I'd rather think it as a chance to see how far I can push myself should I am one of the lucky one's who face sudden death. It is not impossible to do well in the presentation and also do well in the final paper.

The moment you see what I see (if you have) and understand what I write here, Impossible is just a state of the mind, where you think you aren't able to do something you haven't put in enough effort.

Nasi Lemak

It all started out as taking a heavy but cheap breakfast so that I could skip lunch or have a light lunch, cause it's always better to have a full breakfast. But days passed, I've finally came to realize I am kind of addicted to Nasi Lemak. No not the one that is wrapped up in banana leaves, but those where you are able to freely choose your side dishes and they served it to you PIPING HOT~!

Yes one of the most simplest dishes of all. yet also considered as the national dish. Steamed coconut rice- Coconut CAN be omitted but NEVER leave out the ginger slices and pandan leaves, eggs- I prefer hard-boiled than fried one's (healthier and tastes nicer when you have it with sambal), cucumbers- fresh and thinly sliced, still retaining the cold temperature as if just taken out from the fridge (too bad the only greenery of nasi lemak), chicken- this side dish is sometimes flexible, as it can be substituted with others such as fish, beef, squid or so on. Never the less, this side dish is considered the main dish of all the side dishes, so it must tastes the best, if possible unique. Since a lot of Malay vendors and some Chinese vendors are selling nasi lemak, this is the dish that should be special to have a daily hoard of customers. Anchovies and groundnuts- Deep fried perfectly, but if possible, a bit on the burnt side, to give an extra crisp and flavor to them. However not coated with oil, and should not be stale. Last but not least, the sambal- also preferably unique, but the cliche type (grounded chillies cooked with onions or curry gravy) is enough to complement with the whole dish.  Those are my criteria of what a good nasi lemak should be.

Ever wondered why nasi lemak is usually eaten as breakfast but seldom for lunch, dinner? Well at least in my hostel cafe usually and mostly nasi lemak is only served in the morning. Probably it's a trend or habit to eat nasi lemak as breakfast. But to me eating nasi lemak as breakfast takes on new meanings and reasons.

Generally I'm a food lover- I eat mostly everything. So being biased when it comes to food is totally nothing related to my tastes. Plus I am a self-admit food critique, where I believe my tastes when it comes to seasoning and tastes intensity will work out just fine, in fact perfectly as possible. There are really quite a variety of ways to kick start a day with a hearty breakfast, given that Malaysia is blessed with so many races, each of them having their specialty cuisine. Nasi lemak, wan tan mee, Hokkien mee, Roti Canai, Dim Sum are all just the few names one can think of when it comes to choosing one as breakfast.

The different thing or what's special about nasi lemak compared to others is, it is comparatively a simple dish. It does not require much preparation time compared to others- it is usually prepared beforehand and just requires choosing the side dishes you want and voila~ start eating. Noodles need to be cooked, roti canai dough needs to be flipped and fried once the order is taken, not nasi lemak.

Plus of all the dishes, I dare say nasi lemak is the most colorful of them all. White rice, flaming red sambal, brown fried anchovies, yellow egg yolk, green cucumbers. Just by the appearance itself nasi lemak triumphs over other dishes. I don't know about others but having to have something so colorful as breakfast really lightens up a sleep face's mood like mine~!

Nasi lemak is also special in terms of tastes. It is the individuality of the saltiness of fried anchovies, the bland yet springy hard-boiled egg, the crunchy and fresh cucumbers, fragrant piping hot rice, spicy and enticing sambal all mixed together, that gives it such a special flavor and taste, that makes you shove in a second mouthful of it even you haven't even finish chewing and swallowing the first mouthful. Indeed it is not a fusion or blend of different tastes to make a different flavor - it is the individual side dishes that one can still taste and differentiate, yet they can work together so well in harmony which gives an orgasm to your taste buds.

As much as I like it so much, I don't take it everyday though. But sometimes once in a while, I don't mind taking nasi lemak twice or maybe thrice in a row for each day's breakfast, if the vendor sells superb nasi lemak. As a Chinese guy who can take very spicy food, the food that definitely I will miss most, or maybe crave once in a while like mad should I be overseas, will definitely be none other than - The Nasi Lemak.

*just had my nasi lemak breakfast. Sometimes I think that the spicy sambal itself is more effective than a coffee's caffeine to kick start one's day~ :P

Over plan and Over Scheme

Sometimes being too good a planner is no good. It makes me complacent.

I have a core paper this coming Tuesday. Basically it is the toughest paper of all the papers I'm taking this sem. Well usually and normally people always put in their hardest effort for the toughest paper. Me too. But not this paper.

Why?

Because I planned to much. I schemed too much. This core paper is worth 3 units. I'm taking 18 units this semester. Other than this core is a 6 unit Final Year Project, 1 unit of Guitar (Co-curricular), 2 units of Korean language class, 2 units of English speaking class and 4 units of Organizational Behavior (Minor).

I always do calculations before and set targets. Usually my targets get me well over 3.5, which is the dean's list. Not that I don't aim for 4.0, but I'm not the person who finds great joy being the best in academics while sacrificing my fun and leisure time. So 3.5 above is good enough for me, and usually I get it with just the right amount of hardwork, and planning XP

But this semester is far more different. Because of the weight the 6 unit Final Year Project carry, that subject itself is life and death. Doing well in my FYP means, how bad the other papers turn out to be are irrelevant. And touch wood if my FYP turns out to be crap, well not even all my papers put together can get me a dean's list.

Plus I have more confident in my other papers compared to this looming core paper. I will put in effort on other papers which I have more confident in, easier to study. Going through this current subject makes me bored and going in circles.

Plus I don't really quite care of what I get this semester. It's the bloody last semester. Time to enjoy and relax, rather than study the crap out of me... So here I am, 2nd blog entry of the day... Yawn. Boring :/

P R O M E T H E U S - Hypothesis to Questions

Finally a good movie to spur me back into reviews and thoughts. Movies nowadays are a bit too cliche and direct, so the usual reviews make no sense and sounds irrelevant, because I'm no pro. However each and everyone of us is entitled to our own points and views, so for a movie like Prometheus, it is what you think or what they make you think which is more important.

Prometheus is a movie, which you say is science fiction, maybe science (if it could be real!). Now to those who aren't familiar or knew NOTHING about the Greek myths, this movie is named Prometheus not because the ship's name is Prometheus (well partly you can say, but no one names a movie after a ship ;] ).

According to Greek myths, Prometheus is a titan (think Clash/Wrath of the Titans, but not that big bad guy). He is known as a champion of mankind, who was famously known for his theft of fire for the human use. Prometheus stole heavenly fire from Heaven and gave it to humans, enabling the progress of civilization (we didn't rub wood with stone till we made our own fire! And cooking food with fire is a symbol or proof of civilization XD).

Well that is roughly what the myths say about him. In Western classical tradition, Prometheus is a symbol of human striving, particularly for SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences (quoted from Wikipedia). This guy, basically wanted to give equal footing for humans with Gods!

Now going back to the movie (SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCH). Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway discovered similarities of star map in different civilizations, hence decided to prove that humans are not created by God, claimed by the religion, rather we could be a race faction of present aliens in other world - which they called "Engineers". This claim has been rubber stamped right at the start of the movie, where we see a humanoid alien drinking some gooey black liquid, disintegrating, leading to change of DNA, mutation, and in the end, new life forms-cells are formed and mitosis occurs.

The act, of traveling to the location designated by the star map, to prove that God never created humans, to put equal footing that it was actually man that created man, is an act of "Prometheusim". Hence, finally we now justify, why the movie is called Prometheus, where it isn't about Greek myths, nor has this guy appeared in the whole movie.

*I am an Atheist myself, so this theory or believe rather suits well with me XP.

Now questions and answers, based on my self interpretations:

1. Why did the Engineers created us and then wanted to destroy us?

Good question. In fact the one's everyone has in their minds. Even got me thinking straight away after I finished the movie. There are of course a lot of answers, since this is a very open-ended question. One of the perspectives is: Remember the beginning scene where we saw that Engineer drinking the black liquid? At that time the setting was on Earth. He sees a spaceship leaving, disrobe, drank the liquid, went into seizures, disintegrates, falls down the waterfall, his DNA destroying-but not entirely, and then live cells forming and multiplying. Theory one could be that he was indeed chosen to create us. Other theories might be a bit absurd, because they did came back and helped us in different civilizations, judging that different civilizations showed the same star map. So they couldn't be evil. So that leaves us to the next question.


2. Why would they want to destroy us?

This is an even harder question. Basically this is the question that fuels speculation of a 2nd movie. Even till the end of the first movie, even Elizabeth herself is clueless. So what is the reason, is up to your own imagination. As rich as possible. Maybe something happened back in their home planet, which could mean purging us to take over our planet. Maybe it is fun to create something just because you can, and destroying them too (what Charlie said to David). You can give a thousand reasons,  but until a possible 2nd movie comes out, everything is possible.

  
3. Why are there so many different type of aliens? Why some mutate and some don't?

Remember there were 2 scientists that got lost. One got killed by a snake like (or cobra like) alien. One got contaminated by the black liquid. Think back. When Elizabeth, David and Charlie entered the chamber with the BIG engineer head statue, after lifting their foot from the ground, there is a scene where earthworms are seen wriggling in the soil. And then black liquid starts to ooze out from the vases, possibly mutating the worms, making them into the snake alien. This could be the same black liquid drank by the engineer at the start of the movie. Which is also the one that was spiked into Charlie's drink by David, passed into Elizabeth's body, making her 3 months pregnant with an alien baby. Note that again, the baby from Elizabeth is squid like. After somehow "mating" with the Engineer at the end, then only we see the typical Alien emerging from the dead Engineer body. Perhaps it shouldn't be a question, rather the laws of mutation huh?

 
4. So in the end, what is THE Alien?

Again if you don't know science, you'll get a hard time to understand. Elizabeth is sterile- meaning she can't have babies. But it wasn't clear how was she sterile. There are many reasons- failure for the fetus to adhere to the wall of the uterus, failure to produce an ovum and so on. So depending on what are the reasons that made Elizabeth sterile, what makes up the Alien varies. It can be the black liquid itself, or it could be a mutated sperm from Charlie (*snicker), it could even be the black liquid passed and combined with Elizabeth's ovum, if the reason of her sterility was due to the fetus failure to adhere to the uterus wall. Then again, it's again imagination.

So one could go on and on the speculate and think of the reasons and possible answers to the questions above. I've had enough myself though. Time to scoot off to studies.

Definitely worth watching. Not epic, but good enough. :) 3 and a half stars out of five :D