Phantom Reborn

For the very first time, I would like to say thank you to my current company from the bottom of my heart for awarding me a flight ticket to Tawau and believed in my capability in giving public speeches away from West Malaysia.

There were only two of us going, a fellow colleague (who is also a nutritionist) and me.

Well, for the first seminar we held in the hotel which we stayed, there is nothing much to talk about, distributors were just moaning about the powerless promotion.

For the past 7 days, errands and jobs had indeed disrupted my daily routine...

These are some of the photos captured by my colleague when I was strutting my stuffs to impress the old folks.

When someone spills out the words, OST (Original Soundtracks), or if I just so happen to notice the words in anywhere... in the past, I would probably think of numerous movies. Musics from the movies which I like, which I remember so vividly.

A few years back, what impressed me the most were the soundtracks from musical performances and films, such as Moulin Rouge! , The Phantom of the Opera. Well, as for now, the relatively more famous tracks would definitely be those which originated from High School Musical and others such as Mamma Mia. Those melodies and rhythms definitely goes into the depth of the hearts of every viewer.

Though the melodramatic musics which come from the movies are fascinating, but I fall in love with original soundtracks which come from several games. Those are musics without any lyrics, only musics which touch my heart.

The first ever gaming musics which made me indulged to an inextricably extent, was music scores from the Final Fantasy series, from the oh-so-majestic Nobuo Uematsu. Childish? Not at all... listen to the musics and you'll see what I mean.



Several years later when Uematsu collaborated with SquareSoft, Yasunori Mitsuda came into the picture, whom very much appeared in the centre of the musical stage as Uematsu's protege. Yasunori Mitsuda impressed me intensely with his formidable musics that I've searched through the net for soundtracks from the once very famous game, Xenogears, as well as Chrono Cross. The musics he used are blended up so well with musics with the influences of Caribbean, East Asian, Indian and strong Celtic musics.

For music lovers, well... even if you are not used to be a gamer years ago, musics composed by these godfathers of gaming musics would certainly sound astounding to you!

For now, I'm digging out old time movies which received a handful amount of highly revered awards, and started pop-corning by myself in my room. Currently, Benjamin Button and Daisy moved me, Hannah Smitzch taught me something, Jamal and Salim revealed the darker side of the third world community.

I thought movies are so magnificent. I just love movies very much.

At my workplace, including me, there are only 3 nutritionists (1 of whom is a malay). Initially, there ought to be 4 of us, but unfortunately, one of the nutritionists committed some mistakes, and the board did not seem to give any chances for her to show her true sincerity in helping the company, thus she was forced to accept the fate in resignation. Poor girl, she had not work for even a year in the company.

Now, there are only 3 of us left. With 2 Chinese and 1 Malay in the house, and as far as the company is concerned, the Chinese market is so huge in my company, and various outstation seminars have to be implemented. The distributors are simply using us (the so-called professionals) mercilessly.

Below is my scarce recent schedule:

This is the link for the site: Book-A-Licious (http://www.giantbookstore.blogspot.com/

This site intends to introduce the latest books and other information to visitors. Coming up, the site will probably introduce information in different aspects too, such as the latest movies, the latest CDs, and other informative and trendy stuffs... Books are still the main stream of the site.

依稀记得数年前，当我在收音机前聆听一种久仰的美妙歌声时，我压抑不住自己好奇的心情。一直有种很想很想听见当晚那位DJ说出谁是此歌的唱者，随着音乐的旋律，不停地在我心中涟漪。



当DJ把歌手的艺名公诸于收音机前的听众们时，我顿时觉得有点憔悴、沧桑，和伤感。



DJ说道：“刚刚听过的歌曲是来自阿桑的 [叶子]。”

阿桑？叶子？

那把独特及扣人心悬的天籁之声，是来自一位叫做阿桑的女生。歌曲的名字很简单，但在某种程度上，却带给听者凄凉及孤独的感慨。




那是我第一次听见阿桑的美声，也是我第一次对阿桑这位歌手略知一二的一刻。

但，天下纵然还是逃不过“没有不散之筵席”的命运，阿桑屏着对音乐的热忱和坚强的毅力，一步一步地，带着不为人知的病魔，踏上舞台为我们歌颂，传扬一首首伤感的情歌。



说真的，我自己本身非常喜欢阿桑的沧桑曲风，更欣赏她的唱腔。但没想到，阿桑英年早逝，那么快地，就离我们而去。





人们都说阿桑的歌有苦涩的味道，她的人生也是如此，被癌细胞折磨而默默地折腾，为了梦想而不告诉身边任何一人。

My body mass is kept being reduced and reduced to a very very small amount of weight, and this really creeps me out sometimes.

During this period of time, I know, these are the moments where in some estimating 2000 years ago, when Jesus Christ was suffering, praying to the God so that strength could be granted upon Him, to be strong enough to overcome the future crucification which He was going to encounter back then.

Therefore, my church (being a relatively traditional one), has this kind of fasting activity going on in every single year. This event is to remind the believers how Jesus Christ had freed Himself from consuming anything through His mouth for 40 days. During the 40 days, basically, Jesus Christ is said to be just praying to God and asked for the strength. And so, we are encouraged to fast for 40 days as well (something similar like the Muslims, does it not?), but with no obligation, of course.

We could fast selectively, meaning, you could either choose to fast only one meal for a day, but if you feel like you can go full throttle, fasting for the whole day and reminiscing the words of God, then it would be better (well, I have to admit that your mind and soul somehow would come to a peaceful state).

Alright, so... according to nutritional experts, or generally, we know that we ought to take our breakfast like a king, eat luncheons like a prince, and have your dinner like a beggar. In other words, dinner proves to be the most hazardous meal which could adversely affect our health. Hence, we're always advised not to pump too much food at night.

I chose to join the activity by skipping my dinner everyday (until the Easter, that is.). I've been doing the same thing in the past, except that they weren't dinner, but in some years, breakfast, others, I probably skipped on luncheons.

Currently, my weight is shooting down to a ridiculous extend. I'm already very skinny at the moment, but the situation now is gradually turning me into a thin stick or one of its kind. It really worries me heck a lot. I was wondering does skipping dinners causing such a huge aftermath in my weight management? In the past, skipping luncheons and breakfasts would not affect my weight at all.

I dare not to reveal my weight at this time, it would probably shock the hell out of y'all. Confused and frustrated, I chose to take a path which would probably angers every lady in the house, by purchasing a weight gaining supplement, and it cost me around RM80.

James Patterson's 6th Target is one of the books in a series which the author himself claimed to be "The Series of Women murder Club". The mentioned series, basically, is telling stories to the readers in a thrilling way, and all the books in that series, as the words mention, involve some bloody gore events where people died.

And now, the time has finally come for the domination of a new PM in our country. The passing on of the authority from our former PM to the current one has became iconic internationally, since the political issues in our country have swept all the drama queens and kings awards recently.

Alright, we cannot talk about issues which were somewhat similar to the story plots which have been told in any of James Patterson's books right? Yeah, we ought to forget the whole story in regards of it. Ahem ahem... okay, prohibition of such topic shall be implemented immediately now, otherwise some of us would be prosecuted along with some other individuals who were recently charged under ISA.

After the announcement of the somewhat convincing stimulus package by the government, rakyat seems to be really happy about it. Before our current PM took over, without a doubt, our market stocks do not hint a single clue that it would drop (but this sounds quite ridiculous as the United States is currently suffering even greater depression, by potentially declaring the bankruptcy of the auto giant maker, General Motor).

Many people said that our current PM, before he became the country leader, was actually pumping in money into the market, making some twist and turn, here and there, in order to make us feel comfortable and believe that, the slump will not fall into an even miserable state. Yes, of course, that would be a very good example for us to learn from, by injecting some necessary money to stabilize the internal riot.

My aunt, who trimmed my hair for me just yesterday, claimed that she did not really care about who's taking over the country, for her, every single leader is just the same. Is it really true? Compare President Bush and President Obama, that would be a really good comparison to trigger your inner realization.

Our former PM, is said to be a leader whom used a softer approach to lead the country and the people, and now, New Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak is said to be a decisive leader, who often makes quick and precise response to a particular problem faced by the nation. Due to that, many people thought that our new PM would probably somewhat inherit the capabilities of Tun Mahathir.

By looking at his father, the late Tun Abdul Razak, who coincidentally happened to be the second Prime Minister of our country, we could probably have a better view on how our country would be shaped into in this upcoming few years.

Tun Abdul Razak, was almost immediately sworn in as the second Prime Minister of the country after the somewhat eventful 513 incident. Thanks to his wisdom and leadership, Malaysia, fortunately resolved that riot and peacefulness was regained to the country not long after he was gifted the PM title.

Now, our newly elected Prime Minister, falls on a somewhat similar circumstance with his late father. He too, is sworn in as a Prime Minister right after the big bang effect of a crisis which is known as the greatest financial slump in the past decades, the greatest post war depression. Should he acquire the same capabilities like his father, our country will definitely overcome the tormented period.

The recent chaotic by-elections, of course, also play pivotal roles in what our country will be shaped into in the near future. My head was spinned 180 degrees for sometime when I saw 15 candidates were competing in one of the by-elections (OMG... enthusiastic patriots? Or simply whimps who are grabbing opportunities to make themselves overnight superstars?). But seriously, these 3 by-elections are vital, and they seem to be one of the decisive routes which determine our country's direction.

No matter what our new Prime Minister do, BN desperately needs a win on this one. It's all about moments of make or break for the government.

Fingers-crossed that our country, under a new leader, will lead us to strive better.

Being a Malaysian myself, I sing the song "Negaraku" ever since I attended kindergarten, just like anybody else.

Seeing the flag being rose up into the deep blue sky, while standing still with both hands on my side, murmuring lyric which I did not really know what it meant, until the day I've grown up and likened to play with words.

Having stay in this country for almost 23 years now, but shamefully, I ought to admit that I am not really familiar with certain places which every Malaysian should... until my relatives who came from Hong Kong taught me something about my own country, in an indirect way.

My relatives (my grandfather's brother and his daughter) had gone to many places ever since last Sunday. First stop, we brought them to Ipoh, and had so many famous dishes, thank God that I followed :) But sadly, we did not manage to snap any photos during the Ipoh trip, due to some undisclosed dumb reasons... (should have taken numerous pictures of dazzling foods if I had the camera with me)

Since I am living in a BIG extended family, thus my other relatives took turn to serve both of them, taking them to other places which they've never been before, showering them with tempting food galore~~

When it came to Wednesday, it was my eldest aunt and my turn to be their tour guides. Well, although I'm a sucky tour guide, but things turned out to be wonderful with the aid of KL Hop-on Hop-off! Well, if you don't know a thing about this, KL Hop-On Hop-Off (KL HoHo, I call it :) ), is actually a bus, a city tour bus, to be precise.