Subs for This Sem

Sorry for the no post this past week. My semester just started and boy, am I swamped. First day itself and I already have assignments to complete which involve finding journals, visiting places and lots lots lots of reading (the sucky part).

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about gaining new knowledge but under the limited time and the huge amount of workload, it kinda feel like torture sometimes. True, I do need better time management and more control on my online activities (I'm easily sidetracked). Everything online just seems so much interesting when you start to hit the books.

Anyhow, other than my thesis, I have three subjects this semester. Firstly, there's :

Cross Cultural Psychology

As the name says it, this subject investigates how psychology concepts can be applied to other cultures. For those who take psychology, you will know that most concepts derived from Western psychologists. These ideas (e.g., parenting styles) are a major breakthrough in understanding human behaviours but there seems to be limitations when the ideas are applied to non-Western cultures. The underlying factor is obviously culture. Thus, it is imperative that people all over the world do not simply adopt a Western concept without first comprehending the similarity and difference of their culture to that of the Western.

Next,

Learning Disabilities

Everyone has the right to education. However, if say a child has a hindrance to learn due to physical or mental limitations, then we need to know how these limitations affect the child's learning ability. That's when this subject comes in. So for those who study this subject, they would learn what types of learning disabilities exist currently and how to combat these disabilities so that educators would know how to teach these individuals. Also, when a person is labelled as disabled, stigma would be automatically attached to that person. This class offers to teach people to be aware of their stigma and how to counter it.

Lastly,

Behaviour Modification

Ever wonder how you can change a negative behaviour to a positive one? Well, that's what this class is for. We learn what is the underlying mechanism that governs a person's behaviours and then we learn how anybody can change those behaviours with the right set of theories. Some examples include teaching a spoiled child to behave and reverse delinquent behaviours.

So there you have it, the three subjects I have to tackle this semester. They seem fun, which they are, but nothing is easy to learn so I gotta hit the books now because I'm spending too much time XD

Ciaoz

Happy Second Anniversary

So, it's been two years now since I was with Cyren. Although I'm currently not in a convenient time to blog (due to my godforsaken thesis), I do want to post this picture to indicate my love for Cyren. Shocker? Nah, don't be. I'm out.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy the picture :D

Getting to Genting

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been caught up in thesis stuff and I have trouble with the amenities of my apartment at the moment. Actually, the latter has been going on for quite a while (refer to my rant post) and it just got worse recently. I will move the fxxx out of that place as soon as I can but alas, I'm stuck there for the time being.

On the happy side of my life, I went up to Genting Highlands a few days ago to hang out with my dad. Honestly, I did it more for the pleasure of getting as far away as I can from my room. Let me put it this way, Genting Highlands is fun and all but once you've seen it, you've seen it all.

Here's a little 101 on Genting. It's basically this grand place located high up in the mountains along the borders of Pahang. So you can expect it to be quite cooling there. There are two themes parks there - outdoor and indoor. The rides are enjoyable to say the least and it does make you feel as if you are in a Wonderland. For mummies and daddies and grannies and those who would prefer a much more mature activities, fear not for there are several casinos up there. It's the only place in the whole Malaysia with casinos.

This is the main hotel and Genting infamous logo on the top.

Now, the reason why Genting lost its luster to me because 1) The price of everything is extortionate; 2) I have played the rides in the theme parks for gods know how many times; 3) There's nothing else to do there besides the theme park (there is an area full of arcades though but even that has become boring).

Nevertheless, Genting is a photogenic place. Here are a few examples:

By the way, the guy with the blue hat is me. I though since it's cold up there, I should put on something to indicate that. Anyway, that's all for now. Genting is not so bad if you never go up there. So, do schedule a date to go up there if you have never been there :D

Age of Ultron

To most comics fans, you all should know about the latest Marvel Comic event - Age of Ultron. For others, I shall give a brief historical explanation.

Ultron was an intelligent robot created by Hank Pym or Ant-man or Yellowjacket or...he has a lot of names. Anyway, the robot was capable of thinking abstractly and made its own decisions based on the consequences that followed. Unfortunately, this was its flaw as well. It began to realize humans were unworthy and they should be destroyed given that we all are sloths, naggers and outright hypocrites. Eventually, it became the enemy of the Avengers.

In recent times, Ultron has come back and he has a thirst for revenge against the Avengers. At the start of the comic series, New York City is already held under siege by an armada of Ultrons. Most of the heroes are either killed or kept as hostage for experimentation.

So in conjunction to this event, I had decided to make an Ultron look-alike.

It wasn't really much given that I had limited resources. Plus, it looked 2-D. Nevertheless, this is my take on Ultron. You can compare yourself as to how far these two images look alike :D

Rant: Housemates

I usually don't like to post rants on any social sites but there comes a time when I can only take so much and I need an outlet to express all my angers and dissatisfaction. For my first rant on this blog, I would to complain about some of my disgusting and irritating housemates. It's not so much that they directly bother me (not all anyway) but the things that they do not just horrify me but it brings me a new perspective on the word abomination.

Hygiene

This is the top on my list because these people have no sense of hygiene or whatsoever...AT ALL! For instance, in the kitchen, the rubbish bin had been piling up and no one, NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM, bothered to throw it out to the dumpster outside. The thing was they are the ones who have been using the kitchen all this while, cooking the most oily grub but they refused to clean up the mess. The leftovers or unused ingredients are all thrown away in the rubbish bin. Within the week itself, the bin managed to pile up and overflow. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore so I volunteered to clean it myself. Do you all have any idea what it's like to clean up a few days old food?! Furthermore, they could still cook in the filth. I was amazed after that.

Meanwhile, the toilet was another wasteland and still is. Since they pay extra, they have their own personal bathroom but for some reasons, they like to use the bathroom in the main hallway, which unfortunately is the bathroom I use to bath and brush my teeth. Every time after I clean it, the next day, it's bound to be dirty again. Once, I almost snapped and I wanted to stomp the bathroom floor with my own shoes to "dirtify' it. This whole hygiene issue has almost rendered me cracked mentally.

Door

Now, I know that they derive from a different country and I'm not sure if leaving the door unlock is a cultural thing but damn, these people have no sense of safety at all. Whenever I came out of my room to use the bathroom, the front door would always be open and the gate outside would certainly be unlocked. It's like they want people to enter and raid the house. For my own safety, I have to constantly lock the door. One time, when I came home, the gate was unlocked. Giving me no choice, I decided to lock up for them but it seems that the padlock was missing. I asked one of them about it but he had no idea. So I looked around and discovered that it was inside the shoe cupboard.

Look, I understand ya'all have friends coming over most of the time (that's another problem I have to deal with too) but be responsible by at least locking up the door. You may want your room to be raided but I value my Legos and Comics in here.

Barging In

I swear, one of them likes to barge in to my room without asking my permission. I usually leave the door open because the room can be quite stuffy but sir, at least have the decency to ask me before you barge into my room and check out my stuff. This is just beyond invading. Now, I'm wary of my stuff and I have to constantly make sure nothing is missing.

In addition, smoking and chatting with friends 3am in the morning outside of my room are just some of the issues I have to live with for another year. I seriously hope I will be moving out by next year since I have to start finding a job. I could have been driven mad, you know? There's only so much I can endure. If they cause another mayhem, I would most likely explode, perhaps, a punch might even be thrown in. Oh god, how much I wanna punch them so bad.


Housemates, you can't live with them but you definitely can live without them.

National Craft Day

To commemorate the indigenous people of Malaysia (and Malaysia has alot), Malaysia celebrates the annual National Craft Day when indigenous people from all over Malaysia convene in one place and sell their lovely artifacts, crafts, arts etc...

The event ranges from 27 February until 11 March in Kuala Lumpur Craft Complex as indicated below:

The venue was somewhat elusive. It took me and Cyren over 30minutes and buckets of sweats to find the place. It was worth it though...well, at least for me anyway. As you know, I'm a person who likes to collect various cultural items (my interest in Tomb Raider should have indicated that). However, due to limited resources, I could only salvage two items from the convention.

Item one:

This is a lovely drawn picture on a self-made paper derived from Kedah, northern section of West Malaysia. The intricate details of the art on such a fragile paper is quite impressive and the image really portrays the seller's hometown.

Item two:

This monkey or to be exact, orang utan, used to be a coconut until the an ethnic group known as the Bidayuh from Sarawak (my home-state) craved it up. It functions as a piggy bank in the shape of an eerie yet cute orang utan. This was a pricey bargain but I supposed with good reason. It's not really easy to carve an art out of a coconut and make it looks as lovely as this.

*Note: the minifigures were just there playing with the primate. They were not part of the sale.

Meanwhile,

Although I didn't purchase this but it certainly did catch my attention. The art form is known as Block Batik. Originally, batik is the traditional Malay art of dipping colour onto a piece of cloth with an image and transform it into a beautiful art. Here's a link to an example. Block Batik, on the other hand, the craftsman uses hot wax and metal instead. As you can see by the exquisite details of the hornbill above, this is an arduous task.

That's all the images I took because it was quite crowded and I didn't want to offend the sellers since I'm not buying most of the things from them. So, for those with a taste for arts and crafts, do drop by the complex before the convention closes on 11 March. It's really worth the trip.

Map

The map link designates the venue. It's located in A not B.

Swim...Swim...Drown

Today, I had joined my guys friends from university to..guess what...SWIM. It has been a while now since I last hit the pool. To make matter more embarrassing, I'm not really much of swimmer, period. I can barely float, I couldn't hold my breath long enough to swim a few strokes, I choke on water when I panic. Basically, if I were to be Lara, shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean, I would sink as fast as the debris.

Cyren proposed that perhaps, my bones are too dense which I couldn't disagree because I weigh more yet I don't feel fat. (I have a slight tummy but I am not chubby or anything of sort if I do say so myself). If his theory is true, that means I would never survive a shipwreck. Then again, that shouldn't stop me from swimming I suppose. I do know the moves, it's just the matter of floating and breathing.


Meanwhile, I did take a nice picture of a diver seemingly seduced by a mermaid by the poolside. :D

A Survivor in All of Us

"There is a survivor in all of us", quoted Tomb Raider (2013).

Yes, I'm a huge Tomb Raider fan and in anticipation of the new Tomb Raider game, release on 5th March, this post would be dedicated to my all time favourite female game character - Lara Croft. For those of you who do not know her (which I highly doubt), shame on you. Nevertheless, I am more than elated to brief you through her background and history. But first:

This is my attempt to construct her but sadly, it's not as well-done as the rest who tried too.

I know, her iconic dual pistols are not here (I can't find the other one in my Lego pile D= ). Anyway, the Tomb Raider franchise first commenced in 1996 with the original Tomb Raider game released worldwide. The game became popular as Lara was one of the first female protagonist character in the gaming world. However, the developers initially designed Lara as a man but due to the similarities between her and Indiana Jones (another fav. of mine), they scrapped the idea and came out with her instead. Nevertheless, the game earned a decent income which spawned more Tomb Raider games. The latest one is a reboot (they had rebooted twice so far) which details a younger Lara shipwrecked in the Dragon's Triangle and she must survive the dangers of the island to become a real survivor.

Now, who exactly is she anyway? Well, throughout all the reboots, Lara Croft is always depicted as a British Lady with incredulous amount of wealth, inherited from her family. She resides in Croft's Manor in England and in this homely tomb of hers, ancient artifacts and treasures line up every inch and corner of the house (she can afford it). Thankfully, she has her butler, Winston Smith to assist her like how Alfred assists Batman.

So, this lass has a knack for artifacts and relics almost to the point of obsession. Hence, she has extensive knowledge of the ancient world and civilizations of all walks of life (which I find a big far-fetched but still...). From time to time, she would visit never-before-discovered tombs by herself in her famous blue-tanked-top and dual pistols. Her acrobatic skills are proven useful when she encounters booby-trap en route to her treasure. Based on the games, some of the items she had recovered were Thor's hammer, Mjolnir and Excalibur, King Arthur's sword. Of course, in her line of work, she has many enemies, foes and rivals, all whom are eager to retrieve the treasures before she does but usually, they all couldn't have succeeded without her help. 

In the latest revamp, Lara is depicted as a 21-year-old fresh grad university girl travelling on a ship called Endurance to Asia to pinpoint the location of the ancient Yamatai-koku. It's an ancient Japanese civilization that has been forgotten as time passed. Along her journey, she was shipwrecked and ta-da, she found her lost civilization in a remote island that's not even on the map. In order to survive on her own, she must learn the skills of a true survivor but the island has more secrets than it seems.

So, being a huge Tomb Raider fan, I have built a mini tomb for Lara to excavate.

Front view

Aerial view

I even came up with a small backstory. Here goes. Lara Croft has been traversing the treacherous Peruvian jungle in search of the ancient artifact known as the Global Map. It's a map that depicts the ancient world before the colossal Earth crust displacement that forms the continents today. Even though she has found what she comes for, all is not safe for there is something lurking, hunting her (not shown).

I will leave the rest to your imagination. Now, I think I have written too much for a single post and I shall end here. Before I leave, there's one last photo I need to show you.

Ok so it's far from alike but you can't blame a fan for trying his best. To everyone out there, there is a survivor in all of us. So don't give up on yourself =D