Now I Know

When I arrived back home from Melbourne a few weeks back, there was something I felt it was different. Refreshingly different. No, it's not the weather, not the food, not the people. Okay, I lied. It's something to do with people, females to be exact. No, it's not that Melbourne chicks are uglier or Malaysian girls are prettier. The truth is

*drumrolls*

*raised curtains*

I see less make-up here. Yes, I honestly think that way too many female homo sapiens at Melbourne wear make-up. I think its way better to see less make-up because (obviously) I don't like girls wearing make-up. I see tonnes of university students wearing make-up, some even really heavy make-up. I mean, why la? Are you modelling in university? Or do you have so much free time in the morning before leaving for classes? So yes, after about 2 weeks of bumming around in Malaysia, I finally realized what was different that was poking at my conscience all this while. Yes, the answer is girls' make-up.

Okay enough of that. Inevitably, I will now talk about the World Cup. Like many football fans out there, I tried my hand in predicting results and to see whether is there a future for me as a football pundit. So, these are my predictions prior to the respective matches.

1. France will fare badly in this World Cup

I was right. What a French farce.

2. England would reach the semi-finals.

I was totally wrong. The English players even had the cheek to say they were bored in between matches.

3. North Korea would at least get a point.

I was wrong. Come on, you gotta pity the North Koreans. Apparently, they have to work in coal mines as a form of punishment. Talk about severe punishment.

4. Portugal will get knock out at the group stages, with Ronaldo failing to score.

Wrong, again. But Ronaldo played as if he was the only Portuguese on the pitch, often ignoring his teammates. Note to Ronaldo, football is a team game.

5. Germany will beat Argentina.

I was right. Maradona is the coach after all.

6. Spain will beat Paraguay 1-0.

Spot-on!! Seriously, I actually predicted Spain will win by that scoreline.

7. Germany will beat Spain.

We all know the real result.

8. Netherlands will be the new world champions.

We shall see.

Not too shabby right? If Prediction #8 is correct, I would get 50% of my predictions right, and that is, well, actually, not too good. Paul the Octopus is a way better football physic than me.

Monday Rants

Despite being on my semester break, I am feeling the much derided Monday blues. With the sort of the lethargy displayed by a slug, I slumped out of bed this morning, not at all surprised that the the short hand of the clock is pointing at 10. I put the blame solely on the event that is known as the World Cup, although it is anything but the cup of the world (excuse me for the bad joke, the Monday blues are getting to me).

After I watched the Germans put four goals past England, I was wondering, what did the overpaid, overrated and over-pressured English players thought of themselves. Yes, they can point the finger at some bad refereeing decisions, but they should also take a good hard look at themselves for several insipid, uninspiring displays in the World Cup. Another thing to note is that the German team is a few years younger than the English team, and this is a tell-tale sign of the lack of young English talent. This can be explained by the lack of investment and faith of the Premier League clubs into their respective youth academy to churn out young talent. I also wonder what Mick Jagger (who was in the stands) thought when he saw the the likes of Thomas Mueller and Mesut Ozil tearing apart John Terry and company.

Me thinks that the Argentines got a little lucky in their 3-1 win over Mexico. Their defense is definitely their weakness, and it will be severely tested by the Germans. Anyway, I, as a Manchester United supporter, is drooling over the performance of Javier Hernandez, who scored more goals than Wayne Rooney in the World Cup by the way.

Just to fill in the space and to make my blog seem more impressive, let me introduce a few quotable quotes.

'Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted'. - John Lennon

Interesting quote isn't it? This means that my ratio of time wasted to time well spent will drastically drop. Not that I am saying I waste a lot of time in the first place *winks*.

'A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I am afraid of widths'. - Steven Wright

As everyone should. *Glances nervously at my own bulge*

'You are unique, special & one-of-a-kind....just like everyone else'. Anonymous

This is one example of contradicting opinions. We are always told each and every one of us is different, we are all unique,special etc but if everyone is special, then no one is special. This is definitely a matter of debate.

'Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing.' - Robert Benchley

One word: LOL.

Liberation

Once again, I find myself apologizing for my lack of updates and using the over-used excuse of 'I am busy'. But really, I was busy (notice I use 'was' instead of 'is'). My last paper was on Tuesday (15 June), and my verdict on my first ever university exams? Not so good. For all four of my papers, I didn't have that 'Hey that paper wasn't that bad' feeling. And honestly, my exam preparation could have been better. Littered with distractions, my exam preparation was constantly disrupted. Ah well, my exams are now considered 'sunk costs'.

My flight back to Malaysia is this Friday (18 June). *Silent Cheering* I definitely won't be in Melbourne for the worst of winter season. Personally, I can't wait to sink my teeth into good old real Malaysian food, not to mention cheap and affordable (compared to Melbourne). At the very least I don't have to taste my own cooking for the next few weeks.

So what did I do after I finished my last paper? Nothing much, just my favourite pastimes such as eating, playing games, working out, eating, eating and eating. Yes, in case you didn't know, I love food and I am not the guy who 'eat to live'. Just today, my friends and I went to Ikea and Victoria Gardens Shopping Mall. So in short, that's what I did so far.

This is probably one of the shortest post I wrote, but I can promise that there will be more updates in the future. Cheers.

The week that has been

Chelsea won the EPL by one point

Unless you had been living under a nutshell (does that sound right?), you should know that Chelsea has won the English Premier League by thrashing hapless Wigan 8-0. This means that Man Utd, the defending champions, were unable to win a record 19th English championship despite a 4-0 win over Stoke. It was reported that, for some unknown reason, Liverpool fans all around the world were celebrating after the Chelsea win.

Gordon Brown steps down as British PM after his Labour party ‘lost’ the elections

Sticking to England (or Great Britain), after an inconclusive elections, Britain’s Conservative and Liberal Democrat Party agreed to form Britain’s first coalition government since World War II to oust the ruling Labour Party. So, David Cameron (who is the head of the Conservative Party) is the new British Premier with Nick Clegg (Leader of the Liberal Democrats) as his deputy.

The World Cup squads announced

In case you didn’t know, the World Cup is just around the corner and each participating country has named their respective 30 men squads, and will trim down to 23 men soon. So, no Ronaldinho, Benzema, Veira, van Nistelrooy. And as usual, no Malaysia.

The Melayu Bangkit rally

The controversial Melayu Bangkit (Malays Rise) rally that was supposed to be held on 13 May at Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia was postponed after receiving much criticism. The rally was planned to coincide with the May 13 racial and political riots in 1969. Despite this and the fact that the rally was named Melayu Bangkit, the rally organizers have repeatedly maintained that the rally is not to induce racial and political unrest. If that’s the case, I can also say that the Malaysian government is free of corruption solely because there is a commission to deal with corruption. Anyway, I am shocked that the police actually issued a permit for this rally, making it a ‘legal’ procession. To put in crudely, what the f***?! It is damn obvious that the rally is of offensive nature, and in my opinion to cause racial unrest. This raises the suspension that this rally is actually a political gimmick ahead of the Sibu election.

Malaysia...tak boleh: Malaysia knocked out in the Thomas Cup on homeground

The writing was on the wall when the Malaysian badminton team lost to Japan in the first round of the Thomas Cup. Although they delayed the inevitable by beating Denmark to proceed to the semi-final, their opponent in the semis is none other than badminton powerhouse China. The nation was hopeful that Datuk Lee Chong Wei could start the ball rolling by defeating Lin Dan in the first singles, but once again Lin Dan outclassed Chong Wei and China ran out 3-0 winners. In other words, Malaysia was ‘China-nised’ once again. There is talk now that when Lin Dan finally retires and hang up his racquets, he will become a professional strip dancer.

Week 11 is starting this week!

There are 12 weeks in a semester, and this coming week is Week 11! Amazing, time really flies. After Week 12 will be SWOT VAC (study break) before end of semester exams. After exams, I will be going back to Malaysia. *Silent cheering* But for now, I will have to content with studying for the exams. University education is really like the express version of my March intake last year. Yes, you read it right. University education is the express of the express course. It’s really hectic, with assignments and tests thrown in into the mix.

It ‘Shell’ be done

To my surprise, I got a call from Shell Malaysia today saying they will call me on Tuesday afternoon for their scholarship interview. I was pleasantly surprised because after a long period of silence since submitting my scholarship applications for Security Commission Malaysia, Sime Darby and Khazanah, I pretty much thought, ‘Hey, they don’t want me.’ After the disaster that was the Maxis scholarship interview back in April, I really hope I don’t flop again this time. Scholarship interview? No problem, it shell, er i mean, shall be done.

Alright, tomorrow I have an 8am tutorial. Once again, thanks for reading my blog. I have to return to the world of academic struggle. Cheers.

For the sake of updating

You ever read those kind of of blogs that goes:

I love my life!! Today, A and B came over and asked me whether I want to mamak with them or not. Then I said yes and we bumped Z along the way. So she said...

Or:

Last night, we went clubbing but for some reason I didn't enjoy it because some inconsiderate...so I was sarcastic to everyone...C, my best friend tried to cheer me up...told him the party sucks, my gf could not come down...

The previous 2 examples aren't really blogging. It's just narrating your life story. Personally, I cannot stand reading these kind of blogs. So what if you didn't like the party, or you are upset that your other half couldn't turn up, I couldn't care less. When I read blogs, I look for 'quality' posts, preferably with a touch of humour. Sure, I am interested in reading about your personal opinions and what you did the past few days, but not all the time, especially if 'I's are overused.

So, there are three golden rules when it come to good blogging. There are:

1. Don't write too much about yourself; Relate to everyone else

2. Be creative in expressing yourself; Be unorthodox

3. A touch of humour never hurts; Be humourous

Okay, so its my turn to make this post interesting. Rule #1: I am not going talk about myself, I am going to talk about a random person named Ah Meng.

'Today, Ah Meng woke up at 10am. He wanted to start his Intro to Micro assignment but instead played Starcraft II for an hour. By the time he open his book, Ah Meng's friend Ah Choong asked him out for lunch together. So Ah Meng procrastinated and decided to do his work later. By the time he got back from lunch, he realize it's late but instead of starting his work, he opened his blog and started updating. '

Epic Failure

Okay, let me try this again. Rule #2: Maybe now I do it dialog style (Be different).

Officious bystander: So Jeric how was your day?

Jeric: Okay, okay, I completed my assignments, subject to changes.

Officious bystander: Excellent. Anything else interesting happen today?

Jeric: Yeah, Jeremy told me he is flying back to Malaysia for the Sime Darby scholarship interview.

Officious bystander: Didn't you apply for the scholarship too?

Jeric: Yeah I did. But I didn't get any email saying I got shortlisted for the interview.

Officious bystander: Are you implying ad hoc that you are disappointed not to get shortlisted?

Epic failure, again

Note: The blogger would like to disclaim any liability related to his efforts in making his post more interesting. The blogger explicitly states that he is inexperienced in making things interesting, and he is not liable for any injury or mental harm caused to the reader by reading this post.

Okay, seriously, Jeremy is going back to Malaysia for his interview, and I didn't receive any mail telling me whether I got shortlisted or not. *Sigh* I quote, 'when one door closes, a bigger and better door opens.' So, it's not the end.

For the first time as long as I can remember, I will support Liverpool tonight!! Yes, I am not joking, I want Liverpool to beat Chelsea so that Manchester United can claim top spot and be champions to at least end a bad season on a high. Hehe.

Anyway, right now I am looking for a cheaper accommodation in Melbourne as my lease ends on 2 August. I got a few options, and I am still weighing them. It really depends on the circumstances. Worse come to worse, I will just make university's library my 'room'.

Rule #3: Okay, to make this post more humourous, I will attached the photo below. Don't get the photo? Here's a tip, look at the 'stairs' closely.

Sob Story?

Once again, I would to apologize for the lack of updates recently. I am going to use the usual 'busy la' as my excuse for not regularly updating my blog. And the last week has been quite turbulent for me.

Probably it started when I could not, despite the best efforts of me and my dad, install the Quickbooks Student Edition into my laptop. I need Quickbooks for my accounting assignment, but to my frustration, I just couldn't install it. I tried to contact Reckon (the company which created QB) for help, but much to frustration again, they just sent me on a wild goose chase. I don't want to go into the details, but what I can say is when Reckon finally responded, they had the cheek to offer help at 50 dollars for 10 minutes!! WTF!

Anyway, sorry, I don't like to get all boiled up when blogging, but yeah, I am just so pissed off (oops) with QB and Reckon and what not. In the end, I found out that there's something wrong with my laptop that somehow doesn't allow QB to be installed. *Sigh* Just my luck.

And the last few days, I could say I was emotionally rattled. To be honest, I used to take pride in my ability to remain cool and keep a steady head when things get rough, but the last few days, I feel really 'unsettled', although now I am much much better, notwithstanding the fact that I still don't have Quickbooks in my laptop. Now, I have a personal grudge against QB and Reckon.

Actually, upon reflection, ever since I was in Melbourne, a lot of things don't seem to be going my way. First, there was frustrating issue of my university subjects, where I wasn't good enough to take Accelerated Maths, and the Commerce student center didn't even tell me. Secondly, there was a problem with my Epson printer I bought here in Melbourne. The printer couldn't print properly, and I wasted so much time adjusting the papers, ink etc, and in the end I found out that I actually bought a faulty printer and had to bring it back to the shop.

Then, my laptop had to act strangely, and truthfully, it got me really worried, because sometimes when I on the laptop, I can't access my files and saved data. Next, I tried my luck in applying for the position of the First Year Representative for the Actuarial Students' Society, and when I went to the interview, the interview panel basically told me I won't get the position because I am taking Calculus 2 instead of Accelerated Maths. WTF.

After that, I went to Malaysia during the Easter break for the Maxis scholarship interview. When I was checking-in at the Melbourne airport, I was told that my name was on the system, but wasn't on the flight. Obviously, I panicked and had to endure another hour of waiting before it was resolved. Anyway, the interview was tough and I had doubts about it, and sure enough, I wasn't awarded the scholarship. More hard work down the drain.

Okay, enough of my sob story. These adverse situations can 'build my character', and yeah, it's really a matter of perspective. It's how we see and react to problems in life that matters. With a positive and never-say-die attitude, surely any problem can be overcome. We might be facing lots of problems in life right now, but we can be assured that nothing, even hardships, lasts forever. Even as I am typing this, I think, "Hey, it's easier said than done". It's true, it's always easy to talk about our grand plans for the future, but sometimes no action takes place. But what I am trying to say is, all of us have problems, and we all have our own way to deal with it. But if we know that 'we are never tested beyond our capabilities' (I quote, from a secret source), our problems will seem smaller and more manageable.

Wow, I have to say this post is rather wordy. But if you have read it till this point, thank you!! So now I will attempt to put in some pictures.

If you Google search 'problems' under the images search, you will come upon the above picture. I don't think it's very encouraging if we are going through a difficult period. The picture seems to suggest that our problems could be greater than perceived.

Yup, this is how I feel the last few days. Frustration is the word.

Food for Thought

Here's something for you to think about.

If the government choose to interfere with the free market, by introducing tax, tariffs, subsidies etc, will society as a whole be better off or worse off?

Which is better? Equity financing or debt financing?

What is the relation between sech x and arc sech x?

When spouses enter into agreement, do they intend their agreement to be legally enforceable?

Do you go 'Huh? What the heck is this about?' ? (notice: 2 question marks!! Never mind...)

Yup, these are the kind of questions I get thrown at me since I started my semester. And that's only scratching the surface. Okay, I won't bore you with more uni-related stuff, but I suppose it's worth mentioning uni life isn't very relaxing. I remember not too long ago I was told university life isn't as hectic as secondary school and college times. Well, I guess the statement:

'University life is not so hectic.'

is rather ambiguous. Why? It's definitely true I have more time on my hands (I only got 14 hours of lectures and tutorials per week), but that time is being taken up by the astonishing amount of work I have to do. Okay, this part seems ambiguous again. I don't have to do all the work, but I feel rather guilty if I don't complete it. So I guess it pretty much depends on each person. And the fact that I still spend my time on Facebook and Soccernet doesn't help my workload.

Okay, enough with the uni stuff (notice that I said something along that line a few sentences earlier). A few Saturdays back, I went to the Melbourne Aquarium for free!! Fine, it's not really free, the Melbourne Aquarium is part of Unilodge's (the place I am staying) planned activities for their tenants. Everyone who is staying at Unilodge has in a way already paid for these kind of planned activities as part of their rent. To be honest, the Aquarium was a little boring, because I have been to other 'aquariums' before, so it's pretty much like 'seen-it-all-already'.

Did you know there's a restaurant on wheels concept in Melbourne? The restaurant is on a tram and it moves around the city while the diners inside eat.

Once again I apologize for the grainy photos. Unfortunately, I only possess a 3.2 mega pixels camera with me, so the quality of the photos can only be that good.

So, right now, I am at home in PJ, back in Malaysia. Yeah sure, I didn't tell a lot of people I came back. The main reason I return home is for the Maxis interview which I just went today. It was tough, and honestly, I don't think I did well enough to get my hands on the scholarship. The questions they asked, coupled with my inexperience in interviews, didn't really help my cause. In other words, I don't have a good feeling about this.

I brought some books over from Melbourne to study, but so far, I have been procrastinating. Until now, I have not open my books and tomorrow is Wednesday already. I must start...tomorrow.

Actually, I wanted to post some pictures of my Melb Aquarium trip, but the photos are still in my mobile phone (er, I meant camera) and there's something wrong with the battery. First my laptop, after that the room light, then the plane ticket, then the interview, now the handphone. What the heck, nothing going right for me.

Speaking of food, since last Thursday, I was on a strict diet. Strict diet in the sense of eating as much as I can. Whatever weight I have lost over the last few years, surely it is appearing again in stomach. I feel flabby and unfit, and for some weird reason, lost my appetite for exercise. There's something wrong with me.

So, I did my part and finally update my blog. To GOD, it your turn to do your part.