Tuesday, November 24, 2009

My visit to the church and temple

The title might surprise you. Why on earth would I want to visit a church and temple? Am I converting to another religion? Is that why. No is the answer. It is all part of trying to understand another religion, so that I can truly understand my own religion. I went there under the Friendly Comparative Religion (FCR) program held by the Islamic Information & Services (IIS).

During our school days the non-muslims were introduced to the Islamic world during our history classes. There they learned about us, but we never really learned about them. So this is kinda like returning the favor, but not just because of that. I wanted to learn more about other religions, why is it that they do what they do and why they believe in it.

We went to visit the church of St. Thomas in Sentul, where they practice the Orthodox doctrine of Mar Thoma. Amin picked me up at Monash University and we arrived quite early so we decided to have a light breakfast. We came back at around 9.15 am in time for the Bible Studies. I can't remember which verse in the Bible the father was talking about but from just one verse, he was able to elaborate it until it took almost 45 minutes. By that time the church was filled with people and the mass was about to begin.

One thing I have to note is before entering the church, I was filled with hatred and contempt and I wanted to question the christians everything about their faith. But the moment I sat at the church, I saw the father prieching to his disciples, I saw the christians so devoted to their religion, my mind suddenly changed. I stopped looking at it Islam or Christianity. I started looking at it as devotion to God.

So the mass was filled with all kinds of ritual, the weirdest I've seen is the use of incense and the candles, looks like a Jewish ritual. This is an Orthodox church, where they're rituals follows similarly to the Catholic church ( Though I was misinformed it's going to be an Anglican Protestant church). It lasted quite long, almost 2 hours. Even Bro Shah Kirit said that it is very long, he expected it to be only an hour. Having said that, it disrupted the plan and we had to make some arrangements. The Q&A sessions was cut very short so we couldn't ask much. So we left for the temple at around 12.



The temple we went to is a Sri Lankan temple of the Theravada Buddhist sect. They're beliefs is quite different from the chinese beliefs. They don't believe in all the gods and praying to ancestors. It's Buddhism to the purest. We were greeted by Mr. Tan and a couple of Sinhalese Monks. Then we were given lunch inside their main hall, it was supposed to be very simple vegetarian lunch until the KFC shows up. Yeah they probably know we malays are suckers for KFC. But even the veggie food was delicious, they have dishes originating from Sri Lanka. So after lunch we we're brought around to visit the temple. We were shown the Buddha statue, the Boddhi shrine, and among many other things. It was very interesting, until the questions start to come out, which destroys the time planning. But Mr. Tan was very patient, he doesn't get angry when we ask all our questions, even ones which was designed to test his faith.

After the tour is finished we went back to the hall for a Q&A sessions. Mr. Tan was probably the most impressive non-believer I've ever seen. He knows about other religion and he really have faith in his own. Even when the questions was getting very offensive, he kept a smile on his face and he explains it in a way that everyone could understand. Bro Shah said that if he were to revert to Islam, he would become a huge asset to Islam. I mean, everyone was amazed by him, for his knowledge and for his his patience. He is doing what Islam is telling him to do, 'berpesan dengan kebenaran, dan berpesan dengan kesabaran'.



The trip to other religious sites was an invaluable experience. Without this FCR I don't think I would have ever thought of going there. But now I want to expand my horizon, to free my mind and become closer to Allah because of it.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Exam dh habis!!

Exam is over people. Freedom is now here. Wow i don't remember when I've felt this relieved. My blood is rushing from excitement.

Wow, this semester has been quite a challenge. And nothing gives me more challenge than electricals. Surprisingly I managed to do fine for the exams. Structures was fucking shit. Fucking hard as hell. I cannot believe they actually come out with that. Too much calculation, not enough time. Computing was alright I guess. Good thing I did that hand calculation exercise.

I think I wanna go for jamming, release some tension. Going to jam with Dr. Herbert tomorrow, play some oldies. Then maybe jam with Faiz, play some metalcore.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

2 down, 2 more to go

I have just finished my electricals and professions exam. i think electricals was tough but alhamdulillah i managed to do all, thanks to circuit solutions from Irwin-Nelms. The one that saved me in professions is doing past years. Everyone else seems to struggle since most look down on professions, but actually there is a lot to remember.

See the way I study is to practicing. Always practicing. I can never just open and book and read all the way, wouldn't even last 2 hours. That's why I did badly in Biology. Even if there is a chapter I have no idea of, when I look at the questions and understand them, I can always do well. That's why I need solutions to any tutorial problems. Practice, just like how I practice my guitar.

So 2 more papers, structures this wednesday and computing this friday. After that I will be free as a bird, ha ha. Might wanna get a job, maybe at ACE Hardware or Best Denki. But first must go jamming, have gotten very rusty already.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Metal : A Headbanger's Journey

Hi how r u? Yeah it's been quite a while since my last entry so I'll make this one somewhat a good entry.

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. I've been meaning to make a review of this documentary. It is seriously good, it really touched me. It was a documentary made by Sam Dunn, a serious metalhead from the age of 12 about metal and it's origins. It portrays the history of metal, the controversies such as satanism and violence and also the effect it has on the fans.





Metal is widely accepted as being originated from Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi to be more precise. The song "Black Sabbath", features the usage of tri-tones which a provide a dark and grisly atmosphere. This pattern was actually prohibited by the church during the medieval times, as it is related to satan.

Satanism has always been a problem to the society. Unfortunately it's always being connected to metal, that's major stereotype. Not all metalists are satanists, in fact people who writes songs about satan are most likely not satanist. For Example Slayer and Venom. The reason why they wrote it is because they wanted to make they're songs darker than everyone else's. It's not like they mean it at all. Tom Araya of Slayer sings about God Hates Us All, but he's a devout catholic who goes to church every week.

The Norwegians wrote songs about satan because of the rebelling towards christianity. Well hatred towards christianity in Norway stretches out to their Viking roots. Church burnings, killing is a problem with this group. I don't knnow man, I'm not really a fan of black metal so I'll just leave this out.

Death metal is my most favorite genre. Unfortunately gore and violence is always connected to this one. Cannibal Corpse often depicts violent imagery on their cover albums. The reason why they do what they do is to shock people, but in reality they're just like you and me. Humble and down to earth type of people. They know things like this will never happen in real life.

This documentary demonstrates the effect of metal to the fans. Metal doesn't judge, doesn't discriminate and it sure is comforting when you have a trouble. Being a metal fan myself, I cannot get through life without metal, just as I cannot get through life without Islam. You may not understand what metal means to us, it's more than just a bunch of songs with heavy drum beats, distorted guitars and over the top screaming. It's a way of life.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Australia!

Just got back from my week long holiday in Australia. Man it's hot here, over there it's 13C. heh 13 going to 30. But man it was really enjoyable. Not to mention very expensive. I wasted 400 Ozzy dollars.

Time to recall some precious memories. It was a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne when I arrived. The sight of whities everywhere reminded me of the time when I used to travel the world, visiting foreign countries, meeting new faces and introduced to a new culture. How I miss those days. But now I get a chance to relive that moment, and experience the joy of being a foreigner, where everyday is an excitement.

I love winter. That is my favorite season. I love the cold and the chilling wind and the sight of empty trees. I never experience winter before, and may I say that it is everything that I expected, everything that I wanted. Being a husky guy, I tend to have larger amount of fat than what is supposed to, so it's only logical to say that my body is a good insulator. In Malaysia, due to the sweltering hot weather and humid atmosphere, I usually drown in my own sweat and suffer the unbearable amount of heat generated in me. But during winter, I can relax comfortably while others shiver in the mighty cold.

I must say that I shopped a lot. Went to lots of places but I especially like going to Victoria Market. Things are dirt cheap but still maintains a certain level of quality. I bought most of my clothes at Target since they have them at big sizes. I got a cotton pants which costs me around 70 AUD, damn that's expensive but it is one of the most comfortable pants I ever wore. Better I got sports shoes for 4 bucks, that's like 10 Ringgit. Went to DFO, visited Rivers and bought me a boots for 35 bucks. Supposed to be 70 but I got it half priced.

We rented a Holden Statesman for the 3rd day. Seriously that is the best car we've ever rode. It's so wide not to mention having a 3.5 litter that would probably produce around 250 bhp. Our first trip was to go to Mt. Buller. I have to say that it was my first time experiencing snow and it was the best time of my life. I went skiing with my sister, not knowing it was terribly hard to do it. After managing a couple of laps on a gentle slope, I decided to tackle the big dog and slope down the whole mountain. So there I was, sitting all alone on the ski chair with the chilling wind, strikes down right to my bone. I was beginning to have doubts whether I could come down alive, seeing how I performed before. But hell it went well, too well so I decided to go again. Not knowing I took the wrong ski chair, before this it only went half the mountain, now I'm heading way to the top. Not many people went there because the slope is very steep and it needs massive amount of control. Since I don't have that the only way I could stop is by falling down, in this case, rolling over. But I was having the best time of my life. My family was getting worried why I wasn't down yet since I'm only expected to go down once. They thought of getting someone to rescue me but luckily I came down safely.

The next day we went to Ballarat to visit Sovereign Hill, an old mining town. Too bad we came late so we only have an hour and a half to explore the place. But seriously it was worth every cent, as none of us regretted going there. Took lots of photos and videos and seen things we've never saw before. It looked like a Western cowboy town. We didn't manage to go on the underground mine tour as we were to late but it's a good thing we came late, since we were the only people there so it was peaceful, apart from a couple of schoolgirls.

Other than that we get to see a couple of other places with the car. We went to St. Kilda at night. My god it was so beautiful seeing the waterfront at night. It was so peaceful, it is a perfect place to bring your girlfriend on a date. My sis thought it was a good idea to watch the fireworks at Crowns Casinos, although it was rather short but seeing the hotel itself is good enough. The most wonderful lobby I ever been in. No words can describe it, it was just so wonderful. On top of that I saw the girl of my dreams. Joe met up with one of his Indonesian friends there, and that guy brought a long his girlfriend. She is so beautiful, she looks like a beautiful model and a great face indeed. But hell, I know I can never get someone like that, so I can only spend the rest of my life imagining being with a girl like that.

Went to a couple of guitar shop. Allan's Music at Bourke St. Tested a couple of amps, Orange Rockereverb 50, Vox AC30CC2. Damn nice. I also tried a couple of Ibanez Prestiges and some GIBSON Les Pauls. Bloody hell the Gibsons are so cheap compared to Malaysia's price. They showcase their Gibsons like we showcase our Epiphones. But of course I don't have any money to buy anything. Would love to go there again and actually buy something.

Going to Australia is so wonderful. I really miss it and I sure wish I can go there again. Hopefully I get to go study there next year. So pray for me aite!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Jamming Jamming!!

Last saturday I went out jamming with Joe's brother and his friends. We went to a studio called Hot Stuff, which is located somewhere in Taman Tun. Damn the studio was nice, well since it's because we picked the nicest one, RM40 per hour so each have to pay RM10. They got Marshall AVT cabs, Carvin cabs and a keyboard. Soundwise, top notch. I used the Marshall cab since I thought of leaving the Carvin stuff to the lead guitarist. But I don't know why Daniel, who is a much better guitarist than I am, chose to use a Hughes and Kettner amp.

Man that guy is damn good, he can really shred and I'm not talking about pure wanking, it's about putting theory into practice. I don't know much about theory, so that's why I signed up for guitar lessons at Music Master yesterday.

The jamming went well, although there are a lot of mistakes made. But all is well, I was really satisfied with the outcome.

But hey don't listen to me, here are some few clips. Yes I made a lot of mistakes



Ni aku main Open Your Eyes Solo (ALter Bridge). Ye ada byk silap ngan mistiming.




Ni Sweet Child o Mine duel solo. Ye aku silap dlm first half.



Rock You Like A Hurricane. ni aku x main solo tp ko tgk Daniel pny playing...flawless

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Gi Lepak kt Rasta smlm...

Yesterday i lpk2 with Amin, Wari and Emir. Amin and Wari brought their girlfriends along. Hell good thing Emir didn't otherwise I'll be lonely like shit. But hey it was still fun hanging out with them since we can't do this very often. And as usual they laugh the shit out of everything I say, damn I feel like such a clown.

But hey Wari seems FATTER, so I'm not alone. Relax man I know you hv ur reasons. Tak kisah la kan sbb ko yg ada awek. Aku sebatang kara je. But seeing how romantic those 2 couples are, it makes me think, will I ever get the chance to do something like that? Or am I going to die alone? Insyaallah not but I still cannot help wondering. Nothing has ever came out so far so why should it starts now?

Feelings aside, had fun last night. It was a mistake to order that damn shisha. Cost me some greens and those two girls seems to be bothered by the smoke. Good thing I didn't took out my sin sticks. Went back at 2.30, I believe this is the latest I ever came back ever since college.

PS: fuck you man!!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Far Beyond The Sun

So far this is my best video of me playing guitar. It's a cover of Yngwie Malmsteen's Far Beyond The Sun. I think it's a bit sloppy , got various mistakes and to mention a bit off in timing. Normally I can play this fine but when you're playing for the camera, there's an added pressure to make sure you get it all in one go. But then it's hard to get it right.

To be able to play at this level, it took years of practice. Nothing can achieve without blood, sweat and tears. So if you want to be able to play like this, there's no other option but to practice. Even then I'm not even half as good as where I want to be. I'm not planning to stop playing guitar anytime soon since there's so much to accomplish.



Thursday, June 11, 2009

Jason Becker, the greatest musician ever!

The first time I saw Jason Becker's photo on a Guitar World issue, I thought man this guy is a real poser and pufter. I was dead wrong. For he is the greatest musician ever to roam the earth, greater than Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Alexi Laiho, Muhammed Suicmez or any other guitarist or musician put together.

He was one talented guitarist. Filled with a bright future, he went on to become one the greatest guitarist ever. His video of him playing "Serrana" proved his technical fluency as well as his superb master over the six-string arpeggios (which is extremely hard even for the best). He joined the band Cacophony while he was 16, along with Marty Friedman and created duelling guitar solos which are out of this world. He then went on to join David Lee Roth's band, replacing the legendary Steve Vai.

Sadly at this time, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease). It is the same type of disease which occur to Stephen Hawking. Doctor's gave him 3 years to live, but he fought on and never gave up. His body started to paralyze, rendering him from playing his guitar. Now he can only move his eyes, but he still composes by using a computer with special device to detect his eye movements. His body might be paralyzed, but his mind is as sharp as ever. Anyone who knows about him will say that his career has just begun.






Jason, you are truly an inspiration to all of us. God gave you a special task, to keep us inspired.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Exam dh dkt!!!

Assalamualaikum smua... haishh terkejut ke... phl plk selama ni aku asyik ckp omputeh tiba2 guna melayu ni... haa kalo korang smua nk tau aku pun dh muak dh asyik ckp english je... ye la kt monash tu org cina smua mne ckp melayu, kalo x reti ckp english mati la hang, dh la byk international students...

Aku rse dh sebulan lbh dh aku x post new entry.. busy beb mmg life jd engineering student ni cm babi je... assignment, report, lab la... cmne x tension....org ckp 1st year pun dh tension? mmg la mentang2 aku lg, cuti 10 bulan otak berkarat gilo2... susah nk guna blk...

Tp aku mmg buat mistake la...1st half sem ni aku mcm main2.. x buat assignment smua, x dtg klas... skrang ni result aku truk, tp xpe aku kena focus smua power aku untuk exam final ni... 3 minggu lg, x byk tu.....

Subject aku plg bimbang is dynamics ngan physics... 2 tu aku mg slalu ponteng lecture, pastu klas tuto dia selang 2 minggu.... aku ni jenis nk phm kena tgk orang lain buat kerja..... kalo nk phm kena klas tuto la.. ngan dynamic tu ramai gile org fail, cmne aku x takut nye.... tp skrang ni aku mmg btol2 bersemangat nk blaja.... aku byk berkawan ngan bangladeshi ni.... pandai tau diorang ko ingat bangla ni bodoh2 ke smua... x semestinye jgn stereotype plk...

Well anyways, aku dh graduate jatuh untuk silat cekak.... hari tu baru ada majlis ijazah... mlm sblm tu kita org buat demo.. ni demo yg pertama skali dlm sejarah untuk persatuan cekak kota damansara.. wah best giler la ramai org dtg... minah2 pun sama dtg tgk kita org beraksi... huahh hah aha..tp ada satu minah ni mmg lawa la... dia ada mse majlis ijazah tu... putih molek ngan rambutnye yg panjang lurus dan ayu muka nye... tu la aku ingat bdk baru nk join bleh la aku show off sikit tunjuk kuat nnti mse training.. rupe2nye dia dh tamat, alaa potong stim btol la.... cmne aku nk show off kalo dia lg senior dr aku... tp aku sedar diri gak sapa aku ni... mne mungkin bdk gemuk mcm aku blh kluar ngan bdk lawa2 mcm dia tu....aku mmg x percaya ngan org yg ckp pompuan ni x tgk badan sgt... sedih sedih...

tu la hikayat hidup aku ni ntuk beberapa bulan yg lepas... mintak maaf ye kepada sapa yg menunggu aku nk post topic baru.... merepek plk bkn nye ada sapa2 pun bace blog aku.... aku tulis ni pun sebab nk lepas kan tension..... tp kdg2 tu ada jgk la harapan org amik mse untuk baca aku pny blog ni... haish sedih la aku ni

Friday, April 3, 2009

I'm Just A NOOB!

After approximately one year of playing the electric guitar, with hours of practicing everyday, ranging from alternative picking to various sweep-picked arpeggios, I realize that I am no more than just a noob guitarist. Why is that? I couldn't put the scales to practical application.

When I started playing,the only thing I know what to do is just open the Guitar Pro and just read the tabs. That's all I could do, do as instructed. I couldn't come out with my own riff or shred blast on a song I don't know. I could use some pentatonic scales but it's not good enough. All those hours of practicing sweep-picking, tapping is useless if I cannot put it to good use. Aaargh, the horrible truth about music. Once you taught that you know, you actually know shit.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

The Subgenre's of Metal

I've been wanting to write about this for a long time but I find it hard to categorize some of the bands. Well, some people think that metal is a division of rock music. Based on my experience plus words from those who knows better than me, I say that metal is a genre on its own. Sure Metal has the same components as rock music, such as the use of guitars, drums and bass, but so does jazz, blues or even hip-hop. But due to the harsh vocals and foul language used, metal is not accepted by the society, even if the subjects talked about is serious and concerning issues ( compared to rap & r&b who only talk about sex and drugs). Anyways lets just skip that part a moment and focus on categorizing what we call metal:

  • Early Metal : The early days of metal. Pioneered by the most important metal band of all time, Black Sabbath. Compared to today's metal, this is for wimps. But don't be fooled by the slow tempo and simple chord progression, without them there could possibly be no metal at all. It is then continued by bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. After that the flow of metal is smooth and it quickly spreads out by itself.
  • Thrash metal: This is possibly the softest form of metal available today. A firm example would have to be Metallica. The riffs are pretty much easy due to the slower tempo but people seem to go with this because the vocals are pretty much comprehensible but at the same time they can get a bit of the energy and anger generated from metal. But let me tell you, if you say that you're a metal fan but only listens to the likes of Metallica or Megadeth, then you're nothing but a poser. Dont' stop here, continue on. Thrash metal bands I actually like is Slayer and Five Finger Death Punch.
  • Groove Metal: I don't really know about this one but people seem to mention it a lot. I do know that bands like Pantera or Lamb of God resides in this subgenre. I guess it's another genre that receive huge attention and bands people actually know about.
  • Nu metal: New age metal, as the name suggests. The metal community doesn’t really accept this form of metal. I don’t know why, but maybe it’s because they tried to fuse elements of rap and hip-hop into it. Band such as Slipknot or Korn, they definitely sound different from other stuff but for Slipknot, I kinda like them. A band featuring a lineup of 9 definitely is something different. Plus the wearing of creepy masks help gain their notorious reputation. The vocals is harsh, just like usual, but this time the tone itself is very angry and changing, different from the death growls of death metal or high pitched grunts from black metal. I like both the guitarist, Jim Root and Mick Thomson. Definitely shredders since they can play so well.
  • Metalcore: This is the subgenre of metal that has been receiving a lot of attention lately. Don't know what is metalcore? Think of Trivium, Atreyu and Bullet for my Valentine. One think that I realized from metalcore is that they have heavy sreaming in their songs but the chorus part is switched to singing. It's quite pretty straightforward, the chord usage is relatively simple and the solo section doesn't involve heavy use of arpeggios or complex structures, just alternate picking with a bit of sweep pick or tapping added to it. Then it is usually paired with a simple guitar duel before getting to the breakdown.
  • Death Metal: This is my favorite subgenre of metal. Why? Simply because my all time favorite metal band is in it, Children of Bodom. They are just wonderful, very melodic, super guitar solos, keyboard duel, I mean it's everything you can ask for. After listening to every song Alexi Laiho has to offer, I started to get a bit bored and went to search other bands in the same subgenre. Bands like In Flames, Cannibal Corpse and Necrophagist caught my attention. It involved complex riffs and very heavy drum beating and not to mention dark death grunts ( it's different for COB and In Flames). Necrophagist for instance, involves the most complicated riffs I've ever seen and extensive usage of sweep picking and heavy arpeggios, but when comes to soloing, Muhammed Suicmez is a Yngwie Malmsteen clone. He downright copies Malmsteen's licks, style and technique of playing. Some other death metal band to take note are Carcass and Ensiferum.
  • Black metal: I don't know much about this because I dare not get close to it. One reasons it's because they diss religion and worships satan. Come on how crazy is that, satan should be your no. 1 enemy not the other way around. Anyways the theme and atmosphere generated from Black metal bands is very dark and trecherous. It doesn't involve as much of technical skills or complex riffing as death metal, since they put a focus on satan. If you still want to check em out, go with Cradle of Filth, Behemoth or Gorgoroth. But I warn you, once you enter this road, you can never go back. Don't say i didn't warned you.

I know I missed out some other genres of metal such as power metal or speed metal, but I'm putting this down based on my experience and my knowledge. Keep in mind that this may not be 100% accepted by the metal community, so you might just wanna keep it as a guideline to yourself.

I can already imagine some people asking me why I left out Dragonforce right? Well it's simple they are nerd metal. Stupid worthless and wasting of time. They are not actually metal but try to disguise it with heavy guitar battles which they can't actually repeat in a live environment. That's why they are called Studioforce. If it wasn't for Guitar Hero 3, none of us would have ever heard of them.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

My life at Monash!

So I have finally begun my journey as a Monash student. Wow, I have been waiting for this moment for months, and I have to say it feels so good being able to study again. I've already completed 2 weeks at Monash, and I've already having trouble with the lectures. Damn it, that's what happens after staying home for 10 months without opening a single book, your brain becomes so rusty it's hard to accept information.

The first week was boring. It was an orientation week. Even my first day at Monash caused me so many problems. My name was not in the list during registration so I have to meet a few people to get it sorted out. Some Petronas scholars also have this problems. Look I know we are poor people because we are sponsored students, but that doesn't mean we should be treated as second class citizens. In fact we should receive more attention since we're the kind of people whose going to lift the university's reputation. So later I found out my name was not in the system. What the fuck man I've already submitted everything including the guarantee letter from Sime Darby. I have to fill out the whole application form again and submit it by hand, again. Shit this supposed to be a prestigious school. How can they mess up with such a simple thing like this.

Last week I started on my classes. Shit most of the lectures are boring. Especially my materials lecturer, he's an Indian who graduated from Indian Institute of Technology ( big deal man). I mean I'm fine with his accent even though it's a bit hard to catch but the problem is he started to use engineering terms out of nowhere without explaining about it. For example, stress, strain, true strain all this are completely alien to us but he assumes we already know about it. If we already knew about it why the hell would we be taking this subject. Anyways math is really confusing. We started learning about vectors which was the subject I hated most and got me a B for math. Physics was good, the lecturer, Dr Lan Boon Leong is very funny and cheerful. He made physics fun, just like Cikgu Subki.

All and all I'm quite satisfied with Monash University. A bit dissappointed with their system though. Also I found that my biggest problem here is trying to find new friends. Sure I made some but I culdn't fit in properly. I realized over here I am the minority and I've already forgotten how to mix and interact with other races. Being in SAS and matriculation really doesn't help my interracial communication. I remembered when I was in seaport, I made a lot of chinese and indian friends, now I found it hard to replicate that action.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Tagged by an angel!!!

Remove 1 question from below and add in a personal question, make it a total of 20 questions. Then tag 8 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

1. If you could spend one Ringgit in 5 minutes, what would you spend on?
-Kopi O' Kaw

What is your most favourite thing to do?
-Playing my guitar

who do you miss ryte now??
-Allah ngan Nabi Muhammad...

4. What would you give up in return to eat all you want in the world and not get fat?
-Nothing... I'm already fat... Should change the question to "What would you give up in return to eat all you want in the world and not get fatter?"

5. Is there someone in your heart right now?
-There is... a crush... but it is unrequited

6. Do you believe you can survive without money?
-Maybe in the woods... but in the city, virtually impossible.

7. Do you know your BMI (Body Mass Index)?
-32 kot... yeah I'm fat alrite... happy now?

8. What do you feel like doing right now?
-Fap??? ha ha

9. If there’s someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?
- Going to war is much easier than this.... I mean it....

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you.
-Extremely beautiful.... funny.... worth dying for

11.What is the thing that will make you thing he/she is kind?
- how she helps those in need

12. What is the thing that will make you think he/she is bad?
- Backstab and hypocrite

13. Are you left-handed or right-handed?
- Right handed..

14. If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- Nasi Lemak dan Ayam Goreng...

15. If you had a choice to be rich or happy, which one would you pick?
- happy..

16. If you have a chance, which part of your character you would like to change?
- Low-self esteem

17. How would you like to die?
- In a very honorable way like syahid or dying while sujud. I am very scared of dying in a horrible manner where you can't even tell apart your arms or legs. I truly believe how a person dies reflects his or her life.

18. Cats or Dogs?
-of coz cats..

19. What is the one thing you love about yourself?
- I love Islam more than anything else??

20. If you have a million ringgit,what would you do?
- Invest mah, buy properties and stocks...

I'm tagging Amin, Wari, Emir, Naim and Nazrin.

Friday, February 27, 2009

* anda dikehendaki mengambil 3 gamba di bahagian muka.
* pastikan di crop.
* setiap gamba hanya boleh menampakkan 1 atau 2 anggota SAHAJA!
* huraikan sedikit tentang pic itu.
* tag sesiape je asalkan lebih 5 orang.







Mata aku ni bahaya sikit. Bila aku tenung tu mcm ular je. Orang kata takut tengok mata aku. Sucks out the life out of them.





Hidung aku ni deria bau dia kuat sikit. Boleh bau benda orang lain tak bleh. Macam kadang2 terkluar bau kemenyan ke, aku sorang je dpt bau. Tu la, aku byk training.




Mulut aku banyak mengeluarkan perkataan lucah dan kasar. Banyak gk berzikir ngan menyebut nama Allah untuk neutral kn perkataan x baik tu.

Aku tag Naim, Nazrin, Amir, Clement ngan Eji hahaa....

Friday, February 20, 2009

My Biggest Celebrity Crush!

I'm sure each and every one of us has a celebrity crush. For girls I'm sure it would like Brad Pitt, Jonas Brothers or Christiano Ronaldo ( fuckin hate him, play football like shit). For some of you guys it would like Jessica Alba or Maria Ozawa ( jgn nk tipu, aku tau ko kenal!) . But for me, my biggest celebrity crush is one of the main stars from Gilmore Girls. None other than the blue-eyed Alexis Bledel!







































































Beautiful isn't she? It all started back when I was in Form 5. I was browsing through the newspaper then suddenly a picture of her caught my eye. Oh my god, she is mesmerizing, words cannot describe how I felt. I was lovestruck, it was love at first sight. That doesn't happen to me a lot but it was like I found the girl I wanted. I became a huge Gilmore Girls fan after that, weird aite? What the hell is this metal guy doing watchin Gilmore Girls? Well you just discovered the softer side of me that is rarely revealed to people. Consider yourself lucky, knowing my soft spot. ha ha....

Anyways I know that she's like 8 years older than me, but I can't resist her charm. Her blue eyes, her beautful face, her long smooth silky brown hair...arrgh droooool... ( I'm not really in favor of breasts and hot bods, I'm more of a gentlemen.... heh heh.) But damn it, not only is she soooo cute, she's a talented actress. I just love watchin her in Gilmore girls, believe it or not I cried when the series ended. Damn shouldn't have said that, that was my darkest secret.





















The picture that changed my life...

Friday, February 13, 2009

Why guitars are a lot like girls

For a guitarist, the guitar has become more than just an instrument, it has somewhat become part of their body. However I realized the are a couple of similarities between guitars and girlfriends.
  • When you get them, you felt extremely happy, just like a new girlfriend.
  • A good looking guitar makes you stand out from the others, just like having a pretty lady by your side.
  • You take care of them with the same respect to your girlfriends ( This varies with everyone, depends on how you take care of your stuff).
  • Both delivers maximum satisfaction (maybe not sexual, but pleasure still).
  • Beginners will get sore fingers after done playing them ( Extreme!)
  • You just want to hold them in your hands and never let go.
  • Both requires high level of maintenance ( Guitars need to change strings, oil fretboard, clean pickups, hardware, etc.)
  • Both make a very nice sound when you're playing them ( ha ha you get what I mean)..
  • You often tend to cheat a lot on both of them ( Playing with other people's stuff).
  • Polygamy is very popular ( I myself have 4 'wives')
  • You always find yourself searching for a new one ( gettin bored with the old one).
  • The good ones cost a lot.
  • The rare and unique ones are always sought after.
  • Like a girl, a guitar will nag ( sound bad ) if you don't do the right stuff.
  • And most of all, both of them mean a lot to you. When you've got hold of the right one, you just want to hold tight and never let go.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Silat Cekak Ustaz Hanafi

It's probably been 2 months now since I joined Silat Cekak Ustaz Hanafi. I remembered how it all started, I was doing pretty much nothing then I suddenly have the urged about joining silat. Don't know why, cahaya hidayah kot. So I started searching on the net to look for places to learn Silat. The nearest one I could find is at Kota Damansara so I gave the instructor a call and arranged for a meeting. That night I went there and was greeted by the handler and he explained to me about Silat Cekak Ustaz Hanafi as I observe some of the students practicing. Later we went to a mamak shop and had coffee and started talking. So I left him my contact no. and a couple of months later there was a oath taking ceremony.

Up till now I never regreted joining it. Sure it maybe tiring and consume a lot of my time but it is fun and I learned something important. I always had this fear of like 20 people ambushing me. So now I want to prepare myself if that moment ever comes. Seriously this silat is well adapted for fighting purposes and is extremely effective. Even the first movement ( or buah) is cleverly constructed. I used to learn Taekwondo before for years but I knew it is absolutely useless in the line of battle. You have to rely on strength and stamina and pretty much doesnt help if you're being attacked by a gang. It is more suitable on a competition or one on one fight but even then it doesn't give you the higher edge in a fight. This silat is pretty much using the human anatomy, striking at the points and bringing the opponent down to the ground. It's brutal, and the training is rigorous but it is just what I was looking for.

Tagged by Wanie

i/ Copy Badge “2008 Cute’s Blogger Award” and put it on your blog


ii] Link or tell a bit about the person who gave you the award.
  • Super cute.
  • Ye la, sebab lawa tu sng la carik org baru.
  • Studying at Utem Melaka.
  • Maybe I have a crush on her, maybe, heh heh


iii]Each one of you who receive this award must list down 10 facts / hobbies about yourself
  • I'm fugly, that's people's first impression on me
  • Suka main gitar, jiran smua geram bunyi bising
  • Heavy metal is my passion, and I'm talented playing it.
  • My influences are Alexi Laiho, Yngwie Malmsteen, Synyster Gates and Kerry King.
  • Study at Monash University for Mechanical Engineering course
  • Got Sime Darby Scholarship, best worr, dpt pg oversea nnti.
  • I like playing video games, especially FPS (no to DOTA)
  • Problem's with spending money, duit scholarship aku almost gone dh.
  • Aku takut dengan Allah.
  • Salah satu hajat aku yang paling besar ialah meninggal dalam keadaan yang mulia ( sujud dalam solat, mati syahid, atau mati menyelamatkan orang.)

iv] I pass diz award to
  • No one. This award dies with me. ha ha

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Jackson EVH Randy Rhoads!

Just picked up my superguitar yesterday. Sent it to John Lau again for some modifications. And I have to say I am super happy about it. Changed all the hardware to black since it's almost impossible to get Gold Floyd rose within my budget. But the most interesting part is that I got half of the neck scalloped ( from 13th fret to 24th fret). The first time I played a scalloped guitar is a MIA Fender Stratocaster Yngwie Malmsteen signature. It was so easy to shred fast and don't even talk about the ease of bending. So after that I was determined to get my guitar scalloped but I wanted to keep the inlays on the Jackson. At first I thought the scalloping is gonna scrape the inlays but I was shocked that it didn't. But still, the inlays lost it's shine after that, so luckily I had it half-neck scalloped.


This is the picture of the scalloped frets.



















































Some pictures of the black hardware:















































































Will upload some videos soon.

Tagged by Wanie!

#1 describe 10 things about the person who tagged you....

1. Kecik but adorable
2. Extremely beautiful
3. Nice voice
4. Likes R&B
5. Suka pakai colored contacts
6. Studying at UTEM doing Kejuruteraan Pembuatan
7. Studied sains hayat at matrik , totally different from what she's doing now
8. A real head turner, everywhere she goes people will notice
9. Kind of a playgirl right now, but longs for true love
10.Have been dissappointed by many men.

#2 describe 10 things about you.

1. Extremely big and huge.
2. Loves to play sports (Rugby, football, tennis, badminton, ping pong and lots more)
3. I'm fugly
4. Extremely addicted to heavy metal ( Death metal especially like Children of Bodom)
5. Extremely addicted to guitar and shredding (Yngwie Malmsteen!!)
6. Jaga solat dan ibadah
7. Dapat scholarship from Sime Darby , next year pergi Australia.
8. Going to study at Monash University for Mechanical Engineering course.
9. Never had a girlfriend in my life, that sucks....
10.Accepted my fate for No.9 and convinced that it's because Allah loves me and wants to prevent me from falling to hell.

#3 - At the end, you need to choose 10 people to be tagged and list their names.

1. Naim
2. Nazrin
3. Amir
4. Tah....aku tak ramai kawan yang blogging. sorry

Friday, January 16, 2009

Strat Upgraded!!

Ha ha.... now all you Fender owners cannot mock my Squier anymore. I just changed my pickup to two of the most powerful and influential pickups Dimarzio's have ever produced. First is a Dimarzio YJM ( that stands for Yngwie J. Malmsteen, yes we all know who he is, and if you don't, you're not a real guitarist ) and next is a Dimarzio Tone Zone ( a humbucker, something most of you cannot get on your strat, unless of course you own a fat strat like me, ironic).


Just take a look la wei, that rosewood fretboard looks like ebony.





















And this is the view of my R-Supersponic X-Neck pickup. heh heh.... Got you there. No it's not a Dimarzio YJM but it is modeled after it. Plus it's alnico magnets and handwounded. You can't get that from any of those big pickup labels like Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan or even EMG's. Plus I got it for RM170 which just saves me a couple of hundred bucks than getting one of those big labels. This sound is soft but sharp like A YJM. That's the main reason I bought this pickup, so I could get the clarity and tone while playing Malmsteen at that speed.


















And here comes the Tone Zone. Used by Paul Gilbert and many others, this pickup is one the most common you could see in any modified Ibanez RG. Believe me the popularity of this pickup is not exagerated and it's power is no less impresive. This pickup qualifies to be a high output pickup and it's design to tackle those annoying hum when playing hard music with heavy distortion. Lucky for me I got a used one for RM250 from John's Custom Shop (new one should cost around RM350). I want to get this because when I'm going to modify my strat to be a Frankenstrat, I want something with high power. But need to get floyd rose and maple fretboard first. The cost of building one is enourmous. Maybe 7 months later yeah.


















I also got some new pedals. No Boss one lah, just a Behringer Equalizer and a Beta Aivin Noise Gate. Good enough la. I'm not like you rich bastard indulging on boutique pedals.












Thursday, January 8, 2009

Read this! from http://occupiedlove.blogspot.com/

FACTS AND A GOOD STORY
Ida Bakar

It must be heartening for the letter writer ‘Hamas to blame for
Israeli raids’ http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/95636
, that his thoughts are echoed by none other than President Bush himself
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7809289.stm . Such is the
insight on the affair that I am compelled to let the facts get in the way
of a good ‘Israeli defence’ story.

This war did not start on the 27th December 2008.

Despite the unilateral Israeli ‘disengagement’ from Gaza in
September 2005, according to an Israeli Human Rights group B’Tselem
“…Israel continued to control the air and sea space, movement
between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (also via neighbouring
countries), the population registry, family unification, and the crossing
of goods to and from Gaza…On 28 June, Israel bombed the
electric-power station. Since then, residents of the Gaza Strip have
relied completely on Israel for their electricity.”
http://www.btselem.org/english/Gaza_Strip/Index.asp .

In addition to direct killing of civilians since the disengagement –
IDF soldiers taking pot-shots at unarmed Gazans, children included –
the population is further traumatised by sonic booms from low flying
military planes; so much so Physicians for Human Rights Israel has
petitioned against this extreme violation of human rights.
http://www.phr.org.il/phr/article.asp?articleid=270&catid=55&pcat=-1&lang=ENG
.

Following a free and fair election in which Hamas was elected to power,
the people of Gaza were collectively punished by Israeli siege which, in
the last 18 months have starved the population of food and denied access
to medical care.

The Israeli military occupation denies the Palestinians the very basic of
human dignity as reported by the International Committee of the Red Cross
way back in 2007.
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/palestine-report-131207 .
Israel blockade of Gaza has resulted in malnutrition amongst the 1.5
million population of the occupied land
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/chronic-malnutrition-in-gaza-blamed-on-israel-1019521.html
.

The Israeli army has continued to deny ICRC emergency medical team into
Gaza
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/palestine-update-030109?opendocument
despite the dire humanitarian situation.

So, for the letter writer to compare the Gaza-Israeli situation with
relationship between Malaysia and Thailand or Singapore is missing the
point all together. Malaysia’s army is not occupying those
countries.

The letter writer stated that Hamas has refused to sign cease-fire
agreement. This, again, is a fib as Hamas and Israel signed up to an
Egyptian-brokered ceasefire on 19th June 2008
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/19/world/main4193410.shtml.

Unfortunately, while the world was in euphoria after Obama’s
election to the American presidency, on the 5th November 2008 Israel
launched an incursion into Gaza killing seven Palestinians. This
effectively ended the ceasefire and Hamas’ rockets flew in
retaliation
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/massive-rocket-attack-launched-on-israel-992978.html
.

The letter also called for Hamas to stop attacking Israel. What about the
Israeli stranglehold on Gaza? When the rockets stop and Gaza
infrastructure further destroyed, not to mention the five thousand already
dead (as opposed to four Israeli civilians), will Israel allow some
dignity for the Palestinians? Will Israeli talk with Hamas? Efraim Halevy,
former Mossad chief certainly think so
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118593144036684212.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
.

After all, Hamas was elected into office by the Palestinians of Gaza.
Gaza and the West Bank are under illegal Israeli military occupation.
These Palestinians are denied their basic human rights to dignified lives.

History has shown time and again that occupation and oppression will be
resisted. Think of the wars of independence from colonial rule. Think of
East Timor and Tibet. As Malaysians we fought the Japanese occupation, we
aimed to be free of British colonial rule however ‘benign and
benevolent’ it was.

The Palestinians of Gaza do not have sophisticated weaponry to fight the
Israeli military might. The Israelis do not want a viable Palestinian
state and continues to trample on their dignity. Read the testimonies from
Gaza via B’Tselem here
http://www.btselem.org/english/Testimonies/index.asp?TF=30&image.x=11&image.y=11
.

Gaza is akin to a prison camp, what choice these Palestinians have?

The 500 or so who protested at the US embassy recently are joined by
hundreds of thousands more in the capitals around the world, European
capitals included.

I humbly urged the letter writer to read beyond the up-the-minute news
bulletin. All the links above are from Israeli and ‘western’
organisations websites. I have chosen them so as not be accused of being a
“one sided affair to discredit anything related to the US and
Israel” as stated in the letter.

List of on-line references
B’Tselem – Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in
Occupied Territories
http://www.btselem.org/english/About_BTselem/Index.asp
http://www.btselem.org/english/Gaza_Strip/Index.asp
http://www.btselem.org/english/Testimonies/index.asp?TF=30&image.x=11&image.y=11

Physician for Human Right Israel
http://www.phr.org.il/phr/article.asp?articleid=270&catid=55&pcat=-1&lang=ENG

International Committee of the Red Cross
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/palestine-report-131207
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/palestine-update-030109?opendocument

BBC news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7809289.stm

CBS news
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/19/world/main4193410.shtml

Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118593144036684212.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The Independent Newspaper
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/chronic-malnutrition-in-gaza-blamed-on-israel-1019521.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/massive-rocket-attack-launched-on-israel-992978.html

Ida Bakar

Kekejaman Rejim Israel!

Palestinian boys kneel over the bodies of Issa, left, Ahmed, center, and Mohamed Samouni, right, who according to Palestinian medical sources were killed in an Israeli strike, during their funeral in Gaza City, Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP)

An injured Palestinian is helped from the rubble following an Israeli missile strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008. (AP)


Smoke rises over Gaza City, following an Israeli air strike at the Palestinian police headquarters in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008. (AP)


Palestinian medics carry the body of a security force officer from Hamas after an Israeli missile strike outside the former headquarters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008. (AP)


A Palestinian man reacts over the body of a member of the security forces of Hamas at the site of an Israeli missile strike at the security headquarters in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008. (AP)


A Palestinian man reacts over the bodies of members of the security forces of Hamas at the site of an Israeli missile strike at the security headquarters in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008. (AP)


A Palestinian boy walks past a destroyed al-Shifa mosque following an Israel air strike in Gaza Strip, December 28, 2008. (Reuters)


A Palestinian mourner carries the body of 4-year-old Dena Balosha, one of five members of the same family including three children and two teenagers who were killed in an Israeli missile strike, during their funeral in the Jebaliya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. (AP)


Palestinians carry the body of a victim of an Israeli air strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 27 December 2008. (MaanImages)


The pictures from this post is collected from http://occupiedlove.blogspot.com/.

Please visit the http://occupiedlove.blogspot.com/ website to learn more about the atrocities of the Israeli Regime. Spread the word.