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!

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

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!!

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.

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.

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

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.