The truth about romance...

Many people ask "what can I do to be romantic?" or "Can you give me some ideas?". This is the misconception many of us have about romance. Romance is not about masterminding some scheme to lure someone like a tiger luring his prey until he pounces on it. True romance is some gesture which sincerely comes from the heart. You do not have to be rich, a genius or the most fantastic person in bed, to be a romantic person. All you need is a sincere heart and a limitless love for your partner, and then the ideas/gestures will come naturally.

Romantic gestures or ideas do not have to be lavish or big. But as I have experienced, it's the smallest things that we do that are truly romantic. Sometimes we may do something small that doesn't seem to be much to us and we hardly notice doing it, but to our partner it would be a amazing romantic gesture. For example, leaving a simple love note for your partner in the morning. This gesture is simple and doesn't involve money or mush time, but it will mean a lot to your partner and would make their day even better than it will be, just because they will be thinking about it all day long and smiling.

And if you're not really consistent at doing such things, don't worry. Just do it every once in awhile, especially on important occasions in your relationship (anniversary, birthday or some event which involves the both of you).

Also, these gestures do not have to involve much money. The best gifts are always the ones that are born from the heart and made by yourself. No matter how horrible it may look, the effort and love put into it would mean the world to your partner, more than any gift you can buy from the store. For example, poems, video dedications, photo albums (with pictures of you and your partner), cooking meals for your partner, watching a romantic movie at home, dancing to your partner's favorite songs, singing to your partner, and etc.

My advice? Keep it simple, keep it small, because it will mean big...

Microsoft... Satan's Right Hand

My job requires me to deal a lot with Microsoft personnel, because my company is pro-Microsoft for obvious reasons (they think Microsoft is the best). Well, I’m not here to praise Microsoft, but to tell you how much I hate them…

Firstly, when you report a problem to them, they escalate your problem all the way to their base in Shanghai, China. I’ve got nothing against the Chinese, but talking to the Microsoft guys in Shanghai is ridiculous, because half the time you can’t understand them. I’m a Malaysian for heaven’s sake, I speak and understand “rojak” English and I still can’t understand them. I wonder how they speak to the white guys…

Next, if they can’t solve your problem (which is the case most of the time), they’ll just give you their standard answer “This issue is as per design”. How can a problem be caused by how Windows was designed??? You built it! So you should know how to solve/fix it! Would you buy a car and expect the dealer to say “As per design” when you report a problem to them? “What? Your engine cannot start? As per design, sir. Please buy a new car or live with it!”. Ridiculous ain’t it?

Next, the motto is probably: “If anything goes wrong in Windows, always blame the customer first!”. I’ve always got this answer from them: “It is something in your company’s environment”. Maybe it is but isn’t that a bit too blunt? Couldn’t they at least try to find out what is wrong in the client’s environment first before saying that? There was once when Microsoft techs couldn’t figure out what was wrong with some problem which causes MS Word to crash in my company, they collected logs for weeks and couldn’t tell what was wrong. They came to the point of saying “Could you please ship over your laptop to us in Shanghai?”. OMG! Why would I ship my laptop half way around the world when they have a Microsoft base here in Malaysia? The local Microsoft guy said “We’re not as technical as the Shanghai guys, so we can’t troubleshoot this problem”. I was shocked, why do they call themselves Microsoft personnel (working in the Support Team) if they can’t even do simple troubleshooting. You know what I did? I got fed up and did my own troubleshooting. I found a possible cause and a resolution for the issue within 30 minutes. Shanghai Microsoft techs have been working on this for 3 weeks and they couldn’t find a bloody solution. 30 minutes and 3 weeks, you do the math. And yeah, in the end, it was caused by a corruption in one of the Ms Office registry keys… yes, yes, blame the client…

I hate Microsoft so much…

Since everyone has been bugging me for an update...

I actually had to apologize to many people for not updating my blog for such a long time... but wait a minute, its MY BLOG! Lol! Just kidding. I've had my hands full with... life.

So, what's new... hurmmm... nothing much, I guess just a new special someone in my life. Who say who but she's the "Grey-eyed angel". Most people wish that their best friends would get along well with the gurl they love, but in my case I'm fortunate enough to fall in love with my best friend. You might argue that maybe this best friend thing is one sided but its not, its mutual.

Hurmmm... what can I tell you about her... well, when I first met her, I was attracted to her eyes, although she looks stunningly beautiful. Something about her eyes drew me to her. That's why I wrote my Poem No.12 (Click here to read it), which was dedicated to her. Of course, at that time, it wasn't anything serious. I was attracted to her, but not in love. But we grew in our friendship. Became best friends to each other and then love just fell into place.

Things I love about her:

10. She always says "I love you" before we depart rather than "good-bye". She says it's because she feels that I'm always in her heart and mind, so there's no need for a good-bye. She nerver fails to remind that I'm always being missed by her even after we had just got home after our date.

9. She's always thinking about others before herself no matter how much trouble or pain she has to go through. She goes through great lengths to comfort, console and please me.

8. She's always herself, does not pretend to be someone else and always truthful. She's unique and nobody can take her place in my heart, because she means so much to me. My best friend and the woman I love.

7. Not only does she walk behind me to catch me when I fall, but most importantly she walks beside me to make sure I don't fall. She's always been there for me, through happiness and sadness.

6. I learn a lot from her. Not many guys would like to say this but I'm proud to say that she's my idol (in terms of how a human being should be) and I want to be like her in many ways (character, career, potential, mind set and etc.). I really look up to her.

5. She's determined. She always sets a goal in life and does everything she can to achieve it. She never gives up. That's why she's so successful today. I really respect that and I hope I can be like that someday.

4. Her sweetness and bubbliness. She's sweet and bubbly in so many ways. Sometimes I just love watching her be herself. She's fun to be with and she also makes sure you have fun when you're with her. She's never dull and always full of suprises. Sometimes she could be just the opposite and be quiet and shy, but I love that too. Especially when she catches me staring at her from across the table, she would turn her face away, when I ask her why she turned away she would say that she's shy it was ME that was looking at her.

3. Her charming ways. She always knows the right words to say at the right time. She's the reason I get up everyday with a smile on my face. She knows what to say to make my day a great one everyday and she never fails to do so. I've never had a gloomy day since the day she walked into my heart.

2. She's so beautiful and intelligent but she never ever let these gifts go to her head. In fact, she's the most humble person I know. She always strives to be better and to improve her flaws, although I always tell her that I don't want her to change because I want to spend the rest of my life loving the gurl I first fell in love with.

1. Most of all, I love the way she loves me. So true, so pure, so passionate. Sometimes I find myself asking "is this how love feels?" because its better than I had ever experienced and could ever imagine. I couldn't ask for a better person to fall in love with because there is none besides her.

"I love you not only because of who you are. but most of all because of who I am when I am with you"

Beer commercials are the best! :P

I miss some of the beer commercials they used to play before movies at the cinema. Stupid Gov had to ban them for fucks. Anyway, here are some of the funniest beer commercials ever:

Heineken - Walk In

Oz (Dutch Beer) - Walk In (Heineken Tease)

Budlight - Men Invented Everything

Heineken - Jennifer Aniston

Budweiser - Waaaaaasssupppp!

Brahma - Voodoo

Poem No.12 - Gray-eyed Angel

On a fateful night in fading March,

I met this angel so very wonderful,

Of course I didn't believe it much,

But she touched my heart and made me a fool.

Those sexy gray-eyes like heaven's skies,

Those luscious red lips made me beg for a kiss,

Surely she must be one of God's great lies,

Made me wonder "Who is this miss?".

That dreamy sweet voice,  what a lovely sound,

That black silky hair that ran through my hands,

I just sat there blankly looking at what I had found,

But tell me angel “Could I hold your hands?”

That cute face that lingers on my mind,

That beautiful smile made my mouth drool dry,

I doubt the dream that you'll be mine,

But a friend I'll be though laugh or cry.

Comment:
I think I was running on an empty fuel tank when I wrote this one. Wrote it on the way to work, so I blame it on morning blurriness. The only thing I like about this one is the title. :-)

7 April 2009 - Reworked. Sounds better now

Woot! What a morale booster!

Hannah Tan wrote to me on her blog article... drool... LOL! The real reason I admire her is for her 'down to earth' character. She really treats her fans very well, even tries to chat with us on her website whenerver she has a break from her work. She is the perfect example of what a celeb should be like. Being a celeb doesn't make you better than others, but makes you able to serve others.

Kudos to Hannah!

Sorry I couldn't make these thumbnails bigger, please click on them to enlarge =)

Source: http://www.hannahtan.com/index.php/Your-Say/Mobile-Blog-Part-II/

Source: http://www.hannahtan.com/index.php/Your-Say/Mobile-Blog/

Manchester United vs Liverfool gathering

Last nite I organized a gathering to watch the match between Man United and Liverfool for a 100 Facebookers from my Manchester United Fan Club on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6348617058). The atmosphere was bloody awesome. The support they gave was amazing and I wouldn't have asked for a better crowd. We packed the place (Sanook, Kelana Jaya) and almost brought the roof down with the amount of noise we were making. 

My thanks to all the supporters who made this possible. I'll organize more gatherings like this in the future for the love of our club, Manchester United! 

Glory glory Man United!

The place was bloody packed!

Joel, Ash and Brian chillin out

More loyal supporters from the Facebook group!

My old school buddies came along as well, thanks to Li Yi

The hardcore supporter's gang!

More photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109755&id=548415341&l=0faa1b00b7

Malaysian Dream Girl season 2: Episode 1

It’s back and I’ve decided to blog about it again, since I received a fair amount of criticism for doing this the last time, and I love having a swing at the drama that goes on. But luckily the competition was made much more sensible by the departure of Kenny 'The Sex Bomb" Sia as one of the judges. My pick during the auditions last season was Hanis and she was in the finals (Top 3).

Let’s look into Episode 1. (http://malaysiandreamgirl.tv/)

The first one to strike me was Amanda. She was born in South America but grew up all her life here. She speaks very well and presented herself very modestly. I would say that she could qualify for the competition. But apparently they (Producers) have a rule: Malaysians Only. I was like "WTF! She has a Malaysian IC, her dad is Malaysian, she has her own Malaysian PR and for heaven's sake, she went to a Malaysian primary school here". But they eventually rejected her just because she has a South American passport and not a Malaysian one… Shit, I myself don’t have a passport currently, but I have a Malaysian IC, so you’re gonna kick me out of the country? STRIKE ONE FOR THE ORGANIZERS!

Alexandra… really hot. Has that sexy lure. Love the thick Aussie accent baby! Ok, seriously, she has potential. Would love to see how she progresses. She answered the judges pretty well actually but I do agree that she came in for the audition looking like she just got out of bed… Other than that, all is good!

Next, Shi Ling… this one was funny… she could be a comedian instead of a model.  The judge asked her “So what do you do?”. She said “I work in a lab”. By the way she presented herself (her character was a bit too tomboy-ish, she reminded me of an anime character and she walked with her legs apart), I really thought she was gonna say “Meth lab”. But she mumbled something else. And Elaine Daily’s eyes nearly popped out saying “Breast lab???”. The girl went “Breath test”. Yes, they test people who are high on weed… LOL! Then she says “I’m sort of a coordinator there, not exactly Labratoris categorized”. WTF is a labratoris? Some kind of dog breed? Sounds like it. Even the judges thought that she was from an alternative band, like a rocker chick or something. Wrong competition…

Carrey… during her audition, the song “American Sweethearts” played in my head. Hate to say this but she’s Malaysia’s version of a blonde and you know what they say about blondes. Elaine Daily asked her “Why do you want to be a model”. Carrey replied “Because I want it!”. Then she complained that her life is very boring. Then the other judge asked “Do you think your boyfriend is boring?”. She replied immediately “Yes!”. Judge asked “Where is he?”. She replied “Outside”. Elaine Daily then asked “Who is your favorite model?”. She replied “Amber Chia. Because I love her. She’s tall but not very pretty. She can be famous but I also dunno”. WTF! She admires Amber but bitches about her. Thank God the judges rejected her. Our old boy Kenny would have gone on a hunger strike to put her through.

Juanita… hurmmm… interesting. She carries herself well. Aggressive and a go getter, that shows determination. Has the persona of a model in the making. Diamond in the rough I guess. Would like to see how she fares in the upcoming rounds. FYI, there are already Facebook fan groups supporting her progress through the competition… errr… a bit too early people? 

 

High school class gathering!

It's been 7 years since I left high school and the memories are still very fresh in my mind. I can remember the stupid stuff I used to do in class like play wrestling, throw tables and chairs, flirt with the junior girls, skip school to go to the cyber cafe or to go to the mamak... Damn, I even remember getting cainned in Form 3 for playing 'lastic'. Those were the glory days... I regret... I regret not doing it more often :P

Anyway, recently I helped to organize a class reunion for my Form 5 classmates. Out of the 48 students we had, only 10 of us attended. It started like this: We went to my class teacher, Puan Soh's, house in the afternoon and brought her out for lunch at Telok Gong, Klang. She was so happy because this was the first time in her teaching career that her students actually brought her out for makan. She said she was proud of all our current achievements. She still remembers all our full names and also where exactly we used to sit in class (her memory is so good). 

I really miss high school. The care-free life... amazing memories...

What we do at a brewery... hurrrmmmm... :-)

A few nights ago, my department organized a trip to Guinness Anchor Brewery. We were invited by the management there and it was a 'all you can drink' session. The place was fantastic. They had all sorts of booze and I tried them all. There was this one brand that I really liked, called Kilkenny, from Ireland. It was the best beer I've tasted. It's not sold on shelves here in Malaysia but a few pubs have it. It’s so smooth and to taste a fresh pint straight from the brewery, that felt amazing.

It’s true that fresh beer taste better, apparently the taste depreciates as it ages, so today’s beer will taste a bit different than the same beer 1 week later. We also went on a tour of the factory. All I could see was lots and lots of beer. It was heaven. I just kept drinking and drinking... and drinking (until I lost count of the glasses). I hope I go back there again someday…

Oh yeah, meet The Tower! It's this long glass which can easily carry 2 or 2.5 cans of beer. We challanged each other to down the whole glass in less than  3 minutes. Guess what? Only 4 people out of 20 managed to finish it till the bottom. Others gave up half way. I'm proud that I was one of the Elite 4. I conquered the Tower! But unfortunatly I wasn't drunk. I was sober enough to remember everything the next morning, and reach the office 9AM sharp for work. Next time think twice before you challange me to a drink :P

More photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90272&l=82425&id=548415341

Graduation!

My graduation day finally came. I actually forced myself to go although I didn't see the point in it. But at the end of the day, I was greatful that I could meet my batchmates one last time. I never really thanked my mates and teachers for all they did to make my Uni life the best times I've had so far.

Of course I have to thank my parents for all the education they have given me, yes and everything else that I have :)

Next, the lecturers:

Mr. Alain Chong, my futsal kaki...

Thanks for all the guidance as a Head of Programme and warm friendship that you offered as a friend. You were the first lecturer that I made friends wit

h in INTI and till now we're still close buds. See you at futsal :-)

Mr. Kannan, my network Guru...

Thanks for all the 'cabling' and 'torturing' that you gave me during my final year. Lol! Actually, if I didn't get that I wouldn't be where I am today. So I owe my current job to you. I had so much fun hanging out with you and Miss Prem as well. 

Miss Prem, my makan buddy...

Thanks for being my crying shoulder through my ups and downs in my personal life and studies. Can't thank you enough for always being there. Although I was never really your academic student, I was your life student.

Miss Jasmine, my Dean...

Thanks for all the recommendations and encouragement. You always remembered me even when someone in your position wouldn't have.

Miss Desiree, my lunch kaki...

Thanks for all the fun times we had when we hung out for lunch with the gang. Never met such an enthusiastic lecturer like you. Keep doing what you do! You're good at it!

Other lecturers that I want to thank are Miss Wong (my bak kut teh kaki. we're in SJ so we can meet up often. thanks for that A for your subject), Mr.Alex (bitch! LOL! Yeah we had fun calling each other names. The most creative lecturer in INTI. You thought me my first subject in INTI) and Mr.Sethil (thanks for all the career advice. But you didn't give me an A... LOL!).

Then come the friends that I will never forget:

The apartment crew: Me, Sin and Yew Fei...

All the great times we had living together in one house. The times we spent bullying Sin in Counter Strike, the times I used to walk around in my boxers and you guys won't say a word, the times we used to go for 'Michael Jackson' (Soya Cincau) at 11PM at night, the times we would get up at 7AM just to eat a gigantic bowl of Yee Mee, the times we would sit in my room to watch movies till late night (like we had no life), the times we used to flood Sin's room with the water from the washing machine (remember to put the hose in the drain!), the times we spent wondering why Sin had male company (Taron) in his room with the door closed till late night... those were great times... i miss them... but wtf I see you guys in Cyberjaya now almost everyday...

Amina, always bubbly...

I think class would have been very bored with you entertaining us. I'll never forget all the screaming and running around that you did when Kannan chased you around the lab with a cable in his hand. Good luck in whatever you do! :-)

Muahd, my bro from Kenya...

We studied together and got our first class degree together. You're one of the smartest people I know and I wish you all the best for your bright future, bro! You'll be around Singapore so we'll keep in touch.

Larry, my football match kaki...

Thanks for joining me for midnight football games even when they were so close to exams. Had a blast with you in class as well. Keep in touch bro! 

Other friends that I want to thank are Yoges Akka (always very blur in class but still a very very good friend. Owe you a lot), Jason (the ultimate entertainment. INTI would have been boring without your unique character. Good luck collecting MNC companies) and the entire Class of 2008!

~Graduation is not only your day of glory, but your day to glorify others~

Kuntum-Maybank Melacca Camp for kids... had a blast facilitating it

15th November 208; Mini ASEAN Village, Malacca - It was one of those times where you feel good because you helped to make someone else happy. Seeing the smiles on the kids faces, just makes you think that you made a difference in the world somehow, no matter how small it was. I went there with the weight of the world on my shoulders because of my stress at work and social life but when the camp ended, i felt like the burden was lifted... thanks to the kids. They really made me realise what innocent fun was... a feel i lost a long long time ago. The thing I learned: "Sometimes you've just got to drop everything you're doing and have some fun".

KUDOS TO THE MALACCA KIDS! 

The Facilitators Gang

My Troop

Yes, 150 kids... how on earth did we manage?

Finally got into a magazine!

It's OUT!!!!


Ahhhh... this is something I've wanted to do for a long time. When I was invited to write in (Doctor Job's Courses Now Sep 2008 issue, Pg.11), I was ecstatic about it and I had like 1 week to figure out what to write. I spent a few days on it and sent it in. Waited almost 1 and a half months for the article to finally come out! It was worth the wait :)

Click on the pic below to read a bigger version of this pic. I guess the words are too small here :(


A word of thanks to Doctor Job!

P.s. Page 11... how did they know that my favorite number is 11? :P

Its time to hear our side of the story...

I came across this forwarded message and I felt that I could really relate to it. It speaks the truth about what a guy goes through when he's in love. Kudos to the dude that wrote this! :-)

1) Guys may be flirting around all day, but before they go to sleep, they always think about the girl they truly care about....

2) Guys are more emotional then you think, if they loved you at one point, it'll take them a lot longer then you think to let you go, and it hurts every second that they try.

3) Guys go crazy over a girl's smile(:

4) A guy who likes you wants to be the only guy you talk to.

5) Giving a guy a hanging message like "You know what?..uh...nevermind.." would make him jump to a conclusion that is far from what you are thinking. And he'll assume he did something wrong and he'll obsess about it trying to figure it out.

6) If a guy tells you about his problems, he just needs someone to listen to him. You don't need to give advice.

7) A usual act that proves that the guy likes you is when he teases you.

8) GUYS LOVE YOU MORE THEN YOU LOVE THEM!!!

9) Guys use words like hot or cute to describe girls. They rarely use beautiful or gorgeous. If a guy uses that, he loves you or likes you a whole heck of a lot.

10)If the guy does something stupid in front of the girl, he will think about it for the next couple days or until the next time he spends time with the girl.

11)If a guy looks unusually calm and laid back, he's probably faking it and he is really thinking about something

12) When a guy says he is going crazy about the girl, he really is

Guys rarely say that

13)When a guy asks you to leave him alone, he's just actually saying, "Please come and listen to me

14)If a guy starts to talk seriously, listen to him. It doesn't happen that often, so when it does, you know something's up.

15) When a guy looks at you for longer than a second, he's definitely thinking

something.

16) Guys really think that girls are strange and have unpredictable decisions and are MAD confusing but somehow are drawn even more to them

17)A guy would give the world to be able to read a girl's mind for a day.

18)No guy can handle all his problems on his own. He's just too stubborn to admit it.

19)NOT ALL GUYS ARE RUDE!!! Just because ONE is RUDE doesnt mean he represents ALL of them.

20)WHEN A GUY SACRIFICES HIS SLEEP AND HEALTH JUST TO TALK TO YOU, HE REALLY LIKES YOU AND WANTS TO BE WITH YOU AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

21)Even if you dump a guy months ago and he loved you he probably still does and if he had one wish it would be you to come back into his life

My first car

After 3 months of being too lazy to take some pics of my new car, I finally did it. I was at a friend's place and he wanted me to take some shots of him and his office, when I was free I took pics of my car at the same time. It isn't much but I'm proud that I bought my own car. Anyway, here they are:

Trip to Sepang Gold Coast

On the 30th of August 2008, I gathered members of my extended family and headed down to Sepang Gold Coast in Bagan Lalang. I haven't been there before so the only directions I got from my friend was left, right, right, right, left. There were no real landmarks, so thats all I had. Fortunately, there were some new signboards, so I manged to follow them all the way. It was a bloody 2 hour journey. Anyway, when we reached there we expected a really outskirt kind of beach but instead the beach was developed and very beautiful. There were also a lot of hotels and beach side stalls. The only thing missing was the boat rides. Other than that, the beach was amazingly clean and the water was not as salty as Port Dickson. The sand a very fine and it was so flat and soft that we loved playing beach football on it. The was a villa estate under construction on the beach and I heard that they were going for rm600k to rm1 mill each. The ones that I saw were right on the water, built on stilts. It looked amazing. I'll definitely go back there when I feel like heading to the beach in the near future.

Photos, photos, photos....

Welcome to Sepang Gold Coast!

The beach...

It was one of those days that I felt like a poser...

I dunno what to say...

The whole gang...

Working life...

I'm in the 4th month of my full-time working life now and things have changed. I guess I feel a bit more responsible for whatever I do, in regards to work. Working life isn't as easy as I thought it would be. I struggled a lot to allocate time for my social life, but I feel that its going down the drain. On the slightly more positive side, working life gave me my freedom, financially and socially. I'm accountable for myself now, so I don't need anyone's approval to do what I want. Working life also pressures me to learn more about my job and improve on my knowledge of my area of work.

I love working with software applications and systems. The environment is so dynamic that a new challenge presents itself everyday and I feel like I want to find out and solve it immediately. My teammate are amazing, they give me the support and morale boost that I need to get by everyday. My gang of friends at work, I couldn't have asked for a better group. They are the best. So, I'm glad I made the right choice of job. We'll see where the future takes me. :-)

The Macha Gang!

Wish List: HTC Touch Diamond

Been eyeing this PDA phone for quite awhile now. Thought I would rather buy iPhone 3G, but now that I think of it, until iPhone has a local carrier here in Malaysia I wouldn't want to take the risk.Why would I want to buy this phone?

• The Diamond has a attractive display and comes with a dedicated 64MB chipset.
• The Diamond has a better design, more compact body and lighter weight, as compared to most other PDA phones.
• Diamond's TouchFLO 3D technology, better graphics on the interface.
• Similarly Diamond's Touch-sensitive scroll wheel is very useful.
• Diamond comes with a Standard miniUSB slot which offers flexibility.
• The Diamond has good video playback performance.

In Malaysia, the price should be around RM2200.

Anyone wanna sponsor one for me? :)

What is a choice?

Well, I was watching the Matrix Trilogy again after a very long time (one of my top 10 favourite movies of all time) and a question from the movie stuck to my mind. What is a choice? A choice is a judgment between different paths Everyone wants choices but hate to decide on which ones to take. After watching the movie, I realize that there are 2 types of people, one that decides to take the choice that other people expect them to take and one that takes a leap of faith to gamble on a choice that other people might frown upon. I guess the message that I got from the movie was to 'dare to be different'. Why should I follow the path that society had bestowed upon me? Why should I be normal? I want to do things unexpectedly, just for myself and not for the amusement of others. Its time to live for myself and those who are important to me and stop caring for the ones who are not.

We can truly be ourselves only when we dare to be different

Unit 731... and you thought the Nazi was the worst...

Unit 731 (731 部隊, Nana-san-ichi butai?) was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese personnel. Officially known by the Imperial Japanese Army as the Kempeitai Political Department and Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory, it was initially set up under the Kempeitai military police of the Empire of Japan to develop weapons of mass destruction for potential use against Chinese, and possibly Soviet forces.

Unit 731 was based in the Pingfang district of the city of Harbin in the puppet state of Manchukuo.
Shiro Ishii, commander of Unit 731More than ten thousand people, from which around 600 every year were provided by the kempeitai, were subjects of the experimentation conducted by Unit 731. These were both civilian and military of Chinese, Korean, Mongolian, and Russian origin. Some American and European Allied prisoners of war also died at the hands of Unit 731. In addition, the use of biological weapons researched in Unit 731's bioweapons and chemical weapons programs resulted in tens of thousands of military and civilian deaths in China – possibly as many as 200,000 casualties by some estimates.
Unit 731 was the headquarters of many subsidiary units used by the Japanese to research biological warfare; other units included Unit 516 (Qiqihar), Unit 543 (Hailar), Unit 773 (Songo unit), Unit 100 (Changchun), Unit Ei 1644 (Nanjing), Unit 1855 (Beijing), Unit 8604 (Guangzhou), Unit 200 (Manchuria) and Unit 9420 (Singapore).
Many of the scientists involved in Unit 731 went on to prominent careers in post-war politics, academia, business, and medicine. Some were arrested by Soviet forces and tried at the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials; others, who surrendered to the Americans, were granted amnesty in exchange for access to the data collected by them.
Because of their brutality, Unit 731's actions have now been declared by the United Nations to have been crimes against humanity.

A special project code-named Maruta used human beings for experiments. Test subjects were gathered from the surrounding population and were sometimes referred to euphemistically as "logs" (丸太, maruta?). This term originated as a joke on the part of the staff due to the fact that the official cover story for the facility given to the local authorities was that it was a lumber mill. The test subjects were selected to give a wide cross section of the population, and included common criminals, captured bandits and anti-Japanese partisans, political prisoners, and also people rounded up by the secret police for alleged "suspicious activities" and included infants, the elderly, and pregnant women.

Vivisection

Prisoners of war were subjected to vivisection without anesthesia. Vivisections were performed on prisoners after infecting them with various diseases. Scientists performed invasive surgery on prisoners, removing organs to study the effects of disease on the human body. These were conducted while the patients were alive because it was feared that the decomposition process would affect the results. The infected and vivisected prisoners included men, women, children, and infants.Vivisections were also performed on pregnant women, sometimes impregnated by doctors, and the fetus removed. Prisoners had limbs amputated in order to study blood loss. Those limbs that were removed were sometimes re-attached to the opposite sides of the body. Some prisoners' limbs were frozen and amputated, while others had limbs frozen then thawed to study the effects of the resultant untreated gangrene and rotting. Some prisoners had their stomachs surgically removed and the esophagus reattached to the intestines. Parts of the brain, lungs, liver, etc. were removed from some prisoners. In 2007, Doctor Ken Yuasa testified to the Japan Times that "I was afraid during my first vivisection, but the second time around, it was much easier. By the third time, I was willing to do it." He believes at least 1,000 persons, including surgeons, were involved in vivisections over mainland China.

Weapons testing

• 
  
  Human targets were used to test grenades positioned at various distances and in different positions.


• 
  
  Flame throwers were tested on humans.


• 
  
  Humans were tied to stakes and used as targets to test germ-releasing bombs, chemical weapons and explosive bombs.

Germ warfare attacks

Prisoners were injected with inoculations of disease, disguised as vaccinations, to study their effects. To study the effects of untreated venereal diseases, male and female prisoners were deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhea, then studied. Prisoners were infested with fleas in order to acquire large quantities of disease-carrying fleas for the purposes of studying the viability of germ warfare. Plague fleas, infected clothing, and infected supplies encased in bombs were dropped on various targets. The resulting cholera, anthrax, and plague were estimated to have killed around 200,000 Chinese civilians.Tularemia was tested on Chinese civilians. Unit 731 and its affiliated units (Unit 1644, Unit 100, et cetera) were actively involved not only in research and development, but also in experimental deployment of epidemic-creating biowarfare weapons in assaults against the Chinese populace (both civilian and military) throughout World War II. Plague-infested fleas, bred in the laboratories of Unit 731 and Unit 1644, were spread by low-flying airplanes upon Chinese cities, coastal Ningbo in 1940, and Changde, Hunan Province, in 1941. This military aerial spraying killed thousands of people with bubonic plague epidemics.

Other experiments

• 
  
  Prisoners were subjected to other experiments such as:
  being hung upside down to see how long it would take for them to choke to death.


• 
  
  having air injected into their arteries to determine the time until the onset of embolism.


• 
  
  having horse urine injected into their kidneys.


• 
  
  being deprived of food and water to determine the length of time until death.


• 
  
  being placed into high-pressure chambers until death. being exposed to extreme temperatures and developed frostbite to determine how long humans could survive with such an affliction, and to determine the effects of rotting and gangrene on human flesh.


• 
  
  having experiments performed upon prisoners to determine the relationship between temperature, burns, and human survival.


• 
  
  being placed into centrifuges and spun until dead.


• 
  
  having animal blood injected and the effects studied.


• 
  
  being exposed to lethal doses of x-ray radiation.


• 
  
  having various chemical weapons tested on prisoners inside gas chambers.


• 
  
  being injected with sea water to determine if it could be a substitute for saline.

The History of the Middle Finger

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as “plucking the yew” (or “pluck yew”).

Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! Since ‘pluck yew’ is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodentals fricative F’, and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute! It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as “giving the bird.”

IT IS STILL AN APPROPRIATE SALUTE TO THE FRENCH TODAY!

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing...

Ronaldo... following Becks' footsteps of disgrace

Was it greed or just plain stupidity? Christiano Ronaldo kept suggesting about his switch Madrid since the end of the previous BPL season. 2 days ago he confirmed it. A 300,000 pounds per week salary at a fallen Spanish club? I really can't understand why he calls it a dream. United are the BPL champs and the European champs, isn't that a bigger dream? Who was Ronaldo before United bought him? Well, for one, it better that he leaves because United is a team of champions and champions do not betray their own club. Beckham did the same when he was at his peak and look where he is now... look at what he achieved in Madrid... nothing.

Which one's the bigger betrayer?

Ronaldo said that Scolari advise him to move to Madrid, kind of obvious that Scolari was saying that to get rid of Ronaldo from the BPL just because he's Chelsea's new manager and he thinks that United will be weak without Ronaldo. News flash for Scolari: United is not an individual, United is a team. So, I don't think we'll miss Ronaldo.

Robinho: Ronaldo's replacement? Or someone better?

Rumors have been circulating that Real might offload Robinho to United as part of Ronaldo's 100,000,000 pound transfer from United. Robinho has stated recently that he wouldn't mind a move to United. I think if thats the swap, Robinho would be great for us. The coming week will be crucial for us. Just wait and see... Glory glory Man United!


Update (30/06/08):

Even Hitler hates Ronaldo now...

Me @ The Med

If you could find heaven in Malaysia... It would be at Cherating's Club Med. I spent my previous weekend there for 3 days and I really didn't want to come back here. Beach, babes and booze, what else would you want? It was actually a company trip, so it was FREE. We enjoyed the activities around the grounds during the day and partied like animals at night with a free flow of booze. Met this really hot chick there and drank till I couldn't drink anymore. The food was also fantastic as we had about 100 different dishes for every buffet meal. Given a choice, I would really like to go back there someday.

Me sippin' Club Med's Monkey Juice at the beach bar

The Macha gang

Don't we look wasted?

Me and the 'intern gang'

Me and Prasad chillin' under the trees at the beach... it was so freaking relaxing...

Hurmmm... me and my Bombay Blue... I think this was drink no.9 of the night...

Compare this with PD... which one would you rather visit?

Time to get my priorities straight

Now that I've started working, I've been thinking about what I want in life. Most people would say a car, a house, and some even say "I want a dog". But what I'm thinking about runs deeper. I want to be 'someone'. I don't want to kick the bucket regretting things that I haven't done. I want to be a person that dies peacefully with the thought that 'I've been there and done that'. And of course I want someone to share it with, I'm still looking for that angel that heaven sent for me. Then I'll be able to say that "I have everything", because she would be my everything. Well, it time for me to work on it...


Update (26 May 08) :
All my ambitions just got shot down after I talked to my dad. Looks like at this young age I've got to tie myself down to a lot of commitments... haih... life is so sucky now...

Who says Britian ain't got no talent... makes Malaysia Idol and AF look like shite...

Suleman Mirza (Surprised the shite out of Simon Cowell)

Paul Potts (An opera singer? Does he look like one? You'd be surprised)

Connie Talbot (She's only 6 years old and sings better than Fantasia Barrino)

Watch that and tell me these people ain't talented. They're damn bloody good. They're on a show called Britian's Got Talent. Judged by Simon Cowell and 2 other Brits. Puts American Idol to shame although its a talent show not a singing competition like American Idol. Why can't the shite singers from Akedemi Fantasia and Malaysian Idol sing like that? Well, if you say that its because we Asians aren't as talented as them, have a look at this:

Jane Zhang

Chris Brown's With You... I really like this song...

I need you boo
I gotta see you boo
And there's hearts all over the world tonight
Said there's hearts all over the world tonight
I need you boo
I gotta see you boo
And there's hearts all over the world tonight
Said there's hearts all over the world tonight

Hey lil mama, ooh you're a stunner
Hot little figure, yes you a winner, and
I'm so glad to be yours
You're a class of your own and
Ooh little cutie, when you talk to me
I swear the whole world stops
You're my sweetheart and
I'm so glad that you're mine
You are one of a kind, and
You mean to me what I mean to you
And together baby there is nothing we won't do

'Cause if I got you
I don't need money
I don't need cars
Girl you're my heart

And oh, I'm into you and
Girl no one else would do
With every kiss and every hug
You make me fall in love
And now I know I can't be the only one
I bet there's hearts all over the world tonight
With the love of their life who feel
What I feel when I'm with you, with you, with you, with you, with you... girl
With you, with you, with you, with you, with you... Oh girl

I don't want nobody else
Without you there's noone left, and
You're like Jordans on Saturday
I gotta have you and I cannot wait now
Hey lil shorty, say you care for me
You know I care for you
You know that I will be true
You know that I won't lie
You know that I will try
Be your everything

'Cause if I got you
I don't need money
I don't need cars
Girl you're my heart

Oh, I'm into you and
Girl no one else would do
With every kiss and every hug
You make me fall in love
And now I know I can't be the only one
I bet there's hearts all over the world tonight
With the love of their life who feel
What I feel when I'm with you, with you, with you, with you, with you... ohhh
With you, with you, with you, with you, with you... Yeah

And I will never try
To deny that you are my whole life
'Cause if you ever let me go
I would die so I won't run
I don't need another woman
I just need you or nothing
'Cause if I got that
Then I'll be straight
Baby you're the best part of my day

I need you boo
I gotta see you boo
And there's hearts all over the world tonight
Said there's hearts all over the world tonight
They need their boo
They gotta see their boo
Said there's hearts all over the world tonight
Hearts all over the world tonight

And oh, I'm into you and
Girl no one else would do
With every kiss and every hug
You make me fall in love
And now I know I can't be the only one
I bet there's hearts all over the world tonight
With the love of their life who feel
What I feel when I'm with you, with you, with you, with you, with you... ohhh(girl)
With you, with you, with you, with you, with you... ohhh
With you, with you, with you, with you, with you...
With you, with you, with you, with you, with you...
Baby yeah


I can listen to this song over and over again. The lyrics are really meaningful. It describes the feeling of being in love. I guess I miss that feeling, its been a year since I last felt that way. You know, Elizabeth Barret Browning once said "I love you not only for who you are but for who I am when I'm with you". I still believe in that ;-)

I want Man United to win the EPL crown!

Its down to the wire. Man United and Chelsea are level on points and both have one last game in hand. Man United vs. Wigan, Chelsea vs. Bolton. Steve Bruce (Wigan Manager) has said that he won't do United any favors, he will be going for the win. Bolton on the other hand, who are 5th from the bottom haven't really said anything about their clash with Chelsea and United's hopes and dream are in their hands. Looking at how United have preformed over the whole season, I think that they deserve the number 1 spot up the table. Chelsea used their money and influence to win games and this is not how real football is played.

So, this Saturday I'm going to glue myself to the sofa in front of the TV to watch both matches. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for United to win. Glory! Glory! Man United! Ronaldo, Tevez & Rooney... the fate of us fans lay on ur shoulders.

The Holy Trinity

I Need A Car!!!

I'm going to start working in Cyber Jaya soon, on the 12th of May, and I still don't have a car to drive up and down. My dad says "Use public transport!" and I was like ".............". Haih... anyway I'm going to get the down payment from somewhere and maybe get the new Saga BLM or Persona (Proton cars, if u don't know).

The Saga BLM

The Persona

Mainly because they are cheap and they don't look like a chick's car. But obviously the Saga BLM (M-Line, manual, 1.3) is cheaper, about RM35k. The Persona is about RM45k (B-Line, manual, 1.6). If I had a choice, then I'd rather go for the Persona... but because of my limited budget, I don't think I want to burden myself at this point of time. Maybe later on I'll switch to some other car thats not a Proton.

My dream car is still:

Mazda RX 8

I must get this car before I turn 30. I don't know, but there's something about this car that turns heads whenever its spotted. We'll see what the future holds.

Malaysian Dreamgirl: Cindy Tey is rubbish

On one hand I can't believe that Cindy Tey won the Malaysian Dream Girl competition (www.malaysiandreamgirl.tv), on the other I'm not surprised that she did, since she practically BOUGHT the competition. How can a MALAYSIA DREAMGIRL be cocky, arrogant and so darn bitchy??? If you take a look at Episode 16, Part 6, she thanks her friend (on the phone) for spamming SMS votes. This is non-sense. And I believe that I'm not the only person who's pissed with her attitude. Her blog had been spammed with negative comments all this while. Seriously, this competition is non-sense. Although I really didn't care about the outcome of this competition but to an extent, as a Malaysian, I wouldn't want a bitch like her to represent Malaysia as our Dreamgirl. I would have been content with either Hanis or Adeline, but not Cindy. She's just the typical bitch, can't get a better stereotype.


P.s. If you're a Cindy fan, and you think I'm being harsh? Screw you, I'm only human, and I say what I feel. Post whatever comments you like, support me or criticize me, I don't care. But face it, this is the truth, if you're a normal Malaysian guy, you would agree.

Entering the Lion's Den for an... Interview???

I've just finished my finals. Now that I've completed my degree, its time to look for a job... but with which company? Well, thanks to my senior (Joseph) and my Head of Program (Alain), they managed to hook me up with SHELL!!! Shell is an IT person's dream come true, mainly because their IT department is one of the most efficient and technologically advanced in the world. Their IT Department here in Malaysia services the entire Shell organization throughout the world... so imagine the awe and excitement…

Anyway, went for an interview with them last Tuesday. They were very impressed by the way I presented myself and of course my academic excellence (only I know that’s crap) LOL! Then before the end, they asked me 2 important questions:

What do you expect in terms of salary?
My answer: I would say 3k at least because I know I can deliver.
Their reaction: Ok *writes down the figure on my resume*

What sports do you play?
My answer: Football of course.
Their reaction: Thank God that we finally have someone that plays football!

All in all, it was a very successful interview and 2 days later they confirmed that they were hiring me and we began talks on my contract for the position of Client Deployment Engineer. So, Shell will be my home for the next few years. To get into this place is amazing and I hope to learn enough to become an expert in the future.