Pics from 2nd time down to Manchester....

Ah.. pics for the 2nd time we were down at Manchester. Thanks to Eve for the photos... One of the most memorable moments in Manchester was when the 6 of us, Rudi, Eve, Seng, Liza, Justin and I went for Laser Quest at Trafford Centre. It's basically like paintball except you use laser tagging guns and body suits with sensors. The 6 of us were on the same team and the other team had loads of little kids. At one point of the game, the six of us were holding the higher ground (Sun Tzu's Art of War states that- He who holds the higher ground, holds the advantage) and a whole load of kids were accumulating at the ramp. At a whim, I shouted 'Advance!!' and the six of us starting charging at them and all the little kiddies starting screaming and running in all directions. It was a really, cute moment. We just couldn't help but go awww.. and then of course, continue shooting them in their backs as they ran. Lol.

We basically spent most of the day down there and lepakking and eating.. living up to our truly Malaysian heritage. Photos in reverse-chronogical order.

Got a quick shot before we caught the cab back.

Some new game on the PS2... cool gimmick.

Taking out Terrorists is no laughing matter as you can see...

Posing abit before we continued fragging...

It's 1.30 am..

And I can get no sleep. It's Spring and the sun rises before six and sets at eight. Long days and short nights. And I had to make the day longer by taking a cuppa and redbull... Heh.

How time flies... For the past 4 weeks, I've been squating in my bro's place in his lounge. How I miss the sweet caress of a bed.. Ah well, sleeping on the ground must do wonders for the posture.

Student living conditions are always appalling I have to say. If you take a step back and look around, you can just how badly kept the place is. Ah, but like one of my bro's housemate's say.. eventually you do get used to it. At times, I just can't tahan and end up doing stuff like vacumming, wiping the tables, taking out the trash.. then again, I shouldn't complain coz beggars can't be choosers.

Can't say I haven't squandered my time away this hols but yet I can say I could have made better use of the time. I finally got around to try my hand at making omelettes and making Cabonara. Add that to my repertoire of making sandwiches, making fruit juices/smoothies, milkshakes, making/frying wantan.. and I've still got a looong way to go. I'm no Jamie Oliver yet but heck, maybe one day I'll get there. I seem to learn better when I get thrown into the deep end. At the moment, my bro does most of the cooking and I do most of the clearing/cleaning up. We had kolo mee (a Sarawakian Delicacy) with char siew for lunch. Great stuff. He usually cooks Italian tho'. (ie: loads of Olive oil, cheese and pasta)

It's weird. I've been apart from my bro for the last 4 years and yet somethings still don't change when we're living under one roof. We still 'compete'/race to finish the tub of ice-cream first, generally quarrel over the hoard of food, and we still get into fights whenever I take his comics into the umm.. 'reading-room'. Yeap, comics can be a big flashpoint for the both of us.. it's like 2 countries claiming property over a giant piece of rock bordering between their countries. But I digress...

It's funny how people comment how uncanny me and bro are alike. Our mannerisms and apparently the way we speak. Especially when we both try to perform magic. Damn genes! Lol.
All this gets me all self-conscious and yeah, it is true.. whether we like it or not, we do share the same laugh among other things. Apparently, I have a deeper, sexier voice. Hah! Lil bro 1, tai kor 0.

It's something I have to get used to coz I'll be moving in with my bro next year with a friend of his. It's a small, well-kept house not too far from the one I'm current squating in. It'll probably take me 15 minutes on foot to the law building. We've got a whole community of Malaysians living in the general area. I can see it now...Lan-game parties, BBQs, Cook-overs and watching football at whoever has subscription to Skysports. Lol.

3 weeks plus left to year-end exams. My plan for the nxt 3 months is.. possibly go for a quick holiday (1 week) after the exams are over on the 24th of May, stay back for summer in the UK for one and half months to work. Go back to Malaysia around mid July and stay there for a month plus. While back in Malaysia, I'll try to get some experience in a law firm.

In all honesty, I feel the prospect of me going back to practice is rather bleak considering the stories I've heard. Dealing with the incompetant courts back home where it's common for court documents to be lost and how clients tend to take drafts from lawyers and then look for other lawyers who will do it for a lower price.. such stories dishearten me. Explains why some lawyer prefer to handle corporate stuff where they keep their hands off the courts.

Mm.. law. It's bad enough I'm heading down the path to fire and brimstone and damnation.. But they've got to make it harder for me? *shakes head*

For next time, I've got to make some decisions. I've got to choose which modules to take which is alien to me. In the first year, it's compulsory for us to take undestanding law (for the 1st term), tort, constitutional and contract. For me, it's more of a matter of interest rather than ease when it comes to making the choice. Commercial law is where the dough is.. Family law is something I've had a affinity towards.. I like playing peace-maker but at the same time this is an area of law which can be extraordinarily emotionally exhausting. Another option is to do adminstrative law where I can definetely look forward to bringing actions against the government... Wheeee!

Hm, I'll most definetely be taking a module out of law. We can do so in the 2nd year and I'm looking forward to doing economics. Philosophy in sex would probably be my 1st choice but they took it off the list this year. Darn!

I've been back to reading the Economist. It's not all that boring as people may think. There was a write-up on Malaysia's 9MP laying praises but also criticisms on it. Its sad how the aid doesn't really go to the people who need it the most but rather the people who cling on to power. It's true what they say about absolute power. 'Open discrimination' is something I do not look forward back home.

Another write-up was how easy fame can come to some. There was this clip which was posted on Google where 2 chinese guys in Rockets basketball jerseys were singing along with a Backstreet Boy's song. They've been dubbed the Back Dormitory Boys by the Chinese Media and bombarded with requests for appearance on radio,tv, etc.. Even their roommate who is playing a computer game (looks like DOTA) in the background gets star treatment! It's kinda like that that guy who got famous after singing along with the Numa numa song. However, that didn't end up too well for the kid as he ended up hating the limelight.

It goes to show globalisation has made it possible for normal people with tons of guts or possibly lack of foresight to achieve fame.

Well, it's now 2.30 am. I really should be getting some sleep. Gotta slave the next few weeks for exams.

That's all for now. Overandout.

www.getfirefox.com

Just found yet another way to waste time on the net. Watching ads for Firefox @ firefoxflicks.com. Fans of Firefox submit self-made ads which would eventually be chosen to be shown on US TV. I'm pro-firefox.. so if you're not using firefox... you must join us, resistance is futile!

They range from:
The absurd - Whhee? Can't figure out why people find this funny. More for the geeks I guess..
Rapping - White men can't rap? Heh.. Liked this one tho'. Get firefox and some some chedda!
Cute ad with kids - You can't go wrong with kids...
Billy's Browser - My personal vote goes out to this one. Looks good for TV.
Cool animation - Very professional. Yet another ad which would look good for TV. My 2nd personal favourite.

Well, my job's done! I have hopefully suceeded in wasting more of your time online. However, if you've chosen Firefox over IE after this exercise.. good on yer.

Just a quick one.

Just a quick post... I just recently heard a band I used to really like . They're called Kings of Convenience. Check them out here.

They're very mellow kind of music.. relaxing... the kind you listen on cold, lazy, rainy afternoons.
Yeah, guilty as charged.. I'm a sucker for easy-listening.. heh.
Sound quality at the site is mediocre at best.. doesn't really do them justice.
Check 'em out.

One more thing.. yet another petition. This time in interest of a better police force. Comeon now, I'm sure you've had at least one encounter with our highly acclaimed officers. Do sign the petition. Every bit helps.

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/betterpf/

A good read..

I was by the Uni's Blackstone and picked up a book I've heard of sometime back. Freakonomics, anyone? Econs has always been one subject I found interesting. Freakanomics deals with issues such as crime, parenting, drug-dealing, sumo-wrestlers and such.. Putting numbers to uncover the truth and we'll learn that conventional wisdom isn't that wise after all. After all, the numbers never lie. For example, incentives encourage/discourage people, dont they? Or do parents actions actual have any effect on their children's outcome? Professionals (ie: doctors, real estate agents) have our best interests in our mind don't they? And did crime in New York really drop because of better policing? The answer for this one is really shocking but he does have the numbers to back it up. His answer really fans the flames for the pro-choice v. pro-life argument although he doesn't impose his moral judgements on the argument but merely gives the figures to illustrate his point.

As the tagline goes,' Assume nothing, question everything.' Which is precisely what this book does. One point which I'll like to pick up is how he goes to prove that what parents do doesn't seem to effect their outcome of their children. Its more on who their parents are rather than what we do. This would probably come to a shock to most but this can be seen from the fact that African Americans don't do as well as the whites in the US not because of their skin colour but because of their socio-economic background. He readily implies that generally, the outcome of the child is long before the parents even pick up a book on parenting. Yet, he does concede that there are always exceptions.

His methology in proving/disproving things involve using anecdotal and statistical evidence.

It's a damn good read. 200+ pages tho'. It's a really short read but entertaining and shocking but funny at the same time. Doesn't matter whether you're in interested in economics or not. All you need is an interest in human behaviour or more specifically, life. It's better than Micheal Moore coz somehow you get that Micheal's just hyping everything up but here in Freakonomics.. it feels more truthful and the numbers really do seem to back it up. Highly recommended.

11

I seem to come across the number 11 a bit too often. Firstly, I'm born on the 11th of November, hence.. 11/11 (no, this is no way a subtle way of broadcasting when's my birthday..heh..) Malaysian Night was on the 11th of March. Last night, I waited at table 2,11 and 16. Coincidence?

Mm.. the 1st time I went to the casino, I bet on 11 in roulette and made a small win. Odds are 36 to 1.

Last Sunday, Seng and I went down to Gala Casino. Yes, we've got to find less risky ways of spending our nights.. Lol. Don't get me wrong here.. I rarely go down to the casino. Anyway, I played a bit of roulette.. did badly. And then I headed down to the blackjack table to accompany Seng. He wasn't doing too well.. He was on his last fiver 3 times I was there. Then, the others around the table left and Seng was left alone against the dealer. The dealer required two players at the table so I decided to play. I used the system my dad's system where after losing you bet more.. ie: lose 20 cents, increase to 50, lost that 50, increase to 1ringgit..etc and once you win back you losses.. go back to your original 20 cents.. umm.. the low dominations coz he thought me this when I was a little kid back in Sibu, Sarawak gambling against relatives. Lol) I was a good roll on luck coz I never lost more than twice consecutively for like 10+ rounds.

Besides that... On two games, I had double aces and each time I split I made quite a good sum of money. I doubled up with 11s a few times too and those fell through too. We both were doing well and I remember caressing and keeping track of the stacks of chips I won.. lol. We were doing well until the point where two other guys came over to our table and I guess our feng shui shifted or something.. coz from doing great.. we dropped down to mediocre. I knew when to stop.. I set aside my base cash and the lost I last made at the casino and went on playing. I pulled out at the point where the dealer had two 21s in a row. At this point, it's tempting to get pulled in and go on. But i knew I had made enough from the table.. best, to take the money and run!

After blackjack, I took out my overall winnings and put it into roulette. The 2nd time I was here(this is only the 3rd time I've been here..), I had lost some money but I had made it all back from the game on roulette.

In roulette.. I was doing impressive. At the last round of roulette.. Once again, I bet a pound on lucky number 11. And Viola! I went back a happy man. My total winnings for the night was equalivalent to working 10+ hours. Seng did well too that night.

Well.. I have to admit it's quite tempting to head back after a good roll of luck like this but you know the saying 'easy comes, easy goes'.

Mm.. I really wonder how far this roll of luck can take me. There's this pharmacology experiment where they need volunteers. My bro was telling me they pay quite well like over 1k pounds. All you need to do is pop in a few pills daily and oh yeah.. there's that death waiver form you're probably have to sign. And I mean.. comeon, after that last incident of those drug trial people being sent into hospital (and some fatalities >.<), what's the chances of it happening again, right? RIGHT??

Heh.. nah, on 2nd thought, I'll keep to relatively risk-free experiments involving psychology and economics.

Wouldn't want to push my luck..

Asking the right questions..

I woke up this morning after a night of waitering at the conference centre. It's not easy serving massive heated plates to 300+ people but the pay's worth it. I checked my email as i routinely do and discovered I've got mail from the Yahoo Malaysian Lawyer's Group which I'm somehow a part of. Well, doesn't hurt to get ahead of the game, does it?

One of the current issues brought up was this. I remember the couple being 'caught' slightly before I left for the UK and now the matter's been brought to trial. One of the lawyers on the group posted that '.. to get the right answers, we need to ask the right questions.' His thinking was that the lawyer on the defendant's side who had argued on the moral grounds of his defendants' actions should have instead argued on the officer's discretion in deciding what was defined as 'indecent behaviour'. IMHO, the situation was probably a case of abuse of power by the officials who most definetly slapped the fine on the couple after they refused to pay 'coffee money'. Furthermore, I think the judge is setting bad precedent giving further oppurtunities for such incidents to happen and I'm not very comfy with the notion of moral-policying.

That aside, I remember attending this one advocacy workshop and I remember being told that one of the hardest things about advocacy was not actually questioning the witnesses like you see on most courtroom dramas but choosing the right questions to ask. That can determine the difference between a case lost and a case won.