a dark day

***Updated: Click here for one of the local newspaper report. It's in Chinese. Buzz me if translation is required Here for the English version***

I got this message over my Y! Messenger.

It appeared that a student in my former university had fallen to his death from his apartment. It was not known if it was suicidal or accidental. I saw the photos taken after the incident, which were posted to the forum.

I chose not to reveal the photo here in respect to the deceased.

Let's mourn with a minute's silence.

God bless the soul.

2 days on mcs

***updated***

Burning sensation, that was what I felt on Sunday. I felt almost like Fantistic 4's Human Torch. I swear, if I was able to visit doctor that very day, I may have broken the thermo. I left my bed burning with flames whenever I got up. I had never felt so weak before.



Superman nomore, I was like down being hit by kryptonite. I called in sick on Monday. Visited clinic, as a result, I obtained two days of sick leaves, much needed ones. I was diagnosed with the so-called 'Acute Viral Urti'. Can someone explain what it is? It doesn't spell English to me.


ACUTE VIRAL URTI: What's that??? And, yes, have no doubt, my full name is just Allen Ang, period. That's it, no more. Don't ask me why, it's my given name! And, don't blardy ask me for my full name when I have already given you mine! Where am I gonna find extra names for you? Rob one? (I encounter this a lot.)

And the post-effects I had from this illness? Total weight-loss: 4-5kg, in a span of just 2 days! Amazing huh?


**Updated: Someone must have stuck a kryptonite piece in my back, a small fragment could still be inside my body. Fever hits back again. Might need to go for another round of clinic visiting.

Other matters: I was summoned back to office at blardy 3+am, 25 July (it's a Tuesday). There was an emergency to deal with, and I was the chosen one to deal with it. Darn. Blardy hole, I had to equip myself with the best spacesuit available to go out. Only reached home around 5+am, and dozed off around 6+am.

One word: SIGH!

Meet me in Steubenville

I will be attending the back-to-back Summer Conferences at the Francisan University
this week:

• Applied Biblical Studies (Wednesday thru Friday)
  
• Defending the Faith (Friday thru Sunday)
  

I still look like that 2003 picture, but I have never owned a pith helmet.

If you are from the New York City area and into evangelization, catechesis, apologetics, and so forth, I would be especially pleased to meet you.

In the shadow of Con Ed's power plants

When you look at the map of the northwest corner of Queens in New York City, you see it is dominated by two things depriving this part of New York any waterfront: La Guardia Airport and the Con Ed plants.

It was the distribution grid to Con Ed's own backyard which melted down on Monday July 17. Power to my house was only restored on Sunday. Masses could not be celebrated in the parish Church, which is windowless.

It's back and I'm grateful to my relatives and my wife's relatives who took turns in sheltering us.

random

Some random photos, taken for the past few weeks. I haven't had the cam with me around lately. Missed out on a lot. Some more, haze surrounds KL like a thick force field. Petronas Twin Towers are merely visible from my place here. Sigh. I'm gonna look for my old archieve, see if I still have pics of what happened a year ago.

Random pics that can project life in KL.

#6 is my favourite number, also number of months I have been with my current employer.

A meal in Kim Gary.

A Ferrari, Modena? I think, spotted in SS2.

Fiery Storm happened in KL/Klang Valley area last Saturday. Too bad I haven't got camera with me yesterday. I saw the aftermath of the storm, it brought down the tiled roof of a car dealer, bringing the whole thing down. Couldn't believe what I saw right in front of my eyes!
If you can notice, that's how KL drivers are like. Snapped this pic while I was trapped in jam.

Petronas Twin Tower, KLCC - a better view in the evening despite the recent haze attack.

The Ferrari and Twin Towers photos credit to my cousin, Steven. He snapped the photos while I was driving!

The Beatles Lyrics Blog

Thanks for visiting my Beatles Lyrics page. It took me a while to gather all the lyrics, interviews, rare sound clips, and the tons of other information on it. But in the end - it was well worth the effort for the greatest band of all time. I'm using Blogger to let people share their comments with each other.



Post any info you want - your favorite song, seen concerts - anything. Thanks for stopping by.

which superhero are you?

I came across this thing while browsing some blogs randomly, I think I got it from here. Try it! Hehe..

Note: Emily, the result is not altered or adjusted by means. It came naturally. :P



Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 75% Green Lantern 65% Hulk 60% The Flash 60% Robin 57% Spider-Man 50% Iron Man 50% Supergirl 45% Catwoman 40% Wonder Woman 35% Batman 30%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

july and the z, the zy and the zees part time klia cabbie of july

** updated**
I think I can do this as my part time income, part time cabbie driver. Anyone wants to go airport, just call me at my number. Or give me a buzz! ;-) hehe..



My trip back to Kuching dated on the 24 June 2006. I drove to KLIA - LCCT. I was in Kuching until July.

And since then, my life has been filled up with Z's, Zy's and Zee's. And it's the month of July!

I have not had much of my own time since I returned from Kuching. I have been busy with World Cup, work and my friend and cousin were both here!

In July I have been bz serving as a driver around KL. :P I was a driver not only around the City area, I was even a 'part-time' cab driver! I sent and fetch people to and from the airport!

Let's see the recap of my trip to KLIA in the past month!
24 June - I drove to KLIA-LCCT (to send myself to airport, catching flight to Kuching)
10 July - I sent my friend's mom to KLIA-LCCT
11 July - I fetched my friend from KLIA
15 July - I sent my friend to KLIA
18 July - I fetched my friend from KLIA-LCCT
19 July - I sent my cousin to KLIA.

Dates which most likely I will be going there again!
23 July - Sending friends to KLIA-LCCT.
30 July - Sending mom to KLIA.
10 August - Fetching parents from KLIA-LCCT.
15 August - Sending parents to KLIA-LCCT.

Look at those frequencies! I think I could have easily be voted as visitors with most visit to the airport in the past month! (If you count the staff and taxi drivers out)

Cos the issues I have, the work I have, and the schedules I have had, I have been BZ, lazy and in need of Zzz!

Still no new photos to show! Sigh.

Saved by a soccer emblem based on the Third Crusade : via Don Singleton

A Briton escaped being killed by Muslim fanatics — because they thought his Portsmouth Football Club sticker was an Islamic emblem. Terrified Tony Restall, 56, was ambushed by Arab fundamentalists in strife-torn Yemen. The bandits, armed with AK-47 rifles, dragged him and his armed guard out of their car and threatened to either execute or take them hostage. Then they spotted Pompey fan Tony's club sticker in a window and thought the moon and star symbols meant he was a practising Muslim.... "But they spotted my Portsmouth FC sticker and the mood changed. They thought I was Muslim as the star and moon are Muslim symbols. I was able to convince them that, although I was Western, I was helping Muslims in the area.".... Portsmouth FC based their badge on the city's 900-year-old coat of arms. The crest used the symbol of King Richard's chancellor William de Longchamp, who adopted a crescent moon and star in honour of the Third Crusade.

Original story:
Sun Online
approx. date May 23, 2006

Soldier's widow fights to place symbol on husband's grave:
Philadephia Inquirer

There are 38 religious symbols approved for placement on government-issued grave markers and memorials for military veterans, but the pentacle isn't one of them.

The five-pointed star within a circle that represents the Wiccan religion, a neo-pagan, earth-based belief system, is not on the list.

As a result, the space reserved for Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart's memorial plaque at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nev., remains empty. Stewart, 34, was killed in September 2005 when his Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan. He was a follower of the Wiccan tradition, and his wife is fighting to have the fact engraved in stone.

"My husband's faith got him through the war in Desert Storm, through life's problems. It is our spirituality," Roberta Stewart, 36, said. "This is who we are as Americans."

The effort to get the symbol of a tradition that for many conjures up thoughts of devil worship and steaming cauldrons has been going on for nine years, according to leaders in the Wiccan community. In the interim, other emblems have been approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The complete list of authorized emblems of belief is at
Arlington National Cemetery

An example of the Wiccan symbol is on the Wikipedia

A problem with using really simple symbols like a five-pointed star is that different and divergent groups will claim it, in this case, both Muslims and Wiccans.

In the case of Muslims, they really don't have a symbol. Some Muslims reject the five pointed star, others even consider it blasphemous. The declaration on the Saudi flag "There is no god but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God" is the ideal symbol of Islam.

In the case of Christians, there is a unity around the cross as its symbol.

Frankly, I am sympathetic to the bureaucratic problem religions with a small number of members have with no central authority. It is very hard to identify the bona fides of such religions. I see a contradiction here: if there's no authority, who's to say what the symbol of Wicca actually is?

lack of update

I have not got much updates here lately. I could not managed posting anything lately just because:

• I was busy, not much time for myself (cos of work & 'appointments');
• KL was hazy (hence, not much photos to shoot); and
• I was stressed out.
• No money (no travelling) *updated

I am very seriously and actively paving my way back home now. Land of Borneo prepare for...

Allen Returns.




A random review:
Since February 2006, I have been to:

• Langkawi (April 2006)
• Malacca (May 2006)
• Batu Cave (May 2006)
• KL International Motorshow 2006 (May-June 2006)
• Kuching (June 2006) It's still a trip right? I took a bloody 5 days off just to go home!! Blardy!

Life looks good since I could go places within 4-5 months eh? But still it ain't as good as it seems. Sigh..

Somebody save me, please!

Pearl Jam Lyrics Blog

I haven't had much luck with setting up forum boards or guest books because of a few nasty folks loading it up with SPAM. So I've created this blog (hoping Blogger can do a better job of controlling automatic posts than I can) to let people talk with each - mainly about the sites I've created in my many years as a web developer. The first site I ever created was one on Pearl Jam - mostly listing out their lyrics. It was created in 1996 and still runs today. I've had countless emails and guest book entries over the years but I thought it would be a good idea to let people share their thoughts on Pearl Jam in this blog.



Post any info you want - your favorite song, seen concerts - anything. Thanks for stopping by.

something i must continue

I had been carried away lately, by work, and some appointments, and also WorldCup. I left something behind, and I think I should continue with it...

Also, I think I need a proper space to share these photos.. I just can't resist uploading them..
Sorry if it takes up all your bandwidth.

Less words, all pics!

Nissan: SHIFT_the future


Nissan 350Z Fairlady





Nissan Brand Ambassador: Pretty lady.

Nissan Concept SUV.. or MPV.. Sports MPV? Gosh I can't really remember, I'm bad with cars.




NAZA KIA



NAZA Ducati







...and I wonder why I left out Nissan Murano, it was one of my favourite cars. Hmm..

world cup 2006 > euro 2006 > food-ball 2006

And... it's won by Italian Pizzas!

World Cup 2006, Euro 2006 and Food Ball 2006, this is how the 2006 edition of FIFA World Cup had become. By the time I wrote this entry, the Pizzas had edged out the 1998 Champion in penalty shoot-out.

Before going into the Final moment in Berlin, we'll review how the final-four were lined up in 2006.

3rd/4th Placing
Portugese Tarts

vs
German Beer


The Final
Italian Pizzas

vs
French Fries/Toast


Yeah, it's all food affair now after how the World Cup 2006 had started. World Cup as the world's most prestigious tournament, had gathered the World's 32 best teams in Germany for the once-every-four-year tournament. After group stage, last 16 and quarter-finals, the tournament had drawn to the last four.

This is where it should be re-labelled as Euro 2006. It's an all-European affair! French, German, Portugese and Italians! It was really saddening NOT to see a single South American team in the final four. It surely lacked spices of football there. (There was a little pinch of South American flavor in the final four.)

Portugese Tarts have Scolari, 2002 Champion with Brazil, and Deco, a Brazillian-born playmaker who managed to obtain a Portugese nationality. But it was enough.



The Portugese Tarts were tamed by German's Tiger Beer. Bastian Schweinsteiger (pronounced as S-ch-wines-tiger) had the match of his young career to steer his home nation to a 3-1 victory over the Tarts. The Tiger Beer scored 1st and 3rd goal for German Beer, while having his hand on the 2nd goal. His free-kick was deflected by Portugese defense, resulting Germans' second goal.

Tiger Beer was later named man-of-the-match. No doubt about that.

Portugese Tarts have two players retiring from football, or international football at least after this tournament - iconic Figo and striker Pauleta. German Beer will bid farewell for long-serving Oliver Khan.

Moving to the final in Berlin, the Italian Pizza and French Toast/Fries affair has much more food issue here.

Let's just have a look at both team's lineup.

Italian Pizzas:
1 - Gianluigi Buffet (Buffon)
5 - Fabio Cannavaro
3 - Fabio Grosso
23 - Marco Macaroni (Materazzi)
19 - Gianluca Zambrotta
16 - Mauro German Camoranesi
8 - Gennaro Gattuso
20 - Simone Perrotta
21 - Andrea Pirlo
10 - Francesco Totti
9 - Luca Toni

Subs:
14 - Marco Amelia
12 - Angelo Peruzzi
6 - Andrea Barzagli
13 - Alessandro Nestum (Nesta)
22 - Massimo Oddo
2 - Cristian Zaccardo
17 - Simone Barone
4 - Daniel De Rossi
7 - Alessandro Del Piero
11 - Alberto Gilardino
15 - Vincenzo Iaquinta
18 - Filippo Inzaghi

The French Fries/Toasts:
16 - Fabien Butter (Barthez)
3 - Eric Adabi (Abidal) *Adabi is a Malaysian local food brand.
5 - William Gallas
19 - Willy Sagnol
15 - Lillian Thuram
6 - Claude MyCurry (Makelele)
7 - Florent Malouda
4 - Patrick Viagra (Viera)
10 - Zinedine JiDan 鸡蛋 (Zindane) *JiDan is egg in Mandarin.
12 - Thiery Henry
22 - Franck Ribena (Ribery)

Subs:
23 - Gregory Coupet
1 - Mickeal Landreau
2 - Jean Alain Boumsong
21 - Pascal Chimbonda
17 - Gael Givet
13 - Mikael Silvestre
8 - Vikash Dhorasso
9 - Sidney Govou
20 - David Trazeguet
11 - Sylvian Wiltord

See? You have loads of food linked in football right? Hence it should be foodball!

Short recap on the final game which the Italian Pizzas came on top. Zidane gave the French the lead with 9th minute penalty, and Macaroni Materazzi equalized on the 19th minute. The match was brought into extra time, and that is where Zidane was dismissed for red card offense (He head-butted (Shaolin Iron Head) Materazzi. Deadlock was not broken, so the game was brought to penalty shoot-out.

The Pizza boys scored a perfect 5 out of 5, and thanks to Trazeguet's miss, they went on to win the FIFA World Cup. So, it's a French Kiss Goodbye to France and Zidane, whom latter had a shameful way to bring the curtain down to his fabalous career. It was total disappointment to see it ended this way.



But I am happy to see this ending. France broke my heart twice - 1998 and 2006.

Viva Italia - The now 4 time winners of World Cup.



Credit: This entry is inspired by my friend, Louis. Hehe, the Pizzas won!.

Some of the photos are 'borrowed' from the Internet, as I lacked resource to produce the visual presentation for the entry. The soccer photos are of properties and copyrights of Soccernet.com.

Witness to the Catholic Faith

The members of the Catholic Evidence Guild will be in New York's Washington Square Park (at Fifth Ave and East 8th Street) on Saturday July 8 from 1pm to 5pm.

Once inside the park, look for the fountain at the center and at the east compass point, the Garibaldi statue, that is where we will be.

We discuss the Catholic faith with the passers by, hand out tracts, Rosaries, and other sacramentals.

when i was in kuching..

Short Note: I gained 4-5kg over the one-week-stay in Kuching. -.-" Tsk.. tsk.. not doing me good on that..



Birthday Dinner @ Kim Gary
My ex-housemate was generous to give me a treat at Kim Gary on my birhtday (which happened 2 weeks ago, before I set off to Kuching with AirAsia - Now everyone can cry fly!). In return, I gave her a treat to Pixar's latest hit movie - Cars. Car's a nice show! Its running time is about 2 hours long.

As for the dinner, we tried the steak with rice and spaghetti. It was just okay. Now, I prefer other HongKee style restaurant. Drawback for Kim Gary is that they don't have item photos in their menu. As customers, I really have no idea what I am ordering.

Regardles, a big thank you to my dear ex-housemate! Cheers!





Meanwhile, back in Kuching...

A Visit To Bla Bla Bla...
I spent one of the nites meeting up with ex-classmates in Kuching. One of them had returned from U.K. She wanted to visit some interesting cafes/outlets in Kuching after having to read so much about them on the blogs over the internet.

Bla Bla Bla.. : The interior (Ground Floor)





So, Bla Bla Bla.. was the choice of destination. It was not my first time visiting, however, it was my first visit to the ground floor area. During my previous visits, I was led to the upper floors only. So, it's somewhat new for me. My priority for this trip back home was not to do reviews and shooting photos. I just wanted to spend quality times with my friends and family. So, there wasn't much photos to show. Pardon me for that.

Cameo Appearance by my UK-based Buddy ;-)





Love of My Life
Also, I managed to meet up with the love of my life. No, it wasn't any girl, and surely it wasn't just this pair of Nike. I grew up having so much influenced by cousin bro, and friends, and they had injected this passion to me as well. I just love playing the game.

I personally love just any sports, but I only play basketball more. I love watching soccer, or footie, but I have never ever kicked a football (competitively, or a game) before. Basketball was just my life.



During my varsity days, I could almost play it every evening. However...



Since moving to KL, my fitness was taken away from me, by the hectic schedule and lifestyle here. I barely get to play already. Sad.



Nevertheless, I still managed to play for two days back in Kuching. AND, I shone well on the second day. It simply gave me the ultimate satisfaction.



I felt like I could fly again..

Decisions are clearer now. I shall architect my way to find a new base at home now. Let's just pray for the best now.

Just do it.