Opening a mangosteen

Some time ago, my father sent me an e-mail on how to open a mangosteen. And a few days ago, I finally managed to try out the method...it works to a marvel!

Here are the steps:


And here are my own:


(There were more, but I didn't think of taking a photo until there were two left :P )

Did you know this method? I didn't...spent so many years opening them the "hard" way...

Open burning

In the park opposite my balcony, on Christmas day.


Merry Christmas!

Hijacked!

Oh no, my friend's messenger account has been hijacked.


And what's more, Philippe is a guy...definitely not a 24-year old female! lol

I don't even know who these spammers are trying to fool with this kind of messages...if I have someone on my messenger list, I should know who they are! Or maybe they're hoping I'm the kind of person who adds people from dating sites on my messenger list then forget about them?

An exceptional day

I think, between Peter and myself today, we shocked quite a few people...

First, he arrived early at work...at normal office hours! (he usually arrives later...and is authorised to do so) He even arrived before most of the other "normal hours" people arrived... I was shocked too when I heard his voice behind me!

And then, I ended up working late...which is something I very rarely do. I mean, I would stay a while to finish what I'm doing, but I rarely stay past 7pm...and to claim overtime we need to stay till 8pm at least. And today I stayed till past eight...leaving even later than the "usual" OT guys...they sure were surprised, first to see me staying past 7pm, then to see me still there when they were leaving... Well, savour the moment, guys, 'cause it won't be happening too often...

But you know, when you go bug-hunting...sometimes you just want to catch that bug that is running around right in front of your eyes... -_-


Random post...don't mind me, I'm just blabbing...probably my wiring gone wrong somehow. :P

The journey: Year 7

And finally here's the last instalment of TheJourney series! A little later than expected (well, I originally wanted to post it mid-December) because I've been posting a little too much lately :P

It being my final year, I was getting rather desperate to visit a few places. Most of all, Germany, because it was just east of France, close to Lyon, and I still hadn't been there! So the first chance I got, I flew to Munich.

December 2009: Munich (Germany)

the stadium!

April 2010: Brussels (Belgium)

At the end of April, my parents came for a visit (it was about time!) and we made a trip to Brussels. Unfortunately at that time I didn't know that Bruges was a lot more worth visiting...

the Atomium, just beside Mini-Europe

May 2010: Lucern, Engelberg, Zurich and Bern (Switzerland)

I had already been to Switzerland four years back. With my parents this time, we visited Geneva and Lausanne again, and several other towns, making full use of our Swiss Pass...

the lion of Lucern

Engelberg
There was nothing much to see, but we just went to take a look...since we had the train pass anyway :P

Zurich

Bern

June 2010: Troyes

That summer, we were all doing our final year project...and a couple of my friends invited a group of us to visit them.

First Julien invited us to Troyes, where he was doing his internship.

the town hall in Troyes

July 2010: Vichy

Then Camille invited us to her house in Vichy.

Vichy is famous for its healing sources...

July 2010: Clermont-Ferrand

My internship was mainly in Lyon, but I had to do several weeks in Clermont-Ferrand (about two hours' train ride from Lyon).

Jardin Lecoq, a very pretty garden

August 2010: Etretat

I was really really happy to finally get to visit Etretat, because I had been wanting to visit it ever since I read L'Aiguille Creuse by Maurice Leblanc. (I won't go into details here, but I think I wrote about it in my post on this trip). And come to think of it, somehow, indirectly, it was partly because of my "finger problem" (it's somewhere in the archives...) that I managed to go there...Alvin asked me about it and from the chatting I found out that he would be in Rouen (not far from Etretat) after I finished my internship...and we managed to arrange the trip with Zhi Yao (another junior).

The most famous landmark of Etretat: the needle!

August 2010: Lille


I passed Lille on my way to Bruges...and just took a walk around while waiting for my train!

August 2010: Bruges, Antwerp and Ghent (Belgium)

As a consequence from the Etretat trip, we planned another trip! (without Alvin this time though, he was replaced by a girl. Sort of... lol)

Actually we spent the weekend together in Bruges, then I went on to visit a few other places while the others had to get back home (since they weren't on holiday).

Bruges

Antwerp

Ghent

August 2010: Berlin (Germany)

After Belgium, I flew to Berlin.

nice clock ^_^

August 2010: Compiègne

A really tiny town...I just went there to visit my friend. I flew from Berlin to Paris and then took the train to Compiègne.

the town hall

That was my final trip in France before leaving for home...three countries in a week ^_^

Recap:
Dec 2009: Munich
Apr 2010: Brussels
May 2010: Lucern
May 2010: Engelberg
May 2010: Zurich
May 2010: Bern
June 2010: Troyes
July 2010: Vichy
July 2010: Clermont-Ferrand
Aug 2010: Etretat
Aug 2010: Lille
Aug 2010: Bruges
Aug 2010: Antwerp
Aug 2010: Ghent
Aug 2010: Berlin
Aug 2010: Compiègne

This wraps up the TheJourney series...hope you enjoyed it!

Home

This is a great song by Magnetic North and Taiyo Na. Home: Word



Last night it just struck me again how different socialising with Malaysians is from socialising with the French. (I'm not sure whether I've written about this before...but I have thought of it before) That is not to say that any one is better than the other...it is just...different. We do not interact the same way.

And sometimes, with Malaysians, there is just this feeling, a feeling of being home. It doesn't matter where you are...I've felt it in France too. And that moment can be pure contentment...like some moments last night.

So what is home? In reference to the lyrics of the song,

It's hard to find the words for something so basic, but it's where I come back, I find it in friends, I find it in things, a life from within.

Used to think home was a physical place, but if it isn't and we're searching for it, it's a place where you don't search no more. Home is where contentment is.

Imitation

In life, you will find that people will do what you don't like them doing. Maybe not all the time, but once in a while. And some people (or some things) more often than others.

And when that happens, you have two choices: show disapproval, or accept it.

I used to have an idealized view of the world, in which I could tell people that I disliked a certain thing they did, and they would stop doing it, at least with me. After all, that's what I would do for them.

But I learned that things are not so easy. Most of the time, people will not care about what you think, or how you feel. Instead, they will focus on what they should be able to do, for their own gratification.

Everyone talks about their right to do this, their right to do that. But your right is not all that exists in this world. How about other people's rights? I read a comment on Facebook once, that went something like this: "The right of one person tramples on the right of others." It was when someone mentioned that they had the right to fresh air (talking about smokers) And the smokers would say that they have the right to smoke...

I don't have a solution for this. But I think that a little tolerance would be welcome...it seems to be missing in many areas these days.

I read a post today on a blog that I have been following for a few months. From some of the writer's posts, I feel that she shares some of my views, and it makes me rather glad that I am not the only one who thinks that way. Here's an example in what I read today:

Another issue that concerns me is the values embraced by my generation. It is awesome to be a party animal, because that means you are wild and free; it is cool to swear and curse, because that means you dare to express your emotion...so everyone starts to get wild, lose control, get really wasted and lose consciousness...vision becomes blurry and conscience becomes weak...

Can we stop glorifying our shameful behaviour?

Could we stop for a while, and think about why we are acting the way we are?

Could we try not being parrots (imitating speech) or monkeys (imitating actions) and instead think about why people do something, and then decide whether we want to do it ourselves?

I shall stop here...though I could go on, I think I would stray too far from my original topic (already there two practically unrelated things in this post, though one made me think of the other). I wonder, how many people would read this to the end? Maybe that block of colour will help.

Hey, that's my ball!

Since Pat and Ezy are continuing to post photos after our photo challenge has run out of themes, I should do the same once in a while ^_^

A few of us went bowling last night after dinner. And you know what? It really makes me happy when bowling centres have this:

seven- to nine-pound balls...I use eight-pound ones!

Hey, I'm just a kid at heart! ;P (and in strength... hehe)

Note: The title's from Phua Chu Kang (or more like Phua Chu Beng)...did you notice? :P

Punctuation matters

This was sent in to The Star as an example of why punctuation matters. Two letters, containing the same words but with different punctuation. I love these examples, so I'm sharing them here!

Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours?
Gloria

Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior.

You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria

I read somewhere not too long ago that when we share something from the Internet, we should only provide a short description/teaser and link to it, instead of copying the whole thing, so that the reader can go to the original website to see it. But too many times, the original page has been lost...and I ended up with a partial post. So to avoid that happening again, I am trying to copy as much as is necessary so that my post makes sense on it's own...

This, too, shall pass

Did you hear about the story of a king who wanted something that could cheer him up when he was down, and bring him down to earth when he was overjoyed?

He finally found what he wanted in the words, "This, too, shall pass."

Or in other words, nothing lasts forever.

Just a few hours ago I was upset about something...I was literally gripping the steering wheel as I drove to badminton after work. I couldn't wait to be able to release a load of pent-up energy.

Maybe it was releasing that energy, or maybe it was something else. In any case, this, too, has passed.

Though, to take the words to heart, this, too, shall pass. And who knows what will come.

(And it, too, shall pass...)

The best defense is offense

Hmm...I'm getting pretty good at this. Thanks/No thanks to some of my colleagues.

But I still think that I should only use this strategy on those who have shown themselves capable of using it on me (note: the example is non-exhaustive). And then I shall show no mercy...muahahahaha...

Here fishy fishy...

It isn't April yet...but this is to continue from my previous post on packing my stuff.

In France, April Fool is called Poisson d'Avril, which literally translates to "April's Fish".


This fish is from either our first or second year in France...when we were still in Angoulême. We had lots of French classes in the beginning, and any discussion wasn't off-topic, because we would gain vocabulary on that, and we were supposed to learn about French culture too!

Our teacher, Geneviève, told us that the French make paper fish and stick it to people's backs on April Fool's Day. Anyway, she started cutting out paper fish for each of us, and wrote our names on each one. Then I don't know who started asking her to sign it, then everyone else started passing their fish all over the class for signatures!

Mimi was a big fan of Pierrick then, a guy on Star Academy, the French version of the Idol series. And Hidayah was into Agatha Christie (and Hercule Poirot) at the time...I can't remember why, but I think I pulled her into it, being an Agatha Christie fan from my secondary school years.

Then there was Firdaus and Mai who wanted me to cook fish for them... I had cooked steamed fish with tomyam sauce (really sinple, just put the tomyam sauce on the fish and then steam it). I think it was cooked in Dayah's room because she had a big rice cooker...the one with a steamer. (And when I said, it's so simple, you can cook it yourself...they said, it's not the same when someone cooks it for you...haha, lazybones!)

So yeah, I kept this fish for the five years after leaving Angoulême. It was in my document folder all the time...because I didn't know where to put it. But when I was leaving for home, I decided that it was no use keeping it any longer...but still wanted to preserve a digital memory of it!

I can make GIF files!

I just went for a Photoshop workshop. It was on Saturday and Sunday, the whole day on both days. I found out about it from work...and after asking around whether other people were interested, ended up going there in a group of seven. (there were supposed to be nine of us...then some cancelled, some got replaced, and some didn't turn up :| ) We were the majority in the class...there were only three or four other people :P

The course was in JMTI (Japan Malaysia Technical Institute). I don't know why the acronym is in English...nowhere did I see the name written in English...it was always in Malay (do the translation yourself! :P ) They taught us all about the different features of Photoshop...it was all very quick, so we managed to try out a few things and find out what the program can do...but to be good at it, I guess we'll need to practise!

Anyway, I found out that Photoshop can create GIF files. I never knew what program could make them...and I never took the time to find out (I didn't need to make any anyway!). So here's the first GIF I made (during the course):


So how do you like it? ;)

Unfortunately Blogger doesn't support GIFs...it only displayed the first frame! So I needed to upload this on Google Docs and then load the GIF from there. Thanks to a forum and this guy's post...and the commenter who said:

The key for me was to publish under the privacy setting "Public on the web - Anyone on the Internet can find and view" and then right clicking on the image to copy the link.

Images that used authentication didn't load in Firefox or IE, so the other permission settings didn't work for me. Hope that helps anyone else with this quirky problem!

I didn't even try it without the "public" setting. :P

Edit: animated GIFs, I should have said. Because non-animated ones are easy...you just save them in that format! :P (Thanks to Alberto for pointing that out to me! lol )

Takrif satu radian

I've wanted to write about this since I was packing my stuff to leave France for good. (more than a year ago!) But procrastination sort of got the upper hand. :P

So now I think I will spread them out over a few posts.

You see, when I was packing, I needed to make sure my luggage wasn't overweight...so I had to throw some stuff away. Some things I really didn't need any more...and if I brought them back it would be to bring them from one dust-collecting storage to another. But some of these have sentimental value...so I took photos of them before saying goodbye.


Remember these buku latihan? They're the same in all schools...apart from the logo. These are my Add Maths notes...I brought them to France for reference, but I think I never used them :P

A peek inside the cover...


We started learning Add Maths with Sukatan Menbulat! (I don't even know what that's called in English :P ) Tahukah anda takrif satu radian? lol

(And you see...learning Maths in BM hasn't hurt my English in any way...but I think I'll keep that rant out of this post.)

Sunset after the rain

It has been raining rather often in Penang lately. (and in the rest of the country too, it seems) I can't remember when I took this photo, but it was after a rather heavy downpour during office hours...and when I was driving home from work I got this blinding sunset in my eyes (thank goodness for sunglasses).

But blinding or not, I found the colours really beautiful...like a "real" sunset! lol One that we don't see all that often...

So I pulled out my camera (I somehow "managed" to be the first car stopped at the traffic light) and quickly snapped a photo...there wasn't much time to adjust any settings, even the little time I used to switch to scenery mode cost me a motorcyclist's head in front of me (see that roundish shape in the photo? :P )


Anyway, even though the photo is a bit blurred, and not exactly the greatest sunset photo one could hope for...I still like it because of the lovely colours! (or colour...lol) Doesn't it look a bit like the sepia effect we can choose on phone cameras?

It was a lucky thing that the photo challenge was still going on at the time... You might have noticed that it is over now (or more like on hold...we might find new topics later on! For 2012 maybe... :P ) Well, because of the photo challenge I had been bringing my camera around...these past few days it has been hibernating at home! I'm wondering whether I should start bringing it out again...

White and green

I heard this riddle on Fort Boyard the other day.

The white is not white,
The green stays green.

It was a riddle given by the professor, and if the chosen team member answered it correctly, they would receive a clue to the secret word for unlocking the treasure. (if you've watched Fort Boyard before)

Anyway, the guy in question managed to answer it...and I went "wow!" 'Cause I would never have guessed it myself...

What about you? Any ideas?

Answer further below...

























The answer is "house".

Because the White House is not white, and a greenhouse will stay green.

But WW said the White House is white! I don't know...maybe it's a shade of something close to white? :P

Noodle comparison

People say that Penang has great food. It's not that I agree or disagree...but there are particularly two dishes that exist both in Kuantan and in Penang but are very different, and I miss the Kuantan version!

The first is curry mee. (click on the photos to enlarge)


The curry mee in Kuantan is often served with yong tau foo...we go and select the pieces we want, then ask for the kind of noodles (yellow mee or meehoon, or a mixture of both) and the kind of soup (we can have curry or plain soup) we want. In Penang the curry mee comes with cockles and blood cubes, which quite a number of people will say they don't want; tau pok (what do you call that spongy tofu thingy? lol), and sometimes cuttlefish (unfortunately this stall doesn't have that :( )

(all these photos are of "tapau-ed" food...so they're not exactly how the sellers present them)

The soup is also different...the Kuantan version comes with the chilli already mixed in the soup. In Penang the soup is really bland, and the chilli paste is placed on a spoon (or as a blob beside the noodles if you take-away). So you can decide how much chilli you want to mix into your soup. (in Kuantan the method is to pour hot water to dilute the soup...if you take-away :P )

And another thing...when we simply say "curry mee" in Kuantan when ordering, we will receive yellow noodles...while in Penang we will receive mixed yellow noodles and meehoon! So if you are particular about what noodles you get, you'd better be precise in your order... As for me, I just order "curry mee" everywhere :P

Oh, and I feel so weird eating yong tau foo with rice (in Penang they sell it with yam rice or white rice). Sometimes I wish I could buy noodle soup with the yong tau foo...but then I can also "tapao" and then cook noodles in the soup at home (though that means washing an extra pot! Yeah, I'm lazy...)

Okay, next noodle comparison. Yee mee (or yee foo mee):


As you can see, these are completely different! And whereas I like the two curry mee versions about the same (they're just different dishes), the Penang yee mee can't hold a candle to Kuantan's one. We can find the Kuantan yee mee somewhere in Jelutong, I think...but I'm not sure how to go there. :P

The Kuantan version has the noodles all crispy, and then they are soaked in the sauce. We can eat it while the noodles are still crispy, or wait till they are soaked till soft. The inset photo is before the noodles were soaked (right after the sauce was poured onto them). As I mentioned above, these dishes were "tapau-ed", so the presentation is a little wanting... :P

As for the Penang version...there's nothing much to say about it...

Usually stalls selling yee mee will also sell char hor fun (which is basically the same as yee mee, except that they use kuey teow instead of these noodles) and hokkien char/hokkien mee. And this last item is another thing to be careful of, when ordering...

In Penang "hokkien mee" is equivalent to "prawn mee" in other states. You know, the soup kind (which looks a bit like diluted curry mee lol). And what they call "hokkien mee" in other states is called "hokkien char" in Penang.

But! What's more, the hokkien char (to avoid ambiguity, let's not use the term "hokkien mee" :P ) in Penang is still different from the one in Kuantan (I don't quite know about the other states, but I'm pretty sure they're like Kuantan...). In Kuantan the hokkien char is dark brown, almost black, and dry (well, almost...maybe I should say damp? lol). In Penang it is a bit like their yee mee...a little soupy. In any case I don't like hokkien char much (either version), so that's why I don't have any photos :P

And to end this post, here's a yummy beef noodle soup found in Kuantan...in Bukit Sekilau. (I don't know the shop name, but it was at walking distance from my house before we moved...if you know where I lived :P ) I have yet to find beef noodle soup in Penang, I think...


I took the photos of the Kuantan dishes during my last trip back home...then took their Penang counterparts after getting back here. It's been some time, I just haven't gotten around to blogging about it :P

Laughs in the workplace

A couple of anecdotes for your reading pleasure.


The other day when I was leaving with P to go to the canteen, B said, "Your brother is so good."

I just laughed and left...and P asked me on the way, "What did she say?"

I repeated it to him, and my "brother" asked, "Who is your brother?"

Hahaha...it just shows that this is an "unofficial" brother. Did we ever sign an agreement on this anyway? :P


Then yesterday was the boss's birthday, and we had a little party, with cake... One guy had a portion with a strawberry on his plate, and I think he said he didn't want it. Then suddenly F said, "WP wants it... what la WP, you want it but don't dare to say..."

All this out of nowhere... *speechless* (he was joking, of course) Then F took the strawberry and ate it.

It took me a second to recover from the first accusation...then I asked him, "Why did you eat it when you knew I wanted it?"

And he made a gagging gesture, like he was going to spit it out for me...and said, "I wanted to make juice for you..."

*speechless*...again