The Invisible

Caught this movie with Yen on Friday afternoon, after getting back from out trip to Chemor. We didn't know anything about this movie, just bought tickets in because there weren't any other interesting shows at the time we arrived at Jusco, and I thought it's some kinda horror movie a la Hollow Man when I saw the poster.



Anyway, the story's about Nicholas Powell, student, talented writer who sells essays to other students for money, saving up so that he can attend some course in London. He has a friend, Pete who's often harassed by a very troubled girl, Annie Newton, and her talentless goons. Nicholas stands up for Pete and this naturally gets him into Annie's bad books.

What follows next is a series of unfortunate, and truly predictable events leading to Annie accidentally killing Nicholas in a fit of anger, well, that's how it seemed, at least. Annie, her goons, and Pete (don't ask) disposed of Nicholas body and went about as if nothing happened.

Nicholas awakes the next morning and goes to school, thinking that all was well, until he realises that things aren't well at all: nobody could see him, hear him, or even feel his touch. Yea, so he thought he's dead, then he realises that he isn't dead yet (Nicholas: OH SHIT!! I'M ALIVE!!!) ROFL, and during the rest of the movie you'll see him trying to alert others of his intangible existence, locate his body and save himself in the process.

Sounds familiar? Maybe, but this movie is good while it lasts and does it's bit to keep your butt glued to the seat. The ending was awfully predictable as well, but that doesn't matter, what's not surprising can be comfortable. Go watch it if you have time to while about, it's entertaining :p

One Xantia less

Yep, after so many months, Dad's finally sold off one Xantia; Uncle Kwai came to get the car yesterday. 1612 is probably roaming the streets of Penang even as I type now, and they'll be no more twin Xantias running around Ipoh together anymore :( We're the only family around peculiar enough to have 2 examples of a convincingly unreliable car as our daily drivers.


WEV 1612, probably gonna miss it, probably not, I have many fond and not-so-fond memories, adventures with it.


One such "adventure"...

King will definitely miss it though; it's his favorite, and he hates my Xantia, since the clutch is so much stiffer in mine :p

Wonder what's gonna replace it, would be hard to find another car with the same good balance of styling, security (no alarms needed, really, no one will want to steal siao cars like this anyway) interior space, build quality, and handling. Reliability and running cost will be easy to beat though :p OK, I guess I'll miss the car after all.

Pepsi commercial

Chee Keong sent me a link to this video this morning, he's the tall guy in the singlet standing beside the tai kor:



Funny? Ingenious? Or just pure, pathetic lameness? I think it's a bit of all three, haha! Yen and Trisha couldn't stop laughing after they watched it though, donno whether that's good or bad... :( This video we made as a project while we were all still at 3D Technology at about 2003. Not the best of amateur videos, but we had a lot of fun and endless laughs about it.

We made another one, a public service message, no idea if Chee Keong's got it, but I hope he does, making him post that one up later!

Finished reading Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows!!

I'm back! Been absent for the past few days as I've been busy immersing myself in the Potter realm; I haven't watched TV, checked emails, chatted on MSN, or even touched the PS2 for the past few nights, yea the dork in me had came back, just for a few nights though. Finished the book at about 11 last night, and I'll have to say, Deathly Hallows has got to be the most exciting and grippiest of all 7 books; the suspense, the relevations, the deaths, the paybacks, ah, it's all just so satisfyingly good!

The ending was good, and it's truly an amazing feeling to see all the puzzle pieces fall into place, finally, after so many years, I just felt that the epilogue could have been longer; telling us how the other characters got on too, not just the main ones. Not complaining though. The book is GOOD, if any of you haven't read it yet, you should, don't count on the movies for the whole story, they always leave bits out or change certain elements. I got mixed feelings as I finished reading the book; I was glad that I've known the whole story at last, but then there's this empty, sad feeling, knowing that I'll have no other books to look forward to anymore. Oh well, we'll see, maybe I'll come across another gem soon, here's hoping :)

Anyway, I was cleaning up my room today, sorting out and throwing away waste paper, random crap, er, my old assignment thumbnails, I mean, when I found this:




The lasted one was dated year 2004, about 3 years now :)

Yep, some old cards, quite a number of em actually, all aging at least 3 years. Don't ask why, I don't know for sure, but ever since then I haven't received any more than 10 REAL cards, though you can probably, and safely, blame e-mails and Friendster for that. Why bother buying cards, writing em, licking the envelopes (and risk getting some nasty germs), then lick the stamp (germs, again) and send it off to your friend who is approaching his birthday? Heck, the card might never even arrive. Logging in to Friendster and dropping your friend a birthday message or testimonial is convenient, and free. Top that!

Haha, anyway, back to the cards; I found these 2 particular birthday cards from my Aunt May Fung and her husband that had money packets in it's envelopes, and the money is still in there. Not much there, and I didn't take it out, just placed the cards and the money back inside the book rack again; I have this habit of leaving money in, even CNY ang paus. I don't open them and spend it all as soon as I get it. I normally open them about 6-9 months late, no particular reason, just that's about how frequent I clean my room :p I am now content with the knowledge that I can dig for money in my book racks whenever I'm poor heheheh :p

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, a last!

I've finally gotten the book! Must have looked too hard for it while at Tesco; walked around Tesco twice but had no luck locating it, I then proceded to ask a sales assistant and she pointed the location of the books to me, RIGHT BESIDE THE ENTRANCE!! Talk about being blind and embarassed :p


Mine, at last!

Btw, I noticed that Tesco's staff had somehow become waaaaaay nicer and more pleasant to deal with since the last time I came; sales assistant who gave me directions was helpful, salespoint worker was efficient and polite, and even the workers by the escalator greeted you on the way up and down, some of them happily helped the elderly get their trolleys off the escalator safely. I'm impressed!! That's service with a smile for ya!

Major bookstores have some growing up to do

Sooooo, this is why I couldn't get HP7 at any Popular or MPH outlets at all.....
http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com/2007/07/harry-potter-and-evil-price-war.html

Yi Keat enlightened me on the situation in MSN this morning, then I read this:
http://www.monsterblog.com.my/2007/07/24/tuesday-open-thread-6/
and in case any of you are wondering, yes, I haven't been reading the newspapers much lately, hence the ignorance and clueless-ness :p

Screw you, Popular, MPH, Times, Harris, etc etc (the last 2 aren't in Ipoh, but what the heck, screw them for kicking up a fuss about the price and boycotting the book too)

On a happier note, I'm gonna go get my copy of HP7 at Tesco later, for only RM70!! Yayyyy, long live Tesco and Carrefour!! Hope it's not all snatched up yet :p

Doraemon capsule toy and 1:43 diecast cars

Went to Popular at Ipoh Parade to get my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I've been waiting for this book for quite some time now, wanting to get my hands on it as soon as possible. Imagine my surprise when the staff told me they are only selling to those who pre-ordered today! Huh?! I thought the book's launched today so anyone can buy it? What's all this pre-order stuff? I understand that they'll get a nice cup, paper bag, and even breakfast if you get it at MPH Jusco, but selling it as pre-orders only is stupid. Why not just order more and sell to anyone who comes looking for it? Duh, well, what to do, I could've pre-ordered but was lazy, serves me right :p Trying my luck at Jusco later.

Since I was already there, I walked around a bit when the kid in me got the better of me, again. All I intended to do was buy a small, belated birthday gift for Yen, so I chose a diecast 1:43 scale VW Beetle for her, then I saw the VW Karmann Ghia Coupe, then the Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT. Bought em all in the end.... hehe.




Yen's VW Beetle and VW Karmann Ghia Coupe, lovely?




1:43 Murcielago R-GT by High Speed, details are pretty good for it's scale, well worth the price

Went to Yen's home to give her the gift; she got the VW Beetle and Karmann Ghia Coupe, liked it of course :) Glad I chose the correct cars haha. She's got me a capsule Doraemon toy too from the capsule machine in Jusco yesterday while shopping with Nicky. Nicky's got the original form Doraemon; yellow colour, ears, etc etc. Here's how mine looks:



Cute huh? I like it a lot, it's got posable arms, feet, and head of course. Like it lots, thanks Yen!!

Transit back with new face!

Went to check on the Transit at Uncle Mun's this afternoon with Dad; the new brackets and headlamps have already been fitted when we got there and he was just about to start fitting the bumper. Some fitment problems appeared; not only were the headlamp brackets different between our Transit and the China version, it appears that the crossbar behind the bumper is different too, so a little extra hammering and drilling had to be done. Anyway, here's how the van looks like now.


Looks way better right? The grille protrudes a bit now, but will be fine once the legs behind are shaved off a bit


Fender was rusty, battery fluid got on it sometime ago, the black patch's gonna stay until the Transit gets a new coat of paint


Lights on! OK, so it isn't HID, and the bulbs aren't blue like the one I saw the pic of, but it's still bright! A small portion isn't lit in there cuz there isn't any wiring or switches for it yet; it's the foglamp, wasn't present in this Transit's original form




The old headlamps, not a pretty sight huh, but it's served us for 10 years+!


Surface of old headlamps all dull and darkened, could be saved though, just need to find the right chemicals


The old signal lamps, not too shabby, minor cracks here and there, but definitely still good

Now that the new headlamps are on, night driving should be noticably easier and more comfortable, and I'll need to get the guys at the accesory shop to fit new wires and switches for the integrated foglamp in the new lamp assembly. All's left to do now is to get spacers and new rims to complete the look; new paint coming on after the engine's sorted out!

Point Blanc at Onn Kee!

Just as I was about to leave home this morning, Yi Keat SMSed me saying that Point Blanc (Nicholas Ong) would be at Onn Kee at 6pm today and told me to go get my copy of Straight To The Point autographed, hell yea of course I want to!! Thanks for the heads up buddy :) Rushed back into my room and grabbed the CD along with me :p

I found out later that the Astro Talent Quest finalists would be there as well, so I guess the area would be full of people then. Curious, I called Leng Lui Theng at Onn Kee at about 4:30pm, she said Point Blanc and the finalists are already there, she wasn't interested and was sleeping in her room though, wth....? People are going to Onn Kee from all over town and she's sleeping through it all upstairs? Guess she couldn't care cause she wasn't a fan and Point Blanc's been there one time a many. Anyway, I passed by there at about 5pm while on the way to fetch Sis; saw the usual white vans the crew use as transportation, and some teens chatting, standing outside Onn Kee, some even peeking inside the aircon portion of the restaurant, fans no doubt :)

Finally, after the traffic jam to fetch Sis, she said she didn't want to go along, and I sure ain't coming back after sending her home, wasn't even in the mood anymore then cause there's still a 45 minutes wait, minimum, my favorite ATQ contestants are out of competition and won't be there anyway, and I wanted a bath and haircut badly. So, yea, in the end I didn't go back to Onn Kee at 6 for the autograph; I just brought the CD out for rides in my car today! Maybe next time hehe, I'm sure Nicholas Ong would be back again soon!

Harry Potter, to read or not to read

Yen called me at about 12pm today and asked if I'd like to go watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with her and some friends later in the afternoon, too bad I'm was busy then and haven't got a car for my use today. In the end, she went and watched it with Trisha, Suzen and Ivan.

Come to think of it, it's weird how I've been a fan of Harry Potter since year 200x (probably 2000) when Aunt May Fung gave me the first 3 books in the series (there were only 3 books out then, not that my dear aunt is stingy) as a birthday present, but I've never even watched one freaking Harry Potter movie. Read: dork, unpopular, nobody will ask me out for movies then, not much better now, just not so dorky anymore. And you don't go catch movies at cinemas alone, do you?

After getting my first taste of Hogwart-sy magic, I was addicted, bought the following books and devoured them lovingly, page by page, spreading the addiction to my brother and a few friends in the process. Most of my classmates then were like "Huh, you reading a kiddy book ar? Grow up la!" :( These are the same buggers who became fans of the series after the hype started with watching the first movie and borrowed my "kiddy" books for reading later on :p That was about 5 years back.

Now, the final book will be released on the 21st, just 2 more days away. How better to fully prepare yourself for the arrival of the ultimate and final chapter in this epic series than to, say, re-read the other 6 books to refresh your memory of the Potter-verse and renew your anticipation, you ask? Well, I thought so too, until I took the books out of the shelf and stacked em up:


My Harry Potter books, they stack up so freaking THICK!!!

Once I looked at the foot-high stack, I know that I'll never finish it in time for the 21st. Siao meh? How to finish so many books in such a short time? I guess I'll just leave em alone and hope I haven't forgotten too much of the earlier stories :p Until the last book comes out, I'll be biting my fingernails and toenails in anticipation. Or maybe I'll go buy pirated DVDs of the 5 movies and watch em all to catch up on what I've missed. You know what they say, you can't call yourself a true fan until you've caught the stories in their on-screen glory.

Kinda chaotic day

Stopped by the office this morning to print a pic of the China Transit, as reference for Uncle Mun who will be replacing the headlamp brackets on Dad's Transit. Drove the Multipla over to the workshop and waited a while for Mom and Dad to come after getting their work done. The Transit's hood catch was broken and Dad had no idea how it was supposed to be fixed, luckily there's another Transit at the workshop today, and a quick peek at it's hood catch answered the question.

Went back to the office after that and went about work. Found out that King's Xantia I sent for checkup yesterday has a damaged radiator; water seeps away from the tank even when it hasn't been started for nearly 2 weeks! The repair cost? 600, minimum, cool :p Lucky I ain't the one paying for that :p Just getting the car fixed before selling it off.

Things are slightly chaotic at the office today; renovations going on at the back portion, clients coming in and out etc etc. The renovation workers had to block the way to the back most of the time, meaning we had no access to the toilet, so we have to run upstairs everytime we want to relieve ourselves. Had to do lotsa emails today too regarding the Myanmar workers since most of them have been approved for employment here, gotta send the documents to their agents, confirm flight details, and enquire about passport status for others. Pretty good, not much time to idle today, but I got hungry early. Dad brought Sis for hakka mee lunch right after fetching her from school, Mom skipped lunch as she wasn't feeling well, so I had to eat lunch alone, how sad, how pitiful of me :p

Anyway, should have driven my Xantia out too today, had lotsa places to run around for errands and we only brought the Multipla out today. Went to Uncle Mun's place again after 5 to check on his progress with the Transit, no progress yet though, it's been raining all day and it's hard to work when there isn't much shelter around. Hope to see it done tomorrow, can't wait!!!!

Ford Transit facelift parts arrived!

During Dad, Mom, and Sis's trip to China early this year, they spotted quite a number of Mark V Ford Transit, the same model that we've had for nearly a decade now, only that the ones from China have HID headlamps, a larger and sportier grille, nicer looking signals and bumper, all factory stock. Needless to say, Dad liked it a lot and I was really excited too when he showed me the pics.


An old pic of our Ford Transit, it's bumpers has since been painted gold, and the hubcaps have since all went their own ways while on the highway :p


China's version of the Ford Transit

Dad got Uncle Kwai's help to buy the parts required for the facelift. To save shipping costs, we had it come together with the company ship, which took quite some time. Enough about boring history though, we finally got the parts 2 weeks ago! Here's how they look like:


Right headlamp, HIDs, nice huh


Left headlamp, so stylish :p


Headlamp brackets; these need to be welded on to the body, getting an aquainttance to do this for us


Grille, and it's got a nice honeycomb pattern!! Logo is actually a shade of dark blue, not black


The front bumper, nothing special here, but it completes the look


Side blinkers, bought by mistake, don't think we're gonna use this, going for the clear ones


Right turn indicator


Left turn indicator




The front lamp assemblies! Darn stylo! Can't wait to try it out on the highways at night, current headlamps are lousy

OK, that's all for now. Tried installing these just now, but it turns out the original headlamp brackets have to be shaved off first, and we don't have the proper tools, getting the panel uncle to get it done for us. More pics then!

My very very very first post!!!

WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME!!!!!

I am Leong Soon, but most of you already know that. 20, Graphic & Advertising Design student at Sunway College Ipoh (but you already knew that too), and this is my new and first blog you're visiting.

Well, so here I am, after thinking about it for, like, 5 minutes in the toilet, I've finally decided to start my very own blog. Why my own blog, you ask? Easy:

1. I think it'll be easier for friends and family to know what I've been up to lately this way, if, I mean if, they are interested.

2. I am getting old, my memory is failing me, hence the need for some sorta journal.

3. It's HIP! It's IN! Celebrities are doing it, adults, teens, kids are doing it! Heck, and I bet some grannies are doing it, so I shall be kiasu, and jump on the blogging bandwagon!!

4. I have lotsa rants and complaints I'd like to share but no one will let me finish it on MSN!!!

5. I am just plain effin bored and have nothing better to do as you can tell now :p

Haha, ok, that's all for now, come back later for more pointless rants!