tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:10:10 +0000To be or not to be, that is the question; An age be, I shall not be in want; On second thoughts, I shall use a pen instead.<P> Just Amleth.http://amleth.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Amleth)Blogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-1037802976753446325Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:19:00 +00002009-10-04T09:33:02.411-07:00I seem to be eating lots of rotten stuff. My latest addition is moldy bread. After a long cycling trip, I had become really hungry and just grabbed some wholemeal bread from the kitchen. The first slice of bread was delicious and really warmed the stomach. I started on the second piece, which happened to be the bread at the end of the loaf with the crust. It tasted quite good initially. After http://amleth.blogspot.com/2009/10/misadventures-with-food.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-1445398444752425295Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:08:00 +00002009-10-04T09:15:32.825-07:00After learning about the Padang Earthquake, I really pray that the many lives will be saved, and that the survivors of the earthquake will be able to overcome the new challenges in their lives.I just learnt that Hotel Ambacang, the hotel I had stayed in at Padang about a month ago has collapsed due to the earthquake. If I had been there only a month later, I could've been part of the statistics http://amleth.blogspot.com/2009/10/life-is-fragile.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-5107177935617703934Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:01:00 +00002009-08-04T04:12:24.986-07:00I was just reading an article about the property market in Singapore when I learnt that once again, the property market has risen to stratospheric highs.$810 psf for a 99-year leasehold property in Tanah Merah ?? $1100 psf for a 99-year leasehold property in Ang Mo Kio? Now all they need is to find someone else who will buy it from them at $1200 psf. Come on .... it sounds like 1999 all over http://amleth.blogspot.com/2009/08/crazy-property-market.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-7764885600122638833Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:38:00 +00002009-06-21T08:48:14.137-07:00I read this book last year, and as far as I recall, it was one of the bleakest books I have ever read. Heck, even the cover page alone looks depressing.Here's a short review I wrote about it in Facebook:Probably one of the most bleak and depressing books I have ever read. The book describes a father and son (both unnamed) who are travelling through the wastes of post-apocalyptic America. On the http://amleth.blogspot.com/2009/06/cormac-mccarthys-road.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-8113170990554433509Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:39:00 +00002009-06-10T11:58:41.872-07:00I happened to hear this song as I was surfing around ... This drama is called 一剪梅 or One Plum Blossom (not to be confused with the Korean drama Iljimae!).I think it was 25 years ago, when I was still a kid. My grandmother was still alive then, and she would watch this drama series which was showing on Malaysian TV. I don't remember the details of the drama, but I can never forget the song ... http://amleth.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-8507280688671660626Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:36:00 +00002009-02-12T03:31:02.730-08:00I was doing some research on the Internet when I came upon a treasure load of archives from Time Magazine. Wow!! I never knew that you could actually read old news articles in Time Magazine, all the way back to the early 20th century. Imagine the research value, not to mention how fascinating it is to be able to see how people think all the way back to the 1930s!The way news was reported in Time http://amleth.blogspot.com/2009/02/fascinating-old-news-archives.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-7828055807906307825Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:44:00 +00002008-11-16T08:34:38.896-08:006 Nov 2008My kind brother Jun Ming has already done a very excellent writeup (much better than what I can ever write) about what we did in Cambodia, so I am not going to write about it again! You can read it here.What I am going to do however is to add my own thoughts on top of what Jun Ming has already written.As we had to leave our homes by about 4am in the morning, I decided not to sleep. Thushttp://amleth.blogspot.com/2008/11/missions-trip-to-cambodia-day-1.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-4195964504989471324Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:36:00 +00002008-11-13T09:04:45.828-08:00I have always had a heart for Cambodia ever since I watched the film The Killing Fields when I was eleven years old. Although I vaguely remember the movie, the horrors and the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge against their own people is something that was permanently etched into my young mind. The Khmer Rouge was a Cambodian communist party that ruled Cambodia from 1975 - 1979. One in four http://amleth.blogspot.com/2008/11/missions-trip-to-cambodia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-568805686640232641Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:02:00 +00002008-06-05T09:28:39.334-07:00I know this is a small thing, but still I must thank God for it. It so happened that I had misplaced my mobile phone (I have no idea where lost it). I realized it when I got home. Immediately, I got down and prayed to God, asking Him to help me recover the phone, and just trusting Him with it.I tried calling my mobile number -- it was not even on. So I figured it was probably gone forever .... http://amleth.blogspot.com/2008/06/misplaced-mobile-phone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-3195653439068599196Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:02:00 +00002008-06-05T09:12:32.395-07:00It has been almost a year since I've updated this blog. So much has happened in the last year! I laughed. I cried. I loved. I hated. I was filled with joy. I was filled with deep sorrow. God has blessed me abundantly. God has humbled me. God has refined me through trials -- I have gone through the valley of the shadow of death.But God has never abandoned me. Even in my darkest days, He was with http://amleth.blogspot.com/2008/06/one-year-hiatus_05.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-4750742959338644358Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:01:00 +00002007-07-22T06:03:45.629-07:00I caught Empire of the Sun during my days with Citrix in some hotel somewhere. The movie is about a British boy in Shanghai, who is separated from his parents during the chaos of World War II. He is later captured by the Japanese and sent to the Soochow Creek Internment Camp, where the European prisoners of war are held. The war is portrayed from the perspective of the boy, and how he deals with http://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/07/empire-of-sun.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-216631255251306107Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:37:00 +00002007-07-11T07:48:25.177-07:00As I was reading CNN Money, I came across the following statement:Delivering a speech to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Fed chief said "changes in energy [and food] prices should have relatively little influence on 'core' inflation, that is, inflation excluding the prices of food and energy."I am sure there must be some hidden meaning in this seemingly obvious statement -- but for http://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/07/bizarre-statements-made-by-famous.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-142707355004685590Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:03:00 +00002007-07-05T08:38:11.907-07:00Anyone here remembers "V"? It was 1985, when the series first started showing in Malaysia. It was one of those TV series that scared the heck out of kiddy lil' me, especially the part when Mike Donovan first revealed the lizards for who they are. You can find the entire series in YouTube by searching for "V - the original miniseries", and "V - the final battle".Here's another scene that freaked http://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/07/v-miniseries.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-5818876062765866348Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:15:00 +00002007-06-11T05:29:58.191-07:00It was the Perfect Cut. For reasons we shall never know, it was cut from the Final Cut. A fantastic scene from The Last Samurai. Enjoy.http://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/06/perfect-cut.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-8028831414323110028Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:43:00 +00002007-06-08T09:41:58.377-07:00This morning, a friend sent me an article describing my fortune in 2008. For those who don't know Chinese, the gist of the article is this -- 2008 is going to be a really, really, really bad year for me.If I had not believed in God, this article could have pretty much spoiled my day. Most likely, it will cause my non-Christian, horse year compatriots a lot more harm that it would me. Not in the http://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-i-dont-believe-in-geomancy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-2090812273759377127Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:11:00 +00002007-06-07T11:47:29.897-07:00Full Metal Alchemist Festival 2005 - Anastasia and Veronika Golovina - BratjaWhat a surprise! I would never have known the singers of Bratja were two Russian girls until I saw this video (all the while I had thought it was sung by a boy's choir, e.g. the Viennese Boy's Choir). And who would have known that Edward and Alphonse Elric were voiced by two .... ladies? This song is a recurring theme inhttp://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/06/full-metal-alchemist-music-videos.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-296862581429515635Sun, 06 May 2007 05:45:00 +00002007-05-06T01:07:04.074-07:00Disclaimer: Note that this article is not meant to be taken seriously. Read it only if you have an open mind. If you do not have an open mind, please do not proceed any further. You have been warned.With Bush wringing his hands for an answer to his Iraqi woes, the answer has never been clearer to me. In this article, I list a few simple solutions the Americans can adopt to find a resolution to http://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/05/solution-to-iraq.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-902352108076209760Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:48:00 +00002007-03-06T06:10:44.027-08:00I was in the 34th storey in my Suntec office today, and I felt the ground beneath me moving. Yes, I was one of those who experienced the minor tremors due to the earthquake that happened in Sumatra, 430km away from Singapore (you can read about it here). "We have an incident in the building. Please remain calm. We are currently investigating the incident.", blared the PA system.Huh? What incidenthttp://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/03/earthquake-in-singapore.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-2947169443891028955Mon, 05 Mar 2007 10:29:00 +00002007-03-05T02:34:22.394-08:00Annyang haseyo!I have returned from my trip to Seoul, and have finally gotten down to blogging about it after a loooooooong time. But boy, what a trip it was! It was in Seoul where I had the best kimchi, kimbap, bibimbap, bugolgi, galbi ... you name it ... nobody does Korean food better than the Koreans themselves. It was also one of the best new year celebrations I've ever participated in. It http://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/03/seoul-part-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-6223091736501374071Mon, 05 Mar 2007 06:18:00 +00002007-03-04T23:00:43.070-08:00The PreludeIt all began on the night of the 6th day of the Lunar New Year (23 Feb 2007) when I was back home in Ipoh, and could not get to sleep. It was frustrating just lying down on your bed with your eyes closed, willing yourself to sleep, only to discover an hour later that you are still as mentally alert as ever. Never shall I drink two cups of coffee again in a single day.Anyway, since I http://amleth.blogspot.com/2007/03/watership-down.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-116264592659352221Sat, 04 Nov 2006 12:32:00 +00002006-11-04T06:06:46.080-08:00The flight back from San Francisco to Singapore was uneventful, except that I was quite surprised to learn that I had to transit at the Seoul-Incheon airport in South Korea -- and all this while I had thought it was a direct flight! Oh well, at least I get to say that I have stepped on South Korean soil.The plane started from the San Francisco International Airport, headed north into Alaska, http://amleth.blogspot.com/2006/11/flight-home-from-san-francisco.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-116235085187995586Wed, 01 Nov 2006 02:56:00 +00002006-10-31T19:18:56.026-08:00What's with all these disclaimers in San Francisco? Is the entire city filled with dangerous chemicals? In almost every restaurant in San Francisco I would see the sign:Warning: The Foods and Beverages in this Establishment Contain Chemicals Known to the State of California, to Cause Cancer and Birth Defects or Other Reproductive HarmEven the hotel that I am living in, the Marriott at San Mateo http://amleth.blogspot.com/2006/11/bizarre-warning-from-california.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-115807548188588915Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:37:00 +00002006-09-12T08:47:02.623-07:00Ok! Now that I have just gotten back from India, I feel I should blog about it lest I forget about this episode of my life forever. Then again, nothing in India is truly forgettable. Like the Islamic Haj, it is a pilgrimage that everybody should make at least once in their lifetime, just to experience the other side of life.So what is memorable about Delhi? One Big Public Toilet.  Need to relief http://amleth.blogspot.com/2006/09/memories-of-delhi-part-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-114693851305866188Sat, 06 May 2006 17:36:00 +00002006-05-06T11:47:45.016-07:00I have had a phobia for Mahjong for more than three years. Most of my encounters with Mahjong usually result in three very happy friends, as I usually enrich them in the game. In those days, if you were to play Mahjong with me, you could pretty much leave home without money, cos' after playing with me, you will most likely return home with lots of money. My last encounter with Mahjong in early http://amleth.blogspot.com/2006/05/mahjong.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4022309.post-113860538547432291Mon, 30 Jan 2006 06:56:00 +00002006-01-31T23:45:41.943-08:00Wow! What a trip! This trip to Japan is actually the first true overseas holiday trip I've ever made (company trips do not count), and it was really nice to be able to travel with a bunch of friends, if only for a short while. On the whole, it was an enjoyable trip, although at this point in time, I must confess that I am suffering a little from temple-fatigue -- I must have seen like twenty or http://amleth.blogspot.com/2006/01/my-trip-to-japan-summary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Amleth)