"We should make this a weekly thing!"

yep. that's an affirmation i proudly made today, as i heartily chowed down on my Topless 5 order at Swensen's, after watching a damn good and funny movie with 12 other friends. what movie you ask? why, Shrek The Third, of course. the movie was enjoyed at cinema 4 in the Mall cinema (duh), with Rory, Mags, Lin Ji, Nadine, Manju, Shivvy, Raushan, Stan, Amiel, Christina, Matt and Grace along for the Pixar-movie ride. i was there too.

i'm sure everyone knows the saying "good things come in threes". while i've never seen the significance of such a claim in life in general (three lates for a detention? three strikes and "YERRRR OWT!"? three wrong passwords and the ATM eats your card?), the saying's purpose shines clear and true in the world of movies. not too long ago, (hopefully) everyone enjoyed the 160-odd minute three-quel of ships, sand, duels, the sea, more ships, and of course, Pirates. a while before that, a three-quel of blue and red spandex, webs, sand (again?), and wahey, Spiderman! now both, in my humblest opinions, were pretty darn good movies. fine, pretty damn good movies. for those who think otherwise: pace yourself, count your noses, and check your sanity. therefore, i could pretty much say exactly the same thing for today's 3D movie (the pretty damn good, not the nose-counting insanity, of course).

i would stick to my movie-discussing-blog-tradition of not spoiling it for those who read these words (and the rest of the blog), if such a tradition ever existed. guess it does now. alright, enough of the movie-critic-wannabe, and on to the boring-diary-entry-blogger.

the movie was at 1:20, so i got there at around 12:45 because i like getting there early and i also just happened to like to make fun of those who don't. i didn't make first place though, i was greeted by Mags, Lin Ji and Nadine, who took Robert's place of watching with us 'cause he vouched to watch a later show. ah well, no harm, no chicken. Rory and Raush came shortly after, the former showing off the 14 tickets (still intact, so it was cool and all snake-like) he bought the previous night.

okay, going off at a slight tangent, i was at the Mall last night, looking around for some PS2 games that, despite my wishful thinking, are apparently no longer being sold. boohoo. anyway, i saw him there, all spaced-out looking and quite reminiscent of Anthony (blur, and wore the cricket shirt that the said blur possesses as well), and after much failed attempts at using sign language to indicate direction of purpose, he flashed the 14 tickets. not all out and snakey, of course, can't trust the locals to pass it by without gawking at it.

coming back from the annoying mathematical term, Amjaad couldn't make it, due to driver problems. sad. took a while to build up the courage, but Mags and Lin Ji went to refund her ticket and did so with success. and without having to resort to talking to a cashier-person of the opposite gender too, you smooth operators. despite the time pressure and the anxiety it caused, the rest of the gang came. oh, save three of us who took forever to find parking. i won't mention their names, but i missed 15 minutes off the beginning of the movie while waiting for them with Raush.

arrgh, another tangent. today was Askar day and a public holiday to boot, hence the Mall was packed. my claustrophobia couldn't help but attempt to rear its scared-of-confinement head, but i did good to resist. one could only imagine how incredibly hard it must be to find parking, well, one of my naievity of the parking pressure, at least. i was early. oh, and Raush commented that his car was parked on a yellow-painted zone (you know, those lame things that attempt to represent the curb), what with the lack of spaces and the many cars that drive like vultures to take any parking spaces (not that vultures have cars, mind you). sigh. one can only imagine.

despite the 15-minute gap in my head's recollection of Shrek the Third, i thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. i'm sure everyone else in the (full-house) cinema did too. there i was thinking i laughed loud. hmm. i don't really feel like revising that thought, though. my obnoxious degree of volume and lack of concern for other people's ability to hear the movie (and hence get their money's worth) was nulled in this perhaps laughing-gas-rigged movie.

also, we had a time bringing Nadine up and down the many freakin' flights of stairs that the Mall cinema seems to take pride in. not that we mind at all; it was fun, despite the naievity and unwanted attention of the passerbys. i remember Raush complaining that he had gone to the gym earlier today, and side-effects of such were kicking in the whole time.

after the movie, we all proceeded to said Swensen's, and had ourselves an incredible ice-cream eating.. fest, in search of a better word. i ordered and had said Topless 5 and enjoyed the hell out of it. i don't indulge in such calorie-filled activities often, so why not treat oneself eh? besides, there's Shahbandar this Sunday. i felt like such a pig, though. everyone else had substantially much less than my fill, and i finished before them!! sheesh, i don't eat fast, i just don't eat slow. anyway, we also ordered and all shared (save three with unsaid names again) a giant-sized Earthquake; an 8-scoop ice cream treat with various (and unknown) sauces chucked, squirted and sprayed all over. they were edible and tasted good, is all i concluded.

had some laughs, commented that "this should be a weekly thing!", anticipated some other movies to watch, paid the bill, after much hassle with who owes what, and left. oh, Lin Ji had to leave after the movie, but she did sit around for a bit while waiting for the orders. then she left. hohum. and oh again, Dan joined us not 10 minutes before we left, sat and joined in the anticipation, and after exiting, said our byes and parted, then proceeded to play pool for an hour with the fellas (apart from Matt), and Grace the sot sat around, claiming that Amiel was her ride home. of course, i sucked. but the wonders of 'hantam' and 'kalok-ness' got me by. finished, walked 'round for a bit with Grace, Rory and Stan, then got picked up. not literally, of course.

ahh, speaking of good threes, Ocean's Thirteen is coming up and out soon. next week, gang? ;) The Bourne Ultimatum can wait. 'till the week after of course. muahaha.

hasta luego.

In the wise words of Garfield..

..i hate Mondays. yep. it's that time of the week again, where the week actually begins. when we still had school, the hatred was much more passionate, seeing as how such a day disrupted the tranquil, lax and procrastinating (admit it, guys) state of mind we'd have been in for the weekends.

i remember when i was still into reading Garfield comics, and at one point there was a whole week of strips dedicated to how Garfield dealt with Mondays. ironic, i know. usually, Mondays to him were a "pie to the face", literally. splat. haha, i could empathize, but i don't think we have cream pies like he does. at least i hope not, the mess all over the fat cat's face is funny on his face alone.

nowadays, weekend or no weekend, whatever day of the week it'd be, it doesn't really matter anymore. hell, i've lost awareness of it all. it's all boring too. i enjoyed yesterday's hike so much that it's the only thing i'm looking forward to this week. the fact that school's out for me and my fellow year 13's means that, without proper care and attention, we'd essentially be on the road to becoming (intelligent) couch potatoes: unfit, bored, diminishing wastes of space (with brainpower). however, knowing that there's something fun and healthy to look forward to (ironically at the end of the week), i can say goodbye to the couching of potatoes, not that i ever said hello to it, mind you. the only bit of "arrgh" is that i have a little bit more work cut out for me than anyone else. hopefully not for long =).

oh wait! i do have other perks to look forward to this week! first off, i'm finally going to be able to get some action done about getting myself a suit for prom!! i've been badgering my Mum about it for quite a while now, only to be getting rejected with the common excuses like "no time", "have to send car to mechanic today", "you look too sleepy", and the most common of all, "i'm worried that you might gain (or lose) weight in the time between now and June 15th". for what it's worth, i had to give her that look to say "lose weight". sheesh, talk about your faint of heart. for argument's sake, i'm hoping the latter happens, so that by the time the grand night comes, it looks like i put effort into deflabbing myself, and have also planned the making of my suit well beforehand, though not too much as to have that prized 'loose baggage' look.

aaanyways, i should be checking the tailors out sometime this week for sure (their shops and wares, not the tailors themselves), and hopefully we can come up with something that puts the 'sharp' in sharp dressed man. now if i could just find a date to look good in it with.. =). to each their own clothes, of course.

secondly, Shrek 3's a-comin' out this week! this Thursday, to be exact. and with Mag's excellent organization skills, we should be able to get another movie-watching get-together done. as usual, it's more fun with more friends along, so if you haven't anyone else to go watch with, why not come along with the gang? from what i know, it's definitely going to be at the Mall.

and that, ladies and gents, is Monday! until the next sanity-through-boredom post, then!

auf wiedersehen.

Pitcher plants, you say?

ahh, just woke up from a well-deserved nap, recovering from today's Bukit Shahbandar hike. it's been decided that these outings be a weekly and regular activity, and we started to get into knee-grinding gear only last week, where the team consisted of Rory, Zan and yours truly.

i got there at around 7:05 (late and last, dammit), to find that today, the company was joined by Mag, Alvin Lee and my brother (oh for the record, i didn't 'find' my brother there, per se, seeing as he was in the same car as me on the way there). Lin Ji and Stan were to join us as well, but i guess their beds were too comfy this morning. anyway together, we walked onwards to conquer this hilly monster.

or, well, minus my brother at least. he bowed out at the top of the first hill. ah well, no point pushing it eh? left him with the phone, snatched (with finesse, of course) the digicam from his hands, told him to keep going at his own pace, and the fellowship continued forth. now, i'm not going to discuss the whole journey hill by hill, because for one, you'll all be bored to bits: "ahh yes, we came down from the hill only to find a behemoth of stairs before us, which brought us to the next hill, which we climbed again. and came down from again. and the other hill was yet another task". yes. you get the picture. oh, and for the other, i don't remember the whole journey hill by hill anyway, what with the lightheaded state of mind i was in. how about important details? well, they're less boring, at least. my opinion, of course.

the main goal of our excursion today, which was also our only shred of motivation, was to find ourselves some pitcher plants. i myself have never seen a real pitcher plant before (pictures, the telly and plastic impersonations do not count), hence i was rather excited. and also rather vexed, seeing as i never seemed to notice a single one last week. anyhoo, we did find some here and there, different shapes and sizes, but mostly different sizes. they weren't as big as i thought they would be. not that i'm comparing them to those massive ceramic ones outside that recreational beach resort place thingo. blah, y'all know what and where i mean.

compared to last week, i had a much easier time walking (crawling?) through the nine-ish hills of Bukit Shahbandar. well, for a start, i actually kept with the pack this time. last week, i was all by my sad self, mindlessly traipsing through the Shahbandar jungle (keeping to the footpath, of course) in hopes of finding the finish line. this is a good sign. yup. we finished at around 8:30 today. not bad, really, seeing as i (myself, mind you) finished at around 9:15 last week, with Rory and Zan finishing way before and backtracking to meet me again. i felt so sheepish.

after Rory finished greeting Robert and Tiffany who were finished before us (they were there??), i realized that my brother was not present. i proceeded to call him on the phone (thanks for all the cred, Alvin) to find that he was 'lost'. quite ironic since he was in front of the map-signboard thingy. anyway, he panicked, and after a few more calls, i convinced him to wait at a hut where Rory and Zan could find him. speed devils, the both of em. they freakin' ran back in. dumbfounded and still a bit woozy, i went to sat down at a huge ceramic table that attempted to look like a tree stump. but oh no, they couldn't fool me. i was smart enough to tell the difference, you see. oh, Mag and Alvin sat down too.

we waited a good long time for the rescue party to accomplish their rescuing. Mag put together a bunch of twigs to form a thimble-sized basket-thing (yeahyeah, there were lots of things, thingys and thingos on this trip), and Alvin was.. well, Alvin. after Mag went home, i proceeded to snatch (with finesse, of course) Alvin's phone and contacted Rory, where i questioned his status. if i remember correctly, he at first said that "i'm here, Zan's dead and Nigel's almost dying", until eventually saying that "i've lost both my arms, Nigel's twisted his ankle and we need an airlift". too bad he was kidding, i wanted to call RBA on the way to the entrance, but after buying enough 100-plus for the five of us (you do the math), the pranksters surfaced! had some laughs, drank some drink, then after much waiting and laughing, we all got picked up. not literally, of course.

overall, i quite enjoyed today's hike. good for the body, good for the mind. though i feel very numb right now, it was still heaps of fun and a great experience. provided one can keep up with the friends that make it fun, of course. as they say, the more the merrier, so why not come join us next week? the pitcher plants make it all the more worthwhile, i promise you.

¡fotografías!


first pitcher plant we encountered! hmm, this brings a whole new meaning to "questionable content". yum.


nice and scenic. haha, try thinking this looks peaceful when you're lightheaded, sweating profusely, and out of breath.


a common sight through my eyes: running for last place. thankfully i catch up, only to find a steep mountain before us.


these pitchers are brown, hell i thought they were dead leaves. must be dead pitchers then. hm.



teeny tiny pitcher plants! we almost missed the little buggers.


little-bugger pitcher plants growing out of the leaves of the plant held up by Rory's hand. and that's his shoe. foot inside, of course.


blahhh left behind again!! if you look closely you can make out Mag and her bag. hey that rhymes.


strange flower-wannabe thing. apparently, it's a berry cracked open nicely and neatly to hence form the wannabe.


while waiting around for the rescue team to find my brother, Mags collected some twigs and weaved them together to form this little strange thing. looked like a basket when it was the right way up.

that's all folks.

My two cents tossed at the IBO.

now that the IB's all over, my fellow year 13's and i have finally crossed that proverbial finish line, one cannot help but look back at what one has experienced over the past two-ish years. things to reminisce, to regret, to remember, to want to forget; the whole package. one thing i prominently feel is that, despite all my efforts and hard work, i doubt that i have "written the exams with the best of ability". everyone would agree with me that most, if not all the papers were difficult on some magnitude. overall, i found the whole exam session quite an ordeal. is this trying to tell me that the best of my ability isn't really all that great or worthy of mention?

but here's the thing: what's there to be done about something that cannot be changed? if one has done what one has believed to be the best that one has achieved, then who is to say that they are undeserving of the merits that this programme promises? one can say that the education bestowed upon the students at hand are all exactly the same (that is, to each their own subjects), but dose that neccessarily mean that everyone is able to get 45/45?

yes. yes we could. if we were all machines, that is; manufactured at the same time, belonging to the same batch. but this is thankfully not so. it is ironic that what the IB demands effectively cancels out what the IB claims, that is, in undertaking their programme, we would not only be excellently educated in the academic sense, but we would also be able to learn of and about ourselves as individual humans (CAS? EE's? TOK? some IA's?) and yet in order to prove oneself "learned" one must achieve as close to 100% as possible, if not 45/45 itself.

the activities one does in CAS, at the end of the day, do not affect that final IB grade. it is only crucial to our diploma the same way a passport is the key to enjoying a vacation. as long as one achieves the minimum 150 hours, they are worthy of the IB Diploma provided they 'ace' their exams.

what we've all chosen to do for our EE's don't matter in the end. as long as we do it well enough to get the maximum points that contribute to our final grade.

our TOK essays and presentations? sure, there were 10 different headings for our essays, and just about everyone in front of that video recorder discussed something different for their presentations, but like our EE's, it all contributes to the bonus 3 IB points that edge us closer to 45.

the IA's? okay, for me, the only IA's that had any variance in their choice was in English and Geography. we all did the same titles for Maths, my Chemistry and Physics practicals were the same as my fellow classmates (of the same level that is, the SL's just did less. lazy buggers.), and the Spanish orals were pretty much a gamble, the odds of which could be decided by the teach herself. still, at the end of the day, the criteria in the syllabi were all exactly the same, regardless of our titles and choices.

so what has such a course proven? that the outcome of our future is based upon a mere session of microcosms that test us of what we have been assumed to learn and know and how well our minds have been able to regurgitate what was (apparently) 'uniquely' fed to us every time we sit down before a teacher for class? and that while one still has some freedom of choice for expressing their ability during non-exam projects, how well they do that is still marked the same for everyone else?

the material taught is the same. the exam times are the same. the papers are all the same. wouldn't we, the students, hence all be the same as well? nah, not really. it's impossible. that's what makes us human. just because i find writing English papers easy, doesn't neccessarily mean the candidate to my right or behind me is having a walk in the exam park. and that's the thing.

don't get me wrong, there are always exceptions. those who have the ability to get the number 45 all across their results sheets of course deserve all the praise. but shouldn't the other candidates sitting beneath the 1st place podium get some attention too? while it would look excellent to the students, their parents, the teachers and the school that an entire year of IB students got 45/45, that is not, and never will be, the case. though i would very much like to be proven wrong.

anyhoo, what else is there to do but face the music? a month and a bit from now, when we all get our IB results, there will be tears of joy, tears of sadness, and the occasional "where's the tallest building?" mentioned. but i say, be happy with whatever the hell you got, and i sincerely hope it's either the mark you desired, or better. it shouldn't be expected that every single student get 45/45. it's not human. but we are.

anyway, that's just my two cents tossed at the IBO. it is ironic that my two cents will not be the same as yours, yet two cents will always be two cents.

can't wait for prom. (=

Lanun-Lanun Caribbean: Di Hujung Dunia

.. well at least, that's what the annoying malay/chinese subtitles said Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was. arrrr. as previously mentioned, i went to watch it today at the Empire at 2pm, and i must say, i was thoroughly impressed with its content and quality.

i went with a couple of friends and some siblings, namely Rory, Mags, Manju, Amjaad, Shivvy, and Manju's two very similar-looking brothers, and of course, such company only amplified and magnified how much i enjoyed my swordplay-shunning, cannonball-throwing, all-hands-on-deck-viewing experience. now that we're done with school for good, it's really nice to be able to still do things together in good, light and fun heart. especially being in the know that this won't last for much longer. not all of us altogether, at least. i'll save the tears for later.

aaanyways, i arrived at the Empire cinema at 1:20-ish, and after convincing my mother that this movie-watching excursion was for real (she was in doubt after seeing that no one was around), i walked in to find manju's youngest brother run in towards the cafeteria as if i were holding a stake and a cross. i followed suit to find the good manju, sooraj, and the vampire. said our hi's, how is you's, talked about events related to post-exam freedom, then decided to proceed to the main.. erm.. pre-post-movie buying-tickets area. soon the whole gin-gang came, bought the tickets, messed around with digicams and movie posters to pass the time, took a while to buy popcorn, then finally proceeded to cinema II to watch, enjoy, and have ourselves a good swashbuckling movie.

now, for those of you who still have yet to watch it, worry not, i won't spoil it for you, i'll let the movie do that for ya. what i will comment on, though, is that it is an excellent follow-up to its two predecessors, keeping all the characters we all know and love so much (Elizabeth Swann <3) in good character. also, it is pretty damn long, not many new movies today last 2 hours 40-ish minutes and are able to keep your attention in place at the same time, but PotC3 has done that very well. hell, i didn't want it to end. not the way that it did, at least.. *ahem no spoilers*

on a final note: better than Spiderman 3? hmm. no, i wouldn't say so, that's like saying a brick's better than a chicken: both have their uses, but it's pointless (and a bit stupid) to compare one with the other; i.e. they were both pretty damn good. i know for sure i won't be able to get an emo Peter Parker/Spiderman/Toby Maguire out of my head for a good long time =). hope y'all get to watch it soon too, trust me, it's worth the money you painfully pull out of your wallets for. even though it was freakin' $8.50 at the Empire, Jack Sparrow never let me down.

au revoir.

update: woot pictures! from a camera! to prove we went to watch =). kudos to Manju por el digicam.

Haha, yeahp, that's right..

..the Nickeh's gotten himself a bloggery!! yesyes, the once self-proclaimed anti-blog has finally changed his perceptions on a variety of things, of which includes the need to use an internet webpage one can call their own to write out the many interesting events (don't quote me) that occur in the lives we so vivaciously live in, something a good friend of mine recently referred to as a "waste of internet space".

to all the people who blog already and do it so well, up to the point that biographies can be written with unneccessary detail, i stand a corrected 18-year-old wearer of a pair of glasses. i might actually enjoy rambling on about daily occurences more than i originally gave credit for. whether visitors of my blog take any interest at all in what it contains is a completely different matter.

anyways, for what it's worth, i've been wanting to start a blog for a while now, only having to resort to putting it off for more 'important' matters in life (music, iPod, studies, breathing, the works). haha, i can almost hear the 'pffshht yeah right!'s now. well go ahead, scorn me, tell me off, 'i told ya so!' me, i do believe i do deserve it.

okie dokes, i guess i'll stop here. this analysis of the oneself and one's thoughts and opinions is somewhat reminiscent of my IB EE-writing days. i have no explanation for it, i do not understand it, and i do not like it. bah, 'till next time!

'next time' ought to be some time tomorrow, i will most probably write a review of the much anticipated third part, or as i like to call, 'three-quel', Pirates of the Caribbean 3. hope it's as good as it looks, and Miss Knightley does look good. yup. plus the fact that it's 2 hours and 45 minutes long, and i always like to think that longer = better. only for movies, of course, you dirty lot.

ciao.