I am back again after quite a long while ... plenty on my plate at the moment in terms of works. Redesigning and scripting the existing web-application of the company I am working with take huge amount of time. I was reading few mails from old friends in Malaysia ... one of them just had a baby girl, the sixth child if I am not mistaken. So contratulations were exchanged over the internet ... followed by banters that could be expected amongst old friends.

Very hard training session last nite in my wing chun class ... I was flat out at the end. I know that technically I am good, but fitness fails me all the time. I am not very good when it comes to routine physical training .. I have this tendency when in the gym to make up exercises as I go along .. very much depending on my mood !! I found it rather intriguing watching some people who actually bring their notebooks in the gym ... I just don't have that sort of discpline I am afraid !!

Enough rambling .. I am of two minds at the moment .. either to stay home and cook or just drive to the nearest curry house .... till later

I have one thing in my mind that I want to say .. the other day I bought this DVD, a documentary by a controversial American called Michael Moore (an Author of Stupid White Men). It was entitled 'Bowling for Columbine' .. briefly a piece about American gun culture but has inadvertently explored the working mind of American middle class white people. I was a sceptic when it comes to news and documentaries because you can't tell the real 'agenda' behind the so-called facts .. this is very much contributed by my political experience in Malaysia (another interesting rambling point) ... but he did come up with interesting interviews and clips that are quite convincing (noticed I still use the word 'quite' here).

One specific issue in that documentary that really interest me is the notion of 'culture of fear', which he argued unnecessarily amplified and sown by the 'political master' in order either to hide something or to achieve specific poltical objectives. I admit I knew and realised the existence of this 'strategy' long ago .. I regard it as part of 'social engineering' - an attempt to manipulate the conscious or the subconscious mind of the masses. The frightening thing is ... it is not only an American 'tragedy' but has also attracted followers here in the UK within the Westminster and the powerful BBC.

Been here toooo long .. I gotta work ... stop here for now !!

It has been ages since the last time I posted .. at least I feel like it. Not intentional ... pretty much caused by works and revision for my CCNA self-assessment test. So many things happened since then, plenty to tell but as always don't know where to start. It is not my habit to jot down every single bit of event, it is only recently when I discovered 'BLOG' that I thought it seems to be a good idea ....

Anywhere I've made a good start here pulling myself together to start scribbling few meaningless words. It is the start of working hours .. the first to arrive and still in a subconscious mode ... pretty much auto-pilot. I've managed to migrate the whole customer database to our new server yesterday ... linux of course, don't do microsoft anymore. I think penguin is much cuter than Bill Gate. The only microsoft we have in this office is the Exchange Server running on Win NT .. even that will not last. I have this grand idea to migrate our email server to SuSe Linux OpenExchange ... we shall see ...

Okay enuff rambling .... till later

Monday ... bank holiday here, so not much to talk about in terms of activities. It is almost quiet ouside, just the occasional sounds of cars passing by .. if it was normal monday one could hear the traffic on the M25 few miles away from here. The only 'noises' that are obvious are the cooing and chirping of birds that have decided to build their nests somewhere on the roof. Perfect day for doing nothing really ...

Last nite on BBC 1 they have slotted the whole evening for the Nation IQ Test programme. It is amazing to see how people are so pre-occupied with how much quantifiable 'intelligence' they have vis-a-vis other people. Almost like an exercise of inflating one ego .. a formalised way of saying 'I am clever than you'. Few questions though ... is intelligence merely concerns logical and analytical capabilities of human mind or is it more than that? Is being clever is simply about the ability to quickly and accurately solve arithmetical or logical problems? What about 'common sense', 'experience', 'maturity', 'wisdom' or 'spiritual well-being' ... are they have anything to do with 'human intelligence'? Would they be part and parcel of being 'clever'?. If somebody has an IQ of 149 .. would that be a guarantee that he or she has the 'common sense' and 'wisdom' necessary to be a 'socially responsible', 'considerate' and 'caring' person? ... something to think about in this quiet and sleepy afternoon !!!

I've got Wing Chun training this evening ... I hope they don't cancel it ...

Will write more soon ....

Back again .... where was I ... ah yes sick in ferry enroute to Calais ...

Didn't stop at Calais .. we drove straight to Vernuen in Belgium. It was a nice drive ... the first thing I noticed was how flat the landscape is ... we passed through industrial areas immediately after Calais ... you could tell not only from the factories that dotted the land but also quite prominently the smell .. instantly reminded me of Port Talbot in Wales .. I dunno why .. don't ask me but I bet those who ever drove through Port Talbot on the way to Swansea appreciate what I am taking about !! The images gradually changed to farm houses and green pastures nearer the Belgium Border.

The town of Vernuen was pretty and seemed quite old .. I like the town square ... it has that relaxed and hassle-free environment. People sat drinking afternoon coffees chin-wagging about God-knows-what ... one thing I found very interesting was that everywhere you go in the town centre you heard the same music playing ... it is very clever I thought to have speakers installed in every street and corner .. it gives the impression that you are 'in and with' the town everywhere you go .. who needs Disneyland eh !!

okay gotta do my afternoon prayer .. chat again later ...

Bright and sunny albeit a bit blowy .. made a mistake of putting the plants outside. It was pretty obvious that their trunks were not strong enough to withstand the strong wind. So most ended up bend !!! But these young marigolds are resilient ... I hope they would stretch themselves straight up again over night ... I HOPE !!! It was a great day yesterday, We made a last minute plan to drive to Belgium !!!

We left Northaw around 10ish I think .. didn't quite remember when ... we packed our stuffs in case that we might to have spend over night in Le France or Le Belgique. Arrived at Dover around midday ... I was very excited because if we managed to get the ticket .. it would be the first time I would be on the ferry !! Turned out that we did get the ticket and WHOA it WAS FANTASTIC !!! Ah yes, funny thing was the guy behind the ticket counter was a Chinese Malaysian ... so a customary exchange of few Malays ensued ... It is not everyday you bump into fellow Malaysians in this part of the world .. unless you are in Marble Arch or along Oxford Street !!

Had fish and chips on the ferry .. and that WAS a BIG mistake !!! ... I felt sick throughout the fourty minutes journey to Calais !!!

Tell u more later ......

Late entry on my Blogger today ... Its friday, so did the normal routine of a trip to London for my Friday prayer at the Malaysian Hall and NOT to forget the weekly lunch at Mawar Restaurant. Today I had chicken rice (direct translation from malay 'nasi ayam') .. the first after quite sometimes so I make sure I ate it very very slowly .. lavishing every bit of its taste and aroma. It was quite peculiar if you think about it ... if I were in Malaysia I would simply scoff the whole lots and thats it !!! But this afternoon I did appreciate how wonderful and delicious nasi ayam was .... the joy of being away from home I suppose.

It is difficult to describe the weather outside ... reminded me of Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - angry and revengeful followed by forgiveness and joy ....... nah !! just occasional brightness follows by dark clouds and intermittent rains !!! VERY BRITISH ...

Okay see u all tomorrow ...

I had to take four tablets of Rennies (indigestion pills) last night as a result of a heavy curry session earlier in the evening. At the moment I am experiencing the post-curry symptoms of irritating bowels and smelly farts .. not a very nice feeling I tell you, but I suppose the suffering is not as bad as the enjoyment of those tasty pathia lamb, bendi bhaji and a plateful of biriani !!!

It is wet outside .. not a very comfortable weather in case I need to run out to pass wind !!!! I hope I will detoxify myself in the gym later in the afternoon ... a few hard sessions on the punching bag, the rowing machine and a few lengths of breastrokes will do the job .... I HOPE !!

Smell u later .....

Just finished sending emails to few friends back home in Malaysia. I haven't seen most of them since the day I left the University 13 years ago ... a very long time and most of us changed a lots in thirteen years !!! ... most of them, if not all, are married with children probably ... settling down building families and cosy homes .. meanwhile here I am whom time seems to stand still. I better stop here ... it is getting very private !!! well talk to u later ... gotta work !!!

Lethargy .. lethargy .. lethargy .... I feel like I am unable to lift my fingers ...

Start of the day .. monday 28/04/2003. I always like monday, a bit weird as most people, whom I know at least, abhor the start of the week. But for some strange reasons, today is a bit different .. I found it difficult to get out of bed, and excruciatingly slow to get into shower. Probably because it is pouring outside, but again I like rain !!! another abnormal favourite of mine.

In the office now ... nobody in yet ... the first one to arrive. I heard on the radio that the M25 is choke-a-block, good excuses to come late I suppose, especially monday !!! I thought I will start off with a scribble on my blog ... hopefully that will kick me off to do something. So here is the plan !!! Start with my revision for the CCNA exam ... then will work on STEPS .. a contact management system that I designed .... then, oh yes, the gym during lunch hour ... that will make me knackered the whole afternoon !!!

Stop here for now ... till later