Over spoiled milk

So it seemed that the repercussion of the tainted milk scandal in China is becoming more far-reaching that anyone has first thought..

First it was the baby formulas which had cost the lives of 4 infants and sickened tens of thousands in China, then it was milk-related products that were caught in this scandal... No adult has been made sick, but that doesn't mean that melamine hasn't been ingested by them/us and will not manifest in other harmful ways in future, unknown to them/us at this time..

So far, dairy goods laced with tainted Chinese exports have been found in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. A dozen of Asian and African nations have banned Chinese dairy products including European Union, South Korea, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Burundi, Gabon, Malaysia and Tanzania..

Just this morning news broke about the affected Cadbury Eclairs sold in Australia together with the news of recall of chocolates in Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The production of, my favorite candy, White Rabbit Creamy Sweets (大白兔奶糖) had ceased almost 2 weeks ago as it contains 45% dairy and has been taken off the shelves around Asia and Britain.. The recent problematic products include, but not limited to, baby cereal(Heinz baby cereal) and Silang House steamed potato wasabi crackers in Hong Kong, and snack foods, cream buns, meat buns and creamed corn crepes in Japan...

In a way, a lot of what we eat contains ingredients made from dairy products.. Not counting fresh milk, homogenized milk, skimmed milk, milk powder, condensed milk and any other products that have the word "milk", there are many more.. chocolates, coffee products (unless it is black or uses creamer), ice-creams, snacks, cereals, yogurts, candies, biscuits, curry products (some uses milk instead of coconut milk), potato crackers, rice balls, and many more...

This contamination scandal erupted because the producers put too much melamine into the milk, but how can we be sure that they haven't been messing around with the amount of melamine before this? Isn't it possible that they have been putting X amount of melamine for n-years and only recently did they put in X+1 amount of melamine that had triggered the kidney stones? Who can be sure that this is not the case for other high-profit products, not just from China but any food producing companies??

Aren't we all familiar with the presence of high pesticide vegetables, herbicide-laced fruits, hormone-injected poultry, meat from unhealthy animals, low-grade substitutions claiming to be otherwise, products with extended expiry dates or no expiry dates, fake produce, and many others?? There has to be a strong sense of credibility and integrity in the parts of these food companies and governments should be able to be depended on to safe-guard and ensure the quality of the food on our dining tables.. We, as citizens and consumers have the power to punish both if they failed in their roles.. We can boycott the former's products and let their shares plummet in the free market.. We can use our rights to vote and protest to let the latter know what we expect from them..

But for now, what we can do is to rely on ourselves to read and scrutinize the ingredients of everything we eat.. This will also be a good time to start changing our eating habits by cutting down our consumption of processed foods and try to eat healthily and naturally.. Or at least make an effort to..

After all, we are what we eat...

Feeling insecure

Accidentally broke my silver chain yesterday morning.. :( :( :( The chain was a gift from a close friend in Singapore more than 5 years ago... :( :( :( it goes nicely with my jade pendant.. the pendant that my grandmother gave me.. Been wearing it since I was little.. so am feeling quite insecure without it around my neck now... Need to find a replacement chain asap.. :( :( :( maybe on Wednesday I would go and look for one..

Anyone know if there is any shops selling sterling silver chain in Shinjuku/Shibuya/Takadanobaba? A simple and reasonably priced one would do...

What's happening II

There have been some crazy news coming from all over the world...

In the US...
First the bailing out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, then the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the bought-over of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, government bail-out of AIG, the injection of funds in Goldman Sachs by Warren Buffett and the latest news about the collapse of Washington Mutual's.. This has been a unprecedented "tsunami" of financial turmoil that was the cumulative result of the sub-prime problem since end of 2007.. The obscenely fat bonuses that the bankers and financial analysts received just a couple of years ago were still fresh in the memories of everyone.. It was difficult for me to reconcile the reason for them to be entitled to such huge bonuses when all they do was moving money around, with no actual products or services produced..

In the end, it just seemed to me that the poor became poorer while the rich continues to prosper.. It didn't matter to those with millions or billions to lose a couple of thousands or tens of thousands, but to those who only had thousands or less, their lives would be more difficult when they lose even a hundred..

In Finland...
A gunman, in his early twenties, killed 10 people before ending his own life.. Another seemingly senseless killing that appears to have common dismaying factors with other cases world wide.. Remember the Akihabara stabbing a couple of months earlier? What about the Northern Illinois University shooting that left 8 people, including the shooter dead?

The youth of today is acting out their frustration in more destructive ways.. The usual and "expected" youth/teenage angst has transformed into some disturbing behaviors and/or actions that require immediate attention... Why is it that these kids can't find any other way out but to kill and maim? Is the modern and fast-paced society the culprit in creating these "killers"? Are we missing/losing something while we try to keep up with the ever-changing world?

It seemed that all the authorities and/or parents can do is to blame the media (YouTube, Internet, etc.), blame the government, blame the legal framework and whatever for these incidents.. It is easy to point fingers to others, but ourselves.. Every society has to re-evaluate its social norms and social expectations.. Everything is moving so fast now that what was the norm 5 years ago no longer make sense.. Kids nowadays face many challenges and pressures that their parents have no idea about...

In China...
The contaminated milk scandal doesn't seem to be abating.. Countries all over the world are banning any and every milk or milk-related products from China.. even my favorite sweet, 大白兔奶糖 was taken off the shelves and had stopped production.. :( :( Now everyone is having phobias about products "Made in China"... not good for the manufacturing industry of China and the consumers of the world who had grown to rely on the cheap and "good" supplies/products..

----------------------------------------------------------
How many more bad news will we have to suffer through before the year ends???

Which is more important?? Which is worst??

Accepting what you know to be unfair or knowing the unfairness that you have accepted?

Being who you wanna be or be who others think you should be?

Championing the cause of the underprivileged or privileging the champions' cause?

Detaining the suspected terrorists or terrorizing the detained suspects?

Expressing your opinion uninhibitedly or inhibiting your expression opinionatedly?

Feeling regret for something you didn't do or regretting something you have done?

Guarding the rights that is enshrined in the Constitution or enshrining the guarded rights of the Constitution?

Hiding the bad to save face or facing the hidden that is bad?

Imagining the worst of others or worsening the image of others?

Justifying the bad by doing worse or worsening the bad in justification?

Knowing that you have erred or erring because you are in the know?

Loving yourself even when no one else will or loving no one else as much as yourself?

Minding what you speak or speaking what you have in mind?

Nationalizing racism or racializing the nation?

Outlawing the truth because it is threatening or threatening the outlaw because it is the truth?

Protesting against the draconian laws or protesting because of the draconian laws?

Questioning the rationale of some government policies or rationalizing some of the questionable government policies?

Ruining the country to save oneself or saving the country by sacrificing oneself?

Staying loyal to your country or being loyal to the country you are staying?

Tolerating the racial differences or differentiating the racial tolerant?

Using what we have to the best we can or having the best we can use?

Valuing good corporate/public governance or governing good corporate/public values?

Wishing someone would do something or doing something that someone wished?

Japan Open 2008 - The Finals

Wanting to get a good location to cheer our Malaysian players, Chua-san and I arrived at the Stadium 5 minutes before 10:30am.. and we managed to get 2 rows of seats, totaling 11.. We had bought our tickets the day before, thus we saved 500yen but still paying a steep admission ticket price of 3,000yen..

Gradually, one fellow Malaysians after another arrived and soon, all the seats were taken.. Among them, two fellow Malaysians who had just arrived in Japan less than 2 weeks ago. Both ladies are from UM and will be attending Waseda University for a year as exchange-students.. Would most probably see them often in campus when school starts next week..

Before the actual matches, there are some exhibition matches between Japan players and the Japan junior players.. Taufik and one of the Indonesian men doubles pairs too were among those who played against these young stars.. The matches were just there to kill time.. We chatted among ourselves, trying to get to know each other better, barely paying any attention to the matches.. :p

At 12pm sharp, the first match of the day started. It was the mixed doubles match between 2 Indonesian pairs. Fifth seeded pair of Muhammad Rijal and Vita Marissa playing against first seeded Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir. The former are in blue shirts, the latter in orange shirts.

The lower seeded pair lost the first game but came back strongly in the 2nd to force the rubber set. They wanted the title more while the first seeded pair made lots of mistakes that gave away points unnecessarily.. It was a close rubber set with the fifth seeded pair winning it 21-19 to clinch the title..

Next was the women singles. It was between the 7th seeded Zhou Mi who beat the first seeded Lu Lan yesterday and the up-and-coming unseeded Chinese player, Wang Yihan.


Wang in yellow was in good form. As the game proceed, she became more confident and it showed in her play. She won the first game but lost the 2nd. Zhou banked on her experience to control the game, but in the end, age and luck wasn't on her side. For the 2nd time, the women singles crown went to an unseeded player, just like the previous year..

The 3rd match to be played was the men singles.. It was THE game that we all came to cheer for. Lee Chong Wei was to defend his title against Sony Kuncoro who is seeded No.2, after Lee, in this tournament..



The first game was quite close as Lee made a lot of mistakes. But the most unforgivable was the 2nd game. Lee seemed to be affected badly by several of the line calls and made several bad judgment calls himself. He seemed to be relying on Sony's shots being out than to gain the points himself.. All of us were stunned and shocked that he lost so easily in the 2nd game, 11-21.. Sony deserved to win as he was the better player on court..

Even though the next match was the men doubles which usually provided the best "entertainment" for badminton fans, with Lee's loss, all of us were zapped of our energy and enthusiasm.. The seeded Danes (Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen) will clash with unseeded Indonesian pair (Muhammad Ahsan and Bona Septano).


The younger Indonesian pair was attacking ferociously with their jumping smashes. Yet the Danes defended very well and did some counter-attacks that earned them several points. It was a close 1st game which was won by the Danes. Then in the 2nd game, the Indonesians stormed back to take the match (21-15) into rubber set. It was a fast and furious game with the pairs trading smashes, drop shots and fast net-height pushes.. In the end, the Danes justified their No.2 seeding in this tournament and won the rubber set and the title with 21-13.

The last match was the women doubles. Judging from the performance of the two pairs, most of us agreed that the No.2 pair of Wong Pei Tty and Chin Eei Hui from Malaysia would have a tough time playing against the unseeded Chinese pair of Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei.




However, the Malaysian ladies, in yellow, proved that they have more fighting spirit than our No.1 men singles player.. They lost to the Chinese, who are much taller and slightly younger, with a slim margin of 19-21 in the first game. Seeing how they tired were the day before when they played their 2nd game against the Indonesian pair, all of us had resigned to the fact that the 2nd game would end fast.. How wrong we were!! They managed to trash the Chinese pair with a very encouraging score of 21-5!!

It was pretty hilarious at times when the rally was going on, with shouts of "kiri.kiri. kiri kosong!", "Tolong dia!" and "Sa (杀)!" from the crowd.. Most probably only Malaysians would understand those shouts.. :) With all these encouragements, the Malaysian pair gave a good fight in the rubber set, but alas, they lost, narrowly.. The score for the 3rd game was a very respectable 18-21..


Looking back to that day (21 Sept), I must say that I regretted paying 3000yen and spending my Sunday going to the event.. Lee was a huge disappointment.. All the finals matches went into rubber set, except his... All the finalists showed hunger for the title, except him.. But SYABAS to the ladies and keep up the fighting spirit!! Work on your stamina and you ladies might just be a serious contending pair in the next tournament!! Malaysia Boleh!!

Chocoholics..

You will definitely find at least one of the following chocolates in my fridge anytime... :)







Especially the last one which I might sometimes eat the whole packet as one of my meals.. :p

Japan Open 2008 - The Semifinals

Following last year's "tradition", went to support the Malaysian team who is playing in the Japan Open at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium today. Lee Chong Wei was playing, and so would one of our women doubles team of Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty.


We reached the venue about 20 minutes passed 10, thinking that we were early.. but it turned out that the stadium was opened since 10am.. After getting our tickets (3,500yen for adult), we went into the stadium looking for good seats.. Unfortunately, the best we could find was slightly to the right of the courts that were going to be used..

There were a lot of local people as there were several Japanese players/teams who made it into the Semi-finals.. Quite a couple of them were equipped with sophisticated cameras and/or video cameras.. As usual, there were some activities for the audiences before the matches start.. some get to spar with the Japanese women and men doubles' team and some were trying to hit specific targets with their smashes..

The matches started at 12pm sharp.. Court 2 and 3 were used for today's matches.. As flashes were not allowed, I decided not to take any photos, instead, I took videos.

On Court 2 was the women singles' match between Wang Yihan and Tine Rasmussen. Rasmussen was a unseeded player who won the tournament last year, so this year she started off as one of the favorites and were seeded No.2.. And her opponent was an unseeded up-and-coming player from China..

Unfortunately, Rasmussen was unable to keep up with the pace and variety in play of Wang and lost the match.. and personally I think that the 9-year age gap between the players did make a difference.. as Wang played 50 minutes to win her ticket into the Semi while Tine took only 25 minutes to dispose of her Hong Kong opponent the previous day..

At the same time on Court 3 was the mixed doubles' match between the seeded No.1 from Indonesia team versus Korean team.

It was an fast paced and exciting match that went into the rubbers. In the end, the Indonesia team of Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir justified their seeding and went on to the finals tomorrow..

Next on Court 2 was the men singles' match, in which Japan's Kenichi Tago who had beaten China's Chen Yu (seeded No.8 in this tournament) earlier would meet Sony Kuncoro of Indonesia (seeded No. 2).

The Japanese youngster has potential but today wasn't going to be his day. Sony was very relaxed and was playing to his own rhythm.. Even though he too made quite a number of mistakes, but there was never a doubt that he was in control of the match.. Sony won the match in less than 40 minutes..

One of the "interestingly peculiar" things that happened during this match was the presence of a "cheering squad".. This was the name I gave them.. They were a bunch of guys in black suits and a lady with trumpet who would stand up between service and lead the crowd to cheer for the Japanese team.. It is quite weird and very hilarious to say the least, at least to me..


Because of this "distraction", no one was really paying much attention to the match played on Court 3 at that time.. It was another mixed doubles' match, this time between Thailand and Indonesia. There was a small group of Thai supporters who came with 2 huge flags that they waved around before the match started and 2 sets of drums.. they were making more noise than the whole stadium combined!!! :) Unfortunately, the Thai team lost. Thus tomorrow's mixed doubles final will be an all Indonesia affair..

After Sony won his match, it was the highlight of the day, for the Malaysians who were there at least.. :) :) Lee Chong Wei was going to play against Joachim Persson, the Dane who beat Taufik the day before.. We were all expecting an exciting match..




In the end, the match-up was quite boring.. Either the Dane was too tired after his hour-long battle with Taufik during the Quarter-finals or he was injured (he was kinda of limping, or there was something wrong with his left foot, I think), he was never a threat to Chong Wei.. Chong Wei was even leading 9 - 0 in the first game..
In the end, Chong Wei wrapped up the match in 20 minutes..

On Court 3 was the other women singles' match between HK's Zhou Mi and China's Lu Lan, seeded 7 and 1 respectively.

Lu won the first game but her opponent caught up in the 2nd and Zhou went on to win the final game taking almost 50 minutes in total. With the obvious absence of the Chinese fans, there wasn't much cheering for the Chinese players..

The main highlight for the local was the next match on Court 2, the women doubles. The first seeded Japanese team of Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna was to meet a rookie pair from China, Cheng Shu and Zhao Yunlei.



Even with all the "synchronized and organized" cheering provided by the cheering squad, the Japanese team kept making simple mistakes and error line calls that, unfortunately, cost them their ticket to the Finals..

Over at the other court, a battle between 2 men doubles' teams from Indonesia was being played. True to Indonesian style, both teams were playing a fast and furious game with lots of jumping smashes, fancy returns and fast exchanges of shots.. The unseeded team won the match, in the end..

The last game to be played on Court 2 also involved a Japanese team. It was the other men doubles' Semi-final match, with the 2nd seeded Danish team (Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen) pitting against home team of Keita Masuda and Tadashi Ohtsuka.



The Danish pair wasn't affected by all the cheering lead by the cheering squad.. the slightly-younger Japanese pair put up a good fight but in the end, the Danes won their match (21-17, 21-16) within 40 minutes..

While over at Court 3, the last match of the day was the 2nd women doubles' match. The Malaysian pair, seeded 4th, was to meet the 2nd seeded Indonesian pair.


After winning the first game comfortably, the Malaysian pair lost the 2nd game as fatigue seemed to be setting in. Even though both the Indonesian players had played in the mixed doubles' matches earlier, the Malaysian pair seemed more lethargic.. Luckily, the Malaysian pair persevered and won the rubber game in less than 40 minutes to book themselves a ticket to tomorrow's finals!! :) :) :)

Side-note:
One thing that I noticed since last year was how quiet the Japanese is while watching these matches.. Every time a good or bad shoot was made, no one made any sound or let out a sigh/cheer.. Everyone was soooooo subdued.. or personally, I would take it as repressed..

In my personal opinion, how sad can it be that you need a cheering squad to lead the cheers when you should express your support by letting out some noise/sound to show your encouragement or disappointment SPONTANEOUSLY!!

Yet even with the presence of the cheering squad, the locals didn't really put in much effort in their cheers at all.. Comparatively, see how much fun my fellow Malaysian were having during one of these short cheering "sessions" in between breaks.. :)


Are the local people that "shy"?? or just repressed?? Even the kids or teenagers didn't make much noise.. :x Maybe some people might see this behavior as being civilized or cultured, but to me, they are just suppressing their emotions.. and that can't be too healthy for a nation, don't you think??

Multifarious Confection II

Following up on last year's entry on Kit-Kat.. here are a few more flavors..

Normal size: Berry-flavor

Normal size: Just different packaging

Normal size: Grape

Normal size: Green Tea

Normal size: Sakura

Normal size: Small Beans

Normal size: McFlurry

1.5 times longer than normal: Apple

1.5 times longer than normal: Hazelnut

Mini Kit-Kat(half the normal length): Soy

Little Kit-Kat (Bite size): Cherry

Little Kit-Kat (Bite size): Fruit mixed

These Kit-Kats usually cost between 115yen to 150yen.. Majority of them are either too sweet or too artificial in taste.. Most of the time I would buy them just to try and to take photos of its packaging... So far, I have yet to encounter one particular flavor that I would buy more than once.. I shall follow up with some of the chocolates that I like.. :)

Perfect no more...

Darn!! I have another alphabet appearing on my result slip, other than "A".. :( :( :(

Well, I guessed I have only myself to blame for getting a "B" for one of my Masters subjects last semester.. The ramification of not researching enough and rushing 8 reports at the same time.. :( Luckily (or I am just trying to comfort myself), this Basic subject is one of the many that I took for knowledge, not so much as needing the credits per se.. I had taken 9 Basic subjects so far when I only needed 5.. so if they were to list down my subjects in my transcript, I hope that that "B" grade will be "drown" among all the "A" and "A+"...

Another (good) surprise was that I had scored "A+" for the 2 subjects and the theme research that I have taken under one of the most feared and not for the faint-hearted, thus most avoided, Professor in my graduate school!!! :) :)

As expected I didn't get an "A" for my Japanese grammar.. this showed yet again, how weak I am in the grammar portion of this language.. :( :( If the result was solely dependent on the two tests we had, I would have fared much much worse.. thank goodness for attendance and homework.. :x

Now a list of my results for last semester:

Basic Theory of Information Technology (Basic): A+
Basics of Modern Finance Theory (Basic): A+
Economics and Social Impact Analysis of Telecommunications (Basic): B
Industry R&D Activities in ICT - Application (Advanced): A
Cyberspace Representation and Systems (Advanced): A+
Financial Economics in Information-oriented Environments (Advanced): A+
Theme Research (Financial Economics; Systems, Policy and Management): A+
Japanese (Written Expression 3F): A
Japanese (Grammar 4E): B
Japanese (Grammar 4F): B

So there you have it.. hopefully that "B" would be the last "B" I would ever see in my results for my Masters subjects..

I planned to take only 2 Advanced subjects for my Masters this semester and maybe 6 to 8 Japanese classes.. Need to see when my two seminars will be held before deciding.. Hope to have a 3-day week this semester.. hopefully..

The tale of two.....

..accidents:
One plunged from the sky due to engine failure while the other collided with another, maybe due to human error.. both fatally killed more than 100 people combined..

..candidates:
One trying to break the "iron" ceiling with the support of a ex-PM while the other was seen as a clear winner.. both eying the hot seat vacated by 2 leaders in less than 24 months..

..companies:
One filed for bankruptcy while the other was bought-over.. both iconic symbols of Wall Streets..

..detainees:
One blogger-extraordinaire while the other an opposition law-maker.. both patriotic Malaysians..

..hurricanes/typhoon:
One has ripped through many states in US while the other is threatening many countries in East Asia.. both equally devastating..

..politicians:
One who was supposed to have a shot at being the President while the other who was asked to be the running-mate of a Presidential candidate.. both role-models for all women..

..retired statesmen:
One renowned for his role in guiding a third world country into a first while the other still unable to let go of his "legacy".. both viewed as dictators by some and savior by others..

Let's pray...

that the voice of the people, not of the privileged few, will be heard..
that the Constitution, not the words of some politicians, will be obeyed..
that the rights of every citizen, not just any specific groups, will be defended..
that the wronged, not the wrong-doers, will be vindicated..
that the righteous, not the self-righteous, will be victorious..
that nepotism, not meritocracy, will be dead..
that inequality, not fairness, will be a thing of the past..
that the racists, not patriots, will be forever banished from our mist..
that there is no "us vs them" but a "we"..

that a new dawn, not a looming nightmare, will be upon us soon..

Let's pray....

The rigmarole of politics

I can't helped but noticed that some of the countries' political situations are just plain ridiculous or circus-like..

The last 2 PM of Japan lasted almost 1 year.. and again, the Japanese might need to go to the polls... AGAIN.. to decide who will form the government or rather which "faction" will be dominant and who will be the next PM.. the position of the PM felt like a mockery to me with the post being "rotated" among the "heavy-weights" in a musical-chair manner.. How would the country be able to move forward if all the government and most importantly the PM has to constantly worry about getting consensus or grant "favor" for the support he gets.. There are so many issues facing the Japanese, like aging population, shrinking population, lack of competitiveness in the global market, healthcare, etc.. It is about time to stop fighting among themselves and start integrating to the WORLD..

Then the presidential competition in US that is heating up.. The announcement of Governor Palin as the running mate of McCain was, in my view, a maverick move.. It will definitely absorbed some of the disgruntled Democrats who had wanted to put Senator Clinton in the White House.. And what does having a teen-mum daughter got to do with her abilities to govern?? It is just comparable to the Bush twins antics, if you ask me.. Well, whomever that is going to take over the White House, I just hope that the new administration will be less unilateral and more (global) inclusive in its foreign policies.. and also stop behaving like some cowboys with big guns wanting to show-off..

Lastly I would like to comment on the situation at home.. day in, day out, one just can't escape from the mentally-retarded antics of some politicians in Malaysia.. C4, September 16, "Pendatang" (immigrant), sodomy, to jump or not to jump ship, "us" vs "them", Taiwan "study" trip... The whole world is being caught in the worsening economic situation where everyone is trying to find ways to progress, develop and thrive nationally, and here we have a government that is encouraging divisiveness among its people, playing the race card and questioning the loyalty of its own citizens..

Politicians are to SERVE the people and not to be served by the people... Yet how many politicians, local and abroad, could truly meet their Makers and/or have a clear conscious that they seek public office because they wanted to serve the people and did indeed do what they had promised??

Summer Holiday 2008: Part II

With 2 more weeks to go before the end of my summer holiday, I had read 2 books and in the midst of reading another 3 with an additional 4 more waiting.. :p In addition to that, I have watched more than 20 documentaries.. These were done on top of the 17 movies that I have watched til date..

Let me list them down... at the same time, put some remarks or ratings on some of them so that you can decide for yourself if you wanna watch/read them or not.. :p

Books:
1. Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence
This book is a follow-up to Daniel Goleman's first book.. This is not a book just for leaders/managers/etc.. A must read book for anyone interested in applying EQ to their work.. [4 out of 5]
2. Freakonomics
It took me a while to get hold of a copy of this book as I am quite reluctant to buy it.. :p Steven Levitt really does have a knack of asking interesting questions and then presenting convincing data to back his explanation.. [4 out of 5]

Movies:
1. Crash (2004) [4.5 out of 5]
2. Golden Compass (2007) [3 out of 5]
3. Full Metal Jacket (1987) [4 out of 5]
4. 神探/Mad Detective (2007) [3.5 out of 5]
5. 第十九层空间/Naraka 19 (2007) [2 out of 5]
6. The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) [4 out of 5]
7. 赌霸/The Top Bet (1991) [3 out of 5]
8. 男儿本色/Invisible Target (2007) [3.5 out of 5]
9. 军鸡/Shamo (2007) [1.5 out of 5] ** DON'T Watch this **
10. 导火线/Flash Point (2007) [4 out of 5]
11. 吓死你 2/Scare 2 Die (2007) [0.5 out of 5] ** NEVER Watch this **
12. Flawless (2007) [4 out of 5]
13. Alexander (2004) [2.5 out of 5]
14. 老港正传/Mr Cinema (2007) [4.5 out of 5]
15. No End In Sight (2007) [4.5 out of 5]
16. 呖咕呖咕对对碰 (2007) [3 out of 5]
17. 恶男事件 (2008) [2.5 out of 5]
I have written reviews on these movies on Flixster.. You can access it at the right panel in this blog or click here..

Documentaries:
1. Muhammad - Legacy of a Prophet (PBS)
Talked about how the Prophet united the tribes in his time and his lasting impact on the Middle East by various experts, both religious and academics. [Theme: Religion, Rating: 3.5 out of 5]
2. Undercover Mosque (BBC Dispatch)
Uncovered some of the extremist/radical preachings in some mosques in the UK. Quite alarming.. [Theme: Religion, Rating: 3.5 out of 5]
3. Japan's About Face (PBS 2008)
Looked at some of the current pacifistic views and the growing opposing sentiments among the Japanese about the need to have its own army. [Theme: Geo-politics, Rating: 4.5 out of 5]
4. Stupid in America - How we cheat our children
Investigated the conditions of public schools in the US and how the American kids are not getting the quality education with high-school students unable to read simple passages.. [Theme: US, Rating: 4 out of 5]
5. Is Alcohol worse than Ecstasy?
A controversial list of top 20 most dangerous drugs in UK.. You will be surprised at where tobacco and alcohol ranked among them.. [Theme: Health, Rating: 2.5 out of 5]
6. Queen Victoria's Empire (PBS - Empires)
A 4-part series which looked at the reign of Queen Victoria in the 19th Century over the British Empire.. [Theme: History-UK, Rating: 3 out of 5]
7. Depressions - Out of the Shadow (PBS)
Told the stories of many whom had battled with depression. With the help of scientists and psychologists, the possible causes and remedies for depression is discussed. [Theme: Health, Rating: 3.5 out of 5]
8. Parallel Universe (BBC)
Discussed Einstein's quest for a unifying theory of everything that gave birth to the String Theory, M Theory and the possibilities of the existence of parallel universes.. [Theme: Science, Rating: 3 out of 5]
9. Why We Fight (2005)
A look at the Iraq war - how and why it happened.. [Theme: War, Rating: 3.5 out of 5]
10. The Next Megaquake (BBC Horizon - 2005)
Scientists discussed the possibility of the next "Big" one that will be caused by the Cascadia subduction zone along the west coast of America and the damages it will caused.. [Theme: Science, Rating: 3.5 out of 5]
11. Five Disasters Waiting to Happen (BBC)
With global warming and other environmental issues, this documentary highlighted 5 disasters (river tidal, heat wave, typhoon, monsoon and rising sea) that has happened and will (most probably) continue worsening in the years to come.. [Theme: Environment, Rating: 3.5 out of 5]
12. Global Dimming (BBC Horizon - 2005)
This was the first time I heard about this term: "global dimming".. it refers to the global gradual reduction of direct sunlight absorption that had been identified as one of the main causes for disappearing rain clouds and buffering the effects of global warming.. [Theme: Environment, Rating: 4 out of 5]
13. How to Live to 101 (BBC Horizon - 2008)
Three different places that has the highest number of centenarians in the world (Okinawa, Ovadda and Loma Linda) became the focus of medical researchers in the effort of finding out the secrets of longevity.. [Theme: Health, Rating: 4 out of 5]
14. How to Sleep Better (BBC)
Through the suggestions and solutions provided by experts to a group of poor sleepers, we learned about simple ways/methods that would helped us get better sleep.. [Theme: Health, Rating: 4 out of 5]
15. The Truth about Vitamins (BBC Horizon - 2004)
Took a closer look at the claims by Linus Pauling that excess doses of Vitamins will help prevent certain illnesses.. The only alarming findings from this documentary were excess Vitamin A will cause osteoporosis and smokers taking beta-carotene supplements have a higher risk of developing lung cancer. [Theme: Health, Rating: 3.5 out of 5]
16. The Atkins Diet (BBC Horizon - 2004)
Looked the somewhat controversial claims that the Atkins Diet enables its practitioners to lose weight while eating anything (except carbohydrates) as much as they liked.. [Theme: Health, Rating: 3.5 out of 5]
17. Bush Family Fortunes (BBC - 2003)
Showed nothing new that hasn't been disclosed by mass media regarding the current President of America. Did nothing to change my already horrendously low opinion of him.. [Theme: US, Rating: 4 out of 5]
18. The Hawking Paradox (BBC Horizon - 2005)
Talked about Stephen Hawking's theory on the Big Bang, singularity, black holes and the information paradox.. [Theme: Science, Rating: 3 out of 5]
19. Extreme Dinosaurs: The Science of Giants (BBC Horizon - 2000)
Narrated the discovery of the largest plant-eater, which was aptly named Argentinasaurus, and the carnivorous Giganotosaurus (bigger than T-Rex by almost 1m) in Patagonia, Argentina and the possibility that these carnivores hunted in packs. [Theme: Dinosaurs, Rating: 4 out of 5]
20. The Mystery of Jurassic (BBC Horizon - 2002)
In this documentary, scientists tried to reconcile the evolution of dinosaurs from the early Jurassic where they are small and primitive to the explosion of diversity in dinosaur species during the late Jurassic. Then the discovery of a complete mid-Jurassic eco-system in Patagonia, Argentina that had led to the various evolutionary theories. [Theme: Dinosaurs, Rating: 4 out of 5]
21. Most of Our Universe is Missing (BBC Horizon - 2006)
According to the scientists, we have only recognized 4% of what our universe is made of and the rest were given the exotic names of dark matter and dark energy.. This documentary looked into all these theories and findings.. [Theme: Science, Rating: 3 out of 5]
22. Saturn: Lord of the Rings (BBC Horizon - 2004)
Told the story of a 7-year voyage of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft whose mission was to explore Saturn and its largest moon, Titan. After traveling more than a billion miles of space, it has arrived at Saturn on 30 Jun 2004.. [Theme: Science, Rating: 3 out of 5]

So there you have it.. all the stuff that I have read and watched.. :) :)

They are coming!!

A couple of my favorite US prime-time TV shows are coming back this September.. :) :) :)

Among them are:
HEROES
YEAH!! Finally, Season 3 is going to start 22 Sep!! Can't wait to see how these heroes are going to battle evil (Sylar, no less) and save the world!! :) :) :)


The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Continuing the battle against Cyberdyne Corporation.. All ready to kick some cyborg asses next Monday, 8 Sep!! :)


The Amazing Race (13)
I only watches 2 reality shows and this is one of them.. Although the contestants need not be as scheming or manipulative as in Survivor, it is no less entertaining.. The dynamics within the team members coupled with the stress of competing would most often than not, bring out both the best and worst in these contestants.. The race begins on 28 Sep..


Survivor: Gabon
Another group of people vying for USD1 million dollars by subjecting themselves to the mercy of Mother Nature and the viciousness/backstabbing/plotting of their tribe-mates.. It never fails to amuse me as to how some of them would complain about how tough their living conditions were, how they won't lie to other tribe-mates because they are going to play the game straight, etc, etc, etc.. *eyes rolling* The first tribal council will be held on 18th Sep..


Now, if LOST (season 5) and Bionic Woman (season 2) would also return this autumn, I would be very very very happy indeed.. :p ;) :p

Losing weight

People have never been able to guess my weight correctly from my appearance (or they were just being polite :p)... I don't look as heavy as I really am but one thing for sure is that I have always been slightly over-weight.. :P From the BMI calculation, my ideal weight would be around 68kg, but I have never been in my ideal weight since my late teens.. Even when I was in the University, playing sports almost everyday for an average of 4 hours a day, I could never keep my weight under 72kg.. When I was working, there was even a time that my weight ballooned to 85kg!! :x But usually, I would hover around 75kg.. It was quite hard for me to keep my weight down when I was in Singapore, as it was almost impossible to resist all the good food!! :p

Now that I am in Japan, there is ample time and good enough reasons for me to lose weight, since everything here is both expensive and monotonous/bland (the choice of affordable food is very very very limited relative to Singapore/Malaysia), and not to mention the fact that I will be in my mid-thirties soon. :x :x

As I know that crash diets and starving myself would not produce healthy and lasting results, I decided to take small steps one at a time.. making small changes to my habits that are sustainable and beneficial in the long run.. I started counting calories, limiting myself to less than 1800kcal a day.. I began to read every food label and nutritional information of every food I buy.. Although I can't always find out the calories count for every single type of food that I eat, I would do everything in moderation... Sometimes I do exceed that amount, but I won't beat myself up over it. And once in a while I do reward myself with my favorite foods.. :)

There will always be dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) in my fridge and also tubs of yogurt.. I will try to get fresh vegetables for at least 3-4 days a week.. I make sure that I drink between 2 to 3 liters of water a day.. Daily stretching and weekly karate sessions are my exercise routines.. will try to start jogging when the weather gets cooler..

So far, my efforts have been quite productive.. I am now nearing 70kg.. hopefully I would be able to achieve my ideal weight of 68kg (BMI of 24) by end of Oct, although I won't mind weighting in the lower ranges of 60kgs.. hopefully.. :p :p