maybe i should stop blogging

after a couple of months being away from the blogasphere, i am back! but just to say hello. not really a worthy post to read. no random stuff on my mind to share. i guess, i'll share what i've been up to.

• been studying (not really) for my re-sit exam which, by the looks of it will be in January hopefully.
• went to a Peterpan (the indonesian band) in London in September. they were awesome by the way and we were in front row!
• with a lot of free time on my hands, i've been going around the attractions in london.
• going to visit ali tomorrow in kent for their raya celebration with the malaysians. that should be awesome.
• went on a few shopping sessions, which i hardly do.
  

i can't think of anything else at the moment.. other than i'm having the time of my life here! ':) if i do go back to brunei in january, that'll make it a whole year being away! just a random thought that i just realised. cool. can't say i really miss home other than my family.

anyway, i might come back with something to share. but don't hold your breath people. the thing about being in london is that there's always something to do or see. social life up, online geekiness down down down.

laters

be back in a giff!

on a break from blogging indefinitely.

reasons:

• need to re-sit and exam
• internet connection not easily available

sorry!

got tagged

i did say the last post was going to be my last for a while.. but it's a weekend so, i'm resting my brain from all the studying. i just got tagged and i have to oblige the tagging rule of cyberspace.

1. Do you think people will judge you by the answers to this questionnaire?

maybe but if so, i have a lot of other things to worry about than people judging.

2. What is your favourite brand for bags?

ummm.. not much of a bag guy.. but when i do buy one, i get the cool ones with a good brand on them.

3. What’s your favourite thing to do?

currently, video games, downloading old tv series i haven't watched and drawing.

4. What are your phobia(s)?

i'm afraid of open water (stop laughing). it's true! i have this fear of being in the see and fish are swimming around me.

and i'm slightly afraid of heights. i have no problem looking down from even 100 stories high up IF there's a sturdy rail between me and the edge. but if there's nothing, i'll be hugging floor..

5. How do you vent anger or stress?

take a walk or do the dishes. that'll calm me down..

6. Do you believe you can survive without money?

without money at all? of course not. but as long as i have a home and enough to make ends meat, then yeah. that's fine with me.

7. What are you afraid to lose the most?

my family

8. If you win $1 million, what would you do?

buy a home for myself. save most of it for the future, and spend the rest on my family.

9. If you are asked to do one house chore, which would you choose to do?

the dishes, yup i'll pick that over any chore. i hate vacuuming the most.

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you?

funny, unique

11. What skill do you wish you have?

cooking.

12. What type of person do you hate the most?

people who stab you in the back..

13. What is your ambition?

ambition? not sure at the moment.. just going with the flow..

14. What did you regret doing?

even though it's working out well, i still say taking this job that i have now.

15. What do you think is the most important thing in your life?

if we're talking about objects, i have to say my awesome PC. i'd die without it..

16. If you were a car/bike what would it be?

probably my dream car, Aston Martin DB9

17. If you have a chance which part of your character would you like to change?

i guess to be a bit more daring in the dating department.. :s

18. What music have you been listening to recently?

not updated with what the kids are listening to now..

19. What is your least favourite animal?

oh, my tagger knows this one.. no need to mention it.. *cringe*

20. What is your ultimate addiction?

my current addiction, i'd say are the newest gadgets. especially, if it has anything to do with my PC.. if i can install it in there, i have to have it.

Instructions: Remove 1 question from above, and add in your personal question make it a total of 20 questions. Then tag 8 friends.

i shall tag: ali amani, mash, maurina, afee, naj.. and anyone else who's willing..

i'll be back in 2 weeks with my exam results. til then, keep your fingers crossed for me..

busy for 2 weeks

hello everyone. as the title suggests, i'll be over my neck in exam preparation. so, i won't be updating my blog until after the exam and i won't be able to spend as much time chatting online so don't get offended. i'm going to leave you with my new hobby (well, until i get bored of it and find something else).

remember the robot i drew for fun? well, i actually submitted that to the facebook graffiti contest. the theme was robots. so, i drew it and guess what? it got into the top 250! so, it kinda got me interested in drawing again.

i got a drawing program and picked, the very beautiful, Song Hye Kyo (the Korean actress from Full House) as my first subject. apologies in advance if the drawing doesn't look like her and for the horrible shading too. i was trying it out.

there are a lot of cool videos of people drawing (type in "speed art" in youtube) and i thought it would be cool if i knew how to record that. but here's the next best thing - besides, i'm no where near as awesome as those people.

so check it out more clearly by clicking each photo.
program used: Artrage 2.0



anyway, for those who are on their summer break, have a good one. i can't wait til my damn exam is over so i can have my break.. wish me luck. i promise i'll post something better to read.

what sleepless nights can make me do...

i used to draw a lot when i was younger. good times..

graduation before the exam

it's been a while since my last post and it can be blamed to exams and my pure laziness. i do have topics to share. for the past few weeks, unrelated thoughts just popped into my head and i jot it down as a possible blog post. i just haven't had the time or energy to properly delve into the subjects. today is no different, i'm afraid.. just a short post telling everyone my blog is still active and a few upcoming events and stuff going on in my life.

graduation is coming up and the weird thing is, my final exam won't be until end of next month. the thing is, our exams are oral exams. it's a one-on-one session with the examiner for about an hour. and he can ask us anything we've learned about ships for the past 4 years. pretty daunting? yes.

but anyway, that's why we have our graduation early. so that we can have it while everyone is still on campus and not run away right after passing their exams. so that's this saturday. my mom is here for the joyous event. (sarcastic tone) cause if it were up to me, i'd rather be in bed and have an Everybody Loves Raymond marathon that night. but it's for my mom so i'll just deal and get it over with as soon as i could.

i also just found out that i have another course, which i have to do in august. this means, my final return home will be brought back more. so, it seems, i won't fly home until end of august or early the next month. so, to a certain someone, hold off carrying the camera around. hehe.

anyway, that's it from me and i shall return with a worthy post. have a good one.

awesomest night yet!

if pictures say a thousand words, then videos say much much more. here's a tidbit of one of the most amazing night of my life.

singing along to curse of curves & that's what you get

just a short personal post today.

what started out to be a bad week, ended on a high today. i've been looking forward to going to a concert at the end of the month. even though i knew about it a while back now, i didn't buy the tickets to it and ended up sold out. i didn't know curse is what you aim for is so popular here. i looked everywhere else for them but couldn't find one - until today! as soon as i saw it, bought the tickets right there and then. so, 30th may, i'm going to Astoria for the concert in london.





then, looking around facebook, my mouth dropped when i saw paramore is scheduled to perform in portsmouth! again, there and then i bought 4 tickets! why 4? i know a few people might want to go. and i know paramore IS popular, anywhere!






so, in less than 15 minutes, i bought 6 tickets to 2 concerts. haha! what a way to end the week..

weekend randomness

after a long week, it was nice to just be cooped up in my room and did absolutely nothing. although, i should be worried about the week that was to eventually come. 2 assignments due and a presentation to, well, present. i should have spent my weekend more wisely and finish an assignment and just be more at ease about my dreaded situation. instead, today, i woke up late and watched two movies back-to-back. national treasure (the first one) and deep impact.

i watched national treasure 2 and loved it! so i had to watch the first one and to my expectations, loved it too. i can't wait for the third installment. why deep impact? i dunno. i only watched it once and remembered it being really good. it came out in 1998 when the movie theme of the year was 'great tragedies'. (i.e. titanic & armageddon).

the only i am looking forward to monday is that that's when i'm getting my allowance. been broke for a whole long month and it was not fun at all. so, now i can be more relaxed with my spendings. i might just go to london next weekend. so, ali, if you're reading this, i'm letting you know. i haven't been away from southampton since easter break and that was a while back. so, a good weekend away should be refreshing.

hope you had a good weekend. a proper geeky post coming up next.

graduation, facebook and sleepy mornings

i've been sleeping really late this week. i missed a few morning classes because of it. i don't know why i sleep late. in the mornings, i tend to be really exhausted and i know i should just take a short nap in my free periods but i end up fighting it and be online or play video games. i guess life is short and i feel that sleeping it away is a waste.. even though i know how tired i'll end up. it's 10.40pm and i'm already exhausted.. i should sleep early but chances are 2am will be my bed time.

even though it's still early to talk about graduation, the organization committee wants the guest list and payment. uggh.. to be honest, i don't feel like going. i don't feel like paying over £100 just to buy the navy shirts and jacket for one night, which i'm fairly sure is going to be dull. i'd forget about it right here and now if it weren't for my mother who's coming to the darn event. i talked to my sister about this last night and she told me it's my decision and prepare to be bleed in the ear when i decide to tell mom. haha. i'm sure my mother would kill me if i tell her how i feel. she would not understand at all.. she's the type that's like, "other people are doing it, why don't you?" uggh.. i hate that reasoning.. i don't know.. i don't feel like celebrating.

i've been on facebook for almost a week now and already people i know have been adding me up (on the first day, i had 30 friend invites!). the thing that i find both scary and cool at the same time about facebook is that you get to see what people are doing when they're on facebook. every conversations.. every wall-to-wall messages.. every picture posted.. anything. but i guess privacy is null and void when you're in one of these online community sites. so far, i don't find it as addicting as some of the people i know who can't seem to leave it for a 30 minutes! i'd check it more often if it had a blog application like multiply has. does it have one? anyone know? can't be asked to rummage through all the applications..

weekend is almost here. i need a good rest..

Free-IQTest.net

Free-IQTest.net - IQ Test

it's 1.30am here and i was bored.. did this very short IQ test and scored 121. googled what the score meant.

• Over 140 - Genius or near genius

• 120 - 140 - Very superior intelligence

• 110 - 119 - Superior intelligence

• 90 - 109 - Normal or average intelligence

• 80 - 89 - Dullness

• 70 - 79 - Borderline deficiency

• Under 70 - Definite feeble-mindedness

cool. very superior intelligence.. i don't feel like one though..

then i found this which confirmed just that..

High IQ & Genius IQ

Genius IQ is generally considered to begin around 140 to 145, representing ~.25% of the population (1 in 400). Here's a rough guide:

• 115-124 - Above average (e.g., university students)
• 125-134 - Gifted (e.g., post-graduate students)
• 135-144 - Highly gifted (e.g., intellectuals)
• 145-154 - Genius (e.g., professors)
• 155-164 - Genius (e.g., Nobel Prize winners)
• 165-179 - High genius
• 180-200 - Highest genius
• >200 - "Unmeasurable genius"

so i guess, i'm at a level of what i should be.

easter + PC + video games = FUN

easter break is finally here, although i'm a bit mad that it's only 2 weeks but i'll take what i can. oh heck.. i just checked the calender and i'm into my 5th day of easter. almost a week and after next week, it's back to dull classes taught by dull lecturers.. just a short post today, sharing what i've been up to and what i'll do so that my whole easter won't go to waste with me just being cooped up in my room in front of my PC.

just before the break started, i discovered a new interest - PC building! buying the necessary parts for a desktop and build it myself!

i've been dying for a new entertainment machine after my laptop of 3 years, finally decided to call it quits.i scowered through the interenet and asked people's opinion on what to buy. the new m15x from alienware caught my attention and i had to have it. i didn't care that it'll set me back more than 2 grand (pounds!). i looked super cool and it is the most powerful 15 inch laptop on the planet!


after a long and frustrating experience with the customer service for more than 3 weeks, i decided to take back my hard-earned cash and looked for something else..

i decided to go for a desktop, since it's much more powerful than any laptops for the same amount of cash. of course, i'd lose the portability, but i don't really carry my computers around with me anyway. and with the job i'll be having, i'll need to move my computer around every few months.

so then, i looked for an uber-cool PC. i stumbled on this on a magazine. it is the best gaming PC at the moment.
this is from commodore. after selecting the components that i want in it, it'll set me back about 2000 pounds too but 3x more powerful than the alienware.

i was really ready to buy but for some weird reason, the 'buy now' button wouldn't work. it kept bringing me to the homepage. so, i thought i'd try some other day.

on that very same day, i was browsing through youtube looking for videos on the commodore and a comment struck me. "pfft! expensive shit.. it's cheaper and much easier to build that gaming PC"

really? how easy is it?

so for a whole week, i watched videos on how to build a pc. and holy heck, it is easy. after i was somewhat confident with the steps, i dove in and bought the components from novatech. since i was just buying parts, it arrived the next day! it cost just over a thousand pounds but i had almost the same specs as the commodore! took me 4 hours to complete the build.. i have never been so nervous in my life as i was when turning it on for the first time..

i took a deep breath and switched it on..

nothing.. screen is blank

tried again..

nothing.. still blank.

oh crap...

then i realised i forgot the switch button on the casing itself. turned that on and it was alive!


isn't she pretty.. yes, it's a she and yes she does have a name.. tasha. ':) also, that 19-inch monitor is so awesome. very clear, very huge (for me).

btw, that is a dirty fishbowl. i'm taking care of the 2 goldfish inside it for a friend who's off to milan.

so for the rest of easter, i'm contiplating on cancelling my around-UK trip and just stay here to keep my PC company. ':)

proper post coming soon. have a good easter everyone!

i am the procrastinator!

we were given assignments a month ago and it's due tomorrow. as to not break the malay sacred rule, i kept it hidden on my shelf until finally yesterday, looked at the question. now i'm trying to attempt to finish it by sunrise. as if that's not bad enough, i just finished watching a movie and now blogging about it!When a teenage girl is faced with an unexpected pregnancy, she enlists the aid of her best friend in finding the unborn child a suitable home in this coming-of-age comedy drama from Thank You for Smoking director Jason Reitman.

Juno (Ellen Page) may seem wise beyond her years, but after sleeping with classmate Bleeker (Michael Cera), the pregnant teen quickly realizes how little she really knows about life. Thankfully, Juno has been blessed with parents (J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney) who trust their daughter's judgment, and a best friend named Leah (Olivia Thirlby), who's always willing to help out in a pinch.

With a little help from Leah, Juno soon comes into contact with Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) -- an affluent suburban couple who have been unable to conceive a child of their own. Mark and Vanessa seem like they would make great parents, and are eager to adopt Juno's unborn child. Now, as adolescent Juno is faced with a series of very adult decisions, she will draw on the support of her family and friends in order to discover who she truly is, and discover that one bad choice can have a lifetime of consequences.

i just simply LOVE the movie from start to finish. the characters were awesome with witty mouths, especially juno. if that's not enough, the music in it is a pleasure to the ears. a very cute line-up of songs.

i've never heard of the movie before until a friend told me about it. apparently, it received oscar nominations.

ellen page - actress in a leading role

jason reitman - directing

best picture

best writing original screenplay


and after i watched it, i can see why.. what actually attracted me to the movie was ellen page. i saw her in another movie a while back. the trailer was awesome so i had to watch the movie and was NOT disappointed. she was amazing in it!


ellen page - my new favourite actress. ':)

feeling under the weather because of the weather

i hate being sick. i don't mind being in bed with a fever but i'm annoyed as heck having a cold. why? well, having a cold is like you're actually healthy enough except that your nose is runny.. i hate a runny nose. this is actually the second time i have a cold in a month. IN A MONTH! i've never been sick twice in a whole year! i'm pretty sure it's because of the weather.. it's been cold, windy and wet.. and i've been telling people i love being in a cold climate.. don't get me wrong. i still do. being freezing cold beats being sweaty in a hot and humid place. i think my body is trying to adjust to the january weather cause i've never been in england during the coldest time of the year. and i live in the south. i don't know how you lot in the north put up with the weather.

so yes, right now, i'm in bed plugging my nose to keep it from flooding my room, while watching my tv series. ':)

wanted to go to kent tomorrow but the journey and expenses made me hesitant but the my cold was the eventual decider that i'm going to spend my weekend here.

i hope kent people have a good time playing charades and stuff.

i don't know what to write anymore.. i'll be back soon with a worthy post.

TGIF baby!

even though i've been here for just a week, the weekend could not come any sooner. classes are as dull as usual and the thought of piled up work in the near future gives me the chills. but for now, the weekend is the only thing that matters.

just recently, there have been financial changes with our course. fortunately, in a good way. extra allowances are coming our way. even though, it's kind of late for me since it's my last term. heck, at least i get to be a part of it. better late than never, i guess. so, tomorrow i'm going on a shopping spree. again, that statement is a bit over-exaggerated. i'll buy a few things on my list but a huge purchase could be in a form of the new ipod touch!
i know, i know. i already have my archos.. but guess what, it went dead on me. ':s i'm sorting it out to get it fixed but that'll be a while. but i'm still in need of communal entertainment. i'd just die of boredom in a coach going to london (or worse.. manchester) without a form of distraction. so, now i have the money and a valid reason of buying one. (plus it looks so cool.)
sadly though, i have discovered i can get my old 3rd generation ipod fixed for a much cheaper price. decisions, decisions.. i'll sleep on it tonight but hey.. nothing wrong with having 2 mp3 players right? ':)

anyway, just finished watching my all time favourite feel-good movie for the 10th time, the parent trap! poke fun if you want. i don't care. this movie is awesome. 10 years ago when i watched this movie for the first time, i was sure lindsay lohan was going to be a major star one day. i called it, didn't i? to me, she's still the cute freckled 11-year-old red-head.

by the way, i was totally fooled into thinking lohan were twins. have a nice weekend everyone!

the year is ending

the new year is almost upon us and i have yet to come up with a plan on how to spend it. like every year, the empire hotel is having the new year celebration with loud music and of course, fireworks. i'm almost certain i won't be going because i have no one to go with. no offense to my friends who ARE in brunei. i'm sure you'd want to spend it with your other half and i really don't feel like welcoming the new year as a third wheel. actually, i don't think there's anyone i know who is single. but that's another whole long topic, which i shall avoid right now.

since i've been back, it seems i haven't done much and yet i've been out almost every day. today is actually the first day i've stayed at home. although, i shouldn't count my chickens just yet, there's still 9 more hours till the day ends.

i watched national treasure the other day and i have to say, it's a really good movie. nice intro, nice plot, nice action sequences and the ending was satisfactory. definitely recommended. i haven't watched the first one so, i might get the dvd for that.

i've been looking around for a new laptop. my current one is old, can't be seen in public, slow (for me.. even though it's much faster than most) and most importantly, can't play games decently! i'm fairly OK with computers. but i'm mostly blurry with what makes a computer good, like graphics card, processor and other computer specs, which i have no clue. so, i've been doing a lot of research on it and i've a better understanding now. the mall has a tech show and i've been looking around. i've found the one i want but there's no guarantee that it'll arrive before i go back to uk. that completely pissed me off cause i'm not a big shopper. and when i finally do want something, i have to have it or else i'd buy something else to scratch that splurging itch. that's why i'm looking for a guitar now. even though i've said that, i'm still contemplating. should i bring it with me to uk? will it survive the flight? won't i have excess baggage? should i just leave it here and buy myself a new one over there (which i'll be leaving it at my sister's.. maybe.. hehe)

anyhow, merry christmas everyone!

i'm back home

just a short personal post letting everyone know that i'm back in brunei for a couple of months. i hope i'll some of you around!

just random

as i said before, i'm going back to brunei really soon so i decided to start packing even though i'm not even remotely sure when i'm going. i just needed to start clearing things up in my room a bit and get rid of stuff i don't need. anyway, while i was packing, i found an email i printed a while back. it was a "stepbystep instructions to luneberg! hehe" it was when i went to germany to visit during the summer break.

it was really concise and pretty helpful. but there was this one part in the instructions that just made me go "what the hell??!!"

here it is:

step 15: go to a ticket machine and there should be instructions in english. choose luneberg for one perosn. it should cost about 12-14euro.

step 16: if there happens to be no instructions in english, go to a train conductor. he'll help you, i'm sure. just point to the machine and look confused. then say "luneberg, einmal" (luneberg, one) and point to yourself. lol.

that's my precious sister folks! hahahaha!

luckily, i met these 2 really nice german girls who can't help but notice me with the instructions in my hand. they were going to the same place as i was. so, fortunately, i didn't humiliate myself.

speaking of my sister, i'm off to london tomorrow for a night, before heading off to keele to visit my lovely sister.

anyway, i leave with this picture when i was in a museum in germany. i didn't censor the naughty parts cause it's art. i'm not really an art person but i think this painting is awesome and so romantic.

two against the world

by
ernst ludwig kirchner

for the sake of updating

i'm updating for the sake of updating. no random knowledge here but random personal stuff.

exams are over, now i'm just waiting for my results before going back home. so, no date is confirmed yet. at the moment, i'm just hanging out in southampton doing zip all. i wanted to do a very journal-esq post about MIRC but problems with connecting stopped me in doing so. it's going to be an awesome post. look out for it in the near future.

speaking of posts, i was asked why i don't put personal stuff in my blog. well, in the beginning, my blog was only that but decided to change it so that my readers have something really worthy to read and not just me rambling on about myself. no offense to anyone, i just think it's a bit.. you know. so, what do you guys think? should i put in more 'a day in the life of sham' or just keep it general knowledge on random stuff?

take the poll!

got tagged...

got tagged.. must answer..

Name, age and occupation.
sham, 22, student

Which schools did you go to - since kindergarten up till your current/last educational institution?
sek. rendah binturan, tutong. - sek. menengah sufri bolkiah - sek. menengah muda hashim - maktab duli - warsash maritime academy.

Favourite subjects [throughout the span of your education, e.g. you can include what you enjoyed in high school, college, AND university]. Why?
physics, maths and english.. cause i genuinely enjoy learning them.

Favourite teachers? Why?
mr pixton, my MD maths teacher. he was one of the best teachers i've ever had!

What qualities do you feel should a good teacher have?
funny and passionate about teaching their subject.

What are/were the impacts teachers have/had on you?
don't know how to answer this one.. too long..

Describe the most memorable moment/s you’ve shared with a teacher/teachers?
hmm.. i'm getting a sense that these are 'teacher's day' questions..

Have you ever thought of becoming a teacher? Yes or no? Elaborate on your answer.
nope.. i tried very hard to avoid it. and thankfully, so far so good.

If you’re working, are you still in contact with any of your teachers? Why/why not?
in contact? nope. tried to keep in contact with mr pixton but it was kinda hard.

To tag :: no one. let this rather dull questionnaire end here..