Google in 1960

Ever remember how you lived without Google? Do you know that Google has existed since 1960's??

Here is the historical picture:

You Know You're Malaysian When...

You complain about the quality of the pirated DVD you just purchased. "What, RM10 for DVD5?! Aiyah, boss ... sound no good, cheaperlah ..."

You're willing to consume sambal petai and durian and gladly suffer the bloating and wind-breaking incidents.

You're exceedingly polite to the Mat Sallehs but you slag your own kind. "Hello, sir. Why don't you sit here, it’s got the best view of the city skyline." But, "Aunty-ah, your table is over there next to the kitchen."

You order Maggi goreng and fried chicken, complain about how oily the food is, and then proceed to finish it anyway.

You love to talk about food. You're already thinking about what to have for dinner while eating lunch. "I'm stuffed. What shall we have for dinner?"

You dive into a communal-style meal the moment the dish lands on the table only to hesitate at the last morsel of food on the serving dish. There are two possible explanations for this: the first is the pai seh (embarrassed) factor, while the other is the myth that the person who eats the last piece will be a spinster.

You hit the accelerator the moment the first drop of rain hits your windshield. "Alamak, it's going to rain. Sure traffic jam one. I'd better drive faster."

You seize the opportunity to make a U-turn anywhere ... especially where there is a sign telling you not to. Well, so long as the cops aren't in sight.

You feel a burning desire to send text messages and even have the gall to give your friend a blow-by-blow account of the movie to your friend on the handphone — during the screening of the movie. "Okay, now that girl Lizzie is impersonating an Italian singer; she so doesn’t look Italian ..."

You forsake your loved ones for the all-important four letter-word: S-A-L-E. "Sorry, mum, I can't take you to Aunt Mary’s because I have to go to MidValley before the crowd." You’re also more than happy to be part of the insane traffic jam that forms around malls during weekends and sale periods.

11. Reality shows Akademi Fantasia and Malaysian Idol dictate your social life. "What, no TV at the mamak? Count me out — I'm staying home. Rinie needs my support."

You pepper every sentence with lah. "No-lah, I can't see you today-lah. I have to study-lah. You know-lah, the prison warden aka mak is watching me like a hawk"

You fail to function normally without your daily dose of teh tarik and nasi lemak.

You have owned at least one Proton in your lifetime. Cheap, cheap. That is until you start to make enough dough to buy that Honda you've been salivating over.

You slow down at an accident site to take down the car number plate, but won't step out of your car to help — the victim could be a robber!

You'd rather park your car along the main road outside the mall, where there's a yellow line, rather than pay RM1 to park inside where there are adequate bays.

You plead, bat your eyelids and relate a sob story to the officer at the town council office to let you off the hook (or reduce the amount considerably) for the fine you incurred when you parked your car on the double line.

You make an appointment for 10am and conveniently show up a half hour late — Malaysian time, what ...

You pop open the wet tissue packet at the Chinese restaurant by squeezing the trapped air to the top of the packet before proceeding to smash your fist into it. The louder the pop the better.

You greet your friend / neighbor / acquaintance on the street with "How are things?" or "Have you eaten?" or better yet, by stating the obvious: "Went to market ah?"

Ramlee burger is the "piece de resistance" of your growing-up-years cuisine.

You catch all major televised events at the mamak.

You have roughly six meals a day (breakfast, mid-morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper). Then there's the snacking — keropok ikan, pisang goreng, muruku, jam tarts and the like.

You get the whole family dressed to the nines, jump into the car and head for the minister's open house — and ask for styrofoam boxes and plastic bags to tar pau food.

Your accent and language style vary according to the race of the person you are conversing with.

You've got a friendly disposition. Smiles are abundant and your "Apa khabar?" is warm and sincere.

You exclaim loudly how expensive everything is, even though the items may in fact be going for a steal. "Wah! So expensive, ah? Hak sei ngor (Scare me to death)!"

You dig deep into your pockets to contribute to the latest appeal for donations in the newspapers.

You "dis" our country all the time, but as soon as something good happens (like winning the Thomas Cup), you morph into a proud Malaysian.

You never travel abroad without a bottle of chilli sauce, or sachets which you can sneak into restaurants.

You're proud to be Malaysian - and you pass these jokes on to all your Malaysian friends!

First Stitch in My Life

I performed the first stitching in my life... on a dead body! I looked at my watch, and what a historical moment, at 5.12 pm on 28th April 2005, I stitched the first "wound" of my career.

Yes yes, today we have our practical in the anatomy dissection room again. Same smell, same demonstrators, same group members, same cadavers, but different emotion. Obviously after the first experience, everyone is not nervous anymore. Today we got to really do something on the cadavers, and everyone just couldn't wait to try their hands on the medical procedures. Cannulation (insertion of the tube into a cavity like veins for intravenous dripping etc), incision (cutting up the layers) and stitching, all in the same day.

Just a brief report here. Gotta have pizza as dinner now!

My Pictures in Melbourne!

I have uploaded a lot of pictures in my Flickr account! Please go and have a look, and leave a comment if you feel like bitching about me. :-D

But please do me a favour...

Please!!! Please!! The last comment I want to hear from you is "Chang Yang, you have grown fat." So don't write that down even if it is obvious, okay?

I might do some story-telling here if I have free time, but considering that my holidays are over, it's quite unlikely lohh... So just visit my Flickr photo album for the time being. Thanks!

Pictures - Departure to Melbourne

So here it comes! I would go according to chronological order, so I would start from my departure on 23rd February 2005 in KL International Airport.

Note: Please click on the picture for a larger and clearer version of the picture with the titles.

The screen displaying that I am going to leave on

[to be continued...]

Major Update Impending!

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, there lived an Internet geek in Melbourne. He arrived at Melbourne on 24th February, dog exhausted and Internet deprived. Trying to settle down in a new second home and make sense out of life, in a desperate hurry he promised to everyone that he will update his blog with pictures when he is not that busy. One day has passed, two days; one week, two weeks; one month, two months... he failed to live up to the promise.

Today is the beginning of his third month in Melbourne, signifying a life restarted anew. Yesterday night his friends had a barbeque to celebrate their two month anniversary, and summing it up the past two months, it had been one of the most fabulous time he has ever had in his life. Yes, the exam pressure has inevitably crept into his lives, with all the anatomy, physiology and biochemistry starting to make their way into his short-term and long-term memories; yes, the social relationship have come to play and there are already some complications. But yet, it's been a wonderful life.

Currently he has just finished his not-too-hard exam, and he now officially gets into the mood of uploading pictures since he is having a 3-day weekend. So, anticipate for more... in the coming days, he will post some highlights from 23rd February to 23rd April, a time he called a whale of a time...

My Encounter With A Cadaver

I saw the cadaver today!

It started off as an exciting day, not because we had a exam-tips-giving session this morning, but because we were going to see the cadaver! At 3 pm today, about 90 of us were divided into 4 groups and brought into the dissection room after being briefed about the dissecting procedures. While everyone was queueing up for their turns, we were still laughing and bantering with each other frivolously, as usual, you know. In our mind still lingered the footage of patient with hernia that we watched yesterday, and I could tell that everyone wasn't as relaxed as they seemed. Including me, I guess.

We eventually entered the spacious dissection room, and in there arranged neatly about 30 covered cadavers. Every single person (living one that is) turned totally serious, and I guess at that moment my face was at its straightest since I was born. You just don't feel like telling any joke or tickling your friends when you are in there. I think everyone was trying to muster their courage to face the moment of truth.

The tutors of my group were young and bright, and they were both surgical students who certainly had no fears or whatsoever with seeing a cadaver. They greeted us warmly, and for the next 30 minutes we were briefed about the overview of human anatomy. Meanwhile, they told us the basic respect we should uphold towards the cadaver, as they were once alive and they agreed to be used as a cadaver for our learning purpose. "They gave you their biggest gift - their own bodies," we were told. They reassured us that we could choose to leave whenever we felt uncomfortable, and deep inside I said, "Huhh, I am not going to be afraid of facing the body." My sister told us they don't look anything like a living person, with their skin seriously discoloured by the preservative and reeking smell of formaldehyde.

"Won't feel geli one larr," this is what she told me...

Then the tutor revealed the body. My sister was both right and wrong. The appearance suited her description (although it actually looked worse), but...

To be frank, I felt a bit unnerving at first. To come face to face with someone who has died, discoloured, stiffened and cut up is not something you would enjoy doing at all. (You would certainly prefer to see a dead chicken than this) I found my heart beating harder than usual. But I tried. I know I was going to overcome the feeling anyhow. Moments later I managed to reconciled with the fear that invaded my thought.

It was an unforgettable experience to see the tutors cutting up layers of fat, skin, muscles, vessels, nerves and so on. After looking at pictures of organs and body cavities for two weeks, I still find it entirely different when I was confronted by the real thing. From that moment on I really appreciated what we were told about socialising into the medical culture and doing things that others won't be doing for their whole lives...

Summing up today's experience, I should say that seeing an embalmed cadaver is entirely different from any other thing, even from seeing a fresh dead body. I have seen dead bodies before because all my grandparents passed away when I was in my teens, and I have already overcome the grappling fear of seeing an inanimated body. But touching it and seeing livers, lungs and muscles just felt so different.


p/s: My friend, Jing Yi who were also in the dissection room had a reflection on seeing the dead body. She used it as her MSN nickname. I couldn't agree more with what she said:

我看到了生命的对立体--冰冷的躯壳，风化的灵魂与泛黄的回忆。褶皱的肌肤是岁月的痕迹还是病痛的哀嚎，抑或是无奈的畏惧...纵然曾经辉煌，仍无法抵抗自然的轮回。于是每当感觉到我们的呼吸时，更要珍惜自己仍拥有的一切~

English Translation:
I have seen saw the opposite of life - the frozen cadaver, weathered soul and memories that has turned sepia. Is the wrinkled skin a metaphore of the passing time or the wailing of sickness, or is it the sheer fear that we shall never overcome... Despite of life's resplendence, nobody could ever defy the cycle of the nature. Therefore whenever we feel our own breath, we should treasure all our belonging ever more~

Feel Like Twisting Your Brain?

I have got two questions here to twist your brain, if you feel like life is nothing more than boring routines.

1. Safe sex

There are 2 guys and 2 girls. The 2 guys want to fuck the 2 girls (ie each guy screws both girls) but there is a problem ... There are only two condoms available. Use the condoms any way you want - reuse, flip it, etc - but you cannot wash it.

No body fluids can be exchanged (even girl-girl or guy-guy exchanges), else the sex would not be considered safe from STDs.

How can the task be done?

From A Singaporean Blogger

2. The Chance?

Suppose it is assumed that about 5% of the general population use drugs. You employ a test that is 95% accurate, which we’ll say means that if the individual is a user, the test will be positive 95% of the time, and if the individual is a nonuser, the test will be negative 95% of the time. A person is selected randomly and given the test. It is positive. What does such a result suggest? Would you conclude that the individual is highly likely to be a drug user?

4 PHD got the answer wrong when they wrote their answer to the newspaper, a similar question like this was directed to a group of experienced doctor and only 2 doctors (8%) got the correct answers.

From ReCom

Have fun!

Mum, I am going to see dead body!

How?? How??!

I don't know whether I am prepared enough to see a dead body lying on a desk, not to mention seeing my demonstrator cut it open piece by piece?

Saw the countdown clock ticking on the left?? 4 days. With all the illustrated learning of anatomy, I am supposed to be well-prepared for this kind of scenario; but then again, on the second thought, am I really prepared to see an unanimated body, holding back my brain against all those horror thoughts?

** shiver **

This is going to be quite hard for me. But I will try. At least one thing for sure, I won't faint.

Forwarded Message

I check my emails on a regular basis, and you are definitely right if you were to say that I check my email more than I flip the pages on my physiology book. Most of my mails are from my Yahoo Groups, ReCom notification, and University of Melbourne. The rest, occasional emails from friends, and forwarded emails. (did i forget to tell the other 50% are junk mails?)

Sometimes I delete forwarded emails straightaway. Why? Ever wonder how you get so many junk mails? Say a big "thank you" to all your friends who generously let your email address circulate around the globe and arrive at those unscrupulous stalker's computer.

But some other times, I would really appreciate it. This is one of them.



Wish we always learn something from such articles.

Links for My Favourite Firefox Extensions

Enabled Extensions: (19)
Adblock 0.5.2.039
Autohide 0.9.8
BBCode 0.3.7
Bloglines Toolkit 1.5.3
BugMeNot 0.6.2
del.icio.us 0.3.4
Flashblock 1.2.9
FlashGot 0.5.7.8
ForecastFox 0.7
ieview 0.84
ListZilla 0.5.1
miniT (drag+indicator) 0.5
Mouse Gestures 1.0
SessionSaver by CypherBit 0.2
Show Failed URL 0.1.4
Slim Extension List 0.1
SmartSearch 2.3
Super DragAndGo 0.2.4d1
Tabbrowser Preferences 1.2.2

Disabled Extensions: (9)
Bandwidth Tester 0.4.1
Extended Statusbar 1.1
FoxyTunes 1.1
Hotmail Tabs 0.9
keyconfig 20050313
Menu Editor 1.0
Mozilla Archive Format 0.4.3
Resizeable Textarea 0.1a
StumbleUpon 1.9993

Gua Si Hokkien Lang!

Hahahahaha!! Chio ka gua po tor piak!

Kien jit gua kua tiok jit ler iong hokkien ueh sia eh bellog, si pek hor chio, chio ka gua boi tahan... Lng lang tak chuek tak ka ai si ai uak eh si, eh sai ki kua jit leh bellog, kua liao sim cheng pun eh hor ki lai.. :-D

Si kui eh, hai gua ai tak chuek pun bueh tak; cham liao lar, iong ji tiam cheng tak jit leh blog bo tak tio chuek. Mai kong anni che liao, ban ban tak jit leh bellog, chio ka po to piak eh si mai kuai gua oh!


(Written in Hokkien, sorry for no translation provided.)

Weather

It's been getting a bit capricious recently... When the holidays began, it was getting quite cold especially at night. The temperature display on my laptop once hit 6 degree celsius at night, and I literally cuddled myself inside the quilt. You never know the feeling by simply staying in air-conditioned room, it's a different feeling altogether. (Eric and Ren Jie, I know you two would scorn at me, but it's really cold for me. :-D) While my body muscles struggled to produce more heat, I couldn't help but to hope that the weather cast some mercy on me.

Right now it's different again. For the past few days, it has been relatively warm with the temperature hovering between 15 and 25 degree celsius during daytime. I actually walked without my windbreaker most of the time in the trip to Great Ocean Road and Philip Island. I like the weather, especially the feeling of wind caressing my face and my whole body at the seaside. It's simply lovely, voiding me of all the worries that await me. I didn't care about the exam on Monday at all. Seriously. I forgot about it entirely.

At the time of writing, the wind is blowing at 58 kilometres per hour, and I can hear the howling of the wind outside. But the temperature is standing still at 25 degree. So I am going to have a good sleep tonight, getting ready for the next 8 weeks of gruelling lectures, practicals and exams. Good luck.

I Love Firefox Extension

I know this post comes in at a wrong time. I know that I should have posted pictures of Great Ocean Roads and Philips Island. But still.. the excitements that Firefox extensions gave me was way too much to be contained. I am here to share some of my favourite Firefox extensions, the little plug-ins that have made online experience such an enjoyable one.

Must-have: (These are essential tools I can hardly live without)
1. Adblock
2. Forecast Fox
3. IEView
4. MiniT (drag+indicator)
5. Mouse Gestures
6. Session Saver
7. Tabbrowser Preferences
8. Hotmail Tabs
9. FastDic

Highly Recommended: (Things that tremendously enhance my online experience)
1. BBCode
2. BugMeNot
3. Flashblock
4. FlashGot
5. FoxyTunes
6. Menu Editor
7. PRGoogleBar
8. StumbleUpon

Site-specific Tools: (I use them for easy access to functions of the sites I frequent)
1. del.icio.us
2. Bloglines toolkit

Firefox Tweaks and Tools: (Make fine adjustments to Firefox and some handy tools to help out)
1. Bandwidth Tester
2. Keyconfig
3. Menu Editor
4. Mozilla Archive Format
5. Show Failed URL
6. Slim Extension List
7. Slogger
8. URL id
9. XHTML Ruby Support


Note: Those in bold fonts are loaded with my firefox by default, whereas the others are kept disabled and are only turned on whenever I need them.