Nokia Secret Code

In the Internet, there is a circulating forwarded email claiming that pressing *3370# on your Nokia mobile phone will activate your so-called spare battery which will give you 50% extra battery life.

Being the usual "inquisitive" guy, I decided to give it a try. So I pressed, *, 3, 3, 7, 0, #...

"Change active speech codec?"

What the heck?? Since when a battery is called "active speech codec"? Well, there are only two options there, "OK" and "Back".

Being the usual "inquisitive" guy again, I decided to press on OK. 一不做,二不休 marr... DONG! Off goes the light, and the whole mobile phone restarts and the same screen reappears. Nahh, no change in my battery bars also, it's still at its original position, no "increase in battery life" as claimed by the e-mail.

So I decided that this is a hoax, just like those claiming that you can elongate some part of your body with some daily exercise. Some googling on this issue proved my guess: This code indeed does *something*, but it doesn't give you some magical power boost. In fact, the activated "speech codec" mode actually consumes more power of your little battery!

At the end of my daily dawdling, a lesson is learnt: Never trust anything in the Internet so easily. If not, your some parts may suffer. :D

The Best Time to Fall Sick

... is definitely not 9 days before the final exam.

Aarrgghh!! Joanne, must be due to your "damning", I am sick! It all started on Friday night... Less than 12 hours after my kind tagging of 7 people in my previous post, I started feeling something wrong in me. I went to the not-so-interesting Mamak Night with Xuan Ni, Ka Lip, Chong Chyn, Mag, Tim, and Ka Lip. Upon reaching home at 11 pm, my body has finally given up its war with the virus - I am feeling cold all over.

Shit shit shit, kena high fever!! I can assure you that this is not the best thing you could ask for when you have only 9 days left to cover 10 weeks of stuff for your exam. I almost started panicking when I started feeling unwell. But luckily, thanks to the best care in the world and the best porridge I have had in Melbourne, I am feeling much better now. Dear, you are really the best... I know it must have been really exhausting to take care of this little boy, and you know, I am really touched by your efforts. I promise that I will take care of myself better and be healthier, so that you don't have to worry too much about me. (Writing this blog is exempted, okay? :P)

By the way, sikui, the daylight saving time is on again. That means, effective 30 October 2005, I am robbed of one hour study time again, due to the time-zone adjustment from GMT +10 to GMT +11. In other words, now I am 3 hours ahead of Malaysian time zone, just like how it was like when I first came to Melbourne. Hmm...

Before I leave, I would just share something I have been reading for the past hour. The latest THES 2005 Ranking of World’s Top 200 Universities was just announced recently, and I don't know whether to feel good or bad about it. The University of Malaya, the university which was once my dream institution has slipped from 89th place to 169th place, and USM is now no more seen in the top 200 list. On the other hand, the University of Melbourne is placed at 19th place in overall ranking, and is rated at the 10th for Biomedicine universities worldwide. Yes, I am damn proud with my university now, as now I know that the course I am in is top-notch in the world, giving me more confidence about the course despite all the sleep-inducing lectures I have throughout the year. It also give me some kind of impetus to strive harder for my coming exam, you know, hey, if you could do well in the 10th place university in the world, you must be quite good also right? :P

But Malaysia... I feel sad for you. I really hope that we can all wake up from the protectionist policy, blaming the west as "anti-Malaysia" or "jealous towards our rapid development" whenever people say that we are not as good as we have chosen to believe. Reading the two articles I linked above made me rethink of our position right now. If we don't do something and the country is again resting on its laurel, I fear for our future generation.

I Was Tagged!

On 16 September 2005, Michelle passed the burning baton to me and I thought, well, let's wait for a while, it doesn't take all that long to write this thing. Arrhh... Time really flies, it has been a month since I first got the saman, and now I think maybe I should actually reply to the tag. So here we go, and beware, your turn is coming soon!

Seven Things I Plan to Do Before I Die

1. Master a musical instrument.
2. Save 1000 people from dying.
3. Establish a harmonius family which I will yearn to return after work everyday.
4. Master a computer programming language and write a popular freeware.
5. Understand the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.
6. Do a reseach on medical field and give a significant contribution.
7. Become fit.

Seven Things I Can Do

1. Walk outside Melbourne General Cemetary at midnight. Pretty often. :D (Can't believe I am so proud with it!)
2. Finish a pack of Smith's Chip in one go.
3. Stay in front of computer screen for 10 hours.
4. Pretend that I am confident while I am not.
5. Be confused about who should get the 20 cents refund when Yong Chin and I return from Queen Victoria Market.
6. Spread Firefox to my friends like an evangelist.
7. Produce 3 litres of saliva everyday.

Seven Celebrity Crushes
Not really. I listen to good songs by any artist, I admire their talents, but I don't have a crush on them.

Seven Current/Recent Books
Wait... Does it mean books outside the course and books outside my daily reading? If not, I will have to list down the books on the booksheleves in Brownless Library. :(

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie(My all time favourite).
2. Kane and Abel, by Jeffry Archer (the first story book I managed to finish reading in my whole life, courtesy of "anonymous".).
3. Children's Illustrated Bible
4. Medical Physiology, by Guyton and Hall (oh no... I seriously don't have a life)
5. Human Anatomy Atlas, by Frank Netter
6. I better don't write anymore... am blushing already...

Seven Favourite Food

1. My mum's Indonesian BBQ Chicken!!
2. Jawa Mee by either my mum or by a particular stall in Simpang Kuala
3. Capitan curry chicken
4. CHAR KOEY TEOW!
5. Sultana sweet chicken
6. Nasi lemak
7. Everything at home...

Seven Random Facts About Me

1. 7 is always my lucky number. Hint: siblings, address, birthday etc.
2. Some people think that I look like a Japanese.
3. I have never celebrated my birthday in school
4. I wet my bed until around 10 year old.
5. I experience sleep paralysis pretty often.
6. I dance to the music tune at home
7. I am an agnostic Buddhist.

Seven People I Want to Tag

1. Winson
2. Yee Pin
3. Boon Phiaw
4. Li Enn
5. Heng Liang
6. Eric Fu
7. Joanne

Huhh... that's it! That's all for today, and there are 9 days left to the exam... :P

The Joy of Blogging

A blog can be anonymous or well-known. It can be world-famous, it can also be unknown to others, only to be discovered by chance.

If I were to evaluate my own blog, I would have to rate it closer to being "unknown", considering the number of readers I have in here. I have been blogging for 2 years to let my friends know of how I am doing, and what I have been up to recently. Other than that, I don't expect the blog to be read by any passerby. After all, I am neither prolific or interesting when it comes to writing. The last post alone took me one and a half hour, if you are interested in just how slow I write my articles.

Having said so, when I receive an email like this, I can't help but to feel gleeful, or rather, an undescribable satisfaction deep inside.

From: XXX
To: changyang1230@yahoo.com
Subject: I weigh more on carpet too!
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 15:48:48 -0500

Thanks for your report on why we weigh more on carpet. I will sleep better knowing I weigh less that 140 pounds.
XXX
Chicago, IL USA

p/s: The name and the email address are removed for privacy consideration.

Apparently, she was writing to me regarding the article I wrote earlier.

Surprise, surprise, surprise. When you do something and receives a reply which was never in your expectation, you derive the genuine joy of having done something useful. Maybe this is what we call, the joy of blogging.

Spring Is Here!

Before I start typing anything, I would just say it out loud:

Life is wonderful, for a wonderful person and a wonderful feeling. A right person can change what it feels like when you wake up in the morning, what it feels like when you go to the bed, and what it feels like when you take in every breath in the spring. When things have made its way into your heart and soul, you can't help but to accept it and celebrate it. Everything has changed, but I am sure it will only be better in every moment. Today, I finally realised what people actually mean when they say they are looking forward to tomorrow. Because I can feel it.

Some of you might be confused with what I have written above, but it's alright, you will know it. I am sorry but I would prefer not to talk about my private life in a public blog, so talk to me if you are interested in knowing more. :D

Let me get started. If you have been reading the chatterbox on the left, you would have known that many things have happened. My exams were over, and my family were here for a tour in Sydney and Melbourne (photos). I must say that those have been the most enjoyable moments I have spent since I came to Melbourne. Together, we left our footsteps and memories throughout Melbourne - the hustling city, the campus of my university, the not-very-interesting Tulip farm, the little cottage in the lavender farm, the countless pristine parks, the Penguin Parade in Phillip Island, the picturesque Great Ocean Road etc. Melbourne has become so loveable with the company of my family. In particular, the experience of driving along Great Ocean Road will be forever entrenched in my memory. For me, the sensation of driving on a scenic path is so thrilling, I even told my friends that I would apply for the job of driving a tourist bus on Great Ocean Road if there is a vacancy. Huh, stupid I...

The holidays finally came to an end when my family left for home, and I have to return to the boring daily routine again. Studying, going online, fidgeting around, cooking, taking naps, going to bed etc. The only not-so-usual thing that has happened is the IMSS Gala Dinner. Haha, it was more successful than I imagined, and I was glad that I contributed a little bit by designing the poster which they pasted in the medical building. The night was a bit chaotic at times, as the consequence of the limited spaces we have and the overwhelming attendance of the students. But all in all, I am very glad that we managed to pull off a successful night despite all the difficulties in the early stage.

With the end of IMSS event, I finally have no more excuse not to concentrate on my studies. We will have 5 papers which I have to take between 7 to 15 November, which means there are only 22 more days for me to cover 14 weeks' lecture notes. Never mind... I will take the challenges in strides, let's see how it goes. :D You know, with the internet connection down (due to some unknown errors of my modem and network card), I feel that I have plentiful of time to do more important stuff in daily life. Hehe...

That's all for this post. I will try to update this blog when I can find some free time, but it's going to be a little bit hard. Because you know, spring is here, and I can hear the birds chirping already!! Ciao.