Sleep is good

I've been awake for the past 50 odd hours and last night was one of my best sleeps evar.

Feeling woozy and light-headed with the tendency to fall asleep just about anywhere is quite amusing. I foresee this happening a few more times before the end of this academic year.

Wonder how the SAS guys do it... 7 days with no sleep?

Superman.

Say hello the next time you see a scruffy hair Chinese dude in black lolling off in a chair while sitting with a book open in the library.

New websites added to 'My reads' Section

Check them out:

MotoIQ

Phil Saunder's blog

Cheerios~

When dinner has settled comfortably

Today was a good day... one of the better ones I've had in awhile. I woke up a couple of minutes past 8 this morning a shivering wreck. Outside temperatures plummeted to 4 degrees C while I was in dreamland, it seems. Oh I haven't turned the radiators in my room on as well. Winter has well and truly arrived... or not, as the rest of the day turned out beautifully sunny and almost bearable.

Oh well.

It was a good start though, having woken up early enough to wash, make breakfast, enjoy a good cup of tea and leisurely make my way out to my uni's Learning Resource Centre (fancy schmancy name for 'library') for a group meeting for my Vehicle Engineering Design module. That went pretty well... me having been assigned to do the framework of the written report as well as some bits of CAD modeling. No one ranted and no one whined. One did complain from lack of sleep as he was busy screwing the brains out of a bird throughout the night.

Random. 'Bird' is a British euphemism for 'chick' or 'leng lui' but back in Malaysia, its just another word for aunties and ladies to refer to your penis.

Anyway! After a detour home to take a dump, I then proceeded to my lecture on thin plate bending theory. On rare occasions, having your brain bombarded with differential equations of the fourth order isn't completely bad. Very rare occasions I must add. I dropped by the Formula Student lab after class and 'took' a wheel off one of the racecars home with me... under the pretext of 'measuring the piece'. *cough*

So now there's a shiny 3 piece wheel with tired Avon hillclimb slicks sitting behind me against the wall. Mmmm... shiny.

Oh yes... dinner.

Courtesy of half a jar of Tesco's Finest Thai Green Curry sauce... which was everything but spicy. Still nice though. I liked my own dinner.

After-dinner Googling led me to Ahma-san's (of RE-Amemiya fame) personal blog and a site called Motoiq.com... which inspired me to come back to blogging (read: write crap for no one in particular to read). We'll see how long this stint will last this time round.

As a treat, I'm going to bed early. Tried to yesterday, but ended up falling asleep at five.

I must be hated in dreamland.

Currently listening to: Boomdeyada

Short change?

I find it such a laugh that people would pay more money for a high pixel count camera and NOT run them at full resolution.

"Oh I want to fit more pics in my one and only memory card so I'll use 3 mp instead of 8

Currently listening to: Rock & Roll Creation - Spinal Tap

Moment

There was a moment of immense calmness yesterday, where everything slowed down... sitting in the quaint, cosy dining room of a friend's home. I was holding a cup of hot tea. The skies were shades of steel. The air, cold...

Everything seems so peaceful and tranquil and all I could do was let go of all worries and anxiety and stare out the window.

I could use more of these moments. It's strangely addictive.

I feel smart

A post about nothing in particular

An old friend suggested I update this place more often. I felt compelled to oblige…

I think I’m still operating on autopilot this morning. Everything seems so vague and unfocused, something akin to a rainbow wash of water colour splattered on a white tile. I think.

Hmm… hot chocolate is nice though…

I’m now fairly immune to the failings of London’s finest in public transport. The Tube announced their decision to strike beginning 1900hrs yesterday evening and as a direct result of that, the streets and buses this morning were crowded with commuters who are usually found 100m or so underground.

Both my inbound and outbound trains were cancelled with little to no notice yesterday and the bus I was on today decided to abandon its route to Kings Cross, dumping all passengers at Euston, roughly 10 minutes walk away. Difficult to fathom their way of thinking, really. I still feel a little cheated that I lost a pound for that unfinished ride.

Looking on the bright side, Chee-kun has managed to land himself a part-time job with a Michelin-starred restaurant and we’re all happy for him. Good pay, so I hear. He’s perked up from his self-induced glum and has started discussing his wishlist again. ‘Yay’ for him. I haven’t heard from the Penguin in a while now. I wonder if she’s okay, as the last I heard from her was that she was coughing pretty badly. Shall pinch her cheeks if I see her this Saturday.

Tre-sama is coming in to Heathrow in a couple of day’s time. Another big ‘yay’. Temporary long distance relationships aren’t much fun. Can’t wait.

Many of my colleagues at work are of the opinion that I’m counting down the days until my placement is over. I suppose they’re right in some ways that I’m keeping track of the time left but I’m not obsessive enough to count them down to the days and hours. Or am I? I’m just thinking “Another ‘yay’ for finishing a year’s worth of proper work”… That’s all.

I think its time I start doing shopping for people back home. Mostly chocolates, a shirt here, a book there, some lingerie for her, a bikini for another her and a merino wool baselayer…

As an ending note, my boss just came up to me said “Ah, now I remember the word that you used in your interview 12 months ago which left a lasting impression on us which subsequently led to our decision to take you on”.

“Imbued”

Currently listening to: The whirr of the electric fan set on the lowest speed

Cuntwaffles (credit to Tobias for teaching me such bad words)

I turned 23 yesterday.

The Taliban has issued threats to bomb Pakistani towns yesterday. North Korea has recently detonated two nuclear devices and has shown intentions to wipe South Korea off the globe. Swine flu swept through the world and is now leaving, as news reports would imply. We are apparently still in recession. Susan Boyle was reported to have been cussing at journalists due to extreme pressure.

Life's good eh?

Something of a more personal note: another complaint to the cuntwaffles who are in charge of the trains I take to work on a daily basis. Two of my trains were cancelled and the third one delayed with no previous information and due to 'electrical supply problems'. Keeping my cool as well as being late for work, I methodically filled in the delay repay compensation form (even this is a mouthful that fails spectacularly to roll of the tongue nicely) and dutifully handed it in to the ticket office. The fuckers better refund my money back.

London's finest red buses made me miss my train to Birmingham earlier yesterday evening. A full 25 minutes of waiting and the only one that went to Euston told me he wouldn't be going to Euston. The bastard. I hope he won't get laid for the rest of this year and next. I wasted another 26 pounds for a ticket to replace the one that expired by one minute. Then, when I got to Birmingham, I missed the last train home by a minute again! So there goes another 5 pounds for the taxi ride.

Little wonder then that Londoners rank tops in a survey of angry city folks.

I seem to have digressed. Quite a tangent away as well =.=

It's my birthday. I'm supposed to be happy. And happy I feel, everytime I look at my facebook page. Rather surprised that so many dropped by to wish me well. I thank you all sincerely. Oh and Auntie bought me cakes and gave me ang pau. That makes me happy too. Oh and I got a letter from the To-Ken Society notifying me of another meeting in about a week and a half. Is happy again.

Wish the other half was around to celebrate birthday with. Oh well. Another fortnight to go.

I shall sleep in preparation of the dim sum feast that is to come later.

An ode to the worst place in the world; London, Fuck you.

Currently listening to: Maria, by Rage Against The Machine

Why I like racing and racing cars

I love racing. I love race cars.

Really, I do. As much as I don't write a lot or talk alot about this, racing technology, cars and automotive racing has a place in my heart.

The spartan functionality, directly a result of the form over function appeals to me. No nonsense, no assisted braking, no traction control, no driver aids. Just the plain basics.

Fastidious attention to detail, both in the engineering phase as well as the final execution of the design. The wonders of rubber technology that allows a 1100kg GT500 NSX to rail Sepang's Turn 5 at constant speeds of over 100 km/h. Imagine that, just 4 patches of rubber with a total area amounting to roughly an A4 sized paper holding up to 3 tonnes of lateral force.

Graceful patterns and bodylines, interspersed and accented by forms required by the demands of racing. Beautiful colour, tasteful placement of sponsors' names and logos. Well balanced, pleasing to the eye. Not all of them manage to achieve it, but Raybrig seems to have hit the jackpot with this catchy scheme.

As has RE Amemiya with their 2003 car...

Obviously, there's the driving sensation to consider as well. Dog engagement gearboxes, sequential shifting. Stiff and easily modulated brake pedal. A steering wheel which tells you what the fronts are doing. A positive clunk with every ratio selected giving marvelous marvelous marvelous feedback. Road cars from the late 90's to present day is just so... too cosseted, too refined, too soft, lacking all forms of enjoyable tactile feedback.


Unmuffled roar of exhausts and induction noises add in to the feast for the senses. Very little would come close to a 3 rotor screaming at 9000 rpm rev limit married to the high pitched whine of straight cut gears to the appreciative ear.


Lots more reasons but pictures speak of a thousand words, no?

The excitement...



The technology...








The people...





The girls...



Motorsports engineering companies in the West or East Midlands, hire me please. I graduate in 2010.

Currently listening to: 'Renegade' by Yanni

Traffic weaving is still awesumz!

I managed to bring the road bike down to London despite failing to make a reservation on Virgin Trains (wahey wasn't my fault... their damn system was down).

The trip to St Pancras this morning consisted of 10 minutes of weaving in and out of rush hour traffic along Euston Road. Definitely brings back lovely memories of doing 40km/h on a bicycle with skinny rubber on the NKVE with Saiful~ 'Cept that over here, you do actually have to contend with red buses pulling out of stops with all intents to maul you and kill you =D

But it's still awesumz!

Yoshu~ is sleeps nao~

Currently listening to: No Tomorrow by Orson

Chaakkk!

Digital SLR's are fun!

Reset this

Every morning on the train, it’s always either murder or radical religious militants blowing themselves up (or more recently, the economic crash that sent everyone a tumbling) splashed on newspaper covers. Little wonder why everyone looks as glum-faced as the homeless chap sitting outside the British Library.

If ever there is a hung up computer or the dreaded blue/black screen of death (Heaven forbid =.= ), there is always always always always the reset button. Well, not quite for the BSOD but hey it works occasionally.

A single effortless click is all that’s needed for a fresh start. A clean slate. A white canvas. One that we’d hope to paint right this time round.

Too bad we don’t get a reset button for life and the world.

Hot off the press

In the "write-in" section of this morning's papers:

"In response to Monty Phyton's text (Metro, Thu) - the Americans might be stupid for giving Brown a standing ovation but the British are complete idiots for putting up with him being Prime Minister"

The day someone scribbles something similar in the The Star is the day people in Malaysia should celebrate.

Why drive on left side?

It's of some interest to note the reason why Japanese drive on the left side of the road has roots in the feudal age, where bushi (warrior ranks, samurai) wore swords by law as an indication of their position and status. This brought to light a situation termed as saya-atte, the unintentional (or intentional) contact or hitting of one's sword scabbard, the saya, an offence akin to insulting or punching said person in the face.

The consequences of this is bloody for most occasions, due in part to the above reason and the haughty disposition of the warrior class who viewed almost everyone else as an inferior being and woe befall any poor soul who had the bad luck of accidentally touching the saya of their katana.

Being the land of superb social conduct, it was devised that samurai or any swordbearing person to walk on the left side of the path, allowing oncoming travellers to pass on their right side, thus reducing the risk of saya-atte.

One of the few other countries that drives their automobiles on their left is UK, with a similar history. Falconers of the old have their birds perched on their gloved left hand which also holds on to the reins of their horse. This leaves their right hand free to draw their sword should the need arises.

What about Malaysia then?

*Inspired and adapted from the writings of Clive Sinclaire of To-Ken Society of Great Britain*

I'm amazing mlm nyaha

Sitting here in office, I'm thinking that I'm having it so good in life. I've got an amazing girlfriend who's more or less ruined all girls in the world for me, I also have a BFF and/or boifren (as the girlfriend calls him =.=), an adorable pet penguin who sounds like a duck, depressingly dwindling harem of intelligent, pretty and lovely girl friends back home, some awesome guy friends and the innate ability of surviving in my current lavish-like lifestyle with little to no money by honest, down to earth financial borrowing and cunning manipulation of stupid people that I'm surrounded with (not anyone mentioned above).

I've been rereading far too much Tucker Max.