Bon Voyage $$

About two nights ago, mom randomly asked if I'd like to follow her on a trip to Singapore, 4d3n. Figuring that I have little lab work to do since my equipment ain't here yet, I thought I'd follow, with one thing in particular on mind; Guitar Effects. Because you can get many things from Singapore that you can't find here. And also, because they are mostly (generalizing) "cheaper".

Hereon, it's guitar talk

So, after some research (digging online listening to and watching demos/videos, reading reviews etc..) and talk with my effects master, Jin, the effects enthusiast who evil-talks me into spending money on this stuff (which I almost always fall for) every now and then, I've narrowed down my choices to....

G2D's "Cream Tone"
- which gives an absolute jizz in my pants blues tone that I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to add to my artillery of pedals/sounds/style of play.

Possible hiccups:
1. The inherent sound of my Ibanez guitar may not be warm enough to accommodate this wonderful pedal, which Jin assured me otherwise. I'll try them first though.
2. SG$ 360.00

T_T

And then the next two are contenders for my 'high-gain' distortion type pedal, introducing...

MI Audio's "Crunch Box"
- the favourite to win this competition, for its insane gain and bright, clear and non-muddy sounding distortion.
Price: SG$ 225

Attractive features:
1. Sound, insane sound
2. Colour. I like it. What?
3. Pedal size. It may not seem relevant, but when you have finite space on your pedal board & you have to lug them around, you'll get it.

Something slightly potong stim: It has the same size/shape/colour as my other distortion pedal, an MXR Distortion-115. I hope I won't confuse them when I'm playing onstage (if ever again) in the future).


.. and the legendary
ProCo's "RAT II distortion"
- RAT has a reputation of being one of the leaders in their distortion pedals in the past, and from the demos, I can see why. Very classic, raw, rock-sounding stuff. But I have something similar and will probably opt for the other.
-Attractive features:
1. Price: SG$185
2. It's reputation, probably fail-proof
3. The name, RAT. Cute right? heh

So this trip to Singapore, I'll expect to get the Cream Tone + one of the distortions (probably Crunch Box). To mathematically represent this...

SG$360 + SG$225 = SG$585
SG$585 x 2.5 (~ exchange rate) = RM1462.50

Oh my Kun Yam.
*contemplates fasting for a month.. Nahh*

Also, because I don't have a proper pedalboard/case (currently using a piece of my bookshelf, which I carry around shamelessly) to carry my effects around, I'm considering purchasing one. No surprise to me, I'm faced with the harsh realities of life that I have tried hard to avoid for a long time now, these pedalboards/cases are awesome, but cost as much, or more than a single pedal itself. FML I'm contemplating either buying one from Malaysia from a friend's shop (RM160, though I've yet to check it out) or the extreme measure of building my own pedal board. Sounds daunting for a person who's only ever built secondary school KH (Kemahiran Hidup - Living Skills?) projects using a few pieces of wood and planks, and only did a mediocre job of it, at best. hahaha, but I'm looking forward to it, let's see how this goes..

Quotes

Why should some countries be given the right to tell another country "You're not allowed to possess nuclear weapons" while they themselves could?
(Dad, last night)

..and a very bold, outrageous statement by someone that goes...
"I think I know more than X"
X = An extremely knowledgeable expert in the field of discussion.
The owner of those words of wisdom is but a kooli of slightly higher caliber than us common folk


Over a bad connection on the phone, I misheard someone say to me...

"... rectum blotting"
(X, last night)
She really meant "Western Blotting", a molecular biology technique.



And also, another uncool one I've been getting lately...

".. everything that comes out of your mouth is dirty.."
(Animals, 2008)
Oh come on folks, I'm not THAT bad.. geez

Smile and the World Smiles with You

Information overload; makes simple things seem incomprehensible all of a sudden. We're put on this planet to live, mate and die, it's that simple. We're misinterpreting a lot of information here, hence the common notion that "life is complicated". We weren't put on this planet to do research, write reports and theses, were we? =p heheh

"and I find it kinda funny,
I find it kinda sad,
the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I ever had,
I find it hard to tell you,
I find it hard to take.
When people run in circles it's a very, very,
Mad world"

Verbal Abuse? What Say You?

Hi, I'm bored and thought it'd be fun to spice things up. Not that this is really fun. Anyway, this dude in my lab has been using unpleasant lingo when he talks to me all the time. He constantly says things about raping me, a fellow dude. Let us rearrange his initials to TLY ("Toh Lan Yeah" which literally translates to "A lot of dick stuff" in Cantonese) to give him the slightest of anonymity.

The following is a random 'hello' by TLY moments ago on MSN Messenger.

TLY says:
butt-dude
TLY says:
rape u
TLY says:
gorilla rape u
Me says:
I'll take this lil conversation out for some feedback

*EDIT*
Today's snippet sounds something like...
TLY says:
dude
i found a whip to be used on you
some rope to tie u up as well

Me says:
another conversation for the poll?

TLY says:
up to u man
they can say im gay bt im clearly not
my job is just to make life hell for u

Me says:
hmmmm, alright then
but you're lucky, no one's said you're gay and my clown friends are messing with the poll callin you perfectly normal =p

TLY says:
*monkey clapping hands emoticon*
u lose man
bugger bugger bugger
whip n bugger u

Me says:
lala

TLY says:
i really so need to find a girl

Me says:
hahahaha
just a reminder: Girls have no penises k?
in case you've forgotten

TLY says:
i juz need holes
bugger u for wat ler?
oni interested in ur hole

Me says:
you are disgusting

Lalala~

This was a while a go when I caught my blog counters going at an almost perfect, intense 69 =p "6666" devil the rebel. "9990" dang =p In fact, when I came here today to write this post, the first counter's at '8000', nice lil numbers for me every time =p

How cool

"Purposely grow one side longer to scare you"
(Anonymous [ha ha], 2009).

..by a female fiend friend, with reference to armpit hair.. to scare my male friend.

Piano

Hey world. I just began piano classes today, 45 minutes inclusive of theory and practical. The teacher sounded experienced and all, good signs. Next week there'll be no class, and the following week we'll resume. Good thing is, next lesson onwards we'll work with the 'adult workbook' rather than the lil grade 1 books with 'colour the animals according to their beat' or something like that. hmm.. shuddup you laughing theory/piano experts out there, I'll get there someday. hahaha, I'm so glad I've finally started this =p

Vulgar

Check this out


"The 9 Most Devastating Insults from Around the World"

Have a nice day

I Just Realized

I forgot to mention to the world (my blog, actually) that I have been working part time as a lab demonstrator for first year chemistry students at uni while doing Honours. The last session for this semester just finished yesterday, and it's been an interesting 7 experiments with them =p Great experience, marking their shit reports right now. Gives you a headache, yet when someone scores well/took your advice/improved substantially over time, you feel so good about it =p I feel so fatherly. haha.

It's rather cute when I go missing for half the experiment because I had a lecture and made a colleague take over and when I come back mid-experiment, the students (females, whew) go yelling "JK, we miss you, where have you been?!" They've either been mistreated by my colleague or they just like teasing the little demo. Also, during the last session, one student actually came to take a picture with me, how cute. haha. Ah, I think I may actually end up missing my maidne batch of students. Short shorts. hahah, inside joke =p

okay, back to marking their shit reports.

Awkward

Slowly, steadily, it's gonna be over,
or maybe it's only going slower.
Ready rabbit's gone to slack,
Rowdy howdy's gone to pack.
Ya know what I'm saying?
Funny, how with all these words I'm playing.
Orang utans are cuter than them,
rectum ravagers who only condemn.

Thank god for all I've gotten,
Healing me from things I've forgotten.
Elephants hoppin round the lair of analysis,
breaking their bones and causing paralysis.
Oh no, oh no, horrible scene,
orgasms and oranges and a subtle fiend.
Bamboozling animals in their wretched lair,
bullshiting about some wild gay affair.
rape and fantasies in the impure mind,
unravels upon meeting the divine.
Shit.
Hex this unclean shit.

Happy days,
enigmatic ways,
rabbit face?
elephant pace.
'
Sexy.

yoddling sheep,
onus on you, bleep bleep,
undo the damage done,
run run run?

Cello o' mellow,
horny, happy fellow,
easy breezy?
extremely sleazy.
Sellin your ass?
elephant's cash.
Cheesecakes be eaten,
asses be beaten.
Kill the beasts?
Elaborate, please?

=)

17th-18th March 09 (day 14 of litter bag study) in Cameron's

This trip was a trip by the dynamic duo, William and I of course. Awkward moments of gayhood were not present in the trip for we were both sure and confident of our sexuality, unlike some other man-to-man trips. I think in my countless Cameron's trips, this one harboured the nicest pictures and I'll share what I have with you finally. Maybe it's just because we had more time to snap around since it was just the two of us. Enjoy =P

Water extraction for human use from Pertang stream in Cameron Highlands, unsightly indeed.
A little deeper into Pertang stream where the more pristine, upstream parts are, it's actually rather beautiful.
Even though the pipework does extend quite deep upstream of Pertang.
And up here, wild bananas are one of the dominant plants that tends to grow in clusters. The trees I mean, not the fruit. The fruit obviously grows in bunches.

Many of these pictures actually ended up in my Honours proposal presentation, where I presented in front several lecturers and my fellow Honours students. There, a banana-esque canopy layer. And this 'ghostfoot' tree which has really pretty leaves that may have a very different number of prongs even when they grow from the same plant. But, the ghostfoot tree's stems are even more impressive, freaking cylindrical durians that have caused me countless punctures on my hands and scratches on my legs The magic of sunflecks. Makes anything it hits in a dark place beautiful. Whee. Spot the William. Ok, enough. and the random unknown fruit. I like. Sunfleck on little plant. My project presentation front cover. Was also my desktop wallpaper for a long time. It's more than just a mushroom there, enlarge the picture. Or if you have really sharp eyes, you should see another cute being in the picture. Over-exposure (chao guong). Spot spidey. More 'chao guong' My 'Thank You' slide for my presentation. Green roses? hehe "Always look on the bright side of life" Hello! I tried very hard to capture the patterns on the leaf up-close, but it's just too hard. Lighting + shaking problem, note that we have hiked up the stream at least an hour and a half. haha, shaking by then. It's cold ya know? Not just a walk-through dry ground with a pretty trail (like what Yee Hou probably thought of Mount Irau, wakakaka). Lobang to the sky There, right in the middle Ghostfoot leaf Ghostfoot leaf.. Ghostfoot leaf!? Whoa! Ghostfoot leaf with a growth >_< Right at the top of the stream where we can reach, this is the upward view, which I absolutely adore. Adorance that leads to more pictures. And more pictures. I like how these ferns (the one on the right especially) look when you capture them from the side. Hello~ Am I dead? Nah I'd be in hell if I were. Take a little closer at the rocks at the streams entrance and you'll notice these many, little things. Things that I always thought were firmly set in stone. Apparently not. This is how it looks from a normal distance. My beloved scissors deciding to mutilate my bag. Yikes. The fun of over-exposing. I'm speaking of camera settings, alright? This is tinier than it appears =p
Outside of Pertang stream, Dr. William attempts to save a pile of branches from its undue death. He tries hard, as it all faded into black... and white.. and maybe a little grey. Alas, defeated and depressed, he turns and walks away to find a better day. Before it all died. My sexy 4 wheeler posin outside where we hiked.
More tea plantation, with a random stray William snappin photos with his new camera.
His UV-sensitive glasses that turns dark upon increase of UV radiation. Tells you how high the levels of UV radiation is up there. Makes sense, we're almost 2km closer to the sun than in KL after all.
Happy guy.
Alright. Zoom time.
This fern is from the picture above, after a 20x zooming using the camera. Where was it?
Note the lil red circle on the middle-left.
Watched 'Watchmen' people? Tajang's parody (this piece of paper has since been modified, I shall show the newest version soon) of Roshack (Is that spelled right?), which may be very well-suited to a particular shroudy figure from our lab..
The sort of thing that awaits me when I come back to the lab. Miss ya guys.
#$%((#$(*&^%

Why the sudden blog after so much laziness? Well, I'm going for another one of these trips tomorrow, same setting, with William, so I thought I should really write up before it piles up further. Ta world! Be back soon!