Cambodia, ELC 07 & NECF Dinner Pix

Here are some links to some photos I took while I was in Cambodia, Singapore and at last night's NECF dinner! Check it out ...

http://wengyuen.multiply.com/photos/album/2

http://wengyuen.multiply.com/photos/album/3

http://wengyuen.multiply.com/photos/album/4

Enjoy!

Breaking My Dead Silence

I've been super silent these past few weeks cos' I've been doing a lot of traveling. I was in Cambodia and that was followed up by a recent trip to Singapore for Eagles Leadership Conference where I was thoroughly inspired by all that I heard there. In case some of you don't know who Joni Eareckson-Tada is here's a link to her website. I've been very touched by her sharing of her life to all those who attended the conference.

Here's a pic of Joni I pulled off the web

I have had the privilege of listening to her 3 times in the past few days and I look into my heart and I realise that the disabilities I have are far worse than Joni's quadriplegia. The one thing that strikes me most is the pure joy that emanates from her and I shared with Juwita that I'll miss hearing that. I am more disabled than Joni in her wheelchair. I am bound and trapped by my own selfishness, self-centredness and by self-pity. I'm not being who God wants me to be and I'm thankful that He shows me right now in this time of my life.

I have had to make hard choices in this past month especially. I have to let go of someone who has become very close to me and to trust God to bring her back to me if it's within His plan but more importantly I have to right now work on things in my own life that I've struggled with immensely all this while. I want to lean on God in my weaknesses and come out of this strong and totally dependent on Him. I understand now that the pang of loneliness in my heart is one that is crying out for God. Even though I've known Him for almost all my life I have yet to totally give my life over to Him. I'm just as stubborn in having my own way as any other person. To be fair to myself I have grown a lot and learnt how to give up things to Him but I guess being human it takes us such a long time to really learn how to trust God completely with our lives. A very good friend of mine once said to me that the problem with being a living sacrifice is that we tend to wander of God's altar. How true that is. How true.

I've got a few pix to post on my recent trip to Singapore. I'll drop a link to them later tonight once I've uploaded the pix. Right now I just wanna close by thanking God for Joni Eareckson-Tada and the inspiration that she is to so many; that she allows God to use her and in her humility to not let her suffering become a crutch but rather a strength that gives God complete glory. I was just telling my business partner Juwita that I'll miss hearing her voice because it has become so familiar all throughout the conference. There is such joy that emanates from her and I thank God for someone like Joni who can rejoice because of her suffering.

That's all from me. Keep an eye out for my pix soon. I've gotta get em' off my phone and upload em' in a bit.

Cheers!

Good Lord! Nintendo has just announced a brand new video game that actually benefits our health! The game helps players build up their fitness and it's called ... *drum roll* ... Wii Fit! I've been reading online previews on GameSpot & GameSpy plus caught some videos at Nintendo's official site and it's gotten me very excited about how beneficial it'll be.

The game really looks awesome and would be good fun for the whole family. I'm definitely picking up a copy of the game when it comes out. It'd certainly make my daily work out a whole lot fun although I still would be hitting the gym for my 30-minute treadmill sessions. I don't think this game would help me in getting my heart rate up! We still need our cardio workouts yeah?

KUDOS to Nintendo for making video games not just a mental exercise but a physical one as well. I must say that I do not regret picking up my Nintendo Wii. It's been a good companion and has gotten me & my family together in some ways to do something fun & simple together!

Here are some pix I got off Nintendo's website to give you guys some idea of what Wii Fit is gonna be like. I hope Nintendo doesn't sue me for using these pix ... I'm giving them free publicity-lah!

YOGA anyone?

I can seriously see how push-ups would be more fun with Wii Fit!

NINTENDO truly ROCKS! Check out the official site by clicking on the link below to catch a great video of how Wii Fit actually works.

http://e3.nintendo.com/wii_fit.html

Happy Birthday BRO!

It's my brother Luke's birthday today! So here's a big shout out of HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! I'll put up pictures of last night's birthday celebration with his cell group later. It's 9:16am now and I've gotta be at church later today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKE!!!

Re-starting a Life Put on Hold

It's been a long week this week. I've been hanging out late at night chatting with a new friend and venting a lot. At the same time also learning more about what it's like to be free of the shackles of pain that I put myself through over her (her = the girl I was/am in love with). Am learning to let go some more of all the pent up anger & disappointment in me. Am learning also to start living my life again and to lay to rest the hope that she'd open her heart to me again.

Writing these words makes me feel like there's a finality to it all. Maybe God will bring her back to me one day ... maybe there's someone else out there who waiting for me. Whatever it is God has given me hope again. And that's a good thing. It's time to super-glue together my life after 2 years of picking up the broken pieces. I will always mourn the loss of her heart and forever regret my inability to hold myself together in my desperation to want to be with her. All I wanted was for her to love me ... but it's over now. For good.

Anyways, this week has been a solid week. Not as productive as I would like but it was a good week. I caught Transformers again last Wednesday. The 2nd time wasn't as amazing as the first but it was worth a 2nd watch nevertheless. The difference this time round is that I could take in all the detail that I missed when I first watched it. The sound effects in that movie are top-notch & the movie was delivered in true Michael Bay fashion. A stirring score by Hans Zimmer rounds off the package. It most definitely wins my vote for best sci-fi/fantasy/action movie this year.

The evening with my cell members was great & everyone celebrating Ee Von's birthday that night made it a perfect cell outing. It was heart-warming to see her so happy and to hear the laughter coming from all around the dinner table. Aaah ... The simple joys of being a cell-leader. Here are some pictures of our "makan" that day. It was good fun and a proud moment for me being a part of this group. Enjoy!

This is the lot of em' ... THE SALTSHAKERS.
Err ... except for Roland.

This is some weird girl thing ... don't take my picture please?!
Sorry Daph, but I've taken it already!

That's Ee Von the birthday girl looking up at us ...
can you guess which one she is?

That's Lina on the far right, Ling Yew,
Nat (Ling Yew's definite better half ) & Ee Von

That's Elly on the far right, Matt, Angie & Terence.
Sorry Ling Yew ... my camera phone doesn't have a wide-angle lens

Here's a picture perfect shot of Daphne, Ee Von and Lina who is faaaar at the back.
Oh! Lina's from Korea by the way. Can any of you tell?

A Shot of the THREE MOST MACHO GUYS in the SaltShakers!
Can you smell the testosterone?!!

Here's Tim! He's the youngest guy in cell so he's like the small brother in our "family".
Lina says he's adorably cute!

Mr Kenneth looking immensely pleased after a delightful meal of pancakes!

The birthday girl's birthday pancake? STRANGE but TRUE!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ..." Oh! Was I singing too loud?

So there you have it! Happy Birthday Ee Von!!! And may all the blessings and good things we wished for you that night come true ... err ... soon!!!

To cap off this blog entry I'll end off with another movie. Last night I caught Die Hard 4.0 with Ivan & another friend. Die Hard was an action-fest and I loved every minute of it. There were just times when my jaw stayed agape at the reality-defying scenes playing before my eyes. It was most definitely a thrill ride for me.

The week still isn't over. Tomorrow is our regular book study and Ling Yew's cooking lunch for us at his place in Sg Buloh. And on Sunday we're off to Gentings! Hooray! It's gonna be another great weekend! It'd be tiring but good. Can't wait!

Cheers!

Weekend Escape in PD

Here are some snapshots of the retreat that I had with my cell in Port Dickson last weekend. All taken with my trusty and battle-scarred Sony Ericsson K70i. Heh ... pretty nifty. Here's the very first shot I took of Kenneth in his lo fu chi pose. The poor dude forgot to bring t-shirts in his hurry so for our Saturday outing he had to go out in his singlet and shorts. I must say that he looks really cool in an old Chinese sort of way.

Who's the Coolest Chinese Dude in Town?

Here are shots of Super Ling Yew getting ready to fly out the window. Fortunately Nataly was there to stop him. I think perhaps he would have been able to fly cos' he was super throughout the entire retreat. 3 cheers for Ling Yew!

Here I Come Blue Skies!

Up, Up and Away!

Ling Yew & His BEST "Dirty" Mamak Pose

Here's a pic of Patrick calmly eating his breakfast and enjoying his magazine yesterday. And here's one shot of Terence who hurt his back unfortunately while we were mucking around at Transformers while in the pool on Saturday. The guys were really good though and managed to persuade him to go to the hospital to get his back checked out.

This Magazine's more Interesting than my Food

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast with a view (Shawn's head & the seaside of course!)

What's Up Doc?

And here's shot of my very cute intern Daphne waiting for everyone to finish up breakfast so we can start worship. You go girl!

Why is every still EATING?!!

I didn't take that many shots really. So here's the last batch of shots I took when the guys had to finish up a carton of milk before we left for home. Here are the contestants for the impromptu milk drinking contest we had. The prize goes to Patrick! Who gulped down an entire glass of milk in less than 5secs me thinks.

Contestant No 1

Our Winner!

2nd Fastest Milk Drinker

PD was most definitely FUN! Wish some of you could have come with me. We had loads of fun and lots of Taboo every single night. We spent a lot of time cleaning too cos' apartments by the beach filled with 14 young adults can get messy. All in all it was a good trip. I'll put up more pix once I get all the pictures from all the hi-tech SLR cameras that 3 of my cell members had.

Cheers!

So Much More than Meets the Eye

TRANSFORMERS totally rocked. It absolutely is the BEST Summer Blockbuster I've seen so far. I doubt that even Die Hard 4.0 would top it (which I'm definitely gonna be watching). Somehow I feel quite a tinge of excitement about it and am nostalgic about the slam bang action fest that the original Die Hard movie was.

My only gripe about Transformers is ... why does the darn website hang my browser all the time?! I use Firefox 2.0 on my iBook and every time I try to look up the Robots subsection on the site it hangs?! It doesn't matter whether I'm in the Autobot or Decepticon portions of the site. Sigh ... I wanna make more wallpaper for my Sony Ericsson K750i and would like to have a Bumblebee wallpaper instead of just modifying the default Optimus or Megatron ones like I did before. It's pretty cool having Optimus on my phone. I'm most pleased by the simple theme that I made.

Anyways, I'm off to Port Dickson in an hour or two from now. I'll be driving down together with Angie. I'm already pretty much packed. I've just gotta put together some Devotional material for my members and I'm good to go. It's been a good day today but I was so tired that I slept a bit just so I'll be more rested for my drive down to PD.

Here's a picture of me and Optimus that my cousin took of me at Robotcon 2007 at Cineleisure Mutiara Damansara. It's supposedly the biggest model of Optimus Prime in the world. Ha ha! What is it with Malaysia and setting records?


Cheers and here's to a FUN weekend this weekend!

I Forgive You

It's easy to say these 3 words but hard to do. So I'm just gonna declare to the world that I forgive you. There'll always be a special place in my heart for you and if you'd only choose me I'd say yes in an instant. I'm sorry I've been more a curse than a blessing in your life. I wish I could take back some of my angry words but I can't. I'm blessed to have had the opportunity to love you; to have felt the way I did for you ... it made me feel alive inside in so many ways. My biggest regret is that in my obsession to want to be with you I got lost along the way; that in the darkness of my hopelessness I turned a good thing into a bad one. I don't expect you to settle for 2nd best so don't let me be 2nd best, a life-partner should be God's best and I wish that for you. I'm sorry for everything. I hope you'll read this one day but I'll leave it to God to lead you to this message. You know who you are. Take care and I pray His face shines upon you all the way. *smiles*

Fasting Ain't Easy ...

I just started on a personal fast yesterday and today is DAY 2! GOODNESS! It's not easy to fast at all. I've not had a bite to eat except liquids and um ... one milkshake. It's been doing me some good and has softened my heart some (must be God at work!).

I've just been asked to get my whole cell group to sit together in a cluster and the possibility of having HER around is eating me up some. It's hard being asked to think about the group and to have a Kingdom mentality. Feels like I'm being asked to put duty before self every time. I've always put others before me and foregone personal comfort in a lot of my decisions and I feel very unappreciated in doing that. Does anyone ever think of me and my own comfort? I know ... sounds selfish, but that's a struggle that I'm faced with every time it comes to her.

I want to do the right thing and I will but I've had to harden my heart a lot in order to be strong. To push her out of my heart so that I don't have to keep on loving someone who does not appreciate those feelings. I had to choose to hate when all I had was love. I don't know how to fix things between us anymore. I don't even know anymore what I want. I wanted to be a blessing in her life. To be someone who could be there for her ... to be a friend and to love her. But she's just been so critical of me. Maybe I've got self-esteem issues. My best friend tells me that I've got it all but why is it that I'm still single then? That's the million dollar question ain't it? Another question that bugs me now is do I still wanna be with her? I guess I do but what's the point if I'm going to be 2nd-choice? Yeah ...

Well, dear reader ... I don't want to depress you guys so here's a low down on my SUMMER MOVIE sojourn. I've been watching at least 2 movies a week and it's been awesome. Here's my take on all the movies I've caught over the past 2 months.

• Spider-Man 3 (2 & 12 May 07)
  Really awesome movie this one. I watched it twice and only made up my mind that I liked it after the 2nd watch. It's melodramatic but I must say that it made sense that Spidey could turn arrogant and shirk the help of other "lesser" beings. It's a great watch and I'm definitely getting the DVD when it comes out. The villains were pretty disappointing though; mostly because there were too many of them and unlike the previous two movies I couldn't emphatise much with the villains as people. VENOM looked really cool but was very under-utilised.
  

• Next (14 May 07)
  This one was an OK watch but had a very disappointing ending that made the whole movie feel like such a waste of screen-time. I wouldn't recommend this movie.

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (25 May 07)
  Pirates was an action-packed romp through pirated-infested waters! I enjoyed it thoroughly and Johnny Depp was brilliant. I mean ... if ever there were a crazed pirate who wanted immortality ... Jack Sparrow's it. The action sequences are over the top and it was a BLAST to watch. I loved every minute of it. AVAST me hearties!
  
  
• Shrek 3 (2 June 07)
  Shrek 3 was a good watch. It was funny but it did get a little bit draggy especially with the whole Shrek turning into a father-like, advisor figure to King Arthur. The supporting characters are great; especially Gingerbread Man and Pinocchio.

• Blades of Glory (4 June 07)
  Good, mindless fun ... that's all I can say. I had a blast watching it and it made me really happy. I laughed and laughed. The jokes weren't cerebral but that's exactly what I was looking for. It certainly made my day!
  
  
• The Last Mimzy (8 June 07)
  This one was a pleasant surprise. The child leads were really good. A definite feel-good movie that brings you back to more innocent days when we were kids.
  
  
• Priceless (9 June 07)
  A French romantic comedy. My first international flick in ages. It was funny and most certainly different. Twisted morals but it had a happy ending. I'd recommend it to those looking for something different.
  
  
• Ocean's 13 (11 June 07)
  I liked this one more than Ocean's 12. But less than Ocean's 11. It was entertaining and I had good laughs with my brother and my friend Ivan who watched it with us. And it's always cool to see a hypothetical crime being pulled off.
  
  
• The Namesake (13 June 07)
  Mira Nair's a brilliant director and this one really touched a chord in my heart about being Asian. It's a wonderful story and really speaks about our culture and how so often we lose it in the face of modernity and especially so with Western influences. We are so much less Asian that it's pretty sad. A must watch for those looking for something out of the ordinary.
  
  
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (16 June 07)
  Way better than the first movie. And the Silver Surfer is really cool. Buff too. All the girls who watched it with me were swooning over him. Gah! Ha ha! Too little Doctor Doom though. Not the best comic book adaptation this summer, I'd say Spider-Man 3 tops that one in my book. Another comic book movies to watch out for is Iron-Man which has got Robert Downey Jr in the title role. How cool is that?
  
  
• My Neighbor Totoro (DVD - 17 June 07)
  I've heard so much about this movie and finally managed to watch it after splurging RM200 on a boxed Studio Ghibli set. Am very much in support of buying original stuff ever since I started working in the music industry. Main reason why I got the set was cos' of Spirited Away which I wanted to screen for the Film Appreciation class. Anyways, back to My Neighbor Totoro ... TOTORO is waaaay cool. He's huge. Furry and a hit with the girls. The depiction of love between siblings is presented in a very special way here and reminded me about my own fights & play-time with my brother when we were younger. This movie warmed my heart and gave me the izzy fuzzies.
  
  
• Surf's Up (22 June 07)
  I bought tickets twice for this one cos' I missed the 5pm show due to an over-run in a work appointment. I had good laughs in this one and the animation was superb. Made me feel like I wanted to be a surfer dude and travel the world to look for choice waves. Totally radical man ...
  
  
• Children of Men (DVD - 23 June 07)
  I picked up a copy of this after hearing about it while doing research for the film appreciation class I took over for my friend Choon Ean. It was pretty depressing to watch but brilliant. The sound design was amazing and the way it was shot made me feel like I was right there with Clive Owen in the middle of an oppressive version of England in the future. It made my Saturday drab but definitely worth a 2nd-watch (when I'm not depressed of course).
  

That's it from me, you have my thoughts on all the films that I've caught in the past two months. I believe Transformers is gonna rock! Michael Bay! Optimus Prime! What's there not to like? I've got my very own ticket for this Thursday. Anyone care to join me? :)

New Video Games & So MUCH More

Wow ... I've decided to finally do a bit more blogging this year especially in the wake of all the new things that have been happening in my life. PLUS not just a boatload but a shitload of video game updates.

It's 8:26pm now. I've not had dinner and have been going at Puzzle Quest on my Nintendo DS for the past 2 hours or so I think. Last I remember it was 6:30pm and had just climbed a top my loft bed. I played & played till the battery on my DS died and so I've been forced out of my Puzzle Quest! Ha ha! I'm hungry now so I better go scrounge out some food. Looks like it's gonna be good old "sambal-flavoured" Indomie! Yums! My absolute favourite.

Some gaming updates! My brother & I picked up a Nintendo Wii last month and it's been good fun. We've even gotten our dad hooked on it; it's mostly the tennis mini-game in Wii Sports though. I picked up a copy of Super Paper Mario too but haven't dug my teeth into that game properly yet. The bundle came with Marvel Ultimate Alliance which was pretty OK and even though I wasn't too impressed at first I found myself going back to it again & again for more mindless beat em' up action.

I've also been picking up lots of original PS2 titles whenever I visit Singapore and am the proud owner of quite a few titles. I'm particularly pleased with Guitar Hero II which is super good fun. Since I play the guitar pretty OK, getting through the game is quite alright but am stuck on the Hard setting which requires a lot of dexterity. The Expert setting almost killed me and made me feel like I suck at guitar (I don't in real life)! Ha ha!

On a more serious note, things are picking up for me. Being able to blog again is good since it must mean that I'm not feeling too depressed anymore. 2-and-a-half years of pining for one girl certainly takes its toll on a person. I've started a new music label with Juwita called Four Forty Records, I've been meeting many local celebrities in my work and my cell group in church is really growing. Things are picking up definitely and just recently I've decided to just forget her and move on with my life. It's hard having to stop loving someone who has chosen to ignore all that's good about you in favour of someone else whom you know doesn't match up in so many ways to you but that's just life. I honestly don't know how I can be friends with her again but I guess I'll just have to leave it to God to work that out. Right now it's time to glue back all the pieces of my broken heart and to enjoy what God is blessing me with in the here and now.

I've gotten a Sony Ericsson K750i but Blogger doesn't have that much space for pix. I'll have to figure out how to get more space so I can put up pix of my room and also all the video game stuff that I've gotten in the past 2 years. In addition to that I've been to lots of places too! And also I wanna give everyone on the World Wide Web a glimpse into the always exciting & never dull moments of my life (it can get tedious but I must say that's it's always interesting!).

I'll drop a post sometime tomorrow I guess. Time to look into how to get more webspace for pictures!

Cheers!

Farewell to a Friend

I haven't blogged in 2 years and today I'm just gonna drop a short note to pay my respects to a friend who has served with many of us in our creative arts group in my church. Her body was found just a few days ago; she was the victim of a terrible crime and will be missed.

Peng, we know that you are in a place much better than this. Where there are no more tears, sorrow and pain. You will be missed.

For those of you who knew her her wake will most likely be held tonight (23rd May 2007) at 8pm. For more details and a map to the service check out my friend Joshua's blog which can be found below:

Wake Details Here ...

Thanks.

The Promise

I haven't blogged in yonks and here I am posting an entry after watching a Mix FM sponsored premiere of "The Promise" starring Cecilia Cheung and some Korean dude. I can't remember his name at all cos' He wasn't that good looking to begin with. The other notable in the movie was Nicholas Tse who played the bad guy.

I didn't have any expectations at all for the movie and went into the cinema not knowing what was in store for me. In short I must say I was pretty amused by the movie in general. To its credit the cinematography was alright with some really nice angles & framing. Plus some of the scenery was breathtaking but that's all the praise the movie is going to get from me.

The plot was simplistic and it meandered on for most of the movie. It felt like one huge uncontrollable fairy tale complete with ridiculous scenes of people flying in the sky. Some of these scenes were supposed to be romantic but I think a lot of us in the cinema ended up laughing instead of being touched. Sigh ... you know a movie is in trouble when you see a guy pulling his lady love through the sky like a kite. There were moments when it could have been really romantic but somehow everything just falls flat because of the direction the story was being steered into. There were moments of campiness in the movie too; especially Nicholas Tse's weird stick weapon that had a gold hand with its index finger pointing out. The movie is just filled with moments that confuse you; should I be laughing now or should I be crying?

The casting was pretty weak too. The Korean guy wasn't a very strong lead actor and I must say that Nicholas Tse overshadowed him on all counts. I mean if you don't have acting chops at the very least be good-looking-lah ... aiyo! Cecilia Cheung felt miscast too! I mean she's always this sweet character in all her previous roles but in this one she's supposed to be a seductress whom men would die or kill for. I didn't get that at all and honestly I don't see why everyone in the movie wanted her so much. Silly men!

The writers tried to deal with a wide variety of themes but I think in trying to deal with so many themes everything just diluted along the way. Personally as a amateur writer I've found from experience that having too many themes just confuses the audience and the end-product just becomes weak. Here are some of the themes that I think they were trying to deal with:

• Love (sacrificial, unrequited, scorned, etc)
• Loyalty & Honour
• Fate & Destiny

I suppose the main theme of the movie was about fate and how one can't really change it but it just doesn't come out strong because of way the scenes were being treated. At the start of the movie there's this scene where the Korean dude races through a herd of stampeding bulls and I tried suspending my belief but I couldn't. The movie is filled with cartoonish instances like that and I guess the movie suffered from the treatment it was getting from the director.

Sigh ... at the end of the day I don't hate the movie. The whole group of us who went had a nice laugh outside the cinema and I'd say we were amused at the very least. If you're a Nicholas Tse fan skip this one cos' there are embarassing instances in the movie that the director puts him through. Cecilia Cheung fans ... um ... she's pretty-lor. That's all I can say. If you're expecting another Hero or Seven Swords then please, please give this one a miss. Go watch "Perhaps Love" starring Takeshi Kaneshiro & Jacky Cheung. Now that's a good watch! Or better yet just catch "King Kong" - it most definitely wins my vote for movie of the year!

Cheap XBOX!

I just got a call from my buhd over at Gamester Direct in 1U about a sweet deal for an under-played XBOX for just RM800! If I could afford it I'd probably get one but as it is I've already made my one brand new console purchase for the year already. Yes ... I must admit now that I have gotten me a brand new NINTENDO DS and it's still not even a month old. Anyway if anyone of you are interested in the XBOX just head on over to Gamester Direct in 1U and ask Eddie at the shop. Tell em' you read about it on Chris Leow's blog. The XBOX package contains the following:

• 2 S-controllers (the smaller sized XBOX controllers not the clunky ones)
• 2 original games (Halo 1 & Star Wars: Clone Wars)
• 150 "other" games
• The XBOX unit itself plus the cables (TV, power cable, etc)

I'm not too sure what colour it is though so if check it out if any of you out there are interested. It's a pretty sweet deal I must say! Meanwhile I gotta get back to my DS ... I've been playing with it a whole lot more than my GameCube or my PS2. The touch screen on that baby brings a unique flavour to gaming and I must say I've been having loads of fun playing Kirby: Canvas Curse and just recently acquired a copy of Meteos too which I have yet to spend much time on.

Long live NINTENDO!

Lazy Blogger

I realise that I am such a lazy blogger. I am not compelled at all to write on a daily basis. I think that's because I keep a journal of my own which contain all my thoughts. Writing is therapeutic and I think my personal journal is one of the things that helps me get through life. It unravels the jumbled mess that's in my mind and it's sorta like talking to God too. I've been keeping a journal since 2003 I think and I've yet to go back and read all the stuff from before. It's like I pen all these things down just to get it out of my system.

The BIGGEST news I have is my brand new iBook (well almost brand new cos' I bought it 2nd hand from my Singaporean friend's girlfriend). Macs are totally cool and OS X is a joy to use. It's UNIX roots are something I have yet to explore fully though and the thought of writing time-saving AppleScripts sends a tingle down my spine. Looks like the programmer in me isn't that dead after all.

I wish the iBook had a bigger hard-drive though cos' I loaded it with MP3s and I pretty much filled the hard-drive already ... BUMMEROO! White objects are so hard to keep clean and already the pristine white surface is getting dirty. Sigh ... time to plonk more money down for some expensive cleaning solution. Will probably get some when I hit Singapore at the end of the month since all items TECH are cheap there. MacASIA is really ripping us off; this anti-static protector I saw which costs USD17.00 is being sold for RM99 bucks which is soooooo expensive. Man! Talk about a huge profit margin.

On another note, working in Oops! Asia is uber cool. The music industry is cool although it's a real challenge to figure out how a small label like us can make a difference. Malaysians are a tough bunch; no one really supports local musicians and it's at times like this that I dislike being one. I'm the same too and I guess it's an ugly reflection of myself that I never really thought about. I don't watch local movies and I don't listen to local music. Funny how I'm now in a local music label. God certainly has a sense of humour. Don't get me wrong though ... I love what I'm doing now and I wouldn't trade it for anything else.

Hmm ... looks like I'm back to my old habit of rambling. Unfortunately it's not about video games. Maybe I'll write something about video games after this. Till then ... ta!

Resident Evolution

Hello one and all ... Happy New Year to all of you who are celebrating the Year of the Rooster over the next few days. Festivals don't seem to be as joyous nowadays; I guess once you've grown up it isn't as big a deal as it used to be. Ha ha! Maybe I'm just jaded but it was all so different when I was a kid.

I borrowed Resident Evil 0 for the Nintendo Gamecube (GCN) and rushed through it over the past week or so just to experience what a traditional Resident Evil game is like. I must say that after playing through it once, I can see why the Resident Evil (RE) series is a big turn off to some people. Here are some of the gripes that I had about old-school Resident Evil.

Up is forward & "Back" is back
Resident Evil's control scheme has got to be one of the most awful control schemes I have ever used in a video game. Pressing up on the analog stick or D-pad is very confusing and it took me awhile to get used to it. To be fair it did get tolerable after awhile.

Door-opening irritation
Loading times were a bit of a pain as the game required constant backtracking; forcing you (the player) to sit through loading animations of doors opening or climbing up ladders to load levels.

Insane & inane puzzles
Puzzles in a traditional RE game are pretty ... um ... "puzzling". There is some logic behind it which isn't that hard to figure out but the most frustrating thing about the puzzles is figuring out which objects in the backdrops are interactable. With no visual cues whatsoever the puzzles become a chore rather than a challenge to tackle.

After playing through RE0 it made me appreciate Resident Evil 4 all the more. I'm glad that Capcom dumped the old-school RE stuff and made a brand new game with RE4. Yes ... for those of you who have been following this blog, I bought RE4 about a month ago and it was a fun romp. The developers focused on action but left in a lot of spine tingling moments at the same time. It's a brilliant game, deceptively simple and yet addictively replayable. Within days of my first run through the game I went through it again after unlocking some of the super weapons just for the heck of it. I was in the middle of my 3rd playthrough on the "Professional" difficulty but then decided to pass it to my friend Kar Yean in exchange for "Resident Evil 0" and "Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem" because I wanted to find out what the backstory was for the RE universe. Eternal Darkness isn't a RE game by the way, I just wanted to play it because I've heard so much about it. RE0 was somewhat disappointing to say the least; mostly because of the 3 points I raised in this blog. I'm glad that RE4 threw away all that and made a fresh start because RE4 was such a blast to play!

If you're an action junkie then RE4 comes highly recommended. I had loads of fun and when I get it back from Kar Yean I'll have some more fun with it. RE fans who love the puzzle elements might be disappointed with RE4's simple puzzles but then again the action more than makes up for it. PLUS the enemies you battle are truly creepy; a hallmark of any Resident Evil game. Give it a whirl if you're a Gamecube owner, if not wait till Capcom releases the PS2 version. My money's on the Gamecube version though cos' the game was developed from the ground up for the GCN and it's unlikely the PS2 version will be as polished graphically as the GCN one. Resident Evil 4 definitely lived up to the media hype and certainly exceeded my expectations. Here's my final verdict on RE4; a truly evolved form of Resident Evilness.

Fun Factor: 10 out of 10
Addictiveness: 10 out of 10
Graphics: 10 out of 10
Overall Grade: 10 out of 10

Stung!

It's 12:35am and I am now sitting here at the computer listening to more Sting while I write this. 3 hours ago I was in Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil watching Sting perform LIVE! I loved every minute of it even though I'm not too familiar with the songs off his latest album Sacred Love. It was an hour and a half of pure magic as the whole stadium listened to a mix of both old and new stuff. There were songs from his older solo efforts as well as crowd pleasers from his days with The Police.

My favourite last night was definitely "Every Breath You Take" which till today remains my all time favourite Sting track. Listening to songs like "Fields of Gold" and "Fragile" live was pure bliss. Dominic Miller, Sting's guitarist was brilliant as he played his Sunburst Strat with such precision. His guitar work is so sublime and for some reason he's one of my favourite guitar players because of his work with Mr Gordon Sumner.

I'm glad I could go; almost didn't make it cos' my friend Paul and I thought there would be Leaders Meeting in church tonight. Much to our surprise and slight chagrin we found out that there wasn't gonna be any meeting. And so on Monday morning began our frantic calls to find out if there would still be tickets for Sting or not. By God's grace there were tickets that fit our budget and so we made bookings yesterday for 2 tickets.

And so my journey to the concert began at 4:30pm as I took the LRT to Kerinchi to meet Paul so we could drop by Midvalley to pick up our tickets. We had dinner at Carrefour nearby before finally driving into Stadium Putra at 7:15pm for our date with Sting.

The song that most surprised me last night was "If I Ever Lose My Faith You" and the duet he sang with one his backup singers for the rendition of "Whenever I Say Your Name". I must say that it sounded a thousand times better than the studio version he sang with Mary J. Blige. Sting's energy was amazing; being 53 years old and all. He is in my opinion one of the most defining musicians in our generation with his music that ranges all kinds of musical styles. His lyrics are pure poetry and well I truly consider him a musical genius! The band that played with him was awesome. The times when they broke into musical interludes was amazing. You could just feel the jazz in their souls as they jammed.

All in all I'm most glad I could go watch Sting; one of my all time favourite artistes in the universe. For that short moment in time I was truly STUNG! Now if only Dave Matthews would come down sometime. Heh heh!

Oh by the way check out Paul's blog here to find out what he felt about Sting. Till next time ... I leave you guys with these magical words ... STING TRULY ROCKS!

The PSP, DS & RE4 Edge

I am so hyped over the newly released Resident Evil 4 for the Nintendo GameCube. The major online video game sites have had nothing but good things to say about it. The visuals, the gameplay and the exquisitely cinematic presentation just increases the anticipated arrival of my copy. My regular supplier unfortunately can only get it in on the 17th which fortunately isn't that far away. I already have visions of crazed villagers being shot by Leon S. Kennedy dancing in front of my eyes. Man ... I wish I had a bigger TV to contain all that graphical mayhem.

On another note, I've been splurging on video game magazines this week and bought 3 issues of Edge. It is by far the best gaming publication I have ever read. The articles are thought provoking and well written. It is THE publication to read if you want to get a grasp of REAL issues in the video game design community. Check it out at www.edge-online.com. The layouts are nice and there's a design sense to them that should intrigue some of you designers out there.

I've been drooling over the PSP and Nintendo DS. The graphics on the PSP is amazing. Crisp graphics on the largest screen I've ever seen on a portable. On the other hand the DS' touch screen has tons of possibilities. It's still too early to get one as the software lineup is still kinda poor. The sexy graphics on the PSP makes it very appealing but the battery life reportedly is horrible compared to the solid 10 hours you get out of the DS. Oh well ... it's not like I can afford either at the moment anyway.

So ends my token blog post to start the new year. Yeah yeah yeah ... I know it's already 13 days into the new year but this is my first blog post of 2005. I'm such a slacker.

Talking Without Speaking, Hearing But Not Listening

Do you say the words but not mean it and mean it but not say the words?
Do you hear the words but not really listen to the heart in it?
Do we not want to be understood but we fail to understand?

Deep huh? Well not really that deep but just something that came up while I was making my daily trip back to Setapak last Friday. Give it a thought.

Gears of Solid Metal!

Ah ... where do I begin with this excellent game by Hideo Kojima? For those unfamiliar with the series, Metal Gear focuses very much on stealth and was the first of its kind. It inspired the birth of a whole new genre in gaming with an emphasis on not sneaking through levels instead of running, gunning and mowing down hordes of enemies.

But then I digress. I had a blast playing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. It’s arguably the best installment in the series. The game play mechanics are uniquely Metal Gear and it becomes second nature once you’re used to it. You’ll probably be sneaking around like a pro in an hour or two but then again I’ve played Metal Gear games before so I’m already acquainted with the control scheme.

The graphics are superb and it’s a joy to see the wilds of a jungle come to life on your TV screen. What’s more the cinematic sequences are incredibly well done with a music score by Harry Gregson Williams that’s just oozing with movie magic goodness. If more games are made this way it’d be the best marriage between gaming and movies. Sure the dialogue can be campy and corny at times but I think that’s done on purpose as Metal Gear makes it a point never to take itself too seriously.

Hideo Kojima always has a social/political message in his games and this one is no different. Fortunately the message isn’t as preachy this time round which made the game a whole lot more enjoyable. It is the tour de force gaming experience that you shouldn’t miss on the PS2. What’s more it’s highly re-playable and very addictive. It even made me crack out my copy of Metal Gear Solid 2 for a re-play and when I get back my copy of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes for my GameCube I’ll probably have another go at that one.

This game gets a most worthy 10 out of 10. Check it out at the nearest video game stall near you.

Fun Factor: 10 out of 10
Addictiveness: 10 out of 10
Graphics: 10 out of 10
Overall Grade: 10 out of 10

These Are The Days

We've come to the final day of our Chinese serial-like production in church. 3 months of hard work are now coming to an end. As usual it feels like a part of my life would be over with the end of the play. In every single production I've been in I've faced all kinds of different struggles; some with self and some with fellow production crew members. Suffice to say doing something we believe in always requires struggle and I guess that's why I do the things I do.

I've been ploughing through games like crazy just to get my mind off things for the past 2 months or so at the expense of sleep. I've finished a massive amount of games since the Deepavali/Raya break. Conquered Star Ocean III, Metroid: Prime and last week I finshed Metal Gear Solid 3. I've just started on Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Pikmin 2 now. Nintendo makes the cutest games and gameplay-wise I'd definitely have to say that they unique. It can get tiring to play dark edgy games that border on the cinematic. After 2 and a half days of Metal Gear's cinematic gameplay I'd say it is a nice change indeed to play a game that's more like a game rather than a digital movie.

It's already 4:45pm now and I'll write more about this tomorrow maybe.

Ta.