Mr Wise Guy Blog

Got a real WTF moment early in the day today. I shall not elaborate because its something I've yet to sort out, and I think I will sort it out soon.

I was telling mom about the gathering held at the Multi-Purpose hall to commemorate the Hungry Ghost Festival. Okay, maybe its held not to commemorate, but rather, it looks like it has something to do with prayers that comes along with the festival. Some may say that it is a nuisance, with all the chantings, burning of hell paper, etc etc. To me, its just a simple practice of religious tolerance.

First and foremost, the ability for each and every one of us to practice our own beliefs without being harassed. It is a need to please the spirits and whatever you do to stop them, it is a need, and it can't be stopped. Personally, I'd be very pissed if someone out there says something negative about my religious practices, or worse, tell the authorities to stop me.

Second, as long as it makes everyone happy, I am happy. You can see children playing at the basketball court while their parents are praying, adults chatting happily over kopi and teenagers busy keeping the place tidy. There is the community spirit going on, and the sight of them working together and knowing each other, gives enough reason for the prayers to continue.

All this clashing of cymbals and beating of the drums makes me want to pick up lion dance. heh!

A class of first-year students at a Medical College were receiving their first Anatomy class, with a real dead human body.They all gathered around the surgery table with the body covered with a white sheet.

The Professor started the class by telling them, "In Medicine, it is necessary to have 2 important qualities as a doctor: The first is that you must not be disgusted by anything involving the human body." For an example, the Professor pulled back the sheet, stuck his finger in the butt of the corpse, withdrew it and stuck it in his mouth. "Go ahead and do the same thing," he told his students.

The students freaked out, hesitated for several minutes. But eventually took turns sticking a finger in the butt of the dead body and sucking on it. When everyone finished, the Professor looked at them and told them, "The second most important quality is observation. I stuck in my middle finger and sucked on my index finger.

Now learn to pay attention."

There is a saying on many blogs/facebook profiles/twits that goes along the lines of,


Many things come to mind when I first came across this rather overused quote. I have no idea who started it, but it seems to fit the lifestyle of most youths who are rebellious whilst trying to find a place in society. Personally, I find it to be a defensive quote most likely to be used against the girlfriend/boyfriend who is trying to change our lifestyle. But then again, it probably came about after the countless naggings from their parents or teachers who try to mould them into useful people but find it rather challenging to accede to their demands.

So, a friend of mine wanted my take on her situation whereby her boyfriend, spouted the above-mentioned quote in the midst of a heated argument, and walked off into the distance. Both are very educated individuals and are very eloquent. That quote hurt her very much. She was left for dead (yeap just like my previous entry), and standing alone on the pavement left wondering. What was he trying to convey to her?

Let me clarify to my readers that I am no social/relationship guru. Instead, I am just writing the following paragraphs based on my life experiences and all opinions come solely from me. Heck, I went through a long term relationship, I better have something good to say. =P

The very first thing that came to mind was I envisioned him, putting up a hand and asking my friend to talk to the hand, ala Anita Sarawak style; "Talk to the hand". This is because the quote by itself does not contribute positively to the argument and leads to a dead end. There is no room to continue the debate, shows that the accused is not interested and ultimately damages the trust in the relationship. In some self-help articles I read, this is called 'Stonewalling.' It is as if you are letting your feelings known to a wall, and like a wall, it doesn't respond.

Secondly, it shows that he is not interested to improve himself to make his imperfect self, perfect for her. Yes, there is no such thing as a perfect partner, but saying that quote ultimately puts a full-stop to his willingness to self-improve. When the desire not to improve is brought across, the motivation to stay in the relationship slowly dies as it means that the other half is happy to stagnate and not bring it to another level.

Thirdly, I feel like slapping his face.

Fourth, come on. If someone says that you have a problem with you, listen first, then give your take on the problem. Try not to say that you do not see a problem and wonder why the other party feels otherwise. The willingness to listen tells the other party that you care and you are trying to accommodate to him/her. Sometimes, I feel that it is not solving the actual problem that solves the problem (don't worry this is not a typo). At times, the other individual simply craves for attention and a simple thoughtful gesture should fix things up.

In the end, I told her that one should not act in a rash manner nor even take this opportunity to seek the attention of other guys (of course she sought mine, but waddaheck). Take a day or two to cool down, have a cuppa with her girlfriends and get opinions from other positive individuals. To be fair, he is not such a bad guy. In fact, I've known him to be a gentle giant and it just goes to show that good guys have their off days sometimes.

It was an eventful day, that ended on a sour note.

I was left for dead and someone please tell me why I am not kicking up a huge storm.

Might just end up dying young due to these pent up frustrations and stress.

I really think its possible at the rate I'm going.

HaHA.

HaHa.

HaHa.

Not funny...

So I got a call... And it made my day though I only have 2 hours left of it. Yeap, cause it was from a hot chick like the one in the picture. Yummy!

Lab today was a disaster in my opinion. We didn't manage to finish it, we made a lot of foolish mistakes and the steps were tedious! OMG. If the rest of the Year 3 labs are like this, we're screwed!

And today was supposed to be 'Wear Pink Day.'

Got off to a slow start today. Woke up to a splitting headache and tried my best to have my sahur. Had sahur, and slept as quickly as possible hoping for the headache to go away.

And it did. Yey!

And today I just found out that Engineering Electromagnetics, Integrated Electronics and Power Systems are super super tough. God bless me la~ Ended the day with pizzas and buns. Been having this love affair with buns. OMG.

This fasting month is no different than the previous year's. I was in school back then (I still am), I got a bike (I still do), I had a girlfriend (okay this part very boring) and I broke fast with my Secondary School mates over at Sakura (or was it some other place). But sadly, other than the breaking fast together, nothing significant came to mind.

Nevertheless, fasting is fun in a sense that you get to eat free food if you break fast at the mosque, you don't need to eat during the day and somehow, one way or another, my mind and heart is at its most peaceful during Ramadhan. Probably due to the claims that the devils and demons are locked up in the 7 levels of hell during this period.

Anyways, I would like to share with you readers what was shared at the Mosques yesterday during Friday prayers. Essentially:

Ramadan is a month full of blessings and forgiveness from Allah s.w.t.
• A mukmin should feel happy and grateful to Allah s.w.t with the coming month of Ramadan al-Mubarak and to comprehend the true spirit of ibadah.
• The most important feature of worship in Ramadan is fasting, which does not only mean refraining oneself from eating and drinking but also to avoid all actions which will demerit the reward of fasting.
• We will not appreciate the spirit of Ramadan unless the ibadah is done perfectly and sincerely.
- Source: MUIS Website

Frankly, I look forward to Ramadhan more than Hari Raya. lolx! Ramadhan is so damn fun la. There's Dendengs to eat, Terawihs to miss, sahurs to drag our weary bodies to, and a great opportunity to improve one's akhlak.

Now, let's just see how long I can last without spouting some expletives... heeeheee...

To all Muslims: All the best performing your fast, and have a meaningful Ramadhan ahead!

Geee, when I went back to school last week, two of my friends sported the Omnia II. For the unacquainted, the Omnia II is a smartphone from Samsung, and a nice one too! Dang! I was just contemplating on getting the Omnia, feeling it and playing with it at the shops, and poof! There's Omnia II out in the market! What the...

My jaw dropped lah! I nearly nearly bought it from a close friend of mine, having asked how much she's willing to let it go and stuff. But fortunately, my bank account was in the red, and had no choice but to give it a pass. Imagine what would happen if I had bought it, only for it to be outclassed by the next-generation Omnia within the same year! hahaha~ *phew*

So when I saw them fiddling about with their phones, I decide to T-Loan their Omina II for a bit. Turns out, its wayyyyy better than the original Omnia. Personally, I just like the touchscreen. heeee~ Damn nice la~. Phone has the usual bells and whistles such as Wi-Fi, MMS, SMS. But if you ask me, the touchscreen is the mind blower.

One thing I noticed about the phone is also the cool 5.0 Megapixel camera! The other day when I went cycling with the boys, the picture they took while cycling (bumpy rides and all) were all crisp and clear! Me likes!

Now, if only I could afford it. =( Check out the Omnia II Product Page for more details.

I need an Omnia II!!! AHHHHHH.... <3

Everyone is feeling the blues and falling sick! Yey!

Initially I was somewhat disappointed with myself. It is indeed very very rare for me to have a fever, but I got it somehow. But when I look at the people around me, I guess a new strain of the flu virus is hopping about and infecting everyone. haaaaaaaa...

I'm about fully recovered now. Just some minor cough.

*cough cough*

So somehow, I got a letter from LTA informing me that an error was detected in either the (IU) or stored value card when my bike passed through the ERP gantry. Dang, have to send me bike to an inspection centre.

Gee!

Frankly, I don't remember having any problems with the IU nor the Cash Card. Cause everytime I pass thru the gantry, I'll glance at the IU to see the amount left in the Cash Card. And so far, so good. Prolly the LTA is just pissed off and trying to make the biker's life difficult.

Now I really really fear I get another summon because I saw this Cisco guy taking a pic of me while riding in the bus lane in town. That's it la~ But then again I was making a left to Centrepoint and I had to keep left! See how it goes...

Fixing computers is difficult stuff. Difficult in a sense that the amount of trust placed on you is immense, the measure of your integrity is tested and of course, your technical know-how to get the job done is equally important. Have you heard of the Edison Chen scandal? The poor actor sent his notebook for repairs only to get his pictures published. From what I read in the news, he had erased his pictures by deleting them and emptying his recycle bin. What he doesn't know is that his data can easily be recovered.

I'd say, that the only what to not get your scandalous pictures published, is to find a trusted and reliable Mr-Fix-It. Thank God I know how to fix my computers, so the probability of my stuff, and my family's stuff to get published unknowingly is close to zero. But for the majority who sends their computers for repairs at Sim Lim and other shops, may God be with you.

Yesterday I saw myself destroying a dozen hard disks from my customers. These hard disk came about when it crashes, when they need a bigger hard disk, or from people who wanted to dispose their hard disks in the most secure way. These hard disks, I dare not plug in and open, because some things are best left unknown.

It is best that Pandora's Box remains unopened.

Having braces can be great fun! Personally I have this weird silent gratification after brushing my teeth/braces. Let's say for instance, after a meal, with all the spinach stuck behind the archwire, sometimes clinging around the brackets, its so great to see it back to its former clean and glory after brushing my teeth. Look ma, look at the before picture. And now, after!

Wooooo... Its a world of a difference I tell you. And now, with my orthodontist on maternity leave, I got attached to another one. Waiting list stretches all the way till October! OMG. Fortunately managed to talk my way out and got an appointment next week. WeeeeE~

The song reminds me of days when you're at the beach, alone. Haiz. Got intro-ed to the song by a blog reader who thinks that my Forever song is a pain in the arse. HahaAHaa! Got your favourite song on my blog so dun complain now! Can listen to this song, forever ever ever~

I shivered when I read through the lyrics. A lot of what ifs ran through my mind. But then again, like what they say, MrWiseGuy "Shiok sendiri!"... =)

Shiver by Coldplay

A wise man said to me today,

"Mr Wise Guy, you have the ability to fix anything,
but you can never fix a broken heart however hard you try.
Now choose.
Choose Wisely."

I hate lectures. Urgh. If there was a device that I could invent right now, it would be able to upload all the jargon/nonsense that is spouted by the lecturer direct into my brain while I'm asleep. No more fighting with the "ZzzZzzz" monster, no more running to and from lecture theatres, and most importantly, no need to wake up at 0830 just to hear someone rant for an hour, hour plus. Urgh.

Getting myself motivated to study. I am so motivated right now.

Come on NTU, give me my honours!

Today marks the first day as a 3rd Year student for me. There are some new faces, some missing faces and some faces you don't wanna see. haha! Some of my seniors who I used to slack with at the bike area have graduated, some juniors from SP who joined us and looked lost, and the toilets have been upgraded. yey!

But one thing I really hate about first days of school, is getting the lecture materials ready. Urgh. The queues are endless, the printers suck, and the queue to bind notes is forever long. Haiz. In times like this, I wish I got that binding machine thingy.

Been feeling sick the past week. Down with fever, flu, sore throat, dizzyness, and whatever sickness all rolled into one. Still got that sore throat though. Urgh. But its okay. First week of school is usually very slack. Can go home, sing song, play games. Next week, hell begins.

Dang I fell sick after a day's cycling at East Coast. Even when sick, MrWiseGuy's brain is still functioning at a 100% and manage to fix a broken down bike! heeheee. Not feeling good now. Fortunately MJ is here to sing the blues away!

Hey Pretty Baby With The
High Heels On
You Give Me Fever
Like I've Never, Ever Known
You're Just A Product Of
Loveliness
I Like The Groove Of
Your Walk,
Your Talk, Your Dress
I Feel Your Fever
From Miles Around
I'll Pick You Up In My Car
And We'll Paint The Town
Just Kiss Me Baby
And Tell Me Twice
That You're The One For Me

The Way You Make Me Feel
You Really Turn Me On
You Knock Me Off Of My Feet
My Lonely Days Are Gone

I Like The Feelin' You're
Givin' Me
Just Hold Me Baby And I'm
In Ecstasy
Oh I'll Be Workin' From Nine
To Five
To Buy You Things To Keep
You By My Side
I Never Felt So In Love Before
Just Promise Baby, You'll
Love Me Forevermore
I Swear I'm Keepin' You
Satisfied
'Cause You're The One For Me
The Way You Make Me Feel

I was surfing the net to find out how Sheesha works, what makes it tick, and see whether I can DIY a set. But lo and behold, Sheesha isn't a good thing to have. And as always, I am against eating/inhaling/drinking/taking in things which destroy the body.

This can be supported by the evident stone and blur looks on the faces of my friends after a round of sheesha. They seem lost and I've even got a friend who couldn't even mount his bike. Carbon monoxide have entered their system and the brain lacks the oxygen to continue operating.

Friends claim its just smoke. Or some nonchalantly say that its just inhaling water. lolx. I am a very stubborn individual indeed and didn't buy their story till I did my own research.

To that cute girl over there (you know who you are), please stop sheesha-ing... Cause I want you to live a healthy and fruitful life. =)

Read this article below...

The Silent but Dangerous New Fad in the Tobacco Industry
By Mubashar Khan
Source: www.hahmed.com

In less than a decade, the tobacco industry has seen its public face diminished in a storm of its own lies, deceit, and decrepit marketing of an item known to be harmful to our health. Despite proper warnings by various medical institutions and individuals, the tobacco industry continued to promote cigarette smoking in a multitude of ventures. It took over fifty years for the world to realize that lies cannot continue and that advocacy of the individual’s health is far more important than the money capitalism showers upon the tobacco industry. Slowly, the world took notice. Airplane companies banned smoking. Restaurants as well as other public places banned smoking. Bars in New York prohibited smoking. Legislative bodies are now procuring support to ban cigarette smoking even in the outdoors. With every establishment taking notice, lung cancer rates have been dropping, as well as other diseases, i.e. heart disease, as well as the mortality rates directly attributed to cigarette smoking. However, a new form of inhaled death is taking shape as being the new cigarette. It has blinded individuals to believe that it isn’t harmful and that all who partake in this new fad will not be venturing on a road that might resoundingly lead to “déjà vu all over again.” This hopeful fad of hookah smoking has started to emerge in the west as an alternative to cigarette smoking minus the deleterious effects. No deleterious effects? This is too good to be true. The truth is inhaling smoke, in any form, can’t come without danger. The fact that it has other names, like many other illicit drugs, gave me insight that it’s not the safest item to use. It is also known as nargeela, argila, sheesha, ghalyan, as well as hubbly-bubbly.

I was first introduced to the concept of hookah smoking as a child, when I saw individuals back in South Asia puffing away on this long pipe. The shape of the apparatus consists of a base which is partially filled with water, a bowl where flavored tobacco is placed, a pipe that connects the base and the bowl, and a hose that connects to the air portion of the base. Like the even more dangerous bidi from India, tobacco of various flavors including peach, mango, strawberry, apple, blueberry, and many others, just to name a few are utilized as the variant ingredients of hookah’s smoke. Many times, it’s the flavor of the tobacco that people are enticed to continue smoking. It was not till the late 90’s and early 2000s that hookah had really caught on. Friends from college would end up spending their afternoons and nights in hookah bars for hours on end. Eventually, their addiction laid claim to them buying not one but several of their own hookahs. Their claim, like many hookah smokers, was that it has less nicotine due to the lower heat used on the tobacco amongst other items. That fictitious claim couldn’t be corroborated by any non-hookah smoker.

Many papers have been released in scientific journals such as Pediatrics (Water-Pipe (Narghile) Smoking: An Emerging Health Risk Behavior; Barry Knishkowy MD/MPH, Yona Amitai MD/MPH) as well as The Journal of Periodontology illustrating the injurious effects of hookah. First of all, the tobacco used in hookah consists of 2-4% nicotine, compared to 1-3% in cigarettes. After a single 45 minute smoking session, nicotine levels in the blood rose 60 fold (1.11-60.31 ng/mL) and cotinine rose well over 50 fold (0.79-51.95 mg/mL). The carbon monoxide content is much higher in hookah smokers than in cigarette smokers. A study comparing hookah smokers who smoked between 10-40 minutes and cigarette smokers and non smokers found that the concentration of carboxyhemoglobin (a degree of measuring carbon monoxide) in hookah smokers was 10.6% compared to cigarette smokers (6.5%) and non smokers (1.6%). The more carbon monoxide in the blood stream means less oxygen the various parts of your body will receive. This could very well correlate with the light headed feeling many hookah smokers claim to have after a session. The filtered smoke many hookah smokers profess to inhale isn’t filtered to a great extent. In fact, 100 puffs of hookah contained more significant amounts of nicotine, tar, arsenic, chromium, and lead compared to cigarette smoking. Some items might be less than those found in cigarette smoking, but hookah smokers end up smoking hours upon end, which increases the levels of various carcinogenic and harmful substances found in the body. Studies are presently being conducted on the health implications of hookah smokers. Preliminary studies confirm increased risks for various cancers including bladder and lung, decreased lung function, increased amounts of reactive oxygen species, and even infectious diseases (i.e. TB) due to the use of a single pipe by many smokers.

This is further being exaggerated by the fact that hookah bars are popping up just about every where. In New York City, about twenty have opened up in a matter of a few years. In these bars, cigarette smoking is allowed with the same fervor as hookah smoking, thus increasing the yield of second hand smoke. In New York City, it might seem contradictory that smoking has been banned in bars but hookah bars are still allowed. Excluded from the ban are those institutions that earn at least 10% of their revenue from tobacco and tobacco related products. With the ban on smoking in many public places being implemented, the scarcity of tobacco friendly areas promotes the establishment of more hookah bars. These bars aren’t opening in just any small area. Just around my alma mater, New York University, at least four exist within walking distance. Some of these hookah bars and lounges don’t even check for ID, further propagating the use of tobacco related products by minors. In essence, it’s the youth that are being targeted again. Did I mention déjà vu?

Actions should be taken now, focusing mainly on education. Many primary care providers as well as the general public haven’t been exposed to the information that hookah smoking has deleterious health effects. Public campaigns, like thetruth.com advertisements or magazine ads, should be run to inform the public. Secondly, health warnings should be placed on all tobacco related products. Hookah bars should limit the session in a day for each individual and provide disposable mouth pieces that prevent cross contamination of the air hoses from which people inhale from. This allows the possibility of infectious contractible diseases to be limited. These measures are just a start, but if implemented, would certainly curtail the spread of this new risky behavior. Hopefully, déjà vu is suppressed.

-Mubashar Khan:Mount Sinai School of Medicine 09′

Tiring day cleaning my room! Urgh. Can't help it, with 3 cats around, I have to be consistent with my room maintenance. Their fur sheddings are all over the room! In my wardrobe, my pencil box, in my computer, on my monitor, my clothes, heck even my toolbox.

Don't ask me how it got there.

But now things are looking cleaner now and prolly dropping by The Salvation Army at night to drop off some unused clothes. Dang, I had a great holiday. =)

Let's just say that we decide to move house. With the current economic condition, with all the bad debts and whatnots, it makes financial sense to move from a bigger house to a smaller, more manageable modest abode. Alright, with the math all done, and everything makes sense, then comes the more minute details such as changing our mailing address for newspaper subscription, landline subscription, TV subscription and such.

Direct TV has been somewhat convenient in a sense that the service is still available even after you move. There has always been the case where you have to inform the provider that you're changing addresses, and need to wait a couple of days before the service is back on again. But now, things have change. Let's say you're moving interstate, you can still receive direct TV in New York, California, Texas, etc etc.

Surf on over to Directv, and click "DirecTV Web Specials", for special promotions and discounts.