The holidays and the surgery

The holidays had started off being quite slow and boring, as my mum and bro have to work until the end of the year, which means no holidays. *sigh* Nevermind that. As usual, being so free at home, I was tasked to do chores around, catch up with sleep, more sleep, stuck on the internet and brought out a little gaming in me.

Last weekend, I did hang out with my buddies Julian and Raja, since Raja came back from the UK for a couple of weeks here. Like the old days, we roamed around town searching for places to have lunch but most of them are closed since its Boxing day after Christmas. We somehow ended up with dim sum at the Quality hotel. We then proceeded to Subang Parade to do Julian's iPhone jailbreak mission, and man it was hard! The 2-hour process was complicated, but with the help of Mr. Google and the internet connection at the Coffee Bean, solutions were found. The result: a happy face and a phone that's working fine, which otherwise would have been bricked and serves no purpose other than an iPod. :p

Being so outdated in the gaming arena, I updated myself with a couple of new titles. Mafia 2 and NFS: Hot Pursuit 2010. While at the Gamers Hideout, I've pre-ordered the Test Drive Unlimited 2, which is soo gonna be the game of 2011!

Then comes Adnan's sugical procedure (or we know as a small operation) yesterday. He was scheduled to be admitted to the IJN on Monday, and his surgery was done on Tuesday morning. The Tuanku Sultan Perak came to visit him, but Tuanku was late by a bit after Adnan had went in for his surgery around 8.45. After years of not meeting Tuanku in person, it felt awkward if not weird, utterly full of protocol, but was a great honour. We had a simple breakfast and chat and I had to sit next to the Tuanku.

By around 9.30 or so, Adnan was out and back to his ward, which was pretty fast. My mum arrived at the hospital from work on time too, and Alhamdulillah, it went well. He felt dizzy at first, but his appetite came later on and he was eating all out. I had to accompany him for 2 days at the hospital and I had to eat hospital food as well, which surprisingly not too bad! The doctors and nurses were praising him for being such a positive character, as he was smiling all the time. I have to admire his braveness. If I would have to undergo a surgical procedure like him, I would probably die in fright! hahaha

Today, he was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital, and hopefully he will be able to go back to his college at UPM for his 4th semester this 4th Jan.

Adnan's ward, after the surgery.

You have a sink, a TV and some chairs, such boredom!

The machine which annoyingly beeps all the time!

Killing the heat

With the weather becoming unbearably hot, it is a painful chore to be driving around during afternoons. The stock tinting which came with the car does not help either, and is of almost no use with almost no tint properties, except being as a security layer of film on the glass as its name suggested; 'safetint'. Getting the car tint replaced with a proper tint had been one of the first projects I'm wanted to do my car.

During the KLIMS '10 exhibition, there were a few exihibits showing off their tint ranges. What attracted me was the brand Cool World, which offered 40% off their RhinePro series. The RhinePro series are their security film range, and range from the XD-3 to XD-7. Didn't want to miss the chance, I was required to place a small deposit to secure the offer, and at the same time I needed time to think whether to splurge my money on these.

CoolWorld's RhinoPro range. I got a huge discount out of the RRP.

A few days later, I've decided to just go for it, as my car would be parked out in the sun up there in Sintok, and I just couldn't stand the heat! I took the highest spec offered, the XD-7, which came to a quite reasonable pricing after the huge discount. It is a security film and the specifications are impressive as well, 95% IRR, 63% VLT and 60% TSER.

It was done 2 Fridays back at CoolWorld Puchong. They promised it could be done in less than 2 hours, but somebody cut the queue and it took 3 hours for all to be done. The place was a little tight, and a bigger and more comfortable lounge room would be appreciated. But their workmanship was good, and the staff was friendly enough, even though I could not understand what they say most of the time until I ask them to speak in English. They think I was a Chinese I guess.. They offered a 15-year warranty for the tint, way longer than V-Kool's, where I don't think I'm even gonna keep the car fr that long. You never know what a Proton could become in 15 years..

Getting ready for the tinting job.

After a week of bedding the tint in, the result was simply awesome. I could say the car is definitely more than 5 times cooler when parked right under the hot sun, and when driving around you won't even feel the heat at all. The windows are darker than hat I expected, but I'm fine with that. I just need to tun the aircond speed to 1 and temperature halfway to be comfortably cool in the afternoon. A good way to save fuel I guess. :D

Overall, I'm one satisfied customer of theirs. I would rate them:
Pricing - 9/10
Service/friendliness - 8/10
Workmanship - 8/10

The result: A little darker than expected, but it does its job well.

Not too dark and still comfortable inside.

At certain angle together with the sun's reflection, you almost can't see through! :D

'Meeer'deka!

Another semester came and passed by. That's how fast time flies..

The exams are over. We had some issues during our Criminal Procedure I paper, but its done. And its holidays time after one and half months of mugging for the finals!

Some of my friends went back as soon as the exams finished (Sha went back straight away after the exam!), and most of them on the 11th night itself (Raymond, Fisa, Nora, Sheng, Ungku, Gajah). We went and accompanied them at the Changloon bus stop, its like a tradition we do every semester!

I chose to return on the 12th morning, because it would be a rush to go back on the last day of exam itself. After a few hours of packing, getting backaches, laughing with Wak, Shukur and others, the boxes were packed away and my journey home started at 5.45 in the morning.

Around 500kms and 5 hour 40 mins later, I arrived home, exactly when my mum called to ask where I am. I told her I was exactly infront of the gate, and she laughed! And lucky enough, it was lunch time, and it was heaven to indulge in a home cooked lunch. Home sweet home at last. Then me and my bro were off again to catch the last bits of KLIMS '10.

After 6 hours of roaming there, our legs got swollen and we called it a day. It was fun though, especially when the KLIMS had been missing for almost 4 years now, with the last show being in 2006.

Sick of Celcom Broadband?

Ever get tired of the super slow and forever disconnecting Celcom broadband connections? I've been subscribing to the D98 package for the past 5 months or so, and the experience had been absolutely terrible. I chose the D98 package instead of the D68 one with the expectation of having a faster and more stable connection, but I was soo wrong!

The 'beruk'band stick

By using Celcom broadband, it'll make you finally praise and appreciate the already sucky TmNuts Streamyx line, which is actually miles ahead better than Celcom's.

Due to some effort of googling around, I've found several tips to at least stabilise the connection, if not making it any faster:

1. The newer Huawei modems provided by Celcom have a different connection number compared to the old ones. Instead of the usual *99#, try *99***2#. Note that this applies to the D98 package only, and its probably just a myth.

(Source: http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/980541)

2. It appears that everytime you do not have an activity online, the chances of getting disconnected is higher. I have no idea why. Its very frustrating especially when you're in the middle of some chat or downloading stuff. A simple trick would do the job: All you need to do is open Command Prompt in your Start Menu and type ping www.yahoo.com -t (for example) to keep your connection activity active.

The pinging process

(Source: http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1529978)

The result? Much significant stable connection, and probably faster by a tiny margin. Thanks to the ping thingy which keeps the connection activity active. Proof using www.speedtest.net:

Before applying the settings, it would disconnect every 5 minutes or so. Frustrating!

After: Finally I could go online for 3 hours without disconnecting even once!

Yay! Even though its not that any faster, at least I'm a little happier now! :D

Aal iz well!

One paper at a time, and today the fourth (Civil Procedure I) is done. I can't say I did a very good job with this one although after seeing my carry marks after the exam, I wish I've had done better just now. It would be a waste to get such high carry mark, and you screw up in the finals. Well, what's done considered done I guess. Like Ranchoddas in 3 Idiots said, "Aal Iz Well!!"

The so-called exam timetable. Another 12 days to go!

That means 4 out of 6 done. The next 2 papers are Sains Sosial on the 10th and Criminal Procedure I on the 11th. Long time it seems, but efficient studying is needed. I know I'm never good at following timetables that I planned. And on the 12th I'll be happily cruising down back to home.. yeeha!

For now, its time to catch up with sleeping to replace last few restless nights. Next is a crappy Sains Sosial paper which I have no idea how to study it, but you would have to put some effort to get something decent right? All the best to myself. :)

Blankness

Its time to update, it seems. :)

Its been over a week since I've been back in campus, but its been a very quiet stay here. There's absolutely nobody around, and I'm like the only person staying in my portion of the block over here. There are 2 super annoying cats, however. There's nobody around since UUM had posponed the exams due to the flood situation in Kedah. And people took the opportunity to go back home for the Raya Haji holidays, so I guess its going to be at least a couple more days of quietness.

Professional Practice I, the paper which makes you go ohh-la-la!

Studies-wise, it does not make a lot of difference if you're at home or at campus. I thought it would be of less distraction if I stay here, but I proved myself wrong. Yes, there's no TV, but there's still the evil internet, and the ever inviting bed. haha. I wonder when I'm ever gonna finish the syllabus. Other people are into memorising their notes already while I'm still struggling to finish my first round of readings.. :(

Let her go, let her be

I know she's probably happy with her life right now. I guess she wouldn't even bother about me anymore.

But why do I care? Why is it still hard for me to let her go? These thoughts do come from time to time. And they're haunting me, demanding for answers which I woulld never have.

God, please help me. Another sleepless night, it seems.

Posponement...

A piece of news came in yesterday evening, where the SMS from Raymond said: "exams got posponed! so jgn balik". The first thing that crossed my mind is whether it should be a sign of joy, or to frown upon..

I had bought my bus ticket back to the north anyway, provided that the roads are fine by then, I'm going back this Sunday. The next problem is, will there be anyone left there?

I was asked to extend my break at home, but I was thinking.. The longer I stay here, the more I won't be studying! Plus, I left my books there, and I only brought back 4 subjects. Damn..

When the exams got posponed, so does the mood to study - got posponed! haha

My exams initially was supposed to end on the 29th of Nov, but thanks to the northern flood drama, its now extended till the 12th of Dec. Which means longer period of stress, and shorter semester break.. :(

But we can't blame mother nature for that. Its the power of God afterall.