The Unexpected Greeting

This year, Deepavali was a little different from the previous few years. Ever since I left home to study in Taylor's then Monash, I have never had the privilege to come back home to celebrate this special day with my parents thanks to the smart people in Cambridge and Australia that insist on having exams during Deepavali.


Since I have graduated now, I was able to celebrate it with my loved ones. It was just like any other day I would say except for the oil bath and the shows shown in TV.

Every year my dad receives Deepavali greeting cards from his friends. Every year it is gradually decreasing as more people are opting for the call/sms method. As expected, a few greeting cards came after Deepavali the following Monday. As I was browsing through the envelopes, I found this:

What?! A greeting card for me?!!!

And I got excited. It is not always I get greeting cards you know. Some more can write my name just as in my identification card.

I removed the envelope,

Not a bad looking card eh..

I flipped open the card

Upon closer inspection


WHAT!!! The Melaka Ketua Menteri himself signed and sent me a greeting card?

Looking at the card, my dad became tak puas hati because I got a greeting card from a VIP and he didn't.

And so he did some Sherlock Holmes work and came to the conclusion that I received the card because I am a registered voter and I live in the area where the Ketua Menteri runs for election every 5 years. So you know where I am going rite? Or maybe he even knows who I voted for for the election last year around. Hehehe..

As I stared at the card longer, I burst into laughter. Wanna know why?


His signature is so funny...As though he hates his own self.

India

A few weeks back I was in India visiting my relatives. For the uninformed, I am only the 2nd generation living in Malaysia and I have relatives everywhere I turn in India. Just for the record, I have relatives occupying a whole village in India. That is roughly 30 families all in the area of 100 meter squared

But that wasn't a problem for me. It was their lifestyle that I find very hard to adapt to. So to give you some hints on what I went through, I have compiled some facts about India that you will definitely not find in your itinerary when visiting India.

Kissing in public is strictly prohibited


In Malaysia, sometime you can get lucky and people won't notice it. But in India, people are everywhere and you better not push your luck. It is taboo there.

Pissing in public? Sure go ahead. Anywhere you like


Since toilets are very limited over there, you can see people answering nature's call like they have just got a call from their girlfriend/boyfriend.

Road usage

- They drive on the freaking wrong side of the road.


- The most important component in a vehicle is horn


They sound the horn for basically everything: overtaking, entering a corner, exiting a corner. Heck they even sound horn when they are nearing a railway track as though the train is going to slow down for them to pass.

- Priorities in road

1. Cows


If you bang a cow, there are a few possibilities that might occur
~ You die from the accident and the cow walks away as though nothing had happened.
~ Both the cow and you die from the accident.
~ The cow dies and you will be alive for a little longer before the cow owner comes and kill you

So no matter what happens, you will still die.

2. Goats


The same reasoning as the cows

3. Vehicles


It is like riot everyday. I have no idea how they can drive over there. I remember there was one time on the busy main road, we were looking for a landmark and we missed it. The driver just coolly makes a u-turn at the busy street. I as a passenger almost died from cardiac arrest.

4. Pedestrians


I'm guessing since the population there is overflowing, so the importance given to pedestrians is almost zero.

Toilets

Since for most people, the public is the toilet, public toilets are rare commodities over there. Even if you do find one, it will not be clean. Believe me, it was nightmare every time I went to these public toilets as they are dirty beyond imaginable. After thinking long and hard, I have decided not to post the picture of the toilet that I have got.

Now that you know something about India, I would like to wish Happy Holidays and enjoy your stay there to anyone who is intending on visiting India. I hope my guide gave you some insight about India to prepare you for the trip.

VANAKAM. WELCOME TO INDIA

Project Alpha

Russell Peters once said (sounds like he's some big shot politician), "we (Indians) need the f******* deodorant".

How true!

Me being an Indian, am no different from others. Sweating has become part and parcel of me.

I sweat just as easy as 1,2,3. Yes..I am not kidding. Just say 1,2,3 and I am already perspiring and soon after expiring. That is how bad my sweating problem is.

I still remember a few months back when I used to walk to my university that is about a kilometer away from the place I stay, I would have been bathed in sweat by the time I reach my classroom.

Maybe they saw me entering their campus

Of course sweating is no comfort. My self esteem is affected *ahem* and I stink (I am sure some of my friends would say I stink all the time but that is so untrue).

It is not like I have not done anything to lessen the effect, it is just that nothing worked for me. Some worked but left white stains on my beloved football jerseys.

Looks as though I did something naughty with my clothes

Since I am into sports and sports apparels, I make it a habit to drop by any sports shops that I come across wherever whenever I go. That is when I saw this


The Adidas Action 3 Antiperspirant. It caught my attention because all that you can see in Adidas stores in Malaysia are some shirts and shoes. This was something different.


Out of curiosity, I bought one, the Adidas Action 3 Fresh for the price of RM16.90. I have to say, I am quite impressed with its design as well as performance so far.


If you compare to other deodorant available in the market, the price is not that cheap. But believe me, it makes up for the quality it delivers.

First of all, this is the first of its kind that does not have a cap/cover that goes along with the can. This allows people like me to just 'grab-n-spray' instead of 'grab-remove-spray-n-replace'. Now you know why I call myself slacker.


The spray knob can be pressed without much trouble or force and without smearing my fingers.


And it also claims that it will avoid any whitening stains on the clothes. So far I have not encountered any problem from using this. So it must be true.


I personally like the smell. Not too strong not too light. Just nice I would say.

I've always had this bad habit of doing the research after purchasing the product. Some regrettable and some not. I came back home and went online to check about this product and found out the ambassador for this product is none other than Petr Cech himself.

His advertisement cracked me up when he talks at the end of the ad.

Something that changed my life

It never really occurred to me how important a graduation carries until the date of 5th Sept 2009, where I walked (more like rushed -shd have taken 'how to walk macho' crash course with Vj) to the stage to receive my scroll from the hands of Monash Chancellor.


It was the most memorable and proud moment in my life thus far. After more than 17 years enduring the education system in Malaysia, it was a token to appreciate the hard work that I have put into becoming who I am today.

Of course I wouldn't have reached this far without the help of my parents, lovely sister and great friends who have been there for me when I need them most. You know who you are. For that I am truly grateful.

It also hit me that I am no longer a student. Its a different ball game from now on. I am stepping foot into a different world, the working world (hopefully someone will be there to hire me).

Till I get a new job, I plan to cherish this graduation moment.

Operasi buang topi

Don't ask me what is Zhou doing behind me

I wonder where I left my certificate?

More Than Just Music

*Since I have a few friends who check this blog at their workplace, the following post is NSFW (Not Safe for Work)*

When I was a kid growing up (Yes..I have stopped growing..at least in height), I listen to Hip Hop musics a lot. And Hip Hop songs are so famous for the vulgarity as well as the hot chicks shaking what they're momma gave them. Due to that reasons, i have gotten the wrath of my parents countless of times, even till now. Whenever I watch these songs being played in the TV, my mom will go like, "I am so going to discontinue this Astro package (referring to the variety package)!!". Well let's just say that my mom has a very good sense of humor.

Hip Hop is not only about vulgar lyrics and hot girls. When you do/can catch the lyrics, they have very good message embedded in it.

Hip Hop acts as a catalyst in giving children the early form of education especially to us, males. No I am not making this up. I have evidence to back my statement.

For example, the latest Pitbull song teaches you how to count not only in English but also in Spanish. How good is that? You get to learn to count in 2 different languages!



Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas teaches not only to count backwardsbut also spell out words such as delicious, tasty and her own name Fergie. To catch you off guard, Will-i-am purposely spells the word tasty as T-A-S-T-E-Y to see if you are really paying attention and learning something.

To the parents out there, do not deprive your children of these early precious education Hip Hop has to offer. And if your children do not have any interest in studying, do not bore them with the lectures such as, "You can have a lot of money when you study hard now". Just show them this video and see how pumped up they are to study and excel in life.

My favourite rapper, Kanye West has even identified that all studies and no play is ain't gonna do any good. So he came up with this song to encourage not only children but everyone to keep fit.



So to the parents out there, don't get angry when your children is indulged into Hip Hop. They are just looking for the spark to enlighten them. So do encourage them to watch and hear more Hip Hop songs. The I love you, you love me is so outdated, you have to be on par with what music has to offer to the growth of your children.

I especially like the way he teaches summation of numbers in this video.

Mach 3 Turbo Vs Quattro Titanium

Hair on my body and face (except on my head) grows exceptionally fast.

Although I am quite lazy to shave as often, I am being forced to do so at these times when I am hunting for a job to at least look presentable in front of the people who might turn out to be my next employer or even people who might help to get me a job.

All these years, I have relied on my trustworthy Gillette Mach 3 Turbo to perform the heavy duty of trimming and shaving my facial hair.

I think when I bought it 4 year back, I paid about RM25 for it and now it only cost about RM18 and comes in two different colors, blue and red. The cartridges are killer though. Cost a whooping RM35 for a packet of four.

In terms of design, it has 3blades and the green strip at the top turns white after a few uses indicating it is time to change those blunt blades.


I am currently back in Melaka and I have forgotten to bring my Gillette back with me. So I bought myself a new one. Only this time, I wanted to try out something different. My attention was caught while I was browsing through the men grooming section in Jaya Jusco. It is called Schick Quattro Titanium.

Sounds really cool right?
Well the price was about the same as the Turbo but a packet of 4 cartridges costs only RM25. The thing that really caught my attention was that it has 5 TITANIUM blades. 4 at the front and another at the backside for precision shaving on sideburns and goatees. Sounds like you going to slaughter rather than shaving with those Titanium blades.


After all, I am an Indian and immediately the Indian in me was telling, "more blades means MUST be better."

More blades does not mean I am going to end up like this

So having 5 blades really any better than just 3?

In terms of comfort, I think the Mach 3 does a better job than the Quattro. Even a brand new set of Quattro can cause a slight pain when shaving. Not sure why though. Its either the Titanium blades is really useless or my facial hair is super strong. I am thinking it is because the Mach 3 has blades that are more flexible and is designed in such a way that it mimics the contour of your face when shaving. Quatrro lacks a little in this department.


As for the shaving itself, both the blades perform almost identically. Despite the Quattro having 1 extra blade at the front, it is of no use when compared to the power of Turbo. But the 1 extra blade on the backside is really useful. It makes it easier for me to shape my sideburns more easily.

There was one major flaw that really turned me off while using Quattro. You see from the picture above, the cartridge of a Gillette and a Schick are almost of the same size. That means the blades of the Quattro are more closely packed. This causes hair build up in between the blades and these things are impossible to be removed. As you use it more often, the hair just keep clogging and as a result, shaving causes agonizing pain as though someone is using a pair of tweezers to pull your hair out.

Less cycle means more money spent on buying the replacement cartridges. A Mach 3 cartridge can give me maximum 5 to 6 shaves while the Quattro only gives maximum 4.

To sum it all up, saraslacker's weapon of choice is still Gillette's Mach 3 Turbo. This also proves me and my Indian mentality wrong that more blades = better.

Think of it this way, when you do cut yourself while shaving, you have one less blade to worry about.

Just don't ask your wife/girlfriend to shave you

United in Malaysia

No I am not going to talk about Malaysian politics but instead I'm going to talk about Manchester United's pre-season tour to Asia. I know you might complain that I am outdated and bla bla bla..but I've got nothing much to update besides this.


Well most of you know that on the build up to this tour, various competitions were held throughout Malaysia and the most attractive competition that got every Man Utd fan salivating is this


And all you have to do is fill up this form below and send it them


Just in case you don't know how the competition works, after you submit the form, if your slogan is catchy enough, the Hitz.fm DJs will give you a call and you are expected to answer most Manchester United related questions correct within 30seconds. When the competition ends and if you are among the top 3 with the most correct answers, you will be invited to the Hitz.fm studio with the morning crew to answer more Man Utd trivia questions and then commentate on the 'imaginary' Malaysia XI vs Man Utd match. The person with the most correct answers and best commentary gets to follow the Man Utd team wherever they go during their stay in Malaysia. How cool is that!!

Although the age was a major stumbling block for me to enter the competition, I just tried my luck. No harm in trying since I've always been quite lucky when it comes to joining Hitz.fm competitions.

And so I filled up the form and just in case you were wondering, I did not lie on my age nor my IC number. When it comes to slogan I suck big time. I always can't think of anything creative. Although there were 300 characters given to complete the slogan, I figured slogans are supposed to be short, creative and catchy. So I just simply typed what came to my mind and it was something like this

Nike and Manchester United form the ultimate partnership because both are best in the business.

Okay go on..laugh all you want..I know it sounds lame.

When I clicked the submit button, it said an error had occured and asked me to try again after a few minutes. I already had my doubts as I was thinking the form got rejected because I did not meet the age criteria. So I tried again and the same error message popped up.

Dejected, I gave up on the competition.

On 10th 0f July 2009, Friday night at about 11.20pm, when I was walking in my house in my boxers thinking what to eat, my phone rang. It was a Selangor number. I picked it up and it was Adam C from Hitz.fm on the line telling me I was chosen to compete for the Nike Reporter Competition and I was the last contestant chosen. Overjoyed and at the same time totally unprepared for the questions that they are going to ask me. Nevertheless, I managed to answer 5 out 6 questions correct but Adam told me I am unlikely to be in the top 3. I will get a Nike goodie bag instead for my participation (which have yet to arrive).

Can't really complain as I wasn't really expecting my form to be entertained in the first place since I did not fit into the age range and I wrote a lame slogan. It turned out my slogan was not so lame after all..

I went up to Sunway on the 16th and on the 17th Man Utd landed in Malaysia where they stayed in Mandarin Oriental Hotel. That very day, Indonesia was rocked by the bombings at Ritz-Charlton Hotel and JW Marriot Hotel, one of which Man Utd were scheduled to stay during their tour there. Immidietly, United's official website announced that they are cancelling their trip to Indonesia fearing for terrorist attacks.

Su Ann called me on that morning asking me if I wanted to join them to follow the United team around KL. I agreed and together with Wai Kit, Jon, Aaron Raj and Syaza, we headed to the KLCC park where Nike futsal competition was being held. There we saw

From left: Darren Fletcher, Darron Gibson, Nani and Rio Ferdinand

They were sitting merely a few meters away from us. They played an exhibition match with the winners of the tournament. Here are some more pics form that event

Adam C, host for the event

Me, Su Ann and Wai Kit before the event

Syaza said I looked like some football coach in this

Goofing around after the event. Jon in black polo T while Aaron is in England jersey.

Walking back to carpark. Syaza is the one beside Su Ann.

After a short rest, we headed to Bukit Jalil stadium to watch the team's training session. By the time we reach there, the session has already started.

On the 18th, Alex joined the group and we reached Bukit Jalil at 2pm. By then it was already packed with people. We had fun taking pictures and doing the mexican wave around the stadium and booing others who dare to turn up with rivals jersey such as Liverpool, Chelsea and even Barcelona. The Barcelona fan supposedly took off his jersey after being booed countless times.
There was also an Arsenal fan but fortunately for him he didn't turn up in the colors of the gunners.

Aaron acting as though he just attended an Arsenal match. Check out Su Ann's hand at the side

As I have yet to recieve any pics from my friend yet, I will upload the matchday pics later..

United won the match by 3-2 but Malaysia gave United a run for their money. I'd have to say for both of Malaysia's goal, luck played a huge part in it. Rooney and Nani scored in the first half while Owen scored the winning goal on his debut. Both Malaysia's goals came from Mohammed Amri Yahyah.

After the match, United's website announced that a second match with the Malaysian XI is scheduled on Monday to replace the cancelled Indonesian game. But since none of my friends wanted to go, I didn't attend the match.

Overall, it was a very memorable experience. I am glad I went for the KLCC Futsal Tournament as I managed to get a close up on some of the stars of Man Utd. This whole experience is like a warm up before I head to Old Trafford to watch United play again..one day..