April 2010 Archives

Torrone's have been one of my favourite sweets since I was a little boy. The sweet barley flavour with a hint of mint is classic, unique and just so awesome.

There is something deeply satisfying about a good cup of tea, deep into the afternoon on a hard day at work. The aroma, the infectious flavour, the oaky, musty pinch it draws from the back of my throat. It a nice distraction, when distractions are not unwelcome; anything to take the mind off the grind for a few minutes, to give it a bit of perspective, a bit of humanity.

Didn't know that Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin was once known as Victory Avenue.

After 72 hours of crazy effort, the project i've worked on for 3 years is finally complete. Nice of the bosses to throw a small party to celebrate.

I've started using Hulu.com recently to watch current TV series episodes from the US, and its a real treat. It has a lot of the latest TV shows there, and the quality of the broadcast is pretty damn good. Full screen resolutions are sharp, streaming speeds (in the mornings or very late at night) are good. I've been watching the latest seasons of Chuck, V, and 24 with great success. There is only one problem: the streaming content is only available for residents of the USA. Hulu.com controls access via a system of mapping IP addresses. Therefore, if you're connecting to their servers from a non-USA IP address, you won't be allowed to access the video streams. How do i get around this? By using a proxy routing system to make the Hulu servers think that i'm accessing them from the US. The most convenient option i've found so far is to use a paid service such as Bolehvpn.net. Good service, good speed, and affordable pricing. For RM30 a month, i can watch American TV shows just like an American can. Isn't the Internet wonderful?

A friend, who is much wiser than me, once said, "it happens to everyone in life". Putting those words in the context of our conversion, she was referring to "good things". (Good things) happen to everyone in life. It almost sounds like something Forrest Gump would say; obvious when we hear it for the first time, but something we hardly pause to realise unless someone says it aloud. She's right, you know. Good things do happen to each and every one of us. It happens to the rich, it happens to the destitute, it even happens to victims of tragedies, death and disaster. You just have to sit still for a moment and think about it. The tragedy of the human condition is that we very often, sometimes when we need to the most, never realize those good things happening in our lives. We miss them altogether, and in a flick of time, they are gone, forever buried in our past, sometimes not even lingering as a memory. If only we could keep track of them all. Have a log, a diary of the good, then perhaps this world would be a better place. If only we could realize it when it happens. Have an alarm go off over our heads, "DING! This is a good thing! Don't let it pass!", then perhaps each of us would be just that little bit happier.

The stare of a soul with a clean slate. I'll bet many of us wish we could go back in time and experience that state once more. Even if only for a short 5 minutes, even if only for 5 seconds.

Hidden between the mighty pillars of concrete and steel is a flower, battered by time but still standing proud.