Asian Kung-Fu Generation

From Left: Ijichi Kiyoshi (Drummer), Kita Kensuke (Guitar and Vocal), Masafumi Gotoh (Lead vocal and guitar, songwriter), Yamada Takahiro (Bass and Vocal)

I remembered last time my friend asked me for a song recommendation, I recommended them AKFG's Rewrite, they were like, "What movie is that? Asian Kung-Fu Generation?" I can't help but laughed.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation is a band from Japan. Yeah, their band name is kinda long. Fans called them Ajikan because of how they pronounce their name in Japanese, i guess.

Anyway, AKFG is by far the best J-Rock band I've known. They are also the first band that made me listen to songs outside anime and after that I totally fell in love with J-Rock songs until today and also because of their influence I've come to love upbeat, noisy rock songs, lol. I'm still listening to AKFG songs from 3 years ago until now, which is a record for me because I usually get bored of the songs that I used to listen to for just a few weeks, lol! XD That's why I said AKFG is the best J-Rock band I've ever known. And of all the songs they made I can't really find one I dislike which is the first time for me because usually the songs in an album you can only find 2 or 3 decent ones to listen to whereas AKFG's I love all of them. I listen to them almost every day. Their albums have great artworks too ^^

                                                                    Solanin Single cover

                                                                     Sol-fa Album cover

                                                      World World World album cover

I started listening to their songs when they made me go 'Wow" with every anime songs they made which are Rewrite (Full Metal Alchemist), After Dark ( Bleach), Haruka Kanata (Naruto), and Aru Machi no Gunjou (Tekkonkinkreet). Rewrite is my most unforgettable great anime song. After that, I realised I like all the songs they sang for anime, then I went to check out their famous songs in Wikipedia and I was totally amazed. The 1st song I checked out was Kimi to Iu Hana which totally blown me away, lol! Sounds like I'm exaggerating but that was how I felt back then. Before that I was always listening to relaxing or sad songs, so maybe that's why the big change in feeling when I switched, lol. From then on I listen to their albums, starting with World World World.

Through listening to their songs, I have to say they changed my life too. I'm not always down and negative. Their songs are always spirited and energetic. Even if it is a sad song they sang, like Tight Rope, Goto sang with feeling and with hope in it. Hearing their songs made me get through the worse times in my life. Heck, I even remembered when I did the IELTS exam last min, everybody in my family keep putting me down, I began to question whether I'll make it somehow or not, I even cried. And it seems like fate, Solanin was out just 5 days before my exam and was on youtube. I kept listening to it. The melody and lyrics some how soothed me and gave me strength to give my all in the exam. The lyrics of Solanin is about the singer saying goodbye to his old self and pursue his dreams. And I thought to myself, I should say goodbye to my negative and scaredy self and just give it my all no matter how hopeless it was, and I passed with flying colours, hehe.

Anyway, I should stop here. If I wanna write about AKFG, I could write a very lengthy post, lol. All I wanna say is, GO AKFG! DON'T EVER STOP MAKING GREAT MUSIC!!! :D

Sennheiser MX400-CS

I’ve always wanted a good pair of earphones to replace my Nokia headset that came with my phone. That headset is uncomfortable and it’s a in-ear headset and it keep dropping off which is getting annoying. One day, a friend of mine took out a pair of Sony earphone and I asked her about the price. She told me it’s good and it’s not too pricey and it’s durable. Then, I went on the internet to search for some models that suit my needs in the Sony website but I didn’t really like their designs so I searched Sennheiser’s earphones instead and found this model. I’ve heard of Sennheiser’s reputation for making good headphones and I was also attracted by the carrying case, lol, so I went to Mid-Valley later and bought this with Christmas discount which was really worth it cause it look and sounds great! It has a clear treble and not too much bass which really suit the type of music I listen to such as rock, pop, and acoustic.

Pros: Clear treble and not too excessive bass.

Cons: Only got a pair of sponge for the earphones.

Handwriting Meme

Click the image to view full size. For those who got tagged, download the blank template here.
Don't cheat or else it won't be fun, hehe. Enjoy! XD

My trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

I went to Kota Kinabalu last week for 5 days to visit my long lost relatives which was my mom's mother and half-sister. It was fun! The place there was completely different from here. It was clean there and the shop houses were mostly joined together like a long house. The neighbourhood there was quite safe. Many people kept their gates open and were not afraid of robbers.

There were many kinds of seafood there. Some I question whether it is edible or not like the puffer fish. Lol! The beach there were clean and beautiful. The waters were blue and clear. No rubbish littering on the sands. The Manukan Island had a beautiful beach. The boat trip the island there was fun and it only took about 15 minutes.

The Manukan Island pics

Many fishes under the jetty! The water is very clear.

Fishes feeding on the seaweed

The Boat Trip there

The Seafood Restaurant

Soon Hock

Lobsters!

Cultural dance

Gang gong with cutter fish

The bus

The species of snails I ate that day. Very nice and crunchy >_<

Tiger prawns

Mantis prawns

Abalone

Abalone

snails

Me, my aunt and mom

The Market

Puffer fishes

Hammerhead shark!

Blue-fin Tuna fish

Hotel Lobby

My grandma's dog, Magnum. So cute!

All the car number plates are like that there

The Creatures of Permaisuri Lake

I've lived fifteen years of my life near the park which has a huge lake called Tasik Permaisuri. I always go there to walk and jog. It's a pretty popular park. Ask anybody they'll know where is it.

The park is really big with paths that go through the secondary jungle. In that jungle you'll find all kinds of living creatures such as wild chickens, civet cat, monkeys, monitor lizards, magpies, etc. Many of these animals I havs just mentioned can only be seen by chance especially the wild chicken, I saw it flew across a path into the jungle one day. Yup, I mean flew. Few feet above the ground. Chickens reared by people can't fly because they're not lean like the wild ones.

The lake is the biggest attraction here though. Many people came here to picnic and have a good time with their families. Many come here to exercise, There are some children came to swim in it too. I remembered I used to love to come feed the turtles and talapias with bread. I like to see the turtles come in big group and snap out the breads. However, the fishes beat them to it all the time. Lol!

Well, all of them have become a memory in the past. Not because I've grown tired of feeding them. It's because almost all the turtles are dead. Even the numbers of fishes has been reduced.

Why? The lake has become so polluted with rubbish, sewage water, and breads that eventually kills most of the turtles and many fishes. It didn't happen back then when toilets weren't built and the place isn't developed. After they developed the place, more people come and more brainless people throw rubbish and feed unscrupulously to the turtles.

How unscrupulously? Well, I'll tell you how. They throw the entire piece of bread into the lake. I mean come on, any common sense will tell us to tear the bread into smaller pieces to make it easier for the turtles to eat. Even the fishes go after the smaller pieces. And some people throw muffins (the pink coloured type used for offering at the Buddhist altar) for them. For goodness sake, turtles don't eat muffins. Not just one person, many other people did the same as well. Can't they see the first person who threw the muffins in the turtles have no interest in them at all? These eventually decay and pollute the lake later.

After that, I lost count the times I've walked around the lake and smell the smell of rotting flesh. I've seen many dead turtles and fishes floating on the surface. Flies flew around them and smaller fishes feed on their dead bodies. Now, nobody sit by the lake and feed the turtles anymore since none surface for a long time already.

Last year I got my wish. I've always wished there are ducks and geese swimming in the lake and it came true. First it was geese. There were two species. See the pictures below.



They were a great attraction at first. Many people stopped by to see them swim in the lake. Sadly, few months later all except one began to disappear. Later, three ducks were added but they too, disappeared.

Yesterday, we've finally found the source of the disappearance. It is the work of greedy people who see the geese and ducks as nothing more than food instead of decoration. Yesterday there was a man who swam into the lake and capture the last remaining goose. He was so happy. He even had a grin on his face. Unluckily for him, someone reported his theft to the city council guards who were patrolling there. They made him release the goose back to the lake but didn't fine him.

It is so sad indeed to see the lake's number of animals and environment deteriorating.

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Rating:
9/10

Genre:
Romance/Drama/Crime

Summary:

This movie tells the story of an 18-year old orphan from the slums in Mumbai, Jamal Malik, who participated in a contest "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in India.

He is just one question away to win a staggering 20 million rupees when he is accused of cheating and taken away for interrogation because they don't believe a boy who grew up in the slums can know so much.

After some torturing and protesting that he knows the answers, he tells the story of his life to the police officer to explain how he knows the answers.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost.



Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions.

Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show?