DIY

Nope, just in case you're wondering, I'm not referring to that DIY you do on your own private time in the bathroom. I'm talking about some DIY projects you can do during the weekend. I love doing DIY projects, not because it saves some money, actually sometimes, you might even spend more doing the DIY as compared to buying the completed product off the shelf. I do it mostly for getting kicks out of it.. yeah. Here's one I did over the weekend - my own Canister Filter (CF). For those wondering what the hell this is, it is one of the most effective external aquarium filter ever created. There're many types of filters, & to name some, you got overhead filter, internal filter, sump filter etc... So here's how mine is done.

Things & cost needed:

1) PVC piping (free punya, leftover from previous house owner)

2) External pump (I'm using Atman 105, rated at 2000 L/Hr. I've poor bargaining, skills, so I managed to reduce price from RM53 to RM45, from one of the roadside stalls in Jalan Pasar)

3) External Filter (RM25.00 from Giant)

4) PVC elbows (20 pcs x RM0.50 each - RM10)

5) Micellanous stuffs (About RM20.00 more)

Equipment/Tools needed:

1) Saw

2) Screwdriver

3) PVC Piping glue

4) Sillicon (not for the implants, make sure it's aquarium safe)

5) Sweat, blood and tears.

Instructions:

1) Kasi gergaji sama itu PVC pipe, make sure it fits as in Pic 1.

2) Make many many many holes at the bottom of the PVC pipe using the driller.

3) Sillicon it as in Pic 1. Wait for the sillicon to dry and cure (will take at least 1-3 days).

4) Put your filter medium in, this is how I do it:

- ceramic filter medium at the bottom

- coarse filter medium in the middle

- fine filter medium on top

5) Then pasang aje the filter, with your pump. The filter must be done backwards (OUT to WATER INLET & IN to WATER OUTLET) to acheive flow from bottom to top. Confusing, eh? Pic 2 illustrates it better.

Mine has been running for the past 2 years & I recently just built another one. So now, I've got 2 filters for my aquarium. Yeah, I know, I give lousy instructions, but if you wanna know better, c'mon over and I'll show you.

Pic 1

Pic 2

Ceramic Filter Medium.. with kopi nescafe..

Fine Filter Medium

Filled up with filter medium (black one is the coarse filter in the middle)

JENG! JENG! JENG! Ready to be used

Ladies & Gentlemen, Boys & Girls.. Filter System in action!

Clean and clear!... Alamak.. ternampak reflection gua tengah tangkap gambar tanpa berseluar.. eii.. malunya...

Nak menggigit pulak..

Random Pic

Been pretending to be busy lately & I've been neglecting this blog, but here's one random pic taken from my camera your amusement..

spotted in HK...

stop and stare

I like this song. this song makes me ponder. The way i see it, it has got 2 meanings to me, the maksud tersurat is what i've been doing all my life, stop & stare whenever there's a hot chick nearby. The other maksud tersirat (well, the way I interpret it as anyway) is the one that makes me think, makes you wonder, throughout the hustle and bustle of our ever so busy lives in the city, sometimes from all the activities you do, you don't get anywhere, you realize you're still in first base. The one thing that really sends jolts to my brain is.. hmm.. I don't even know or plan where or what I want to be or my what my plans are. I've friends that has 5 or 10 or 15 plans... but I've not really got one yet. Now, that is scary. Anyway, it also tells us not to let fear stop you.

Anyway, here're the lyrics. Great song, I like how good he can still sing it live:

This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us
It's time to make our move, I'm shakin off the rust
I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years
Steady hands, just take the wheel...
And every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal for the life I lead

*Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
And I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
I've got to wonder why I'm here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, can you see what I see

They're tryin to come back, all my senses push
Un-tie the weight bags, I never thought I could...
Steady feet, don't fail me now
Gonna run till you can't walk
But something pulls my focus out
And I'm standing down...

Repeat *

What you need, what you need...

Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
And I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be
Oh, do you see what I see...

10 INCHES!!

It's not that measurement.. I don't have one 10" schlong... wish I had. Hmm.. but that size could be uncomfortable for both parties... OK! I digressed.. back to the topic.

Just did latest measurement on my fly river turtle yesterday. 10" long! 5 years ago it was only 3". Internet sites says it can grow up to 22" in the wild....

taking measurement..

feeling restless out of the water, trying to crawl away...

back in the aquarium

first time experience(s)

So I was in Kerteh couple of weeks back for a meeting, and we decided to spend the night in Kuala Terengganu (about 1 1/2 hours up North of Kerteh) as my flight back KL was the next day in from KT.

We did not made any hotel reservations as we thought getting a place to stay would be easy. Wasn't easy all the major hotels were fully occupied due to the preparation for Sukma.. that's what the locals said.

So we went round and round KT looking for a place to spend the night & finally found this small hotel that still got a room. The receptionist (an old pakcik) said to me in perfect english "This is a budget hotel, it's only RM40 per night, so here's the key, go up to the room, check it out if it OK to you first".

I went up to the the room, and it reeks of cockcroach smell, and the bed was kind of in a "U" shape. Looks like someone with a big ass slept and destroyed the bed. Only consolation was it has water heater and it's air conditioned.

So I went back to the pakcik and said, "Thanks for the warning, you're very honest when you said this is a budget hotel".

Finally we ended up in another budget place - RM55 per night, much better & smells better. An old place where if you grew up in the late 70's and 80's, you'd noticed the electrical sockets and switches were from that era.. haha.. didn't know they still have this around..

Anyway, this trip has been a lot of first times for me - meeting the honest receptionist, staying in a RM55 hotel and being in KT.

some camwhoring (can't believe i'm using this word) pics infront of petronas in kerteh

signs going krazeee

Just few days ago, I somehow felt something missing whilst doing the laundry. I chucked dirty clothes into the washing machine, and zam, zam, alakazam.. it does what it does as usual. Suddenly it came to me, did I or did I not put the washing powder in? HELL YEAH, I forgot.

Too much things on the mind, too much things to do...

Now & Then

I've noticed some changes in myself lately as compared to when I was in my younger & more dangerous years..

1) Sleeping pattern: It's getting harder trying to stay awake pass midnite. Few years back, I could force mahself to stay awake at 2, 3 or 4 am.. you name it. Lim teh at the mamak at wee hours in the morning is a norm. Nowadays, my eyelids get heavier near midnite, and the most I can hold on is probably at 1am.. then KO liao, which brings me to the next..


2) Waking up: I'm becoming more & more of the morning person. Waking up early at 6.45-7.30am even on the weekends is a usual thing. Then, I could sleep pass noon, not a problem. Somehow, my biological (hmm.. that doesn't sound right), I mean body clock somehow rings the alarm by itself early in the morning. It seems like I wake up even before the alarm strikes. I'm living by the old saying "Early bird gets the worm" and I'd like to seize the day doing so.


3) Drinking habits: Back then, a typical weekly drinking session with the buddies is like a battle. Challenges thrown among ourselves: "Lim ahh", "Boh Lim Boh Steady", trying to outdo each other. Each drinking session will have someone throwing up, I even had a friend throwing up right under the table, he couldn't even get himself to the loo, somewhere in Sri Hartamas, (damn malu until I didn't step foot into that pub for few months after the incident), stopping midway back home by the roadside to throw up... Now, drinking is no more a war, and we take ourtime to slowly enjoy the taste, and we don't even drink that much anymore.


4) Smoking: Thank god I'm not hooked to this, but back then, I did quite a lot, during drinking sessions. A good friend of mine has a saying, "Not smoking during drinking, is like effing without a blowjob".. OK, sounds fair enough. Now, I don't do much of this anymore, even when drinking, I'd try to fight the temptation to have one.

5) Staying healthy: Health is ignored and youth is forever - at least that's what I thought when I was in my 20's. Glad that I finally realized this is important before any disease or pain catches up. Now, I make sure I get my excercizes done, get your daily dosage of vitamins, veges & fruits. It's not that I'd like to live to 150, but I'd just realize it's important to go through life without pain or not being able to do this or that because of it.

6) Knowing what you want: Still, I don't fully know this, even until now. But it's starting to fall into place litttle by little. I don't spend money keeping up with latest gadgets or cars this device, that device anymore. As of now, one thing for sure that I like - good food. I don't mind paying a little bit more to satisfy the stomach. I don't mind going to a nice place to eat in my 14 year old car, as long as it gets me there and doesn't breakdown halfway. Having a small place with good security which is easier to clean is OK to me now, rather than having a big house where cleaning it will break your back.

Uh-oh.. tell-tale signs of getting old..

CNY 2008, with lotsa pics

CNY has always been an exciting affair for me. For me, the excitement itself is actually the preparation in welcoming the new year. However, this year, I only got back to kampung on the eve itself, due to some commitments. Here are some pics showing how I usher in the new year, and also as a reminder to myself on how to keep the traditions alive...

This year's CNY celebration started a few days earlier before the eve, as most of the family members are already working and have their own families in KL, so we decided to have our dinner 5 days before the actual CNY. Here in this pic, showing my grandaunt (standing) saying prayers (my late granduncle was a pastor...). On her left is my other grandaunt (I don't know how to say it, but she's my grandmother (on the standing grandaunt's right) sis in law. The family has grown to having Buddhists, Christians, Catholics members, but I'm still waiting if we can add Muslims & Hindus and maybe some other unknown religion in the family.. maybe in the future.

On the eve's morning, we put food on the tables at the front of the house, inviting our ancestors for a meal. Here, we are inviting my grandfather, grandmother & greatgrandmother (all from my mother's side). I had to help to set up the table, only had a few hours of sleep as I had just arrived that morning itself

Ahh.. the coin throwing ceremony..

Combination of head & tail means they have arrived (and is supposedly sitting on the chairs now!!). Head + Head or Tail + Tail combinations means they're not here yet.

Burning notes for the ancestors...

At 12am.. marking the 1st day of new year, we pray to Thee Kong...

On the 2nd day, we went to the temples to pray.. the place was packed!

the temple sifus checking your DOB (from western to chinese date) & writing them down in a letter to pray to 太岁

ahh.. the black figure is太岁 himself, the sifu is doing the prayers

then we went to another temple.. the buddhist temple...

this tree in the buddhist temple has been here for all I can remember, it was already here when I started coming to this temple more than 20 years ago. I decided to check if there was any description, and.. voila! it says it was planted back in 1887 (or 1889).. can't remember.. fuiyoh!

well.. what to do when all the shops are closed & you got nowhere to go? glad to know I've not lost my skills despite not playing for more than 6 months! siapa mau chalen sama gua ahh?

karaoke back in my hometown.. a dodgy, dark place.. went with seluar pendek & selipar jepun oso can! fuiyoh.. this place even got tiongkok mali punya GROs..

meet-up with some friends..

party.. lai lai lai.. ciak ciak ciak.. lim lim lim.. lim kah toh. Every year, my friend will have a party at his house. This year tells a lot about us growing up. I remember for few years consecutively, I'd always end up drunk. This year, we can actually see the younger generation (my friend's younger brother & his friends) drinking the most. When challenged to drink, I'd always have reasons to "siam" from drinking more.. This is the only year I never got drunk at all since I was introduced to alcohol. I hardly even touch a ciggy... err.. well I had one, but not more than that..

no matter how grown up you are, old habits die hard... probably they'll never die off.. I just watched, as I don't fancy gambling..

How can CNY be complete without talking (eating mostly) about food? Here's a favourite must-have dish.. the Fuchow fishballs. As a Fuchow this is a must & besides this meal, we had red rice wine mee suah as well.


A close-up. Minced pork inside the fishballs. They cost 65 cents per piece this year! I remember it was 50 cents last year.. it just keeps on increasing. We usually order a couple of hundreds of these juicy stuff. I don't eat much of pork, but even so, this is a must!

So far, this has been a great CNY celebration & I hope for the best for this rat year!

Public Speaking

that's me.. top left hand corner

Speaking in front large audience comes with my job as a S&M (sales & marketing.. not the other S&M) person as I have to travel around South East Asia giving presentations to customers. Slowly but surely, after I've gotten used to the situation, the thrill & excitement overcame the fear, and last year after a presentation in Pertronas Kerteh, my reps told me that I just gave one of the most convincing presentation ever. Boy, oh boy.. was I fucking high after that..

Just a week before CNY, I was invited by Petronas to give a presentation in a resort in Melaka with regards to our products. Public speaking has never been a problem for me as I remember winning best speaker in primary school, but somewhere along the way, the guts to do so vanished. I don't know what happened, as I've never experienced anything unpleasant while doing so. I guess the problem is when you grow up, sometimes you become to self-concious. I've read in many articles regarding public speaking, that it is the most feared thing by most people, even more feared than death itself. You can gauge how you performed, by the interest generated after the presentation by the questions they asked about your products. I remember a conversation with one of Petronas' engineer (roughly as follows):

Petronas engineer: Where did you study?
Rockstar: UKM
Petronas' engineer: Oh patutlah.. english you bagus.
Rockstar: Huh? **thinking**
Petronas' engineer: Which part of UK?
Rockstar: Eh.. UKM.. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia... bukan UKlah..

All I could say to myself after that was... "Whatever you need next time.. bring it on" I'm so in cloud nine...

Next stop, singing in public.. kakaka...

Mentally Tired..

strange.. sometimes they do know exactly how I feel.. I turn to them for solace..

Life's sometimes feels like a heavy burden, with all those things you need to juggle, work, life, money... damn.. feels like the world is upon your shoulders. Sometimes, the thought of just letting it go running to some other place (taking my money with me.. hehe) where you can start anew with no worries comes to the mind...

Uggghh.. heavy load..

what i want for 2008...

I know new year resolutions sounds cheesy, but hey, no matter what, I see it as a good start to anything and everything. I've decided that my life this year is going to follow the directions of a six year old kid, yeah you heard me, a six year old kid.. and his stuff tiger. So here are some of my resolutions for this year.

i'd like to have much more exciting times this year. yeah, i guess there will be times where i'm going to be impromtu, not following the rules or do things the way it's usually done. hell yeah, i'd like to add some zest into this year!

I'll learn to be more forgiving this year. yeah, why do we hold grudges? Sometimes people do things that might hurt us in someway, but they don't mean it and I guess they're only human and no one's perfect. Just forgive & forget and bury the hacthet. And in saying so, I hope those around me will forgive me too, if I ever did, or will do something that hurts them.. especially when I learn to more impromtu (as per above's resolution)

I'd like to keep things simple, so to say.. the KISS method meaing Keep It Simple, Stupid. I'm not going to overanalyze a situation or something like that. Let's just weigh the simple good and bad in a situation & decide on it.

Further to the earlier strip above, to not to complicate life, I'm going to accept certain things.. which seemed unexplainable. Kinda like girls with shoes.. never seems to be enough for them, which I've mentioned in my earlier post. I'm just going to accept the fact and not question why.

I'm gonna learn more on how to appreciate the present moment, rather than looking back in anger or looking forward in fear.

This is tough, but I'll learn more on how to balance things in life, such as money, love, fun, health, carreer etc. Tough job, but someone's gotta do it.

There are no materialistic kind of resolutions for this year... hmm.. although getting that 2nd house might not be a bad idea, but that all depends on the ecomonic situation. There are some skills I want to learn.. hmm.. I'd like to get that damn digital piano that I've been putting off for so long and learn how to play some tunes on it, and also be a better cook. So, you know my resolutions now, so if any of you noticed me wandering off from it, you guys can slap me to remind me. Don't worry, I won't karate you.

Wish me luck!