Let's X that Twitter

So, uh, I had forgotten that a long time back I added a Twitter widget to this blog. Let's just get rid of that X now, shall we?

Genshin Impact how many years/months in?

Just the other night a friend said he had gotten back into Genshin Impact. I recently reinstalled it on a laptop (it's way too big for my phone now), so I launched it up to check on my status. I tend to stick with games, even if I'm not sure why I'm still playing. I remember logging into Stronghold Kingdoms on Steam, as a free-to-play player for months on end, only to have my towns destroyed forcing me to start from scratch again.

Genshin, however, I stopped mainly cos of the space issue. So it's been awhile since I played. I've only just started in Sumeru, so I'm way behind on the main story. And don't get me started on the side-quests. I still have plenty to do in Inazuma, and I just breezed through The Chasm to get out of it as fast as I could.

Still, I have decent characters at least.

Where were you...when Faker won his 4th Championship?

It's been a long road back to the top, and after a promising early year for T1 (followed by a rocky LCK Summer Split), the team made it to LoL Worlds 2023 where they breezed through to the knockout stage, only to be the LCK's last hope and having to run through the LPL gauntlet to finally raise the trophy and be crowned the World Champions last Sunday! I was at home, watching while the rest of the family was resting post-tahlil. I had already made them wait an hour and a half just to catch New Jeans in the Opening Ceremony, then everyone dispersed so I could enjoy the games.

And what a thrilling series it was! T1 played through the top triangle, with Keria pulling off some amazing moves in teamfights. Quarters and Semis were good series too, and this year's Finals didn't disappoint, even though it was a clean 3-0.

So SKT/T1 won their 4th Worlds trophy, and so did their Unkillable Demon King mid-laner, Faker. Congrats to the team!

My 40 days later

It's been 40 days since this:

To this day, I still feel tears forming if I think about her, and especially about how her last days unfolded. They say it's a process, and it's clear I'm still going through the steps.

Eventually it'll get better for me, but I'm not sure I want it to.

Foodpanda review - Maharaj Restaurant

Order:
1x Tandoori Chicken - RM23.00
1x Palak Paneer - RM18.00
Rating on Foodpanda at time of ordering: 4.3 (100+ ratings)

It's been a while since I've had any tandoori, so maybe prices have gone up. But for RM23, I actually expected a larger portion. In fact, twice the portion we received, since that was what was displayed in Foodpanda. Thank goodness it actually tasted good enough. We didn't order naan as it was RM5 a piece, and instead ate it with roti canai from our freezer (a comparable pairing I say).

The palak paneer was ok; not too heavy, with enough flavour. Not as cheesy as others we've had. We still have some leftovers, but not sure what to pair with it for next time.

Overall, decent, if a bit expensive.

BOINC-ing on my own again

I'm back to running BOINC on my own account again, since the GRC pool is shutting down at the end of the year and I've just made the switch to solo-mining GRC. Got the wallet all configured, beacon sent, waiting for Mag to show up on the network. I'll have to use MRC to claim my GRC from now on. Will have to see how often I do that. Maybe once a month?

PriceWatch: Petrol in Malaysia (2)

Item: RON95 petrol
Brand: any
Price: MYR 2.05 / liter
Date of Purchase/Survey: 27/01/2022
Place of Sale: any petrol station in Malaysia

Eleven years ago it was MYR 1.90/liter; it's barely moved in the intervening years thanks to Government subsidies, but that has to be an unsustainable practice.

Must have rolled single digit for my Constitution

I got my Covid-19 booster shot on Friday. It was my first Pfizer Comirnaty shot, as my 1st and 2nd doses were AstraZeneca. This time there was a throbbing pain on my arm at the injection site. Followed by a low-grade fever on the second day (yesterday). On my first dose I had a fever as well. This one seems to have mostly burned out in a day. Although the doctor said I could treat it with Panadol, I didn't. Nothing too serious anyway.

My own inconsistent spelling paradigms

I picked up the Wordle habit recently, and today's puzzle tripped me up a bit. As a product of mostly British schools I stubbornly stick to "ou" vs. "o" spellings, although I've picked up the nasty habit of using "z" instead of "s" in a lot of places. I even realised it earlier today when I did a routine spellcheck on an old document and I was prompted to change the document region from American English to British English, just to keep my "ou" spelling. This is all just an excuse to explain today's 5 guesses required.

Checking in on BOINC

Start of a new year seems like a good time to set a milepost for BOINC progress. I'll compare my progress later in the year, although I don't expect significant progress, since I'm mainly crunching on a GRC pool. Still, I may add or switch around projects. The strangest thing is I still haven't been knocked off the top 100 list for the country.

Hello from The Future! (2022 edition)

This goes out to those on the other side of the world, including my sister. Yes, it's a #dadjoke, but I'm a dad, so it's allowed!

A goal for 2015

It's a simple one: I want to read more, and write more. I've already got a selection of unread books that I bought at the Big Bad Wolf Sale last month, and even some from the previous year. So that first part of my goal should be easy enough to achieve. It's the writing part that worries me some. We'll see how it goes.

Starting the new year with doctors visits

Urgh. What a way to ring in the new year.

This is just a quick update. Last week of December I go for my medical checkup that's required as part of contract renewal. About a week later I get a call from HR saying the blood test came back with some abnormality (elevated liver enzymes), and I have to go in for a follow-up with the radiologist. Just hearing that word kinda freaked me out. First working day of the new year I go back for the liver ultrasound. Good news, and bad news.

Good news - liver seems fine, except - bad news - lesions have been detected. Four of them, with one being particularly large at roughly 7cm. I meet a surgeon, who checks me out, tells me not to worry, then orders a CT scan - just to be sure. So off I go to get a CT scan, and I'll meet the doctor again this Saturday.

Hmm. Hepatatic hemangioma. Most likely benign, the doctor tells me. And, it's quite common.

Ok, I'm off to bed. Tired, and I feel bloated after all the water I've been drinking to flush the radioactive isotopes out.

Changing shampoos

I recently bought a new bottle of shampoo. I’ve been using Himalaya shampoo for several years now. It’s an organic-based product, with many different plant extracts as the main ingredients. I’m not one to experiment too much with personal care products; if I’ve been using something for a long time and it hasn’t been giving me problems, I’ll stick with it. So I was just a little bit confused when Himalaya came out with a new bottle design. I wasn’t sure it was the same product, since previously my shampoo branded itself as a “protein shampoo with conditioner, normal hair”. The new bottle said “protein shampoo, gentle daily care, normal hair”. The shop attendant said it was just a new package design, so I went with it.

Just the other morning, I opened the new bottle as my old bottle had emptied. When I poured out the shampoo, a new colour greeted me: it was brown-black. So I took a closer look at the bottles, and discovered the difference.

The old shampoo listed sandalwood (santalum album) and shikakai (acacia concinna) as the main ingredients, with others being indian paper birch (betula utilis), ushira (vetiveria zizanioides), banyan tree (ficus bengalensis), musk root (nardostachys jatamansi), fenugreek (trigonella foenum-graeceum), soapnut (sapindus mukorossi), common wheat (triticum sativum), and lemon (citrus limon). The bottle tells me that:

Fenugreek is rich in Natural Proteins that nourish the hair roots and prevent hair loss. Musk Root promotes hair growth. Shikakai detangles and softens the hair.

The new shampoo lists licorice (glycyrrhiza glabra) and amla (phyllanthus emblica) as the main ingredients, with others being chebulic myrobalan (terminalia chebula), eclipta (eclipta prostrata), chickpea (cicer arietinum), belleric myrobalan (terminalia bellirica), and henna (lawsonia inermis). This time, the bottle tells me:

Chickpea: Rich source of natural protein.
Amla & Black Myrobalan: Natural hair tonics that strengthen hair roots.
Licorice: Helps promote hair growth.

In other words, nothing to worry about; it’s all just still clever marketing. Organic-based, no animal testing shampoo! (It’s just something to wash your hair with.)

PriceWatch: Himalaya Shampoo

Item: Shampoo, 400ml, Protein Shampoo for Normal Hair
Brand: Himalaya
Price: MYR 22.90
Date of Purchase/Survey: 01/05/2011
Place of Sale: MidValley MegaMall, KL

Organic-based product, not tested on animals.

PriceWatch: Petrol in Malaysia

Item: RON95 petrol
Brand: any
Price: MYR 1.90 / liter
Date of Purchase/Survey: 27/02/2011
Place of Sale: any petrol station in Malaysia

Despite the fluctuations in world oil prices brought on by the recent events in the Middle East, the Malaysian Government is maintaining the subsidized price of RON95 petrol in the country at RM1.90 per liter. For now.

PriceWatch: Parking, KL

Item: Parking
Price: MYR 9.00 / entry
Date of Purchase/Survey: 29/01/2011
Place of Sale: Menara TA One, Jalan P Ramlee, KL

Parking in the centre of KL sure is expensive. Right next to the office it’s RM9.00 per entry, even on weekends. There was a time when it was less during the weekends. RM7.00 per entry I thought. Maybe that was on a Sunday though. So if I’m only going to be in the office for a 3-4 hours or less, it might be worthwhile to park at Suria KLCC instead.

P.S. Yes, the PriceWatch format may not fit so well for a service such as parking, but you can make sense of it.

It’s a New Year? Ok

I’m not greeting the New Year with any resolutions. No clichés about losing weight or doing volunteer work or anything like that. I’d rather not set myself up for disappointment. Yes, you should set goals for yourself. Yes, you must have some method to measure your success. Yes, you should give yourself a deadline so that the goal is achievable. Hmm. I seem to have made the case for resolutions. Nevertheless, I say no! Instead, I shall remember all the good things from 2010, try to keep learning from all the bad, and keep reminding myself: yes, I too deserve happiness.

So it’s a new year, huh? Ok then. Let’s get working on achieving happiness, however you define it.

Happy New Year, everyone! I wish happiness for you, wherever you are.

I should be somewhere else

Maybe “should” is too strong a word. Ok then, I “want” to be somewhere else. But life doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to. Usually something gets in the way. A “commitment” of some kind, whether time, or money, or attention, or some combination. We all have them. Our jobs; doctor’s appointments; class schedules; mortgage payments; project meetings; and the list goes on.

So I’m sitting here wishing all these commitments could take a break, when it hits me. I get it. I know why parents always want to “spoil” their children. Forget making them happy and seeing their smiles. Forget giving them a better future or more fulfilling life. It’s about living vicariously.

When else are you unburdened by commitments that hamper your free spirit? Only as a child do you have the freedom to go through your days without a worry in the world. Before there are timesheets, before there are examinations, before there are roll calls, before there are campuses to cross, before there are teachers, before there are homework assignments, before all that - there is exploration of your world. There is you - and there is the world. There are paintbrushes and colouring books, fields to jump in and slides to go down, butterflies to chase and gardens to water, toys to play with and the boxes that substitute - all there for exploration without concern for anything but that it’s there.

So if you want to eat something specific - fries, or ice-cream, or sliced apples - it’s there. If you want to go to a mall - someone will take you. If you want to go to a park - someone will take you.

And that’s what parents should do. Take care of the commitments. It’s what you do as an adult. Protect your child from the disappointments of life. They’ll come in soon enough, those disappointments. Can’t stop that; no way to avoid it. And when those commitments get you down, live vicariously.

Take care of the commitments so someone else gets what they want and gets to live life.

Where were you... when Aung San Suu Kyi was freed?

This post is part-diary, part-momentous-occasion-noting. It’s like that Zen question: “if a tree falls in a forest and no one’s there to hear it, does it make a sound?” (Ok, I checked; it’s not a Zen question, just a philosophical riddle. Same diff.)

In today’s electronic world, if you don’t blog it, or tweet it, or FB it, did you have any reaction? Were you even aware of it, whatever “it” is? Certainly there are benefits to this. At least, years from now, if I can’t recall the story, I can look it up. This is what I was doing when “it” happened.

So where was I when Aung San Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest?

It was Saturday evening and I was home after having sent A’isyah back. She had her certificate presentation day in the morning where she had performed with all her schoolmates, and we had spent most of the afternoon making Play-Doh ice cream. So I was sitting and drinking some warm water with honey for my sore throat when my koi messages me a CNN headline:

Aung San Suu Kyi release after 15 years of house arrest

She was asking me to remind her who that was. :-)

The leader of the democracy movement in Burma/Myanmar being released after decades of persecution by the ruling military junta is certainly a momentous occasion. After all, Aung San Suu Kyi was the symbol of the human rights abuses of the Myanmar leadership. That, of course, was always a thorn in ASEAN's side vis-a-vis international relations. What a different world it would have been if her party’s victory in the 1990 general election had been recognized instead of nullified by the military.

Of course, just because she’s been freed now doesn’t guarantee a different future for the people of Myanmar. After all, they just had (a sham of) an election days before her release. So the military government probably feels they have a mandate to lead. And they could just very well place Aung San Suu Kyi on house arrest again in a few months. It’s not like they haven’t done it before.

Still, let’s be optimistic.