Sunday, December 13, 2009
If Everyone Care
Friday, December 11, 2009
I'm on leave
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
De-Synthesize
Reality-Check:
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
No Pain No Gain
It's been a while, been VERY BUSY for the past two weeks.. TOO MUCH assignments,,
To me the past two weeks has been a test and I've learn two things:
1)LAST MINUTE IS A POWERFUL DRIVE, but it is JUST NOT WORTH IT!!! U'll eventually hand-in something but mcam stakat ada sja.. There's no Satisfaction knowing that the assignment could be MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE better...
2)no PAIN, no GAIN..
One of the assignment I have to hand is an individual marketing project on a sprint car that me and two other mates built..
The following is our story( the essay I have to Hand-in):
No Pain, No Gain
The phrase “No Pain, No Gain”, its one of the common sayings we can see around us. I question however, on how many have understood and how significant is that saying on one’s life. The entry that is submitted reflects upon the saying. It is a poster to promote the premiere opening of a new blockbuster hit. The centre of the poster shines “Bravo one”, a sprint car designed and built by 3 young aspiring engineers to be competed into a race of the fastest. It is supposedly produced by The Godfather Entertainment Co., filmed at the University Of Sheffield, reviewed by leading critics of the entertainment industry and is based upon a true story.
I had initially decided to create a short 10 minute video depicting the process of building Bravo One. More of a documentary covering the technical aspect and drama present in building the model in a entertaining manner, something close to MTV’s “Pimp My Ride”. However a lot of manpower is required to create such video. Though all of the guys in team 13 likes the concept of the idea, the project remains an idividual project and must be done by one man. Thus I’ve decided to submit another important aspect of a movie: the premiere poster advert to represent the promotional piece of Bravo One.
There are two criteria that must be met in creating this promotional piece; creativity and effectiveness. I am sure that this piece(a promotional poster intended for the movie of the sprint car) is different from a typical poster advert that is intended for magazines or newspaper; a leading point on creativity. However, the effectiveness of this promotional piece remains to be questioned. Suppose a toy car like Bravo One is on sale , I doubt that a company would create a movie to reach its initial sales target upon release. It is financially challenging. However after few months being in the market, I believe that a a documentary or movie might boost up the sales of the specific toy car. The public especially fans of the stars in the movie might be prompted to purchase such vehicle though they have no professional intend to race such sprint car in a competition. Furthermore such form of promotional piece literally targets everyone. Therefore this form of promotion might somehow be effective.
What I would remember most is not the success in building it but rather the frustation felt everytime our model breaks and doesnt move so as the hardship faced everytime the model has to be re-design. Though we could not meet the final distance required, victory was sweet as a custard strawberry pie when it finally accelerates. It is quite a known fact that the light bulb was finally created after 2000 failures. The expereince in building Bravo One made me appreciate that fact. Something to be remembered upon embarking my professional career as an engineer; “No Pain, No Gain”.
P.s: Thanx to Adri for showing me the magic a photoshop can do
P.s.s: IDK why the 1st part is underlines...
Monday, November 30, 2009
{dartmouth}
Warning: I have found that this piece I've been writing happens to be quite long and has no pictures, so if you want a summary, here it is:
"I spent the weekend at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth and had a great time."
So here's the non-summarised version:
I've just got back from Dartmouth in Devon, and so I thought I'd blog this out while everything's still fresh on my mind. Now, what was I doing in this small town on the south coast of England, situated between Exeter and Plymouth?
I spent 2 nights at the Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC) for the URNU New Entry BRNC Acquaint Course. BRNC is where people who want to become officers in the Royal Navy train, functioning much like the Royal Military Academy (RMA) Sandhurst does in training Army officers.
I joined London URNU (which stands for University Royal Naval Unit) out of a desire to do something a bit 'extra' from what others at university do - like I said during the interview (yes, there is competition for places and an interview serves to sort of filter candidates in), I wanted to "stop being such a foreign student" in that we tend to huddle up in our own communities whilst in the UK and missing out on fun things we gave a second thought to just because they were a tad out of our comfort zones.
Being a citizen of a Commonwealth country we were as welcome to join the URNU as anyone from the UK, and there is even an American with us in the Unit in London. He's here for a term, and he's in the NROTC (Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps) and the URNU is probably the closest to that here.
Anyway, what we do in the URNU in London is that we have Drill Nights on Thursdays at the Unit in Knightsbridge, which is about 20 minutes or so from home here at Marble Arch. At Drill Nights you have, of course, drill and there's 2 sessions after that which can be lectures or something from an array of activities, some hands-on.
There's also the sea weekends. I haven't been on a proper sea weekend although I got to spend a day on our Unit's ship HMS Puncher last month, but the idea of a sea weekend is you get on board on the Saturday, sail to a nearby port and stay there the night before sailing back to Portsmouth on the Sunday. You get to progressively do all sorts of things on the ship, and for the few hours that I was on HMS Puncher last month I did get to steer her and wash the screens near the bow afterwards.
And there's Easter/Summer deployment, where you go for I think 2 weeks to places in Europe. And of course social events, what organisation's activities would be complete without them? Dinners, etc.
Right, back to Dartmouth: the aim of our trip down there was basically to get a 'snapshot' of what life is training to become a Royal Navy officer. We left the Unit on Friday afternoon (which was Hari Raya Aidiladha), taking about 4 1/2 hours, out of the city into the countryside and down to where the sea is. We were given our 'foulies' (foul weather gear), and there was a safety briefing and welcome of sorts before we left for bed. Not bed right away really, as we worked on our kit (polishing, ironing) for a good portion of time in preparation for the next day.
Speaking of kit, I've got a uniform as well which I received about 3 weeks ago: No. 1s, which are the smartest, most ceremonial ones - tie and jacket, that sort of thing and a cap. No. 3s, the everyday one with the cap as well, and No. 4s - a nice blue shirt with drawstring trousers and 'steaming bats' (boots) and a beret. A 'woolly pulley' (jumper) over the top as well.
We had an inspection early the next morning before breakfast and the College Task Presentation, which was basically giving us an overview of what the guys in training do for the time they're there. Mentioning that, there are people from about 20 countries who train at Dartmouth, not the least from Brunei, although I only met a couple of guys, from Kuwait and Oman respectively. As such, there is a mosque for worship and all the non-pork meat served is Halal.
After that we had a tour of the college. To be honest it's a very nice place in a very nice place (get me?) and I was glad to be there. I mean, you have to be top of the class basically in officer training in Brunei to have a chance to be sent to Dartmouth for training, but me just being in the URNU here and having got a chance to spend the weekend at BRNC is just amazing. We were shown around by one of the students there, who told us the reason why we have to salute upon entering the Quarterdeck at BRNC and on any RN ship is because Nelson got shot on the Quarterdeck and died afterwards.
The plan next was to get on the River Dart on the 'motor whalers' but apparently the weather was against it (another explanation was that they were out of order) so we did some team-based exercises indoors instead. Basically it was a you're-stranded-in-the-Sahara-what-do-you-do thing and then we compared the results of the discussions between the groups present, pros and cons.
Parade training after lunch on the Quarterdeck - brilliant to say the least. There's commands for taking your caps on whilst in divisions and putting them back on! College Shop was open afterwards; bought a few souvenirs least including a mug (typical) and a Royal Marines Band CD. Royal Navy Presentation Team (RNPT) presentation afterwards (sort of a video about the RN thing).
Went to the Pavilion for (non-alcoholic) drinks after dinner and after 2 hours went back to my cabin, polished my shoes then went to bed. Almost went 'ashore' to the town of Dartmouth but went against it ... "probably wise" as the Lieutenant-Commander said to me during inspection the next day.
Went to get on the Dart (finally) the next morning, and I steered the picket boat 80% of the time; everyone else was chatting behind. Had a good time doing it and finally let the wheel go coming back into Sandquay; one of the students then took over to park the boat. Did PLTs (don't know what it stands for exactly) after that - basically practical tasks where you have a leader who you listen to but essentially you need to work as a team. The first one was to cross this chasm with a plank shorter than the gap; second was crossing a 'minefield', again with a plank shorter than the minefield's length but we had 'bomb-proof' tankards to use; lastly, which I was team leader of, constructing an antenna. We did that one brilliantly and were well within time.
Had a course wash-up after lunch - basically what was good, what could be improved on before departing back to London! That was my weekend gone, and I missed out on paintball in Leeds and meeting up with Fadhlan in London, but more importantly couldn't be there for Amalina's birthday. However, this coming weekend I'll make that up for her. All in all, had great fun at BRNC, got to meet people and see a bit of how the training process is - phew!
http://www.londonurnu.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Royal_Naval_Unit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia_Royal_Naval_College
Friday, November 6, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Re-Connected
A month of no Internet is just a LIVING NIGHTMARE. So what was the story?
Once upon a time, there was a group of 3 men settling in a cozy house which could comfortably support 3 people. One thing is missing from the house. A 4th basic need of a human being called "The Internet". So out of the many possible provider they decided to go with Sky. But the catch is Sky uses the BT line. So they were guaranteed of Internet connection within 28 days. Installation of BT line and setting up the Internet Modem. Plus a satellite TV is part of the package.
After 28 days later, guess what??? THERE WAS STILL NO INTERNET. So the 3 men did a little search and found out that the house was already having a line which is provided by TISCALI. Dat's why the BT line cudnt get thru. N the TISCALI could only be cancelled by the previous owner. The boys contacted the landlord and the previous owner cancelled the line. N then they were told to wait another 28 days.
but one of the guy has a little skill and with a little magic he casted on an iPhone.... *POOM*
They were connected to the world again..................
*THE END*
Monday, November 2, 2009
{ }
This thing was in my bed
Didn't find no Scottish woman
Just Callister instead
Made me a mug of coffee
What! Tap water won't heat
Eggs & beans for breakfast
Maths today indeed
Rizla paper, slim Swan tips
Making me & Mechanics click
Fruits & fish are healthy food
Ibuprofen for when you're sick
Across the Park to College
Nah, there's no waterfall
Just a bridge & a shallow river
Fluid Mechanics explain it all
Take a break & 60p
Get out & buy some minestrone soup
When will the chaps behind shut up?
Mechatronics - feedback loops
Already dark but only 5
Oh no I missed the bus again
Will have to wait a couple minutes
Stress Analysis: my friend!
"Up for a swim tomorrow?"
"No, Design tutorial"
Good thing no ERS this week?
Oh, 9-to-5 appeal
Mechanics sheet has not been done
Thermodynamics has not been read
I woke up in the morning
This thing was in my bed
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
From the Toddlers' Plastic Desk, Mumong
Trying to make the weekly target happen.
This morning I went to the Land Transport Department to get my temporary driving license and then I registered at Asohraya. My law test will be on the 31st of this month. In the meantime I can start learning how to park and maybe do the hill (I can only get to the streets after I have passed the law test). So just now I went to Asohraya again to pay for the 10 hours, and I've got my teacher. The first of my lessons starts tomorrow!
There has been a lot of hype about the 2nd Heart of Borneo project, the local industries, the nation's development and the reinforcement of the ban on schoolteachers to carry out tuition out of school hours at their private residences.
I think the Heart of Borneo aims to preserve more than half the country's area as primary forest. This is Brunei's contribution to the international agreement between the nations that are on Borneo's soil namely Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Local industries such as food manufacturing should be aiming to produce more basic and staple foods, said Dr Hj Ibrahim (Senior Lecturer of Chemistry at UBD) at an event a few days ago, as today's local manufacturers go above the basic stuff e.g. crisps and that sort.
Brunei has set to leave about only 5% to be developed, the rest may stay as natural rainforest, and this means that the opportunity for real estate developers to build multi-storey residences e.g. flats or apartments has opened up (Did no one think of multiple stories earlier? Look, value for money, buy less land and make taller buildings therefore more people renting per unit area of land, more revenue, that stuff. See, a sixth form student who doesn't do economics nor business studies can come up with that!). The amendment of the Strata Act has indeed come in at the right time, to enable subdivision of building ownership e.g. one floor or half a floor per owner (correct me, anyone, if I am wrong).
Regarding the private tuition issue, tuition schools are still alright, it's just the private tuitions that are banned. Parents are reluctant to send their kids to tuition schools and have argued that their children should have the same teacher and tutor in order to have that 'consistency'. But, on the other end of the spectrum, can't the student themselves work harder up to the point that tuition is not needed?
Hope you find this informative. Stay in touch. Enjoy yourselves.
Regards,
Office Boy a.k.a. Local Correspondent
Thursday, October 15, 2009
From Your Local Correspondent #1
The supposedly hot news should be the fire gutting 3 shops side by side along Jalan Pretty, Kuala Belait. namely KFC, Pustaka Remaja and the chicken rice restaurant on Tuesday morning, the 13th of October. I haven't been to Kuala Belait town for more than a week. Haven't seen the remains of the shops.
In the next paragraph you will read words like might, most probably, possibilities... I have to use them because the facts below, from newspapers, seem feeble because maybe these people are not sure of the accuracy of their statements.
I don't know exactly where the fire started, but it might have come from KFC's store room or the KFC staffhouse (on top of KFC) or the floor above the chicken rice restaurant (maybe a staffhouse too). Possibilites of the cause of fire include an unattended iron or washing machine, or a refrigerator wiring fault. The fire was most probably noticed at around 6am Tuesday morning. What I can recall from the papers is, the Fire Department received a distress call at 6.08am and they rushed to the scene. As usual, firemen from the BSP Fire Brigade came too, and astonishingly two fire brigade water vehicles (boats) were dispatched too. Dispatched for what purpose and where they were told to station themselves, I don't know. No one got injured, but of course there was a great loss incurred. Pustaka Remaja has estimated a $100,000 loss. They've just got new stock in recently, their stockroom was on the first floor, above their shop, burnt in flames. The water that was used to extinguish the fire had wet the books downstairs and voila, double trouble.
A couple of weeks back (as far as I can remember) there was a serious blackout that affected nearly the whole country; it happened two days in a row. On the first day some houses didn't get the power supply and some still got it, on the second day the ones that did get the supply the previous day didn't get the power supply, and vice versa. Call it exchanges. If you get me. On both days the power went off for some 4-8 hours. It went through till night time. Shops were out of candles. Went for a ride at Pandan 7 area on the first day of blackouts and it was pitch black (Beverly Hills included) except for Soon Lee. I think they've got generators to get the power running and to prevent looting. The Department of Electrical Services has said that there was a 'technical fault' at Bukit Panggal or Gadong, or both of them, not really sure, I didn't read the papers properly on that one.
This month, there's an Oktoberfest in Germany, a 16-day fair, held annually in Munich, attracting 6 million visitors, including people from abroad, as far as Brazil, and lots and lots of beer poured (and drunk) during it (read up Oktoberfest on Wikipedia if you don't know about it) and guess what, we have the Ford October Fest up in Beribi. First things first, name says it, it's sponsored and/or organised by Brunei's sole Ford dealer. Well, in Brunei's October Fest there isn't any beer... They've got 3 main events: the FORD Tug of War Challenge, a Ranger Strongman: Man Vs Truck Competition and a Ford vehicle exhibition. I don't know much about this fest, just put it here for the sake of news.
One last thing. The shop near SMSA, Metussin's Groceries, re-opened sometime during the Raya season.
Hope you find this informative. Enjoy your studies. I will update after the 16th of November (the day of my last A-level paper), one month from now.
Office Boy a.k.a. Brunei Correspondent
Monday, October 5, 2009
{from london}
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Loughborough
My story... My New Beginning...
Us while walking around London XP
Out of the 10 of us, 1 went to Loughborough (me), 2 went to Bradford (Muiz and Zatil), 3 went to Nottingham (Fathiyah, Hayatul and Azmi) and 4 went to Cardiff (Kaka Gmah, Yunnie, Zatay and Faizun). All the best to everyone~ and do have fun~ and and and update me through you facebook^^
We have done it... now it's yur turn... ahahahaha study hard, achieve excellent grades, apply for scholarship and hope to see you around United Kingdom~ hahahaha XD
(Photos courtesy of Hayatul)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
International Driving License
I now can drive in 66 different countries including france, germany, etc... not forgetting to mention HOLLAND... ESCARGO.... ROAD TRIP NIE!!! ahaxxxx huhuh...(eyh slah, c ayyub tu)
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Mastermind Concept.
"When TWO or MORE people coordinate in a spirit of harmony and work toward a definite objective or purpose, they place themselves in position, through the ALLIANCE, to absorb POWER directly from the great storehouse of Infinite Intelligence."
Rich industrialist like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone back during the industrial revolution formed an alliance in which they meet regularly in their winter mansions. Through this alliance, they have become prominent figures and had achieved success in each of their respective discipline. Napoleon first wrote on this subject of allying oneselves with powerful people and it known as a "Mastermind Group".
I have a mastermind group and it is called ESCARGO.....
I didn't realize I had one untill I stumble across this principle in Jack Canfield's book; "The success principles"
I shared my founding with the officers last saturday before we had a doa selamat ceremony and a grand entrance to Nabeh's house. I believe by holding yourself with a group of positive friends would enrich your lives further. Not just you, but for the whole group. Contohya?
The Scholarship and UK... Each of us lands on a scholarship scheme and everyone is studying abroad. We have those in BSP, MOE, DANA and recently the SULTAN"S SCHOLAR scheme. The network is broad and it would empower the alliance and individuals further. I can imagine when the ESCARGO officers reach 40 and we'll have a meeting in one of the C.E.O's mansions or the World Class Director's Restaurant. Hold on to friends who generate positive energies to your lives and you will in turn be enrich with it's positive stream of energy, thus UNLOCKING your fullest potential.
Do you have a mastermind group? If not, find a few friends, rope up and keep it running. and most importantly, HOLLLDDD ON to it....
Friday, September 18, 2009
Congratulations, Sultan's Scholar!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
UK Here We Come!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
The Godfather's first post
I CANT BELIEVE IT!!! IM BLOGGING!!!!!
There is a saying in the escargo familia:
If you need to know about the MILITARY, ask the OPERATIONS.
If you need to know about the CNN'S latest happening, ask the PRESIDENT.
If you need to know how to COOK and NOT BE BORED,ask the DIRECTOR.
If you need to see MOVIES, TV SERIES(of past and present), ask the C.E.O
If you need to know the TACTIC OF CONQUERING THE WORLD AND SIMULTANEOUSLY TAKE OUT THE GODFATHER, THE C.E.O & THE DIRECTOR THROUGH RISK, ask the PERM SECT.
BUT if you need some advice on LURVE(feeling, getting or "making" it), SEDUCTION, RELATIONSHIPS, YOU ALWAYS ASK THE GODFATHER..
So my first lesson to all who's reading, last year I created the 3 laws of true love. This year I am goin to scratch that off and present to you:
THE GODFATHER"S law of attraction
"The first law of attraction states that THE MALES MAKES THEIR CHOICE ACCORDING TO THE FEMALE'S REPLICATION VALUE WHLIST THE FEMALES MAKES THEIR CHOICE ACCORDING TO THE MALE'S SURVIVAL VALUE."
U get the picture?
stay tune for more..
(OH MY GOD I"M BLOGGGING!!!!!)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Majlis Doa Selamat @ Zahin's Crib
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Majlis Doa Selamat for SMSA Scholars
The event begins with 'wait for everyone to come'... ahahaha XD When that's done, Ustaz Abdul Rahim was invited to recite Surah Al-Fatihah. Then, Mr. Cheong Huat Joo, the Principal of SMSA gave out a speech, congratulating everyone and touches on the statistics of the Scholars coming from SMSA. After a round of applause, Radin and our own President, Ayyub, was invited to give out their speech as the student representatives. "Don't Think You Know, Make Sure You Know~"
(Photos are courtesy of Ciwi and Ayyub)