Ray Says: Beautiful Un-expectation

Ola~

This is Raymond and due to the fact that I haven't written anything in this blog for a really really really long time, I have decided to further my involvement here with this blog. Of course, Cyren "insisted" that I write once in a while to prevent my writing skill from spiraling into an abyss of atrocity.

So, something amazing (as some of you would call it) happened a few hours ago to me. While I was strolling to a nearby cafe for dinner, unexpectedly, a butterfly crashed down onto the pavement not more than a 5 steps in front of me. I just stood there staring at it as it helplessly strove to fly again. Alas, it could not and it lay there - still.

Upon closer inspection, it was not any of the common butterflies I saw around the vicinity. Without further hesitation, I gently let it crawled to my palm and I waited for it to fly. Yet, it strove and to no avail. So, I held it on my palm (no container) with a paper covered it (I did not intend to answer others when asked why would I have a butterfly on my hand). Oh and the reason why I kept it because obviously, I wanted to show Cyren.

I ate faster than usual and ran back home at once in case the butterfly chose not to befriend me and hopped off to commit suicide. When I got home, I took a picture as shown below:

Though me and Cyren are still discussing the exact species of it, he did mention it was rare. Any help from the lovely readers would be much appreciated. As of now, the little critter is resting peacefully in a container I dug up from my room. That's all from me.

May bugs be forever with us (tacky, I know)

Cyren's update: Thanks to Khalid, we can now safely identify this butterfly as the common mime (Chilasa/Papilio clytia clytia)

Ray Says: Bioterrorism

Has any of you heard of the term bioterrorism? Unlikely, unless you play games like Resident Evil which centers around bio-warfare through the use of viruses and bacteria. I will get back to that in a bit.

Bioterrorism is not your typical terrorist attack. It doesn't necessary require the use of bombs, explosives or any other weaponry that you would normally find in the news. No. According to Wikipedia, bioterrorism is a form of terrorism involving a deliberate release of biological agents. These terrorists intentionally release infectious organisms to the targeted population, rendering mayhem and mass destruction. The process is gradual.

The scary thing about this act of terrorism is that you never know when it will hit you. Of course with bombs and explosives, you will hear it within a couple of miles away. However, bioterrorism or biowarfare is subtle and discreet. The virus or bacteria released could result in typical symptoms of common flu or other minor ailments. When it hits, we wouldn't realize it instantly and we would just carry out our daily routine, infecting others in the process. When the infection reaches its maturity, it would be too late as thousands of others have already contracted it. Stopping it would be futile. Though it has nothing to do with bioterrorism, the film, Contagion, proves how easily a virus is transmitted by mere touch or inhalation.

There are a number of cases of bioterrorism throughout the last few decades, none were as serious till the extent of total eradication of human population. That is why, if one wants to get a good picture of how devastating bioterrorism can be, I introduce Resident Evil. Yes yes, the games and movies have zombies in them but I'm also interested in the idea how a single virus (T-virus to be exact) can cause the downfall of a metropolitan city (the fictional Raccoon City). The rising dead is just added excitement to the series but the franchise did show the horrors of what would become if bioterrorists were to use biological agents to attack a place. As soon as the virus or bacterium hit us, we are already dead.

Sorry about the morbidity but I do like myself a good zombie franchise as entertainment. Fans of the franchise are lucky because an array of RE goodies are released this year. First off, you have Resident Evil: Operational Raccoon City. After you're done with the game, you can buy some popcorn and relax as you watch the latest sequel of the RE movie franchise - Resident Evil: Retribution in 3D. Just between you and me, they are not doing the movie franchise any good. Thus, I propose a reboot. After that, you can enjoy yourself with another RE game - Resident Evil 6. An interesting note for RE 6: there's a viral campaign going on and one of them is this video (link).

Click all the links above and it will direct you to the respective videos. Hope I make a fan out of you ;)

Ray Says: Camel Love

It seems like 2011 was just yesterday and now, it's already the third week of January. Time sure doesn't wait for anyone to enjoy their holiday. Speaking of that, I went to Shenzhen, China recently. Supposedly, it was my dad's present for my birthday but it was his company trip which he used as an opportunity (or excuse) to give me something. Since arrival, I did not enjoy one bit of it due to the inhibition of my dad and brother and I couldn't even celebrate my birthday with my loved one (you know who you are :P). Plus, all my travel planning went to waste.

Regardless, one particular venue did make it worthwhile even though the time staying there was limited. It's called Window of the World or in Mandarin - 世界之窗 It's one of Shenzhen popular attraction. As you can see from the pictures, all the famous landmarks across the world are here. Some of them are cheap knockoffs of the real thing but hey, it was the closest for me to see all the wonders of the world (it's my dream to travel around the world).

The entrance to the theme park - the Eiffel Tower stood as the tallest monument overlooking the whole place

The Lourve Pyramid welcoming us to the theme park

So I had tons of picture of all the great landmarks taken but I ain't gonna post them here. However, one thing made my visit all the more memorable there.

Tada!

Ain't it the cutest thing you ever see. It was to me. She was a beauty. True enough, camel has their name originated from Arabic word, ǧml, meaning beauty. As most people know, these desert ships can travel far and wide throughout the scorching desert for days without collapsing. But they tend to eat whatever they think is food. Take my map of the park and bottle for examples. It almost took a bite out of them.

It's anyone's guess where I found them displaying the lovely beast. Egypt! At least, it was the park's version of Egypt. There were 4 Egyptian landmarks and one of them was the famous Pyramids of Giza. I didn't get to go into the pyramid as they didn't build an entrance to it. Plus, the desert area was off-limits. One could only look fro afar. I would like to see the real Pyramids next time if possible.

Back to the camel, it was my very first time riding it. Though the location wasn't exactly right, I couldn't care less and without even asking about the price of riding one, I just went directly up to it and pet it. It didn't take in notice of me petting it and it just stood there, majestically. I was awed by it. In addition, it was tamed and lovable. Once I got on it, I just didn't want to get off, even with my dad pestering at me.

So there you go, that was my first time encountering the desert mammal. It really made my day then cuz the rest of my day sucked. Long shall I wait for my next encounter with the beast again.

The dude behind is my bro, just to be clear =D

Ray Says: When saying goodbye

Recently or just now if you want to be specific, I received the most distressing news of the new year. My pet Diana died. I barely had it for a year and it left me and Cyren just like that without even a word, not that it could speak. To matter worse, I didn't even get to say goodbye. It died in Cy's house while I'm all the way at East Malaysia. All I have are the pictures below to remember him by.

Diana, the name of my mantis, was found together by me and Cy and with respect to the Roman Gods, we decided to name him Diana (we expected it to be a girl initially). Cy knows how to tell the gender. I just trust him. Anyway, these little critters usually live up max a year but mine died less than that (roughly 5 months or so). The reason behind this might revolve around the food I fed him and the climate I kept him in. It seemed like just yesterday it crawled up my Lego empire. Life's too short.

Here's two photos of my first and beloved mantis:

Resting on a Lego tree, thinking that it's a real one

Stalking a geisha with a big belly

I'm gonna miss how it made a home out of my Lego shelter. Good thing I caught another one a few weeks back. (Her) name is Athena =D hopefully it is a girl. lolx

Ray Says: Lego Residential

As part of my New Year resolution and my dream to build a Lego community, this is what I could conjure up for now (with limited pieces). When I was little, I was spoiled by my daddy with Legos. He would buy loads for me whenever we traveled to Kuala Lumpur. Lego sets were rare sights back then in Sibu.

Since my first set of Lego, I have this crazy dream of building a Lego community whereby my little minifigures would stay and I would pretend they are real and I'm their ALMIGHTY GOD!! WHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Ahem...like Toy Story, I believe in my heart that these tiny figures are alive and they need my help to build them houses to stay in. I can only do so much for now but hopefully, in the near future, I can create a whole valley of houses or a city for them to travel. Of course, there will be a mountainous area whereby my reverie as an adventurer imposed onto one of the figures would come alive.

Anyway, enough nonsense of my fantasy. Below is the latest building I created. It's cramped, I agree but the figures would have to make due for now. I call this building Botanical Research Facility

The Entrance

Upper front view

Upper back view

Back View

Side view

Ray Says: Resolution

Hey, it's me, Ray again. Cyren is still M.I.A for the time being but I shall keep you company...for now anyway XD

For this post, I have decided to try something I never tried before because usually, I think it would never work. But this time, out of interest (and a bit of boredom), I have decided to write a list and not just any list. Yes, you guess it, I have decided to write a new year resolution list. YAyyyy....~

Now, as I mentioned, this is my first attempt to create new year resolution. The reason why is that I have seen many of my friends striving to complete their list only to abandon halfway through. In terms of psychological perspective, we lost interest when we try to pursue long term goals, mainly because they are LONG-TERMED and with no immediate feedback on our performance as we slowly complete our list throughout the year, the initiate excitement we experience is hopelessly lost forever...unless u can re-ignite it before the year finishes.

With that idea in mind, I truly hope I won't succumb to it (finger crosses). Anyway, below is my list of things to complete for next year. Cy advised me to keep it short and simple so that it wouldn't overwhelm me.

1) Read at least 10 books throughout the year

As you can see, all the books I bought accumulate since a few years ago and as ashamed I am to say, I barely finish half of them. Not anymore, Imma make an attempt to finish at least 10 books next year and hopefully, the knowledge in these books shall be absorbed!!

2) Travel to at least 3 never-been-to places

As an active, impulsive and energetic monkey that I am, I desire to travel far to unknown lands and conquer. Well, in my case, I just wanna go to places I never been to. FRIM was such a place. Now I can check that off my been-to-places list. It doesn't have to a foreign land, somewhere in Malaysia will do as well. For instance, I have been to Langkawi (hint hint - Cy) :P

3) Build at least 5 new personal Lego designs

Recently, I have been tearing apart my former Lego structures and re-building them according to whatever I can conjure up. Below are a few examples. The first is a Lego island invaded by explorers seeking to dig up its secrets but denizens aren't happy about it. The second is a specially made Lego butterfly for Cyren and readers of this blog. I'm inspired to make more but my imagination may be hindered with works and laziness. So, I limit myself to 5 designs.

4) Save at least RM1 per day

People who know me know that I spent a lot and not just on food and the usual necessities but on Lego (as you can see above), comics and more food. I realize I have to start saving now if I want to spend more on all the above and traveling. Sometimes, I do wish money wouldn't be an issue to me =/

That's all for my list. Cyren should be making his soon, I think, if he's not "occupied". XD

MIA

Ray here. Sorry for the recent MIA. As you all know, it's the holiday seasons and Christmas just passed. It comes to my acknowledgement that this time around, people's schedules are usually filled with shopping for gifts, eating with family and getting drunk with friends. Me and Cy were, without exception, the same as others. Unlike others, we were mostly wasting time in his house (my in-laws' house :P) playing DCU online.



DCU is the latest online game released by DC (the comic corporation that created Batman, Superman etc etc...not any other unrelated acronyms). Honestly for me, I prefer console games than online games but I gotta admit, DCU is pretty fun or maybe cuz it's related to something I like and I'm just being biased...hmmm~

Anyway, that's pretty much how we spent our Christmas. Even as I'm writing this post, Cyren's probably still playing the game (It's that addictive). So the MIA status would be extended to unknown date. But do drop by once in a while just to catch up on the old posts. I assure you, some of Cy's old posts are interesting reading titbit to pass the time.

Coming to an end, I and on Cy's behalf, just want to wish all you blog readers a belated Merry Christmas. Here are some of the stuff I made for this occasion. =3 Have a happy new year

Ray Says: Adventure

In recent news, Kim Jong Il died. But enough about him, this blog is about me and Cyren. Yay!!!

Anyway, I have been a brat to Cy due to my need for constant adventure and excitement. I would pressure him to take me somewhere, travel to a new unknown location and even propose the idea to walk from one end of KL to the other just for the fun of it. Seriously, I can never sit still and just count the minutes that are wasted from my life.


Not wanting to see me moody :P , Cy finally took me somewhere. Budget was of course a problem for poor saps like us so we settled on much more affordable places. Our first destination was Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). Never heard of it? Surprisingly, I stumbled upon it online as well. So go google. But for ya all's convenience, Imma just describe tiny details of it. As the name says it, it's an institute dedicated for plants and wildlife. It is mostly trees and fresh air there. There's even a mini waterfall. I would dip my feet in there if I had brought a towel and worn slippers instead of shoes. (Note: The place ain't meant for people who can't walk 500m without fainting).



Next, we went to Genting Highlands. Yayyyyy~~~~ ya...not much of an excitement but it was our first time there. Though everything is atrociously and inhumanely expensive, the cool air rejuvenated our mind and body. And, that was about it for Genting. Again, we are poor saps.



Lastly, we had a scrumptious meal in Shabu One. Though we always overtake what we can stuff down our throat, I love it there still. It is one of the few places where I can truly be satisfied with my meal. That's how we end our day together. =3 Wish we can do all the time but these fantasies happen once in a while which make them even more special.

Toodle-oo~

Trap in a Reverie (Ray)

Darkness dawned over the horizon as stars started to speckle through the vast sky. The lagoon was still, no signs of anyone. In the distance, bullfrogs began their mating call, loudly belching which supposedly should sound melodious to their potential mate. I took it in all these beauties, all these little things of life that made it perfect. Gradually, I shuffled into my room, reluctantly picking up another psychology textbook. The deadline was closing in and I knew I should not waste any more time. Yet, my mind wouldn’t permit the sentences I was reading to enter into my long-term memory.

I pulled back. “Long-term memory?” I had definitely read too much. Unable to bear the torment any longer, I threw the book to the floor and myself onto the bed. I sighed. I did not want my life to be bound by books but these books were my one-way ticket to my dream, my goal. I had been reading the entire day and my mind was full of psychological terms. One of the subjects I had to study was Motivation and Emotion. It wasn’t exactly the world’s most exciting book to read but I recalled a paragraph amidst the tome, stating that any attempts to successfully perform an action would be in vain if one does not have the motivation to begin with – or was it something entirely different? I couldn’t care less at the moment.

My head started to spin and the bed somehow embrace me as I slowly lost my consciousness. Blurry imageries suddenly appeared in my vision. “Looks like I’m dreaming,” I remarked to myself. I concentrated on focusing on my dream until the picture became clear and then, I realized I was on an open field with grass swaying around me as if they were waving at me. The field was stark, the sky was cloudless, and I came to the realization that my mind lacks imagination.

Sunway University's Community Mental Health Week

Hey ya'll

Ray just had his Community Health Week event, which was held in Sunway University to raise awareness on various types of physical illnesses and the psychological ramifications/stigmatization associated with them. It was pretty awesome, I think, and they succeeded in drawing quite a large crowd. There were about eight to nine(?) booths in total, I think and they all had awesomely fun activities people might take part in to raise awareness on such issues. Who could forget playing charades at Ray's "differently-abled' booth (whirl? Swirl? TOILET BOWL!!!), or tossing those tennis balls at empty soda cans at the booth for obesity (I was such a bad shot, didn't even hit anything!). I guess all in all, the message I got from their magnificent event was not to take things for granted, also, how important it is sometimes, to have other people believe that you can do this. It's not all about self-confidence, I suppose and if enough people try to break your spirit, they can and they will! But what was I doing there, you say? (Besides being a yentel - a.k.a busybody! - that is...) Performing of course! And despite that nasty head-cold and throat inflammation I had been fighting the past week, I stuck my best foot forward and faced the microphone with my chin-held high... not one of my best performances, I fear but who says this was about me, anyway! In fact, I was just glad that I got to do my part for such an amazing event. Oh, and Ray did a rap too! Did you know he could rap?! Well, I always did. Anyway, a picture speaks a thousand (or was it a hundred...?) words so, here they are

Some of the booths at the event

Activities for the day (from top) 1. Day in the life of a differently-abled person,  2. Sculpting Plasticine into shapes with your fingers tied up, 3. Free hugs for anti depression!

The amazing students/organizers of Psychology Batch 14

And their lovely lecturers who molded them into the little to-be psychologists they are today!!! 

WELL DONE, HUN!!!

Meanwhile, if a picture tells a thousand words, somebody please tell me why we shouldn't judge a book by its cover?

My carefully sculpted plasticine rose~ 

Pins and Needles 27 ~ Cameron Highlands and Birdwings

Hey ya'll

Ray was on his semester break last week and so we decided to take the risk and brave a trip up to Cameron Highlands. Never having actually gone to the place for almost a decade now, I must admit I found the trip rather daunting, but when Ray even raised the suggestion of backing out the stubborn/adventures/desperately-in-need-of-a-holiday part of me refused to back down and so, we packed our bags and headed off, early on a Friday morning to cross two states and up one very steep and winding road to make our way to Cameron Highlands. The journey was a nightmare. Long... took us about two hours or so to finally get to the mountain road and when we got there, I belatedly realized it was the 'old-road' we were taking which meant that they were extra narrow, extra winding and, when a truck was chugging its way up in front of you, excruciatingly slow moving. The bright side about taking the old road, however, was the amount of waterfalls we seemed to pass by on the way up (and the many butterflies that were attracted to these spots!) but after awhile, even waterfalls and butterflies start to all look the same and it wasn't long before I started to have my suspicions that we weren't going up, but rather, going around and round in circles. We finally made it, though, laying my suspicions to rest and it only took us an extremely taxing 3 hours... but it was worth it. Contrary to what people might have been saying, Cameron weather is still pretty cooling by my reckoning, even more so, when the clouds blocked out the sun. Here are some pictures of our visits there.

But of course, my main purpose to visit Camerons was to check out the butterflies there. Needless to say, I wasn't dissapointed and it was only belatedly that I realized I had already placed my butterfly net in the back of my car several days back or I'd have been kicking myself over it the entire trip. But bring my net, I did, and we managed to capture LOADS of butterflies, some of which I have never seen before (though I'm sure to my more experienced counterpart they hardly stand for anything) and I was quite pleased. Perhaps even more pleasing was the moment when the old uncle who ran the butterfly farm produced live pupae for us!

A rough idea of just how many butterflies we found that day

Anyway, I would so love to talk about ALL the butterflies in one post but there are really just too many of them and I haven't even begun to attempt to identify some of the butterfly specimens so I suppose I'll just start with the birdwings butterflies, so named for their large wingspan and majestic, bird-like flight.

Assortment of Troides sp. and Trogonoptera sp. birdwing butterflies

Trogonoptera brookiana albescens (Rajah Brooke's birdwing, male)

Troides amphrysus ruficollis (Golden birdwing, female)

Troides amphrysus ruficollis (Golden birdwing, male)

Troides helena (Helena's birdwing, male)