I have the power (armor)!

I am a huge fan of mecha and powered armor.

These things are very popular in Japan. Few know that one of the first references to powered armor can be attributed to some of my favorite authors; R.A.H. and Doc E.E. Smith.

I have long been waiting for the day that I can hop into a mecha or suit up in powered armor and fight massive battles or explore strange new worlds.

Well, sad to say, that is not likely to happen in my life time.

On the other hand there are events unfolding that can help nurses or others who need to move much weight around; H.A.L. and I don't mean the one from 2001: a Space Odyssey!

Another pioneer has started a different project for the same thing.

Perhaps, one day we can have armor powered by systems like these and help more people than are hurt from it. Perhaps.

The Megazone 23 has you

I think everyone has seen the Matrix movies.

Everyone also thought that the idea and effects of the movie were radical. Including me. I particularly enjoyed the fighting, even if the actors were still not good enough to show the kind of expertise they claimed to possess.

Many people thought the concept was "new."

However, I have just watched the first Megazone 23 anime. This short series was made in 1985 and possesses many of the same concepts as the matrix. A giant computer is running things, making an illusion of 20th century life for the inhabitants of the ship they all live in.

It's not bad, definitely 1985 quality animation, but the story is good and it has one of my favorite things! Mecha!

Lag

I recently installed Anarchy Online to play during this time that I am off work.

It is an online game but instead of, like most online games, being Fantasy based game it is instead a Science Fiction based game.

I like sci-fi more than fantasy, for the most part, so it makes sense that I would like this game.

It also makes sense because this game is free. Most online games have a fee of about 14.99 usd per month.

I could not remember my log in password information for all of my accounts, I have at least 4, so I spent some time "hacking" my own passwords.

I managed to find my first account's log in information and it allowed me to log in. What is shocking about that is that that account is from a time when I bough the game and it was still pay to play. I played it for a few months before deciding I do not like to pay to play a game. It is ok to buy it to play it, but not to keep paying each month!

So, I started playing my first account. This first account has expansions that my free accounts do not have! I am now able to play, for free, with an account that should be pay to play and it is not. This is nice for me.

Here is the part that sucks. . . LAG. I want to be able to play the game anytime that I am free to do so. However, I am not able to do this. Lag during high-traffic hours in Malaysia prevents this freedom.

So, I pretty much can never play during the early evening time of day. *sigh*

Visa, it's everywhere you want to be

I got my Social Visa today.

This means I can live and work in Malaysia. Not only that, but I can work anywhere I want, instead of being tethered to one company like I would have been with a work visa.

Now we have a car, no pictures taken of it yet, my visa, Siew starts a new job today, hopefully this one is better than the other 2 that had crap-holes for employers. I have a job I can return to next month, but to be honest I am applying for other jobs.

I would like to get on somewhere full-time and make decent wages, of course, while doing so.

ELS has helped me in some ways, but they have also held me back in a lot of ways that are really bad. I am not too keen on returning to them. I will return to them only until I get a more permanent job.

Anyone know any place that needs an IT person who is a native English speaker and TEFL/TEYL certified?

If you do know, let me know where I can apply!

Tae Kwon Do, sort of anyway

I have started learning Poomse from this site.

I'm doing this with only the pictures to follow, and in our bedroom, so I'm partially making things up as I go.

I do it this way:

Look at picture
Read description
Determine what is described
Follow through to current step step 5 times
Repeat for the next step, starting from the beginning step to new step

I have to modify this somewhat to fit the room's shape and size.

It is actually tiring repeating it so many times!

Today I mixed it up a bit by adding a few push-ups or other things in between new steps.

I think this may not be accurate for learning a martial art, of course, but it is good exercise and that is what I am after here.

Desire

I have been re-influenced by watching Highlander.

I want to resume study of martial arts, if just the basics, for exercise.

I need my over-sensitive skin to stop being over-sensitive.

I have been looking for any kind of martial arts forms guides online. I would love to find a decent Sil Lum Tao guide as I actually learned this a very long time ago and I should be able to pick it back up easily.

I am not sure about taking any local martial arts classes here in Penang. We will see if I am ok with that or not later.

Oddly there are not that many people who teach martial arts here.

Even my small hometown has more to offer for martial arts!

I just need to get something so that I can burn some calories for about an hour a day.

Sick

Siew is still not feeling well.

She had a fever for several days, she still has a bad, persistent cough and her throat hurts. I wish I could make her feel better. I do not want her to be sick or to hurt anywhere.

If I can I will take away all of her pain, even if it means I take it for myself.

She saw a doctor yesterday who gave her some medication. Tonight while she was taking one of her pills she swallowed it wrong and threw-up. :-(

I just want her to get healthy and stay healthy.

Bad ass toys.

Siew and I went to Queensbay mall today.

There are a couple of toy stores there that sell only special toys. Gundam models of the highest grade, transformers new and old, Macross Valkyrie Fighters, etc.

I loved it. I used to collect those types of things.

The prices were steep!

I like to drool at this site. They have the same types of things, direct from Japan, for less money.

Another shop had a figure I have never seen before! It was Guyver! It was a really nice figure. Only 369 Ringgit. . . *rolls his eyes*

Anyone want to sponsor me? All you need to do is give me 100,000$ USD so I can buy a few things like this and set up a nice display shelf in a room of the house I'd buy with that money. That same room would have a pullup bar, push up handles and a punching bag for me to exercise.

Any takers?

A new car! (again)

Ok, we took the car to a shop the dealer asked us to. They etched the window with the plate number and put a fuse that was missing into the fuse box. That seemed to resolve the problems.

I just want to ask. . . WHY THE FUCK WAS THE FUSE MISSING IN THE FIRST PLACE!?!?!??!?!?!

The car is running fine now. Siew does not like the clutch. She is going to have it adjusted.

I tried driving it a little, just back and forth in the driveway, to see if the clutch bothered me or not. I think it is ok, however I drive like an old man.

Car trouble

Ok, I have not taken pictures of the car yet. I have not had time.

Last night Siew and I went for a ride. We discovered that the speedometer, odometer and hand-brake light all do not work correctly!

I did not notice when we were coming back from the dealer since I was too preoccupied with the bluetooth and usb features of the car.

We are supposed to meet the dealer later today to have those problems remedied as well as have the plate number etched onto the glass of the car.

Pain, round 2

Well, I forgot about something until just now while eating dinner.

Mom made fish with chili. Thai Chili to be exact.

Seeing the chili reminded me that eating hot foods will trigger the release of endorphins. The capsicum tricks your body's nerves into thinking they are on fire! This in turn causes an endorphin release to counter the pain. This will kill almost any body pain faster, and in a much safer way, than any prescription or OTC medications.

So, I bit into a small, fiery and red chili. I chewed it until I could not stand to chew it more, spat it out and rinsed my mouth many times.

I did not want to swallow the chili, just to make its heat trigger an endorphin release.

Did it work? HELL YES! I have almost no pain now.

I'm immortal, until proven otherwise.

I recently remembered that I have the entire Highlander TV series and I have not watched it!

So I did the sensible thing and started watching it. This really brings back memories. When I was younger I loved to watch this show. I am a big fan of martial arts and most importantly I am a fan of bladed combat.

Yep! Nothing better than a long-thin piece of steel sharpened to a nice edge, given a handle and used to try and take peoples' heads off! Nothing better!

Watching this series really makes me want to take up Kenjutsu again. Or, for that matter, any martial art. I wonder if I can find anything I'd like around here in Penang? I am not sure.

If anyone knows of any places that teach martial arts here in Penang, please let me know!

Pain

My left arm has been hurting from some exercises I did on Tuesday.

I am starting to get better, finally. However, now my neck hurts and for some reason the skin on the left side of my head is sensitive to the point that brushing my hair hurts. I really do not know what's up with my neck and skin.

*sigh*

A new car!

Siew's mother and I just went to pick up the car Siew and I bought.

We got a Myvi!

So far I like this car. I checked as much as I could, everything seems to be ok so far.
I have not driven it myself, since I can not drive in Malaysia yet.

I played with the usb-mp3 player. That works easily, which is nice. I setup the bluetooth to talk to my phone and called Siew to test it. It seems to be ok from the car's perspective, I am not 100% sure about the called person's end of things though.

Later I will put some pictures of the car up.

Hot!

Damned but it is hot outside today.

I walked over to the nearby mall to purchase a few things:

wrapping paper
2 boxes of Oreo cookies (Mom bought some and I have nearly eaten them all by my fat self and I feel guilty about it so I bought replacements)
2 bottles of 100 Plus for Siew
1 box of peppermint tea for Siew

I am glad I decided to shower after I returned rather than before I left. If I had showered before I left I'd have wasted a shower as I would certainly have needed another shower.

High Energy

Recently I have been wanting to drink a real energy drink.

I used to drink, far too often, Poweredge for my caffeine buzz. Once in a while I would drink a Monster or an Amp.

Monster has a high buzz factor. Amp is mild in comparison. The Red Bull sold here is just too mild for what I am expecting.

I could go for some Bawls as well.

I found a list of Energy Drinks on wikipedia that list many many more than I have ever consumed.

When I wanted a carbonated energy drink for cheap I would drink Rip It.

However, for the price nothing is better than Poweredge. It is really inexpensive and much more portable than the other drinks. However, this can lead to over-consumption too easily.

I am better off being away from the States where things like this could continue to eat away at me. I have a limited amount of things to drink that are caffeine laden. Coffee has become my energy drink of choice now. I try not to drink so much coffee though.

This all being said. I still have the occasional desire for the strong energy drinks that I once consumed daily. Ah, you recognize the pining of an addict? That would be because I was once a terrible addict of these things. Prior to that I was an addict of Pepsi.

At that time period I would easily drink 2 liters of Pepsi per day. I can still do this, but I drink diet Pepsi whenever I can. I still try not to drink as much Pepsi as I once did however.

Once the Pepsi I have now runs out I need to prohibit any further purchases of said product. I should drink more water or more green tea since it's more healthy, has much much less caffeine and can help prevent skin cancer.

Hmmm I guess my buzz (haha :-P) has worn off so this blog post is now finished!

Run!

I saw this in a mall here in Malaysia on a previous trip:


This really made me laugh.

Yari

I wrapped the handle of my yari-head today.

The only one of my bladed weapons I kept from the states was this particular item. I will post some pictures later.

I kept it because it was one of the first weapons I purchased on my own and because it was hand-made from high-carbon steel.

High-carbon steel is good stuff. However! It rusts easily due to the carbon content.

A few months ago I put a coat of oil on the blade to keep it from rusting more in the more humid climate of Malaysia.

Recently I decided to do something with the haft so that I could use it as a short sword if I want to. It is quite heavy for its size and makes a good training item.

So, today, I cleaned the haft and then applied electrical tape to the haft in overlapping layers, pulled tightly. This created a water-proof barrier.

Then I wrapped the handle with about 823cm of para-cord that I have with me from the states as well.

I wrapped a layer around the haft and then a crossed layer over that before carefully tying the end of it off to form a guard of sorts. My hands hurt from rope abrasions. I pulled the rope very very tight when wrapping to push the rope deep into the tape and to prevent the rope from moving around during any use of the blade.

After that I took it downstairs to show mom and dad. Mom likes the scabbard I made for the blade many years ago and she likes the wrap the way that I did it. However, she does not like the blade itself. She doesn't like even a simple pocket knife and does not understand my blade fascination.

I JUST mentioned to mom and dad that we cannot touch the blade or it will rust. Siew's dad picked it up and the FIRST thing he does is touch the blade!

Later I used lacquer thinner to wipe the salts from the blade that would have been deposited from his touch.

I showed the spear head to Hai Jiang just a few minutes ago. The first thing he did, after I said DO NOT TOUCH the blade, was touch the blade. I had to push his hand away from the blade to keep him from further touching the blade. Then I explained why he shouldn't touch it.

I wiped the blade, but later I will have to use more thinner to clean the salts off and put another coat of oil on the blade.

*sigh*

Well that was a shock

I passed my TEYL exam with 97%. I was very surprised about the result of that test.

I thought that I would have a much lower score because of the differences in the test and the unit materials.

Apparently by bullshitting skill was at a peak level yesterday.

Now I have another certificate.

Not happy

I just completed my final exam for my TEYL.

I am not happy with the final exam at all.

First, the link provided to download the test did not work correctly.

Then the examiner sent me the wrong test.

When I finally got the right test I found that many of the questions are NOT covered in the materials provided by the company and that some of the questions have different information that what was in the units.

That, combined with the fact that I slept badly and not much, has put me in a pretty shitty mood.

I'm glad I'm done with that test. Hopefully I pass and my complaint about the test is put to use to correct the way they have the test and others do not have to endure my frustration.

Now, however, I am done with one of the things that I took this month off for. Now I have to find things to do.

Playing with some things

Ok, I am off work this month so I have more free time. I do not want to deal with certain people coming to audit the school, we have visa things to settle and I have to finish my young learners portion of my TEFL before it expires on April, 23rd. So, I decided to take the month off.

I usually start to get depressed when I have more than 2 days off in a row from work.

I am keeping busy this month as much as I can. I have been playing with GIMP. So you will notice a change to my header image here. I am going to change it more later, but I want to post it for now anyway. I am a little bit confused by GIMP. I am used to using PaintShop Pro for editing so the layout of GIMP is strange. I will learn it, but it is taking longer than I want.

I have some books by Pavel Tsatsouline and I am going to try out some of his suggested exercises and stretches.

I am working on the young learners course. It only has 5 units (6 if you count the introduction) and I just completed unit 3 today. At this rate I will have the units finished tomorrow and I will be ready to get the test. Once I have the test I have 24 hours to complete it and send it back in. If I pass then I get a TEYL certificate to go with my TEFL. TEYL = Teaching English to Young Learners. TEFL = Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

At this rate I will have that course finished this week. This is my first week off and I am off for the remainder of this month and a little of next month. I will not have to go back until at least May 5th.

This month we should get our car and we should also get things settle for my visa.

It will be great when we get both of those things sorted.

When I have the TEYL certificate then it will mean more jobs opportunities for me as well as more pay. Mwa hahahahahaha

Malaysians are turning into Americans

We went out for dinner with Siew's family tonight. We had chicken at Nando's in Gurney Plaza.

I have noticed something before, but tonight our seats were right by the entrance to the restaurant so we were able to observe the people as they passed by.

Here's the major thing that I want to comment on: Malaysians are getting FAT.

Americans are already FAT click on FAT to read what I'm talking about.

Now Malaysians are trying to catch up to Americans.

This is not a good trend!

Malaysians, beware! You need to consume less sugar and fat and exercise more! Do not be a fat, stupid, lazy American!

Berserk

I'm currently trying to get the rest of Berserk.

My only previous experience with Berserk is the Dreamcast game Berserk: Guts Rage.

It's pretty good so far.

More on that later.

Time to sleep!

Old Friends

I found a way, maybe, to contact some friends of mine from high school.

I hope they respond as it would be nice to see how they are doing and, maybe, reminisce about the old days, or the current days.

I will see if any respond or not. One in particular I want to hear from as I have been trying to get in touch with him since his father passed away.