Review of Ninetology Black Pearl 2 i940

With the likes of Samsung Galaxy S3 , Iphone 5 ,Sony Xperia Z dominating the much saturated smartphone markets now , the Ninetology Black Pearl 2 i940 seems to be unlikely underdog . In fact , if you ask people , most probably 9/10 of those people have never heard of this Ninetology brand of smartphone before . However , emphasizing on their affordable price tag and good value of money , this smartphone company from Sabah , Malaysia is slowly making its mark in the market.

Recently , thanks to the RM 200 rebate for smartphones by the government ( Pakej Komunikasi Belia ) and also RM 100 rebate by the manufacturer , I manage to get this beautiful , curvaceous Ninetology Black Pearl 2 i940 for a cool price tag of only RM 299 ( RRP : RM 599 ) . Today , I will be doing a review of this phone . Details of how and where I get this phone is at the end of the review.

Screenshot taken from my phone.

Build
The Black Pearl 2 have a 4in display screen that nearly rivals that S3’s 4.8in display . The size of the phone is in between iPhone 5 and S3 . Measuring a dimension of 127mm x 65.5mm x 9.9mm , one can hold it comfortably in one hand with ease .


Screen
With a resolution of 800 x 480 ( WXGA ) , obviously it cannot compete with the likes of Super AMOLED HD display of S3 , but then again , it is not so bad as unbearable , in fact , in my humble opinion , it processes the graphic quite well . Running on a Dual-core 1Ghz processor , its IPS Capacitive Screen detects motion quite well too . There’s no laggy or jerky delayed feeling when I was scrolling and browsing web .


Features

This is where Black Pearl 2 stands out , frankly , a lot of phones with that range of price tag ( RM500-800 ) are lacking in features , but not this phone . Black Pearl 2 uses the latest version of Android , 4.04 ( Ice Cream Sandwich ) , which makes it capable of a lot of customization and handling a lot of applications . The latest OS doesn’t just offer yet another tempting-sounding treat to get our mouths watering. It’s a whole new interface which is redesigned throughout in contrast to previous iterations which have felt like layer after layer glued on top of the previous code.

Screenshot from my phone's home screen.

As mentioned earlier , BP 2 runs on a 1GHz MT6577 Dual Core Cortex-A9 Processor + 512MB RAM , which makes it perfectly capable of handling multi-tasking and takes on whatever tasks that Android 4.04 can handle . Personally , I have tried playing music on the background while surfing graphic-intensive websites at the same time and it handles them perfectly well . In their official youtube channel , they have tested visually demanding game , Dead Trigger on the BP 2 , and the end result is quite fine , as you can see from the video below .

Although they officially market it as a 5MP camera, in their camera settings , it is shown that they can take up to 8MP quality pictures . Additionally , it also comes with a face detection , auto focus and LED flash features. . It supports video recording , MP4/3GP/AVI/MPEG video format as well as MP3/MIDI/AMR/WAV/AAC audio format.

As far as their connectivity goes , it supports WCDMA 900/2,100MHz radios , Wi-Fi , and Bluetooth .

Now ,despite all the good stuffs that I have mentioned above , BP2 is not without imperfection . For one thing , its resolution pales in comparison of most smartphones with 4in display .If you just put it side by side with let’s say Samsung S plus , the difference is prominent .Next , its battery life is quite short . In my personal experience , with just LINE messenger app and wi-fi running , it lasted me for just 2 hours or less . Even without any application that requires Internet connection , a fully charged battery lasted only 4 hours by just playing around with the applications . Of course , I could be wrong as I haven’t fully explored the applications and ways to save battery life , but as it is , without any tinkering or modification being done , its battery life is satisfactory at best .

Also , its GPS seems to be abit lacking in finding locations efficiently . With all the settings ticked ( including utilizing Google's location service , GPS satellites , using assisted GPS and Location & Google Search ) , it still fail to detect my location even after 30 minutes .
What a shame . I hope the developers will be doing something about this .  

Conclusion

All in all , Ninetology Black Pearl 2 i940 is a great phone considering its value of money . ( Seriously , RM 299 for a 4in display smartphone thats runs on a 1Ghz dual core processor with the latest Android ? Where else can you get such a deal ? )

Pros

-       Affordable price tag

-       Great Value of money ( even without the rebates, RM599 is still a good price for its features )

-       Feature packed

-       Runs the latest Android

-       Handles multi-tasking smoothly

Cons

-       Short Battery Life

-       Mediocre resolution
-       GPS seems to be taking forever to find my location

I got my Black Pearl 2 at Lot A23-24, Ground Floor ( MTECH ) in Prangin Mall , Penang island . The RRP for this phone is RM 599 , however with manufacturer’s RM 100 rebate and also the RM 200 rebate from the government ( Apply at skmm.gov.my , print the receipt and show it to certified dealer to get the rebate ) . Furthermore , if you buy it now , you will be entitled to receive a complementary Digi Smart Plan prepaid sim card worth RM 25 ( bundled together with the phone , the plan have 300 MB free internet , minutes of free voice call and free mms ) . Thanks to that , I am now a proud owner of a Malaysian brand smartphone . I dare say that in the entire campus , only a few have smartphones made by this local company .

sample of pics taken using BP2 's camera. 

Second picture taken under 8MP setting. 

The sad thing is , our local brands have always been stereotypically referred to as the more inferior products , as opposed to the more overpriced , yet offers much or less the same functionalities products sold by the more “branded” foreign companies . It is true that some of the products sold by local companies are slightly defective and inferior , however , just because of these few bad apples , we shouldn’t stereotype the rest and avoid them . I would urge you all , fellow Malaysians especially , to give this brand a try , and even if it doesn’t work out in the end ( touch woo ) , hey it’s just RM 299 . If you can afford to spend thousands of ringgits on a perfectly overpriced foreign brand , I am sure spending an extra RM 299 to get a new smartphone won’t hurt right ?

* Note that this message is intended for those people who are wealthy enough to spend a lot on overpriced foreign brands , and never tried a local product before , yet scorns those people who can only afford these affordable local brand . Personally , I think RM 299 is quite a big sum already , but it is a good value of money and I definitely needed a smartphone so I bought it ! :D *

That's all for now , will update if there's any other relevant information ! Thanks for reading :)

*UPDATE*
I went to the their service center in 4th Floor, Low Yat Plaza and updated my firmware to version 16 . Now, the Talk Time is improved to around 17 hours , which is roughly equivalent to that of an average smartphone . So far,  I am quite satisfied with its battery performance . Note that if you are interested in having a better performance , you can actually root it and personally customize the cpu processing speed and etc ( deleting useless system apps ) . I will post about how to root it in the next post . Stay Tuned ! :

Their service center 

Responsible Blogging 2013

*This post is inspired by the Responsible Blogging 2013 Campaign*

Hey there good people in the web ! If you are reading this post right now , you are most likely to be either a non-blogging netizen , or a blogger ! Now , if you're the latter , know this , you hold the power to change the world ( the world of blogosphere that is ~ )

In this world of blogs , you , the bloggers are the people with authorities , akin to the
government in countries , you make rules and regulations of your own blog , post stuffs that may influence people's life as well as providing people with news , entertainments and other posts that matters , to them . In other words , you are very important . What you posts may make or break a person in the most extreme case . Now, for you , the non-blogging netizens , you too are very important , as you all are the foundation of our world . Because , honestly , what would a country be without its citizens ? Similarly , we bloggers continue to exist simply because there are people reading our contents , and we appreciate that . You , netizens are the power that keep us in check , that make sure we don't go overboard with our postings , and ultimately , the primary motivation that inspires us to continue blogging .

Having said that , whether you are a blogger or non-blogger , I would strongly URGE you to check out this Responsible Blogging 2013 Campaign . Now , for the uninitiated , this Responsible Blogging 2013 is a campaign calling upon the entire online community in Malaysia to rally for and support an ethical climate in the blogosphere for everyone's mutual benefit . Basically , it advocates bloggers to blog with conscience , to post stuffs that are not causing any harm and does not infringe any moral or legal regulations in any way. The thing is , there have been too many news recently that points to bloggers getting reprimanded or arrested by the authorities for purportedly blogging about " sensitive issues that may harm racial harmony " and etc . This has caused a massive damage to the reputations of bloggers . Nowadays , many bloggers are perceived to have an ulterior motive or are wrongly accused as "cyber troopers" for political parties and etc .

This is totally absurd . Bloggers are some of the nicest , funniest and intelligent people around ( most of them ಠ◡ಠ ) . If you just just take time t o check out famous blogs like kennysia.com , timothytiah.com and etc ( just look at the blogs in the My Blog List , I assure you each and every of them are worth your time ! ) , you would understand what I mean . We are the voice of the community , using blogs to channel our frustrations , rants , musings and etc while at the same time providing news and other forms of entertainments for everyone . 

Still reading ? Good , now that you are aware of how great you are as a blogger , you will have to understand that with great power , comes great responsibility ( ah.. a timeless quote by Uncle Sam in the Spiderman movie ) . To make it easier for you , the campaign has introduced the " 9 Pillars of responsible blogging " to help you get started . 

They are :
1) Avoid Shortcut
- Copy pasting other people's contents and claim them as your own ( a.k.a PLAGIARISM ) is  
  unethical . What pride is there in publishing other people's contents as your own ? 
  Building a credible blog with readerships isn't an easy task , but that doesn't mean you  
  should take shortcuts . The sweet taste of success can only be savoured when you put in 
  enough hard works .   
2) Do Check The Verification of Your Information
- If you don't , when someone points out that your information is false or not credible ,  
  you might be seen as lying to your readers , betraying their trusts . Worst case scenario ,  
  you may be sued and brought to court for posting defametory posts ( in extreme cases )
3) Do Regard Your Reader's Opinions
- Like I mentioned earlier , in the same way as customers are the king , in blogosphere ,  
  you readers are the kings / queens . Without your readership , we simply do not exist .
  Therefore , it would be wise to consider your readers' opinions when posting something.
4) Do Be Aware of The Country's Copyright Law
- This one is serious issue . We have seen countless bloggers being arrested for allegedly  
   infringing the country's law . You don't want to be another one of them right ? 
5) Get Rewarded/Paid Ethically
- Sure , rewards are nice and all , but rewards through illegal or unethical means aren't   
  nice at all . As your readership grows and your blog gets more famous , you may be asked  
  to post something that promotes a certain individual / organization while bashing others   
  ,and you may get paid for them . Don't do it ! As these kind of rewards are unethical and  
  may damage your conscience .
6) Don't Forget to Give Credits
- Give credits where they are due . Simple enough .
7) Do Know That You Are Answerable for Your Blog
- As you are the author of your blog , do remember that you hold responsibility over what  
  you posted . There have been many cases of celebrities and artists who posted their 
  strong opinions regarding a particular issue many years ago, only to find these posts 
  haunting them back now .
8) Be Transparent With Sponsored Post
- Let your readers know if you are being sponsored to write a post . You don't want your  
  post to sound too advertorial and devoid of your original blogging style all of a sudden 
  without informing your readers first . If you did not do that , your readers may be 
  perplexed and end up leaving your blogs for good for fear that your posts do not interest 
  them any more .
9) Do Write a Disclaimer
- This is the counter-measure for point no 7 . If you have incorporated some strong 
  opinions regarding a particular issue , do write a disclaimer that those opinions are yours 
  and solely yours alone so as not to involve your company or other people linked to you in 
  the process.

So , there you have it folks ! The summary of what Responsible Blogging 2013 campaign is all about . This campaign is graciously sponsored by Crowdpot , the platform for brands and businesses to engage with bloggers .


 and Ninetology Marketing Sdn Bhd , the up and coming mobile device technology company  who aims to provide a affordable yet functional smartphones for everyone . 

For more information , please click on the logo below or go to http://responsibleblogging.my/ now ! Join us now , for a better tomorrow , for everyone in the blogosphere ! Do your part for our world , and it doesn't help that there are rewards for you in the process ヾ(●⌒∇⌒●)ﾉ !

Happy , Merry Christmas ~

Howdy ! Hello there , good readers from all over the world :D , How are you doing today ? It’s Christmas eve !!!! Which means that most of you are out there , counting down for Christmas , or celebrating it one way or another either with friends , family or your beloved ones , right ? Aww .. Christmas , the season of forgiving , sharing , caring and giving . Anxious children waiting to unwrap the gifts under the mistletoes , equally anxious parents who hopes their children could sleep early so they could disguise themselves as a fat man with funny, white beard , and a potbelly to surprise their child , people attending Christmas Mass , strangers becoming friends , couples forgiving each other and being reunited . That’s what Christmas is really all about right ?

Unfortunately , yours truly never did get to experience any of those . Even now , as the clock hits 12 midnight , indicating the start of Christmas , there are people shouting and started celebrating already , yet I am here updating this nondescript blog . However , it does not necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing . In fact, I am loving it . I am loving the  feeling of having the freedom to do whatever I want in this space ( my room ) . The truth is , for the past few days , life have been moving on quite a fast pace . The past 2 days seems to have gone by in a blur. And now  , finally I have a bit of breathing room .

I like breathing space / room . I like the luxury of having time by my side , to have the freedom to ponder and wonder endlessly about the whatever nonsensical thoughts I have in my mind , to reflect on the past and also to think about the future . Therefore , for me , I would say that freedom of time is the ultimate luxury in the world . Not money , not the other materialistic things that can provide conveniences , not even fame and glory . The ultimate luxury is without a doubt , freedom . In retrospect , I have been very lucky to be blessed with freedom of choice in most of my life . Being born in a middle-income family , materialistic things that could provide luxury are but a distant dream . Growing up , I have always yearned for those “luxuries” that other more privileged kids have . Branded gadgets , better mattresses , air-con , and a whole lot more of gadgets which I used to view as the ultimate luxuries money can buy .

However , as I grow older and wise up a little , I start to be more appreciative of the power of freedom . I still remember the marvelous feeling of thrill and euphoria I had when I slept at my own room for the first time . As the night falls  and  the only door that leads to my room closes, the faint moonlights sneaks in through the translucent blue curtain and  the subtle sound of the rotating Panasonic fan breaks the stillness of the room , emphasizing that me and only me alone exists in this room . I love the thought of that . At night , I would always imagine that this whole room is my territory , my area , my entire world , and I am the king and ruler of this world .

It is at these kind of moments that I truly cherish the power of solitude . Usually , the word solitude is associated with a negative connotation , i.e life of solitude = life without friends , forever alone , etc  , however for me , I believe that when you’re alone , that’s when you’re able to concentrate and bring out your biggest potential . I do not know about the rest , but I am pretty sure I thrive in a quiet environment , working by myself , devoid of any external disturbances . When I am alone , I tend to be able to think about things I normally not able to think of and able to produce more efficient and effective work . Perhaps that explains why introverts are so successful ? Speaking about introverts , one book that is definitely worth checking out is this :  “ Quiet “  by Susan Cain as she explores in great details about the power of introverts .

But I digressed . Recently , I have reflected on a lot of things . These few days reflection had me re-examining my principle of friendship , and discovering my own weakness . About the latter , I find myself not walking my own talk . You see, I have been a great advocate of change . I look down on complacency and advocates change whenever it’s possible as I felt that change and subsequently continuous improvement is the key to greater success . Yet , in recent days , I have not been changing much . I had a goal in mind 2 years ago , a road map of change so to speak , so that I could continuously challenge myself in various grounds and improve as much as possible . However , the progress of that plan is not quite as well as it should have been . In fact , it seems to have reached a plateau and becoming stagnant , which is very depressing . Being a guy who dreams big and talking big about importance of changes and self-improvement all the time , not doing the action is kinda counter-productive and saddening .

Next , recent events have also forced me to re-examine my friendships . I consider myself a very complicated person , as I am both extrovert and introvert at the same time . When I am being extrovert , I mixed around a lot , and thus have joined a few different cliques . But the problem is , with so many different cliques , each of them are special in their own way and all of them are friends with varying degree of closeness , I find it hard sometimes to find the time to entertain them . Perhaps “entertain” would not be best word to describe it , as when you’re with friends , you are supposed to be having fun and enjoying it right ?

Example of cliques

That’s what I thought too . Don’t be mistaken . I LOVE hanging out with friends and talking about everything under the sun in a kopitiam or café all day long . That’s life . However , the thing is , once you have a lot of cliques of friends , you will need to catch up with them on a different day or time , as more often than not , the cliques don’t mix . * e.g perhaps you have a clique of friends who loves shopping , and another clique of friends who love outdoor activity , they don’t really mix right ? * To make matters worst , money and time are limited resources , and I can’t really be spending time with different kind of cliques every single day . That , coupled with the fact that sometimes. the introvert part of myself just want to enjoy being in my cosy little home whole day . Thus , this brings us to a hard dilemma of prioritizing who to go out with .

Of course , the obvious solution being just hang out and connect with your closest best gang of friends and ignore the rest , allocating the rest of the time for yourself . And that’s what I have been doing for quite some time . Yet , there are times when you thought of this particular clique of friends and go “ oh , it’s been a long time since I last catch up with them “ , and then the question of whether of not you should initiate the gathering or hang out arises . I strongly believe friends , true friends especially are the best assets one could have . 

Some people view friends as networks that they could potentially exploit in the future as some of them may turn out to be politicians , leaders or even some influential figures that are forces to be reckoned with . And they may think that by getting close to them now , they would be able to take advantage of these connections that they have build up now . However , friends are friends , they are not “networks “ which are treated as benefits or liabilities according to what they can provide . True , some friends may be able to offer help in specific aspects in the future , and I have no qualms about people thinking of exploiting friends this way , however to rate friends according to what they can provide in the future is just despicable .

True friends are value over their loyalty and bonds that have survived the test of time . They are the people who know you well enough to be able to talk comfortably about your idiosyncrasies and patterns. They are the people whom you share your troubles , problems and secrets . They are the people who will be there for you , when the rest of the world left .

That being said , I am still having dilemma whenever I got an invitation to go out , because a part of me , really wants to just stay home for a few months and concentrate on making progresses . But then again , it’s all my choice right ? And once again I am grateful for this freedom to choose . * Friendship post inspired by this article in the star titled "Recipe for leadership" *

In a bid not to end this post in a solemn note , I shall wish you readers ( if there are any ) a Happy , Merry Christmas ! May you be able to celebrate this eventful events with your beloved ones with joy , happiness and love ~ But , if in the event of you failing to find anyone to celebrate it with , hey , no sweats , you can still celebrate it alone :D  . Cherish the moment of solitude and remember , you are not alone in celebrating it alone . Cheers !!! Merry Christmas peeps ~

Big Bad Wolf

As much as I loved boasting about my hometown’s attractions and specialties , about how it’s much better than Kuala Lumpur , or anywhere else in this world for that matter , there’s one thing I can’t deny , that is the fact that Kuala Lumpur is a much more happening place than Penang . Not to say that there’s not much events and activities in the Pearl of Orient , there are events , but it just pales in comparisons with KL’s events .

For the uninitiated , KL is the most happening state in Malaysia , all the coolest people and parties , biggest and most important events , yup , more often than not , all of the above mentioned activities are bound to be held in KL . KL is the heart of the country , where all the happenings , happen ( pun intended ) , and akin to the city that never sleeps , KL people literally have insomnia all year round , what’s with the clubs and never-ending night life . Seriously , if you’re crazy about night life , KL is the place ~

So , in a way , I am grateful that I am studying in KL , because thanks to that , I am able to go to the BIGGEST , BADDEST , MOST HEAVILY-DISCOUNTED English Book Sales ever in the WORLD . Situated in Mines International Exhibition & Convention Centre,  just 1 hour away from my university by public transportation , it holds the record of being the BIGGEST English book fair in the world by offering an astounding three million titles of books up for grabs , priced at 75% to 95% lower than their retail prices.

My exploits from the fair .

Side View of this gorgeous baby :D

Thanks to that I am able to go to this book haven and gained some great books  :D

That’s all for now . Enjoy the pictures .

A real life Lamborghini on display 

Cutest Book Title ever

Here’s a random question of the day :What differentiates a businessman and entrepreneur?

Of Failure , Learning and Re-Discovering

It has been a while . Lately , I have been on a competition frenzy mode , propelled by my recent “achievements” in the Samsung AppStar Contest . For those of you that may or may not know , in the last few weeks , I have participated in a contest called Samsung AppStar Contest , which is basically a contest that allows you to win up to RM 24 000 grand prize simply by presenting an idea for application . Me and my teammates have spent significantly large portion of our time , dedicating ourselves to prepare and trained relentlessly for this . In 29/11/2012 , finally , it was the day . I never have been more nervous in my life . It was the first major competition that I participated in voluntarily and prepared for relentlessly , and naturally , I have high confidences and expectations .

After the end of the presentations , I was still in high spirit , convinced that our team did our best and that presentation was sufficiently mesmerizing enough to earn us a place in top 3 placing . As we were the 5^th out of 12 groups to present , we were relieved of our stress and anxiety early and are able to watch other teams present their ideas , still having to face their fear of anxiety and trepidation . Finally , every group finished presenting . Upon watching other’s presentation , we , or rather I was convinced that our team did well enough to at least secure a place in top 3 . Slowly but surely , the confidence slowly turned into an uncalled-for arrogance , and my mind started wandering off into the not too distant future , thinking about how I would spend that big lump sum of money by treating my friends , my families , and keeping a bit for myself . You see , when arrogance takes over your head , your mind wanders easily . As my mind wandered further and further , it suddenly went blank , when I thought of what to do after I spent those money .

***

BLANK . Nothing at all . The abrupt stop of that train of thoughts jolted me back to reality . My heart suddenly feels empty , devoid of emotions . After I spent those money , then what ? You see , in retrospect , I am not a particularly long-term motivated person . I am the type that are easily motivated by short-term gains , as the direct implication of my short term attention span , and also for the fact that humans in general , always prefer instant gratification rather than a long-term , more sustainable gratification . As such , I never really tried my hardest and put in 100% of my effort or go beyond that most of the time , the closest I ever get to 100% of effort could probably be during major examinations period . 

However, even then , I am pretty sure I did not manage to put in all of my effort and dedicate and commit myself solely for that very purpose .  But this time is different . For the past few days , weeks in fact , all I could think of in my mind was the Samsung AppStar Contest ,the reason , mostly due to the fact that there’s financial gain to be made from this contest , and it’s huge sum of money ! Nevertheless , I cannot deny that in these past few weeks , I almost committed all of my time and effort into this sole purpose of winning the contest , as I am motivated to do it for myself , not being forced or coerced by anyone else , but on voluntary basis .

And that fact alone brought a big sense of relief , because during that period , it gave me a meaning to my life . No longer am I memorizing facts and figures simply to pass a stupid subject that I felt have no relevance at all to my life in the future , neither am I attending some lecture classes just to fulfill my 80% attendance rule to sit for the final exam . I am finally doing something for myself . That fact alone brought immense joy to me , coupled with the sense of thrill and excitement whenever I think about winning the contest . Ultimately , it’s not the money , nor is it the fame that comes with the contest that is important , it is the bittersweet taste of victory , knowing that you have put in your effort and carving a path to success by your very own hands is the best gratification anyone can ever have in life .  

But after this contest , I would have none of those anymore , I would probably have to return to the dull , mundane , repetitive task of a normal undergraduates , much like anybody else . And that , brought grief and sadness to my heart .  

***

“ and the winner is TEAM X~ “ announced the emcee of the night . I was shocked ! All those fantasies about spending the money , and finally the money did not come to us .And that’s how the much anticipated finale of Samsung AppStar ended . We did not win any placing , only the most favourite award that was given to app that got the most amount of Facebook Votes. I guess expectations does not really equate reality sometimes .

A few days after the incident , I am still having trouble to cope with the failure and having no more meaning in my life . I have lost that excitement of waking up everyday having something to look forward for and thinking about the same thing before going to sleep everynight . It took a few more days of social isolation and some trips alone to far away places to be able to move on .

There was this one particular trip of going to Cheras Leisure Mall ( I am currently studying near Petaling Jaya ) that’s worth reminiscing . I am a rather big fan of branded earphones . Being an audiophile , good earphones are one of those things that I am willing to burn my wallet for . A few days ago , I discovered a good deal about MEElectronic A151 earphone ( retailing for around rm 200+ ) in lowyat.net . Upon seeing the deal , I quickly became excited and messaged the dealer for his best price and also the method of transaction . Most dealers in lowyat would prefer cash-on-delivery ( COD ) method of transaction , which means the dealer and customer will have to meet up in an agreed upon places and exchange the cash for the products. As the dealer lived near Cheras and has agreed to give better prices should I come to him , I decided to do just that .

MEElectronics A151

Although I have never been to Cheras before in my entire life , and had no experience nor knowledge about how to go there , I said okay . And the adventure begins . There’s just something magical about the unknowns . When you said yes to something unknown ,  you get the thrills and excitement of exploring somewhere you’ve never been to before . It might be end up to be a bad choice and sure there are a lot of risks but hey , at least you tried right ? I would have totally regretted it had I not made that trip . There’s this quote that goes something like this “ Try to fail is better than fail to try “ . So , tried I did . Relying on only some directions instructions from the net and friends , I embarked on the journey , alone , with the risks that I might get lost there , get robbed , and get cheated and etc ( since KL isn’t exactly famous for peace and security ) .

 Along the trip , a few unexpected things happened . One of my friend happened to be living near Cheras and was coincidently going back on that day itself . I was lucky to hitch a ride to there . However , I was still on my own on the journey back . I had this philosophy that if you really wanted something very badly , somehow , the universe will conspire to help you achieve them , by creating some roads of opportunities to walk on . Whether or not you take those opportunities is an entirely different story . So , all in all , somehow, everything went well , I got my product and I went back alone safely . It might be a simple story , but the period of solitary had taught me a lot . Maybe it’s just me , but whenever I went to for a trip alone , I always felt more at ease and discover more things about myself and my surroundings .

Anyhow , after getting that earphone , I was excited and came back to my senses . The old wound of regret still aches sometimes , but I have moved on to focus more on other stuff , like joining more competitions and exposing myself more to the world . I strongly believe that university is a place for you to earn holistic education , and to do that , one must always expose him/herself to variety of activities and events , not just to commit themselves to academics .That being said , in a way I am grateful for the opportunity to join that many contests , either by chance or by choice . Recently , someone said this to me “ If you’re going to success , you’re gonna fail first . This is the harsh , cruel reality , if you wanna go down this path ( entrepreneurship ) , you are bound to fail at your first try . So , why not fail earlier ? Learn to enjoy your failures , only then can you enjoy your successes “ . ;)

Thank You Maybank2u !

*Note * This is a blog post for Maybank2u Contest* If you're interested in checking out more , please click on this link . 

I have a confession to make . Maybank was my first time . First time , in the sense that it was the first bank that I had dealt with for the purpose of doing my banking services . At that time , the only reason why I opened a banking account was to store the money that I have accumulated from the "Ang Pows" ( Red Packets ) given to me by my relatives during Chinese New Year . I remember how excited I was when I got my banking account book and subsequently my atm card ! In retrospect, at the age of 16 ,owning an atm card was trendy and cool , apart from the fact that it makes you feel like a grown up , capable of handling your own money . I was feeling euphoric and thrilled when I withdraw money from the atm machine for the first time . That was my first brush with MayBank .

However , the excitement dies down soon , as the hassle of physically going to the bank , and dealing with the sometimes long and frustration waiting time , lining up in a queue , slowly took its toll . At that time , since computers and Internet technologies were making waves and gaining popularity , I remember daydreaming about the idea of doing those banking services online instead , at the comfort and convenience of my own room . A few years later , never in my wildest dream would I thought that my simple wish have now became a reality .

Honestly , I was not a very loyal customer to Maybank at first . I have other bank accounts such as Public Bank , Hong Leong Bank and etc . Being someone who loves to explores , I actually tried and tested banking in other banks . Nevertheless , when Maybank introduces Maybank2u , it all changed . As mentioned before , I loved experimenting and trying something new , so when Maybank2u was introduced , I was thrilled and tested it as soon as possible . 

I am student in an university in KL , and being a student without any means of transportation to get around in KL could only mean one thing : inconvenience .Even the nearest banks in my area are not within walking distance . Therefore , I am really thankful for Maybank for introducing Maybank2u .After experimenting with numerous online banking services ,in my personal opinion, I dare say with confidence now that Maybank2u is the BEST online banking service ever ! After trying Maybank2u , i instantly became a loyal fans of Maybank and have never turned back since . Now , if there are anything that requires banking services , I use Maybank2u.

The Maybank2u experience was and still is fantastic and amazing so far ! A single log-in into Maybank2u website is all it takes for me to be able to check my account balance , make online transactions , settle my bills , top up my phone credits , dabble with online stocks and do many more banking services that are available in physical banks . Moreover , I can access them via my phone , which is all the more reason to use Maybank2u !!! What never fails to amaze me is that even with their almost perfect services , they still strive to improve themselves and make upgrades and improvements from time to time . Additionally , all those transactions and services I have done with Maybank2u are done securely ( Maybank have a feature called TAC which will send you an authentication code to your validated phone number , so that you can double authenticate your identity before making a transaction . I really love this feature !!! ) What's more my privacy is ensured and I trust that all my contact information and personal details are safe with Maybank .

If there's ever a need to rate and comment on Maybank2u services , without a doubt , I will rate it 5-Stars and congratulating them on providing a World Class Service to their customers . Thank you for making my dream come true Maybank2u . Please do continue to deliver these kind of quality , value-added services to your customers . We will never stop supporting you , as you have supported us all these times ! ; )

Connections

The night before the departure back to my hometown always gives me a surreal feeling . For me , it is usually the time when I have ample time to do my reflection. This is particularly true when you are at the room alone , devoid of any interference and obstructions , the night before the long awaited day of departure . Maybe it’s just me , but whenever I am about to depart for a long journey ( 5 hours bus ride is quite long for me ) , I would always try to find time to do some self-reflection on what’s happening in my life recently . I like reflections .It helps in reminding me of the experiences , the ups and downs and the little things that I ought to be grateful of that I had the privilege to experience in the recent days.

Tomorrow is finally the start of mid semester break , which means , it’s time to go back to hometown again : ) , which also means..tonight , is reflection time !

***

My team made it into the Samsung Appstar contest top 12 finalists ! This fact made us eligible to participate in the boot camp for the finalists , which is to prepare us for the finals . I am absolutely grateful for this opportunity , as it have allowed me to meet few of the most awesome people ( CEOs in fact ) up to date . I have high respects for friendly, down to earth CEOs that are humble yet successful , and the CEO for MYC company , Mr Jason Ko , happens to be one . The boot camp was very entertaining and informative at the same time and I am honored to be able to be a part of this awesome event . Now that the bootcamp is over , it’s time to put in our all to hopefully win this competitive contest . Wish me luck ! I will be needing it !

Camwhoring with the cool MYC CEO , Mr Jason Ko. Bromance yo!

Oh , apart from the Samsung App , I have the honor to participate in the National Programming Competition AMCP – blablabla al khawarizmi too last Sunday . It was the first time I have participated in any programming contest . Frankly , I don’t have much confidence in my logical and rational thinking skills . Being someone who is quite self-conscious about his own abilities and skills , I know my capabilities and limitations well . I can probably think logically and rationally for some short span of time , but beyond some simple logics and calculations , my brain will just stop thinking and get stuck . Yet , I chose to give it a try , simply because , I believe when opportunities presented itself , one should just take it , no matter the consequences . The end result doesn’t matter , what matters is the experience . Bearing that in mind , I said yes when I was asked to join it , eventhough I was perfectly sure that my standards aren’t on par with the rest of the team yet.

Now , there are good news and bad news from the competition . The good news is , it’s a team event , and I have some really smart teammates ( a senior from my faculty and another senior taking Actuarial Science ) . And with their powerful machine-like brains , we managed to solve 2 out of 10 questions to bag the 4^th placing . ( Top 5 among 100 + teams , not bad for a first-timer huh ? ) .That was the good news  . Now, the bad news is that , the prize for the 3^rd placing is RM 1000 , BUT the prize for us , who got the 4^th placing is .. well  a pen drive O_O . Sad to say , it was partly my fault that we managed only the 4^th placing . I tried to solve a question for 2 hours , and I was quite close to solving it ( in fact , I solved it the day after the competition is over , apparently just missing a single command in my program ) , but oh well , reality sucks . I did not manage to solve it within the time limit of the competition . If only I did solve it , we would probably be bagging the 3^rd placing. Cruel , harsh reality . Haiz. But well, I did gained a valuable experience , coupled with a pen drive and a T shirt ! Aha , not so bad afterall. Gratitude Gratitude…

This is the pendrive that each of us won .

***

That’s all for the recent happenings in my life. Now , moving on to a more serious issue . As I was reflecting , a question started to pop up in my mind . The number of  “ friends “ I have in facebook seems to be increasing in a rather astonishing rate lately . Maybe it’s because it’s a new semester , which means a new batch of juniors will come in , and when we get to know them , a friend request is usually expected next . So yeah, lately I have been getting quite a few friend requests from people , ( just because we are all connected in the same college community , not because I am popular or anything , just clarifying , lest I sound arrogant or prideful ) . You see , in my hostel , there’s something called Chinese community club ( as well as Malay community club and Indian Community club , nothing racist , just a culture based club to help foster relationship and celebrate our unique racial and cultural diversities )

Since our college is rather small ,almost all of us , residents there who stayed there know each other . However , knowing each other does not mean we are close to each other . Even some people that I don’t usually talk to in real life adds me in Facebook and lately it gets me thinking . Is there even a point in having that many friends in Facebook , If we are only hi-bye friends , or worse yet , if we don’t even talk in real life .So , really , in recent days , I have been more conscious and careful when accepting or adding friends in Facebook. Yet a dilemma arises whenever I wanted to decline friend requests , because even though we are not close , we might still meet in real life , and it would be quite rude and , at the risk of sounding arrogant , for us to just ignore their friend requests . I mean , it would be unpleasant and outright awkward if they ask us questions like “ Hey , I added you in Facebook a few days ago, why don’t you accept my request ? “ right ?

Hence , threading carefully between the line of proper social etiquette and own comfort zone , I have to think twice before choosing to add , accept or delete friend requests in Facebook . In actual fact , if we just stop and think for a moment , the so called “ friends “ that we made now in secondary school or even university life now , are just temporary connections . Take for example , my college juniors . Perhaps we do meet now and then , and have some interactions because we live in the same college hostel and participate in same activities , but what happens next when we graduated and walk our own path ? Will our paths cross and we meet as regularly as we do now ? That would be unlikely to happen , and after a few years , we may just be strangers again . Yet , all my recent activities and events are conveniently accessible and put on a full display to every “friends” in Facebook , and I am definitely not comfortable that he/she can have access to those information . And then there are some friends that I used to talk to in the past , yet in the recent years , he/she had such bizarre change that I could barely recognize them anymore . The point is , I dislike having fake “friends” that I don’t usually talk to in Facebook , which is why I totally abhorred the idea of some people having a thousand friends ( even to the extend of creating another account because their current account has reached the limit of friends , seriously ? 5000 friends , is that even possible ? Even celebrities don’t have that much friends ) and bragging them as if their so called “ friends “ in Facebook are symbol of their popularity and fame .

Nevertheless , in the unlikely event that if in the near future , you meet the same people who you don’t talk to last time , and this time you are required to work with them closely , it would be bad to finally accept their request or re-adding them again after deleting them right ? Ah.. I can’t even begin to imagine the embarrassment .

Anyhow , as I mentioned before , most of these “friends” in Facebook are just temporary connections , however ,it is up to all of us to decide which one of these connections can evolve into permanent connections . I have this personal rule that if I can chat with these “friends” in Facebook in real life at any given time comfortably , even after a long separation time , these are the people that I really wanted to befriend forever , and these are the people I truly grateful for and would be willing to do anything I can to help them should they require my assistance . Of course , the converse of this is true as well. If I don’t feel comfortable talking to them , and I don’t think I can mix well with them , I probably won’t add them / accept their requests .But oh well , these decision varies depending on the situation and the circumstances .

As I always like to point out , life is very unpredictable and we need to always be flexible in handling life’s difficult challenges . That being said , I am still thankful that amidst all these hi-bye ,awkward “friends “ that I have , some of them actually turned out to be quite nice , and it is these true , permanent friends that I cherish and treasure , and I am forever grateful for their presence and existence . To those who are my facebook friends and seeing this , Thank You for visiting ! and no worries , if you are still in my Facebook Friend list , I assure you , you are important to me , one way or another.. ahaha , THANK YOU , I love you guys X) .

Fate's Funny Plan

“ You can’t connect the dots looking forward , you can only connect them looking backwards “ I finally realized the true significance of this powerful quote today . If you never try , you will never know what you are capable of .

 If you never ask , the answer is always no. Today was an unexpectedly interesting day Everything that happened today was sudden and totally unplanned , yet it’s this kind of experience that I am very grateful of .

The day started with a good vibe , with the hope and expectation that today will be a good day as it is the day where I will be going back to home for the first time after more than a month , probably the longest record of me being away from home yet . Nothing big , but for me , that’s something that I can be proud of .

However , the good vibe and expectations quickly went down the drain when a bad news get to me . You see , me and my friends ( 2 friends to be exact ) had participated in a contest called “Samsung AppStar “ ,which requires us to just submit ideas for an application . We were fortunate enough to make it into top 40 finalists and were called for an audition to present our ideas . Today is the day for our presentation .

Initially , we were supposed to present at 12 afternoon and my plan was to present at 12 , finishing it by 1 , and then go back to Penang by sitting the 4 pm bus . Everything was meticulously planned and prepared already , but more often than not , things doesn’t usually goes the way I planned smoothly . In fact , reality has a funny way of screwing everything up instantly and have another plan of its own. Today is the perfect example of just that .

So , we were supposed to be there by 10 , dressed in formal attire , started discussing about our game plan and etc. However , at 10 , one of my teammate , the only one with car who is supposed to fetch us go were still asleep . Fine then , as the presentation time was 12 pm , we still had 2 hours to go , so we waited and waited .

Sadly , things do not go our way and due to some unforeseen circumstances , I ended up just going for the presentation with just my one teammate by taxi . Upon our arrival there , we were hit with another tragic news that would utterly destroy my plan , that is we will be the 7^th group to present and the presentation will only start at 2 pm . Every presentation should last roughly around 10 – 15 minutes , which means that by the time we finish presenting , it will be around 3 + and definitely I will miss my 4 pm bus as I need to go back hostel to pack my stuff first.

With that in mind , me and my friend were about to give up , and so we went to have our lunch before going back . Nevertheless , I felt like it will be a complete waste of time and effort , after coming so far and went back empty handed , without even a chance to present . Therefore , we went and talked to the receptionist and asked if we can present earlier .

Thankfully , the receptionist was very sweet and understanding , and after talking to her boss , we were allowed to present first , even before the actual presentation time . At that time , there’s only one thing in my mind , that is the quote “ if you never ask , the answer will always be no “ .

We ended up presenting to 3 fabulous judges , Miss Lee Yvonne , Miss World Malaysia 2012 .and two other awesome CEOs , Mr Collin Hew and Mr Jason ( Mr Jason's the coolest judge ever ! ). The presentation went smoothly and by the time we finished presenting , it’s already 2.30 pm . However , the problem was far from over . It started raining , and the rain grew heavier all of a sudden . My heart sunk to the bottom instantly . The amount of uncertainties in my minds started increasing , and all the pessimistic “what if “ questions started to fill my minds too.

However , if there’s one lesson that I learnt through experience , it is this : When in doubt , keep going forward . Trust your instincts and take the risk to keep going forward , confident that somehow , things will end up being fine , even if you do not know what is going to happen .

With that in mind , I took the decision to go back today , not knowing whether or not I will make it in time for the 4 pm bus ( as the next bus after that is 8 pm , and I do not have transport to go back my home if I reach Penang at 12 ) . I could have took the safer alternative , to go back tomorrow . However,  that would defeat the purpose of going back as then I would have fewer days to spend at home .

Finally , everything ended up fine . I was never a stout believer of destiny and fate before , but now , I am starting to believe in it a bit , It might sound a bit clichéd , but as the old saying goes , “ when there’s a will , there’s a way “. If you really wanted something very badly, the environment , people or even the universe around you will conspire to help you to achieve it  somehow .

At last , I made it to the 4 pm bus and am currently heading back to my beloved hometown . The whole experience is very surreal , yet it feels like fate already knew what was in store for me . Sometimes I feel very blessed and gratified that I am able to be who I am today . I am thankful for every experiences that I went through , no matter how good or bad they are . I guess it’s just destiny’s way of guiding me to the predetermined path I am supposed to walk , by presenting me all the obstacles and challenges that came my way . I am truly grateful

Now , I guess there’s only one way for me to go , that is continue moving forward . Come what may , I know one day I will make it to the top , finally be able to achieve the sweet taste of success and happiness . For now , guess I will just have to enjoy the process ; ) .

Choice

It’s been a while  : ) . It has been more than a week since I last moved back to university hostel . New room , new semester , new syllabus , yet same old roommate . I am grateful . This has gotta be one of the greatest blessing , having a better, bigger room , coupled with its better ventilation and extra space , yet still having the familiarity of an old roommate . Finally , I can say , I am more or less have already settled in .

Ahh, but today’s post isn’t about my new room , new semester , or even the new chapter of my uni life , it is about a more general topic . Yes , as the title indicates , choice . * Dang I am feeling philosophical *

After a few conversations with my friends ( forced conversation albeit ) , it made me wanted to blog about this important topic . Alright here’s how it started . I have quite a plenty of time starting Friday every week since I don’t have class on Friday , and weekends are of course , free . And as of now , my roommate is always busy from day till morning so he’s seldom in the room .

That would mean that I am very free , with plenty of time and space to do whatever I want , whenever I want it in those specific time duration ( Friday to Sunday to be exact ) . So ,today , the once in a blue moon feeling of studying actually came to me . So,at 8am I started to study . ( YES , study , you did not misread that . )  

Unfortunately the mood faded away in less than an hour and I resorted to facebook to cure my boredom and hopefully reengage my mood to study . ( ok, that’s just an excuse to facebook ) . So , as I was mundanely browsing the faceBook ,  A friend of mine started a conversation with me online , saying that he was at the edge of breaking down because life’s too hard , his schedule is hectic , bla bla yada yada .

The thing is , everyone’s life is hard and hectic at one point of life . and yet people don’t realize that their life is like that because they chose it . Here’s an awesome quote from Bill Gates “ It’s not your fault if you’re born poor , but it’s definitely is your mistake if you die poor “ .See the power of choice ? Every decision you made , will affect your life in one way or another .

Once a choice is made , stick with it , because , there’s simply no point crying over spilled milk . Regret will only burdens you down with guilty , sadness and ultimately depression . In retrospect , I myself have been on the verge of breaking down several times , heck I broke down quite a number of times too . I ran away from some troubles , I persevered through some other ones . And if there’s any lesson at all to be learnt from all those past experiences , it will be to remember that you yourself made all those choice . Nobody forced you .

When you’re down with depression and wanted to give up on something , remember why you held on so long in the first place . Similarly , remember why you made that choice in the first place ,and you are bound to find the strength to continue down that road that you chose .

Oh well, I guess that’s all. This is a terrible post , yet I can’t help to publish it , simply because I wanted an update in this blog . But hey , it’s my choice , and there’s no point regretting it right ? Haha ! Remember , YOUR CHOICE , YOUR RESPONSIBILITY! 

P.S * Look forward for some exciting post in the near future .......

 hopefully ! *

Farewell , and a New Beginning :)

In a blink of an eye , the seemingly endless 2 months passed by . I still remembered the start of my 2 months semester break just like it was yesterday. The post-exam relief , the excitement to go back home , the anticipation of all those wonderful things that I am going to do , and the thought of fun and happiness of meeting up with old friends . I am happy to say that in these 2 months , I accomplished a few of those goals I set beforehand . Not to say that I didn't waste any of my precious time , but at least I did something , an improvement from my previous break I guess . Somewhere in between , time seems to stand still , there are times where I have no mood to do anything at all , and at that moment , time really does seems to pass by so slowly that it seems stationary . Yet , there are times where when we were really enjoying life , time  passed by so fast that we could barely feel it.

And now, it's the time for departure , to say farewell to this beloved home again , leaving behind these all those comfort and convenience and trading them with suffering and self-dependence all over again :) . It's amazing how when we are in comfortable environment , we don't seem to appreciate them at all . Only when those comfort and stuff we took for granted are taken away , do we started realized how much we are depending on them . And when it's time to say bye bye , no matter how much we wanted the time to stay still , it still relentlessly marched on , leaving you with a cruel reality of a few precious days left to spend it or waste it.

It is these few precious days that always got me into self-reflection mode. I tend to get a little bit nostalgic when it comes to time for leaving . I like reflecting on the past . Some may say it's a sign of weakness , an indication that I have yet to let go of my past , still being chained by the burdens and errors of the past , but I disagree . I feel the only way we can get hints about our future , and to better ready ourselves for it , is only by learning from the past.

In retrospect , I think I used to appreciate less , and took too much things for granted , kept on blaming fate and asking questions which have no real answer like why me ? . In summary , too much cravings and too little gratitude . I am still guilty for that offence , though in recent years , I have learnt the importance of giving thanks for all those little things that we are blessed with , things that other people may be craving for , even something trivial and common like being able to choose your food for breakfast . I only realized how important it is when I was deprived of an ability to choose , simply because there's no other choices at all .

Now , I am becoming more aware of the power of gratitude and therefore , I give thanks , for having a roof over me when I sleep , for able to drive out and choose from a variety of food , for being in the company of my precious families and friends , and the most important of all , for still being alive ;) . For most young adults , I believe the thought of death is the furthest thought away from their to-think-list in their brain , primarily because at this age , most of us still thinks we are invincible , backed by the power of youth , thinking that we will stay young forever having the immunity over diseases and etc . However , the truth is far from that . The fact is , death is inevitable and it may happen anytime , anywhere . Already there are myriads of problems and troubles surrounding teenagers , and the news of younger people dying now seems to be increasingly common , which is rather scary . 

Therefore , I give thanks , simply for being alive . Also , another aspect of my life that I am very grateful of is the fact that I have a bunch of good friends . A band of mutual friends that consists of a big , fat, self-proclaimed vegetarian that always had an excuse to skip our gathering , a chikopek ( pervert in local slang ) play girl that will go nuts at a mere sighting of  a woman , a guy with lion-ish hair and personality having an anger management issue , a troubled kid with perplexing mindset  and a few other game addicts each with their own sets of imperfections . I myself , am not spared from these imperfection , I am that short guy with little to no sense of direction at all, coupled with myriads of troubles.  Yet , despite these imperfections , or rather should I said , due to these imperfections , we managed to stay together as a band of friends that have consistent gatherings and meet ups for more than 8 years already I guess . And I am proud of that fact . None of us are perfect , yet because of that , we became perfect as a whole . Each and everyone of us is an oddball , but yet again , aren't we all the same ?

Tonight , we had our so called " last farewell gathering " as everyone sets to go their separate ways , each into their own routes again . I must say , it was unexpectedly fabulous . Nevertheless , I am confident we shall meet up again soon and enlighten each other with their own life stories , and that time , I am sure each and everyone of them are gonna turn out to be spectacular .  I used to think gathering , meet ups and talking for too long are nothing but troublesome and unproductive stuff to do . I still think it is , but well nothing beats the great feeling of catching up with old friends and exchanging stories on our life journeys , even if I am considered wasting my time doing it . As the great John Lenon once said , " Time you enjoyed wasting , was not wasted " . Cheers for an awesome group of friends .

In a few more days , I will be leaving to KL , turning a new chapter for my life again , returning as a 2nd year student , and hence abandoning the junior title . It is the time for us , the ones being guided by our seniors last time to replace our seniors role and give guidance this time , to new batch of juniors . It's gonna be a new beginning . New semester , new lecturers , and new plans for the future !

Plans for the future always seems to give us hope , no matter how dark and depressing our life is now . Hope , somehow has its own way of cheering us up even in our darkest hours , giving us excitement and anticipation of something wonderful that could happen . Call it false hope , or even a lie to ourselves , but I am always excited whenever there's an activity in a not too distant future being planned out and organized in such an ideal fashion where we assume nothing could ever goes wrong .

With that being said , here's to all my friends that are leaving to start their 2nd year undergraduates life , all the best and take care . May life be good to each and everyone of us and may we be blessed with peace , happiness and love . As cliches as this may sound , although Here's to an awesome new beginning ! YEE HAAA !!!! Life's awesome ! :)