Page 37: Lost in Translation

After watching Storm Warriors I just have to write this.

You know how we always laughed at some silly & literal Malay translations for movies & shows? Who could forget the famous Lusa & Orang Besi (for the uninitiated, those are the Malay translations for The Day After Tomorrow & Iron Man, respectively).

So I was watching Storm Warriors & guess what... Wind is translated into 'Penjejak Badai' & Cloud is translated to 'Penjejak Awan'... A bit weird don't you think?

Several years back I even remembered that The Lord of the Rings is translated into Ketua Segala Perhimpunan (if I'm not mistaken) & The Two Towers is Keajaiban Dua Menara...

Fortunately these days the titles of movies are not translated anymore or we might get Bulan Baru (New Moon) or Naik (Up)...

Some weird translations are present in books too. Here are some Harry Potter titles when translated into Malay:

Harry Potter dengan Piala Api

Harry Potter dengan Kumpulan Phoenix

Harry Potter dengan Putera Berdarah Kacukan

Harry Potter dengan Azimat Maut

Also, Frank & Joe Hardy of the Hardy Boys became Faruk & Johar Hadi of the Budak Hadi...

But sometimes, the translations are perfect & logical & not weird at all. Take some manga for instance. All of us will certainly remember Mutiara Naga. Luckily they did not literally translate Dragon Ball into Malay (or we will have Bola Naga, which might give the impression that the story talks about something else). Another manga which has a logical Malay title is Budak Getah. It is of course impossible to name the local version after the official English name, One Piece. Imagine a manga entitled: Satu Keping...!!

It also sometimes bums me how Misteri Naga came from Dragon Quest & Dik Cerdas came from Crayon Sin Chan. Luckily they did not translate Doraemon into anything...

Page 36: Weird Night

So last night I had a class gathering with old friends and classmates at Gurney Plaza. We set 7.30 pm as the meeting time. I left my house at 7.30 pm (I know I'm not punctual when I'm at home). After picking up some stuff on my way there & making through some slow moving traffic, I reached Gurney Plaza at around 8.10 pm. While I was searching for my friends, just guess who I bumped into: Alex, Su Yee & Siti Sara!! What a coincidence...

So after spending around 20 minutes talking with them, I went up to meet with my friends (I already told them that I'd be meeting other friends first while they're a dinner). Caught a movie and that was the end of normal stuff happening.

We left at around 12.15 am and while I was driving home I suddenly realized something was wrong. I looked around & realized I ended up on...

the PENANG BRIDGE...!!

I did not know how I turned onto the bridge. Maybe it was the lateness and my tiredness, or maybe because it was reflex action that made me take that turning. So I had to waste another RM5 - 10 on petrol, RM5.60 for toll and another 30 minutes of my time to turn back...

The night cannot get any weirder...

On another note, I did not fail my CFD as I thought... I just got a 'TH'...

Page 35: Happiness is...

Ever wondered where people find true happiness?

Some people find it in food (Baskin Robbins or some Chocolate Indulgence from Secret Recipe, maybe?), others find it in new gadgets (a new iPhone or a high-end PC for some), while others may just find pure bliss in being alone (less interruptions, understandable...).

But for most people, I think the thing that brings them true happiness is being around the people they love and care about (it certainly is for me). They can be your family, your lover or even your friends.

It is normal to feel happy when you're with family. Of course it is even more normal to feel truly happy when you're with your boyfriend/girlfriend. But when t comes to friends, they cannot be just any friends. These friends have to be the very close friends that you get along very, very well with. It is like what my friend's (actually, my ex-lecturer's) blog said: it's the human contact that counts.

It is true that ever since I came back from Sarawak I've been feeling a little different. A bit more lonely, which I haven't felt in all my previous holidays. Might be I'm feeling the need for human contact more than ever...

Some of you may say that true happiness comes from doing what you like best. Well, for me, I like being with people I love and care about best.

Page 34: Life Media Player v1.0

Introducing the Life Media Player, an interactive media player that can play any of your requested songs in a split second. You think it, it plays it.

What if you do not have a song in mind? No worries as the Life Media Player also connects to your mood. When you're feeling sad and down, it plays sad and emotional songs. When you're happy, it will play upbeat songs. When you just feel like partying, it will play party and dance songs. Let the word know your mood!!

For example: For now I have no song requests, but I have a certain mood. Here are the following song samples that will be played for me now:

Perfect (Simple Plan)

OK this song is chosen to express my very deep feelings.

Hey, Dad, look at me

Think back and talk to me

Did I grow up according to plan

Deep inside I feel that my parents do not believe that I grew up to what they expect of me. I may be wrong here but all children and parents do have that feeling.

Secrets (OneRepublic)

I need another story

Something to get off my chest

My life gets kinda boring

Need something that I can confess

... and...

Tell me what you want to hear

Something that were like those years

Sick of all the insincere

So I'm gonna give all my secrets away

These few lines really do reflect my feelings now.

Empty (The Click Five)

OK this song's lyrics does not reflect my feelings now. It might be chosen because I feel like my life is very empty right now.

We're empty

Time for Miracles (Adam Lambert)

Baby you know that

Maybe it's time for miracles

'Cos I ain't giving up on love

Maybe it just is time for miracles and sudden changes. I am not giving up on finding the one.

I'm Just a Kid (Simple Plan)

I woke up it was seven

Waited till eleven

Just to figure out that no one would call

I think I got a lot of friends but I don't hear from them

What's another night all alone

... and...

I'm just a kid and life is a nightmare

I'm just a kid I know that it's not fair

Nobody cares 'cos I'm alone and the world is having more fun than me

Most of the time I do feel like that.

Aren't these song samples perfect?

What are you waiting for? It's free!

Download it at www.yourownheart.com.

Page 33: The End is Nigh...

The date is Thursday 12th November 2009. No prizes for guessing what date and day tomorrow is. Right. Friday the 13th. While no mishaps have befallen me on all the Friday the 13th's so far, there's no telling what tomorrow might bring. Furthermore, I have the final exam paper of my degree life tomorrow morning at 9 am. Everyone might joke about the bad luck this will portend for this exam. Even now my mind is not on the exam but wandering to who knows where. After tomorrow only one more semester remains for my degree and it will be a very fast semester. I only hope it brings more joy to the final half-year of my university life. Still, there's time until the real end so I will try to enjoy the time I have now.

Lately, I have a (sort of) new policy: Do not wait and ponder too much. When it comes to a decision on whether or not to go for it, never think too much too decide. If you do think too much, such as weighing the pros and cons or asking around, you might miss the opportunity of a lifetime. It is true that some life changing decisions needed to be pondered and weighed for a considerable amount, but most things in life are not meant to be. I myself have made few mistakes by thinking and pondering too much and have missed out some opportunities, and so I felt bad or guilty, sometimes even sad. So, grab that opportunity before it flies away out of reach, as who knows, it is meant for you.

That's all for this short post. This is just to keep my mind from wandering and staring blankly at notes and the computer screen. All the best to all of us...

Page 32: The Night

He looked out into the darkening night and thought of life. He gazed up into the sky and saw the outline of clouds on the horizon. 'The moon will not show his face tonight,' he said to himself. Even though it is past sunset, the light of the setting sun can still be seen, lighting up the heavy rainclouds. As he looked, a flash of lightning split the sky open, and in the distance, he could hear thunder. Through his window he could see the crows flying across the sky above him, heading home for the night. 'How nice it is for the crows,' he thought. 'They have such a simple life. All they need to do is to survive and breed. No choices to make.'

He turned his eyes to his room and his gaze fell upon the table, pushed up against the wall. The oil lamp sitting in the middle of the table illuminated the several scrolls of parchment littering the table. Beside all the parchments he can see a leather bound book, a bottle of ink sitting on top of it and a quill, with its tip dipped into the bottle of ink. He was supposed to study for his exam in a week's time, but he just can't do it. It is not that he's not interested; he just does not have the drive to do it.

His mind raced back and forth, to the past, and then to the future. What if he had chosen differently? Will his life be less worrisome now if he had not being so eager and impatient back then? He did not know why he had been so reckless, jumping on this expedition without a single second thought. While his other friends had been thinking about which expedition they are going to choose by asking around, he had been writing the request letter to this expedition offered to him by its leader without getting any other information pertaining to this expedition and the other expeditions. Not that he can blame anybody for this, it is certainly his own fault that had landed him in this position now.

Today, four months later, even though the expedition has yet to start, he has been worrying about it for some time now. He is worried that this expedition might not be the one that he will enjoy being on, even though the rewards might be fruitful. What if, a few weeks from now when the expedition officially starts, he will find that his mind is just not into it at all? With this thought, he sighed and turned his attention to his feather beds on the other side of the wall. He is comfortable here at home, but his heart is just not at ease.

What if he had chosen a different path? Will life be different now? 'No doubt it will,' he thought. 'But not much I reckon.' He had still not found the secret to true happiness all these years and even though he knows he'll find it in the future, for now he is not that hopeful. With that, he turned to the table, sat down, opened his book and flipped its pages, trying to absorb its contents.

Page 31: Another Full Circle

All those tiring days and sleepless night finally culminated to the last few days of this week (and this semester). It is only with some sheer luck that I got through both my VIVAs in one piece (but not unscathed). I cannot say that my design projects are flawless to the point that I deserve no questioning, but some of the questions aimed at us are really pretty tough (try explaining why an aircraft must fly at 35000 feet when it is a given requirement)... Anyway, all that is behind me and I have two weeks of 'study break' ahead of me. Hope I can get some Engineers in Society in my head before the final paper (since I know near to naught what this subject is all about)...

I know that everyone has their own degree of selfish-ness and tend to think of ourselves more than others, but being selfish to the point of being pissed of when you don't get what you want? Pretty ridiculous isn't it. Maybe not, but to me it is...

This is because I know a guy who will be quite pissed and complain-y when things don't go his way. When someone says that he/she can't meet up with him just because of some other issue, he'll start complaining that that person doesn't value friends and the like. Furthermore, he'll find any reason to reject an invitation if he doesn't want to go, but if anyone rejects him, he'll find a lot of reasons to 'persuade' (better word than 'force') that person to join him. Doesn't he understand that other people have a life too?

Don't get me wrong. That guy is still my friend. If not for the above 'qualities', he'll be even a better friend than he is now. Guess that's how some people are and you just have to live with it. Not all people are like you. Live and cope to your surroundings.