I have always loved IKEA. In the past, I used to just visit IKEA to browse through their displays and let my imagination run wild. It is like a candy store for adults. I’ve discovered that I still feel the same way about IKEA today.

I went to IKEA a few days ago and bought some stuff including a decent office chair and a lap top laptop table. While shopping for the chair, I’ve noticed something about expensive ergonomic chairs. I hate them.

When we moved into the new lab building at Cambridge several years ago, each of us was given a new table and expensive ergonomic chair. However, I have always found these ergonomic chairs very uncomfortable.

They are typically expensive because they are fully adjustable. The theory is that they would fit almost every possible body frame and table height. However, they were uncomfortable because I tended to feel like I was falling off them all the time.

While I was at IKEA, I tested a few ergonomic chairs that cost more than RM1,500 each and found them to be of the same variety. They were fully adjustable and were obviously very well built but I felt like I was falling off them all the time.

So, I ended up getting one of their new mid-range standard office chairs with a high back rest. I’ve brought it home, assembled it and have been using it for the last few hours. It feels very comfortable so far – more so than my previous office chair.

The reason that I’m talking about this is because I like IKEA. I like the type of creative ideas that go into each and every piece of furniture. Their furniture is of good build quality and at an affordable price. With some personal creativity, there is so much potential in a piece of IKEA furniture.

I have just finished reading a good novel, Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson. This novel was a gift from a good friend of mine. I like the author and while there are those who have complained about the book, it was not such a torture for me to read because I took several months to finish it as I have been writing my thesis before.

The tome, is actually made up of three books. The first book centers on Daniel Waterhouse and his exploits as a young Natural Philosopher and friend to Isaac Newton. The second book consists of “Half-Cocked” Jack Shaftoe, his meeting with Eliza and their subsequent adventures together and apart. The 3rd book features Eliza and Daniel in the events leading up to the Glorious Revolution. Therefore, it was not until around page 800 that the story actually begins to build upon the characters thus established.

I really like Neal Stephenson (I have almost all his books in my collection) and his writing style. I do intend to purchase his latest book – Anathem, but that will have to wait until either I go back to the UK or when the Malaysian book stores decide to slash the price of the book from its present RM70+ for the paper back. I like him because he weaves a believable web of fiction around very true and actual persons and events. Also, he puts technical computer knowledge into very subtle uses that any non computer scientist can appreciate, while all mathematicians and computer scientist would absolutely love.

However, I have to confess that there are two other reasons why I liked this book. First, is the oft mentioned places at Cambridge – it conjures up very vivid imagery in my head from the fresh memories as the first book introduces a host of characters including Natural Philosophers and the beginnings of the Royal Society. Second, is the use of French that is garnished across the pages – it adds an extra flair to the book and is simple enough to understand as the second book was filled with courtly events, Versailles and the Sun King.

While reading this novel, it made me think of some of my mathmo friends at Cambridge. I think that they would be able to appreciate his writing, if they are the kind who actually like reading fiction.

Alright, a friend of mine got married yesterday and I got drafted in as one of the ‘guys’. Since I had a new car, I did not mind helping out. My car has already seen 2000km in just 30 days. Not too shabby eh? Anyway, my duty was to follow him down to the bride’s place to pick up the bride and her entourage.

I had to wake up at 4am in the morning to gather at his place with the rest of the guys who were going down. He lived near 1U and the journey there took a mere 20 minutes, instead of the usual hour. I arrived with plenty of time to spare. After a light breakfast and a quick briefing, everyone journeyed down the Sprint-NKVE-Elite-PLUS highway route together towards Melaka.

I cannot say too much about the journey down except to say that we stuck together as a convoy almost the entire way. For some reason, we ‘rushed’ down to Melaka and arrived with plenty of time to spare. On arrival at the bride’s place, we honked our horns and generally made a nuisance of ourselves at the early hours of the morning. Then, it was time for the fun and games.

Anyone whom has watched any HongKong serial will know what these fun and games usually entail. However, the bridesmaids doing it were not particularly experienced. Therefore, I think that the groom was let off rather easy. The rest of us guys had to help out with things here and there too but he mainly did everything himself. In fact, the best man later showed me the stacks of red packets that he still had stashed in his various pockets as backup. Something for me to learn. Bravo!

After that, it was the traditional tea ceremony at the bride’s home followed quickly by our timely exit. At this point, three other young girls from the bride’s family hopped into my car and we ‘rushed’ back to KL for the groom’s side of the ceremony. I cannot say much about the journey back except that it involved a lot of creative overtaking. Again, as we arrived, we made a nuisance of ourselves by honking our horns. There was another Malay wedding along the next road and their guests seemed rather annoyed.

It was also at this point that I realised that there were lots of weddings happening this weekend. Many couples must be trying to tie the knot while there was still some bit of 2008 left. Along the highway, we encountered several other wedding convoys and there were tents set up in the housing areas as well, for different weddings. Anyway, at the groom’s place, they had to go through the tea ceremony followed by various photography sessions.

As for the dinner banquet, the place was filled with lots of VIPs and old people. However, seeing that everyone in Malaysia is linked by 2-degrees of separation, I actually bumped into a few people I know, and a few other people I am supposed to know, but cannot remember since it’s been ages since I’ve seen them. I was placed at the same table with the rest of the UK friends, including the MC and the best-man. So, at least it wasn’t too dull.

We actually prepared a special brew for the groom. We mixed some cili padi with a glass of wine. Then, when he came around, I pennied him in the good old Cambridge tradition and he had to down it. However, he could only drink a little before giving up. Then, the bride tried to help but couldn’t either. But since it was almost time to say goodbye, the happy couple had to dash to the door, which gave them the excuse for not finishing up the drink.

In the end, I think that the best thing about this whole day was that I had an opportunity to wear two new outfits – one of which was my purple suit with silver-purple silk shirt. Seriously, it isn’t as bad as it sounds and is actually quite good.

I thought about writing this entry after replying an earlier comment. I am not a normal person by any measure. Granted, everyone is a unique individual but I am also weird on so many levels all stemming from the way that my brain works. An example of my weirdness is exemplified by the simple request for a spoonful of rice.

I can recall the very event that happened while I was having dinner with a few other friends at a Chinese restaurant in Cambridge. It was the Shanghai Family Restaurant, which is one of the two Chinese restaurants with edible Chinese food in Cambridge. It has the most wonderful of all Chinese dishes in this world on its menu: pig’s leg (or hand – depending on how you look at it).

Anyway, I digress. A few friends and I were happily having dinner when the time came for our second helping of rice. For some reason, probably because the rice bowl was next to me, I was scooping the rice. This was when my friend asked for just a spoonful of rice. I immediately stopped and looked rather stunned and confused because I did not know how much a spoonful of rice was. Eventually, someone else took the spoon out of my hand and did the scooping instead.

I have to reiterate that I was neither pretending nor was I doing it as some sort of ploy. However, I honestly did not know how to scoop a spoonful of rice as I did not know how much rice that entailed. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be exactly a spoonful of rice filled to the top, or an overflowing mountain of rice, or a specific number of grains, weight or volume of rice.

A lot of people do not understand how I could come to think like this. I have to attribute it to the fact that I am used to dealing in the unambiguous world of computer programming and hardware design. In this line of work, everything is meticulously defined and spelled out to the minutest detail. You are unlikely to know how far we’ll actually go to define things, so I will use a well known anecdote to illustrate it.

A computer science professor walks into an introductory programming class with enough material for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He then asked the class for instructions on how to make it. It went as follows:

1. Put the peanut butter on the slice of bread.
   He held the jar over the slice of bread and started to shake the jar.
2. No, you take the knife and use it to spread the peanut jelly.
   He started to grab the knife by the blade end.
3. No, grab the knife by the other end.
   This time he holds the knife correctly.
4. Spread the peanut butter on the slice of bread.
   He starts to put the peanut butter on the edges of the bread.

This went on in minute detail until it dawned on the students that in everyday speech, we leave a lot out assuming that everyone knows what we are talking about. The students got an understanding of how we must communicate with computers.

People in my line, will have little problem with analysis and synthesis because we go through them all the time. For someone like me, who lives and breathes computers, I go through these processes in almost everything, not just when it comes to computer work. So, when I receive a request for a spoonful of rice, it will stump me thoroughly because the term “spoonful” is ill defined.

PS: There is now a “wall” on the right sidebar and you can leave any messages that you feel like shouting out! Of course, leave comments on the relevant blog entries.

Education scholarships. Our government disburses many of them through its many agencies and government linked companies. We are fortunate in that we have one of the most generous national governments, when it comes to educational funding. However, there are many things about these scholarships that trigger an emotional response when people talk about them.

This reminds me of a TehTarik session that we once had where someone, who had clearly a lot of anger for our government, claimed that he was denied a scholarship because the government was ‘racist’ (or something like that). I was rather taken aback that he could claim that in a room full of non-bumi government scholars who have all been given full scholarships by our ‘racist’ government. So, being the tactless person that I am, I asked him why he thought he deserved a scholarship.

He had this bewildered look in his eyes like I was challenging him (okay, so maybe it did sound like a challenge). His answer surprised me as he mentioned that straight A1s is the reason in a room full of top students of all shapes and sizes. Thankfully, a few people then asked him: “so, what?” Then, he started mentioning other things (possibly head prefect or something) in a room full of people who had represented their states and even nation. Now more people asked him again: “so, what?”

In retrospect, I guess it was harsh to have been taken down like that but he had it coming. Most people think that they deserve a scholarship without asking themselves why. While I may have slighted him personally, he had slighted many others with his allegations. He doesn’t seem like the kind of person who can keep an open mind so I won’t be surprised if he does not speak to me ever again but here is the thing.

Perceptions are flawed as they require us to view things through the lens of our own personal bias. In fact, my own perception is shaped by my personal experiences (i.e. bias). My personal bias has shown me a different facet of our government that most others see. I personally know five Malaysians whom had recently gotten into a PhD programme at Cambridge and tried their hand at applying for Malaysian government sponsorship.

From this group (and my previous experiences of others), I can say that there is no such thing as a sure thing or guarantee of a scholarship. Being a top Cambridge graduate is no guarantee, regardless of whether you are a Malay or not. Being an employee of a government agency is no guarantee, even if it is your turn to go for your PhD studies. Being an existing government scholar and a top student is no guarantee either. All this during a time when the government is trying it’s best to increase the number of PhD in the country.

In the words of a Singaporean mother I once met, you have to be really good to get a Malaysian government scholarship. Personally, I think that you need to be extremely lucky to get a single scholarship and in order to be able to get multiple scholarships, you need to be touched by the gods (especially if you are a non-bumi). There is actually some truth in that and a Malaysian scholarship is just like any other scholarship. Some people get them, while others don’t.

I successfully made it home in one piece, although there were several interesting things that happened along the way. I think that this is probably the most eventful flight that I had ever been on. So, I thought that I’d share a few of the things that had happened on that fateful day.

It all started with the coach ride to the airport. When we left Stansted, the coach driver informed us that all reports indicate that the traffic situation was fine and we should arrive at Heathrow by 7pm, which gave me 3 whole hours to get myself checked in, have a light dinner and then fly off home. However, fortune was not as kind and it rained heavily causing the M25 to jam up. Therefore, by the time the coach arrived at Heathrow, it was already well past 8pm.

So, I quickly rushed to the check in counter and had my luggage weighed. I was really unfortunate and got an extremely unhelpful person at the check in counter. He even asked that I weigh my hand luggage and he added all that to the total combined weight. This resulted in an additional 20kg and I had to go to the service counter at the other end of the terminal to check the price. When I was told that my excess luggage would cost almost £900, I balked. That was the price of two whole tickets!

I was hungry, tired, late and now this. So, I decided to dump all my clothes. I sat in the middle of the terminal and started tossing almost everything out except for my suit. I thought that for RM7,000 I could easily afford an entirely new wardrobe of clothes. So, I tossed everything out including the few nice barong shirts that I had. This got my weight reduced by about 7kg but it was still too heavy.

But I met the same unreasonable counter staff again. He told me that I was still over by 10kg but that I would have to pay 15kg of excess. I could not understand this logic and called his supervisor over to discuss this with. After some reasoning, the supervisor decided to raise my baggage allowance and only charge me for an extra 5kg, which came up to about £200. This I gladly paid as I could possibly get it reimbursed by my sponsor later.

After checking into the flight, I decided to go back to the place where I tossed my clothes to collect them and properly dispose of them. But by the time that I got there, the place had already been thoroughly cleared. I guess that passengers tossing their clothes must be a very common thing and the efficient airport staff and already disposed off it on my behalf. So, I went through security and got on my way.

While in the departure hall, an elderly Malay man came over to sit with me. So, I struck up a conversation with him which invariably led to the talk of Malaysian politics, which is quite interesting at the moment. But I noticed several people staring at me with an evil eye when I was chatting with the elderly chap. Then, I finally asked him what he did for a living and he told me that he was the MP for Bukit Gantang, one of our opposition politicians. He promised me that they would seize power by September 16 and I reminded him that it has to be done legally.

Then, as I boarded the plane, I ended up sitting next to a young girl that looked extremely familiar. So, I asked her if she was a Part II engineering student at Cambridge and she said that she was. So, I asked her what she was doing going to Malaysia and she said that she was going home. This kind of shocked me as I didn’t ever realise that she was Malaysian. I can chalk this up as another random Malaysian whom I know, that no one else knows. So, at the very least, I had someone else to talk to during the flight and it wasn’t as dull or boring a 12 hours as I thought it would be.

So, anyway, I’m back!

I had a wonderful dinner with my supervisor and his family tonight. The dinner lasted for just over 3 hours and it wasn’t because the service was slow. It was just that the company was great. I think that I got to know my supervisor and his family a lot better tonight. We exchanged a lot of stories about our lives and our past. Regardless of what other people may think, I think that I’ve got a really nice supervisor.

As I would be leaving for home soon, my supervisor decided to have a going away do for me with his family. So, he suggested Chinese food and asked me for a recommendation. Seeing that there were only two edible restaurants here, I brought them to the nicer one on Regent Street (J’s Restaurant). The other one is a little dodgy. We ordered 5 different dishes and rice. As usual, the food was good. However, I did note that certain things were different in the service.

When I visited J’s in the past with friends, we were treated differently than this visit with my supervisor’s family. For example, they served us rice on a plate instead, while they would normally serve us rice in a bowl, just like any other Chinese restaurant. And when they made a mistake on our order and missed out a dish, the restaurant owner touched me on my shoulder apologetically. And when we left, he placed an appreciative touch on my shoulder. He has never ever touched me on my shoulder ever, in all my previous visits.

For our dessert, we had leong fun or what they called “minty jelly” at the restaurant. My supervisor’s wife was trying to figure out where the mint went. So, I explained that it was a translation of the Chinese name, which meant “cool” or “minty”. She was also trying to figure out the odd taste of the thing. So, I explained that there is a slight tinge of bitterness in it and all that. But it is something easier to savour than explain.

My supervisor’s family was really nice to be with too. Even his son, who is normally a little quiet, also joined into the conversation. We shared a bit about our past with each other and I told him a bit about my plans for the future. His wife also told me some stories about her childhood, which was very funny to hear. Britain in the past, was a very different place from what it is today. I even got to find out how my supervisor met his wife, which made me think that fate (not in the deterministic form) always plays a role in these things.

There aren’t very many things that I will miss about Cambridge but I think that I will miss my supervisor in some ways. He is a really nice guy. I do hope that we will be able to keep in touch. He is on Facebook and while I am not, he is on my MSN list after all and there should be no difficulty there. Oh, and I think that he’ll miss me too. d:

I had just taken this photo of a sunset, a few hours ago. This was taken from behind my house, in the bit of green right opposite Midsummer’s Common and Jesus Green. I just stood up in my room and saw this beautiful sunset outside my window. Knowing that it would not last for long, I picked up my camera, tripod and lenses, and ran off towards the sunset. It was beautiful.

Although it may seem like it has been post-processed extensively, this photo was surprisingly original. All I did was set the white balance. There was no other post-processing step and certainly no HDR work. The photo was a 30 second exposure, taken with the use of my new remote shutter. That is why you can see the floating lines above the roads, where the lamps from the vehicles and cycles passed through.

I think that I kind of like how vivid colours can get in the dark.

The hopes of an entire nation rested on his shoulders and I guess that it was a little too much to bear. As this was our country’s greatest hope for an Olympic gold medal, most of the Malaysians left in Cambridge gathered in my living room to watch the match and boy were we disappointed. It was so obvious from the beginning that it was a trashing, and not an even match.

For some reason, our Lee Chong Wei, was in horrible form today. The two of them have met each other many times in various international competitions. And it isn’t like Lin Dan won all of them. Chong Wei had defeated Lin Dan several times before. But today was not to be our day. Lin Dan was in superb form and trashed all our hopes and dreams. It was such a downer for me.

The support for Chong Wei is totally palpable. There have been so many blogs written about his semi-final match and people’s MSN messages were all in support of him. To think that the hopes and dreams of so many had been let down. I think that the manner in which he lost is a great contributing factor. We were all so depressed that he seemed to have given up hope. In the words of one of my friends, Chong Wei chuak liao. There were also accusations thrown of jampi and spiked food, entirely unsubstantiated of course.

I think that it is time to introduce squash as an Olympic event. Then, we’d be medal contenders for another game. Until then, better luck next time, to Lee Chong Wei! We are proud of you, nonetheless.

I have been visiting a local kebab shop daily, for the last few weeks. It is the best kebab shop that I have found in Cambridge, so far. Sometimes, I have all my meals there but usually, I just have my dinner from the shop.

I was introduced to the kebab shop by a couple of my housemates. They used to get supper from there every few days. One day, when I was sick and tired of cooking, I decided to just get some unhealthy friend chicken from the shop. And for some reason, they decided to give me an extra piece of chicken just for the heck of it. This persisted through the first four of my visits to the place. I would always order a 2 piece meal and they’ll give me 3 pieces of chicken instead. Nice of them.

These days, I either get a chicken meal or a doner kebab. I like the chili sauce that they have as it reminds me of the kind of chili sauce that they usually serve with chicken rice back home. As I have been to the shop so many times, I now know who is the most generous server. He will happily give me more food than any other server. A doner kebab comes in a piece of pita bread, filled with meat and salad. And the portions are sufficiently large to fill me up.

This afternoon, I discovered the world of salads for lunch. After weeks of having either baked pastries, cold sandwiches or fried hotdogs for lunch, I was in the mood for something different. These days, I have learnt to listen to my body when it comes to food. I’ll let my body decide what it wishes to eat. So, today I decided to give salads a go. It is surprisingly good.

So, I think that I’ll be getting a salad lunch and kebab dinner for the next few weeks.