BnG

Friends are for us to keep and treasure.

They are the significant few who have the power to mold us into what we are today.

We, as individuals are responsible to pick our friends carefully.

For me, well... I'm surrounded by awesome unique individuals.

I am blessed.

:D

MC: From me to you by Irving

All we are, we are

We are what we choose to be.

In this life, and the life after.

No turning back and certainly no second chances.

-J. Raynor

Blessed!

Results for my final unit, the hardest I've ever faced was just released 3 hours ago.

Last sem, the seniors and lecturers told us that ECE2061: Analogue Electronics was notorious for its ridiculously high failure rate of 30-40% among the ECS students who take it EVERY YEAR.

It was indeed hard. I still recalled that I almost broke down when the demonstrator told me that I would most likely fail this unit during my 3rd lab session. The thing that also made me depressed was when the mid term test results came out and I got only 58% for it (average was 52%).

I had to juggle 4 really complex units where the maths didn't seem like maths anymore and I was really emo beginning of last semester. I thought I wouldn't do well with all sorts of things bothering me. It seemed like I was marching towards a battle which I wasn't prepared to face.

But I guess I am really blessed.

So what's the verdict?

For ECE2061 I got near distinction, so that gives me a total of 3 distinctions and 1 credit for last SEMESTER! HOORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I'm overjoyed right now, and to celebrate this wonderful news... I'm going to play DoTA.

And of course, supper later with my mates to celebrate somewhere at Chinatown.

Ming FTW!

;D

TGI Fridays

It's Friday again!

Yipeee!!!

We all love Fridays don't we? The day of the week where we can come home, have a nice hot bath and just chill all night cause we know the weekend is here.

Everyone has their own way to spend these God given days where our school/uni/work loads are all thrown out the window so that we can relax and enjoy.

For me, I have my own 'routine'/'tradition' I tend to stick to( except exam periods). Here's a quick highlight!

Fridays:

-Activate 'Blanka' mode

- Skatepark/IMax skateboard training

- Draw a comic strip for this blog

- Have dinner and supper with 'AND' mates and knock back a couple of beers or UDLs before heading to bed

Saturdays:

- Morning jogs with 'AND'

- Church clan gathering/meetings

- Event involvement (Operation Stitches, TWLOHA, O-Week etc... mostly voluntary events)

- Guitar/band practice on chosen songs on my practice list(located on the right side of the blog)

- Dinner with KK mates (once every month)

- Movies, comedy shows etc... with my mates and of course supper

Sundays:

- Church and chit-chat after that

- Skatepark/Imax skateboard training

- Upcoming lab and tut revisions

- Revert back to 'Nerd' mode

So there you go, an overview of how I spend my weekends. I love to help people and communities, so occasionally I'd sign myself up for voluntary work whether it involves helping and chatting up with teens who are in need or just spending sometime with the old peeps at the old folks home.

So how do you spend your weekends?

If your weekends are mostly spent on gluing your eyes to the monitor or TV I suggest you to

get up and be productive! Get yourself involved in community work! Help yourself by helping others. The payoff is priceless.

Make most out of our lives cause we ONLY have one to live by.

God bless and have an awesome weekend everyone!

Ming out!

;D

Old Spice

If you are into retarded commercials and videos, I would greatly suggest you to waste your time on these Old Spice commercials. Uber epicness.

FTW.

Hachiko

Recently my mates and I watched a movie titled, 'Hachiko: A Dog's Story'.

If you are a dog lover like me, you'll absolutely love this movie.

It's based on a true story, though this film is a remake and it is set in America instead of Shibuya, Japan( you know how Hollywood is).

Hachiko Trailer

Hachiko is a Akita Inu dog, a breed that's pretty primitive; having close bonds with the wolf.

They're really furry and they do have the 'sepet' eyes... like me. :D

Akita pup

AWESOME SEPETNESS! :D

The story is based on the loyalty between dog and man. According to the real story, Hachi waited for his master to return from University of Tokyo at the Shibuya train station every single day. But one day Mr. Ueno(Hachi's master) suffered a hemorrhage at the university. He died and never did return, but Hachi waited for him the next day and for the next 9 years before Hachi was found dead along the street of Shibuya where he would normally take to the station.

*this also reminds of the 'Jurassic Bark' episode from Futurama where Seymour waited for Fry to return for 12 years until his death.* <-- another tearjerker from a cartoon

Hachi waiting at the station a month after Mr. Ueno's death.

The last picture taken a few weeks before Hachi was found dead.

A statue of Hachi was erected in front of Shibuya station(Mum did we see the statue while we were there? I don't recall) to honor the dog of its loyalty towards his master.

Hachi statue in front of Shibuya station.

After the movie, most of the guys had 'moisture' in their eyes while the girls... well you should know how the girls reacted with this kind of tearjerkers. If you guys have time to watch a movie, go get this one and watch it with either your friends or family.

It's something you won't wanna miss.

Have a great week and God bless.

:D

P.S My LifeCast is on 24/7. Oh yeah!

Semester 2: OH BOY.... NOT!

Dead tired.

Semester 2 has just started and the 8A.M. classes are real killers for me, not to mention the morning rains that greet me.

Good thing about being in a huge university is that, every semester you get to meet and make friends with new different people who are in the same course as you. About 30% of my current ECS course are exchange students and my... this sem's ladies are fine. <--- ECS courses are famous for near 0% female intake each year.

Guess we're lucky this time round.

Other than that, gonna have a gathering/pot luck at my place to catch up with mates who just got back from Malaysia recently... will have about 14 of us this time. :S

Till then, I'm off for a nap. Need to revise some notes for tomorrow's tute.

Adios.

:)

Awareness: Poetry

Just recently I've been chatting with my high school English teacher (Kian Kok Sr. 1) through facebook and was disappointed with the things she told me.

Currently, the Malaysian Education Ministry has changed all five poems we used to learn in high school(William Shakespeare) to all local Malaysian poems. I really did enjoy(cause I'm one of the few who had pretty good oral and vocab skills, and maybe I was the 'teacher's pet' :P) the poems that were thought in class EXCEPT when the quizzes start rolling in.

When I was in primary school(Simon Fung), we were taught to reach out our creative side of things and the art of writing poetry was one of them that I manage to learn and grasp. Heck, I even wrote a few myself during primary and secondary school to my friends and loved ones.

What is LOVE?*

The silence of the night keeps me awake,
The sound of your voice lingers and brings ache,
What you've said to me, loving me,
Can I finally truly break free?

What love is it's hard to define,
Words of millions are just mere outline,
Love is patience,
Love is kind.

I've wondered what's love for so long,
My answer to it maybe right and maybe wrong.
My emotions towards love is strong,
Limitless like an endless song.

Let my words be short,
But secure as a fort,
Trust in what you believe,
Love will soon come to our relief.

*This was taken from my DeviantArt gallery and was slightly modified from the original. From a long long time ago, written on 24th of March 2006.

Other than poetry, I really really did appreciate the Phantom of the Opera. Man, I LOVE PO. All of these started from? Well, the novels I read when I was a teen.

If the education ministry continues to change/morph things to all what is just local, the kids and teens of the next generation won't be exposed to the awesome beauty and creativity of people like William Shakespear whose works and poems enriched the English language from being plain and boring.

MC: Meet Mingo

Hey guys!

This is Mingo*, a character from MMH Comics.

He's a cheerful, gentle giant who loves to sniff and hug pillows.

*Notice: The character Mingo has absolutely no similarities with Ming of the mmh89 website. >:D

Red Bull VIC Winter Games 2010

The RedBull Skateboard games just ended here for the Victoria region.

What was the outcome?

Well, I got 33 points out of 50(didn't land cleanly and my mistake at attempt 2) for my ollie category and placed 7th among the other 12 competitors.

I reckon that's pretty good that being said cause I'm the only asian skater boy for the ollie tech (was happy to see 2 Nguyens for the skid n grind).

First place goes to Chris Miller who's career is, well... skateboarding!

Walked away with 2k pot of Aussie greens.

Well for me?

...some torn hand gloves and a minor 3/4 inch wide 'scratch' due to a 'technical' mistake during attempt 2 on the skate ramp. Grrr...

Overall it's a great experience and would certainly do it again next year. And I'll certainly pull one or two mates in to do the asian community proud in these events.

Bummer. =/

Pictures will come soon from RB's webby.

P/S: Mum, I didn't break a leg/ankle. I'm totally fine other than the burning sensation from the small injury. All good. Here's a smiley for ya.

:D

Cartoon Tips by a Newb :3

Well I have been receiving one or two e-mails from my dear readers regarding my comics.

For you who did ask, the three things I use the most to publish my simple stick figured comics are:

1. Wacom Tablet

By using a tablet it's easier to sketch and draw things you want, compared to using a mouse.

You can get a second hand 8 inch Wacom tablet off GumTree for about 40-50 AUS$ which is really cheap.

Wacaom tablet and pen. I like to have a pillow to support my big head cause I tend to slouch when I draw. :D

That's Carl on my iPhone. My 'buddy'.

2. Manga Studio EX 4.0

This is the main program I use to draw my MC comics. They have loads of tools, pens and brushes specifically designed for cartoon drawings. You can get this for free, but you have to use google to sniff around. :)

Manga Studio EX 4.0

3. Adobe Photoshop

This is my main editing tool to clean and post up dialogues for the comic. Again, you have to sniff around for it if you want to get it free. >:)

Other than the essential tools you need, it boils down to your skills at drawing. It took me quite sometime to draw my comic guy's expressions but practice makes perfect.

Tip: What I do with expressions is, I usually take a picture of myself with the expression I want and then practice drawing them on the Manga Studio.

Part of my 'expressions' template. :)

Hope I did help ya!

:3

Awal, awal

Mornings. Gah!

I LOVE IT!

Best time to bring out the Bible and Purpose Driven Life for some 10-20 minutes quiet time.

And just to humble myself(and to wake myself up fully), I'll start with one or two worship songs... beginning with God of Wonders first. :)

I've been praying for almost every morning and night about my life, family, friends and all the blessings and wonders. It's really good to know that you have the 'Big Man' up there to guide you through your day.

I always have this thought, this consciousness that when I'm tempted to do something which is not wise... instead of God going, 'Thou shalt not act unwisely my son' with his manly voice he'll go, 'Erm Ming, that ain't right bro... think about it' but still maintaining his strong manly God accent. Hahaha.. I think it's just me.

It's a beautiful clear blue morning for Melbourne. A great change for the rainy days we had the past 2 days. Why am I up so early? Well, I've been trying to beat the unpredictable weather cause I haven't been skateboarding the last 3 days and and.... zOMG... the tourney is in 2 days!

*zooms off to wear his helmet and skate gear*

But before I sign off, here's a great passage I would love to share.

Cause sharing is caring ain't it?

;)

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Hey, hey! God bless and have a splendid, fun filled day!

Ming out!

Animations!

Animations.

The tried and true movies of my time.

Since I only have 1 week left before my 2nd sem starts, I'll be drowning myself with anime movies.

I've been searching up and around the net for them, some of which I totally couldn't recall till I bumped on the 80-90's anime forums which the guys did help me spot out.

So here's my top fav. list so far:

Iron Giant

Toy Story & TS2

My Neighbor Totoro

Ghost in the Shell

Akira

Beauty and the Beast

Lion King

A nightmare before Christmas

Gundam (in you are into robots :D)

Up

The Incredibles

Spirited Away

Did I mention I love Dug from Up?

I could repeat the two phrases

'My name is Dug. I have just met you and I love you' and 'SQUIRREL'.

over and over again and not get sick, though my mates say otherwise.

Oh, oh! Not forgetting the language changing part when it was tuned to the Japanese language, 'Watashi Wa.....' cracks me up every time.

P/S: I've made more posts this year compared to the last 3 years of posts combined...

which is certainly a plus!

I think I deserve a pat on the back.

*Ming looks around to see if anyone's looking, then proceeds to pat himself. :D*

ImprovEverywhere

YouTube, you do me so much good. Hahaha.

Here are 2 videos from ImprovEverywhere. Really creative stuff which I promise will make you go wow!

Should probably organize one at Flinders Street Station. Hm... :)

Wished I had a twin for this. ROFL.

MC: Heartthrob

Ah... Love.

No matter how much you want to avoid it,

it comes striking back at ya.

It's been a while since I last liked someone.

You know the kind of feeling I'm talking about.

It's when...

You can't seem to keep your mind off her and you just want to stay up all night chatting away on random 'topic-ed' conversations, just to spend as much time as possible with her.

I thought I've lost that 'excitement' or 'urge' to really know a person beginning of this year.

But I guess cupid just shot an arrow at me... again.

*smirk*

:)

MC: Twirlies

Buy and color up your day with one. :)

Flight of the Concords

I love enjoying stand up comedy and Melbourne is really blessed with its very own comedy theaters.

There are many types of comedians around and currently the one that I'm 'awed' are the Flight of the Concords from New Zealand.

You'll notice they perform there jokes rather different via, self composed songs.

Really creative I reckon. :)

Here are two of the vids that I recommend for rookies who never heard of FotC.

Enjoy.

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Liquid Generation

Been watching loads of YouTube vids lately from LG.

Great compilation I reckon and here I am, sharing it with you all. :)

Enjoy.

The Fallen of Riverslide

We few of us went to Riverslide Skatepark in the morning, mostly practicing on some runs, ollies and some skate pics.

A mate and I decided to go up the Big Ramp for some adrenaline rush and quick boost for an ollie.

Little did we know, lady luck wasn't with us.

So yeah, he did a slip and fractured his left ankle... which required a surgery and some titanium pins to hold it in place. Talk about bad luck. =/

Just came back from the ward, he's in the surgery room atm. Hope he recovers quickly and manages to join us soon. For now, he's out of the league.

It's photo time and sorry bout the pics, our cameraman ain't that good with the D90 SLR.

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*Caution: mild photos of bones shattering*

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P/S: Epic title bout an accident. You know I'm good. :D

Great Ocean Road

Road trip, road trip!

Oh boy!

A few of us will be driving to Great Ocean Road from Melbourne. It's gonna be dead AWESOME POSSUMNESS. I just love going to these places and be mesmerized by the wonders of what are little blue planet has to offer.

One word to describe the upcoming trip...

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!

It's gonna be a long drive and we'll be swapping drivers every hour or so, one of them of course...

would be yours truly.

Will keep you all posted on this soon. God bless!

;)

A Quarter After Five

Lady Antebellum

I think I'll go for a jog right about now.

*zoom*

The Barricade

To one of my dear readers.

I'm sorry to hear about your break up.

I hope you're coping well. I guess it'll take sometime for all of this to heal depending on how serious the relationship was.

Like the saying goes, 'To love at all is to be vulnerable'. And I dare say you did love her the only way you know how, to your best extent.

Go hangout with your mates, this will speed up the healing process, I guarantee.

And hey, there are other things in life we haven't accomplished... like skateboarding. :P

Love and relationship has its time and place. You'll soon meet a girl who has similar mindsets, goals and ultimately, a girl who loves you faithfully as you do.

I'm in the same boat as you. I guess we both have to wait, and when the time comes... search for 'her'. For now, try and enjoy what life has to offer.

Hope you'll get this asap either here or the FB post. :)

God bless and I'll be praying for ya, so will the IS gang.

Just nudge us if you wanna have a chat.

Ming

Stop Motion Animations

I've been watching loads of 'stop motion animation' lately and I must say, a lot of time and creativity must be in it in order to make an awesome 2-3 minute video!

Here are some of my fav's. Hope you guys have the time to watch it! :)

Wolf and Pig

Deadline

Western Spaghetti

Food Fight

MC: Bob dog by Ying

Here's a drawing from my friend Ying who drew Bob Dog using my Manga Studio and tablet set. Didn't know she could draw. I guess everyone is blessed with hidden talents. :)

I'll certainly feature more drawings from my mates apart from my own.

Wong Fu Productions - See Through

Thanks guys for the video suggestion. You all always know how to brighten up my emo days.

And here I feature it to you, my dear readers! :)

Ming out!