So what is it for again?

Everyone loves free wifi. Its a common sight to see people with a large coke and a laptop sitting for hours in Mcdonalds or guys tip taping their smart phones in a shopping mall when the girls are buzy shopping.

But whats the point of having free wifi when:



or


or even worse..


"The page you requested has been blocked because it contains a banned word"
I would love to know what banned word is that.

Sunny Side Up

First of all, whether via Text messages, Facebook or Twitter..thank you very very much for all the birthday wishes. Yes, I am one year older and hopefully one year wiser. Haha but there's one thing that I really want to point out. My name is not Irene but Ai Rene. I know they both have the same pronunciation but I really don't like my name to be spelled as the former. That is not my name. But I still appreciate the thoughts of leaving me a message. =)

Next, I am super tired and sleepy right now. Woke up really early this morning to participate the Standard Chartered KL Marathon Run. Estee, Kim and I signed up as a group for the 5KM family fun run. It's only 5km and it has drained out every single drop of energy of mine. To people who ran the full marathon, you have my respect. I've never even drove 42km in one trip for the entire of my life.
Will blog about the full story with pictures some other time! I have a feeling that I won't be able to climb out from bed tomorrow morning. Haha

House Keeping

After weeks of considering, I have decided to start a whole new blog for my Jblog entries. In another words, The Rene Report is now my personal blog where I'll ramble and rant about my daily life.

To my friends who comes to my blog, hoping to read something about what I did last weekend, you now do not have to go through all that ToyotaHondaAjinomotoMoshimoshiKawaii anymore.

Conversely, readers who click on TRR, in hope to find something informational, you no longer have to read about how I was chased by a stray dog. Not that I was chased by one, but you get the story.

There might be some overlapping between both blogs but I'll try to draw the line ya?

And now introducing...*drum rolls*

正直しんどい

Shoujiki Shindoi

There's nothing much there yet, but it will grow very soon. I have a couple of entries in my mind already. So please support Shoujiki Shindoi if you're interested ya?

My Water Moments

Let’s go to the beach! Swimming, snorkeling, diving, banana boat… you name it

And how did I ended up here again?

If only I have a water proof camera that is temperature, dust and shock resistant, I would be inside there, underwater and not out here posing with fishes with a sad face.

*drum rolls* Introducing the world's slimmest water proof camera, the new Sony Cybershot TX 5 camera

Captures breathtaking underwater shots up to 3m deep for about 60 minutes, equipped with the Anti Motion Blur function and has the ability to take 10 shots per second, you’ll have no problem capturing yourself with Nemo swimming in the background when you go snorkeling. With this 10.2 Megapixel camera, you might even capture Nemo’s scales! Just the right camera for your underwater experience.

Those without the later version sof Photoshop like me would know that stitching panaromic shots manually can be quite troublesome. It’s even worse if your hand moves up and down and the shots taken doesn’t match. Worry no more cause this camera has the ‘effortless panaromic’ function. The Intelligent Sweep Panaroma will recognize subject movement and stitch things up automatically to create a natural looking panaromic shot. Easy peasy!

Besides that, TX5 also comes with the Handheld Twilight mode function. When the amount of light is limited, I prefer to increase the ISO then using the flash. However, one setback about high ISO is your picture will have a lot of ‘noise’ in it. Furthermore, you have to use a tripod or place it on a still surface for a better photo. The Handheld Twilight mode reduces noise and allows you to take cleaner and sharper images even if you hand hold your camera.

Like the Chinese said, a sparrow might be small, but it's five organs are complete. Just like the sparrow, this camera may be really thin, but it definitely is one smart camera.

Interested? Here is your chance to own one of it. Nuffnang Malaysia is currently giving away not one or two but THREE Sony TX5. All you have to do is write a blog entry with "My Water Moments" as the title and include the following in your entry:

-Take a picture!
-Tell us how it reflects the theme of ‘My Water Moments’, and how the photo could have been better if you had a water-proof camera like the Sony TX5.
-Mention the features of the TX5 in your blog post. For more information, click here.

and then, submit it here. Hurry, cause contest ends on the 4th of July!

Cross Cultural Communication part2

If you live in a box with horizontal lines all over it, you would think that the world outside are made up of horizontal lines. You would never expect to see vertical lines. Thats why, it is very important to not limit yourself to your own view, especially in cross cultural communication.

All along, I thought that it is very normal to greet your friend's parents as 'auntie' or 'uncle'. I assumed that people all around the world does that? But apparently, not every culture practices that.

Heard from Azusa that in Japan, people would usually greet their friend's parents as *insert friend's name* no okaasan/otousan. (*friend's name*'s mother/father. Some might find it rude if you address them as auntie/uncle. Unless you know them personally, then it might be alright to go ahead and greet them at such manner.Conversely, in a Malaysian context, it would be really weird to do so. We would automatically greet any middle age ladies or men as auntie and uncle.

What about your culture? How do you address or greet your friend's parents?

On a very different note, this entry is suppose to be about me bringing Azusa for some Roti Canai. However, I've accidentally deleted most of the photographs while I was playing around with the camera. And now, I don't know how to blog about it. So I'll just upload whatever picture that is still available in the camera.

Roti Canai master at work

Roti tissue which was really huge! It's called tissue because of it's thin texture.

This is my favorite, Roti Telur. (Telur = Egg in the Malay language)

If you ever visit Malaysia, forget all the expensive food. Roti Canai is definitely a must try..and it's cheap!

Cross Cultural Communication

One Monday night, as I was wandering around the Pasar Malam (night market), I've came to a decision that if I have a foreign friend visiting Malaysia, I'll definitely bring them here. From the way people carry themselves, the language, the food etc... The night market is indeed the living text book of Malaysian Lifestyle 101. Last Monday, I finally had the chance to show Azusa around!

It rained. Stopped and rained again. Sorry if the pictures are badly taken. I'm too lazy to adjust the colors and all.

The first thing we had was Bubble/Pearl drink that originates from Taiwan, if not mistaken. I have no idea why every night market has this drink.

Azusa looks satisfied with her Lychee flavored drink

We were kinda hungry too, so we bought Popiah (Spring Roll) from Stadium Popiah

Close up of a Popiah

And also Char Kueh Kak (Raddish Cake). You can choose with or without eggs and if u like it heavily flavored, u can ask for the spicy one. According to Azusa, its really soft and melts in your mouth.

There's also keropok lekor (Fish sausage?/ Fish flavored chips?) Taste a little fishy but goes really well with chili sauce

Fruits rojak, our very own salad with spicy peanut dressing. A little too spicy in my opinion

Lok Lok, which is the street steamboat. People would pick whatever food they want and deep it inside boiling water or sometimes boiling sauce. It's gaining lots of attention these days.

There's a variety of pastries to choose from too in night markets. Ahh..these cakes are so nostalgic. Used to love these cakesback then when I was a kid.

One thing different about night market in Malaysia and other places is you get to buy fruits, vegetables, fresh fishes, meat etc here.

So colorful ey? Just realize I did not take picture of fruits stall

Big fishes..probably free from oil spill?

Um..frog. I've never tried it but according to my Dad and also Clair, fried frog taste like fried chicken.

There were also non edible goods such as household products, clothes, accessories and toys to name a few. Not forgetting a whole lot of counterfeit goods and bootleg DVD/ PC, PS games

Ding Ding Dang Dang accessories

I don't understand why people often relate clothes sold in night market as low quality. Its funny that they're willing to pay more to buy the same thing from blogshops or shops. Hmmm

Anyway, it started raining quite heavily, so we quickly grab on our very last meal, 'Fried Ice cream' before making a move

It's hot outside and cold in the inside.

For more pictures, click here

Finals are just right around the corner. So I won't be updating until next Friday perhaps? *points at Live Traffic feed* to the reader who click into my blog every 3 hours or so, you don't have to come so often and check on my updates.

Next update: Cross Cultural Communication Part 2

I think, therefore I am

No, this entry is not about René Descartes, the Mathematician who hunted me with the Cartesian Plane back then in school aka the French philosopher who appeared in first year psychology with his rationalism. And I thought I could get rid of him after getting rid of Mathematics.

Anyway..don't you think this dried plum looks like the brain? You can see the left and right hemisphere and the muscle/vein/grey/white matter looking thing?

I've asked several people and none thought that it resembles the brain. I receive answers like "Looks more like a chocolate", "Your logic is funny", "I don't understand your logic"

Logic is something really funny don't you think so? Your reasoning senses tells you that it's not right to do that, and yet you still go ahead and do it. Sigh, I've spent my entire weekend reading Tony Parson's "Man and Boy" instead of revising my public relation notes. Oh, the guilt felt the moment I flip through the readings! It was bad, I couldn't sleep.

Talking about the brain. I think there is this tiny man inside my brain, erasing tiny bits of memory stored inside. Keshigomu kun, please don't work so hard. Or at least don't erase off all the Habermas and Grunigs theory that I'm gonna need next week.

Yesterday was...

Yesterday was the last day of the semester. I'm not sure how I did this semester. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to maintain my distinction streak for my Journalism subjects. It seems that my lecturer dint really like my style..AHHH

Exams coming right up soon! And after exams, I'll give The Rene Report a face lift and starts planing for some upcoming project! So please look forward to it. =)

Yesterday was also ossan Azusa's birthday!

Of all the Japanese I meet, she's the most approachable one. It's very easy to talk to her. Maybe its because we're always singing the same tune? I think it's because we usually speaks in English haha.
Anyway, I know I'm annoying and yet you played along with my boke-ness, especially my "boku wa ii ko" gag and me suddenly singing Kamen Butoukai. Hope that you had fun in Malaysia and have a great time in Aussie ya? Am anticipating for November/December to come. Fingers and toes crossed for my Kansai trip this Winter!

Yesterday was also my parent's Silver Jubilee wedding anniversary. Unlike any other years, we had a simple Korean meal this time. Every time I eat Korean food, I can't help but wonder. Japan and Korea are neighbors, why is their food so distinct from each other. Korean cuisine are heavier and stronger in taste while the Japanese have a lighter flavor.

Inspired by the Domoto Bros' Korean trip, I pick a menu that resembles the food they ate in Korea last spring. Besides barbecue, we had this spicy squid thing which was really good and sam gye tang (Ginseng chicken soup)




Hmm..I wonder what is that white thingy on the bowl

Yesterday was so tiring that I only woke up at 9:10am this morning. Jumped off the bed like some ninja master and realized that I really should revise for my upcoming PR paper. Sigh.