June Highlights

I'm a lazy bum bum...haven't been updating my blog properly since 2 weeks ago? haha I'm on a semester break but I'm even buzier compared to the days when I have to attend lectures and tutorials. Despite the 'jam pack schedule' allocated for books and dramas, I was able to do some activities that I wouldn't usually do like:

1. Caligraphy

This was taken during the Study in Japan education Fair. The main reason I attended the fair is to "be detective Conan's voice" as advertised on the poster. Instead of Conan, I was able to 'be Ayumi's voice'. Anyway, back to calligraphy. The last time I did calligraphy was 5 years ago! That explains the ugly writings haha.

2. Japanese Film Festival

Every year, the movie that I want to watch will fall on the day that I have a paper to write. I was really lucky this year cause "Dear Doctor" was screen a day after my final paper. Whee! The film was really good! I would have written about it for my major assignment if I've seen this film earlier on. Will blog about the movie some other time.

3.Completing a 5km run with the other 2 amigos

A blister on my toe due to the run haha. But it's ok, cause I have one extra certificate to be added into my archives haha. Someone even wanted to swap their medal for our certificates.

4.Drove to One Utama by myself

My mum is extremely protective when it comes to driving. I've been driving for 2 years and she still feel that I'm a freshie driver. The traffic was so awesome. Green lights all the way from home to One Utama. All hail green ranger! Anyway, I clip a ribbon on my hair and realize that it's time for a dye.

5.Reading

Reading is not my hobby but I've been doing some reading these days. I've read 5 novels in less than 2 weeks time. And they are all mystery fiction by Higashino Keigo. Among the Galileo series(there are 5 books in this series), I like "The Devotion of Suspect X" best.The moment I start reading, I can't stop. Gonna catch up on the Galileo drama next week.

hmm..thats all I guess?

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