The Stress-Strain Relationship

I've spent 3 years of my life doing mechanical engineering, and there's one more year left before graduation. Looking back, there are some things that I've regret doing, friendships lost, relationships broken, and many more. But along the way, I've matured. I've learned a lot. And its worth the sacrifice I made.
There seems to be something that bugs me for quite some time. Yeah. Its been hell of a while. Its about effort. You see, I'm not clever.. and far from being gifted. It takes me 2 hours to study a chapter, while others can do it in 1 hour. But the thing is, I work hard. I don't play at all, and that makes me a very dull person. My life revolves around my work. And my work only. I've to admit, sometimes I do feel jealous for my peers that seem to take life easy and performing quite well in their studies. I am jealous, because I don't seem to have enough time for everything.. but they on the other hand, are enjoying life at its fullest. Although I perform better, but its not that significant.. its like I get 3.55 and they get 3.47 for cgpa.



Sometimes, it made me question God's work and His great plan.. although I know I shouldn't. I wish I have the freedom of doing what I like. Sometimes, I do cry at night in bed. My life is hard, and it is so because I chose it that way. I cry because I couldn't change.. I'm destined to be a hard worker. It just doesn't seem fair, for some to achieve so greatly with such little effort.. while people like me walked through hell and back. Its not fair when you have to go through 4 levels of job interview, while others get their job because of 'connections'. Its not fair.



Though I always keep in mind, that hard work will pay off someday.. at least that's what I do to keep myself contented. I've seen people who work so hard, just to experience failure in the end. And for some weird reason, I feel that I'm destined to live life that way.

Hence, my blog's title : Attempting the Impossible.

Its like I want to go against all things destined for me. And to be successful in the end, to be able to say : "Look, this is what I get after years of pure hard work."
I don't believe in working smart only. People who only work smart, are lazy. They don't work hard, and I believe that we only get what we worked for.
But all that is about to change.. on wednesday the 7th, I did an awfully stupid and careless mistake during my component design test. I didn't look carefully at the weld sign, and that has cost me very dearly. Nearly half of my marks are gone. I might get a maximum score of 50%, and only if my first question is 100% correct.



*A typical welding design problem*



*And I chose no. 4, while its actually weld type no. 5!!!!*



*An example of an optional bolt design question*

After that incident, I began questioning myself. For all the effort that I've put up.. was gone in a split second. The more jovial and relaxed type of student however, answered it correctly.. and with little problem.

Was this God's judgement on me? I don't know.

*sigh*
anyway, time for some lousy picture break.






Oh, its been really hot here lately. I'm wearing sleeveless on a daily basis at home. Need some rain. Please God, end this sudorific climate soon. :(



*Me sweating. Reminds me of Aathi Iswaran. ;p *

Sometimes

I feel like writing more than one post per day. Today happens to be one. I'm having a slight fever with minor sore throat. And also, I'm taking a breather from the hectic week. There'll be open interviews for UTM students tomorrow till monday. All the big players are there, including the much sought-after Schlumberger. I haven't decided whether to go or not. Need rest. As there is a test next week.

These are sunset pics. Taken from the areas around my Taman. Some of them on the same day, some are not. They are all taken hand held, and may contain slight vibration. Comments are appreciated.
*Cheers*

















and yes, taken using Sony T33. Except pic no.5, taken using my Sony-E W810i. Waaa~!!! I wan D80 laaa!!

Pasir Gudang Part 2

It was about to rain when I reach the main port area. The beach has fine white sand and it reminds me of Langkawi (nostalgic me). Nope, Langkawi is better. But the sand is nearly identical. The water was dark, and contains small particle of I dunno what.. silt maybe. But it is very clean throughout, unlike Port Dickson. Later after walking around, I notice that the color of the sea there was peculiar. From the beach and about 100 meters onward it was brown, then it was dark green. I think the logic behind this, is that the sea has been reclaimed (is this the right term?) or in other words, it was made shallower.. to support the pier or harbour or whatever they call it. Maybe that explains the murky waters there.









The main pier or whatever you may call it, is very very very long and far away into the sea. I think its several hundred meters, if not a kilometer in length. The pier is equipped with long metal pipes, according to Mom, its fuel line for refuelling the ships. I dunno. But the scene there was really great. The entrance was sealed off from the public, and there are signs that say "Trespassers will be shot dead with automatic assault rifles".



Back to the beach, there are some stalls selling colorful kites, and there is a yacht club nearby. From the beach, I can see several yachtsmen doing their stuff in the middle of the ocean. I don't intend to be unadventurous, but it really looked like there was a thunderstorm waiting to unleash its fury.. any moment. There are children bathing in the sea, and a family playing kite with their children. There is also a group of anglers lining up beside the pier with hand grenades.. no with fishing rods laa, catching dunno what. Then all in a sudden.

It rained.



It rain hard. I've encountered this type of rain less than 3 times in my life. Its the type of rain where you have to wear your umbrella horizontally. Yep. Its raining sideways. And my umbrella's frame was nearly crushed by the strong wind. Quickly, Mom and I rushed to the underside of the pier, to take futile refuge from the rain. And it seems that everyone else is doing the same. Except for the suicidal yachtsmen. Hahaha~



*Notice the sudden heavy downpour*



As it rained very hard and continued for quite some time. Mom and I decided that we better make a run for the car. And we did, and get wet as well. We then decided to head to the Muzium Layang-Layang. I dunno why Mom wanted to check this place out. Maybe she saw it on TV. Hmm.



Upon reaching there, we stopped by Masjid Jamek (I don't remember the name) for our prayers. And continued the trip after a short while. And we were there in no time. The museum, has a unique structure.. it has a windmill on top of its roof. I later learned that this windmill is a working one, in tandem with turbines under a lake nearby to generate electricity for the museum. And it costs millions if I'm not mistaken. Duh.







The entrance fee is RM2 per kepala. The museum personnel there looked tired and sleepy. Not much customer I reckon. The place as the name suggests is laden with kites of various culture from all over the world. Most of it comes from the Malay Archipelago itself, and some Japanese flyers too.





The lighting inside the museum was very poor, resulting in image shakes (wish I had VR or Steady Shot eheh). Basically the tour, tells you of the history of kites, how they are made and some prominent events that were associated with kite flying. I also learned that the Sultan of Johor has a keen interest in kite flying and festivals.











Hopefully I'll be there in the next festival, for photographic opportunities.
We went home after 30 minutes or so, Mom wanted to get back before dark. And with that said, we joined the infamous Pasir Gudang Highway jam all the way home. Very tiring.

The End.

Pasir Gudang Part 1

My test this thursday was postponed to next tuesday. Giving me some free time to write about my trip to Pasir Gudang on the day before Chinese New Year. It was my first time going there via the Pasir Gudang Highway (state famous for its traffic jam). I got past the industrial area, with the roads having names like Jalan Keluli, Timah, etc. all with metal names to it. The road as all Johorians know, is ultra bumpy.. complete with huge potholes. Don't drive a car with lowered suspensions here, it can get you killed. I think this is because of the heavy loaded lorries and trucks that use this road now and then. Also, there is a railway crossing with a defunct boom gate. It was dangerous.

I kept on driving, following the directions to Tg Langsat. The road on the far end towards the port is long, straight and smooth. Not much traffic. In my case, there was no traffic at all. Those driving 800Hp Skylines now know where to put your GTR's potential to good use. ;p







We then entered Kg. Langsat, which is a fishing village. But the beach there wasn't as clean as expected. We moved on later in the afternoon after lunch. This time, heading towards the port itself.

To be continued..

Finally..

I got rid of the nasty blog title.
many thanks to Jiok for showing me the way. Thanks bro!

p/s: you can also see his work here.

Coming soon..

Sip this...


and combo dip with these...


...lethal!

Just changed the template. Haven't installed photoshop yet. Bah! Who cares!

Road Trip

Went to Desaru yesterday with Mom. Although a bit late arriving, the sea was great. Not that great actually, its just me feeling nostalgic with beaches. It was a weekday, hence not much people around. save for a few couples doing you-know-what.. hahaha!
I went to Tg Balau's beach to be exact. there is this pier that stretches far out to the sea from the rocky beach. Though a few suspicious men were there, prevented me and Mom from getting near. But it was nice.




Getting there at noon on a work day meant that the majority of makan places are closed.. they do business at night, when its somewhat cooler I think. But the super-strong wind makes you forget that you're walking along the beach at noon. There are some fishing villages, a few chalets, a few resorts, a golf course, a go-kart track and a fishing museum. The chalet rate is quite attractive, around RM70 for weekdays and RM90 for weekends. I was told that it was fully booked for the upcoming chinese new year. The museum was closed on wednesdays, better luck next time.
The thing that you'll first notice about the beach is that its far-stretched. When I say far, I do mean its REALLY far. Its because of the low tide, kinda like the sea was sucked back and the beach expands. Note that the beach has some unique rock formations, mainly caused by millions of years being pounded by the waves.. and hey, they look like waves themselves.





The waves are not bad either. There's a no swimming notice board erected at the beach. Guess that tells a lot about the waves. Well, there are some surfers going out in the ocean to commit suicide when I was about to go home.. hahahaa. So, its quite safe actually. Provided you don't swim out too far, I guess.




All in all an interesting place, though I've been to better and more beautiful beaches. A word of advice though, you need to plan your journey using the shortest route available.. and hopefully not driving 260km to and fro like me. damn.

p/s: Shots were taken using Sony DSC-T33. They were underexposed, some overexposed, blurred and grainy due to high ISO settings and crappy white balance. My first time shooting outdoors in full blast afternoon sun. Need more practice.

Break

Mid-sem break is here.. finally. Though nothing much happened lately.. I was held busy with stupid lab reports and notably the 3-tests-in-a-row catastrophe. To me, this is one hell of a semester, it drains me of my youth. With classes starting early at 8 (hahahaa) and ending late at 5pm. As a professional cram artist, I find it diffucult to cope with(padan muka). But, there are plenty of others like me.. and even as we wait for our experiment results, we study for the night's test. Study performance as I predict will be at a minor and hopefully not a major downfall this semester.

Oh Happy Day

Have started playing again. :-)