Stark Contrast to the Beginning

7 years ago when I was in college, I still remember a time when my handphone had a poster of the then-upcoming movie Iron Man and my ringtone was the Black Sabbath song Iron Man. Back then when my class mates asked me what that song was, I will tell them the name and they will immediately ask whether it is the theme song for the 2008 movie. Well, yes and no. The song was used in the movie many times probably due to the name, but I doubt Black Sabbath knew their song would be used in a Marvel movie 38 years later! Wow... It actually took them 38 years to use this song in an Iron Man show!

It was really disappointing actually because I remembered several announcements stating that the movie was going to be released in late 2006 or early 2007 but nothing came out till May 2008. There wasn't that much hype by then, especially after the disaster of Spiderman 3 left me with a bad taste in my mouth just a year prior. As a fan of Iron Man since I saw the animated series on Saturday mornings as a kid, I knew I was going to see it anyway no matter how bad it was going to be. Please please prove me wrong!!!

WARNING: 

The following features stunts by a bad and irresponsible student. So for your safety and protection, do not attempt to recreate or re-enact any stunt or activity you are about to read below. You have been warned, so please proceed.

It was May 2008, I had just finished sitting for one of the gazillion exams/class tests in college. There was some sort of carnival at college and we were expected to participate for fun raising. If I'm not mistaken my class sold pizzas and drinks at our stall for the whole morning. The most awesome part is that all our pizza and drinks were sold out so fast that we could pack up and leave early. I had mixed feelings about that though... I had 5-6 hours to burn before my bus comes and nothing to do at all (exams and assignments were completed), so I decided to go to the cinema to watch the new movie I always wanted to watch, Iron Man.

So did I play truant? Theoretically yes, but I completed all my work early and there was no class that day. We had a great time having lunch together and watched the movie I have been waiting to see for so long. The movie definitely didn't disappoint me at all. In fact I still think that Iron Man is still the best movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date, no wonder why it started the long running streak we now have today. It was the most fun I ever had in a movie with friends, so I rest my case.

Looking back 7 years and even rewatching it now, the movie is still so much of an enjoyment. Hmm... I wonder what they will do with Iron Man 2? Maybe introduce a new character like Black Widow?

lalanandaFRY

9/5/15

Random Photos from Glasgow #2

I'm back! Here are some "Summer specials" from my photo albums. You will notice some sepia tint on almost all my photos here because... well that was my intragram-est craze of placing filters on summer photos to make them look more summer-ish. Those were the days when I just found out how awesome Picasa was. Enjoy...

How often can you say "I was in a pack of Mentos Gum with my buddies"!

Magnify the clock tower, this was the first photo I shared with my parents telling them that it was still bright almost 10pm.

Gothic? What does that actually mean?

This garden was just 5 minutes walk from my residence, so beautiful during summer.

Our first visit to Glasgow Green with a football.

They turned George Square into Philadelphia to film the beginning scene of World War Z.

It isn't unusual to find people sitting quietly beside a river feeding birds at Kelvingrove Park

Does it look like Hogwarts? Some say yes, but I just don't see it.

The Monument of Maternity, another landmark just a stonethrow away from my residence

Come to think about it, this guy must have regretted becoming a bird toilet.

Again, please leave a comment if you like them. It is fun for me to revisit these photos and I hope it is fun to you too.

lalanandaFRY

1/5/15

Random Photos from Glasgow

When I was studying in Glasgow a couple of years ago, I didn't have a car and didn't have a friend who owned any means of transport. That meant that whenever I wanted to go somewhere, I either had to walk there or take some sort of public transportation. But the great thing is that it was always cool and comfortable. So sometimes I do enjoy just strolling around aimlessly, sometimes for hours during the weekends, bringing nothing but my camera so that I can capture some interesting shots along the way.

I was doing some spring cleaning on my PC when I came across a bunch of photos folders containing all these unsorted photos that I haven't seen in 3-4 years. Just clicking through them brought back memories of the magnificent year I spent in Glasgow. I'm sure some of the photos will resonate with other MPharm friends too. I present to you a kaleidoscope of random photos I took from my walks around Glasgow. Enjoy...

Little girl: Don't worry daddy, I can drive too!

I sat in a bus that had a car on it, could be even more awesome up there :)

Glasgow Cathedral just before Christmas is so beautiful

Walking on ice in the Necropolis during sunset

Very blue St Andrew's Suspension Bridge at Glasgow Green

Twisting down the Lighthouse

Old buildings still tend to stand out from the rest in my eyes

Something as simple as the Glasgow Green Tidal Weir can be beautiful too

Imagine walking in the park as leaves fall from the branches in Autumn

How about having a cup of java under the stars?

What do you think about my photos? Do you think I should do more of these? Please leave a comment if you like them. I may be doing more of these, or may be some from Malaysia too.

lalanandaFRY

26/4/15

My OnePlus One #4

For most people getting a smartphone or any other gadget, there will be a few stages

1. Seeing commercials of the gadget on billboards, television or at the shop.
2. Purchasing said gadget at the shop.
3. Using the gadget non-stop for a few hours.
4. Occasionally use it for a year or so.
5. Go back to step 1 for a new gadget.

OnePlus First Unofficial Gathering and Secret Santa Gathering with OnePlus Co-founder Carl Pei, OnePlus Head of SEA Business Development CP Lim, @Jevoly and OnePlus forum members and me!

However when it comes to OnePlus One in Malaysia, there is a totally different world out there to explore. First of all, the community behind the OnePlus in Malaysia is very active. I'm not saying other phones don't have active fan following, but the OPO community has not stopped moving since before the product was announced. Every few weeks, every few months, there will be something new and amazing users find out about this product. Exploring the device is like an experiment everytime, unleashing new potentially useful functions nobody has discovered before.

I think the most interesting progress the phone and its company has is the claim that Android Lollipop (then called Android L) was going to be released within 3 months of its official release. Of course by now we know that they could not fulfill their promise of releasing before February 2015. If you follow the progress of the company, you would know that OnePlus started to have strains with Cyanogen in India when Cyanogen decided to sign an exclusive deal with Micromax to release the YU Yureka phone with CyanogenMod 11 in December 2014. Micromax then turned around and sued OnePlus in Delhi High Court to ban the sales of OPO in India with CyanogenMod just after it was launched.

Long story short, the whole conflict resulted in production of a new OnePlus in-house make of Andriod Lollipop known as OxygenOS released on 4 April 2015 so that they would not need to rely on Cyanogen's ROM for its release in India and the rest of the world. This ROM was a huge leap for OnePlus in response to pressure from fans and critics of their broken promises time and time again. So now OPO users will have at least 3 options to proceed, flashing OxygenOS, wait for the OTA update of CM12S or retain the existing CM11S. Savvy OPO users might find and flash other ROMs online to their liking too.

Another milestone is happening 11 months after the official launch of the OnePlus One and 6 months since I got my hands on it. OnePlus is finally releasing it for sale officially in Malaysia on 22 April 2015. They have partnered with Malaysian telco Maxis to sell the Global edition OPO and is organizing an official fan gathering in Menara Maxis KLCC on 24 April 2015. Maxis's current marketing strategy uses OnePlus's existing good reviews from international tech websites and reviewers to boast the phone's reputation in order to increase awareness of this awesome product. It is surprising to me that OnePlus is releasing this phone with a carrier instead of the usual online off-contract route this time. Could it be possible that it is sold on contract similar to their other MaxisOne contracts? But these are just speculations, nothing is confirmed until then.

The OnePlus One and OnePlus as a company has gone a long way internationally and is finally coming to Malaysia. Hopefully one day when they release their follow up OnePlus 2 maybe later this year we will be able to get it in stores like any other phone instead of the crazy 6 steps that brought my phone around the world before reaching me. It would sound ridiculous 6 months ago, but it may be different now. We shall see where things are going from here...

***Update 26/4/15***

Good news! OnePlus has finally gone away with their invite system on 20 April 2015, so no more Tuesday specials and no more time-bomb invites to give away anymore. I am not sure whether it is in conjunction with their anniversary, but nevertheless it is what all us fan were waiting for.

Another good news is that they have launched the OPO in Malaysia already. As I expected, the OPO can be purchased off contract as well as with the typical Maxis carrier contract.

lalanandaFRY
19/4/15

Lanchang Untouched

I am a city kid. Born and raised in the city, studied in the city, worked for a while in a city. So when I was told that I would have to choose between a town or a village for my job posting, it was a tough choice for me. Well, I ended up choosing the village instead of the town just because it placed me much nearer to my family and the city. For the first few days at my new working place, I dreaded the village life and complained a lot about how far it is from my house. But now that I have been working for around 10 months at Lanchang, I learnt how to appreciate this quiet village.

Well, the intro is getting too long, let's dive into the few interesting facts about Lanchang. I somehow feel "responsible" to at least share something nice about Lanchang as the clinic pharmacist. I'll try to make it like one of those top X reasons to visit... hehehe... Let's see whether it works out!

If you search Lanchang on Google now, the first interesting that come out is always Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre. This is a center designed to take care of Asian Elephants that has been listed as an endangered species since the 1980s. Since it was built, the PERHILITAN management has been tracking down and taking care of these elephants until they are old enough to be released back into the wild.

The center is free to visit every day including weekends and public holidays and there are special shows every day around 1pm - 2.30pm including video documentaries and guided visits around the facility.

A short distance away from the Elephant Conservation Centre is another tourist attraction, a private park called Deerland. The location is quite odd for a family themed park/zoo in my opinion, but it sure attracts many tourists from all over the world with not only deer, there are many other animals in the park including snakes, hedgehogs, iguanas and many more, Something special about this park is the chance to get up close to the young deer and the opportunity to feed them with food provided by the care givers.

Deerland is a wonderful place for adults and children alike and it is totally worth the entrance fee of RM6 (adults) and RM4 (children below 12). The park is open everyday except Friday from 10.30am till 5.30pm.

Now for a basic history lesson. Malaysians out there who still remember your Form 2 Sejarah (History) may know this. There was a Malaysian warrior who fought a war against the British colonist at the very spot in the picture above, Lubuk Terua, Lanchang. His name was Dato' Bahaman, Orang Kaya Semantan. It was the 1890 when the British took control of Pahang while Dato' Bahaman was the Orang Besar Raja, a leader and administrator of land given by the Sultan. Tension was on the rise when the British set up a police station at Lubuk Terua and he was instructed not to interfere. Resistance against the invading forces erupted when the British forces launched multiple attacks on several local strongholds, resulting in what is known today as the Semantan War.

By 1892, the British instructed the Sultan to form a team known as Gerakan Sultan to attack Dato' Bahaman's forces in hopes that he would surrender out of loyalty to the Sultan. The plan did successfully remove his forces away from Semantan but only for a month before returning with help from Tok Gajah and recapturing Lubuk Terua. Unfortunately after months of defending their fortress at Lubuk Terua against continuous bombardment from the British, Dato' Bahaman's forces had to retreat and ending the war against the British in Pahang completely. He is regarded as one of the great Malay warriors and currently has two schools named after him in Lanchang. Currently there are no remains of his fortress at Lubuk Terua as they were destroyed by the British. However there is a huge tree at the Semantan riverbank said to be the site where the fortress was back then.

Lastly, for those who do not know where Lanchang is, here is a map of Pahang with Lanchang circled. If you want, do drop by the local clinic to visit another attraction, me... heeheehee!

lalanandaFRY
8/2/15