The Way I Am

by Ingrid Michaelson


"The Way I Am" music video by Ingrid Michaelson

If you were falling, then I would catch you.
You need a light, I'd find a match.

Cuz I love the way you say good morning.
And you take me the way I am.

If you are chilly, here take my sweater.
Your head is aching, I'll make it better.

Cuz I love the way you call me baby.
And you take me the way I am.

I'd buy you Rogaine if you start losing all your hair.
Sew on patches to all you tear.

Cuz I love you more than I could ever promise.
And you take me the way I am.
You take me the way I am.
You take me the way I am.

My heart melts everytime I listen to this song. Not only do I enjoy listening to the lyrics which are so meaningful, I love the musical arrangement done on this piece that makes it so acoustic. I'm a sucker for such music. I can literally put everything down at that very instant, close my eyes and absorb every ounce of the audible orgy that is emitted through those speakers. Fortunately, I've never heard Fly FM play this or any of Ingrid Michaelson's songs while I was driving. :P

Her songs have found its way into well-known series such as Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill too. No wonder I love watching these shows that little bit more than the rest. The songs that they manage to include so seamlessly into certain episodes make it that much more pleasurable to watch. It actually sets the tone for certain situation which makes you feel as if you're part of the show. Grey's Anatomy may not be as great this season but with such great music, it is still very much bearable.

I'm not exactly sure what genre this music falls into. I guess some people call it indie-pop or alternative music but I like to refer to them as elevator music or the ones you will hear in a cafe or bistro. I mean it in a good way when I say it sounds like elevator music, in a serene and classy way. If I would to open a cafe or bistro, this would be the type of music I will play along with musical pieces by Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Norah Jones and the likes. I can see myself sipping on some tea or coffee, with a good novel in my hand, on a beautiful afternoon and all these music playing in the background. Lovely, isn't it?

In fact, this is the type of song I would like to be played during my wedding reception rather than having loud amateur singers causing irreversible deafness to all my guests. Yes, I've done some planning for my future wedding, mostly what to do's and what not to do's. Not like I'm walking down the aisle anytime soon. :P

Didn't you find the music video cute and interesting too? Well, I did. Just love the part where the kids clapped their hands in sync with the music. Alright, the clowns can be a little scary but let's focus on the good stuff here, shall we? The song may be a little short but it's definitely one you will cherish every second of. Trust me, you'll be hooked after listening to it just once! Well, I did. ;)

Keywords: The way I Am Ingrid Michaelson Girls And Boys song music lyrics video album Josh Groban Michael Buble Norah Jones theme youtube

Manchester United Are 2008 European Champions!!!

Woohoo! Manchester United are Kings of Europe once again! After being crowned league champions for the 17th time just a week ago, they commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster by beating Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after a thrilling match that ended with a 1-1 draw at the Luzhniki Stadium to be crowned European champions for the third time in their history!



I know I did say I would resist the temptation of blogging until the end of the month but I just can't hold back my excitement at the moment. The feeling wasn't as great as the Treble '99 win (who can beat that for a dramatic finish?) but it was a sweet victory nonetheless. The penalty shootout probably stole a few years of my life! It was so intense just watching the players take turns to put the ball into the net. What a roller-coaster ride and this was just the penalty shootout!



It was a really bloody affair. Being the first all-English final and both teams wanting to win the trophy so badly for different reasons, no quarters were given. It was a really memorable and historic night indeed even for those who experienced the magic of 1999. Paul Scholes who missed out on the 1999 final with a suspension finally played in a European Champions League final but not without picking up a memento in the form of a bloodied nose. Luckily, he managed to play on because he was so instrumental in the build-up of Manchester United's opening goal a few minutes later, headed in by none other than the magnificent 42-goal machine, Cristiano Ronaldo.



Manchester United had a few chances to finish Chelsea off after that but as luck would have it, Chelsea was gifted with an equaliser at the stroke of half-time. Actually, I had a feeling that was gonna happen but it still felt as awful to see Frank Lampard slot the ball past Edwin van der Sar. In the second half, Chelsea fought back like wounded animals and laid siege on United's goal, blasting no less than a dozen shots but fortunately most hit the woodwork or were off target.



As the game looked like going into extra time, the bloodied Paul Scholes made way for Ryan Giggs who made his 759th appearance for Manchester United, eclipsing the record held by Sir Bobby Charlton all these years. I told you it was a memorable and historic night, didn't I? Manchester United fought back in extra time but it was inevitable that the match went to penalties, not before a moment of madness though. In keeping with the red theme of the night, Didier Drogba got himself sent off for giving Nemanja Vidic a petulant slap minutes before the final whistle. What a fag! Punch like a man, dude!



Penalties ensued and we all know you need a handful of Lady Luck to get through this stage of the competition. It looked like Chelsea would be crowned 2008 European Champions after Cristiano Ronaldo had his penalty kick saved by Petr Cech. However, destiny had something else in store for the night. It started to pour at the Luzhniki Stadium as John Terry walked up to take his penalty that would break the hearts of all Manchester United fans.



Instead of ending the night lifting the biggest trophy in club competition by slotting in the winning penalty, he did a David Beckham where he slipped while taking his penalty. At that moment, I knew both Destiny and Lady Luck were on Manchester United's side and when Edwin van der Sar managed to keep out Nicolas Anelka's penalty, the rest as they say is history.



Sir Alex Ferguson claims this is the best team he has ever managed and I don't think he's far from the truth. If they are not yet the best, they are definitely equipped to be the best ever Manchester United team. Many are predicting this team will dominate English and European football for years to come but I'm not looking into the future yet. At the moment, I'm relishing in the double triumph of arguably the best team in world football and without a shadow of a doubt, Cristiano Ronaldo will be crowned FIFA World Player of the Year and receive the Ballon d'Or later this year.



English and now European Champions. What next? Global domination? ;)

Keywords: Manchester United Champions League 2008 Chelsea Luzhniki Stadium Cristiano Ronaldo Ryan Giggs Edwin van der Sar Paul Scholes Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Bobby Charlton Nemanja Vidic John Terry Petr Cech Didier Drogba Frank Lampard Nicolas Anelka David Beckham

The X-Files: I Want To Believe Teaser

For all the X-Files fans out there, blow your minds away with this teaser of the upcoming movie!



Now pull yourself together. Go retrieve your shirts and put them back on. You wouldn't want the people around you to go blind, would you? It's not exactly the best trailer for a movie but didn't you get goosebumps when they played the X-Files theme song? Brings back memories, doesn't it?

I didn't watch every episode of the series because I lost interest in the latter seasons. For me, the magic wore off after a few seasons but it would be interesting to see how they transform the series made for television sets to the big screen. The movie will premier on the 25th of July this year but Malaysians will only be able to catch it from the 31st of July.



Can you believe it? Mulder and Scully are back!

Keywords: The X-Files I Want To Believe movie trailer Fox Mulder Dana Scully

Incommunicado

Just so you know, I will be incommunicado till the end of May. I will not be logging into any of the instant messaging clients, I won't be checking my emails, I won't be going through my RSS subscriptions, I won't be blogging, basically I won't be logging onto the internet to do what I'll usually do.



I will be a self-enforced hermit for the next two weeks. No reading of newspapers and all the miscellaneous stuff that eat into my precious time everyday. I owe myself that much. It is only two weeks, not two months!

I know my unread mails and RSS subscriptions will pile up in that two weeks period and it'll take me forever to go through them after I come out from my reclusion but it is a sacrifice I have to make.

This blog will be on auto-pilot during that period. There are a couple of posts scheduled to be published in the next few days. There isn't enough to cover till the end of May but I'll resist the temptation to blog until June comes along.

I may still post updates on Jaiku so it is not as if I've disappeared from the face of the Earth but that has yet to be decided. In the meantime, you all behave and don't burn my blog down, alright? See you guys in two weeks time!

Keywords: Jaiku incommunicado hermit

'Improved' Parking At Tesco Penang

By improved, they meant to say PAY UP BITCHES!



Yes, the days of free parking at Tesco Penang is coming to an end. Many Penangites have dreaded for this day to come but ever since they installed barrier gates and autopay machines, it's only a matter of when and not if our privilege of free parking will be taken away from us.

They are currently testing out the system for a week for any kinks and we need not pay for parking yet till the 18th of May 2008. How much they intend to charge us after that is still anybody's guess. To claim that it will be a better and easier car park however is absolutely ridiculous. Other than inconveniencing customers with having to pay their parking tickets before they leave, I don't see how the carpark is made any better or easier for us.

I suppose they had no choice but to start charging since the free parking is always being abused by non-Tesco customers. People patronising the outlets at e-gate just across the street are known to park their cars at Tesco and walk over to e-gate. To be honest, I've done that a couple of times myself. :P You can't really blame me since the parking space at e-gate is very limited and expensive! However, I would like to say in my defence that I'm quite a frequent shopper at Tesco and it's not like I hardly do any shopping at Tesco but utilise their parking space all the time. I do contribute to the profit margins of Tesco too! :P

The situation is not helped by the completion of the Bayswater Condominium project and people started to move in after all their renovation work have been completed. What I cannot understand about people buying such condominiums is that if they can afford to pay that amount of money for their new abode and spend so much money on so many cars, why is it so difficult for them to purchase an additional parking space for their 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th cars? The going rate for a parking lot in condominiums and apartments nowadays is RM10,000 but you'll be hard-pressed to find any takers. It's just silly when you see cars parked illegally by the roadside but when you go to the carparks inside, the lots are practically empty.

The parking problems at Tesco have been apparent for quite awhile now but I believe their hands were forced when residents at Bayswater Condominium started parking their cars at the free shaded parking spaces at Tesco. The maximum four hour parking ruling must have not worked. In fact, I've heard some really absurd stories such as people parking their cars at Tesco and carpooling their friends/relatives/colleagues cars to go somewhere else. I think that's going a little too far.



To be fair to Tesco, they are offering free parking to their customers. You only have to validate your parking ticket at the checkout counter or the autopay station although they've yet to inform us what the terms and conditions are to qualify for the free parking. Fair enough but how if I intended to buy something at Tesco and like so often, the thing you want to purchase is out of stock (which was exactly what happed to me yesterday, not for the first time)? What then? Do I still have to pay for parking? Sure, I can just grab anything to qualify as a Tesco customer but in times of economic uncertainties, I'm not planning to make any unnecessary purchases just so I can get free parking.

Also, do I qualify as a Tesco customer if I make purchases or dine at the other outlets like Popular Bookstore, Courts Mammoth, Pizza Hut and McDonald's? Do I get free parking too if I make purchases at those outlets? I for one (and I know quite a few who does this too) sometimes go to Tesco not to shop at Tesco but to dine at the food outlets or shop at the various outlets there. If we have to pay parking for patronising outlets other than Tesco although they are within the same building, there's bound to be some effects on the sales of Tesco and the other outlets.

The attractiveness of shopping at Tesco and the various outlets under its roof is the free parking. It doesn't add to the overall cost of your shopping and you can leisurely make your purchases or enjoy your meals without having to worry about increasing parking rates. Once you take free parking out of the equation, you're bound to lose some customers.

I do not know how much they intend to charge but I bet it has to be high enough to stave off residents from Bayswater Condominium or patrons of e-gate from parking there. One thing is for sure, I will be frequenting Tesco and e-gate less often after this. I would rather drive further down to Queensbay Mall where they have more outlets for me to choose from and the environment is more enjoyable although they recently introduced new parking rates which are still reasonable, IMHO.

Keywords: Tesco Penang Malaysia parking Queensbay Mall e-gate Bayswater Condominium

It's Been Three Years Already?

Can you believe it? This blog is 3 years old!



In my first year of blogging, the number of entries I wrote were just plain crazy - totaling 422 entries altogether! I guess it had very much to do with the excitement of starting a blog and discovering a new frontier! Then reality kicked in. It was just plain impossible for me to churn out so many blog entries on a regular basis. No one in their right mind has that much crap to talk about, do they? Stop looking at me like that! I do not have that much to say. =.=

While coming up with my 2006 Wish List, a New Year's Resolution of sorts, I decided to cut down on the quantity of entries and emphasised more on the quality of the content. In that very month, the number of entries dropped to just twenty from a minimum of thirty entries a month before that. Entries were on average lengthier than before and there were also more pictures. It took more effort to write an entry but it was definitely more fulfilling.

However, commitments kicked in after that and the number of entries tanked! In my second year of blogging, I couldn't even make it to 100 entries. I only managed to write 99 entries and I'm not proud of that statistic at all. In fact, nothing much has changed in my third year of blogging that ended at the stroke of midnight yesterday. The number of entries also did not breach the 100 mark but the leanest spell definitely has to be March 2008 with only one entry right on the very last day of the month. It wasn't exactly an entry I'm proud of either.

It is not that I had nothing to say in that month. Believe me, I had plenty to say what with the Malaysian General Elections and the aftermath of it all. I just couldn't find the time to sit down and convert all my thoughts into words. When I finally do have the time to blog, I've just too much to write about and can't decide on what to publish. I don't intend on dumping all those entries on my readers all at once! Believe me, it's not a pretty sight but I won't be able to find the time to space out my entries and publish them one by one. So, I decide to use the time to rest instead. :P

However, that may (hopefully) change with the introduction of Scheduled Post Publishing by Blogger. With that new service, I can have my mental diarrhea whenever I want, store all the crap up and schedule them to be released at designated days. In fact, that's how you get to read this entry! I'm probably up on Mount Kinabalu at the moment so there's no way I'm able to post this entry if I didn't write it earlier and schedule it to be published this very day. Also, (finally) having my own laptop will also help me find the time to translate my thoughts into words on a more regular basis.



The most popular entries for this past year has to be the ones regarding the launching of Perodua Viva. That was the period that my blog received the most visitors ever! It even eclipsed the previous high regarding how a Konsortium Bus Driver Abuses Passengers. It was definitely an indication of how popular this model was and you can see it on the number of them on the roads now.



Even with newer content on the blog, some of the old entries seem to remain ever popular. It's amazing really. Among the all time favourites are Tong Hua (Fairy Tale), the Tammy NYP sex video scandal, the Malaysian Police ala Abu Ghraib controversy and the wardrobe malfunction at Lakme India Fashion Week.



In truth, nothing much interesting happened on my blog in this past year worth mentioning very much due to the lack of entries. To compensate the lack of entries on this blog, I started micro-blogging through Jaiku hoping writing shorter entries on my mobile phone would at least keep my friends updated on what I'm doing. It's not a replacement for this blog but both works complementary of each other. In fact, I'm updating as much as I can regarding my trip to Sabah now!

In this past year, I've started writing more reviews too. I try not to write too much and chooses products and sites that would probably interest my readers. It's important to remain relevant while making a few bucks along the way. No point writing reviews that are of no use to your readers, right?

I'm still finding it hard to squeeze enough time to blog the things I feel strongly about. I do hope I will be able to blog more frequently after this. Whatever it is, I've found the three years of blogging very therapeutic and will definitely continue to speak my mind, whenever time permits. Whether you will still be reading the nonsense I write is a different matter altogether. Anyway, thank you for having taken this journey with me and let's wish for many more wonderful years to come. Cheers!

Keywords: Malaysia Konsortium Tammy NYP Perodua Viva Abu Ghraib Jaiku Lakme India anniversary