Locks of Love

It just came to me as one of the thoughts which haunt me recently. The question of whether or not I should cut my hair. Maybe it's part of the resolutions for next year. Well, I have cut my hair really short some (six) years back...in 2005 or 2006...just for fun. Back then, somehow there's this hairstylist who saw my pitch black hair and asked me if I would volunteer as her model for a Redken contest. She would dye my hair pink and cut it ala pixie style.

I was in my early twenties (don't count how old am I now, I'm still in my twenties) and I went, Sure. I love my hair back then. It was a fresh cut, really. Best thing ever was that she dyed an additional layer on top of the pink and the color slowly washes off to other colors after that. So I was having a different shade of red every month from goldish pink to maroon...and then purple...haha..quite fun. The only effing thing was that she bleached my hair. She lied and told me initially that she wouldn't bleach it and that was why I agreed to the whole thing. Anyways...it was back then. That lady must be thinking that this girl here was so foolish. How would you not bleach the dye? You need to bleach it for the pink! My hair was too pitch black. Also, after the event, my store manager requested for me to either dye my hair back to a more natural color or resign. I choose the latter. I was working as a part-timer then and it was almost time for me to head back for a new semester...so yea...

Advancing now to year 2012. I think I need to start 2013 fresh again. I'm planning to look for a new job with a fresh face. So...yes, I will cut my hair short and straighten it so that I don't look like a puffed up balloon AND donate my locks to Locks of Love. I'll need at least 10 inches of hair. So, I'm thinking that I'll do it by the end of November or December.

I would love to donate them to a cancer organisation in Malaysia but, sad to say that we do not have any of them supporting this type of causes. Perhaps Malaysian cancer children do not need them? I've wrote in to the National Cancer Organisation of Malaysia and we shall see if they will respond to it.

Meanwhile, head on over to FAQ of Locks of Love if you are interested in donating your hair like I do. We are fortunate to have growing hair and need not to worry about hair loss until, probably, an old age. However, certain people may not enjoy this luxury. So, instead of letting our hair go to waste or to the garbage bin, why don't we give them away - especially when there is a need for them? The cut hair may not mean a lot to us but to children who suffer from hair loss due to chemotherapy, our hair may save their pride and give them some hope or strength to face both their life and the community. It is just a tiny means of showing these young patients that there is still hope in their situation.

Cancer can be terminal but with the appropriate care and good combination of drugs, life can be prolonged and even with a disease, these children can still sustain a healthy life. Malaysia may not have this campaign but they have it in the States and UK. What can I say? When there's a will to do it, it doesn't really matter to who/what race/where/gender you donate to (though I do hope that I can benefit our fellow Malaysians first) :)

Yes. That was what made me wanted to cut my hair short. Come...join me.

LINE camera app

I've been frequently playing around with this app recently! It's pretty cute, really...with different frames, filters and cartoons available. I'm not that into instagram and well, I don't even have that in my phone but that's alright. LINE app is serving me quite well:)

Look at us in that pic! Cute huh? Haha..that's basically what girls do when they are bored. We camwhore and we transform into narcisists but so what? That one of the many reasons boys love us!

They may not admit it but somehow, vanity attracts them:p

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Bait...JULIAN McMAHON!

Bait Julian McMohan? Yea..so I wish...

anyway...Thanks to Nuffnang, I'm able to shout out,"SPOILERS ahead! If you are planning to watch it tonight (20th Sept) or this weekend: SKIP this post."

The story started with a tsunami and although the scene was brief, I could already feel the terror down my spine. Perhaps, I was imagining beyond the movie but...imagine this: you are on an island and suddenly, without warning, the water was pulled away from the shore like a blanket and after, probably 3-5 minutes later, the water came crashing onto EVERYTHING.   

Taken from The Telegraph

You were washed by seawater and you might hit the lamp post or the brick wall at 20th floor. You didn't know what caught you but a pole might have poke through you thigh or missed your heart by 5 inches (which cause you to bleed to death anyways). And, lastly...you suffocate and die...that's the worst way to die, take that from me...I was almost drowned; twice - once with my life jacket on. 

Bait captured this scene rather well, showing the necessary gore and corpses. I wouldn't be that calm at all if I was among the few who got caught in that supermarket. I'd go crazy. One scene was especially epic where Jaime was holding on to the security officer's hand when the officer's body was floating away (torn by the shark). If I was Jaime, I would go c r a z y. I would run to Julian McMohan and hug him insane <3 div="div" nbsp="nbsp">

Also...do not eat while you watch if you have good imaginations. I was having my sandwich dinner and I - almost don't feel like chewing the rest of it after seeing those fleshy 'humans'.

Photo taken from Oceanic Dreams

The one good thing about this movie is that they show you the shark. It's not as realistic but heck, that's really better than Jaws and Piranha. Piranha is a no-brainer, so, after these crap movie, you will actually feel relieved to watch some movies which don't just do away with some cheap props.   

The scenes took place in two locations of the supermarket - the basement parking and the shopping arena. Two groups of people were trapped separately and there's a 12 ft great white shark in each area. Beats me how these sharks got washed in there because it only appear after the casts have swam onto the top of the freezers. Given that there were so many bloody dead bodies floating, the shark would have attacked right away. My best bet is that the sharks have got a shock after the tsunami.

Photo taken from screenslam

Photo taken from screenslam

I can accept the part where the shark was found in the basement parking though. At least the parking has got bigger entrance for the shark to get washed through. I'm wondering if shark is very smart? Can it sense movements in the air and chomp on it like that？ --> 

A quick glance through Oceanic Dreams told me that sharks can sense metal in the water and that's the reason why they destroy divers' props and cage. I wonder why this shark is not curious about this person? 

It's a brilliant idea anyways. But he should loosen the head-cage-gear before going for the switch. Or he should try using his leg to switch off the main power. If he did, he would have survived the ordeal. 

The story progresses pretty OK but the end was too abrupt and cheesy with the dialogue of:

"What's next?"

"Next? We start over."

The casts just blow their way out of the supermarket and climbed out...and stand there. I thought the director would take a scene of the aftermaths - or perhaps, that is too costly to shoot? Hmm...however, credits must be given especially after reading this article from Toonaripost (despite the low rating given in Rotten Tomatoes). The movie was packed into 90 minutes and although it's not awesome, it does did a good job on trying to make the shark looks as real as possible as compared to some movies which don't even bother doing that part of the job. The suspense was definitely there and it offers some good laugh too.

The best was that Julian McMohan is one of the casts. He was Cole from Charmed - my ALL-TIME favourite! He came up with the idea of setting a bait for the shark and they have managed to trapped and injured it. 

End note: Watch after you are left with no new good movies to watch. It's quite entertaining actually. But of course, if you want to see more of Julian McMohan - go and WATCH. He is still as charming <3 data-="data-" p="p">blogger-escaped-div="div">

p/s: KLCC parking hasn't change one bit. RM3 for the first hour and RM3 for the subsequent hour plus a 6% GST. I don't understand about the GST part - were are paying for the space but..GST? What goods and what services am I getting? I took the ticket and I drove into the compound...so what goods and what services do I get? I don't see a single security guard patrolling. So WHAT services?

Now you get it why KLCC is the last place I'd want to hang out nowadays. It's not like the Putra line is of any convenience to me since I still have to get all the way to Masjid Jamek for a change of train. 

Another random moment...

Another day googling random stuff. I was towards the end of summarizing my results while waiting for my reagents to reach the bench and I swear that I'm going to wrap that part up...in a while more after this. I just need a distraction to get over the fact that my university doesn't offer travel grant for conferences and I can't find a suitable travel grant for Malaysian non-phD postgraduate. JSPS just responded with a negative reply. They are not calling for participants and it seems that they have discontinued the sponsorship program. EHEEM...

I was just googling around to check if I can buy Mars bar in bulk at a cheaper rate...maybe, at RM2.50 or RM3? 7-Eleven charged me RM3.20 for that tiny piece which I'm done with in 4 bites.

Next, I googled on my next destination! Yes...I'm quite done with all the reservations for my Thailand backpacking trip (will reveal my journey after November...and I'm damn proud that I've managed to keep my budget to a minimum). So, yeap...one done, another one will be coming up.

Initially, I thought that I will plan for Australia. There are friends and relatives there who could host me and show me around but on a second thought, I hesitated. No offence but I've got a friend who told me that Australia has got no soul. The city itself is just like another city and there's nothing too amazing for exploring. He may be wrong but come to think of it, I think I've got influenced by a little. Haha....perhaps, there are too many friends who have been there and I wanted to go to somewhere...a place less explored.

Gecko suggested New Zealand.

The first few thoughts that came to me was - Lord of the Rings...Easter island (which I later found that it is located in Chile...dang...I thought I could see and touch the statues of Moai!)...Christchurch (always advertised in AirAsia..I'm so depressed now that they have discontinued the flights)...bungy jumping (SA told me she wanted to do it there...I'm still considering if I should....)

So..yeap...and we shall see how budget this trip will go.
and I don't know why I stumble across this rubber story and it was so funny! I thought that guy would go 'Ya, condom ni juga...ada apa masalah?'
LOL....

The myth of curing cancer with alkaline water/source

This conversation actually started when T told me what kept her from completing her pre-planned work schedule on Saturday. Well, her mum came over to KL and the family spent the day out to visit a friend of her mum. It turned out to be a business introduction meeting. The friend was selling a water ionizing system which purportedly makes your water better/easier to be absorbed at cellular level. Sounds like a good deal to promote better health - at the price of 5 figures...for a water ionizing system...just for drinking.

So N then share with us about this method to 'purify' water (idea promoted by Masaru Emoto) because she said that if such a simple method could help you in this sense, why spend 5 figures to do the same thing. Then again, how credible is this Masaru Emoto? His so-called team did not even publish his works in a scientific way.

I totally disagree with both T and N. I feel this strong urge to break this water-myth and I so much wanted to tell the whole world that, look...these are all scams. The exploited your thoughts and mislead you into believing what you subconsciously wanted to believe in and all these: are a psychological game. Everyone wants to find a tangible cure to their ailment and they, wanted to believe in a greater good.  This is the weakness where people with charisma and a greedy intention tend to prey on.

If a simple remedy of drinking more alkaline water could cure cancer, why do pharmaceutical companies spend billions in finding new compounds/chemical entities in drug discovery? What? Simply because they wanted to make more money and dominate the market? If it is only that simple. I couldn't deny the truth in market dominance/market share in which these pharma companies are trying to get hold of but then again, cancer is a very complicated subject matter that cannot be simply explained in a mere few words - let alone being cured by a single method.

You can prevent cancer, yes - by practicing a healthy lifestyle with a healthy diet composed of mostly fresh vegetables and fruits. These food material contains phytochemicals which can interact with different molecules (enzymes/receptors) in body and they are termed to be more alkaline in nature. This have some sense of truth, yes. Whereas, meat; when it is processed by the body, will turn out to be more acidic in nature due to digestion. Also, yes, this is a fact and moreover, the microenvironment surrounding cancer cells tend to be more acidic due to its anaerobic glycolysis mechanism which works to enable the cells to acquire the necessary components for its survival and massive proliferation rate-- BUT this doesn't mean that if you ingest more alkaline substances and that will cure you from developing cancer. 

One needs to understand the nature of how cancer develop. It takes a single mutated cell to develop over time before it becomes neoplastic. Carcinogenesis at this period of time is reversible with the correct diet but once it became aggressive, then you'll need to rely on alternative therapeutic means. The correct diet is one which is balanced. It wouldn't make much sense if you only rely on drinking more alkaline water or eating more alkaline food. How would you define a foodstuff as alkaline (soap is very alkaline, would anyone eat it??)? Citrus has slightly lower pH...does that mean it will damage your health?

The take home message is to eat healthy, practice moderation and read from the right source: (example) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2517712/

Always think twice when a person approached you and offers you with a cure especially at the time when you are in despair.

Recent (online) uproar

Several girlfriends of mine shared the CCTV footage uploaded by Amanda Fong and after watching it, I googled to confirm its credibility. It is a real incidence and this blogger did a great job to sum up the entire story.

The photo posted in Joshua's website resembles those of a happily married young couple but this one just turned sour. Seriously, I cannot imagine myself getting married at 19 years old. I had so much life at the age of 19 to be tied down by marriage, hence I can't really see eye-to-eye for those who are married at such a tender age. That may happen during my grandparents' years but nowadays, I supposed anyone who want to be financially secured before they even think about marriage. What I'm trying to say is that you never need/want a husband who can't offer you a roof and warm meals. An immature husband is the worst case scenario.

I took this off my friend's facebook upload . That's the harsh reality now that our government had robbed us all and we are forced to brave ourselves through the uncertain future. There is nothing more like 'leaving tomorrow to the future'. I mean, if my would-be-husband candidate tells me that, I'll gradually walk out of the relationship.

So, ladies...think twice before jumping into a marriage. If your partner shows signs of abuse and he is unable to take care of you, do not...really...do not dive in.

Seriously, marrying at 19 years old to a man like Calven? I don't quite bother who was to be blamed but in my personal conviction, no man should physically abuse a woman. What? Had she killed his parents? If that's the case, then perhaps he has the rights to hit her like that but otherwise, that man should just keep his anger to himself.

No women should suffer this same fate and especially from her other half. If things do not work out, they should settle the issue in the court - file for a divorce. It wouldn't do anyone justice to spread words on the social network. Readers may sympathize but at the end of the day, the victim is just another news of entertainment. For myself, I will truly feel bad and disgusted at news related to rape and murder cases but this type of news ala Amanda vs. Calven ones....I don't know. It's just nothing to be excited about and I feel that it's quite immature to find justice for themselves through the social media. I'd rather them to take it to the newspaper if they really would want to reach out and share their unfortunate incidence with the public (to educate the public somehow and support the abused parties to stand for themselves).