Last Week of the year 2009

I wonder.. how did my other peers pass through the last week of 2009. 2009 marked a significant year in my life. The most changes which happen in my life are in 2009.

1. I finally graduated - obtained a degree
2. I don't have to walk anymore - I got myself a car
3. I don't have to ask for money anymore - I've started working

But then again, some changes which are bad...

1. I started clubbing - Average of 3 times a month
2. I realise i'm really fickled minded - I changed job twice
3. I lost my identity - though i never had one

All these turning points that happen this year will leave a deep scar in my heart. Besides reflecting on this.. I looked back at my new year resolution i did earlier this year and I found out that I've not fulfilled any.. well except that i passed my violin...

This year, I will post my 2010 resolution and I'm gonna get it all done~! Wait for my RESOLUTION~!

1st Post since New Job

As all may have known, I've changed my job... yea.. fresh grad, had a job for 3 months, then change... And to a totally different field~~!!

Should i say i'm happy? i ain't really sure. But one thing for sure, I wish I had took the courage and go to Sweden when i had the chance. Regret, I guess is the only thing left...

My work

Been working for 3 months. so, an update on what i've accomplished during the 3 months, to see if I should continue working~~ no point working if you gain nothing besides money :)

Basically, I will have to design or innovate circuits to aid students, educators, hobbyist in their projects. So far, I have completed 3 projects. A training board for a local institute, a bluetooth development board and a voltage regulator. The first two projects were assigned to me while the last was completed because i'm sick of soldering power supply everytime i need it.

i ain't sure if i'm allowed to display the pics, but then, must show off my regulator :)

the prototype:



the manufactured board:



Basically, i havent solder the components up because no stock~~ can Yee Hwee or Hsien Yun help me get some from the scraps?? ^^

Raya trip to Hat Yai - Alone~~

From the title, it's kinda obvious that I went to Hat Yai, Thailand, alone last weekend. It has been a great experience to wander alone, but then again, it's such a pity that I do not have any camera~~!! Can't take any pic.. Can't share the views to everyone. But nvm, i'll be there again, soon. This time around, I'll get myself a camera, as suggested by Tek and Chye Hsiang, a compact one will do.. wait till richer then only get a DSLR. Nevertheless, to those who do not get tired reading things i write, there are few things i would like to share, in case you wanna go HatYai, alone :P

Hotel I stayed: Golden Crown. RM2 for tutu ride to get there from the bus stop.

Food: Be prepared, most of the food are hot and spicy, ala Tom Yam~

Places to Visit: I spent most of my time walking around town, which is quite small. The night life is kinda happening, somewhere between Bali and JB town. Get cheap stuff at the market (remember to bargain at least 50%). Temple on top of the mountain (just tell the tutu driver, he'll noe how to get you there).

Things to bring: Cash/Credit card, but i think Cash will be more practical coz no CC machine at market. Change your cash there, better rate (at least in September 2009) Sunblock.. lotsa sunblock. Sunglasses, Hat. It's freaking HOT~~!!

Others: If you are more adventurous, done with HatYai, I would suggest you take a long ride to Songkhla. Nice beach and nice view. Unpolluted and nice people.

Conclusion: I guess i'm in love with Hat Yai, and also the people there. Exactly what I felt when i went Bali... Encourage you guys and gals to make a trip there... I'm sure can ask Mei Shan for more details coz she frequent there :)

Overflowing Ineffable Emotions

Ain't sure what happen lately, but what i'm sure of is, I have an overwhelming feeling. This feeling engulf me, suffocates me. I feel enclosed, trapped, dominated, cramped... Like, I have no control over myself, my thinking, my actions, my words, my expression...

...I'm breaking apart...
...I'm no longer me...
...I'm LoSt...

Self-Control

When will one loses her self-control?

When she has no ethics?
When she is indecisive?
When she is in love?

If loving someone makes you feel miserable, then he's not worth loving.

Pixar latest creation: UP

When i first saw this trailer, I have a hunch that this movie gonna make me cry... And, true indeed.. It made me cry >.<

Up is another production from Pixar, its story evolves around a cranky old man who can't move on with his life. In short, he can't get over the grief he's having. His grief over his wife has gave him the courage to fulfil his promises to her. That is to move their house to Paradise Falls in South America. It sounds impossible, esp when he's 78 now. But he managed to do it, and at the same time, he moved on with his life, getting over with the grieving process.

This plot reminds me so much of my life. My grief over the death of my grandmother. Sometimes I wonder, there are so many things in life which i have to do, because i promised my grandmother i would do it. Those things seem to be impossible, I ain't sure if i can manage it. But then, after watching this movie, there's one thing i'm sure of, I'm still not over with the grieving process. I still can't make myself move on with my life. I need to fulfil my promises to her before i move on with my life. Haih~~ it's gonna be a long long journey~~

Neway, this movie, 'UP' is indeed good. Both thumbs up for it.. Must Watch Movie~~

feeling down

Ok, in response to Kaizan Boy's comment, i decided not to write anything technical - temporarily :P... but, just to update everyone, i've been feeling down lately.. Been feeling lost, nono.. not about my job, i'm happy that i get to work at Cytron :) but about my personal relationship, which has always been a havoc :P neway, i'll get over it.. please allow another personal advertisement, Bio '09 will be having a gathering on 10 Oct 2009 at A Famosa, Alor Gajah, MElaka.. to those who are interested, please do give me a call.. look forward seeing everyone there~~

The 1,2,3 in interfacing LCD with PIC (Software: Part 1)

This article is written assuming user has knowledge on hardware part.

There are few basic things which we have to bear in mind.

1. 3 control lines:
1. Register Select (RS)
2. Read/Write (R/W)
3. Enable (E)
2. Simple instruction set you might need:
1. Initializing – determine cursor’s position and characteristic.
   

Table 1: The command control codes

For more information, please refer to http://www.cytron.com.my/viewProduct.php?pid=FjswICgDMQkFLhMRHy0XHVI/kU2m3Az9XsdY/Nuz3hY=&store=

Next, we move on to the next part where we initialize the LCD and start displaying some characters. Hence, to simplify, the objectives of the following step are:

1. Initialize LCD

2. Display few characters

3. Determine location to display the characters

The first step to do is to initialize the LCD. As mentioned earlier, the 3 controls line must be set prior to the initialization. RS is set to ‘0’ so that the LCD is in command mode. Then, set the initialization bits (D7-D0) according to Table 1. The next step is to toggle the E pin. When E bit is being toggled, it enables the chip to accept data. The R/W pin is being connected to ground in this case as we do not require data to be read from the LCD module.

To perform the mentioned steps in details:

// clear screen

rs = 0;

PORTD = 0b00000001;

E = 1;

delay (300);

E = 0;

delay (300);

If you’re on the right track, you should see nothing on your LCD. If there are boxes on the first line, adjust the contrast so that it is semi-visible. This is the step to clear screen (refer to Table 1). Next, we set the cursor’s position and characteristic.

// initialize cursor

PORTD = 0b00001111;

E = 1;
delay (300);

E = 0;

delay (300);

After performing this code, you should be able to see your cursor at the first position of the LCD. The cursor is also blinking and underlined.

(NOTE: Remember to initialize your PORTD as output port and a while loop at the end of the code so that the program does not repeats itself when loaded.)

Now, you are ready to complete the second task, which is to display some characters. The steps to input characters are similar to initializing the LCD, however, they differ by the configuration of RS bit. When displaying characters, the RS must be set to ‘1’ to enable data transfer. As for the characters, they are identified using ASCII code. You can always get the code online. Just google it! In this tutorial, we will use only few characters, they are: ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’.

// function set (refer table 1)

rs = 0;

PORTD = 0b00110100;

E = 1;

delay (300);

E = 0;

delay (300);

// write in characters

rs = 1;

PORTD = 0x41; //’A’

E = 1;

delay (300);

E = 0;

delay (300);

PORTD = 0x42; //’B’

E = 1;

delay (300);

E = 0;

delay (300);

PORTD = 0x43; // ‘C’

E = 1;

delay (300);

E = 0;

delay (300);

Now that you’re equipped with skills to key in characters and initializing the LCD, we can move on to determine the location of the cursor.

To test with the cursor location, we set our LCD into two lines mode, to have a wider range for manipulation.

Next, we will have to set the location we want our cursor to be at. For instance, we want to set the cursor to address 00001000. We set the display address command, 0b10001000.

// set the function (2 lines)

rs = 0;

PORTD = 0x38;

E = 1;

delay (300);

E = 0;

delay (300);

PORTD = 0x88; // move cursor to ninth location

E = 1;

delay (300);

E = 0;

delay (300);

Well, I guess that’s all for the basic of LCD which you need to know before advancing into more sophisticated program.

Bali Trip - Day 2 -- 17 Juni 2009

The continum of Bali Day 2... As mentioned earlier, ,me, Mei shan, gui yan, jia feng, sam and kk went to Kuta beach for a walk after shopping at Khrisna.. This is the time where we (mostly me) took a lot of pictures of well-built man~~







Well, after the mouth drooling session.. we went to cool ourselves down... we went to MoonTeaSpa for Balinese Spa...~~ no pics though coz we're in a hurry~~ so, that's all for the 2nd day at Bali..

Are adults being realistic or kids are simply surreal?

Very often, we are exposed to the different kinds of robots, regardless from the media or in reality. This traces back to various movies like Star Wars, Terminator, iRobot, and Transformer. For most adults, these movies are just like the ‘any-other’ movie they watched – ‘money-driven’ movie. On the contrary, kids will get mesmerized by the marvels. This addiction is the goal where movies producer have been longing to achieve. But then again, this raises another question, should all these addictions remain addiction or should it be evolved into hopes and dreams?

Let us take a glimpse back into our childhood. During then, we are exposed to cartoons like Doraemon, where a robotic cat named Doraemon, travels back in time from the 22^nd century to aid a schoolboy, Nobita Nobi. Besides that, we are also being introduced to superheroes, like Batman, Superman, Spiderman and X-Men. Then, in the 20^th century, our kids have numerous accesses to the internet to know more about robots than us. So, where does this evolution lead us to? Does all these fiction serve to drive us to disappointment or it is only for a moment of euphoria?

As I get back to the topic, the future of the robots lies in both adults and kids. What these science-fiction movies gave us is an idea of the immense and boundless potential of the robotic field. What we, as audience are supposed to do is to play a part in the development of this field. Adults should not dampen their kids’ imagination by telling them that those robots are only fictions and will only appear on the big screen. Instead, they should let their kids’ imagination run wild so that in future, what is shown on the big screen will come true in reality. Adults should stop being realistic, allowing their kids a chance to explore into the impossible. After all, Honda started with ‘The Power of Dreams’ and they came up with Asimo.

Once the parents are able to sort these out, how can they aid in supporting their kids in this area?

To be continued…

Intermission

Oopss... Sorry for the intermission.. I'm aware that I'm supposed to talk about Bali Trip, but then again, i've started working, hence, allow me to interrupt.. Today's my 5th day in Cytron, suppose to be working, but i'm blogging instead. Neway, that's me, blogging whenever and wherever i feel like it.

So, how's working life? how is feels like to be not studying and start working? It feels almost the same for me. Most probably I'm working at a company who provides solutions for students in their projects. Now, I feel like I'm at the level where i aid students who needed help terribly for their projects. at least, i'm here, Cytron's here, there's nothing to worry about. haha~~ i wonder if i can provide solutions for students who do research and experimental based FYP...

Lastly, do visit Cytron's website, www.cytron.com.my for more info.. Who knows, you might find your solution here~~!!

Bali Trip - Day 2 - 17 Juni 2009

On the second day of our trip, we went to Nusa Dua for water sports~ 5 of us (me, Jia Feng, Gui Yan, Mei Shan, and Kuhan) did diving at USD 42, while others did wakeboarding and parasliding.. here are some pics~~






Next, we went to have Babi Guling.. it isn't that delicious either.. but it's kinda cheap, it costs us Rp 750,000 for 18 pax, including drinks i think...


Soon after that, I went out for a walk to take pics.. and here's wat i saw...





Next, is the shopping session.. went to Krishna, as recommended by Ah Bee's Christine...



By the time we're done with shopping, it's already evening. So we went back to Barong Hotel before going for a spa. However, we didn't go back straight, instead, we went to walk at the kuta beach.. More pics on that...

Bali Trip - Day 1 - 16 Juni 2009

Went to Bali for our graduation trip.. departed from Senai airport at approximately 2pm.. Reached Bali about 5pm. Our first destination is Uluwatu.. That's a temple by the sea. It's a great place to view sunset but we missed the sunset :( Anyway, we managed to take some beautiful pictures as well..

At the airport~~

at ULUWATU

After visiting Uluwatu, we went to Jimbaran for seafood... I expect it to be delicious.. but then.. the ambient was nice :) romantic for couples on honeymoon~~ By the way, the dinner costs us about 2million Rupiah.. imagine how are we going to eat with 2 million Ringgit :P






Lastly, we went to Barong Hotel at Kuta to stay for the night after an expensive yet dissatisfying dinner..

Legian memorial - Bali Bombing 2002

Finally

Yea~~!! Congratulation to everyone who has graduated - provided we all pass both papers :P It has been a long and winding journey. Especially 2008-2009. FYP has been a torture to us. But eventually, everything has come to an end and i'm glad we have done it together. We have also celebrated this joy together with out 'Comida Despedida' yesterday at Seoul Garden. I'm glad that everyone could attend the lunch, and later clubbing at Arena. Pictures will be uploaded soon i hope, coz i do not own a proper camera. Thus, have to wait for Gui Yan and Pei Xian to upload it. Meanwhile, all the best for those who are looking for job. Do remember to keep in touch and enjoy the 1st month of worryless~~ :D

Why Men Lie?

Have you ever got sick of men lying to you? When they look straight into your eyes and lie to you? Honestly speaking, i'm sick of it. I do not know when to trust them, when not to. Hence, i went online, to look for reasons why they would lie. So, here are a few:

1. For SEX - yes, they'll do anything for sex.
   
2. It's in their blood - they love lying - and they don't believe they're really "lying" if they withhold some of the truth.
3. To avoid conflict
4. When they wanna avoid something imposed on them
5. He's not confident of himself
6. To get out from a mess
7. When they are busted
8. When they think their girlfriend / wife is stupid
9. For other monetary / status gain

I still don't get it.If a man treats you as his good friend, why would he still lie to you? Hmm.. Man.. justify this~~!!

As we walk towards the end...

Ya.. as we walk towards the end, it means that we are walking towards a new beginning. While many of us worry about what have we done for the past 5 years here, some might start planning for what to do for the new beginning. Which one weights more for you? Is the past important or the future is more important?

For me, both are equally important. Tan Sri Dr. Mahathir once said that history is very important so that we treat it as a lesson learnt and not commit the same mistake again in our life. It is only recently that i realised all my mistakes, it's like i've woke up from a long and winding dream. It might have taken me 5 years to realise that, but at least i'm awake now. By realising my mistake, i am more determined of what i want in future.

Neway, this post is to reminisce the past. The 5 years in MMU, Melaka. Reminisce of what has happened. How many assignments we have done together, how many outings we have had together, how many fights we have got ourselves into, how many gossips we have said... etc... Seems that everything is coming to an end, the end of our campus life. I will not make another list of appreciation, because then, i won't be able to finish off my FYP :P so, to make things short, I've really enjoyed all my 5 years here. I've got the chance to know people from all walks of life, i've shared with them my joy and pain, time and energy, happiness and sadness, stressed and relieved. I believe i'll never encounter this kind of life ever again. So, thank you to all my friends, you people are truly my friend, till the day i step my foot into the wooden rectangular-box...

Violin Performance

This was taken on April's fool, 2009 at clc A2.. can be considered my 1st time performing violin solo. Shared this vid on youtube and facebook d.. so, i guess it's only appropriate to put it in my blog. Afterall, it's the 1st time :P Enjoy ya~~

Updates

Wow.. it has been almost 2 months since i last posted something. It wouldn't be accurate if i say i'm busy with FYP coz i've done nothing on it. Then? What's been keeping me up? Well, adjusting life. Thinking what should i do after graduate. Graduation is the end of our life in formal education and also the beginning of our life as working adults. So? Haih.. Responsibilities gonna come soon. Well, some good news, Our convo will be on 9th August 2009. It's a Sunday. I really look forward to it. Can't wait to take the Bio grad pic tgt :) I'm sure gonna miss you guys and gals. Let's spend our last 68 days happily tgt... Till tHen...~~

1st week of scl

hmm... to be honest, i kinda miss school life. At least i do not have to force myself to wake up early in the morning, don't have to travel 1 hour to go to scl >< nono.. i'm not saying life during training is bad, just that i do not like having any prior plans for the day - yea.. i'm plain LAZY~! Enough bout my feelings, let's talk about what happened during this first week. During the 1st day of class, everyone were talking about graduation trip, then we planned our activity for the week. reunion dinner on Tuesday nite, Karaoke on Thursday noon. Too much.. esp when we were suppose to be listening to the lecturer :P Here are some pictures taken during our nite out after reunion dinner... We went to the eye on malaysia, which has been moved to Melaka...

The Bio-Gals without Gui Yan, Ying Shuang..


Bio-gals + Bio-guys


Everyone except Ah Bee - it shows that he's a good photographer too

I really missed you ppl.. i look forward the last 4 months of our lives in MMU. Cheers~!

Laws of....

Recently, i came across this site about "How your mind makes sense to the world"... In this site, they discuss about the various laws of the mind. In fact, after reading "The Secret", I've been wondering, is Law of Attraction working well or is it as what it means by "Fake it till you get it!" Sometimes, it's hard to make your subconscious know what you want when you, yourself do not know what you want. Or you dare not want what you want! Then, here comes this site which once again reinstate what "The Secret" has been saying. Feel free to visit the page here. Nevertheless, I've made a summary of what's in there.

Law of Cause and Effect - everything happens for a reason. Whatever you have now is the result of choices you made in the past. Do you think it's true? I think it's true for what has happened to me.

Law of Physicality - your mind influences your physical reaction. I'm sure you'll feel your heart beats faster when you think of those scary things..

Law of Corporality - it states something that your mind can actually prolong your life. If you think positive all the time, the hormone which you secrete, can makes you live longer. I'm sure about that, coz i'm still young. Perhaps it's true..

Law of Visualisation - something about your subconscious is more powerful than knowledge

Law of Expectation - one sentence to wrap this "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right"

Law of Cognitive Dissonance - 2 opposing ideas cannot occupy your mind the same time. Seriously, i think if that happens, you might need help from psychiatrist.

Law of Reversed Effect - This law is the one which catches my attention. It actually says that, the more you want to do something, the more you can't do it. Because there is the subconscious that resist the change. There is actually something that has been set in your subconscious to protect you from the things or event which you think of as dangerous. This thinking has been accumulated from your previous experience. That is one of the reason why most ppl are reluctant to love and be loved. Perhaps because of their previous experience from it. According to the founder of this law, this thing can be changed if you slowly feed your subconscious with what you want. This process can't be changed abruptly, in fact, the faster you want to change it, the more it will resist the change. In the end, you might collapse with mental disorder :P

Law of Inertia - Once something is in your subconscious, it remains there until it is replaced. This is where stereotyping occurs.

Law of Persistence - This is what happens to most elderly people. They have been living few years with their own thinking, hence it's harder to change their thinking as compared to try changing a child's thinking.

Law of Incrementalism - As long as you practise your thinking, it grows stronger.

All in all, i think that these laws are indeed meningful and one should master them before you want to master your life. Afterall, knowing yourself and your enemy is the first step to success.

Subang Jaya girl scores 10 A1s in O-level exam

When i saw this headline on The Star today, i was wondering, do they mean SPM as O level, or the O level in Singapore. To my wonder, it's really the O level in Singapore. You can read it here: Subang Jaya girl scores 10A1s in O-level exam . Before i came here for my industrial training, i felt afraid, afraid that i might not be smarter than those who are already here - Sinaporean. People back in Malaysia think highly of Singaporean, my family - not my parents - has this thinking that it would have been better if i had chosen to come to poly or JC after my SPM, and not MMU. They think that it will be better if i had do so. But then again, this article has proven them wrong. We Malaysians are not necessarily worse than Singaporeans. We may be living in a place where the quality of life is lower, PPP is lower, economy is lower, etc. BUT there are still Malaysians who are more intellectual, more hardworking, more humble than Singporeans. Well, all in all, this blog is to remind everyone to not only look on one side of a situation - including myself :P

Ending soon

Yea.. Our Industrial training is ending soon - this doesn't necessarily means good news. For, the end of something brings something new. The end of Industrial Training = Prepare for report and presentation. Report of >40 pages. Of what you've done for the past 12 weeks. Presentation of 15 minutes. Of what you've done for the past 12 weeks. I don't really feel good about it, in fact, i never felt good about anything. Perhaps all i've been doing for the past 12 weeks were all about MATLAB. I'm afraid i might not have a lot to present. I guess it's up to my 'crapping' skills again.

Other than that, there's something i want to share. In case you or your relative, friends or parents has worked in Singapore before, and also has CPF, and wishes to withdraw them, please take note of the following:

1. Once you've decided to withdraw all the money you have in your CPF, you are not able to work in Singapore anymore.
2. You have to be present personally during the withdrawal procedure.
3. Please allow 3-4 weeks before getting your CPF.
4. Bring the following while requesting for withdrawal:

• Passport
• Identity Card - MyKAD
• Birth Cert - if you still have
• Bank account number (your account in Malaysia)
  
• Bank address