Technical Support from Dell

During the weekend I sent an e-mail to Dell's tech support asking about extending warranty for my Studio 15 laptop, which the warranty will expire by next March.

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I expect extending the warranty online will be similar with the process of buying a computer system through their website, but to play safe I better ask for clearer details. Since I still had some time to spare, so no harm reaching them by e-mail support.

This afternoon around 4pm+ received a reply from Dell.



Noticed how "funny" the tone of the tech support eh? I especially amused by the phrase "Do not worry, I will make your life easier." lol.

Anyway, still no words bout the follow up quotation, but I guess it should be around RM 500++ for extending a year, and around ~RM 1000 for 2 years. That's roughly the price I paid last year when I extended my Inspiron laptop's warranty (bought it during Dec 2007's PC Fair).
Currently the Inspiron is used by my parents back home. Thinking of reformatting it next time when I'm back, to start things afresh. Didn't do so last time as fear of losing data.

An important note to those who're using Dell computers (desktop or laptop), it is recommended to extend your warranty while it's still within the warranty period as the users will be given a 50% discount. Else, normally a year's warranty would cost ~RM 1000. That's what the Dell support told me last time.

You might be curious whether the amount of money paid would justify the service? Well for my case, I had 2 hardware problems happening on my Inspiron and Studio 15 so far.

For both cases, a technician came over and had the hardware replaced on the spot (no need send to factory). Laptop hardwares are miniature and fragile, and at the same time it's much expensive than the desktop counterparts.

For me, I rather stick to the safe side rather than sorry, especially when I'm over here in Japan.

The Studio 15 I'm using now, I hope I can continue to use it for some years to come. My next target, possible a non-Windows machine. Do you get what I mean? :P

Lethal Industry

Am currently hooked with this upbeat tune by DJ Tiesto. This is one of his famous tunes, "Lethal Industry".
The best part comes around the 3:50 mark.


[Link]

Listening to DJ Tiesto's music, I liken it to having an estacy except without the drug injection or taking the pills. It's EUPHORIC!!

Life Update

Hello again, this is me reporting from Tokyo heh.

So it's close to the end of Nov already huh? How fast time flies.... to shift from the tropical Malaysia to the currently 4 seasons Japan. One more month to go, for a new year to come. 迎えに新年を！

I'm pretty much free from the heavyload of school works I had before EJU, but that's not the end until I finish up my JLPT which falls on next Sunday.

This coming 2 weeks will be having quite a lot of tests, before the winter holiday starts on 12 Dec.


Homeworks for this weekend and schedule for next week.


Kinda happy that I had 2 great meals in the past few days. Many thanks to the great cook Kok Wai and Pei Ki!

Thursday's lunch, omelette, toufu, and 2 types of chicken dishes.
When it comes to the tastebud of a Malaysian you can never go wrong with the sour and spicy formula!


It's been awhile since I had a piece of roasted meat cooked in Malaysian Chinese style, and fortunately I had this luck to had one for dinner yesterday night, all thanks to Kok Wai again hahah.
He received a bottle of char siew sauce sent from Malaysia, so he invited us to go over to his place and cook for us. :D

View from his room's window. Typical confined Japanese neighbourhood but with a touch of autumn's red leaves.


The main dish of the day, char siew! (叉烧) Glorious roasted pork!



Although I usually prefer siew yoke (烧肉) than char siew, but I dare to say that this is the best char siew I ever had in my life lol!

In return I treated the folks salmon sashimi (~330 yen for a big slice).


Pei Ki with the salmon sashimi "rose".



We left around 10pm, and took a different route back to our hostel. We headed towards Tabata (田端) and Ogu's (尾久) direction.
It was surprising to cruise around the night streets of Tokyo when all shops are closed down (except for convenience stores), with all the street lamps on and kinda surreal-looking residential buildings. Somehow I kinda like this kind of place heh.

Overlooking the Tabata station (田端駅), rather quiet at night but I guess it's bustling with activities during the day.


For this weekend am going nowhere, stay in to rush for the homeworks and do revision.

Lately, there seems to be something bugging me, having funny thoughts and guesses running in my mind from time to time. Kinda disturbing but thankfully I've managed to work things out.
Sometimes opportunities may look promising, but if you didn't get to hold it firmly, there're risk of having it slip away.
There're things in life where one couldn't control the outcome of it. The presense of physically or mentally.

人の心はやっはり分かりにくいものである。
かんじょうが淡くなってしまうの？
でも最後まであんたにあきらめずに、また次の出会い！


P/S: All the pics are taken with my mobile phone (Softbank 921P).

My Sushi Love Affair

Heh, if you've been following this blog for some time you would notice that one of my favourite food is sushi, raw seafoods yeah.

Bought from local sushi shop, with 50% off.


Not everyone can accept eating uncooked, raw (or sometimes even living) fish, even if it's been sliced to the perfection. Usually the given reasons would be tasted weird, looks disgusting (mostly due to rubbery appearance) and some would just reject without trying it anyway.

I can't really remember how I acquired this appetite of eating sushi, but the first raw thing I ever tried was a raw oyster. That was sometime when I was in early secondary school year, where the family had dinner at a Japanese restaurant somewhere in KL.



Many is taken back by it's slimmey look, I was one of them. Father encouraged me to try it, so yep I tried. After squeezing the lime/lemon juice, add some Tabasco sauce and other condiments, slim the thing down.
It tasted great, and from that time onwards I look raw seafood differently than ever.

Having taken oysters before, the raw fishes on sushi seems to be tame and mild heh. Anyway I had limited knowledge about sushi at that time so most of the time I would settle with the basic salmon sushi.

Meal like this was considered one of the highlights, the most expensive meal I would treat myself back in KL.


Perhaps you can say that sushi is one of the many reasons why I chose to come here to study lol.... the land of sushi.

Full course such as this can cost up to 10,000 yen. Taken from delivery pamphlet.


So what's my favourite type of sushi? Hmm.... kinda hard to decide but for now would be salmon and maguro (tuna).


And it's kinda amazing to learn that both these fishes doesn't exist in traditional sushi. In fact, the maguro (tuna) was considered as a low-grade fish and nobody's willing to eat it.
Such similar case applies to lobsters too, as only servants or maids would be eating it. How irony that seafood used to be discarded carelessly are now regarded as top dishes huh...

Showcase of some sushi pics.

Fatty salmon. Mmm....


Ebi (shrimp/prawn). A good starter for first-timer as this is slightly cooked so it's not raw.


Some assortments. Anago, harami, negitoro, ikura, amaebi etc.


Worth to try this ikura (salmon roe) when you're more used to eating raw stuffs heh.


Eating with friends.


Extensive menu from one of my favourite hangout spot. Read here and here.


My tower record, 15 plates lol.


One thing for sure, that sushi is not cheap even over here in Japan. Because of it I can only indulge in it once in awhile.

One of the best sashimi I ever had in my life lol.

Regain The Long Lost Touch

Today school resumes after an extra holiday yesterday thanks to the "労働感謝の日" (Labour Day) which falls on Monday. Sent my university's entrance stuff via registered post, and had lunch which consist of Mapo Eggplant Rice (マーポ茄子丼), some vege salad and okra natto.

It was around 12:45pm when I'm done with the meal. Don't really felt like playing pingpong though, something's bugging my mind since last night and I wanna calm down the unsettled mind.

Decided to cycled to the local council's park since there're quite some red leaves over there.

Pics taken from my phone.



Starring at the pretty red colours somewhat calmed me awhile. Penned down some thoughts running in my mind on paper while listening to some nice music from Final Fantasy Dissidia. I knew I wouldn't be able to "let out" if I were to write it out by sitting in front of the computer, in my room. Don't really have the atmosphere of composing heh.

Once I'm done writing, I cycled around without any destination, just to try my luck whether I would discover new places, or get lost in the end lol.
Cruising around the unfamiliar areas, listening to some soothing tunes, and with the breeze, is quite a fun experience. I just simple cycle nearby the local river and luckily I didn't get lost after all lol.

Not sure where I cycled but roughly here's the area I've covered.


I think I've cycled close to 10km? Not quite sure but I've been cycling non-stop for almost 2 hours. Cycling along the riverbank is fun, but too bad the view is not great enough to shout of.

It was until 3:30pm when I cycled to another local park. Spotted some local kids playing football at the field, stimulating my urge to play football again, which I haven't been touching for more than half a year. The last time I had a football game, probably around Jan or Feb with the good old gang at Air Panas futsal court.

Back in Malaysia, I used to hit the ball alone behind my house when I wanted to exercise, or just merely wanted to release stress.

Posing in college, heh.


I didn't came with proper football gears (eg: short pants, football boots) but anyhow I still able to play the game quite well with the few kids.

They're around 12,13 years old I believe, and yet they're playing quite well. I bet they're far better than me when I was around that age, they had the skills to kick the ball properly and dribble around.

It was fun to play the game. Standing at certain parts of the field reminded me the feeling I had when I was playing back there in KL. Sort of nostalgic, and great to work out my rusty skills heh.

Luckily I'm still able to control the ball nicely, and still able to volley it. Maybe is because of the shoes I'm wearing, I'm unable to curl the ball as high as I wanted.

I ran out of breath just a moment into the game, after I burst on the field to catch the ball. As expected, my stamina didn't improve, I will still easily get exhausted after running and chasing around.

I left around 4:30pm as the day's getting darker. I'm exhausted after all the exercises I had.

Anyhow, it's great to be able to touch the ball again, regain the long lost touch which I used to enjoyed. Playing football briefly does helped me to ease off a little besides from my usual "musical therapy" or writing. Parts where mental-treatment couldn't heal it, physical ones might cure it.

So, did all these activities solved the problem bugging in my mind? No it doesn't but somewhat helped me to unclot the mind, able to think more clearly. I hope with a good sleep I would regain the mental strength I needed.

実は、かの じょのことだから、私が困っている。ある人がかん じょに追いついているそうだ。カンジョウがまだあるのに、そんなことがあって、驚いてった。
かんじょはまだ決めないのうちに、話し解いてほしい。
かんじょうじょうのもんだい、本当に困るけど、成長のいい経験だと思う。
今から何があるのは、まだわからないので、最後までかん じょに信じてる～
しょうらいかの じょと一緒に過ごしてほしいぃぃぃぃ～～～　みらいのつまになるだろう？

では、ここまでです。

Hopefully in the end, things will be going according to my flow. Time's ticking, and there're factors which I couldn't control at all.

5 years into blogging

Hahah kinda unbelievable that this blog had been up for half a decade already, oh my. Surely, I didn’t expected that I would be able to keep on blogging for years after years, ever since I started it during my secondary school years.

This blog meant a lot to me, a private space where I can share my findings and experiences with the public. The blog grew up together with me…

From a Chong Hwa schoolboy,

TARC college dude,

....and now on the way to become a university student.

I shared a lot of things happening around me on this blog, like from the school functions & events, college lectures & experiments, and now my discoveries in the land of the rising sun. Perhaps it would continue the legacy, to keep on recording my life towards my dream career, audio engineer?

Lately I’ve been blogging less frequent than usual. Usually I would blog with pics like outings or events, so when there’s nothing happening this blog would be on hiatus. At times I would thought of blogging bout things in my mind, which would transcribe into long words blog post, but that seldom happen unless I had the mood to recollect the bits of information from the brain and put it on the blog.

Perhaps I should resume such writing soon? As I had a lot of things running in my mind, thoughts that I would like to share with you all. Unlike my peers, I love to think of serious & practical matters. For instance, catching up news and events happening around in Tokyo by subscribing blog feeds or following Twitter, while friends would just spend their free time streaming dramas online through PPS. I just simply like to feed myself with lots of information.

Japan’s a land of promises, it’s a great stage for me to fulfil my dreams of working together with the great musicians, one of the many reasons why I chose to study in Japan initially. I can choose the easier and cheaper route by studying in KL, but I took this much rougher and yet excited route. Choices had been made, so there’s no turning back and no regrets.

It’s not an easy route, but it’s been a great pleasure that I’ve met lots of great friends whom somehow helped and taught my valuable lessons in life, I truly appreciate it! Thank you! Terima kasih! 谢谢！ありがとうございます！ :D

Looking forward to blog about this blog’s 6th anniversary next year, heh. By that time things would be very different than now. :)

Another Trip to Ginza

Heh, seems like I'm kinda addicted to walk around Ginza, kinda surprising that ever since the first time I went there last month, I've been "coming back" quite frequently.

The last trip was a spontaneous one, had the urge to get a jacket from Uniqlo and eventually bought this.



Today I'm not alone as I'm tagged along by hostelmate Jia Yi, whom I promised to bring him to walk around Tokyo since he haven't been there before.

I guess why I keep revisiting areas around Ginza is because the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda line station is quite near our hostel. Train fare is reasonable and it takes me directly to the centre of Ginza within 30 mins.

We get off at the Nijyuubashi station (二重橋駅) which brought us close to one of the tourist spot in Tokyo, the Imperial Palace (皇居).

Well since because it's a tourist spot, the best photo spot is usually occupied...


Tried to take from different angle, not bad.




I think these are some of the best shots of the day. Great reflection!




Great pic comparing the traditional Japanese building VS modern commercial skyscrapers.


Taking a stroll to nearby park. Although it's autumn now but not all the trees turned red yet.


Rainbow over the fountain!



Pillar fountain.



Moving on, spotted some nice yellow trees, interchanging from green to red leaves.


The weather was great! Sunny and yet breezy, perfect to take a nap under the tree shades.


Red leaves spotted yay!


Cool statue of Kusunoki Masashige (楠正成).



Both me and Jia Yi walked for awhile into the commercial district of Ginza, including the Sony Building (which I visit almost everytime heh).

We decided to took a stroll towards the side alleys from the main Ginza avenue, and to our surprise we came across this South Indian cuisine restaurant, Khyber.

Being a Malaysian, Indian cuisine somewhat played a large role in the food culture, especially the influence of mamak addict. The naan, tandoori, curry... etc, bring us closer to the cheap dining back in Malaysia heh.

Both of us ordered the set lunch which cost 1,800 yen. A little pricey but the taste was great!


The naan, basmati rice, 3 curries (chicken, mutton, vege) and some pickled spices in the middle.


Tandoori prawn X2, tandoori chicken pieces X2, lamb kebab. Comes with green chili sauce.
Although portion is small but tasted...... d(^_^)b Double thumbs up!


My drink for the meal, lassi (yogurt-like). Tasted superbly nice! Next time gonna order this when I'm back in mamak land!! :D


Carving for more tandoori stuff, we shared this grilled scallops. I was surprised by the size of the scallop, and it goes real well with the sweet and spicy sauce!


Interior of the restaurant. Still have a lot to improve to take interior shots heh.


Old school basin and mirror!


We've spent 2,200 yen each on the meal. It was great but both of us agreed that it would be better if it's even more spicy! Too bad the Japaneses' tastebud are not used to flaming spicy which us Malaysians love heh.

Passed through Matsuya Ginza, a department store. Spotted this delicious-looking dessert but the price and queue turned us away.



Special edition Lamborghini Gallardo based on Blancpain watch.


Christmas tree outside Sony Building.


Complementary shots of Sony Building. They change their themes quite frequent.



Here's a shot from previous trip.


Pics are done for now. We actually went to look around department stores. Jia Yi's the big winner today, bought the Dissidia Final Fantasy PSP game and 2 apparel from Uniqlo as well. As for me, heh I spent everything on food! Roaring appetite....

That's all for today, exhausted after walking for almost the entire day. Today's weather has been extremely good, sunny weather and breezy.... love the perfect 16'C!!

Will be looking forward to explore more of Tokyo. Maybe would be going to Tokyo Tower next time? :D