St Anne's Church, Bukit Mertajam

I was just fiddling with Google Maps, figuring out how to get to nearby places, and I decided to check out a few places, BM for example.



St Anne's Church, Bukit Mertajam


Do you see the brown cross? That's St Anne's Church! Hah, all the years I've been going for mass there and I've never realized that it's a solid, brown cross if seen from above. That's one of my most interesting discoveries ever.

My father used to wake me up at 7 a.m. sharp every Sunday morning and I'd always grunt in response. If I wasn't up five or ten minutes later, he'd come back and call my name again. "J..., wake up. It's already 7.05/7.10." Then, he'd wait to make sure that I woke up. Grunting in response wasn't acceptable anymore. I had to really wake up, brush my teeth, etc.

He'd always leave home at 7.30 a.m. sharp and the rest of the family would have to rush to get ready by that time. At 7.25 am, he'd be sitting in the hall, wearing his shoes and then waiting patiently for the rest of us late worms.

I don't know why he liked to leave at half past 7 since mass only starts at 8 am. And it's only a 5-minute drive to church! We were always one of the earliest there each Sunday morning. He'd also sit at his favourite seat at one of the church pews facing the priest and the altar.

Anyway, I don't attend St Anne's Church anymore as we've already moved. My father doesn't wake me up at 7 am sharp on Sunday mornings anymore. Why? I guess he felt that I should be old enough to know what time I should wake up. And he's probably busy having a fun time up above while watching over my family and the church where we used to attend.

eBay Account Suspended Again

I’m being suspended from eBay. Again.

Last night I received very good news from them. My account had been reinstated! My eBay account was unfortunately suspended in November last year, if I’m not mistaken. Since then, I couldn’t buy or sell anything on eBay! And I had so much fun shopping there too. =(

In order to reinstate your eBay account, you’d need to send eBay a copy of your driver’s license, a completed Request for Reinstatement form and one of the following:

• Copy of a recent credit card statement
  
• Copy of recent bank statement
  
• Copy of recent utility bill

So about two weeks ago, I sent them a copy of my driver’s license, the completed form and a copy of a recent utility bill. After reviewing my documents, they decided to reinstate my account.

It is advised that you do not open up a new eBay account after one has been suspended. It’s obvious, isn’t it? eBay is not that dumb, you know. They’ll somehow connect the new account with the suspended one and when they put two and two together, you’re doomed. You could be put on their blacklist, too.

Oh dear, I hope I won’t be blacklisted for getting suspended a second time. I thought I’d change my e-mail address since the one I’m using for my eBay keeps getting spam but then thought better of it. Instead, I listed out two items for sale and this morning, I logged into my e-mail to find that I’ve been suspended.

Next, I did a search on Google on second time eBay suspensions. I found a blog which said that an account can be suspended again if it uses the same e-mail address, home address, IP address, Paypal account and so on. Guess I should have changed the e-mail address after all.

But I was being careful! I didn’t want to change anything in case they got suspicious of my eBay activities. Not that there’s anything to be suspicious about! I just want to have a blast of a time there!

Time To Think About Earth's Temperature

Did you know that the temperature on Earth and the concentration of carbon dioxide will increase drastically in the next 50 years? It’s all due to global warming and our irresponsible actions. Even now the temperature’s so darn high, so just imagine when it goes even higher later.

During an English lesson, my teacher showed us a video on global warming. Some guy was presenting a speech about the temperature and level of carbon dioxide on Earth. That was an interesting video and I’m glad she showed it to us. At least the 20-something students in my class have an inkling of what’s really happening to our climate now.

So what can we do to really save the Earth? Lots of campaigns have been run, protests have been held, and education provided in schools but it all doesn’t seem to be enough. I guess we have to start with ourselves first right? We have to change our attitude towards the environment and not turn a blind eye to the situation.

What we can do is to use less air-conditioners, less polystyrene, less fossil fuel burning, etc. I’ll write more on how to save the Earth later.

Help save the Earth! Think of your children. Do you want them to live in an over-polluted world in the future? No, I don’t think so.

What If You Had To Hand In Your Term Paper Tomorrow?

...and it's not even done yet??? What do you do? Panic? Go into hibernation and pray that your research paper will write it by itself? Unless you have magic powers and a wand to swish and flick to create a term paper, you still need to write it out yourself. If you don't, then what excuse will you give to your lecturer?

And no, it's not good to copy and paste information that you find on the Internet. That's called plagiarism and as university students, that is one thing you would need to avoid!

Anyway, yesterday, I searched the Internet for tips on writing a last-minute term paper or research paper and got a bunch of useful links. Let me list them out now.

• How to Write a Great Term Paper in One Evening
  
• HOW TO WRITE A PAPER AT THE LAST MINUTE
  
• Last Minute Paper
  
• The Last Minute: How to Write Good Essays When Time is Short?
  
• Last-Minute Term Paper Advice
  
• How to Write a College Paper at the Last Minute
  
• How to Write a Last-Minute Paper
  How to Write a Last Minute Essay
  
• How to Write Your Essay Under Pressure
  
• Survive: Writing A Last Minute Paper
  

Yay! This morning, I felt so happy because I finished my Apocalypse Now assignment, had it printed and handed in. So now I have only one other assignment left, which is a Theories and Communication Research paper. I only need to hand that paper in after the Hari Raya Puasa holidays. But still, it's better if I get started on it now. Been procrastinating a lot lately and believe me, it's not good.

The links above should only be used when in dire need. Like I said, it's better to get started on your research paper way earlier before the deadline.

But if you need some tips on how to write a great research paper, check out How To Write A Great Term Paper. Actually there are tons of such websites handing out tips on writing papers and you can just search for them via Google or Yahoo. You can also find books on writing term papers right in your library.

You've got to be responsible and also learn to study the smart way. Don't put off your term papers till the last minute. Yeah yeah, that's what I'm telling you...but do I practise what I preach? That's a tough one to answer! :D However, learn to utilize your library and learn how to search for things on the Internet. Don't say 'I don't know'. There's nothing more irritating than somebody saying 'I don't know' when asked to do something simple!

Good luck writing your papers!

Giveaways Again

I visited a book blog which is new to me today, which is Traci's Book Bag and guess what....she's holding a book giveaway! But her way of giving a book is different.

If you want extra entries, you need to guess the titles of the snippets of book covers shown in this post. Try your luck and submit your comments and answers before September 20, 2008.

Edited to add:
Another book giveaway over at On My Bookshelf. I'm going to try my luck to win Sundays At Tiffany's by James Patterson. Contest ends on 21 September, 2008.

This Blog - Suitable For All

I couldn't resist doing this test about how my blog's rated.

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site

Whereas for my other blog with all my book reviews, Books Love Me - Reviews, this is how it's being rated!



Not suitable??? It's ridiculous. Just because there are words like 'dead' and 'hurt' shouldn't really qualify it as PG-rated. Maybe it's too morbid for younger readers.

So how does your blog rate? :)

My Bindy Book Is Here

Remember when I won a Borders gift card from The Kool-Aid Mom? And that I couldn't use it in Malaysia so she'd send me any book I want instead? Well, I chose The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty and the book arrived in my mailbox yesterday!

What a lovely surprise to come upon me just before leaving for class. I have this habit of checking the mailbox every time before leaving home and if there's something for me, I'm just delighted. It's utter bliss to receive books in the mail. :D





However, I have to refrain from blogging for a week, at least, because I have to complete an assignment which is due next Friday. Yikes!!! I need to write a minimum of 8 pages on the movie Apocalypse Now. Have you watched it before? What do you think of it? I thought it was quite a confusing and gory movie, with disgusting severed heads in it.

Alright, wish me luck! Ta-ta!

Give These Animals A Home

10 minutes ago, I found out about a blog called Adopt A Rescued Animal Today. It's about animals like dogs and cats who are looking for nice owners and homes. These animals were rescued.

If you're looking for pets, look no further. Visit that site today! Do give these poor animals a chance. You can help spread the word by blogging about the blog and linking back to it. Do it for them, the animals. I hope they find themselves in nice and loving homes with responsible owners.

The FrontPage Show

I just finished watching the first episode of Frontpage on NTV7 and it's not a bad show. It's pretty good actually. It had me hooked right from the minute it started at 9.45pm. So for those who missed it tonight, you can catch it next Sunday and every Sunday after that at 9.45pm on NTV7.

This show had been publicized a lot lately especially in The Star. I think it's also the first English series/drama about the journalism world in Malaysia particularly.

I also noticed that there were very few journalists in the office. Or maybe I was wrong. I'm not sure. Next week I'll watch again and count the number of journalists! The name of their newspaper is called 'The Voice', by the way.

The actors were laudable especially Tony Eusoff's. He's Jack Lee in the show and is supposedly the best reporter around. Jehan Miskin is Dylan and his lines are witty ones. Bernie Chan is the boss and there's a love triangle happening between the three of them.

Overall, like I said just now, it's not a bad show. Malaysian dramas are definitely getting better!

Friday Finds (05 Sept 2008)

Friday Finds






Have you read these books before? If yes, what do you think of them? I'd sure like to read them one fine day when I have more money in my pocket!

Peer (Reading) Pressure

Booking Through Thursday


Question: I was looking through books yesterday at the shops and saw all the Twilight books, which I know basically nothing about. What I do know is that I’m beginning to feel like I’m the *only* person who knows nothing about them.

Despite being almost broke and trying to save money, I almost bought the expensive book (Australian book prices are often completely nutty) just because I felt the need to be ‘up’ on what everyone else was reading.

Have you ever felt pressured to read something because ‘everyone else’ was reading it? Have you ever given in and read the book(s) in question or do you resist? If you are a reviewer, etc, do you feel it’s your duty to keep up on current trends?

My Answer:

Very good question. I don't think I give in to peer pressure when it comes to books. If the book looks and sounds good, then I'll definitely look forward to reading it. As for popular books like Twilight and Harry Potter, I've read them before the hype got really intense. But I liked Twilight and not New Moon. I haven't read Eclipse and Breaking Dawn yet. So, I'm not pressured to read them the same time as everyone else!

However, as a reviewer, you can keep up with the trends if you want to but I don't think it's that important. Maybe if you're a professional reviewer and you review books for a living, then I guess it's important to review the latest books so people will come by your site and check out your reviews.

Reading books is supposed to be fun! Nobody should feel pressured to read books that they don't want to.