Twelve months and eighty-two posts and here I am - exactly a whole year since I first started. There were good posts, bad posts, there were long and boring posts, and there was a post which resulted in comments-shooting. There was even a post which so risked controversy that I deleted it the day after it was published. There had been times when there were so many things on my mind I didn't know which to write about first, and there were times when I so wanted to write but there wasn't much to write about.
All in all, I must say it's been an eventful first year, and it's been a grand adventure. Thank you, readers!
Friday, April 21, 2006
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Disbelief
When what could have been a clever piece of satire becomes a blatant, cowardly barking of accusations from behind the cover of the Web, it has me in utter disbelief. The fact that it has happened more than once leaves me flabbergasted.
What was that, the reader wonders? Well, sorry, readers. Ignore this post.
"Do unto others what you want others to do unto you"
I think its time we grew up a little, stop being so petty, so trivial - and stop making a mountain out of a molehill.
What was that, the reader wonders? Well, sorry, readers. Ignore this post.
"Do unto others what you want others to do unto you"
I think its time we grew up a little, stop being so petty, so trivial - and stop making a mountain out of a molehill.
Sims ReVisited Again
After The Sims and Livin' Large Expansion Pack, there came a few more - House Party, Hot Date, Vacation, Unleashed, Superstar and Makin' Magic. Phew! I played only until Vacation I think - perhaps a little Unleashed, but not enough to make an impression. With House Party, came new objects and new actions - most obviously, the ability to host parties for entire neighbourhoods. There were buffet tables, caterers and even a Mime, who'd show up occassionally, uninvited. It was a great way to get to make acquaintances, which can later be slowly developed into friendships for career advancement.
There are lots to do during a party. You can buy a birthday cake and get a Sim to blow the candles out, or you can get a turkey and carve it for all. And as for adult entertainment - well, there's always the strip dancer :D If you want the party to be a costume party, just get a costume chest and the guests will automatically change into different costumes. If there is a campfire, a Sim can light it and entertain a few other Sims around it
With more expansion packs, my roomees and I discovered more tricks and actions. For example, if a Sim looked through the telescope long enough, he will be abducted by aliens - and only be returned a day later.
A Sim can die from electricity shock. To kill a Sim by electricity shock, just buy a chemistry set and make potions - one of the potions that can be made will turn any Sim that drinks it into the monster in Frankenstein and it will go around breaking stuff in the house. If the monster breaks the TV, get a Sim (the one you want to kill) to fix it (better still if the Sim has none or very little mechanical skills). Now, you have a high chance of that Sim being electrocuted. Once it happens, Death (Grim Ripper) will appear and collect the soul, leaving a grave / urn behind.
However, if there is another Sim nearby when Death appears, the Sim can beg for the life of the dying Sim that is about to be taken - and if Death grants the dying Sim its life back, the Sim will continue to live as a zombie.
A zombie Sim can do pretty much everything a normal Sim can (eat, sleep, work, go partying etc.), but it will appear greenish, like a ghost.
... to be continued (again?). Well, yeah, maybe. ;)
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Mini Skirts
They are skimpy, they are fashionable and they show off your "great" legs - BUT do you need to wear them into the EXAM hall? Why - first of all, it's verrrrrry cooooold in there; secondly, you'd be in a sitting position for 3 hours and everytime you move your legs, you're at risk of opening your coffee shop; and lastly, you distract (or should I say, "attract") all those hamsap male invigilators!
Shame on all of you who love to wear super-short mini skirts to exams. Also shame on all of you who wear low-cut / strapless / transparent blouses with push-up bras. Shame!
Shame on all of you who love to wear super-short mini skirts to exams. Also shame on all of you who wear low-cut / strapless / transparent blouses with push-up bras. Shame!
Monday, April 10, 2006
More Sims ReVisited
One of the first tricks we learn in playing The Sims is to have a baby grown into a child without any parent losing his/her job, and without any social workers showing up - let the parents take turns skipping work and staying home to take care of the baby. A Sim will not be fired if he skips work on alternate days. And the baby will take about 3 days only to grow into a child. Of course, at first before we knew this, we had to let one of the parent Sims stay at home for the baby (and subsequently be fired!) and find another job once the baby is a child. Once, I tried to cheat my way through. This is what I did - I left the baby alone at home (both the parents at work) and when the baby had cried long enough, the social worker came to take it away. Once the social worker reached the cradle, I went into the build mode and made a fence around the social worker, cradle and all. I thought I could "trap" the social worker there until one of the parents came home at least - but well, after some hours standing there, the social worker simply went "poof" and disappeared into thin air. Not a very good way to cheat, I saw.
A better cheat (which we discovered while surfing around Sims fansites) to make lots of money - the best get-rich-quick trick yet - is to manually duplicate a family, then start the game and move that family into an empty lot in the neighbourhood of the original family. Then, kill all the family members of the clone family and get the remaining member to move in with the original family, bringing in all the duplicate wealth - after that, kill the remaining clone as well. In this way, for every duplication, moving in and killing, the family wealth doubles. I had a Sims family worth over 2 million Simoleons (Sims currency) and a private graveyard! Such then, in that house, there would usually be 4 or 5 ghosts lurking around every night, and spooking incidents occurred very often.
And how to kill of a Sim? Well, put one in a room with a lighted fireplace, take the door off to trap the Sim in, and if a fire breaks out.... well. However, fires happen randomly so to use it to kill a Sim would not be so easy. I have tried also to trap Sims in a room with a TV (so the noise from the TV would prevent the Sims from falling asleep on the floor) and without doors. The Sims would then die of exhaustion and hunger. But it'll still take a few days. The most efficient method, however, a sure-die way, would be to build a small swimming pool, get a Sim to swim in it, then remove the steps by which the Sim can get out of the pool. In a few hours, the Sim would have been so exhausted that it will fall asleep and drown in the pool.
Of course, we can also make same-sex Sims fall in love.
One of the very weird things that happened in my Sims neighbourhood, was the accidental death of the repairman, who was electrocuted while trying to fix a broken TV or computer - I can't remember which. As there was only ONE repairman in the neighbourhood, everytime a family called for repair, the ghost of the dead repairman would appear and do the repair - and would even charge the normal price!
After the original Sims and the Livin' Large expansion pack, there were House Party, Hot Date, Vacation and many more. My roomees and I didn't manage to play all these expansion packs together as roomees, but what we had, we definitely enjoyed very much.
Well, will post more next time if time allows.
A better cheat (which we discovered while surfing around Sims fansites) to make lots of money - the best get-rich-quick trick yet - is to manually duplicate a family, then start the game and move that family into an empty lot in the neighbourhood of the original family. Then, kill all the family members of the clone family and get the remaining member to move in with the original family, bringing in all the duplicate wealth - after that, kill the remaining clone as well. In this way, for every duplication, moving in and killing, the family wealth doubles. I had a Sims family worth over 2 million Simoleons (Sims currency) and a private graveyard! Such then, in that house, there would usually be 4 or 5 ghosts lurking around every night, and spooking incidents occurred very often.
And how to kill of a Sim? Well, put one in a room with a lighted fireplace, take the door off to trap the Sim in, and if a fire breaks out.... well. However, fires happen randomly so to use it to kill a Sim would not be so easy. I have tried also to trap Sims in a room with a TV (so the noise from the TV would prevent the Sims from falling asleep on the floor) and without doors. The Sims would then die of exhaustion and hunger. But it'll still take a few days. The most efficient method, however, a sure-die way, would be to build a small swimming pool, get a Sim to swim in it, then remove the steps by which the Sim can get out of the pool. In a few hours, the Sim would have been so exhausted that it will fall asleep and drown in the pool.
Of course, we can also make same-sex Sims fall in love.
One of the very weird things that happened in my Sims neighbourhood, was the accidental death of the repairman, who was electrocuted while trying to fix a broken TV or computer - I can't remember which. As there was only ONE repairman in the neighbourhood, everytime a family called for repair, the ghost of the dead repairman would appear and do the repair - and would even charge the normal price!
After the original Sims and the Livin' Large expansion pack, there were House Party, Hot Date, Vacation and many more. My roomees and I didn't manage to play all these expansion packs together as roomees, but what we had, we definitely enjoyed very much.
Well, will post more next time if time allows.
Friday, April 7, 2006
The Sims ReVisited
Recently, we got The Sims 2, and played a little whenever there is some time. It simply brought back tonnes of memories. :)My roomees and I used to play The Sims a lot in university. When we first started, our Sims' lives were really, really messed up. New to the game and eager to explore all aspects of it, I tried all actions there were, which almost always end up in disaster. The first major disaster was getting my Sim family to have a baby, when I can't even handle themselves yet. The baby needed feeding / soothing very often and would cry until it was given attention. I sent both my adult Sims to work during the day, leaving the poor baby at home, and after several hours of crying, a social worker appeared and took the baby away, leaving me a message which said - "Shame on you for neglecting the child" or something of the sort.
There were also other mishaps such as letting a thief get away (which we later learned can be prevented by buying a burglar alarm, which would alert the police every time a burglar came, and the burglar would be arrested) and also fires (which we later learned can happen randomly where there is fireplace or stove for cooking, and which damages can be minimised by buying a smoke detector, which will bring a fireman in whenever a fire began)
My first major fire disaster started from two fire places in the living room of a Sims family of 4 Sims. I got the Dad and Mom to "put out" the fires, but soon Mom got overpowered and caught on fire herself. In a while, she turned into an urn of ashes (died!) and Dad immediately went to the urn to "mourn", with the fires still raging. Then, he himself caught on fire and perished too. The family was left with two children, with no means of supporting themselves. Gosh. I didn't save that game.
Of course, in due time we learned strategies and tricks - even evil ones. Will post more next time.
Thursday, April 6, 2006
Shame
Caring Malaysians? Bullshit.
Last Friday, the KTM commuter trains were quite crowded (as they usually would be, on Friday evenings). Both my colleague, A, and myself didn't get to sit from the moment we boarded the train till we got off it. However, we are considered strong, young women, so it wasn't a problem at all. As the train made more stops, it took more people in. At the station just before our destination, a rather large crowd streamed into the coach - most of us who were standing were practically rubbing shoulders.
The train moved, and A said to me, "Nobody is giving the pregnant woman a seat!"
Pregnant woman? I looked around and spotted her - maternity dress, bulging belly and all - standing, and hanging on for (two) dear lives on a hand-rail, about 3 or 4 arms' lengths from me (that is, also, about 3 or 4 people standing between she and myself). I was as indignant as A was.
"WHERE are the PRIORITY SEATS?" A deliberately turned up the volume of her voice.
"HERE - " I replied, eyeing the row of seats meant to be given to the elderly, disabled and pregnant. I glared at the 3 people occupying those seats - 2 young girls, probably in their late teens, and a grown man who was sleeping. All three avoided my eyes (although the one sleeping couldn't have guessed I was glaring at him).
"These people have no moral," A said to me.
"This is too much! Can't they see her standing there? It is VERY obvious that she's PREGNANT!"
"Well, better think twice about getting pregnant. Nobody will give their seats up for you in the trains."
"What to do - we may carry our own lightweight, portable, folding chair so we'll get to sit at least."
We talked in that manner all the way till we reached our own destination station, and until we alighted, the poor pregnant lady was still on her feet. I related the whole incident angrily to my husband. He shook his head and said that after all the airtime the commercial on giving seats to the elderly/pregnant/disabled got, people still haven't learned. He also added that if there were but ONE mat salleh on the train where the pregnant woman stood, the mat salleh would've given her his seat immediately. And it's true - I have that happen before.
A couple of days ago, when I got out of the train at my station, the usual crowd rushed in - among them a young man carrying another man, with deformed arms and no legs. Gosh, I seriously DO HOPE the sitting passengers had ENOUGH CONSCIENCE, GOOD HEARTS and COURTESY to at least give seats to the poor disabled man and his helper.
Simple moral, like letting someone in greater need have your seat in a public transport, the government cannot teach its people, and it wants to prosecute two teenagers for hugging and kissing in a park. Argh.
Shameful!
Last Friday, the KTM commuter trains were quite crowded (as they usually would be, on Friday evenings). Both my colleague, A, and myself didn't get to sit from the moment we boarded the train till we got off it. However, we are considered strong, young women, so it wasn't a problem at all. As the train made more stops, it took more people in. At the station just before our destination, a rather large crowd streamed into the coach - most of us who were standing were practically rubbing shoulders.
The train moved, and A said to me, "Nobody is giving the pregnant woman a seat!"
Pregnant woman? I looked around and spotted her - maternity dress, bulging belly and all - standing, and hanging on for (two) dear lives on a hand-rail, about 3 or 4 arms' lengths from me (that is, also, about 3 or 4 people standing between she and myself). I was as indignant as A was.
"WHERE are the PRIORITY SEATS?" A deliberately turned up the volume of her voice.
"HERE - " I replied, eyeing the row of seats meant to be given to the elderly, disabled and pregnant. I glared at the 3 people occupying those seats - 2 young girls, probably in their late teens, and a grown man who was sleeping. All three avoided my eyes (although the one sleeping couldn't have guessed I was glaring at him).
"These people have no moral," A said to me.
"This is too much! Can't they see her standing there? It is VERY obvious that she's PREGNANT!"
"Well, better think twice about getting pregnant. Nobody will give their seats up for you in the trains."
"What to do - we may carry our own lightweight, portable, folding chair so we'll get to sit at least."
We talked in that manner all the way till we reached our own destination station, and until we alighted, the poor pregnant lady was still on her feet. I related the whole incident angrily to my husband. He shook his head and said that after all the airtime the commercial on giving seats to the elderly/pregnant/disabled got, people still haven't learned. He also added that if there were but ONE mat salleh on the train where the pregnant woman stood, the mat salleh would've given her his seat immediately. And it's true - I have that happen before.
A couple of days ago, when I got out of the train at my station, the usual crowd rushed in - among them a young man carrying another man, with deformed arms and no legs. Gosh, I seriously DO HOPE the sitting passengers had ENOUGH CONSCIENCE, GOOD HEARTS and COURTESY to at least give seats to the poor disabled man and his helper.
Simple moral, like letting someone in greater need have your seat in a public transport, the government cannot teach its people, and it wants to prosecute two teenagers for hugging and kissing in a park. Argh.
Shameful!
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