Malaysia is The Axiata Cup 2013 Champion!

by Daniel Chiam

Yesterday was my first time attended a live badminton finals match and it was for the Axiata Cup 2013 between Thailand and our very own team Malaysia! It was indeed an awesome experience. The atmosphere of being there personally to witness and to cheer along with the Malaysian supporters is really priceless.

The dude standing on the left was super excited for every performances in between matches.

The first match between Thai's Ratchanok Inthanon and Malaysia's Sonia Cheah was a blow to the home supporters because Ratchanok clearly dominated the match and with so many mistakes by Sonia, the first point of the night goes to Thailand. Ratchanok really played very well that night.

The second match was between the mix doubles Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee T against Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon. I have to say it was the most interestingly intense match to watch on that night. It was definitely the match that pleases the crowd the most. The long rally, exchanging smashes and fast pace of the game really got the crowd cheering and standing on their feet to cheer on our national heroes.

The last time I met Dato' Lee Chong Wei was last year when I got the opportunity to send him off at the airport to London for the Olympic 2012. Axiata Cup 2013 finals was my first time seeing the man himself playing live before my eyes. The match was clearly dominated by the world's number one and Thai's Tanongsak clearly had an experience disadvantage when facing Dato' LCW. 

Nonetheless, Dato' LCW's decision to play for the Malaysia's team in the finals was overwhelmed by the supporters and the whole night the crowd was cheering and chanting his name. At some point of the time, they event cheered for his newborn son's name - Kingston!

The passionate Malaysia's supporters that sit in front of me.

The last match of the night was the men's double between Boonsak Ponsana and Songphon A against Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong. It was clearly a win for Malaysia when half way through the game you realize our men's double are more experience than the Thais. 

To me that night was just simply amazing. It was the supporters that fascinates me the most. They kept on cheering and cheering and cheering the whole night. I was thinking when are they going to stopped, and they never did till the very last minute when Malaysia finally won the final. I am really glad and happy to be apart of that loud and noisy supporter that night.

Thank you again Axiata for the tickets and of course to Nuffnang for an experience that's going to be hard to forget.

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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[Movie Review] The Host (2013)

by Daniel Chiam 

A Twilight remake ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ 3/10

I have never read the book before. So review will be solely base on the movie itself. I never like The Twilight saga, so my expectation for The Host aren't really high at all since its a story from the same author. 

The movie sets in the future where human race has been assimilated by extraterrestrial parasite that called themselves "Souls". Melanie Stryder who was captured by the Seeker was then infuse with a soul called "Wanderer". Melanie somehow survived the procedure and is struggling to take control of the body with "Wanderer".

I'm not quite sure how the peaceful creatures can really invade earth without violence. Then again, this sci-fi movie was anything but an action movie and some girls would just go gaga over this movie (especially the Twilight fans) because its a complicated-sort-of-love-story or just because a body needs to decide between two good looking guys of who should be kissed.

Sad for Malaysian because there were a lot of kissing scenes and it just had to be cut off (thanks to Malaysia's censorship). It's like someone fast forwarded in between scenes and somehow it spoiled the flow of the movie.

I'm not sure how Melanie talks with accent and yet Wanderer that took over her body can speak without an accent. Logically the parasite should have taken the ability of the body itself and be able to do exactly what the body already knows to do. 

Anyway, I find the movie overall was a lil' too dull, unintentionally funny at most part and its really feels like a remake of The Twilight in a much different version with all the actions taken out of it.

Movie Trailer |  Official Website

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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WeChat - The New Way to Connect

by Daniel Chiam

That's right people, you chat, I chat, we all chat and last night was the WeChat commercial launch at club Neverland, KL. A large numbers of bloggers, local celebrities, media members and partners had showed up to hype up the event.

Awi Rafael, one of the local celebrity performing that night.

As of January 2013, WeChat already have 300 million user accounts and I was there when they first launched WeChat in Malaysia. Back then I have to be very honest that I am not so fond of the app at all but today, with the newly improved user interface and functions that they have, I realized that I have been missing out a lot.

First of all you have to know that WeChat is absolutely free to download and it is available to all the major mobile platforms; iOS, Android, Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. In short, everyone can use WeChat. Now other than the basic functions that you have on a messenger - texting, calling, video call and location, WeChat also provide "Voice Chat" function which I find very useful and fun to use.

Any idea what we are talking about?

The WeChat's Voice Chat or Hold to Talk (is what I like to call it) is basically a voice recording function but I find it works faster and better on WeChat if compared to the existing messenger that I am using. I'm not sure how fast will this drain the data plan but for whats it worth and the convenient that it provides, I'm totally loving WeChat for this.

This works best when you are driving and stopped at the traffic light. Most of the time I find it very hard to concentrate between texting and my eyes on the traffic light but with WeChat, replying back to someone else is just as easy as holding a button only. Love it!

Here's a tv commercial of the WeChat 's 2 new ambassadors; Lisa Surihani and Shaheizy Sam using the voice chat function:

The WeChat's live chat works like a walkie-talkie and it's really fun to play with. Also with a lil' bit of creativity, you can actually make use of it specially when on a road trip with friends, event and any possible occasion that you think would need a walkie-talkie to keep in touch with one another.

WeChat's Live Chat

So far those are the two similar functions that I really had fun using and personally think that it really made a difference in how you connect with others. Can't wait to explore more of WeChat and see what other cool stuff that it can do. For more info do checkout www.wechat.com

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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[Movie Review] Ah Boys To Men 新兵正传 Part 1 & 2

by Daniel Chiam 

★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ 5/10

Ah Boys To Men (ABTM) is the latest big budget comedy movie by Jack Neo about the Singapore's National Service (NS) that was made compulsory for every Singaporean male that have reached the age of 18 to be apart of it. ABTM was initially planned to be release as a single movie but due to the long running time, it was then decided to be release as a 2 part movie.

ABTM mainly focuses the life of the recruits in NS; the training, the bonding and how NS actually help to change a person's life. Aside from that, of course there is also a few side stories about some of the recruits outside NS.

Jack Neo still do what he does best, and that is to bring laughter and also to captures the emotions of the audience. Both of the movie was undeniably funny and also heart warming, but my personal favorite would be part 2 of the movie where a lot more was being focus inside the training camp and also the characters growth.

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 6/10

Almost all of the main cast acted for the first time in ABTM, but seriously they acted so well that you would not have thought that ABTM was their first debut. Even the theme song of the movie was written and performed by one of the cast member - Tosh Zhang.

Jack Neo has brought out the most talents through ABTM if compared to any of his previous film, the movie was so good that a third installment is already been planned. ABTM is the most expensive movie ever produced by Jack Neo (estimated almost 3 million USD) and also ABTM2 marked Jack Neo's 20th movie in his career as a director.

Movie Trailer Part 1 & Part 2 | Facebook Page

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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Here's Some Library Etiquette

by Daniel Chiam

I am writing this post from inside the library of University Malaysia Sabah. Initially I was doing my work, when all of a sudden this group of student sitting two table away from me starting to talk loudly when some of their friends joined them.

This group of students talks loudly in the library of University Malaysia Sabah

I don't know about you but library etiquette was something that was taught or made known to me at a very young age. Unless you NEVER visited any library before, you will not know what the rules are then, but I believe even before you step into a library, there will be a few signs that will let you know how to behave inside a library.

Apparently these bunch of students are either being ignorance or just plain inconsiderate. So because of that, I will be sharing with you some of the basic library etiquette that you MUST remember when in a library.

01. KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN

It's a freakin' library and not a night market for you to hard sell some of your cheap stuff. If you want to share your life stories with your friends or have a group discussion then I suggest you find another place where you can freely and audibly express yourself. In a library keep your voice at 0, and 1 when talking.

02. PLACE BACK THE BOOK(S) THAT YOU TOOK

Just DON'T BE LAZY! If you took a book to be use, please please please put it back to where you found the book at first. Someone might be looking for the same book and because of your laziness, they can't find that book at it's section. Don't make it hard for others, be considerate.

03. DO NOT EAT or DRINK

Mainly for cleanliness purposes, please don't create the opportunity for the place to be dirty and also the books to be stained by your food and drink. I don't wish to have any ants or cockroaches to run around while I'm trying to get my work done or reading a book that smells like freakin' KFC.

Those are the very basic library etiquette that you must know when using the library. Just remember that the library is not your personal room or a private lounge for you and your friends to hangout. There are many others who are using the library for the peace and quite that it provides to get some work done. So please, be a considerate user and don't be a distraction to others.

Do you have any experience where some bugger(s) is just so annoying in the library? What did you do when bugger(s) like that is around? Share it down at the comment box below.

Photo source 1, 2

"Seize the day, Caper Diem"

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