HCFoo's Blogyard

Yesterday I have this idea of coming up with a t-shirt design (or two) specially for tennis fans. I've done polo shirt before and I want to use back the same supplier because the quality of their polo shirt is really good.

I'm hoping to sell them on ebay (or probably at the parking lot while waiting to watch the exhibition match at the Malaysia Independence Tennis Festival, just kidding).

Here's one of the design. It's pretty simple simply because I want it to be wearable anywhere and at any occasion.

Anyone (locally or internationally) interested to buy can do the booking by sending me an email. I'll quote the price and courier charges.

These tips are highly recommended and approved by HCFoo. It works for me all the time.

1. If you are wearing glasses, get rid of it and use contact lens instead.

2. Never ever perm your hair. Go for hair rebonding (perm straight hair) or even better get a short cropped haircut.

3. Get rid of facial hair and nasal hair!

4. Go to the dentist and get yourself a brilliant smile (don't have to be exactly like Tom Cruise!). Brush three times a day and drink lots of milk. Get a toothbrush to be used in the office after lunch.

5. Drink more water and use moisturizer on your skin. You definitely don't want your skin to look dry and old, don't you?

6. Wear more colours (but don't get yourself mistaken for a clown or rainbow).

7. Wear jeans or khaki shorts instead of pants when going out for leisure.

8. Mingle with people of different ages. Explore different variety of topics with them by reading news and blogs.

9. Get out from the house or your office. All work and no play makes you feel older. Go to the gym, park, shopping centre or on a short vacation.

10. Smile always. And add some humour to your conversation wouldn't hurt ;)

So, what is the best gift you ever received from your other half or partner?

Last night my partner surprised me by taking out the dusty and yet good condition keyboard and gave me a personal lesson! If you read my tagged post recently, one of my wish if I'm a millionaire is to get myself a private music teacher to teach me how to play the piano.

Well, I don't have to be a millionaire to achieve that now.

Being someone who never know how the piano works, I learned two simple songs in one night, 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' and 'Do Re Mi'. And guess what? I experimented 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' with the slow rock beat while 'Do Re Mi' with Mambo beat and they worked. How cool is that?

Now I need to practice hard because my fingers kinda kaku (stiff) already at my age.

Since I can write so diligently for a $5 sponsored post, there's no reason why I don't write the same thing for Advertlets who offer RM20 for this post.

You can see the bloggers in the picture above showing off their Advertlets stickers, badges and cheques! They did write the same post s and got rewarded for their efforts.

Cashing out from Advertlets? I'm not making much yet but if I do, I'll probably buy myself a new mouse pad for my blogging task instead of using the touch pad.

Well, join me and write this post in your blog too.

His Holiness Sakya Trizin is already in Malaysia. The head of the Sakya lineage will be in Malaysia for about one month as part of HH Asia tour.

Read, FL Sam's post as he went to KLIA to welcome HH yesterday. Read the comments in his post for other activities going on too.

For the Kalachakra Empowerment this Saturday and Sunday at OCM Indoor Sports Centre opposite Stadium Negara, check out my previous post here.

Here are 10 reasons why the Ministry of Education should not implement single session and dismiss schools at 4 p.m.

1. Teachers are not babysitters. Teachers are burdened with a lot of programmes and paper works.

2. Parents will treat teachers like babysitters. They might take advantage to leave their children in school until they clock off at 5 p.m. only to pick up their children. This might lead parents to neglect their responsibility.

3. Teachers will be losing a lot of side income especially from tuition business.

4. Tuition centres and private tutors will generate lesser income too if students study until evening.

5. Students will definitely end up bringing more books to school (which resulted in heavy school bags which is not a new issue) as there will be more study periods. Unless the evening hours are for extra curricular activities.

6. Students should spend their evening for leisure, take a nap or doing homework instead of wasting time waiting for the bus or parents to pick them up after school at 4 p.m.

7. To be realistic, many schools are crowded and still have to opt for the two-session.

8. It's general election soon. If the next Minister of Education is not Hishamuddin, suggesting or arguing about this issue is useless because chances are new minister wants to implement their own policy.

9. The National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) is pretty vocally sound and will fight for the teachers who are already MENTALLY and physically drained teaching hundreds or thousands of students each day.

10. Students will be extremely tired after school. Or perhaps during school hours. Which one is better, sleep in the class or skip school?

I read through Dave Cheong's blog and found his blog rather resourceful. And I would like to simplify and share his 18 ways to stay focus on work here. I'm kinda distracted since weekend is near.

1. Write out a daily task list and plan your day.

2. Allocate time slots colleagues can interrupt you.

3. Apply time boxing. This means instead of working on a task till it is done, try working on it by giving yourself a deadline or limited time, say 30 mins.

4. Setup filters in your email.

5. Do not check personal email in the morning.

6. Set your IM status as being away or busy.

7. Listen to the right types of music.

8. Use the headphones but leave the music off.

9. Fill up a water bottle so that you can keep yourself hydrated which is important for all sorts of health reasons.

10. Find the best time to do repetitive and boring tasks.

11. Bring your lunch and have it at your desk.

12. Don’t make long personal calls.

13. Clean up your desk.

14. Get a good chair.

15. Use shortcuts on your computer.

16. Close programs you’re not using.

17. Limit time on Digg, Delicious, news sites and blogs.

18. Change your mindset and make work fun.

Happy working!

Don't you just love the show Flirty@10.30 on Fly FM?

Crushin' on someone but can't bring yourself to declare your love? Stop sweating! Just get Jules and Prem to do it for you instead! If cupid is feeling good, you might just receive a call from Jules and Prem.

And MIX FM is trying to imitate that show on their morning show.

Ever faced trouble impressing a girl or guy you adore with confidence? MIX fm's bubbly and energetic breakfast trio Ika, Serena C & Pietro are here to take on the role of cupid by helping you make the first move with XXX!

I listen to both radio stations although I prefer Fly FM these days. MIX FM is already losing its magic and trying to become a copycat is not going to help!

Nothing to shout about it.

It's just a revelation of something about me that a lot of people including some close friends and family members(except my sister) who doesn't know the fact that I actually have a tattoo.

I had an 'om' on my right arm a couple of months ago at Dragonfly, the Curve. While some friends advised me to go for the better local tattoo artists in Kuala Lumpur, I chose to have it here instead.

And the result was rather satisfying although I haven't complete the colouring process yet. At first I wanted a shaded 'om' but later I decided to have it coloured all black on the second visit as it was nearly 10 p.m.

The tattoo artist is Helen. Those who's interested to make an appointment can reach her at 03-7710 9689.

As I am the fleshy type, it is not painful at all. In fact, I'm kinda enjoying the process.

1. Definitely one of the best musical in this century. While it is not on the same par compare to classics such as Sound of Music or Grease, I can't believe Hollywood still able to produce such a well-rounded movie with great songs, dream casts and most importantly good message and moral values.

2. It's all about the music. Come on, who doesn't love music from the 60s? Rock 'n' roll never dies. I enjoy every single song in the movie but I particularly love 'You're Timeless To Me' and 'Welcome to the 60's'.

3. John Travolta definitely steals the show as Edna Turnblad. Just because he's a woman in this movie doesn't mean that he'll get a nomination for the next Oscars. But John Travolta is definitely born for musical and I enjoy every minute watching him particularly on the ala-Bollywood scene with Christopher Walken.

4. Black people can sing better than the white people.

5. No on-screen chemistry between between Link Larkin (played by Zac Efron) and Tracy Turnblad (newcomer Nikki Blonsky). I have no idea how Link can suddenly fall so deeply in love with Tracy. Okay, probably I'm being discriminative here thinking that a cute guy can't fall in love with a fat girl.

6. Every teenager loves Zac Efron. I have no idea why young girls are so crazy for him. And I still can't get over the fact that his character kissed Tracy Turnblad. Bad, bad me!

7. Well, I love Michelle Pfeiffer but her villain character Velma Von Tussle is not really a suitable one for her. Probably Sharon Stone would be a better choice.

8. Nikki Blonsky shines only at the beginning part of the show (I like the part where she sits on top of the garbage truck singing 'Good Morning Baltimore'). But the rest of her performance was bland. I don't think we'll ever see her on a big budget movie like this anymore.

9. The supporting casts shine in this movie. James Marsden can sing? I think he did a good job as Corny Collins. Amanda Bynes and Elijah Kelley did a job in providing on-screen chemistry in their inter-racial relationship as Penny Pingleton and Seaweed (shame on you, Zac).

10. Everyone dance in this musical. Even big momma Edna can move. Now who wants to join me for a Strickin' Chicken dance?

It was supposed to be my plan to attend Thailand Open to watch my tennis idol, Rafael Nadal, in action. However, due to his presence in the upcoming Malaysia Independence Tennis Festival, I decided to called off the trip to Bangkok and watch in Malaysia instead. And so my decision is right because Nadal just withdrew himself from the tournament.

I already doubt if I should attend Thailand Open because I knew chances are Nadal is going to injure himself by the second half of the year. It happens every year due to his hectic schedule at the beginning of the year.

Hopefully Nadal will recover from his knee injury soon for Shanghai Open and of course the exhibition match in Malaysia.

In the meanwhile, continue to support me in my quest to meet Nadal. All you have to do is type 'Vamos VMY2007' in this link.

I'll do the rest of the job which include sending email proposals to the organizer and Nadal's management team to arrange for the meeting and sponsorship as well as doing my part in showing my appreciation for bloggers who commented in that link through charity.

This is a paid post*

Call me ignorant but I have no idea there's a global brand of virtual calling cards that will offer amazing low rates.

Pingo provides both consumers and business customers prepaid calling cards service with high quality, convenience and the most important thing, competitive rates. Can you believe that there's no other additional charges except a nominal maintenance fees?

One of their most attractive service is their phone card international. No matter you need a calling card China, a calling card Chile or a calling card Thailand, Pingo is able to connect you to the world with its worldwide service. And that include Malaysia. Yeps, this service is available to Malaysians too.

Okay, so what are the advantages of Pingo international phone card?

• It has got the lowest rate in the industry.
• Able to upgrade long distance service without having to change carriers which you can't get similar service elsewhere.
• Availability of savings of a discount calling card.
• World's largest carriers of international calls.
  
• Pingo RateWatchers always on the look out for opportunities to reduce costs for its customers.
• Pingo offer automatic recharge which means users will only be charged only when he or she is using the phone card. And users will never be cut off from an international call due to insufficient fund.
• Availability of web management system which allows users to manage their account online at anytime of the day.

For more information about the rates to call United States or any part of the world, check out Pingo for their competitive rates.

If you sign up to Pingo today, you will receive $8 of free calls or up to 5 hours of free international calls. Also, there is this special phone card blog discount coupon. Just type “ppp3” and you'll save yourself $3 off Pingo. And what about getting a $25 phone card for just $17? So visit their website, the number one international calling cards, and sign up today for all these great deals.

As part of His Holiness Sakya Trizin's tour to Malaysia, His Holiness, the present head of the Sakya lineage, will be conducting a two-day Kalachakra Empowerment at OCM Indoor Sports Centre opposite Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur from 2 p.m. onwards on the 29th and 30th September, 2007.

From my source of information, these session will be until night. Admission is free.
Kalachakra is considered the most advanced form of Vajrayana practice and it certainly is one of the most complex systems within tantric Buddhism. For more information about what Kalachakra is, you can visit wikipedia or here.

I love books, so I'm going to do this books meme tagged by Princess Shin.

Total number of books owned:

Honestly I have lost count of the books I have. I have books in my hometown and here in Petaling Jaya. And months ago I sold a lot of books on Ebay just to have more space for my library books which I borrowed (many of them) for my project paper.

Last book bought:

I did not buy any books recently. But the last book bought was What Makes You Not A Buddhist written by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse. I haven't finish this book even though it has been bought for more than a month already.
The author expresses the essence of Buddhism in four simple points, which he presents to readers as a set of challenges:

1. Can you accept that all things are impermanent and that there is no essential substance or concept that is permanent?

2. Can you accept that all emotions bring pain and suffering and that there is no emotion that is purely pleasurable?

3. Can you accept that all phenomena are illusory and empty?

4. Can you accept that enlightenment is beyond concepts; that it's not a perfect blissful heaven, but instead a release from delusion?

According tot he author, only when you can answer these questions, with an unequivocal "yes",can you truly consider yourself a Buddhist.

Last book read:

Same as the last book bought.

Five books that mean a lot to you:
1. Pointing Towards Vajrayaya by HH Sakya Trizin
2. The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman
3. Change Your Life in Seven Days by Paul McKenna
4. Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
5. Syair Siti Zubaidah (the author of this classic remain anonymous)

1. Within three years, I've changed into a Chelsea fan who hates watching Chelsea play because of their limited tactics and goal-scoring.

2. Mourinho robbed away the classic rivalry between Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

3. He has spent too much of Roman Abramovich's money to buy elite players who can't perform last season.

4. He has lost several of his loyal squad man to other clubs. Too many talented players and big egos for him to control.

5. Chelsea still hasn't become the world's number one football brand. Mourinho's outspokenness did not help Chelsea's image.

6. Mourinho is ambitious and staying in the English Premier League (EPL) will only deter him from proving himself as the world's best coach. Leading a top team in Serie A will definitely boost his image.

7. It's time for Mourinho to pack for good. Managers in EPL clubs don't stay long with the exception of Ferguson and Wenger. But at least he leaves Chelsea with respect from his peers and players.

I'm not sure why suddenly I have this urge to come up with a campaign to meet up with my tennis idol, Rafael Nadal when he comes to Malaysia in November.

If you haven't know already, Rafael Nadal, the world no. 2 tennis player along with Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Richard Gasquet will play in two separate exhibition match on the 20th and 22nd November 2007 in conjunction with the Malaysia Independence Tennis Festival.

So, what's on my mind?

My idea is to meet up with Rafael Nadal, have the best seat during his exhibition match and get to do a full coverage of the match that night.

Or worse comes to worst, to catch Nadal on camera at KLIA or Stadium Melawati, watch from my RM83 seat and still do a (live) coverage on the match between him and Gasquet.

What am I going to do?

Create a buzz in the blogosphere about my campaign, the tennis match and get support. Then contact the organizer with my proposal plus the number of support gained.

Why need to create a buzz?

It's all about promoting tennis, Rafael Nadal and Visit Malaysia Year 2007.

What bloggers can do?

All you need to do is write 'Vamos VMY2007' in this comment page.

Each comment with 'Vamos VMY2007' from blogger with a valid blog address equals to RM1 which I will fork out from my own pocket and donate to a charity (will be announced later). Each blog site is only entitled for 1 comment. This charity thing is to show my appreciation to all the support that I received.

Targeted comments: 200
Who can support: Bloggers from all over the world
Closing date for comments: 7.59 p.m., 20 November 2007 or targeted comments achieved.

Well, what are you waiting for? Please leave a comment now.


UPDATES: This campaign is a successful one. Read my meeting with Rafael Nadal here.


Interesting Hot!
Travelers always look for cheap flights to enjoy their vacations in remote areas where they can relax their self. But, most of the travelers prefer to travel in cruises in which all over the renewed are mediterranean cruises. In spite of this Disney is offering vacations package of disney cruise line along with airfare and hotel stay. Over the last few years in Las Vegas luxor hotel is gaining reputation in travelers who are enjoying their vacations there. Lots of travelers are always loved to talk on time travel but it is explored in many movies and novels.

Okay, I've just checked out Ticketpro.com.my about the exhibition match for Malaysia Independence Tennis Festival and tickets are selling fast for the Clash of the Times match between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. Many of the expensive seats were sold out!

Now, the same thing is not happening to the 'special match' (as mentioned in the Ticketpro website) between Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet. As Nadal's huge fan, I'm going to list my 10 reasons why you should watch Nadal vs Gasquet match instead of Federer vs Sampras.

Nadal vs Gasquet	Federer vs Sampras
1. For the energetic and young crowd.	For the boring and conservative crowd.
2. A lot of muscles and good looks.	Only hairy chests.
3. Better hairstyle.	Boring hairstyle and losing hair.
4. A lot of rally and running around. Expect a longer match that makes your money worth.	Big serve and a lot of aces. Expect a shorter match.
5. They are the new generation of tennis players that rule the tennis court.	Federer still rules the tennis court but Sampras has retired since 2002.
6. They are rivals in today’s tennis sport. Expect a ‘real match’.	Merely play for exhibition purpose. Not a ‘real match’.
7. Intense celebration whenever Nadal wins a point or a match.	Selamba or rarely showing any emotion when winning points or match.
8. Watch Nadal’s obsessive compulsive bum groping	Nothing unique
9. Left-handed player vs right-handed player is always more interesting to watch.	Right-handed vs right-handed.
10. Better choice of seats.	Limited choice of seats as many tickets has been sold out.

This is actually a continuation from this post about finding out which celebrities that look like you.

But I discover that instead of convincing yourself about how pretty or good looking you are, these days people prefer to make themselves look ugly and funny.

For example, your mobile phone is no longer being used to take picture but also to make that picture looks ugly. Well, my humble phone doesn't have those technology. My friend recently got a Sony Ericsson mobile phone as a birthday gift and it is able to do that (no need Adobe Photochop )

So, here is my picture which I find the funniest!

These are my celebrity look-alike collage and morph. I dig out the ugliest picture and I look like Bae Yong-jun? Anyway, hope you have fun making yours too

Recently, I've started doing some freelance translation job and I find the job rather refreshing. Something different from my usual educational book writing job.

I've completed a mini project to translate an English manual book of a DVD Player to Malay. Although technical translation is not something that I'm familiar of, I've gained so much experience from translating Mathematics and Science books in the last few years. Researching skill is something that I've mastered throughout the years from my job as well as the experience I've gained through net-surfing.

Besides the huge online database I subscribe to as a master student in UM, I find the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka website rather helpful in assisting me in my job. I must give credit to DBP for their online dictionary and scientific terms. However, the website isn't very smooth and sometimes I find it hard to connect to the website.

I hope to get more freelance technical translation project in the near future as it is better paid than writing educational books. If you are looking for translation service (English to Malay at this moment) for your documents or manual books, send an email to me to ask for quotation

I am kinda lost touch of the local entertainment news these days thanks to the lack of opportunity to be in front of the TV and seldom read the papers.

Yesterday, while having lunch alone at Restoran Khalifah nearby my office, I bought a copy of The Star newspaper. The news that caught my attention was the controversial kiss between Ashraf Sinclair and Bunga Lestari. Artists kissing caught on camera is definitely a huge issue in Malaysia.

Remember when Deanna Yusoff's hot kissing scene in a Singaporean drama was condemned by fellow Malaysians? And I remember back in the 80s, a kissing scene in the movie, Isabella, between Amy Search and an Indonesian actress became such a huge issue but the situation wasn't as bad as Deanna Yusoff's case.


I guess there's always double standard when it comes to controversial issues between male and female. Sorry to sound a bit feminist but the guys always get away with it easily while the girls get humiliated by the public.

Reading LiewCF's post on "Have you meet your fate" inspire me to share some tips of how to meet your other halves.

1. Read the book called If Love Is A Game, Here Are The Rules, regardless you have a girlfriend or not. Read at least the first 5 rules.

2. Start getting out and meeting new friends. The best is through mutual friends. Or go on a trip and meet new people. Share your interests during the conversation so that people have a chance to get to know you but don't just talk about yourself.

3. Get her contacts, blog (chances higher if she has one) and e-mail address right on the first meeting.

4. Get to know her by reading her blog.

5. Show your interest by sending her an email the next day right away mentioning about the meeting last night and that you have read some of her posts in her blog.

6. Don't ask her out on a date yet.

7. Invite her to join bloggers' gathering or hangout / yamchar with friends after a week or two.

8. After the second or third time meeting, you can try to ask her for a date. Strictly no movies. Just a simple dinner or coffee to talk and listen to each other. If both of you felt good about each other on this date, you know you are on your way ;)


This is strictly based on my own personal experience and I can't guarantee it will be 100% work. But it works for my relationship

I have been writing for PayPerPost (PPP) for few months now. No doubt PPP which is one of the most talked about blog marketing at this moment and loved by every bloggers whether amateur or professional.

Although I did not really earn much due to my 0 PR (after I've transferred to my own custom domain) and lack of self discipline, I still believe PPP is one of the source that allow me to earn some amount of money through blogging.

When everyone started writing paid posts, I doubt making money online works. But eventually I did believe them and started to sign up and writing.

My diligent postings did produced results and after getting paid for the first month, I did believe in using blog as my side income. However, discipline is very important as writing for paid posts requires a lot of research and hard work. So, I did spent the money I have earned through PPP on buying things through ebay. I've bought some CDs and t-shirts as well as converting the US dollar to Malaysian Ringgit.

Well, I am making a resolution to write everyday. My motto is 'At least a paid post per day', provided that there are opportunities available to me.

Now, can someone please tell me when and how I can increase my page rank?

It's been many years since His Holiness Sakya Trizin visit to Malaysia. Coming along with HH is Lama Lekshey, who was here last year with Luding Khenpo Rinpoche and was seen on a documentary on Discovery channel.

HH will be traveling throughout Southeast Asia between September 13 and October 26, bestowing teachings and empowerments, including Kalachakra and others. The venues include Singapore and Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Kuantan, Ipoh, Penang, Sungai Petani, Kuching and Sarawak).

HH will be arriving Malaysia from Singapore on September 26. For the full schedule of HH visit to Malaysia, click on this link or the pictures below.

Link 5 can be ANYTHING you choose
Words of Wisdom by Dzongzar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche


Since this is a good way to reconnect back with one's old posts, I'll tag the following bloggers:
1. Vhanded
2. Princess Shin
3. Tracy
4. Sharlydia
5. Jobby