Pixelated

Yay! I managed to win 2 tickets but I watched it alone. *Pats self on the back*

Hi All,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a winner for the Lowyat.NET Pixels contest. Please be at GSC 1 Utama at 7.30pm tomorrow to claim your pair (2) of movie passes.

In addition to these passes, you have also won special Pixel merchandise (to be determined at random) and it will be given to you along with your movie passes.

We will be there to hand tickets until 8.30pm, so please be on time.

If you cannot make it, feel free to send someone else instead. They will have to produce a copy of this email for verification, along with inform us on the day who's tickets they are collecting.

Regards,

Lowyat.NET

I just got a cup holder while I see others get shirts =( Maybe the staff saw that I am too fat... The standard gift given to everyone was a box of magnets. I had no idea why the heck but I soon found out =D

As usual biased towards Americans type of storyline. Had a good laugh but no one to share it with, maybe not so joyful after all. I suppose it's because I forgot to brush my teeth...

How to fix Buffalo CS-XL NAS EM issue OR upgrade to newer firmwares

I feel a strong obligation to share my entire day's worth of trial and error not to mention download hell. For those of you who owns Buffalo CS-XL NAS, you might have been disappointed with the results from Google for your problem. You are in luck because I will be helping you out if you got into the same error as I did OR you can upgrade your extremely outdated firmware :)

To make sure we are on the same page or rather using the same device, here is the picture of my device:

 My device, CloudStore CS-XL (doesn't really matter what is the size of the storage)

 

NOT our device, the LinkStation LS-XL most likely renamed because Cloudstore is the same name as the device by Synology

So why do I need to show you both? Any person with a passable eyesight would notice that both are too alike to NOT be the same. I have went through the testing and I can vouch that they are the same, well at least in terms of the firmware which is probably what lead you here.

If you have hit the error Emergency Mode (EM), verified using Buffalo's NAS Navigator software, you will be asked to update your firmware i.e. CloudStor v1.13 (the same as your current). Unfortunately for me, my device went into EM without the LEDs blinking nor did it turn red but it was inaccessible all the same. You may download the firmware here.

If you have successfully gotten your device to work again then congratulations! If you have not read on, same goes for those who wants to upgrade their firmware to a newer version.

At the point of this post was written, the latest available firmware is LinkStation v1.7 and the firmware can be downloaded here (please do download it, required for the next steps). Once you have gotten the firmware, extract the content and you should see a bunch of files. What is of concern to you are just 2 files, the LSUpdater.ini and LSUpdater.exe.

Open the LSUpdater.ini using notepad and you should see this:

[Application]
Title = BUFFALO LinkStation Series Updater Ver.1.70
WaitReboot = 1200
WaitFormat = 600
WaitFileSend = 600
WaitDiscover = 120

[Target]
ProductID = 0x00000011
ProductID2 = 0x00000012
ProductID3 = 0x00000013
ProductID4 = 0x00000014
ProductID5 = 0x00003006
ProductID6 = 0x00003007
ProductID7 = 0x00000015
ProductID8 = 0x00000016
ProductID9 = 0x00003008
ProductID10 = 0x00004001
ProductID11 = 0x00000017
ProductID12 = 0x00000019
ProductID13 = 0x00000020
ProductID14 = 0x00003010
Name = LinkStation

[Flags]
VersionCheck = 1
NoFormatting = 1

Update the content to be like so, the changes are marked with RED. The CloudStore models are added into the file and it was recommended by other support sites that the VersionCheck field should be changed as well, that's what I did so I am sticking to it. Save the file with the new contents!!!

[Application]
Title = BUFFALO LinkStation Series Updater Ver.1.70
WaitReboot = 1200
WaitFormat = 600
WaitFileSend = 600
WaitDiscover = 120

[Target]
ProductID = 0x00000011
ProductID2 = 0x00000012
ProductID3 = 0x00000013
ProductID4 = 0x00000014
ProductID5 = 0x00003006
ProductID6 = 0x00003007
ProductID7 = 0x00000015
ProductID8 = 0x00000016
ProductID9 = 0x00003008
ProductID10 = 0x00004001
ProductID11 = 0x00000017
ProductID12 = 0x00000019
ProductID13 = 0x00000020
ProductID14 = 0x00003010
ProductID15 = 0x00003009
ProductID16 = 0x0000300A
ProductID17 = 0x0000002A
Name = LinkStation

[Flags]
VersionCheck = 0
NoFormatting = 1

Make sure that your NAS is connected to a stable network and NAS Navigator is able to detect it plus it is in the same segment e.g. 192.168.0.*. Run LSUpdater.exe, it should be able to detect your NAS now. If you ran LSUpdater.exe without changing the values, your NAS will not be detected. Click Update. This process will take a while, at least 15-20 minutes as far as I can remember.

After the updater have done its work, you will be prompted a message. Mine said the firmware was NOT compatible BUT my NAS was still displaying steady blue LED light i.e. no issues and finally NAS Navigator is showing that my NAS is using the name I had assigned it and no more EM status. YAY!!!

Now try to access your updated NAS by using the IP as detected by NAS Navigator and you will notice a different looking login page:

Login page of v1.7 firmware for LinkStation, but it is working in my CloudStore :p

MOST other people have reported that they CANNOT login back to their NAS because our previous screen DOES NOT ask for username! The username you should key in now is "admin" (without the quotes) and the password which you used to manage your NAS before this.

I hope you didn't encounter that issue, so if you didn't, CONGRATULATIONS! You have just updated your CloudStore with the latest firmware! To my delight, the bittorent client seems to have been updated as well, at least in terms of the look and feel. I hope this post was able to help you my fellow Buffalo CloudStore CS-XL users =) Cheers

World Cup fever

If you had not been around the past month, there was a super hot topic discussed even by the females who (MOST OF THEM) have no idea what football is about but were totally excited about it. I was totally taken aback during lunch on the day of Brazil's mauling by Germany. ALL of the tables were talking about the same topic although the girls practically have no idea what it means because many of them admitted that they had to Google up what's the story about after hearing all the guys talk about it in their office.

Anyways, that is not really what I want to talk about but rather something that might have caught the attention of some people i.e. the name of the players :p Due to language differences and cultures, there have been many interesting names, here are just a few that I can think of:

Neymar = Niama (rude Cantonese for your mother)
Blind = well not really blind but rather pronounced blee-ind
Immobile = OMG, what the heck is he doing on the pitch LOL, im-mo-bill-leh
Messi = well his previous haircut does make him messy :p
Hulk = he ain't green but he BIG
Oscar = not the statue itself BUT he did put in many deserving performances which might deserve 1
Song = no tune at all
Aguilar = Ah gila!
Bravo = he did put in a performance worthy of hailing BRAVO!
Krul = pronounced cruel or to that effect
James Rodriguez = Hammes Rodriguez, I wouldn't have known it was pronounced that way ...
Bony = he got muscles with that
Honda = conquering on the world stage, heck yeah
Sakai = err, no need to explain I suppose
Costly = *sweat*
Klose = before the start of the World Cup, he was close to breaking all the time scoring record. His name is pronounced as clause-r or something to that effect
Gotze = he doesn't have a goatee :p His name is pronounced as goat-ze
Kroos = you can say that he is the cruise control of the Germany team
Hazard = not really that hazardous in the World Cup. Pronounced ah-zard
Kompany = the defence is quite tight normally when you are in his company :p

The pronunciation parts are just my own way of making it out so it will definitely NOT be accurate. It was great to be able to see some of the players which I had interest in, in my Football Manager games and got to watch them play in real life. Had an even better time with my close friends watching together, even those who are normally NOT into football joined in =)

Now I can get back into my normal sleeping cycle after a couple of weeks of sleep deprivation.

My first expensive bag

Well, technically not mine but rather it's for my mother. Her reaction was just as I expected because she is not familiar with the brand at all. Oh well, I have talked to my colleague about this for quite some time and finally I got the chance. Would have preferred to get a cheaper one but I think this one is quite a beauty, a Michael Kors bag :p

Was shown this picture before purchase

Black color was bought by another friend. They say blue is better?

 Can be used 2 ways, like this

 and like this

 To those who knows something about this brand, is it true that the price in Malaysia is almost always over RM1000? Well, mine is of course lower than that but still it was quite a hefty sum to be very honest. At least it is not costing me a couple of thousands like most of the bags which I see many females are carrying around...

Music in my ears ... again

Previously I have bought a very low end bluetooth wireless earphone. I think it didn't even lasted 6 months and the shop which sold me that could not be found anymore. Oh well, that just means more quiet train rides to and fro work. I got through that by doing something else ie flipping Flipboard and now reading manga.

Recently I found a good deal and reconsidered to get music into my journey again. This time I am getting something from a more reputable brand, hopefully it will fare much better and serve me well.



When I was at my previous company, a colleague of mine tried to poison me everyday with his RM1500 headphone which of course helped him concentrate on work since it has noise cancellation. Ever since then I have been searching for a more affordable solution since I definitely cannot afford RM1000+ headphones.

Researched high and low for a cheaper alternative but it was an impossible task if noise cancellation was part of the criteria so I had to give up that option. With that out of the window, the price ranges dropped significantly. However, I had some other requirements which I cannot give in ie over-ear type, wireless and foldable. Wireless especially limited the options but I came down to 2 candidates which was Rapoo H6080 and Edifier W670BT. Both were in the price range which I could afford without losing sleep over.

I like Rapoo's foldability but eventually I picked Edifier because they are more specialized in making sound related devices although I am no music enthusiast. Reviews would normally favor makers with sound background so that also swayed my decision. I was quite contented with Rapoo's ability to match my requirements but in the end, experience have taught me to perhaps pay a little more to get the better product which will pay off better in the end.


Introducing my Edifier W670BT:

 

Another feature which I have not mentioned and will most likely be irrelevant in day to day usage unless your work requires you to travel frequently via airplanes. The ability to use the wireless headphone as a wired headphone. This means that you can still use the headphone in situations which only allows for wired and when your headphone ran out of battery.

My Mi

There is a sudden rush of craze these past months of a certain brand. A brand that is trying to generate loads of hype and seems to be able to keep it. I couldn't post this earlier because I have met with failure in my earlier attempts to procure merchandise made by them but not anymore :D

On my 4th try, I FINALLY managed to get the extremely affordable powerbanks made by Xiaomi. I was over the moon and realized that I could have gotten it earlier if I was not so stubborn with using my preferred browser. Everything was so smooth and I didn't encounter the "carrot" error messages at all! Anyways, that is not the point of this post :p

I always call this powerbank as "a quality product at pasar malam price" because it is an absolute steal if you compare it to what the current market is flushed with. Fake powerbanks some carrying major names and sold at prices just a tad higher than this. So even when I already own more than 2 previously very good brand powerbanks, I will want to just get these because the prices are too insane NOT to!

 My powerbanks went on a tour of East Asia first before landing in Malaysia.

 An inconspicuous package received

 The package was packed in a way that it was very heavy on 1 side but at least the content will not be flying around in the oversized box

 The initial non-descript box has a label that reassures me that I go the correct item =D

 All of the boxes content

 Yep, it's 10400 mAH as I have made payments for

Still "virgin" for now

My charger is occupied at night so I can't prep this long awaited powerbank to be used so I guess it will have to wait until a charger is freed up to fully charge it.

Manga reading on my phone

Roughly more than 1 month ago I saw a guy reading manga while riding the bus. I was thick faced enough to ask him what app was that and quickly installed it when I got to my seat in office. The app is called Manga Rock.

At the top of the popular list of manga is of course Naruto, Fairy Tail and Bleach. In summary that means that I will be able to read those new popular manga while I am on my way to work or home. After reading up to the latest release, I found that these long series will have a similar theme. Fairy Tail loves to use time ie deadlines (ironically just like real life work, LOL) and the characters somehow refuse to die or will not be out of energy no matter how tired they claim to be. Recuperation rate is too unbelievable in my opinion. Bleach on the other hand is somewhat like Dragon Ball, there will ALWAYS be someone stronger and the main character will somehow managed to get stronger but not before getting his ass kicked. Ichigo (the main character, a guy whose name means strawberry =_=||| how gay is that!!!) reminds me so much of Son Goku that he uses his strength to help his friends more often than not ignoring his own safety but always coming out on top.

I also managed to finish reading the real stories of some of the anime which I have watched. The stories vary quite a far bit and I take side with the people who have read it before watching the anime that the stories in the manga is much better than the anime though it is much faster to watch and it might also explain some scenes which have no script or interesting fight scenes which cannot be properly portrayed using still pictures.

When I really think about it, there are so many manga which I want to read now that I don't seem to have enough time to finish them all :( It has crossed my mind quite a few times to re-read old manga ie Dragon Ball and Rurouni Kenshin but those might have to wait quite some while :p

I find this as the funniest in between fillers ROFLMAO. Frankly speaking I didn't get it until almost the end of the series :Þ

Damn.. missed out on a free RM499 phone!!!

Godammit, I forgot that I had entered a competition to get a chance to win a free phone. I only realized it when their page started to show their staff packing the phones to be delivered to other winners :(

To avoid spam, I decided to use a less used email address hence I did not know I got the notification that I had won T_T A case where being too careful does not pay off :(

First email notification:

You Guessed Right!

Congratulations on guessing the correct price of the Huawei Honor 3C!

The Huawei Honor 3C which is packed with features like 5MP front camera, Quadcore 1.3 GHz CPU & 5" HD LTPS screen is priced at only RM499!

We will email the redemption code for xxx.my to you soon, be the first 100 to redeem the code and you will get the Honor 3C from xxx.my for FREE. 

1. Be sure to register yourselves at http://www.xxx.my/ before 1st May (Thursday) 12 noon and link the account to your Facebook profile.
2. Head on to http://www.xxx.my/ at 3.08pm on 2nd May (Friday) to redeem the Honor 3C.
3. Only the first 100 to redeem using the code provided in the email will get the Honor 3C for FREE so BE FAST!

All the best and get ready to grab the new Honor 3C!

Reminder notification:

Dear “guess the price” user:

Congratulations that you guess the right Price for Honor 3C.  your Voucher Code is “HONOR3C2GRAM”, this code it bundling with this Email Address  which you fill in our “guess the price” contest

However we got more than 100 users guess the right price, so we will have a little competition called “first come first serve”, this voucher will activated at May 2^nd ,3:08PM, and invalid after 100 usage.

And

The event information as below:

1.       Time : May 2^nd , 3:08PM

2.       We will launch a banner on “www.xxx.my ”on that day

3.       The winner can buy the Honor 3C Free with input the Voucher code

4.       The voucher code will send to winners through Email which filled in “guess the price” contest.

5.       The winner need to finish the register and verify by May 1^st 10:00PM.

6.       For all verification purposes, xxx only recognizes the email you used in the “guess the price” contest

And most important preparation is to register and verify on xxx.my, deadline is May 1^st 10:00PM  :

a)       If you Login in xxx with your FB account to snap, specify your “guess the  price” contest used email  ID in the prompt shown by xxx (Refer below image A).

b)       Please verify whether you have specified the right email ID in your Account Information

 (

c)    if you login in xxx with xxx account to snap, please make sure the vmall account email address is same as the “guess the price” contest used email.  

d)       any other issues, please contact us @ 1800 – xxxxxx.   Or  Email us @ xxx.my@mail01.xxx.com through your contest used Email ID

Come to think of it, I was driving around that time so might not be able to do this anyways =_="

Some people think they understand BUT ...

if you were never in my shoe, I don't believe will come even close to what is really happening. Although there are very wise people around but they may know in general NEVER the exact, what's worse is that they THINK they know but in actual fact they don't and that makes things so very much worse.

It may be strange to announce that although a person may be surrounded by people BUT that person is actually very lonely. I think we can see this with celebrities sometimes, they are the supposed center of attention BUT it's probably not the kind of attention that they truly want/seek.

Do you understand???

Now that's a catch

I saw someone shared this and I think this will be anyone's catch of their life :)

I don't really like beer that much so I will just skip that and follow the rest of the instruction :p Now where does one find such a catch?

Introvert

I thought I knew the meaning of this word because I consider myself to be an introvert person. I had interviewed a person a couple of months ago and he claimed to be an introvert of which I thought he go the meaning wrong and (thinking too highly of myself) I went and corrected him by giving him "examples" of how and introvert person would actually be.

It seems to me after some checking and reading today, I was not entirely accurate in understanding the meaning of introvert too. Makes me feel a little ashamed of myself, not to mention my an hero explanation to the interviewee =_=|||

Anyways, it seems that someone have already compiled some characteristics which might indicate whether you are an introvert. Though the list is sort of like a guide only and frankly speaking some of it are so general that almost anyone will have it. After going it through it, I checked almost 70% of the items listed. So I guess I am one after all.

So are you an introvert as well?

My farewell notes

I am sure during the course of your working life you will have encountered colleagues leaving and receiving their farewell notes. After reading so many of other people's, I wanted to make mine special and that was always in my mind. The unfortunate thing is that I know far too many people to be able to just come up with 1 email so I wrote plenty to different groups :p

The first one is of course the most important, the people who interviewed and eventually hired me

Dear Managers,

You may or may not remember that you were the ones who interviewed me but despite my poor memory, you three are etched into my mind.

Dear En S,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to join your team.
Being part of your team have shaped me to who I am today.
The values and qualities you have taught me can basically be seen today whereby we are quite similar in being cheekily truthful on sensitive matters which unfortunately is a suicidal clash against Management.
Nevertheless, I see there is no wrong in telling truth just that I am not able to put what must be conveyed in a gentler manner.

Dear C & S,

Although I was not chosen by you to join your respective teams, we have worked together in lesser capacity in recent years.
It is still a pleasure to be able to work with you

Lastly, I remember I was asked a question by C if not mistaken, whether I was prepared to work outside of normal working hours ie during midnight or later.
Being a inexperienced young man then, I just blurted what came to my mind ie that I will be as prepared to work just as I am prepared to stay awake to watch my favorite football team play in the wee hours. It was meant as a joke but we were all laughing, I think :p
Over the years of course, I have worked countless nights of which on many occasions through the night and spanning over 24 hours.

Thank you all and I hope to work with you again in the near future.
Cheers and all the best.

My original teammates

To my beloved original teammates,

Thank you for teaching and coaching me from  a fresh grad who doesn't know anything to become a true .
The experiences with you all have shaped me to be who I am today.

I know it may sometimes be hard to accept that I am challenging your belief (especially Muslims) or work or personally and I would like to seek for forgiveness in the spirit of Ramadhan for what I have said or done that may have offended you but you suffered in silence.

It will be my greatest pleasure to be able to work with you again in the near future.

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart and all the best

My current teammates

My dearest colleagues,

As you may have seen this morning, I was overwhelmed with emotions to be saying my goodbye.

It was a magnificent pleasure to be able to have the opportunity to work and learn from each and every one of you.
We may have discussed, quarreled and sometimes might escalate until physical conflict but its all good because we are like a big family in one of the smallest IT department in the Bank.

I know it may sometimes be hard to tolerate that I am challenging your belief (especially Muslims) or work or personally and I would like to seek for forgiveness in the spirit of Ramadhan for what I have said or done that may have offended you but you suffered in silence.

It will be my greatest pleasure to be able to work with you again in the near future.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart and all the best.

Lastly, a general email to everyone in my sector and some important/close business colleagues with a more original email title "Disembarking flight MSS1713". FYI, MSS1713 was a new company direction

Dear Colleagues,

Many of you may not know me but I am going ahead and spam you anyways. Kindly be reminded that ITSEC does not endorse spamming =D

For those who do know me, I am sad to inform you that I will not be joining you in the historic journey of MSS.

I always imagined that I would be able to write this email in a way that it will leave an impression and to be honest, I am hit with writer's block for almost a moth.
So at a loss of my own creativity, I will have to make a corny quote from quite a famous HK drama, "人生有多少個十年?" which is literally translated as "How many decades are there in a human life?". I have been here for almost a decade, roughly 9 years and 4 months and in those many many years, I have got to known many people, some you like, some you don't, some you just can't use any words to describe them. However, I have been exceptionally lucky to be able to work in teams that display unprecedented teamwork and cohesion under the guidance of even more remarkable leaders. It will be my greatest pleasure to be able to work with you again in the near future.

I speak my mind and more often than not and it is generally not accepted by the masses. Hence in the spirit of Ramadhan, I would like to seek for your forgiveness IF I may have offended you in any way.

Note : I will NOT be using the 012-xxxxxxx anymore

All the best and safe journey on MSS1713

From blasting email to so many people, one of the most interesting reply I got was from someone who had the same middle as I did and she replied because of that LOL. Some of those who are not aware, called me up immediately and asked about many things, mostly related to work which I have helped them.

My Galaxy Note II LTE =D

About a month ago, I accidently dropped my Galaxy S2 from waist height =( and the display went dead. I was very pissed off that day and probably that was why I got careless. I have been doing research on which replacement phone I should get to replace my faltering S2 seeing that its battery is drained too fast and ROMs are not updated as much anymore.

In the end, at the price that I would like to pay, I got a Note II LTE. I got the LTE version although its not supported by my then telco because I was thinking to switch telco as well due to the very poor reception in many places.

 

Actual box

 See the 4G? HEHEHE

Might be a little small but you can see the signal is now 4G after switching to the Evil Green telco :p

Unfortunately like my previous phone, due to its scarcity for now, there is quite a limited choice of custom ROMs for me to experiment with. In fact, there aren't many that are using the latest ones so I might just have to root it just for using some of the apps that I am used to until an attractive ROM or the official one comes out. Another reason for not using a custom ROM is that it will strip some of the functions which I feel should remain so that is really putting me off.

Last Friday, I went and pick up a piece of hardware which will make my phone even more modern and up-to-date =D A wireless charger to be placed on my already cluttered table =p Well what's a smartphone if it does not give you the feel that its the latest technology other than the choice of what you want, especially in size.

The packaging was very important for the seller =p

Pfft, typical China plugs which is quite a hassle

The charging station

Do you feel the Qi?

Place this baby correctly on the touch points and we are ready to go ^_^

 What sorcery is this???

The charging time depends on the usage of your phone, namely what do you run or have running in the background.

So far, the usage of this charger is just more for the sake of having it because I feel the charge rate is just too slow for my liking. Since my phone can last the whole day of my waking hours, this is for now somewhat like a showpiece.

Drive from KL to Phuket

"Did you say drive???", that was the question that most people asked me when I told them about my plan. It was actually quite an impromptu decision. I was at my aunt's house and they were all talking about going places via land transport to many many places and it just suddenly struck me that I too wanted to drive somewhere as a family outing. I have wanted for quite some time to make a passport for my son and now with this decision, I will just follow through and in future, travel plans may include other countries :)

Since it was a snap decision and with just around 1 week of research and close to no planning, it was like any unplanned things, not so well executed but yet its not that bad either :) Its just the sort of things that I want to do, I seriously do not like to wait too long for a trip to happen and it really shows for my few recent trips.

OK, so for n00bs like your's truly, its of course a little internet research and a little experimentation here and there. So to help you out IF you have the same crazy idea to drive to Thailand, you will need :

1) A car/MPV or whatever that you drive DUH! Make sure its in a good condition ... not to forget about your spare tyre
2) Car registration card or most people call it geran, I would recommend for you to bring the real thing instead of photocopy since the wordings might be blur on the photocopy version.
3)Touch N' Go or Smart Tag, the latter being the better option, this is to avoid the long queues
4) Water, at least for the journey of 100km into Thailand.
5) GPS or smartphone with GPS + Thailand map
6) More than 1 driver in the car, just in case the driver gets too tired (optional)

The drive up north is pretty simple, just get on the PLUS highway and zoom towards Bukit Kayu Hitam. If you have item 5, its best to have Waze to help you avoid speeding summons. There are a number of road signs that says Speed Camera Operation area. If you are an observant driver, you will notice that only the signs with yellow background will have the cameras :p but its best to follow the speed limit in those area for at the very least 2km. Like any system, there is actually a tolerance for speeding. I have been zooming at 115kmph for many years and only late last year got a ticket for speeding on a trunk road =_=, going 110kmph in an 80kmph zone. Nature breaks along the way is a good chance to straighten your back and legs, perhaps for you to have something to eat too.

If you are a law abiding driver, you should pass the last toll about 5 hours from when you start the journey, breaks included of course. I was a little relieved that I do not have to pay a toll in Ipoh like the old days where it may be a little jam just before you go uphill. Again, if you are observant enough you will notice some strange place names =D

After paying the last toll, you will pass by a place called Changlun, please stop speeding here and this is the time for you to look for a gas station and fill up to the extreme max. Also, you will have to stop at the many shops which sells Thailand car insurance. The last shop is a place called CTC, since you are not speeding, you should see the red sign and its like a bus terminal with food court. I bought my insurance for RM15 which lasts 9 days. Please do check the details before paying. For those of you who have not changed your money to baht, this place also offers good rates.

Passing the Malaysian immigration is easy as 123. Just show them your passport and you are in. They might just want to have a look if everybody is in the car but other than that its nothing.

Not long after this CTC place, you will find ...

 Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration Complex

Just before you get into the shade of this complex, take a left into the parking area next to the complex. Bring your car registration card along with your passport and a pen. If you don't have the immigration card yet, you may get some at the office next to the toilet. For those of you who don't have a pen, you might just have to enlist the assistance of people who will help you fill in the immigration card for a fee. There are a couple of counters so just line up with the immigration card filled up on both the entry and exit portion. Drivers, you use a special lane where cars can pass by. First get your customs clearance and with your car registration card, you will be issued an import permit for your car to be driven into Thailand. Since its your first time, you will be charged with RM5. Go get your car and pass it to the counter next to custom's counter, the officer will need to see your car before signing off the form. Once that is done, you are in!

Upon driving by the gas stations, you will notice that there are a couple of prices for petrol, in Thailand they have RON91 and RON95. To be on the safe side, I pumped the second most expensive RON95 gasohol. What I can say is that my car ran upwards of 1,000km on them and I still drove it back to KL so it should be good enough for your car. Oh btw, the prices you see displayed are in accordance to real world prices so if you see a good rate, I suggest you fill up :) At the time of writing this post, the price is double of what we are paying so enjoice the real world :p

Now about Thai drivers, they can be a bitch. Doesn't matter what kind of vehicle they use, there is no fast lane ... You will see some assholes hogging the fast lane with miles of open road in front of them and they don't have a rear view mirror. What I had to do was to overtake on the left (the supposed slow lane). Thankfully most roads have 2 lanes so you life is not so miserable. On roads with just 1 lane, you better know what your car is capable of unless you can stand to not overtake. Overtaking trucks/vans can be a nightmare, straight roads would be places where most drivers will be comfortable in overtaking BUT a straight road is also where most people tend to speed up. So imagine going at around 100kmph but you want to overtake a truck/van, when you reach a place which you are comfortable to overtake, you will find that the truck/van will speed up and you better have enough pickup in your car to go faster than them else you will be stuck behind them again. That being said, the road is wide enough to handle the width of 3 cars so if they are kind enough, they will give you a little more space and so will the oncoming car.

You need a lot of focus on the road because their highway is unlike our's whereby its like a trunk road but 2 lanes so there will be other vehicles which will want to make turns or U-turns, so just keep an eye out and always be on alert. Often times the major routes are straight as far as the eye can see.Not really that great for speeding because its not too flat so I always maintained 110kmph or so which is above the speed limit of 80kmph.

Parking in the major cities might be a problem because there isn't much parking space. So just do what the locals do and hopefully you won't be so lucky to pick up a summons :p Anyways, I overtook the police at quite a high speed and was not stopped so perhaps they will be a lenient with visitors =D

Most guides end here but I think I will also elaborate a little on leaving. So once you have had your fun in Thailand and its time to go home, you will pass by the same immigration complex. To save time, I would recommend that you drive your car straight up to the counter and go through customs there. Remember to pay RM1 to the officer, not really sure what is it for though but they will definitely ask for it. Once the human process is done, the next counter will be for your car. So hand over the import form to the counter next to the human counter and show the officer your car and you are done.

For people who wants to buy duty free goods, don't miss the duty free shop on your right. Its in the middle of the 2 immigration complexes. Parking is free if you buy RM200 worth of stuff, perfumes and some other things are excluded from that free parking T&C so go buy an expensive bottle of liquor or get loads of chocolates.

As for the Malaysian immigration complex, same as entry, just let them check your passport and the next counter is intriguing, its a toll booth =_=" The fee is RM3.60, you may pay via Touch N' Go or cash. Next counter will be the customs. If you have spent more than 3 nights in Thailand, you will pass by with not much problem especially if you are traveling with a family. I should have snuck a big bottle of liquor (2 litres and up) because the officer just asked me to pop the bonnet and have a quick look without even touching anything.

So that's my brief summary of driving to Thailand. Enjoy your trip :)

Edit for extra notes :
Depending on where you go, some places like the big buddha temple in Phuket might be a challenge for not so powerful cars. The gradient is marked as 10% but its actually steeper than the upper reaches of Genting. In one of the sections, I had to drop back to gear 1 ...

Checklist for love? Or checklist for the perfect partner?

First off, I don't have the capacity to come up with the below BUT I do have something similar in my head. Yes, often times we are all 'distracted' by 1 or 2 of the qualities, as explained, its only human to err. I'm sure most people can relate in some ways and perhaps you have your own criteria as do all of us :) 

Perhaps not as lucky as this person, I have been in a very similar situation with a very different result. Interestingly, although very difficult initially, I overcame my grief and went on after getting some much needed help (you know who you are =D). This was also explained by Matt except for the getting help part :p You learn from your past and that should enrich your experience and knowledge on what you need or want, more importantly what to avoid :)

You might want to grab a chair and make some tea/coffee, its a long one XD

Copied from here

The phone rang.

She was sobbing badly on the other end of the line.

“I’m going over,” I told her and hung up before she could protest.

1am. It was going to be a long night ahead..

She was still crying when she opened the door. She looked so broken, so vulnerable. I didn’t have to know what was wrong, I just held her in my arms. She cried even more.

“He broke up with me,” she finally said.

I just kept quiet as she let it all out.. questions, tears, anger, hurt.

“Why does love have to hurt so much?”

“No, love.. doesn’t hurt,” I said gently.

“So says the guy who’s been single forever? What would you know about love,” she jabbed.

“So says the guy who’s been your friend though Mr now-ex-#4,” I grinned. “Love doesn’t hurt you.. it’s the person that doesn’t know how to love or appreciate love that hurts you. But love never hurts,”.

“You won’t understand, Matt,” she sighed, “you’ve never been in love…”

“That’s not entirely true, you know..”

“Wait what- so who’s this girl I’ve never heard abou-“

“What did you love about #4 anyway?” I interjected.

“I don’t know… he is just perfect. And I love him so much,”

“But you don’t know what it is that you love about him?”

“It’s just.. the feeling when I’m with him. It always felt right with him. He made me feel loved and I loved him too,”

“That’s it? Just a feeling?”

“Well.. yea. What were you expecting me to say?”

“.. something more specific, maybe? I mean, if you thought he’s so ‘perfect’, why’d he still chea- erm, why’d he leave you?”

“Because I’m just not good enough for him? I don’t know..” she paused. “What is love to you then…”

“Hmm.. to me, being together or in love with someone should be more that just a feeling.. it should also be about mutual understanding, acceptance, respect, commitment and trust.”

“That’s what all couples would hope and want their relationship to be like, Matt. But expectations and reality don’t always go together..”

“Or maybe.. someone’s just not trying?”

“Well if you think love is so simple.. why haven’t you been with anyone all these years?”

“I never said love was simple.. but I guess the reason why I’ve never been with anyone yet is because.. I already know exactly what I want,”

“You have.. a checklist?”

“Sorta. It’s not the typical kinda ‘I’d like a girl with long hair, nice smile, etc’ superficial checklist though,”

“Oh. What kind of list is it then?”

“It’s like.. a concept of love. Of what it is about a girl that will make me fall completely in love with her. A concept that has more than three specific reasons that would answer any question as to why I love her.”

“You have a concept of love?” she laughed. “Love isn’t a theory, Matt.. you can’t just classify love by a concept or definition, you simply feel it with your heart..”

“But you see.. the reason why I think there are so many broken hearts, is because people merely jump into a relationship when their heart feels a certain something towards someone. But I don’t think that’s love, that’s merely an infatuation. Personally, I believe there are more than three reasons and aspects that actually determines whether we really are truly in love beyond the superficial ‘I don’t know why I love him/her.. I just do’ reason,”

“That makes sense. So what exactly is this.. ‘concept’ of yours about?” she asked, genuine curiosity replacing her initial skepticism.

“I call it the 4+1 theory. The aspects that will determine if it’s true love or just a fickle infatuation. It’s based on this idea that whenever we like someone, if we really go deeper into what is it that draws us to him or her, we’d be able to find that one specific reason. That’s not love though. That’s merely an attraction or infatuation. But when more than three of the aspects from this theory are present, you’ll be pretty sure that it’s more than just a feeling. For me personally, this determines if I’ll ever fall in love with a girl…”

Mind. Heart. Body. Soul.

The mind aspect, to put it simply, is her intellect. But I don’t mean the academic smarts.. it’s the way she thinks, processes and analyzes things way beyond a shallow self centeredness. It’s the way she puts across her thoughts, not for winning an argument’s sake, but to really try to understand or even sensibly debate opposing views that might leave anyone reflecting on her words or challenge me to think differently. It’s the way she carries herself off with an aura of sophistication and enigmatic charm and no matter how much I might think I already know her or have her figured out, she’ll still surprise me with something unexpected. Good surprise. I like intellect. Personally, it takes a little more to intrigue me and stimulate my senses. If I can connect with someone and talk endlessly about the concept of nothing, then, only then, will we be able to talk about everything else.. and I think that’s incredibly alluring,”

“Ooh.. so my best friend’s sapiosexual too,” she teased. “But what about her likes and dislikes or like her personality.. does that go under the mind aspect too?”

“Well, that’s where the heart aspect comes in. The heart represents who she is by what she values or cares about. The things she likes, the things she dislikes. What really matters to her, as well as her insecurities and fears..”

She bit her lower lip - thinking. “But what if him knowing about my past and all my insecurities scares him or drives him away? Or what if he ever uses all of these against me if someday things go bad between us?”

“Erm.. you do realize that it doesn’t really matter now because whether or not he ever knew, he already chose to leave you right? But.. if he still or ever tries to hurt you in any way, then he is a fucking bastard and I will punch his face,”. I really meant it.

“I don’t think he even cares about me anymore,” she sighed, “maybe he never really did.. we were so.. different. I don’t know why I never actually realize it before,”

“Maybe because then, you were too ‘blinded by love’ to see, or you chose to conveniently ignore the differences. Honestly though, I think it’s critical for two people to understand each other’s heart and learn to accommodate each other’s differences rather than simply turning a blind eye or deaf ear ‘because I love him and that’s all that matters’. Because if two people are too different in the way they think, behave or live.. I reckon it will become a huge problem when the infatuation bubble bursts.”

“I don’t really understand..” she said.

“Let me just ask you this.. does he know how passionate you are towards the arts and music?"

“Well, no.. not really. He’s more the sports kind of guy and doesn’t like theatre and stuff so I didn’t want him to get bored if I talked to him about things he isn’t interested in..”

“Then i’m guessing he probably also doesn’t care or know the little things about you. Like how you’re afraid of the dark and why you’re actually scared of darkness.. how family and relationships are really important to you.. that ice cream is your happy pill. You know, I’m even going to bet that he doesn’t know you go to bed every night, clutching your phone just hoping and waiting for him to text you goodnight..”

She started to tear again, but I continued..

“You see, it’s not a matter of whether it bores him or not.. it’s a matter of whether he bothers or not. I mean, if he doesn’t even know these things about you, then he really doesn’t know you at all. How then can he say he loves you?”

“But I really loved him,” she murmured softly to herself .

“I know you did. I know you still do and it’s hurting you like shit. But you need to know that for any kind of relationship to work.. two people need to give and take. Sadly, with him, it seems like you’re the one who was always giving. If he actually really loved you back as much, he’d make a greater effort to close the gap and bridge the differences between you two. He’d want to hear what you have to say, he would actually consider your opinions, your needs and your feelings. He’ll not just tell you or text you that he loves you.. he’ll show it by the things he will do or be willing to do no matter how inconvenient or silly it might be, just because.. he knows it’ll make you happier or better. To me, when it comes to a relationship, the heart aspect isn’t just a feeling or who you/he or she is anymore. It becomes two hearts beating as one. Two people wanting to understand each other.. sharing the good, the bad and possibly a future together; actually bothering and supporting each other’s feelings, values, dreams, thoughts, emotions,”

She stayed silent for a long while before she looked up, holding my gaze.. there was this unspoken tension building before she finally spoke again.

“But.. what if something that’s important to me, is not something the guy might feel same way about?"

“Then I’ll try-” I caught myself. “I mean, if I were him. I’d try. I’d make the effort.. because it’s important to you and you’re important to me,”

She remained silent again. She wasn’t crying anymore but this time, the prolonged silence was starting to grow even more deafening.

“Matt,” she finally spoke - softly, “do you believe in love at first sight?”

“No.” I said flatly.

“Oh..” she sighed. “You know what you said about mind and heart.. it’s actually starting to sink in and I’m beginning to realize that maybe these two aspects weren’t exactly a big part of my relationship with him,”

“So what made you fall in love with him then?”

“Well.. don’t laugh, but I’ve always thought that with him, it was love at first sight. I mean, there was just this spark between us from the very first time we met,”

“Cos he was hot?” I scoffed.

“No.. don’t be an idiot,” she tried to hide her smile but failed. I rolled my eyes. “Okay fine, yea maybe that. But it wasn’t the only reason!”

I raised an eyebrow.

“He was really nice too! And he was always sweet to me,“ she began her defense case. “He always made me feel happy, secure and loved without even having to try, you know?” I just continued staring at her waiting for her to go on. “Oh never mind, you’d never understand..”

“Actually.. I do. And I think I now understand what it was that made you fall in love with him.

The body aspect.

The body aspect is about physical attraction, intimacy and presence.

I don’t believe in love at first sight. I don’t believe you can just “instantly know” you’re in love or that someone’s THE one just by “first sight”. No offense, but I think the whole love at first sight concept is bullshit that only exists in movies and fairy tales. In reality, it isn’t love. That very first attraction.. is probably lust. Lust at first sight”.

“What nonsense! It’s not like I was lusting over him from the very first time I laid eyes on him! Maybe it’s the case for guys.. I mean, sex is always on a guy’s mind whenever he meets a girl right? But it’s different for girls, Matt..” she protested.

“Okay. You know what.. since you brought up the age-old guys and sex debate, I’ll tell you this secret to clarify something about guys for the first and last time.. probably 99% of guys are naturally sexual. If you ever meet any guy who tells you he isn’t sexual at all, it’s not that he’s gay – no, gays are even more horny .. he’s likely to be a liar and you should be more wary of him. BUT! Here’s the thing.. even though guys are sexual by nature, it isn’t always the only or most important thing to a guy,”

“Really?” now she raised her eyebrow with that annoying smirk on her face.

“Oh come on, you girls know how it is, plus you aren’t exactly saint-like innocent either.. sometimes you see a hot guy and you start fantasizing or making statements like ‘omg have my babies’..”

“That…” she started blushing.

“That.. is exactly my point. It’s the same with guys. We might talk and think about sex a lot more openly than girls but it isn’t always the only thing on our mind. When I said it’s lust at first sight.. I didn’t literally mean you want the guy naked and in bed. What I meant is the momentary attraction or desire– he might be hot, he might be charming, he might have smiled at you that made you feel a certain way.. but that’s not love. That’s really just a superficial physical attraction. Saying “I’m in love” right there and then just completely takes the special meaning out of the word ‘love’. If you ask me, I personally think the process of loving or falling in love with someone involves discovering the person and then perhaps developing feelings. It could happen quickly or over a longer period of time, but not at first sight,”

“Hmm.. that does make sense,” she paused and then her lips curled up forming that annoying smirk again. “Oh wow, this is the first time you and I are talking about sex huh..”.

“You never asked..”

“Tell me then.. what is sex to you?”

“Sex.. to me, is merely a physical act. I am not part of the whole “sex is sacred/taboo” camp but then, I don’t take sides with the whole bed hopping culture either,”

“I can’t believe you just said that sex is merely a physical act..” she began in a disappointed tone.

“But sex really is just a physical act if it’s without emotions or feelings. And that is why I distinguish between sex and making love, the same way I clearly differentiate ‘loving’ and ‘being in love’ with someone,”

“Oh.” this time, she smiled. She understood.

“Don’t get me wrong.. I think physical intimacy is very important in a relationship but for me, the one physical aspect that matters the most.. is the physical presence. That, is also what I reckon made you fall in love with him.

“Okay this, I really want to know…” she said.

“The physical presence is simply being there. You want him to be with you. You want to be there for him. Because just being there with or for each other makes your day, or you as a person, a little better. You may act or behave a little different when you’re with him, but in a good way – in a way that you actually feel completely comfortable, safe and you. Perhaps even without you knowing, you smile more and laugh harder. You feel real, genuine joy. And even on days when the smile can’t happen, you know you don’t have to pretend to be okay or be self conscious in front of him; because its perfectly okay to be the way you are and feel when you’re with him. He cares about you and you feel loved when you’re with him. Sometimes, there are no need for words or explanations.. just his presence, him being there for you, holding you.. makes you feel better or believe that it’s going to be okay again. Because you’re not just holding on to someone for attention or sympathy.. you actually feel and believe that you’re holding on to a part of or the rest of your life..”

Which leads to the fourth aspect – soul.

The soul aspect to me, is the deepest form and the final affirmation that should answer any remaining doubt or questions as to whether we’ve truly fallen in love with a person.

It’s when you start noticing but still appreciate all the other little things, even the flaws - especially the flaws. It’s when you truly know a person stripped down of all their walls, exposed to their soul and yet still accept and love him or her. It’s a level of understanding and acceptance that goes beyond the “honeymoon everything is perfect” period.

It’s when you finally realize this one person is someone you can always and want to tell everything to, and you want to ask and know everything of him or her as well. It’s when you actually want to share your life and trust your secrets with this person; and you can. This someone is the first person you think of when you’re happy, sad or when something significant happens. This same person is someone you can call at 1am in the morning and they’d drop everything to make time for you, staying by you till the sun rises or you’re better again - as you would for him or her as well. This person cares and will listen. Will really listen, giving you their undivided attention and genuine love; not necessarily every time but any time you need him or her. This one person makes your problem their problem and they go through it together with you just so you don’t have to go through the pain and tears alone,”

It was at this moment, for the very first time, she looked at me in a different way but said nothing.

“You see, the soul aspect..” I continued, “is when you start to see and want to share the rest of your life with this one other. And not in a clingy “I can’t live without you” way, but in a way that I can still live my life without you as I have before I met you, but now that you’ve come to exist in my life, I see the possibility of a life with you and now I actually want to make decisions and live a life, continuing to create more moments and memories together with you”.

“Well.. so.. have you met this one person yet? I mean, I’m sure it’s almost impossible to find that ‘perfect’ girl who fulfills all of your four aspects of love right?” she mumbled. I could barely hear her. She wasn’t even looking at me anymore.

“No, it is not impossible and I don’t think its asking for too much. You see the thing about these four aspects is, we often and will find one or two aspects in many different people. And that alone may be enough to make us attracted to them or develop a crush on them. But really, that is not love at all. If we like a person because “he’s cute” or “the way she thinks”, that’s just us liking the body and/or mind aspect of a person. The reality is, we are always going to meet many people who possess these different aspects of mind, heart, body or soul. But on a rare occasion when you do meet someone who possess all these four aspects.. you’ll almost definitely know that he or she is not one of many but may just be the one. So personally, I won’t settle for anything less unless she possess more than three qualities. You know people write the symbol of love as < 3 (less than three), I actually think love should be more than three.. I define it as 4+1. “

“So what’s plus one?” she asked, still not looking at me.

“Plus one…” I trailed off – unconsciously.

“Matt?” she placed her hand on top of mine, finally looking me in eye again.

“Plus one.. is something only the one who's meant to be will ever know and hold the answer to”.



end.

Thumbs up for the effort :

Update on 3rd March 2013:

Hello to you who might be reading/following this.. thank you for reading and your patience as I wrote this story.

This is actually my experimentation to a different style of writing (I am not a writer by profession/ i'm not from an "educated" literature background either); in a way, this was written as a reflection of reality and a confession of sorts.

For those of you who can relate or like this way of writing, I thank you for your time, comments, for liking and sharing. I do appreciate it. It actually kept me writing when I wanted to abandon the story.

So thank you, sincerely.

Perhaps I will write something of similar nature again someday; if you'd like to read my future writing, you can follow me if you want to and when I do.


Love,
Matthew Zachary Liu

FAITH ...

Just the other day, heck its almost everyday now that this topic is being brought up at my workplace. I was *ahem* discussing about GOD with my colleagues with roughly the same arguments as below. I think the below can provide takeaway for both believers and non-believers, I will still remain "accountless" :p

Professor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son ?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, you believe in GOD ?

Student : Absolutely, sir.

Professor : Is GOD good ?

Student : Sure.

Professor: Is GOD all powerful ?

Student : Yes.

Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?

(Student was silent.)

Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Is satan good ?

Student : No.

Professor: Where does satan come from ?

Student : From … GOD …

Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?

Student : Yes.

Professor: So who created evil ?

(Student did not answer.)

Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them ?

(Student had no answer.)

Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?

Student : No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?

Student : No , sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?

Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student : Yes.

Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.

Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.

Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student : And is there such a thing as cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student : No, sir. There isn’t.

(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)

Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?

Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?

Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?

Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.

Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)

Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class was in uproar.)

Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?

(The class broke out into laughter. )

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.

Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.

P.S.

I believe you have enjoyed the conversation. And if so, you’ll probably want your friends / colleagues to enjoy the same, won’t you?

Forward this to increase their knowledge … or FAITH.

My arguments :


1) There is a real scenario whereby Darwin's so called theory was witnessed in a person's lifetime. Perhaps there are more but we are not looking correctly or you need many many lifetime to prove this change.
2) If GOD is so great then why are there so many version of HIM/HER/IT? To create confusion, to test your FAITH? OK you win.
3) The dumbest thing in my mind about GOD is that he created evil, bad things, suffering etc. Why the fuck would this GREAT GOD create those things??? HE/SHE/IT must be so full HIMSELF/HERSELF/ITSELF that you MUST believe in HIM/HER/IT that if you are able to overcome such adversities, you will be able to enter Heaven.
4) There are numerous ways to clear ones' sins, the easiest of which is to just to believe. The other just requires a little more money and you are purged of your sins as well just by repeating what a prophet did many decades ago. Another is to meditate and/or follow some rituals which will enlighten you and thus allow you to be promoted into Heaven. ALL puns intended.
5) HEAVEN, or HELL for that matter must be so full of occupants that both will reject new residents, exception to this would be religions that have continuum ie one will be reborn. The downside to this is that why are there more and more humans? Of course the counter argument that I can think of would be that we have destroyed sp many other lifeforms and thus they are becoming us to take revenge? Perhaps I have not been taking into account of plankton of which their numbers have yet to be or should I say cannot be estimated, so the balance of how many lives that are maintained is still intact ... hmm ...


I am not really "attacking" any religion per say but at the same time I am actually taking a swipe at major religions altogether. I think I better stop here so I can get my sleep