Closing In

As we are just hours away till new year(2009) arrives, I looked back to what I have gone through this year.

Indeed, this year(2008) is a happening year for me. I graduated from my secondary school last year and stepped into a new environment this year-- university. My last public exam results was announced in March and found that I did well, praise God! Then, it's the time when I have to apply for a uni and scholarship. The following days and weeks were few of my busiest times in my life. Sorting out documents and stuff for further study were part of what have to be accomplished throughout the entire month. Approximately two months after that, I found a suitable course of study and flew to Kedah where my uni. was located. Adjusting myself in a new surrounding is another event that comes with a long story. I've seen many new faces and personalities, each of them coming from different states and countries. Through all the socializing, I learnt their culture and others. I have also undergone times of dispute and misunderstandings among friends as well as times of happiness and fun.

Academically, the subjects that I'm now studying are different and more detailed that what I have studied during my secondary school years. We go in depth for each chapter. Moreover, critical thinking and having a proactive mind is necessary. One day as I was studying the human internal body system, the facts and illustration amazed me and I can't stop thinking about the wonderful works that God has done. We can only see the basic human structure from outside, but if we go into the human brain for example, we are able to find out how delicate the brain neurons work in transmitting nerve impulses and cause us to react to what our muscles. have received. Sparks(caused by transmission of impulses) between neurons can be seen always , lighting the whole region like fireworks exploding in the night sky. This is example is just one out of many, how about the muscles, the heart, and the eyes...and even the environment? No words can describe God's wonders. Praise and glory be unto Him!!

Oh yeah, I went to Thailand for a family vacation too! Wow, it sure was fun! For the first time in my life, I get to see the Mekong River and sat in a boat to 'shop' at the Floating Market. I sat on an elephant and man, it was an experience! In the coming posts(or future, I've wrote one already), I'll be writing more about my trip to Bangkok, so stay tune!

In all, let's get ready for the new year!!!

Till then, take care and God bless.

I Surrender All

Psalm 23:4 ~ Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

Please pray for me in my coming exams and facing everyday happenings. Take care and God bless.

Jesus loves you! :-)

War in the Tiberium World

I first played Command and Conquer(C&C) Red Alert in 1997 and Red Alert 2 in 2003 before I laid my hands on Red Alert 3 just recently. Tiberian Sun is also one of the C&C series in which it was released many years ago. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, a real-time strategy video game, developed and published by Electronic Arts for the Windows, Mac OS X and Xbox 360 platforms, was released internationally in March 2007. I tried its expansion pack, the Kane Edition and found that it is much much better than its predecessor(Tiberian Sun) and comes with a new faction, which is the Scrin. The cutscene and graphics are simply superb. Not to mention, the sound quality further enhances the gameplay to the max.

This is it, Tiberium Wars(Kane Edition). Tiberium Wars returns the Command & Conquer series to its roots in the Tiberium story arc of the franchise, once again featuring the factions of the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod, and also introducing a new extraterrestrial faction known as the Scrin.

Below are the factions that are introduced in the game:

Global Defense Initiative(GDI)

In my opinion, the GDI forces have the strength and power and not based on their number in attacking their enemies. They have the quality and not depends mainly on their quantity. However, their available units are quite limited. Their Ion Cannon is the best in enemy-base-massive-devastation. Just one attack of its superweapon can wipe out the enemy from the surface of the earth. The GDI's mammoth tank is also a mighty one. The Dreadganouth is even tougher as it can be restored to half-life after being destroyed.

The Brotherhood of Nod

The Brotherhood of Nod is a mysterious and highly militant Abrahamic society of allegedly ancient origins. The globalized brotherhood is led by a mysterious man who is known only as Kane, and its influence in the world at the advent of the events in which Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars takes place reached nothing short of the status of an unconventional superpower. Their units are more cruel than the GDI's and a little quicker in production. Their superweapon weapon is the nuclear missile, which replaces the cluster and chemical missiles deployed during Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun.

Scrin

The third faction featured in Tiberium Wars is an extraterrestrial force known only as the Scrin, who have come to harvest all of the Earth's Tiberium deposits. Its units are a little bit stronger than the other factions whereby its has an additional shield which protects it from enemy attacks, thus lenghthening its life span. In this way, their units are almost unstoppable if sent in large numbers.

Screenshots above: Scrin units, massive and devastating, isn't it?

Time for some comparison to Tiberian Sun, the previous series:

Spot the differences between these two games?

Overall,

I rate it a 8.0/10.0

P/S: Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath is out already!(another expansion pack)

Joy to the World!!!

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Luke 2:1-14)

In the midst of all the celebrations and receiving gifts, let's not forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!

A week ago

Last week was one of my busiest weeks in my term. Assignments and projects were mounting up and have to be passed up a few days after. For my English presentation, my group has actually chose the topic "Hitler" but due to some unforeseen circumstances, we had to abort our plan just weeks before our presentation. We then chose "Alcoholism" as it is much easier to discuss and it's also one of the many issues that is happening around the world. We had to catch up with all the slide presentation slides and the panel discussion materials. Frankly speaking, I did most of the works, however without my group mates help in getting their materials for their respective role, this project will not be done in 1 & a 1/2 week time. Above all, thanks and glory be to God, He provides me strength and guide me through all the different obstacles that I face. Praise God for I am well the whole time while accomplishing my tasks and other works. Praise Him once again!

There was also a Prom Night(aka. Dinner and Dance) during the week whereby its theme was 'Las Vegas'. I've booked a ticket earlier on and it is priced at RM30. About a hundred students went and was also participated by a few of our lecturers. Performances were held and there was a dance after the dinner. The dance didn't turned out as what we have expected. Instead of hearing some soft, smoothing, classical, romantic, elegant songs(played), the loud speakers blared out all the rock and disco music. Students were dancing their heads off. Prom Night was meant to be an 'elegant' night and not making it into a disco.Thanks to Joshua, at least one suitable song was played: 'So Close'-from the movie Enchanted. The committee members are seeing to this matter seriously, so I reckoned that the next Prom Night will really be 'promish'. Overall, the dinner was great and students were taking photos at every corner. How many times can you get a chance like this?

For now, let the pictures do the talking:

English Presentation(11-12-2008)(the specs were meant for our roles e.g. Doctor)

From left: Ong, Jabez, Naavin, and me

Prom Night: Backstage- getting ready

From left: Michelle, Gordon and me

From left: Me, Joshua, and Jasper


Standing(from left): Loi, Eric, Robson, Jasper
Sitting(from left): See Ying, Lee Theng, Amelia, Evelyn, Serenne

From left: Hema, Ganga, Thatchu


April Batch friends



The hall


Standing: Wong



Friends from my batch

Centre: We call him Ah Leng


A welcome note

Friends from Business course



Prom 'kings' and 'queens' nominees

Gordon singing 'You Raise Me Up' with me as his pianist



Committee members performance


Starting performance



Nominated as the 'proms' for the year 2008

Closer view of the 'crowns'



Artinia



Before leaving

Pic: Church friends. Some of them are leaving us as their final semester is over soon. Gonna miss you guys!

I'm joining my church's carolling group and some other church activities during the coming days to celebrate Christmas and welcoming the new year. Please continue to pray for me and take care.

God bless.

Jesus loves you! :-)

Hello there again gamers!

It's almost a month now since I last blog. Time just flies, isn't it?

To hardcore gamers out there, these are some games that you shouldn't missed. The graphics is just undescribable(near to reality, but not yet) and the gameplay is excellent. Not to mention, its sound quality and special effects are also incredible. I tried them and gave them these ratings:

With its new faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun and other units(as well as superpower), it has definitely glued me to my seat while playing it. The graphics and effects are simply awesome. It preserved the classic Red Alert 2 gameplay whereby the gameplay and characters in it are still a little bit 'cartoonish'. In all, it was still a great game to be played. (8.3/10)

The opening scene is a job-well-done. It is intense and mind gripping. How about the gameplay? In this game, you are not fighting the relentless infected people(zombies) alone, you will be helped by 3 more teammates. The gameplay is quite easy but rather addictive. It is frightening sometimes when an infected man(or woman) appears suddenly in front of you and come jumping on the walls and leaps forward(onto you), and that's when you start busting its head off. Of course, to have the best gaming experience, your graphic card has to be superb. It is quite a realistic and bloody game, where as many as 30(or even more) + enemies will come running towards you and you start shooting the 'madness' out of you. (7.5/10)

Till present, I've played Call of Duty(COD) 1-4 and this is the best among all(Call of Duty 5 was released a few weeks ago and I think it's better, haven't played it yet though). As usual, you play as a Sergeant and your mission is to find this big-shot terrorist who is the mastermind responsible for all the global chaos caused. It is much more realistic compared to its predecessor. Again, a high-end CPU is recommended to play this game to the max. Of course, COD 4 still can be played under low performance but the end result of playing is not that satisfying. (8.8/10)

Need for Speed: Undercover strongly reminded me of NFS: Most Wanted, except that it has more cars and other stuffs. You get to choose the cars according to their 'nationality', from US to Japan, cool, isn't it? The gameplay is quite simple and very less complicated compared to NFS Underground 2. It is also more user friendly. You just have to click the 'Tab' button each time you want to race or get chased by some police who never get bored to chase you down. The environment is really breath-taking and the storyline is quite happening. (8.0/10)


I haven't really play it yet but I bet that it's quite a good one. Playing it the first time gave me an impression that it is a dark and mysterious game with this creepy little girl named Alma who will sometimes appear during the gameplay. (7.8/10)


This one is just O-K-A-Y. The characters are not very flexible in their attacks and movements and their moves available are quite limited. X-men Legends 2 is better. Not to mention, Marvel Ultimate Alliance is also one of the best marvel game. (7.5/10)

Please feel free to leave your comment if you have your own point of view on these games. Thanks.

In the next post, I'll be updating on the events that have been happening during my past few weeks, in and out of the campus.

Till then, please continue to pray for me and take care.

God bless. Jesus loves you!! :-)