The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

I consider the Chinese New Year week as my most productive holiday ever because I managed to finish 3 books within that week.

But since I’m such a lazy slog, I’ve decided to pen my thoughts on the books one after another; taking my own sweet time of course

With my mp3 player blasting “Second Chance by Shinedown”; here I am penning my next review on a book entitled “The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton”.

Yes, the book is old. As old as I don’t know since when :-P I’m lazy to Google for the publication detail :-P

Anyway, here’re my thoughts on the book:

Book review
I guess most would have read the book.

So I will keep the review as simple as possible. It is a nice fast paced read compared to some of the books from Michael.

The plot revolves around the recovery activity of military satellite which crash landed on a small town in none other than USA (Piedmont, Arizona).

It purportedly carries with it some extra-terrestrial microorganism which quickly clots the blood of exposed life form on Earth.

This triggers a covert operation called “Wildfire” (manned by 5 selected individuals; each expert in their own field) on top of the already covert operation to retrieve, identify and neutralize the threat before it spread.

Their only hope lies on identifying the natural body resistance of two surviving inhabitants of Piedmont known as Peter Jackson and Jamie Ritter.

So, did they succeed in their quest while remain stuck in ultra secretive, ultra-secure underground facility?

After much actions and nail biting suspense, it was discovered that the extra-terrestrial microorganism changed into benign form and did not harm any lives in the end.


P/s: I finally Google-ed about the book and found out that I read the book 41years late :-D

It was published in 1969 and I think it was probably written during the height of Cold War/Space Race between USA and USSR :-)

Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) Fast paced read. A real page turner :-)

2) Description of the ultra secure facility is a real eye opener, especially on the methods taken to ensure no contamination of subsequent secure chambers

The Star newspaper - Opinion Section - We must not become the region’s imitation hub

MALAYSIANS have definitely moved towards the higher income group as seen in their use of branded goods. However, it remains to be seen if the items are genuine.

“Habitual fake goods vendor held,” (The Star, Jan 15) and “Loco about Coco’s brand,” (Sunday Star, Jan 24), are rather disturbing.

A stroll through tourist spots will reveal fake goods displayed prominently on shelves.
Our enforcement officers should be commended for their efforts to nip this problem in the bud.

However, efforts should also be taken to educate the public against buying imitation goods.
Imitation samples and notifications of penalties awaiting imitation goods traffickers should be placed at all entry points.

Imitation goods will not only destroy the creativity and prestige of the brand but also indirectly affect the image of the person using it. Let us not mar our country’s image by becoming the imitation hub of this region.

CIPLAK,
George Town.

Published on: Tuesday February 23, 2010

ORIGINAL VERSION

Proliferation of fake goods

Malaysians in general have definitely moved towards higher income group with outward display of wealth projected via usage of branded goods.

However, it remains to be known if the items in use are genuine or otherwise.

With newspaper report “Habitual fake goods vendor held; published on 15 Jan 2010” and comment from Dzireena Mahadzir entitled “Loco about Coco’s brand; published on 24 Jan, 2010”, the negative trend is rather disturbing indeed.

A simple stroll across well known tourist spots in any Malaysian cities will reveal fake goods displayed prominently on shelves or countertops.

In fact, proliferation of fake goods have reached even to the local night market scene and seen as a norm nowadays.

Our enforcement officers should be commended for their continuous and relentless effort to nip this problem at the bud.

However, effort should also be placed to educate the general public to refrain from buying imitation goods.

Imitation samples and notifications announcing penalties awaiting imitation good traffickers should be placed at all Malaysian entry points.

It should be known that imitation goods will not only destroy the creativity and prestige of the brand but will also indirectly affect the image of the person using it.

Let us not mar our country’s image by becoming the imitation hub of this region.

CIPLAK, Georgetown

Sent on: 19 Feb 2010

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!

By the time I penned this entry, Chinese New Year would have entered its fifth day.
I started writing this entry on the eve of first day; that is during the reunion dinner day & haven’t posted it up till now :-P

Reunion Dinner
Why I like reunion dinner?

To me, Chinese New Year doesn’t “feel” like Chinese New Year if there’s no reunion dinner.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that food have to be abundant nor families extended all the way until “cucu-cicit” but the real essence of reunion dinner is the effort to have a proper dinner together.
In fact, it might be the only time families come together and see each other to chat (or gossip; or compare) with each other.
Good or bad, this is the kind of practice which I hope will last for the years to come.

First day, second day, third day…..
No entries for all the days mentioned above as there were too many activities (sleeping is one of them :-P)..

Fourth day….
I think it’s not a good day to write anything due to superstitious sound of (according to different Chinese dialects):

· Si/See (Hokkien)
· Seí (Cantonese)
· Shì (Mandarin)

But since I’m not the real superstitious kind, I have decided to pen my thoughts on the 4th day of CNY.
*I didn’t finish my entry on this day as well :-D*

And now on the fifth day….
To all my family and friends, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR TO YOU… :-)
I know it’s rather belated but we have 15days of Chinese New Year celebration so I can still wish each and every one of you from 14 Feb onwards :-)

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!
HAPPY HOLIDAY!!
May the year of the tiger brings roaring abundance of health, wealth, peace and prosperity to my family and friends :-D
*I’ve highlighted the standard portion of the Chinese New Year greetings*

The Star newspaper - Opinion Section - Improper road planning

ORIGINAL VERSION

First of all, I would like to commend on the opening of additional lane on Penang Bridge and also the smoothly tarred road along the Jelutong Expressway.

However, the smooth travel stops the moment road users exit the bridge and head towards the Bayan Lepas area.

In fact, all the road users will have their smooth journey interrupted by the bottleneck at the exit point near the N-Park condominium.

The main reason of the bottleneck is the existence of a pedestrian overhead bridge which reduces the traffic from 4 lanes into 2 lanes within a span of 100meters.

In fact, this very pedestrian bridge affects the traffic flow of both sides of the road depending on the day-to-day traffic condition.

From what I noticed, most of the accidents happened directly or indirectly due to the bottleneck effect.

If the pedestrian overhead bridge is indeed underutilised, please scrap it off and expand the lanes to match the traffic from town or bridge direction and vice-versa.

This will save the state government or the traffic planning department from wasting their resources by conducting traffic survey only on appropriate and suitable areas.

CIPLAK, Georgetown

Sent on: 9 Feb 2010

The Ruthless Billionaire’s Virgin by Susan Stephens

Precaution: These are not a serious reading materials :-)
P/S: I am going to copy and paste the general synopsis on 2 different book reviews :-)

General synopsis
We see a lot of reviews on mainstream books in newspaper columns, magazines, talk shows and etc.
However, after some time, I grew bored and restless after too many thick novels; written on diverse topics and plots.
Thus, I decided to take a breather and read love novels instead.

NOTE #1: notice the usage of plural term here “NOVELS” :-D
NOTE #2: These are not the usual love novels. These are love novels with “LOVE” as in making love and loving each other in it.

Seriously speaking, lurid imagination prevails when I stumbled upon (and bought) titles like “Capelli’s Captive Virgin” and “The Ruthless Billionaire’s Virgin”.
With those eye-catching titles, I’m pretty sure parents will beat their kids silly if they stumbled upon those books hidden underneath their pillows :-D
Anyway, without further ado, here are the reviews (I purposely omitted the names and generalize the storyline) *drum rolls please*:

The Ruthless Billionaire’s Virgin
Note: This is the England Rugby series as evidently shown by the England’s Rugby Rose emblem on the book cover.
It’s about a new-to-the-trade singer getting the ultimate exposure via wardrobe malfunction ala Janet Jackson in a major rugby competition presided by the ruthless billionaire (he’s a rugby fan).
The ruthless billionaire with scars (both physically and emotionally) sweeps her off her feet and whisked her to his private castle in Italy.
The lady (again a fast talking lady) slowly changed the gloom atmosphere of the castle and after another usual stuff mentioned in Note #2, they go back to their separate lives and refrained from keeping in touch with each other.
In the end, the lady managed to heal the ruthless billionaire’s emotional scar and they got married to each other.

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

Capelli's Captive Virgin by Sarah Morgan

Precaution: These are not a serious reading materials :-)
P/S: I am going to copy and paste the general synopsis on 2 different book reviews :-)

General synopsis
We see a lot of reviews on mainstream books in newspaper columns, magazines, talk shows and etc.
However, after some time, I grew bored and restless after too many thick novels; written on diverse topics and plots.
Thus, I decided to take a breather and read love novels instead.

NOTE #1: notice the usage of plural term here “NOVELS” :-D
NOTE #2: These are not the usual love novels. These are love novels with “LOVE” as in making love and loving each other in it.

Seriously speaking, lurid imagination prevails when I stumbled upon (and bought) titles like “Capelli’s Captive Virgin” and “The Ruthless Billionaire’s Virgin”.
With those eye-catching titles, I’m pretty sure parents will beat their kids silly if they stumbled upon those books hidden underneath their pillows :-D

Anyway, without further ado, here are the reviews (I purposely omitted the names and generalize the storyline) *drum rolls please*:

Capelli’s Captive Virgin
In a nutshell, it’s about a fast talking lady (or rather a lady who talked and asked too much) looking for her sister who’ve worked with a ruthless divorce lawyer but absconded with the lawyer’s brother for an uninhibited sensual (or sexual *gasp*) escapades.

The lawyer whom hinted about free sex in practically everything he does (surprisingly he wasn’t sued for sexual harassment at all) challenged the lady to step in and take over her sister’s tasks at a private island owned by the lawyer.

Usual stuff ensued (refer to Note #2 for details :-P).

They go back to their separate lives after that and refrained from keeping in touch.
In the end, the ruthless lawyer had a change of heart; love prevails and they got married to each other.

THE END

Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

This is essentially an all American story.

The storyline is so simple that everyone who reads the synopsis at the end cover can basically draft out the overall plot in his/her head.

It is a story about a boy meeting up a lonely, dorky and goody type girl.

The boy initially disliked the idea of being around her or even to keep her company but they ended up falling in love with each other.

BUT THEN… jeng jeng jeng… there’s a twist in the storyline… *as usual :-)*

The girl is dying and the guy can’t do nuts about it…!!

Though Nicholas Sparks wrote this work of fiction on such a simplistic approach, he did it with bravado and managed to weave sentiment, emotion and breathe life into the characters. This is definitely a slow read but I find that the pace is just right for the character build-ups.

The progression of the couple’s relationship is so entwined that when the ball drops (figuratively speaking) towards the end, I had goosebumps all over and got all teary eyed.. I’m not joking.. :-S

This is a real tear jerker kind of book and little wonder it was adapted into silver-screen. I haven’t watched the movie though; perhaps its because I’m still having doubts over any mushy-mushy novel to silver screen adaptation after the disastrous “P.S I Love You” flick.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10 (points accorded by the sentimental side of me :-P)

Cons:
1) Slow pace of the novel can be a turn-off
2) Novel is based on a common plot which reads like the “Sup Ayam Untuk Jiwa (English translation: Chicken Soup for the Soul)” stories :-D

Pros:
1) Tear jerker :-S managed to make me have goose bumps and all teary eyed