"I saw it": A comic about Hiroshima bombing

Academic writing has now became the main part of my life. I need to have the draft ready by the end of this month for clarity passing and proof reading. Hope nothing will interfere with my writing, nothing that will cause changes to the results and no more major operation, aiyah... eh...amin....

So, why am I here, I should give full concentration on the writing. isssshhhhh....Well, actually I really have a story to write here, at least for my record. I was searching for the meaning of a word at answers.com, when I saw the main page of that website highlighting about the nuclear bombing at Nagasaki and Hiroshima in WWII. Yesterday was the 65 anniversary of the bombing. Each town was destroyed by a nuclear bomb, named "FatMan" and "Little Boy". When I read the highlight on answers.com, quickly flashed in my mind a comic that I once read when I was small about the survivors of that catastrophe. I then immediately goggle for that comic, using any logical keyword that I could think of. I succesfully found what I was searching for using "a comic about hiroshima bombing" and skimmed through to find the exact comic that I had. Hmmm wonder if the comic is still around at Mak's house? Will try and look for it once I am back in Malaysia. It's worth a keeper.

Now where was I...Oh yes...about the comic. Almost every day abah brought home something for me to read, anything from a magazine to a newsletter from his office. And one day he brought this comic home. What attracted me to the comic at first is..of cause the fact that it is a comic. Secondly, the artwork, that includes the colors and the illustrations. Thirdly, the story. And fourthly, the comic was translated to our local language, Bahasa Malaysia. I can't really recall what was the title in BM, I might be wrong here, but I think it was "Dari mataku"...but I am positively sure it was not the direct translation of "I saw it". From "I saw it" I knew about the bombing, the suffering of the people at these two towns. The drawing in the comic were so dramatic, as if you can feel the pain, for example the scalding and maximum burning of the victims skin, like a melted candle, distortion of some victims faces. I may be exagerating a little, but I had actually smell burning skins when I read the comic. This is because I had experience on scalding my lower leg to a motorcycle exhaust before, thus I knew how burnt skin smell like. Yup, a good story really made me going and over imagining a little.

OK here is a short intro about the comic.

I saw it by Keiji Nakazawa

"This single-issue comic book was the precursor to Keiji Nakazawa's longer masterwork, Barefoot Gen. A survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, Nakazawa wrote and drew this comic book in 1972 about his own life and experience in Hiroshima before, during, and after the atomic bombing. In it, he rages not only against the bomb, but also at the militarists who led Japan into war. His editor encouraged him to create a longer work based on this comic, and Nakazawa began work on Barefoot Gen. An intensely personal, child's-eye view of the horrors of the atomic bomb, and of war in general."

(source:http://www.lastgasp.com/d/24170/)

I definitely will ransack my room at Mak's house once I get home to find this comic. Hopefully it is still somewhere in the house.

yours truly,

Latest collection

Like the famous saying.... cooking is the best therapy. Well maybe not for some. But it is definately true for me. So to get my mind away from all the tense and messy things about research, I dedicate some time in the kitchen. And I have invested not just time but money on things that related to cooking, including these books.



The Italian, Chocolate and Chicken recipe books just cost me AD12 in total. The cupcakes book is the latest edition. I found the recipe for the buttercream that I used to cover up the mess on my blueberry cheesecake from this book.


And these are catalogues that I received everyweek in the mail :D. They called it Junk Mail...Junk or not, bleh rehat2 kan mata nie...and being tempted at the same...huhu

Please... I can't wait anymore..

Sound so desperate kan....ahaks.....

I have to confess, I can't control myself and succumbed to another book. But with a strong reason (yela, a classic case of covering your guilt). Need something to read while travelling to the office. If I am travelling during peak time, it will take around 20 minutes to reach the city (sometimes it will take 30 minutes if the traffic is bad). So rather than staring myself in the window or outside the window, or staring at other people shoes, or bags, counting people getting in and off the bus, yadayada (ahahahha), so I am doing myself a favor by grabing another book than letting myself bored to death.



Though I have several books that are closely related to my research (look below) that I can choose to be my companion during the ride, I can't give 100% attention of what I am reading. My reason is simple, these books are meant for desk/table/workstation reading. In other word, reading at the table laa.... so that I can easily jot down important notes. If I want to do that in the bus, I need to occupy at least three seats. Hmm why not have a desk install in the bus then....ahahahhaha...crazy idea. Actually, am trying to give a lame excuse....or do I need too... LOL



Anyway, I have finish 3/4 of the book, I mean the Cornwell book (the other 3 books still need my attention, though I almost finish one of them, but not reading it back to back laaa, I skipped irrelevant pages). And I am waiting, anxiously waiting for.....



8 Cornwell's books that I won from ebay (yea...). I won them for AD13.00. Second hand books. Ok la... am not going to spend much on books ya. I don't mind buying used book, as long as it is in good condition.

Anxiously waiting ... which one gonna be my next travel companion.

ehem.... I wrote this entry on Saturday, thus was desperately waiting for the books... but I am now, happy, coz the books have finally arrived, yesterday. And as usual, the postman just left the package at our doorstep (this is not our first time) because we were at work. Atang gave me called when he reached home and told me about the package. Tu yang rasa risau sangat. Sib baik orang-orang kat sini very trust worthy. Alhamdullillah ...





I already read 2 of these (dulu laaa).... jual balik kat ebay aci tak :D ...

my Eyes play Trick on me

aha.... I did say that am restricting myself for grabbing a new book right. But I can't help it. Books are cheaper here (in AUD), so I can easily be tempted. I was at a book store, looking for some children books that I can give to a friend's daughter for her birthday. I spent about half and hour in the book store, and 3/4 of the time I spent not for the present, but reading back cover of some books, for me...hehehe... And I decided to buy this one (and the present of course) with that little bookmark.





But I haven't started reading it, at least yet, at least for a couple of months, maybe until I am so depressed with the work, or maybe sooner. I don't know... hmmmm

Book review: "Lisey's story"

Finally I managed to finish this book....phewwwww.....sooooo difficult to finish 1 book lately. Have to constraint myself from spending hours reading the book, coz I should be concentrating on my research. However, I do need a break ya. So been reading Lisey's story for a couple of months (yup....slow like a tortoise I am). Most of the pages, was done on the bus, on the way to the office. And half of the book onboard AirAsia enroute Malaysia-Brisbane.

Try to find the cover of the book that I have, but couldn't found any. Anyway, here is the review.


For a start, I would like to give an introductions of how I came to know Stephen King's books, been a collector till now, and still an avid reader of his book. All this began with my sistah, buying and giving me Salem's Lot. Vampire movie was an-in-thing during that year. And Salem's Lot did catch my attention, and I have read it more than twice. Hehehhh... and since then I have been the collector and reader of King. Either I bought the book or got it as presents. Until now I am trying my best to keep updated with King's latest book, however, I have missed a number of his books. A few weeks after I bought Lisey's Story, Duma Key was then released. Satu ari nak ajak atang gi Carrara market la, carik second hand book. You can get 1 book at $3.

Ok here is the review (am still not good at doing this). Lisey's Story is a story about a widow (named Lisey, obviously) who has just lost her husband, and couldn't let go of her memory of her late husband, until she felt she has no reason to live anymore and keeps blaming her husband for leaving her. Eventually her memories have save her life from a blackmailer. At start, the story was pretty slow, and I did skip some pages because it was kinda dragging. But after the third chapter, when she is recollecting her memories, the best part begins.

I like the book, but talking about a similar King's book, I like Rose Madder even better. More suspense and scarier. So I end this review with an interesting abbreviation I got from Lisey's (King likes to create abbreviation).

SOWISA (strap on whenever it seems appropriate)

"The A-Z of the Unusual Jobs"

I have just finished reading Stephen King's Lisey Story (wait for my review this week) and am restraining myself from grabbing a new book at the moment. So, to accompany me on the bus every morning, I keep Reader's Digest Asia edition in my tote bag. This morning an article about Unusual Job attracted me. Was imagining of shifting to some of the jobs listed in the digest.

"The A-Z of the Unusual Jobs (ref: Reader's Digest Asia (January 2009))"
Autopsy assistant
Bartender at the Liberace mansion
Cat nanny (I can do this job, I loves cat)
Donkey trainer
Elf at Santa's workshop
FBI fingerprint examiner (they actually have a post for this? sure have a lot of fingerprints to analyse nowadays)
Grave digger (ini dari dulu dah ada kan)
Hurricane hunter (yup... Twister the movie)
Ice sculpture carver (must be very efficient and fast to work in this line)
Junk mail machine operator
Kitty litter box decorator (nice... I can be creative too :P)
Laser tag referee
Magician's assistant (aaaa...do they have pay scheme for this?)
Nuclear electrician on a submarine (pergghhhh I wonder what is the qualification?)
Opera singer (pavarotti)
Parachute tester
Quality control taster for a chocolate factory (I want...I want... Is there an opening at Hershey's?)
Romance specialitst (ahaks... not good at this area)
Scratcher (scratching backs of patients) (wooo... )
Turkey wrangler (ganas nie...)
Undercover vice decoy
Video game tester (yup...I know a website/game provider that offer this, wish I can apply for that, but I can easily get frustrated when am not making any progress with the game. that's why am not good at most computer games (especially a single player game))
Wallpaper peeler (ohh this is easy, just can't stand the sweeping job)
X-ray technician for zoo animals
Yawn counter at a sleep clinic (am afraid the patient is the one counting my yawn ahahhaha)
Zamboni (ice resurfacer driver) (Zamboni?? Is it the name of the ice vehicle)

So...what do you think??

Book review : "Honk if you're Malaysian"

I saw this book in my dad's study room. "Abah, best ke buku nie?". "Baca lah, it is funny, Along yang bagi abah tu." OK, what ever Along (my sistah) reads is always good, though sometimes is too heavy for me. My sistah and also my brother have this fondness of reading books about politics, conspiracy (eg. books from Jeffry Archer, John Grisham), that I can never or will never like to read (cik, I know you like John Grisham, pardon me aaa). I only love triller, horror and mystery books, that is why my fav authors are Stephen King and Patricia Cornwell. But lately I am into chic-lit after reading Madeleine Wickham aka Sophie Kinsella's shopaholic series.

Anyway back to this book. I found it funny, easy to read, and agreed with most of the story that Lydia wrote in this book. However, I personally think that what ever Lydia potrayed in the book can't represent the whole population. Lydia only wrote about her experience, things that happened around her, and life in the city. There is more about Malaysian than what Lydia has wrote in the book. Nonetheless what Lydia wrote is not wrong, only not accurate.

But I enjoyed the book. If you are looking for a light reading, I suggest you go with this book.

p/s: This is only my opinion. I do not receive any incentive for writing this review (ke ada yang nak bagi gegegegege).

Time to pack up

The thing that I want to avoid finally arrive. Have to do it.... have no choice....



Seperti biasa, athirah akan mula sibuk nak masuk luggage.



This time I bought Nan Yang White Coffee O besides Aik Cheong Coffee.



Full of instant mee. This luggage was 70% packed.



Some books and fav CDs.

As a result, we have exceeded our luggage allowance by 10kg. Have to pay RM150.00 for that. No need to comment laa.... I have expected this to happen. However, I have to leave Tun Mahathir autobiography (that big grey book, underneath "CEO Malaysia" book) because it is way to heavy. Just imagine I have that book in the luggage, must have cost me more. Am reading "Honk!! If you're a Malaysia".