My dad followed us to that School on our first day, along with my sister after finding out from some friend that that would be the best school to sign in to. We didn’t have any transport at that point, so we had to walk from the place we were staying, up a hill called the Marlborough Hill. After that there’s about another 20 minutes walk through houses, a few more hills etc. It’s quite an interesting walk because you get a great view of the gardens.

Upon reaching Cotham Grammar School, we were greeted by the administation people. I still remember being introduced to Mr Warlock, which happens to be my Resistant Material subject lecturer. With him was the headmaster. They requested that we sit for an IQ Test, which all student who goes into this school must sit for. We had to answer 140 questions, and in a very short time of 30 minutes. The question consisted Mathematical of nature. Most of it wanted us to guess what’s the next combination based on the previous. I still remember filling my name in the form as Thristhan A/L Subramaniam and was questioned what A/L was. They started laughing after I explained. Since then I fill my name as Thristhan Subramaniam until today. But bloody Malaysian still have some problem with that, especially when I requested the A/L not to be displayed on my Identity Card.

While sitting for the IQ Test, I managed to finish the entire 140 questions 5 minutes before the time limit. I then went throught the answers, which was all objective questions. And somehow had a feeling that I had made 3 mistake. This is an Instinct that I always get when I’m alone. After glancing through the answers, I managed to find the 3 mistake which I did and changed the answers. We had to wait for another 20 minutes for the Test to be marked. My sister asthonishingly managed to score 127 marks, which was already very good. Any score above 100 will allow entry to the school, if not you’ll have to sit for the IQ Test again. Mr Warlock then stared at me, and this is what he said “In The History Of Cotham Grammar, No One Has Scored A Mark That Is Close To You Thristhan”, I was shocked by that remark. I thought for sure I did better than my sister, but what’s my score. He then Continued, “You Scored 140″. I got a perfect score, I got all answers correct, Including the 3 question that I sensed for a last minute change. I guess when you Believe in yourself, and be one with the power within, you can be capable of any remarkable feat.

I was guaranteed entry to the school, obviously :).

There was an incident in one of my Geography classes. There was this boy named Andrew who was a genius, he used to score the highest score in classes, I was very close behind him. He and the group I was in suddenly asked about this Entry IQ Test. They were bragging that they managed to score, 135. And then asked what did Andrew score, he said he scored 138, which was the highest before I came into the picture. One of them sarcastically asked me, “So Thristhan, what did you score”, followed with a cheeky smile, thinking that I did bad. I just said “140″ and there were utter silence. Packed my bag and left for the next class.

I believe everyone has a great time some point of their life, this was one of the milestone of mine. I was getting used to a new country, learning new things, and achieving results. I did not do great, but I did good enough. For me it’s more of the journey than the destination.

One thing I miss is getting the contact details of my fellow school mates. I wasn’t computer savvy then, so there were no emails etc. I’m still trying to find a few of them online through facebook etc. But it’s not easy. Cotham Grammar School is also known as Cotham School in Bristol. Alot have changed since 1997. They have a website which can be accessed at www.cotham.bristol.sch.uk. Who knows, one day maybe we’ll have a reunion and gather to catch up about what we’ve gone through.

Cotham Grammar School

After the top 24 week, my favourite girl singer is Crystal Bowersox. She has an amazing story and a cute little baby and she is very motivated to perform week after week. Crystal Bowersox takes criticism and learns from them, infact Simon Cowell mentioned that one of her performance was very “Subway” singing style. It was funny because she did actually perform in a subway before to make-ends meet.

My favouride dude would be Lee Dewyze. His performance last week was superb, and that made him go up to the Top 16. He his very humble and even without performing experience, Lee Dewyze is very capable in nailing this competition. Girl fans are already on his side.

So now we are left with the American Idol Top 16 this week. They will be performing tommorow on the official American Idol channel in Malaysia which is the Starworld at channel 711.

Below are the photographs taken by American Idol, copyrights remain with them for the top 24 performance.

Similar story on 5th march 2010. Online game addiction in Korean society has gone far beyond a mere social nuisance, resulting in accidental deaths and even murders. The police detained a married couple who, seriously addicted to internet games, left their three-month-old daughter to starve to death. The 41-year-old husband and 25-year-old wife met through an online chatting website and were both gaming addicts. Since moving out from the wife’s parents’ house, they spent most of their time in internet cafes, reportedly leaving their newborn girl completely unattended. They only occasionally dropped by to feed her powdered milk. Last September, after a 12-hour gaming-session, they came home in the morning to find their daughter dead. The baby’s malnourished body fueled police suspicion that the couple was responsible for the death because of neglect. They then requested the National Institute of Scientific Investigation to perform an autopsy. It is sad to hear such stories.

So to me dear friends out there who are game addicts, you may not know that you are one, but alot of you’ll are. If you spend playing online games for more than 4 hours a day, you are a game addict. So something more useful in life, get a better hobby and go spend some time outside. Live Life To The Fullest.

Internet Addict

In the similar field, the Internet Providers in Malaysia are also banning alot of website with such content. There are many ways to overcome this, one way is to use a proxy server website that can redirect your IP to an international one. Google for proxy server and you should get a list of them. Two Internet Providers, namely Maxis and Streamyx are currently banning certain websites.

One famous website that is banned, infact I realised this a few weeks ago is RedTube and GutterUncensored.

I do appreciate that the government along with the service providers are doing their part in order to filter certain contents, but that defeats the purpose of the internet, which is to obtain unconditional knowledge. Everyone may have their own views, this is mine.

Albert Einstein based on a documentary that I once watch, is one of the Human who managed to use the most capacity of the neurons in our brains. Based on that statistics, the regular homo sapien uses lesser than 1% of the total available space. Einsten was said to have used to nearly 5% of the capacity. How that calculate this I do not know. But I’m pretty sure it’s not Right Click > Properties.

Albert Einstein was born on the 14th of March 1879 and died 76 years later on the 18th of April 1955. You can visit Wikipedia for the full write up about Albert Einstein.

Albert Einstein

We Are The World 25 for Haiti

“We Are the World” is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and co-produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World. The song was recorded in fourteen hours by over eighty artists on February 1, and was released on February 12, 2010, during the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics. “We Are the World 25 for Haiti” was released as a CD single and a music download.

A few singers couldn’t make it for the recording because of the timing or they had other things to do. One of them was Taylor Swift who was on going to tour in Australia.

Check out their official video on Youtube:

MATTA Fair 2010

Their official website is http://www.mattafair.org.my which seems to be updated in terms of design compared to last year. But there are still alot of information that are still pending. Frankly I think that there are other websites out there that has better information and pictures on the MATTA Fair event compared to their official website.

THe MATTA Fair is also to be said as the Malaysian’s first Travel Fair and holds a record in the Malaysia Book Of Record.

The MATTA FAIR debut in 1991 as an annual event with 80 booths and a visitor turnout of nine thousand.  It has since evolved into a bi-annual event drawing crowds as high as over 100 thousand visitors during one of the fairs. This year the MATTA Fair will feature 141 Exhibitors.

What I hate about this fair is the credit card companies that seem to flood the area, especially near the entrance and they are very forcefull in trying to get you to sign up. Even when you’re said that you’re not interested.

For those who are going to this fair, do come and meet me at the Holiday Villa Hotels & Resort booth.