Heartless Acoustic Tutorial

Here are the tabs for the power chords that are used. To be honest, I don't really know the names of them. I can recognise how they sound, but ahhh there are so many names that it doesn't take much for one to get confused sometimes.

Am = 5x55xx
F = 133211
Dm7 = x57765
E = 076750

Hope you guys have fun strumming along!

Here's a reference video for you guys. These are the exact chords he used that night during the performance, if I have not mistaken, enjoy!

Reshaping

Something came to me of late. Something that's a whole lot bigger than who I am. Something has impelled me to do something about myself, about my ways, about the way I am.

You know, I've been going through my life building towards a certain image of myself in the future, for a certain reason. But what happens when you've come to that time in your life where you feel that the initial image you had of yourself isn't what you really want out of life? What if you feel that you're meant to be part of something else, something bigger?

And after realising that, you find yourself in a situation where you feel that you have to change certain ways about yourself, to walk towards that greater purpose.

I find myself in this position right now at this point in time, and believe me, it's such an inspiring, and at the same time, complicating situation to be in. But one thing that I've learned is that if I stick to the main goal, the main objective, the main purpose that I'm doing all of this, there's a feeling that cannot be explained. You could say it is like a light at the end of the tunnel, but trust me, it is so much more than that.

Not everyone may agree with what I do, and that's something that I've come to learn as well. I can't please everyone. And I know that there are two groups of people reading this post. One of which is happy for the revelation that I'm going through, and the other, might not understand how and why I'm doing what I'm doing.

The truth is, I don't expect all of you to understand everything I'm going through right now, but I can assure you, I know what I'm doing.

Sick Boy

The weather these days have just been the perfect conditions to fall sick in. The rain here in Australia is very funny, very different from the kind of rain we get back home. Imagine a storm, that goes on and off, like a leaking tap. Yeah, it's not a continuous stream of rain.

Anyway! I'm sick! First time falling sick over here and trust me, I am not liking it at all. My head feels light, my respiratory tract is filled with all sorts of mucus, and I can barely think straight. The only times I manage to get out of bed is when either my stomach calls, or erm, my bladder calls.

It's no fun falling sick overseas especially when you're alone. I miss the comfort of home where I am taken care of so well whenever I'm sick. I mean, I mentioned about my stomach just now and I realise that I cannot cook "sick people food". I miss the warm porridge that my Mum makes. Ugh, worst part is having to pull yourself out of bed to cook for yourself.

Well, just felt like ranting a bit on how annoying it is to be sick. Ahh, I don't like it at all. Keep warm fellow friends who are in Australia!

Kris Allen, American Idol 2009

Kris's expression was priceless!

I am very sure the people back at home would be equally as shocked, given that Adam has been praised endlessly about his vocal prowess all season long and suddenly the underdog emerges victorious! Enough to make you jump around your room shouting WOOO!...not that I did that of course...

It's totally awesome entertainment isn't it? Well for me it was! Just before Ryan announced the winner, you could hear a ringing in the corner of your mind going ADAM ADAM, but it's nice to have a twist to the story, especially at the ending.

You know what the main reason I think Kris won is? I guess Kris's style of music is something that most people can relate to. What I'm trying to say is that not everyone's a big fan of Adam's screaming capabilities, no matter how amazing it is. I'm sure Adam would have won if the 'teenagers of America' were the only ones voting. Oh well! I'm a fan of both of them, and I'm glad that Kris won =)

The American Idol Finale

Right now I'm putting up this post just before watching the American Idol Finale, Results show. Yet again, I'm sitting somewhere around the Uni. Only difference is that all the buildings here at Uni are closed, so I'm sitting on the sidewalk of the main walkway. But THANKFULLY they left the Wi-Fi on ;) Good on you UNSW!

It's funny, I manage to make it through the entire day not knowing who won! These kind of days are hard to come by back in Malaysia. There isn't that funny random person who just starts running around shouting "DAVID COOK WON!" or something like that. Thus I have disconnected myself from any form of media today. Pretty smart idea aye?

Anyway! The video has been loaded up. I loaded up 2 videos this time JUST IN CASE one happens to fail for some horrible reason. I hope you guys enjoy the finale as much as I'm going to.
Goodnight readers =)

What is a Twitter?

Yes, I know this is something hugely popular in society today, but I have no idea what a 'Twitter' is. Can one of you kind folks please explain this to me?

You see, I'm such a funny person. I can actually just go and search it up on the internet and I'll probably get loads of hits, but this is the weird way that Nick's mind works. Everything's always a whole lot clearer when you hear it from people you know.

Wouldn't you agree with me? =)

Now quick, tell me what a Twitter is!

Angels and Demons Review

A highly anticipated movie, but one that did not really splash across the billboards or magazines did it? I mean, it definitely did not have the hype that Terminator Salvation or Transformers have at the moment. But I'm sure there's a massive crowd of Dan Brown fans out there who were eagerly awaiting to see this one. Did it beat the first movie in terms of 'movie-value'?
Well, as much as I'd like to compare the way this movie played out on screen to what was in the book, I can't because I honestly cannot remember every tiny detail in the story, having read the book ages ago. But according to some Dan Brown fans that I have asked, they kind of edited certain parts of the story to give it that movie-edge. Did it work out? I'm sure that most of the fans of the book would be displeased with that decision. But totally from a movie's perspective, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and here's why.

You all know how the whole Angels and Demons story has that dark and gloomy aura to it, well, I think that the producers did a good job in NOT making the viewers get pulled into a big black hole of gloomyness. It's deep, but not too deep, and dark with a few bright spots in between. Which was a good thing.

Anyway, I shall not go into too much detail so I won't be spoiling the movie for you guys. Let's see, what rating should I give it..

Movie Rating:
4 out of 5

Nick the Connect Group Leader?

What is a connect group exactly? I guess one could say it's the equivalent of a "cell-group", which is what we call it back in Malaysia which is basically a fellowship session among some Christians within the same age category.

Well, connect groups are basically what we call cell groups over at Hillsongs church! And is something that I've been starting to get involved in. And only a couple of weeks into it, Natalie, my very enthusiastic connect group leader signed my up for connect group leadership training for next semester! Hahaha. Which is pretty ironic because well, I'd say leading a cell-group is on my list of the things that I want to do at some point of my life.

Anyway, it's not confirmed yet, and I'm not a hundred percent sure if I myself am ready, but you know, I've always wanted to give back to the church in some way.. maybe this is the time?

Game On

He made it! Who? Kris did! Well, most people saw it coming.

Take nothing away from Danny Gokey though. That last night was one of his best performances in my opinion.

I think most people I know would be very satisfied with the results. This is going to be one of the closest showdowns American Idol has ever seen. I mean, a difference of 1 million votes between the two! Who would've thought that?

Anyway, I'm still going to be rooting for Kris Allen. And because all of you read this post, you will too ;)

The Salmon Avacado Roll

Salmon and avacado! Who knew? I mean, it's really the two flavours match together in perfect harmony. The juicyness of the Salmon, and the creamyness of a fresh avacado.

Lauranne Tham! I remember you telling me about this the last time you were in Malaysia. And I also remember cringing at the thought of putting raw salmon with together with avacado. Man do I have to eat my words. I was terribly wrong about it. Right now I just cannot get enough of these! I think I devour 5 or 6 of these a week on average.

It's a surprise to me why I did not blog about this earlier. If you asked me to make a list of the awesome things about Australia, this would be somewhere near the top. Haha! What? I'm just being completely honest.

By the way, Sushi Rolls here are served in the way up there, different from the way we have it back home whre it's cut up into little mini rolls. Which is pretty cool, and makes for an easy 'eat-in-class' snack!

Heartless

Kris Allen's performance of Heartless, by Kanye West was THAT GOOD in my honest opinion.

It was so good that I went and learned how to play it on my guitar immediately after the show. And well, I've been spamming it pretty much all day.

Unfortunately I cannot post any YouTube links here because most of them have been removed by FOX due to copyright reasons. So I would encourage you guys to search it up yourselves and have a listen!

Awesome stuff =D I've been rooting for Kris all this while, but this performance seals the deal. I sure hope Kris makes it through to the next round and hopefully emerge as the American Idol OVER Adam Lambert.

It's always good entertainment when the underdog takes the lead isn't it?

I'm going to be happily strumming away on my guitar for the next few hours ;)

Closing In

It's funny how time flies so quickly. Today it just occurred to me that there is only ONE MONTH left til the end of my first semester of Commerce here in UNSW. Just one month! How short is that? It felt like yesterday when I was still figuring out where all my classes were.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that here in University, we have to always be on our feet. There's practically little to no time to slack off! And even if I have covered some of the stuff that I'm currently learning in SAM, they've squeezed all of that into a few weeks.

It's also funny how a chapter can extend for pages and pages in the textbook, and after reading through all of that, we are tested with only 5 selected questions! I'm still finding it hard to deal with that.

AAAA... okay it's time I stop complaining about it and head back to the books.

Oh here's a little heads up for all you Terminator fans, and will-be Terminator fans! This is the new 4-minute trailer for the upcoming Terminator Salvation, which is building up to be a challenger for the top spot for the best Terminator movie that is currently being held by Terminator 2. I'm not the biggest Terminator fan but the hype of the movie has definitely gotten me interested. Check this out.

Hillsongs: Tear Down the Walls

This just got launched over the weekend!
As Su Yi said, "this is bragging rights to all of you back in Malaysia who can't wait to get your hands on this " =D

And trust me, after listening to it over and over a few times, it's definitely worth it.

My personal favourite would be Track 10 - 'Arms Open Wide'.

Have a listen when you guys get the chance ;)

MSO Pasar Malam at UNSW

Ahh.. the night I blew mist out of my mouth and enjoyed a nice hot Nasi Lemak with some good company =)

Thank You For Smoking

No not literally!

Have any of you seen that movie before? Well, I recently watched it on my laptop the other day. I'd say that initially I wasn't to keen on it due to the 'not-so-attractive' title. I mean, what kind of genre do you think it is just by looking at the title? It doesn't really say much does it?

Well, most of the time I watch movies just for leisure and that amusement. But every now and then, the occasional movie comes around and gets you thinking. I mean it stimulates a really deep kind of thinking inside of me. And that's exactly the effect this particular movie had on me.

The movie stars Aaron Eckhart. Yeah, we all know how fantastic a job he did in The Dark Knight as Harvey Dent. But in my opinion, I think his real immaculate acting skills were portrayed in this movie. Maybe that's why Chistopher Nolan casted him as Harvey Dent in the first place?

His character was just so believable, and real, and watching his character play out in the movie, it really inspires someone like me to do so much more in my life. I'm not going to go into detail and describe how exactly, but I highly recommend this movie to everyone and it might not have the same effect on you, but I have to say that this movie is nothing short of,

Excellent!

Movie rating:
5 out of 5

Frosty

As most of you have heard, the weather here in Australia is getting a lot colder. I mean, it's like the warm weather that I've experienced the whole time since I've been here has been flipped on its head. Nice chilly weather all day long. And it's like 12-10 degrees! And I'm feeling good =D

I have no idea why, but I love this weather. And ever since the weather became cold, I had ONE main objective in my mind. Not exactly, the coolest thing in the world, but, I want to blow mist out of my mouth in the cold.

And last night I finally did =D NICE.

yes, I did attempt to take pictures of it... but I failed. Haha. Well, looks like I can mark off one of the things on my list of stuff I want to do here in Australia ;)