Everybody knows what Twitter is. If you have not heard of this phenomenon, then you probably were living in some stone cave somewhere in the Polynesia.

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool where you sign up and start sending out ‘tweets’ or short 140-character messages to your followers. Followers mean people who are on Twitter who, well, follows you and get instant updates whenever you send out a tweet.

This phenomenon took the social Web 2.0 world by storm and it does not look the momentum is going to die soon. Even big Fortune 500 companies have Twitter accounts and typically news and media Twitter accounts like New York Times are followed by tens of thousands of people worldwide. Can you imagine what it would be like for celebrities? Yeap, they have millions. Ryan Seacrest has 1,852,859 followers. Picture that.

Now, people might feel funny or see this whole Twittermania as pointless, time-wasting social media phenomenon. Fact: it IS a funny, pointless, stupid idea. Fact No. 2: and this idea has turned into an unprecedented cult status, rising to the ranks of social network giants like MySpace and Facebook.

If you ignore the fact that there are millions of people using Twitter to update tiny little details about their life, celebrities and big famous personalities like the Pope and Queen Rania of Jordan have used Twitter to astounding effects. Twitter redefined the way people connect and gives a really personal touch to Internet media. Now this tool is also being used with devastating, mind-numbing effect from the aspect of Internet marketing. Big companies and corporations add a special touch to their customer relationship via Twitter.

It will be soon before this social media tsunami hit Malaysia. Already there are many who have caught up with this Twittermania, e.g. JJ from Hitz.fm (food for thought: Najib on Twitter? Wow, his account will explode. Twitter will probably crash for 2 days.)

So, have you started Twittering yet?

p.s. I joined Twitter for 3 months, have 210 followers already. I have absolutely no idea who they are. But it is extremely fun.

What do you get when you have more than 1000 uniformed police officers in an area less than 3km square? The biggest traffic flow redirection I have ever seen in Kuching.

People who do not know about the Rulers’ Conference and the opening of the new DUN building perched majestically on the riverbank would definitely go gaga over the whole thing. What more to say every turn of the road brings you into more roadblocks and more  traffic policemen directing you away from the centre of the area.

Which was what happened to us. We tried to drive into the Golden Triangle Area, only to see it effectively locked down in what seemed to be the biggest show of security force in Kuching. Felt like a war zone, only that gunfire, tanks and bloody dead people were missing.

We wanted to go and join the crowd (boy, people were walking as far as 1km away just to get there) but decided against it. No place to park the car apparently.

Interesting night. The sight of police swarming around Merdeka Palace (a 5-star hotel, apparently fully booked and closed to the public) was an unforgettable experience. I went like whoa, that’s really a LOT of police motorbikes.. and I mean a LOT.. the sensation of seeing it all was overwhelming. Imagine trying to feel awed yet suppressing a laugh due to the funny side of it all.

Anyway, I have yet to find a good picture of the new DUN.. hopefully by the time I got a new camera, I could take some pictures of it.

I have no idea an ant bite could be so painful. I literally yelled. See, I was helping my dad move stuff behind the house around the backyard, when this humongous black ant bit my toe. Seriously though, it was really pain. Excruciating. Felt like my toe got cut off. I think that was what it was trying to do, trying to chew my toe off.

Tiny little bugger

So what did this little insect do to my leg? My left foot exactly.

Bugger bit my foot

See? Left foot bigger than the other.

I thought the bite was nothing. Came nightfall, my toe was numb. Two hours later my whole left foot was numb. Not to mention swollen. So I thought, hey, let’s wait till tomorrow and see what happens.

Swollen, even worse.

I hate bugger. Stupid bugger caused this.

Then again, the yellowish hue was not due to the bite. It was because of some medication I applied. BUT the foot was DEFINITELY swollen and even worse than the day before. My foot felt so tight like the skin was wrapped around too much meat.  Never thought ant bite could cause such inflammation.

Luckily today the swell has subsided somewhat.

Oh well, at least I have immunity to the toxin now.

A friend showed me this video. I have to say it is really funny and genuinely interesting. Never thought someone could be creative enough to place subtitles on a German movie and making the theme about the current political developments in Malaysia.

*disclaimer* – this video is not hosted on ianbong.net. The owner is not responsible and is not liable to any legal charges pressed. Any content, subtitles or subtle messages inside the video may or may not be accurate, thus, it shall not be taken as a credible source of information. The owner of ianbong.net does not endorse anything that is contained in the video. This video is purely for entertainment purposes only.

I just watched Enchanted recently. I know, it being a very old movie and all. I find it very interesting, and it is a very good, mindless entertainment, perfect to kill time especially during afternoon.

Yet the question is, does the scenario in the movie apply to real life? Sad to say, I find myself saying a big loud NO. Fairy tales do not happen in real world. Welcome to Earth, Giselle.

Suddenly my mind seems stuck. I forgot what to say. Just that, I do not believe in love at first sight. Nor do I believe that ‘happily ever after’ happens. Maybe there is such a thing, and there are countless others that manage to keep their marriage and still love each other until they die, but hey, look at the divorce rates around the world, the figures could be depressing indeed.

Point is, there is no such fairy tale love just waiting to be found. Nor is there any Prince Charming or Princess Charming or whatever. Love happens, spontaneously, without you expecting or knowing it. Love can be given and taken away at a whim. Even if it is a powerful force, it can be a destructive one. It is sweet, but sometimes it is more bitter than bitter gourd. It feels all nice and warm when you think you are in love, but when disaster strikes, love hurts.

It does.

I am not being emo or anything, just giving a piece of my mind. I know many will disagree, but hey, let’s just keep this a friendly discussion. Each to his own.

And single-dom rules big time.

p.s. forgive me for babbling again.