holiday!

it's time for holidays! merry xmas! happy holidays! be safe and merry everyone.
i'm flying on a jet plane ... la la la ... it's raining again outside but christmas and holidays don't make it much a bother

xmas deco

All about today

Today is Tuesday
Today is 20.11.2007
Today is cloudy
Today is weekday
Today is the exhibition match between Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet
Today is 2 days from the exhibition match between Roger Federer and Pete Sampras
Today is 4 days from the weekend
Today is the day after Monday
Today is the day before Wednesday
Today is a nice day for someone
Today is someone's doomsday
Today is the day

Live & Loud KL 07

Malaysia is going to host its biggest Music Event this coming Nov 23 - Dec 02. It features 10 different days of music from Best of 80's, R&B Night, Pop, Chinese All Star, Acoustic, Jazz and World Music, Heritage and Culture. Events will be held at Stadium Negara, Bukit Kiara and Zouk. Artiste reported to be performing are Whitney Houston, Shaggy, Elliot Yamin, K-Ci & Jojo, James Morrison, Jaclyn Victor, Adibah Noor and Hannah Tan. Meanwhile, five-time Grammy Award winner Dionne Warwick will feature in an exclusive dinner show at Shangri-La Hotel.

Tickets are on sale at www.ticket2u.biz. Prices from RM82 - 352 (season pass).

Xiao lung bao & dessert

Right hand side is the oh-so-famous xiao lung bao at Din Tai Fung restaurant which just opened at The Gardens. Must say its much better than Dragon-I.

On the left is dessert at Champs centerpoint, its a banana fritter ... obviously missing an extra scoop of ice cream, which we had to get from baskin robbins on the ground floor later. Took both photo using my iphone. quality is pretty good.

iphone mania

can't stop playing with the iPhone! Haha

Cute video

Stumbled upon this cute video .... Can someone translate for me plsssss?

Just Follow Law to Lao Zha Bor

I watched Just Follow Law last weekend on DVD ... it's so ridiculously funny! it's very catered for singaporeans and malaysians coz the jokes are in english, mandarin, malay and hokkien. it's about phua chu kang and his lady boss switching souls after an accident ... then they go through a series of silly events. does anyone know for sure if pck and the girl switched back?

In the show a blog was advertised -- Lao Zha Bor - i visited it and its the old lady's blog!
anyways, here's a clip of a malaysian video i watched on the blog ... kinda funny, its in mandarin though, i think i got 80% of it! haha

Nice cake

F1 commercials

Ratatouille (Rat-a-too-ee)

A movie about Remy the cute little chef rat who lives in Paris, wants to be a cook and has an adorable fat brother Emile. He's a special rat who can taste good food from garbage (all rats in the colony loves garbage food). He accidently gets a cookbook by master chef Gusteau whose motto is "Anyone Can Cook" and has imaginery visions of Gusteau after his death because of a bad critic by Anton Ego. He gets himself to Gusteau's restaurant and discovers he can control Gusteau's son Linguini (who cant cook for nuts) movement by using his hair to cook. With Remy as cook, Gusteau's restaurant gets great reviews and attracts Anton Ego who is determine to critic the restaurant to its ground. But Remy, with the help of the whole rat colony, conjours the best Ratatouille (a simple traditional french stewed vegetable dish with tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, garlic, onions, pepper and basil) which reminds Anton Ego of his mum's cooking. Ego writes a great review and ends up opening a restaurant La Ratatouille with Remy as head chef. A very entertaining animation movie and the rat is sooo cute!

An example of a ratatouille:

International Pyro Musical and Display Competition

Malaysia is hosting the international fireworks competition in Putrajaya!






SCHEDULE:

Team Malaysia 18 Aug (Opening Ceremony)
Team Global 19 Aug
Team Australia 22 Aug
Team Global 24 Aug
Team Italy 25 Aug
Team Japan 30 Aug
Team Global 31 Aug
Team Global 1 Sept
Global/Pyrofest Canada 2 Sept (Finale)

Event starts at 7pm and fireworks comes on at 10pm.

Tickets RM38.50 - 181.50. Maybank and Amex cards get 20% discount.

Pattaya Bangkok

Just got back from bangkok and pattaya over the weekend. relaxing trippy. lotsa nudity, a-go-go pubs, gays, aquas aka transvestites (yes we couldn't tell them apart). i was pretty surprised walking around pattaya coz its quite clean on the main roads and very safe even with all the odd people around, at least the pimps and touts don't haress u while u r walking around.
the food is great! the picture is a kebab store by the side road which is delicious. there's a beef, fish ball noodles store in front of a 7-eleven which was good and its chilli was crazy hot till ur lips and throat burn with just a small spoonful. nightlife is definitely not to be missed ;D ... shopping was soooo good, coz there were sales! siam paragon and centralworld shops were all having sale on branded goods and of coz JJ (chatuchak) market is still as good ... kinda lost my way in the market had to get a map just to get out of the place, khao san road has good buys as well as lotsa pubs! pratunam market is next for bargains and a yummy chicken rice stall while patpong night market shopping is on the high side but its a-go-go pubs and backlane "unseen" shows make it very interesting. tip: just don't follow any guy with plastic cards to backlanes coz its not the safest thing to do! rode the tut-tut twice in night (we vowed that's the last time) coz our tut-tut ran 3 red lights and cornering was sooo scary! the cab is definitely safer and at the same price, take the cab! Oh don't forget to visit the lamborghini and ferrari stores to view the super cars on display at siam paragon ... the cars are sooo nice.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

last installation of harry potter out yesterday .... got my copy at Tesco for rm69.90 after all the mph hoo-ha .... booksellers got unfair play but too bad the hypergiants win coz Tesco (Uk) and Carrefour (France) got more money to throw ... so us consumers got some cheap books to read. i would've bought my book from mph if they didn't insist on selling it at rm109!

anyway .... harry lives to marry! hahaha so yea he didn't die - i guess the publishers' marketing gimmick of getting everyone curious really worked coz when we were at Tesco, strangers actually strike a conversation with us to know what happened to harry! of coz we told everyone he didn't die! :D ... so if u wanna chat up anyone in the next few days, just carry a potter book at 45 degree angle and walk around!

ron and hermoine? hehehe duh ....

07.07.07 that's today! it's almost like a james bond number 007. i watched transformers today & when i got the tickets it read 07.07.07 cinema 7 seat F7. pretty coincidental huh ... think i should buy 4D maybe i'll strike. there's of course plenty of couples getting married today, wanting that number as their wedding date. venus williams just won wimbledon today her 4th championship in 6 years. around the world is the Live Earth concert series a 24 hour 7 continent concert to "answer the call" and help combat climate crises being held in New York, London, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg and Hamburg. too bad astro didn't air this live but wats new right.

Show 3 Fingers Before Reading

Show me 3 fingers.


How did u respond?
1. The OK 3
2. Scouts honor 3
3. Pistol 3

Tell us your reaction by leaving a comment.

Britman Amazing Opera Singer

Watch this guy sing! Courtesy of uncle taki .... i thought it's a joke ... the producer take some guy n pretend to sing ... but apparently its "real"

http://www.maniacworld.com/Phone-Salesman-Amazes-Crowd.html

Our ISP sucks?

How true is this? I think this blogger is pretty much getting it right on how our isp really sucks!
I'm sure everyone has experience downloading stuffs, be it songs, movies, etc ... and sometimes ... no ... most times ... its really really slow! ur isp is controlling ur usage n speed people! don't be naive and think its all "unlimited" - ur time is unlimited but ur speed is limited.

Ever wonder why our telcos can charge us some 10cents or 15cents per minute when it can be alot less? If u have travelled to China, notice the locals have really long mobile numbers ... they are actually using VOIP. It's all over China, n cuts call costs alot, those who have experience this over skype will know how cheap it is to call international. Ever wonder why Malaysians aren't extensively using VOIP considering we have a young generation and everyone seems to own a mobilephone ... thanks to some policy to keep a few of our telcos alive, our telcos aren't much bothered by competition (international telcos have to jv with our local telcos to operate in good ole Msia). So we aren't getting the advanced services as fast as our counterparts, that's why other countries are moving at a much faster pace than us! While we are being drowned by 3G services - currently 3G services are so limited, which is probably outdated by the time it's fully implemented, telcos are sucking our money right under us. It's time to upgrade the infrastructure MAXIS CELCOM DIGI!

numbers

1234=10
6789=30
123456789=45

super rookie Lewis Hamilton!

Lewis - first black guy to win his first F1 grand prix race from pole position in just 6 races into the season in yesterday's Canadian Grand Prix which was filled with accidents and 4 safety cars. Robert Kubica was involved in a massive accident with his car turtling and landing on it's side, he suffered a broken leg. But the highlight of the race for me was Takuma Sato in a Super Aguri overtaking Fernando Alonso in a Mclaren! Sato overtook Alonso fair & square on the race track and finished 6th earning him 3 points. Lewis Hamilton now leads the championship, can he win the title?

So SMART the tunnel

Rain in KL is like icing on cake - very normal affair. One would expect floods to happen alot in the city, which is what happened a few years ago when a massive flood occured, most notably a tourist spot - Dataran Merdeka underground carpark was filled with water, causing damages in thousands of ringgit. The cause was said to be overflowing of riverbanks in the city area. So, being Malaysians, rectifying a problem means building something big/tall/deep! Hence, we have the SMART tunnel - Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel - a tunnel which supposedly prevents overspill of flood water from Sg Klang, Sg Ampang, Sg Gombak and ease motor traffic congestion preventing flooding in the city. The tunnel is almost complete and was open to the public for a month in mid May. Here comes the good part. Last Sunday evening, flash floods occured in KL and PJ areas - there were minor landslides and flooding because of blocked drainage causing massive traffic jams all over KL. Now, with SMART tunnel in use, you would think there was a solution in place for drivers in KL. Guessed what? Motorists who decided to use SMART tunnel was caught in a traffic jam for more than 1 hour because the SMART tunnel was flooded! Spending millions of ringgit to build a solution for KL motorists and this is the service we get?! What a waste of road taxes! Authorities explained that the SMART tunnel was designed for floods occuring from overflow of Sg Klang, Sg Ampang, Sg Gombak and does not cater for flash flood from drain blockage (which is what happened last Sunday). Gee, I thought a flood is a flood, there is a difference in types of flood? What's the purpose of spending millions of ringgit if it cant cater for all types of flood? Shouldn't they have done a thorough study of all types of flood that happens in KL before they build SMART tunnel? Samy please explain. Don't blame others like you did in the government building roof leaking issue. Maybe in future, kids will be sent to school just to answer questions so they don't sound dumb. Whilst hundreds of motorists were stuck in the tunnel, it was noticed that there were only 4 huge fans that ventilated the tunnel! This is definitely not up to international standard, without proper ventilation we could all suffocate and die in the SMART tunnel. Now this aint very smart is it. Samy what have you done with the tax payers money? Obviously someone has given some bad advice, someone is benefitting so much that they have cut costs (or they had to cut costs because the money has to be used to for the many layers in the government's system), someone is using innocent KL motorists as guinea pigs during this 1 month trial period of using the SMART tunnel. So the next time you think you're "smart" to use the SMART tunnel, think again. Malaysia boleh!

Shrek 3

Shrek the Third returns!
Yup, it's the kingdom of Far Far Away & that green ogre Shrek. The king frog dies in the most long winded way, choking on his own breath and giving the throne to Shrek who gives it to Artie (the princess' cousin from somewhere whose father left him - no link watsoever to the whole movie). There's a new character Merlin - manic, crazy wizard whose robe cant cover his skinny legs while his spell-casting side-effect is to swap Donkey and Puss In Boots' inner soul - Donkey is now Puss and Puss is now Donkey. Aihh! This 3rd edition isn't as funny as the first two, although there's still a few good laughs to look forward to. If you have time to spare and you like everything green, watch it ... otherwise "Go Go Away"!

M&M's has also launched their Ogre-Sized M&Ms. Yes, you guessed it ... it's GREEN! From the packaging it looks like its twice the size of a normal M&M. Hhmm ... i shall try it & let you know.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3

An entertaining movie overall. Tip is to make sure u at least have seen Pirates 2 otherwise it's difficult to follow the story & characters. Remember to stay until the middle of the credits for extra footage!

Added a short video preview, what do u think? I tot it's kinda cool to be watching the scene again but i wish there were other scenes to choose from. Unfortunately, I don't know how to stream or edit more of the pirates movie coz I don't have it to begin with! haha u just have to live with the free stuff!

Vote French Open 2007 Winner

Vote who will win this year's French Open at Roland Garros!

Will it be Smooth Roger Federer, Ass-picking Rafael Nadal, Upcoming Novak Djokovic, Pretty Maria Sharapova, Underdog Serena Williams, Super backhand Justin Henin?

Hen Night Activities

It's her last night of freedom. Need ideas for your girl's hen night? Here's some proven funny tasks you can use, feel free to improvise anytime. A tip is to make sure your plans are flexible for any unforseen circumstances, always keep it fun!

Top 10 activities
1. A spa outing is always a good way to rest and relax especially when the bride is all stressed out a few days before the big day.

2. Dressing up the bride as an angel/ bunny/ horny devil/ any character is a great way to get everyone in the mood. It will be great to decorate the venue if possible. Consider having a dressed-up theme party.

3. A night out at the clubs with extra activities such as dancing with a stranger, getting a guy to buy the bride drinks at the bar.

4. Get the bride to sell kisses to strangers - a guy paid rm15 for a 5sec kiss. Great job!

5. Sell condoms at the club to buy the bride drinks. A great way to make some money for drinks to make the bride extra happy! Throw in a kiss with the condom and you're on your way!

6. Organise a male strip show for the bride.

7. Dress up the bride in rags and ask her to beg for money so she can buy her wedding dress.

8. Organise a sleep-over with alot of food, booze and chick flicks.

9. For the adventurous/ sporty bride - adventure sports such as go-karting, whitewater-rafting, paintballing, bird-watching is a good way for extra bonding. Consider pole-dancing/ lap lessons for something spicy.

10. Chillout at the swankiest hotel for a heavenly night.

Top 5 things to take
1. Camera to catch the action.
2. Headgear/ party t-shirt for the bride.
3. Vodka/ Tequila shots.
4. Cash for condoms, drinks and other wanted toys.
5. Plastic bags for the drunken bride.

Top 5 things to leave behind
1. Mother-in-law
2. Boyfriend (DUH!)
3. Wedding worries
4. Gossipy wifes
5. Restrains

Federer vs Sampras in Shah Alam

World No 1 men's tennis player Roger Federer will take on his predecessor Pete Sampras in an exhibition match on Nov 22 at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam! The organisers are First Events Promotions Sdn Bhd.

Anyone know how i can get tickets??

sadKermit

Soon after the death of Mr. Henson, sadKermit turned to a life full of drugs, alcohol and sex. His fall to rock-bottom was quick and unrelenting .... then sadKermit wrote some really dark, boring and strange songs to express his sorrows - the frog can't sing, it's so SAD!

p/s no relation to disney's kermit or The Jim Henson Company.

Guardian discount

Did u know if you're a Malaysian senior citizen, u are entitled to 10% discount when u shop at Guardian Pharmacy!

Other senior citizen benefits - u get to board Airasia flights first! so next time travel or make friends with some old people on the flight if u wanna get good seats :D

Transformers ... More than meets the eye ...

Something evil's watching over you

Comin' from the sky above

And there's nothing you can do

Prepare to strike

There'll be no place to run

When your caught within the grip

Of the evil Unicron

Transformers

More than meets the eye

Transformers

Robots in Disguise

Strong enough to break the bravest heart

So we have to pull together

We can't stay worlds apart

To stand divided we will surely fall

Until our darkest hour

When the light will save us all

Transformers

More than meets the eye

Transformers

Robots in Disguise

Transformers

Autobots wage their Battle

To destroy the evil forces Of the Decepticons

It's judgment day and now we've made our stand

And now the powers of darkness

Have been driven from our land

The Battle's over but the war has just begun

And this way it will remain til the day when all are one

Transformers Transformers Transformers Transformers

More than meets the eye

Lessons of Guangzhou

My first "real" trip to China was to Guangzhou. I went to Shen Zhen previously but i don't think it really counts as an eye-opener. Visited my ancestral home in Shun Tak, a district in Guangzhou in a village called "Sai Gou, Dai Dei" (its really close to the largest furniture city in Shun Tak which is approx 1 hr drive from Zhu Hai). We don't have any more links to the village but it was a nice experience to kind of go back to ur roots in China. This trip was really an eye-opener of China, many stories and experiences in just a few days! University professors won't be able to teach u any of the experiences of China, ever.

Here's a few things i learnt in mainland China:-

1. Chinese people in China cannot be trusted. If you ask anyone on the street for directions and they tell u its really near - its not!
2. Guangzhou food is nice. But go to restaurants where the menu has prices if possible and don't let the captain order too much food for you! You will end up with a table full of dishes u can't finish.
3. Asking for favors in a village - offer them some money and they will be ur best friend.
4. Don't trust your cab driver. Don't trust touts after u have negotiated with them, negotiate again with the driver.
5. You can be rude to the people in China, even better if you are louder than them. But becareful, this only applies to people in the South, people in the North will physically attack u!
6. Do not pick up money from the ground or any foreign objects on the ground. Especially if someone asks you to do so.
7. While crossing the road, just close your eyes and walk. The cars and bicycles will not stop for you even if the pedestrian light is green. It's an amazing country.
8. If you are a man, you will be solicited if standing on the streets alone. It may be your lucky day, but be warned, the ladies will be all nice and pretty, once u anger them, their true colors will show.
9. The biggest Chinese clans go by this order - Chan (Chen), Lee, Cheong, Wong, Ho.
10. Pay to go to the toilets, it's worth it! Nicest toilet is at the Museum of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen in Zhongsan, on the way to Guangzhou.

No matter how smart and cautious you are, when in China you are in for a ride! Enjoy! :D

Night-time F1 anyone?

Would you goto the formula 1 race at night?

This is the proposed race for Singapore's inaugural F1 race next season! Msian Grand Prix might follow by staging the race under floodlights!

It's going to be something like a Nascar race with lights all over the racetrack but then the Msian circuit is not really a stadium like place so it's going to be interesting how this turns out if it happens. Definitely a cooler race than being in the hot sun and occasional rain.

As for Singapore's street racetrack, another Monaco in the making or a Macau F3 like race?
Stay tune to find out.

Singapore's most recent

St. James Powerstation (the most happening place in Singapore at the moment opposite Vivocity) had their grand opening on Monday, 12 March 2007. I was there that night and the crowds were definitely there on a Monday night. The good thing about this place is you pay 1 cover from any of the 9 theme clubs and you can hop into all the clubs! Of course u look for the cheapest entrance hehehe we went to dragonfly first - surprising the cover is only sgd12 for ladies and a bit more for guys, it was packed by 10pm as the chinese live band was playing at 1015pm which was pretty good. Then we hopped around all the other clubs (except for some which had a private function that night - apparently the owner Mr. Dennis Foo (owner of Devils Bar on Orchard) spent approx sgd600k for the grand opening, i was told their turnover for the past 2-3 months has been more than sgd1mil!). There's a jazz place at the Bellini Room on the 2nd floor, english live band/latin at the modiva, powerhouse with the techno/house music, Tiger pub and lotsa food which opens till 5am! the cars on display that night included the latest ferrari, maserati, porsche, beemers, audi - lots to keep ur eyes goggling. oh there's also a karaoke place! for more info goto www.stjamespowerstation.com

For a more relaxing and chillout place, u must visit The Boosh. It's very nicely themed with nice outdoor greenery, waterfall and excellent atmosphere (there's no mossies!) Nice place for some food and wine. They also have a live band towards the weekend.

Chap Goh Meh

today is the 15th day of the chinese new year celebration of the fire pig year 2007 otherwise known as chap goh meh amongst hokkiens and chinese alike.

some single people take this day to throw mandarin oranges into rivers or lakes or water containment areas (maybe small swimming pool) in hope of finding their other halves. the girls will write their names and contact details on the oranges and throw them into the water whilst the guys will pick oranges from the water - malaysian way of match-making! in china, there will be lantern displays with riddles - the person who is able to decipher the riddles will be matched with the person who posed the riddle! this is the olden way of match-making!

today is also the last day of hardcore gambling sessions throught the 15 days of chinese new year! yes chinese people love their gambling - anything for chance or risk is good for the heart! i had a streak of 8 days straight of mahjong, blackjack, texas hold 'em and other forms of card games involving the bartering of money ... some good luck some bad luck, came and gone ... i think i'm still in the red :( oh well till next year then!

happy holidays!

it's federal territory day & thaipusam! holiday holiday yay!
note to self : don't goto work today ... sleep late

shop shop in bangkok

Visited bangkok over the weekend for a shopping trip (its a place that makes the literal meaning of "shop till u drop" literal! if u know wat i mean.) Stayed at the Novotel Siam Square (extremely convenient for shoppers). A little shopping route from the hotel: -
1. Novotel - Siam Paragon - Siam Discovery - Novotel
2. Novotel - BTS Skytrain - Chatuchak (or JJ as the locals/ our cabby called it) - Novotel - MBK - Siam Square shops - Novotel
3. Novotel - Siam Square shops - Centralworld - Gaysorn - Novotel
4. Novotel - BTS Skytrain - Emporioum - Novotel - Siam Paragon - Novotel
5. Novotel - Suan Lum Night Bazaar - Novotel

notice the numerous times we headed back to the comfort of our hotel room for a quick sit and nap! trust me u need it coz the place is hot and humid, your legs will go aching mad with the constant walking and there's more to the above shopping route!

surprisingly there are lots of pretty and handsome thai people walking around the malls (maybe its just paragon?) anyways we are convinced plastic surgery is the thing that keeps them looking so nice - imagine their clothes sizes are not the normal sizes you would expect back home, everything is a size smaller in bangkok, making me feel a tad bit big!

on our way to the airport, we had a f1 wannabe cabbie - he was speeding at 160kmph, even i don't drive that fast! bangkok being notorious for its traffic jam - it only took us 25mins to the new Suvarnabhumi airport! after check-in ... u guessed it ... more shopping!

hello 2007

my first 2007 post ... it's been a busy few weeks, lotsa parties, lotsa catching up, lotsa pics, lotsa happenings .... but nonetheless it's a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

for the new year - i've added a chatterbox and a toggler game to the blog just to make it a little less boring. so i hope someone will start a conversation with me soon :)