May 2005 Archives

This is Liew Hui Li, an Account Manager at HSBC Bank. I'm at the airport now and I just applied for a HSBC credit card. Actually, it was two cards - a Visa and a Mastercard. I'm getting my past two months pay slip and my EPF statements faxed across (Thanks Penny!) and I should be getting the cards within 3 weeks.

I got a free gift too - it was a choice between a digital clock, another digital clock and a pen. Naturally, I went for the pen. This is an XX Chromosome entry - fine people they have, to get people to apply for credit cards. ;)

This is a box of 100 x 0.5 mg tablets of Xanax (alprazolam) made by the original pharmaceutical company. It contains 10 blister packs of 10 x 0.5 mg alprazolam each.

The side of the box states that Xanax should be dispensed only by or on the prescription of a physician. What? And tie down all the medical resources? What happened to good ol' Do-It-Yourself self-medication? We don't need no damn doctors back in the days, we just got the box and took them Xanaxes as needed. ;)

Them Xanax tablets are good till 2007 too...

Alright, have a great week everyone, I'm flying back to Sibu later today for the long Gawai holidays.

Alex celebrates his birthday today, and the Huygens Asia staff all chipped in to get a chocolate cake for him from Crown Plaza (about the only place you can get decent cakes here). There's an inscription on it - it goes "Happy Birthday Boss" and a single candle was put on it (probably coz we don't know his age ;)).

The photo is kinda blurry since it was taken while he was moving to blow the candle out.

Happy Birthday, Alex!

I received a notice that I had a package waiting for me in Customs. With some trepidation, I went and picked up the parcel from the Malaysian Post Customs. It cleared just fine - there was just a note on the package stating "Received in this condition".

I was wondering what the contents inside were - the package seems to have a vague box shape to it, and it was secured with some nylon string. The back of the package is inscribed with the sender's information - All Element Trading in Penang. I'm not sure who sent this package, please tell me if you're the sender, so I can thank you.

Anyway, the brown paper wrap opens up to reveal...a box for a Panasonic water filter (?). WTF was the main line of thought in my mind as I investigated further and opened up the box to see if there was really a water filter inside. I was thinking about what kind of nefarious person would send me a water filter as a gift. ;)

The box opens out to reveal a newspaper wrapped package. Mysterious mysteries, but at least it doesn't feel like a water filter...

It turns out that the newspapers were used to conceal a plastic bag containing cigarettes.

Duty free cigarettes. ;)

Link: Heavy Metal [popcap.com]

Heavy Metal - reducing corporate productivity since 2005. ;)

Scandonest 2% special contains Mepivacaine hydrochloride (a local anesthetic) and adrenaline. This solution is normally used for dental procedures, and I managed to get a vial of Scandonest 2% containing 44 mg of mepivacaine hydrochloride and 22 ug of adrenaline.

The solution came in a glass vial and I used a .29 gauge Terumo syringe to self-administer the mepivacaine + adrenaline solution into my left upper arm. I read that the solution should not be taken via the IV route so I just injected it into muscle.

The vial that I managed to get hold of contained about half of the Scandonest 2% solution and I injected the whole solution available. This are the notes that I wrote down regarding this:

it's fun to roll circles around the injection spot (the place where the fluid builds up) to "feel" the numbness and there is a slight adrenaline rush, so that's something extra. it's mild though, but the topical anestetic features makes this novel.

i wouldn't call it recreational, but it's interesting to make a spot on your body numb. run your fingers over it, and "feel the numbness". heh. ok i'm a retard. the adrenaline passes very fast, but its mild anyway, so thats not the main feature. the main feature is the CREEPING NUMBNESS

p/s - an interesting new development i felt at T+ 0:30 is that the anethestic part SPREAD to my wrist (!!!). so the whole area from the injection site to my wrist is numb but not upwards. very strange and fucking NOVEL. now part of my arm is numb. very, very interestin substance. i can rub my lower arm and "feel the numbness".

say it with me people. ;)

FEEL THE CREEPING NUMBNESS! :)

it lasted about 3-5 hours, quite impressive.

Here are two videos documenting the procedure:

Download: Scandonest 2% for injection [sixthseal.com]

Download: Mepivacaine afternotes [sixthseal.com]

File this under Experiments. :)

Happy Valley Home BBQ is an eating establishment located just behind the Happy Valley pub...and just like the name suggests - it's a residential house (!).

There's small gate and bridge that leads into Happy Valley Home BBQ. There's a sign on the gate that goes "No Outsiders Allowed!". I'm just kidding with ya - the sign goes "No outside food allowed". ;)

The interesting thing about Happy Valley Home BBQ is just that...it's a home that's been converted into an eatery, with all the coziness that the ambience allows for.

I started with Happy Valley Special - a drink that comes with all sorts of Oriental Healthy Stuff (TM) that I can't identify. It was very "cooling" though. Jesus, what conformist words I'm using...seriously though, it's good. The interesting mix of ingredients makes the drink sweet and piques the palate's interest at the same time.

This is their Curry Fried Rice, which one of my friends ordered. It came with savory rice and crackers, in addition to a bowl of curry chicken with prime cuts inside. It's good!

Here's Happy Valley's implementation of Chicken Chop. I forgot what this one tastes like, my bad.

I ordered some Spaghetti Bolognese...

...and the Chef's Recommendation of the Day - some mixed grill that tasted sweet (probably coz of the glazed honey and sesame seed sauce). It's good.

There's also a complimentary Soup of the Day (Oxtail Soup). Happy Valley BBQ makes a good bowl of Oxtail soup...hearty.

Having a meal at Happy Valley Home BBQ feels like eating at home...with all the messiness and ambience of home cooking. The bill came up for RM 60+ for three people, which isn't too bad, considering the fare.

A long time ago, in the Open Market in Kuching not so far away...

Me (stoned): This is a classic example of what I'm talking about - the ang tau chan lok bowl as the female representative. Men are greedy creatures; they want their partner to be everything...to be sweet like the gula melaka in the ang tau chan lok bowl and also to be good in "other" aspects like the green squiggly bits in the ang tau chan lok. Variety. Men want the whole bowl to themselves, signifying their possessiveness for the partner, to be theirs and no one else's.

Friend: What if I dump some chilli sauce into my ang tau chan lok bowl? What does that mean?

Me: That means you also want her to be spicy in bed. You want the best of both worlds.

Friend: But that makes the ang tau chan lok - chilli sauce uneatable right?

Me: That is an acquired taste, yes...

Friend: What if I take this sio bee here, and dip it into the sweet and spicy concoction and eat it?

Me: Oh, that's not good, my friend. You want to have your cake and eat it too...but then, don't we all? And that, is the ang tau chan lok bowl theory. Everything can be explained by it. Everything.

Friend: Alright, you're stoned...

The Afgan chocolate cookies at bing! is one of the best chocolate cookies I've had in Malaysia. It retails for RM 3.50 each and it kicks the mass produced Famous Amos chocolate cookies range's collective asses.

The Afgan chocolate cookies are topped with chocolate coated and there's a nut placed on every single cookie.

It tastes the way real cookies should taste like - rich, satisfying, and crumbly. :)

Longlife cigarettes is a brand of cigarettes in Taiwan. This is the full flavored version that comes in bright yellow packaging and the characters for "long life" in Chinese written in the middle. Jesus...and to think that for all this while, I had harbored the mistaken thought cigarettes are bad for you. ;)

Anyway, this is the premium full flavored version of Longlife cigarettes that was purchased in Taiwan. It contains 1.1 mg of nicotine and 13 mg of tar.

The interesting thing about Taiwanese cigarettes is that they have expiry dates printed on the bottom of each pack (!) - this one says 16/3/2006.

Heck, they even have a phone number you can call or an email address you can send enquires about the cigarettes to! Now that is support! ;)

The strange thing about the full flavored Long Life cigarettes is the white filter, which is the norm for lights over here, but not full flavored ones. Nevertheless, I found Longlife cigarettes to be a smooth, satisfying smoke.

Smoke me! I give you long life! ;)

Buprenorphine is available in Malaysia in the form of Temgesic Sublingual 0.2 mg tablets (without the opiate antagonist naloxone). This makes it recreational for people with low or no opiate tolerance. I've had experience in the opiate family, more notably with DHC, methadone and heroin so I'll be basing the report against the three other opiates that I'm familiar with.

Temgesic sublingual 200 ug buprenorphine tablets is manufactured by Reckitt & Colman and I've taken it through the sublingual route (as it's meant to be taken, nullifying the liver first pass effect) and insufflated. I noticed that using the sublingual route makes it unpredictable, since it's hard to keep the tablets in place. Preparing the buprenorphine (commonly known as "bupe") for insufflation allows for a more reliable delivery mechanism. Buprenorphine is water soluble so intranasal delivery is a viable method.

Temgesic Sublingual 0.2 mg buprenorphine tablets has an "L" imprint on the front...

...and the "cross" Reckitt & Colman logo at the back of the tablet. Buprenorphine is used for treatment of heroin (and sometimes cocaine) dependant individuals, just like methadone. The difference between bupe and methadone is the latter is a full opiate agonist (just like heroin) while bupe is a partial opiate agonist. This makes a huge difference in terms of recreational value - I would put buprenorphine after DHC (dihydrocodeine) but before methadone and heroin in terms of recreational potential.

Preparing the Temgesic Sublingual 0.2 mg buprenorphine tablets for insufflation requires a piece of paper and a knife (spoons can also be used, but knives are easier to work with due to its versatility). The amount of buprenorphine for the session is calculated and the tablets spread out at the crease mark on a piece of folded paper. I usually insufflate (snort) 1.4 mg of bupe, so that's 7 x 0.2 mg tablets. I noticed that this is good starting dose, if no opiate agonists have been taken within the same week.

I use a hard flat surface to crush the tablets - the folded "wings" of a balisong is useful for this purpose. Delicacy is necessary to avoid tearing the paper - I use alternating downwards and sideway pressure to methodologically crush the tablets into powder form.

This is what the outside of the paper should look like after the tablets have been crushed. The pockmarks are where the tablets used to be before it's crushed into power. It's important to note that due diligence should be exercised during this process to avoid spillage through the sides of the paper, which can happen if too many tablets are being crushed at one time.

Here's a look at the crushed bupe tablets - the folded pieces of paper allows the powder to remain in one place. You'll notice that the powder is still quite grainy, and thus, not so conducive to insufflation, so further refinement of the powder is necessary.

This is where I use the back of the knife (the edge that's not sharp) to run sideways against the folded piece of paper while applying pressure...

...and here are the resulting marks on the paper after the process is completed. The marks on the paper are meant for an indicative comparison and should not be treated as an empirical method of establishing that the bupe tablets have been crushed and refined.

This is what the powder looks like after it's been refined...the tablets should have been powdered into a fine...er, powdery substance by now. It should be noted that the powder looks "compact" coz of the folded paper, but it can be "chopped" with anything to form fine powder lines suitable for snorting.

Download: Insufflating buprenorphine [sixthseal.com]

I find that buprenorphine is rather enjoyable during the times that you have no to little opiate tolerance. It's not comparable to methadone (which is much more euphoric), but it beats dihydrocodeine by a long shot. The effects can be felt about 15 minutes after insufflation and it peaks at about the T+ 0:45 mark. The peak can be quite intense and gives off a satisfactory euphoria that you'll expect from opiate agonists.

I like buprenorphine and I've been purchasing it during my excursions back to Sibu (bupe is a restricted pharmaceutical and it's hard to obtain through legitimate channels, so I go through my pharmacy friend). It's not comparable to methadone, but it's recreational in its own right. It's good for the times when methadone is not available. Both are used for withdrawal management with heroin dependant individuals, but both can be used recreationally as well. I'm giving buprenorphine the thumbs up for recreational value.

"Dad, there's a weird guy taking photos of us..."

"Don't worry son, it's called street photography or something like that."

Remember the pop cap gun toys that we used to play with as a kid? I found one of them at a friend's shop yesterday and decided to go for a trip down nostalgia lane. The toy is named Super Cap Gun with Real Bullet Shooting Action and it retails for just a couple of dollars.

The contents of the package consist of a pink revolver type handgun with a container full of plastic bullets. The firing caps are not included so I got a couple of kids that were hanging around to go buy some for me at a shop nearby and told them to keep the change.

They came back with a stack of the 72 shot packets containing 8 shot plastic disc caps. I remember these things fondly from my childhood days, when I used to shoot my sister with these pop cap guns. I probably triggered some massive synapse linkage coz she's now practicing medicine at Christchurch Hospital and I'm here in Kuching doing...fuck all? ;)

Anyway, the shot caps are detachable from a large sheet of prefabricated 8-shot firing caps. You'll notice that some of the caps do not have a proper amount of gunpowder (or whatever they use in these things to propel the bullets)...it's made in China, no quality control, so there you go. In fact, some of the shot cap rounds do not have any firing chemical at all...

Well, back to the pop cap gun, the front of the gun has a release mechanism that allows the revolver load to be detached. The back of the canister has metal studs embedded into it to allow the firing pin to hit the metal studs against the shot caps (the opposite action of real handguns) and the front has loading bays for the plastic bullets included in the package.

The loading of the plastic toy gun is done by manually inserting the white plastic bullets into the chambers. There are 8 chambers, the standard size in toy guns that uses the 8-shot firing caps. The first time I loaded the pop cap gun, I didn't push the "bullets" in fully, which resulted in less-than-stellar discharges.

I later found out that pushing in the plastic bullets until they come into contact with the back metal studs resulted in a much more satisfactory discharge, in terms of distance and power. The picture above shows the correct load of this plastic pop cap gun.

The firing cap is put above the metal studs at the back of the plastic revolver...

...and the canister is put back into the gun frame. Lock and load! ;)

Download: Pop gun firing action [sixthseal.com]

Here's a video of me playing with the pop cap gun at my friend's store. I used my hand as a target, just to see if it hurts. It doesn't.

It gives you welts where the plastic bullets come into contact with your skin though...

This is what the firing cap looks like when it's spent.

The pop can gun has visible residue in the chamber after its being fired for a couple of times...it's made in China, it's not supposed to last. :p

Hands up! Or I'll give you welts! ;)

Here's one for the early birds out there - this is Ah Mei, someone I met while I was hanging out at my friend's place yesterday.

I could only get off a couple of shots before my digicam battery ran out, so here you go.

This is the girl that owns the grocery store downstairs from the place I live. It's technically her parent's, but she's there most of the time. It's just right below where I live, so drinking water (and snacks for the munchies) is just a short walk down the stairs. ;)

She's still in high school though...

Mirinda came out with a new flavor called Batman Blast Berry Fusion as a promotional tie in to the Batman Begins movie. I've seen the drink being heavily promoted in supermarkets but never did get around to getting one, until one of my coworkers bought one for me.

The Mirinda Batman Blast Berry Fusion drink is designed with Batman (the movie) influences, and doesn't look like the conventional Mirinda offerings.

There is also an SMS contest tie-in with the Mirinda Batman Blast drink, which is valid for all Malaysian citizens. The promotion ends on the 30th of June.

The bottom of the can has the Batman Begins movie information (including a URL to the movie). Mirinda Batman Blast looks more like an advertisement can than a drink...

The Batman Blast Berry Fusion flavor tastes good though - it's better than any Mirinda offerings out there. The can looks like one big commercial for the movie (which it probably is), but it tastes good nevertheless.

I saw a huge pack of Dunhill cigarettes retailing for RM 12 just now. It contains 40 cigarettes and I loved the box the moment I set my eyes on it. The sheer audacity of the Dunhill 40's pack needs to be personally experienced - I wanted to put it into my pocket just to see if it fits (which it obviously won't).

The liner on the Dunhill cigarette pack has "DUNHILL TWIN PACK RM 12.00" written on it. It's a promotional item, probably to counter the tobacco price wars with Philip Morris retailing Marlboros at RM 6 and Next going for RM 4.

The side of the huge Dunhill flip top box has 40 cigarettes stamped on it. The box is made to look like one gigantic Dunhill pack with all the appropriate detailing in. It's actually a box housing 2 x 20's.

This is what the inside of the huge Dunhill box contains - there are two ordinary Dunhill 20's inside.

The individual Dunhill boxes has "Twin Pack RM 12.00" instead of the usual liner text. I love the entire concept and bought it even though I'm not a big fan of Dunhill's. I love the huge promotional pack though.

I mean, just look at it! It's monolithic!

I'm going to keep it on my desk. :)

Turtle eggs are considered to be very nutritious and purportedly have a lot of health benefits. Unfortunately, they happen to be illegal due to the wildlife preservation enactments to prevent rampant poaching of turtle eggs (which is a protected species) in Malaysia. However, I managed to hook up with someone who sells turtle eggs through a coworker.

The transaction was very covert, which I found amusing - the turtle egg seller called to tell us where he is and we got him to deliver it to the office. He was an overweight slightly grimy looking man carrying one of those tote bags with probably 100 turtle eggs inside (and also some porn VCD's on the sides). I bought 10 turtle eggs off him for RM 15 (it's RM 1.50 per turtle egg). The turtle eggs are still sandy from the beach and each one is about the size of a ping pong ball.

I don't know how to cook turtle eggs, so we brought it downstairs to solicit the help of Kakak (literally "Sister" in Malay) who works downstairs. She told us that it can either be eaten raw, or heated lightly (emphasis on lightly) with boiled water. Thus, we set the wok (there's a kitchen downstairs, sorta) on boil with some water.

The turtle eggs are washed by putting them under running water to get rid of the sand. The interesting thing about turtle eggs is that they're very pliable - it's so soft that pressing on it will make indentation marks (as can be seen in the first two photos). The turtle eggs in their natural configuration also has that property - surrounding eggs impact each turtle egg by forming recessions around each other.

The turtle eggs were then put into the water for a short (less than a minute) amount of time and left to simmer for a bit.

I also got Kakak to pose for a photo beside the cooking wok with the turtle eggs in it. ;)

This is what the slightly heated turtle eggs look like. The eggs are soft and slightly translucent, so that you can see the yolk inside.

You can eat the turtle eggs by opening up the shell (it's so soft, it's almost like peeling instead of opening) and eating it as it is. It tastes surprisingly good...it doesn't need any flavoring for the turtle egg taste to shine through. Unlike other eggs, turtle eggs have a distinct musky aftertaste to it.

However, I'm told that the proper way to enjoy turtle eggs is too peel off a small hole at the top...

...and put a drop of soy sauce inside to flavor it, before sucking the whole egg contents.

This method of consumption is more visceral and much more enjoyable. :)

This is Amy, a friend of Penny who came into the office today to meet up with her. She's 26, and used to be from Chung Hua High School No. 1.

Dear readers of sixthseal.com, meet Amy. ;)

LEGO came out with a Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation kit (7251) for RM 44.90. I saw it at Jusco before I came back and couldn't resist buying it. I haven't assembled LEGO sets in a long, long time.

I brought the Lego Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation box to the office today to assemble during my lunch break. The back of the kit shows how Anakin Skywalker can be transformed into Darth Vader using a twisting movement. I just found the kit interesting, so I decided to give it a go.

I opened up the box and pulled out several LEGO pieces inside a plastic bag. It didn't look like it would be hard to assemble...

...until I noticed that there's another packet of Lego pieces in the box, a flat LEGO mounting board and an instructions manual. That's the problem with LEGO pieces, there's always more than you think. ;)

This is the assorted LEGO Star Wars pieces from the first packet. You can see an Anakin Skywalker LEGO man piece in there as well as an unmasked Darth Vader LEGO man. There's something about the characters having a LEGO man head that cracks me up to no end. :)

This is the other (smaller) packet, which mostly contains the LEGO pieces necessary to build the torture device/transformation thingy. The instructions manual (a thinly disguised promotional brochure) is at the back.

The LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation manual has the same flame-licking-the-fringes design as the box.

I must admit, I'll be lost without the step-by-step instructions to build the contraption. Seriously.

I started with the base LEGO mounting board and started building up the back towers (they're actually LEGO pieces, but I'm trying to lose myself in the illusion here, dammit ;)).

The side swing away multiple armed transformation machine came was starting to bear some resemblance to the image on the box after a couple of minutes.

It's starting to look more and more like the LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation kit now...

Behold! The LEGO pieces are finally assembled! I present to you - The LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation!

This is the "Darth Vader" side - the previous photo shows the "Anakin Skywalker" side.

Download: LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation [sixthseal.com].

Here's a video to show how the LEGO swivels to "transform" Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader.

There are also two other possible permutations with the existing LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader transformation kit - there's no instructions for those, but it can be done with a bit of experimentation. One of them depicts Darth Vader standing beside the machine and the other shows Darth Vader with this huge ass phallic looking weapon.

I like it in the original form though, so the LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Transformation set is sitting on my desk at work now.

The Mini Choux Al Saumon is actually a Carrefour store brand Aperitif snack with salmon flavor. It retails for RM 4 per box and I got one to try out, since it looks pretty appetizing.

I still couldn't manage to decipher what the words actually mean but I gathered enough from the picture on the front to know that it's salty and salmon flavored balls.

The ingredients list were not much help either, since it's not in English...

It's a good thing there's an English translation on the back. The packaging looks really good, depicting salmon puffs in front of a tranquil scene. It's nothing like the other store branded items I've seen, with minimalist features to save on cost.

This is what the salmon balls looks like. I thought it looks a little like a bun.

I bit into the salmon puffs and found that there was a delicious surprise inside - the salmon puffs are filled with salmon dip! It's amazing, and not what I expected at all. I didn't know it contains real dip inside. It tastes great!

The Carrefour store branded Mini Choux Au Saumon is a must-try. The name of the snack doesn't exactly roll of the tongue, but the taste does. ;)

Cheras Fish Head Curry Restaurant is an eating establishment that has been in operation since 1978. The eatery is open 24 hours a day and serves curry fish head as their flagship dish. There's also a sign saying that their other signature dish is the mutton curry.

The kari kambing (mutton curry) was good...though the chunks are a little too big to handle. Smaller cuts would have been nice, but otherwise, I have no complaints about the mutton curry. It says that the mutton curry has been popular since the restaurants inception.

The obligatory crackers also made an appearance...

...as well as the vegetable dish.

We also ordered some prawn curry. It was alright, but nowhere near as good as the mutton curry.

The calamari curry was also uninspiring...

...but then came the much lauded fish head curry. It was great! The curry fish head came out tender, with the fish tasting fresh despite the curry treatment.

There's just something about a dead fish looking accusingly at you (through chilli covered eyes) while you eat. I can't explain it...

...but those who are inclined to do so can drown themselves in the waterfall beside the restaurant should the guilt prove to be overwhelming. ;)

Voodoo Jelly is called "The Jelly That You Can Drink" and comes in a wide variety of flavors with zany names like Jungle Lime and Raspberry Rage. It retails for RM 2.30 each at your friendly neighborhood Carrefour - I got mine at the one in Mid Valley Megamall.

I went for the Raspberry Rage and Wildberry Wipeout flavors. Voodoo Jelly is made of almost solid jelly and comes with the pop-up top that's common in Australian drink products. Voodoo Jelly is made by The Original Juice Co. in Victoria, Australia. I used to get my orange juice from this manufacturer when I was in university there too.

Download: Voodoo Jelly 1 [sixthseal.com]

Download: Voodoo Jelly 2 [sixthseal.com]

Here's two videos of me drinking the jelly in the hotel room in Cititel, Mid Valley. You have to tilt your head a bit to see what's going on, sorry about that. :p

Mun Wah Hokkien Mee comes highly recommended and is touted as the best Hokkien Mee in Malaysia. It's located at Jalan Maharajalela in KL and has been in operation since 1960.

Kedai Makanan Mun Wah Hokkien Mee seems to be doing very brisk business and attracts a wide range of people. There's an altar for Kuan Yee Kor (Kuan Kong) at the back, complete with incense for offerings.

I managed to get the cook to pose for a photo, though I didn't take the shutter speed into account and he went back to his (slightly charred) Hokkien mee cooking in the wok. The place specializes in Hokkien mee and people reportedly throng to this place for it.

The rack at the back of the cooking place is filled with piles and piles of the thick fat yellow noodles used to make Hokkien mee. Hokkien mee is a sticky, slightly sweet noodle preparation.

I ordered 100 Plus for my drink and it came in a steel cup, which I found to be amusing (though I don't know what the source of amusement was, I just found it funny).

Mun Wah Hokkien Mee is very clear about what its flagship dish is, by this sign prominently stuck on every single table. It was translated as "People ordering Hokkien Mee may have their meal served faster due to this eating establishment's specialty. Please be notified that other orders may be delayed as this place does not practice a first come first serve policy when Hokkien mee is involved".

This is what the Hokkien Mee looks like. It was mixed with beehoon (rice vermicelli) to give it a bit of texture. It was really good - the sticky Hokkien mee tastes nice, with all the little crunchy bits to complement the taste.

We also had a side order of fish puffs - it was served with Thai chilli sauce and one of the people I was with noted that it tastes particularly good, nice and puffy, with a soft almost melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Kedai Makanan Mun Wah Hokkien Mee is a great place for Hokkien mee - it's really good!

Nestle came out with an "Extra Creamy & Fruity" addition to their existing range of yoghurt - which is a good thing, with all the "Low Fat" and low carbohydrates trend in the food industry. Some of us like our food to be rich and indulgent. I personally prefer the decadent, if you will, versions of food instead of the healthier choice. You only live once. ;)

Anyway, to support this move towards catering for the more hedonistic palates in the consumer market, I bought one of the Nestle Extra Creamy & Fruity Fruits of the Forest yoghurt. They have a wide range of different flavors, but Fruits of the Forest sounds good to me. It just evokes this image of various different fruits, fused into the yoghurt.

Nestle Extra Creamy & Fruity line tastes great too! It is exactly what it claims to be - extra creamy and fruity. I loved it. It also comes in the smaller packaging with a plastic foldable spoon.

The AFFOGATO line of Frappuccino is Starbucks latest beverage that features an interesting shot of espresso being poured into a Frappuccino. It comes with the tagline "Strange name, wonderful drink" which was what attracted me to this latest version of the Frappuccino.

I just managed to check out the Affogato style Frappuccino last night at the Starbucks at KL Sentral. The AFFOGATO style Frappuccino comes into new flavors - Chocolate Cream Frappucino and Caramel Creme Frappuccino. I got Venti sized ones for both variants to sample.

The AFFOGATO style Frappuccino is differentiated from the usual offerings in the interesting textures that manifests when a shot of espresso is dumped into an ice blended drink.

I like the Chocolate Cream Frappuccino - it tastes rich and satisfying, though the caffeine content wasn't as high as I would expect from a double shot Frappuccino...

However, it was the Caramel Creme Frappuccino that I fell in love with. The Caramel AFFOGATO Frappuccino manages to retain just the right amount of sweetness and texture to make the drink shine through.

AFFOGATO - Strange name, Wonderful drink. ;)

I managed to get an even better bargain just now - the trick is to go exactly at 10:30 pm (or 11:00 pm on Saturdays) to Carrefour and hope that all the good ones aren't taken.

The sushi attendants wanted to sell the remainders for RM 8.99 but I said I'll just take it all for RM 7.99, the price I got the previous night...the choices were much better this time, so that's the reason for the higher going price.

It was closing time so I just got everything for RM 7.99. That's really cheap sushi considering that there's some prime choices inside...

It filled two large sushi packs, and one of them had all the choice sushi pieces.

I went to the renowned Chan Sow Lin No 3 Road fish head shop for lunch. It's located somewhere in KL and I'm told that it's very famous for their fish head dish.

It seems that the fish head is their signature flagship dish as everyone there is having it...

The Tai Sam Lou (literally Big Three Road in Cantonese) is a roadside restaurant of sorts, with a side area for cooking...

...and a wood structure to the side, which I assume is the living quarters of the proprietors.

The rice came out first, its just ye ol garden variety rice...

...and we also ordered kay yok, which is belly pork with yam. It's really good - the pork is fatty and hearty and the yam was nice too. It's a great addition to the meal for people who like meat.

There is also the obligatory vegetable dish...this is bean sprouts. The unusual thing about the dish is the size of the bean sprouts. Jesus, the things are huge! Bean sprouts on steroids or genetically engineered (GE) bean sprouts, whichever you like to think of it as. ;)

Finally, here's the flagship dish of the restaurant - I present to you, the Spicy bean sauce gravy steamed fish head with bean sauce and soy sauce. I don't recall the Cantonese name for it, but it sounded something like chiong ching something something yu tau.

It really is good! It's lightly steamed with spicy ingredients, but the freshness of the fish still manages to shine through.

The Tai Sam Lou fish head shop is a great find indeed...couldn't have done it without a local.

I headed down to Jusco (or was it Carrefour?) after a long day and got some Pelican Wine. I got the red and white varieties.

I walked past the sushi counter and the attendant asked me if I wanted everything on display for just RM 7.99. It was really late and they wanted to sell the remainders. I just checked into Cititel at Mid Valley at about 9 pm or 10 pm.

I thought it was a good bargain, so I got the entire leftover maki for that price...someone was behind me and wanted it too, one second too late, my friend. ;)

There are quit3e a lot of sushi and maki, it filled up two boxes and the boxes were stuffed to the max.

I liked the pelican wine too.

Sushi and wine...besh enjoyed with liberal amounts of benzos. Bye. Zzz...

Xun Wei Taiwan Delicacy is an eating establishment that recently opened up in Pending. I went there for lunch with Penny and Lui Lee today. The menu has reportedly been spiced up so we decided to check out the place.

The proprietor of Xun Wei has lived in Taiwan for several years and is married to a Taiwanese. He came back to open up this eatery specializing in Taiwanese cuisine. The place seems to be doing brisk business as it was fairly packed when we arrived.

I noticed a gourd shaped recession in the middle of the table when we were seated and I was informed that it's meant for steamboats. Xun Wei also serves steamboat for RM 10 for two people at night. That's cheap for a steamboat meal...

I ordered Bubble Milk Coffee (RM 2.50) which wasn't anything special. I thought it would have sago pearls in it, but it didn't.

I also had the Egg Honey Juice (RM 3) which Lui Lee also ordered. It's a wonderful concoction of eggs and honey. It came out very creamy, with an extremely satisfying mouth feel. Don't miss out on this drink; words cannot express how great it tastes!

Penny went for the Pearl Jasmine Milk Tea (RM 3) which tastes like the standard Bubble Tea shop implementations. I'll go for the Egg Honey Juice instead.

There are two signature dishes that Xun Wei Taiwan Delicacy offers. This is the Stewed Beef Noodle (RM 4.50) that Lui Lee ordered. Stewed Beef Noodle is a mainstay of Taiwanese cuisine.

I went for the other flagship dish - the Spare Ribs Rice (RM 5) which came with gravy on the rice and fried spare ribs. It also had two types of vegetables which I didn't like at all...but otherwise, it tastes good.

Penny ordered the Spicy Tofu Rice (RM 5) which came out looking like the rice based dish that I ordered. It seems that it's a Xun Wei signature to pour gravy over their rice. The spicy tofu is really spicy, and that's coming from me.

Finally, what is a Taiwanese meal without Taiwan sausages? ;)

Xun Wei has a great implementation of the Taiwan sausage - it's not too oily, and came out just right. The prices at Xun Wei Taiwan Delicacy are very affordable too...the bill came out to around RM 30 for the three of us. I can see why the place is packed every day around lunchtime.

That was the question put forward to me by someone I just met. She had someone going after her that she didn't like and wanted me to take photos of us together to claim that I'm her boyfriend.

I don't know why, but these situations always come to me. I'm kinda used to it already, so alright, I said, I'll pose for a couple of photos to make us look like we're in a relationship and I'll also post it on the website but I will not confirm it in real life since I already have a girlfriend.

This is Xiao Mei (her real name is Abby) and these are the photos she's going to show to ward off her admirer that she doesn't like. It works well for me too, since it's another XX chromosomes post. However, I don't think my gf will think highly of this, regardless of the situation of helping out a friend. :p

Anyway, here you go...now you owe me one. ;)

The Kung Fu Rat is a soft toy that sings and dances to a theme song that's so catchy, you just can't get it out of your head!

Download: Kungfu Rat [sixthseal.com]

It's hooked up to one of the video servers in our network. It's just too funny for words...so just download the video. :)

Anyway, I'll be flying to KL early tomorrow morning for a business trip. I'll be there the whole weekend, staying at the same place (Cititel, Mid Valley).

Cafe Zhi Wei is latest eatery to open up in Kuching. It has only been in operation for less than 2 weeks. The words "Zhi Wei" literally means "(The) Taste" but the Chinese characters means "Taste Expert Cafe". I went there last night to try out this new eating establishment.

Kafe Zhi Wei is nicely spaced out, with seating arrangements to accommodate couples, groups and larger packs of diners. There is also an al fresco (this word should never be used in Malaysian food reviews) dining option for smokers. The seats outside are nicer than the ones in the interior, for some reason.

I love the personalized service that Cafe Zhi Wei provides. The proprietor was kind enough to come out and recommend dishes to us. Her name is Ng See Sian and she hails from KL. Cafe Zhi Wei is meant for an authentic Hakka cuisine experience. She's very friendly, and easy to talk to, and can recommend the best dishes for the day.

She told us the Lime Asam Juice (RM 2.50) is different from most implementations and suggested that we try out this drink. It's good. I can't remember what I ordered, coz we just ate and shared dishes and drinks. It's pretty much of a communal dining experience with us coz we like to sample new things.

This is the Lemon Sugar Cane (RM 2.00) that the proprietor also recommended. It looks a little like the Lime Assam Juice, but without the froth on top. She told us that the lemon offsets the overt sweetness of the sugar cane juice. I found it very nice and thirst quenching.

Here's the Longan with winter melon (RM 1.50) that's served in a unique receptacle. It's recommended for its "cooling" properties and apparently is popular in with Hakka people.

The proprietor told us that their strength is in the Hakka Fried Pork dishes. This is the Hakka Fried Pork Rice (RM 4.50). It comes with Oil Rice, which is a very fragrant type of rice. I tasted it and I swear it's better than Bario rice in taste (but not texture).

This is the Dry Hakka Fried Pork Noodle (RM 5.00). The proprietor informed us that the pork that they serve is not the usual "three layer pork" but a specially prepared Hakka style cured meat that requires a long seasoning time. I love the Hakka Fried Pork, it's really different from the others I've had.

Here's a closer look at the contents of the Dry Hakka Fried Pork Noodle. It has generous portions of pork, fresh green vegetables, and edible fungi, all topped with chopped spring onions. It's great - the Hakka Fried Pork is really something to experience and the noodles are nice and springy.

This is the Deep Fried Dumpling (RM 5.00) that we ordered as a side dish. One bit of information that the proprietor told is that the Deep Fried Dumplings are only available at night. The lunch crowd is usually in a rush to get back to the office so they serve Dumpling Soup during lunch instead.

Here's a closer look at the Deep Fried Dumpling. It has a lot of ingredients which I couldn't identify, but the pastry wrap is crunchy and the inside hot and delicious. As I mentioned, this dish is only available at night, so go for dinner if you'll like to try this dish.

Finally, we had the highly recommended Crispy Vegetable With Chicken (RM 4.50). The proprietor informed us that this is their flagship dish - there's no other eating establishments in Sarawak that has this particular dish. It's really delicious, I polished off the whole plate in no time.

Kafe Zhi Wei gets two thumbs up from me. Don't miss out on this place if you're in Kuching - it has great Hakka based cuisine and a list of must-try dishes that the proprietor can recommend. Great service and food, that's a 10/10 in my books.

I went to the SKH food court behind my workplace for lunch...met up with some new people - Xiao Mei (nickname for "Little Sister") and Edwina. They were camera shy at first...

...but I got them to pose for a photo. ;)

This has been another XX chromosomes post brought to you by sixthseal.com.

Inspiration Alan Salon or Alan Saloon School of Hairdressing as some calls it, is located at Hock Lee Center. I desperately needed a haircut before I go to KL next week (business trip) to avoid looking like a "drug addict" as my mom likes to bring up every time I go back. I headed to my usual hair salon (Empire, Wisma Saberkas) but they don't open until 11 am. I needed to sort out a couple of things with my project (which is why I'm in the office right now) so I decided to try Alan Saloon of Hairdressing.

The first thing that strikes you as you enter Inspiration Alan Salon is the tastefully designed interior with subdued lighting. It was like stepping into your personal hair stylist room, like Kenny mentioned. There are no glaring lights anywhere in the salon - it's all about subtlety here...

There is also the standard product promotional tie-in displays at Inspiration Alan Salon as well, but this wall mounted one is very aesthetically pleasing and blends in well with the surroundings - it doesn't look garish like other hair saloons.

There is a resident hairstylist signboard mounted on the entrance as well as their working experience and a photo of them in action. I believe this is the first time something like this has been done in Kuching. I was looking at the photos to see which hairstylist I wanted (yeah, yeah, I'm a typical male pig, I go for the good looking one :p) but did not see any noteworthy ones (which I later found out was the photographer's fault, coz some of them are fine ;)).

I went up to the counter and asked about the hair stylists on duty today. The counter girl told me that she'll assign a free one to me and told me to take as seat and make myself feel comfortable. "No way, Jose," said I. I'm going to choose who'll be the one to fuck around with my hair (the one upstairs, for those of you with your minds in the gutter ;)). She hesitated before politely informing me that they usually like to train the junior hair stylists.

I asked her who the junior hairstylists are...and she told me there were five of them. I didn't want to waste time beating around the bush, so I straight out asked her whether they are male or female. ;) I'm used to getting *cough* female treatment, so to speak, in Empire and I'm not going to change that. She looked at me kinda strange and told me that the only females in-house right now are the resident hairstylists.

I asked to look at them in person coz I wanted to choose the one to cut my hair. I can be a very demanding customer in certain aspects, as you can see. ;) That caused another puzzled hesitation before she complied and let me into the back room. I only saw one aesthetically pleasing hair stylist there, so I said I wanted the one in the white top to cut my hair.

I also told her I'll take the mysterious VIP room (which costs an additional RM 20) and she ushered me in personally. I had been wondering what this "VIP Room" has that makes it special enough to justify an RM 20 extra...

...and I found out that it's a partially enclosed room with only two seats for maximum privacy. There are also plush seats at the back of the hairdressing seats for companions and a personal LCD screen for each of the two chairs so you can either read magazines or watch MTV. My hairstylist later told me that the VIP room is usually used for long procedures like hair coloring and hair straightening procedures.

I also noticed that they have a menu for drinks and food and I was told that VIP room patrons get a complimentary drink. I ordered the Cafe Mocha. There is also a notice announcing Alan's Hair Show at Genting Highlands which will be aired on 8TV and TV3 later this month. Jesus, and I thought I'm a narcissist. ;)

This is the Cafe Mocha that was served soon after. I thought the stainless steel cover spoiled an otherwise perfect implementation...

...and this is the Cafe Mocha in question. It was hot and creamy, but they really need to brew it with higher caffeine content. I thought it was decaf, for Christ's sake...

I went for a Wash and Cut (RM 32) and a person of the male persuasion came in...and I told him there must be a mistake coz I got someone else to do my hair. He assured me that everything is in order, it's just that the senior hairstylists there makes the junior hairstylists do all the hair washing...I'm not even going to go there. I'm still traumatized by being touched everywhere (on my scalp, lar) by a guy for 30 minutes...

My hairstylist, Antonia Yong, who is one of the resident professional senior hairstylists there came in later and had a discussion about how we're going to make my hair look like by the time I step out of Inspiration Hair Salon. She was kind enough to pose for a shot while I took it from the mirror. Antonia, these are my readers, dear readers of sixthseal.com, this is Antonia. ;)

I had the option of watching the LCD screen showing MTV that the counter attendant activated for me. She asked me which channel I preferred, and I told her MTV is fine.

She also put a stack of the latest magazines on the table in front of me...and this is an interesting bit about blogs. Hah!

This is Antonia Yong doing her magic on my hair...and the person to the right is the guy that's waiting to re-wash my hair. Please don't worry about me, I'll get over it with enough counselling and support...and I know I look half-asleep - it's 10:30 am on a Sunday for God's sake. :p

Anyway, I thoroughly recommend her services if you're in need of a haircut. She's real friendly (something I find attractive) and...well, just take my word for it, you'll enjoy it AND get a good haircut at the same time. :p

This is me and Antonia at the end of the session. I like my hair to hang down, but she insisted that it looks better like this. Oh well...

Antonia told me that they're opening up a new branch at Sarawak Plaza, so look out for that. The total damage to the wallet from the hair wash and cut is RM 32. I told the cashier that I took the VIP Room so there should be an additional RM 20 charge for that, but she said it's alright since it wasn't booked or occupied at that time. That's very nice of them, and I got a free mocha to go with it too.

Inspiration Hair Salon gets two thumbs up from me, both for service and quality.

I managed to get hold of a box of Mabron (tramadol hydrochloride) injection ampoules from my good pharmacy friend. Mabron can be administered via IV (Intravenous Injection), IM (Intra-muscular Injection) or SC (Subcutaneous Injection) and comes in a box of 5 x 200 mg ampoules.

Here's a closer look at the box. It contains 100 mg of tramadol hydrochloride for injection per ml. The ampoules are 2 ml each, so that comes out to 200 mg per ampoule. I administered the Mabron solution using Terumo .29 G syringes.

This is the Mabron (IV, IM, SC) ampoules. It comes in old skool glass ampoules that can be snapped off at the top. I took three videos of myself injecting Mabron - SC, IM and IV respectively. I originally only wanted to do IV but I forgot my 256 MB SD Card and only had a 16 MB SD Card at my disposal so the videos are rather rushed as I needed to finish everything in slightly more than 60 seconds.

Download: Mabron SC injection [sixthseal.com]

I thought I had got a vein, but I didn't - this was a subcutaneous shot.

Download: Mabron IM injection [sixthseal.com]

The time ran out before I could register a vein so I just stuck it into muscle and IM the solution.

Download: Mabron IV injection [sixthseal.com]

This is the video where I managed to IV the Mabron (tramadol hydrochloride) injection solution.

There isn't anything much I can add to tramadol that hasn't been described in the original tramadol experience report [sixthseal.com]...but the injectible form of tramadol has differences from the oral ingestion capsules described below:

feel a rush, sweating, speedy effects predominate but seretonin release is there too. feels very nice. gets me clumsy too. feels like the familiar tramadol opiate with serotonin bonus effects but MUCH STRONGER. it feels much speedier too. i would consider iv tramadol a recreational drug.

I would consider Mabron (tramadol hydrochloride) to be recreational in injection form when it's administered using syringes.

Disclaimer: The scenes depicted in the videos did not happen the last time I went back to Sibu. It happened a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

I had noticed an increase in birds chirping recently, as well as a perceived closeness of the said chirping sounds. I didn't really think much of it until I happened to see a birds nest in the window just outside my place.

It was unusual as birds usually nest earlier in the year (when the weather is drier) and also due to the fact that I live on the third floor, and the outcropping afforded by the struts supporting my window wasn't all that comfortable to roost in (in a human's eyes).

I found the bird to be quite adorable but it turned rather anxious when our proximity closed, which was strange, considering I sleep under her every night. It soon flew off to roost in the street light opposite my place, where she anxiously kept one eye on her beloved nest.

I wanted to take a look at the nest, so I tenderly squeezed it in through the bars of my window...and I found two (2) eggs inside the nest! Bird eggs! The nest was made out of straw and other material the bird managed to painstakingly gather throughout the nest building days.

Here's a closer look at the bird's nest...

...and the two eggs that it contained. The eggs are slightly translucent and it seems like one can peek inside, if only the lighting was right.

I managed to take a video of the bird eggs to show how it looks like:

Download: Bird's eggs [sixthseal.com]

However, I inadvertently used too much pressure on the eggs coz one of it burst and splashed yolk and bird fetal matter. OMG! I killed a bird-to-be! I also managed to soil the lens of the Nikon 5700 that I just repaired at a cost of RM 750. I don't know which one made me feel worse. :p

Well, since the egg was already destroyed, here's another photo of it.

This is the pristine egg that wasn't destroyed...

Download: Lonely mother bird [sixthseal.com]

...and this is the sad mother of the eggs. The bird is seen plaintively roosting at the place where the nest used to be, looking for her yet-to-be-born children that was so cruelly snatched from her...

I had a long day at work today. Why does she keep nagging me?

I want money. Why isn't she giving me any?

Why isn't she telling the kids to shut up?

My food is cold, damn it!

These are not valid reasons for hitting your wife...

Not even the last one. ;)

McDonald's just came out with a new menu addition - Grilled Chicken Foldover. The tagline goes "The BIG taste sensation that's here to stay!" and there is a "100% white chicken meat" logo on the promotional posters too. Hmm...I didn't know there was any other kind of chicken meat. Last I heard, all chickens are considered as white meat. ;)

The description goes "Treat yourself to the big taste sensation of two lightly-grilled 100% white chicken meat patties, crispy lettuce, juicy tomatoes and fresh onions, all topped with creamy garlic mayonnaise and tightly tucked into a tasty toasted flatbread.". The packaging of the Grilled Chicken Foldover is really nice, with a custom made full body cardboard wrap with detailed illustrations.

The back of the McDonald's Grilled Chicken Foldover is no less detailed, and the quality of the custom made cardboard wrap is quite impressive.

The Grilled Chicken Foldover is nested inside the custom cardboard wrap, with an "Easy-Tear" (just a trademark able word for "perforation") going around the entire body.

This is what the McDonald's Grilled Chicken Foldover looks like - there's a herb infused flatbread covering two chicken meat patties. The packaging is pretty nifty too, it only opens up the upper half of the Grilled Chicken Foldover so that it can be enjoyed without soiling the user's fingers (coz the bottom half has the packaging intact).

Here's a closer look at the inside of the Grilled Chicken Foldover - it has two oblong shaped flat grilled chicken patties (it looks like a steak cut) and other vegetables topped with garlic mayo inside the folded flatbread...

...and here's what it looks like after I've taken a couple of bites from it.

I went to McDonald's for lunch just now with my coworker Penny, and her friends Lisa (who happens to be a Heng Hua as well, just like me) and Lui Lee.

Banana honey dip is a snack from Thailand - it was featured in the Thai Fair at a local supermarket lately. It contains real dried bananas dipped in honey and individually wrapped before being packaged into a box.

I bought one of the Banana honey dip for RM 8.50 for a box containing about 20 of the honey dipped dried bananas.

The opposite side of the box (which is actually the "real side") has Thai characters and a perforation that runs along the box, which can be opened to accommodate the extraction of the individually wrapped dried bananas.

The listed ingredients of the Banana Honey Dip is pretty straightforward to the point of being absurd...it says: Banana. Honey.

The perforation marked "Open Here" can be torn away to reveal...

...the dried banana slices.

The individually wrapped banana slices has "Smile Banana" written on it...

The honey dipped dried banana slices is vividly textured...it looks like a real banana. Scrap that, it is a real banana. It tastes surprisingly good too - best eaten with watermelons or another juicy fruit to make the dried bananas taste like a fresh moist banana.

Smile! It's banana time!

Twisties just came out with a limited edition (oh, these magical words ;)) flavor to add to the existing Twisties line of snacks. There's a huge rack promoting the new Twisties Fizz in supermarkets.

I don't really like eating Twisties, but what got my attention was the Fizz bit...it seems that this snack is effervescent! I couldn't help it - the unusual nature of the snack coupled with the "Limited Edition" tag compelled me to purchase one.

This is what Twisties Fizz looks like - it has a blue motif and bubbles all around. There's even a red mouth and tongue with effervescent (excuse me, it's the word of the day ;)) fizzy bubbles all around it. To top it off, there's a speech bubble going "aaaah...", with four (4) a's.

It must be good, I thought. It even has a how to guide at the back to explain to the less intellectual ones amongst us the methodology involved in enjoying this effervescent (sorry, I can't help myself) snack.

The actual implementation was rather disappointing though...I had to finish the whole pack coz no one else would eat it - descriptions ranged from "strange" to "Twisties are not supposed to taste like that". Twisties Fizz is actually orange flavored, with fizzing bits (look at the crystals).

It's definitely an acquired taste and I can see why it's Limited Edition - I don't think it would sell. It's more of a novelty snack.

I saw this decadently designed dessert and the picture just called out to me...it felt like the photo was compelling me, saying "Order me...I am a big bowl of coconut and chendol goodness and you'll love me..."

...and love it I did. ;) The whole concoction is made of a plethora of ingredients - chendol, yam pieces, sweet potato, sweet bean, sweet corn, and others, all stuffed into a real coconut with coconut juice and flesh and topped with evaporated milk. It was over the top.

Here's a closer look at the ingredients contained inside the Coconut chendol special. It's well worth the RM 3.50. There are a lot of unorthodox ingredients that belong better in a bubur cha cha mix e.g. the sweet potato and yam, but the coconut implementation is rather unorthodox too. It's nice to drink the slightly tart juice of the coconut mixed with the classic chendol milky sweet taste while harvesting flesh from the coconut to eat.

Coconut chendol special tastes like chendol crossed with bubur cha cha and given a twist with real coconut juice and flesh. It's amazing that no one has thought of this before. It gets two thumbs up from me.

There are a lot of memories embedded with eating fried pah wee at Shi Shan Shui Cafe located opposite the library. I used to come here a lot with a couple of my friends for dinner while studying at the public library...but sparing you the trip down memory lane, let's get straight to the food.

This is pah wee or pawe which literally means white pasta. It's a uniform sized flour based product that bears a close resemblance to its cousin, kueh tiaw. Pah wee is usually soaked in water until an order comes in to soften it up. The same proprietor has been manning this stall since the days of my library "study" excursions, but again, the nostalgic monologue will be saved for another day.

Pah wee is usually fried with soy sauce and other sauces and its served like spaghetti - al dante. It's fried, but the springiness is retained while having a soft center in these pasta like flat rotund pieces.

Here's the fried pah wee dish that I remember having all those years ago...it still tastes the same. :) The pah wee is chewy and topped with fresh spring onions and the salty dish is best eaten with a side of chilli sauce. It's great and it's a dish that's hard to find outside Sibu.

Sibu is well known for kompia as the birthplace of kompia began here. Kompia or kom pia (literally baked biscuit) is a uniquely Sibu based product. There are several different implementations of kompia, the most basic being just the baked pastry without filling.

However, the most popular implementation is arguably the meat filled kompia soaked in meat gravy. It usually goes for about RM 0.50 per piece. Different people prefer different variants, but the only type I'll eat is the gravy soaked meat stuffed kompia.

I like to soak the kompia in the meat gravy for a long time till it's all soggy before eating the whole soggy mess of bread and meat and gravy. It's like a salty Tim Tam Slam, Sibu style. ;)

I saw this promoter for this kitchen appliance that was going for a very affordable RM 19.90 and yet seems to have the integrated funtionality to replace most of your kitchen items. I watched the demo just now at a shopping center in Sibu and the promoter was coaxing me to get it for my gf or my mom coz she noticed me taking pictures of her. ;)

I said I'll think about it and I'll come back if I decided I need it, and she said she'll wait for me.

I hope she's kidding, coz it's going to be one hell of a long wait. :p