I was due to fly back to Sibu last night and since I had some time to kill (and also coz I wanted to meet Ringo ;)) I managed to get in touch with her and meet up with the big cheese at O'Briens in 1U.
This is the delicious dairy product herself, in her stealth mode disguise. She has the exact same cell phone as mine.
O'Briens is known for it's gourmet coffee and handcut sandwiches...
...and their tagline "See your food made fresh in front of you", kinda like an open kitchen thing, except it's an open counter of sorts.
Cheesie went for the healthy option, with the Smoked Salmon on Shambo (RM 13.50) under their Low Fat Lifestyle menu, interestingly dubbed "Guilt Free Food" with everything having under 3 grams of fat.
This is the Peach Blush (RM 10) that she ordered. My first impression was that she seems to wear a lot of bling. This girl has color coordination - most of the articles she wore has gold trimmings!
I went for the (much) less healthier option of the O'Briens Crambo Club Hot Toastie (RM 16.50). The sandwiches at O'Briens are all served with crisps, which is a nice touch. I love putting Pringles in sandwiches, it makes the texture with white bread (untoasted) very interesting. Crispy!
I also had the large Cappuccino (RM 8.50) which comes with a shamrock froth finish. I have seen Guinness doing that for draft stout in some bars, it must be an Irish thing. ;)
Cheesie has a very bubbly personality and I felt very comfortable talking to her. We also had a lengthy intellectual discourse on methods of improving Cheesie's Wardrobe. Heh! It was great meeting up with you Ringo! Jesus, now I sound like a fanboy. I have also noticed that I will be needing Botox on my forehead very, very soon. ;)
...and no, this is not an advertorial nor was any payment (monetary or otherwise) arranged for me to do this Cheesie post. =D
I went to the Mummy 3 press screening at GSC, Midvalley at the ungodly hour of 9:45 am with Timothy, Samantha and Cynthia on Tuesday. It was held a day before the premiere and two days before the official release date. I haven't been to a press screening before, cheers to Nuffnang for that coz I'm a huge fan of movies.
The interesting bit about press screenings is that you have to insert your cell phone and digicam into this envelope thing (with an attached ID) so no cell phones are allowed in the theater itself.
Anyway, we got a Mummy 3 press kit with a text insert containing the list of credits and other filming anecdotes as well as a CD Press Kit with goodies like photos, production notes and the trailer and other information. I found it quite interesting to read, it's not just the standard plot guidelines but experiences about the difficulties of filming in China and other behind the scenes stuff. The press screening also comes with a free drink and popcorn voucher.
I was looking forward to the Mummy 3 movie coz I've watched the first two and found the franchise highly entertaining. It's nice to be one of the first to watch the movie. Brandon Fraser is back and he's as good as ever even though he seems to be trying too hard to be funny in some of the scenes.
I loved the plot about The Dragon Emperor which is (very) loosely based on mythology behind the terracotta warrior statues in China. Unfortunately, I had a rather late night the previous night and the sleep deprivation compounded by the extremely cold air conditioning and dark atmosphere of the GSC cinema made me very sleepy (and I have a very strong suspicion that I actually had a couple of microsleeps ;)).
It's not due to the movie though, The Mummy 3 was great and it has a great plot twist in the beginning and ends well with the standard happy ending that the series is renowned for. It's a feel good popcorn (caramel, not salted) movie that makes for another great addition to the Mummy franchise.
Jet Li's character is great, and although he doesn't have a lot of dialog, his on screen presence fits the character well. He's menacing and in command. However, it was Isabella Leong's performance that steals the show. I felt that there was no on screen chemistry between Luke Ford and Isabella Leong but she just has the poise and grace for this particular character (with a slight peppering of melancholy).
My sister has been in NZ for more than 10 years so I don't see that much of her. But hey, being the only sibling she has, she's counting on me to arrange her banquet details on this side. My dad is working and my mom couldn't go due to a family emergency (my maternal grandmother has Alzheimer's) so I was the designated Poh representative.
They're both doctors so I'm not sure how the marriage would work out though with health care professionals working such long hours and all. ;)
The submissions for the contest to win a ticket to the Chelsea match on the 29th of July 2008 and the included pass to the Heineken House has been carefully harvested, measured, sieved, filtered, marinated and roasted to perfection. The fermentation process was a little on the lengthy side, my apologies about that, but here are the winners:
Suresh Krishnan-Dass 017-700XXXX You're the very first person to get BOTH of the bonus questions right, which is amazing due to the admittedly vague nature of the photos. Kudos for that! You just won a ticket to the match and the included invite to the Heineken House.
Elaine 016-202XXXX The Blur Queen also managed to get both the bonus questions right. Respect! You're the second one to do so, congratulations! :)
Melvin Raj 016-371XXXX Melvin also got both of the bonus questions right, with the additional information that the firm was originally known as the Chelsea Shed Boys. Cheers!
Nurvia Ooi 012-395XXXX Nurvia won by pure virtue of speed. The email was the first one in that had all the questions answered correctly. First post award. Congratulations!
Shakira 016-354XXXX This one takes the cake in pure effort and length. She wrote a very lengthy email with educated guesses of the possible answers to the bonus questions. An except: picture two: you are standing. the clue is firm.. standing firm? or are you talking about a football firm?
answer: 1. Lampard stays firm in Chelsea as I have just read in the newsletter... 2. Chelsea Headhunters, the firm where people formed with the intent to engage in fights and inflict pain with members of firms from other clubs. Riot! Sound like a bit of fun :] I know in 2006 that 2 players received death threats from the Headhunters. I will wikipedia that later to see what I can find.
Congratulations to all the five winners! You each get one (1) ticket to the Chelsea Asia Tour 2008 match at Shah Alam Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 8:45 PM on the 29th of July, 2008 and one (1) invite to the Heineken House courtesy of Heineken, the sponsor of the contest.
The answer to the first bonus question is The Rising Sun pub where Chelsea was founded (thus the hint "Origin"). The second bonus question with the hint "Firm" refers to Chelsea Headhunters - the football firm of Chelsea.
Judges decisions are final and based on purely unscientific qualitative standards. ;)
Thank you all for participating and I'll be calling the winners to verify their attendance. I want to ensure that all the winners can go, so should any one of them be unable to make it, the ticket and pass will be given to another submission selected at random* with priority given to the first few people who emailed me with the correct answers.
Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Joe Cole are all coming for the friendly match against Malaysia. Be at the Shah Alam Stadium on the 29th of July to watch Chelsea play against our national team!
*Fine Print (TM): You have to answer the phone within 6 rings coz I really don't want to be on the phone the whole day. ;)
Have you ever wanted to be a designer for Nike? Here's your chance! Project Lightweight is a contest initiated by Nike for talented young student designers. Lighter, stronger, and faster is the Nike design philosophy and this initiative is open to all college and university students to design a future lightweight product for athletes.
Nike is encouraging aspiring designers from all disciplines to participate in the contest. You just need to design any product (not just footwear, but apparel etc) for any sport. Project Lightweight is encouraging futuristic designs for a new lightweight product - your imagination is the only limit here.
The best thing about this contest is that entries are not just limited to a specific medium such as film, art, installation, or product. In fact, complete freedom of design is encouraged! Each entry must be accompanied by a description of the design (limited to 200 words). You can even email a consulting expert at projectlightweight@email-nike.com.my to seek advice or ask any questions.
I know what I'll like to see - a Nike shoe that is lightweight, breathable (but water repellent for those rainy days) with a Bluetooth connection AND a kinetic or piezoelectric energy harvesting system that can power not just the Bluetooth interface chip, but an iPod or cell phone as well. I don't know how that can be achieved, but hey, think out of the box and all that.
"You run like a girl!" "My grandmother can run faster than you!" Have you ever been taunted before? Hopefully, with the latest products coming out of the Project Lightweight contest, we won't have to put up with those insults anymore...coz we'll all be running on lightweight footwear! :)
That's the beauty about the Project Lightweight design competition - it's meant to showcase YOUR point of view. YOU get to decide on what a lightweight footwear (or apparel) should be like and submit your entries to the Project Lightweight website. Calling all aspiring designers of all disciplines. The future is yours!
Ready? Set. Go!
Go forth, and create history!
(and design a lightweight pair of trainers so I can outrun mall security next time)
Project Lightweight is offering a grand prize of an all expenses paid trip to Nike's World Headquarters in Oregon, USA. The winner would not just get a chance to tour the grounds (which is called The Campus, much like Microsoft's headquarters) but will also have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the "Kitchen", where the top designers of Nike brainstorm and design new products.
You'll also get the chance to meet and pick the brains of Nike's legendary design team!
Project Lightweight Design Competition The competition allows participants to design any product (e.g. footwear, apparel etc), and they are not limited to any particular sport. All submissions must be made between 1 - 31 July on the Project Lightweight website www.nike.com.my/projectlightweight.
For more information, log onto www.nike.com.my/projectlightweight for full details on how to enter, participation requirements, submission details and other terms and conditions.
Clare has left for Kuching just now and bought me breakfast at Mitsu Tea House in lieu of sexual services rendered during her stay here. ;) I'm kidding of course, I was just little more than her personal driver during the week she was in Sibu.
Mitsu Tea House is just about the only place you can get decent dim sum in Sibu. There is an al fresco seating area at the bottom...
...and an air-conditioned enclosure at the first floor. Mitsu Tea House was totally packed this morning - it seems like it attracts the Sunday morning crowd in droves!
We finally managed to snag a table after a short wait and a waitress took our order. You can tell I woke up at an ungodly hour from my ruffled hair. I usually don't do Sunday morning breakfasts. ;)
Mitsu Tea House has the ubiquitous dim sum carts doing the rounds but you can order a la carte from their menu as well.
Mitsu is one of the more successful eating establishments in Sibu with Mitsu Shabu Shabu offering Japanese cuisine and Mitsu Tea House with its impressive dim sum portfolio.
We ordered Chrysanthemum + Green Tea (RM 4 per pot), a mixture of two different tea leaves (and flowers). It came in a store branded teapot and cups, much like the eating receptacles over here.
Steamed Pork Meat and Abalone Sauce Buns. This is pretty good stuff...it's a little like "little dragon buns" where the sauce is sealed in the bun pouch itself...
...and can be eaten as you eat oysters. Slurp it down. ;)
Lo mai gai (sticky glutenous rice) is another dim sum staple but Mitsu Tea House's version disappoints. It was under flavored and lacking in carnivorous content.
Steamed Shrimp Dumplings (har kau) was very good though. It has two shrimps in each dumpling and tasted exquisite!
We also had Baked Cream Custard Pastry from their Dim Sum Pastries menu and it was alright....tasted like a Portuguese Egg Tart.
Mitsu Tea House also serves noodles and we saw a lot of other tables ordering this. The waitress told us the Dry Fried Noodles with Beef was one of their specialties and we finished off the brunch with this carbohydrate laden dish.
Mitsu Tea House has just about the best dim sum you're going to get in Sibu. It's the only specialized dim sum place in town but be forewarned - the crowd can be oppressive. There wasn't an empty table to be seen in the entire establishment!
Hmm...there's something about tea leaf divination... ;)
Kingwood Resort Mukah is a beach resort located in Mukah. It has 99 rooms sprawled across a huge compound that borders the beach and the facilities and buildings are all very new, having only been completed a couple of years ago. It's perfect for a short weekend retreat.
The palm trees that greets you with it's swaying fronds and the cool sea breeze coming in from the beach makes for a very nice and relaxing environment. The horizon is visible from the...er, horizon and covers the entire...well, horizon. ;)
The main hotel building is a 3 story structure in the middle the resort compound. Kingwood Resort Mukah has facilities ranging from swimming pools to tennis courts. It's very well maintained and looks clean and new despite being constantly exposed to salt water.
The lobby of the resort is decked out with rattan chairs and has free WiFi coverage.
Hail to the King, baby! ;)
The decor is very antiseptic, which may not be a good thing for a beach resort, but it gets brownie points for being clean and brand spanking new.
The rooms start from RM 322 nett but we got a special deal from Henry so we only paid RM 160 nett for a Premier Room with a sea view with a published rate of RM 368 nett. He was also kind enough to throw in lunch and breakfast for two. Cheers!
The Premier Room is equipped with two queen sized beds, which I always took to mean as one designated for activities which leaves wet spots on the sheets and the other for sleeping in. ;)
There is also a writing desk, a couch, TV with Astro, complimentary tea and coffee making facilities and wardrobes.
There is a modern shower unit made of transparent glass and an adjacent toilet. I reminded Clare to shout "Fire in the hole" should she flush the toilet while I'm in the shower coz that makes the water go scalding hot. It's proper travel etiquette when sharing rooms. ;)
The toiletries provided are pretty standard so you don't have to bring your own toothbrush or shaver.
The best part about the Premier Room is the balcony outside the window. It allows the cool sea breeze to come in and commands a great view of the beach. It also serves well as the designated smoking zone.
The view from the Premier Room also covers the swimming pool at the resort and the gazebos scattered throughout the beach front.
Video of Kingwood Resort Mukah from the balcony
Henry was kind enough to prepare a complimentary lunch for us, so we went down to the Palm Beach Cafe. The Palm Beach Cafe is the only dining establishment in the entire resort, so unless you're bringing your own food, that's where you'll be eating during your entire stay. :)
Palm Beach Cafe has been decorated with Melanau elements and the cultural aspects of Mukah. The huge fishing net featured on the wall reflects the fishing industry Mukah is so well known for.
There are al fresco seating arrangements with a water feature right by the poolside.
Henry had prepared two servings of the Melanau Fried Rice that is one of the signature dishes.
Our waitress was a pleasant girl from Bintulu that somehow wound up working in Mukah for reasons we didn't delve into.
She served us fresh orange juice and warm water while the lunch was being prepared.
The Melanau Fried Rice comes with generous amounts of seafood in the fried rice and is served with an egg and a huge fish cracker.
The portions at Palm Beach Cafe is huge, with me barely managing to finish the dish, which usually costs RM 12 ++ while Clare ate about 3/4 of the food.
There is a unique water feature surrounding the Palm Beach Cafe with ripples of water shimmering in the afternoon sun.
The resort area is also a nice place to take a leisurely stroll with gazebos and concrete chairs for sitting down should the need arise.
Video of view from the beach front
I figured we would go for a swim after the lunch despite having forgotten my sunscreen and we went down to the poolside.
There are pool chairs and a small kiddy pool in addition to the main pool.
It was fun to soak in the water and swim a little.
It's a very nice feeling to relax at a beach resort after a working week.
We swam in the pool until it was evening then went back to the hotel and took a shower together, er...I meant took turns showering before heading down for dinner.
We ate again at the Palm Beach Cafe for dinner, it being the only restaurant there and what not. It was decided that we're going to check out the western dishes for dinner.
There were a group of people having a function there so the food came out a little bit slow but that's alright since it's a vacation and all, so there are no fires in dire need to be put out. ;)
I had the Kingwood Macaroni (RM 11 ++) which is stir fried macaroni with prawn, minced chicken, mixed vegetables and beef bacon. It doesn't taste as good as Clare's order.
Clare has the Fettuccine Carbonara (RM 14 ++) which, as it's name suggests is loaded with carbs. ;) It's stir fried fettuccine with beef bacon, onion, garlic, black olive, mushroom and cream. The sauce is very creamy and it tastes much better than the stir fried macaroni.
We went for a walk on the beach after dinner...
...and adjourned back to the hotel room to drink some wine. I had brought a bottle of wine and several bottles of liquor for some liquid entertainment at night.
Clare also brought her Anything and Whatever drinks which works as a good mixer for the cheap Joker liquor that I got. It's very relaxing to kick back once in a while and get some drinks in and just smoke at the balcony while talking the night away.
The morning view when you wake up in the morning and open the balcony to breath in the sea breeze is amazing.
The hotel provides a free buffet breakfast so we woke up at 8:30 am the next morning to eat breakfast before we headed down to Palm Beach Cafe.
I noticed that the Palm Beach Cafe logo is actually made out of wooden spatulas!
The buffet breakfast has a wide range of options ranging from fruits, cereal and pastries...
...to hot food like fried noodles, curry chicken and fried eggs.
I loaded up my plate for a huge breakfast in anticipation of all the walking that was in store for us in Mukah.
The hotel was kind enough to concede us a late checkout time of 3 PM so we still had time to go for a swim after the trip to Mukah town.
We packed our bags and took the 3:30 PM bus back to Sibu. You don't actually have to travel down to Mukah to catch the bus, the bus route takes it through the resort so you can actually flag it down as it passes by. I got the driver to drop us off at the resort instead of bringing us to Mukah town when we arrived the previous day too.
It was fun to take a trip down to Kingwood Resort Mukah. The resort is very well maintained and clean and the beach front locality provides a very relaxing weekend getaway.
Mukah is a pretty small town but that doesn't mean it doesn't have anything to offer besides the infamous sago worms and umai. I stayed at the Kingwood Resort Mukah with Clare, which is about a 14 km distance away from the town. We woke up at around 9 am in the morning, and I read the papers while having my nicotine fix at the balcony before deciding to head down to Mukah.
Unfortunately, the hotel shuttle is currently in transit and the reception informed us that all the taxi drivers are on assignment so I told Clare we'll just stand by the highway and hitch a ride. I had this idea of using a RM 5 bill (RM 10 if that fails) to flag passing cars to Mukah down. We looked like tourists so I reckon people would be inclined to pick us up. The first car didn't stop and it started to seem like a bad idea when an SUV saw us and pulled up.
These fine folks were on assignment from HICOM for a Mukah project and was all too happy to drop us off at Mukah. They wouldn't even accept payment but I insisted, noticing the cigarette packs on the dashboard, to buy them some smokes. It was very kind of them to do that, most people wouldn't stop but I have faith in The System (TM). :)
They dropped us off at Mukah Old Town where the pasar tamu is. This is the central market where you can get umai, sago grubs, tebaloi, and other authentic Melanau produce. The official mascot of Mukah is a fish - Mukah is known for their fresh fish from the sea and fish is their primary export.
I've been told that the best method of ensuring that a fish is fresh is to look at the color of the gills.
It may also be necessary to bite off a chunk of fin to verify the freshness of the fish.
I have been learning the arcane arts of camwhoring to limited success too. ;)
The pasar tamu has a lot of stalls selling local produce such as tebaloi, belacan, fish crackers and sago pearls. The kind ladies at the stall were nice enough to show us how sago products are actually made.
Sago comes in a paste form which can be used for cooking various dishes or processed to make other sago products.
Sago pearls are made from sago paste after a baking process. There are different grades and sizes of sago pearls, some of which is eaten with umai and some for cooking.
The famous tebaloi (sago crackers) is a sweet biscuit made of sago flour that has been exported to markets as far as the US and Australia.
Our next stop is to the famous fresh fish market, where the catch of the day is sold straight from the fishing vessels the very same morning.
The stalls were doing brisk business selling everything from barracudas...
...to stingrays.
We met this friendly old man selling stingrays who saw us taking photos and quickly pointed us to the opposite stall where a huge stingray has just being caught and was in the process of being chopped into more manageable portions.
The gigantic stingray was easily the size of a car tire and the man handled the dissection with the ease of one with years of experience, pulling out the innards and chopping the parts into smaller sizes.
We also saw a catch of baby sharks. They look really cute in that size, but I imagine the cuteness factor will disappear when one of them bites your toes off. ;)
Fishing seems to be the favorite pastime of the people of Mukah. It's done on a large industrial scale with fishing vessels and also on a smaller scale with recreational anglers at the pier.
This is the obligatory "I was here" photo with the Welcome to Mukah sign. Crucified and all I got was this lousy T-shirt. ;)
Mukah is also home to a famous Chinese temple built by the early Chinese settlers in 1879.
I found the statue of a lion with a fatherly paw over it's cub very adorable. :)
The main historical attraction in Mukah is the 20 meter tall chimney from the first sago factory in Mukah. We nearly missed it due to its unassuming facade.
Mukah is a very laid back and relaxed town that is about to be developed into a huge administrative capital from the SCORE project. The town is a little bit far from the resort, but it's definitely worth the trip, if only to experience the culture and heritage of the Melanau people.
Umai is a raw fish dish prepared by the Melanau tribe in Mukah. It's a must try dish if you ever go to Mukah. It's the Malaysian version of the sashimi and is traditionally the working lunch for Melanau fishermen.
The primary attraction of Mukah is the pristine beach that surrounds the town. The cool breeze coming in from the beach is refreshing with a hint of saltiness and it called to us like moths to a light.
It was evening when we arrived in Kingwood Resort Mukah and I went down on, oops, I mean, with Clare to check out the beach and assumed my signature Ah Beng pose before going into the sea.
It was fun to just lie in the sea and let the waves wash over your body. Very therapeutic. I'm having a (beached) whale of a time. ;)
Mud masks are available in the local Mukah beach for next to free. Scoop mud and slather it all over your face.
It makes for a good sunscreen as well but I got sunburnt anyway.
Clare: The new definition of extreme laziness - sex on the beach by sitting in the sea, waiting for the waves to do the rest.
I just had to do the obligatory Pimp My Blog thing on the beach. Unfortunately, my sobriety level was not at it's optimal peak and I wrote "SIXTS..." before Clare corrected me and I used the stick to undo the typo.
I then proceeded to make another typo - this time spelling it as "SIXTHT..." before she corrected me again. OMG! What is wrong with me? I can't even spell my own blog URL. ;)
However, with a bit of concentration, I finally got it right. :)
sixthseal.com
I was so proud of the creation coz it took me so long to do it...
...and Clare just proceeded to trample on it. :(
Mukah beach is fun but be forewarned - there be monsters. I got bitten by something with pincers and so did Clare (twice). Clare also managed to get sand into her panties. I'm not sure why she was wearing panties under her swim wear in the first place, but apparently sand in the linings of lingerie is almost impossible to wash off. Abandon all hope, all ye who enters here! =D
...and no, I did not take off my Speedos this time. ;)
It has come to my attention that bloggers have started to pass out name cards. I seem to have lost touch with the blogosphere during my time in rehab coz I didn't even know that was going on. It's a vanity thing but I got a friend of mine who's really good in design to do one for me. Heh!
Front
Back #1
Back #2
I'm not sure which one looks better? Does the "Poh Huai Bin" with caps or the "poh huai bin" without caps look nicer? Comments are appreciated.
I'm going to run a limited 100 pieces print using a standard laser printer coz the KL printers won't be able to produce them in time for the really good quality ones. The local printers are charging me RM 40 for the 100 pieces run. I'm going to get them printed from KL using four color offset printing with double sided matte lamination and spot UV on 260 gsm art card for only about RM 62 for 200 pieces.
Does anyone have a better deal? I'm looking for high quality printed name cards. Feedback about the back portion of the card would be appreciated. Cheers!
Sago worms are eaten raw in Mukah, where it is considered a delicacy of sorts. Sago worms looks a lot like huge, fat maggots with spiny fangs.
The worms will actually bite you if you touch it's head, which is why it's advisable to tear the head off before consuming it raw.
Sago worms are sold live, in packets of RM 5 and you can still see the worms wriggling around in the packet.
The native habitat of sago worms is inside the trunk of a sago palm tree. The worms are kept in the sago flour and picked out and packaged into manageable sizes. The sixthseal.com Guide to Eating Live Sago Worms
Step 1: Pick a big, fat and juicy worm. Care should be taken to not touch the sago worm's head since it has pincers that will bite you. The pincers are used to burrow into the sago palm trunk so it's quite sharp.
Step 2: Look the sago worm in it's eyes. You're about to pull it's head off and eat it so it's only polite to smile at it before doing so. Worms have feelings too.
Step 3: After the niceties has been done away with, it is time for heads to roll. Grip the squirming worm firmly with one hand and use the forefinger and thumb of your other hand to grasp the sago worm's head and rip it off.
Step 4: Insert the still wriggling worm into your mouth.
Step 5: Chew. Take the time to savor the taste of live sago worms. There is a burst of flavor when you first bite into the wriggling worm from the innards spilling out onto your palate. Delicious!
Caution:
Care should be taken when plucking the head off the sago worm. The innards can cause a bit of Splash Damage (TM) as can be seen with Clare's spaghetti strap top.
Thanks to the friendly people at the sago worm stall in Mukah for showing us the proper way to consume a live sago worm.
Sago worms are delicious! It's a little bit like Pringles, once you start, you can't stop. I ate a lot of the worms with Clare. She overcame the Fear Factor bit and ate a couple of the worms too.
Here's another video guide to eating live sago worms. I took three videos of the process just to get it right. Heh!
I went down to Mukah for a night's stay at Kingwood Resort, Mukah during the weekend. Mukah is the nearest beach to Sibu and is about 144 km away. The journey takes approximately 4 hours despite the relatively near proximity due to the road conditions - there are potholes galore and parts of the road is made of gravel.
I didn't want to drive down to the resort since it would cost me more to change the suspension of the car and all that after the ordeal it's been though in Mukah. ;) I figured taking the bus would be cheaper so I headed down after work on Saturday with my travel companion Clare. It's RM 18.70 for the Sibu - Mukah ticket and we took the 2:30 PM bus down.
I had gotten a really good deal for the Kingwood Resort in Mukah thanks to Henry. It cost me RM 160 nett for a Premier Room - Sea View with breakfast for two and lunch thrown in to boot. The published rate for that room is RM 368 nett during weekends and peak season. Cheers for that!
The rooms comes with two queen sized beds which is a Good Thing (TM) since Clare claims she snores in her sleep. Heh!
I had gotten supplies the previous night (namely alcohol) and we found this drink called Joker. I figured having some liquid entertainment would help with the tedious journey to Mukah. ;)
It's a really crappy locally produced liquor but I can't help but get two bottles of it just coz of the "Why so serious?" quote from The Dark Knight.
The journey took 4 hours and the road was so bumpy that I couldn't even take a proper shot. See all the photos all blurry one. It's also senget a bit due to the potholes and all that. I'm really glad I didn't drive my car down - it would wreck havoc on it.
The view is scenic though if you're into paddy fields and all that. I managed to get some sleep and you can tell the bus driver to drop you off at the Kingwood Resort in Mukah (which is about 14 km away from Mukah town).
The fresh breeze from the sea and the beach made it all worth it though. :)
Oh, you poor delicious morsel of a sago worm. I am so gonna rip your head off and eat you alive. ;)
I just came back from a trip to the beach in Mukah. We stayed at the Kingwood Resort and managed to sample live sago worms as well as umai during our trip there. More posts coming up later today. Cheers!
The Oreo Twist Lick Dunk advertorial was one of the ones I really enjoyed doing. I enlisted the help of a couple of my friends and coworkers to participate in the script that I had written. It was more of a doodle of sorts with stick figures of scenes I had envisioned and a rough idea of the text.
The first problem came even before the photo shoot - there were no Oreo cookies to be found in the entire Sibu town. I searched every single supermarket and shopping mall and it seemed like there was a town-wide shortage of Oreo!
I finally managed to find out the reason behind it - the manufacturer had recalled all the existing Oreo cookies and issued a memo to the retailers with instructions to take it off the shelves pending the arrival of the new packaging. The ship was supposed to have arrived but it got delayed at some port and no one had any idea of when it'll actually come.
I thought about changing the script to a "Pepsi Test" writeup with people being blindfolded and asked to determine which cookie tastes better - Oreo or a local emulated version e.g. Cream-O but that would require Oreo biscuits as well. I was a bit concerned about the uncertainty surrounding the arrival of the shipment of Oreo to the Sibu market so I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Thus, I called D, who was in KL at that time and staying at the Cititel hotel in Midvalley Megamall. She was kind enough to go to Jusco and get two packs of Oreo cookies and send it back via next-day courier service. D had to go in search of a box (so the Oreo wouldn't get crushed) and hunt for a post office at the mall, so it's thanks to her that I managed to meet the deadline. :)
In the meantime, I enlisted the help of Mary in my alternate scripts. I remember one of the alternate scripts was about not being able to find Oreo and wanted to title that post as "sixthseal.com and The Quest for the Holy Oreo". The script went along the lines of being unable to get my hands on genuine Oreo cookies in Sibu and having to resort to having it sent from KL.
I even went to McDonald's just to get a shot of their Oreo McFlurry, which was just about the only Oreo containing product in Sibu at that time.
This was the backup plan in case the package of Oreo didn't arrive for reasons attributed to our fine postal service. ;)
Lady Luck was on my side though and the package containing Oreo from D arrived the very next day! Thus, I re-shot several of the scenes with the real Oreo. It took me two days to complete the Oreo shoot. One particular scene that stood out was the shoplifting scene.
I did the first one with Cream-O, a local biscuit "inspired" by Oreo, and I had serious reservations about submitting that since the client would obviously not want to see a competitor's product in the photos. Cream-O looks almost like Oreo due to the blue packaging but I didn't want to tarnish the advertorial by passing off another product as Oreo.
Well, the reason this particular scene was memorable was due to one of my friend's interaction with the clerk at a local supermarket. He has a really funny and sarcastic response during the Sibu Oreo Shortage (TM). We were at Ta Kiong and they haven't received their shipment of Oreo as well, but one of the clerks said that there had Oreo biscuits and walked with us down the aisle and pointed to...Julie Stereo.
This prompted my wise-cracking friend to launch into a funny tirade against the poor girl.
Friend: Stereo? We said OREO not STEREO. Clerk: Ya lah, Oreo. (points to Julie Stereo) Friend: That's not Oreo! How can you compare Oreo to Stereo? Do you compare a Mercedes to a Kancil? We wanted the original Nabisco Kraft Oreo. Clerk: (speechless)
Anyway, we didn't even know if the clerk understood English which was a bit of a mistake on our part. I walked in on Tuesday again to get some chocolates and the very same clerk called out to me and told me that my Oreo has arrived. She then proceeded to talk to a fellow clerk across the counter about getting "suan" (Hokkien for sarcastically teased) by my friend the other day.
In hindsight, it was really kinda funny. I apologized to her and told her we were only having a bit of fun, albeit at her expense. She was very nice about the entire thing though, so kudos to her for that. I got a DoubleStuf Oreo and the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Oreo to supplement my meager supply of Oreo from KL. I even got her to pose for a photo and we returned the next day to do a proper shot of the shoplifting scene with their ample supply of Oreo as the backdrop. :)
Deleted scenes:
Reason: Product placement overkill. The pose with the Oreo is too fake.
Reason: The expression on my face wasn't right. I didn't look shocked enough - in fact, I look a little bit too aggressive.
Reason: Same as above. I look more irritated than shocked at being apprehended by a security guard for shoplifting. I needed the comical horror expression at being caught in the act.
Bonus features:
I was delighted to find out that Mary was such a good model to work with. She has a wide repertoire of facial expressions. She can do sad, frustrated, angry, cute and happy when called to. She's really a pleasure to work with and has been a great help to this project. Thanks Mary! :)
The funniest thing about this advertorial is that most of the shots were done using a single Oreo pack. I had to conserve my resources and had planned out which scenes needed the pack to be open and which ones didn't. I was so stingy with the two packs of Oreo that consumption was strictly controlled even during the scenes except when absolutely necessary. Heh!
I told Cheesie that I'll be doing her Wildest Football Fantasy contest and after a bit of procrastination, I've finally managed to get it done. Hey, I needed a bit of time for the props okay? :p
I had a dream that I was Hellboy and somehow landed in the middle of a shopping mall. I was searching for the missing piece of the crown that would enable to me control the 4,900 strong Golden Army. Interestingly, I found the missing piece in a "China Mali" shop and instead of controlling the Golden Army, I found myself controlling the Chelsea team during the Chelsea - Malaysia friendly match.
I dreamt that the score was 3-1 to Chelsea (had to let the Malaysian team score a goal since it's a friendly). I remember winning a ton of money from betting on the forecast scores...and the last thing I recall saying was "You're in love. Have a beer."
I had promised to buy a curry fish head dinner at Sheraton for some fellow bloggers who had helped me out in the Oreo and Heineken posts and they never really let me forget it. ;) Unfortunately, Sheraton was closed for the week due to the proprietor being out of town so STP suggested that we head to Phoenix Court at Paramount instead.
