August 2008 Archives

Well, today is Merdeka Day (Independence Day) for Malaysia. It falls on a Sunday, so that means tomorrow is a public holiday. This also means that the clubs are packed with cubicle slaves for the Merdeka countdown. I went and joined in the excessive ethanol indulgence...



...and sang along to the National Anthem during the countdown. Except this particular establishment was playing the other national anthem, otherwise known as Negara Kuku. ;)



I had a little too much to drink (understatement of the year) and I couldn't remember the details of what happened last night. I had apparently met Grace, which I honestly didn't remember until I went through the photos in the digicam this morning. Sorry Grace! :)



I also met Katherine, which I also don't recall. In fact, so much of last night had "Missing Scene" that I can only remember a friend of mine driving my car home (since I was apparently unfit to drive), stumbling into the house to offer gifts to the porcelain throne (puking in the toilet) and then passing out in bed.

She told me the next day that I had apparently been pole dancing, kissed three different girls (not the ones in the photos - strangers who came on to me), one for apparently 10 minutes (WTF? Who is that girl? I can't remember!) and couldn't even walk straight. She gave me more detail than I cared to recall (anterograde amnesia can be a blessing sometimes ;)) but I had a good laugh about it.

However, I certainly wasn't laughing just now. I had the chance of a lifetime with a girl I really liked with an amazing body and the face of an angel and...I couldn't get it up. I'm so bummed right now and feeling less than masculine. Everything was good to go and I just had to have ED. Jesus H. Christ. I shouldn't have drank so much last night.

Excessive Drinking has the same acronym as Erectile Dysfunction for a reason.

HDS:

2002: Nada.
2003: A very long post which requires Level Six clearance and a random post about a fansign I got.
2004: Obligatory Merdeka post.
2005: Nothing.
2006: Obligatory Merdeka post. I wanted to do one of me naked with the Malaysian flag covering me but my then-girlfriend told me not to tempt fate with the amount of existing subversive content on my blog. :)
I also did a review on Sri Shan which is still around and still one of the best places for Indian food in Kuching.

It seems that our government has saw it fit to remodel the pricing structure of cigarettes to a more auspicious number, no doubt inspired by the 08/08/08 overload during the Beijing Olympics. The price of premium cigarettes will be imposed a Sin Tax (TM) of RM 0.03 per cigarette. This makes the existing RM 8.20 for a 20 pack increase to RM 8.80.

Very auspicious! I'm sure I'll be very lucky and not die a horrible death in the accursed clutches of lung cancer just coz the price for cigarettes has been raised by 60 cents to RM 8.80. Thank you!

Oh well, the tobacco tax has increased again. So, what else is new?

At least I have a stockpile of duty free cigarettes thanks to Cheryl.

HDS:

2002: There is a random post about university life and a really interesting post that will not be linked from here. Sorry, you do not have Level Six clearance to view that post. ;)
2003: I think I would classify this as site news now but I seemed to be wittier back then, no doubt due to certain cognitive function boosters. ;) It's a thing I used to do back then - basically a teaser post for the next day with the bulk being updates about my life.
2004: Radio (blog?) silence.
2005: Blog silence.
2006: My Pièce de résistance of 2006. I tried to kill myself and lived to blog about it while hospitalized by using the WiFi from the hotel next to the hospital and a notebook. I am pretty fucking impressed by my dedication to the blog back then. ;)

Jumbrella Cafe is an interesting al fresco concept cafe that has a great theme. Jumbrella is a concatenation of the words Jumbo and Umbrella and that's exactly what the cafe is - a giant outdoor eating establishment under a huge canopy.

The place is only open at night since the area (with the exception of the brick and mortar kitchen) is used as a park during daylight hours. Thus, the canopy (umbrella) is modular and constructed at night with the seating arrangements all taken out and set when the place opens at around 7 pm.

I didn't really notice this place until I sent a friend there to meet up with her coworkers for supper one night. Jumbrella Cafe is tagged as a bakery, cafe, dessert and grill house. I thought the sign said dumbrella Cafe at first glance. Unfortunate choice of font there for the signage. ;)

Jumbrella Cafe has a huge projection screen which attracts football fans during the game. The place serves beer as well, which goes well with a football match, I'm told. It can get a bit crowded during the major events like the Olympics but there are fan and mist units so it's not warm unless the ambient temperature is.

The service at Jumbrella Cafe is inconsistent. The waiter/waitress of undetermined gender above gives excellent service while some of the others felt like taking orders was a huge chore and probably just wanted to curl up in a ball at home.

Anyway, this is one of the very rare occasions where I have to write a bad review about the food. It has dropped below the "nothing to write home about" standard to downright bland. I wouldn't call it bad per se, but it's very unimaginative and plain - not exactly adjectives you would want your food to be addressed by. ;)

This is Jumbrella Spaghetti (RM 9.50). Bland and tasteless.

This is Lamb Chop with Black Pepper Sauce (RM 20). Bones and fatty meat.

This is Orange Juice (RM 7). Watered down and diluted.

This is Fried Lok-Lok (RM 4). Over fried and tasteless.

This is Autumn (RM Priceless). Delicious!

It's the only dish I had that was absolutely fabulous. ;)

*high and mighty tone*
Hmph...then I'll take my business elsewhere! ;)

HDS:

2002: University life in Australia.
2003: Working life in KL.
2004: Cigar review in Kuching
2005: Blogger's block. It was an omen for things to come...I couldn't find anything to enthuse over and it culminated in perhaps the best post of sixthseal.com (in terms of mainstream controversial content) on the very same day a year later. :)
2006: Psychotic break but not documented until two days later. ;)

Hmm...it seems like I have some form of Seasonal Affective Disorder hitting me around this time of the year. My posts during this time has been, for the most part, uninspiring and almost mechanical but if the annual trend analysis produces consistent results, then this is where Exciting Things (TM) start to happen to me as well, and the writing will pick up pretty soon. =D

HDS (The Undocumented and Personal Version):

2002: I had no direction, and was in a long distance relationship I wasn't really happy with.
2003: I had no direction and was in a dead end job paying me peanuts and trying to support an increasingly expensive methamphetamine problem. I was tweaked out of my mind most of the time and on benzodiazepines the rest of the time.
2004: I liked working in Kuching and the pay is much better but I'm still supporting a destructive pattern of methamphetamine use.
2005: I was probably coming down from a 3 day meth run. It's increasingly affecting my life and has evolved into a schedule where I don't sleep or eat for three (3) days in a row and then crash and sleep on the third night for 12 hours before wash, rinse, repeat. This pattern can be seen from my posting frequency and style but I hid it pretty well with scheduled posts (this was back before CMS had scheduled posts) during particularly inspiring periods while tweaking.
2006: The first real love of my life (not drugs, a girl) dumped me. I thought she was perfect, she's a pharmacist (what more could a drug user want? ;)) at a renowned private medical center but she turned out to be carrying a Shitload (TM) of emotional baggage that she hid really well. She was 29 and I was 25 and I just worshiped her. Unfortunately, she has self-esteem issues (despite being really beautiful) and other miscellaneous Problem Accounts Brought Forward (TM). I had switched to using opiates and had problem with heroin and other opiates like DF-118 (dihydrocodeine) and methadone. I had a bit of a psychotic break with all the stuff I was using and tried to kill myself. Drama. Pffttt...
2007: I was in a drug rehabilitation facility missing The Great Outdoors (TM) and telling myself (for the umpteenth time) that anything would be better than this. I counted the months and days till I could get out and promised myself not to use again.
2008: I kept my promise and haven't used drugs but am involved in a devastating pattern of unhealthy relationships with unavailable girls/women. Sigh...my so called life. Oh well. :)

Why is August so depressing? Is history doomed to repeat itself? Why am I doing this to myself?

My apologies for sicking this Pity Party (TM) on you. Misery loves company. ;)

The next post will be more uplifting, I promise. :)

I finally managed to get the MSN Live Messenger Blogger gets Twister-fied KFC ad that has the inbound link to sixthseal.com. It took a lot of clicking on the close button and double clicking it from the task bar again to reload the MSN ad though...

Wah, can get OCD like that wei...

Anyway, the animated ad is at the bottom of MSN Live Messenger and it expands into a larger ad with text from my entry on the KFC Toasted Twister.

The cursor is changed to a Toasted Twister wrap and it warps the letters around the text excerpt. There are excepts from two blogs, with the top one being mine and a photo of me eating the KFC Toasted Twister.

Warp is an anagram for wrap. There's a mini-game where you find all the words - I think it's supposed to be "Try me now".

I clicked on the sixthseal.com link in the advertisement and it really links back to the KFC Toasted Twister entry that I did. Nifty. ;)

Toasted Twister = KFC toasted chicken wrap
Twisted Toaster = Home appliance that enjoys toasting your fingers

HDS:

2002: Some mundane post about university life in Australia.
2003: Some mundane post about working life in KL and site news.
2004: Some mundane post about working life in Kuching.
2005: Writer's block (blogger's block?). There's no post for today in this year. It seems seasonal around this time, I can feel it now. ;)
2006: Lunch Box Cafe review with Joanne in Kuching.

I have seen a batch of National Service trainees walking around town lately and noticed a remarkable resemblance in the particular hue of their uniform...

...with one of my work shirts.

Anyway, I've been searching for this particular song ever since I heard it earlier this year. I'm not a big fan of Chinese music at all (since I hardly understand the lyrics) but this one is good. I call it the Flaming Lamborghini song. The actual title is Cong Taipei dao Beijing (From Taipei to Beijing) and it's a liberating break up song of some sort.

I don't really understand the lyrics but it goes something like:

From Taipei to Beijing / I feel liberated by love lost

I heartily party with one Flaming Lamborghini / A couple drinks of Bloody Mary

Gives me an outlet for my rage.

When you said you wanted out / I felt very relaxed, my mind absolutely calm

I want you to regret this decision / I really don't need you

I could be completely mutilating the song due to my limited understanding of Chinese so if someone better than me could actually translate it, it would be much appreciated. I think part of the appeal is that I don't understand most of the lyrics so I can related to it any way I want to. Heh! It's going to be my ringtone now. ;)

HDS:

2002 - Grampians trip report in Melbourne, Australia. I was camwhoring before the name was even invented. ;)
2003 - Bangsar Telawi Mamak and first day at work in XM Malaysia. I was in KL working at the time.
2004 - Jojo Cafe in Kuching - it's a popular Chinese eating establishment. I used to bring one of the boys in blue there to eat, despite the non-halal status. It's the one I like better.
2005 - Doing a Fast Food Inc. post on a Pizza Hut promotional pizza.
2006 - Triple play - there's a post on BDC beef noodles, another one of Cherie and the last one is a syringe pen that I got in Thailand.

The annals of sixthseal.com are kinda messed up since I don't actually have a backup copy of my own blog - the archives you see on the sidebar is a monthly HTML manual save, and it's not searchable since it's not in the main blog database. Clicking on it is probably going to rape your bandwidth since one month's worth of sixthseal.com posts will likely choke even the most robust broadband connection.

I've been meaning to do something about it but I'm a natural at procrastination. It just reminds me of this saying "Procrastination is like masturbation - It may sound like a good idea at the time, but in the end you're only fucking yourself". Thus, I have decided to do a Hari ini Dalam Sejarah (Today in History) feature where I upload the posts of the day starting from 2002 until 2006 so it can be fully integrated into the blog.

This would be easier for me to do since I'll only have to do 4-5 posts per day. It basically requires cleaning up the HTML code, and uploading the photos. This will appear at the end of every post starting from today until 365 days later (The Day Before Today, which would be best summarized as YESTERDAY in 2009). It's a long, tedious task since I've been blogging daily since 2002 but in small doses, it just might be manageable. :)

This is the debut post, the posts after this will just have the links at the bottom.

Hari Ini Dalam Sejarah Singa Laut Nombor Enam (sixthseal.com)

25th of August 2002



I was studying in Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and had just come back from a trip to the Grampians. The trip report was done on the next day since I was bushed (no pun intended) when I got back.

25th of August 2003

I was in KL and apparently had a lot of time on my hands since there were several posts. I had just gotten my job in XM Malaysia and also made a trip report of another sort which shall not be linked directly from this post. ;)



I made one final post about the The Tallest Book Tower + The Biggest Pushpins Jalur Gemilang @ Sunway Pyramid.

25th of August 2004

I was in Kuching working and wrote about this drinking establishment (of the non-ethanol variety) in town.

25th of August 2005

There isn't an entry for this date on this year. Phew, I thought the previous day's one was 25th. I'm glad it's not. ;)

25th of August 2006



I was writing about the Gourmet Market at Siam Paragon in Bangkok, Thailand. I went there with one of my ex-girlfriends. She had a pharmacist convention going on there and had a room all to herself so I booked a ticket and went with her since I was on leave at that time.



It's very interesting to see how my writing style changes throughout the years. My belief system and experiences have gradually shifted as well, and it always makes me nostalgic to go through the archives.

Hope you enjoyed the journey back in time as well. Cheers!

I went to the PC Fair 2008 at Delta Mall yesterday. It's not the PIKOM organized event, but a smaller scale expo by local IT organizations. There are still a lot of bargains to be had there though - I got an 8 GB USB drive for RM 73 (SanDisk Cruzer Micro) and am planning to get a Philips external HDD (3.5" 320 MB) for RM 260.



I know the prices might be kinda steep compared to KL prices, but it's the best deals we get over here. There isn't even a booth selling 16 MB USB drives which I've been hankering for. Anyway, I bumped into a couple of people there since it was the last day of the fair.



This is the delectable Susie Ting, who for some reason or another is helping out at one of the booths over there.



It would be remiss of me if I didn't do an XX Chromosome post on her since she is, by most standards, quite aesthetically pleasing. She's a really friendly person too - the first thing she said when she saw me was that she can smell the liquor from my breath and inquired as to why I didn't bring her along to drink. It was a Sunday afternoon. :)



There's also this very nifty UV signboard that I really liked, manned (womenned?) by Fang Ling. It accepts an AC adapter and you can write on it and it can display various colors according to the settings. The ink is erasable and you can write whatever message you want on it and then erase it and put up a new message the next day, The power consumption is pretty low too, so it's more practical than an LCD screen (which would probably get my car smashed and the electronics stolen).



I want it for the rear of my car - it's going to display a quote of the day or a random post and it'll have the sixthseal.com URL on it. This is much better than plastering your car with blog stickers, since it'll be inside the car itself and powered by a battery array. However, at RM 488 it's a little bit on the steep side, and a friend of mine who went with me told me it can be fabricated for much less and at a custom size to boot (no pun intended), so I'm going to go for that option - take the tinted glass off my rear window and install this thing - guerrilla advertising and all that. ;)



I also bumped into Siew Ling a.k.a. my little sister at the fair. She's not actually related to me, she's a model for my Oreo advertorial. She's a really nice person and I always feel comfortable around her. She's very soft too, and cute. Adorable! I don't usually get attracted to younger girls, but she would be the exception. ;)

I was drinking at Bamboo House last night - it's a very chilled out place with a live band that attracts a more subtle clientèle. This is the Airwaves band - they sing covers of popular English, Chinese and Malay songs. They hail from the Philippines and directly above and below this column of text is the obligatory XX Chromosome shots. ;)




Airwaves band in action

Anyway, at about 12 AM, there was a large entourage of people entering the lounge. These people didn't look like the sort that tends to hang out around drinking establishments - it's a mixed group of people ranging from probably their late 30's to 60's.



It seems like they're from Selangor and they're in the hotel for a function of some sort and the entire group adjourned to the lounge to have a couple of drinks. Most were dressed rather formally and I honestly didn't expect this group to raise the rafters...



...but they did. :)


Blast from the past! The Twist is back. Old man dancing...vibrantly.

The dance floor was quite empty before they arrived and this posse of fun loving mature people took to the floor quite liberally, doing the Twist and Cha-Cha, which were probably all the rage during their time.


Susu Niang Niang - classic song for a classic crowd.

I love these people, most of them didn't look like supermodels (understatement of the year) and yet they didn't care and just lived life. I learned something from them.


Forever young!



They were chronologically advanced, and yet they still know how to kick off their shoes and just let their hair down.



Them dancing shoes...

I wanted to do a See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil pose but one of the singers apparently thought I enjoyed having my boobs grabbed from behind.



Eh, don't pok mong me, can? ;)



See No Evil. Hear No Evil. Speak No Evil.

File under: Lazy Sunday morning posts. :)

I was approached by a media company for permission to use my photos in an online ad campaign for KFC a few weeks back. It was meant to be non-monetary (e.g. free) but with an inbound link to the post in question about the KFC Toasted Twister entry I did a few weeks ago. It came out in The Star (pictured above), MSN Malaysia and MSN Live Messenger this week.



I've seen it also on the Today screen of MSN Live Messenger. There seem to be two (2) versions of the ads:



Skyscraper unit



Large rectangle unit

The two versions above does not have the inbound link but I've heard from a friend that there's another splash page version that comes out occasionally with an inbound link if you click on the headline (other parts of the ad will direct you to the KFC website).

Has anyone seen that version around? Cheers! :)

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the direction this blog is going. The recent two controversial posts - the thinly disguised "human advertising" post and the profanity laced Dear Aries confession has received a lot of negative feedback from people I care about. I talked to one of my friends about this issue - he's about the only one detached from the blogging scene to be able to give impartial comments and thought really hard about what I should do.



This is what I tend to doodle when I'm thinking about the direction I should be taking. I ponder the pros and cons while drawing opposite arrows.



I also found myself drawing this house/witch's hat thing when I was particularly stressed out. I'm sure psychiatrists can make sense of my feelings from analyzing that, but I usually just draw this when I'm worried or stressed:



It looks like a zipper, a friend of mine told me. I've never thought of it like that. I am always thinking of teeth when I sketch that. It's supposed to be the upper and lower set of teeth.

Anyway, astute readers would notice that several posts have been discreetly unpublished during the last week and I'm going to do the same to the two "controversial" posts as well. It's not an easy decision to make but one thing my friend shared with me really hit me hard.

How long are you going to be the bad boy? Beh sian meh? (Hokkien for "It's getting old").

I must admit that a lot of my early inspiration was CKY and Jackass and I noticed one particular thing while watching Jackass 2.5. Johnny Knoxville looks really old. It was revolutionary when it came out, but the Jackass franchise is a little like flogging a dead horse. It's fun to watch once in a while, but only in small doses. I can't keep on doing this stuff all my life, even with the self-destructive tendencies that gets out sometimes and I shouldn't burden unwilling readers with them.

Thus, I've came to a decision:

sixthseal.com is going to branch off - there will be a new domain for personal and "controversial" posts, made available to friends only. This blog (sixthseal.com) will be maintained as the main(stream) site while the other domain will be limited to sporadic and occasional posts, much like the castitas.com arrangement back then.

No worries though, the main content will always still be at sixthseal.com since I don't do much controversial posts anymore anyway. I *heart* sixthseal.com and I can never let it be anything less, so the other domain will always be on a lower priority and will only be updated very rarely.

It will be password protected and when updates are available, it will still be announced on sixthseal.com - it would be just like the good old days with castitas.com. ;)

Haz Cafe and Restaurant is an eating establishment with a lot of weird angled aquariums inside. I initially thought it was a seafood restaurant but upon further investigation it turned out to be a shabu-shabu restaurant. These places have been popping up like mushrooms over here ever since the success of Mitsu Shabu Shabu.



The interior of Haz Cafe is dominated by 90 degree angled aquariums which I found rather odd. It does work well as a demarcation fitting though - the seating arrangements are clearly delineated by the design. I went there with Clare and Cheryl for dinner since Cheryl was in town.



Haz Cafe has the standard fittings you'll expect at a shabu shabu joint - there are receptacles for the pot of boiling broth and individual heating elements. The departure from orthodox shabu-shabu comes from the community BBQ grill in the middle. The place serves food that can either be dipped in broth or grilled with butter.



There is a platter full of the standard trimmings for adding gustatory perception (a pretentious word meaning taste and texture) to the broth - vegetables, rice vermicelli, nori (seaweed), tofu, mushrooms and an egg.



This is the mixed beef platter - it contains various cuts of beef from tenderloin to sirloin. The variety just makes me tingle in my loins. =D



We also had another side order of a more marbled slice of beef. I can't remember which part of the cow this came from.



Oink Oink. This is the pork platter. Mmm...pork. ;)



The meat can also be grilled on the central BBQ grill but the place is meant for shabu-shabu style eating.

It seems that the art of eating shabu-shabu is lost on most people so I have taken the liberty of showing how it's supposed to done:



Step 1: Take piece of the sliver of meat/fish/crustacean.



Step 2: Dip it with your chopsticks into the pot of boiling broth and start swishing it around.



Step 3: Take it out again and consume. I know mine looks raw, but I like raw! :)



Step 4: Dump the remainder of your rice into the broth after the meal and consume the broth + rice mixture.



You can also pour the broth into the rice if there's not a lot left, but this is a departure from Tradition (TM).



This is Cheryl Lim - an auditor who gets to travel around to places like Langkawi but works till late in the night, which takes much of the fun out of business travel.

Thanks for getting me the duty free cigarettes, Cheryl! :)

Problems stressing you out? You need an outlet for your anger? No cats to kick or other methods of venting frustration?



Fear not, dear readers. I have introduced a new category in sixthseal.com called Dear Aries. It's basically where you can write in about your personal problems and I will read and listen with a sympathetic ear and give you advice (which I hear is the worse kind of vice ;)). This is the first letter I have received from Confused in Miri, Sarawak.

Spend some time with me, say you'll be mine

Dear Aries,

I am caught between a rock and a hard place. I met this girl at work and I've been attracted to her ever since I saw her. I've been secretly admiring (God, I hate this word) her for a while now, though I knew she was attached. Her boyfriend picks her up from work everyday and I've been wanting to ask her out ever since I saw her. I spoke to her a couple of times when we bumped into each other at the elevator and she seems like a nice person.

Anyway, fast forward to several months later and I started noticing that her boyfriend has stopped picking her up from work (God, I'm such a stalker). Curious about this sudden change of affairs (and seeing an opportunity), I inquired about the situation when I bumped into her again. Apparently, the boyfriend is Out of Town (TM) so I decided to ask her out.

Well, you know what love is right? It's psychical attraction at first sight and then personality compatibility at the second stage. That's where the problem comes in - we hit it off immediately. It's like we're kindred souls, and we started going out for lunch and at night. I've never met a girl like this before, one that I could easily talk to and open up with.

Anyway, pretty soon we had a rather intense relationship going. It's pretty much all or nothing with me. I gave this relationship everything I had coz I thought this girl was Worth It (TM). Was she The One (TM)? I don't know, but she's been the closest "one" ever since this pharmacist I was going out with in Kuching broke up with me.

It was really, really good for a while. I literally worshiped the girl. She's a little older than me and she's very mature and that really appeals to me. She grounds my impulsive, self-destructive personality and she's been really nice to me too, little gestures like bringing breakfast for me coz she knows I only drink coffee for breakfast.

Anyway, pretty soon The Boyfriend (TM) found out about the relationship and all hell broke loose. She stopped seeing me, although we still talk on the phone and arrange for secret, quick rendezvous sessions. Lately though, I have noticed that it's just not good enough for me anymore. I don't want a "girlfriend" that's only available on the phone instead of being beside me. I hate the feeling of not being able to hug her and kiss her and just feel the comfort of being with her.

She was very honest and open with me that she'll be leaving very soon and that we could never have an open relationship. It has to be covert due to the Unique Circumstances (TM) that she was in. I thought it would be good enough for me, but back then at least I got to go out with her. She can only stay at home now and just talk on the phone due to Restrictions (TM) placed on her since being found out. We can't even go out now and it's probably going to remain this way until she leaves.

What should I do? Should I just call it quits and pull out? Or do I torture myself by being a hermit for the remainder of the time and stay at home in the very rare occasion that she manages to sneak 10 minutes to be with me?

Do I pull the Band Aid off in one quick motion or do I pull it slowly off?



I used to say I never met a girl like you before,
Still ain't got a fucking clue to who you truly are...

Please help,
Confused.


Dear Idiot,

I got bored reading your letter halfway. Your verbosity exceeds even that of Ayn Rand. Has anyone ever finished reading Atlas Shrugged? I didn't think so.

Kindred souls, my ass. How long have you been going out with this girl? It's probably still the honeymoon period right?

I'm not even interested to hear about your personal attributes, which you so generously sprinkled throughout your letter, you narcissistic fuck.

Get to the fucking point, you took up several paragraphs writing the background which could have been achieved with six words in bullet form.

Okay, let me get this right.

1. Girl = Unavailable.
2. You = Infatuated.
3. Girl = Leaving.

That's the gist of what your long winded letter was saying right? Read your #3 again. Again. And again.

Which part about leaving do you not understand? Imbecile!

You pathetic fuck, stop feeling sorry for yourself and move on!

It seems like you listen to Eminem from the quote from Spend Some Time. It's a very good break up song, I have taken the liberty of scouring YouTube for a video and embedding it here for you to listen to and start being a man again. Listen to that bit about "but when someone seems too good to be true, they usually are".



Quit using "anyway" and "well" as paragraph leaders in your writing. It's very irritating to read.

Oh, and over here in Malaysia, we call them "lifts" not "elevators".

P/S - What's with that (TM) shit anyway? Your dad patent the word one izzit?

There was a break in at my place last night at about 2:04 am. This house still has the old skool glass shutters and metal grill which is rather easy to pry open. Apparently the intruder(s) carefully removed the glass shutters piece by piece and reached in to pry one side of the metal grill to gain access.



They even had the consideration to stack up the glass shutters nicely and leave the screws on the floor outside that window too. Thank you, the gesture is much appreciated.

Anyway, it appears that nothing was taken so I presume they didn't manage to gain access after all. How did I know it was 2:04 am? I heard the house phone ringing and woke up to take a piss and heard the sounds of someone(s) beating a hasty retreat so I went down to investigate and found the grill pried open.

Oh well, at least this seems to be the work of petty thieves. There was another break in earlier in the year in which they took - get this - a pair of my jeans and a tin of Milo (no kidding). Thus, my most prized possessions, which are the photographs contained in my notebook and various USB drives and DVD-Rs are safe.

They wouldn't be interested in that, I presume. ;)



Don't touch that please, your primitive intellect wouldn't understand alloys and compositions and things with...molecular structures.

I was browsing through my old photo albums just now in search of photos of my sister when she was younger for her wedding video when I came across this photo. This is (from left) my sister, me, Sing Ling and Wei Ling when I was 7 years old. I still remember the event - it was just after a 2.4 km jogathon that was held at Methodist High School when I was in Primary 1. My dad was the principal at that school then and we had this family sports day event where we ended up on this huge tandem walker thing with my mom taking a candid photo.



Anyway, I had this HUGE crush on Sing Ling, who's my classmate in Primary 1 at that time. It was my first love (at 7 years of age). I wrote her my very first love letter on a torn out piece of exercise book, and it went something like:

I love you Sing Ling
Please love me
I'll give you a eraser or a ruler if you love me

I had a really crappy red broken ruler at that time and I have to admit that my budding Casanova skillz was very much at a n00bie stage at that point. ;)

It was funny recalling that incident though, and it made me laugh. Nostalgia, eh?

The words "self harm" and "self injury" has been bandied about a lot by psychologists and teenage cutters obsessed with their own angst. It has also been mistakenly labeled as "suicidal behavior" which is grossly inappropriate since most cases are not intended to hasten the kicking of the bucket.

I propose that this behavior be exploited, I mean, explored as a new avenue for advertising instead. We've all heard of tattoos as a form of advertising with human advertising billboards but there are problems associated with that (mainly the permanent nature of the process).

Cutting may be a more appropriate "human advertising" medium for events. This is the sixthseal.com Guide to Human Advertising.



Step 1: Obtain a box of old skool razor blades. It doesn't really matter what brand you use as long as it's properly wrapped, clean and sharp.



Step 2: You will require a pair of steady hands. This is necessary to avoid transcription errors due to shaky hands. ;)



Step 3: Use the razor blade to carve the name of the event you want to be promoting. It should optimally be short - use initials when possible e.g. "RWMF" instead of "Rainforest World Music Festival" since skin real estate is at a premium.



Step 4: Please allow sufficient time for the blood to coagulate - it is the body's natural healing system at work here and it prevents bacteria and other Nasty Stuff (TM) from entering an open wound.

Example:



I have included a video tutorial on skin advertising - this is for the "Sarawak Cultural Festival", abbreviated to SCF due to skin real estate issues.

Caution:

The right amount of pressure should be applied consistently. It is obviously unwise to apply too much pressure (razor blades are sharper than you think) but enough downwards pressure should be present to achieve the desired results. Please direct your attention to Exhibit A (Cleaned and Healing Scar) below.



The S character has too much pressure applied - this would result in a raised scar. The C character would probably result in a scar that is not visible unless at certain angles, while the F carving would be the optimal result for a scar that is not visible at all, unless under direct sunlight in certain angles.



What do you think? The advertising industry is constantly on the lookout for new opportunities and mediums. Could this be the next new wave of advertising? Or will it be relegated to the fringes of society?

I went to Full House Cafe for lunch with one of my colleagues and her younger sister and brother in tow. I have seen this cafe before but it always looks to be anything but what the cafe's name suggests. It has always come across as cold and empty.



However, little did I know, the interior is actually rather nice, with silk privacy screens between the booths and a decor that exudes warmth. It's private and conducive to conversation and my coworker told me the spaghetti here is rather good.



The best thing about Full House Cafe is the dirt cheap cocktail prices. They serve alcohol (beer and cocktails) with the latter starting from RM 7.90 (!). At least that's what I thought at first. I asked them for a stronger version of the cocktails and was told it would cost "RM 1 or RM 2 more" which I happily agreed to.



I had the Margarita (RM 7.90) which came in a tiny cup with a slice of lemon. I wouldn't call it strong by my standards, and the cafe charged just RM 1 more for the souped up version of the drink. However, the meager liquid volume makes you think you're getting more value for your money than you actually are. ;)



I had another Long Island Iced Tea (RM 13.90) which came in a much more acceptable receptacle that holds a more reasonable amount of liquid. It still wasn't strong enough for my tastes but Full House Cafe is not known for it's cocktails so I shall not judge it based on that alone.



The non-ethanol based drinks are very reasonably priced - Diana (my coworker's younger sister) had the Red Elf (RM 3.50) which is a mixture of Ribena and Sprite while her younger brother had a Coke (RM 3.50).



The younger brother had the interestingly named Lazy People's Set (RM 4.50). I can't read much of the menu since most of it is in Chinese but it consists of two slices of toasted (fried?) bread, a sausage, coleslaw, sweet corn, baked beans and a fried egg.



Amy had the Chicken Chop with Thai Sauce (RM 8.90). It came with the standard trimmings of coleslaw, baked beans and sweet corn. She claimed that it tasted a little on the bland side though. The chicken chop is fried, not grilled which could be where the problem lies.



Diana had the Japanese Style Pork Chop (RM 7.90), The pork chop is served teriyaki style (dipped in batter before being deep fried) with mayonnaise and tomato sauce on top. The pork is tough though, probably due to overenthusiastic deep frying. ;)



I went for the pasta dish that Amy recommended - this is the Prawn Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce (RM 8.90). It came with two fully deshelled and large prawns which is rather generous for the price. It tasted good but I had eaten a late breakfast before this so I didn't manage to finish the dish.



Full House Cafe has great service and reasonably priced food in a private air conditioned alcove. It's like a little gem waiting to be discovered. The cocktails are cheap (albeit underpowered and volumetrically challenged) and the ambiance is relaxing, with soothing piped music and a laid back atmosphere that allows you to stay as long as you like. It's good for hanging out with friends or your partner for a long, lazy lunch.



This is Diana Lau (Amy, your finger is on the lens), who is currently doing her Form Five in my alma mater (and in the same class I used to be in to boot!). I have noticed that I have problems attracting the under 18 demographic to my blog, probably due to its content, so I have taken the liberty of passing Diana a stack of my blogger name cards to be distributed to her classmates when school starts again. ;)

Word of the Day:
Volumetrically challenged
(Adjective)
A politically correct term for a small amount of liquid that is better described as a drop, droplet, or moisture. ;)

Please don't drink and drive. There are very serious consequences and ramifications to driving under the influence...



...you might need to take a piss by the roadside. On long road trips. Under heavy rain. With a PINK umbrella awkwardly positioned at your neck.

It's very serious. Accidents can happen should strong winds get the better of the umbrella and whip it into someone's windscreen temporarily blinding the driver. It's no joke. Keep a tight leash on your umbrella. This community message service has been brought to you by sixthseal.com. ;)

This is the obligatory "first cheque" posting that seems to be all the rage amongst Nuffnang bloggers (or at least a portion of them). ;) The concept of monetizing blogs have been around for ages but none has seen the success of Nuffnang in our part of the world.



I started out with Nuffnang a couple of months ago and found them to be a great and visionary team, and nice guys to boot. I was familiar with the concept of ads but advertorials was a new word to add to my vocabulary (hey, it didn't exist before I went to rehab okay? :p).



Cheers to the team at Nuffnang! :)

P/S - I shall post again and reply the comments tomorrow. It's 9:44 PM and I already have a massive hangover. Jesus Christ. I'm tired and I'm cranky to boot coz of relationship issues - It's Complicated (TM). I wonder sometimes if the problem lies with me or with my partner(s). If so many of them say similar things about me, the law of averages says it's probably gotta be true right? Food for a headachey thought. I can feel my brain cells dying. I shouldn't have started drinking this much this early.

Koreana restaurant is quite an established institution serving authentic Korean food in Kuching. It has recently moved its premises to 101, complete with brand new décor and fittings.



I went there with Irene and Emeric during my last trip to Kuching. The new Koreana looks much better than the previous restaurant and features an upper level for more dining space.



I like the eating implements (and also using unconventional words instead of just "utensils") in Koreana. The chopsticks at Koreana are Korean chopsticks - it's angular and oblique which makes it difficult to handle the first time you come across it.



We all had a mug of steaming green tea (RM 2) since we had just consumed an excessive amount of Slurpees previously, which made us a little on the cold side. The weather was chilly too, for some reason - rainy season, probably.



Koreana serves a select range of complimentary entrees for all diners. There's kimchi (the staple of Korean food), clams in some sort of hot sauce, seaweed, anchovies, a salad and vegetables of some sort.



Irene had the Dolsot Bibim Bub (RM 20) which is described as "slizzling rice with assorted vegetables in stone bowl". I'm sure they meant sizzling. ;)



The bibim bub (stone bowl mixed rice) comes with a raw egg which was cracked in by the waitress...



...and mixed thoroughly. Check out the look of concentration on her face. The raw egg is actually cooked by the excess heat from the stone bowl.



The obligatory kimchi is then added to the stone bowl mixed rice...



...before it is served. Koreana serves a pretty mean bibim bup and a testament to the authenticity of the place is the Korean expatriates at a table beside us.



Emeric opted for the Kimchi Fried Rice (RM 12). It tastes a lot like the Dolsot Bibim Bub minus the theatricals. ;)



I went for the Mulnaengmyun (RM 22) which is cold noodles in soup. It came with bamboo shoots and other vegetables and half a boiled egg. The dish was served in a metal bowl full of ice cubes. It's not just cold, it's freezing! I like! :)



Koreana also provides you with scissors for the cold noodle dish to cut the noodles into more manageable lengths for slurping. I really liked the taste of this dish - the freezing cold soup tastes delicious and although the concept of having ice cold noodles may be foreign for some people, it actually tastes really good.



We also ordered a bowl of Samgaetang (RM 35) to share. It is chicken soup cooked with ginseng Korean style and Irene insists that it is a very healthy substitute for ED meds. I'm not sure why she thinks me and Emeric has that kind of problem, but the chicken soup does taste good. ;)



The chicken soup with ginseng is served with half a whole chicken and lots of Korean ginseng. There's also some rice at the bottom of the soup bowl and the rice expands and absorbs all the goodness of the soup and is meant to be eaten after everything else is consumed. It's delicious!



Koreana is a nice place to have dinner if you're hankering for authentic Korean food. The bill came up to about RM 95 so it's pretty reasonable for three people. Thanks to Irene for driving me around Kuching in search of the elusive Slurpee! ;)

Transit Point is a budget accommodation facility located in the heart of Kuching. It has just been recently completed and features WiFi in every room. The rates start at RM 35 nett which is slightly more expensive than the RM 30 nett charged by it's main competitor - Singgahsana Lodge. However, the two places are different in many ways.



Transit Point provides a more private environment with a room consisting of a double bed and air conditioning (and television and WiFi to boot) while Singgahsana provides dormitory style accommodations sleeping 10 in a room (without WiFi). Transit Point provides towels for free too, which is chargeable (RM 2) in Singgahsana Lodge.



Transit Point also features shared toilets and shower units but the place is very clean and there's a soap/shampoo dispenser in the cubicles. Smoking is not allowed in both places (except outdoors).



I would recommend Transit Point if  you want the privacy of your own room and a larger bed with an air conditioned room. Singgahsana Lodge would be more suitable for people who wants interaction (and doesn't mind leaving their notebook filled with incriminating photos and videos in a room with 9 other strangers). ;)



Transit Point just costs RM 35 nett per night. I stayed there during my recent trip to Kuching (the 12 hour grueling trip where I nearly missed my express boat back) and was happy with the place. I'll definitely do a return visit when I'm on a shoestring budget.

7Eleven has come out with two new Mystery flavors for their Slurpee machine. Intrigued by this enigmatic campaign, the detective in me (who has read one too many mystery novels in my youth) decided that a quick trip down to 7Eleven was warranted to solve this mystery.



The trip involved planes, trains and automobiles (technically, since I was in KL at that time) and I arrived at 7Eleven to find out more about the two new Mystery flavors. ??? were abounding and they needed answering.



I decided to look into Mystery Flavor 2 while my dear Watson, I mean, Irene went for Mystery Flavor 1.



Elementary, my dear Irene!



Mystery Flavor 1 tastes like a grape based Slurpee, which Irene preferred. It has an almost blackcurrant aftertaste and although I can't identify the exact flavor of this mystery Slurpee, my taste buds tells me it has a hint of citrus as well.



Mystery Flavor 2 tastes like a mango based Slurpee. I liked this one better. It reminds me of the Slurpee I had in the very same 7Eleven outlet that saved me from a moribund state after a particularly dehydrating episode of partying. ;)



One man's meat is another man's (or woman's) poison.



Vote for the flavor you like best. I'm going for Mystery Flavor 2.



The two new Mystery flavors is a very interesting marketing campaign by 7Eleven. I don't even know what the flavors really are! However, the thirst quenching qualities of the 7Eleven Slurpee is still present in abundance. You should check it out if you haven't had a Slurpee before and if you're a regular imbiber, the new flavors are definitely worth looking into.



The 7Eleven Mystery Flavor 1 and 2 Slurpee is out now in all outlets and there will be a contest running during the promotional period up till the 5th of October, 2008. Slurpee users are encouraged participate and vote for their favorite mystery flavor amongst the two varieties.



The contest forms are available at all participating 7Eleven outlets and the winners will be selected from the winning pool with the highest purchase and correct answers (there are two very easy questions). You have to mail in the contest form with the Slurpee receipt.

Find out more about the contest here.

Guess what the prizes are? 1,000 mystery prizes.

Yup, you read that right. Even the prizes are a Mystery. ;)

I woke up this morning, grabbed my morning coffee and was sitting down to let the caffeine wake up my sleeping brain neurons when my dad told me he had accidentally opened an envelope meant for me and passed me the mail. I thought it was just another bank statement when I noticed the distinctive green cheque like printing on the back.



My sleepy brain neurons started to reactivate gradually without the aid of the hot steaming cup of java. I looked at the figure and was immediately jolted awake. Jesus Christ, Buddha and (cannot say the other deity in Malaysia)!



Yahweh eh, er...I mean wahlau eh, I didn't know I had Google AdSense running!

Well, I did for a while back in the good old days of sixthseal.com before a group of "concerned bloggers" launched a concerted campaign of hell raising in Mountain View, CA for allegedly "endorsing" a drug site. I think they were just jealous coz my traffic back then was very high and I got a cheque just after 14 days of putting AdSense on. ;)

Anyway, I took the ads down from sixthseal.com and...put it elsewhere. Little did that group of bloggers know that the sixthseal.com empire was like The Roman Empire back then. All roads leads to sixthseal.com and all that. ;) Okay, let limpeh tell you a story from the good old days of blogging:

Well, back in early 2003, when most of you weren't born yet, if you think of a Malaysian blog, you think sixthseal.com. It's the brand recognition factor (like Nescafe, Panadol etc) - it was really popular back then and sixthseal.com was on a very aggressive conquest, er...I mean expansion program. I had a forum, a website for helping people write assignments, a dedicated drug blog (the now defunct castitas.com) and many other development projects.

I didn't even know how many sites I had! Honestly, I had so many domains that I couldn't keep track of the various development projects I was involved in. I helped a couple of bloggers start up their careers and was one of the PPS core founding members. I had other sites which were "cleaner" than sixthseal.com and thus more acceptable for AdSense. sixthseal.com was always meant to be my outlet of expression.

Thus, I put the AdSense code into my other websites and it did what it does best (making money). However, just like the Roman Empire, the rise and fall of civilizations is a constant in every single endeavor. My readership declined in direct correlation with my escalating drug use and my posts were getting more and more erratic (not in frequency, I always post at least once a day, but in content - it was more and more about drugs).

Thus, the Persians invaded, the Mongols took over, etc etc and fast forward to a year later, I was sent to drug rehab and sixthseal.com was completely taken down (since I can't renew my hosting from rehab, with them not having Internet access and all). However, the other sites remained online and was actually making money for me while I was in rehab.

My mom told me that there were several other cheques like this that came in during my time in rehab but they threw it away coz it was only about USD 100 or USD 200. WTF! Their justification is that our bank charges for foreign cheques makes it quite useless anyway, but oi, RM 300 or 600 is still quite a lot of money okay?

This cheque had much more and I am still trying to identify which one of my sites is generating this kind of income. Back to the Roman Empire analogy, I will only offer this quote from The Sopranos:

Jewish guy: You ever heard of the Masada? For two years, 900 Jews held their own against 15,000 Roman soldiers. They chose death before enslavement. The Romans? Where are they now? (spits)
Tony Soprano: You're looking at them, asshole.

 

I was so excited by this unexpected windfall that I accidentally wore my trainers to work instead of my dress shoes. ;)

RedCarrot is designed as a "higher end" dining experience by SugarBun (the fast food franchise). Naturally, the concept of fine dining for a fast food establishment is rather different from boutique restaurants and such, and I wouldn't use that adjective to describe RedCarrot at all (despite owning stock in SugarBun). ;)



The ambiance is really quite warm and inviting and the place is air-conditioned. It tends to attract a different set of clientèle despite being located just above the SugarBun in Pedada. There's no screaming hyperactive children running about with minimal parental control on the upper tier. ;)



The place is quite conducive to conversation but the food isn't anything to write home about, so I hardly ever go there despite it being just a two minute drive from my place. Autumn lives near me too, and the only reason we went there tonight was coz we've both already eaten dinner and wanted to get out of the oppressive heat without ADHD inflicted rug rats stressing us out.



We get more than our RSA (Recommended Stress Allowance) from our office already, so that's enough stress vitamins and nutrients for healthy daily intake without adding to it at night. :) RedCarrot serves a lot of carrot based drinks - this is Autumn peering at the Red Carrot + Beetroot (RM 5.80) and Red Carrot + Lemon (RM 5.80) that we ordered, trying to figure out which is which.



We shared one of their flagship dishes - the Fish Fillet "RedCarrot" Style (RM 13.90). "RedCarrot style" apparently means dousing the fish fillet with Thai chilli sauce and having a lot of red carrots (what else) on the side. It's served with French Fries which tastes suspiciously like SugarBun French Fries (and in all probability is SugarBun French Fries since it's under the same banner). It's pretty good though.



This is the Fruit Platter (RM 5) which comes with sliced green apples, starfruit, and honeydew. Autumn eats a lot of fruit, but I don't. I have been getting excessive RSA intake lately and that, combined with the less than optimal fiber intake in the guidelines of the US RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) has resulted in a prolonged bout of constipation. You don't even want to know about my hemorrhoids. ;)



RedCarrot is a pretty nice place to chill out and relax. The crowd it draws tends to be couples so it's a more subdued and quiet place to have supper at. The food is nothing to write home about but the ambiance more than makes up for it.



...and I noticed that Autumn has a very interesting skill (?) of being able to eat fruits with seeds and then inconspicuously spitting it out onto a fork (!) of all places.

I am suitably impressed.

I went for the Hash Run organized by the Sibu chapter yesterday afternoon, this time in the capacity of a babysitter. In an effort to boost attendance rates, I rallied two of my friends to the event. This is the first hash run for the both of them, so I played the role of the trip sitter.



Due to the unavailability of alcohol in the Sibu HHH chapter, I decided to preload myself with some of the amber fluid before going for the run. I'm actually not a very patient person and can be prone to irritability at acts of perceived tardiness and I figured the combined GABA agonists (old readers would catch this reference ;)) would make me more amiable.



This route was more difficult than the previous hash run, and that makes things a little more challenging since I had to carry a backpack (not mine) and the hilly terrain and longer distance makes things a little more exerting.



The interesting bit about this weekend's run is that it went through the main road a couple of times...



...and features a rest hut!



This is our resident Moses reincarnate to guide the trekkers through a particularly grueling bog. I declined the assistance of the biblical figure and ended up in the bog, completely soaking my trainers and socks.



Halfway through the trek, one of my friends took the liberty of spraining her ankle. Kudos to her for slogging it through anyway despite the pain.



There were several exit points at the path and we chose not to take it and slugged on, despite the sprained ankle of Jolin and my friend being thoroughly exhausted despite her yoga training.



I'm glad we didn't take the exit coz I found this pristine pitcher plant along the route. I thought these things only exists in Mt. Kinabalu!



Nevertheless, Jolin's sprained ankle was bothering her towards the end of the run and it was decided that we're going to beat a new path through virgin rain forest since we had missed the final exit.

 

The trailblazer managed to find a path through a kampung (Malay dwelling community) and we took a longer, but less challenging (without the gradient factor) route.



I have leaned something during this trek - to be more tolerant, patient and caring towards others. I have a tendency to be over competitive and want to be the leader of the pack but this time I brought up the rear to accommodate for the two friends that I had brought along...

...and that's not necessarily a bad thing. :)

The entire state of Sarawak experienced a total blackout last night with confirmed areas being affected including Sibu and Kuching. The traffic lights were not working and I'm sure quite a few fender benders occurred when two unyielding parties collide (pun intended). :)



It felt like going back to the Dark Ages (haha) with all the shops closing down (probably to prevent theft and also due to the non-functioning electricity-dependent POS machines) but most restaurants remained open. We made the most of the ambiance...romantic candlelight dinner konon. ;)

I received the Nike advertorial pretty late in the game (pun intended) and scripted out two major scenes that I wanted to be in the writeup. The first was to be shot at an athletic wear/sports gear shop/active lifestyle outlet (I don't even know what these places are called nowadays anymore ;)) to do the visualization (Read: camwhoring) aspects of the design contest.



Due to the limited number of such outlets in Sibu carrying Nike products, I decided to go to Lea Sports Center at Wisma Sanyan since I distinctively remember them having a Nike showcase while I was...er, getting adidas trainers earlier this year. ;)



Thus, I geared up in my Nike ACG (All Climate Gear) windbreaker that I got in KK back in 2004 before climbing up Mt. Kinabalu (the highest mountain in South East Asia) for a bit of product placement pimpage and went out with Clare to do the photo shoot after work.



It should be noted that my tracksuit trousers were actually adidas and so were my trainers. It doesn't look very obvious though so I thought it would pass The All Seeing Eye of Nike. ;) I do have Nike apparel in my current wardrobe - I remember getting a limited edition Nike tennis shoe during the Melbourne Open 2003 and have several other pairs of Nike trainers.



There's also a Nike sweatshirt with a hoodie that I got for chilly spring weather in Melbourne which has found a new role as a tattoo concealer for Casual Saturdays in the office. The dress code in my office does not allow for visible tattoos so I wear long sleeves every single workday - even on Saturdays. Yes, we do work half day on Saturday over here in Sarawak.



We then proceeded to eat dinner at Sushi Tie and got the waitress to camwhore with me. I liked the deer-caught-in-headlights expression on her face. I'm going to caption this "Fear the Nike Swoosh". :)



I proceeded to Delta Mall to meet up with Mary who was going to do the second major scene for the advertorial. I got a a lot of stares from people due to my athletic gear - I looked like I just finished a particularly grueling training session, but I kinda liked the attention. Heh! You've got to be able to take the double takes and stares if you're a blogger going all out.



Anyway, the second bit called for a video shoot in which I was getting heckled by two people while running laps around the mall. I initially planned for Mary to be doing the heckling but she introduced me to this guy who was PERFECT for the role. This is the take with only Mary doing the heckling:



I preferred the one with both of them doing the heckling so that's the one I submitted for the advertorial. Mary is great as usual with her excellent repertoire of expressions and I loved the guy coz he pulled off the correct intonation and derisive-yet-humorous gesture in a single take. The video calls for me to be doing slow laps (basically a simulated slow run) while two people calls out:
"You run like a girl" and
"My grandmother runs faster than you"



The duo had great localization which was not in the script with Mary going "You run like a girl lah" and the guy going "Hey, my grandmother runs faster than you, okay?" which I really liked.

However, the best scene in the advertorial is, IMHO, one that I did not anticipate or script out. I was having my nicotine fix after finishing the photo shoot when I saw a security guard outside the mall doing the same. I remember the shoplifting scene for the Oreo advertorial and decided it would be fun to include the same theme into this one.



I got the security guard to grab me while I was attempting to run and he was kind enough to comply. This was the best ending for the writeup since I figured I could put in a quirky caption before the contest regulations. It ended up being "...and design a lightweight pair of trainers so I can outrun mall security next time". :)

Deleted Scenes:



Ready...



Set...



Go...

I had also planned a Ready, Set, Go series of photos (this is the original trio) with me doing all three poses but decided to include just one (the Ready pose) due to fears of an unintentional overdose of camwhorage. ;)

The exclusion was a really good decision in hindsight coz it seems so cheesy now. Heh!

Bonus Features:



The girls convinced me to do a Jay Chou pose. I'm not even sure why I did that, since I don't even listen to his music!

This was one of the fastest advertorials that I've ever done with all the shoots completed in a day from script to editing. It was fun to go with the flow and see what scenes came out that wasn't planned out. Cheers to Mary and Clare for helping out on this one!

McDonald's is having a promotional meal for the Beijing 2008 Olympics which is due to commence today on 08/08/08. It's called the Gold Medal Meal and consists of a Spicy Chicken McDeluxe, Onion Rings (or French Fries), Carbonated Drink and a Sundae for RM 14.80.



I went to check out the promotion just now during lunch break. It's to get into the Olympics fever and all, since the opening ceremony will be held tonight at 8 pm. The excessive amounts of eights are due to the number 8 being an auspicious figure for the Chinese.



The Gold Medal Meal also comes with a limited edition free Coca-Cola Contour Glass. This Beijing 2008 glass features five (5) different designs - Swimming, Athletics, Basketball, Volleyball, and Archery.



I'm having the worst pimple outbreak in the history of my life. I've never had problems with pimples or acne and I'm not sure why my face looks like a pizza right now. My friend tells me I'm just having my adolescence late...at the ripe old age of 27. I think I'm going to have to get some pimple cream before the Olympics opening ceremony tonight...which means a guide to managing pimples is coming up. :)



The sheer amount of food in the Gold Medal Meal is certainly a combination guaranteed to induce a post-lunch coma.
Oh well, "One World, One Dream", right? ;)

Tasting Room wine bistro is located at Bangsar above Wine Cellar. It's a wine bistro operated by the same people who runs Wine Cellar. The interior is very tastefully decorated and there is an al fresco balcony with seating arrangements for the nicotine brigade.



I went there for dinner with Nicole and Grace. I was supposed to meet up with Nicole earlier at The Curve for a late lunch after finalizing the details for my sister's wedding in KL but she couldn't make it so we decided on an early dinner at Tasting Room instead.



Tasting Room has a themed wine tasting menu called Wine Flights. I went for the Into The Future 3-glass experience. It's described as "A unique opportunity to time travel" and comes with the tag "Please ask for more information or be really adventurous; take the flight and see where you end up!"



Into The Future is priced at RM 35 and includes a 2006 Alkoomi Shiraz-Viognier, a 2016 Alkoomi Shiraz-Viognier and a 2026 Alkoomi Shiraz-Viognier (!). You're supposed to compare the taste between the original 2006 Alkoomi Shiraz-Viognier (the control glass) and see how well the wine ages with time.
 


The three glasses of wine (all originally the 2006 Alkoomi Shiraz-Viognier) are arranged on a paper liner and the sommelier starts the process of aging the wine 10 years into the future for a taste test comparison and then 20 years into the future.



I've read about this in Nicole's blog and it gives you the opportunity to sample wines many years into the future by using a contraption that ages wine automagically at a rate of one year per second.



I also asked to age the wine 60 years into the future to beat Nicole's 50 year old futuristic wine and ended up tasting a 66 year old wine from the future. It did lose much of it's taste and was rather flat in nature but hey, I drank a wine from the year 2066! =D



Anyway, we started off with a bottle of wine that Nicole recommended. It's a sweet white wine with a really long and foreign name which I couldn't for the life of me commit to memory.



I opted for the Spaghetti Carbonara (RM 26.90) which is served with a half cracked raw egg in the middle of the dish. I was impressed by the presentation. You're supposed to stir in the raw egg into the pasta.



Nicole had the customized version of the Pan Seared Fois Gras (RM 29.90) which is described as "lightly fried with enoki mushrooms and expertly paired with delicate salmon roe quiche".



Grace went for the Pasta Duo (RM 29.90) which is "an unusual combination of squid-ink angel hair and green tea soba pasta served with moist and juicy pan-seared scallop".



We ordered another bottle of wine and ended up staying for more than two hours. The total came up to about RM 400+ which is pretty reasonable, considering the two bottles of wine that we ordered. I think this is the second most expensive dinner I've ever had, the first was for a bill of RM 500+ for two. ;)



Tasting Room is a great place for gourmet food cooked with passion and fine wine and the ambiance is perfect for conversation. The proprietor is friendly and the sommelier is very helpful. It gets two thumbs up from me.

Wine Cellar is a dubbed as the Ambassadors of Fine Wine and they rightly deserve the title. The place has a vast selection of wines and runs regular seminars and wine tasting sessions. These people are very passionate about wine, and it shows. 

I spent an evening there with Nicole having dinner at Tasting Room (review upcoming) and attended a wine tasting seminar entitled "How to bluff your way through Bordeaux" conducted by Ron. I love the unpretentious presentation and they seem eager to share their knowledge about wine. 

The wine tasting seminar showcases the two types of Bordeaux wines and how to differentiate them. My palate is less than sensitive so I'm probably the worst person to be attending a wine appreciation session but I do like wine, being the tipple of choice after distilled spirits. ;) 

The Wine Cellar people are very down to earth and I spent an enjoyable night talking to them and drinking wine after the Chelsea match. It was at some point during the night that someone suggested Nasi Lemak Ganja (so called due to the spicy sambal, not the addition of cannabis, much to my disappointment ;)) for supper. 

Regina drove down to the stall, which is actually called Nasi Lemak FAMOUS... 

...and choose several pieces of chicken for our nasi lemak. 

The proprietor ended up making 12 packs of nasi lemak for take away. Heh! 

We adjourned back to Wine Cellar and had the Nasi Lemak Ganja together with some wine and port. It actually goes quite well with the more flavorful port. 

This is Lindsay... 

...and the obligatory XX Chromosome pose. ;) 

Thanks for a great night people! I was quite inebriated when I ended up at Grace's apartment and passed out, rather than slept. ;)

I just weighted myself at a weighing scale and noticed that I am now clocking in at a rather  respectable (?) 69.2 kg.



This is approximately a 10 kg increase from my previous weight (before rehab) and I had a friend relate to me how gaining 10 kg actually feels, but since it's so subtle and nefarious you don't actually realize it. It's called The Rice Theory (TM).



The Rice Theory (TM) was related to me during dinner just now by my friend who watched me binge on food and then went with me to the mall for the weighing machine and it goes like this:



Pick up a 10 kg bag of rice from your nearest mall and try lugging that around. Imagine yourself carrying that 10 kg bag of rice. The. Entire. Day. Everywhere you go. 24/7. That's how gaining 10 kg of weight feels like.

Jesus Christ, I need more exercise...

Ever since I admitted to a certain indiscretion during my youth on Yee Hou's blog chronicled in the comments here:



Hmm...I'm not sure if PETA reads your blog but I've done it before with a couple of friends when I was really young. Involved a stray dog, similar situation (target, rather) and a firecracker tied to said anatomy.

I know it's evil. Sorry. I think I was 10 or 12 back then.

Dr. Tan: I have a little question though. How the hell did you manage to get hold of the dog and not have him bite you?

WTF man so evil one you.
Huai Bin | Homepage | 08.01.08 - 12:01 am | #

It was quite easy. The dog was a stray and thus quite easily tempted by food. It (he) was eating the Chinese New Year bak gua and my friend duct taped either a chai lei or ta di lei gong (those huge crackers) to his scrotum area.

I am sorry to say that I was the one who lit the fuse.

Dr. Tan: I once threw a chai lei onto a zinc roof of some kampung guy and a hole appeared.

I also heard rumours that two da di lei gong can blow apart a public phone, after which you can access the coin box.

What happened to the dog?
Huai Bin | Homepage | 08.05.08 - 11:35 pm | #

I don't know. It ran away like a bolt of lightning after the firecracker exploded. There were drops of blood on the floor and everything. My bad.
Huai Bin | Homepage | 08.06.08 - 5:21 pm | #



I have felt the urge to repent and proclaim my love for all canines around the world. I love dogs. I'm sorry I aidded and abbetted in neutering one with a firecracker in my youth. =D

I was busy with the preparations for my sister's wedding for most of the day before Nicole texted me and asked if I was free for dinner. She was the one who wrote the rather alarming article about me in The Star and now that the fallout is (or seem to be) relatively over, I wanted an autographed copy of the column. Heh!



Well, in all fairness, it really wasn't her fault coz I consented to the interview but the headline was a bit on the sensationalist side. Nicole is a really nice person in real life, we had dinner at Tasting Room in Bangsar and polished off a couple of bottles of wine. The full review of Tasting Room wine bistro will be in a separate post.



Anyway, at some point during the night, it was decided that we were to drive down to Shah Alam and catch the Chelsea - Malaysia friendly match after all. Nicole wanted me to drive her car down (!). I was a little shocked and awed by her faith in my driving skillz, especially with the number of collisions I have under my belt and the two bottles of wine plus several other glasses during a tasting session in me.



I did find it quite amusing that I'm actually qualified to be a designated driver - I'm probably the worst candidate for that. I'm also secretly honored by Nicole's faith in me driving her car down to Shah Alam, so I put on my best Sober Expression (TM), and took the 1 hour drive down to the Shah Alam Stadium. I noticed that she did take precautions to fasten her seat belt though. ;)



I didn't quite know my way around KL and Shah Alam so Nicole was giving directions from the passenger seat while Grace slept at the back. It took us a little more than an hour to arrive due to traffic congestion and the poor road signs to the stadium where Chelsea was playing. I also remembered missing an exit three (3) times in a row due to my inebriated state and having to make a long U turn back only to miss it again.



Shah Alam Stadium was packed full of Chelsea (and the odd Malaysia) fans and I had a ticket in addition to the five (5) I gave out in the Heineken Chelsea contest so I decided to go in and take a couple of photos and videos.



The stadium at full capacity.



Chelsea scores the second goal of the match. 2-0.



Snack vendor catering to the crowd.



Frenzy - the minority Malaysia team supporters lamenting a missed opportunity.



Final score: 2-0 to Chelsea.



Watch the video of the Chelsea Malaysia friendly match. This is the Chelsea Asia Tour 2008 - Malaysia event.

The girls weren't keen on going in due to the crowd and I couldn't find the other bloggers so I left after a bit to drive back to KL. I heard the score was 2-0 to Chelsea when we headed back to Wine Cellar to have some more to drink. More about that in another post. Cheers!

I arrived in KL last Monday to do some stuff related to my impending sister's wedding. I was supposed to meet up with Grace at 6 pm after she gets off work coz I was crashing at her place at Bangsar Heights for two nights, so I had an entire afternoon to kill.



I arrived at around 12 pm and met up with Julian Hopkins, who is doing a blog research project. He's doing his doctorate in cultural anthropology about bloggers and wanted an interview with me. Read more about this research program about bloggers here.



Julian wanted to bring me to this famous duck rice stall but it was closed so we ended up eating at the equally renowned Soo Kee Ipoh Chicken Kueh Tiaw soup.



I expected the kueh tiaw to be like the Sarawak type of kueh tiaw (which is thicker) but the ones served here are much thinner and it's really good.



The broth was absolutely infused with chicken soup and it's very tasteful and not too filling as to induce post lunch coma.



I love this stuff, I haven't had it before since I'm not a big fan of soup dishes...until now. The Soo Kee Ipoh Chicken Kueh Tiaw soup really is that good. Anyway, Julian brought me to Monash University after that for a taped interview, which took up most of the afternoon. He kindly sent me back to KL Sentral so I could meet up with Grace. Julian is a really nice person so help out with his research program okay? :)



Grace took me back to her apartment in Bangsar Heights where I stayed for the next two nights. I wasn't really comfortable with the idea of sleeping with my future in laws since I smoke and all that and Grace's room is a smoke-free room (as in you can smoke for free ;)).



I wasn't due to meet up with my sister's fiancé's family until the next day so I hooked up with the Nuffnang team for dinner at Jalan Alor.



Timothy suggested Restauran Sun Chui Yuen which is a bit of a tourist trap.



I had a couple of beers...



...and we ordered quite a lot of food.



L-R: Samantha, Timothy, Nicholas, Yee Hou, Grace, Huai Bin (me).

Thanks for the dinner Nuffnang! It was great meeting up with all of you. The Nuffnang team are some of the nicest people I've ever met. :)

Siong Kee is one of the most famous kampua noodle stalls in Sibu. Siong Kee Mee Kampua is located in Taman Muhibbah. The proprietor is the one manning the stall and has almost acrobatic displays of noodle handling from the pot of boiling water to the bowl.



This friendly and unassuming owner is a Guinness World Records holder (!) though not for kampua noodles. He is credited under Most weddings attended by a best man. Mr. Ting Ming Siong from Sibu, Sarawak has been best man at the most weddings in the world with 1,393 occasions and counting. His record holder status can be verified here.



He even has a name card that lists his achievements in...er, matrimonial services, and he is also the Malaysian Book of Records holder in that department. Siong Kee Mee Kampua is very busy almost every night due to the good noodles that he churns out (and I suspect his acrobatic feats and record holder status as well).

Kampua noodles is actually very simple to make but this man is the only one who makes it entertaining to watch:



1. Blanch noodles



2. Throw noodles up in the air (no one else does this except him) and catch it again



3. Mix noodles with a lard based sauce



I'm not sure if the noodle throwing actually adds anything to the flavor (though rumor has it that it makes the noodles more pliable) but it certainly makes for a very lively performance.



Everybody loves kampua throwing!



I've been told by kampua aficionados that you should always eat the noodles plain to gauge the taste properly. Kampua is served plain de facto but you can opt to have it with soy sauce, soy sauce and chilli, or chilli sauce.



I ate this one plain and I pronounce it good!



I was searching for his record in the Guinness World Records website and chanced upon a record that I could easily beat - Most Ferrero Rocher chocolates eaten in one minute which currently stands at a meager five (5).

Watch out Reuben Williams! I'm gunning for your record. I can do six easily. ;)

I had to get something done in Kuching during the weekend and took a bus after work on Saturday (RM 40) and arrived late evening. The bus ticket costs RM 40 and it takes about 7 hours for the journey. Irene picked me up and we did the photo shoot in about an hour or so before heading for dinner.



I stayed at Transit Point, the latest competitor to the Singgahsana Lodge and it only cost RM 35 nett for a room with WiFi (!) and a queen sized bed. The Singgahsana Lodge on the other hand costs RM 30 nett for dormitory style accommodations sleeping 10 people in a room.



Irene called me at around 11 pm and it was decided that we were to do some clubbing and meet up with some old friends since I was already here. I was a little dubious since I have to wake up at 6 am in the morning to take the 8:30 am express boat back to Sibu but I figured I haven't gone clubbing in a while so I went for it.



I also drink Heineken draft during my regular sessions, not just for advertorials, okay. :p



I was sitting at the bar with Irene and I suddenly had an ethanol inspired idea to pass my blogger name card to random people. Pimp my blog and all that. ;)



I walked over to two girls beside to our left and passed out my name card to them, and one of them recognized my name. Michelle (pictured above) has read my blog before and was introduced to it by...



...Wendy! Thanks for reading! :)



We stayed until 2 am and went over to Azza Burger to eat the famous Azza Burger with everything inside (my favorite post drinking session meal when I was in Kuching). We also partook in the famous Chinese amber fluid (Tsingtao in cans) and I ended up sleeping at 4 am, which is a really bad idea when you have to wake up 2 hours later.

Snooze Alarms is an anagram for Alas! No more Z's !



I was supposed to wake up at 6 am but I overslept and woke up at 7:40 am, rushed to pack my bags and called a taxi to bring me to the wharf in Pending where the express boat departs at 8:30 am (RM 45). The express boat takes about 5 hours, which is a little faster than taking a bus. I made it in time and after a bit of expense tabulation:

Sibu - Kuching bus: RM 40
Accommodation: RM 35
Kuching - Sibu express boat: RM 45
Total: RM 120
(Price not inclusive of dinner and drinking session)

It is possible to travel on a budget if you don't mind the long journeys by non-aviation means of transportation. You can always sleep on the bus/express boat and I arrived in Sibu at around 2 pm on Sunday. :)

Total time spent in Kuching: Less than 12 hours.

I met Regina Lau when I was in KL. She works at Wine Cellar, which would be providing the vinos for my sister's wedding.



The XX Chromosome category has been somewhat neglected for a while so I am pleased to present to you the delicious Regina...



...and the awesome key fob that she has. Heh!

I've always wanted to do three things before I kicked the bucket - write a book, travel the world and direct a movie. I haven't got the chance to do the first two but the last one is finally within my reach. I don't even have to purchase a high quality video recorder, rent an expensive studio or deal with actors overdosing and dying on me before the voice overlay is done. ;)

Wardrobe malfunctions are minimized and temper tantrums avoided. It's pure fun!

LG Scarlet is running an online contest where you get to direct your own video. The action sequences and adrenaline pumping music in the LG Scarlet video is amazing to work with. You can customize it by adding snap scenes and your own captions and it's very user friendly.

The contest will be run for four (4) consecutive weeks and there will be a weekly prize for the Director that accumulates the most votes. There will also be a grand prize at the end of the contest.

If you're not interested in being a Director, there is also a concurrent contest for being a Fan. The Fan wins by having the highest number of successful virals. A viral is defined as a vote garnered (gained in plain English - I just use garner coz the LG Scarlet movie reminds me of Alias) from that particular Fan's video promo link.

I have tried to decipher that statement and it just means that you basically promote the video you like either via your blog or email and you get an extra vote for every registered user that votes for that particular video link. The more registered users you get, the higher your chances of winning.

There will be a weekly and grand prize for both Fans and Directors. The weekly prize is a Hi-Fi Micro FB163 for every week of the four week campaign and the grand prize is a 37" LG Scarlet LCD TV!



Now, you can finally be the director of a video without learning to use video editing software with more buttons and menu items than you can shake a stick at.

I'm registered under sixthseal.com as a Director and you can vote for my video at the LG Scarlet site. I'm planning a vote buying campaign where I pay RM 1 for every person that votes for me. Terms and conditions apply.

Terms and Conditions:
RM 1 will be sent via snail mail for every valid registered user who votes for me.
This vote buying campaign is only open to Malaysian residents.
Please send a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) with an RM 1 note in it for processing fees. ;)

All kidding aside, head on to the LG Scarlet website to register as either a Director or a Fan and participate in the contest. This is one of the most interesting Internet viral marketing strategies I've seen - my hats off to the people at LG.

Calling all armchair/office chair directors! Here's your chance to Shine (reference intended). ;)



Watch my video here.

Make your own video today or be a fan and get a chance to win the LG Scarlet 37" LCD TV now!