February 2009 Archives

Well, those of you who've been following sixthseal.com for a few years would know Cherie. For some strange reason, she was the only girlfriend that was accepted, and even embraced by the readers. Anyway, Cherie is one of my ex-girlfriends that I have always maintained strong ties with. We broke up in 2005 but have remained friends. I met up with her again last night and it's great how two people can not meet for two years, see each other again, and just be comfortable together and enjoy each other's company, just like old times. :)

...and get your mind out of the gutter, not in that way, in a strictly platonic way.

I didn't bring my dSLR out last night so this was taken with the HTC Touch 3G.

The heart is the most common symbol for romantic love. It's always been a dream of many a hopeless romantic to do something extraordinary for their loved ones...fly a plane with a smoke trail that spells your beloved's name or something to that effect - an over-the-top display of love for all and sunder to see how much you love your loved one.

I have been following Berry and Lemon's romantic relationship for the past few months, commented on Berry and Lemon's blog, and participated in the contest. It's been a wonderful journey - I brought them up to the Cameron Highlands to spend some time...a double date of sorts. I attempted to create the Most Romantic photo with the couple standing in the middle. Little did I know then that I was about to see more! Berry has a few tricks up his sleeves, that's for sure. ;)

I got a chance to see that on Valentine's Day. I was at Sunway Pyramid and attended the Ribena Purple Heart event. Berry built a HUGE purple heart to profess his love for Lemon. It's filled with Ribena Lemon bottle caps.

The Ribena Purple Heart event had a lot of games going on - plastic dice throwing, DDR style dance machines and throwing stuff at a target.

Temporary tattoos were all the rage - the people on duty were all inked (stickered?) with "A Perfect Match - Ribena & Lemon".

Ribena Lemon was on free flow. Well, kinda.

There was a line of people picketing (?) the area, hyping up the huge purple heart event.

Male MC: My hair is styled by the best in Bollywood. I'm kidding. ;) The event kicked off with the two MCs introducing the event and the attempt to create the huge purple heart - how Berry had to walk all over town to collect the purple bottle caps that it's made of.

Berry and Lemon made a grand entry after that, waving to the cheers of the crowd. I was surprised that they actually could move in that costume.

Berry could even go down on bended knee in that suit, a remarkable feat indeed.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough...apparently the huge purple heart wasn't filled to the brim, so Lemon was less than happy about that.

A quick solicitation from the crowd for Ribena Lemon bottle caps soon resolved that problem though...

...and all was good.

We had a chance to pose with Berry and Lemon...

...before being whisked away to a movie screening, courtesy of the good people at Ribena.

Anyway, the screening is the movie New in Town by Renée Zellweger. Free hotdogs, popcorn and Ribena Lemon were also provided. I had to eat two coz Tzia forced me to eat hers as well. :(

It was fun and I loved how well the event was organized. I actually enjoy drinking Ribena Lemon, it's probably the only source of Vitamin C I get, considering I don't eat fruits. *shrugs*

Bust a move, Berry!

I've always trusted in my judgement when driving, despite my less-than-stellar history of vehicular safety. I have, in my slightly-more-than-a-decade-long driving experience, ran down a person, totally crashed my car, and have a static road sign pole run into me. Nevertheless, I've always believed in the rule of "If the front can pass, the side can too". 

That theory was put to the test yesterday evening as I was making my way out of my lunchbox sized assigned parking lot. I'm located next to a pillar and have had no beef with said pillar in my three months of parking here. I pulled out of the parking spot, clearing the front, just to hear the sound of concrete scraping my car. I tend to accelerate so the scraping sound continued for a rather long time before I realized it.

I got down to inspect the damage - it seems that the close encounter with the concrete pillar requires a trip to the workshop this weekend. It took a whole piece of paint off, revealing the alloy underneath. It also "repainted" the side of my car, making it a distinctive shade of yellow that doesn't go very well with the black paintjob.

I'm still pondering about the physics behind the unfortunate event.

I must admit, there are times when the MSN emoticons serve a purpose.



It's quite heartwarming to experience exchanges like this, especially when it's impromptu and it's my first time searching for the right emoticons.

I've never been a huge fan of MSN emoticons. I think they're rather juvenile and nearly cringed when I saw my beloved ASCII :) being automatically replaced by the in MSN. I have become somewhat desensitized to the cartoonish nature of the emoticon in recent times though. It's a little like how I used to cringe at the truncated :) in IRC and stuck to my fundamentalist smiley - :-) for ages before relenting to the truncated smiley.


I've always found the default MSN smiley a bit corny but have grown to embrace it and even love it. I have recently grown fond of the emoticon too - a smirk of sorts capable of expressing a wide range of emotions from distaste to worry.



The one that takes the cake is a custom emoticon (Custom emoticons! OMG! I can't believe how far I've traveled down this road!) I just got from a co-worker. I call it the sideways smiley and I'm growing to like it a lot. (!)


I've always thought of MSN custom emoticons as the realm of pre-pubescent teenage girls and now I'm experimenting with the cursed things!



I've even resorted to soliciting random custom emoticons!

(and putting up MSN conversation chat boxes - ZOMG!)

I'm worried.

I fear for my manhood.

I have been tagged so many times that I feel obliged to do this. This narcissistic meme has run its course, but that's the best time to be doing it coz I'm not particularly a big fan of doing lists. Thus, without further ado:

1. I have a problem with time. It makes me nervous if I'm about to be late so I give myself a 15-30 minute "grace period". Even if I know it'll only take me 10 minutes to reach a certain destination I will leave the condo at 8:15 pm for a 9 pm appointment. Cutting it too close to the deadline makes me feel like my bladder is going to void itself. :S

2. I was locked in the toilet of the local public library when I was 9 years old. The library was closing and I went to take a pee and the guards didn't know I was in there and locked the entire place up. My mom realized I was missing and called the library people to open up the place. I was in there for perhaps half an hour and it felt like an entire night! I think a lot of this has to do with my issues with time.

3. My mom used to lock me in the store room when I misbehaved when I was 5-6 years old. It was totally dark inside the store room - it's the kind that goes under the stairs and comes sans windows. I was also afraid of our table fan (without the protective cover) so when I didn't want to take my afternoon nap she would open the protective cover and put the fan next to me so I had no choice but to close my eyes. The naked unmoving fins - I remember it was blue - scared the shit out of me for reasons unknown.

4. I was punished by beatings via broomsticks, vacuum cleaner tubes and belts when I didn't get good results when I was in primary school. I would get beaten if I didn't get 80 marks, a scolding and a good twist of the ear if I didn't get above 90 and a verbal lashing for anything above that. Even for 99. "It's just 1 mark till you get 100, why can't you even do that?".

5. I got so sick of it I threw a kitchen chopper at my mom when I was 13. I really meant to hurt her. I faced off with my dad at around the same age and totally rebelled. They never did beat me again after that.

6. My mom started to pull out her hair and cry (reverse psychology) whenever I did badly in exams after that. I think my tolerance and seeming indifference to girlfriends crying and begging stemmed from that. It just doesn't bother me anymore coz I have been desensitized to all that reverse psychology shit.

7. I think the way I treat my girlfriends has a lot to do with how my mom treated me when I was a kid. It's a really bad thing, all the mistrust, the misplaced anger, the suspicion, the constant demand for perfection. It drove me nuts, and I imagine it drove many of my ex-girlfriends nuts too. ;)

8. I started masturbating when I was 7 years old. I blame a faulty shower head at the public swimming pool for my early forays into the world of carnal knowledge. The faulty faucet caused a high intensity, high pressure jet of water into my swimming trunks and gave me a "funny feeling". I kept it there and got the first orgasm of my life. I soon started emulating it at home, pushing away the bucket we use for collecting water and went sitting in front of the tap. It worked but it took me about an hour or so to come. My parents were always wondering about my long baths. I suspect they knew but didn't want to ask.

9. I didn't actually have a wet dream until I was 14. I remember it being the first or second day of Chinese New Year and I came all over my pajama bottoms (I wasn't a fan of wearing underwear). I rushed out, feeling guilty despite all the sex education I had and tried to wash it off. My dad walked out, saw what happened, and sleepily told me to just dump it into the laundry bin and change my clothes and walked back into his room.

10. I have only really loved one person in my entire life. She was 29 and I was 25 and she was perfect for me. A series of unfortunate events caused her to break off the relationship. She's a Senior Pharmacist in a private hospital and had a great education, speaks perfect English and is intelligent to boot. She cheated on her boyfriend to be with me and she's the only one I really wanted to have kids with. The last I heard from her, she got back with her ex-boyfriend. I can still remember her cell phone number. :S

11. I had a crush when I was 17 on a classmate, but it was just a crush and we're still friends now. I was also recently involved with someone whom I might have loved but unfortunately she was engaged. She revealed her plans to break off her engagement to her parents and that didn't go down too well with her parents (nor the parents of the fiance) and she was forced to go to Singapore and be with her fiance. I haven't heard from her since. These two are the only other relationships worth mentioning.

12. I have problems maintaining long term relationships. The longest relationship I ever had was with Louisa but it was more like a friendship than a relationship. *shrugs*

13. I hate coins. I never ever use them and it just piles up in my room and random places around the condo. I only use notes. The reason I hate coins is coz they're bulky, heavy, scratches your gadgets and they smell funny. Once my friend harvested over RM2,000 in coins from my apartment in Kuching. No shit. Granted, I have been living there for over 3 years and my distaste for coins is bound to result in a bounty like that. I gave him 10% of the harvest.

14. My favorite comfort food is stewed pork leg. I love it to bits! OMG! The tender, soy sauce marinated flesh just practically falling off the bone, the chewy fat and skin with the creamy mouth-feel, the chunks of meat soaked in slightly garlic soy sauce marinate. I can eat a pot of this stuff. It's gonna clog my arteries, but damn, I love the stuff! :) I'm drooling just from writing about it.

15. I'm a very poor judge of character. I let people get too close to me and trust people too easily. It's a very bad thing and I've been burnt more than a few times but I still keep on doing it. I have learnt to be more cautious in relationships though - at work and off work. I'm sick of people I consider friends backstabbing me.

16. I have a problem with people who asserts their authority over me. I don't like people who are loud and brash when talking to me, a sure-fire way to piss me off. On the other hand I'm not too bothered by this at the office coz the real people in power are usually tactful and polite. It's just the wannabes who tend to be insecure that feels the need to be loud and assertive. I work well with people who are polite and respectful. I have no respect for people who feels that the best way to communicate is by shouting. I usually have to restrain myself from choking people like that. :S

17. I listen to a lot of '94 Orange County bands like Green Day, The Offspring, and Rancid. I love NOFX and have listened to all of their albums (and know practically most of the lyrics). I used to hate Eminem coz I grew up listening to Tupac Shakur but tried him on for size and realized that I relate better to Eminem's lyrics. I don't think I'll be "bringing terror with this Beretta I clutch in my paw" anytime soon. ;)

18. I read a lot of books. I have loved reading ever since I started at 7 years old. I used to read a lot of Stephen King (and have read all of his novels except the Dark Tower series) but have diversified my interests to stuff like The Kite Runner. I'm a voracious reader and can go through a lot of books in a week - I read anything from Dan Brown style religious thrillers to science fiction/cyberpunk. I love books and I love reading.

19. I could drink 5 liters of milk a day (the huge 5 litre family bottles) when I was in Australia but I seem to have lactose intolerance nowadays. I can barely drink 500 ml without feeling slightly sick and getting diarrhea the next day. I blame that on my impaired liver function.

20. I used to drink every day. I would drink every single night right after work just so I can sleep. I realize I have a problem with alcohol and have stopped drinking every single night. Nowadays, I tend to keep the drinking to weekends. I didn't drink the past weekend though coz I was having a fever and not feeling all that well. :)

21. I'm paying RM 1,100 for rent for a condominium all to myself. I'm wondering if I can afford it anymore and if I should be getting a housemate to share the expenses.

22. Time heals all wounds. I really believe in that. I have attempted suicide before in my deepest and darkest hours due to the girl I loved (see #10) when I thought it wasn't worth it anymore, that I couldn't live without her. I'm glad I didn't kick the bucket then, coz it feels great to be alive! =D

23. I tend to be very sleep deprived all the time due to not getting my prescribed 8 hours. I wake up at about 6:30 am every morning and I sleep late coz I have to update the blog, and get involved with other social obligations.

24. My recent favorite emoticon is the :S in MSN. I've been using it a lot lately, coz I'm feeling :S in recent days. Heh!

25. I'm very lazy when it comes to doing household chores. I don't like ironing, hanging out the laundry and sweeping. It's just not my thing, thus the rapid degradation of my living quarters whenever I don't have a girlfriend to clean up after me. :S

Nuffnang invited several bloggers to The Apartment Downtown @ Suria KLCC for dinner. It's more of a meet and greet social dinner as a prelude to discussing some Serious Issues (TM).



We were served Cranberry Juice (great for UTIs) and a variety of starters which includes stuffed squid, pita bread with a curious combination of butter and cheese, stuffed eggplant, and chicken liver pate.



I think the last one scarred Pam a little...she's a very PETA type person. I hesitate to label her as a tree hugger coz the reason she doesn't like pork and stuff like that is due to the offense it instigates to her olfactory senses.



The main dishes arrived after that with highlights being the lamb, creamy melt-in-your-mouth cous cous, salmon with udon noodles and mussels cooked in curry. I notice a distinctive apprehension at my table whenever I took a mussel. I realized it's due to my poor motor coordination in opening up the shell and spearing the flesh inside. Pam actually warned me not to send the poor crustacean flying. I think she also mentioned something detrimental to my well-being if any landed on her. ;)



The dessert was individually served with chocolate mousse, meringue (reminds me of Pavlova actually), and some peanut butter infused creation. It was great!

We adjourned upstairs to have a discussion about several pressing issues relevant to the blogsphere...



...before the camwhoring started in earnest. This is Tzia, featured blogger of the month.



Audrey, of 4 feet nine fame!



Pamela Song a.k.a. my nemesis! We're just pretending to be nice here one. Posing for the digicam, usually we can be seen disagreeing vehemently. ;)



Carol Koh! I less than 3 you! =D



Cindy...



...and Rin.



Plus a lot of other camwhoring shots!



It was a great night of fellowship among the Nuffnang staff and the bloggers. It's kinda like church and cell group meetings, except we don't have a Jesus. ;) It's great for building rapport and all that corporate speak. I'm looking forward to the next one already. :)

I managed to interview the last batch of girls - including Natasha...



...and Nurbaya.



The next post will be Behind the Scenes (TM) stuff - watch the girls just chilling out. I'm going to write about fortune telling next - I was told the number and gender of the offspring I'm going to have.

Read more at the MDG 2 official blog.

I'm going to tell you my little breakup story. I arrived home to find the letterbox key slipped under the door. Hmm...I thought, surveying my surroundings. It seems a little on the empty side, but nothing out of the ordinary. I walked into the bedroom to find out that...



...she had left (and taken my bed sheets with her). OMG! What am I going to sleep in tonight?

I went to take a bath with my newly purchased soap and threw the wrapper into the non-existent rubbish bin. It landed on the floor. I'm just so used to it being there that I didn't look before I disposed of the wrapper. She had taken the rubbish bin AND the laundry bin as well. Ish.



Oh well, no biggie. I'll deal with it tomorrow, not thinking that if so many things are missing, others have to be as well. I took a shower and went to sleep on my (sheet less) bed.

I woke up the next day, smoked my first cigarette of the day while looking at the traffic outside. I went back in to brush my teeth and found...



...NO TOOTHPASTE!

I remember we had at least three (3) tubes stocked up and all of them were missing.

Man, this is just petty. Toothpaste? Crass...



I didn't want to be late for work so I rummaged around and found some toiletries I liberated from random hotel rooms for use during budget travel. I usually take shaver kits and toothpaste kits.



Eureka!

I texted her to tell her that taking all the toothpaste is just ridiculous.

She replied:



Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

I am going to a costume event this weekend and I'm having problems with choosing my costume thanks to the indecisiveness of Nalexa, who's horoscope is Cancer, known for their indecisiveness. :p



Black Hawk Down (or Full Metal Jacket). I'll be wearing an Ace of Spades on my helmet as well as a pack of Lucky Strikes so I'll look the part. :)



Pirates of the Caribbean. I'll be carrying a bottle of rum to the event to make myself look the part.

Which one do you think looks better on me?

Vote! I need to decide tomorrow. Thanks to the good people at Absolut for being patient with me. I was there for nearly 2 hours. :S

I was at Mist Club in Bangsar on Valentine's Day courtesy of Chingy, who got me three tickets to the event. It's organized in conjunction with Lunch Actually - the premier dating company in Asia. The event started at 7:30 pm but I was there early with Charlz and Joyce in tow to cover the event. Chingy has just started working in Mist Club, Bangsar.



I met Pam there who arranged for me to get in earlier to take photos and cover the event. She also generously provided me with a lot of drinks vouchers, thanks for the great hospitality! =D



Everyone who went in got a bag of schwag containing party favors, a shot glass and forms (with the obligatory pencil) for games.



These are my coworkers - Charlz and Joyce. Er...Charlz, you should make it a habit to wear longer skirts to clubs. ;) It saves me the time of having to apply mosaic. :p



Anyway, Mist started filling up with people as the night progressed...



...and games went underway. The audience participation was lukewarm (I wanted to go up but the MC started pulling out name cards before I could) but most people were game enough to go on stage when their names were called. There was this funny dancing competition where the music is cut into English, techno and Chinese songs and the paired up couples had to dance according to the beats.



The winner walked away with a bottle of champagne. Nice!



The next game involved women, lipstick and kisses. The females are supposed to plant as many kisses as they can on their male partners (selected at random). I love shooting this scene. :)



We interrupt this program to bring you an XX Chromosome photo - this is one of the staff at Mist.



Back to the games, the last one was a challenge where the fastest person to obtain:
A blown up condom
Two pairs of heels
Boxers
A pair of earrings
Wins a prize. Some guy snagged it in like 3 minutes. Respect.



There was also a lucky draw - a trip for two (2) for three days two nights to Pulau Redang, all expenses paid. Lina, a girl who was sitting with us, won the prize. I'm so gonna suck up to her so she's gonna take me there with her. ;)

Thanks to Chingy, Pamela and Justin for the warm hospitality (and the massive amount of drink vouchers). :)

I had a great time!

(and I met someone special that night - yes, you S)

Snooze is evil. It must be punished. I planned to wake up at 4 am this morning to do my MDG 2 post and a very long Valentine's Day Mist writeup but I pressed the snooze function and the next thing I know it's 6:30 am. (!)

 

Snooze is a disease. Don't take the risk. Change your lifestyle to avoid snooze. Contact your doctor for more information.

Here at sixthseal.com it has been established - a heritage even - that we go above and beyond the call of duty. ;) These are my Kame Hame Ha videos for the DBZ: Evolution screening. I tried a couple of flammables:



This is Zippo lighter fluid, otherwise known as naphtha. It doesn't burn at all. I found that rather strange, considering I spent RM 6.90 on it. I guess it just evaporates on concrete once it's been poured out of the receptacle.

...with this Dragonball...I'll take my vengeance - upon the Earth.



It's all reverse messed up chronological videos in this post - the first one is the naphtha fluid, which is a massive FAIL since it didn't ignite.

I promptly used methanol spirits (don't ask me why I have a spare bottle in my car coz I can't answer that) and it came up as a blue flame.



We adjourned for dinner and I decided I wasn't satisfied with the results so I got RON 92 gasoline from the nearest petrol station. I told the attendant my friend ran out of gas in SS 6 and I needed 1.5 liters of the Good Stuff (TM). I don't think he quite believed me coz he told me if I was gonna Molotov Cocktail a house, I was not to say that I got it from that particular gas station. LOL!



We went back and did it for a third time with RON 92 gasoline and that's the first video. It's awesome! =D

Thanks to Hitomi for helping me get the videos done! :)

Ignition! They call it an obsession, but I think it's kinda bitchin'...I think it's kinda neat!

I went and re-pierced my tongue just now. Contrary to popular believe, no, I did not reuse the old stud, although I love it to bits. I've been looking to get another black one with a gemstone on top, but alas, the piercing shop does not carry it.



Thus, I decided to go for the bling factor and went gold like the tongue piercing I did in 2006. It cost me RM 130 at 1Utama, which is higher than what the good people at Bukit Bintang charge.



Hitomi shot the video, we were at 1U for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

This post is to reassure you that I did not reuse the old stud, S. ;)

I didn't even have my tongue piercing on Saturday.

Thanks Charlz for a great weekend! =D

...and was pleasantly surprised to see it again in the bottom of the toilet bowl.

"I once was lost, but now am found"

I accidentally swallowed my tongue piercing during lunch with my coworkers and I usually don't see the by-product of this unfortunate event. It's happened a couple of times before but this is the first time I've done my bowel movements, flushed, just to find a shiny gem waiting at the bottom of the toilet bowl. :)



It usually goes down with the excrement and TP so I was pleasantly surprised to see it glistening at the bottom, as if it wanted to be found.

I take this as a sign from above, and thus, I retrieved it. ;)

Imagine the journey it has gone through, the poor thing!

I've always wondered how fast I can push my car. I know it can go above 170 km/h on the PLUS highway but how do I get it to leave a trail of fire?



The short answer is, in the real world that is scientifically improbable. I use the word improbable coz I don't want to look back at the sixthseal.com archives 20 years later and kick myself when they invent really fast cars which can actually leave a blazing trail behind. ;)



Thus, I tried unorthodox methods of making a "blazing fast" car. Turpentine doesn't burn, gasoline burns with a yellow flame and so does kerosene. I want a hot blue flame that doesn't extinguish easily, so after much experimentation (much to the chagrin of the hardware shop, as I was using his premises to do the burn tests) I settled on methanol spirits.



Thus armed, I enlisted two of my friends and went to a secluded back alley near my condo - one was the driver, one was the spotter (to stop cars from driving into the flaming mess) cum camera(wo)man and I was the videographer. I used two bottles of methanol spirits to create a "trail of flame" effect behind the car and created this video in all of its unedited glory:



Okay, the video is an epic FAIL. Teng Loo wasn't familiar with my car and she didn't manage to put it in gear when I shouted GO! However, the effect is rather nice.



It got me thinking though, why would I go through all that trouble, risking arrest when I can just boost up my car performance the proper way? I could have just gotten some Castrol EDGE Sport engine oil.

While it won't make your car leave a blazing trail of fire - it will boost your engine performance. The Castrol EDGE Sport is a race proven oil to give you that extra EDGE (no pun intended) in power and performance and protects your engine to boot!



Castrol is running an online contest called the Castrol EDGE Sport Speed Challenge that I thought is pretty original. Four teams are pitted against each other to see which group can change engine oil the fastest. The four vastly different teams are:

1. Hot Chics
2. The Geeks
3. Sweet Young Things
4. The Pros

One video will be released each week over a four-week period and you get to guess the time used by the four groups to change the engine oil. The person who enters the closest time to the actual time used by the group will be the winner. Guess & Win!

There will be one weekly winner and a grand prize winner for the Castrol EDGE Sport Speed Challenge.

Exclusive for bloggers:

Bloggers won't miss out on this coz Castrol is kind enough to run another concurrent contest, especially for you! Exclusively for bloggers, the Blog & Win contest requires you to blog about and embed the video of the Castrol EDGE Sport Speed Challenge contest in your blog.

You can get the videos from the Castrol website. Give it your best shot! The six (6) most creative posts will win!

Win what, says you? Okay, here are the prizes for the Castrol EDGE Sport Speed Challenge contest:

GRAND PRIZE
1 unit Sony Bravia 37" LCD TV
User with the closest overall answers for total 4 weeks.

2nd PRIZE
1 unit Sony PS3
User with the 3nd closest overall answers for total 4 weeks.
 
3rd PRIZE
1 unit iPod Touch 8GB
User with the 3nd closest overall answers for total 4 weeks.
 
5 X CONSOLATION PRIZES
1 unit WALKMAN(r) MP3 Player
 
4 X Weekly Prizes for Guess & Win
1 unit WALKMAN(r) MP3 Player
Users with the first accurate or closest answer for weekly videos.
 
6 X Prizes for Blog & Win
1 unit WALKMAN(r) MP3 Player
For bloggers who write the most creative post about the Castrol EDGE Speed Challenge.
 
Plus exclusive Castrol premiums for all winners!
1 unit WRC Car Model
1 unit Castrol EDGE Sport Umbrella
1 unit Castrol EDGE Sport T-shirt



Do watch the videos on the Castrol site - it's much better than my FAIL attempt. ;)



You feel the need for speed?

Malaysian Dream Girl is back! The MDG 2 Closed Auditions were held today and I dropped by Tune Hotel to rendezvous with Jerad of Capxion Media and the 25 short listed candidates. That is Dawn pimping my blogger card - I think a lot of people are rooting for her. ;) The girls were checking into the hotel before heading to Capxion Media's studio for the Final 12 to be chosen.



I ended up driving 4 of the MDG 2 candidates and nearly got horrible lost, if not for Jerad being kind enough to stop by the roadside to allow me to tailgate the entourage. I keep on forgetting to get a Touch n'Go card and I'm always last out of the tollbooth coz I had to use the cash lane. Debra was there to cover the MDG 2 closed auditions as well.

I managed to interview:



Liana



Acha



Annabelle



Farah



Pinky



Dawn

...check out the full post at the official MDG 2 blog.

I hardly ever get close to people at work, due to a personal necessity to separate the two identities (work Huai Bin and play Huai Bin), but one of the people I got close to was Teng Loo.



I think of her as my older sister in a way, she's the same age as my biological sister, and she's my mentor of sorts. Thus, it is only befitting that I got her a cake for her birthday. :)



The cake reads "Happy Birthday Teng Loo, Cup-bearer to the Gods!" coz she's Aquarius. We share the same affinity for horoscopes. It's like Lucifer's sauna at our workplace coz the A/C broke down so we moved to the conference room for the cake cutting ceremony.



I hope you get your birthday wish TTL. You deserve it more than anyone else. You have been a friend, and more importantly, a confidant. You know more about me than anyone else save my parents, and perhaps not even them. :)



Teng Loo's birthday falls on Valentine's Day - the 14th of February but Secret Recipe doesn't do deliveries anywhere close that date so I'm doing an early one for her.

Live long and prosper, TTL. May the best of last year be the worst of this year. :)

Thanks to Nuffnang, I managed to catch Punisher: War Zone 10 days before everyone else. It was a screening held at Cineleisure last night (just now?) and I've got to say, this has gotta to be the best screening ever.



The pre-program was held at Outpost and we all met up there before going for the movie. The drinks were all half-price and there were PS2 Punisher games and board games available.



I met Hitomi there who posed me an extremely difficult question that challenged my gray matter to the point of incapacitation. :p



There were two people in costume acting as bouncers of sorts...a very nice touch, which was not just cosmetic - more about that later.



Contests were also held - two mannequins were the targets and we were given a toy gun to shoot darts at the targets to win schwag, which includes Punisher 2 T-shirts and duffle bags. I joined the second round and snagged me a poster of Punisher: War Zone. It was a whole lot of fun.



...that's not the end of it though. As we filed into the cinema and the trailers started, the two guys in flak jackets suddenly entered the cinema with flashlights shouting that Frank Castle is in the premises.

There was a whole lot of commotion and they ended up arresting The Punisher (before he made a timely escape) in front of the theater. It was a staged and choreographed event but they managed to pull it off so well (and it was unexpected) which made it interesting.

Then someone announced that a bomb has been planted under one of our seats, which set us scrambling to see if the explosive device is indeed under our designated seats. It turns out that Debra who was sitting at the seat adjacent to mine was the lucky one.



There was a bomb-squad style "cut the wires to disarm the bomb" stunt and Debra got to keep the ignition device. This has gotta be the best PR stunt pulled ever.

Anyway, back to the movie, it was great! If you loved the first Punisher (or Marvel comics stuff, vigilante movies, or films that involves violence and gore) you'll love this iteration. There were a couple of great quotes in there, my favorite being straight from the good book - "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." from Matthew 7:2.

Overall, it was an entertaining popcorn movie and I won't have any spoilers here since it's not going to be released for another 10 days but the best scene is Jigsaw recruiting all the Asian, Latino and African American street gangs for his cause.

The only flaw in the movie is the excessive censorship applied. There were liberal cutting of scenes - the Good Parts (TM) involving gore and violence were all subjected to the judicious scissors of the good people at the film censorship board. It was quite noticeable and a bit of a letdown but I give this movie two thumbs up (primarily coz I loved the first and I like vigilante movies like Boondock Saints).



This is Zoe, my guest. Say Happy Birthday coz she just turned 16. :)



I even won a Punisher: War Zone combat knife for my slogan. It was "If I'm the Punisher, I'll punish....Obama coz he's not what he seems. It's the greatest disaster of all time. Great PR, great marketing tactics, but he's actually the Antichrist in disguise. The end is nigh!" and I explicitly stated that I wanted the adventure knife coz I was getting mugged all the time. ;)

Unfortunately, this "adventure knife" would be relegated to cutting my fingernails and filing it down so it doesn't hurt when I have an itch to scratch. ;)

I think it'll be mighty useful for that. :)

I woke up early yesterday morning to navigate the maze that is Cheras. I picked up Ginny and we went to Café Libre for coffee. Café Libre is operated by Grant and Yasmin, the husband and wife couple.



Café Libre is located opposite the KL branch of Huygens Asia where I used to work as a Systems Engineer before I went to several DATCs. It's bright and friendly, and I hear the barista is headhunted from Starbucks in MidValley. Heh!



Grant and I share a lot of common traits and interests and I felt quite sorry for Ginny coz we were just talking the entire time we were there. There was so much to catch up on and we have so many common experiences that I could see Ginny yawning just listening to us go on and on. Sorry!



Grant in person!



His wife Yasmin, who runs the café...



...and Ginny Yap. =D

Grant, never enough, eh mate? Kindred souls, my friend.

The first thing that springs to mind when Coca is mentioned is a particular plant cultivated in certain parts of South America. However, that is not the Coca that will be reviewed in this post. ;) This Coca is the steamboat franchise. My first experience with Coca is in Kuching, which Andrea, the Marketing Manager who invited us, said was under different management.



I went with Yiling to the outlet at 1Utama. There are two outlets in Klang Valley - one in 1U and the other in Subang Parade. I recommend going to the second one - Andrea gave us the lowdown on the difference. The latter is larger, with live aquariums and fresh seafood from said aquarium. I hear the ambiance is better too.



However, I found the ambiance at Coca Restaurant, 1U to be quite pleasant too. The interior is dominated by hues of red (a color which can either cause arguments or create passion, depending on who you listen to), which is also the corporate color of the franchise. Andrea gave us a warm welcome when we stepped in and ushered us to our reserved table.



Coca is having a promotion on their steamboat set menus. It starts from RM 98++ for 2 people and includes:

Appetizer:
Deep Fried Fish Paste

Steamboat:
Tiger Prawns (200 grams)
Jelly Fish
Stuffed Squid
Chicken Ball
Chicken Fillet
Fish Glue
Coca Foo Chock
House Special Dumpling
Chinese Cabbage
Morning Glory
Tofu
Green Noodles
Eggs



Yiling had the new Roselle Flowers d' Juice (RM 12.90), which actually has the edible flowers garnishing the tall receptacle, as well as a slice of lemon. She opted to substitute the water with soda water, which made it effervescent and very thirst quenching. I love the pitchfork to stir the drink - it's very novel, the other end is a small spoon. A spork of sorts! =D

I ordered a jug of beer, which Yiling doubted I could finish. She should know better coz she's seen the way I drink in Ipoh. I offered to pay for the beer, but Andrea would have none of it - cheers for the great hospitality! :)

I'm sure I don't need to put photos of the jug of beer up - you know what it looks like anyway, unless you're living in Afghanistan or something...in which case you wouldn't have net access anyway. ;)



Coca Restaurant also has a buffet promotion where you can have unlimited appetizers from the buffet line. We checked out the appetizers on offer and it's very well presented, hor d'oeuvres style with a lot of them on spoons and such. Check out the succulent prawns in the foreground! I like the miniature Coca steamboat in the middle too - it's little touches like these that shows attention to detail. They are also going healthy - substituting yogurt for coconut milk in a lot of their cooking.



Anyway, back to our Coca Experience (TM) we were served Tiger Prawns stuffed with fish and prawns for the appetizer. The crustacean is a bit tough with a fearsome carapace but a tiny fork is more than adequate to get at the succulent flesh inside. The fish and prawn mixture works very well, creating a fusion of flavors that is greater than the sum of its parts.



The second appetizer we were served is the Pandan Chicken. It's tender chicken wrapped in pandan leaves and the cooking process retains all the juicy and moist goodness of the chicken. It's almost melt-in-your-mouth!



The steamboat was ready after that and the best thing about Coca Restaurant is the excellent service. The waiters help you with everything - doing it the Proper Way (TM) - first using the broth to loosen the ingredients before carefully putting it into the steamboat. This is a very nice touch, and different from other steamboat establishments.



We went for the mixed steamboat - one side is Tom Yam soup and the other side is chicken broth. I like the Tom Yam soup better as I have a love of all things spicy, but I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the chicken broth too. It's very flavorful with hints of real chicken essence, unlike the watered down Oliver Twist soup-without-bread version that some other establishments serve.



This is the Tom Yam soup version.



I just love this photo of Yiling. She looks so cute! :)



This is the chicken broth version.



Memorable dishes in the RM 98++ set meal are the spinach noodles, jellyfish, and the house specialty dumplings. I'm not a big fan of tofu so I can't comment on that.



Andrea was kind enough to furnish us with a plethora of desserts - the most remarkable being the Fresh Mango Pulut with Durian (RM 23.80). It's absolutely sinful. It's fresh mangos sliced into manageable pieces, served with glutinous rice drowned in coconut milk and a side of durian puree. The durian puree is to die for! It has a creamy texture with heavy notes of the King of Fruits and an orgasmic aftertaste. I even ate the durian puree straight from the cup; it's just that good.



It should be noted that a lot of the items here (e.g. some appetizers) and desserts are not included in the RM 98++ steamboat promotion for two. Those items came courtesy of Andrea. Thanks a great dining experience! :)



P/S - The best thing about Coca Restaurant is their secret dipping sauce. It's so closely guarded, the sauce is imported in from Thailand and no one knows the exact ingredients. Secret recipe. I like.

I can finally find my way to Cheras! =D Okay, it has been a bit of a running joke that I have a terrible sense of direction. I admit, it's true. However, with the HTC Touch 3G + Google Maps + GPS I can now find my way to Cheras:



w00t!

The only problem is, I have trouble keeping my hands on the prescribed 10 - 2 position while driving and smoking. Oh well, you can't have it all. ;)

I have always wondered about car clamping in 1Utama. There was once I pushed my luck and blocked practically half an access road for eight (!) hours and the car was still there, sans scratches or clamps. I don't usually do it though, it was an experiment of sorts.

Okay, it wasn't, I was just irritated at not being able to find a parking space. :p

I had to do it again today coz I was running really late for dinner with Yiling and SOMEONE (not Yiling) gave me wrong directions, resulting in a massive 20 minutes wasted on the road from the congestion and a massive U turn.



I was at Coca Restaurant courtesy of Andrea and I kinda gave Yiling a hard time coz she was late for our last eating expedition at Bondi Beach. I felt really bad coz I was late for 30 minutes this time!

I guess people who knows me realize that I have a thing about time. Okay, I'm very particular about time which is the reason I go to the office at 8 am even though work starts at 9 am. Unfortunately, I was late today coz I had to drop off someone (the very same person who gave me the wrong directions to 1U).

I don't like people making me wait (coz it shows that you don't respect my time) and in turn, I don't like making people wait.

I tend to be early and I was - arrived 6:55 pm for a 7:15 pm appointment on the WRONG side of 1U and had to make a huge U turn to get to the parking bays. It was 7:09 pm (yeah, you can tell I'm a bit obsessed with time :p) when I drove down to basement parking so I just parked at the nearest entrance and made sure I had RM 50 for the unclamping if it happens.

It took a good 15 minutes to find Coca and I had to rendezvous in front of Jusco with Yiling to actually find the place. Oh well, at least I was in time for the reservation but Yiling had been there since 6:55 pm and I felt really bad since I was the one who told her (repetitively) not to be late. I'm really sorry Yiling!

The worst thing was, she was really cool about it, which made me feel bad about last time. I guess I have a few things to learn from this soon-to-be mass murderer. ;)



Anyway, dinner at Coca Restaurant was great, will post up the full review first thing tomorrow morning. :)

I need sleep, I know coz I'm being verbose and writing random stuff and shit. :p

BTW, Cheryl, we were actually still having dinner inside Coca Restaurant when you came over to collect the voucher just now. :)

No, not that kind of eating tofu. I had a dSLR malfunction and the shutter went off at the wrong time.



There is a famous stall in Ipoh that has legendary melt-in-your mouth tofu fa. I was brought there by the EZY sisters - Eiling, Ziling and Yiling. It's called Funny Mountain Tao Fu Fa...



...and it has apparently received accolades from the print media.



...as well as the locals, which is always a good sign. The line was long, but they process the queue with the ease of experienced old hands (another good sign - anymore and it'll be like the second coming of Jesus).

 

Tofu fa is made from soybeans and resembles a really soft pudding. It's bean curd gelatin and it's usually served with sugar syrup and consumed while hot. Best of all, it's only RM 0.80 per bowl! =D



Interestingly, tofu fa is translated as "tender tofu blossom".

Related posts:
Eiling's review

I mean seriously, who sticks Nokia stickers all over my face when I'm busy texting on my HTC Touch 3G? Charlz, that's who. :p

I have like ze best coworkers in the world. Charlz and Teng Loo came over to my place to rendezvous for a video I'm doing, which is...not quite legal. I have scouted and identified the area, bought the Goods (TM) and even prepared RM 1,500 in bribes just in case:



There were CCTVs all around and I ran through the Plan of Action with them before I drove to the place. I can't reveal what the video is about yet, but I'm sure it breaks a few laws. The area is a high end gated community with CCTVs running and the nearest police station is just a minute away so we did everything in a single take.

Teng Loo had the initative to drive around and pick us both up, which I didn't factor into the Plan of Action. Nice! Since we didn't get caught and I had RM 1.5k with me, we decided to go for dinner:



Before I wax lyrical and shit, we shall end this post on a more neutral note. You guys rock. Thanks! =D

I've always been a big fan of the song, not leaving the club until it plays at least twice. I also like Umbrella, the track that introduced me to Rihanna's music. Rihanna has this knack of churning out songs that you can't seem to get out of your head. It's excellent club music but also brilliant for prancing around cross-dressed with an umbrella in the hotel lobby in.

Like this:

Unless you've been hiding in a cave for the past few weeks, you'll know that Rihanna is coming to Malaysia. Yes, the R&B star will be performing February 13th at Sadium Putra in Bukit Jalil. No, that's not her in the picture above, that would be me, but thank you for the kind comments.

People (well "normal people" anyway) don't cross-dress and take incriminating...er, I mean creative videos of themselves without a very good reason. I'll give you a great reason:

MeTV is having a Rihanna contest where you record and upload videos of yourself being a Rihanna fan to win prizes, which includes meeting Rihanna in person!

You'll get the chance to see her doing every day things, like...er, eating Freedom Fries. The Grand Winner will get the full Monty - VVIP passes, meeting and sending Rihanna off at KLIA, invites to the post-party and more! Get more details at Unleash the Rihanna in U with MeTV.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Record your best Rihanna video from your mobile.
2. Send your video via MMS to 26388 with RIHANNA typed in your message or subject box

Simple, right?

Meanwhile, if you want to watch, rate & download videos on MeTV from your mobile:

Step 1 : Log on to http://wap.channelx.com.my (from your mobile)
Step 2 : Go to Fun Stuff and select MeTV
Step 3 : Click on the Rihanna category.
Step 4 : Watch, rate (my video) or download any of the listed videos.



Check out the video I did - it's a very liberal interpretation of Rihanna's Umbrella. I managed to secure an umbrella from the hotel staff and wore a purple dress inside the hotel lobby while prancing around with an umbrella.

I think the only reason I wasn't kicked out of the hotel is coz I'm staying there. ;)

It also features a shower scene, which was actually done after the lobby scene since it involved wetting the dress. I casually strolled down with my entourage in tow and took my shower robe off in the lounge before dancing to Rihanna's music. It took 3 people to get it done - one to film, one to provide the music, and one to take photos. I think it's my best video work to date. :)

Thanks to the EZY sisters (Eiling, Ziling, Yiling) I shall hereby dub this Umbrella feat. The EZY sisters (instead of Jay-Z, whom I would have serious reservations about having in the bathroom with me).

Got Rihanna Mania?

1. You go to your favorite convenience store to get some 500 ml 12% cheap imported beer and the cashier goes "Just two cans today instead of your usual three?"

2. The friendly local neighborhood 7-Eleven night shift greets you with a cheery "Hello Boss!" and warns you that the leftmost chiller is out of action so your favorite beer is warm.

3. The clerks at 7-Eleven actually starts asking "Eh, tiap tiap hari minum, okay kah boss?" (You drink every night, you handling it okay?)

-_-!!!

The Lord hath spoken! Coca Restaurant emailed me the list of winners from the Coca GONG XI Giveaway. There are three (3) winners and each of you gets a voucher worth RM 150 to dine at Coca Restaurant in 1 Utama or Subang Parade. The voucher is a steamboat set meal for two so bring your dining companion along!

The winners are:

1. angiep
2. Lionel
3. Cheryl

from the comments in the original post. Please don't kill me, I wasn't the one who chose the winners. For the record, I did ask Coca why none of the permalinks (Zoe, Simon, itechblog, Ginny) won. My actual reply was:

OMG! I thought the ones with permalinks have priority? The ones who posted a link back?

It turns out that the permalinks DO have priority. They get weighted more heavily than normal comments but Coca Restaurant is using random.org to be fair. Thus, out of the 54 comments, the permalinks are all ranked in the Top 10, but unfortunately, due to some catastrophic cosmic bad luck, none made it into the Top 3.

I will email all the 3 winners in a bit - please tell me if you're not in Klang Valley so I can ask for permission to pass the vouchers to the permalinks (or the next in the list).

Otherwise, for the lucky three winners, here's what you do:

1. Collect your vouchers from Coca Restaurant, 1 Utama from Friday (6th February 2009) onwards.
2. Just state your name (nick) and sixthseal.com to get the vouchers.
3. You need to collect it from Coca Restaurant within 2 weeks.
4. The vouchers are valid till 31st March 2009.
5. Make reservations with the Coca staff before you go.

Congratulations! :)

Ipoh is well known for their puzzlingly named caffeine export - Ipoh White Coffee. It's not white, but it certainly is coffee. It has also spawned franchises of Ipoh White Coffee outlets at the speed rabbits breed but the original birthplace of Adam is none other than Nam Heong in Ipoh. It's like the Bethlehem of Ipoh White Coffee, except I went with three queens instead of three kings.



You have to queue beside tables for an absurd amount of time before seats are available. I'm sure this problem is compounded by the fact that it's CNY and everyone from Ipoh was back for the holidays. I bumped into Jen there. Nam Heong is also famous for their dim sum which was probably why it was so packed.



We ordered Ipoh White Coffee (someone ordered the unorthodox herbal tea though). I forbid the EZY sisters from saying who drank what under the threat of cruel and unusual punishment. ;) I'm sure someone would tell anyway, Ziling and Yiling has threatened me as much. :p



Yong Tau Fu is also a great dish there - the fish is fresh and good. I think it cost somewhere around RM 13 for the bowl though, not cheap for Ipoh standards, but it was good.



This is Ipoh style char kueh tiaw, pretty good. I like the taste.



It would be akin to heresy if we didn't at least order a dim sum dish in Nam Heong so we went for the egg tarts. We had a quarter each since we were very full from all the eating that we did.



Wanted: Alibi for the morning of 28th January from 9 AM to 10:30 AM certifying I was in Ipoh consuming genuine Ipoh White Coffee from the original birthplace of said beverage.



Thanks for the hospitality! More food posts coming up soon! :)

Ipoh is a small town (but one with city status) about 2 hours away from KL. I drove down to spend CNY with the Lim sisters - Eiling, Ziling and Yiling. Ipoh is surrounded by limestone hills and the "hard" water is said to contribute to the famed Ipoh leng luis. It's commonly said that Ipoh is a leng lui (beautiful girl) manufacturing factory so I think I made the right decision to spend CNY there instead of back home. ;)



I was made to feel very welcome in Ipoh, thanks to the entire Lim clan.



I ate a lot of food - this here is the famed Ipoh roasted duck. Besides eating...



...much of the time was spent in...er, diversifying my portfolio to include liquidity based assets.



We also hit a couple of houses, do the CNY visiting thing.



I also consumed quite a bit of ethanol-based drinks considering its CNY and all. No, don't ask, think about how many people have asked me already before you do that. ;)



It has gone Pharaoh-nuff! Get it? Egyptian pharaoh with Ziling, my camwhoring buddy. =D



It was quite fun actually, visiting the Lim sister's relatives and friends. I even met a couple of people who reads my blog. Greetings!



We had planned to spend a night there but ended up spending three days and two nights in Ipoh. There are just too many photos to post up so the next post would be about places and food in Ipoh.



Thanks to the EZY sisters for having me in Ipoh! =D

Happy CNY everyone!



P/S - Did you know that Ipoh is also famous for their leng zai? ;)

I've been reading this book courtesy of Karen from work and it's been helping me to uncomplicated my life. It's Blink by Malcolm Galdwell and I highly recommend it if you haven't read it already. It explores the first impressions we get when we sense something is "off" and I wish I had read it earlier and saved myself the trouble of going about it the traditional way.

Friend a.k.a. fiend: I have sliced you and found you wanting. Hypocrite. Backstabber. I think I'm much better than you coz at least I don't talk shit behind your back.

Ex-girlfriend: I don't think patching up is the solution coz the problem lies with me, not you. There is no saving the relationship, coz the greatest of the Four Horseman is the root of our problem. I'm sorry.

Taking advice from a book might not be the best decisions out there, and I'm sure many people (including my fiend) would have a lot to say about that but yeah, see if I care. You're full of shit, and people smart enough to see that can slice you and see right through you.

Regular non-emo sixthseal.com programming will resume after I eat dinner. ;)

Nicholas had a CNY open house yesterday and we were treated to a sumptuous spread cooked by his dad. There were a lot of bloggers and Nuffies in attendance. I don't really know my way to his house so I tailgated Chris. Chris is the best ever, not only did he haul me back home last year, he stopped after the toll when he realized (and I realized) I didn't have a Touch'N Go card (thanks to the car wash dudes) so I swerved into the cash lane.



This is Nicholas. Thanks for having us over!



His mom was also very hospitable, making sure all of us was well fed and all that. I love this thing - it's like having a bowl of chendol in a single bite. The jelly has a gula melaka base and the santan and squiggly green pieces in chendol on top so it's like a scoop of the stuff in one bite! Nifty!



Okay, I'm going to get a haircut now before I start work tomorrow. I know I've been slacking on the Ipoh updates - I shall write as soon as I get my haircut. Priorities, ya know. My hair is a mess right now and I need to get there before it closes.



Happy CNY* everyone!

*CNY lasts for 15 days, unlike Christmas with only 12. =D

This speed writing post has been brought to you by sixthseal.com

Time spent: 3 minutes including photos.