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The end of one year, the beginning of another for Huygens Asia

Elvinna and Robyn have just submitted their resignation letters and left Huygens Asia today to pursue their careers elsewhere. I've been close to the two and while it's sad to see them go, I wish them all the best in their next job. Keep in touch! Much love, it's been a privilege to work with you guys. :)

Posted in Huygens Asia by Huai Bin at 02:09 PM Permalink | Comments (16)

Shag cigarettes review

Shag cigarettes is a specialty, limited distribution cigarette brand based in the EU. It is not currently available outside of the UK, Spain (Ibiza), Gibraltar, and South Ireland. The major distribution channels for Shag cigarettes is the UK and I happened to stumble upon the Shag cigarette website [shagcigarettes.com] one day and loved the advertisement campaign, so I got Jasmine to get a carton for me before she came back.

I received the Shag cigarettes yesterday and was mildly surprised that it made it through customs, since it does not have the requisite watermark indicating local or duty free cigarettes. I was also more than mildly surprised that the package was not...intercepted, shall we say; by some postal worker for their personal use since cigarettes is a valuable commodity. ;)

Here's a look at the back of the pack of Shag cigarettes. The color scheme of Shag cigarettes is black and there's also a warning label on the back of the cigarette which is about the same size as the one in front. The whole Shag cigarette pack looks sleek and they do get attention when you put it in your front pocket, as I've noticed.

There is a sign in the middle of the back of the box that has the Shag logo and their official website. This is a very niche tobacco product, and I was pleased that Jasmine managed to get a hold of these and send me a Shag, as it were, as I've been interested in collecting these hard-to-get cigarettes.

The top of the box is adorned by a UK Duty Paid stamp and lettering that says "Made in the EU under the authority of Shag Tobacco Company Ltd.".

The side of the flip-top box has a sign indicating that Shag Cigarettes are "For Adult Use Only", which I found to be funny.

It's nowhere near as funny as the huge "Smoking seriously harms you and the others around you" warning label on the front though. Seriously? Well, no shit, Sherlock. ;)

The bottom side of the pack lists the active contents of Shag cigarettes as having 8 mg tar, 0.6 mg nicotine and 9 mg carbon dioxide. That's a very low figure for a full flavored cigarette compared to Malaysian standards which is 20 mg tar and 1.5 mg nicotine, more than double the amount of these cigarettes.

The other side of the pack is lettered with "These cigarettes have been manufactured from the finest quality tobaccos to give a rich, smooth and satisfying taste".

Opening up the pack, I found the usual foil that has the familiar "Pull" sign on it.

However, I was surprised to find some sort of script on the inside of the flip top box.

The text says "These cigarettes should reach you in perfect condition. If you have any problem with this product please visit our website at; www.shagcigarettes.com". Interesting indeed...

Shag cigarettes have the "Shag" logo printed on them. I have smoked these cigarettes yesterday and today and found them to be comparable to Mild Seven Lights. It's admittedly weak; this is not the "first cigarette of the day" type of cigarette. It's not strong enough for that. It's good for a fun smoke and the novelty value though. :)

However, I can appreciate the marketing efforts of Shag Tobacco Company Ltd in target marketing this brand of cigarettes towards a certain niche market that's willing to spend for novelty value.

Care for a Shag, anyone? ;)

Posted in Ethanol and tobacco by Huai Bin at 09:52 AM Permalink | Comments (26)

What's all this then?

I just received a package from Jasmine. Guess what's in it?

A telephone?

Nope. One carton of Shag cigarettes (in singles due to packaging difficulties), only available from the EU. Full review tomorrow! :)

Thanks, Jasmine [blogspot.com]!

Posted in by Huai Bin at 05:21 PM Permalink | Comments (12)

Business card for free lunch

I went for some Kenny's muffins just now and saw this sign. I dropped my card in. Let's see if it gets me lunch. ;)

Posted in by Huai Bin at 03:04 PM Permalink | Comments (9)

Sarawak Club business lunch

Sarawak Club is one of those exclusive "members only" pretentious clubs for the people who can afford the expensive membership fees. It's been around since the Brooke era (circa 1876) and only members can invite guests to go into the club.

The place still has its Christmas decorations up...and there's the lounge where non-members are supposed wait to be invited in by a Sarawak Club member.

Hornbill Restaurant is the place that we went for the business lunch just now.

The restaurant is decorated in typical Chinese restaurant settings, with a little opulence thrown in. The restaurant only had two other tables besides us - a Caucasian couple and a group of three Tai-Tai's, you know, typical club member types. ;)

It seems so prim and proper, right down to the "Sarawak Club" wrapped chopsticks and all the linen and everything that one is afraid to sneeze for fear of being impolite.

The food we had probably cost a lot but we didn't pay for it - it was a treat from another company. There was seafood soup, wonderful herbed sweet and sour prawns, this amazing concoction of fresh, cold tofu sliced like bread and topped with a sweet sauce and diced century eggs under a bed of lettuce, beef slices with vegetables, loads of steamed fish and dessert.

Why are the photos taken by my digicam? Why aren't there more photos?

Coz it seems that taking photos during a serious business lunch is grossly inappropriate. Heck, I had to tuck in my shirt before I went in due to the strict dress policy. Pfftttt...

Posted in by Huai Bin at 04:00 PM Permalink | Comments (30)

Dunhill 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Pack

Dunhill is producing elegantly designed limited edition packs for its 40th anniversary. The interesting twist about this is that it retails for 50 cents less than the usual price. The limited edition "40 Years of Dunhill" packs goes for a special price for RM 6.00 instead of the usual RM 6.50.

These limited run packs to commemorate Dunhill's 40th year of production in Malaysia features a well-designed and stylish pack, a nice aesthetic change from the usual bland Dunhill packs. There is the familiar Dunhill crest spanning part of the front of the pack...

...continuing through the side...

...and ending at the back of the Dunhill 40th anniversary back. It's very artistically done.

The back of the pack is also different from the usual Dunhill packs.

There is a script in the bottom left corner that inscribes the 40th anniversary of Dunhill text and the accompanying signature.

The same "40 Years of Dunhill" celebratory message is also imprinted on the top...

...and the bottom of the pack.

I proceeded to take off the wrap (the flip-top box also has a 40 Years of Dunhill text) and was surprised to find...

...this beautiful foil which features and intricate design with the red and golf motif! I started to pull at the "foil"...

...which disappointingly reveals that it's a card insert.

The front of the card details this limited edition run as a "only while stocks lasts" item to commemorate 40 years of causing cancer and heart disease to Malaysians. ;)

The back of the card states the same thing in three different languages, just to rub it in.

Unwrapping the normal foil reveals that the cigarettes are the same as the Dunhill ones, the changes are just aesthetic.

The cigarettes are no different from the usual ones but this 40th anniversary limited edition Dunhill packs is going to sell fast for one simple reason:

It's 50 cents cheaper to celebrate 40 years of causing cancer and coronary problems to Malaysians. It goes for RM 6.00 instead of RM 6.50. Grab it while stocks last!

Dunhill - 40 years of providing cancer. ;)

Posted in Ethanol and tobacco by Huai Bin at 06:35 PM Permalink | Comments (14)

The night before Christmas...

I was told about this event at Civic Center on Christmas Eve - I wasn't sure what it was (didn't ask) but I thought, wtf, two of my close friends from high school are going, and they will just be in Kuching until Sunday.

Little did I know the horrors that will await me there...it...pains me...to recollect the torture I was forced to endure...

I was so shaken by the nature of this event, this Church Christmas dinner that Diana had to fill my plate while I was still recovering from the terrifying choir-dressed-as-angels-complete-with-halo hymn assault. It was not what I expected...either I was already tripping, or this is a real Christian church organized dinner. I had a dreadful feeling it was the latter.

My suspicions were confirmed when the pastor asked the congregation to rise for a prayer. "I trust no alcohol is going to be served with dinner?", I whispered to Diana. Rhetorical question. "Sorry", she said, flashing a smile. Ting Chuan quipped, "I would have faked a stomachache and stayed at home if I knew it was going to be like this" from my other side. Amen, brother! ;)

The dishes kept coming out amidst choir refrains, a rendition of the birth of the greatest politician the world has ever seen in more than two millennia, and sermons. And lots of prayer sessions, naturally.

I had to seek refuge from all this, so me and Loon went out to talk about stuff. I got to know him several years ago and haven't seen him since. I nearly couldn't recognize him coz he cropped his long hair short. I found out that during that time period, it turns out that we now share the same interests. We found out that we have mutual contacts too, it's a wonder I didn't bump into him before since he also works in Kuching.

This is the chicken dish. I know, the tablecloth does not look very presentable at this point, but you should have seen it later during the night, when Ting Chuan spilled my drink across the table and overturned the chili saucer. Heh! That reminded me of the Winnie Ha jellyfish incident, OMG that was so funny. Still remember that, mate? Always cracks me up when I think about it. :)

My friends were kind enough to keep some food for me during the long sojourns to the toilets...

...and the last dish was served out.

...followed by a door gift. To be honest, it wasn't that bad, since our table is seated with mutual acquaintances of about the same age. It's great to meet up with everyone again. It's been at least a year since I last saw my friends.

This is Daphne and Loon. Daphne is Diana's sister, which is how I got to know her back in high school and Loon has been with Daphne for six (!) years.

L-R: Ting Chuan, Huai Bin (me), Diana
Now, this is the three of us - much love, yo. They probably know more about my *cough* indiscretions *cough* combined than any other people. I probably should get them killed lest they blackmail me. ;) Kidding...love you guys.

Ting Chuan is one of my best buddies...I've known him since primary school.
Diana is one of my ex gfs and probably my closest female friend. Thanks for all the concern and support about my dependency. That goes out to everyone out there!

Jesus, where is all this coming from? Could it be something I took? ;)

Posted in People by Huai Bin at 09:13 AM Permalink | Comments (15)

Babaganoush restaurant review

Babaganoush restaurant is a place that's famous for serving Peranakan food, although its name is derived from Baba Ganoush, a middle-eastern dish. It's eggplant puree, basically. I'm puzzled as to why this particular establishment chooses to call itself after a middle-eastern dish, but I decided not to lose any sleep about it and just get down to eating.

The interior of Babaganoush has a distinctive Baba and Nyonya (or Peranakan, if you will) motif to it with the traditional Malay-Chinese fusion of cultures...

There's a nice period cabinet made of wood...

...and the best thing about this place is the wash basin area, which is decorated to look like a wooden hut. Nice!

I ordered Baba Cincao Kalamansi (RM 2.00) for the drink. It's very unique, I haven't had a cincao (black jelly) drink served this way before. The drink has a tart and sour bite to it, which is surprisingly refreshing.

The appetizer we ordered is Chicken Hgoh Hiang (RM 4.50). It's described as "minced chicken with mushroom wrap in bean curd skin". We also detected prawns and hints of chestnut in this dish. I was told that it's not usually served so decoratively, it's speculated that the chef saw me taking photos, so the presentation was given a higher priority.

The main dish that I had is the recommended Oat Chicken (RM 5.50). The menu description says its "sliced chicken meat stir fried with curry leaves, chili and oats". It comes with rice.

I have to say that I was very impressed with this dish. The oats were very generous and it provided a sweet and coarse texture to the dish. The chili complimented everything well, lending a bite of spiciness to it. The baked oats smells delicious and this is one dish you don't want to miss. Highly recommended!

Babaganoush does not seem like a pure Peranakan food establishment, but they have unique fusion food on their menu. I would go for the Oat Chicken again, it's great!

Posted in Food reviews by Huai Bin at 01:13 PM Permalink | Comments (16)

Turkey, anyone? (or the great Christmas prank)

There's this thing about two of our office lines - one of them apparently belonged to a pharmacy before and the other one to a supermarket. Usually, we just tell them it's the wrong number and that is that.

Well, today one of them called to the line that used to belong to the supermarket. Penny answered it the first time and said they had the wrong number. It rang again two seconds later (the guy probably thought he misdialed) and I decided to pick it up.

Now, the thing is, I didn't know whether this was the previous guy who thought he had the supermarket or a caller to our company. It was 50/50 either way. But I thought, what the heck, we're in a holiday mood, let's have a bit of fun. ;)

I picked the phone up...and I said:

Me: Hello, (*beep*) Supermarket.
Caller: Hello. Is this the supermarket?
Me: Yes, it is. How can I be of service?

(My coworkers were all laughing in the front office)

Caller: I'm looking for a turkey, does your supermarket carry them.
Me: Yes, we carry 2 kg turkeys, all frozen.

(The laughter gets louder at this point, now this is just egging me on ;))

Caller: Hmm...2 kg is a little too small. Don't you have any larger ones? Like 5 kg turkeys?
Me: Unfortunately, we only have 2 kg frozen turkeys at this time...but we can order a 5 kg frozen turkey for you by 12 o clock.
Caller: That's a little late for a frozen turkey...
Me: Not to worry, we can thaw it out and have it ready by 12 o clock for you. Can you leave your name and number please?

(This is the coup de grace - everyone was laughing so hard and I'm barely able to suppress the laughter that's bursting out from me at this point)

Caller: My name is Mr. Mo. My number is xxxxxx.
Me: Thank you for shopping with us. We'll get your turkey ready by then Mr. Mo.

I quickly hanged up before I succumbed to all that pent up laughter...it was unbearable! :)

We need a 5 kg thawed turkey ready for Mr. Mo by 12 pm...except, he thought he ordered with the supermarket. Haha!

Mr. Mo! I'm sorry for the prank. I couldn't help it. It was just too funny. Hahaha!

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

Posted in by Huai Bin at 09:05 AM Permalink | Comments (16)

'Tis the season...

I just received a Christmas card from my girlfriend.

It's one of the ones that plays a tune when the circuit is completed, er...I mean, when the card is opened. It flashes and muzak starts playing. Thanks Louisa!

I also got a bundle from one of my coworkers. His girlfriend wrapped the intricate ribbon tied package.

It contains various sweets. Cheers Jordan!

I don't really celebrate Christmas (unless you count partying as celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, Son of Man, King of Jews, etc etc) though. I'm more looking forward to Chinese New Year, I just booked my tickets today, on a waiting list for the 6th of February.

Posted in by Huai Bin at 12:01 PM Permalink | Comments (12)

Husna Cafe review

Husna Cafe is a Malay food eatery located at Tabuan Laru. We went there for lunch. Half of my brain is not working today, so forgive the starkness and general lack of descriptive qualities of today's written word. :p

This is the interior.

There are different options for rice.

Here's the options for food.

Here's more options for food.

This is what I ate.

We also shared a bowl of clams.

Jesus Fucking Christ, this has got to be the worst post I've made in this blog. ;)

Posted in by Huai Bin at 01:03 PM Permalink | Comments (21)

Sony Ericsson K700i review - my new phone

I finally have a new cell phone after my old trusty; the Ericsson T-28s finally kicked the bucket and went to cell phone heaven. I've been waiting around for the right model to come out, going without mobile phone service (the horror!) for days, before my tardiness was rewarded. My girlfriend gave me a Sony Ericsson K700i as an early Christmas gift!

I've used this cell phone for about a week now, to familiarize myself with it for a review. The contents of the Sony Ericsson K700i box consists of the charger, the hands free cum FM radio ear buds and the mobile phone itself. There are also manuals, a CD and other miscellaneous stuff at the bottom.

The CD contains the PC Suite software (sync software) and several other software like an Image Editor, MMS Home Studio, Sound Editor, Mobile Networking Wizard (the K700i also functions as a modem) etc.

Here's a photo of the full contents of the Sony Ericsson K700i box.

This is what the cell phone looks like. There's a peel off scratch guard on the screen that shows several features of the phone - 65K TFT screen, VGA camera and video recorder, Bluetooth, 41 MB of inbuilt memory, 4x digital zoom etc. I love how the Quickshare text on the bottom of the phone changes the color hues as you turn it around.

The Sony Ericsson K700i is billed as a "dual front" phone - a marketing buzzword that essentially means one side looks like a digital camera and the other looks like a phone. This is the back of the cell phone, the one that looks like a digital camera.

Here's a close up of the digital camera bit. It's very nifty - there's the sleek lens module, a nice shiny mirror that's used for self-portraits, a bright LED light for night/dark conditions.

There's a quick start button on the left side of the cell phone to go to the digicam/video recorder feature. There's also up and down toggles for various functions, depending on the context. It's a zoom in/zoom out feature in the camera, a volume control while on calls, and an up/down button while text messaging (SMS).

The other side of the phone has an "Online" button which makes the phone go into connectivity mode. It has various modes of communication - GPRS, Bluetooth, IrDA, etc.

The top of the phone contains the IrDA (Infrared) port, which I use to sync with my notebook. It works with a Palm as well.

Here's the keypad of the K700i. It has nice, (relatively) large buttons so there are no problems with using the keypad. There is also a joystick which is not so easy to use...or maybe I'm just having trouble getting used to it.

The screen is a generous 176 x 220 pixel TFT display capable of 65K colors. I was surprised by the richness of the screen when I first used the cell phone. It has really rich and vibrant colors with a fast refresh rate.

The Sony Ericsson K700i boots up with the Sony Ericsson logo and the keypads also illuminates with a purple hue.

It boots into a setup wizard the first time it's on, which is easy to complete.

In no time at all, the cell phone is up and working. There are several build in themes to choose from, all animated! The animated display is very nifty...

I switched to a futuristic design as my personalized main screen. The light blocks flicks in a rhythmic manner and I'm keeping this one for the sheer Nifty Factor (TM).

The main menu shows all the applications that are on the Sony Ericsson K700i...there are several features on this phone - MMS, EMS, SMS (any S basically), MPEG-4 playback, MP3 playback, radio (FM), Java applications etc.

Heck, there's even a place to input business card details which I've successfully beamed (using IR) to my Palm, since supports various formats, including the Palm vCard specification.

The most nifty feature in the SE K700i is the light that comes on at the back of the camera. It's very bright and allows photo taking in dark conditions.

Here is a photo taken with the Sony Ericsson K700i:

It has been downsized from 640 x 480 to 400 x 300.
Click on the image for the original photo.

Download: Movie clip taken by K700i [sixthseal.com]

This is a short clip taken by the Sony Ericsson K700i. It's in .3gp format and can be viewed with Quicktime.

I love the Sony Ericsson K700i. It has the right balance between features and size. Thanks Louisa! :)

The only problem is that people complain that I'm shouting at them on the phone. I have to explain that my old cell phone has a really bad mike so I had to talk really loudly. I'm still getting used to the much more sensitive one on the SE K700i. I'm slowly learning not to "shout". ;)

Posted in by Huai Bin at 12:56 PM Permalink | Comments (134)

ABC Seafood @ Topspot Seafood, Kuching

ABC Seafood (also known as Ah Seng Seafood) is arguably the most popular seafood restaurant at Topspot Seafood, which is a whole level dedicated to produce from the sea, located at the top of a car park. ABC Seafood Restaurant is Stall #10, but you can't miss it - it's the biggest stall in the place with garish neon lights that makes sure you can't miss it. ;)

There are a lot of choices to make the "main dish", which would be pickings from this large display of items. I usually head here first.

It has a large fish display, which we choose a fillet from. ABC Seafood is popular due to their fresh seafood. There's a large range of fish on display, from small to big, whole to filleted.

There is also a wide range of large lobsters and prawns to choose from...

Of course, bamboo clams are aplenty over here. You can't miss out on this if you're visiting Kuching - it's only available fresh from the mudflats of Kuching.

The best thing I like about eating here is the memorable ritual of choosing what you want for the obligatory "vegetable" dish. There are crab sticks, various fishballs, quail eggs (my favorite!), baby corn to "sweeten up" the dish, peas in a pod, carrots and non-magical mushrooms.

This is the dish that we had. You basically grab whatever you want to eat and everyone does the same and piles it into the same dish. It gets cooked by the cook and is the first one to be served. I remember doing this even when I was little, while visiting Kuching. Nostalgic.

Here is what the mixed dish looks like after it's cooked. There's quail eggs (of course), crab balls, crab sticks, sea cucumber, prawns, pod peas, broccoli, baby corn etc. The restaurant always sprinkles cashew nuts on top of the dish before it's served. This imparts a nice crunchy texture to the dish and a sweet aftertaste.

The second dish to be served is the acclaimed bamboo clam. Bamboo clams tastes like mussels, and it's usually cooked in curry powder. This stuff is great, I tell you...

Next up, came the fish. We chose to have the fillet deep fried and cooked in sweet and sour sauce.

The butter prawns came next and I just love this stuff. ABC Seafood's butter prawns come with chilies, which adds a nice spicy-sweet aftertaste. I must shake the hand of the person who thought of deep frying prawns with butter. There's this sweetness to the "butter scrapings" that is just so memorable that I salivate just thinking about dinner last night...

Of course, no seafood dinner is complete without "O-Chien" or oyster pancake.

It's a great meal, but I wish we had enough room for that gigantic fish head. It looks radioactive blue and I bet it would be good in a radioactive curry fish head dish...

Posted in Food reviews by Huai Bin at 02:51 PM Permalink | Comments (23)

I read...

Staring intently into the pages of the book; reading with great intensity
Thirsty quest for knowledge; needing to know the meaning of life

...and everywhere I look - blank pages; with nary a single word to be found.
Not even a Page 42.

Posted in by Huai Bin at 01:26 PM Permalink | Comments (21)

Sri Aman trip report

I went to Sri Aman and back with one of my company directors and a liaison for work related stuff yesterday. Sri Aman is one of the districts in Sarawak, and is located about halfway between Kuching and Sibu. It takes 6 hours for a return trip, maybe 7 if you stop for buying durians. ;)

Sri Aman is basically famous for three things - Fort Alice, Benak and the Mount Hosanna Chapel. The photo above depicts Fort Alice, which was built in 1864 as a defensive structure back in the Brooke era. Sri Aman used to be known as Simanggang and was the place where the Dayak warrior Rentap attacked Fort Alice during the headhunting heydays of Borneo.

Fort Alice is made of hardwood and all of the structure you see today is as it was in the old days. I was puzzled as to why a "fort" would be made of wood, until I was told that it was not a fort meant to withstand ground attacks (although it can do that just fine, wood nevertheless, since it's on high ground, giving it a distinct advantage against attackers), but attacks from the river.

The Fort Alice of today is rather dilapidated and generally run down. There has been no restoration work done on it and it is used by the locals as a hang out area, reputedly as a solvent (inhalant) use haven. I was led by a couple of kids inside the structure and found the way to the second floor of the place with their guidance.

The upper tier of Fort Alice is even more derelict that the outside. There are missing floorboards and the kids warned me that some of the places are rotten and would break if I crossed the points. I managed to make my way to one of the outposts - the main one overlooking the river.

This is where Fort Alice gets its fearsome reputation from. This outpost used to be mounted with cannons aimed at the river (which was the main mode of transport at that time). The British had colonized (read: occupied) Simanggang and set up a fort to shoot down the local headhunters. Simanggang (now Sri Aman) was a vital area as it was the point where the headhunters had to pass through to get from the inner areas to Kuching.

Fort Alice was built to counter this threat. There is a bottleneck at Batang Lupar (the name of the river) and one of the outposts is located directly above that river bottleneck. The headhunters who traveled down with their longboats, were easy pickings for the British cannons, who managed to shoot most of them down from the Fort Alice vantage point.

Anyway, enough of history lessons. ;) We ate at the open air market at this stall which mysteriously serves up the same dishes to everyone. You just say you want rice and the stall will cook up the "meal of the day", as it were, and serve it according to how many people your party amounted to. There was a soup dish with meat and vegetables, a dish with mixed char siew and steamed chicken, and a mixed vegetable dish with seafood. Like I said, the unusual thing was, everyone got the same thing, you didn't get to order. Interesting...

Well, the second thing that Sri Aman is famous for is Benak. It's the local word for tidal bore. Apparently, there are only a few places in the world where this phenomenon happens. The benak, or tidal bore, comes in from the river mouth and roils and churns and fills up the river very rapidly in the course of about 10 minutes.

There is a picture of a picture of the famous benak that took place in 1992. It was one of the biggest one, I heard.

There is a timetable at the river which has the time and dates for when benak or the tidal bore would occur. It only happens for a couple of days a year, the really big ones. It has something to do with the moon's gravity pull at this area, which makes the tidal bore occur.

This is the inlet at the river where the benak will come roiling in at 7:10 pm that day. However, since this trip is work related, and we had to get back at a reasonable time, we did not stay to watch it.

Mount Hosanna Chapel is the third thing Sri Aman is famous for. It's located 33 km away from the main Sri Aman town. The interesting bit about it (besides the unique architecture) is the lore that it was a place where God spoke to the philanthropist who funded the church construction and healed her. Or something like that.

Mount Hosanna Jesus Prayer Chapel is a small chapel that's on top of a hill. There's a long staircase going up the hill to the chapel, which I imagine is a rite of passage of some sort. There are really a lot of steps to get up to the Mount Hosanna Chapel.

This is Mount Hosanna Chapel. There is mass every Sunday at 11 am. I love the fresh design - it appears to have three conical shapes with the middle one towering over the others. Its novel...I've never seen a church designed like this before.

Posted in Travel by Huai Bin at 10:50 AM Permalink | Comments (28)

My very own Kimberly-Clark dispenser

My coworkers passed me a plastic bag of stuff which looks like tissues and told me that someone was looking for me at the SARBEX exhibition last night and wanted to give me this.

It turns out that it's a pack of Scott tissues and a Kimberly-Clark dispenser. It came from James Wong, who happened to read my blog regarding an entry about this item. He's a representative of Kimberly-Clark Trading, which has brands like Kleenex, Scott, Huggies and Kotex amongst its umbrella.

I called him to thank him for the gift, it ranks as one of the most unusual ones a reader has given to me. ;) It's great though, it has 12 packs of Scott Pop-Up tissues with each one containing 140 sheets.

It also has a Kimberly-Clark dispenser attached. I learnt from James that Kimberly-Clark does not only make dispensers for WCs, but also for the food industry, and this is one made for the latter.

Now, this Kimberly-Clark dispenser is very nifty...it opens up to reveal a space which you can fit a pack of Scott Pop-Up Tissues.

It's meant for this variety of tissue, the pop-up tissues fits in just nicely. Of course, you can't use it without unwrapping it first...

[Update: I just received a call from James, who told me that there's a perforation on top of each Scott Pop-Up Tissue, so I didn't have to open up the whole thing, just open the top bit and it'll work. That's for sanitary reasons. Jesus, was he fast... ;)]

...so this is what it looks like after I put one pack of the tissues inside.

Now I have my very own Kimberly-Clark dispenser. Never shall I run out of tissues again! ;)

Thanks, James!

Posted in by Huai Bin at 02:15 PM Permalink | Comments (17)

SARBEX 2004: Property

SARBEX 2004 is going into its last day today, so I reckon I should focus on what SARBEX is all about - property. SARBEX is basically a property fair. The vast majority of the booths are taken up by housing developers showing a variety of apartments, gated communities and so forth.

There are premium condos and exclusive retreats like Santubong Suites, which bills itself as "an exclusive condominium precinct for those who appreciates the finer aspects of life".

How would you like to live here?

The above shows a model detached house with it's model roof taken off so you can see what's inside. There are a lot of to-scale models being displayed - you know, the kind that's just begging you to touch it. Naturally, the exhibitors recognize this as a threat and most of them are kept under glass. ;)

There are some large commercial developers here too...like this Bandar Baru Semariang booth, which encompasses several normal sized booths and is re-decorated nicely to give it an elegant look.

Bandar Baru Semariang is a commercial cum housing development. There are shop lots and residential settings on offer here.

This is one of the semi-detached houses in Bandar Baru Semariang. It's starting from RM 299,888. That's a 99 year lease though. I love the attention to details in the models - look at the cars, the road, the porch, the garden, the pillars supporting the structure...it's great!

You know what I'll really like though? An office...with lots of people working in it.

There'll be a conference room, where we can have inane discussions to while away the time...

...and when I'm not in meetings, I'll be sitting here in my cushy office, surfing the net, updating the blog, watching movies/TV series/DVDs...

Now, that's the life!

Posted in Huygens Asia by Huai Bin at 12:21 PM Permalink | Comments (7)

SARBEX 2004: NO BURN (Playing with fire)

NO-BURN is a product that's marketed as fire retardant paint. It looks out of place in an exhibition which focuses almost exclusively on property. However, it seems like a damn interesting booth and we Huygens Asia people went to check it out. :)

The thing that catches your attention from this booth is the stack of wooden structures being displayed that looks like it has been burned. The charred boxes, despite the superficial aesthetic damage, still retain its structural integrity. The world is now a safer place to live in, says the literature, with a picture flame under the world.

The attendant at the booth didn't mind us poking around, so we set about on doing our own experiments. The photo above shows the sample test products which has been coated with the No-Burn fire retardant chemical. There are pieces of plain paper with one half of it coated with the No-Burn chemical and the other half uncoated. There is also a stack of cardboard which has been partially dipped into the No-Burn fire retardant paint.

We started out with the pieces of paper first. I love this sample tests, one side is printed with an RM 100 bank note as seen above. There is a distinctive demarcation along the paper...notice that the treated part of the paper has a slight red tint. The untreated part of the test currency is white.

The flip side of this currency really cracked me up...it is a spoof of a US dollar card with NO-BURN in the middle and the phase "In No-Burn We Trust" on top instead of the usual "In God We Trust". Nice! It's also treated with the same fire retardant chemical, as can be seen from the discoloration.

We started on this test sample first. We got a lighter and Mancy tried to set fire to the part of the paper that's treated with No-Burn. It didn't catch fire. Then we tried to burn it even more. It still didn't alight, but it did scorch the paper a little. But it didn't burn the paper. Damn...

Here's what it looks like after our repeated attempts to make it burn. The paper didn't burn away, it just scorched. The interesting thing was, the No-Burn chemical treated paper gave off little smoke, but a strong chemical smell when it was burned. I wonder what it's made of...

Anyway, we then started on the untreated part of the same piece of paper. Oh, that burned all right...it burned very fine indeed. ;)

Thus, we burned it a little more. It's paper, so it burned very well, we had to put it out by blowing on it.

The next experiment was made with the No-Burn paint coated cardboard.

The results were pretty much the same...the No-Burn paint scorched, but didn't burn, and the untreated cardboard burned...

We spotted a piece of clothing that has been treated by No-Burn on one side. It's supposed to be a curtain and is there for demo purposes, so test it we did...

Unfortunately, the No-Burn treatment didn't allow any kind of ignition to occur. Your silent fireman indeed...next time I'll bring an oxy torch.

It was fun though, probably the most interesting booth in the SARBEX expo. Thanks to Kenny, Mancy, Robyn and everyone who helped out with the experiment. :)

Ignition, they call it an obsession,
But I think it's kinda bitchin'
I think it's kinda neat!

Posted in Huygens Asia by Huai Bin at 12:48 PM Permalink | Comments (11)

SARBEX 2004: Opening Ceremony / Free Food

SARBEX 2004 was officiated by the Minister of Housing, YB Dato Sri Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari Bin Tun Abang Haji Openg. No shit, that's his full name. I'm thinking I should get a longer name myself, so that people won't be able to say it without having to pause for a breath of air midway. ;)

There was much fanfare...okay, the usual ribbon cutting and tour, that's all. Let's move on.

Complimentary food was provided by a catering service, one of whom had the misfortune of meeting a concrete support pillar, but we already talked about that yesterday. Just watch out for lorries. ;)

The food is typical expo fare...the cups and saucers, ready to be filled with coffee or tea, sandwiches and plates lined with disposable serviettes.

There's fried beehoon (rice vermicelli) and a very strange mixture of vegetables (top).

Chicken wings are also available, as well as curry puffs (top) and beef slices in a bun (far right).

The bastard son of the salmon-egg sandwich also makes an appearance, with its unorthodox green (pandan bread), spotted white (raisin bread) and brown (chocolate bread) layers. It's also available in ye ol' pure white variety, for the ones who prefer to stick to tradition.

The tastiest offering in the free brunch is located under a big wooden cock, which is guarding over the food. Or maybe it was a hornbill, I can't tell the difference.

It's that plate with the triple dessert arrangements. The outer ring is made of a white, chewy kueh wrapped in pandan leaves, and the middle has half of some kind of pinkish kueh which is soft and dusted with coconut and the other containing tapioca mixed with some kind of sweet milky thing. It's great!

This is the plate I had. I went back for second helpings...

Posted in Huygens Asia by Huai Bin at 03:35 PM Permalink | Comments (19)

The accident at Permata Carpark and Jaws of Life in action

There was an elderly man who ran into one of the supporting pillars on Level 5 in Permata Carpark, not 10 meters from where our booth was. It was one of the people from the catering service and apparently, he had a bit of an argument with his coworkers, drove off in a huff, and crashed into the pillar while navigating a turn.

Bomba (Fire Department) had to be called to extract the man coz he couldn't move from his seat after he crashed. One of the fireman went into the cabin to support the structure, while the others used the Jaws of Life to get the injured man out.

The contraption, if you're not familiar with it, is a hydraulic device that's used to pry through tough steel (like in automobiles) to free the trapped people in the car.

The man was finally freed after 15 minutes of prying through the steel of the vehicle. It's surprisingly able, that contraption, bending and cutting through steel. He was bleeding from injuries when he was freed though. I took heaps of photos and also shot a video and I called Borneo Post after that to sell the photos. Well, one of the reporters rushed here to meet me and he said he was impressed with the photos.

Civil Defense personnel were also there and helped move the man to a waiting ambulance when he was finally freed. Back to the reporter, he came to meet me at the booth and he was interested in purchasing the photos. However, I had expected a minimum of RM 200 to part with the copyrights. Unfortunately, he told me that Borneo Post only pays RM 20 - 30 to photos submitted by people who are not affiliated with the paper, so I said I'm sorry to have wasted his time coz I wanted to keep the copyrights unless the amount could convince me to relinquish it. ;)

It's all good though, he says he understands and shook hands with me and asked me more details about the accident. It was only after he left that I remembered something I should have asked him...I would have given him the photos for free if he would credit me i.e. put my name and URL in the papers. It didn't occur to me then. Oh well. :)

Posted in Interesting by Huai Bin at 04:15 PM Permalink | Comments (12)

SARBEX 2004: The day before the big day...

SARBEX 2004 is going to start opening its doors to the public tomorrow. This event is located at the Permata Carpark Building on Level 5 and is organized by IDA, the very same people who brought us BTS 2004 and ICT 2004. SARBEX is The Sarawak Builder's Expo property roadshow and we are going to have a presence there. This will have been the third expo I've gone to under the banner of Huygens Asia and organized by IDA.

The event is not as large scale as previous ones, due to the relatively niche market it represents. The roadshow only occupies the inside of the modified carpark, instead of extending into the outer areas, like in previous events.

Huygens Asia is located in Booth #5, which is the side booth near the stage. We were allocated a 2 x 4 meter space, but was later upgraded to a 2 x 8 meter floor space. We're not done setting up yet, as you can see from the photo.

The stage is just to the side of our booth...this is usually a Good Thing (TM).

I went there to see the progress of the exhibitors and noticed that there were only two other exhibitors setting up besides us.

It's all partially set up, tomorrow is the day when the roadshow opens to the public, and the day before is usually earmarked for exhibitors to get their booths ready.

I went inside the administration office, and found, not to my surprise, the same good people in IDA who managed the previous two expos I've attended. Well, SARBEX 2004 is going to open tomorrow, so expect daily from-the-expo-floor reports. :)

Posted in Huygens Asia by Huai Bin at 03:28 PM Permalink | Comments (4)

Photo of me for the company website

This is the photo that's going into the newly revamped Huygens Asia website. It just went live about 5 minutes ago. Happy, shiny people, eh? ;) We have five individual photos going into the management team page. The one above is mine.

Anyway, we have an exhibition going on for the next four days. SARBEX 2004 @ Permata Carpark Kuching. We're at Booth #5. I'll be heading over to see the preparations soon.

Posted in Huygens Asia by Huai Bin at 10:45 AM Permalink | Comments (15)

Sugarbun Kano Meal and the new Premium 3 Layer Tea

Sugarbun has been offering the Kano Meal for a while, as part of their constantly expanding list of menu items. It consists of two options - Kano Chicken with Savory Rice or Mashed Potatoes. There are also sub-options of one or two pieces of chicken. Kano Chicken is Sugarbun's chicken with a choice of three specialty sauces - Pedas Sauce, BBQ Sauce and Satay Sauce.

I also noticed that Sugarbun has a new drink out - Premium 3 Layer Tea. The promo looks like the "new" drink is...well, heavily inspired, shall we say, by the famous 7th mile teh c peng in Kuching. It retails for RM 1.90 and the promo shows the distinctive demarcation of tea, ideal milk, and specialty syrup (read: gula melaka) that is the signature of the 7th mile teh c peng that's been around for...pretty much forever.

This is what the new Premium 3 Layer Tea looks like. It looks very much like a commercialized version of the said 7th mile teh c peng. The "specialty syrup" is a thicker version of the standard gula melaka though. It's hard for it to dissolve into the whole concoction, even with vigorous stirring.

The finished drink tastes exactly like the teh c peng you can get if you're willing to drive 7 miles away from Kuching. However, I noticed that the gula melaka is not just pure gula melaka. They did have merit to call it "specialty syrup" coz it has a nice overtone of mint. I guess that's where the additional 50 cent surcharge comes from, but then again, you have to pay for gas to drive to 7th mile. ;)

This is the Sugarbun Kano Meal. I chose the Pedas Sauce with two pieces of chicken and savory rice. The sauce tastes great, it's not very hot by my standards, but it's hot enough to please me. They slather the stuff over the chicken very generously too, so that's another plus point. It's good.

Here's a macro shot of the Kano chicken. I opted for a drumstick and a piece of thigh. This is the good part of the thigh, where the meat is juicy and tender. Mmm...chicken...

This is the one thing I always drink at Sugarbun - their Ice Kacang. It's absolutely fabulous, much better than other implementations I've ever had, any where. It costs RM 3.50, which is much higher than hawker stalls and their ilk would charge, but it's worth every cent. Damn good stuff, I tell you...

Posted in Fast Food Inc. by Huai Bin at 09:59 AM Permalink | Comments (15)

Passionate Mermaid causes Earthquake

I went out with my old buddies during the weekend. William, whom I got to know during my days in New Zealand, was back for the holidays and we decided to open a bottle of Chivas (I wanted Hennessy Pure White, but they didn't carry it, so we settled for good ol Chivas) at Earthquake.

Earthquake already had the pre-Christmas decorations up and like most Saturday nights, it was packed. Here's a video clip of Earthquake on Saturday night:

Download: Earthquake, Pre Xmas [sixthseal.com]

I was already on 14 mg of clonazepam and 300 mg of dihydrocodeine so I was a little not-quite-there by the time we hit our first destination. Nevertheless, I had the lion's share of the Chivas which made me rather un-sober. I also discovered that mixing Chivas with Yeo's Jasmine Green Tea tastes wonderful.

Well, needless to say, I was pretty much gone under that three sedative combo when we adjourned to Mermaid. I only remember having a couple of beers before some police came in, so we moved again to Passion.

Passion was empty since a sapu operation has already hit it earlier during the night (or morning, rather). It was pretty much empty when we reached there at 3 am. Here's a video clip of Passion, one of the two big feng tau places in Kuching:

Download: Passion, Post Sapu [sixthseal.com]

Passion's DJ still had the bass going strong and some of our group (which grew larger as we met more people in Mermaid) decided to take *cough*. The rationale goes like this: "Lightning never strikes twice at the same place" so since Passion has already been raided, it was safe by default. It was nearly 5 am when I got home. It's been a while since I've gone for a big night out. It's good. :)

Posted in by Huai Bin at 07:48 AM Permalink | Comments (11)

Li Garden Chinese Restaurant

Li Garden Chinese Restaurant is located in Hock Lee Center. It's one of the premier Chinese restaurants in Kuching. I have also been to the recently renovated Tsui Hua Lau restaurant, but unfortunately, I didn't bring my digicam coz I thought it was just going to be our weekly meeting. A slightly similar, but different, fate befell me yesterday at Li Garden Chinese restaurant. I didn't take as many photos as I wanted to, coz it was a company dinner to accommodate a guest from Taiwan. I didn't think it would be polite. ;) Hello JP!

Li Garden Chinese restaurant was pretty full when we got there last night. It's a nice place, with sealed off rooms for banquets. The decor is not as extravagant as the newly redecorated Tsui Hua Lau though, I didn't see sharks swimming in large tanks. Heh!

The course started with soup double boiled in a classic soup holder. It's made with thinly chicken stomach (gizzard), a yellow date-type thing and pepper. The double boiling method makes the soup very rich and invigorating. The heavy pepper flavored soup is hearty and the meat is nicely tender and chewy.

Li Garden Chinese Restaurant is famous for it's Peking Duck. It's the only establishment in Kuching where they actually bring out the whole duck on a cart and the chef expertly slices off the skin of the Peking Duck in front of you.

I was surprised at the skilled manipulation of the chef, that harvested all the Peking Duck skin (the part which you eat), leaving only a juicy naked duck, white and steaming hot, on the platter, which is then wheeled away. You don't eat the meat of this dish, just the skin.

Here's what Li Garden's Peking Duck looks like. The large platter is served with the skin of Peking Duck, freshly sliced off the duck. It's served with folded round pastry, spring onions and cucumbers, and the Peking Duck sauce.

Basically, you take one of the folded pieces of pastry, unfold it to reveal a round, flour dusted pastry and put a piece of Peking Duck skin on it, with spring onions, cucumbers and sauce to taste. The pastry is then folded like a taco and you bite into it. I love the texture of Li Garden's Peking Duck. The flavors are complex and heavily infused into the crispy, yet surprisingly chewy, Peking duck skin. Divine!

Next up is a plate of very nicely done deep fried butter prawns. There's plenty of "butter shavings" (i.e. the fried butter batter) to complement the large prawns. The prawns are crispy and partly peeled, with just the right amount of crunchy shell for that extra Oomph.

There's also a green vegetable based dish cooked with three types of eggs - salted eggs, century eggs and normal eggs. The normal eggs are scattered into a nice mess and the salted eggs and century eggs are partly whole. I enjoyed this unique presentation to a simple vegetable dish.

The next course comes in two dishes - the main dish and a plate containing the cabbage wrap. The main dish is a meat based one with chai bo and it's meant to be heaped into the cups of cabbage wrap and eaten like that.

The final dish is a medallion of fish on top of rice vermicelli cooked with various savories. It's served on top of a large mussel shell. I also enjoyed this dish tremendously. The fish the good part that has the right mix of oil for a good mouth-feel and slippery and smooth fish. Nice!

Li Garden Chinese Restaurant is a great place for a Chinese style dinner. I'll love to go for the Peking Duck again, but I have an uncomfortable feeling that I won't be able to afford it. ;)

Posted in Food reviews by Huai Bin at 01:36 PM Permalink | Comments (20)

The Jalan Padungan resident madman

This is the Jalan Padungan resident crazy man (not a PC term), in a more subdued situation. I've been wondering where he gets his sleep, and my curiosity was finally satiated last night, when I saw him sleeping on the sidewalk far away from his usual haunt. He was in India Street when I caught him on my digicam.

He can be usually found wondering in an agitated manner in the morning along Jalan Padungan. Every single day, without fail. He's not prone to violent behavior, though I've heard him shouting and mumbling thoughts only coherant to himself while walking in his usual rapid pace. Gotta love his dreadlocks though. ;)

Hey, I could probably be him, stalking along Jalan Padungan some day. God knows I have enough psychological conditions to fill the alphabet soup. ;)

Posted in by Huai Bin at 03:46 PM Permalink | Comments (13)

Homey delicious opening day review

Homey delicious (with a fork and spoon forming the Y - initially thought it was an X) is a food establishment that just opened today, from the banner practically blaring out for all to see - 2nd December, 2004. It caught our attention and we decided to go here for lunch, it isn't everyday you pass by an opening place.

The interior of Homey delicious is typical of the cafes springing up in town nowadays. It's spacious enough to accommodate a small sized lunch crowd, with some seating arrangements in the shaded porch. The staff is all wearing Toga style uniforms.

The menu is done in a color scheme that is likely to send diabetics into instant insulin shock...

...and I ordered something called "Homey Burger". I was wondering if they meant homey as it "Yo, gimme the 411, homey" or as in "home made" i.e. home cooking.

This is Homey Burger when it came out of the kitchen. It instantly confirmed that they meant home style cooking. Sheesh, I could slap together a burger that's better than this, in half the time they took to bring it to our table. There is a beef patty, a slice of lettuce, a thinly disguised slice of cheddar cheese inside a stale tasting bun. It was disappointing.

The rice that Mancy ordered was sweet and sour chicken, but sweet and sour prawns came out. Robyn took it anyway, coz he likes prawns. It tasted alright, best dish during lunch.

Here's ginger chicken rice. It's not too bad, but the food turnover time is unacceptable. Granted, they did note that a 20 minute wait is expected, but still...for a working lunch crowd?

This is the real dish that Mancy ordered - sweet and sour chicken. It tasted okay, and it came with one of them rice worms and a single strand of hair. ;) 5 minutes later, another plate of sweet and sour chicken came out! Jesus Christ...

We promptly sent it back.

This is easily the best thing in Homey delicious - Homey Special, a concoction of fruits and jelly topped with shaved ice. It's great for a hot day and today is a bit of a scorcher.

Well, I can't say this review would be indicative of what the service would be like once they sort out their teething problems. Homey delicious might still have potential yet. The people there are polite and apologetic about the mistakes, so all is good. I will go again after a couple of months for another evaluation...

Posted in Food reviews by Huai Bin at 04:05 PM Permalink | Comments (10)

Ericsson T-28s is dead

My trusty Ericsson T-28s is dead! Long live Ericsson T-28s! It has served me well for over four years until it inexplicably died yesterday night.

Now I need to get a new cell phone, and fast. I'm looking for GPRS/EDGE, good integrated digicam, XHTML/HTML support and stuff like that. The one I'm eying is the Nokia 6630 though I must admit; brand loyalty makes me reluctant to choose a Nokia phone. I'll rather go Sony Ericsson.

Suggestions anyone?

Posted in by Huai Bin at 09:41 AM Permalink | Comments (26)