336. Early morning

We had to get to church this morning. We have to get there by 830am. Yawn! We reached church late. The service ended at 11ish. The group decided to meet up for Bah Kut Teh at SS2, it was really crowded, so we went to Kayu Nasi Kandar nearby.

The Church - DUMC; The Kayu Nasi Kandar

The girls want to go shopping after lunch at The Curve. Chuwy wanted to have Swensens before we leave and we still have to get back to Kit's place to pack our stuffs. Jo will be joining us on the trip back. So we'll have to pick her up on the way to the highway. We have to get all this done before 3pm bacause Chuwy wants to get home before sun down or he'll turn into a werewolf. He actually wants to get back home before his kids sleep so that he can give them their new presents. I wonder who'll be happier, him or them? Perhaps that's a perfect example mutual symbiosic relationship. Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Ok, now back to reality.

Swensen's, The earthquake! The reason we're here ;)

What we ordered and the aftermath!

It's still a blur, but somehow we managed to get all that out of the way :) and headed back home. On the way back, while it's Chuwy's turn to drive, I decided to read my magazines. As I grabbed my magazine, I realised there's an extra book in my shopping bag. I asked Chuwy how come his book is in my bag. He's confused. It seems that in the craziness of the Times Bookstore Sale, the packer must've put the book wrongly in my bag. The book, "Guide to getting the most out of your digital camera", the book is worth RM35. I haven't start reading it yet, so I'm not sure how helpful it'll be. I'm glad that it's a book that I can use instead of "1001 cross stitching techniques used by pros". Heh heh.

We stopped by Ipoh for a quick dinner and continued our journey. We finally reached Penang at about 8ish. Ruyi and Isaac were both still awake, so I decided to shower them with the soft toys. We have a turtle, a crab, a teddy bear, a rat, a bat and a tent! :) Ruyi loved the toys except the tent. Fen had to crawl into the tent to coax her to go in. It's nice to see everyone so happy. Isaac was still too young to play with any of the toys. Surprisingly, my mom, Fen and Raine all approve of the rat.

While playing with Ruyi and Isaac. Isaac smiled a couple of times and Raine tried to capture his smile, but to no avail. In steps the maestro and the risultato is the shot below. Raine will pay good money for this :) Isaac's first on-camera smile. Credit goes to the Sony T-7's lightning quick shutter speed.

All the stuff that I bought from KL (Yes, the alarm clock too!)

Ruyi playing with her turtle & rat; Ruyi being coaxed into the tent by Fen

Happy Ruyi; Isaac's first on-camera smile caught

After all the fun and games, unpacked my bags and got ready for bed.

Hey Ann, really sorry we couldn't meet up. Wish we could, esp Friday nite ;) Next time you must take me there ok.

335. Doris' wedding

So we actually managed to wake up early in the morning despite sleeping late last nite. Lena picked both Chuwy and I up from Kit's place at 9:30am. We wanted to have breakfast and since Doris' wedding is at 1:30pm, we have some time so Chuwy suggested we have breakfast at Ikea so that he can do his shopping too. So off we went to Ikea.

Turns out they had a crazy sale that weekend. Surprisingly there wasn't that many people there. I thot the store would've been packed by bargain hunters! But much to my surprise, the mob ain't no where to be seen. :) lovely.

While Chu Wai picks out stuff for Sophia and Sean, inspiration hits :P perhaps I should get something for my niece and nephew too. So I went crazy buying stuff. Got a bunch of soft toys and a tent :D heh heh. The thing that I really liked was the rat. Wasn't sure if Fen or Raine would allow their child to play with it though. Well, I figured if they didn't let them play with it, I'll gladly, errr, i mean I'll have no choice but to keep it for myself. ;)

Went for breakfast at the Ikea cafe. No surprises there, meatballs! :)

After shopping at Ikea, we had sometime left, so we headed over to The Curve because Lena wanted to get some clothes from G2000.

She was dissapointed that they didn't have what she wanted. Me on the other hand, decided to buy some work clothes since they have 50% off sale and the shirts cost only RM40 after discount. Then of course came the fashion police. Both Lena and Chuwy reckon I should try something different. Of course them "different" things aren't at the bargain bins :P In the end, bought 3 "kinky" shirts and a "safe" work shirt. I think the buy 2 free 1 deal is a pretty good deal.

The Rat & My Shirts

Leuk picked us up from The Curve and we headed to Doris's wedding ceremony in Sg Way Christian Center. The highlight of the whole wedding was when the pastor said you may kiss the bride. :) Doris being a tad shy, when Henry leaned over to kiss her, she actually stepped back a bit :D that was quite amusing. :) We took photographs later and we left after that.

The Shy Kiss

After the solemnisation

The ol Sunway College group

Me & the bride

When we reached Kit's house, we were suppose to take a nap and get ready for tonite's dinner. Chuwy will have none of that of course :) So we went over to The Attria for a stroll. I ended up buying some magazines at a Times Bookshop sales and the Cambridge Dictionary for Wee since I told him I'll get him one.

After we were done with that, we went back to Kit's place. We waited for Kit to come back from his youth meeting in church.

We headed out to the Bukit Jalil Country Club for Doris' wedding dinner. It was nice to catch up with all the old collegemates. The wedding went well......until the video presentation. The title starts off Henry & Jane! Errrr, am I in the wrong wedding dinner????? Thank goodness the rest of the slides correctly says Henry & Doris. It's also Henry's b'day today, so their wedding cake doubles as his b'day cake.

Kit, Joyce, Henry, Doris, Me & Chuwy

The couple on stage and their wedding/his b'day cake

The Decor

Ran into Sook Yee at dinner. Gosh, haven't seen her in 6yrs or so. What a small world.

After the dinner, we adjourned to The Coffee Bean at Bangsar Shopping Complex for coffee & tea. Surprisingly the Coffee Bean in such a happenning place closes at 12midnite on a weekend. After coffee, Chuwy and I went for a drive around Bangsar and finally adjourned back to Kit's place.

I was still restless and decided to take it easy and read my book before going to sleep. Chuwy chose the more drastic route of playing a few rounds of "Metal Slug" on my notebook before he turns the lights out.

What a day!

334. KL, here I come

Will be headed to KL after work today with Chu Wai. The day went by pretty uneventfully until I reach Chuwy's office. While waiting for him, I decide to do a walk around my car. Good thing I did! My front driver's side tire is flat. So before the journey even begins, we already have our drama. I had to change the tire before leaving in case I come back on Monday to a flat & damaged tire.

After changing the tire under the hot sun, we finally left at 6ish. We initially wanted to stop by Ipoh for beansprout chicken, but because of time constraints, we stopped by for dinner at Bukit Merah and continued our journey.

We met up with Wing Kit and his lovely wife at their church. The topic was very interesting. It was a forum of sorts with 2 lawyers that specialise in dealing with Muslims who want to convert out of Islam. The conclusion is that there's no way one can do that (in Malaysia, at least). It seems that these cases are refered by Civil courts to Syariah courts because a precedent has been set. Syariah courts are suppose to uphold the 5 pillars of the Islamic faith and all the Muslim Theology.

After doing some reseach on this topic on Wikipedia, I found this article on Syariah laws. Under the sub topic of Muslim apostates, apostasy in Islam, in some (but not all) interpretations of an Islamic state, conversion by Muslims to other religions is forbidden and is termed apostasy. In Muslim theology, apostasy resembles the crime of treason, the betrayal of one's own country. Penalties may include ostracism or even execution if they live or have lived in an "Islamic State" and are deemed enemies of the state. By analogy, in the age of nation states, a person who commits treason (turning state's secrets to a foreign power, or spies for a foreign power, etc) is subject to severe penalty—historically, death.

so you go figure out why ultimately these conversion cases will not go through.

After coffee at Starbucks in Uptown, we sent his wife home and headed out to hunt for a cybercafe to fulfill their cravings for CounterStrike. After checking out 5, yes 5 different locations, we finally found one with vacant machines. Gosh! I didn't know gaming is such a big deal here. Gee!

333. Ixus i-zoom

I went over to Gurney Plaza to collect my Ixus 50, to my surprise, they gave me an Ixus i-zoom! Their excuse was that Canon replaces as they wish and this time it's the Ixus i-zoom. I'm really in no mood to argue. I had to rush to send some important emails to my customers. After making sure the i-zoom have the functions (especially the long shutter mode) that I was looking for, I left. I'll call up Canon and check on the claim myself.

Well, I think overall, the camera is a bit queer looking. But we'll see how it goes. Haven't really took any photos with it yet. So i'll play around with it a bit more. But the first complain I have is the slow shutter lag. I press the shutter button and after a year or two, it takes a picture. Gosh!

After that, went over to Segafredo in Belissa Row and hung out there for the rest of the evening. Had their steak for the first time. Never had a "proper" meal there before. Wasn't too impressed. It feels like I'm having a big piece of burger :D and instead of buns, they have muffins. Oh well.

The Steak

The more I spend time looking at the specs for the Ixus i-zoom, the more dissapointed I am with it. Sheesh. One thing's for sure, this is the last time I'm going to buy a camera from Lam Loong. Feel like kena con.

My gold color Ixus

332. DVD Shopping Spree

After work, headed to One Stop to get some stuff for the office and also some DVDs for myself. Was suppose to collect my camera from Gurney Plaza, but the boss haven't got it yet.

Got 5 DVDs and guess will spend some time watching it. I bought Perhaps Love, SPL, Memoirs of a Geisha, Lord of War & Jarhead (PS: The website says,"Own the DVD 7th Mar 2006 - Pre order now!", it's 23rd Feb 06 and I already have a copy of the DVD, don't you just love Malaysia?). After that, went over to my mechanic's workshop to see how the brake work on my car is coming along. It's coming along very nicely indeed :D

Had dinner beside the workshop and went back home.

My customer is coming over to my office for a visit tomorrow morning. Hope everything goes well.

Wonder if my camera will arrive tomorrow. :)

331. Nite nite

Whoa! It's almost midnite d. Time to sleep.

330. A Day of Meeting

I had a full day of Meeting/Training. It's a group of company executives having monthly meetings to discuss work related problems. I'd expect it to be a serious professional meeting. What I found is that it's more like a support group. It's more personal than professional. Of course they have a proper agenda and proper topics to discuss. What took me by surprise is their openess to each other about personal matters. The last time I was in such a setting was probably in church and I was playing the role of mediator or facilitator.

This made me realised that I have 2 personalities. A split personality if you will. One can be strong and offer support to people, and the other on the opposite polar of that and both these characters live in one shell. Hmmmmm, I guess to some extent, everyone is vulnerable. But the problem with me is I think the "real" me is not the strong supportive one. Now the question is, what will I do about this........stay tuned ;)

OK, back to the meeting, they actually discuss very personal topics. After a full day of meeting of such nature, I can only say that I realised that my problems are really petty compared to others. I like the honesty available in this group. Guess I'll be back for more. :)

Got home after the meeting and logged on. Spent the rest of the evening catching up on the missed work for today.

Had curry the whole day. Started with Nasi Lemak for breakfast, then Kayu Nasi Kandar for lunch and to my horror, when I got home, mom cooked a pot of fish curry! My stomach paid the price, 5 visits to the toilet :P what a day.

For "fun", I'll try to go to sleep by 12 Midnite everyday. I felt more refreshed today. Don't know if it's because of my sleep or the topics discussed. Well, we'll see. I think this is one goal that i'll fail miserably. No harm trying though :D

_______________________________

My Random Thots:

My mind wandered while working. I was drawn to the topic of, "if I can relive my life, would there be things I'd do differently."

I used to answer that without hesitation that I WON'T. But on second thought, I reckon I would. There are things in my life that I felt I handled way, way, way, below par. Those, I'd like to correct if opportunities present itself :P but we all know that Marty McFly, Doc Brown & their 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 are just fiction. So my only alternative is to learn from such mistakes and be a better person. :)


1981 DeLorean DMC-12

329. Beautiful Sunday

It's my mom's b'day today! :) The itinerary for today will be, my mom's fav clear soup "Bah Kut Teh" for breakfast and Japanese cuisine for dinner at Jurin. For now, I'll take a nap and prepare myself for dinner. Gee, that's a good excuse for taking a nap :D

Woke up at about 2pm for lunch. Went with Seng, Fen & Wee for Balik Pulau laksa. Also took the opportunity to go for haircut and also buy mom's b'day cake. My trips to the barber are full of surprises :) I never know how my hair will turn out. This is part of the "fun" in going for RM8 haircuts :D This time it's no better. But I keep going back coz I keep telling myself the "problem" will last only for 2 weeks before it grows back. Lying to myself? comforting myself? Who cares! Ahhhh, My old friend, Apathy :)

Anyway, Wee's haircut turned out great. Everyone loved it.

I call this composition "NURTURE"


A view of Gurney Drive on a serene sunday


All the ladies of my family; A very happy RuYi


My family having breakfast at Song River; The food

Dinner was awesome. We left for Jurin in Crystal Point at about 645pm. It was the usual Japanese cuisine except for Kobe beef! :D Finally! I get to try the infamous Kobe Beef. Actually, we'll have to take their word for it. The beef was really really nice. It's very fragrant and melts in your mouth. It's the tastiest beef I've ever had. After the meal, it's time for the cake. My mom looks really happy. :)

Jurin, Crystal Point


My first taste of Kobe Beef


My mom :)

It was a very long yet fulfilling day today. I'm really glad I have my parents and bros and both my sis in laws and of course my niece and nephew. What more could a guy ask for ey? ;)

328. Woke up empty

Woke up this morning feeling that I'm missing something in my life.................I'll try to sleep off the feeling later in the afternoon. :D

Didn't get to sleep in the afternoon after all. Did however managed to install my new set of rims. Remember? Someone stole my rims back in October last year? Well, no one was arrested or castrated, so I finally had to replace them rims. :D

This be my new rim :)

Just got John Legend's Album "Get Lifted" after hearing his song "ordinary people" and all the buzz about him in the Grammy's. It's brilliant. Right now he's got 2 singles out. Ordinary People and Used To Love You. Both songs can be streamed from his WEBSITE under the MEDIA section or click on the link below. Just take a listen.

Streaming Video from John Legend's website:
i) Ordinary People
ii) Used To Love U

JOHN LEGEND
"Ordinary People"

[Verse 1]
Girl im in love with you
This ain't the honeymoon
Past the infatuation phase
Right in the thick of love
At times we get sick of love
It seems like we argue everyday

[Bridge]
I know i misbehaved
And you made your mistakes
And we both still got room left to grow
And though love sometimes hurts
I still put you first
And we'll make this thing work
But I think we should take it slow

[Chorus]
We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow

[Verse 2]
This ain't a movie no
No fairy tale conclusion ya'll
It gets more confusing everyday
Sometimes it's heaven sent
Then we head back to hell again
We kiss then we make up on the way

[Bridge]
I hang up you call
We rise and we fall
And we feel like just walking away
As our love advances
We take second chances
Though it's not a fantasy
I Still want you to stay

[Chorus]
We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow

[Verse 3]
Take it slow
Maybe we'll live and learn
Maybe we'll crash and burn
Maybe you'll stay, maybe you'll leave,
maybe you'll return
Maybe another fight
Maybe we won't survive
But maybe we'll grow
We never know baby youuuu and I

[Chorus]
We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Heyyy)
We're just ordinary people
We don't know which way to go
Cuz we're ordinary people
Maybe we should take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow (Take it slow oh oh ohh)
This time we'll take it slow
______________________________

After dinner at home, went to Gurney plaza with Seng and Ai Fen. The idea was to collect my camera, but they don't have stock yet, so I can only collect it next wednesday. Seng wanted to watch the Liverpool Vs Man U match. So we went to Segafredo and watched the match there.

After that, went over to Oasis at E-Gate to meet up with Fen's boss. The singer was nice & sweet. She actually have a day job working in Avago. I stayed for a while and went over to Starbucks to meet up with the rest of the guys.

Stayed until about 2ish and then went for Sany Char Koay Teow.

Gosh, it's already 4am! I wonder if I can wake up for breakfast tomorrow. It's mom's b'day, so by hook or by crook I'll be up I guess.

327. The Jam last nite

Massive jam on bridge
By J. SEBASTIAN

BUTTERWORTH: Bags of sugar fell out of a trailer on the Penang Bridge causing a massive traffic jam stretching as far as 2km from the bridge toll plaza here.

Traffic from Seberang Jaya, Prai, Bukit Mertajam and the North-South Expressway heading for the plaza came almost to a standstill.

The congestion following the 4pm accident yesterday was made worse about two hours later when office workers joined in the queue to head back home.

It was learnt that the bags fell out when one side of the trailer gave way at the 0.6km mark of the bridge.


THE CAUSE: Bags of sugar lying on the bridge forcing traffic to come to a standstill.

Among those stuck in the jam was Pauline Tan who was returning home from a working trip in Ipoh.

She said she exited the Juru toll plaza, about 3km from the Penang Bridge, about 6pm.

“Many motorists are squeezing through at the emergency lane, worsening the traffic snarl,” she said when she was interviewed at 8pm while still stuck in the jam.

“I don't know how long I will be here before I reach the Penang Bridge toll plaza,” she said.

It was learnt that some passengers missed their flights as they were not able to get to the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas on time.

Those who tried to avoid the congestion on the bridge by making a detour to the ferry terminal found themselves caught in yet another massive jam.

A Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal official said at the peak of the jam at 5pm, the queue stretched all the way to the district police headquarters about 2km away.

At 8.15pm there were still many vehicles queueing up to board the six ferries in operation, he said.

A Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd hotline official said the bridge was cleared of the sugar-laden trailer and its fallen sugar bags at 8.10pm.

“We had a tough time removing the trailer and its load from the bridge,” he added.
________________________

Got a call from the camera shop which I sent my Canon Ixus V3 (that died back in June) for servicing. It seems that they can't repair my camera because they no longer have the spareparts for it. They offer to upgrade to the Canon Ixus 50 if I top up RM385. My initial thought was that's it's under warranty. Shouldn't they upgrade for free? I mean it's not my fault. After discussion with my bros and friends, they all think it's a good deal. So I'll go over to the shop tomorrow and take a look. I might top up more to upgrade to an even better camera? :D We'll see how it goes la.

326. Quotes

Percy Bysshe Shelley
(1792-1827), English Romantic poet who rebelled against English politics and conservative values.
All of us, who are worth anything, spend our manhood in unlearning the follies, or expiating the mistakes of our youth.

Martin Luther King, Jr,
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
_________________________

My Random Thots:

We need a local MLK! Since we don't have Martin Luther King, Jr here, Mr Mah Loo Kin oso can lah! Perhaps he too, can inspire Malaysians to have a DLEAM.

PLS TAKE NOTE THAT THIS IS MEANT TO BE TAKEN WITH A PINCH OF SALT. SO PLS TRY NOT TO BE OFFENDED OK?

I have a dleam lat one day le state of Penang, whose gobenor's lips ah plesently dlipping with le wods of inteposition and nullification, will be tlansformed into a situation where little boys and little girls of all races will be able to walk togeler as sisters and bladers. I have a dleam tolay. I have a dleam lat one lay evely valley sell be exalted, evely hill and mountain sell be made low, the lough places will be made plain, and the clooked places will be made slaight, and the gloly of the Lod shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it togeler. Lis is our hope. Lis is le faith with which I return to le South. With lis faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With lis faith we will be able to tlansform the jangling discords of our nation into a beauliful symphony of bladerhood. With lis faith we will be able to work togeler, to play togeler, to sluggle togeler, to go to jail togeler, to stand up for fleedom togeler, knowing lat we will be flee one lay.

Lis will be le lay when all of God's clildlen will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my falers died, land of the pilgrim's plide, from evely mountainside, let fleedom ling." And if Malaysia is to be a gleat nation, lis must become tlue. So let fleedom ling flom le prodigious hilltops of Bukit Larut. Let fleedom ling from le mighty mountains of Sabah. Let fleedom ling from the heightening range of Banjaran Titiwangsa! Let freedom ring from the top of Penang Hill in Penang! Let fleedom ling from the curvaceous peaks of Genting Highlands! But not only lat; let fleedom ling from stone caves of Kuching! Let fleedom ling from Mountain peaks of Gunung Tahan! Let fleedom ling flom evely hill and evely molehill of Pahang. Flom evely mountainside, let fleedom ling.

When we let fleedom ling, when we let it ling flom evely village and evely hamlet, from evely state and evely city, we will be able to speed up lat lay when all of God's childlen, black men, yellow men and brown men, Indians, Chinese and Malays, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Flee at last! flee at last! lank God Almigly, we ah flee at last!"
_______________________

It's now 21:30. How is it that I'm so free to write all this stuff? Well, apparently a lorry overturned on the penang bridge and caused a massive jam going over to Penang. So here I am stuck in my office on the mainland. Damn!

325. Some artsy fartsy shots

Here's my attempt at creativity. Taken in front of Lai's house of Yippie's (actually just a wheel) & Jack's car two days back.

Things that I get to dismantle at work. Anyone know what this is?

Went over to Butterworth after work for dinner. Went to this place called Old Town Kopitiam in Kampung Kastam near the Air Force base. Surprisingly quite upscale place for a little town. In fact, the whole area has developed so much that I hardly recognize it anymore. Had some bread and tea. Rather nice actually. Should've snapped some photos of the decor. Really nice and cozy. Left at about 10ish and went home. Wee is at Soho, but I'm too tired d. Need to nap.

324. Happy Valentine's Day!

Hmmm, nope, no sparks in the air. Damn! went to work as usual, only difference is I have to send my dad to the workshop after work to pick up his car.

Now we get to the juicy bits.

Got home and had dinner at home and took a nap! :)

End of juicy bits.

:D spent the later part of the evening sipping wine with my bros. Had the 1999 Paradise Ranch Ice Wine, finally found a wine that I like, sweet & light, but at RM200 a pop, guess it's reserved for special occasions.


Finally, a wine that I can truly say I enjoy

______________________

My Random Thots:

I'd be lying if I say this day have no effect on me emotionally. I do get nostalgic and a bit down, especially when the Radio, TV and everything else reminds you the significance of today. Time will tell if I survive my battle with insanity. :)

323. End of CNY

:( Today is officially the end of the CNY celebrations. No more ang pows, no more fireworks and no more gambling........ok, ok, a bit dramatic! But definitely no more ang pows, the other 2 are negotiable. :D

Anyway, adopted myself a pet tiger today. As you can see, it resides in the sidebar of my blog. It's name is Roar. If follows your pointer and will purr if you left click on it. If you wanna adopt one yourself, just go to their website.

Also tonite, we'll see a big fat full moon in the sky. :) Time to get my telescope and try to capture some shots :D

Picked up Chong from the airport at 815pm. He's back from Japan. Sent him home and after that stopped by Illusions with Lai and Nicholas for dinner. Anthony came over later with Amanda. I gotta say, the food wasn't too shabby considering it's a pub. :)

Anyway, took my leave and headed home after makan while they stayed for drinks.

Got home and wanted to take some shots of the moon with my telescope and trusty digicam. But, alas! It's cloudy, so I end up just taking some shots of my mom's potted plants. :) "Bo hu, Heh pun hoe la!" ( Chinese proverb: No fish, prawns will do) :D

The full moon under the cover of clouds


The potted plants in the garden

322. Yawn!
Saturday (11th Feb)

Work was dreadful! So tired and groggy. Will avoid going to town since the Thaipusam festival is still on. Most roads in town esp Western Road will be closed for the prossesions. Seng and Wee will be having dinner at Chasers in Gurney drive. I'm not too crazy about the idea, besides, I'll be going over to Lai's house.

Went over to Gembira parade to buy some bacon and sausages for the BBQ. Then headed over to pick up Boony and then off to Kepala Batas.

We were the first ones there. So we started the fire and started eating first. The rest of the guests came and of course the nite won't be complete without gambling. Didn't feel like actually taking part, so when Lai asked if we wanted to joint venture with him, I was more than happy to oblidge. 5 of us gave him RM50 each and let him take care of it. When we are ready to leave, we actually won back RM105, nett profit of RM55.

Adjourned to Sany Char Koay Teow in Sg Dua with Yippie, Jack & Ann.

Wonder if I can make it for church tomorrow morning......it's already 5am. *yawn*

Sunday (12th Feb)
13:00

Just woke up :) so nope, didn't make it to church. Had lunch while watching the A1 Grand Prix. Alex Yoong did a good job and grabbed 4th position in the 18 lap sprint race. Amazingly he manages to finish 2nd in the feature race, the first podium finish for Team Malaysia for the season. What's amazing is he's 1.9secs from the leader at the finish, while the 3rd place finisher only crossed the finish line 10.6secs after him. That's a big gap. Well done Alex! Actually, Team Canada (Sean McIntosh) was even more impressive. They started last on the grid yet finished 1st & that's despite having to do a drive thru penalty. That's what makes the A1 grand prix exciting. Everyone is driving basically the same car with the same engines, only gear ratios, suspension and aerodynamic settings can be changed by the team to best suit the driver's style.

Another feature which makes the race more interesting is the power boost, which gives the car a momentary boost of 30bhp. Each driver will need to use his skill to carefully manage how and when the system is used during the race. They only get 8 activations each for the feature race.


basically slept the whole day. Wee's friend came over in the evening for some gambling. Didn't gamble too long as tomorrow I have to work & I loost quite a bit of money already. Oh well. Easy come, easy go. Went back to my room and watched the telly. Caught an interesting program on discovery channel. It's called Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real. Watch it and you'll be a believer.


The fun going on in Wee's room

Tonite is also "Chap Goh Meh". It represents the fifteenth and final day of the Lunar New Year period as celebrated by Chinese migrant communities. The term is from the Hokkien dialect and literally means the fifteenth day of the first month.

It is the occasion of the first full moon of the New Year.

The occasion is marked by feasting and various festivities, including the consuption of Tangyuan. In traditional Chinese culture, it is also celebrated as the Lantern Festival or the Shang Yuan Festival. In Southeast Asia, however, it coincides with the Chinese Valentine's Day, when young unmarried women gather to toss tangerines into the sea, in a hope that their future spouse will pick it up - a custom that originated in Penang, Malaysia. In the past, this is also the only day that unmarried ladies can be seen with their partners.

Retrieved from Wikipedia

Happy Chinese Valentine's Day :D Hmmmm, should I get emotional? :P

321. Thaipusam

After a long day at work, I was looking forward to a quiet nite. Just wanted to chill at home.

Didn't feel like going out coz it'll be very congested in town due to the Thaipusam festival.

At about 11ish, Wee called to say that Seng & Fen wants to learn Texas Hold'em. So we went over to his room and started the game. I lost quite a bit rather quickly. I think they graciously let me win back some of the money and we started chatting about child developement and all. They were discussing the developement of my niece and nephew. Interesting topic. :P after much chatting and drinking, it's already 3:30am. Gosh. Tomorrow is gonna be a long long day.

Was reminded earlier of Lai's BBQ tomorrow nite.

320. Funnies

A friend emailed this to me. It actually made me smile on a busy day. So it's won itself a spot here:

An old man was sitting on a bench at the mall. A teenager sat down next to him. He had spiked hair that was red, orange, yellow, green, blue & violet.

The old man stared.

Whenever the teen looked, the old man was staring.

Finally, the teenager said sarcastically : "What's the matter, old boy, never done anything wild in your life?"

Without missing a beat the old man replied :" Got drunk once and had sex with a peacock. Just wondering if you were my son."

After work, set off to install my car's spoiler, which I gatal and resprayed to flat black :) Just had to install it to see what it looks like. Don't worry, I still have the original one safely stowed away in case I wanna change it back :D After 2 hours of struggling, taking the spoiler off refitting the 3rd brake light and reinstalling the linings & wirings. I quite like it. I think the flat black matches the car's black trimmings well. I'll keep it......for now.

My gatal moment :)


After 2 hours of hard work, I'm rather pleased with the outcome

Just stayed home to watch the Grammy's. Boony came over as well. The first act by the Gorillaz & Madonna was awesome! You guys gotta watch it. I liked it even though the critics weren't too crazy about it.

Time to sleep. Need to wake up early.