585.Christmas Celebrations (Pre & Post included)

Jo @ Gurney Plaza - 23rd Dec
Jo graced us with her presence just before Christmas and we chilled with Shen, Daniel, Austin & Ann @ Gurney Plaza before starting my last minute present shopping. Closed the evening with dinner @ Gurney Drive and again @ Yataimura with Ann & Yippie after that.

What the???????

While waiting for Yippie to pick us up......

BBQ @ home - 24th Dec
While getting ready to setup the BBQ stuff, had time to play with them dogs. Decided to let Lemon out during the BBQ as some of the guys wanted to play with it (namely Jimmy & Joanne). He was well behaved so let him stay out the rest of the evening. A relatively "quiet" nite with some close friends and relatives. Haven't had a Christmas this cozy in a long time.

Mom & the Dogs

Wanster & Lemon; Joanne & Lemon

Party @ Ed's - 25th Dec
Headed over to Eds on Christmas day for his party. The food was amazing but unfortunately it rained rather heavily later in the evening. The kids had a good time playing with all the other kids there. Managed to catch Isaac dancing on video, but I'll post it after I figure out how to host it here.

Ruyi & Isaac

Party @ Howe's - 27th Dec
Howe toiled the whole day to prepare the Nasi Lemak for us. It was a simple, cozy lil party. The spread was amazing. Venisson, chicken done in various ways, vege, flower crabs, fish @ prawns.

After that, it's off to visit Irene's new boutique @ Bangkok Lane (more info and advertising on that when it's officially opened) and then Mr Pot's for coffee. Mental note: Never get myself in a situation where the girls outnumber me 5 to 1, there are things u'd rather not know. It's like watching a live telecast of Oprah..........without the African American.....errr.....twist (Not to mention how it emasculates me).

Raine attacking the food; Moonlight off Gurney Drive (in search of mud skippers)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

584. I am Legend

well, not me, the movie. Watched it last week. Wasn't too impressed with it. Thot it had a very slow build up and subsequently a corny ending. The movie however was very visually entertaining, good cinematography. Anyway I guess this movie was probably spoilt by my high expectation of it.

After close to 2 weeks, Ando san left and again, life will be back to the normal pace. That's good news given the nearing holiday "rush".

Sometimes in life you have to wonder what it's all about.......so where are we rushing off to? Que sera sera.

Anyway after sending off Ando San, headed to Gurney Plaza to catch up with old church buddies. After all these years, most are still the same. Some rounder than others. :D

16 THINGS THAT TOOK ME OVER 50 YEARS TO LEARN
by Dave Barry , Nationally Syndicated Columnist

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.
________________________________

My Random Thots:

It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah
I'm holding on your rope, got me ten feet off the ground

Damn song! Get outta ma head!

583. 3 shortest week this year

Haven't had the time to update my blog for the past 3 weeks. Well, here's the short version of wat's been happening.

Teng Siew's wedding
Known him for a while now, but I guess I didn't really know him. Was a little surprised he sang at the start of the wedding dinner. Thot he was a shy person. Anyway, that was nothing compared to my surprise when halfway thru dinner he and his wife danced on stage (more like performed). When I say dance, I don't mean to slow dance, cheek to cheek. I'm talking from ballroom to hip hop to Bollywood (I kid u not!). I gotta say, I was very amused.

The lovely couple; Dancing away

KL Trip with Yippie
Yippie had to get a few things from KL & we were suppose to take Ando san & Tsuiki san to KL too. I said suppose becoz in the end they didn't come as they had more pressing matters to attend to. Nonetheless we had a good time.

Once we reached KL, told Yippie I wanted to stop by Low Yat plaza, but he claimed that only old uncles go there, he'll bring me to this newer IT place that is loads better than Low Yat plaza. After working thru a maze of buildings and back alleys we arrive at this grand location he's been telling me about. I looked up at the sign & guess what! It's Low Yat plaza! :P Needless to say, he hasn't heard the end of that yet! :D We also managed to show Yippie Velvet. Managed to meet up with Franco and Sang Sang. Haven't seen them in while.

Another funny story, while roaming the shopping complexes around KL plaza, we were approached by a shady looking character. He took a look at both of us and then quietly hand me a name card. Curious, I accepted the card. After reading the card, I realised that maybe I looked like some kinda pervy while Yippie maybe not since the guy didn't give him a card. I was tempted to give Mr Yes a call to tell him dat I'm not a perv, but what was I trying to prove anyway. :P

All in all, it was a very productive trip.

@ Velvet

The name card I received from Mr Shady a.k.a Mr Yes; Things I got from KL

The pre Christmas gift exchange and birthday celebration for Dec babies
Wee & Raine hosted a bbq/potluck to celebrate Christmas and also birthdays. It was a riot. It seems dat next year, guests are not allowed to bring chocolates as gifts. I may have contributed to that. I think our house hasn't been that loud in a long time. Surprisingly we have yet to receive a "warning" letter from our neighbors.

The host; Ruyi, Isaac & Wee

The Dec babies; The whole gang

My getting-old-day celebrations
Started off with dinner @ Teluk Bahang. They had a fresh shipment of lobsters dat arrived from Bali. So I guess our lobsters was as fresh as they can get. The dinner was awesome.

Next, we adjourned to MOIS, a new club in town. The music was good and the "ambience" is much nicer than Glo or SS. Surprisingly it wasn't as packed as I thot it'd be.

And finally, we headed home to Soho (where else?). There I got wasted. My bros had planned to get me wasted, glad I lasted longer than Seng :D but after the flaming Lamborghini, I've had enuf.

The tally; some white wine, red wine, blue label, maker's mark, martell, barcardi apple, tequila & finally the flaming lamborghini!

The fresh lobsters (note the Indonesian newspapers); Me & my cheesy oyster cake

Maker's Mark, Blue Label & The Flaming Lamborghini

Wee, Me & Seng

The passing of Wanster's dad
It seems that niceness and life expectancy have a inverse relationship. My deepest condolences to Aunt Fong May, Pui Lai and Wan Yean. May God be with you and comfort you.

It's too late to apologize..........
This song by One Republic has been around for a while. It didn't make it big until Timbaland remixed it. Now it's playing everywhere....including in my head.

Apologize
Timbaland Feat. One Republic

I'm holding on your rope,
Got me ten feet off the ground
And I'm hearing what you say but I just can't make a sound
You tell me that you need me
Then you go and cut me down, but wait
You tell me that you're sorry
Didn't think I'd turn around, and say...

That it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late

I'd take another chance, take a fall
Take a shot for you
And I need you like a heart needs a beat
But it's nothing new - yeah yeah

I loved you with the fire red
Now it's turning blue, and you say...
"Sorry" like the angel heaven let me think was you
But I'm afraid...

It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late whoa.....

It's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah
I said it's too late to apologize, yeah
I'm holding on your rope, got me ten feet off the ground

Random shopping
G2000 was having a sale, so decided to get another shirt. This time, I'm not gonna wear it until CNY 2008. That way, I won't bump into another person wearing the same shirt like what happened when I bought shirts at the Jusco sale........hopefully.

582. Lizard!

When I reached home, noticed that both my niece and nephew were staring at a plant. Never seen them so fixated at a plant before. Then they saw me & Ruyi yelled out lizard! So I grabbed my camera and went to her rescue! :P

Finally received my long awaited toy! :) A Koyo Radiator! I promise that this will be the last thingy I buy myself.......until the end of the week. Ando San will be here this weekend, the stars will align once again, and the ancient evil will be brought back to life once again! Muah har har har har har har!

581. Happy Birthday....

....Juliana! :) Got home just before 6 today and switched on the tele to watch The Simpsons. Just as the idiot box was about to power up, everything else in my room died. Hmmm, silence, haven't heard dat in my room in a while. :) No big deal, I'll just reset the fuse box. When I went downstairs and checked the fuse box, everything was at the on position. Rats! It's a power outage. Crap, guess no Simpsons or work for the rest of the evening.

Headed over to Ocean Green to celebrate Jul's birthday. It was a nice to be out of my stuffy room. The food was good and the company even better. Had an interesting discussion about the "wonderful" state of our country. Subha, How and Wee provided lotsa insight on current events. Dr Mahathir in his book "The Malay Dilemma" said, "What was taken for harmony was absence of open inter-racial strife." He goes on to say, "And absense of strife is not necessarily due to lack of desire or reasons for strife. It is more frequently due to a lack of capacity to bring about open conflict."

As can be seen from the recent demonstrations in the capital, Dr Mahathir really knew the hearts of Malaysians. They say prayers can move mountains, if so, then I pray that May 13th will be just another day in the years to come. That all Malaysians would be more tolerant. Well, if dat don't work, I'll just don my ninja turtle costume and fight the evil tyrants and liberate Malaysia.

Anyway, I digress, back to the celebration of Juliana's birthday! Happy birthday Juls! Thank God the power's back on by the time we got home. According to mom, the power was restored minutes before we got home. Guess prayers do get answered! :D

Watched Hitman last nite. Set a low expectation and was quite entertained. If nothing else, the show was a showcase of Malaysian censorship talent. Given, the show has a 18PL rating, but I din know dat it means i get to hear all the "F" words and also a glimpse of the lead actress' breasts. Now I'm not refering to the fact dat the lady was scantily clad, i meant dat the lady was naked and they failed to censor dat. :) and I'm very curious wat words the actors and actress used just before the "F" word dat they have to censor it and not the "F" word. :D It was an entertaining show.

580. Encounter with the FD2 Type R

I've read about it in the magazines, saw it in videos and everyone is raving about it. They say that it's the fastest car out of the Honda stable to date right behind the NSX. I was skeptical. I thot it was just all hype, as on paper, it isn't all dat great. 225PS, 215Nm, 1270Kg. Big deal. Then I saw it in action. It's acceleration was unbelievable! It can take an Evo 8 on the straights. In the corners, eventhough it's a FF car, there's no understeer and very little body roll. How the heck is all this possible in a NA 2L 4 door sedan??? I suspect dat Honda under declared the specs and perhaps the driver has something to do with it too. Bottomline, I am now a believer, but at RM200K, is it a bargain?

You can read more about the 2007 Civic Type R here:
Honda Malaysia: Civic Type R
paultan.org: 2007 Honda Civic Type-R launched in malaysia
paultan.org: 2007 Honda Civic Type-R details
ZTH Forum: FD Civic Type-R launched
Nihon Car: 1000km to test drive the 2007 Honda Civic Type-R

579. Jusco's Member's day!

So today is the day I've been waiting for. Well, not really, actually just wanted to get my golf clubs. The bad news is, the deal I was promised did not materialize. I was promised 25% off and another 10% on top of that & further RM10 cash voucher for every RM100 spent. Reality? Only 20% off and only RM10 for every RM100 spent. Well, end up only slightly cheaper than usual, no massive discounts. The good news? I managed to grab the last TaylorMade 3 rescue asian spec. I'd be upset if they sold out. On the way out, grabbed 3 shirts and 2 khaki pants @ 70% off.

578. Bored

So wat's a guy to do when he has 2 much time on his hands and he's bored? Well, he takes apart his PC's casing and sprays them matt black to make it appear smaller & more modern. Does it work? U be the judge.

Taking the casing apart, spraying the shell flat black & the finished product

Before & After

Found out that Hobi Sports S/B is having a sale until 25th Dec, so decided to hop on over there to check out the price of the mask and snorkel I've been wanting to get. Turns out they're 50% off. So went ahead and got em. Also bought a tank banger. Decided dat it'll be prudent to get one.

577. After umpteen days....

......finally, another update. :)

My, my, so many things happened dat I dun even know where to begin.

Let's start with the not so funny tale of how I broke my wood. Before you guys start going south, I am referring to my golf club a.k.a the driver. The funny thing is I didn't even contact the ground. I took a swing and next thing I know, the head and the ball went flying. Alas, dat's gotta be my most expensive round of golf to date. After that terrible round of golf (which we didn't complete thanks to the rain), we went over to Ocean Green for dinner. It's my first time there and I was very pleasantly suprised with the food. It was nice.

My broken woody

After dat's it's off to QE2 to meet up with Ling & gang. It's a nice way to close the evening.

Next on the list of significant events would be the purchase of my LCD TV. Finally, after considering for a long, long, long time, decided to go for it. Actually it's becoz Ann had a deal from Dell and gave me 5 minutes give her an answer. Turned out to be a really nice "mistake". Guess sometimes rash decisions can turn out well. Haha. I plugged my computer to it and now I can watch TV and "work" on my computer from the comfort of my bed (of course I had to go out and get a set of wireless keyboard & mouse too). I just love technology.

My new TV & the accesories to make it more accesible from the bed :D

My old school mate got married over the weekend too. As always, whenever a school mate gets married, it means a massive reunion for old school buddies. It's always nice to see how far we've come since the days of "teacher, teacher he's disturbing me!". Congrats Poh Hin & Lisa.

I've also managed to watch quite a few movies (courtesy of our friendly pirates of Batu Ferringhi). Balls of Fury, Stomp the Yard, Redline, Blades of Glory & TMNT. All are so so and nothing to rant about.

Oh yeah, finally went to apply for my Jusco Card. This is becoz the sales person at the golf section told me dat they're gonna have a member's day this coming friday. And on top of watever discounts, members get additional 10% off and also RM10 coupon for every RM100 purchase. Actually, I'm more interested in the 10% discount at Starbucks.

Also, Kent will be leaving Malaysia for good. So we had one last poker session @ his house before he left. Dan was also around. It was a riot. Also the story about how the house is haunted made it all the more interesting. Halfway thru, Yippie & gang decided to take a drive up to the Teluk Bahang dam, so since I was at Miami beach, decided to join them for a while before headed back to Kent's.

At the dam

OK, enough bitching for now. Time to sleep.