622. Freedom......

20th July
.....For Raine that is. It's been a month and she's now free from confinement. To celebrate, we went out for dinner at Kampachi. Dinner was awesome except that there was a power outage at the hotel. It's all good though. Power was restored abt 45mins later and we continue with the sumptuous buffet. It's been a while since everyone went out together.

Ruyi & Isaac

The kids & their moms

Isaac eating; The kids running around after dinner

22nd July
Ian's full moon.......not, his rear! He's 1 mth old.

23rd July
Finally got a new sunglass to replace the one I lost back in April. Thanks Yippy for the gift. Love it.

Oakley GASCAN - Asian Fit

Watched The Dark Knight. It's the darkest dark knight ever. :) It was brilliant. Why so serious? Let's put a smile on that face. U'd have to see the movie to appreciate that. Oh yeah, also, I finally got myself a current account. Sick of bothering Seng & Wee for cheques. :P

24th July
Watched the X-Files: I Want To Believe....this one sucked like Indy. I mean in Indy, one expects some mystery and history kinda thingy, but u get aliens! Now, in X-Files, one expects aliens or such, but nope, no such luck. It started promisingly, but ended in disappointment.

Walking around Gurney, bought this interesting set of socks from FOS. It's called 7 Days Socks, there's one for everyday. :)

25th July
After Soho, Balan took Wee, Jul & I to a Nasi Dalca place in Queen's Street. I gotta say, I'm addicted! It's really good. I'm still thinking about it while writing this.

My damn phone's been acting up. It was good while it lasted. Sigh, too bad they're not selling the 3G iPhone here. I'd snap it up in an instant. Dayammn.

621. Why I don't like politics...

..............Anwar believes fabrication of DNA evidence possible
BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, THURS:

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor and de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim refused to undergo a DNA test on the grounds of having no confidence in the system and on the advice of his lawyers and local and overseas DNA experts.

Anwar told a press conference at his home that he believed fabrication of DNA evidence was possible because of the 1998 false allegation of sodomy and because his accuser (Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan) was still under police custody.

“I have my reasons, based on the advice of my lawyers and local and foreign DNA experts. My DNA sample is already with the police. Secondly, the accuser is in police custody. Anything can happen. Why the need for DNA from me?

“In the 1998-99 case, the blood sample was forcefully taken from HKL on the instruction of Musa Hasan, according to the testimony of Dr Zahari. There was an attempt to fabricate. When we exposed it, the charge was withdrawn,” he said.

Anwar was arrested and brought to the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters at 2.30pm yesterday where he was held for questioning until about 7.30pm, and was supposed to be released on police bail last night itself.

However, he was only released at 9.45 this morning because the police apparently had further questioning at 7.30am.

“Last night, I was held in the lock-up for big-time criminals on the 7th floor. The officers treated me well, but I had to lie down on the cement floor without any floor cover.

“I was feeling cold and in pain. At 1am, Azizah (Anwar’s wife) came to bring a towel to place over the cold floor. This morning when I arrived home I was given a pain-relief injection by my personal doctor and I had to lie down a bit to get better,” he continued.

Anwar also questioned the police’s procedures since they did not let him go last night because he refused to give a blood sample. He still had not given his blood sample when he was released.

He said he did not mind giving his DNA sample but wanted assurances that there would be no fabrication.

Should international experts check the sample, Anwar again questioned whether anyone could guarantee that there would be no fabrication.

He also said that he had not seen Saiful’s police report against him. “Until now I have not seen the report. Can you imagine I was asked to stay overnight at the lock-up. Spent five and a half hours answering questions. And I have not seen Saiful’s report,” he added.

When asked if he would like to meet his accuser, Anwar had this to say: “It’s just an episode in a drama. This is a serious accusation involving a crime. It should be investigated. If there is no proof and basis, the accuser should be arrested and the accused set free.”

____________________

My Random Thots:

Fuel hikes, mega projects halted, burnt documents, lame ass live telecasts of procedings at the dewan RAKYAT and anal probes. Perhaps sometimes, ignorance is indeed bliss. I mean, seeing the people who run this country, it's a miracle we are still here. Forget the NEP and all the special rights, think about who you actually want running the country. Lesser of 2 evils, the lesser of 2 evil! No doubt there're corruption everywhere, but at least they're not blatant.

620. Star Struck: It's one of those weekends.....

......where the planets, moons and stars are again aligned and everything just falls into place. It starts off on Thursday afternoon where Yippie, Chong, Hooi & I decide to head down to KL for a getaway since Sat is a public holiday. Yippie wanted to check out a few cars he's thinking of getting so we all tagged along. Of course, the reason for me to make the trip was to actually meet Nikki's cousin. Chuang & Nikki invited me for a gala premier of her cousin's movie in Pavillion KL and said she'll even introduce me to her. I figured, sure, why not. Never been to a movie premier before. :) I thought her cousin was probably some extra in the show or something. Only later did I realise her cousin was actually Lin Chi-Ling and the movie is none other than Red Cliff, directed by John Woo! Long story short, the show was actually quite good, and having a drink with Chi-Ling after the show was awesome (with Chuang & Nikki & Yippie too of course).

She's a very friendly and easy going, not what I expected out of someone so famous. No diva attitude and very warm & polite. And to drive the point home, it was her brother's b'day, so she called and sang him a birthday song. Who would've thunk it? Never really care for actors or actresses, but I have to admit, I'm taken in by her personality. A check with Nikki confirms that it's all not a show but she's genuinely like that. Oh, smoked the shisha for the first time. Not significant, but it's a first, so worthy of mention. Anyway, it's very mild, for something that's so aromatic, I'd expect it to taste stronger.

The next day, it's lunch with Chuang, Nikki & family and Chuwy & family......as always, it's Woon Hong, party of 1. :) After lunch it's farewell and back to Penang. But before that we made a stop in Shah Alam to meet up with Tony (and also to oogle @ his new car). Then it's back to Penang. Upon reaching Penang we decided to have dinner and watch Hellboy II: The Golden Army @ QBM. The show was entertaining but just marginally so.

Lunch @ The Curve






Tony's new ride

On Sunday, went over to Perai Megamall with Yippie to buy the Sony Playstation 3. Was contemplating to get a Blu Ray disc player anyway, so figured that with the PS3 (which is cheaper than a Blu Ray disc player), I get a Blu Ray player and a gaming console too. There are many other reasons for the decision, but suffice to say that the PS3 is far better than XBox or Wii. Along with the console, bought 2 games, the Gran Turismo 5: prologue and also Time Crisis 4. These 2 will keep me occupied for a while. Seng & Wee also came over to join in the fun. Wee brought Ian as well. Haven't seen him in a week and my he has grown.

My new source of distraction

Wee trying to get Ian's attention with Optimus Prime; not working

619. New toys

After much consideration, decided I wanna get the Tamron 17-50SP lens for my camera. Hunting around & checking out a few places, the cheapest was to get it online, but finally managed to get a shop to better the price by RM30. But alas, the shop didn't have it in stock, so had to wait lil bit. While I was there, got few things. A 4GB high speed CF card, a camera backpack & a lens for potrait shots. There's nothing much to say about the 4GB CF card and the back pack, but the lens that I got, the Canon EF50mm f/1.8 II, is an excellent lens for potrait shots and it gives a very nice bokeh effect (although the review says it's not as nice as the ones with rounded aperture blades, I'm very happy with it). Can't wait till the Tamron arrives.

Click 'N' Snap, Komtar

4GB CF Card, lens filter, Canon EF50mm lens & my new backpack

After getting all the stuff, headed over to Spice Garden @ Rasa Sayang Hotel for their seafood buffet dinner with Darren, Evelyn and her family. This is the first time I'm there. I was very impressed with the spread. Fresh oysters, prawns and lobsters. Sushi, abalone, sharks fin soup and everything else you can imagine right down to chocolate fondue. I was stuffed.

@ Spice Garden, Rasa Sayang Hotel



Having fun with the new lens


Chillin out with Darren & Gang @ Sega, Gurney Plaza