422. Another fun filled weekend

29th July - Sat

It's Chuwy's b'day! So we're off to celebrate it at Evergreen. But first, I have to get his b'day present. Bought some Christian CDs from Salvation. Haven't walked into that shop in ages. Decided to buy a VCD for Sean and Sophia as well. Also bought a few DVDs. Then it's off to MPH Gurney Plaza to get my Japanese for Dummies. Ran into Mook San and Lee Choo as well as Chuang and Niki. Guess everyone is on last minute shopping. :) After that, it's off to Evergreen Laurel Hotel. The dinner and celebrations were delightful. After that, it's off to KB for tuning.

The dummies boxed set which I bought; Sophia is such a sweet heart


The b'day boy and his lovely family


Before & After the buffet (Note my tummy)

30th July - Sun

Woke up and had breakfast with Chong, Ando San and Jack. Finally had my Subway! After that it's off to Kuala Kedah Jetty to pick up Yippie and Tomoko. Tomoko was sea sick on the way from Penang to Langkawi, so Yippie figured the trip to Kuala Kedah was shorter. The wheather wasn't on their side, it was pouring so the sea was rougher than normal. We stopped by KB for wan tan mee before heading back to Penang.

The view from the Kuala Kedah Jetty while waiting for Yippie

31st July - Mon

It's Chong's b'day, after we're done at the workshop, we headed to Golden BBQ steamboat to celebrate Chong's b'day. After stuffing ourselves silly, we head to Grand Bay to complete the celebrations. Oh, Chuwy threw in his resignation letter and will be heading to greener pastures.

Jack & Chong tossing the ball around while waiting for the cars to be ready


Shots taken while at the workshop; Our workshop's boss' son


Chong showing off his b'day cake

2nd Aug - Wednesday

Ando san will be leaving this evening. So met Chong and him for lunch at May Fong for their infamous Chicken Koay Teow, then sent him to Midlands for him to shop for DVDs while I get back to work. After work, Yippie and I went back to One Stop to pick him up. While waiting for him, Yippie sent his car for a wash while I shopped for shoes. Got myself a pair after seeing it on sale. I was gonna hang on to my previous shoe and shop for a proper one later, but a recent baseball accident ripped my shoes. So can't postpone the purchase any longer. Dinner was with the guys at Sriwan @ Crystal Point before sending Ando San to the airport.

After that it's off to Chong's house to "freshen" up before we head to Flix for their beach party!!! I was a tad overdressed though. Ran into Raine and her gang there. Ana and Prakash decided to join us at Flix for a while, while the rest went back.

My new shoe; Flix beach party


Chong & I (the sunglasses is so that I blend in); Felicia & I (Me trying hard to blend in with the beach wear theme)

421. Subway is in town!

Ando San's back, he arrived on Wednesday evening. Basically it's back to juggling work and taking him around. Though this time, I'm more of a spectator than anything. My Japanese has improved slightly with single words and no sentences yet. Still can't catch most of their conversation but can make out the gist of it when I hear some key words. It has improved things a bit. I can now at least make out if it's a positive or negative statement.

Sent him back to the hotel after dinner last nite and since we had some time on our hands, we decided to play around with the camera again. :)

Subway will officially open their E-Gate branch today! Their Grand opening would be announced later (probably end of August). Now that that wish has come true, time to start wishing for Burger King to open up a branch in Penang too. Yummy!

420. D'oh!

Sunday - 23rd July
Was woken up by Chong's call. Still blur, we headed to One Stop. While we're there he went over to Adventist Hospital to visit his uncle while I try to find a decent pair of shoes. After getting our DVDs (and no shoes), while on the way out, Chong spotted Time Crisis 4. We spent some time playing that. After we ran out of money, we left and headed over to his KB home to work on our cars and also to chill. And that's how we wasted a perfectly good sunday.

Time Crisis 4, very interesting with multiple screens and also helicopter chase modes

Monday - 24th July
Had a crappy day at work. Had some customer issues which was a bit frustrating because we've been working at it for a while now. Thinking we can close the deal, last minute, another issue comes up. Crap! Anyway, was frustrated, so left the office and thinking can take a nap when I get home. On the way back, a friend called to tell me there's a very very bad jam on the bridge. So decided to wait for it to clear at Auto City. Told Wee and Seng, so we met up at McDs for dinner. After dinner, the jam hasn't cleared yet, so they decided to go over to a pub across the street called Highway Star. Then Edmund showed up with a colleague. After that another friend shows up. Then Ed's boss came & then more colleagues. Gee, it's turning into a party. Was there till 10:30pm and I decided to leave first. Headed over to Kayu to meet up with Jack. Just found out earlier today that will be going to KL with Wee tomorrow. So guess better try to sleep earlier.

Tuesday - 25th July
Went into office earlier today because had to head down to PWTC, KL by 2pm for an exhibition. Just found out last nite that we're suppose go to for it. Sigh, but this last minute thingy is a welcome change from the work issues I encountered yesterday. Needed the break, besides, I need to pass my old charger to Harvey Norman for them to process my claim on the Treo 600. Apparently, they're gonna gimme a new, old Treo 600. Sigh. Would've been great if they can gimme a Treo 650 instead. Oh well, better than nothing.

While we're at Ikano Power Center, we took it easy and just chilled a bit there. It feels kinda wierd to be in a shopping center during office hours and just chill with no anxiety. Lovely.

Once back in Penang, meet up with the guys for coffee at E-gate and later over to Kayu for supper.

___________________________

My Random Thots:

While blogging, heard this song, One Last Cry by Brian Mcknight, on Channel V. Simple and nice. Sad, yet sweet. I just love acoustic songs. Then they played another one of my favs, Used to love U by John Legend, u can listen to it from the link in my blog entry back in Feb. Then VJ Paula explained that the show is Top 10 Break up songs. Interesting. Subsequently, after the show, they played another good song, Unfaithful by Rihanna.

Brian McKnight - One Last Cry

My shattered dreams and broken heart
Are mending on the shelf
I saw you holding hands, standing close to someone else
Now I sit all alone wishing all my feeling was gone
I gave my best to you, nothing for me to do
But have one last cry

Chorus:
One last cry, before I leave it all behind
I've gotta put you outta my mind this time
Stop living a lie
I guess Im down to my last cry

Cry......

I was here, you were there
Guess we never could agree
While the sun shines on you
I need some love to rain on me
Still I sit all alone, wishing all my feeling was gone
Gotta get over you, nothing for me to do
But have one last cry

Chorus:
One last cry, before I leave it all behind
I've gotta put you outta my mind this time
Stop living a lie
I know I gotta be strong
Cause round me life goes on and on and on
And on.....

I'm gonna dry my eyes
Right after I had my
One last cry

Chorus:
One last cry, before I leave it all behind
Ive gotta put you outta my mind for the very last time
Been living a lie
I guess I'm down
I guess I'm down
I guess I'm down...
To my last cry...

Unfaithful by Rihanna

[Intro:]
Story of my life
Searching for the right
But it keeps avoiding me
Sorrow in my soul
Cause it seems that wrong
Really loves my company
[Verse 1:]
He's more than a man
And this is more than love
The reason that the sky is blue
The clouds are rolling in
Because I'm gone again
To him I just can't be true

[Bridge:]
And I know that he knows I'm unfaithful
And it kills him inside
To know that I am happy with some other guy
I can see him dyin'

[Chorus:]
I don't wanna do this anymore
I don't wanna be the reason why
Everytime I walk out the door
I see him die a little more inside
I don't wanna hurt him anymore
I don't wanna take away his life
I don't wanna be.... a murderer

[Verse 2:]
I feel it in the air
As I'm doin my hair
Preparing for another date
A kiss upon my cheek
As he reluctantly
Asks if I'm gonna be out late
I say I won't be long
Just hangin' with the girls
A lie I didn't have to tell
Because we both know
Where I'm about to go
And we know it very well

[Bridge:]
Cause I know that he knows I'm unfaithful
And it kills him inside
To know that I'm happy with some other guy
I can see him dyin'

[Chorus:]
I don't wanna do this anymore
I don't wanna be the reason why
Everytime I walk out the door
I see him die a little more inside
I don't wanna hurt him anymore
I don't wanna take away his life
I don't wanna be.... a murderer

[Breakdown - Verse 3:]
Our love... his trust
I might as well take a gun
And put it to his head
Get it over with
I don't wanna do this... anymore

Oooohhh... anymore

[Chorus:]
I don't wanna do this anymore
I don't wanna be the reason why
And everytime I walk out the door
I see him die a little more inside
And I don't wanna hurt him anymore
I don't wanna take away his life
I don't wanna be.... a murderer

...a murderer
No no no
yeah yeah yeah

419. Friendster

Finally decided I'll play around with Friendster at Mei's invite and see if there's anything new or if I can make new friends. Set up a Multiply account time back and was surprised when I actually managed to make some new friends. We'll see how I do with friendster. :D So those of you who has an account, do drop by and say hi.

418. Blink an eye and a week flies by

So what have I accomplished this week? Beginning of the week, Ishiguro San and Takeshi san flew in and will be staying for a few days. They're Chong's friends but fun to hang around with. I think I really have to start to pick up at least some basic Japanese. I'll start with the Japanese for Dummies. Downloaded the book, but it's missing the audio CD.

Anyway, Ando san will be back next week, I wonder if I can get the basics down. We'll see next week.

Beauty pageant @ FLIX; Chong, Takeshi & Ishuguro @ the airport

Nothing much happened except we went to Flix on Tuesday evening for the Miss Malaysia Chinatown International 2006. Ishiguro and Takeshi left on Wednesday evening. Spent Thursday and Friday just chilling. Had some issues at work, so was pretty stressed up too.

Bee Hong's darling

Was pleasantly surprised when I received an email from Bee Hong with a pic of her darling. Gosh, I just realised how late I am in this game. Most of my peers are married and have kids d. Whew! I guess I really dodged the bullet there. Anyway, I have yet to claim my diving trip to KK from her. Guess I'll wait until she's more mobile. Gee, that could take years.

417. Juggling work and play!

More play than work of course. Basically with Ando san and Mori san around, it's been busy rushing all over the place and the only time i have left, is spent sleeping (even then it's very little). Therefore has been behind in blogging.

This has been a rather relaxed trip for Ando san. Basically there's few cars to work on and more time is spent just chillin than his previous trips. Some of the highlights includes taking them to Kek Lok Si temple and also our trip to Hatyai. :)

We took them to Kek Lok Si temple on the 8th, was pleasantly surprised it wasn't crowded as it was a public holiday for Penang. Zakri & Tony showed up later in the afternoon. Tony's gonna be our official SS.Crazy Hatyai Tour guide tomorrow. :)

The current state; What it'll look like when completed


The columns are fabricated in China and shipped here


The garden where the columns are stored


Ando san, Chong san & Mori san; The dragon chasing the rabbit

9th July
Looking forward to this Hatyai as it's been a while since I had a break. Our plan is to drive to Tony's house in Chang Lun and leave our cars there. Then take a cab across the border from there.

Us posing at Tony's house; Chong, myself & Tsuiki on the way to the border


Border checkpoint Malaysian side; Headed to the Thai side of the border

We reached Hatyai late in the afternoon. Checked into our hotel. Was pleasantly surprised that it's a pretty decent hotel (The Novotel in Penang isn't really nice). We decided to grab a quick makan at McDs (the samurai pork burger was really delicious) across the road before heading out for massage and shopping. The world cup finals is on tonite as well between France and Italy, so Tony reserved us a spot at a local pub/club to watch it.

Us waiting at the hotel lobby for our rooms

We had dinner at Chongkhao Seafood. I think the food is so so only, but it's cheap, so can't complain. After dinner, it's off to watch the world cup and have a couple of drinks. After that, had supper by the roadside infront of the hotel.

In the tut tut, on the way to dinner


Chongkhao Seafood; After the meal

10th July
We wandered around town a bit after checking out of our hotel. Decided to grab a makan at on of the local shops. Had their version of Bah Kut Teh which I think had too much pepper in it. The Wan Tan Mee also isn't that good. I can't believe people actually tell me the food in Hatyai is cheap and good. :P Maybe Tony took us to all the wrong places.

On the way to our rendevouz point with the van, Tony stopped and freed some birds. Apparently, for 170Baht, you can buy the freedom of a cage of birds. I think the more we pay to "free" the birds, the more it'll encourage them to catch them birds. It's a vicious cycle. U know what, I think i'm gonna move to Hatyai, sit by the road side and charge people 100 Baht to free pigeons (They're cuter). I'll train them pigeons to fly back home. Next day, it's back into the cage. Easy money.

"Free the bird" vendors; A shot of our hotel


Tony staking out the Central shopping center; His view

The rest of the trip back was pretty mundane as I contemplate having to go back into my kandang (cage) tomorrow.

A very big dog & cat at Tony's house after the trip

11th July
Ando san and Mori san will be leaving tonite while Tsuiki will only leave tomorrow evening. Ando san will probably be back again in 2 weeks time. He has some unfinished business.

Watching these people build engines has been an enlightening experience. I am still a bit frustrated that we have communication problems. It would've been perfect if I learnt Japanese while I was in the States. Darn.

Jack struggling with Tsuiki; Mori san & Ando san saying their goodbyes

12th July
Tsuiki is leaving tonite and Yippie will be a happy boy today as Tomoko is arriving :) After dropping Tsuiki off at the airport, it's off to Chef & Brew to meet up with Andrew, CP & Khai.

416. The week in brief

Basically the past week has been really busy. Our Singapore counterparts came for a visit and we had to take them to Ipoh for a customer visit; Our ERP consultants came up and we had our "gap fit" meetings; Celebrated Jia Li's b'day; visited Lee Choo at her confinement home together with Chuwy, Janet, Sophia, Sean & Dawn; Had to fit my new seat rails; Had a gecko commit suicide on my fan; rescued a cute bird that got itself trapped in my toilet and also Ando San flew in, this time he's back with Mori San. Mori San is a rotary engine expert that had previously worked with Mazda and Mazdaspeed. :) Kinky.

Not forgetting England, Argentina and Brazil is out of the world cup. Michael Schumacher won the US Grand Prix with Felipe Massa finishing 2nd making a Ferrari 1,2. Only 9 cars completed the US grand prix, 3 cars more than last year's fiasco of a race!

And today will be the start of another busy week. I love it when time passes by so fast :)

My seat rails; My seat that's missing a rail


LC with Sophia & Sean; The lizard that decided to commit suicide after having a good look at me :D


Little birdie got lost; Mori San and Ando San at Kapitan's in town

415. Tough weekend

Hung out pretty much the whole of yesterday with Jack & Yew Peng. After lunch, Jack decided that he wanted to get a notebook. So off we go to Gurney Plaza's Sony store. He bought the VGN-FE28GP. Nice. Too big for my liking but, he likes it big :) a beautiful notebook, while I was there, I was again tempted by the VGN-TX27GP/B. Sigh. Looks like I have to excercise patience & self control.

After Gurney, I'm off to Dan's place for a few rounds of Texas Hold'em and to catch the world cup. But before the game starts, with motor trader mag in my hand, I went across the street to Kapitan's for some tandoori chicken. To my surprise, met Azelia and family there. Looks like I don't have to eat alone after all. :)

The games didn't go well at all. Sigh. Not my nite.

Today had a very interesting lunch. Hmmmm, a life changing experience perhaps. :P Then it's off for tea with the usual gang.

Having dinner with some old buddies. Chuwy and family was there too. It was nice to see them after so long. Had a good time catching up. Sophia and Sean was a joy to watch.

Then 1￥ decided to watch the England match over at my place. Time to sleep. It'll be a long day tomorrow.

414. Blur week again

Gee, finally have some time to pen some thots. The week went by so fast as there're so many things to sort out. Have to get ready for my trip to Ipoh with my S'pore counterparts to sell ourselves :P

Through out the week basically did the usual crazy stuff like watching football at Chong's place since his wife is back in Japan d.

Also my notebook's battery pack is finally here! Now I can survive Starbucks without having to bring my charger and looking for a power point all the time. My notebook can truly be portable again! :)

My new battery pack; Kinky Ann


Whoa! She's really into this role playing thingy eh; Yes we'll behave Officer Chong, u dun have to show us your gun

Yesterday was Ann's b'day, so we celebrated last nite at Coffee Bean. I gave Ann her present. Something for her to play with Jack. I figured they won't be able to guess what it was. But damn it! I'm shallower than I thot! They got it right with the first guess. Sigh. Got them a handcuff for them to go crazy with. Heh heh.

While we were there, surprisingly ran into Mei Yi. She's back from S'pore for holidays till August.

413. New stuff to do

Trying to pick up new skills :) Learnt how to spray and get proper coatings on my helmet, now learning to patch up scratches and dents with cellulose fillers and see how it turns out. If it turns out well, time to work on the car ;)

Been a busy day, so decided instead of going back to office, just have an early dinner (or rather my first meal of the day) with Yippie & Jack. Had nasi lemak at Sungai Ara. Cheap and good.

After that it was dinner (yes again!) with Jack and Ann at Bee Hooi. I love Penang! These hawker stalls are awesome!

My helmet, puttyfilla & flat black paint

__________________________

My Random Thots:

I was watching "Scrubs - Season 2 episode 18 - My T.C.W." on Astro. It was funny.

J.D.'s Narration stuck in my head.

J.D.'s Narration: I don't think people are meant to be by themselves.
J.D.'s Narration: That's why, if you actually find someone you care about...
J.D.'s Narration: ...it's important to let go of the little things.
J.D.'s Narration: ...Even if you can't let go all the way.
J.D.'s Narration: Because nothing sucks more than feeling all alone...no matter how many people are around.

A draft of the episode's transcript is available here!

I used to have a fear of being alone, well, I still am afraid. But, after going thru some experiences in my life, I've learnt to be comfortable with myself. Tried things like going to cafes by myself just to read my book. Heh heh. Gotta admit, it was wierd and I won't be doing that again anytime soon. It was however, an eye opening experience. It wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be.

412. Father's Day

Woken up by Chong and we're off to One stop to get DVDs & CDs. Got myself some games while Chong bought a bunch of DVDs. After taking our lunch then it's off to Starbucks at E-Gate for tea and more shopping for essentials over at Tesco.

Then it's back home for father's day dinner. Mom prepared steamboat. It was the usual gathering and catching up. Seng opened a bottle of a year 82 wine, supposedly the best year of wine. As usual, I didn't want them to waste it on me. :P

After that met Chong, Jack & Ann at E-Gate again after they finished their dinner, we headed to Chong's apt to watch the Brazil Vs Australia match. Another full day!

411. Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift

After work, dropped off my car to get the clutch pump changed. We adjourned for dinner at Inniras and the off to BJC for Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift. Forget the story line, the stunts, cars and girls are a sight to behold. Yum yum. I liked the show for the fun factor. My fav character was Han (Sung Kang) although he's not the "hero" of the show.

410. Soho again

Well, it's time to hit Soho again. Mom has some guess over our place, so she's not cooking tonite. Looks like we have to hunt for our own food and then drinks :D

The 3 of us decided to eat at Tmn Pekaka and then head to Soho to chill. The Intel gang is already at Soho, so we'll have plenty of company. The main event will be the match between Netherlands & Ivory Coast. NED wins 2 to 1. It's all good. There were a lot of NED supporters at Soho, including 1 wearing a stupid hat & Elton glasses.

Took a pic of Wee & Isaac playing earlier in the evening :) Can't u see the resemblence?