538. Pulau Redang Trip with the Lau Family

Had a blast there with the Lau Family. It was drama from the beginning as I left my camera behind. We had to turn around eventhough we were already on the mainland. Sigh, so damn paiseh. Driving there with only an hour sleep is a very very bad idea though :P Uncle Yat Por drove the first half and I struggled the rest of the journey.

Nothing much happened the first day, just lazing around and exploring the place.

On the ferry; Aunt Sally's bro (Don) with his kids (Auden, Nicholas & Sean)

Berjaya Redang Beach Resort

Nite time @ the resort

The 2nd day was island hopping and snorkelling day. It rained the nite before but was sunny in the afternoon. It's also the first time I get to try out my new camera & its underwater case. It worked well. Managed to get a few goofy shots. It's also my first time snorkelling around a wreck near the Marine Park. It was a cargo ship which ran aground during a storm back in the 70s.

On the way to snorkelling; Adriel

Curious fish; Me

Underwater Kung Fu; Sea Cucumber

The shipwreck off the Marine Park, a big ship it was

Finally, on the 3rd day, I get to go diving. Visibility was really good @ 20M. The best I've seen so far. Saw the usual clown fishes, rays, turtles, anemonies, sea sponges, but then there's the rare pipe fish, blue spotted ribbon tail ray, black tip shark & also the spiny devilfish. The 3rd & final dive there was bad. Visibility wasn't as good as the morning dives & the current was strong. Made a few new friends from the diving trip. Timo, Ivar, Vanessa, Charmaine & Kumiko.

Me; The elusive Pipe fish

Turtle; Guineafowl Puffer

Clown fishes; Blue Spotted Ribbon Tail Ray

Black Tip Shark; Spiny Devilfish

Day 4, it's time to leave, managed to squeeze in one last snorkelling session before we pack up & leave. On the way back, stopped by some fruit stalls near the Thai border. Bought mangoes, langsat & a wierd looking fruit called the salak. It tastes & smells funny too :P

At the jetty; Sigh, leaving paradise

The spiny Salak fruit; Freaky wheather on the way back

Alas, it's back to my kandang. Speaking of which, good thing we didn't hit any cows, dears & elephants. I kid u not, there were road signs that says, cow crossing ahead, dear crossing ahead & YES! Even elephant crossing ahead.

537. Fantastic 4

Went over to Queensbay with Yippie & Ann to watch Fantastic 4 : Rise of the Silver Surfer. Sigh, I can only say the show is rather corny, the first one was a lot better. Initially was suppose to watch Oceans Thirteen, but thanks to Yippie, we couldn't make it coz the last show was at 2010hrs.

Excited about the weekend trip to Redang still :D

536. It's Here!!!!

My underwater case arrived today! 4 days ahead of the promised date. Amazing, the benefits of dealing directly with the boss. :) Headed to their head office in Belissa row to collect the case. After getting the case, hung out at Lecka Lecka with James & Darren. While there, they served me beer in what I thot was a defective mug. I later found out that it was intentionally design to look like it'll tip over and if it did, it won't break (the customer, however, would have to buy more beer, brilliant!) as it's not made of glass.

Later met up with Yippie & gang @ Gurney Plaza for dinner @ Chillis. Unlike Bob, I didn't run into the problem of them not sitting us becoz our party was incomplete. Maybe coz it's not packed. Anyway, the food was crap! The best thing on my NY Strip was the mash potatoes. I was dissapointed. I liked the Chillis in KL.

After dinner, it's off to Soho to meet up with Wee, How & Lou for a nite cap.

When I got home, I tried out the underwater case in my wash basin. The seal was good and it didn't leak. Managed to take my first underwater shot with the 850IS. Happy with the results, can't wait to try it out in Redang over this weekend. :) Yeehar!

My first underwater shot using the 850IS enclosed in WP-DC9

535. Baby I love your way

After all these years, who would've thot I'd remember and find this video! :) Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you Mig Ayesa, rendering Baby I love your way! :)

534. Happy B'day to Wee!

We had a surprise b'day party @ Audees. Lately we've been going there a lot :) I kinda like the place. The music needs to tone down though. It's suppose to be a Jazz bar, but except for the first nite we were there, it's more like a karaoke bar! They even sing Thai songs for crying out loud!

Anyway, we all had to sneak upstair using the side emergency staircase so that Wee cannot see us since they're having dinner downstairs. We found out later that Wee actually wanted to go Soho, but Raine had to cook up some story about how she wants to play pool before they go. Surprise!!!!!!!!

Think Raine had a bit too much to drink coz she requested the song Ikhlas tapi jauh, but when the singer said he didn't know how to sing, Raine took the mic! :) I shit you not! It was pretty funny. By the end of the evening, the lead singer must've warmed up to us, he came to our table (ours is the farthest away, but then again, there weren't many ppl there) almost every song and even dragged Lorna, Fen & Lou to the stage to dance with him. Oh! I forgot to mention about this lady who the band called on to sing. She was horrible! I hope she was having a sorethroat. Her voice was really, really bad & her dress wasn't flattering either *puke*

After the party, we went over to Parma for Bah Kut Teh & their famous fried liver & kidney. Yum yum!

My family; The gang

The guys; My bros & I

Raine singing with the band; Raine's fan club (note Raine & not Rain)

Wee & Raine; Doing the Tango (look at Wee's serious face!)

The singer @ Audees & his groupies

On Sunday, we went over to Queensbay for lunch at Dragon-i. The que is ridiculous, we had to wait abt 45mins for our table. The good thing is, we can wonder around and they'll call us on the mobile when our table is ready.

While roaming around Queensbay, stumbled on the camera fair. It's the same guy that I previously bought my 400D from. Told him my dilemma of wanting to get a camera that I can use for my diving trips since they don't have the underwater casing for my i-zoom & I'm not gonna bring my 400D underwater :P So, finally, they gave me a deal on the 850IS & the underwater casing. Fresh from the frustration of not being able to focus and take sharp pictures at Wee's b'day gig @ Audees, I went ahead and got the 850IS with the underwater case (it's on back order, hopefully I can get it before my Redang trip) & extra batt. He threw in the 2GB card, tripod, leather case, a Canon bag & also coupons for 800 free prints. I bought a 430EX speedlite too, so now, with the external flash, the 400D is complete. When we all got home, the kids came to my room to mess it up. I realised that my room isn't kid friendly, guess they'll have to stay out until it is.........which is never :P

Today's bounty; the kids going wild in my room!

After playing with my cam, it's time to go over to How's place for another party to celebrate Wee's & Adriana's (Mo's daughter) b'day. It was a nice quiet nite, which is good, since last nite was crazy :P Halfway thru the evening, the ladies brought out their scale. This is a fancy scale which calculates your BMI and all. :P I'm borderline case obese @ 23.4.

How's welcome sign

Adriana cutting her cake; Mo & the ladies

Jul showing off her coc, i mean, cork collection; Wine in a can! What the!?!?!

533. SHREK the 3rd

Went to town with Yippie to get tickets for Shrek and also shop around abit for a phone & glasses. After looking @ some phones, we went over FOS coz Yippie needed to get some #!@*@%. While in the store, I saw a pair of pants which i might need for work and also a belt. Now about the belt, I thot it was unique & Yippie said it was nice & suggested dat I shud get it. After I bought it, Yippie started laughing. Only then did I realised dat he didn't think it was nice! The bastard! Also at Jo's persuasion, I bought a pair of headset. It's comfortable and sounded nice.

My new belt (Yippie's choice :P); Today's bounty

Anyway, Ann joined us after she got off work. So thanks to the both of them, I got me perscription glasses. I was very impressed with the service. My glasses were ready in 15mins! While waiting, spotted a pair of retro sunglasses, and after the approval of Yippie and Ann, I decided to get that too (I suspect dat they said yes, just so we can leave the shop).

Me new glasses; Me new retro sunglasses

We rushed over to GSC for Shrek the 3rd. Overall, I gotta say, it was a very entertaining movie. Laughed my ass off. I'd watch it again. Anybody? :)