350. Mariah Carey in Saudi Arabia

I received these pictures from a friend via my trusty email. Ok, study these photos of Mariah Carey's album cover on sale in Saudi Arabia against those that's being sold in the rest of the world. Btw, I'm not sure if these are real, my comments are based on the fact that I'm naive and assume all things that arrive in my email inbox are true.

I look at these photos and I feel it's insulting. OK, so this isn't nearly as insulting as the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but still, it's up there. I'm actually very surprised! outraged even! HOW COME THEY NEVER MAKE HER WEAR A TUDUNG! DAMN IT! I can still see her aurat. This is a blatant disregard for Islamic sensitivities.

I mean, if you're gonna cover up her arms and all, COVER HER HEAD TOO!
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My Random Thots:

After publishing this entry, suddenly I was locked out of my blog. Forbidden access it says when I tried to view my blog. I was thinking to myself perhaps my joke wasn't taken too kindly. Was relieved when I found out that it was just some problems with a server.......or was it?

349. Track day

Well, I've registered today for a drive on The Sepang F1 circuit come April 8th. :) The time to beat will be 1'34.223. This is the lap record set by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004 season of F1 Grand Prix. Of course I'm dreaming la, I'd be happy with a 3 minute lap. The track day is organized by HPC. This will be fun I reckon.

Was rather restless late in the evening, so decided to go for a drive. Seng got back home when I was on my way out, he wants to go for supper, so he came along for the drive. :) We ended up in Parma Coffee Shop along Burma Road for Bah Kut Teh. It was alright, but what was special was the fried liver & kidney. Wanted to stop by SBB to make payments, but despite the 24hrs signs, 2 of the Bank's branches (including their main branch) atm machines were "temporarily" out of service. Bah!

348. Windows Live Mail Beta

Today I received in my mailbox an invitation to join Windows Live Mail Beta. I guess it's Microsoft's answer to GMail (Better late than never i guess). Apparently it offers a faster email management and most importantly 2GB of storage space! 0.6GB short of GMail's 2.6GB, but it's a good start. GMail did start with 2GB too.

Had lunch at The View @ EQ. Haven't been there before, this is the first time and was very impressed with the place. The food was good. The strip loin steak I had was as soft and juicy (come to think of it, it's as juicy as the "Kobe" beef I had at Jurin. Hmmmmm, I wonder?) I'm addicted I tell you. I actually like the steak here better than the beef at Jurin coz of the portion.......not to mention the price. This is a quarter of the Kobe Beef price. On top of that, you get a semi buffet. All the appetizer, soup, OYSTERS and desserts you can eat. Man it was worth every penny.

Headed over to Megamall with Wee after work. He has to attend a funeral service for Raine's uncle. I hitched a ride home with a friend, but while at Perai Megamall, I bought 2 DVDs (Ultra Violet & Fun with Dick & Jane) and a book (The Myth of Laziness).

Once I got home, watched UltraViolet, nearing the end, Jack called for coffee at E-Gate. We stayed till about 12. When I got home, wasn't too sleepy, so decided to watch Fun with Dick and Jane. The movie is much better than UltraViolet. Ultraviolet is too exaggerated, it's like The Matrix x 10. Dick & Jane though, is very funny and I needed the laugh. I'll try to catch up with my sleep now.
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My Random Thots:

"Forgiveness is a tricky thing. Even God can't do it if you don't let Him."

A character from the TV show Alias said those words. Hmmmm, let's take a step back and ponder on that.

347. Back to the kandang

At least I was a bit excited to get back to work because my 17" LCD Phillips panel will be installed today. :D I can finally gain back the real estate lost to the huge footprint of my previous 17" CRT. Nice!

Bee Hong was in town today. She came in for work. She dropped by with a gift. Sabah Tea :) Grown naturally and pesticide free, it's an excellent source of flavonoids. Additional info on flavonoids.

346. Blur

Raine woke me up at 9 in the morning. Asks if I want to join them for Char Koay Teow in Air Itam. What the heck, since I'm already awake. Surprise surprise, the Char Koay Teow stall was closed. Then Wee remembered that the lady was involved in an accident. So we settled for Dim Sum next to the Char Koay Teow place.

Raine needed to buy get Char Koay Teow for her friend at EQ, so we stopped by a coffee shop down the road to "tarpau". While we waited for her, Wee & I got some coconut and sea coconut from a market vendor. The sea coconut was crap and the coconut also was nothing to shout about.

When we got home, the piggy & his bed unites. Will be looking forward to the season opening F1 race this evening.

Keng Meng was in town too. So Wee, Raine & I took him to the Batu Lanchang market for some makan. We dropped him off at Gurney Hotel. We headed over to Soho after he checked in his hotel. We watched the race there. It was a very exciting race. It seems like it's going to be a very open Grand Prix season this year. No particular team dominated this race. Alonso is 1st, while M.Schumacher is 2nd and Kimi is 3rd. I'm quite glad that Ferrari is finally making a comeback.

On the way back, we stopped by Green House for Hokkien Mee, but it wasn't open, so we went to the coffee shop next door. They had Hokkien Mee too and it's not too bad.

After we got home, headed over to Pantai Hospital to visit Yippie with Jack and Ann. We took him out for supper at a nearby mamak stall.

Got home and I'm feeling a bit beat.......I'm feeling a bit down.
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My Random Thots:

Well, decided that "The year of yes" is not for me. Que sera sera, that will be, will be. I prefer a well, placed precise shot from a sniper rifle rather than random bursts of M16s hoping for a hit, if you catch my drift. :) Incidently, paramount pictures has secured the screen rights to 'The Year of Yes: A Memoir'. Guess it would make for an interesting flick.

345. Formula 1

It's the start of the Formula 1 season. This time around there are several changes to the regulation. The qualifying format, engines & tire changes are the most significant changes. The details can be found at their OFFICIAL website.

My bros and I being arvid fans have organized a "party" at Restaurant 77, Gurney Drive. Just so that family & friends can get together and cheer on our fav teams. Wee will lead his McLaren fans while I try to gather force for Ferrari.

Ok, here's what happened, when we reached Restaurant 77 we discovered that although the large screen TV is still there, but they no longer have Astro. What that means is we don't get to watch the qualifyings live, instead, we get Doraemon. Bugger.

After dinner, disgruntled, we decided to go to Cubar to unwind. Much to our dismay, they no longer serve Guiness Draft. So they decided to head to Segafredo Gurney Plaza for their drinks. Fen, Raine and I decided to have crepes nearby. They're very famous. Problem, it's packed and Raine promised to take me there some other time as she didn't want to wait. So off we went to meet the rest at Segafredo. Trying to find a parking lot in Gurney plaza was an excercise in futility. It was a good 20mins before we got a spot, even then, we almost had to fight for it. Fortunately the other guy backed off.

Sega was rather empty and Wee surfed the net for the F1 results. It was a Ferrari 1,2. :) At last, Ferrari is competitive again.

More surprises were in store.

Segafredo was hosting the 2006 Red Zone tour. Basically they had 8 questions on F1 and the winner gets Ferrari merchandize. They gave our table 3 remote controls to key in our answers. This means that we have 3 entries in the competition. Turns out we bagged the top 3 prizes.

Dinner @ 77 sans the live qualifyings; The MC at Segafredo Gurney Plaza


The scoreboard showing the 3 of us at the top of the ranks


Wee & I showing off the teams we're rooting for; Raine collecting her prize

After 30mins, they have the 2nd round of the contest. Again, they handed out the remote controls and this time, we just took one. Raine gets to key in the answers, wouldn't you know it, we were champions again. In total, we won 6 Ferrari caps, 5 mugs and a couple of lighters. They were going to have the 3rd round of contest. So we decided to leave. It turned out to be quite a fruitful outing. Wee was of course disgusted at the amount of Ferrari merchandize we had accumulated. :) The fact that Kimi was last during qualifyings didn't help improve his mood. :D heh heh.

After Sega, we decided to drop by Jimbo's house to pass him his lights and fixtures for the his new house. We went in and his dad was seated in their living room looking rather down.

It turns out he had just attended the funeral of one of his partners at the firm. This guy is only 32 yrs old and is a saint. He doesn't smoke or drink and excercises regularly. But suddenly succumbs to a heart attack on his way to the hospital. The intriguing thing about this situation is that he was recently handling a case and the defendant had threatened him and a banker earlier. Now, the partner is dead and the banker is in a coma. This sounds just like a scene from a movie. We ended up discussing the supernatural and of course religion as well.

There were a lot of issues discussed and to cut it short. Basically, in all religion, their preacher must have inter faith sensitivity. There should be respect for ancestors (whatever labels you wanna put on the practice). Respect of parents and doing good in general. What's the point of calling yourself a holy man, yet you have a deceitful heart? It was a deep discussion and I've learnt many things today.

Bottom line, a man passed away yesterday. Jimbo's dad is obviously sad. It's heart warming to see how a man of his stature speaks so highly of his employee. The good man is survived by his parents and his girlfriend. Rest in peace.

I'll be sleeping late tonite, want to watch the repeat of the F1 qualifyings at 3am.

344. An interesting suggestion

Had a little chat with Lily earlier. She was telling me about this book called "The Year of Yes". Apparently it's a book about a girl who said yes to every date offer. She suggests that I should try that to make my life more interesting. Hmmmmm. I wonder.

This morning Yippie got admitted to the hospital after an asthma attack. Decide to visit him after work. It was a really busy day at work. When I arrive at the hospital, I was surprised the joker greeted me at the lift. He was really bored stuck in the hospital.

343. Perhaps love

Gosh, I'm turning into a couch potato. After work last nite, continued my DVD watching streak. This time it's "Perhaps Love". I almost turned off the TV because the beginning of the show was a tad boring. I told myself to give it another 20mins or so. If it doesn't pick up, then it's time to put in the next DVD.

Turned out that the show is actually pretty darn good once you get to the meat of it :P The way they integrated the show within the show (you'd have to watch it to know what I mean), I think it tastefully done and very artistic. I feel it's a blend of Phantom of the Opera and Moulin Rouge. The starts feels as though they're trying too hard, but it comes together well. A journey of a simple, sweet, innocent girl into the world of glitz and glamour. How with the fame and fortune, she joins the "dark side". Will she recover? Will she find true love?

After the movie, felt restless. Needed to get out of the house. Wee, Raine and Lorna is at Soho, so decided I shall join them. Edmund and Jo was there too. End up at Soup Kambing with Edmund and had a deep chat about life. *shrug* Oh well, come what may.

Well today, decided to go ahead and kill off another show after work. Third one is "Lord of War". The show is deep. Interesting show. Never thought about how & who sells them black market weapons. Nicholas Cage does a good job as always. Brilliant.

After the show, went to Chef & Brew, this time to celebrate Adrian's B'day. That pretty much concludes Thursday.

The Birthday Boy!

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My Random Thots:

2 words: forgiveness & repentance

Vengeance solves nothing. As the saying goes, to err is human, to forgive is divine. After seeing the actions of the lead actor in the movie, you'll see that forgiveness is much harder than vengeance, but then again, you all knew that already. :P

Found another bad thing about my Canon i-zoom. The bloody Macro mode is crap. It can't focus. All I get is blurry images. Very dissapointed.

342. Jarhead and a clean room

Just chilled at home last nite. Finally managed to watch Jarhead which I bought about 2 weeks back. I was trying to observe the US release date of this show on DVD. :) Yeah right. Just too busy actually. The DVD starts by reminding me that buying pirate DVDs is a crime. bla bla bla. I must say, I really liked the show. It shows reality of the marines fighting a war. But I reckon I really liked it coz I have this fantasy of being a sniper :P

After the show, I wasn't feeling sleepy so I decided to clean up my pigsty. I gotta say, I can finally see my floor again. :D
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My Random Thots:

I feel the need to inject some creativity into my blog. I feel I can do so much more.....but what should I start with? argh, the dilemma :(

341. Lai & Jack's B'day

In the morning, had a few problems with my car. The battery connectors weren't making good contact with the battery's positive pole. It seems that it's corroded and oxidized. So I had to go hunt for a replacement. It's surprising how hard it is to find the correct part. I've visited 5 shops before finally finding a close match. It'll have to do for now. It's embarrasing to be making a delivery and get stucked at the receiving store, blocking other delivery trucks coz my car can't crank. Can't have that happen again.

The oxidized connector; The new connector

Went back home and rested.

Had supper with Yippie, Jack, Adrian, Dennis & Wood at Chef & Brew. Wanted to celebrate Jack's b'day. Then Lai called to tell us he's celebrating his b'day in B'worth at Illusion. So off we went. I can't believe the amount of beer he ordered when we got there. The nite ended early at 1:30am.

99 beer bottles, hanging on the wall..........

340. BKT again

Woke up early again today for Bah Kut Teh. This time we went to Carnation Restaurant for proper BKT and not the clear soup wan. After that, it's off for a stroll by Gurney Drive.

The Carnation BKT Restaurant; The pork!


This old lamp post caught my attention


The ACA building; Ruyi reading her book

On the way back, we passed the Anti Corruption Agency's building. Makes me wonder, what do they do that they require such a huge & grand building. If it's space they want, half of KOMTAR is empty. Amanah, Tegas, Adil! Yeah, right! Sad, I decided to shift my camera to a more pleasant subject. Ruyi was an angel on the way back. Just minding her own business reading her book.

Got home and went back to sleep. Zzzzzzzzzz.

Woke up later in the afternoon at 3 for lunch. Then went back to sleep again. Yes yes, I'm a pig.

Woke up late in the evening and missed dinner. Wasn't hungry anyway. Started to do my work that's due tomorrow. Seng and Fen went to get supper and bought me economy noddle and "leng lui thong sui". Everybody ate together in Seng's room while watching the Man City Vs Sunderland match. Don't feel for either team, so the 2-1 score didn't move me.

It's gonna be a late nite as I still have a mountain of documents to clear.

*YAWN* it's abt 4am d. Finally managed to clear my work and email them out. Time to have a chat with the sandman. Zzzzzzzzzz

339. Where'd U Go?

Just watched Fort Minor's newest single, "Where'd u go" on MTV. Fort Minor is the solo project of Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park. You can read the Bio on the website & you can also listen to some of his songs at the website. "Where'd u go" is the first song (at least it's so when I access it) that'll play when u load the website. You can control which tracks thru the media player interface on the top right corner of his website (See the highlighted oval in picture below)


His songs have a very Linkin Park flava to it still. No complains there, loved their music! Still remember the trip with my bros to KL to watch Linkin Park's live concert. Great times. Sweet memories.

Fort Minor - Where'd You Go

Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.

She said "Some days I feel like shit,
Some days I wanna quit, and just be normal for a bit,"
I don't understand why you have to always be gone,
I get along but the trips always feel so long,
And, I find myself tryna stay by the phone,
'Cause your voice always helps me when I feel so alone,
But I feel like an idiot, workin' my day around the call,
But when I pick up I don't have much to say,
So, I want you to know it's a little f#@$!* up,
That I'm stuck here waitin', at times debatin',
Tellin' you that I've had it with you and your career,
Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"

I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone,
Please come back home...

You know the place where you used to live,
Used to barbeque up burgers and ribs,
Used to have a little party every Hallowe'en with candy by the pile,
But now, you only stop by every once in a while,
Shit, I find myself just fillin' my time,
Anything to keep the thought of you from my mind,
I'm doin' fine, I plan to keep it that way,
You can call me if you find you have somethin' to say,
And I'll tell you, I want you to know it's a little f#@$!* up,
That I'm stuck here waitin', at times debatin',
Tellin' you that I've had it with you and your career,
Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"

I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone,
Please come back home...

I want you to know it's a little f#@$!* up,
That I'm stuck here waitin', no longer debatin',
Tired of sittin' and hatin' and makin' these excuses,
For while you're not around, and feeling so useless,
It seems one thing has been true all along,
You don't really know what you got 'til it's gone,
I guess I've had it with you and your career,
When you come back I won't be here and you can sing it...

Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone,
Please come back home...
Please come back home...
Please come back home...
Please come back home...
Please come back home...

Finally my Hotmail email account has been upgraded to 250MB. This is after over a decade of having the account. Gosh and to think GMail gives out 1 Gb since day 1 and now I'm given 2.7Gb. Hotmail is definitely passe.

We had a training on telephone techniques and courtesies in our office today. The trainer charges RM2,600 for an 8 hr session. Man, she must be 1 rich woman.

Went to buy more presents as more people wanted to share. I'm on my way to getting a bulk purchase discount card d :D After looking around, decided to buy the play mat.

This be the play mat

Also went and bought a birthday cake for them b'day boys, Lai, Anthony, Jack & Adrian. Followed Jack & Ann over to Nicholas' house for his daughter's b'day party. I was a huge crowd. We arrived rather late, so there weren't too much food left. It was still alright.

The cake that Nicholas bought; The birthday girl

The cake that I bought; Lai, Adrian & Jack

Hiromi & Chong, Adrian after he buried his face in the cake

We stayed after everyone has left, to celebrate Lai, Jack and Adrian's b'day. Anthony is off-shore, so he can't join us. Chatted a while and then headed home to watch the Liverpool Vs Charlton match with my bros. Liverpool drew with Charlton nil-nil. The prediction was 3-0, what a dissapointment.

338. More shopping

After sorting out my work related stuff, on the way back to my office, decided to stop by the tire shop to get my tire fixed. I've been driving around using my spare tire for the past week. They actually cannot find the leak despite dunking the whole tire & rim in a tub of water. They concluded that it's too small a hole. Perhaps I should bring in back a few days later when it starts to deflate? Bottom line, replaced the spare back into my trunk and all at no cost since they couldn't find the leak. Fair enough ;)

It's Nicholas' daughter's 1st birthday tomorrow. So naturally had to go buy a present. Luckily I have practice with Chuwy's kids and my niece and nephew. So off I went to my favorite baby shop to look for the present. *shudder* Scary, I now have a favorite baby place. Who would've thought. Imagine, I actually went there so many times until the boss and bostress (female boss) can recognize me. While I was walking there, passed a handphone shop. Decided to try luck and see if they have a handphone pouch case that can fit my godzilla phone and also one for my camera. They actually do. Wow, I managed to do everything I set out to do today. :)

Tire repair = RM0.00
handphone pouch case = RM13.00
camera pouch case = RM13.00
Push car toy = RM50.00
Feeling of accomplishment = Priceless

:) heh heh heh, I think Mastercard did a splendid job with this ad campaign. You can't get it out of your head I tell u, and it's not because it's irritating. It's just memorable in a pleasant way.

My phone and camera cases; The push car toy

Wee took delivery of his new car today :) It's no BMW, but I tell you, it sure feels luxurious. It doesn't feel "floaty" like them continental cars and very comfy.

Wee's new car

After dinner at home and admiring the car, we took a drive to E-Gate where Seng & Fen is suppose to meet an insurance agent to buy insurance for Ruyi. Wee and Raine followed coz they wanted to hear the plan. As for me, I followed coz I kepo :) End up at Oasis. They normally have this girl that sings while playing the keyboard. Today, she's no where to be seen, in her place there's this guy and girl. My goodness. Just imagine, I prefered to listen to the insurance agent and his ranting rather than the pig slaughtering happening on stage. Gosh, out of tune is one thing, even their timing was out. We moved over next door to "3 Guys". They have Guiness Draft the same 2 + 1 promotion. Stayed there a bit chatting and surfing the net. They adjourned about 12:30ish.

Guess, my plan to sleep by midnite hasn't been very successful for the past week. I received a package in the mail for me. :) Haven't received packages for a long long time. It's a T-Shirt from Mag. She was recently in Kuching for a business trip and she bought me a souvenir. How sweet. It's in a color that I never had before.

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My Random Thots:

I used to have child phobia because I was confronted with so many "malfunctioning" kids. For example, in church we have kids running all over the place wrecking havoc while the parents just smile and pretend they're not their children. Then there are my relative's monsters. In most of my encounters with babies and children, they left a negative impression.

But since Chuwy's 2 babies and Ruyi, I am beginning to change my view. Perhaps it becoz they're adorable, perhaps it's me getting old, who cares. Nett result, I'm beginning to find it fun to play with them kids. :)

337. Build up to St Patrick's Day

2 + 1 promotion of Guiness Drafts at Soho. This promotion is in conjunction with St Patrick's Day celebrations. Wee woke me up at about 10ish and ask me if I wanna go to Soho for a drink. He was really enthusiastic about it, so I gave in. On the way out, Seng got home. So he got "dragged" to Soho too.

It was just chatting, pool and while they get their fill of Guiness, I had fun with my camera. The main focus was the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion across from Soho. Thot the blue heritage building would be a good subject. Found out a couple of years back that they actually rent out thier rooms. Must find a time to stay over there :) Think it'll also make an interesting wedding scenario. Perhaps wedding dinner at E&O but stay at CFT Mansion, hmmmmmmm.

From inside Soho; from the balcony

Tele shot of the CFT mansion

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My Random Thots:

Getting used the the Ixus i-zoom camera. I think the shutter lag is horrible, the video and audio is crappy, but the color and the clarity of the pix in low light conditions outweights the bad. So overall, I think this camera is alright. But what I really want is the Canon EOS 30D. That would be yummy.