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

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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?

409. Busy

Busy, but not because of work. Spent most of the day at a car bodykit shop to replace my side skirt which got damaged. Since I'm there, told them to install some cannards on my car just to pimp it up. Hehe. Just wanted to add something. Bored with the car's look d.

Anyway, after that went over to Green House for dinner with Chong, Ishiguro, Jack and Ann. Goodness, ever since Ishiguro arrived, we've been eating like pigs! Actually, I think Ishiguro is just an excuse. We eat like pigs anyway. Then after dinner, we head over to Haagen Daaz for some ice cream. Ran into Ana there with 2 guys. *Mental note: tease Ana about her 2 guy friends*

Got home and decided to stick the decal which I bought earlier today. My helmet (Which I painstakingly repainted as seen in this blog entry) was mysteriously scratched, so in order to hide the scars, I needed something hideous to draw the attention away from the scratches. The RiP sticker should be loud enough. :)

The cannard is highlighted; My RiP diversion

After getting home, chilled by watching football. France Vs Switzerland. They drew nil nil, I lost.

408. Monday......Bleh!

Spent the morning at my mech's place coz Jack wants to install his new bumper. We could install the bonnet ourselves, but we need the some tools at our mech's place in order to install the bumper.

Yippie mocking Jack's choice of bumpers; Jack celebrates after the installation of the new bumper

Met up with the guys at Flix to have dinner and watch the Japan Vs Australia match. Seng decided to join us at Flix. Japan lost.

407. Just another weekend

Friday (9th June)

Went over to see Antz at our mech's garage. While Antz is working on his car, Jack & I was horsing around the garage. We were playing with the hoist when Jack suddenly decided to hook up the chair to it and tried to pull himself up. I guess this will be his version of "Masuk bakul angkat sendiri". :)

After work, we went over to Soho to celebrate Wee's B'day and also watch the opening ceremony and the first game of the World Cup 2006. Lorna didn't have time to buy the cake and didn't inform me, I had to walk over to Segafredo and the rest of the restaurants along upper Penang road to see if they have cakes. Unfortunately all were sold out except for a few slices left at Segafredo. I decided to just get a slice of Tiramisu and make up for it with a proper cake later.

Wee's b'day slice

Wee's b'day drink courtesy of Soho

The celebrations was dwarfed by the fact that the first world cup game is on. Germany Vs Costa Rica. The game was very exciting to watch. The game ended with Germany leading 4-2.

After reaching home, I remembered that there's some durian left in the fridge. I haven't had that in ages, so decided to have a one slice, just one. I couldn't stop after the first one. Sigh, looks like the force is not strong in me. :P

Durians!!!!!!

Saturday (10th June)

Wee's birthday! But I received a gift from mom. She got me a new comforter & bed sheet set (I wonder why?). Wee has today planned so we are to leave him alone to his wife. That leaves me with time to hang out at One Stop & Gurney Plaza with the guys. Bought my first pair of "wat-I-call-girly-socks"! Then it's off to Gurney Plaza for tea at Winter Warmers. Then it's dinner at Yataimura. Haven't been there in a long time. Then the guys just came over to my place to chill. 'Twas a good evening.

My comforter set; My girly socks

JiaLi & Ann chillin @ Winter Warmers; I dunno why Yataimura has this piece of **** decorating their main entrance

Antz with his new hairstyle

Sunday (11th June)

Today started slow, watched the world cup till about 5 in the morning. Went to One Stop @ 4ish for "lunch" and to pick up a few DVDs. Bought The Pink Panther, Flight 93 & Spriggan. I'll write about them after I watch them. After that, it's off to Gurney plaza so that Ann can do her shopping while Jack & I chill at Winter Warmers.

We later head over to the Airport to send Hiromi off and to pick up Ishiguro. We decided to take Ishiguro to Super Tanker for dinner since he wants to eat hawker food. Then it's off to Flix to chill and watch more world cup. In the F1 scene, Alonso again finishes 1st with Michael 2nd & Kimi 3rd. Damn! Renault is really strong this season. Amazing the what they've achieved after getting strong technical people on their team.

Chong, Ishiguro & Lai; the Disco ball @ Flix

406. The Da Vinci Code

My colleague whom I covered for while she's went on vacation actually bought me some chocolates. Nice of her, but hope she realises that I have no say on her appraisal! :P

Finally, watched The Da Vinci Code. The show is up to expectations.There were minor deviations from Dan Brown's novel, but none that affected the storyline of course. The book has more details and I think my imagination is pretty wild coz I imagined some of the scenes very very differently :P The only thing about the book is there're no subtitles. I had to google the French words to get the meaning & trust me, it wasn't easy (try translating "vous n' etes pas americaine?", Maybe summers here is used as a term of endearment, kinda like sunshine? My guess). I personally preffered the book just because the explanations are more detailed and I don't have to guess what is going on in people's head :D I can read their thoughts! Pun intended!

Anyway, it was good, after the show went to Kayu for supper with Jack.

405. Transport Service

Went over to KB with Jack and Yew Peng to pick up Jack's new bonnet & bumper. We quickly brought it back to his house and begin installing it :) It's really a really nice bonnet! After fixing it, we were paid in Pizza. We over ordered and was stuffed to the brim. *Mental note: Jack cannot eat a lot of pizza!*

The bonnet we installed; The meal we earned

Chong came over later to see the installed bonnet and we chatted a bit before calling it a nite. :)

404. Waste Management

The flush lever on my throne broke over the weekend. So I had to get it fixed ASAP. Wee said he bought a replacement for his in Kun Hoe in Island Plaza for RM30. I got mine from Thye Huat for only RM3.50 :) I later had to swap out my office toilet's flush lever with the one I bought from Thye Huat coz it didn't fit my toilet's. The one in the office was a perfect fit. Oh well, 2nd hand better than nothing.

Almost wasted the RM3.50 as it didn't fit my home toilet

Also bought my monthly stash of junk food for my office. This time there's loads of variety including Tic Tacs which I haven't had in ages. :)

My goodies

After work met up with Jack, Ann, Antz & Jia Li at Haagen Daaz. Too bad they are closing d by the time I got there. So didn't get my Choc Choc Chip. We stayed a bit and then proceeded to Raffe for more drinks before calling it a nite.

403. Slow Sunday

Woke up early and had breakfast with Ling at Starbucks. Then Hiromi showed up. So she joined us. Basically just passing time while waited for Lai to come over.

Lai wanted to go over to Gurney Plaza by the time they came over, I was a bit lazy, so decided to just catch up on my sleep.

Will be having dinner with the guys, so have very little time to catch up on my sleep. Dinner with was excellent. We decided to have hawker food at New Lane. One of the reasons why I can't leave Penang. Stuffed myself silly.

Wee came back from China and when I got home, I found a Nike T-Shirt and shorts on my sofa. I assume they're from me :)

402. Super GT Show @ AutoCity

There's this big annual event at auto city where they have this autoshow to promote the Super GT race (f.k.a Japan GT). There are some really unbelievable cars on display. These are entries for the Super GT car look alike contest. First and foremost, I wonder why they call it Super GT look alike contest, because, every year, the cars that won looks nothing like a super GT car. I've attached a picture of the real Super GT car vs. all the wannabes. This contest should be called Gundam lookalike contest.

OK, I'm a big proponent of "To each their own!" (I'm a recent convert :D), but this is ridiculous. I can't imagine what went thru their minds when they decided to bring their car to a bodyshop and get them to transform their car into Voltron, the defender of the universe. Some of my friends thot the Batmobile was ugly/wierd and after showing them these pictures as comparison, they are silenced.

These people are lucky I don't run a body shop. I'd imagine my conversation with the potential client to be as follows:

Alledged Client: Eh! ah pek ah, lim pek ai lu make my car bodykit keat keat wan.(Sir, I'd like you to custom make a bodykit for me)

Me: How chiu (special) do you wan it to be?

Alledged Client: Nah, like this. The the wing hor, must be that tall (pointing to Komtar - the tallest building in Penang), and hor, the rear diffuser must at least touch the floor, if can go lower than that hor, even better ah. Then har, u must make an extra thing that stick out of the top of my car's roof like in this picture. (shows a picture of the famous japanese anime - Gundam).

Me: But sir, that design looks good on the intergalactic robot, but on your car, it may look a bit out of place, just a bit *snicker, snicker*

Alledged Client: Eh, &*$%#@!**#&! wa si customer hor, wa ai lu cho, lu just cho ok! Wa oo si lui ok! (Eh! How's your mother? I'm the customer, you just do as I say! I have lotsa money ok!

Me: But sir, if I follow the design you want, I'm afraid I'll ruin my reputation! No doubt it'll showcase my skills as a great artist......but I don't want to be known as an artist with bad taste.

Alledged Client: Still got hor, I wan you to make the brake light and signal light stick out about 1 ruler (1 foot) at the back of the car hor!

Me: Sir, did you not hear what I say? I cannot work on your car based on principle!

Alledged Client: Then hor, I wan the exhaust pipe hor, must also stick out 1 ruler length (1 foot) lor!

Me: *Finds a spoon*

Alledged Client: Then, I wan the disco lights......

Me: *Stab my heart with the spoon* (Even a slow and painful death by a spoon is better than having to listen to anymore of this guy's "creative" ideas.

Ferrari 355 & Ferrari 360

The REAL SUPER GT CAR (GTR-34) & Porsche GT3


The Gundam cars! Note none of them looks like the GT car it intends to immitate

More Gundam cars!

Hyundai's "gimmicky" scissor door car; Possibly the best effort at the lookalike contest

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today's THOT "borrowed" from www.mikeysfunnies.com
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Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

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401. Chong's Mom's B'day!

Work has been hectic these few days. Last nite I left office only at 9pm. But tonite, I have to leave slightly earlier so that I can go to Chong's place in KB to celebrate his mom's b'day. It's refreshing especially after a long stressful day at work to just sit and chill with the guys.

The birthday cake & flowers; Chong's mom is 2nd from the left


Chong & Hiromi @ the grill

400. X-Men III

Wee left for China today, which means his responsibility at work falls on my lap & to add to that, one of my colleague will be going on leave starting tomorrow for a week! So in the course of the next few days, I have to cover for 2 person and also make sure my customers are happy. This sounds like a job for Batman©.

After work, rushed to see X-Men III: The Final Stand with Anthony & Jia Li. It was an enjoyable show until their final showdown between The X-Men Vs The Brotherhood. The build up was good, but the ending was an anti climax, to me at least. I feel the fight scenes were corny, but then again, I guess they had to stay true to the comics. Funny, it didn't feel so corny when I was reading them comics. Perhaps time has taken it's toll on my mind. Overall it's still a good movie. If one stays long enough at the end credits, there were hints that Professor X isn't dead & Magneto's lost of powers are temporary. Perhaps Cyclops isn't dead too. Oh well, guess we'll have to wait for the 4th sequel to find out.

Popcorn bucket and drinks promotion from The Cinema