Posts

Singapore Business I: Family Affairs

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Jazz in Transformers Swiped from Quang Minh (YILKA) . The last time I met KH was during CNY . In those long months, we merely communicated via SMS and phone calls. Sometimes an e-mail or two. And the even rarer but meaningful surprise greeting cards in the mail. In those long months, we missed each others' physical presence immensely. Whatever snuggling, cuddling, hugging and kissing had to be done via abstract means that although serves the purpose, but it onviously doesn't quite cut it. To connect, one had be there in person. Hence, to avoid exhaustion in the relationship, I visited KH during a weekend in June. We were both extremely busy ( with uncertainties in my work schedule, my sister's delivery due date, KH's exam and work ), but we both welcomed the reunion. Things were much easier this time round as KH had already moved in to stay with Jaded Jeremy. No more yappy dog and weirdness around KH's ex-landlord's family. We got to be ourselves. The

Nikko

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collageNikko Swiped from williamnyk . Another one bites the dust. My colleague of three years has finally thrown in the towel. In exchange for the departure of an experienced colleague, I was recently given two newbies fresh from colleage. People at the office say that one of 'em looks like me and the other looks like my peer in Jakarta. Though I am all for teaching and guiding, but I it depends on the situation. If the pace of things are relaxed, I do not mind it, but if things are hectic, my patience grows very thin. So far, they're both infuriating in their own ways ( one knows not what he is programming and the other brings out his employment contract to question my accuracy when I tell him about company policy ), but they do have their uses. Better than nothing, that's what I always say. The next generation of cheap labour. Oh well, that's how I started out anyway. In break of all tradition, the farewell dinner for my colleague was done at Nikko Hotel! Th

Tower of Babel

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Tower of Babel Swiped from Lawrence OP . Read Saturday's The Star and you'll see an article about the "towering achievement" of the Shian Yang 219th Kinta scouts troop. Basically, they spent MYR40,000 to build a 40.26m tall tower made of 5,000 pieces of mangrove wood and 300kg of rope. That "motivational and inspirational" white elephant earned them an entry in the Malaysian Book of Records. Whoopeeeeeee! I'm not sure whether I'll earn the ire of the scouts or anything, but I find the structure a real waste of money. And the mangrove trees that were sacrificed to "commemorate the 100th anniversary of the World Scout Movement"-- apalling. It would have been more meaningful if they had built a bridge that would have served some sort of purpose for the community rather than just some grandiose structure to stroke egos. And you know what? This is their 19th attempt. Well done!

Sweeney Todd

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Sweeney Swiped from williamnyk . I'm due to have an appointment with my hairstylist. My hair is already to thick to style with the mud I have. It all just flops down. Might have to resort to adhesive or high-voltage shocks to bring "life" to my hair if things continue to drag on. The reason for this delay is because my stylist is no longer with Snips. He has spread his wings, becoming his own boss. Apparently, his new salon is still under renovation. He assures me by the latest mid-June. There better be an opening discount. Since I'm on the subject of hairstylists, I just recently watched Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street . Come to think of it, I have not seen a single haircut in the movie. Oh well. I found the movie quite enjoyable really. Nice twists. The singing was fun, not too long-drawn. Helena Bonham Carter looked great with her smoky eyes and wild hair. And the same pallid complexion for Johnny Depp. So Edward Scissorshands. So Sleepy Hollow.

Back in Business

After numerous late night discussions and heated negotiations, several lucrative deals have been closed. KH Pte Limited will remain as the sole distributor of Nyk Feelings in Singapore and Nyk Sdn Bhd will continue to source a steady supply of Love for KH Pte Limiteds manufacturing meds. The MoU signing was witnessed by Dato Jaded Jeremy. Operations shall resume tomorrow. Thank you for your patience.

Closed Shop

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Closed shop Swiped from ArminBxl . This blog will not be operational from this Friday till next Monday. The owner will be down in Singapore transacting important business deals with his sole strategic partner . All inquiries will be attended to after negotiations are complete and details finalised. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Advertise Me

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5th Series PLKN Swiped from Anan Amri . It's been ages since I complained about annoying advertisements , but that doesn't mean they don't exist. The top in my list right now is Maxis' Activ Ten radio advert. Ten, Ten, Ten, Ten, Ten, I got Activ 10. Ten, Ten, Ten, Ten... Stupid lyrics. Annoying voice talent. Interspersed with idiotic tribal chants. A real keeper. Have you guys been watching the prime time news lately? Keep your eyes peeled during Buletin Utama and you might just catch the promotional advertisement for the National Service. It seems that portraying the NS like a musical is supposed to make it look important. Kids with dumb expressions and exaggerated gestures. Dancing with brooms and marching like they have fire ants down their pants. I'm sure the NS will be taken seriously now. I'm sold.

Mighty Joe Young

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Kal-Kool THE MAN... =P ... Swiped from nascity . Finally met Joe, the self-proclaimed President of My Di Association . He had finished his exams and flew in from KK for a short visit. I ffk him the first time due to unforeseen problems at work, but as luck would have it, I managed to see him before he went back to continue studying. With SK and Apollo with me, we met him and Pikey at OKR, our usual haunt for steamed fish head and BKT. Unfortunately, during that visit, the fish head was too big ( flesh not smooth lo ) and the BKT soup too salty. I must say that he looks a little different from his pics, but has admitted that all his pics are carefully posed for and selected before released into cyberspace. The vain little boy. It has really been a while since I met up with Pikey too, so it was good. After dinner, we adjourned to Old Town Kopitiam at 3 1/2 Mile Square. It was quite happening for a Wednesday night. The drinks tasted different from the outlet in Central Market (

Dante's Cove

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Avillioncollage Swiped from williamnyk . Other than the annual dinner, the only other event that my company spends "unnecessary" money on its employees is the team-building getaway. Hence, I make it a point to attend these things though they may seem boring and a waste of a good weekend. Being unsure about my schedule, I postponed my participation until the third batch and just so happened to clash with Apollo's big birthday bash. Having booked my place in the trip earlier, I had to forgo the party ( sorry, Kawan! ). When Avillion and Port Dickson is mentioned in the same sentence, it usually elicits gasps and looks of awe and longing. That is what happened to me when I heard about the venue for the training. (Finally, my company is actually appreciating us!) Unfortunately, that sentiment didn't last long. Turns out that the training was to be held at Avillion Admiral Cove rather than Avillion Resort . The former is a budget version of the luxurious latter.

Exams, Books and Us

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JAPAN - Sake barrels Swiped from BoazImages . After a month of studying, I finally took my Microsoft exam at a training center at Amcorp Mall. It was quite stressful as I did not have much time to finish the syallabus and do the test questions. Had to resort to late nights and whipping out my laptop in the LRT. Not much chance to steal time at work too. Luckily I passed the exam, or else I would have burned MYR300 as I did not register for the second shot voucher ( free retake ). Having finished my test early, I roamed the secondhand bookshops while waiting for a lunch date with Janvier. The first shop I entered was typical-- books piled mile-high, the smell of dust and yellowing paper with a hint of dessicated silverfish. Found a book, but I deemed it too expensive. Walking out, I stumbled across BookXcess. Spacious. Clean. Plenty of new books at prices lower than that of the ancient archive I had exited from. Bought Anthony Swofford's "Exit A" for myself and &

Ho Ho Ho Fun Fun Fun

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Sliced Chicken Hor Fun Swiped from williamnyk . Lunch on Sundays is always a big question mark. Restaurant A, boring. Kedai Makanan B , yuck. Stall C, ugh. Where to eat? Where to eat? Where to eat?! As a result, we always end up eating at some place random after mass. Something we have never tried before. Some place that looks inviting. Some place with a healthy crowd. Having gotten a bit wary and weary of the eateries at Aman Suria, we have now ventured into SS2 ( don't really like the place as it confuses me and the crime rate is high ). Tried a Restoran Ho Fun . From the name, it's obvious that it's a shredded chicken hor fun specialty shop. Ordered the signature dish, but with whole pieces instead of shreds and it was quite good. The first thing that you'd immediately notice is that the soup tastes and smels like prawn noodles. Even better than prawn noodles as it is quite concentrated. The compulsory kau choi was present and the chicken extremely smooth,

0530

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Horror of the Sleep-Deprived Flight Attendants! Swiped from jawboneradio . After months of late nights, the toil is finally over.... not. Oh well. The system that my team and I had been working on had finally gone live on the 19th of May. Things were seemingly hunky-dory, but there were some critical errors that really put some serious doubt into the minds of the ends users. They were already resistant to change of operations, and thus they took the opportunity to sink the ship by complaining to the President directly ( some vindictive bastard is pretty well-connected ). Instead of sending my system to the depths of abandoned software, it survived by a thread. Instead of the 22 branches that it is deployed in, it is now constrained to 7 branches. I am now under public scrutiny. Well, the problems started from a bad server configuration. The database was not allocated enough space, the maintenance plans were not in place, the servers were not time-synchronized, the NLB was crea

The Prodigal Uncle

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Sky Arena Swiped from williamnyk . Jaded Jeremy was recently back in Malaysia to clear his leave and settle issues regarding his HUGE financial estate. The cute uncle was in the country for days and didn't even bother to call me and SK. So pengz . Perhaps he was sulking that we told him we didn't have time to bring him around. :P. Anyway, he come down from Seremban to stay at his sis' place in Bandar Sri Damansara and on Wesak, we brought him to see the sights at Putrajaya. Had the chance to meet his sis and her fiance too and for the first time, I perceived him as "tall" ( jangan marah you... ). It was actually a photoshoot with Apollo as our professional photographer, with the offical theme "Red". SK even wore a skirt for the occassion(!). I told JJ to come with a few changes of clothes-- speedo, hot pants, tank top and mesh-T. But he just came with a few T-shirts. So boring. We started off at the Masjid Putra area, then the Ministry of Financ

Frangi

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Frangipani mosaic Swiped from robynejay . For the first time ever stepped into Frangipani , Changkat Bukit Bintang to celebrate the ulangtahun of one of the directors of the Jaylex Foundation, JL. Didn't go upstairs to the bar ( missed out on the alternative atmosphere ), just the restaurant. Helluva posh place. Walls of perforated steel with flower motifs and a pool of water smack dab in the middle of it. Tastefully surrounded by pillars around the water's edge. The ambience is good, and I can imagine a very romantic dinner with KH, dining right by the pool. Looks expensive and IS expensive. The cheapest main course is MYR52++ ( Wagyu beef-- the beef melts in your mouth and has a wonderful aroma ) and the most expensive Angus beef is priced at MYR98++. o.O. I had the Roughy fillet that came with a side of iceberg lettuce that has probably been blanched for half a day to make sure that every shred of vitamins had been leeched out. Anyway, along with the price, one can

All Things Pan Mee

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collagePanMee Swiped from williamnyk . In my hometown of Kuantan, Pan Mee is actually known as Mien Fan Kou . That literally translates to "flour confection". Since I was a kid, I only enjoyed the "soupy teared" version. Only after I moved to KL that I started venturing into the "dry noodle" type. Over here, people seem to be obsessed with the "spicy dry noodle" version, which is best represented by the supposed pioneer, Kin Kee . For the usual "dry noodle" version I find the one at TTDI ( same row with Peek-a-Boo, opposite Plaza VADS ) to be quite good. One can also opt for it to be served with Assam Laksa soup which is kinda weird. But SK finds it so-so only. Her colleague recommends one in Wangsa Maju. Will just have to wait for her review. In Central Hypermart, OKR, one can also find a famous Pan Mee there. Also famous for its "dry noodle" version but the difference lies in its ingredients-- fried beancurd sheet

Go Low

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Innie Swiped from williamnyk . Although SK's recent underwear poll declared DanielH as the winner, I was not discouraged from pursuing my interest in he realm of all things loin-cladding. Hence, I shall do my first underwear review here today and you're all part of history in the making. In recent times, I have seen men's underwear manufacturer's in Malaysia getting bolder and bolder. Designing stuff that is both uncommon and sexy. From the boring but basic mini briefs of yesteryear, the underwear racks in department stores have spread out to jockstraps, pouches and boxer briefs. Even the boxer briefs have undergone a revolution where the inseam is getting shorter and shorter ( I heart low-rise ). Materials have gone from the practical cotton to the more luxurious and high-tech textiles like lycra, tactel, mesh and microfiber. Boring solids of blue, black, white and grey have also been replaced by bold prints, decals, embroidery and rhinestones. Much fusion can

Naive

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Naive Swiped from williamnyk . Fancy paying MYR15,000 for a piece of art that looks like something that your bratty nieces or nephews could have drawn? Do visit the Naive Art Exhibition at the Annexe, Central Market. The resident naive art exponent there is Yusof Gajah, but I didn't notice any of his paintings there. Don't be mislead by my first statement about naive art. Actually it's quite interesting and pleasing to the eye. The colours are bold and vibrant. The themes are fresh and innocent. The intricate brushwork creates an illusion of texture and gives some of the paintings a 3D quality. It may look kiddy, but in an adult sort of way. Recurring themes include rural scenes and animals like cats, dogs and fish. FYI, for MYR50, you can be given guidance on naive art at Yusof Gajah's gallery. Inclusive of canvas and acrylic paints for you to finish one painting. You can come back again and again until you finally finish your painting. Cool, right? Liuli has

La Vista Bistro

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collageLaVista2 Swiped from williamnyk . The dinner for Mother's Day and mum's birthday was held at La Vista Bistro at Plaza TTDI, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. Not that I heard rave reviews about the place, but I just took a gamble as it was one of the places that my Global Privileges voucher entitled me to 50% off food. :P. If you do a quick search on the net, you won't find many reviews on it because I suspect that it's the new kid on the block. The only useful comment I saw was that it's "house wine (white) sucked". I didn't realize that Plaza TTDI is suc a happening place. It has a covered boulevard concept reminiscent of NZX . Everything is basically white-washed and bathed in hypnotic blue light, with twinkly little lights overhead. Mostly occupied by night spots and restaurants, the patrons seem to consist primarily of the employees from nearby offices like Schlumberger and VADS. Too bad IBM had moved or it would be an even more "happen

Shopaholic

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"oh dear, the new girl is a shopaholic!!" ^o^/ Swiped from woolloomooloo . Sis is giving birth in less than a month and being the future "uncle" ( such a dirty word ), it is right for me to get something for my soon-to-be-born nephew ( expected mid June ). It's not difficult knowing what to get with my sister. "Get me the hamper they have on sale at Mamours." Thank goodness it was on sale. So off I went to get it at Midvalley Megamall. However, a simple objective like that can so easily be usurped by other whims and fancies. We started off at Robinsons since the car was parked there. In just 15 minutes in the department store, mum bought a Balenciaga handbag and a bra. Moving on to G2000, I bought 3 pairs of slacks for myself! ( KH is still grumbling in disbelief ). Finally, the raison for going to MV in the firstplace, the baby stuff hamper. Kids get it so good these days. French technology. Thermometer pacifiers. Anti-colic bottles ( with

As Easy As 123

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123 Swiped from threedots . Tagged by Little Dove, so here goes: Pick up the nearest book : The nearest book is on my laptop in PDF format, "MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536) Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Application Development Foundation" Turn to page 123 : Shift-Ctrl-N, 1 2 3, Enter Find the 5th sentence : Eyeball, eyeball, eyeball... Post it up in a blog : writer.Close(); Tag 5 people : I think all the lazy bloggers have done it already. :P Ominous? My exam's on the 30th! Four more chapters to go and a sample exam to finish! Arghhh.

Aqva

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Bvlgari Swiped from williamnyk . I'm here today to share with all of you SK's It Pays To Be A Dear programme. For the benefit of those who are in the dark about the programme, SK actually chooses oustanding individuals to be awarded the title of Dear . Along with this title comes great responsibility ( sorry, Spiderman crossover ) great benefits that only the designated Dear 's may reap. But firstly, let me spell out the terms and conditions: The selection of Dear 's is made on the sole discretion of SK. The title may be stripped at any time without notice. Candidates must be male and of acceptable cuteness. Dear 's may unilaterally terminate the contract, but SK reserves the right to address them as Dear . There is no limit to the number of Dear 's at any given time, with the exception of DEAR which is henceforth referred to with capital letters. There can only be 1 (one) DEAR at any given time and all other Dear 's can only use the title with

Submit, Damn You!

After putting off the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 problem at my old site for weeks, I have finally found the time and the perfect environment to simulate the problem. Preliminary findings suggest that after installing the security enhancements, the RequiredFieldValidators on longer allow a form to submit normally, hence my log in problem. I do not know whether this is an issue with .NET Framework v1.1 or perhaps there is something special about the server configuration as it works fine on my boss' laptop. Grrr. If it is truly the validation controls that are causing havoc, then there would be sweeping fixes across the system! Crap! So sienz. I hate X-files. :(.

All Things Avian

OMG. Had Nasi Rendang Ayam for lunch. Ayam Goreng McD for tea. Steamed Kampung Chicken for dinner. Kai, kai and more kai. P.S.: It is freaking hot. I am melting from the heat.

Hans Solo?

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LEGO Indiana Jones in 2008 Swiped from Dunechaser . Just watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom the other day on TV and it really brought back memories. Noticed a small bit of trivia. In the opening scene, the night club that Indy was in was called Club Obi Wan And the Chinese kid Short Round is sooooooooo cute. In the final scene, we get to see Harrison Ford shirtless and it's quite acceptable. I just hope there will not be an attempt in Crystal Skull. Don't want it to end up like a aged Clint Eastwood sex scene. I also used to love immitating the Thuggee priest, chanting "Kali Ma, Kali Ma, Shakti he!" together with childhood best friend, Pash. Disturbing, kan ? Oh well, so much for reminiscing.

客家擂茶

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客家擂茶 Swiped from lanchiung . For lui cha lovers out there ( I've got a feeling I can count them all with one hand ), here's an update on the latest place serving this healthy and hearty meal: Ming Tien, SS24 It's one of the stalls inside the main area. You can get a very big portion for MYR5 ( it can't beat Oriental Bowl Restaurant's portion, but that's at MYR10! ). The soup is thicker than the one at Ho Boh and you can immediately catch the aroma of the mint and Thai basil. The toppings are quite good and they are not stingy with the roasted peanuts. My only complain is that it's a tad salty for my taste. Go give it a try. Even if you hate it. P.S.: Kung Fu Kitchen in Aman Suria also serves Lui Cha for MYR7, but I've not tried it.

Dororo & Ayakashi

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ayakashi06 Swiped from winghon83 . Been ages since I did a movie review. So, here's a double to make up for the lack of it. Firstly, I have speak of Ayakashi . It's a trio of Japanese classic horror stories in anime. Japanese stories are usually weird, and this is no exception. Each story is animated by different artists and is told in a different way, so it's all quite fresh. Yotsu Ya Kai Dan - Typical vengeful ghost story about a disfigured wife Ten Shu Mono Gatari - A forbidden love story between man and man-eating ( in the literal and non-literal ) demoness Bake Neko - The most stylised of the three. About a vengeful cat demon vs. travelling medicine seller Of the three, the last story made the least sense but was the most beautifully drawn. The first was kinda like a documentary with a Japanese version of James Earl Jones as narrator. The second story was the most forgettable. Dororo is a fantasy movie about a general's son who was born without 48 of his body part

Mother's {Day|Birthday}

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Pingu Swiped from elewa . Every year, my mum celebrates her birthday on the 5th of May. Extremely easy to remember. And as we all know, the month of May is also the season for Mother's Day. One can always tell from the sudden burst in advertising for everything from massage chairs ( thank God Amber Chia's "swollen tongue" radio ad was not reused this time round ), jewellery, crystal to spas. My mother is a very difficult person to shop for. She is very fickle ( I can blame her for this trait in me, :P ), so there is a high possibility that she might not like the gift and not use it altogether. So we usually get her to choose it herself, but there's no surprise in that. Past years had seen gifts like silver accessories, spa packages and family trips... so this year, I'm a little stumped. Then it came to me: Air Conditioner A very unconventional gift. But it is out of necessity. After menopause, my mother has become very sensitive to heat. She would com

Mama Sayang

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Nyonya Sayang Swiped from williamnyk . Does your Mama sayang you? If she doesn't, then head over to Restoran (Sayur-Sayuran) Nyonya Mama Sayang at Taman Desa, on the same row as Taman Desa Hospital. Mama's all ready out front with her bronze boobs, ready to give you a bear hug you'll never forget. With that out of the way, you can head in for some vegetarian nyonya food that's impressive in natural taste. We didn't know what to order as the colleague who recommend the place to me couldn't recall what she ate. Luckily, they have very professional staff there. An elderly ( and portly ) woman took our orders. She recommended the mutton curry ( great texture from the chopped mushroom stumps and fragrant curry ), special beancurd ( very smooth fried self-made beancurd with white fungus ) and mixed vegetables with fermented beancurd. All the dishes did not leave an icky post-MSG taste in my mouth. And the soya milk is obviously self-blended as one can dete

Gut Instinct

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helicobacter pylori Swiped from sm_mic_81 . For many years now, my mother has been complaining of bloating, gastric reflux, low appetite and weak digestion. Nothing was pin-pointed. Nothing was diagnosed. And with the recent news that her elder sister is stricken with liver cancer has drummed more worry into her. As a result, I brought to Pantai Hospital for a body checkup. Just a case of high cholesterol ( even I have it, :( ), but seeing that there is a family history of cancer ( my maternal grandma died of suspected stomach cancer some thirty years ago ), the doctor recommended her to do a more detailed checkup. So, we were pointed to Tung Shin Hospital to see their general surgeon cum hepato-billiary specialist. Took one of my replacement leave that I earned working on weekends to accompany my mother and to avoid my leave becoming something that is "can see but cannot eat". We arrived there at 10:00am to get an earlier number. The doctor arrived at 11:00am, but t

News from the Frontline

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Anonymous. Swiped from chezrump . Here's an update on my facial condition. After my third appointment with Dr. Chang, he declared that I need not go back for follow up treatments anymore! Yay! Prescribed me a two-month antibiotic course and asked me to continue with his cleaning regiment ( "your skin will become prettier and prettier" ). My forehead is now back to normal after two months ( and more than MYR300 ) and the ones on my cheek have begun to subside. Since I was there, I let him check out the itchy and scaly patch on my foot. Tried all sorts of fungal creams on it, but it still didn't go away. "I'll have to scrape it. It'll only hurt a little." He put on his surgical mask. Pulled on some latex gloves and a scalpel magically appeared in his hands. He scraped the dried skin on to a piece of glass. Some chemicals from reagent bottles were then dripped on it and put over a flame. Having done that, he examined the dried skin under a micr

Koyak

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Your heart beats next to mine Swiped from annfrau . The koyak you see in my post is not the same as in Janvier's context as you will see: Bina ayat dengan menggunakan perkataan "koyak". Ayat anda haruslah menunjukkan maksud perkataan tersebut dengan jelas. Semua plan I pada hari ini koyak kerana keadaan yang tidak disangka terjadi. OK. It's not clear, so minus one mark. :P. Anyway, I was working on Saturday ( my stupid client declared a mock run ), so I couldn't make it to Frankie's birthday party. It was the perfect chance to meet up with the bulk of the gang. One stone kill many birds. :P. But, no choice lah . So, I thought that I could meet them after the party. I was already quite late, work ended at 6:00pm and I called the gang to ask about post-party entertainment. I was torn between staying in KL and leaving for home. However, I couldn't get a straight answer ( for tersirat and tersurat reasons, hehe ) so I just decided to go home. I foun

Pelanduk

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I am a little snowed-under at present. Swiped from archidave . Recently, I've been going through a rough patch at work. I'm still in deep shit. And you know what, the effluent is up to my nose. There is a chinese saying that best describes my current status: Attacked from ten sides . Yes, the workplace gang rape of sorts. These are days when the phone doesn't stop ringing, the e-mails don't stop coming and the problems don't stop popping up. Mutiple sites. Multiple environments in one site. Ad hoc demos. Politics in the office. Resource constraints. Pressure from the management. Double shifts. Felt like I was being pulled apart. Too much on my plate. No focus. And good help is hard to come by these days. But I'm grateful for whatever I have right now. Can only hope that I'll emerge from this stronger. And I noticed that my social life is kinda zilch at the moment. Does this mean that it's time for a promotion? Heh. No interest in that. Being ca

Tanggal Tiga Puluh Satu

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_DSC2395-Edit-Edit Swiped from by_cobalt . Remember "The Sound of Music"? The courtship song for one of the Vonn Trapp girls sung in a garden? "I am sixteen, going on seventeen..." Yes, the nocturnal crooning of a sexed-up teenager trying to get into her knickers. I kinda feel that way right now ( not referring to the sexed-up bit as that's a universal truth )-- lemme explain. My cover version is a little different: "I am thirty, going on thirty one..." In case you're confused, no it's NOT my age I'm referring to. It's not even near my birthday ( for the ignorant ones out there, it's on the 9th of October by the way ). It's my girth. My waist in inches. Pants size. Ugh. Just as BAD as age. I'd never thought that one day I'd slip into a pair of pants and actually FEEL my ass filling it up. Then, uh-oh, can't buckle it. Crap. Have to go shopping for slacks. DanielH... discount card oh..... P.S.: Have yet to tr

Running then Blocked

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Jim Thompson in Glass Swiped from williamnyk . Recently, I made another short business trip to BKK and it wasn't pretty. More of those last minute ad hoc things. Here's the gist: KUL-BKK in the evening after a full working day. Had slight flu. Had a painful descent to the flu. Arrived at the hotel in BKK at about 10:00pm local time. Discovered that a room wasn't reserved for us. Blamed us for not booking. Stupid. Can request us to go over, but we have to request for a room to stay. Takkan tidur bawah jambatan?! After a quick shower, started to work past midnight because my boss wanted to show something not available in the demo system. Slept. Woke up feeling like crap. Had a horrible runny nose all throughout the demo. Had lunch. Caught the flight out (BKK-KUL). Had another painful descent. Found my ears blocked. Immediately consulted a doctor when I reached KUL. Started to cough. The cough has persisted till this day. Declared to my boss that I'm doing that a

Gen-erous

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collageGen2 Swiped from williamnyk . For those of you who know me, I'm crazy about Japanese food. The raw variety more specifically. Nothing salivates me more than succulent pieces of premium salmon sashimi with side of shoyu and wasabi . So far, Xenri tops my list of top-notch sashimi , but recently, a close second was added to it-- Gen Japanese Restaurant , The Legend Hotel. It claims to to have the longest Japanese buffet spread in KL. Finally tried it since Citibank Clear card holders get a 30% discount on Thursdays and Fridays in the whole month of April. Was there with Kenzon, Rich, KT and SK. SK treated me. :D. Thanks dear. Other than the salmon, their sashimi spread included maguro , squid, tako and butterfish. The raw oysters were also quite fresh ( got horny later in the night after half a dozen, but I doubt it's related :P ). Noteworthy dishes also include their sukiyaki ( I loved the broth and the beef slices were tender ), grilled crabs, unagi , clams

Psuedo-Bachelor

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Suneo & Maxine Swiped from williamnyk . Faux Bachelor No. : 9 ( a tribute to Love Potion No. 9 ) Name : Suneo Honekawa Occupation : Software Simian ( year of the monkey mah... ) Age : 28 ( coming birthday, so insurance ) Zodiac : Libra ( fickle! ) Fave Hangout : Old Town Kopitiam ( where's my VIP card?! ) Talent : Being a Negative Nancy 3 things you can't live without : Good food, good friends and good money! What is the sweetest thing a guy/girl has done for you? SK has done the most thoughtful things for me. Too many to count. The most daredevil thing I've ever done is : Had some hanky-panky in a hotel restroom ( no details forthcoming! ) What’s one thing you’re glad you’ve outgrown? My baby clothes. Your biggest mistake is : Not admitting the truth to myself earlier. Which actor would play you in a movie about your life? : Saiful Apek. Why do men... love women? If you were a product, how would your advertising campaign read? Buy Suneo, or he'll get Jayan

Interaction

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yodell ♫ lay-od-lay-od-lay-he-hoo, ♫ lay-od-lay-od-low yodellay, ♫ yodallay, yodal-low… ♫ and they fly low supreme! ♫ little egrets from bali- egretta garzetta ♫ Swiped from bocavermelha-l.b. . Come to think of it, it's been ages since I've gone out with friends-- mainstream and alternative. Mainstream even less. Mainly talking about politics, general knowledge and gossip about ex-coursemates that truth be told are not relevant in my life anymore. Thank God they don't talk about about cars and football. And even then, only Mel is the only active member in this group. SK doesn't really count coz I see her nearly everyday. Kinda like a semi-permanent fixture in my life. For the alternative group, there has been not much regular face-to-face contact. We visit each other's blogs when the topic has the skankiness factor of at least 5; join some "e-mail-chats"; random SMS and IM. The last gathering was at SK's unofficial belated birthday dinner at L

Always Best Choice

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Photo-0046 Swiped from williamnyk . Such an opulent ceiling, right? Could it be from a a) Five-star hotel? b) The lounge in a rich man's house in Damansara? c) Government office in Putrajaya? d) Place of worship? e) Posh restaurant at Changkat Bukit Bintang? Well, the nearest answer is (e). But it isn't exactly true either. Well, the picture was taken in Kuchai Lama. At a kedai mamak -- ABC . Impressive isn't it? Don't worry, the roti canai does not cost MYR5.00++. How standards have gone up.

Congratulations?

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School Swiped from williamnyk . "Congratulations!! You are at school." The above signboard was spotted at SMK Seri Indah, OUG, smack dab at the entrance of the school. Were you ever THAT enthusiastic to get to school? I'm sure it galls students who trudge to school each day, eyes half-burdened with sleep and their backs bent over with textbooks. Perhaps the teachers hate it more. Hehe.

Squirrel, Orange Peel & Crazy

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Squirrel & Orange Peel Swiped from williamnyk . Yet another edition of William's STAR LRT Celebrity Watch . This time round we spy Squirrel Boy , Cellulite Sally and Boisterous Biatches . Never seen Squirrel Boy before, but if you do, you can identify him from his large backpack. When he sits, he puts it in front of him and fidgets with it like a squirrel does with a nut. The way he bends his hands, the fidgety movements, while his eyes dart left and right ( predator alert! ). Come to think of it, he could've been a LRT terrorist with Sarin precursors stored in his bag. But he got off at Tasik Selatan, so I'll just let KTM Kommuter worry about that. Oh yeah, on the right side, is Cellulite Sally . Curvaceous body with long legs and sweet face, but still she has the confidence to flaunt her orange peel thighs with those ultra-short hotpants. My female colleague was VERY impressed. I've met the Boisterous Biatches on numerous occasions already. I think they

New Politics

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Mr. Rocket Swiped from williamnyk . Read a great article by Joceline Tan in the Sunday Star (30th of March, 2008), entitled "Keeping Up with the New Politics". Was basically about the politics of the Malaysian Chinese as discussed in a Sin Chew post-election forum. A very honest piece. Here are a few excerpts that caught my eye: "The Chinese are not angry with the Malays, but they are angry with UMNO's arrogance." --Rita Sim, INSAP "We keep asking the Chinese for full support so that they will be well-represented in government. But wasn't that what they gave us in 2004, total support?" --Teng Chang Yeow, Gerakan "Leaders like Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin must realise this. People equated their behaviour with UMNO's inability to change with the times. If an Oxford-educated guy still talks like an UMNO politician of 10 years ago, what hope do we have for the rest of UMNO?" --Teng Chang Yeow, Gerakan

Kampar

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collageKampar Swiped from williamnyk . It has been years since I've actually went for Ching Ming . Think I've only done it twice when I was a kid. Have vague memories of running around my grandfather's grave ( sometimes on, cucu celaka ) and eating roasted pork after burning hell money. This year, my mum decided that we should visit the columbarium holding my uncle's and grandma's ashes in Kampar. I had not been there since my uncle's death years ago. So, mum, SK and I drove down on Sunday to Kampar. SK was nicely speeding at 140km/h. Hopefully there were no speed traps. We stopped by at Bidor to buy food offerings and have breakfast. The food was really disappointing. Seems that Bidor-ians like to eat dry yellow noodles. Ergh. Reached the columbarium at around 11:00am and I thought that things would be much simpler since it wasn't a graveyard, but boy, how wrong I was. After pulling into the parking lot, could alreday see the hustle and bustle, smo

Pull and Bear

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Pull and Bear Swiped from williamnyk . Received an SMS entitling the bearer to a free Pull and Bear T-shirt the other day and I so happened to be at KPMG Tower slogging for some stupid demo. I immediately rushed over to One Utama and I happened to be the third person to redeem. So damn kiasu hor? The salesperson was surprised: "SMS tu baru je dihantar!" I took one girl's T for HP ( as SK couldn't fit it, :P ) and SK took one guy's T for me. Supposedly costs MYR109. Looks quite nice but the brand is blatantly splashed on the front in big, bold words and in eye-catching colours. MYR109-- that's my worth as a walking sandwich man perhaps?

BKK III: TG0419

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collageBKKDay3 Swiped from williamnyk . ... Continued from here ... On the last day, the presentation was repeated for the Managing Director and it was dumbed down to make things flow faster. Good feedback but it all boiled down to monetary negotiations. The MD was kind enough to give us commemorative notes of the King's 80th Birthday. Cool. Lunch was at Esplanade Mall again, but this time we had local fare-- green curry, fishcakes, tomyam, sweet and sour fish and stir-fried vegetables. Dessert was low fat yoghurt with fruit toppings at Red Mango. Everything ended early, so we took an earlier flight home. But still, we had plenty of time to burn at the airport. I just went around taking photos for a couple of hours while my boss went for a foot massage. The flight home was much lousier than the one took flying into BKK. The stewardess were obviously ground crew material by SQ standards and had attitude. The head stewardess refused to take my tray and expected me to neatly

Paragon Posse

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collageBKKDay2 Swiped from williamnyk . ... Continued from here... On my second day there, I got up early with my boss to have breakfast at the buffet line. A good mix of western (toast, croissant, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and ham) and local fare (dim sum, porridge, noodles). Took a 40-minute cab ride to the potential client, somewhere near Esplanade Mall. The presentation was mostly boring with my boss doing his stuff for the Executive Director and several department heads and me driving the slides. Luckily, just one or two minor hiccups occured when we showed the demo system. Lunch was at a Japanese fast food restaurant where orders were taken with a PDA and the ocha came in polka-dotted tea pots! So English Tea. At the end of the presentation, my boss and I took the subway ( my virgin ride! ) from Cultural Center to Silom to interchange with the BTS and on to Siam station where Siam Paragon is. Dinner was at the food court, and boy did we gorge. Two persons ended up