Posts

The Pearl of the Orient I: The Journey North

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collagePenang2008 Swiped from williamnyk . Almost half of three centuries had passed since I last set foot on Penang Island. My last visit there was with a rombongan sekolah for World Children's Day. I was also supposed to visit during Mel's sister's wedding but that plan somehow fell through. Normally, my CNY is spent cooped up at home. This year is an exception to the norm-- my sister invited the family to a food appreciation trip there. Never passing up a chance for a family trip, mum, bro and I signed on for it. 138 smackeroos per head. We left for Penang on CNY2 and also managed to cram in a pit stop at Taiping to visit an old friend of mum's. Traffic conditions were good, except at the Penang Bridge. Now I understand why I keep hearing the same traffic reports everyday. Bountiful toll booths, but they all eventually converge into a measley two lanes. Lunch was at a random food court as not many places were open. Ordered chicken rice, Char Kuey Teow and Yong Tau

Walk Away

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Leave Swiped from ·BigGolf· . With phase II of my development in full swing, my resource pool has taken another hit. A colleague has decided to resign after 6 years with the company. Didn't even bother to wait for the increment that was to be in one or two months time. Can't really blame her. Promises are made, but they are never kept. You either wait or you leave. Sigh. But I must say that it's really bad timing. The requirements are pouring in and other projects are starting too and this constantly puts a strain on my small kingdom. The Emperor will sooner or later raise troops for the looming war ahead, and sad to say, my holdings will be commandeered. Good troops are hard to come by and replacements slow to be found. The Emperor plays a dangerous game of balance. Shifting his troops here and there. Too little butter spread over too big a piece of bread. "So when is it your turn to leave? Are you still learning anything from your work? Too comfortable alrea

Princess XX

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Princess XX Swiped from williamnyk . The newest addition to my STAR LRT celebrity member is Princess XX. Aptly named so because she is the epitome of femininity. The XX sex chromosome. She is the Puteri Lilin of legend. The damsel in distress. A fragile flower petal. The moment she enters the train, she will glide to the handrail and cling to it-- barely. As if the lightest of secret farts from nearby passengers can dislodge her from her place. She rests her weight on one foot. She lightly bends her leg and cocks her head to one side, letting her curls dangle. She looks up with hooded eyes, bedroom eyes. She pouts. Ever in the most feminine of dresses ( perhaps she buys XXL at "Little Princess" outlets? ). Strappy dresses ( often the bellpepper variety! ) with a cardigan over. Sometimes a giant bow on her bosom. Her dainty feet are always in shoes fit for a ballerina. Crystal bracelets crawl up both her forearms. I wonder if she stirs interest in the men who share t

Reunion

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collage1CNY2008Home Swiped from williamnyk . No Yasmin Ahmad CNY ad for Petronas this year. Read in the papers that the "Go home for reunion dinner, if you can" ad was visualised by a young hotshot from some gweilo firm. Thinking about it, reunion dinner is getting to be a smaller and smaller affair with each passing year. When I was a kid, my whole family would travel from Kuantan to Teluk Intan ( a 7-8 hours trunk road drive ) to have dinner with my grandma, uncle and cousins. As the years passed, nearly all my cousins started their own family and it was quite a challenge getting everyone together in one place anymore. Later, dad passed on, my grandma passed away and even my uncle called it a day. Eventually, we had reunion dinner in KL and my lengthy CNY trip eventually became a day trip to see my aunt and cousins. With my sister married, reunion dinner is just me, my mum and bro. A quiet affair, but still mum outdoes herself every year though she complains that

The Grand Millennium

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collageGrandMillennium Swiped from williamnyk . "Sir, would you like to do a balance transfer? 0%..." "Sir, the holiday season is coming, interested to take a cash advance for a well-deserved vacation?" "Congratulations, you've been given a free check-up with the Heart, Stroke and Cancer Center..." "Hello Sir, we are offering you a free-for-life platinum credit card..." "Just for a small membership fee, you get to enjoy our dining benefits and you get a complimentary night's stay..." I said no to all of them, but I kinda caved in to the last telemarketer. Benefits and privileges. You actually pay for them. The whole year I was holding the card, I just used their free buffet voucher and treated my sister and bro-in-law to a 50%-off high tea. Since the complimentary stay I had was already expiring, I decided to use it on FT Day lor. When I purchased the membership, the hotel was called "The Regent", now it is ca

Neway

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Neway Swiped from williamnyk . Note: I'm back! Some stale posts for y'all! Enjoy... Was at Neway Karaoke, Bandar Puchong Jaya a couple of weekends back with SK, HP and BeiBei for a kind of pre-CNY crooning. It was my first time at that outlet and I must say that the floor space was pretty impressive. Everything was shiny and new. Our room was tastefully decorated unlike RedBox's gaudy wallpaper. My only complaint is the English song selection. Really pathethic. They don't even have Rihanna's "Umbrella" ( I can imagine KH heaving a sigh of relief )! My song list was as follows: Theresa Teng's "Don't Pick The Roadside Wild Flowers" Madonna's "Vogue" Siti Nurhaliza's "Bukan Cinta Biasa" Ella's "Gemilang" The Carpenter's "Goodbye To Love" Spice Girls' "Two Become One" Hoobastank's "TheReason" The Cranberrie's "Dreams" ???'s "Lov

CNY from The Island

Hi readers. Just a short post from my phone. Hope everyone is enjoying this Mickey Mouse Year holidays. I am currently in Sg Petani and will be making my way back to KL on Sunday. Major food post in the pipeline! Keep an eye out! Ciao! p.s.: Dear KH, sorry that I couldn't spend as much time with you as I wanted. Hugs. I'll make it up to you. :)