i smiled today at 12:51 PM


I decided one very lonely evening to go all the way to Sunway Pyramid. I don't usually go there but I do enjoy going there every time I have the chance to. It is a nice shopping mall, with a nice theme, with nice shops, lots of things to see, Mega Sale is on (although I did not buy anything) and well, good food too.

So happily, I had something that I have not had in a long time. I went to Hartz Chicken Buffet, which coincidently (or maybe not) is also next to Nando's (yummy spicy chicken) and Ayamas (good chicken rice). Chicken all over.

But the Chicken Buffet is good. For just below RM20 per person, you get to eat all you want. And you don't just get chicken, you get chicken and more!

You get to feed yourself with normal fried chicken or spicy chicken, and all the weird chicken parts. There's also salads to choose from, loads of it actually. Soups, rice, free flow of drinks, ice cream, macaroni, vegetables, pasta, fish, pumpkin stew, desserts, well, a full meal.

So you get a good deal. For me however, I got full after my second plate. So not worth my money but anyway.... it looks good....



The system works like this... You go in, head to the cashier at the entrance, pay in advance for your meal. They give you a slip with your receipt, and your fork/spoon/knife/napkin all at once. The slip that they give, comes with instructions. And boy did I have fun reading the instructions on that slip of paper.


So here's the rule. They must stamp your hand for a whole 10-minutes before you can leave for the bathroom. You must have our hand stamped for a maximum of 10 minutes. Yeah, interesting!



To be accompany? Heh!
Hot food and hot wells. Haha, my mind immediately thought of a bucket and rope for taking my food from the well.
For some reason I also thought of a kid being accompanied by his parent holding hot food and hot wells.


Yeah make sure it is face up.


How about non-paying guests? OK, sorry. Two hours?? Ok lah, fair enough.


Not only do the customers have to pay, the poor tableware have to pay too.
And they will be charge accordingly.





i smiled today at 12:22 PM


I have always been fascinated by the Malay language. I was always rather good at it in school. I was able to write essays in Malay that were good enough to be pasted on the board for my classmates to read. I was proud of that, still am :) I even scored a very beautiful A1 for my SPM for Bahasa Melayu (or Bahasa Malaysia? No it is Melayu again!).

You have to admit, it is an interesting language. I am not very familiar with the history of the language though, but all I know is that I like it.

I say it is an interesting language because it is a very global language, sort of. You see, many Malays words come from English words that have been Malaynized, or Malaysianized, no that's incorrect, Malayanized? No, Malaysized? Not sure what the word for it is.

We have many interesting Malay words, that come from English. Why is it they couldn't keep the original Malay word but had to steal the English version of the word and make a Malay version out of it? I have no idea. Someone please enlighten me. You see:

Lift (as in elevator) is lif in Malay.
Pipe is paip
Perspective is perspektif
Membrane is membran
Initiative is inisiatif
Love is lap, only if you are a retarded person who says 'I lap you very much'.

Then there are country names that sound good in English but in Malay it sonds almost the same. They could have come up with a REAL Malay name for these countries, couldn't they?

America = Amerika. Why not be original, Tanah Orang Paprika.
New Zealand = New Zealand. Couldn't it be Tanah Baru Zea?
Singapore is Singapura. OK, this one the Malay language wins.
Denmark is still Denmark. Should be Tanda-Den. Nice name for a country.
Papa New Guinea = it's the same again. It should be Bapa Baru Babi.

There are other words in English that have been 'transformed' into Malay versions:

Revolution is revolusi
Inspiration is inspirasi
Reaction is reaksi
Institution is institusi
Evolution is evolusi
Inspection is inspeksi
Nation is
















Why? You hungry is it??



i smiled today at 12:08 AM


The plan was carefully thought through. Every detail had been planned out. Nothing could go wrong. It had to go perfect. From what it looked like, there was absolutely no room for error. Nothing could, and nothing would go wrong. It would be the perfect crime.

They walked in carefully, trying to look as casual as they could. The last thing they wanted was to be noticed. They had to look normal. Yet they knew that in a few hours, when the mall would be empty and bare, they would carry out the greatest crime ever known to any animal in the world, extinct or otherwise.

They walked around, keeping an eye on the premise, making sure that when the time was right, they would do what they had to do. No room for error - that was their motto. They lived and died by that motto. They knew there would be no mistakes. Nothing could, and nothing would go wrong. It would be the perfect crime.

Keeping their motto in mind, like a religion, they remained silent. They communicated silently through quick glances at each other and subtle eye contact. They knew that there would be no room for error. They would be making their parents proud, committing the perfect crime, because nothing could, and nothing would go wrong. Yes, they knew it would be the perfect crime.

The mall was getting emptier. Silence was starting to surround the area. It looked like they could do it any time. Yet they still waited, it had to be in perfect timing. After all, they spent days planning it, and there was no room for error. Nothing could, and nothing would go wrong. It just would be the perfect crime, and they were anxious to get moving and execute the plan.

Their bodies were getting colder. They were getting nervous. They knew it had to be perfect. Perfect planning results in the perfect crime. And they had to constantly take in deep breaths. They had to calm themselves before taking action. After all, it was going to be the perfect crime.

Tick. Tock. Tick, Tock. Tick. ... wait, no Tock. The mall was empty. It was time. It was time. It really was time. They nodded their heads at each other. They kept their footsteps as silent as possible. It was now or never. And because it was the perfect crime, it had to be now, and not never.

They walked, slowly, but steadily. They did not look back, because it was the perfect crime. They walked towards it, knowing that very soon, it would be theirs, theirs to keep, forever, and ever, Amen.

As they were getting nearer, they quickened their pace. It was time, for the perfect crime. That rhymed. The perfect crime, the time, the rhyme. Whatever. It didn't matter, because now, IT WAS TIME TO RUN. They had to hold it tight, both of them together, because it was too big for one man to handle. They rushed, rushed, and rushed even faster. They did not want to get caught. they just couldn't get caught. It was, after all, going to be the perfect crime.

They rushed into their car. They put it the car boot. They knew it would be safe there. They sped off, driving quickly, making sure no one would notice them. Yes, the perfect crime, you were already thinking that in your head.

Perfect crime your head.

They stole that stupid life-sized Homer Simpson statue from 1 Utama mall's Golden Screen Cinemas.

So desperate, for what?!

The perfect crime your foot.

CCTV caught everything. EVERY-THING: footage of the car, the plate number, the faces.

Haha.

Next time you want to commit a crime, watch more Hollywood movies. Spray the cameras first with black paint, or put chewing gum to block the view, or use those infra-red pens to short circuit the camera's transmission. Then, use a van. Put it in the car boot for what? Everyone can see. Brainless people.

Then, Hollywod offered a RM1,000 reward for anyone who could return Homer Simpson safely.

Then, the two criminals-of-the-year gladly surrendered themselves to the police. And returned Homer Simpson safely.

What the CRV said was so true: Life is full of Choices....


So, make the right choice in life.


I wonder, did they get the RM1,000?




i smiled today at 4:02 PM


For those of you who read Felicity's blog, one of her entries lately was about this rainbow she saw as she stepped out of college. Well, Felicity, turns out I saw the same rainbow. I am sure it is the same rainbow because I took the pic the day you said you saw the rainbow :)

So here it is. One of the most beautiful rainbows we've seen in ages. It is not very clear in the picture, but you can still see it, all seven colours.


i smiled today at 3:06 PM


I was seriously trying to stop myself from doing something like this. I am referring to that logo above. Somehow I couldn't stop myself. I just couldn't resist. No offense to anyone. Anyway who would get offended by it? :)

I just found it interesting that the floods in KL city were so bad, that when I went to stop by the KL Library to just return some books and I actually wanted to do some work there, it was closed, for one whole week!

You could see the library workers, taking out the sofa chairs, the books, furniture etc all out under the sun to dry. How embarrassing. All the buildings around that area had to close too, to clean and dry their stuff. And here we were inviting the world to our country to experience the Truly Asian experience. We were certainly right though. Rain is really an Asian experience, in a way.

I just pity the tourists who came over to experience cultural shows, shopping discounts and sales, and all the great scenery, actually didn't realize that they were coming over for the Rain Forest Festival. The REAL rain forest festival. Rain or shine, I think our tourists will like what they see anyway. Rain or shine.... Actually nowadays it rain AND shine.

I do however feel for those who were deeply affected (and still are) by the heavy and very abrupt downpours and floods around our country. It really has been a tough rainy season this year. Blame it on Global Warming. No, wait, that means we should be blaming ourselves. Yes we should blame ourselves. Cutting down trees causes the floods to get worse. But how to develop a country with so many unwanted trees around? There must be a way. Surely there must.

Well, then again, we should be building better drainage systems, on time, and make sure they last. How embarrassing it would be if during the next flood, the SMART thing that they are building now gets flooded. Could that happen? Hmm...

The rain has also caused more car accidents. It is hard to see where you are going when you can't see where you are going. The rain can get so heavy until it is too difficult to see the vehicle in front of you. It is worse if you don't on your lights during heavy rain. If you are one of those people, knock your head, twice, and turn on the lights in your brain. So drive safely when it starts to rain heavily. Bad enough it's flooding, don't go and cause a jam at the same time. People will be cursing you, and you don't want that.


i smiled today at 2:45 PM


A Happy Father's Day to all fathers everywhere....


Dear Papa,

Happy Father's Day to you, and I say this on behalf of Noun, Dylan, and Amelia. Actually now it should be happy Father's/Grandfather's Day to you!

Thanks for everything you have done for me and our family all these years. It is nice to know that you have always been patient and understanding. Thanks for taking care of everything all the time and making sure we live a good life no matter what happens.

Many of my friends do admire you because you are not one of those fathers who forced me to become a lawyer or engineer or doctor. Thanks for supporting me in my studies and for allowing me to study what I really wanted to and not something else that I would have regretted instead.

It is comforting to know that no matter what happens, I can always count on you to help and to know what to do. I do remember every advice and every little thing you have said since many years ago. So your energy has never gone wasted :)

May you continue to have a long and very prosperous life that is full of fun and love from everyone around you. I am sure God is blessing you with a very wonderful life and it will continue to get even better in the many years to come.

So once again from Dylan, Amelia, Noun and me... Happy Father's Day and we love you very much always!


(by the way, the picture above was the sky and weather when Amelia got baptized)


i smiled today at 4:27 PM


Now this is something we don't see around here.....




i smiled today at 9:33 PM





i smiled today at 8:34 PM


There have been quite a lot of good movies lately, all opening in the cinemas one after the other. It is usually like this during the summer, where the westerners like to head to their "movie theatres" and enjoy the summer vacation, while we over here treat it like any other day (except for me!).

So to avoid being treated like an outcast, I made a point to watch all the good movies that have been showing so far.

What have I watched? Well.....

It started with Spider Man 3.

A good movie? Yeah it was. Sort of. I enjoyed it. It had some really good moments. It was a fun movie to watch. Nice and interesting villains this time. A mixture of action and romance, and family conflict. Nice to see Spidey's bad side. But to be honest, I am still not sure whether I like or hate the movie. I am still trying to decide. Maybe I was expecting something different. But to be fair, I will just say that it was a brilliantly made movie. Sharmini who is a mass-comm student didn't like the camera-work for one of the action scenes. I being a music student wouldn't know very much about that. But the music was good. It was. Get the soundtrack.

Then I watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

A good movie? Yes. It was sort of a good movie. But why did they have to make it so long? I would have preferred it much more if it were just maybe 20 minutes to half an hour shorter. But it was certainly much better than the 2nd movie, agree? I had some good laughs. I actually enjoyed this movie a lot. But during those days, was Singapore already called Singapore? Or was it something else? Even Malaya hadn't been formed. OK. Never mind. It's just a movie. Again, the music was good. Go get the soundtrack!

Then, I watched Next.

Yes, it was an interesting movie. Didn't completely like the ending but I wouldn't have done it any other way if I were the one making the movie. Good action. Nice story line. Tensed moments. It wasn't too long. So, yes, it was a good movie. I enjoyed it, that's for sure.

Then after that I watched The Hills Have 2 Eyes... no wait, The Hills Have Eyes 2.

The lucky ones die first. Gruesome movie with lots of excitement and some funny moments. I liked it. Not sure why. But I just did.

After that I also watched 28 Weeks Later.

Nice movie, to a certain extent. Don't watch it if you are sleepy. You could fall asleep. Nothing wrong with the movie. It is just......normal?

Then there was Shrek 3.

Funny how this year many movies released their "part 3" of their trilogy. Can we expect Spider Man 4? I doubt so. Pirates 4? Possible, considering how they left the movie to end with the search for the Fountain of Youth. Shrek 4? Doubt it. But Shrek 3, was short and sweet. A little too short in my humble opinion. I would've liked to see more of it. Nonetheless it was a very fun movie to watch. Funny and cute, exciting and fun, not a singe boring moment.

And of course, before every movie started, we had to watch the yellow DIGI fella cry in the commercial with that Tai Ko guy talking loudly on the phone. DIGI - time to change that commercial. It is seriously getting annoying. By the way, does that yellow fella even have a name? Yellow Fellow. Hehe... Yellow Fellow Follow You Everywhere.

Haha!

Well, next up we should be expecting some real good movies. Like TRANSFORMERS!!

Michael Bay initially did not want to make a movie out of Transformers. But then, he realised that the kids who were crazy about those robots in the 80s (like me) have all grown up and become executives and rich business men and women who can now afford to buy the movie's merchandise and buy the DVD and watch the movie several times. And that means the producers get rich too. So he was smart. Because wouldn't we love to see those robots in disguise come to life once more?

And, they will be making Thundercats into a movie too. Can't wait.

We can also slowly wait for the next great movie......
Fantastic Four.



i smiled today at 6:43 PM



Thanks for coming back to this blog even though I have not had the chance to update it for the past two weeks.

I went back home to where my heart is, Sabah, for a nice holiday and to see the people whom I do not get to see very often - my family.

I had a good rest, lots of sleep, lots of food, and lots of Dylan.

This time around, I explored Sabah a little more than my previous holidays. I was blessed to be invited to go to Poring Hot Springs and the National Park again. Actually, it has been many years since I last went to Poring and the National Park. A lot has changed since the last time I went.


If you do have the chance to visit Sabah, please make sure you explore the beautiful natural scenery around Mt Kinabalu and find out more about the beautiful place.

Sabah is actually a great place to go for a sweet escape from your usual hectic city life if you are in places like Singapore or KL or New York or Tokyo or somewhere else like those cities.

It has really been along time since I last saw Mt Kinabalu right before my very eyes. I used to live in a house where we'd have the nice extremely far-away view of the mountain every morning when we woke up. But then after we moved to another place, I never got to see the mountain anymore. So I definitely enjoyed seeing Mt Kinabalu again, and breathing the fresh mountain air once again.



And of course I was in Tenom most of the time, where my sister now lives together with her husband and two very wonderful children, Dylan (now 2 years old) and Amelia (barely 2 months).

Poring and the National Park where Mt Kinabalu is, would require a 3-hour drive from Kota Kinabalu city. Tenom is about 3 and a half hours by car from Kota Kinabalu, in the opposite direction. Lots of traveling on the road, but I enjoyed that too.




The main attraction in Sabah is of course my nephew Dylan (at least that's what he thinks). His famous words are
"where?"
"river!"
"no more"
"watch tatoon" (cartoon)
"dowan" (don't want)
"momom" (eat)
"minum" (drink)
..... and so many more. He has developed the good habit of watching cartoons and depriving the rest of the household from watching anything else. He is after all, King Dylan.

Amelia who is also called Princess Mia, is still reigning in her world very quietly. I wonder what kind of orders she will be giving when she starts to talk (and shout).

Anyway, good luck to my sister and my parents in looking after these two monkeys. My mum should be losing weight much faster than expected now that Dylan can run three times faster than the rest of us.

Also, I was thinking that I should explore more of Sabah before it is too late (not sure when too late is too late). I have several locations in mind....

I'd like to visit ALL the islands, well the main ones at least. Pulau Manukan, Mamutik, Sapi, Gaya, Sipadan, Tiga.

Then I'd like to visit Kudat, the Peak of Borneo.

And then Sepilok in Sandakan, where they keep your cousins the Orang-Utans.

Then I'd like to drive from Sabah to Sarawak and just take a quick tour around Sarawak.

Then I'd like to do a full jungle trekking around the Poring Hot Springs area, and let the leeches feast on my blood.

Sounds good? If anyone out there would like to do something similar and join me on this little adventure around Sabah, contact me and we'll make it happen ;-)

Hope everyone out there who has been on school holiday the last two weeks had a wonderful time. May you all be fully energized to start school again soon!