All about Seremban Life

Hello 2012!

2012-01-16T12:53:00.000+08:00

Happy 2012 to all. It's a little late but what the heck...better late than never.

Am at a garage servicing my car and I thought this would be funny to start off a new year on this blog.

There are many who enjoyed my heritage trail blog post and thank you all for following me. Thank you as well who contributed on infos that I never knew before. I promise there will be more so stay tuned. Till then have a good year and a good CNY as well

FAIL Sign

2011-08-12T14:16:00.000+08:00

A signboard spotted around Seremban

My church member spotted this sign somewhere in Seremban and share it with me. It's so funny.

Writer's Block

2011-07-21T13:20:00.000+08:00

I am having a writer's block now. I got a few more articles to blog about but finding mental block about it.

So here's a quick update. Saw an accident nearby my secondary school the other day. The motorcyclist beat the red light and paid the price. PADAN MUKA. The guy in the photo with the helmet is not the victim (culprit) but good samaritans that helped to direct the traffic. The fella already in the ambulans to the hospital.

Good Life Pointers

2011-06-23T08:30:00.000+08:00

On Sunday the church celebrated our senior pastor's birthday. One of his friends in USA sends their greetings, and gave a few good life pointers I think worth pondering about. I would like to share them today here.

Give God what's right, not what's left.

Man ways leads to a hopeless end, God's ways leads to a endless hope.

A lot of kneeling will keep you a good standing.

He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.

In the sentence of life, the devil may be a comma, but never let him to be the period.

Don't put a question mark where God puts a period.

Are you wrinkled with burdens? Come to the church for a facelift.

When praying don't give God instructions, just report to duty.

Signboard Fail

2011-06-21T08:25:00.001+08:00

Spotted this signboard near the Labu road.

Welcome to Negeri Sembilan signboard - FAIL

Upon closer inspection one can see that the website url were haphazardly corrected.

The URL were haphazardly corrected.

What I don't understand is that this signboard is not that complicated and such error should not have occurred in the first place. Moreover, the correction done made it even worse! Saw the two periods in the url?

I wonder how much taxpayers money were wasted to pay on such a signboard? One word: FAIL.

Seremban Oldest Cinema: Golden City Cinema

2011-06-20T08:35:00.009+08:00

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 6.

I am not 100% sure, but I think this is the oldest cinema in Seremban where most of the original building structure are still intact.

Since the day I could count my toes, Golden City Cinema (I think that's the name!) is no longer operational. It was taken over and turned into a furniture shop called Vincent.

Seremban oldest cinema. Golden City.

The walkway.

Nothing much I could tell you about the history of this cinema as I was not born yet during it's era. But visit at this place and take a closer look. One could almost imagine how it looks like back in its glorious days with the pigeon-holed ticketing counter still intact.

The ticketing counter that are still visible today.

Take a peek inside the furniture shop and you can still see the remnants of the cinema still intact. To me, I could almost imagine the excitement back in those days of the first-time cinema goers.

The original structure that are still intact. The screen use to be at the back where the florescent lights are.

My parents used to run a food stall at one of the restaurant at the same row with this old cinema. So this street has been my playground for couple of years. I remember back then in the late 80's next to this old cinema is a beer brewing factory. I can't see what inside the factory then, but I sure remember the stench of the beer steams that escapes from the drains man-hole everyday.

There used to be a beer factory next to the cinema. The building was demolish and now its an empty lot.

The beer factory was dismantled somewhere in the 90's, I think it's due to a fire. Now it's just an empty land.

The GPS coordinate for this place is 02° 43.647' E101° 56.242'

Tan Brother's Supermarket: Old But Thriving

2011-06-16T08:35:00.042+08:00

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 5.

Among all the new shopping malls that sprang up in Seremban town, it's easy to forget this once a popular shopping outlet for the budget conscious. Even though it's old, Tan Brother's Supermarket is still thriving against its more popular competitors.

The older generation called it "Chew Jau Wui Koon". Again, the chinese name doesn't make any sense to me. Having attended only at a Malay medium school, it was only years later I understood that "Chew Jau Wui Koon" means The Association of the Chew Clan (yes, my chinese vocabulary is very bad). The supermarket is located just below the association, hence the local name.

Tan Brother's Supermarket Seremban.

Every year before the school reopens for the new year semester my parents would bring us here to shop for our school uniform. School bags, shoes, uniform, writing utensils all are available at the very affordable price. This supermarket turns into a carnival-like atmosphere with back-to-school slogans and discount signs everywhere.

I still remember back then the supermarket has no air-conditioning. Only fans on the ceiling and it's hot at day and humid at night. But we would spend hours in there and the excitement of getting a pair of new school shoes and uniform makes me and my siblings forget that we are practically sitting inside a large cooking oven. Even that I actually did all my school uniform shopping here till I graduate secondary school.

It's just located next to The Store Seremban (New Gold)

This supermarket is still operating till this day, serving a pool of its loyal customers. The last time I ventured into it was a couple years ago. It's a tad cleaner and neater with some interior renovation but still with the ceiling fans.

Perhaps one day I could still shop for school outfits for my child in the future at this place again.

The GPS coordinate of this place is 02° 43.542' E101° 56.228' and it's situated just beside the The Store Seremban (New).

Gold Supermarket Seremban: Now The Store Seremban

2011-06-08T22:32:00.001+08:00

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 4.

In the 80's Seremban people like to associate buildings or places to gold. This is evident with the shopping malls like Punca Emas (Gold Source), Gama (I presumed the chinese name is Golden Horse) down to housing areas like Taman Mas (Golden Garden) or Taman Bukit Emas (Golden Hill Garden). The word "Gold" is virtually almost everywhere in Seremban. And this shopping mall I am talking about today is no different.

My earliest collection of this building was back somewhere around 1987. I remember this building was an empty building then. Then someone started a Haunted House themed-park with it and it attracted teenage students in droves with its entrance fee of just 50sen. I was green with envy of my two elder sisters able to visit the theme park and I just get to hear stories of how fun and scary the theme park was.

Old Gold Shopping Center

But it didn't stay that way for long. Soon the theme park closed down and the building is haunted again :D But somewhere around 1988 a new shopping center sprang up and it's called GOLD SHOPPING CENTER. I remember the building used to have a big yellow sign of the word GOLD on it's little tower.

It became a very popular very quickly as it is the first shopping mall that carries branded fashion apparels in Seremban. My family shopped often in this place and it's our favorite Chinese New Year shopping outlet every single year. (my family finances has miraculously bounced back then, but that's a story for another day)

Gold Shopping center expanded very quickly. In a short few years, it built another 4-story high shopping complex just at the other end of the street. It's popularity skyrocketed. It's was first shopping mall with fast food joint, even more fashion apparel choices and a row of food delicacy outlet made it the perfect shopping center our little Seremban town. Seremban began to give it a new nick name: Old Gold (Gau Wong Kam) for the first shopping center and New Gold (San Wong Kam) for the newer mall.

Most of my CNY shopping in my teenage years are done in the newer mall. I remember I got my first 'expensive' watch at this place. It's a chrome silver Bonia watch with a white face. I got it when my mom got two pants for me for and got the watch at a special price of RM50. That watch last me a few years before it gave up it's ghost. I still had the watch with me till today somewhere safely tucked in the drawers.

Here is where I had my first taste of herbal eggs. Herbal eggs are basically hard boiled eggs in black herbal soup, cooked for many hours so that the aroma and the goodness of the herbs seeps into the eggs. I fell in love with those eggs ever since and it's a must have every single time we shop at this mall.

New Gold Shopping Center

I don't remember when but I think somewhere in 1994 Gold Shopping Center changed hands and it was renamed to The Store shopping center. Today, both malls are still operating but the nick name remains. Just ask any Seremban-nian chinese - "Where is San Wong Kam (New Gold) ? and they will point you to the right direction. Only Seremban newbies will call it The Store.

My wife & I still shop there once a while. Though it's little old, we find it still has something else to offer in the midst of other shopping malls. There are certain clothing or kitchenware available here and not anywhere else. And the best thing is their prices are still Seremban prices - cheap and good :D

Wisma Punca Emas : After It's Prime Days...

2011-06-03T08:35:00.001+08:00

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 3.

Built around the same time as Peninsula Plaza in the early 80's, Wisma Punca Emas (direct translation: Gold Source Mall) was and still is a landmark in Seremban town.

Wisma Punca Emas means Source of Gold Mall. There used to be a car driveway to disembark passengers at the main entrance before it renovated for more shops at the ground floor.

It was one of the most happening mall in the 80's for families. Then in the 90's it became a popular hangout place for teenagers as there are abundance of video arcade center begin to sprout in this mall. This place is considered a big 'no no' place for us as those seen hanging out at the mall would labeled as "naughty kids".

There are other shops too - hair saloons, beauty center, boutiques, tailors, and even food shops in this once a very popular mall.

I remember there is even a Christian bookstore here called Emmanuel. My dad got me my first bible there when I was 10 - a malay translation Bible. Back then, there is no issue with Bible in Malay language and politician don't label each other as clown.

Now almost all the shops are deserted.

But today, it's in a sad situation. The whole building except shops at the ground level are deserted. The mall begin to lose its customers to newer malls like Seremban Parade and Terminal One in the 90's. Just like Peninsula Mall, it is heading towards total closure.

It pretty creepy walking inside the building. Like a scene from I Am Legend.

Infomation counter. Abandoned ages ago.

Wisma Punca Emas. The happening place in the 80 & 90's

Do take a look at this mall before it's demolished or used for other purposes. It's GPS coordinate is N 02° 43.467' E 101° 56.405'

Seremban First SuperMarket: Gama Supermarket

2011-06-01T08:35:00.091+08:00

This is one of my on-going The Heritage Trail blog post series. Read my disclaimer here first :D. This is article No. 2.

One of my earliest memory collection of a supermarket is GAMA Supermarket at Jalan Tunku Hassan. It was the first supermarket for Seremban town at that time (in the 70's). According to a Seremban old-timer, the supermarket was used to be called Sum Long, however not long after Peninsula Plaza opened it's doors, Sum Long closed down it business and taken over by GAMA Supermarket. This was somewhere back in 1980 -1981.

Today, the present building was occupied by Cosmopoint College.

GAMA Supermarket was an 3-stories air-conditioned shopping center. I remember that they have a toys department on the top floor and my parents often gave me free time to gawk at the toys (Transformers Robots were at rage back then!) while they does their shopping.

It was at this supermarket I had my first encounter with plain-clothes security guard. I was still Standard 1 then. My eldest sister brought me and my 2nd sister to shop for stationaries. As we about to leave, a malay man came and ushered us to the staircase at the back. He then went through my sister's purchase. After determining that three of us were not there to shoplift, he then let us go. I was to young to comprehend the situation back then. Looking back now, we does look like little thieves with our shabby looking clothes :D

This street is the nightspot hangout place for many back then.

There is a night market along the Tunku Hassan Street then. After our night shopping at Gama, my parents will take us for a stroll along the night market. I remember some of the stalls very well. There was a stall that always draws me with the smell of it's delicious apam balik, and another stall that sells superglue with a handwritten signboard that says Gam Gajah (Elephant Glue) that promises to bond anything under heaven.

Oh I always remember the stall that sells digital watches - Jam Budak for three ringgit a piece. I always wanted those watches but I never asked my parents to buy it- knowing that being a hawker family we are not that well to do. But being loving parents they bought me the watch for my 10th birthday. I was over the moon! I wore it day and night, in shower and in sleep. I checked the time every 5mins. My heart ache when it got it scratched accidentally while in school. Due to my 'excessive usage', the strap broke and not too long after that it started to fall apart in pieces. I think I lost the watch while keeping it in my pockets.

The night market was relocated to accommodate growing traffic the 90's. This place held a lot of memories for me. Feel free to share your memories in this place below.

The GPS coordinate is 02° 43.542' E101° 56.228'

Old and Forgotten

2011-05-30T08:25:00.060+08:00

This is the first post of my Seremban Heritage Trail series. Read my disclaimer here first. Hehe.

I will start of with the oldest building in my memory when I was young. It was this abandoned plaza situated somewhere in Lobak area near OK Tuck foodcourt. I do not know what is the name of the plaza but usually we will refer this building as "Long Fong Lau', (english: Dragon Classic Delight Restaurant) the only surviving and active Chinese restaurant still operating there back then. We were regulars of the restaurant because many of our friends and relatives held their wedding dinner there.

Used to be the most happening place in Seremban, but now abandoned to rot.

I have been told by my parents that this building used to be the most happening building in the late 70's and it's the first modern shopping mall at it's time. The 3-level mall was equipped with escalators, an invention that would wow Serembanians back then.

This is the restaurant used to operate there.

But the mall also located at the area we call 'black area', where chinese rival gangs and triads seeks to control the area back then. There were many gang fights over the 'authority' to collect protection money from the business owners of the shops, and with all these dangers many people began to shun this place.

The main entrance. Notice that a tree has made itself a home on the wall.

There used to be a family gym, some video game arcades, some salons...but begins to wind down it's business one by one. Some closed down for good and some just relocated. Once a while there are some tried to revive the mall with new business openings. I remembers one of those is a shop that sells kitchen utensils. I bought one of my first plastic bags from there because my mom asked me to buy some and I think it's cheap there. That outlet also doesn't survive more than 2 years I think.

Abandoned computer shop sign still visible today.

About 3 years ago, the only and longest surviving restaurant I mentioned earlier decided to relocate. Since then building has been abandoned completely.

An abandoned project next to the mall

Do you have your own memory of this building? If yes feel free to comment on this post. I would like to hear from you as well.

Update: This building is called Peninsula Plaza, built in the late 70's. The GPS coordinate of this place is N02° 44.371' E101° 55.579'

The Heritage Trail

2011-05-28T08:30:00.002+08:00

I had some silent readers who occasionally comment and email me how they enjoyed this blog about Seremban town. One particular reader named Ah Wah recently commented on a post of how he appreciates some of the heritage sites photos that I took randomly. His comment gave me an idea.

I shall take that suggestion and begin a series of what I call a Seremban Heritage Trail Series. It would be an ever-evolving concept and the post would be anything that I deemed historic enough. It would not be the usual 'tourist sites'. You can get those info from other travel websites easily. But instead it would be mainly consist of long forgotten buildings or streets that evoke childhood memories of mine (or yours as well). These will be tagged as 'heritage' post.

My new blog venture are in no way historically correct but its just how I remember it or being told to. You are free to correct my facts in the comment box.

All the sites will have an GPS coordinates with it. Perhaps there would be some readers who would be interested enough to 'trail' these sites on their own.

Hopefully my posts would be able to show my readers how much Seremban town has changed, how I remember it when I was young, written down before I totally forgotten all of it at my old age....

Art and Culture Hall

2011-05-26T08:00:00.022+08:00

Seremban has a new Art & Cultural Hall opened last year, and it available to be rented out to the public for art and culture purposes. I went over there to check out the place for an piano recital event on July 3rd 2011.

The new hall with a Minangkabau roof design. The colour combined with its pointy roof resembles
a Thai Buddhist Temple when viewed from far.

The hall has the capacity of 500 pax including a vip corner right at the center of the seating hall. The lights and the hall acoustic are pretty ok for dramas, dance and even a pop concert. The hall sounded rather dull for a classical event due to the rather short hall reverberation.

Seats are pretty comfortable and the walking path are pretty spacious. No more tumbling over other people's legs when you need to go to the washroom.

RCF speakers in Left Rght Center configuration.

The stage is spacious and big. Good enough for a rather elaborated drama production. The backstage however was too small and the ceiling is rather low for a tall props.

The main sound reinforcement systems are powered by RCF speakers in Left Right Center configuration with the dual subwoofers on the extreme left and right. I have not heard the system yet but looking at the subs placement I doubt it would be good. It would be tough to get a nice low end distributed evenly with the subs position.

Another view of the stage.

The lights are adequate. A few moving heads, a follow-spot light and lots of ParCans enough for a fantastic 500pax drama production. The lighting console is by Avolites.

Allen & Heath ML3000 desk

The position of the PA room is a nightmare to all audio engineers. You can't hear what's happening outside. You have to rely on a miserable small monitor placed on top of the A&H mixer.

Having said tough, its rather nice to have a hall that the public can rent and be creative. One note tough, being a government owned hall means that all government functions takes precedence in this place and your planned event can be cancelled should the former needs the hall for some meetings.

International The Day Exhibition

2011-05-24T00:05:00.001+08:00

Today I had such a fun day at the Negeri Sembilan State Muzeum located near the Seremban Tol highway. In conduction with the International Museum day, they organized an 3 days exhibition consisting of various museums around Malaysia to have an booth here.

I say it was rather informative and a fun day for myself seeing new things and have an oppotunity to practice on my new DSLR toy. I would like to share some of the photographs here.

Entrance is free but unfortunately the exhibition ends today.

The entrance.

They have activities and hamper giveaways for school children.
Pictured are the booth by the Telekom Museum.

They have a live band with traditional instruments.
I was rather surprised when they belted a popular English number with these instruments.

The bassist and the guitarist

I think this instrument is called Gambus.

Barbeque the military way. The Army has a booth here as well.

Various edible roots on display. Jungle survival tips.

Artistic shot at dried buah pinang or betel palm fruit.

Artistic shot of a kite that resembles a ship.

A man working on a wau kite design. A wau is a traditional malay kite.

Another man making kites. I used to make these kites too l when I was young.

Artistic shot with my DSLR of the traditional malay pike.

Another artsy shot of the traditional malay boat head.

A traditional malay ship replica.

A MIG-29 jet Cockpit! Yes! I sat in it!
My childhood dream of sitting in a jet came true!
Oh well, it's a training unit but I don't care!

MIG 29 jet controller. The pilot told me that it works just like a PlayStation controller. Hehe.

With countless of buttons and meters, I think sometimes accident happens
because the pilot flicked the wrong switch!

Part of the cockpit seat ejection system.

To eject during mid air emergency, all the pilot needs to do is to pull the red rubber handle between your legs and you will be ejected out from the cockpit instantly in 1 second. ONE SECOND. That's quick.

The pilot explaining the functions to a visitor. He is popular with the school girls.
All the girls swoon around him asking for his email and number.

They have machine guns on display! Real ones. And you can touch it and feel it's mechanism.

This machine gun is no longer in service after the Japanese Occupation. Seen these before in war movies. It's pretty heavy. 9.6kgs with fully loaded bullets. Tried to carry it around and it's not easy. Your shoulders would get the cramps if you try to pose like Rambo with it.

Homemade guns

Machine guns with grenade launcher. It's a wild trip to childhood fantasy at this booth.

I used to have this telephone at my home back in the days. With this exact same colour.
Apparently they are made by ERRICSON. Yes, the Erricson before Sony took over.

Another ancient phone.

Another ancient 'futuristic' looking phone.

Since about 2 years ago, I noticed that our local museum has been pretty active in organizing event such as these to promote the awareness to the local people of our rich history. I applaud these efforts and I think the museum management is doing a good job. So do watch out for any other event organized by our local museum. I'm sure it would be worth your time and it would be educational for your children as well.

Tom Yam Noor Nadia

2011-05-21T01:56:00.000+08:00

Being pregnant my wife had her food cravings. She craves for Malay fried rice and Tom Yam soup. She wants it spicy and sour. So we went in search for restaurants that able to satisfy her cravings. Being chinese, we hardly patronize Malay restaurants because :

1. The food usually is not that nice.

2. They are usually slow. Really SLOW. Even if the restaurant is empty.

But we found a restaurant that has neither of the two listed! They serves fast. The food is great. And they collect the bill fast as well. I really hate to call for the bill and wait 10 mins for it in other restaurants.

Tom Yam Noor Nadia at Seremban 2

Tom Yam Noor Nadia is located in Seremban 2, behind the Family Store, right in front the Tuesday Pasar Malam.

They serves other food as well

We always order Nasi Goreng Ayam, Nasi Goreng Kampung and Tom Yam soup. We liked all of them. The rice are dry enough, spicy enough and and the prices are very reasonable.

Nasi Goreng Kampung

Tom Yam Soup

The Tom Yam Seafood Soup are just the right taste and spiciness. It's not the best Tom Yam soup I ever tasted, but it good enough for me to come back for more.

Try it. You might like it. The GPS coordinate is N 02° 41.075' E101° 54.311'

Inconsiderate Drivers

2011-05-18T17:06:00.001+08:00

This lady just conveniently parks at the disabled bay and walked out to the bank ATM

Today I saw a lady driver who conveniently parks her vehicle at the parking bay meant for disabled drivers in front of Standard Chartered Bank.

I stood there waiting for her to alight from the car and pointed to her that her vehicle was parked at the bay meant for the disabled. Her reaction to me was "Just for a little while" and walks off to the bank ATMs.

Malaysians are basically bunch of selfish people. We have legs but we all want to park RIGHT IN FRONT of the bank. Just look at our schools during the mornings and evenings. Parents are not willing to park further down the road and walk to the main gate but willing to double or triple park and cause traffic congestion to the road.

The lady "just a little while" response would cause great inconvenience to the disabled. Imagine if you are a disabled driver and had to park further because someone needed the parking bay for their "just a little while excuse". They had to wade the dangers of fast moving traffic to just perform a simple banking task that all of us - the able bodied people taken for granted.

For the lady to park inconsiderately today.... remember.....

YOU COULD BE A DISABLED TOO ONE DAY.

A View Around Seremban

2011-05-16T22:38:00.000+08:00

Was out with an old friend today. Took opportunity to photograph some parts of Seremban town.

One of the main busy street of Seremban. The furthest building on the right is our Federal Government Building.

The back alley, away form the hustle & bustle of the busy street.

A mamak stall

A backyard view of the Wisma Punca Emas. Back in the 80's this is the most happening building in Seremban town. Today, it's an almost deserted shopping mall.

Blurry Day

2011-05-11T14:52:00.001+08:00

After a few days of intense heat with no rain (the sun was so relentless that I got sunburn on my face by just riding my bike around town on Monday)...the haze is back...

Teo Hing Teo Chew Porridge

2011-05-09T23:18:00.000+08:00

Wifey was not well today, so she requested porridge for lunch.

Teo Chew Porridge.

Where to get nice porridge in Seremban? Well, I could only think of is the Teo Hing Teo Chew Porridge in Seremban town, a couple shops away from RHB bank Seremban. Teo Chew Porridge IMHO is basically bland white rice porridge served with assorted side dishes.

Teo Hing Teo Chew Porridge Shop.

This restaurant has been here as long as I can remember. The locals call it 'lou jie pai' basically a well-known household name in cantonese.

The locals loved the porridge here. To me, they still serve the best Teo Chew porridge. Their preserved vegetables (ham choi) are still the best.

Place is packed during lunch hours

Oh by the way, they do sell chicken rice as well here. I don't know whether it's good or not. I just like their porridge.

A closer look at the various dishes on offer.

You just order your choice of rice or porridge, can pick and choose your dishes. Prices will be charged accordingly.

An ancient cash till that is still functional!

During the hard times of old, porridge used to be food of the poor. But today the opposite is true. A pack of rice porridge with salted eggs and preserved vegetables cost RM4.80! More expensive than a big bowl of noodles.

That said though, I will still come again to this shop whenever I need to have some porridge.

I am on blog mode!

2011-05-06T10:06:00.000+08:00

Wow...it's been quite a while since my last post. Was caught up with my own family life and facebook, didn't have the drive for blog post.

But now I am on blog mode! Why?

1. Because my wifey is pregnant!
2. Facebook fever over. Where everybody is ditching blog, I am going back to blogging.
3. I got a new toy. An used Nikon D3000 with kit lens. Mint condition! Shutter count less than 7k! With a nice looking nikon bag! For RM900!!! What a steal!!
4. More nice eating places sprung up and some used to be good ones no longer good anymore. Sigh. So here's a few reasons to update the blog for future people to visit Seremban town.

So with a new toy, expect nicer pics to be posted. But sometimes lazy will still snap from my Nokia E71.

Morning breakfast

2010-02-12T09:07:00.001+08:00

Just wanna snap this photo of our morning breakfast joint. CNY in 2 more days. Took leave today for spring cleaning the house.

True British hospital stories

2010-02-01T10:50:00.001+08:00

1. A man dashes into the A&E dept. and yells . . 'My wife's going to have her baby in the taxi'.

I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the taxi, lifted the lady's dress and began to take off her underwear. Suddenly after protests from the lady I noticed that there were several taxis - - - and I was in the wrong one.

Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald , St.. Andrews Hosp. Glasgow

2. At the beginning of my shift, I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall.
'Big breaths,'. I instructed.

'Yes, they used to be,'. . . replied the patient..

Submitted by Dr. Richard Barnes , St.Thomas's Bath

3 One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes later, I heard her on her mobile phone reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a
'massive internal fart.'

Submitted by Dr. Susan Steinberg Royal London Hosp.

4. During a patient's two week follow-up appointment, he told me that he was having trouble with one of his medications.
'Which one ?'. . .. I asked.

He answered 'The patch' ! the Nurse told me to put on a new one every six hours and now I'm running out of places to put it!'

I had him quickly undress and discovered what I hoped I wouldn't see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body!
Now, the instructions includes removal of the old patch before applying a new one.

Submitted by Dr. Rebecca St. Clair, Norfolk General

5. While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked 'How long have you been bedridden?'
After a look of complete confusion she answered .'Why, not for about twenty years - when my husband was still alive.'

Submitted by Dr. Steven Swanson- Maidenhead Royal Kent

6. I was performing rounds at the hospital one morning and while checking up on a man I asked . . ...' So how was your breakfast this morning?'

'It's very good except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can't seem to get used to the taste.'. . Bob replied.

I then asked to see the jelly and Bob produced a foil packet labelled 'KY Jelly.'

Submitted by Dr. Leonard J. Brandon . Bristol Infirmary.

7. A nurse was on duty in the A&E when a young woman with purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered . . It was quickly determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for an immediate operation..
When she was completely disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green, and above it there was a tattoo that read . .'Keep off the grass'

Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the patient's dressing, which read 'Sorry . . . had to mow the lawn.'

Submitted by Staff Nurse RN Elaine Fogerty ,KGH London -Dr. wouldn't submit his name

Sei Chun Ah!!!!*

2010-01-30T11:32:00.002+08:00

Woke up this morning and sleepily ride to the office. When I reached there, the office is closed! Then I realized that today is public holiday for Thaipusam! Arrrgghhh! I could have slept a few more hours! aaaaRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!! SEI CHUN AHHHH!*

*translation = Super Stupid Me

Smooth Drive

2010-01-27T20:55:00.001+08:00

Picture taken at 8.50 a.m. while driving to work this morning.

One of the greatest perks of working in Seremban is that we have almost no jam in the morning in most part of the town. A journey from home to office of about 6 km drive only takes me 8 mins. I can be out from the house at 8.50am and still be on time at the office at 9a.m.

It was a quality of life that I gained since I moved back to Seremban 10 years ago. No more stress on the road. I can be home at 5.15p.m, take a cat nap and out for a swim at 6pm, & dinner at 7.30pm while my fellow kl friends are still stuck in the traffic.

Cost cutting

2010-01-26T14:07:00.001+08:00

Today marks another milestone in our married life. We decided to cut cost in all ways that we could. Having been challenged to give to church missions with a substantial sum from our partly salary, both wife & me took some drastic measures to save any money we could. They are:

1. Cook our own dinner as much as possible. The average amount we spend on homecook dinner is RM5/meal consisting of chicken & vegetables. Eating out with similar dishes & lesser portions would cost RM12.
Advantages: Save RM7/meal.
Disadvantages: More time spent in the kitchen.

2. Ride the bike as much as possible. My wife travels about 20km daily to work, and that translates about RM200/month just on fuel alone. We decided that I should fetch her to work on the bike every morning. Advantages: We'll save about RM150 petrol money every month.
Disadvantages: I gotta wake up more earlier.

3. Save money on news: I have already stopped buying newspapers and reading the online version. Wife started following my footsteps since last week. Money saved: RM70/ month.

4. Reduce phone bills: We downgraded our phone plans to the cheapest possible. Wife using pre-paid now and I am on DIGI RM50 plan. As for internet using Digi EDGE RM58/month plan.

There are more steps we can take to save cost. One of the things we are thinking about is whether we should sleep in the living room where it is cooler so that we don't have to turn on the air-condition. We shall see.

For Non-Muslim Only

2010-01-22T02:01:00.003+08:00

The title has nothing to do with the recent attacks on the churches & mosque alike but it was refering to a restaurant serving pork of which my muslim brethren would shun anyway.

It's hard to find a western restaurant in this small town of Seremban, not to mention a good and cheap too. Besides the Pizza Itallia that got everybody talking about good Italian food at Seremban price, I found another good place for western food, particularly pork chop. The place is called Fireworkz.

This place has been around for quite some time but it didn't really attract me to go and dine there as I thought it would be another overcharging disappointing western joint. Until my aunt bragged about the place and gave me a dinner treat. And I got hooked!

What is special with this place? You must have the Pork Chop with Thousand Island dressing. It is basically deep fried breaded pork chop with fries and salad. I've never liked deep fried breaded meat, be it chicken or fish as I find it pretty dry, but the pork chop done here was juicy and yet crispy at the same time. Simply delicious and the portion does not disappoint.

Lime juice and pudding that comes with the set.

Pork Chop!!!

And the best part is yet to come. The best part is, they are having a long-term promotion now. For a set of Pork Chop, with pudding dessert and a selection of lime drink or white coffee, it only cost RM9.80 NETT. No GST, no service tax. Cheaper than a meal at MacD or KFC. And the service here is 100% superb. The owner greets you at the door, takes your order and food arrives in 7 mins.

Receipt as proof that me no liar.

And now I got another hang out place in Seremban! Seremban is such a nice place to stay.

Where is the place? It's the same row with Seremban Siew Hai, somewhere near along the road with the old LHDN office. GPS position is N 02" 43.950' E 101" 56.116'

ps: You can skip the BBQ chicken, it was not that good.

Don't throw motolov cocktail. Read Seremban Ads.

2010-01-14T10:44:00.001+08:00

Seremban has a few advertisement magazines where the publisher delivers massive ad mag to all homes at a cost to the companies who wanted to advertise. There are 3 companies that do such business, but I saw this on one of the magazine.

If those racist fellas had these mag on their hands, I think there would be world peace...

Seremban Vandals

2010-01-09T17:54:00.002+08:00

Snapped this photo at Bukit Xmas traffic light today. This fella were putting up illegal ah long bunting all over the place.

Seremban has too much illegal buntings that really are eyesore to our beautiful town.

Blog test using Nokia E71

2010-01-09T11:32:00.001+08:00

This is a test post from my Nokia E71. Hope this works...

Amos White Coffee House

2009-11-02T17:31:00.002+08:00

My sister and bro-in-law has opened a new shop called Amos White Coffee House. Do go and support support ar...

The coffee shop is located at Oakland business center, facing the G-Force lorry parking lot.

For the GPS inclined, the coordinate is N 02` 42.289' E101` 55.099'

My church baptism

2009-10-26T01:53:00.001+08:00

Today my church had a baptism service at one of our members house which has a mini swimming pool.

All together 13 people got baptised. The photo below is one of the girl holding back her tears while giving her testimony while the rest of us listens on.

Congrats to all who got baptised today!

Happy Deepavali!

2009-10-17T11:38:00.002+08:00

At midnight sharp the skies were filled with fireworks and fire crackers non-stop for a least 10 mins like all hell broke loose.

I didn't know our Hindu neighbors too burn firecrackers to celebrate Deepavali. Guess the Chinese culture here of burning firecrackers to signify the Chinese New Year has rubbed on them too like to the Malays as well.

So I think we are all one Malaysian underneath before the 1Malaysian slogan were created.

Happy Deepavali to all!

Loving Mee

2009-10-08T13:40:00.001+08:00

Saw this stall nearby my wife new working place.

It's a new loving dish on the menu. Good for those who are lazy to move around.

Econsave Seremban

2009-10-07T00:19:00.001+08:00

Last monday I went to see another new hypermarket in town, Econsave Seremban. Located in a new housing area called Forest Height.

When I reach there the place is quite packed as it was brand new. There are still shops are preparing for their official launch tomorrow.

The fish were on sale looked fresh to me. They were such in a rush to open the hypemart they yet to do a proper product signboard. They are using carboard to display the food prices.

Overall I would say the place is ok lah. It's just a glorified mini market I would say. Bigger than Family Store at Rasah Jaya and the prices are not that cheaper anyway. I will stick to Family Store as it is just a walking distance from where I stay :D

Science In Bahasa Malaysia

2009-09-25T13:40:00.000+08:00

Now we are going to teach Science in BM

The whole world uses the language as an information and/or technology
language. How dangerous it will be if we try to use Bahasa, especially
in school. See example below:-

Hardware = barangkeras
Software = baranglembut
Joystick = batang gembira
Plug and Play = cucuk dan main
Port = lubang
Server = pelayan
Client = pelanggan

Try to translate this:

ENGLISH:
That server gives a plug and play service to the client using either
hardware or software joystick. The joystick goes into the port of the
client.

Now in BAHASA:
Pelayan itu memberi pelanggannya layanan cucuk dan main dengan
menggunakan batang gembira jenis keras atau lembut. Batang gembira itu
akan dimasukkan ke dalam lubang pelanggan..

Now you know the problem.. coming in 2012.

Kajang Satay - Restoran Malaysia (Part 3)

2009-09-15T13:30:00.000+08:00

Halfway through our lunch, one beggar came to our table to ask for money. Knowing that this beggar are a part of a syndicate from China, we ignored him. But he is quite persistent and stood there for about 2 mins (usually these people will leave in 30 secs if there is no response from us)

So I decided play a prank on this counterfeit beggar. I spoke in Mandarin with heavy mainland accent. I asked where is he from. From mainland? I said "I am also from China. The Malaysian Chinese are poor so it's better to go back home". While he was listening he was oblivious that my wife was snapping photos.

I told my wife in Cantonese that I am going to pose and she snap a photo. The beggar, of course did not understand what I was saying, therefore it's proven that he is a foreigner. And below is the result.

Sensing something amiss, he turn his back and saw my wife with the camera. He quickly left the restaurant.

Tips to all who are pestered by this kid of syndicate with you are enjoying your meal. Take out your phone or camera and start snapping photos. They will leave you immediately.

Kajang Satay - Restoran Malaysia (Part 2)

2009-09-12T13:30:00.000+08:00

I tried to order some drinks with one of the foreign worker and he pretend not to hear me. Another grumbled that I ordered with him. I guess all of them here are a bunch of overworked and underpaid people who has no choice but to stay in order to support their family back in Myanmar.

We ordered some otak otak. RM0.70 per peice.

This is me eating the otak-otak. It was grilled on a electric grill, therefore it does not have that 'grill fragrance' on the otak-otak. The taste is so-so only lah.

Our satay came! Mutton satay RM0.90/stick, Beef RM0.70/stick, Chicken RM0.60/stick. A bit pricey for a stick of satay, and Seremban satay tasted way better. In other words, Restoran Malaysia is nothing to shout about.

Mutton Satay

Chicken Satay

Would I return to this place? Nope unless someone willing to pay for me (hahaha. Can't say no to free food!) The place is noisy, hot, congested, workers are rude and I doubt the cleanliness of the food!

But something funny happened while we are eating. It would be tomorrow!

Kajang Satay - Restoran Malaysia (Part 1)

2009-09-11T12:39:00.002+08:00

Last Sunday we went down to Kajang to take a look at the church where we were invited to perform our Christmas drama on 18th and 19th December. Of course after that we went to stuff our face with what Kajang is famous for - Satay.

So we ask the local where is the best satay in town. They recommended us 2 place. Restoran Malaysia and the one near the stadium. We decided to go to Restoran Malaysia as it is just opposite the police station and we would pass by it on our way home.

I was quite suprised to see Restoran Malaysia is owned by Chinese! I thought by the name of it is a Malay satay stall. The boss is Chinese, but all the workers are Myammar right down to the satay griller. I counted there is at least 20 workers there not counting those on top preparing the raw satay.

Myanmar worker grilling the satay.

There is a total of 3 satay grilling station.

Part 2 - Tomorrow!

What a bunch of bull!

2009-09-03T14:09:00.003+08:00

First it was the keris. Now it was the bull head. I think Hissamudin has cow brains. Below are the excerpt of the Malaysian Insider.

Hisham defends cow-head protestors

Hishammuddin ... why would we want to penalise anybody?

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 2 – The Home Minister today defended and justified last Friday's cow-head demonstration after meeting with Malay-Muslim representatives of Shah Alam's Section 23 at his office here today.

Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein pointed out that the residents felt victimized and had no intention to stir racial emotion.

“They are not getting off scot-free. They felt victimised and feel that there is another valid explanation on their part. There was no intention on their part to cause racial divide. They, the organisers, who are sitting left and right of me, didn’t even know that somebody was going to bring the head of the cow during that demonstration.” he said.

He added that the residents only wanted their voices to be heard but it was unfortunate that “the publicity they received was negative because it was linked with racial and religious sentiments.”

A group, claiming to be Muslim residents of Section 23 in Shah Alam, the new site of a Hindu temple, held a demonstration outside the Selangor state secretariat last Friday, dragging a severed cow-head, an animal sacred in Hinduism, which they stomped on and spat at under the gaze of the riot police.

The act was carried out by a group of 50 protestors who oppose the relocation of the Sri Mahamariamman Temple to Section 23 from Section 19, claiming the area is mainly occupied by Malay-Muslims.

The 150-year-old temple was built on a plantation which over the years was developed into housing estates by the Selangor Development Corporation (PKNS). No provisions were made to relocate the temple, which is now in the middle of a Muslim majority area.

Hishammuddin told reporters that the police allowed the demonstrators to proceed because the numbers of protestors were small.

“They said that they were very conscious and all that they wanted to do was to voice their unhappiness about the willingness of the state government to listen to their requests. I was told that even the Hindus there are not so passionate that it is built there (section 23),” he said.

Hishammuddin refuted claims that the protest was organised by Umno and said that the location allocated by the state government is not suitable because Section 23 is predominantly Malay.

However, a check last week showed the neighbourhood was multi-racial, with Indians making up more than a quarter of those who live there.

“If I wanted to use the issue to create chaos in Selangor, I can but we didn’t take such actions,” Hishammuddin said.

He tried to play down the cow-head incident by pointing out that there were previous incidents where a pig-head was used.

“I have it in my records to show there were cases where a pig-head was used by irresponsible parties including leaving the head in front of an Umno building covered by an Umno flag,” he said, but offered no details of such an act.

The Umno vice-president warned irresponsible parties not to provoke racial sentiments because it goes against the concept of 1 Malaysia.

Hishammuddin told reporters that the residents had met with Hindu Sangam two days ago and both parties will be releasing a media statement tomorrow.

“If it can be resolved quickly and can be done with both sides understanding each other ... why would we want to penalise anybody?” he said, suggesting he was not in favour of legal action to be taken against any of the protestors.

My fate is sealed....

2009-05-16T14:05:00.005+08:00

At the stroke of the pen, in less than 10 mins, my fate is sealed. At least for another 50 years.

Her's too.

It's my registration of marriage yesterday. Yeah, I look like a blob. More like a fishmonger in a jacket. Can't blame me though. The room is hot and stuffy. Cost cutting by reducing the aircon tempreature or just want to make our life more miserable than it is.

Far right is my eldest sister. Totally forgot to take a photo of only both of us. Hahahaha. Two more couples on the queue and we didn't want to keep other's waiting.

The response from Caterer.com.my

2009-05-13T00:25:00.009+08:00

A few days after my email to caterer.com.my, they responded to me with an email as below.

Dear Kok Hon,

First, thank you very much for your letter dated May 8, 2009. We highly appreciate you taking the time to write your story in a detailed manner because it enables us to really understand your concern.

We are sorry that your overall recent experience with caterer.com.my
hasn't been a pleasant one. Delighting our customers has always been at the heart of our business. The website is our way of enriching the customer-ordering experience as customers are empowered to take charge of their event.

There are 2 things I would like to address which you have highlighted in your letter:

1. Payment of full amount upon ordering

It is our company policy for customers to pay the full amount before a function is confirmed. This is being implemented so we can focus on the customer's event and not spend too much time following up on remaining partial payments. For your info, we have had a lot of cases like these in the past which prompted management to implement the "Full Payment" policy. Allan did submit your request of paying half the amount first especially since the total amount of your function is quite a sum. We did decide that we won't be able to make an exception to the policy because this can be a precedent and we may potentially get more requests like these from our other field sales people.

Now having said this, we fully agree with you that you should have been properly informed about the decision regarding your request... which leads me to the second point below.

2. Failure on company's part to properly inform you about the outcome of your request

We are deeply sorry that you were made to wait for days and days after being promised that you will get a call from us. We have called Allan's attention on this issue and have reprimanded him on this. Allan is one of our top field sales personnel but we are not making an excuse for his actions. We acknowledge that it was unprofessional on our end to have kept you waiting and we would like to apologize for the manner the communication was conducted.

We have also noted your request to cancel your initial order.

Again, we are sorry for any stress and inconvenience we may have caused you. We hope to still be of service to you in any of your future events and we sincerely wish you success in your upcoming wedding and happiness in your marriage.

Respectfully yours,

Hasmah Hassan
Administrator Caterer dot com sdn bhd

Ok lah, at least they got an answer for me. I wonder how they reprimand Allan? Hehe. Apology accepted. Case closed.

I just want to rant.... about caterer.com.my

2009-05-09T10:15:00.000+08:00

This is a rant post. It might not do good to your mood. Posting it here so that anybody googling for a review for the mentioned company below can be warned ahead.

Still reading? Ok here goes.

An Open Letter to Caterer.com.my

To whomever it may concern,

I writing to complain the poor service that your company and staff/manager are giving me. About two months back, I stumbled upon your company website while searching for a western caterer for my upcoming wedding in Seremban in the end of May. Both my fiance and I liked your website, and I emailed to your listed email to ask some questions. However nobody contacted and I decided to call after a few day. I spoke to Alan, and he sounded professional and attentive.

About a month ago. I booked for a wedding buffet dinner for 200 pax. The next day a lady called me up to confirm the details. She called me around 6pm, by then I am already on my way home and asked that I called later.

I called a few days afterward to confirm my order and only to find out that I need to pay the full amount ahead first. The total amount of my orders is about RM7000. That is fine with me, but however I asked if policy can be negotiated, as there is no guarantee on my side for the deal if I paid the full amount first. What if your company didn't come? Or they come a day late? Or an hour late?

The lady directed to me to speak to Alan,. I spoke to Alan, and explained my situation, and proposed your company and I meet halfway. I would pay 50% as the deposit, and on the day you arrive I will pay you the balance in cash or bank draft before you setup. Alan was attentive to my proposal, and he explained that it was the company policy to receive the full amount. However he would consider it and take a look at my order and he was without internet at the moment . He promised that he would call me the next day for an answer.

I waited 5 days and Alan, did not call. I call up Alan, and he forgotten about my request and promised to call me up the next day. I waited for another 3 days, and Alan, did not call me up also. I call him up again, and he forgotten about my request again, and promised to call me up the next day. I waited to the end of next day, and I called Alan, to prompt for an answer. He told me that he already submitted my request to the higher management, and he would call me up the next day. He, of course he did not and that was 2 weeks ago, and since I have found a even better caterer and gave me an even lower price.

I am utterly disappointed with the service that was given to me. Alan, should have call me and gave me a definite answer, either a yes or a no. Your company or Alan, should not kept me in the dark even if my request is being denied. This is totally unprofessional. You got a great website, unfortunately with a lousy team of workers. By me an active customer and you a passive company, I felt like I am begging so that I can give you money in your pocket.

Therefore I would like to cancel my order of which I don't know what order number, because your website doesn't auto feedback and email at all back to me.

May you will improve and take heed from my unfortunate experience with your company.

TNB

2009-05-06T17:00:00.001+08:00

I snapped this pic at Seremban TNB main branch. Can you tell what is wrong with this photo?

My Wedding Album

2009-04-29T17:10:00.003+08:00

Here is my wedding album front cover.

DAP Meet The People Session

2009-04-23T09:54:00.001+08:00

I went for a swim after work on Tuesday, and when I heard that DAP is having a meet with the people session with Lim Kit Siang, I decided to drop by and see what Lim Kit Siang has to say.

I reached there about 8pm. They already started by the elected assemblymen takes turns giving their speeches. Mostly are pretty boring, except for Loke Siew Fok's and Lim Kit Siang's. Lim's speech however, I find it already old school.

I patiently waited for the time question time. The speeches dragged to 9.45 p.m. So already left by then.

I was the first went up to ask and give some constructive criticism to them.

Among are:

1. This is a forum where people would like to ask questions, it is not an election campaign. Therefore, keep the speeches to a minimum and allow more time with a dialog with the people.

2. The speeches made by the assemblymen are still revolving around the General Election last year 2009. We don't need to be reminded of history, we need to make history. Btw, some of the BN speeches are still talking about 1957.

3. What are the steps of DAP in taking over the government? If they were given a full mandate to change the government in the next GE, were they able to handle the leadership.

4. What is happening in Penang and relationship with PKR?

Fortunately, YB Loke answered most of my questions honestly, and satisfactory. Some of my questions went unanswered, and I think it's every politician tactic to evade answering questions that is controversial.

A friend of mine passed me some photos the next day. Then I realized that I looked very ugly in my short pants and sandals!

I have a dream....

2009-04-17T12:12:00.000+08:00

Best Game Ever

2009-04-04T15:54:00.000+08:00

There is still good hearted people in this world. Awwww.....

I am back

2009-04-03T09:46:00.001+08:00

Well, I am finally back after a year of rest...

Wow.... many things has changed. It's like coming back to your home after a year overseas....

Saya Tak Takut Bini

2008-07-24T12:55:00.001+08:00

"Kalau bini masih cantik, buat apa tukar?"

Those are the words uttered by another sexist and stupid MB. Kalau tak cantik lagi bini boleh main tukar-tukar ke?

I turn 29 today

2008-07-17T12:41:00.003+08:00

My morning sms with a friend went like this

Friend: Happy bday! 1 yr older, 1 yr wiser??
Me : TQ! TQ! TQ! One year older, one inch fatter!!!
Friend: Hahaha. You sure one inch ar?
Me : Hmmm...actually more than 1 inch I think. Thank you for pricking my conscience. :p
Friend : Haha...Heh... What r friends 4? NVM. It's ur bday. So eat 2 ur hearts content. Dieting can
always begin tomorrow :p

History In Making

2008-07-16T19:13:00.002+08:00

I believe that I am witnessing a dramatic change in my nation's political history. The police seems to be impatient. Abdullah's dream team seems to be making all the wrong decisions since March 08. It kept me glued to the laptop screen. And finally I succumbed to instant news and subscribed MalaysiaKini.

Off to Singapore Again

2008-07-08T00:51:00.006+08:00

I am off to Singapore again, but this time with a VIP status.

The perks? No need to fill up forms for access - just flash the card will do, access to the VIP lounge with free internet and beverages. I think I am going to enjoy this trip :D

Super Cool Van

2008-07-01T00:23:00.003+08:00

I took this photo some time back. I was pretty amused that the fact they actually mounted a 1hp split unit air conditioner meant for houses on top of a van.

Singapore Trip

2008-06-27T14:13:00.009+08:00

I just came back to Singapore attending an Audio Exhibit at the EXPO yesterday Midnight. Here's a summary of my travels.

I stayed in these flats.

I attended seminars there (free). Learned a lot.

The ang moh who shared subwoofer alignment techniques.

I also saw...

Long queue for food...

Exhibit Hall

Big Speakers. More specifically line array speakers. It's an in thing now for this industry. Sound so-so only.

Special Fog Curtain at the exhibits entrance.

I also played the F1 stimulator. Feels very real.

And I jostled with the rush hour crowd all the way back to JB.

Creative Malaysian Drummer

2008-06-16T10:47:00.002+08:00

I read this piece of news from NST this morning and was totally intrigued. Maybe I could do the same with all the drum skins in my church. It would be super cool :D

TOW SG Camp

2008-06-14T08:00:00.000+08:00

This is a video highlight of my church camp that were held recently at Summerset Resort Rompin. We had loads of fun there.

Xmas 2007

2008-06-13T14:30:00.001+08:00

It's a bit too late but I am going to post this up anyway. I took 5 months to pangsai is because of this. Here are some pictures.

Drama poster

Waiting for the show to start.

Girls are better at camera somehow. They got steadier hands, not to mention undistracted focus than the males.
Busy calling for coffee before the service starts.

Action!!!

No more petrol price increase this year?

2008-06-12T10:01:00.003+08:00

Our dear Prime Minister says that there will be no more petrol price increase until year-end. MY FOOT!!!! Judging by his track record of changing his mind overnight, I don't think I can believe him anymore.

Saw this joke from MalaysiaKini and would like to share it with you all.

A horse, a cow and a donkey were having an argument about who had most contributed to the war effort. The horse said he had done the most - ‘Without me, the soldiers wouldn't have been able to ride off to war’.

The cow said she was the one - ‘Without me, there would have been no one to feed the civilian population’.

The donkey, not to be outdone, said, ‘True....but I was the head of government. Without me, there would have been no war!’

Sigh.

Coping with petrol price hike

2008-06-06T17:51:00.000+08:00

Petrol Price Hike!

2008-06-05T02:11:00.005+08:00

Starting today, Malaysia's petrol prices will increase by RM0.78, which add up to RM2.70 per liter. Motorist all jammed up at the petrol stations to fill up their tank before the price increase at midnight. Here are some shots of the petrol stations in Seremban. Some of the station are already closed, probably no more petrol left due to the sudden frantic petrol buying by motorist.

I did not join the queue for cheaper petrol. I pumped my motorbike after midnight and it cost RM9 for full tank now!! Gosh, have to really squeeze my budget now. No more fancy dinner for a few months. Cheh.

Accident During CNY

2008-06-01T23:54:00.004+08:00

This is the hole I created on the my house front ceiling during CNY. Yes, I fallen RIGHT THROUGH IT.

The aftermath and debris. Spend like 15mins lying on that floor with frightened neighbors all around me.

The cloth hanger that broke my fall. Else I could be on a wheelchair now.

The moral of the story. Don't ever try to climb up to the roof and fix the tv antenna yourself. Get the pros to do it.

Hillsong United KL

2008-05-29T10:18:00.006+08:00

Lazy to type and elaborate so here are some pictures. It was jam-packed, crowded and full of body odor. It was all dark most of the time so not much photos I could snap anyway.

After the concert. People mountain people sea.

Proof of attendance.

Unfortunately not all that attended brought their brains along. This car was park RIGHT INFRONT of the exit gate, thus blocking the smooth flow of traffic after the concert. The notice taped to the windscreen says " By law and common sense you should not have parked your car here!"

Here is the short clip of video I managed to capture.

True Account of Bandar Mahkota Cheras

2008-05-14T08:00:00.001+08:00

Below was an article taken from Johnny Ong.

Received this email from a friend who stopped at this disputed road access area just to witness the on-going commotion. Due to the KPC part of her, she was able to relate the real incident to us on that fateful night when the riot police charged at the Malaysian citizens. So, this is not a fabricated story (that came with her personal frustration) like those you have read in the non-trustworthy mainstream media nowadays.
-----------------------------

I was there. As an eyewitness to the whole brutal episode, I have to say that the police were firing at women and children as well, as most of the onlookers present were not only from Bandar Mahkota Cheras, but also residents from the surrounding Tun Hussein Onn, Cheras Perdana and Balakong. Imagine the scene. All races. Thousands thronging at midnight when they could have been in bed. All terribly curious - the typical "stop and stare" Malaysian wondering how long this "GRAND Cat and Mouse SAGA" was going to hold. I was on my way home after a trip back from Ipoh and a stopover at a home fellowship.

It was late and I was tired. However, the sight of red FRU trucks jamming up the highway and the mass of people overflowing on to the roads post-elections was just too shocking. The "typical Malaysian" me took over! I parked my car and walked over to add another body to an already electrically charged scene. It was a peaceful gathering and many of us there felt great compassion for the resident for having to endure all this. I listened to the side conversations which seemed to resonate throughout the crowd -- a unison voice that foreshadowed a deep sense of helplessness and anger as they watched the workers putting up the barricades. I clapped and cheered along too when finally the Segambut MP appeared.

A happy ending, I thought, and many of us KPCs decided we had had enough - time to go home after smiles, guffaws and handshakes were passed all around. I was busy text messaging and updating my friends and colleagues when suddenly I heard the FRU bells being rung. Not possible, so I thought. No way. What happened right after was beyond belief! It was distressing for me to have watched a well behaved group of people being charged at, chased and mauled as if they were like dogs and it was sad that the police sided with the toll operator to hurt innocent people who use the highway everyday.

So, whatever you read in the newspapers from the police side of the story, please, that's so totally fabricated it makes me puke. It was grave injustice - not only were we doused, we were gassed. In that commotion, people were shouting - Mana Pak Lah? Where is Pak Lah? Mana dia? where is he? Dia tak peduli tentang rakyat dia ke? Does he not care for his people? Apa kerajaan ini, tak kesian ke kepada rakyat? What kind of government do we have - don't they have compassion for their people?

You know, having been to Bersih and watched Hindraf as well -- this takes the cake -- for the number of tear gas bombs spent, and the level of force! When the UMNO supporters gathered at Komtar, were they doused and gassed? My message to the police is - UMNO, and their toll operator and fellow corporate friends, do not pay your salaries. We, the tax payers of Malaysia do. And the irony of it all - my father was a policeman too. So, I understand, and I know.

I think everybody can see but UMNO how biased they are. When Lim Kit Siang disagree with the Regency of Perak of the appointment of MB, UMNO says Lim Kit Siang derhaka or disloyal to the Malay Ruler When all of them disagree with the Sultan of Terenganu, nobody says they are derhaka to the Sultan. Then Karpal Singh disagree with the Regency of Perak, all biased fingers are pointed out again. When are they going to learrnn??? HHHaaaaiiiihhhhhh!!!!

Again & again

2008-05-13T08:00:00.001+08:00

Since my last post was about Mac computers, check out this cool music video about a Mac. It features most of the software application available on OSX Leopard...

Darn it. Now the song keeps running in my head again & again & again & again....

If you are bored to death, you can watch some funny advertisement about Mac vs PC here.

It works with Mac!

2008-05-10T00:18:00.004+08:00

I finally took the plunge yesterday. Yes, I finally bought a printer after 7-8 years, pinjam friend's mia printer or looking for cyber cafe and printed at exorbitant prices per print.

The main reason for my delayed purchase is that back then it was very hard to find a printer that comes with a Apple Mac OS driver. Those were pre-OSX days. Even if I could find one it would be very expensive.

Lately I find myself needing a printer more often and decided to just grab any printer that's available. I got this.

Canon Pixma MP145

All in one printer scanner. Got it for RM245 which I think it is a deal. Saw the same one at the other pc shop and it was priced at RM269! Best price some more.

Had some bad experinces with printers with Apple Mac machines, I was ready to spend at least one hour to get this printer going. Took it out of the box, hooked it up, installed the driver CD-ROM, and I printed my first page in 10 mins! Wow, times has changed. The printer makers really made it simple for Mac users like me finally. No more scouting 3rd party Mac printer drivers anymore.

Prints very fast, and it does the scanning pretty fast too. It's a bit bulky though. It already occupy 20% of my bedroom working table. Hmm...maybe I should get another table....

Rain...

2008-05-07T10:00:00.001+08:00

Was trying to beat the weather yesterday while I was in town running some errands for the office. But I was too late. Barely 500m upon reaching my office, it's already raining cats and dogs in the matter of seconds. Have to stop for a while at a nearby funiture shop before I am soaked in rain water.

Even though I was with a raincoat I am still wet.... time to change a rain coat..

I am back

2008-05-06T17:35:00.000+08:00

Yeah, I am still alive. Took 5 months to pang sai. Finally I think I am ready to come back to the blogging world. More updates coming up.

Pang Sai Also No time

2007-12-14T13:57:00.000+08:00

This month so busy until I don't have time to pang sai because of this.

All are welcomed to at Allson this Christmas morning at 9.30 a.m. Admission is free.

Close Call

2007-11-22T09:47:00.000+08:00

Was sleeping on the way down from Darjeeling when I was rudely awakened by some shouts. Opened my eyes and saw 20 or more angry Indian man surrounding our vehicle. The other leading car has passed the blockade but ours were not so lucky. Those men stood in the middle of the road and our driver have no other choice but to halt the vehicle.

Thinking that we were locals, the mob began to shout at us in Bengali. Our driver tried to explain that we are not locals and we are Christian NGO when suddenly one of the man began smashing our windscreen with a steel pipe and ordered us to turn back. (West Bengal is having a 48 hours strike and no cars are allowed on the road. 200 man died on that day in a violent protest against the government)

We turned back and stopped not far from the blockade. The air was rather tense but the peace of God was within us. Everybody was calm but upset. We got together and we prayed. I text to a friend of mine back in Msia for SOS prayer. Then one of the villagers suggested that we should got to the army camp and seek for help.

Thank God the army camp was nearby and by God's divine appointment, a Chrstian army captain who was supposed to be on leave came back for duty and he willingly promised us a security escort to the nearest hotel once his commander gives the green light.

Cut the story short, the mob is still as rowdy at us even when the truck stopped near the army barrack to unload some stuff. But I'm safe and secure because I got three soldier with machine guns on the truck. Anything funny these fellas would rain some bullets at those drunk mob.
The whole experience left a bitter taste in my mouth but I could see that God's protection was indeed is upon us. On a lighter note,not everybody get to sit in an escorted army truck to the hotel in India! To those guys in green, our deepest gratitude to you for your kindness and fast response.

Only in India

2007-11-20T23:39:00.000+08:00

Below are some picture taken while I'm in India. Stuff you don't get to see everyday here in Malaysia.

Manual sugarcane juicer. Saw those clay cups? Those are disposable cups. So environment friendly compared to tons of foam cups we dispose everyday.

Indian Hercules.

Their light switches neatly arranged in a semi circular form.

Low-cost telescope. It is just basically a pair of binocular taped at the end of the aluminum tube. Photo taken at Darjeeling.

Trishaw? Rickshaw? Footshaw? Notice the man running without shoes on. Amazing.

Disposable plates made of leaves. Looks primitive but it is very environment friendly. And it doesn't leaks.

Masala cold drink. I ordered one and it was a wrong move. The drink is cold, sweet and spicy! Yuck!

We Malaysians call this the Mr. Bean truck.

One thing I admired the Indian are they are so good at maintenance. This restaurant in Kolkata existed about 200 years ago and business is still running like the old days. Look at those ceiling fan. They still work as if it is still new.

Lady grinding poppy seeds for a chicken dish. It taste very nice, and no, we didn't get high after that.

Old lifts. This one works better than the modern lift next to it.

Architect's nightmare.

Lady painting her clay house using mud/clay for the upcoming Diwali Festival. Photo taken in one of the village in Asansol.

Hardware shop. So small.

Wanna try a new dish at this hotel anyone?

Darjeeling Photo Updates

2007-11-10T20:47:00.000+08:00

We finally arrived to Darjeeling after 16.5 hours of torture in a crampy jeep but the journey was a worthwhile one. Here things are more cleaner and people seems to be more friendlier. Food is more chinese because population here are more Nepali & Tibetian.

Beautiful Sight in one of the village
Sunrise view from Agony Loop near our hotel.
Girl in church.
They all look so chinese right? The left one looks very Malay.

Picture updates

2007-11-07T11:37:00.000+08:00

Here are some picture updates. People here like to change plans last minute so our sightseeing of the Calcutta city has been cancelled and we are stuck here in Asansol for the 3rd day. The pictures are not in order but I'll post it anyway.

Some workers at an illegal charcoal mine

Rickshaw stand. People here like their pictures to be taken.

Taxi Stand in Asansol Town.

Bus Stop in Asansol.

DumBumi Church where we ministered for the 1st week. Had wonderful meetings there.

The house ( or mansion with the standard of living here) where we stayed in Asansol.

The alley outside the house.

Leaf plates!!! Very intriguing. A true 'banana leaf' meal all the time. It's some kind of leaf I don't remember what it is.

I got more but will post on other sites when I return home (provided I have the time then!). Now waiting for the next team to arrive at midnight, then a 12 hours ride up to the foothill of Darjeeling.

Greetings from India!

2007-11-05T15:07:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone! They have internet here! Well a short post because we are rushing for time. We are doing great here. We had some great meetings for the past few nights. We will be leaving up to the Darjeeling mountains on Thurs. The kids here....aaawww, my heart just weeps for them. Apart from the crowd, the smell and the noise, India is a great place, rich in culture. Am enjoying every moment of it.

Sick

2007-10-30T19:45:00.001+08:00

Peh....leaving to India tomorrow and now having fever and 'lau sai' all day long. Please pray along with me that I would be healthy and not slow down the whole mission team tomorrow. Thanks.

Free Breakfast

2007-10-26T12:22:00.000+08:00

It was another uneventful morning yesterday until we were confronted with loads of food on the table in our devotion room! Apparently there was some miscommunication, as the caterer was not informed that a pastor's fellowship meeting scheduled for yesterday was not on. So what happen to all the food? The staffs wallop all lah. This is the first time we have 'surprise breakfast' in the office. Hehehe

My laptop charger died on yesterday so I will be laptopless for the next few day. Will leave for India next Wednesday until Nov 16.

Pontianak Special Ikan Bakar

2007-10-19T09:41:00.000+08:00

Sorry for late update but Streamyx at home has been giving problem for a month already. Didn't have time to even call the Telekom fellas to come and check my phone line.

During my recent trip to Kalimantan my pastor brought me to an alley where a special grilled fish can be found. Even though the place is rather dirty and shabby but the grilled fish is one of the best I ever tasted! It is first marinated in curry sauce, then it is grilled over fire to perfection. The result? A smooth, tender and juicy fish with curry taste even till it's bones! Yummy!

The place is called Ikan Bakar Menara, near the Market.

Lady scooping out the curry marinated fish into the steel grill.

They have also grilled chicken, done in the same way as well.

Grill Station. The place is not so clean eh?

Drinks making station.

Yummy fish. Sorry, camera out of focus. Need better camera.

The food are so good that many find it very hard to fast during the Ramadan month. A quick sneaky snap shows the restaurant are full with Muslims!!!

Pontianak City Haze

2007-10-14T09:56:00.000+08:00

Just wanted to post some picture of the last week haze in Pontianak city when we were there. The acrid smell was bad due to many open burning around the city. Picture taken in the morning but you can see how bad is the haze. Haze worsen at night, probably people only burn their field at night to avoid the authorities.

Anyway people there are rather indifferent with the haze and just go on with their daily stuff like nothing happened.

Indoor Tsunami

2007-10-10T23:31:00.000+08:00

It's been a very (and still is!) a very busy week for us & some fellas just had nothing to do and wanted to add into our workload. On Sunday this fella played a prank on us. He turned off the main water pump so that the church (next door extension where we have all the classrooms) would not have water supply. And this is not the first time. Usually we would turn it on back but somehow on Sunday everybody was busy and we overlooked it.

And presumely the same guy turn on all the toilet water tap to the max. And because there is no water supply, nobody thought of checking the taps before closing the church for the week. The presumely the same fella came back at night, turn back the main water tap, leaving the water flowing in the toilet until we discovered it on Tuesday morning. By then all 90% all the rooms were already flooded.

Tsunami!!

We have temporarily shift all the stuff to the main sanctuary while we try to dry up the classrooms and shift it back again. Ughh!! . All the baby mattresses and cupboards had to be thrown away because the water disintegrated it.

Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!

More water! More cleaning! Uggh! What a waste of water!

Even the pregnant lady have to chip in to help because the place needs to be dry by tomorrow night's meeting.

Everything almost done by Wed but the carpet is still wet and needed a few days to dry. Deep in my heart I feel very angry. I thought to myself, if I ever caught the culprit I'll personally crucify that punk on our Easter Drama cross. But then again I took heart when I read this Scripture on Deut 32:35

"Vengeance is Mine, and recompense, their foot shall slip in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them"

To punk that did this to us, I got this to say, "You don't know whose house you are messing with. May God have mercy on your soul"

Pointless conversation

2007-10-05T23:34:00.000+08:00

We stayed at a friend's house in Kuching for a night before boarding the early flight to Pontianak the next morning. We went to a restaurant for crabs and our conversation with the lady captain (supervisor) goes like this.

Captain : What would you like to eat?
My friend : We would like to have crabs and a plate of yee mee.
Captain : Ok, coming right up.
My friend : Wait hold on. We haven't ordered our drinks yet.
Captain : Oh, I'll ask one of the waiter to take your orders on that.
My friend : Oh ok.

(We waited for about 15 mins. Our plate of Yee Mee is already on the table. My friend signaled to the captain to come over)

My friend : Your waiter never came to take orders for our drinks.
Captain : Oh is that so? I am so sorry. What would you like to drink?
My friend : We would like to have a pot of tea please.
Captain : What kind of tea would you like to have?
My friend : What kind of tea do you have here then?
Captain : We have only one kind of tea here.
My friend : ???.... Okay..., and what tea is that?
Captain : I also don't know. It is Chinese tea from China-lah.
My friend : ????????!!!!!!!

Updates

2007-10-05T13:37:00.000+08:00

It seems like I have totally abandoned my own blog. There reason be so is

1. I was very busy finishing up all my work before I go to Kalimantan.
2. Now that I'm back I am very busy finishing up the piled up work during my absence.
3. I am having a writer's block.

But anyway the next few post would be about Kalimantan so if you are bored and nothing to read you can visit my blog again next week.

I candidly snap this curious looking boy picture in one of the poor settlement in Kalimantan.

Encounter with a mini dinosaur

2007-09-13T12:28:00.000+08:00

Saw this huge creature crossing the road on Monday. Took out my Treo to snap some pics of it.

It is a full grown monitor lizard wandered of from the secondary jungle nearby. I have too a quick but shaky video of it! Hehehe...

If my friend were here this lizard would end up in his cooking pot that night. Talking about that, I've yet to taste a monitor lizard meat. Anyone wanna invite me??? :D..

Another accident

2007-09-11T10:12:00.000+08:00

Saw this accident on my way home on Sat. Can anyone guess who is at fault here? This should be easy...

Asia Laksa Senawang

2007-09-04T12:11:00.000+08:00

Last week I went with Sbanboy to have Asia Laksa again. This time, he brought along his DSLR to snap those yummy laksa for all who only feast with the eyes and not with the mouth. Click to SbanBoy's Blog to taste the laksa in a greater detail.

Want to read my previous post on this? Click Asia Laksa.

Pain & Hurts

2007-08-28T15:51:00.000+08:00

Boy, I am totally ignoring my own blog. Am still busy as well but my body has been protesting me to slow down.Oh well here's a quickie post. My drama guys did a drama on Pain & Hurts last Sunday in church. If you don't understand Cantonese you can skip it lah.

So busy...

2007-08-14T12:53:00.001+08:00

So much to do...so less time. Much to blog but all is in the mind. Wish I have a software and reads what I am thinking and put it into text and automatically uploads for me. Will update soon with more Seremban food and my new found respect for Catholics nuns.

RK House No Pork

2007-08-08T00:41:00.000+08:00

This is rather old but I find it really funny. Made by a singaporean according to the description. For Annie's info, pork is considered a dirty meat to the Muslim.

Spotted again

2007-08-05T18:12:00.000+08:00

Spotted this lorry with 3 men irresponsibly throwing rubbish just next to one of our local assemblymen house! Isk! Isk! Malaysians are way behind in terms of civic mindedness. They are Chinese by the way. Maybe they are trying to send a message to that MP. "Nah! Eat back your own dirt!". Oh well, general elections are just around the corner.

Funny Song

2007-08-04T00:24:00.000+08:00

As the singer has stated in the beginning of the song, "If you want to listen don't get offended by it yeah"
*Contains some vulgar words and political offensive lyrics

A minority of lawyers

2007-08-03T00:14:00.000+08:00

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word , taken down and now published by court reporters who had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place. Funny and true!!

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?

WITNESS: No, I just lie there.

________________________________

ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?

WITNESS: July 18th.

ATTORNEY: What year?

WITNESS: Every year.

_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?

WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

______________________________________

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?

WITNESS: Yes.

ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your me mory?

WITNESS: I forget.

ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?

_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?

WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.

ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?

WITNESS: Forty-five years.

_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?

WITNESS: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?"

ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?

WITNESS: My name is Susan.

______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?

WITNESS: We both do.

ATTORNEY: Voodoo?

WITNESS: We do.

ATTORNEY: You do?

WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.

______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty -year -old, how old is he?

WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty

________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?

WITNESS: Would you repeat the question?

______________________________________

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?

WITNESS: Yes.

ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?

WITNESS: Uh....

______________________________________

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?

WITNESS: Yes.

ATTORNEY: How many were boys?

WITNESS: None.

ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?

______________________________________

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?

WITNESS: By death.

ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?

______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?

WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.

ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?

______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?

WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.

_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead
people?

WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.

____________<>__________________________

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?

WITNESS: Oral.

_____________________ _________________

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?

WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.

ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?

WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an
autopsy on him!

____________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?

WITNESS: Huh?

____________________________________________

And the best for last

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?

WITNESS: No.

ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?

WITNESS: No.

ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?

WITNESS: No.

ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?

WITNESS: No.

ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?

WIT NESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.

ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?

WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.

Dear Lord

2007-08-01T11:09:00.000+08:00

Intone Band

2007-07-31T12:56:00.000+08:00

Ok. Balwin beat me to post this so you can read it here. That explains why didn't update for more than a week. And it is not about the accident.

Seremban Wet Market

2007-07-23T00:24:00.000+08:00

Where can you get the freshest and greenest vegetables at the cheapest price in Seremban? At the Seremban's Big Wet Market of course! (Pasar Besar Seremban). Too busy in the day? Hard to find parking at the market in the day? Traffic congestion? Well, you can actually do your marketing there at night! There are a handful of vegetable wholesalers who opens at night supplying to the day traders and to the major restaurants in Seremban. You can actually buy the vegetables here at a very reasonable rate if not cheaper.

My dad always does his marketing at night for his hawker business. He doesn't have to jostle with the crowd to get his supply, very easy to find parking (it's almost empty at night!) and he can get all kind of greens while they are freshly unloaded from the trucks.

My dad likes to buy from this Malay wholesaler because they have plenty to choose from. This is one of the example to the rest of the Malays that they can be rich and successful like other races if they put a lot of handwork & energy into it.

The variety of greens here makes me wanted to buy some myself and make salads right away! Now you know where to get cheap cheap vegetables now in Seremban lor! Opps..forgot to tell. You can get your nightly supply of greens from 8p.m. onwards till midnight, sometime until 2 a.m. also.

Must Try in Seremban - Asia Laksa

2007-07-20T12:14:00.000+08:00

I think there are many people knows that there is a tasty laksa called Asia Laksa in Seremban. This laksa is quite popular among the locals, and there is two outlets here. One located at Rahang, another at Senawang nearby ON SEMI semiconductor plant. The one I'm going to blog about is the outlet in Senawang, which has much tastier laksa. I brought a friend and he says that this outlet has a very authentic FooChow taste. (or was it TeoChew?)

This place as usual is always crowded with hungry factory workers during the lunch break, so do be prepared to wait for half an hour for your food to arrive.

Yummy Laksa. Sorry for the crappy pics. Am saving up get my own digital camera. Then I blog more. Hahaha. Dunno where? Email me. I'll bring you there but you must belanja! Hahaha.

Colours of my eyes

2007-07-18T01:07:00.000+08:00

Reading Annie's post about her phobia of heights prompted me to post this 'disability' that I have. I'm not very sure if I'm fit to be medically categorized as such, but I think I'm partially colour blind. While I can discern the majority of the colours fairly easily, I can't differentiate certain shades of colour like purple, blue, greenish brown & etc.

For example I always thought the Siemens phone that I used to have was green and my favorite new shirt was white. It was until later someone told me that it my phone is gray in colour and I look cute in that pink shirt.

I first realized that I had this problem back when I was in Standard 4. Back then, we have to draw the map of Malaysia and colour it with the colour pencil. I was happily colouring my workbook until my teacher took a peek over my shoulder and exclaimed loudly, "Eh! Ini bukan biru tapi unggu!!" She exclaimed loudly that I was colouring the South China Sea in purple! The whole class broke out in laughter and I was embarrassed throughout the whole week about it.

People like to ask me how did I pass my driving test. Oh well it is simple. Just before entering the exam hall for the learner's licence written test, we are required to queue up and identify the either two sequence of 5 colours on the far right and left of the hall as instructed by the official. Of course we could hear the correct answers from the people in front as they identified them, so I just memorized the sequence! Easy.

Having this disability is a hassle to me at times. I often mismatched my clothing colours and get awful stares and giggles from people. I have to always confirm with the sales girls what colours of that particular shirt or shoe before purchasing and got a strange look from them as well. I am not a good shopping companion because of my disability as well.

But then again I've learned to live with it, and thank God I can still identify the traffic lights correctly.

My Bird-Day Reflections

2007-07-17T00:00:00.000+08:00

Yes, I'm officially 28 today. Some major events of my 27th year.

1) Received an expensive pair of Nike Air shoes as a present from my brother. I never had shoes that costs me more than RM150.

2) Survived two road accidents involving me on my motorcycle (the first one was not mentioned in my blog).

3) Had a great and wonderful Christmas drama in which went on successfully.

4) A friend's unexpected death that makes me rethink my priorities and my perspective of people.

5) Am poorer by five figures due to a failed business transaction. But by God's grace & intervention that I'm almost debt free today and am not getting sued for bankruptcy.

6) Went to Phuket for a much needed holiday.

7) Made many new friends online & off-line.

8) Lost my beloved Palm Zire 72 while helping an Indian chap pushing his bike. Got my current Palm Treo 650 as replacement 2 months later at a very cheap friend-friend price. Thanks bro.

9) Received a original SEIKO watch from my gf last week as my 28th birthday. I'm shocked speechless. All my watches costs only RM19.90. Loved it so much that I am wearing it practically 24 hours a day.

10) Had gained much confidence in the my church ministry than in the past 5 years.

Looking forward in my 28th year as a human being to:

1) Upcoming mission trip to India in Nov.

2) Bring on another great Christmas drama.

3) Getting my first car that I can truly call my own. Nothing fancy though. Maybe an old yellow Camaro that will transform into a cool robot will do ;p

4) Greater output in the ministry of the church.

5) Keep my Treo working and not to misplace/lost/drop/stolen/forgot it again for another 4 year at least.

6) Spend more time with mom & dad as they are getting old.

7) Lose 10 kg. Hopefully I can do it this time.

8) Procrastinate less and keep my task list as minimal as possible.

9) A snorkeling trip to Redang Island.

10) A wiser brain and less off stupid I-should-not-have-said-that-earlier statements.

Sound Workshop & Music Clinic

2007-07-11T14:30:00.001+08:00

My church is organizing a Sound Workshop & Music Clinic this coming 26th & 27th July. The event is catered specially for the needs of a modern churches today. For more information click to www.audioworkshop.co.nr and see how you can register for one. It is held in Seremban and it is only RM30 for the Sound Workshop and RM20 for the Music Clinic. So help me out to spread the word ya?

Will be going to Singapore tomorrow to attend some audio seminars & exhibition. So no updates until next week.

An Artist Wannabe

2007-07-09T23:19:00.000+08:00

Besides having a day job in which Pooh still having a gala time guessing, I does vocal/song demo recording on once a blue moon basis in my home studio. I got the home studio setup partly while doing some freelance work for a production house two years back.

Today I bumped into a guy and we chatted for a while. Three weeks back this guy came to my studio for a demo recording. Before he started the recording he was telling me his plans to be a single artist instead of being a band, how much he paid a composer to compose a song for him (he paid big bucks for it), the previous studios he went and quoted names as well. He sounded rather rough for the first song recording, and by the fifth song, everything went downhill. He can't hold a tune, and he can't catch the beat. He was singing ahead by a whole measure of the song!

During the recording I hinted lightly of his horrible singing by telling him "Your voice is pitching, let's try to run that once again" and asking him "You are singing ahead of the song, is that intentional?" I did that a few times. I guessed then that it would be my last time seeing him so I didn't hinted harder.

But bumping into him today and hearing him planning of ditching his well paying day job to become a full-time artist send chills to my spine. When he asked how was the previous recording went I hinted harder by telling him that he was singing off tune and went off beat. He replied that it is ok as he trust me to 'fix it' for him in the mix. Well, he didn't get the hint and I didn't have the heart to tell him the plain truth.

How deceived sometimes people can be. No wonder thousands willingly turned up for American Idol auditions each year and get ridiculed by Simon Cowell in front of the public tv.

Fox News

2007-07-07T11:58:00.000+08:00

News that you'll never get to see published here in Malaysian newpapers. Click here to read.

Colours of Phuket

2007-07-07T00:51:00.000+08:00

Had these grilled pork along the streets. Tasted like sweet braised pork (Char Siew). Only RM1/ 10 baht per stick, very cheap.

MacDonald here serves pork burger!!! This is Samurai Pork Burger. The taste is OMG heavenly!!! I'll fly to Thailand just for this pork burger. Drool drool...

Initially we thought it was a soft drink vending machine. Upon a closer look it was actually a ATM machine instead.

Personal vehicle by day, just slot a TAXI card and taadaa!!! Instant taxi by night.

All the motorcycle pillion riders here doesn't wear a crash helmet. It is not required by their law.

Whose butt is bigger? Mine or hers???

Err.............!!!!
That's our tour guide by the way. Used to be a hotel chef but now a tour guide.

A very creative way to transport coconuts.

I had this ice coffee at one of the restaurant in Phuket. It has a very unique taste. The coffee tasted as if it was mixed with cincau and black soya sauce. I had two cups of it and I'll say it can kick Starbucks coffee ass anytime.

I got more pictures but it is on my friends camera. Will ~~bore~~ show you guys next time lah.

Places that I stayed in Phuket

2007-07-05T00:50:00.000+08:00

Amanta House

Amanta House located just within the walking distance to Phuket's famous Patong Beach.
It costs RM90/900 Baht per night, so it is very cheap. It is very clean and all the rooms custom painted with a strong Zen theme.

Romantic pink painted room

The rooms that I stayed in. All the rooms has their own different wall paint & deco.

I personally doesn't like it as it feels a bit more like a Taoist temple to me, but it is very clean and it is very near to the beach so we decided to stay here again when we return from Krabi Island. They offer free internet access, with a ethernet port & wifi installed in every room. They even have a pc on their lobby your its guest who wanted to go online but without a laptop on their own.

Clean toilets. Very important.

American Breakfast that comes together with the room rates. Taste pretty good too.

The street view from the room balcony.

Breakfast is provided, and the breakfast itself costs RM12/ 120 Baht so I would recommend to anyone who are looking for a place to stay in Patong Beach.

Tonsai Bay Resort, Krabi Island

Located 4 hours drive away from Patong Beach and a 15mins sea ride via longtail boat from Au Nang Beach, Tonsai Bay is one of the cheapest resort on Krabi Island.

Long Tail Boat taxi. The water level reaches to your waist before you can get into the boat.

Tonsai Bay Resort.

The beach at this resort is not that good. It filled with rocks and the beach are filled with dead fishes. I guess there are some fishermen boat which docks there in the morning and throw away all the smaller fish that they do not want there. However for about RM70/ 700 baht per night, the rooms are rather good and comfortable. Nice and spacious rooms. Only problem here that this place is mosquitoes infested!

Not much activities available here, save for some kayaks for rent and rock climbing. There is only one restaurant here, and we are stuck with it. Food are rather expensive for us, but the rooms comes with free American breakfast so we save some money on that side.

Rock hill next to the resort beer bar

The restaurant where we have all our meals. Faces the beach. It has the best view for lunch though.

One of the night the locals performed some fire dance, where they fling those flamed balls on strings around their body. It's more like a favorite past time to them rather than a performance for us.

Fire dance!

Do I recommend this place? Well, if you really like a quiet place with no distraction, or rock climbing, this resort is for you. Otherwise, save your money and stay in Patong Beach instead. Am rather tired now, else would write more. Hhhuuaarrgghhh........zzzzZZZZZZZZZ.....