Cincaluk...reflections from the sofa at Jim's (local pub lah!)

Alas poor Justine

2010-01-30T19:26:00.005+08:00

Alas poor Justine

The comeback's hit a hard-hitting tennis machine

In the form of Serena, who was dressed for Halloween

In a performance we cannot berate

As you have played so little of late

With bated breath we shall wait and see

For the next serve down the Tee

1 Wedding, 2 Brides, 3 Airports and a Funeral

2009-09-29T02:23:00.007+08:00

Trip to Europe Sept, 2009.

The Schedule

Tues 08/09/09 LCCT to Standstead (Air Asia), London
Thurs 10/09/09 Gatwick, London to Zurich (Easyjet), Switzerland for Jackie's Wedding
Mon 14/09/09 Zurich to Luton (Easyjet), London
Wed 16/09/09 Standstead, London to Cork (Ryanair), Ireland; visiting Leslie in Killarney
Fri 18/09/09 Cork to Standstead (Ryanair), London
Sat 19/09/09 Paddington, London to Tiverton Parkway (First Great Western), Devon; visitig Fiona in Shillingford
Sun 20/09/09 Tiverton Parkway, Devon (First Great Western)to Paddington
Weds 23/09/09 Standstead to LCCT (Air Asia)

Hotels

London Edward House Hotel
Rapperswille Jakob Hotel
Killarney Killarney Towers
Shillingford Barleycorn House

Other Stats

Number of Pictures taken: 996 (4.2G)
Distance Travelled: Lots
Most shocking event: Paying 12.5 Swiss Francs for a Big Mac Meal! Here's the proof.

Pictures of the trip may be viewed on my Facebook account; look for cincaluk or Seet Cheng Khim.

GOD's trip to Manado II (Aug-Sept) 2009

2009-09-10T14:23:00.006+08:00

The Drama of the First Dive

So off we went on the dive boat, a luxurious 30 footer (approximately). With a dive preparation area at the back, a dry area at the front, where meals were to be had and a chill out semi- covered area at the top.

Nice I thought, so off we went to the first dive site an hour and a half away. Having rested and lulled into a comfortable sense of well being… I was suddenly brought back into reality during the first dive briefing that the dive was to be a wall dive! But….but….but…it’s my first dive in 2 years! I wanted to shout out. Ah well…. “In for a penny, in for a pond”, as they say.

So with a pounding heart,I took a giant stride into the water. “Oops… I forgot to inflate the BC!” But that was of no consequence, as everyone was already descending, and so was I …. Very quickly indeed. Quickly inflate the BC I thought. “Ergh…. How do you do that? Isn’t there suppose to be a button you press to do that? Like this red one? Yes!!! Press it!!! No not that hard!!” Phrezz…. The BC over-inflates and I start rising…. A little too fast! Damn!!! Got to deflate it now, “How’s that done again???” “Must be the button next to the red one” Phrezz…. Damn too long again! Damn… I’m shooting down too fast again. So down, up, down, up…. until I finally get to some sort of stability. “Phew… that wasn’t so hard!” ( takes a look around….) Now… where is everybody…

“Are they below me?”

“F$%k!! there’s nothing below me!” (starts breathing even harder)

“Where are they!”

“Oh… they’re all above me!!!”

“Hmm… are they supposed to be that high above?”

“Let’s check my air and depth levels”

“Oooh… 36m and 150 psi”

“What was that the Dive Master said at the briefing? Open Water Divers, max depth 20m?”

“Ah well… so I exceed that by a smidge….won’t be the first time”

“More worrying is the air pressure, 50 psi gone just to get to a stable depth! And I’m a heavy breather!!! Ah well, let’s try to remain composed from now on and conserve a little air now”

However about 40 minutes later I discovered that my air supply was down to 50 psi. Bugger!! Time to surface. “Hell…Let’s push this a bit what’s the difference surfacing at 50 psi or 30 psi”

So at 30 psi, I approached the dive master (DM) and indicated to him that I was going up!

So I slowly ascended, but at 6m I did my impression of a cork in a bath, and popped up without so much as a “Cheers”.

“Eerh… what am I supposed to do now?”

“I suppose I’d better follow the group who are 10m below me.”

“Damn…this is the most expensive snorkelling trip I’ve been on”

“But the view’s good”

The view at snorkeling depth ( a fellow snorkeler)

So after 15 minutes of ‘snorkeling’, I had lost track of my group of divers (was following a different group), I checked my air pressure and it was, next to nothing.

"No wonder I'm sucking so hard to suck air in"

I then thought that it was best to fully inflate my BC,but... nothing happened!!

"F%@k! No more air!!! Double F%@k!!!" "Okay... time to use the snorkel"

So I lifted my head up and spotted the 2 boats including one that said ‘Tasik Divers’ in large bold letter on it’s side.

"Oh dear, I forgot to check the name of the dive boat. Anyway, the dive centre was Tasik Dive Centre, so... the safe bet is to head for Tasik Divers"

So there I was slowly making my way to "Tasik Divers" when the "friendly chaps" on the other white boat start waving to me. "Ah.... this is what I love about Indonesia, the people are so friendly" As I approached "Tasik Divers" the chaps on the white boat decided to get even friendlier and got quite close.

"Oh...I wish they wouldn't do that, now I've got to swim around them to get to Tasik Divers and it's quite hard work breathing through a snorkel as I have to suck the air in instead of it being forced in by the pressure from the air-tank."

Finally I got onboard "Tasik Divers" to much commotion as it emerged that the white boat was our dive boat!!! Ooops.... never mind said the boat-man as I made my apologies in halting Bahasa Indonesia, we are from the same company, so no problem.

So after settling down for a while, whilst the right, white boat recovered the other divers, I was then transferred to the white boat by jumping off "Tasik Divers" into the sea for a short swim to the white boat.

But... did the drama end there? No way!!!

After jumping into the water, what did I do??? What came naturally of course... opened my eyes!!! And I'm wearing contacts!!!! "Oh...Triple F*%k" I said as I realised and immediately shut my eyes. I surfaced and opened my eyes to find that the contacts were still there in my eyes.

Phew.... there ended the first dive of the trip to much amusement of my fellow divers.

GOD's Trip to Manado

2009-09-03T08:00:00.012+08:00

From the 27th August to the 1st of September 2009, I joined GOD's (Great Ocean Divers) and 15 other GOD buddies on a diving trip to Manado.

Having only dived a handful of times since my certification in 1996, I was a little apprehensive about the dives here, as it would include wall dives, meaning one would dive along the face of a cliff!! Now for someone who doesn't like heights, floating over an area where you can't see the bottom really isn't my idea of fun.

Diving at the sheer Wall of Bunaken

Anyway, packing aside my nervousness and a new underwater camera housing, I climbed on board Air Asia's flight AK432 to Manado (albeit 20 minutes late) and joined in the fun.

The drama began almost as soon as we reached Tasik Ria Resort. We arrived almost at mid-night and began the process of checking in. As the hotel staff were a little overwhelmed with the amount of luggage (lots of dive equipment), I decided ( as I had very little dive stuff) to haul my luggage and myself to the room. BAD idea!!!! The resort was sprawling and there were no signs! So having rapidly lost sight of most people within the first few minutes, I ended up walking around the gardens for half an hour hoping to stumble upon the room or at the very least Reception so that I could get guidance. Thankfully out of the shadows steps a slightly drunk German guest who rather unsteadily pointed out the general direction of the Reception and despite my better judgment, I followed his advice. Thankfully German efficiency won through, and I did find Reception and the receptionist did lead me to my room and I settled in for a good sleep.

I unpacked my toiletries and went to the bathroom to clean up. However I stepped back into the bedroom and it was still warm and stuffy!!! Hell!!! the air-conditioning wasn't working!!!! So I called up reception, who promised to send a maintenance staff to check. Dubious as I was that Maintenance would be on duty at 1 am, I waited and to my surprise, he turned up within 15 minutes. As I suspected, he could not solve the problem as the fault was either a faulty compressor or a compressor which is short of refrigerant, he said he'll check the outdoor unit. After 15 minutes, he still had not returned to fix the problem whence I promptly called Reception, who promised to check on hte matter and promised to get the problem solved in 15 minutes. (Yeah right!) 15 minutes later.... still the blower was blowing hot air, so once again I picked up the phone and called Reception, who tried to sell me the idea that the problem will be fixed within 15 minutes! I promptly told him that that's not going to happen and that insisted that I be placed in another room for the night. After much more hot air.... he finally agreed and came over to the room to lead me to the new room. So I packed up my toiletries and followed him to the new room and promptly fell asleep at about 3am.

The next morning I arose and went for breakfast at the appointed time of 7am Indonesian time (1 hour behind Malaysian time right?) I sat down for breakfast and felt strange as I was the only person there. Sensing something wrong, I promptly went off to the dive centre (which I noticed during my late night wanderings from last night) when I found the rest of the group preping up for the morning's dive. I hurriedly apologised to everyone and completed the necessary preparations (filled out forms, ordered the necessary dive equipment, rushed back to my room to pop in my contacts etc.) The dive centre was sceptical about my dive credentials as I did not bring my dive card along with me and said that I would not be able to dive the second day if I did not show them some proof of certification. So I had to 'phone home and arrange for my certification form to be faxed to the dive centre to be able to continue diving.

After that drama, We went diving (finally...)

Then the drama of the first dive!!!

(to be continued.....)

Smug Bastard

2009-07-22T18:47:00.004+08:00

This is for the Surveyor with the Quiver who poo pooded that my suggestion of signing Michael Owen way back in early June. Well not only did SAF sign him, but 2 goals from his first 2 matches (albeit against Malaysia) and I'm grinning from ear to ear like the smug bastard that I am. Go number 7!!!

Snaps from my travels - Macau

2009-07-19T08:10:00.004+08:00

Some pics from my Macau trip.

Travel Schedule for July

2009-06-22T18:54:00.003+08:00

The following is my Travelling Schedule for July.

28th June -2nd July Macau
2nd July - 6th July KL Travel Fair
10th July - 12 July Bali Patta Fair
15th - 18th July Singapore to meet my younger sister on her way back to NZ from the UK.

Boy...I'll be whacked.

After Bali, I'll probably be moving into Mum's new flat on a temporary basis.

Activities in the Park

2009-06-21T10:36:00.005+08:00

I went for my first morning bicycle ride this morning at the MBMB Park.
Remarkably the park was full! There was people everywhere!!!

Attached are photographs of the organised activities in the morning.

Aerobics in the Park

Line Dancing under the trees

Jogging Track

Dad's Birthday's

2009-06-17T09:15:00.006+08:00

Last week dad celebrated his Birthday 3 times!!!

The first, a surprise lunch arranged by Madelina, at the new Bei Ziang Restaurant on Friday the 6th of June.

The second, lunch at Ole Sayang.

And the third at Renaissance Restaurant, a treat by Dr. Ee.

Roger Moore Moments

2009-06-15T09:47:00.004+08:00

Since I'm not in the mood of being creative at the moment, I thought that I'll just share what I've found interesting on the net.

Total Eclipse of a Song

2009-06-11T18:37:00.004+08:00

A friend shared this on Facebook. It is so funny I had to post it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA

Turn around, and turned on it's head.

"Bored Shit-less"

2009-06-07T13:40:00.011+08:00

It was the "Agong's" (Malay Ruler) Birthday yesterday , hence the whole of Malacca town was packed full of tourists; filling up every restaurant, shopping center and car -parking space. As is my usual response to such days, I do my passable impression of a hermit and was thus, "Bored Shit-less."

Which got me thinking.... "What the hell does that phrase mean anyway?"

Well here's my theory, formed from yesterday's experience as I sat on the throne on my umpteenth trip to the loo for the want of something better to do. Bored shit-less eh..? As I tried yet another bowel movement to ease the last of the crap from my colon.....mmm....

Terminator Salvation

2009-06-04T23:20:00.004+08:00

Watched this movie tonight.

Another whizz, bang action big budget action movie best seen on the big screen or from 10" in front of a 40" telly.

The plot wasn't great, action scenes pretty standard by modern movies. A little bit like Mad Max meets The Matrix with more then a little Terminator thrown in. Oh! and Christian Bale gets another cool bike in this movie as well.

H1N1

2009-06-02T10:16:00.004+08:00

The best advice I've received with regard to avoiding H1N1.

Now go wash your hands!!!

Go-Starn

2009-05-29T08:53:00.006+08:00

To "go-starn" in the Malaysian lingo (didn't want to say, Malaysian English as it translates across all the Malaysian languages) means to go backwards or reverse. It is not unusual to hear the instruction directed by back-seat drivers to their unfortunate drivers to "go-starn, go-starn lah!"
Which would translate as "Kindly reverse up old chap" in the more genteel word of middle England (if you had Biggles and Bertie Wooster as neighbours)

Do you know where the term comes from?

It derives from the nautical term of "go astern". the Stern being the back of a ship; therefore meaning to go to the back, or reverse. Translated by Malaysians... "Go-starn lah!"

Gattaca in Blu

2009-05-24T09:16:00.007+08:00

I've just watched Gattaca on BluRay.

Oh it's a yummy film. So elegant and stylish. And the colours that come through in High Definition!!! Oh... Gershwin for the eyes!!!

Don't you just love that spiral staircase!

One more for the "Bucket List" - the list of things to do before kicking the bucket.

Mercury's Retrograde

2009-05-24T08:45:00.006+08:00

My horoscope constantly warns me about being careful, especially with regard to electronic and mechanical equipment when Mercury (my ruling planet) is in retrograde (I don't know what that means either!!)

Being educated in a world of science, I did not pay much attention to such warnings, however with Mercury being in retrograde much of this month, and with the car breaking down last week, and to top it off the car being bumped into last night whilst it was parked in a car park last night; as Mulder would say... "I believe"

I need a new car!

2009-05-17T12:21:00.004+08:00

My 14 year old Camry broke down last night.

It took me 3 hours to get it sent to the work-shop.

With 250,000 km under its belt, it looks like I better get serious about getting a new car, but with the current economic situation and with a new house in the pipe-line to pay for, a few adjustments may have to be made.

Angels and Demons

2009-05-17T11:17:00.006+08:00

Last night I watched "Angels and Demons".

Once again, Tom Hanks reprises the role of Dr. Robert Langdon; the role he played in "The da Vinci Code" and once again, Tom Hanks's hair style was a distraction throughout the movie as it's now quite ordinary and the fact that it is so and not the distraction it was in the earlier film, makes it even more distracting! (If you know what I mean)

Apart from the haircut, the film was an enjoyable romp through the Vatican, though I'll always appreciate the book more then the film, especially as I was reading it during the ascension of Pope Benedict XVI; the book helped me appreciate the significance of the colour of the smoke emanating from the chimney of St. Marks Cathedral.

However the most sexy thing about the film was not the divine Ayelet Zurer, but the super sexy black Alfas, the police used to whirl around the Vatican with. That defined the tempo of the film, it was a non stop chase; a sort of Italian Job meets Indiana Jones.

Stalker - A great Detective Story

2009-05-16T12:53:00.007+08:00

According to information I've gathered from Sitemeter, recently (15th May 2009) someone in Brisbane Australia, did a "Vanity Search" for me and perused this blog-site for 5 minutes. Then they quit this site after reading my profile.

Yes! My first Stalker!!!!

Would this stalker please identify himself/herself.

Talking about the Weather

2009-05-16T12:47:00.004+08:00

The recent heat-wave in Malaysia has turned Malaysians into Brits, Always talking if not complaining about the weather.

Please Allah, let us have some rain...

A Year On

2009-05-16T01:55:00.001+08:00

Sung to Sargent Pepper's Lone Heart Club Band

It was a whole year ago today
When I decided to start this blog
It was when I needed a rile
A blog was very much in style

So may I introduce this blog
The one and only "Cincaluk"

Views from the Sofa and the gang...

Revenge is Sweet!!!

2009-05-11T16:40:00.002+08:00

This is soo... funny I had to share it!!!

From the BBC's daily Gossip posting.

Angry Chelsea supporters want to get their own back on Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo, who made a number of controversial decisions in the Blues' Champions League semi-final, second leg against Barcelona. They have set up an internet campaign to stop Norway winning the Eurovision song contest.
(Full story: Daily Star)

Abba winning the 1974 Eorovision Song Contest with "Waterloo"

For those of you who have never seen it; the Eurovision Song Contest, this singing competition is held annually between European Nations and is seriously naff. It's a joke of a contest which can list Abba, Cliff Richard (before he was sired) and Bucks Fizz as previous contestants.

And by the way, Norway has led the way in scoring zero points in the competition regularly.

Heatwave

2009-05-10T14:43:00.003+08:00

Here's a video which aptly describes the weather we are experiencing in Malacca right now.

Oh the wonderful Marilyn, the saucy innocence. And she can sing as well. They don't make them like her anymore.

Star Trek

2009-05-08T08:30:00.012+08:00

The Old and The New

Once again we've begun the season of the Summer Blockbusters when Hollywood traditionally releases it's best films; so once again I brave the gaunlet of incredulous comments from the cinema's gate-keepers. "Yes, I do know where the screen is"; "Yes, I do want that seat"; "Yes I do know that it's two rows from the screen"

So off I went to watch the new re-imagining of Star Trek, where the baddie, Nero slips back in time to prevent his home world of Romulus from getting blown up; here he meets the young team of Kirk, Spock, "Bones" McCoy, Scotty and Ohura who are of course there to stop him from destroying all the Federation home worlds.

This of course causes a split in the Space Time Continuium, and history from this moment on is on a different path thus enabling the Rodenberry family to further cash in on the franchise by producing more films based on this new time line. Clever that. An interesting aside is the blossoming romance between Spock and the bodylicious Ohura. Look out for that in the next few films. (What is the Universe coming to!!?!)

Anyway, back to the film. As one would expect for a modern, big budget film, the special effects are extremely good, lots of whizz bangs and explosions. Also watch out for the kick arse warp-speed effect.

A typical feel-good Star Trek movie. Once again allowing us to venture into plots where no Trekies have gone before.

Word of the Day

2009-05-06T08:54:00.002+08:00

The word on the sofa last Friday was Opulent.

op⋅u⋅lent

–adjective

1.	characterized by or exhibiting opulence: an opulent suite.

2.	wealthy, rich, or affluent.

3.	richly supplied; abundant or plentiful: opulent sunshine.

Origin:
1595–1605; < class="ital-inline">opulentus wealthy, equiv. to op- (s. of ops power, wealth) + -ulentus -ulent

The discussion started off on the cut-backs which one has to make to our current live-styles due to the current economic climate; it then went on to more personal level as the "Sage on the Sofa" was chided of leading an opulent live-style, for driving not one but TWO German cars. He went on to defend his "Spartan" live-style, by pointing out that one of his German cars was 14 years old and it's wipers did not work. And he tried to sell this car to me!!! Hmm....

Well the evening went along the same vein with everyone justifying their opulent aquisitions.

Needless to say that as a Baba, by definition, I did not have much to defend.

The Economics of Swine Flu

2009-05-01T00:58:00.003+08:00

Below is a link to a BBC article regarding the Swine Flu and the impact it may have on the economy, (mainly the British economy but still applicable to the world economy.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/stephanieflanders/2009/04/economic_impact_of_swine_flu.html

It's worth a read.

Comebacks

2009-04-26T09:27:00.009+08:00

After last night's comeback by Man. Utd. (5-2 agaist Spurs after being 0-2 down) I reviewed the comments made by Glenda (Glen Hoddle) under similar circumstances back in 2001 ( Man Utd winning 5-3 after being 3-0 down). It is interesting to note that he believed that they would have won had they only been 2-0 instead of 3-0 up. (huh????)

Well yesterday's result has finally scuppered that ridiculous notion!!!

Blake's Seven

2009-04-23T13:27:00.006+08:00

Recently I've managed to download the first 2 seasons of the British Sci-Fi TV series Blake's Seven.
Like every British Sci-Fi TV series of the late seventies and early eighties, the effects are so bad that they are wonderful.

Below is a little ditty as tribute to Britian's answer to Star Trek.

Blake's Seven
Where in heaven
Did you find that, you freak
Once again you've proved that you're a geek!!!

Why I want a Mini!

2009-04-18T16:12:00.004+08:00

Sometimes, there is no need for words.

Giant Schnauzers

2009-04-12T17:18:00.006+08:00

Been in the forums trying to find a Schnauzer
A giant one I tell the web-browser
Your budget you better rouser
For a big hole, it'll burn in your trousers!!!

Roundly Pilloried

2009-04-11T17:41:00.006+08:00

This Friday at the pub, I was roundly pilloried by the chaps for my drama-queen act.

Some one then asked me what pilloried means; so being the geek that I am, I did some research and the following is what it means.

A pillory (noun from Middle English) is a wooden framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used to expose an offender to public derision. (See picture below.)

Therefore to be pilloried (verb) means to be subjected to derision.

I certainly would not mind being pilloried by her.

Castaway Dog - This is so good

2009-04-08T15:49:00.002+08:00

I wonder if any of you caught this story this week about how a dog lost at sea was discovered on a remote island and reunited with his owners.

Check it out, the ultimate feel good story.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7987863.stm

Cables bloody cables!!! Or... where did I pack that.

2009-04-06T20:37:00.004+08:00

The first most obvious downside of living like a nomad is that I can't remember where I packed my things. e.g. I couldn't print a confidential letter the other day, as I could not find my printer cables. My printer is sitting bold and proud on my dining table, but is absolutely useless without it's missing cables.
I also could not find my SLR cables and took a chance that my camera would have sufficient battery capacity for my trip to Singapore, but it turns out that the batteries had only 6% capacity left.
Oh, I can't wait to find a final resting place!!!

He's Leaving Home

2009-03-31T10:53:00.005+08:00

So... as of last Wednesday the 25th of March, I've moved out of my flat in Mahkota Hotel and moved into an apartment suite in Straits Meridian Hotel. This should be on a temporary basis as stuffing 3 bedrooms worth of stuff into 1 bedroom is rather... stuffy.

Straits Meridian Hotel

I've also handed over the Mahkota flat to the tenant Fredricks yesterday.

The strange thing is; since then; I've had the Beatles's song "She's Leaving Home" playing in my brain.

..."bye bye"

Passport Woes

2009-03-30T18:13:00.007+08:00

Today I got a new passport. My old passport would be expiring in 6 months time and the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri, (Home Office) sent me a reminder, which I thought was extremely customer friendly.

So today I went to the Malacca branch to renew my passport believing that this should take no more then the 2 hours as trumpeted by the Ministry and many people who had applied their passports recently. Judging from their new customer friendly approach, I foolishly accepted the 2 hour time-frame. Silly me!!!

The much trumpeted 2 hour time-frame starts ticking only after you have submitted all the necessary documents and monies. It does not include the time you have to wait to que for your que number, the time you have to wait for your photograph to be taken, the time you spend waiting for your IC to be photocopied, or the time you waste waiting for your number to be called to the counter.

Having spent one and a half hours doing all of the above, I then received my passport 2 hours later!!!

WHAT A BUNCH OF CHEATS!!!!

Talk about lies, damn lies and Civil Servants!!! Grrrr....

Linguistic Dyslexia

2009-03-24T22:52:00.004+08:00

I received the following AV file from Drax today.

Coincidentally, I received the definition of Spoonerism; which is the linguistic form highlighted by the Italian man; from dictionary.com yesterday.

spoon⋅er⋅ism

–noun

the transposition of initial or other sounds of words, usually by accident, as in a blushing crow for a crushing blow.

Moving

2009-03-24T04:49:00.003+08:00

I shall be moving out of my flat at the end of this week. It's been let out to an expat working for Infineon, who made me an offer I found difficult to refuse. This plus the fact that I'm looking for a landed property to move into which will be more conducive for Marmite meant that it was an easy decision to make.

So I'm now currently in house-hunting mode and shall be moving to Straits Meridian as a temporary measure.

Although the flat is being let out fully-furnished, meaning that I don't have to move any furniture, I've discovered that this partial move is much more difficult then moving everything as I have to organise what to take and what to leave behind. Also I have to further organise my belongings into "Stuff that won't see the light of day for six months", "Stuff that I'll need immediately" and "Stuff which I might need within six months".

Ah.. the stress.

BPL

2009-03-22T01:48:00.001+08:00

With Man. Utd. and Chelsea losing tonight, it olny needs Liverpool to lose tomorrow for all to be well in the world again.

Man. Utd.'s comeback

2009-03-21T21:16:00.004+08:00

After this week's mauling by Liverpool and the UEFA Champion's League draw, the perfect comeback by Man. Utd. would be to beat Liverpool in the Champion's League Cup final.

Wishful thinking of course, but ... quite possible.

Wisdom

2009-03-05T03:17:00.003+08:00

Another corking quote from the BBC web-site.

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad."
Brian O'Driscoll when asked about his relationship with England coach Martin Johnson. (Davod Ennis, Ireland). Eh? Ed.

Whisky Views

2009-03-01T15:21:00.008+08:00

If you've read my profile, you would know that most of the reflections here are formed from the bottom of a whisky glass... the more obscure reflections are formed through a heavy bottom whisky tumbler!!! ;-))

The point is.... why doesn't my whisky glass give me these views!!!

The Hulking Hulk

2009-02-25T09:15:00.002+08:00

Did you know that there is a Brazilian striker called Hulk who plays for FC Porto?
And they played in Green last night!!!

Do you wear glasses when you sleep?

2009-02-22T20:20:00.006+08:00

I was watching Woody Allen's "Sleeper" when it got to the scene where they resuscitate him from his cryogenic slumber of 200 years. They peel off the foil that covers his face to reveal that he had been sleeping for 200 years with his trademark thick-framed glasses on.

It reminds me of the Malaysia MP whose newsworthy pictures show her sleeping with her thick-framed glasses on.

Yes... I've seen the photos.

No... I'm not posting them here.

Police Reports

2009-02-20T16:29:00.004+08:00

These days, it seems that the panacea to all Malaysian political problems is to lodge a police report.

Got a bullet through the post? Lodge a police report!
Been kicked out of office? Lodge a police report!
Had rude photographs taken? Lodge a police report!
Been reported to the police? Lodge a police report!!!
Let the cat out of the bag??? Will be reported to the police!

Dispencing Penicillin

2009-02-15T23:03:00.008+08:00

God!!! I feel old...

This weekend, I was speaking to a young lad who having just got back from his studies in the States, was having a whinge about the red tape in Malaysia.

Although I had very similar feelings when I first got back from England, my advise to him was to ignore the small imperfect things in life and address the things in life he really cares about. For in this world, there is not enough time to address all the ills of life. I used the analogy of Alexander Fleming's discovery of Penicillin; for if Fleming had to address all the issues with equipment (e.g. inventing test -tubes, microscopes etc) before he began to do proper research, he would never have made such a discovery.

Looks to me that I tend to use analogies as a teaching tool. One may even say that they are parables. Would they then be Parabolic Analogies??? ;-) Or am I going around in circles again?

Xpress Fustration

2009-02-10T20:12:00.008+08:00

I bought a Nokia 8500 Xpress Music last week amid much hype from Nokia. It promised to be as good as an iPhone and it's available here!!!

Today, to my relief, the merchant I bought it from, has agreed to swap it for a 16G iPod Touch, which is RM200 cheaper.

Am I unhappy with the machine? Oh yes!!! Although I was expecting to have a period of adjustment; as I'm moving from a Palm Treo PDA to a Nokia phone; however, I did not expect the phone not to be able to play video files larger then 100M!!! ( This despite coming with a VGA cable to connect to your TV in the starter pack) Most mp4 movie files are approx 600M in size.

On top of the fact that the OS is as cumbersome as a PC really had me fuming.

Trust me, if you are an Mac user, leave everything apart from Palm and iPhones behind.

Having said all that, the Nokia is actually a very good "Ghetto Blaster" and Xpresses itself extremely well as a music player.

Fore!!!

2009-02-05T10:34:00.003+08:00

The following photo was taken on the 21st of January in Ponderosa Golf & Country Club, Taman Molek, Johore Bahru during a round with Kingsley who lives a stone's throw away from the course.

Little wonder my game was a little off whack; if you look closely, my club's bent!!!

Briefly...

2009-02-02T15:00:00.003+08:00

Here's one from Jasper Carrot.

"If you unscrewed your belly-button... would your bottom half fall off?"

Everything you wanted to know about Oxen, Cattle, Cows, Heifers etc.

2009-01-29T16:35:00.003+08:00

In the year of the Ox, Cow, Bull whatever... I thought it would be a good idea to Google the said terms. If you are an insomniac, like me, read the following link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle for a good night's sleep.

Classic Vijay

2009-01-28T18:44:00.005+08:00

Another classic from Vijay.
During the Nadal vs Simon match as Nadal fluffs a shot he says, "Nice to see that, once in a while, from the World Number One...(dramatic pause)... even if the last one was a couple of years ago."

Positively Decadent

2009-01-27T09:51:00.009+08:00

Sunday, January the 18th 2009.

Yet another dinner party with the Jim Cottage (JC) Gang. But this time with a twist.
The night's theme was "ta-pow" (take away to you non-Malaysians)
So it was off to Pak Putra for Tandoori Chicken, Mutton Rogan Gosh, Palek Paneer, Naan etc.
The real challenge of the evening was left to "The Capitalist" Ong Beng Seng (or Uncle BS in some circles) to find wines in his cellar to match the food. He did us proud with his selection of:

Coonawarra Katnock Estate - Cabernet Sauvignon 1997
Capel Vale Howecroft - Cabernet Sauvignon/ Merlot 1996
Mount Langi Ghiran(Victoria) - Langi Shiraz 1998

All the wines were execellent and big, with the Mount Langi being the most robust of all. The Capel Vale was not far behind, and could be best described as a monster of a wine with a distinctive chocolate overtone on the nose.

If the above wasn't decadent enough, the old BS had to top it all by drinking "Kickapoo Joy Juice" from a Riedel glass!!!

Ah... but what's wrong with a bit of decadence eh? As long as it's positive right!?!

Happy Chinese New Year

2009-01-26T09:48:00.004+08:00

Welcome to the year of the Ox.

Greetings to all and may you all have a great year ahead.

So what's in store for this year, will the athletic bull rear it's head or are we in for a load of bovine fecal matter??

Only time will tell.....

Gene Scolari

2009-01-24T09:57:00.007+08:00

I was watching an old Gene Hackman film on telly just now and noticed that Gene Hackman bears an uncanny resembelance to Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Chelsea manager.

Any guesses as to which is which?

With his present problems at Chelsea, maybe Scolari should adopt Gene's escape routine from the "Birdcage".

Gene Hackman in drag

Resting on Ones Laurels

2009-01-18T14:41:00.005+08:00

Datuk Sri Najib without his laurels

After losing the Kuala Terengganu by-elections, DPM Datuk Sri Najib was quoted as stating that BN should not "rest on their laurels"..... I wonder how many padentic old farts like me out there immediately jumped up and down saying; "That's an Oxymoron!!!". You only gain your laurels for succeeding; YOU LOST!!!!

For those of you who want to know what the phrase "Resting on your laurels" mean, a full explanation; including why it means what it means; can be looked up in Wikipedia.

For the rest of you, (I've excluded myself as I've looked it up) it basically means resting on your past successes.

White House

2009-01-17T14:23:00.003+08:00

With Barack Obama due to move into the White House, maybe it's due for a paint-job. Apple Green is now in vogue.

Dark Humour

2009-01-14T16:35:00.006+08:00

Below is the best joke I've heard during these dark times of the financial meltdown.

What's the difference between a Lehman Banker and a pigeon?
......
......
......
......
(give up?)
......
......
A pigeon can still leave a deposit on a Porche. ;-))

NB I must thank Conrad for that joke.

Singapore 19th to 21st of December

2009-01-13T22:18:00.010+08:00

The final side-trip for "The Locusts" was to Singapore. As we were staying with family (Andrea and Conrad's; whose place I've dubbed "Hotel Singapura" for the number of times I've used it as a hotel) mum and dad decided to go down too. So the lot of us loaded up the MPV and drove down, not without incident I might add, as I discovered that my passport had slipped out of it's wallet which I had so carefully packed in my bag. So instead of leaving Malacca after lunch, we ended up leaving Malacca at 3pm instead. After descending in Hotel Singapura at about 7pm, we freshened up and went straight to dinner, after which we went back to Andrea's and called it a night.

The second day, we split up after brunch. "The Locusts" went off on a half day tour of Singapore including the "Tiger" Beer factory; mum & dad went off to their friends, Jin Siew and I went off to "Takasimaya" to exchange my malfunctioning "Aerochinno"; my milk frother for making capachinno and cafe lattes. It turns out that there is a delay safety mechanism built into the machine.

Later that night, the cousins; Andrea, Conrad & kids (Ian and Julian); the Locusts; Cheong, Jackie and myself had a lovely Italian dinner.

Dinner with the Cousins at Nanas

On the final day, we had brunch at Sentosa Cove before visiting the "Peranakan Museum". This proved to be fascinating finding out how similar and closely related the Singapore and Malacca Nyonya and Babas are.
Exhibits at the Peranakan Museum or furniture from Home?

After the Peranakan Museum, we went for high-tea at 'The Raffles" which of course turned out to be terrible and over-priced.

Mum, Dad & Ta Chi Nana on the Verandah of Raffles

So after Raffles, it was back to Malacca to celebrate Christmas.

In front of the Raffles Christmas Tree

Before ending this post, I would like to sincerely thank the friendly staff of "Hotel Singapura" for being efficient and accommodating.

KL

2009-01-06T08:57:00.009+08:00

Having arrived back from Hong Kong on Friday, December the 12th, The Locusts and their chauffeur (i.e. me) decided to visit Kuala Lumpur on Monday, the 15th of December.

The highlight of this trip has to be dinner on the first night, where we chanced our arm and walked into to the KL Tower revolving restaurant for their buffet dinner. (Not a smart thing to do, as they were almost fully booked) The dinner wasn't great, however the views were wonderful.

KL Tower

View of the Twin Towers from the KL Tow

er Revolving Restaurant

After dinner it was a quick walk back to the Hotel in Bukit Bintang and a comfortable bed for the night.

The next morning, I discovered why I felt so bad for the last few days. I was actually down with the flu. So leaving "The Locusts" to explore Bukit Bintang and "The Pavillion", I spent the day in bed, in time to recover and drive to Damansara for dinner with Liong, Sonny's cousin.

Liong and family

The next day, we travelled back to Malacca via Putra Jaya, the administrative centre of Malaysia.

Paying homage in front of the Prime Minister's Department

"The Locusts"

2009-01-06T08:40:00.003+08:00

My eldest sister and her family; 2 adults and 2 teenage kids; stayed with me during most of December. Before they arrived, I stocked on on essentials such as toilet rolls, milk, cereals etc. I bought enough to last me a month. Silly me!! With an extra 4 mouths to feed, most of this additional supplies were consumed within a week!!! So I dubbed them "The Locusts".

"The Locusts" aka the Tays

From L-R: Hing Siang, Sharon, Sonny, Yee Ling

Safety Regulations

2009-01-03T16:14:00.004+08:00

Our trip to Hong Kong coincided with yet another landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa, so it brought to stark relief that alot of the high-rises in Hong Kong were built in very steep slopes without too many of the slope stability problems we have faced in Malaysia.

Why is this the case? Is it because that our buildings are badly or under-designed; or as many Malaysian engineers have claimed, is it due to bad slope maintenance?

Judging by the less onerous fire regulations requirement adopted by our 26 storey hotel;
e.g. only 1 fire escape staircase when in Malaysia there is a minimum requirement for 2 escape staircases;
only fire detectors in the hotel room, when in Malaysia there would have been a requirement for a sprinkler system.

I conclude that it's down to sloppy maintenance of Malaysian hillslopes.

Hong Kong V

2009-01-03T15:54:00.003+08:00

Our last day in Hong Kong started with a quick breakfast of Chee Cheong Fun down Hennessy Road.

With our flight scheduled at 2.20pm , at 11am all 5 of us jumped into a cab and headed for the airport.

After checking in, we then stopped over for a last Dim Sum meal at the airport restaurant before going through immigration and home.
Dim Sum at Hong Kong Airport

BTW the Dim Sum was excellent and we also packed a roast goose back for mum.

Hong Kong IV

2008-12-26T17:30:00.009+08:00

After our visit to Stanley, we decided to view the famed escalator walks leading to the residential levels of the peak. So from Stanley, we took the bus back to central. As it was the afternoon, the escalators were moving up (in the mornings they move downhill) which was great as that was the direction we were heading in. It was an interesting experience as through-out the walk, we could peek left and right into residences right next to the walkway.

Halfway up, we decide to stop for afternoon tea at an English type teahouse called Portebello.

Tea at Portabello

Having explored the escalators, we then decided to have an early dinner at the famous Yung Kee, famous for it's roast goose.

Yung Kee Restaurant

With our roast goose, we had a vegetable and goose liver sausage, a clay-pot fish and egg-plant, and a garlic fried vegetable. It was all very good except for the price... but that's Hong Kong!

After dinner we walked over to Pier 7 and took the Star Ferry once again to Kow Loon in time for the light show of Hong Kong Harbour which started at 8pm. Below are some shots, taken free hand and mostly free of camera shake!.

The IFC Building

The Bank of China Building

Once again, after taking the Star Ferry back to Hong Kong Island, we walked back to Wan Chai before calling it a night.

Hong Kong III

2008-12-23T09:16:00.006+08:00

Day 3 in Hong Kong began at 9am with a quick breakfast at a noodle shop next to the hotel.
Then after consulting the receptionist at the hotel, we decided to take the No. 40 minibus from Times Square to Stanley Bay, where the famous Stanley Market is. So off we went and made our first discovery of the day, which is that the buses in Hong Kong do not give you any change! So still whinging for paying HK$15 extra for our bus trip, be settled into the bus for an eye opening bus ride to Stanley. I describe the bus ride as an eye opener because so far, Hong Kong has been a jungle of high rises set closely together; however having crossed the tunnel under the mountains, we were greeted by a lovely spectacle of nestling high-rises by sand fringed bays; rather like Batu Feringgi in Penang. After a 30 minute ride we were in Stanley.

View of Stanley Bay

The Lead-in to Stanley Market

Stanley Market turned out to be what I imagine a "pasar-malam" would be like, if it was run by an ang-more. Sited in a warren of padestrian streets by a nice water front. If you grew tired of the market, you could go round the corner and enjoy a nice pint or coffee at one of the nice eateries by the promenade.

The Promanade at Stanley

Hong Kong II

2008-12-18T22:03:00.016+08:00

Day 2 of our Hong Kong trip began with "Yum Cha " of course. At 10 in the morning, we asked the hotel receptionist advice for the best place for Tim Sum and she directed us down to a place down Hennesy Road which was rather convenient, as it was on the way to the Peak Tram where we wanted to go to after Brunch anyway. So off we went, and found a restaurant after a 10 minute walk. (Not sure if it was the place we were directed to, however the food was fairly decent)

The good thing about Hong Kong in December is that the weather is really wonderful, about 20 -23 degrees through the day. Great temperature to walk in. So, after Brunch we decided to walk to the Peak Tram station, which took us about 20 minutes; where we had the dramatic architectural change from china town Wan Chai to CBD Central with views of some iconic buildings including the Bank of China Building and the IFC ( International Financial Center) Building.

The Bank of China Building from Street Level

Upon reaching the "Peak Tram" Terminal we bought our tickets and waited for the tram for the Peak. The journey to the Peak was an insight to the topography of Hong Kong, as it was a steep climb with some wonderful views of the CBD thrown in.

The Peak

At the peak, we decided to have a drink at Peak Lookout and was absolutely dumbfounded that it cost HK$45 for a coffee. Ah well... it had a good view.

The Tram...The Tram

So after breathing in the view and drinking our coffees, we decided to move on to the next tourist must do of the Star Ferry, walking pass the IFC before crossing over to Kowloon.

The Star Ferry

Kowloon and Nathan Road

Upon arriving in Kowloon, we proceeded up towards Nathan Road via Salisbury Road past the Peninsular Hotel, where we could not resist taking some snaps standing in front of the hotel. Then it was up exploring the shops at Nathan Road. Being a retarded shopper, this part of the holiday was rather lost on me.

May and Tom

Next on agenda was dinner with my cousin May and her husband Tom, which I fixed up whilst I was still in Malacca. We had agreed to meet up at Times Square MTR station at 7, which we reached at 6.45. As my feet was aching from all that walking and I wasn't wearing my orthopedic insoles, I decided to dash back to the hotel to change shoes as well as pick up the whisky we had bought for Tom. Unfortunately, the hotel was not actually on Morrison Hill Road as published in their literature but is actually on Tin Lok Lane which runs into Morrison Hill Road, the 10 minute dash turned out to be a 40 minute treasure hunt and Tom and Sonny had a rather long wait at the MTR station.

Anyway dinner was at the Hong Kong Football Club, which is part of the Happy Valley Sports Grounds. The buffet dinner was bloody good especially the roast pork, which I certainly did justice to.

On the Left, the Tangs, Jennifer, Peter, May and Tom
On the Right, the Tays: Yee Ling, Hin Siang, Sharon, Sonny and Me!!!
An interesting note is the bright lights in the background is the Happy Valley Race Course.

Thanks May and Tom for a brilliant evening. With a full belly, I slept well in my cell.

Hong Kong I

2008-12-13T23:12:00.007+08:00

Following the debacle with our intended Thai trip with Air Asia, we (my eldest sister, Sharon, her husband Sonny and their kids Yee Ling and Hin Siang) decided to travel to Hong Kong on MAS instead.

That must be one of the best decisions of the year, as the holiday was great.

So we left KLIA at 6.25 pm and landed in Hong Kong at 10.30 pm. By the time we got to the Hotel Bonaparte in Wan Chai, Hong Kong it was past midnight. We were attended to by a very pleasant and efficient receptionist who checked us in without any delay. Having got to our rooms, we discovered why the hotel cost only HK$665 a night which is about half the cost compared to other 3 star hotels in Hong Kong. The room was small! "Cosy" does not do justice to the diminutive size of the room. It was a 6'x12' cell, however the rooms were well appointed and was recently refurbished in April this year.

With it's excellent location, helpful staff and affordable rates, you shall certainly not be hearing any complaints from me.

Air Asia Rant

2008-12-13T15:34:00.003+08:00

The following; in verbatim; is my open letter to Datuk Tony Fernandes.

"28th November 2008

Datuk Anthony Francis Fernandes
c/o Air Asia Bhd.

Dear Datuk Tony,

Re: Crisis in Thailand - Air Asia’s Lackadaisical Attitude

It is with much disappointment that I have to write this letter of complaint regarding the incoherent action by Air Asia to the current crisis in Thailand.

My I first congratulate Datuk on transforming the aviation industry; from being a staid industry to one where innovative ideas and marketing strategies are regularly implemented.

It was therefore highly disappointing to find that Air Asia has not been pro-active when dealing with the current state of emergency in Thailand.

My situation is:

• My family and I have booked a holiday in Thailand flying by Air Asia and Air Asia Thailand with the following schedule.
o 9th December 2008 Kul – CNX AK896 Booking Ref: SLPZDE
o 12th December 2008 CNX – BKK FD3239 Booking Ref: U3LTBE
o 16th December 2008 BKK – Kul AK883 Booking Ref: REMJEB
• With the current situation in Thailand, my family and I have decided that it may be prudent to change our holiday to a different destination.
• On Thursday the 27th of November 2008, the second day of the occupation of Bangkok Airport, I called up Air Asia’s support line, waited the inevitable 25 minutes to be attended to by a distressed Help Line Assistant and requested that I be allowed to change the destination of my holiday, for which I would be willing to pay any difference in the fares and administration fees.
• Unfortunately the only options available are
o the dates of the flights (within a 3 month period)
o and/or the name of traveler.
o forfeiting in full the fares herein paid.
• Bearing in mind that my family members are travelling from New Zealand and do not have the luxury of changing their schedule or revisiting the region within the next year, these options are not satisfying.

It is obvious that the top management of Air Asia has given no thought to an extremely serious situation that has developed in the industry. It also baffles me that the said management has also not been able to see that if they allow travelers to change their destinations (under emergency circumstances), not only will travelers feel more comfortable with the destinations they are travelling to but Air Asia would probably gain financially as the fares will inevitably be higher as travelers change their cheaper tickets (bought during the early booking period) with “prime fare period” tickets.

I believe that unless issues such as these are addressed, Air Asia’s hope of being a fully integrated airline for the global market shall be stymied as long haul travelers will not be comfortable booking regional connections as there are too many restrictions concerning the change of destinations on flights which have to be booked well in advance. Especially in emergencies like we are facing in Thailand and India.

Air Asia may actually be known as a “fair weather” airline. Fine when everything goes well, but absolutely clueless in event of an emergency.

I hope the feedback in this letter serves to improve the service offered by Air Asia to all your customers who are probably facing more trying situation then myself.

Yours sincerely,

Seet Cheng Khim "

As expected, I did not even get an acknowledgement of this letter.

Bill Clinton

2008-12-13T15:26:00.005+08:00

I went to the Bill Clinton lecture at KLCC on Friday the 5th of December with one burning question in mind... "How did the cigar taste like?"
Unfortunately, all he could talk about was recycled rubber and greening the world.
So I can only conclude that Bill is tight with his rubbers and will always recycle them!!

Or.. the cigar tasted like recycled rubber!!!

Where's the rubber Bill??!?

A Living Language

2008-12-13T15:19:00.003+08:00

It's interesting to note that A Wireless device 50 years ago meant a radio, the two terms were actually interchangeable. Nowadays, in the computer age it has come to mean, a connection without wires, much like a radio however it now covers computers, PDAs, mobile phones, headsets, printers, mp3 players ...just about anything electronic.

Friday Nights at Jim's

2008-12-01T18:49:00.008+08:00

Ever wondered what grown men get up to after spending nearly every Friday night in the same pub for 20 years?!? Yes 20 years!!!!

Well...

That's what!

Oh... and also alot of this

And this...

Drinking to an old friend Danny Sim who is recovering from Colon Cancer in Singapore. Get well soon Danny.

Tong-adle

2008-12-01T10:45:00.007+08:00

Inspired by Grax's Spoontulas, I've invented a device which also serves two functions.
One as a pair of tongs; the other as a ladle.
Attached are two videos of it's inaugural roll-out, demonstrating it's uses.

Busted!

2008-11-25T22:34:00.002+08:00

The management of my Condo block has finally twigged that I have a dog in the flat... and I'm not supposed to. Ah well... I suppose it's time to revert to Plan B; which is to confine Marmite to the flat. Shame about all that house training to poo and pee out of the flat. Now I'll have to train her to do all that on the balcony. Bummer!!

A layman's guide to Finacial Jargon

2008-11-25T08:30:00.001+08:00

Follow this link to the BBC's helpful article. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7642138.stm

I particularly like the definition of Derivatives.

Dottie

2008-11-23T18:14:00.004+08:00

To my surprise, this blog is getting more hits through image searches for Dorothy Parker. She has by far surpassed Antonio Bourdain as the 'hit-magnet" of this blog-site. This... 41 years after her death and 70 odd years after her heydays of the 1920's through to the 1940's.

Some of Dotties Witticisms

1. If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.
2.This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.
3.That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment.
4.Men seldom make passes
At girls who wear glasses.
5.Brevity is the soul of lingerie.

Sleeping Beasties

2008-11-22T18:08:00.004+08:00

Below is a picture taken by the Sith Lord of me and Marmite catching 40 winks in the pub last night. Thanks Steve, for the flattering angle and lighting.

Footballer's Metaphors

2008-11-17T11:02:00.004+08:00

A classic mixed metaphor from Paul Maysfield on "Football Focus" this week;
"... he should put his foot down with a firm hand"

Bernard (the PPS of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister) would certainly come down hard on that!!!

Oh Shit! Was it really 14 years ago??!!

2008-11-17T09:39:00.007+08:00

I've just bought a DVD (an original I might add) of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and was watching it, when I noticed that Hugh Grant and the rest of the cast were looking distinctly young. So being the "kah-poh" chap that I am; I decided to find out when the film was released. It was in 1994!!!! Ouch! how time motors along.

Hey... even I was young then. ;-)

Briefly...

2008-11-09T16:13:00.003+08:00

Apart from being black, does anyone know what else Barack Obama stands for??? Anyone read his manifesto? Is there a manifesto??!!

Ode to Obama

2008-11-09T15:54:00.008+08:00

Obama... they've just elected a black man named Obama
And suddenly the world will never be the same again

Obama... they've just elected a black man named Obama
And suddenly the world ...will never be the same again

OBAMA... say it loud and there're Brass Bands playing
Say it soft and there are white men cursing

Obama... Sarah Palin is saying... what a bummer...

Martin Luther King will feel good... Obama

(Sung to the tune of "Maria" of "West Side Story")

The F1 Gods

2008-11-03T18:12:00.006+08:00

The Sith Lord and I are agreed, that the recently completed Brazilian Grand Prix shows that there is a God after all; and yes... he is greater then Max Mosley.

However, he likes playing the same twisted games too!!!

Mama Mia II

2008-11-03T03:52:00.005+08:00

I've just remembered that I promised to update my blog regarding the Mama Mia posting; regarding the company which had arranged for it's Executives get to watch the stage musical; whilst the non-executive employees get to watch the film.

I've been reliably informed that Non Executive Directors of the company, only gets to watch a pirate DVD of Mama Mia!!!

There may be justice in this life after all.

F1 Blues

2008-11-03T03:41:00.005+08:00

I lie here wide awake at 3.40 am having just witnessed the incredible finish of the Brazilian Grand Prix. There I was thoroughly dejected, thinking that Lewis Hamilton had just thrown away the World Championship, only to be told that he passed Timo Glock at the last corner!!! What a finish! Felt like the Belgian Grand Prix in reverse. Let's hope the result isn't interfered with.

Well done Lewis!!!

Now to try and get some sleep.

Cheer up - Things could be worse!

2008-10-30T17:13:00.007+08:00

During my early days in England, I was homesick and probably wore a perpetual woeful expression.

One day, a cheerful chappie, came up to me and said "Cheer up - things could be worse!

This form of optimism proved to be the first of many English traits I've picked up.

Today I read Paul Krugman's blog in the "New York Times".
The following extract caught my attention.

"Right now I feel like the guy who was told, “Cheer up — things could be worse!” So he cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse."

Which explains why I'm a pessimistic optimist!!

Spouting oxymorons is the second trait I picked up!!

Grateful is as Grateful does

2008-10-27T09:38:00.006+08:00

Following on from last week-end's adventures with the car and the knackerd battery... the Sith Lord expressed surprise that I returned his Kia with a full tank of petrol and some additional parking coupons.

Well it's only fair that I did so as an expression of gratitude for helping me out in a tight spot.

However, he further mentioned that as I had gone to the trouble of doing all that, he was surprised that I hadn't actually washed and polished the Kia as well.

Well... if only it had been the beemer...

maybe a trip to this car wash would have been on the cards. ;-)

Mum

2008-10-26T17:32:00.003+08:00

In the last week, mum had a little bit of a turn. It turned out that her blood sugar level was low as she has been reducing her food intake recently.

So the doctors have now to readjust her medication to stabilise her system. This may take some time as she is on 12 different types of pills! Overall she's fine; bar some fine tuning of the drugs.

I must thank Ser Heng for having a look at and advising on her long list of medication.

Antonio Bourdain III

2008-10-26T17:18:00.004+08:00

From the information provided by Sitemeter, I've noticed that the vast majority of my casual visitors from afar afield as Slovenia, Spain or America, chance upon the blog after searching for "Antonio Bourdain". This probably means that there must be many, many searches for this cool dude.

Jackie Chan Comes to Town

2008-10-21T08:32:00.010+08:00

Jackie Chan was in town last week-end.

Not him...
Her!!!

fresh from her 18 month stint with the International Olympic Broadcast Organisation in Beijing; bearing tales of the recent Beijing Olympics.

Well it was an incident packed weekend.

It began as usual in Jim's Cottage, where we had some drinks with the usual gang. As the Sith Lord had arranged a BBQ at his home, we got ready to leave at about 8pm. I got to my car, only to find that the battery was flat! Since no one had jump leads, we decided to call on AAM to come to attend to the matter. As some of the gang was staying on for a further discussion, Wong decided to loan me his pick-up for Jackie and me to head for the BBQ, while they stayed on to to talk and wait for AAM.

With a squeal of delight, Jackie said, "It's a pick-up!! I'll drive!!!" So off we went to the BBQ. At the BBQ, news came that AAM turned up without a battery!!! So the decision was made to leave the car overnight at the pub as Stephen had volunteered his Kia as a loaner to get us home. (Unfortunately the keys to the 2 Beemers were kept securely out of sight!!)

As for the BBQ, the Sith Lord had as usual provided far too much food, and although the food was excellent, (those excellent lamb sausages must be mentioned here) more food was left over then was consumed. Looks like the Tams will be eating left-overs for the next few days.

On Saturday, it was a slow start to the day. Having finally got our asses in gear, we had a Yong Tou Foo lunch; after which we got Dr. Ho, the mechanic, out with a replacement battery to get the car going, only to find that it was losing a little water, so the good Dr. took the car back to his work-shop to fix the leak.

Having done that, it was back to the flat for a little snooze, then the 6 million dollar question, "What's for dinner?" Jackie actually fancied some wine followed by some local coffee-shop food.

So we went over to Harpers, to find that the menu has changed. They're now more of a Tapas Bar, then a Wine Bar Restaurant. So obviously we had to try out the Tapas!!! We went for a selection which included a good Garlic Mushroom dish and an unforgettable pan fried fish with Wahsabi mash.

After Harpers it was off to "Siang Malam" for the Curry Wan Tan Noodles with the lot. (i.e. with additional Chicken, Char Siew and Siew Yok" Then it was off home for GnTs and the football. Naturally, we fell asleep watching the football.

As Jackie had to be home in Singapore for her nephew's birthday lunch, she had to leave early on Sunday, still with a full belly.

All in all an enjoyable and eventful weekend.

Mama Mia!!

2008-10-21T08:26:00.004+08:00

The following is one of the funniest tales I heard last week.

Apparently there is a contract manufacturer based in Klang, who is planning a company outing for it's staff to watch Mama Mia.

The chaps with the key to the executive toilet are watching the West-end musical; the others are watching the film!!!!

Football Refocus

2008-10-16T03:48:00.003+08:00

I was watching ESPN's "Football Focus" with John Dykes earlier tonight; I could not help feeling embarrassed for the punters as they struggled with the subject of the BPL club debt. Apart from Jamie Reeves, these ex-footballers just do not know anything about economics. So boys, from now on, please stick to the foot-ball!!!

Marmite III

2008-10-13T23:05:00.005+08:00

Here's some new pictures of Marmite after going to the Hair-dresser's... or after an accident with a lawn-mower.

Kakistocracy... a Malay word?

2008-10-12T08:29:00.006+08:00

Just read this article from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7659954.stm

The one one word which stood out from that list of 50 is kakistocracy which actually means; government by the worst persons; which I'm convinced has it's roots in Malay, where as in Malaysia; there runs a government where certain "kakis" get into power!!!

In reality it's roots are actually Greek, but don't you love the coincidence??

Briefly

2008-10-11T22:20:00.001+08:00

Was just informed that sub-titles are available for all Asia Food Channel programmes. Wonder what they are like for Gordon Ramsey's shows??

Marmite II

2008-10-07T10:14:00.008+08:00

Some more pictures of Marmite

Here's Marmite trying to look sweet

Sill trying to look sweet.

Ah well... truth will out!!!

Porn for Women

2008-10-07T07:26:00.006+08:00

During my travels around the web, I came across a video clip entitled "Fantasy Porn for Women".

Here's the link http://www.revver.com/video/991641/fantasy-porn-for-women/

So being a curious soul I clicked on the link...... and guess what I saw??

Men doing housework and looking after the baby!!!

Laugh!!!! Well I almost peed in my pants.

And by the way, if you were wondering how I chanced across this item, I was googling Dog training, came upon "My Dog Watching Porn LOL" ... as you would do; clicked on that, then "Fantasy Porn for Women" appeared in a relevant list. (Hey, I wasn't searching for 'those' sites....well not this time anyway ;-))

Out of Topic

2008-10-02T07:54:00.005+08:00

Having read some Malaysian forums lately, the phrase; "out of topic" jumps up at me.
This seems to suggest that the contributor has run out of ideas,but in fact the phrase is used to convey the fact that the contributor wishes to digress from the main thrust of the discussion. An aside as it were. Going off at an tangent even.
Oh!.... the joys of Manglish. (Malaysian English) Don't you just love that Portmanteau word? Doesn't it conjure up an image of English being mangled!?!

A Red Conspiracy II

2008-09-30T08:45:00.003+08:00

Man. Utd. has returned to winning ways. Is this because they were playing at home, or that they were playing against a weaker team? Or is this because they were playing in red!!!!
On the evidence of the phantom penalty, I would suggest that it's because of the home strip.

Ops Sikap ala Marmite

2008-09-29T07:46:00.004+08:00

Malacca, Today: In the 22 days since Ops Sikap was launched the daily "accident" rate has been declining, according to Chief Inspector Salve of Marmite.

"You know ah..... when we first started this operasi, the "accident" rates were very high. The ones involving puddles were in multiples of three, while the more solid ones were occurring daily."

"Sekarang, "puddle accidents" average about one a day, with "solid accidents" almost eliminated. Semua dah kurang dah!"

Yesterday, due to the "balik kampung" weekend and the subsequent increase in traffic volume, there were an accident of each type. "What to do... you know lah....weekend drivers lah!"

"We hope that as the driver of the dump truck matures, all accidents will soon be a thing of the past."

Briefly

2008-09-28T23:38:00.004+08:00

It suddenly struck me that the name; United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) is actually in English. Isn't this a little strange??

Doggy Vocabulary

2008-09-21T22:24:00.003+08:00

With the ongoing puppy training, I have discovered that I've had to adapt standard English for Marmite. For ease of understanding for a dog, I've decided to keep the command words to a minimum and to one syllable.

Below are the new definitions for the following words.

No: don't do that, leave, that's bad and everything that has negative connotations

Bone: Anything that is allowed to be chewed

MacBook Air III

2008-09-18T08:42:00.007+08:00

My MBA is showing signs of breaking down again.

The complaint I had about a month ago, where the logic board was replaced has shown up again.

Having made a complaint directly to Apple's Care-line they have agreed to replace my computer with a new one.

Oops... wrong Lemmon, meant the one with one "m". Sorry Jack.

Great, I can now get rid of this lemon!!