Hong Kong IV

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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??!!

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...

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

Ode to Obama

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!!

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Doggy Vocabulary

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

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!!   

Are You More Anal Then An English Teacher?

The "Sage on the Sofa" questioned my use of the expression "complete lack of" in an SMS. His contention was that if lack means "an absence of"; then "complete lack off" would be a reiteration and the adjective "complete" would be redundant. However upon checking a dictionary, he was loathed to discover that the definition of "lack" is rather imprecise, and could actually mean an absence of; or a deficiency of. 

Oh ....... the pain that one gets for offering to host a booze up!!!(the purpose of sending the offending SMS)

But ........ chalk another one up for the English Teachers!!! Yeah!!! ;-))

A Red Conspiracy

After the debacle of a steward's enquiry at the Belgium Grand Prix, I've begun to see many a conspiracy in favor of teams in red.

Case in point, Liverpool's win over Man. Utd. The home team kitted out in red won.

To top this off, Toro Rosso (Red Bull) won the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.

 Was there a more unlikely winner??? Not unless you're a red team.

Marmite - Slave Training

Hello everyone I thought I'll update you on the training of my Slave.

Training began as soon as he got into his home, which is now mine!!! To prove the point I immediately left my mark on his Persian carpet. He looked upset but he shall soon get used to this routine of me leaving my mark and him cleaning up after me.

In the morning, training begins at about 7.30; although I woke him up at 7.20 this morning, just to add some variety to the training schedule; when I initiate my wake up call by yapping. My Slave then cooks and feeds me breakfast. Then he takes me down for my 20 minute morning walk in the car park, were I conduct my morning toilet. Then it's back into the flat when my Slave cleans out my abode, making sure I get clean newspaper sheets and in-room beverage. Then it's slave's turn to clean himself and I get to catch up on my beauty sleep whilst he's doing this.

After he has cleaned himself, he then makes his own breakfast and I roam the flat inspecting and ensuring that it's up to my liking. If there is something I object to, I shall mark the spot, forcing Slave to clean up after me. This I do several times to ensure that he is on his toes.

Then Slave takes me to my daytime companion, that Shi Tzu named Max, who is a bit of a dandy with all his hair and confiture. However he's good fun as we are able to run around and wrestle with each other 'till our hearts content.  

At approximately 5 pm, Slave then picks me up to send me home for my evening walk and dinner.

After another inspection of the flat, Slave then ensures that my beverage is changed and clean; my bedding is turned down and my hair is brushed before I retire for the day.

Well that's all for now, I shall now have to retire for my morning nap. I shall post further updates as and when I feel like it. 

Ta ta. 

Marmite

Hi I'm Marmite. I'm no more then 6 weeks old and I have a new owner who I first met at 3pm, Sunday the 7th of September 2008. He immediately took me home after meeting me for 5 minutes. He's soo.... easy. I reckon he's going to spoil me rotten. 

Greatest Shot in Tennis?

I'm currently watching the replay of the Federer vs Djorkovic semi-final and have seen an extraordinary shot made by Roger in the 3rd set.

After Novak slams an overhead down, Roger, then hits an overhead lob; (yes.... an overhead lob!!! i.e. a lob using a service motion) over a perfectly positioned Novak at the net.

Absolutely incredible.

Full Circle

I've just read Gxdrax's comment on my post "Of Spades and Shovels" and how from Spades, led to shovels then to the "Frankenword", "Spoontula". Carrying the association theme further, Spoontula rhymes with Dracula, which then leads to Bram Stoker (the author of Dracula). Now doesn't a stocker of a fire also feed the fire by shoveling coal into it?

 

Friends

I've been watching a few reruns of Friends, I've forgotten how funny the series was. I'm particularly taken by the character Phoebe; she's much funnier in the early seasons then in the later ones. In the later seasons, she was just silly.

Ah.... memories.

Of Spades and Shovels

With all the discussion at Jim's regarding my reply to Ser Heng's comment regarding Spades and Shovels, I reckon the comment deserves it's own post. So I've copied the reply below.

"Further to the gxdrax's (the sage on the sofa) comment regarding calling a shovel a spade; I wouldn't normally disagree with our hardware man; however, from the English teacher's point of view; there is certainly a difference; as one would not spade bull-shit, but one can certainly shovel it in spades!!!

Grammatically, a spade is normally only used as a noun, however, a shovel is commonly used both a noun and a verb.

If however, you insist on using "to spade" as a verb, it actually means to dig up or to cut up. To shovel would mean to move or throw around

So technically there will be a difference in the shape of a spade and a shovel; the blade of a spade would be straight with a sharper end, whilst a shovel's blade would be a little more cupped."

Ah.... the things we talk about when the whisky flows.

US Pizza Rant

How difficult can it be to take an order over the phone, get an address down and deliver a pizza, 5 minutes down the road?? Well if you were a Bangladeshi, with very limited English and absolutely no knowledge of Malay, it is absolutely impossible!!!

Which idiot of a manger put this guy in charge of taking delivery orders!!!

This saga began at 7.30 pm tonight when I decided to order a pizza in as I had only taken the mince beef out of the freezer, and it had not thawed. So I picked up the phone to order in some pizza instead. Big mistake!! This Bangladeshi picked up the phone, couldn't understand the order, handed the phone over to a Malay chap who had no problem taking down the order..... So I thought!

Fast forward to 9 pm, still no pizza!!! So I called them up to enquire. The Malay chap answers the phone; I asked about the status of the delivery; he hands the phone to the Bangladeshi!!!! who says, we did not deliver as we do not have your telephone number!!! BUT I know for a fact that they have caller ID!!!!! However he promises to proceed with the order and I continue waiting.

20 minutes later, still no pizza. I call back, Malay chap answers the phone, hands the phone to the Bangladeshi who says  that they still have not got my number; I gave it to him; ask him how long they will take to deliver the pizza; he tells me that they have to prepare it first, then...... HOLD ON, did he say prepare it first?? You mean that's it's still not made yet???!!! No sir. Well CANCEL the order then.

So I now go and prepare some Bolognese sauce, with the mince which is now of course thawed.

30 minutes later... guess what!!! The wretched pizza turns up!!! BUGG OFF!!!

Uughh.... what can I say???

  

Max

Meet Max, a male Shi Tzu who is  mum's birthday present.

You can tell he's going to be spoilt as his peripherals cost almost as much as him! 

He's a perfect dog for mum as he is small and isn't too lively; however the fluffy image is going to need alot of maintenance.

Die lah!

I've just realised that Star Movies is showing a Die Hard marathon tonight: it's showing all the Die Hard movies back to back.

What this really means is that we can watch Bruce Willis age through the evening.

Reunion Dinner

It was a strange thing; going to a reunion dinner which is not your own; this is what precisely happen this Saturday night as the gang was invited to Mr Wong's reunion dinner. However working on the premise that one should not turn down a free dinner, we all turned up to a slap up feast and lots of whisky.

The dinner turned up to be a karaoke session and I was also called to the stage to perform a rendition of "Hey Jude" with Mr Ho. (the Sith Lord in training) Let's just say that the sound system wasn't any good, and there was more feedback then melody. Apparently that was enough for the Gohs and Kohs, as they left during our melodious moment. Some people just can't appreciate good talent!!!!

  

Jim's Merdeka Barbeque Mash

As it's the Independence Day weekend, someone (not sure who) decided that it would be a good idea to have a Barbe in the Pub. Well actually, the Webber was set up behind the pub, not actually in it.... but that's me being pedantic again.  

So there I was on a Friday afternoon, peeling 20 extra large spuds to make Mash Potatoes to feed 20 persons. By 7 pm the Mash was ready, so off to Jim's I went to be greeted by the gang, who all surpassed themselves this time around.

There was a Tomato and Onion soup from Mr Koh (though I'm sure Mrs Koh made the soup); the Sith Lord set up the Webber and smoked chicken, sausages and some wonderful lamb chops to go with some equally good onion sauce; Mr Goh brought the briquettes(?!!?); Bee Yen (the proprietress of Jim's) provided the salad; Doreen provided not 1 but 2 outstanding desserts, a lemon tart and a custard caramel; Mr Wong the fruits and I provided the "would you like some potatoes with your butter" type of mash.  

The Sith Lord lording over the Webber

Mention must also be made of the aperitif, a Cloudy Bay 2005 provided by the Sith Lord. Oh yummy!!!

Doreen: Please Sir... may I have more Tomato soup?

All this followed by some wonderful coffee. Oh... what a meal!!!

 

Big Ship

What's this Heap Big Ship doing parked outside my window??

Got back home today and saw this ship parked outside my window. Living with a view of the Straits of Malacca, one does encounter some unusual sights out there from time to time. But having a ship parked so close inshore is unusual. This one's parked especially close to an outcrop. (You may just be able to see a little white beacon close to the bow of the ship)

And the phallic symbol you see there, well that's the minaret of a mosque.

The Mummy - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Look! No strings!

Tuesday nights seems to be my Cinema night. Last night I watched the latest installment of The Mummy. 

The verdict? Well it's another Whoosh, Wham, Bamn film. Great action scenes, with some nice comic touches. Worth watching if you like that sort of thing. 

Of course I have my usual gripe with the Malaysia Censors, however with a big action film such as this, it can only be fully appreciated on the big screen; 2 rows from the front of course!! 

Datuk Lee Chong Wei

Did he not lose in the final???!!!!

Beijing Olympics

It was not too long ago

The Olympics show was a go

Now it's about to come to a stop

Beijing's about to close shop

So maybe it's time

To reflect on what was sublime

Was it Phelps

Or the Jamaica Bolt

For me it was a jolt

Realising that the women are now in revolt

To look like ladies

Rather then laddies

Before - Fatimah Whitbread a laddie   

Now - Leryn Franco definitely a lady

Not convinced??! Try these