Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Free buffet dinner!
I made a bet wif me mate, Weng Soon. The problem about it was that neither of us thought he would win and as such, we both could not remember wat was his “win” if he won the bet. He thinks it’s some buffet dinner.
I lost.
The weird thing about it is that I WAS GLAD I LOST THE BET!!!!! Yeah, even if it cost me a buffet dinner!
The bet was whether Michael Owen would go to Newcastle United! At the time we “made the bet” (*gasp* How un-Christian!!!!!!), neither of us actually thought that Owen would go to Newcastle. Surely he would go to a bigger club like Man Utd, Arsenal or Chelsea.
However, in the past week or so, I was shocked to find out that NONE of the other EPL teams are interested in Owen – except Newcastle!!! And arguably, Liverpool too! So it was either Liverpool or Newcastle. Given a choice, any striker worth his salt and having his head screwed on correctly would choose the reds instead of the faltering magpies!
Noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please dun let him go back to Liverpool!!!!
Why? Look, he left Liverpool because he thought that Liverpool would NEVER WIN anything and he wanted to win things. The irony now is that he comes back to England empty handed and not being able to secure a first team place in Real Madrid. Liverpool however, in his absence of 1 year, had secured the biggest European prize – the European Champions League Cup!!! And just last week, they oso won the Supercup!
So the greedy lil fella now wants to come back? No way!!!!
In any event, his motives are purely selfish – be warned, Newcastle fans! He needs to get a regular first team place so that his position in the England team for teh World Cup is secured. You think he gives a s*** about Newcastle?
In any event, I always felt that Liverpool’s previous coach depended too much on Owen. Because of that, it always hinges on whether Owen is on form or not. In other words, IMHO, methinks he is not good for Liverpool as a team. On top of that, I had always thought that he’s overrated. I for one was glad when he left. Sure enuf, Liverpool started winning cups after Owen left!
And I dun think I’m the only one who thinks so – there has to be some really good reasons why seasoned managers like Alex, Arsene and Jose were reluctant to buy him even at a bargain price!!! And methinks Rafa wasn’t keen at all and is relieved that Owen turned down Liverpool’s offer.
So it was wif great joy when I heard the news that Owen has signed for Newcastle – yes, even if it meant that I have to buy Weng Soon a buffet dinner.
I lost.
The weird thing about it is that I WAS GLAD I LOST THE BET!!!!! Yeah, even if it cost me a buffet dinner!
The bet was whether Michael Owen would go to Newcastle United! At the time we “made the bet” (*gasp* How un-Christian!!!!!!), neither of us actually thought that Owen would go to Newcastle. Surely he would go to a bigger club like Man Utd, Arsenal or Chelsea.
However, in the past week or so, I was shocked to find out that NONE of the other EPL teams are interested in Owen – except Newcastle!!! And arguably, Liverpool too! So it was either Liverpool or Newcastle. Given a choice, any striker worth his salt and having his head screwed on correctly would choose the reds instead of the faltering magpies!
Noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please dun let him go back to Liverpool!!!!
Why? Look, he left Liverpool because he thought that Liverpool would NEVER WIN anything and he wanted to win things. The irony now is that he comes back to England empty handed and not being able to secure a first team place in Real Madrid. Liverpool however, in his absence of 1 year, had secured the biggest European prize – the European Champions League Cup!!! And just last week, they oso won the Supercup!
So the greedy lil fella now wants to come back? No way!!!!
In any event, his motives are purely selfish – be warned, Newcastle fans! He needs to get a regular first team place so that his position in the England team for teh World Cup is secured. You think he gives a s*** about Newcastle?
In any event, I always felt that Liverpool’s previous coach depended too much on Owen. Because of that, it always hinges on whether Owen is on form or not. In other words, IMHO, methinks he is not good for Liverpool as a team. On top of that, I had always thought that he’s overrated. I for one was glad when he left. Sure enuf, Liverpool started winning cups after Owen left!
And I dun think I’m the only one who thinks so – there has to be some really good reasons why seasoned managers like Alex, Arsene and Jose were reluctant to buy him even at a bargain price!!! And methinks Rafa wasn’t keen at all and is relieved that Owen turned down Liverpool’s offer.
So it was wif great joy when I heard the news that Owen has signed for Newcastle – yes, even if it meant that I have to buy Weng Soon a buffet dinner.
Family set meal
We went for a family trip – me mom, dad, sis, bro, sis-in-law, nephew and niece. It was meant to be the “final” outing before I go. Sniff…
It was alrite. We went to Pangkor – at the insistence of our dad. But at the end of the day, it was not so much the palce that mattered but the time spent together.
Perhaps, the time spent was a lil too much!!! Yeah, in the short span of 3 days and 2 nites, we did get on each other’s nerves but thank God for Andrew and Adelyn, me nephew and me niece who never fail to put a smile back on our faces and push whatever disagreements far away.
Highlights?
1. The seafood was simply excellent! Yummy!
2. Playing wif the kids
3. The ferry ride was nice
4. Spending time just sitting around chatting
5. Watching the Man Utd and Newcastle match on the big screen at the restaurant across the street! (my first EPL match!!!!!)
Check out the pics here:-
Day #1
Day #2
Day #3
Check out ALL the pics in my Epson Photo Album here (4 albums)
It was alrite. We went to Pangkor – at the insistence of our dad. But at the end of the day, it was not so much the palce that mattered but the time spent together.
Perhaps, the time spent was a lil too much!!! Yeah, in the short span of 3 days and 2 nites, we did get on each other’s nerves but thank God for Andrew and Adelyn, me nephew and me niece who never fail to put a smile back on our faces and push whatever disagreements far away.
Highlights?
1. The seafood was simply excellent! Yummy!
2. Playing wif the kids
3. The ferry ride was nice
4. Spending time just sitting around chatting
5. Watching the Man Utd and Newcastle match on the big screen at the restaurant across the street! (my first EPL match!!!!!)
Check out the pics here:-
Day #1
Day #2
Day #3
Check out ALL the pics in my Epson Photo Album here (4 albums)
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Fortune cookies
It may have taken some good fortune but at the end of the day, Liverpool is the European Supercup CHAMPIONS!!!!!!
It was all thanks to this crazy fella:-
Cisse scored 2 and superbly set up the 3rd goal for Garcia to head in!!!! Sure, the first goal was definitely fortunate – or lucky.
*gasp* I’ve said a “Christian bad word”!!!!! “Luck” has been frowned upon by Christians – so much so it has become ridiculous!!! Like instead of having a “potluck dinner”, we have a “potbless dinner”!!! Sigh… of all people, I think we as Christians should not be too concern with the labelling but more on wat’s inside!
But I digress…
Yes, the first goal may have been lucky – but at the end of the day, in footballing world, you “make your own luck”! It was an excellent long ball clearance from the Reina the goalie. It showed exceptional vision. Garcia was in excellent position to chest down the ball for Cisse. Cisse worked hard wif his pace to get into the “lucky” position!!!
To cut the long story short, WE WON!!!!!!
Wat I really enjoyed from the match tho was the performance of our new midfielder, Sisoko! This is the first time I’ve seen him play this season and I must say, he is very, very impressive! He is strong, he is aggressive, he wins balls! I’m really excited to see him play in more games!
But that was about it. Other than the excellent contribution by the aging Hamann, there was really nothing much to shout about! Sigh… For a moment, I actually thought I had jinxed Liverpool again by watching them play “live” and almost turned off the TV with 10 minutes remaining. But I’m glad I didn’t!
Oh well, at least we showed that we can win trophies without this fella who was sitting in the stands:-
As well as this fella:-
…who walked out on us thinking he won’t win anything big – and now trying to wriggle his way back in again!!!!
All pics obtained online from BBC Online and Premierleague.com
It was all thanks to this crazy fella:-
Cisse scored 2 and superbly set up the 3rd goal for Garcia to head in!!!! Sure, the first goal was definitely fortunate – or lucky.
*gasp* I’ve said a “Christian bad word”!!!!! “Luck” has been frowned upon by Christians – so much so it has become ridiculous!!! Like instead of having a “potluck dinner”, we have a “potbless dinner”!!! Sigh… of all people, I think we as Christians should not be too concern with the labelling but more on wat’s inside!
But I digress…
Yes, the first goal may have been lucky – but at the end of the day, in footballing world, you “make your own luck”! It was an excellent long ball clearance from the Reina the goalie. It showed exceptional vision. Garcia was in excellent position to chest down the ball for Cisse. Cisse worked hard wif his pace to get into the “lucky” position!!!
To cut the long story short, WE WON!!!!!!
Wat I really enjoyed from the match tho was the performance of our new midfielder, Sisoko! This is the first time I’ve seen him play this season and I must say, he is very, very impressive! He is strong, he is aggressive, he wins balls! I’m really excited to see him play in more games!
But that was about it. Other than the excellent contribution by the aging Hamann, there was really nothing much to shout about! Sigh… For a moment, I actually thought I had jinxed Liverpool again by watching them play “live” and almost turned off the TV with 10 minutes remaining. But I’m glad I didn’t!
Oh well, at least we showed that we can win trophies without this fella who was sitting in the stands:-
As well as this fella:-
…who walked out on us thinking he won’t win anything big – and now trying to wriggle his way back in again!!!!
All pics obtained online from BBC Online and Premierleague.com
Foreign food?
Last weekend was an absolutely brilliant time for me. It was the 2nd week of the English Premier League - and I missed ALL THE GAMES AGAIN!!!!! But...
We had a camp for some teens from the interiors of the state of Pahang, the biggest state in West Malaysia.
Altho these teens were Malaysians, they were almost foreign to us!
Who are they? Let’s just say that these teens are under-privileged kids – most, if not all live in wooden and bamboo houses with no electricity and no running water. They speak a different language from us and their lifestyle could not be as different as chalk is from cheese when compared with ours!
But having said that, we have learnt that they are not that different from us after all! They are normal teens – just like how some of us used to be (or still are) although for sum of us, it has been a long, long time ago…
Anyways, here are the reasons why it was brilliant for me:-
1. I had a great time getting to know the teens and hanging out wif them! They were a really nice bunch of people to be wif!
2. We had a crazy time playing games on the first day – ended up wif most of us either drenched wet or covered in flour – or in some cases like me, drenched wet AND covered wif flour!!!!
3. I had the privilege to work wif some of the most dedicated, gifted and crazy bunch of youth workers!!! A good example would be when at the end of the camp, all of us sat together, chilling out, totally exhausted, just wanting to go home and bathe – then we were told that we had to clean up the church building and mop the floors of the basement and all the rooms upstairs!!!! All of us got up and went about doing it – all cheerfully and laughing away!
4. I had the chance to catch up wif quite a number of me mates over tea time wif excellent “vadai” and “goreng pisang”, and supper of hokkien fried noodles!
5. Had a good time jamming – during the sessions and even the unofficial jam sessions! Been a while since I played the bass!
6. Experiencing God helping us out! For example, the trip to the Zoo was only confirmed at the VERY LAST SECOND!!!! When we had to decide immediately whether or not to go and we received news there and then that we could get the student discount!
7. Seeing the lives of the teens touched by God. There were 14 responses at the end of the camp!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!!
8. The outings were loads of fun! We went to the Selangor Pewter factory (which despite initial doubts, turned out to be quite informative and interesting for all!) and to the National Zoo!
9. I played futsal again that weekend!!! Since I was without shoes, I played goalie and managed to keep a clean sheet!!! *beams wif pride* But must admit it had to do more wif the excellent covering by m team players! Oh, I broke a toe nail when I made a *ahem* brilliant save!
10. We had great food!! :-P The BBQ on the last nite was excellent!!! We kept on saying how sad it was that the Jews and the Muslims dun eat pork (no disrespect meant)! The food for the other meals were equally brilliant!
To me, it was truly a touching moment for most of us when we had to say goodbye in tears. It was especially hard for me as I prolly won’t get to see them again anytime soon as I’ll be going away to the UK.
Anyways, to you guys who worked wif me during the camp, thanks so much again for the wonderful time! Been really good serving wif you all, one hand, one heart!
Too lazy to post up pics onto me blogs. But I’ve posted them onto me album online so if you wanna view them, click here.
We had a camp for some teens from the interiors of the state of Pahang, the biggest state in West Malaysia.
Altho these teens were Malaysians, they were almost foreign to us!
Who are they? Let’s just say that these teens are under-privileged kids – most, if not all live in wooden and bamboo houses with no electricity and no running water. They speak a different language from us and their lifestyle could not be as different as chalk is from cheese when compared with ours!
But having said that, we have learnt that they are not that different from us after all! They are normal teens – just like how some of us used to be (or still are) although for sum of us, it has been a long, long time ago…
Anyways, here are the reasons why it was brilliant for me:-
1. I had a great time getting to know the teens and hanging out wif them! They were a really nice bunch of people to be wif!
2. We had a crazy time playing games on the first day – ended up wif most of us either drenched wet or covered in flour – or in some cases like me, drenched wet AND covered wif flour!!!!
3. I had the privilege to work wif some of the most dedicated, gifted and crazy bunch of youth workers!!! A good example would be when at the end of the camp, all of us sat together, chilling out, totally exhausted, just wanting to go home and bathe – then we were told that we had to clean up the church building and mop the floors of the basement and all the rooms upstairs!!!! All of us got up and went about doing it – all cheerfully and laughing away!
4. I had the chance to catch up wif quite a number of me mates over tea time wif excellent “vadai” and “goreng pisang”, and supper of hokkien fried noodles!
5. Had a good time jamming – during the sessions and even the unofficial jam sessions! Been a while since I played the bass!
6. Experiencing God helping us out! For example, the trip to the Zoo was only confirmed at the VERY LAST SECOND!!!! When we had to decide immediately whether or not to go and we received news there and then that we could get the student discount!
7. Seeing the lives of the teens touched by God. There were 14 responses at the end of the camp!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!!
8. The outings were loads of fun! We went to the Selangor Pewter factory (which despite initial doubts, turned out to be quite informative and interesting for all!) and to the National Zoo!
9. I played futsal again that weekend!!! Since I was without shoes, I played goalie and managed to keep a clean sheet!!! *beams wif pride* But must admit it had to do more wif the excellent covering by m team players! Oh, I broke a toe nail when I made a *ahem* brilliant save!
10. We had great food!! :-P The BBQ on the last nite was excellent!!! We kept on saying how sad it was that the Jews and the Muslims dun eat pork (no disrespect meant)! The food for the other meals were equally brilliant!
To me, it was truly a touching moment for most of us when we had to say goodbye in tears. It was especially hard for me as I prolly won’t get to see them again anytime soon as I’ll be going away to the UK.
Anyways, to you guys who worked wif me during the camp, thanks so much again for the wonderful time! Been really good serving wif you all, one hand, one heart!
Too lazy to post up pics onto me blogs. But I’ve posted them onto me album online so if you wanna view them, click here.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Past the expiry date?
I’m getting old! Altho a lot of people, when they see me still think that I’m a student, it still doesn’t change the fact that I’m getting old!!!!
In fact, come December this year and I’ll be able to boast that I have done sumthing that even Jesus could not do when he was on the earth – celebrate my 34th birthday!
*gasp* 34?????
Signs that I’m getting old:-
1. The other day, me mom bought me claypot chicken rice for lunch. It was quite good but yet, I couldn’t finish it despite me not eating breakfast that morning!!!!
2. I was reading a blog belonging to someone whom I have seen growing up from a small girl in Church and found out that she’s celebrating her 21st b’day this year!!!
3. I’m getting careless – for an example, read what happened recently.
4. I’m getting forgetful!!!! For the past 10 years or more, each time I leave the house, I take out the same things which will definitely include these – my house keys, my wallet, my mobile phone. It is becoming frequent that I walk out of my house without one of these things!!!
5. I read the obituaries and find that I know some of them!!!
6. When I hang out wif me mates, we always (and almost only) talk about the “good ol’ days”!!!
7. I have stopped listening to 92.9 FM and find 94.5 FM much nicer!!!
8. When I climb a steep hill, I’ll be gasping for air at the top and my heart will feel like it is gonna burst!
9. The number of cups of coffee I drink these days is way much lower than a couple of years ago! In fact, I drink more water than coffee these days! *gasp*
10. When I go to the park and a ball comes rolling towards me, the kids will be calling out “Uncle, uncle, kick the ball back!!!”!*
* for you non-Malaysians, it is common courtesy among the young people in Malaysia to call an older adult stranger “Uncle” if he is a man or “Aunty” if she is a woman.
In fact, come December this year and I’ll be able to boast that I have done sumthing that even Jesus could not do when he was on the earth – celebrate my 34th birthday!
*gasp* 34?????
Signs that I’m getting old:-
1. The other day, me mom bought me claypot chicken rice for lunch. It was quite good but yet, I couldn’t finish it despite me not eating breakfast that morning!!!!
2. I was reading a blog belonging to someone whom I have seen growing up from a small girl in Church and found out that she’s celebrating her 21st b’day this year!!!
3. I’m getting careless – for an example, read what happened recently.
4. I’m getting forgetful!!!! For the past 10 years or more, each time I leave the house, I take out the same things which will definitely include these – my house keys, my wallet, my mobile phone. It is becoming frequent that I walk out of my house without one of these things!!!
5. I read the obituaries and find that I know some of them!!!
6. When I hang out wif me mates, we always (and almost only) talk about the “good ol’ days”!!!
7. I have stopped listening to 92.9 FM and find 94.5 FM much nicer!!!
8. When I climb a steep hill, I’ll be gasping for air at the top and my heart will feel like it is gonna burst!
9. The number of cups of coffee I drink these days is way much lower than a couple of years ago! In fact, I drink more water than coffee these days! *gasp*
10. When I go to the park and a ball comes rolling towards me, the kids will be calling out “Uncle, uncle, kick the ball back!!!”!*
* for you non-Malaysians, it is common courtesy among the young people in Malaysia to call an older adult stranger “Uncle” if he is a man or “Aunty” if she is a woman.
Latest meal time entertainment
This is wat I'm reading now:-
Yes, no more Grisham! At least for now.
The last Grisham book I read, "The Last Juror" was simply excellent! One of his best. But unlike most of his books, it deals with many sub-stories.
Still, I think I better take a break from Grisham's books. Just like "The King of Torts", I guessed the ending (and saw thru the red herrings) of "The Last Juror" much earlier!!!!
Now, I'm back to Dan Brown. To be honest, I din really like Da Vinci's Code. It was good, a page turner but not great! I liked the first half of Angels and Demons betetr but the ending was pretty forced. He tried so hard to make the twist a surprise that to me, it backfired.
But on me mates' recommendation, I'm reading Digital Fortress now. At least it is not about Robert Langdon anymore. It is enjoyable so far.
Back to Grisham, I just watched Runaway Jury again last nite!
I was surfing channels when I came across the movie. And altho I wanted to watch Discovery Channel, somehow, I was drawn back to Runaway Jury. After all, it has John Cusack and Rachel Weisz, 2 of me fav actors and actresses! And I remembered the excellent performance by Dustin Hoffman!
So I watched thru the whole movie - and enjoyed it again, perhaps even more!!! It even moved me close to tears!
If you have not watched it, try to. Dun believe the bad reviews it received. The performances of the actors themselves are worth your time spent watching it. I especially liked Dustin Hoffman's character - the lawyer who is honest, who has scrupples and morals, who believes in justice and truth, one who truly cares for his clients. At the end, he was tested to the limit - hang on to your values and your client will probably lose. Bend the rules and play dirty like the rest - but your client wins and justice will be done!
So do the ends justify the means?
Watch it to find out!
p/s - KC, how is Runaway Jury, the book so far? You know wat I read on-line? The book is very different from the movie so even tho you have watched the movie, it won't spoil the book for you. In fact, I'll prolly be getting Runaway Jury when I'm done with Digital Fortress.
Yes, no more Grisham! At least for now.
The last Grisham book I read, "The Last Juror" was simply excellent! One of his best. But unlike most of his books, it deals with many sub-stories.
Still, I think I better take a break from Grisham's books. Just like "The King of Torts", I guessed the ending (and saw thru the red herrings) of "The Last Juror" much earlier!!!!
Now, I'm back to Dan Brown. To be honest, I din really like Da Vinci's Code. It was good, a page turner but not great! I liked the first half of Angels and Demons betetr but the ending was pretty forced. He tried so hard to make the twist a surprise that to me, it backfired.
But on me mates' recommendation, I'm reading Digital Fortress now. At least it is not about Robert Langdon anymore. It is enjoyable so far.
Back to Grisham, I just watched Runaway Jury again last nite!
I was surfing channels when I came across the movie. And altho I wanted to watch Discovery Channel, somehow, I was drawn back to Runaway Jury. After all, it has John Cusack and Rachel Weisz, 2 of me fav actors and actresses! And I remembered the excellent performance by Dustin Hoffman!
So I watched thru the whole movie - and enjoyed it again, perhaps even more!!! It even moved me close to tears!
If you have not watched it, try to. Dun believe the bad reviews it received. The performances of the actors themselves are worth your time spent watching it. I especially liked Dustin Hoffman's character - the lawyer who is honest, who has scrupples and morals, who believes in justice and truth, one who truly cares for his clients. At the end, he was tested to the limit - hang on to your values and your client will probably lose. Bend the rules and play dirty like the rest - but your client wins and justice will be done!
So do the ends justify the means?
Watch it to find out!
p/s - KC, how is Runaway Jury, the book so far? You know wat I read on-line? The book is very different from the movie so even tho you have watched the movie, it won't spoil the book for you. In fact, I'll prolly be getting Runaway Jury when I'm done with Digital Fortress.
Mint chocolate shake
Once i went to this place and noticed on their menu they had "Mint Chocolate Shake" and "Chocolate Mint Shake". I called the waiter over.
Me: What is the difference between the "Mint Chocolate Shake" and "Chocolate Mint Shake"?
Waiter: Oh, it's actually the same thing.
Me: Huh? (Did a double take) Alrite.... (not believing). I'll have one then.
Waiter: A "Mint Chocolate Shake"?
Me: No.
Waiter: Huh?
Me: A "Chocolate Mint Shake"
The waiter walks away with the sound of me mates laughing ringing in his ears...
OK, OK. I was mean but c'mon... If it was the same thing, then why was it printed as such on the menu?
Altho I acknowledge that 2 things which sounds different may mean the same thing.
Just a couple of nites ago, I went for a drink wif some mates. Another fren came and brought his frens along. Unfortunately, I was not in a very sociable mood (when am I ever???) - it was right after the camp and I was totally exhausted and just wanted to eat and go.
But me other mates were making small talk wif these new-made frens. One of them, S, lives in Subang Jaya too and he was describing the route he takes to go to work. I knew wat he was saying but another mate didn't. So I "took over" and explained the route - ending wif "...and he makes a u-turn there - which is actually illegal!"
S looked stunned when I said those words. He must be thinking - who is this little p**** who I have never met before but is telling everyone I am a regular traffic offender???
A few minutes later, he tried to justify himself. He looked at me - with a smile - and explained, "Actually, it is NOT an illegal u-turn! You are just not allowed to make the u-turn. but it is not illegal!!"
Yeah, rightttttt!!!!!!
I din make any new frens that nite...
Me: What is the difference between the "Mint Chocolate Shake" and "Chocolate Mint Shake"?
Waiter: Oh, it's actually the same thing.
Me: Huh? (Did a double take) Alrite.... (not believing). I'll have one then.
Waiter: A "Mint Chocolate Shake"?
Me: No.
Waiter: Huh?
Me: A "Chocolate Mint Shake"
The waiter walks away with the sound of me mates laughing ringing in his ears...
OK, OK. I was mean but c'mon... If it was the same thing, then why was it printed as such on the menu?
Altho I acknowledge that 2 things which sounds different may mean the same thing.
Just a couple of nites ago, I went for a drink wif some mates. Another fren came and brought his frens along. Unfortunately, I was not in a very sociable mood (when am I ever???) - it was right after the camp and I was totally exhausted and just wanted to eat and go.
But me other mates were making small talk wif these new-made frens. One of them, S, lives in Subang Jaya too and he was describing the route he takes to go to work. I knew wat he was saying but another mate didn't. So I "took over" and explained the route - ending wif "...and he makes a u-turn there - which is actually illegal!"
S looked stunned when I said those words. He must be thinking - who is this little p**** who I have never met before but is telling everyone I am a regular traffic offender???
A few minutes later, he tried to justify himself. He looked at me - with a smile - and explained, "Actually, it is NOT an illegal u-turn! You are just not allowed to make the u-turn. but it is not illegal!!"
Yeah, rightttttt!!!!!!
I din make any new frens that nite...
All are welcomed here?
This is a real life scenario:-
Me mate woke up early yesterday morning to find his maid dying. She attempted to commit suicide by drinking washing liquid or something. Unfortunately for the poor girl, it did not kill her but made her suffer and left her in agonising pain.
Me mate rushed her to the nearest hospital he could think of - the DAMANSARA SPECIALIST HOSPITAL. He din think a small tiny 24 hour clinic would be of much help and he din mind paying good money to a private hospital.
The nurses put the poor girl onto a bed and informed me mate that a doctor will be attending to her shortly. All the while, the poor girl was in great agony.
The doctor finally arrived about 10 minutes later.
He informed me mate that it appears that the girl had attempted to commit suicide. It is "the hospital's policy" NOT TO ACCEPT SUCH PEOPLE!!!!!! He told me mate to send the girl instead to the University Hospital.
Me mate was shocked. He din even bother to argue and asked instead that they at least provide an ambulance to send the girl there.
The doctor told me mate in a matter-of-fact manner that it would be faster if he sent the girl himself as it would take half an hour for the DAMANSARA SPECIALIST HOSPITAL to get an ambulance ready to take the girl there.
Imagine the scene:-
What happened to the Oath all doctors must take???
"... I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous...."
Hippocrates' Oath? More like hypocrites' oath!!!
Me mate woke up early yesterday morning to find his maid dying. She attempted to commit suicide by drinking washing liquid or something. Unfortunately for the poor girl, it did not kill her but made her suffer and left her in agonising pain.
Me mate rushed her to the nearest hospital he could think of - the DAMANSARA SPECIALIST HOSPITAL. He din think a small tiny 24 hour clinic would be of much help and he din mind paying good money to a private hospital.
The nurses put the poor girl onto a bed and informed me mate that a doctor will be attending to her shortly. All the while, the poor girl was in great agony.
The doctor finally arrived about 10 minutes later.
He informed me mate that it appears that the girl had attempted to commit suicide. It is "the hospital's policy" NOT TO ACCEPT SUCH PEOPLE!!!!!! He told me mate to send the girl instead to the University Hospital.
Me mate was shocked. He din even bother to argue and asked instead that they at least provide an ambulance to send the girl there.
The doctor told me mate in a matter-of-fact manner that it would be faster if he sent the girl himself as it would take half an hour for the DAMANSARA SPECIALIST HOSPITAL to get an ambulance ready to take the girl there.
Imagine the scene:-
- the pristine and expensive looking hallway of the DAMANSARA SPECIALIST HOSPITAL,
- a young girl agonising in excruciating pain and dying,
- a doctor standing nearby not wanting to do anything because it is the DAMANSARA SPECIALIST HOSPITAL's hospital not to treat suicide victims.
What happened to the Oath all doctors must take???
"... I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous...."
Hippocrates' Oath? More like hypocrites' oath!!!
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Alphabet soup
2 trucks loaded with copies of a thesaurus collided as they left a publishing company. Witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, stupefied …
(Copied from Laughter, the best medicine, Reader’s Digest December 2004 – which I read from cover to cover during me trip to East M’sia)
(Copied from Laughter, the best medicine, Reader’s Digest December 2004 – which I read from cover to cover during me trip to East M’sia)
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Lunch time
I did not manage to send in my visa application yesterday!!!!
I went to me mate’s legal firm at the Taipan triangle near my house early in the morning to get him to certify some photocopies of documents as true copies. He din bring his name stamp!!!! So I left it there for him to get his colleague to certify the docs when he gets in.
Went home. Waited. No news. Called him up to find out that his colleague is still not in yet! I was losing patience. The British Hi-Com will not accept any applications after 3 pm.
It was 12 sumthing oredi. So I went back to Taipan – there were many other legal firms around. I located the Commisioner for Oaths – found out that he is the only one in Taipan triangle. Found out oso that he just went out for lunch. Called his mobile but he din pick up! Bugger…
Decided to get a lawyer – any lawyer – to certify me documents. Went to 5 legal firms – all closed!!!! No one bothered to answer the door/bell!!! Well, I know it’s lunch time but still!!!!
Now I know why the law firms in Taipan are not doing as well as where I used to be a partner. In that firm, there’ll ALWAYS be sumone answering the phone and the door during lunch time!
Finally found a lawyer at this firm called Messrs Tan and DH Chan!!! Over the glass door (no one dared to let me in! C’mon!!!! It was lunch time but I was decent enuf in a t-shirt, cargo pants and Velcro boots), she interrogated me as to why I want to see a lawyer, why I want the documents to be certified, wat documents etc. Finally, she said that it’ll cost me RM50 to get one document certified by her!!!! She said a Commisioner for Oaths will only charge RM4 (that is correct) but if she does it, she’ll charge me RM50 per document!!!!
For a moment, I was lost for words!!!! I wanted to scream at her and inform her that I was an advocate and solicitor of the Malaysian High Court for 7 years – and never have I once charged such a ridiculous amount just to certify a document!!!!!
But I din. I smiled, thanked her for her time and walked away in disbelief!!!
RM50 per document!!!! I asked me lawyer mate later, “Are our signatures that expensive???”
In the end, I gave up trying to meet the 3 pm date line. The bright side to the whole thing is that I discovered later that there were some fatal mistakes in a document I wanted to certify – so if it had been certified earlier, I would have submitted a bad document along wif me visa application!!!!
And oh, I saw this little toddler wearing those annoying squeaky slippers – she looked so cute that I had to smile. When she saw me smiling, she walked towards me, squeaking all the way, and reciprocated me smile and waved at me!
Yeah, that made my day! :-)
I went to me mate’s legal firm at the Taipan triangle near my house early in the morning to get him to certify some photocopies of documents as true copies. He din bring his name stamp!!!! So I left it there for him to get his colleague to certify the docs when he gets in.
Went home. Waited. No news. Called him up to find out that his colleague is still not in yet! I was losing patience. The British Hi-Com will not accept any applications after 3 pm.
It was 12 sumthing oredi. So I went back to Taipan – there were many other legal firms around. I located the Commisioner for Oaths – found out that he is the only one in Taipan triangle. Found out oso that he just went out for lunch. Called his mobile but he din pick up! Bugger…
Decided to get a lawyer – any lawyer – to certify me documents. Went to 5 legal firms – all closed!!!! No one bothered to answer the door/bell!!! Well, I know it’s lunch time but still!!!!
Now I know why the law firms in Taipan are not doing as well as where I used to be a partner. In that firm, there’ll ALWAYS be sumone answering the phone and the door during lunch time!
Finally found a lawyer at this firm called Messrs Tan and DH Chan!!! Over the glass door (no one dared to let me in! C’mon!!!! It was lunch time but I was decent enuf in a t-shirt, cargo pants and Velcro boots), she interrogated me as to why I want to see a lawyer, why I want the documents to be certified, wat documents etc. Finally, she said that it’ll cost me RM50 to get one document certified by her!!!! She said a Commisioner for Oaths will only charge RM4 (that is correct) but if she does it, she’ll charge me RM50 per document!!!!
For a moment, I was lost for words!!!! I wanted to scream at her and inform her that I was an advocate and solicitor of the Malaysian High Court for 7 years – and never have I once charged such a ridiculous amount just to certify a document!!!!!
But I din. I smiled, thanked her for her time and walked away in disbelief!!!
RM50 per document!!!! I asked me lawyer mate later, “Are our signatures that expensive???”
In the end, I gave up trying to meet the 3 pm date line. The bright side to the whole thing is that I discovered later that there were some fatal mistakes in a document I wanted to certify – so if it had been certified earlier, I would have submitted a bad document along wif me visa application!!!!
And oh, I saw this little toddler wearing those annoying squeaky slippers – she looked so cute that I had to smile. When she saw me smiling, she walked towards me, squeaking all the way, and reciprocated me smile and waved at me!
Yeah, that made my day! :-)
Friday, August 19, 2005
Vietnam Kitchen
I had dinner at Vietnam Kitchen a couple of nites ago wif some ex-Uni mates. But this has nuthing to do wif this post!!!!
I took one of those on-line test - it's a non-serious personality test! It was on "What classic movie are you?"
I had the choice of choosing to answer 9, 18, 27 or 45 questions. I did all!!!! For the occasions when i answered 9, 18 and 27 questions, this was the result (a movie based in Vietnam!!!!):-
Sure sounds like me, doesn't it?
When I did the 45 question one, I got something totally different!!!! I got this:-
But that describes me too, doesn't it? Well, almost... ;-P
I took one of those on-line test - it's a non-serious personality test! It was on "What classic movie are you?"
I had the choice of choosing to answer 9, 18, 27 or 45 questions. I did all!!!! For the occasions when i answered 9, 18 and 27 questions, this was the result (a movie based in Vietnam!!!!):-
Sure sounds like me, doesn't it?
When I did the 45 question one, I got something totally different!!!! I got this:-
But that describes me too, doesn't it? Well, almost... ;-P
Recommendation from the porch
One of the joys of blogging is that I’ve made sum new frens. Wonderful people! My life has definitely be so much enriched since knowing them, reading their blogs, exchanging thoughts and sharing views.
You shud read Krissy’s blog. It belongs to a wonderful sister in Christ.
Besides all the spiritual encouragement I received from reading her blog (and the laughs over the funny incidents which happens in her life), I will always think of her as the one who introduced me to wonderful music!
It is pretty clear that while Krissy and I are so different and come from very different backgrounds, we have 2 things in common – we both love the Lord and we both share the same taste in music!
The first is Vienna Teng! Check out her website here where you can down load some of her brilliant songs (legally!). Excellent stuffs. She to me is like Jewel who plays the piano!!!
And recently, I was checking out wat Krissy has been listening to lately. She’s been listening to Missy Higgins. She’s an ozzie girl.
And again, Krissy’s taste is simply brilliant! I’m listening to Missy Higgins now! You shud try her out too! Check her out here.
Wonder if anyone knows where I can get me paws on these CDs...
You shud read Krissy’s blog. It belongs to a wonderful sister in Christ.
Besides all the spiritual encouragement I received from reading her blog (and the laughs over the funny incidents which happens in her life), I will always think of her as the one who introduced me to wonderful music!
It is pretty clear that while Krissy and I are so different and come from very different backgrounds, we have 2 things in common – we both love the Lord and we both share the same taste in music!
The first is Vienna Teng! Check out her website here where you can down load some of her brilliant songs (legally!). Excellent stuffs. She to me is like Jewel who plays the piano!!!
And recently, I was checking out wat Krissy has been listening to lately. She’s been listening to Missy Higgins. She’s an ozzie girl.
And again, Krissy’s taste is simply brilliant! I’m listening to Missy Higgins now! You shud try her out too! Check her out here.
Wonder if anyone knows where I can get me paws on these CDs...
Chicken
I received a text msg from a mate recently. She asked me not to go to the UK!!! She said that I’ll prolly come back all snobbish and speak wif a fake accent!!!! I told her that it’s too late – I’m oredi snobbish and I speak weird!!!
Of course she was only kidding.
Still, I’ve been admitting to quite a number of people lately that I’m getting butterflies in me tummy over going over.
Yes, I’m scared!
There, I said it.
I spent the nite cracking my head over getting my visa application ready. Then I went on-line and surfed for a few hours, checking on everything regarding me studies – the cost of the airline tickets, the entry requirements, how to fill in the visa forms and about me Uni. Yeah, checked up a lot bout me Uni.
It’s real! It’s approaching. I am going. I’m leaving the comforts of home, of the local church, of mates. The pics of all the Brits in the Uni website is scary.
Money is one thing. All me savings are gonna be wiped out soon – it doesn’t help that so many things have happened recently which cost me, financially – car broken into, CD player stolen, cologne bottle broken, PDA screen smashed, increase in the cost of the visa, passport expiring…
But wat makes it really hard is the fact that I’ve drawn so much closer to me family and to me church mates in this past year. I’m so gonna miss them so much!!! Me neice has only recently learnt how to call me in Cantonese!!! Instead of “suok suok”, she calls me “yuk yuk”!!!! the other day, she grabbed a pack of cards, looked up at me and said “Juk, juk, play wit me?” :-)
Sigh… on top of that, so many uncertainties – I’m going back to study after a break of more than 10 years!!!! And a subject which although I’ve always been interested in but I’ve never really been in touch wif. And I’ll be working and studying at the same time! I’ll be going alone.
I was telling Weng the other day that if me former boss/partner offered me my job again as his partner, I might just agree to it! Seeing him “in action” recently at the Kuching courts and reading about a case in the papers where I was heavily involved in previously made me miss practice.
Honestly, if me visa application gets rejected, I won’t be feeling too disappointed!!!
Just last week, I found out that UNSW will be opening a branch in S’pore in 2007!!! Maybe I shud just forget about Essex, take up the job offer I received to tutor at TAR college (yeah, I got the offer last month) and then go over to S’pore in 2007 to do me Masters there. At least then the cost of living would be lower and I’m closer to home!
Yet… yet, having said that all, I know that if I dun go back to the UK, I’ll live to regret it for the rest of my life. This was sumthing that I wanted to do all these while since I got back in 1994. It’s just weird that now when I finally am so close to fulfilling it, I’m getting cold feet.
Sigh… I’ll get over it, I’m sure. I’ll go over, have the time of my life and laugh at this post when I re-read it.
I will!
Do i sound like I'm trying hard to convince meself???
Of course she was only kidding.
Still, I’ve been admitting to quite a number of people lately that I’m getting butterflies in me tummy over going over.
Yes, I’m scared!
There, I said it.
I spent the nite cracking my head over getting my visa application ready. Then I went on-line and surfed for a few hours, checking on everything regarding me studies – the cost of the airline tickets, the entry requirements, how to fill in the visa forms and about me Uni. Yeah, checked up a lot bout me Uni.
It’s real! It’s approaching. I am going. I’m leaving the comforts of home, of the local church, of mates. The pics of all the Brits in the Uni website is scary.
Money is one thing. All me savings are gonna be wiped out soon – it doesn’t help that so many things have happened recently which cost me, financially – car broken into, CD player stolen, cologne bottle broken, PDA screen smashed, increase in the cost of the visa, passport expiring…
But wat makes it really hard is the fact that I’ve drawn so much closer to me family and to me church mates in this past year. I’m so gonna miss them so much!!! Me neice has only recently learnt how to call me in Cantonese!!! Instead of “suok suok”, she calls me “yuk yuk”!!!! the other day, she grabbed a pack of cards, looked up at me and said “Juk, juk, play wit me?” :-)
Sigh… on top of that, so many uncertainties – I’m going back to study after a break of more than 10 years!!!! And a subject which although I’ve always been interested in but I’ve never really been in touch wif. And I’ll be working and studying at the same time! I’ll be going alone.
I was telling Weng the other day that if me former boss/partner offered me my job again as his partner, I might just agree to it! Seeing him “in action” recently at the Kuching courts and reading about a case in the papers where I was heavily involved in previously made me miss practice.
Honestly, if me visa application gets rejected, I won’t be feeling too disappointed!!!
Just last week, I found out that UNSW will be opening a branch in S’pore in 2007!!! Maybe I shud just forget about Essex, take up the job offer I received to tutor at TAR college (yeah, I got the offer last month) and then go over to S’pore in 2007 to do me Masters there. At least then the cost of living would be lower and I’m closer to home!
Yet… yet, having said that all, I know that if I dun go back to the UK, I’ll live to regret it for the rest of my life. This was sumthing that I wanted to do all these while since I got back in 1994. It’s just weird that now when I finally am so close to fulfilling it, I’m getting cold feet.
Sigh… I’ll get over it, I’m sure. I’ll go over, have the time of my life and laugh at this post when I re-read it.
I will!
Do i sound like I'm trying hard to convince meself???
Thursday, August 18, 2005
East M’sian instant noodles
Someone commented verbally that me posts on me trip to East M’sia have been too difficult to read. Quote - too much words, no pics - end quote!
So being the accommodating person that I am (read: nice!), I’ve decided to do a sort of “sum-up” post. It’ll be a “The good, the bad and the ugly” kind of post. But I’ll do it the “belakang mari” way!!!
THE UGLY – pics of me!!!
Ok, in actual fact, I only appear in 2 of all the pics I took!!! The other pics aren't that ugly...
For a quick overview, check out me post on me other blogspot here. These are me fav pics.
For all the pics, go here and here.
THE BAD
1. Having diarrhoea on the first day and subsequently constipation for the remaining days!!!
2. The toilets. Enuf said!
3. Being scolded and ridiculed by the bus driver in Sibu after a horrible bus trip (read here for the juicy details)
4. The pain in my neck during the whole of the 2nd week was really…. a pain in the neck!!!!
5. My first nite in Miri - Waiting in vain for a bus which never came (after being promised that it will) while feeding the mozzies in the hot and humid nite and nursing the pain in my neck which spread down to my shoulder blades. That was the worse point – I just felt at that point of time that I wanted to go home immediately!
6. Being extremely homesick at one point of time
7. Making many futile attempts to confirm accommodation at Bario! In the end, I din go.
8. Being extremely dehydrated in a part of Brunei where I could not find any place selling water – and ended up wif a massive migraine!
9. Those girls who walked around the halls in their sandals despite clear signs stating that all are to remove their footwear!
10. Discovering that me PDA screen got smashed!
THE GOOD
1. Travelling up the Rejang from Kapit to Belaga siting on the top of the boat!
2. Having dinner wif Kathy, Sarah and Lee every nite at Bako – and chatting wif them. We’d continue our chat on the porch of our dorms!
3. Worshipping at me mate’s church in Kota Kinabalu
4. Spending time catching up wif frens in Kuching, Bintulu, Miri and Kota Kinabalu and experiencing their wonderful hospitality
5. Watching “The Island” at Miri!!!! I really enjoyed the show!
6. Wandering around aimlessly in the Kampung Ayer at Brunei
7. The food! Seafood, Sarawak noodles!!!! Yummy! And cheap too!
8. Watching the football finals in Kapit wif some new frens in the hotel lobby!
9. The sunset at Kapit
10. Staying over at me mate’s place on the last nite in KK and reliving the good ol’ times in UK!
So being the accommodating person that I am (read: nice!), I’ve decided to do a sort of “sum-up” post. It’ll be a “The good, the bad and the ugly” kind of post. But I’ll do it the “belakang mari” way!!!
THE UGLY – pics of me!!!
Ok, in actual fact, I only appear in 2 of all the pics I took!!! The other pics aren't that ugly...
For a quick overview, check out me post on me other blogspot here. These are me fav pics.
For all the pics, go here and here.
THE BAD
1. Having diarrhoea on the first day and subsequently constipation for the remaining days!!!
2. The toilets. Enuf said!
3. Being scolded and ridiculed by the bus driver in Sibu after a horrible bus trip (read here for the juicy details)
4. The pain in my neck during the whole of the 2nd week was really…. a pain in the neck!!!!
5. My first nite in Miri - Waiting in vain for a bus which never came (after being promised that it will) while feeding the mozzies in the hot and humid nite and nursing the pain in my neck which spread down to my shoulder blades. That was the worse point – I just felt at that point of time that I wanted to go home immediately!
6. Being extremely homesick at one point of time
7. Making many futile attempts to confirm accommodation at Bario! In the end, I din go.
8. Being extremely dehydrated in a part of Brunei where I could not find any place selling water – and ended up wif a massive migraine!
9. Those girls who walked around the halls in their sandals despite clear signs stating that all are to remove their footwear!
10. Discovering that me PDA screen got smashed!
THE GOOD
1. Travelling up the Rejang from Kapit to Belaga siting on the top of the boat!
2. Having dinner wif Kathy, Sarah and Lee every nite at Bako – and chatting wif them. We’d continue our chat on the porch of our dorms!
3. Worshipping at me mate’s church in Kota Kinabalu
4. Spending time catching up wif frens in Kuching, Bintulu, Miri and Kota Kinabalu and experiencing their wonderful hospitality
5. Watching “The Island” at Miri!!!! I really enjoyed the show!
6. Wandering around aimlessly in the Kampung Ayer at Brunei
7. The food! Seafood, Sarawak noodles!!!! Yummy! And cheap too!
8. Watching the football finals in Kapit wif some new frens in the hotel lobby!
9. The sunset at Kapit
10. Staying over at me mate’s place on the last nite in KK and reliving the good ol’ times in UK!
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
East Malaysian menu (final part!)
DAY #13 (30/7 Saturday)
Brunei – Kota Kinabalu
Back to KK! Walked around town – so many memories. The place was so familiar. Had a small “cultural shock”, tho. After 3 days in Muslim Brunei (where only me and other tourists wears shorts out into the blazing hot sun), there were so many girls in short skirts and spaghetti straps tops!!!! Have not seen so much flesh for a while!!!!!!
Met up wif me mates at KK for dinner! It was really nice. The food was great too! Seafood! Yummy! All I had to eat that day was a small piece of cake at the jetty. So I was pretty much starving and cleaned off everything on the table that nite! ;-P
DAY #14 (31/7 Sunday)
Kota Kinabalu
Went to me mate’s church for service. Had a great time of worship there. Before that, we had dim sum for breakfast!
After lunch, I just wandered around town. Decided to pamper meself and had a cup of ice-blended coffee while watching the sun set. It was nice. Then, the nite market started and it had a lovely atmosphere.
Had dinner wif me mates again at one of the best Chinese restaurants in town. After dinner, me mates took me to try mango and durian ice cream! Lovely!
However, me last nite in a backpackers’ lodge ended on a sour note – some of me room mates were wearing their sandals ALL AROUND THE PLACE including the toilets when it was clear that everyone was to remove their shoes and sandals. Later in the nite, some fellas came back, obviously drunk and made a lot of noise. O well…
DAY #15 (1/8 Monday)
Kota Kinabalu – Tambunan – Keningau – Tenom - KK
Road trip! Me mate took me on his Range Rover and off we went! We basically targeted for Tenom and just drove off (after he came from Court!). It was a lovely drive – the scenery was fantastic – the Crocker Range! After weeks of boring and flat Sarawak landscape (although Sarawak is a beautiful place), this was so refreshing. And his Rover had no problems going thru the rough and hilly terrain!
We stopped whenever we wanted to and just took in everything – the view, the sights, the small towns, the water buffaloes in the stream, etc. The weather was simply lovely. Bright sunny day but it felt cold cuz of the nice cool breeze.
But wat was really wonderful was the time we spent chatting. It was great. Me mate is a Catholic. While a lot of protestant Christians have their doubts about Catholics generally, me mate was not at all like wat they perceived. He studies the Bible, understands the “rituals”, believes that Jesus died for his sins and is filled with the Holy Spirit! He was obviously bursting to talk about his faith and was glad I was interested to listen.
This was a man who clearly loves the Lord!
He oso took time to explain and clarify certain Catholics practices and beliefs.
We decided – wisely – not to spend the nite at Tenom and head back to KK. He put me up at his place and I spent prolly the best nite of me trip there!
I had dinner wif him and his family, and then played wif his kids for a while – his eldest girl showed me all her drawings of her family and immediately started a new drawing to include me wif her family! We then played Uno where she won most of the games!!!
After a wonderful home cooked meal, we had a mini fruit fest – local oranges (or tangerines), lovely sweet mangosteen and rambutans, steamed sweet corn.
After the kids went to bed, I stayed up wif me mate and his wife and we basically chatted til around 2 am when they had to go to sleep as they had to wake up early to send the kids to school. But it was a wonderful time. As usual, we talked about the time we spent in the UK. In fact, me mate told me that after that, he just couldn’t sleep as he was reliving the good old times!
DAY #16 (2/8 Tuesday)
Kota Kinabalu – Home!
After breakfast, me mate dropped me off at the Sabah museum. It was pretty good, actually. I enjoyed the historical presentation there. Sabah indeed had a very interesting history. The natural history exhibition was good too.
Wat was really good was the little heritage village just outside the museum – it boasts of live-sized replicas of houses and homes of the locals. Excellent!
After lunch, it was time was me last minute shopping, repacking my stuffs and then to the airport! Me bag was overweight 20 kgs and I had to do some creative repacking at the airport itself to avoid paying for it!!!!
Before I knew it, I was back in KLIA … and was welcomed by the haze!
Check out the pics taken during my stay at Sabah here, here and here!
Brunei – Kota Kinabalu
Back to KK! Walked around town – so many memories. The place was so familiar. Had a small “cultural shock”, tho. After 3 days in Muslim Brunei (where only me and other tourists wears shorts out into the blazing hot sun), there were so many girls in short skirts and spaghetti straps tops!!!! Have not seen so much flesh for a while!!!!!!
Met up wif me mates at KK for dinner! It was really nice. The food was great too! Seafood! Yummy! All I had to eat that day was a small piece of cake at the jetty. So I was pretty much starving and cleaned off everything on the table that nite! ;-P
DAY #14 (31/7 Sunday)
Kota Kinabalu
Went to me mate’s church for service. Had a great time of worship there. Before that, we had dim sum for breakfast!
After lunch, I just wandered around town. Decided to pamper meself and had a cup of ice-blended coffee while watching the sun set. It was nice. Then, the nite market started and it had a lovely atmosphere.
Had dinner wif me mates again at one of the best Chinese restaurants in town. After dinner, me mates took me to try mango and durian ice cream! Lovely!
However, me last nite in a backpackers’ lodge ended on a sour note – some of me room mates were wearing their sandals ALL AROUND THE PLACE including the toilets when it was clear that everyone was to remove their shoes and sandals. Later in the nite, some fellas came back, obviously drunk and made a lot of noise. O well…
DAY #15 (1/8 Monday)
Kota Kinabalu – Tambunan – Keningau – Tenom - KK
Road trip! Me mate took me on his Range Rover and off we went! We basically targeted for Tenom and just drove off (after he came from Court!). It was a lovely drive – the scenery was fantastic – the Crocker Range! After weeks of boring and flat Sarawak landscape (although Sarawak is a beautiful place), this was so refreshing. And his Rover had no problems going thru the rough and hilly terrain!
We stopped whenever we wanted to and just took in everything – the view, the sights, the small towns, the water buffaloes in the stream, etc. The weather was simply lovely. Bright sunny day but it felt cold cuz of the nice cool breeze.
But wat was really wonderful was the time we spent chatting. It was great. Me mate is a Catholic. While a lot of protestant Christians have their doubts about Catholics generally, me mate was not at all like wat they perceived. He studies the Bible, understands the “rituals”, believes that Jesus died for his sins and is filled with the Holy Spirit! He was obviously bursting to talk about his faith and was glad I was interested to listen.
This was a man who clearly loves the Lord!
He oso took time to explain and clarify certain Catholics practices and beliefs.
We decided – wisely – not to spend the nite at Tenom and head back to KK. He put me up at his place and I spent prolly the best nite of me trip there!
I had dinner wif him and his family, and then played wif his kids for a while – his eldest girl showed me all her drawings of her family and immediately started a new drawing to include me wif her family! We then played Uno where she won most of the games!!!
After a wonderful home cooked meal, we had a mini fruit fest – local oranges (or tangerines), lovely sweet mangosteen and rambutans, steamed sweet corn.
After the kids went to bed, I stayed up wif me mate and his wife and we basically chatted til around 2 am when they had to go to sleep as they had to wake up early to send the kids to school. But it was a wonderful time. As usual, we talked about the time we spent in the UK. In fact, me mate told me that after that, he just couldn’t sleep as he was reliving the good old times!
DAY #16 (2/8 Tuesday)
Kota Kinabalu – Home!
After breakfast, me mate dropped me off at the Sabah museum. It was pretty good, actually. I enjoyed the historical presentation there. Sabah indeed had a very interesting history. The natural history exhibition was good too.
Wat was really good was the little heritage village just outside the museum – it boasts of live-sized replicas of houses and homes of the locals. Excellent!
After lunch, it was time was me last minute shopping, repacking my stuffs and then to the airport! Me bag was overweight 20 kgs and I had to do some creative repacking at the airport itself to avoid paying for it!!!!
Before I knew it, I was back in KLIA … and was welcomed by the haze!
Check out the pics taken during my stay at Sabah here, here and here!
Monday, August 15, 2005
Wild boar and curry Patin*
* Patin, or silver catfish, is a freshwater fish. The most popular variety that is a favourite in Chinese restaurants is the patin buah. It is a pretty oily fish and has a fine texture. The patin has no scales on its body. In restaurants, patin can be steamed with soy sauce or prepared lemak or assam curry style. Because it loves to graze on muddy bottoms, the patin has that muddy flavour. (obtained from Kuali.com)
Finally, the wait was over! The English Premier League resumed last weekend!!!
The irony about the whole thing was that I DID NOT WATCH A SINGLE MATCH!!!!!! Instead, when the first match was being played, I was busy stuffing my face wif stir fried wild boar meat and curry patin!!! :-P
Me mate goes into the Orang Asli village once a month for mission – they would do visitations and conduct meetings and teaching.
He asked me to follow him as I’ve had experience and he would want my help. How could I say no?
It was tiring, tho. The nite before, I went out wif some others mates and we sat at A&W and chat til pass 2 am!!! Then when I got home, I had to type out the training materials for a training that I was conducting on Sunday evening!
And (as I blogged in an earlier post) as I was rushing to leave, I broke a bottle of expensive cologne!!!
But the trip was pretty good. Had a good time wif me mate. We stayed up late sharing and chatting. We also had some wonderful time chatting with the Orang Asli there. They were quite contented to do all the talking and we were contented to just listen and give encouragement. The OA are really nice people. Simple, genuine, frenly.
We ate using our hands and there was a small pail of water for us to wash our hands in. being the last to finish, I had to wash me hands using the water that everyone else had used to wash their hands… ugh!
After dinner, we were treated wif mangosteens and rambutans – local fruits which were excellent!
We slept on the porch which was brilliant. The nite was cool. The air was fresh and there was no haze at all. It was lovely to bath in the freezing cold river water and see the clear nite skies with the moon and sparkling stars above. When we went to sleep, I could hear the familiar noises one hears in the jungle at nite – the crickets, the insects, etc. Nice!
No regrets, tho. It could be the last time I go to the OA village for a long long time as I’ll be leaving for me studies soon.
And we made a new fren too!
In any event, I din miss much cuz Liverpool din win. :-(
Finally, the wait was over! The English Premier League resumed last weekend!!!
The irony about the whole thing was that I DID NOT WATCH A SINGLE MATCH!!!!!! Instead, when the first match was being played, I was busy stuffing my face wif stir fried wild boar meat and curry patin!!! :-P
Me mate goes into the Orang Asli village once a month for mission – they would do visitations and conduct meetings and teaching.
He asked me to follow him as I’ve had experience and he would want my help. How could I say no?
It was tiring, tho. The nite before, I went out wif some others mates and we sat at A&W and chat til pass 2 am!!! Then when I got home, I had to type out the training materials for a training that I was conducting on Sunday evening!
And (as I blogged in an earlier post) as I was rushing to leave, I broke a bottle of expensive cologne!!!
But the trip was pretty good. Had a good time wif me mate. We stayed up late sharing and chatting. We also had some wonderful time chatting with the Orang Asli there. They were quite contented to do all the talking and we were contented to just listen and give encouragement. The OA are really nice people. Simple, genuine, frenly.
Excellent weather, nice clear sunset
The food was excellent! The wild boar was delicious!!!! It was the first time I had eaten patin cooked in curry. The fish was sooooo fresh – prolly just caught from the river nearby. But I learnt a lesson – never sit next to the host! Before I finish my plate of rice, he took me plate and got his wife to pile it up wif rice!!!! Definitely overate!!!We ate using our hands and there was a small pail of water for us to wash our hands in. being the last to finish, I had to wash me hands using the water that everyone else had used to wash their hands… ugh!
After dinner, we were treated wif mangosteens and rambutans – local fruits which were excellent!
We slept on the porch which was brilliant. The nite was cool. The air was fresh and there was no haze at all. It was lovely to bath in the freezing cold river water and see the clear nite skies with the moon and sparkling stars above. When we went to sleep, I could hear the familiar noises one hears in the jungle at nite – the crickets, the insects, etc. Nice!
The Sunday School! Right after I took this pic, one of the boys said that it was lightning!!!! Until Wei Lyn pointed out that it was just the flash from me camera!!!
The next day, we did the children’s meeting and then me mate gave the sermon during the adults’ meeting. By the time we reached back, it was just in time for me to conduct me training. When I got home that nite, I was too tired to watch any of the Sunday matches oso!No regrets, tho. It could be the last time I go to the OA village for a long long time as I’ll be leaving for me studies soon.
And we made a new fren too!
A blue-eye puppy!!! She din seem too bothered with the flashes from me camera!
In any event, I din miss much cuz Liverpool din win. :-(
East Malaysia menu (part… 4 or 5?)
DAY #11 (28/7 Thursday)
Miri - Brunei
The trip to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB for short – throughout the journey, I kept on having Backstreet Boys’ songs playing in my head!!!) was quite bad. I left Miri around 10:30 am and reached BSB at about 3:30 pm!!!! At the end of the journey, me neck ache which I thought left me for good came back! Sigh…
It was quite madness actually. The bus took me to the Malaysian border where we got out and got our passports stamped. Back on the bus to the Brunei border. We got out, took all our luggage, went thru immigration and then waited for a Brunei bus to get us. The bus took us to a river where we got out wif all our luggage, onto a small sampan which took us across a river. Onto another bus which took us to Kuala Belait. From there, we had to change bus again to Seria. At Seria, change bus again. and the Brunei buses dun have aircond!
Thank God the youth hostel there had aircond dorms! The weather there was blazing hot!!!! I tried to go out but in the end decided to shelter in the main shopping complex for a couple of hours. When the sun was setting, I walked along the Brunei river fascinated by all the speedboats ferrying people across to the Kampung Ayer (Water Village).
Had dinner by the riverside. Nice food! On the way back to the hostel, I realised that certain streets are closed to cars. They were having a celebration near the town square area. Quite happening. Food stalls all over, people hanging around, kicking inflatable balls around, kids having the time of their life. It was carnival-like atmosphere. By the time I got back and showered, it was almost time to sleep. Me dorm mate, a guy from Liverpool came back later than me and we chatted for quite a while.
DAY #12 (29/7 Friday)
Brunei
Went to the tourist info centre. Found out the celebrations thingy is in conjunction wif the Sultan’s 59th birthday.
Decided to spend the whole day in museums! Unfortunately, I chose the wrong day to spend a full day there. Everything closes at 11:30 right up til 2:30 every Fridays.
So at 11:30, I decided to walk in the hot blazing sun to a park outside the town area – a 30 mins walk… only to find out that the park is closed for repairs!!!!!
Went back to the hostel, did some laundry and slept!
After that, more museums. It wasn’t really as good as I expected. I feel that the Kuching museum is by far the best – and it was free!!! On top of that, the museum was out of town – and I was out of water! By the time I got back to town, I was all sweaty, dehydrated and had a massive migraine! I got me water and sat in the shopping complex for close to an hour!!!!
After that, I took a speedboat across to the Kampung Ayer (thanks to the recommendation of me dorm mate). It was really nice and interesting. People there were frenly, kite flying was the main past-time, and the village itself was really interesting!
That was it, tho. After that was dinner, shower, chat wif Liverpudlian again and then sleep.
To be honest, save for the Sultan’s birthday celebration and the very interesting Kampung Ayer (the real Venice of the East), BSB was a big disappointment for me. It was kinda run down and dirty, not wat I expected from the capital of one of the richest countries in the world!
DAY #13 (30/7 Saturday)
Brunei – Kota Kinabalu
Another crazy travelling day! Took a bus from town to the main jetty up north. Was gonna take a ferry to the town of Lawas in Sarawak and then a bus to either Beaufort or to KK.
Met a Malaysian. Man, he sure could talk! He talked non-stop during our 20 min wait for the bus and throughout the 40 min bus journey!!! But I din really mind and he was interesting to listen to! I guess he was just glad to meet another Malaysian!
Was really worried about the ferry journey after my nightmare last year when I took a ferry from KK to Labuan. But thank God, it was calm waters ALL THE WAY! The boat was pretty spacious too and I could look out of the window. In the end, I watched some lame Chinese movie throughout the whole journey (it starred Ng Man tat so you can guess wat kind of movie it is!!!).
From Lawas, a bus picked us up from the jetty and headed straight to KK. No time for lunch. Again, it was a nightmare journey. By the time I got onto the bus, there was only one seat left which was on the left side of the bus. So I got the sun on me throughout the entire journey!!! Wat made it worse was that the aircond broke down!!!! It was a 5 hour bus ride in a crowded bus wif no aircond, windows can’t open and the sun on me!!!!
I was so glad to reach KK!!!
Check out the pics taken during my stay at Brunei here and here!
To be continued…
Miri - Brunei
The trip to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB for short – throughout the journey, I kept on having Backstreet Boys’ songs playing in my head!!!) was quite bad. I left Miri around 10:30 am and reached BSB at about 3:30 pm!!!! At the end of the journey, me neck ache which I thought left me for good came back! Sigh…
It was quite madness actually. The bus took me to the Malaysian border where we got out and got our passports stamped. Back on the bus to the Brunei border. We got out, took all our luggage, went thru immigration and then waited for a Brunei bus to get us. The bus took us to a river where we got out wif all our luggage, onto a small sampan which took us across a river. Onto another bus which took us to Kuala Belait. From there, we had to change bus again to Seria. At Seria, change bus again. and the Brunei buses dun have aircond!
Thank God the youth hostel there had aircond dorms! The weather there was blazing hot!!!! I tried to go out but in the end decided to shelter in the main shopping complex for a couple of hours. When the sun was setting, I walked along the Brunei river fascinated by all the speedboats ferrying people across to the Kampung Ayer (Water Village).
Had dinner by the riverside. Nice food! On the way back to the hostel, I realised that certain streets are closed to cars. They were having a celebration near the town square area. Quite happening. Food stalls all over, people hanging around, kicking inflatable balls around, kids having the time of their life. It was carnival-like atmosphere. By the time I got back and showered, it was almost time to sleep. Me dorm mate, a guy from Liverpool came back later than me and we chatted for quite a while.
DAY #12 (29/7 Friday)
Brunei
Went to the tourist info centre. Found out the celebrations thingy is in conjunction wif the Sultan’s 59th birthday.
Decided to spend the whole day in museums! Unfortunately, I chose the wrong day to spend a full day there. Everything closes at 11:30 right up til 2:30 every Fridays.
So at 11:30, I decided to walk in the hot blazing sun to a park outside the town area – a 30 mins walk… only to find out that the park is closed for repairs!!!!!
Went back to the hostel, did some laundry and slept!
After that, more museums. It wasn’t really as good as I expected. I feel that the Kuching museum is by far the best – and it was free!!! On top of that, the museum was out of town – and I was out of water! By the time I got back to town, I was all sweaty, dehydrated and had a massive migraine! I got me water and sat in the shopping complex for close to an hour!!!!
After that, I took a speedboat across to the Kampung Ayer (thanks to the recommendation of me dorm mate). It was really nice and interesting. People there were frenly, kite flying was the main past-time, and the village itself was really interesting!
That was it, tho. After that was dinner, shower, chat wif Liverpudlian again and then sleep.
To be honest, save for the Sultan’s birthday celebration and the very interesting Kampung Ayer (the real Venice of the East), BSB was a big disappointment for me. It was kinda run down and dirty, not wat I expected from the capital of one of the richest countries in the world!
DAY #13 (30/7 Saturday)
Brunei – Kota Kinabalu
Another crazy travelling day! Took a bus from town to the main jetty up north. Was gonna take a ferry to the town of Lawas in Sarawak and then a bus to either Beaufort or to KK.
Met a Malaysian. Man, he sure could talk! He talked non-stop during our 20 min wait for the bus and throughout the 40 min bus journey!!! But I din really mind and he was interesting to listen to! I guess he was just glad to meet another Malaysian!
Was really worried about the ferry journey after my nightmare last year when I took a ferry from KK to Labuan. But thank God, it was calm waters ALL THE WAY! The boat was pretty spacious too and I could look out of the window. In the end, I watched some lame Chinese movie throughout the whole journey (it starred Ng Man tat so you can guess wat kind of movie it is!!!).
From Lawas, a bus picked us up from the jetty and headed straight to KK. No time for lunch. Again, it was a nightmare journey. By the time I got onto the bus, there was only one seat left which was on the left side of the bus. So I got the sun on me throughout the entire journey!!! Wat made it worse was that the aircond broke down!!!! It was a 5 hour bus ride in a crowded bus wif no aircond, windows can’t open and the sun on me!!!!
I was so glad to reach KK!!!
Check out the pics taken during my stay at Brunei here and here!
To be continued…
Smells great!
Had a “minor accident” in me room on Saturday. I was rushing to leave (went to the OA village last weekend) me room and the last thing I had to do was to spray me Issey Miyake cologne on and leave. I grabbed it wif me right hand and handed it over to me left. Me left hand couldn’t catch it properly. It flew from my fingers and onto the tiled floor before crashing into pieces!!!!
I thank God that I was pretty cool about it. I admit that it would be of no surprise if I had lost it and cursed like crazy. I mean, I was late, I was rushing for time and this had to happen.
On top of that, it was a gift from sumone special. :-(
I spent at least half an hour after that cleaning up the mess – wiping all the wasted cologne off the floor, picking up the glass pieces, sweeping the floor, getting on me hands and knees using sticky tape to pick up the tiny glass shards of the floor, taking out me floor rug to shake away all the tiny glass shards on it...
At least as I was doing that, me room smelt very nice!!!! Obviously!!! There was more than half a bottle left and I was to take it to the UK wif me!!!!
When I went down and told me mom, she said that explains why I smelt so nice!!!!
What struck me oso was when I got home late Sunday nite, me room still smelt of Issey Miyake!!! If fact, there is still some of it lingering in me room today.
And I remembered the incident in the Bible where Mary took some perfume to anoint Jesus before his crucifixion.
John 12
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
1Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.[b]" 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
(Bible verses copied from BibleGateway.com)
I would imagine the entire place where Jesus was at that time must have smelt wonderful!
Further, I thought how much it must have cost Mary!
To me, I was rather hurt that me cologne broke. Mainly cuz it was from a fren, partly cuz that meant I had to spend more money to get a new one – and cash-flow is rather dry at this point of time!
But for Mary, who wasn’t rich either, she was willing to sacrifice the whole jar of expensive perfume – for her Lord and Master. That was how much she loved him. And Jesus knew it and praised her for it.
How much am I wiling to sacrifice for Jesus to show my love for him?
Pic obtained sumwhere online...
I thank God that I was pretty cool about it. I admit that it would be of no surprise if I had lost it and cursed like crazy. I mean, I was late, I was rushing for time and this had to happen.
On top of that, it was a gift from sumone special. :-(
I spent at least half an hour after that cleaning up the mess – wiping all the wasted cologne off the floor, picking up the glass pieces, sweeping the floor, getting on me hands and knees using sticky tape to pick up the tiny glass shards of the floor, taking out me floor rug to shake away all the tiny glass shards on it...
At least as I was doing that, me room smelt very nice!!!! Obviously!!! There was more than half a bottle left and I was to take it to the UK wif me!!!!
When I went down and told me mom, she said that explains why I smelt so nice!!!!
What struck me oso was when I got home late Sunday nite, me room still smelt of Issey Miyake!!! If fact, there is still some of it lingering in me room today.
And I remembered the incident in the Bible where Mary took some perfume to anoint Jesus before his crucifixion.
John 12
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
1Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.[b]" 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
(Bible verses copied from BibleGateway.com)
I would imagine the entire place where Jesus was at that time must have smelt wonderful!
Further, I thought how much it must have cost Mary!
To me, I was rather hurt that me cologne broke. Mainly cuz it was from a fren, partly cuz that meant I had to spend more money to get a new one – and cash-flow is rather dry at this point of time!
But for Mary, who wasn’t rich either, she was willing to sacrifice the whole jar of expensive perfume – for her Lord and Master. That was how much she loved him. And Jesus knew it and praised her for it.
How much am I wiling to sacrifice for Jesus to show my love for him?
Café Rules
When this café was opened, it was meant to just cater to a small crowd – people who were specially invited.
But things change and I guess it is time to open my café to anyone who wishes to come in and hang out! (OK, OK – I have no choice in this matter actually, since me blog has been recently “infiltrated”!!!! But I have screened thru me blog, made the necessary amendments and deleted a few posts to make it … erm… fit for public consumption!)
There are some café rules which I hope will be adhered to by one and all.
The rules (in no particular order):-
*At this point of time, anyone can post a comment (even non-bloggers) and comments can be posted anonymously. I hope that nothing will happen to change that.
But things change and I guess it is time to open my café to anyone who wishes to come in and hang out! (OK, OK – I have no choice in this matter actually, since me blog has been recently “infiltrated”!!!! But I have screened thru me blog, made the necessary amendments and deleted a few posts to make it … erm… fit for public consumption!)
There are some café rules which I hope will be adhered to by one and all.
The rules (in no particular order):-
- Feel free to read. Unless stated otherwise, all writings are my own. I therefore reserve all rights pertaining to the writings herein. As such, kindly do not reproduce any of my writings (in part or in full) anywhere, anyhow, anytime.
- You may link my posts and/or blog to your own post(s)/blog(s).The same goes for all pictures contained herein – do not reproduce any of them or save any of them without permission from me (and most prolly, I won’t give you the permission!!!).
- Feel free to comment*. However, as this is one area which is open to great abuse, I will be strict about comments:-
- I reserve my right to delete any comments posted herein for whatever reason (or for no reason at all!);
- Feel free to criticise but do so constructively;
- Respect other peoples’ comments;
- No cheap shots, please! (Yes, you know I’m talking about you!)
- No vulgarities (but “stars”, “asterisks”, “hashes” etc. are allowed!)
- No links to any other websites except to your own blog
- Words on the screen can sometimes not convey the message that it intends (or convey a different one). This blog was created not for the purpose to offend anyone. If any of me writings offend you, kindly let me know. Perhaps it could be a misunderstanding, perhaps it could me an oversight on my part.
*At this point of time, anyone can post a comment (even non-bloggers) and comments can be posted anonymously. I hope that nothing will happen to change that.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Nescafe
I'm here now b4 me PC wif a cup of Nescafe. It's around 3 in the morning and I just got home. It's gonna be a looong nite tonite!
I love Nescafe! I remember back in the UK when we went to watch our first movie there. It was at Romford and the movie was "The Firm". Can't really remember much of it but I do remember the Nescafe commercial.
The add started without any music. A girl was driving her car in the rain at nite. She is crying. She drives along until she reaches the beach. The rain stops. She opens the glove compartment, pulls out a mug and a heating element. She plugs it into her ciggarette lighter and fills the mug wif water. The music starts. The water boils and she makes herself a cup of Nescafe. She sits on the bonnet of her car, sips her Nescafe while watching the sun peeking out in the far horizon. The music carries on and the vocals start. It is "I can see clearly". The sun rises as she drinks her Nescafe and she smiles.
Me mate and I were singing out loud in the cinema!!!! We loved that commercial!
And last nite, when I was out wif me mates, I kept on thinking of that song - "I can see clearly now". Why? Well, THE HAZE IS GONE!!!!! Really! Initially, I noticed it was clearing but din get me hopes too high. The burning smell was gone tho. When we were in KL, we realised we could see the lights of the high rise buildings from afar clearly!
Thank God for the relief! Hopefully, it'll be like this for now!
Here's a pic I took outside me house just a couple of minutes ago! It was so clear outside! (If the pic looks hazy, it's prolly cuz me hands shook when I took the pic!)
I love Nescafe! I remember back in the UK when we went to watch our first movie there. It was at Romford and the movie was "The Firm". Can't really remember much of it but I do remember the Nescafe commercial.
The add started without any music. A girl was driving her car in the rain at nite. She is crying. She drives along until she reaches the beach. The rain stops. She opens the glove compartment, pulls out a mug and a heating element. She plugs it into her ciggarette lighter and fills the mug wif water. The music starts. The water boils and she makes herself a cup of Nescafe. She sits on the bonnet of her car, sips her Nescafe while watching the sun peeking out in the far horizon. The music carries on and the vocals start. It is "I can see clearly". The sun rises as she drinks her Nescafe and she smiles.
Me mate and I were singing out loud in the cinema!!!! We loved that commercial!
And last nite, when I was out wif me mates, I kept on thinking of that song - "I can see clearly now". Why? Well, THE HAZE IS GONE!!!!! Really! Initially, I noticed it was clearing but din get me hopes too high. The burning smell was gone tho. When we were in KL, we realised we could see the lights of the high rise buildings from afar clearly!
Thank God for the relief! Hopefully, it'll be like this for now!
Here's a pic I took outside me house just a couple of minutes ago! It was so clear outside! (If the pic looks hazy, it's prolly cuz me hands shook when I took the pic!)
Thursday, August 11, 2005
East Malaysia menu (Part 3)
Yes, more about my exploits at East M’sia. U guys are prolly bored wif all these stuff oredi – but hey, it’s me blog! And I’m gonna blog wat I wan to – for me own consumption! ;-P
DAY #8 (25/7 Monday)
Belaga - Bintulu
Took a ride on a 4WD to Bintulu – bout 5 hours ride. The initial part was terrible – really bad roads… trials! When we got onto the logging road, it was better. The scenery was nice. Even saw a “Kijang” along the way!
When I got to Bintulu, I checked in to a hotel recommended by the driver. I decided to pamper meself after 2 days in the interiors! The room cost RM52.50 – hot water (me first hot shower since I got to East M’sia), air-cond, satellite TV, clean toilets!
Hung around, watched Kate & Leopold on satellite TV, surfed at the nearby Internet café (people were either online gaming or surfing porn!!! One guy next to me kept looking on me screen – must be surprised that I’m actually reading the news online!!!).
Met up wif Jin Foong for dinner. He took me to have excellent prawn noodles!!! Yummy! Later we went for a drink and he took me for a drive around the suburbs! It was really nice chatting and catching up wif him!
DAY #9 (26/7 Tuesday)
Bintulu - Miri
Spent the whole morning sleeping in – enjoying the nice bed, clean sheets and aircond to the max!!!! Today happened to be the worst day of me trip.
When I finally dragged meself to the local bus station, it was around 12:25 pm. I found out the bus to the bus terminal leaves at 15 mins pass the hour. So fine. I sat there and read me Readers’ Digest. At 10 mins pass 1, I asked I the bus have arrived oredi. I was told that the bus just left!!!!! Sigh… another hour of reading RD!!!
Reached the bus terminal, got me ticket and had lunch there. There was some “excitement” just b4 I left when the authorities suddenly came speeding in and surprising all the illegal vendors there, confiscating their stuffs! So sad.
Bus journey was bad as expected and me neck really hurt as a result of it – again!
Reached Miri bus terminal at bout 8:20 pm. No one could be sure if there will be a bus into town or not. I took the chance. I waited til 9 pm. The bus came! Hurray! But the driver told me he’s not going back into town and that there’ll be another bus at 10 pm. So I waited there, feeding the mozzies til half pass 10!!! The taxi driver there assured me that there won’t be any more busses. So I had to take the cab into town. Since it was so late then, all I wanted to do was take a shower and sleep. So I took a bed in the lobby of a small hotel. It was literally a bed – cost me RM12. It was horrible. The bed was too short and being in the lobby, there were people making noises in the nite.
DAY #10 (27/7 Wednesday)
Miri full day
Had major problems trying to contact the travel agent and the Bario people. In the end, got so fed up that I decided to cancel me trip to barrio and stay on in Miri for another day, maybe go to Bukit Lambir nearby.
Relaxed the whole day – watched a movie, walked around town, went to the public library and read newspapers, sat in the park, surf for a while. Finally decided to leave for Brunei the next day.
Just before dinner, Dicky returned my call – I called him earlier in the morning. We made plans to meet up that nite. He came wif Carol and Arlene and we stopped first at Miri Gospel Chapel. They were having music practice – and the musicians were surprised to find out I am Chinese!!!
We went out for supper where they took me to eat some Miri speciality. They only know the name in… Mandarin or Hokkien! But it was nice. Little bits of flour in clear soup.
Dicky told me a lot of his work there. It was really interesting and encouraging. As he was sending me back, he asked why not I spend the nite at his place. He was prolly thinking of the neighbourhood I was in! It is safe but … got quite a bit of nocturnal activities going on there!
I agreed. He took me back to me hotel, waited for me to pack up (I tried to get some sort of a refund but no way!!!), and then took me back to his place. We chatted til really late, had a time of prayer and I was knocked out! It was the most comfortable bed I slept in – yeah, even more than the “expensive” Bintulu hotel!
DAY #11 (28/7 Thursday)
Miri - Brunei
Dicky and Carol took me out for breakfast after ending Arlene to school. More local specials – this time it was pork entrails in dark soup! After that, they took me for a quick tour around town before dropping me off at the bus station to get me bus to Brunei. I was taking the 10:30 bus.
Check out the pics taken during my stay at Bintulu here and Miri here!
To be continued…
DAY #8 (25/7 Monday)
Belaga - Bintulu
Took a ride on a 4WD to Bintulu – bout 5 hours ride. The initial part was terrible – really bad roads… trials! When we got onto the logging road, it was better. The scenery was nice. Even saw a “Kijang” along the way!
When I got to Bintulu, I checked in to a hotel recommended by the driver. I decided to pamper meself after 2 days in the interiors! The room cost RM52.50 – hot water (me first hot shower since I got to East M’sia), air-cond, satellite TV, clean toilets!
Hung around, watched Kate & Leopold on satellite TV, surfed at the nearby Internet café (people were either online gaming or surfing porn!!! One guy next to me kept looking on me screen – must be surprised that I’m actually reading the news online!!!).
Met up wif Jin Foong for dinner. He took me to have excellent prawn noodles!!! Yummy! Later we went for a drink and he took me for a drive around the suburbs! It was really nice chatting and catching up wif him!
DAY #9 (26/7 Tuesday)
Bintulu - Miri
Spent the whole morning sleeping in – enjoying the nice bed, clean sheets and aircond to the max!!!! Today happened to be the worst day of me trip.
When I finally dragged meself to the local bus station, it was around 12:25 pm. I found out the bus to the bus terminal leaves at 15 mins pass the hour. So fine. I sat there and read me Readers’ Digest. At 10 mins pass 1, I asked I the bus have arrived oredi. I was told that the bus just left!!!!! Sigh… another hour of reading RD!!!
Reached the bus terminal, got me ticket and had lunch there. There was some “excitement” just b4 I left when the authorities suddenly came speeding in and surprising all the illegal vendors there, confiscating their stuffs! So sad.
Bus journey was bad as expected and me neck really hurt as a result of it – again!
Reached Miri bus terminal at bout 8:20 pm. No one could be sure if there will be a bus into town or not. I took the chance. I waited til 9 pm. The bus came! Hurray! But the driver told me he’s not going back into town and that there’ll be another bus at 10 pm. So I waited there, feeding the mozzies til half pass 10!!! The taxi driver there assured me that there won’t be any more busses. So I had to take the cab into town. Since it was so late then, all I wanted to do was take a shower and sleep. So I took a bed in the lobby of a small hotel. It was literally a bed – cost me RM12. It was horrible. The bed was too short and being in the lobby, there were people making noises in the nite.
DAY #10 (27/7 Wednesday)
Miri full day
Had major problems trying to contact the travel agent and the Bario people. In the end, got so fed up that I decided to cancel me trip to barrio and stay on in Miri for another day, maybe go to Bukit Lambir nearby.
Relaxed the whole day – watched a movie, walked around town, went to the public library and read newspapers, sat in the park, surf for a while. Finally decided to leave for Brunei the next day.
Just before dinner, Dicky returned my call – I called him earlier in the morning. We made plans to meet up that nite. He came wif Carol and Arlene and we stopped first at Miri Gospel Chapel. They were having music practice – and the musicians were surprised to find out I am Chinese!!!
We went out for supper where they took me to eat some Miri speciality. They only know the name in… Mandarin or Hokkien! But it was nice. Little bits of flour in clear soup.
Dicky told me a lot of his work there. It was really interesting and encouraging. As he was sending me back, he asked why not I spend the nite at his place. He was prolly thinking of the neighbourhood I was in! It is safe but … got quite a bit of nocturnal activities going on there!
I agreed. He took me back to me hotel, waited for me to pack up (I tried to get some sort of a refund but no way!!!), and then took me back to his place. We chatted til really late, had a time of prayer and I was knocked out! It was the most comfortable bed I slept in – yeah, even more than the “expensive” Bintulu hotel!
DAY #11 (28/7 Thursday)
Miri - Brunei
Dicky and Carol took me out for breakfast after ending Arlene to school. More local specials – this time it was pork entrails in dark soup! After that, they took me for a quick tour around town before dropping me off at the bus station to get me bus to Brunei. I was taking the 10:30 bus.
Check out the pics taken during my stay at Bintulu here and Miri here!
To be continued…
This week's meal time entertainment
Got meself another book:-
Paid a big price to get it - had to go out in the horrible haze! If u r not from this country - or if u are in Penang or Johor, lemme update u that the situation here wif the haze is getting extremely bad. The air quality is in some areas is considered extremely hazardous. :-(
Anyways, i finished the other book in record time (for me! 2 days!) mainly cuz I was cooped up indoors for the pass 2 days as the haze has been simple unbearable!
This book is oso rented and I’ve just finished chapter 1. It sounds promising!
But I always find that wif Grisham’s books. He starts of really well and the ending just cannot compare wif the start. Having said that, I still enjoy his books and his writings (I hear he’s a Christian. Can anyone confirm that? I am not surprise if he is!).
Still I must admit that “The King of Torts” disappointed me a little. Maybe I’ve been reading his books too much – cuz I guessed the ending very early on. Still, it was enjoyable, especially since I myself have been involved in torts cases before. Maybe my familiarity wif the subject did not make the book such a “novel” read to me this time.
I really enjoyed his books – the Pelican Brief, The Client, The Firm, The Brethren and The Testament are among my favourites!
I must take sum time here and comment about the book I was reading last month – yeah, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I guess at this point of time, many still have not read it yet so I’ll make me comment spoiler free.
Not much to say except how disappointed I am. After the fiasco the last book raised, I never did think that Rowling could get any worse. She did. If you thought that The Order of the Pheonix was bad, this is worse. Sure, it is not as long as TOFTP but it contains a lot of unnecessary stuffs. Unlike TOFTP which I felt kept my interest going until it fell flat at the end, THBP dragged along. It wasn’t bad but I was getting impatient reading it!
*C’mon, get on wif it!*
Until suddenly, the end is rushed by! Sure there are some interesting twists at the end but all too fast and all too quickly.
And the Half-Blood Prince? When u discover who he/she is, you’ll be disappointed 9or like me, you won’t be surprised!).
It is ironic that I only started to buy Harry Potter books when it started getting bad. The Prisoner of Azkaban was simply excellent. The Goblet of Fire was very entertaining! So I decided to invest in the next one. BIG disappointment. Ok, I thought. Everyone has a day off. Perhaps she’ll redeem herself wif the HBP. Nope. Methinks that the millions she has has changed her.
After all, all good stories are written on an empty stomach, are they not?
WARNING! Spoilers ahead (as usual, highlight the following portion to read it. be warned!):-
One of the reasons I din like too ws the fact that Snape was the one who murdered Dumbledore!
I've always liked how she potrays Snape in a negative light at the beginning only for it to be revealked in the end that he was in fact helping all along!
Not so this time.
But somehow, me got a feeling that even tho Snape was the one who murdered Dumbledore. things may not seem to be how it is. Perhaps Snape is still on the good side. Perhaps, Dumbledore's death was a necessary sacrifice.
Just thought I'd put me thoughts here - just in case I'm proven right in the future!!
Paid a big price to get it - had to go out in the horrible haze! If u r not from this country - or if u are in Penang or Johor, lemme update u that the situation here wif the haze is getting extremely bad. The air quality is in some areas is considered extremely hazardous. :-(
Anyways, i finished the other book in record time (for me! 2 days!) mainly cuz I was cooped up indoors for the pass 2 days as the haze has been simple unbearable!
This book is oso rented and I’ve just finished chapter 1. It sounds promising!
But I always find that wif Grisham’s books. He starts of really well and the ending just cannot compare wif the start. Having said that, I still enjoy his books and his writings (I hear he’s a Christian. Can anyone confirm that? I am not surprise if he is!).
Still I must admit that “The King of Torts” disappointed me a little. Maybe I’ve been reading his books too much – cuz I guessed the ending very early on. Still, it was enjoyable, especially since I myself have been involved in torts cases before. Maybe my familiarity wif the subject did not make the book such a “novel” read to me this time.
I really enjoyed his books – the Pelican Brief, The Client, The Firm, The Brethren and The Testament are among my favourites!
I must take sum time here and comment about the book I was reading last month – yeah, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I guess at this point of time, many still have not read it yet so I’ll make me comment spoiler free.
Not much to say except how disappointed I am. After the fiasco the last book raised, I never did think that Rowling could get any worse. She did. If you thought that The Order of the Pheonix was bad, this is worse. Sure, it is not as long as TOFTP but it contains a lot of unnecessary stuffs. Unlike TOFTP which I felt kept my interest going until it fell flat at the end, THBP dragged along. It wasn’t bad but I was getting impatient reading it!
*C’mon, get on wif it!*
Until suddenly, the end is rushed by! Sure there are some interesting twists at the end but all too fast and all too quickly.
And the Half-Blood Prince? When u discover who he/she is, you’ll be disappointed 9or like me, you won’t be surprised!).
It is ironic that I only started to buy Harry Potter books when it started getting bad. The Prisoner of Azkaban was simply excellent. The Goblet of Fire was very entertaining! So I decided to invest in the next one. BIG disappointment. Ok, I thought. Everyone has a day off. Perhaps she’ll redeem herself wif the HBP. Nope. Methinks that the millions she has has changed her.
After all, all good stories are written on an empty stomach, are they not?
WARNING! Spoilers ahead (as usual, highlight the following portion to read it. be warned!):-
One of the reasons I din like too ws the fact that Snape was the one who murdered Dumbledore!
I've always liked how she potrays Snape in a negative light at the beginning only for it to be revealked in the end that he was in fact helping all along!
Not so this time.
But somehow, me got a feeling that even tho Snape was the one who murdered Dumbledore. things may not seem to be how it is. Perhaps Snape is still on the good side. Perhaps, Dumbledore's death was a necessary sacrifice.
Just thought I'd put me thoughts here - just in case I'm proven right in the future!!
