pulau tioman...

Alright I think I have rested enuff. Damn nose is still runny and I am dizzy from the meds but I think I can finish this post off before I knock out. Let me blog about my wonderful trip to Tioman Island during this past week. As stated before it was a 4 days 3 nights stay in Paya Beach Resort. First we had to get to Mersing from Pee Jay and to save cost I decided to drive up. Went one day earlier so that I'll be rested when we head over to the island. The drive wasn't all that bad except for the constant rainstorm. It was a scary ride mainly because the other drivers just didn't care about the heavy rain. Visibility was like about 5 meters but that didn't stop them from speeding down the highway. I saw about 5 cars who skidded off the track. There was even 2 lorries which turned on its side. Luckily after about 5 hours we reached safely at Mersing. The next morning we woke up and took the ferry to Paya village where the resort is located. We arrived on noon Monday where thankfully the weather was fine which made the ferry ride pleasant although dreadfully long (1.5 hours if I am not mistaken and this is with the speed ferry!). After arriving we (my ex gf and I) settled in our lovely chalet which was located right in front of the beach. It was rather late to do much and the tide was low so we couldn't play by the beach so we decided to hang around in the room instead. At night we had our dinner and chilled at the seaside bar which was very romantic I must add. They had a big screen projector playing XXX2. We had some drinks and enjoyed the night with the sound of waves splashing about.

The next morning (freaking early I must add), we had our breakfast and headed straight for the jetty for the snorkelling trip. The weather was simply amazing with just enuff sun and breeze. The water nice and calm. We could see schools of fish hanging about near the shore from the jetty. It was quite a sight. Now I have never really snorkelled before and was really looking forward to the days event. We got into our boat and pushed off to a small island about 30 odd minutes away. There we got on our gear (snorkel and life jacket). Being able to swim I opted not to have a life jacket so that I can have the freedom to dive about and move much freely but most of the others were terrified of the water. At the begining it was rather tough, getting used to the snorkel and at the same time balancing yourself. But after a few tries it was simply amazing. I have never seen so many beautiful fishes and corals up close in my life before. Heck who am I kidding, besides the aquariums I've been to and own before, I have NEVER seen fish up close like this. I think I must have spotted and touched all the characters in Finding Nemo. It was really magical. Words just can't justify how great the feeling was. I even spotted a single Barracuda cooly swimming past me. Now that was creepy as I've heard Barracuda's can attack humans. After about an hour or so we got back on the boat and went to the Tioman Marine Park to have our packed lunches and snorkel. Sadly the jetty to the Park was under repair and we couldn't dock. So we just had lunch on the boat and moved on to our last site (another small island near our resort) before heading back. To me the last destination was the best. There were more colorful fishes about and the shore quite nearby. So we could even stand on certain spots and enjoy the view below. The whole snorkel trip lasted about 5 hours and we returned to the resort around mid afternoon.

Now here is the interesting part. Knowing that we would be going snorkelling on the trip, I made sure to bring along sun tan lotion to avoid getting burned. But considering we had to wake up early to head to the jetty and my great arse luck factor. We both forgot to take along the lotion or even apply some before leaving for the trip. And as expected, when we returned to our chalet we found ourselves badly burned. Mine wasn't all that bad but my ex had it BAD. She was red all over. We applied lotion to soothe the pain but it did not work. We were in pain througout that day in our chalet. We only came out to get some dinner and ice cream (as you know works in soothing pain, at least for a lil bit).

The next day when we woke up, I was feeling a wee bit better but my ex was out. Her whole body ached. But not wanting to waste the trip we did not remain in the chalet. We went around taking some pics and emjoying the beach life. We were very grateful that the weather on all 3 days were great. Except for an occasional drizzle which was good for keeping it cool and breezy. The resort also has 2 other interesting places nearby, one is when the tide goes down (which last about 6 hours), you can actually walk to an island nearby. This was actually the last destination on our snorkel trip. Then there is also a waterfall about 15 minutes hike from the resort called Rockfalls but we didn't get to visit it due to being in pain and also lazy. After all I am on holiday right. On the final day it was time to leave and low and behold it was the first attack of monsoon. It rained heavily the previous night around 1am or so onwards. By the time we were up to checkout the waves were crashing in. According to the resort staff this is the first wave of monsoon and will last about 5 days. Thankfully it happened on the last day when we were checking out but the drawback was it made the ferry ride back a freaking nightmare! The boat was thrashing about and water splashing everywhere. Lucky all the passengers didn't get sea sick and we survived the hour and half trip. It was such a relief to finally reach land. We headed to our car and started our drive back to Pee Jay which took about 4 hours plus.

All in all it was a great holiday. Would love to do it again. Didn't cost all that much as well which was a relief. Hmmm I think I should start planning for my next trip. I'm getting hooked on this snorkelling thing as well. Miss seeing all those fishies and beautiful corals up close. Maybe I'll hit Pulau Perhentian next. Alright I think I've babbled enuff. Below are some nice pictures of the island. Adios.


front of the resort...


view of the resort from the jetty...


the beautiful beach...


the island i was talking about...


low tide...


something cute i saw on every coconut tree there...

ahhh chooo...

Dammit. Isn't it irritating to catch a cold towards the end of your holiday. Arrgghhh. Damn nose is like a leaky faucet. Can't find the right plumber to help me out as well. Tried some medication but no use. Had a shot of brandy last night and still no cure. Hate it when I catch a cold. Especially the running nose type. Throughout the day I'm plugging it with tissue and sneezing away. How much would you like to bet that it'll be all good when I have to go to work on Monday. Isn't that always the case. Now my so called vacation from my vacation is ruined! *sigh*

i'm back...

Ahh its good to be back. Just returned from a 4 day 3 nights trip at Pulau Tioman. What a great time I had! Sadly I am in need of a vacation for the vacation. Thank god I have about 3 days more before I head back to work. Gonna fully utilise it to bum around. I'll blog more about the trip when I am fully rested. Which is soon I hope. You guys have a good weekend ahead.

G'nite...

vacation!!

Woo hoo. In about 1 hour, 28 minutes and 43 seconds, I will be off from work for a whole week. And boy is it looong overdue! Care to guess where I'm heading? Lemme give you a hint. Its an island off Pahang and Johor. Any idea? Yup its Tioman of course. Wanted to actually head to Redang since most say its nicer but majority of the resorts there are closed for the monsoon season. Langkawi is way too boring and hot nowadays plus too commercialised. The other islands are more for diving and nature buffs. So I ended up on a place that is still natural yet slightly commercialised. Hope I won't be dissappointed. Got a package that includes the ferry trip to the island, room, food and a snorkelling trip. I am praying that the weather holds up. Don't want to be stuck in my room all day when I'm on a beautiful island. I'll try my best to take some pictures of the whole holiday. No promises though as I'm lazy. LOL. You guys have a good weekend. I'll be back in a week.

Toodles!!

mp3 player...

I'm in search for a brand new MP3 player. Flash type that is and not too big. Sadly my budget isn't much to shout about and I ain't falling for ciplak (crappy) China made stuff. Although they are dirt cheap. Been bugging a few friends to help me find some jalan to get it as cheap as possible. Few brands are in my mind right now. Iriver, Creative or Samsung. Would really love to get the new Sony thumbdrive size thingy but its way off my budget. Don't feel justified paying so much for something I don't think I will use all that much. Sigh. Hope to get one before next weekend when I have to do some extra work in office and would really NEED it. The MP3 player will help kill of the silence and boredom of being the only soul around. From the looks of things I don't think I'll meet the deadline but I ain't giving up.

Sigh its sad how much money we waste on all these toys. I just laid down quite a bit for a new digicam. Thankfully I'm not that huge of a gadget freak. I do love em' but I don't have to own them. I know some people who have one of everything and the best as well. Imagine walking around with an Ipod, HP Ipaq, Sony K750i, Sony PSP and a thumbdrive. All that crap dangling everywhere and bogging you down. Me on the other would love to leave my mobile behind. Hate lugging stuff around no matter how light or small it is. Anyways I'm talking crap. Didn't really know what to blog about so decided to just dump whats on my mind. Wish me luck in getting my MP3 player. If you feel like you can always donate some moolah to me to increase my budget. *wink*

a nice poem...

Below is a poem I received via email just a moment ago. Although its a crappy chain mail, but the poem is nice. Its about making sure you seize the day and don't procrastinate. Especially with friends and family. Here goes...

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.

And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.

And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.

Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him."
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner, yet miles away,
Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.
Around the corner, a vanished friend.

*burp*

Waddup y'all?! I'm back (to only disappear again that is). Last weekend I had a fabulous time and I just wanted to share with the handful of you that actually read my blog. LOL. A group of us just popped into my car and we headed out to Malacca. The only other car was our tour guide's, Dev who actually is from Malacca. This time we were being economic so we decided to crash in Dev's home. No we did not force ourselves in, he actually invited.

We left PJ around noon although we wanted to leave at 10am. You know la how great Malaysian timing is. Anyhoo we reached Malacca around 2ish and went straight to Dev's home. We were greeted by his lovely mum who ushered us in. We dropped our bags and what not in our room and zoomed straight out to have some chicken rice balls for lunch. Boy was dem' balls good. Now now get your mind outta gutter please. We ate at this place called Famosa I think which is located along Jonker's Street. After the scrumptious lunch we headed to Dev's church. A very beautiful place I must say. Its not like the usual churches where there are small rooms and corners hidden. This was one big spacious hall. Timing was perfect as well because Dev and the others were practising for mass the next morning. We got a short preview of Dev on the piano and his mom singing. Simply amazing. It was like watching the duet between Nat King Cole and his daughter performing 'Unforgettable' live. While Dev continued practising, we headed out to get some local ice cream. You know the ones I'm talking about. Only cost RM1 for 2 mouth watering scoops of any flavour on a wafer cone. Its hard to find those in Klang Valley nowadays so we were not going to miss the chance. Its sold in most touristy areas of Malacca. *Droool* I can still taste the chocolate and sweetcorn mix I had.

Around 5ish we decided to head back to Dev's house. On the way we made a detour to this place called Gula Melaka Cafe. There we had some Sago Gula Melaka with Santan followed by a bowl of slurpy Cendol. Damn I've never had that GOOD a gula melaka before. Around klang valley we can get the same desserts but they always use brown sugar instead of Gula Melaka. The taste just isn't the same. The gula melaka at the cafe was simply intoxicating. One can get high we just a small teaspoons full. After the ever so sweet desserts we headed back to Dev's house. There we crashed on our beds and rested for a bit. We took turns taking our showers and getting ready for a night out. By the time we were done it was already 8pm. We got into one car and headed to Umbai for dinner.

Umbai is about 20 minutes or so from Malacca town and is very popular among locals and tourist for their fresh grilled seafood. Its actually a jetty with many malay owned stalls around selling the same exact thing. The 5 of us got about 6 squids, a big Siakap fish and some Sting Ray. We told the cook to grill them all in different flavours. We settled for breaded squid with sweet chilly sauce, deep fried fish with 3 flavour sauce and grilled stingray with chilli rub. The food was served in about 15 minutes or so. By then we were already pigging out on Otak Otak and nasi lemak. We also had a pitcher of Ice Lemon Tea. The seafood was really good. Fresh and tasty. If not for us being tired and full from the other escapades, we would have had more. All that we ate only cost us RM60. Which if you ask anyone, is DIRT CHEAP! After dinner we drove back to Malacca town to head to Jonker's Street.

At night on weekends they close Jonker's Street and allow stalls to be set up. Locals and tourist would roam around munching on various goodies sold or buying interesting ornaments or antiques. They even sell pets. Can you beat that. Anyways the night market wasn't really our goal. There is this nice pub in the middle called Ringo and we wanted to end the night there. We managed to get a nice table on the street in the middle between Ringo Pub and this other pub called The Geographer. These 2 pubs have an agreement that each take 30 minute sets to play their respective live music. Very interesting compromise. Sadly the singer in The Geographer sucked and spoilt so many of my favourite oldies. The idiot sounded like he was in some karoake session. Luckily we had Ringo (who obviously is the owner of Ringo Pub *duh*) who is great as a guitarist and singer. He really liven up things that night. Between the 5 of us we managed to polish off about 5 buckets of beer and share lots of laughter and good music. The night ended around 2am. From there we adjourned to this place near Dev's house called Habeeb Sultan . Its a typical Indian Muslim restaurant that you can find all over Malaysia. The only thing that makes this place special is the Maggi Goreng (fried instant noodles). I have never had such good maggi goreng before. Its not overly spicy or lacking in taste. The noodles were just right and the taste magical. If only they had something like that in Klang Valley. It'll definately be my after beers hangout.

We only managed to retire around 4am. Or at least that is what I think the time was. Next thing I knew it was around noon Sunday and we were being told to wake up for lunch. Dev's mom was kind enough to prepare us a yummy lunch. We had chicken curry, mutton paraetal, rasam, beans, appalam and rice. I could only manage one round but the others were gobbling everything up. After lunch we crashed in the TV room. Too full and tired to go anywhere. An hour or so of bumming around we couldn't sit still anymore. We got up and headed to the beach. Sadly its not that much of a beach so we just ended up eating ice cream and staring at the ocean. After finishing up our ice cream we headed to the church again. There we caught this amazing kid play the drums while a young girl sing. Its amazing the talents some people have. If only I had a musical side, besides making weird or rude noises that is. At about 5ish we were back in Dev's house and his mom was busy making tea. We had cucur udang and biscuits all laid out. When we were done with tea we were too full or tired to think of the next move. We bummed for a couple of hours before deciding that it was time to head back to PJ. But not before we had some dinner of course. Dev took us to this place which is by the sea called Sampan Cafe. A very romantic place. Its this old bungalow which they did up to have indoor seating and also the kitchen and what not. The best part was outside overlooking the sea where there were tables set up all over. Its a big piece of land housing almost 20 odd tables. Sadly it wasn't windy when we went there so we couldn't enjoy the full experience. The food there was so so and the service was horrible. I wouldn't say it was the best experience all weekend. Thank god for the tasty fruit juices. By the time we were done it was already 10pm. Said our goodbyes to Dev and we headed home. Reached around midnight due to heavy traffic. Sent my mates home, had a shower and knocked out. Woke up around noon the next day. Can't wait for the next trip!

I know I know its a freaking long post. But you do not want me to leave out anything right? Anyways I'm tired from typing all this out. You guys have a good night kay. Toodles.

seven whaa??

I just got tagged by Poopie. Here goes...

7 things that scare me:
1. Being mugged 2. Dumb drivers 3. Putting on weight 4. Failing 5. Ghosts 6. Being lonely 7. Darkness

7 things that I like most:
1. Chocolate 2. Music 3. A good movie 4. Driving 5. Coney dog with cheese *drool* 6. Jokes 7. Ice Lemon Tea

7 important things in my room:
1. My PC 2. All my music CDs 3. Poochie and Bubu Bear 4. My graduation photo thingy 5. Aiwa Mini HiFi 6. All the Photo Albums 7. My comfy bed!

7 random facts about me:
1. I'm overweight 2. I'm bored of my job 3. I don't seem to get enough sleep 4. Life is good yet crappy at the same time 5. I miss the life in US 6. I hate the heat 7. I want a dog

7 things I plan to do before I die:
1. Honeymoon in Maldives 2. Own a successful company 3. Buy a spanking new BMW 4. Join the Mile High Club *wink* 5. Fly in First Class 6. Have a ONS (One Night Stand) 7. Cruise to Alaska

7 things I can do:
1. Swim 2. Lie convincingly 3. Cook (not just edible but tasty too) 4. Make people laugh 5. Be alone 6. Watch 4 movies in a row (i'm aiming for more but since i started working, watching even 1 freaking movie is an accomplishment) 7. Impersonations (at times that is and not famous ppl by the way)

7 things I can’t do:
1. Dance 2. Sing (at least in tune that is) 3. Read a book in a day 4. Fly (tried once but ended up having stitches on my chin) 5. Play a musical instrument (farting not counted ya) 6. Ride a motorcycle (would love to one day) 7. Loose weight (seems easier to put on but i'm trying my best aight)

7 things I say the most:
1. “Morning” 2. “What?” 3. “Period” (you gotta be part of my office to understand that) 4. “Another jug please.” 5. “What the fuck?” 6. “Helpdesk going down.” (again you gotta be part of my office) 7. “Aight”

7 celebrity crushes:
1. Jessica Alba 2. Eva Longoria 3. Aishwarya Rai 4. Shu Qi 5. Kirsten Dunst 6. Aaliyah *RIP* 7. Mya

7 people who could do this:
Ah Bald, Hibernating Bear, Bubu, James, Devan and thats it. My mates don't blog la!

nice yoke...

Got this via email from a friend. Good stuff.

A taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a
question.

The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went
upon the footpath, and stopped centimeters from a shop window.

For a second everything went quiet in the cab, then the driver said:

"Look mate, don't ever do that again. You scared the daylights out of
me!"

The passenger apologized and said, "I didn't realize that a little tap
would scare you so much."

The driver replied, "Sorry, it's not really your fault. Today is my
first day as a cab driver - I've been driving a van carrying dead bodies
for the last 25 years."

east coast trip finale....

I know I know. Enuff already. I promise this is the last bit on the east coast trip ok. Can't just leave it hanging there can I. I'll make it short and sweet. On the last day we didn't have any plans except for the drive home. We all woke up in time for breakfast. Had a quick bite, packed up and got ready to depart. The plan was to head down to Teluk Cempedak in Kuantan town (about 70km from the resort), have lunch and then drive straight back to KL. The roads were rather dangerous as they ran through small villages. So you had dumbass motorcyclists zooming in and out plus other motorists who I presume owned the roads from the way they were driving. Thankfully we reached Kuantan safely. Had some lunch there, rested for a bit and took some shots of the beach there (which was just as good although the waters rather choppy). When everyone was all fueled up, we drove non stop to KL. Actually we did stop periodically for pee breaks, refueling and so on. The drive back was just as good as the drive there. It was really a sight to see all the cars lined up on the highway. People on the road would stare at us as we passed along or as the overtook us. As expected we did have some idiots trying to cut in between the convoy or tailgate us, but we managed to keep things in control.

Before breaking off the last stop was Genting R&R. Which is usually the last stop for most road trips involving multiple cars. We said our goodbyes, made sure everyone was fine and broke off. By then it was already 430pm so I was definately gonna get caught in the Monday evening jam. I also had to send my mates home and one of them were smack in the middle of the jam. By the time I was done sending them home it was already 7ish. Got home, unpacked, had dinner, took a bath and practically crashed on the bed. By the time I got up it was 11 in the morning. All and all I would say it was a great road trip. The drive was good, the location superb and best of all I was with great company. Can't wait for our next getaway trip. Hmmm maybe we should drive up to Thailand! =)

Enjoy the pictures below. G'nite folks...


rise and shine y'all...


thirsty rides...


off we go...


last regroup...


ahhh finally home...

east coast trip continued...

As promised I'll continue about my road trip today. Now where did I left off. Ahh yes the second day. Well we were supposed to wake up by 8am for breakfast but as expected we only got ready around 10am and that was when breakfast ended. Nonetheless we decided to try our luck. When we got there they were just packing up and by good fortune had some fried noodles and sausages left. After nibbling on the leftovers, we grouped up with the others to head out to the Turtle Sanctuary which is located near Club Med in Cherating, Kuantan. Roughly about 10 to 15km out from where we were. The Turtle Sanctuary is a pretty nice place. Entrance is free and there is a small muzium of sorts on the life cycle of turtles. In there is also a dead double headed turtle. There is also a pool where some turtles were swimming or lazing about. Nearer towards the beach is the nesting/hatching area. All the eggs that were grouped up by the researches are kept in this tent like enclosure and monitored. Batches grouped by date and time.

After hanging about for an hour or so, we drove off to look for lunch. The plan was to go to this chinese restaurant which was famous for stuffed crab. But before that we were gonna raid the keropok lekor stalls along the highway. A popular and the most visible fried snack in Terengganu, the keropok is made of fish meat, ground to a paste, and mixed with sago. Coming in two main different forms, the long chewy ones are called 'lekor', while the thin, crispy ones are called 'keping'. Keropok is best eaten hot with its special chili dip or sauce. In short its simply yummy! I think we gave a fright to some of the stalls as we were packing in and buying everything in sight. Boy do they taste good fresh. We were gobbling away on our way to the restaurant. Once we were done with lunch (which was good I must add), we headed back to the resort for some r&r. As expected, we headed straight up and grabbed some cool cans of Tiger. Nothing like a cold beer to quench your thirst. We then went to check out the beach. Its nice to have a beach all to yourself. The sand was white and powdery and the water cool and calm. Some of the fellas were playing volleyball while some swam.

At around 8pm we headed out again for dinner. This time we tried this floating restaurant called 3K. Pretty decent place with a couple of dart boards and nice music playing in the background. Food came rather late though but tasted good. So at least it was worth the wait. I think they weren't used to catering for 20 plus people. When dinner was done the whole group decided to head to Kerteh to check out the oil refineries. As the sight was something else, we decided to join em'. This time the flames weren't burning as good as the day before but the whole place still looked amazing. Everyone was in awe at how huge the whole structure was and how the sky lit up. By the time we were done, it was already around midnite. Some hit the sack while others goofed around drinking beers. We were all dead tired but it was the last night in Terengganu.

I think I'll end here. Will write about the journey back some other time. I'm sure most of you are bored reading the details. Enjoy the pictures below of the second day. Toodles!


the crew and their rides...


yummy...


sunset at the beach...


wheres the fucking food?!


burn baby burn...

east coast getaway...

Finally after almost 1 year plus of delaying and planning, my car club K2OC, finally got on with the East Coast Getaway trip last weekend. A group of us (15 cars and about 29 people) headed up to Kemaman, Terengganu to Strawberry Kijal Resort Apartments for 2 nights and 3 days. I did about 950km worth of driving during this trip which was good as it helped speed up the popping of my car's cherry. The trip was not properly planned due to certain unforseen circumstances but it turned out to be simply perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Although I do not own Betty anymore, as an old timer and almost pioneer of the club, I was invited to join them in my new ride instead. My car turned out to be the 'Documentary Team' as we were in charge of recording the whole event on video. It consisted of 3 alumni members, 2 of whom own GTIs now and myself with my lovely MyVi. =)

The trip started out on Saturday in the wee hours of the morning. Went around picking up my mates and headed to the meet up point in ProJet Gombak. After having some breakfast and a short briefing, we were off. My car was the second last car with the number 13. Damn I wasn't really happy for getting that number but couldn't really care less. The drive up was simply amazing, to see all the cars lined up in unison. We got some really good shots. We arrived at Kemaman without any hiccups. Stopped at this old coffee shop called Hai Peng, which supposedly has the some of the best coffee around. As expected we had some coffee with really old skool roti bakar. The ones that they toast over charcoal with a healthy dollup of homemade kaya and butter. *Drooooool* I can still picture digging into those buns. Considering I ain't really a coffee buff, it wasn't all that bad. The shop had a very old time feel to it with nice aged wooded tables and chairs, old fans and all sorts of antique furnitures. To experience the coffee shop itself is enuff a reason to go there.

After lunch we headed straight up to the resort which wasn't that far off. We did get lost a bit locating it, due to the lack of signs but we managed. At the resort we were greeted by their staff and had a board up welcoming our car club. It did feel good to see the welcoming sign. Makes you feel important. LOL. Even though we know we aren't! After checking in, most of us just crashed in our respective rooms. We were just too tired. We left KL at around 9am and only reached the resort at 3pm. The first thing we did of course was to ensure our beers were kept in the fridge. Can't be drinking warm beer now can we. Till about dinner we just hung about in the living room watching whatever that is on the telly and sipping some semi cold beer. Before we knew it, it was time for dinner which was BBQ! Damn the BBQ was good. We had lamb, chicken, sausages, squid and prawns. What more can you ask for right? After the scrumptious meal, the rest of the crew wanted to drink up on the beer and whiskey and get wasted. We, as in those in my car had other plans. We didn't really want to drink all that much and we didn't want to retire to our rooms as well. So we did the next best thing, which was to take a drive up to Kertih, where the Petronas oil refineries were. Now that part of the night is something I can never forget. It was just like when I went to Las Vegas. Brightly lit and the refineries went on for miles. The flames burning above the funnels were a sight to behold. Its quite hard to imagine, you just got to be there to see it for yourselves. I always did want to see how the Olympic torch looked like and now I had my chance. By the time we were done with that it was already 2am or so. We headed back to our room, had a couple of beers and retired for the night.

*Yaaawn* I think thats all for now. I'm getting prett sleepy now myself. Will blog about the rest tommorrow or something. Enjoy some of the pictures below. G'nite all!


arrival of the beauty...


documentary team down for some breakfast...


getting my sponsors up...


the whold crew with our new banner...

katrina...

Katrina. Isn't it a nice name. Sadly with what it is associated with now, it doesn't sound that lovely anymore. It was only about 7 months ago that we were hit by the deadly Tsunami which killed 250,000 plus and god knows how many more unaccounted for. Now a deadly hurricane (category 4) has rampaged through southern states of North America. Tearing apart everything in its path, flooding cities, leaving thousands homeless and countless dead or missing. The damage is extensive but that is not what is of concern now. Thousands of people are trapped in cities ravaged by this storm without power, shelter or food. A town (Waveland, Mississippi) has also been wiped off the map.

One of my favourite cities in US, New Orleans, was the worse hit by Katrina. More than 60,000 residence are trying to flee from the city for shelter and safety. The city has gone into a state of lawlessness where looters and armed gangs roam around. Evacuation efforts are being distrupted by these arseholes who even shot at a helicopter who was trying to evacuate survivors. In this day and age especially being a developed nation, you would not expect such a thing but like any disaster, it will bring the best and the worse out of people. Looking at the news coverage of the event is depressing, seeing all those people suffering with no clue of what to do, where to start or even where to go from here. I have to admit that I do not feel as much as I did when the Tsunami struck Asia but it still does make me sad.

Lets take some time to say a few prayers to all those that are suffering from this disaster. To those that have passed on, god bless you and may you rest in peace. To the survivers, hang in there and keep your spirits up. If anyone of you would like to help out, you can donate to the American Red Cross. Any amount helps. All you need to have is a credit card and you can make a difference. Below are a few pictures of Hurricane Katrina and the mess it caused. G'nite everyone and do take care. Enjoy your life to the fullest. You never know when shit is gonna happen! =(

i got snapped...

Arrgghhh I just got snapped!! =(

One of the only few times I skipped the traffic lights and I got snapped. Sigh. Worse still it was still yellow when I passed the line. Damn they are fast. Now I'm praying there is no film in the camera, which is usually the case. But considering my high arseluck factor, I think I got caught. Oh well, can't really do much about it now. Just gotta wait and see. Guess I'll think twice the next time I skip the lights.

Arrrggghhh. Thats like RM300 down the drain!! =(

merdeka!!

Ahh its that time of the year again. August 31st. This day 48 years ago (1957), Malaysia finally got its independence after over 400 years of colonization. Officially it is a Public Holiday for all to rejoice but working for an outsourcing project supporting UK and US, we do not get the luxury to be on leave. It isn't all that bad I guess considering the stress you would have being outside celebrating with the rest of the nation. Traffic jams everywhere, motorcycles zooming in out recklessly and idiots roaming around shouting Merdeka and at the same time vandalizing everything in sight. Its interesting how a celebration of our freedom would end up bringing out the worse of people. Before the day itself everyone would be gung ho about tying our flag up and propping them on our cars and what not. Give a few days after the 31st and you'll see our poor flag lying on the road or dumped somewhere.

There isn't a proper sense of respect for our flag and its sickening. Quite often I see those that raise the flag daily do not even have the decency to place it on their shoulder while they are tying it up. They would just leave it lying there on the road or pavement or whatever. Some even step on it without thinking twice. That isn't the way you should treat your nation's flag. It should be handled with respect and honour. Then again I guess a lot of Malaysians nowadays are just too selfish to care about anything else but themselves. Most do not even know the shit our forefathers had to go through to get freedom and make Malaysia what it is today. I'm not saying I know every teeny bit of history but I do at least have a sense of respect and pride for the country. As they always say, 'Ignorance is bliss'.

Yaaaawn. I think I better hit the sack now. Been a tiring day. G'nite folks and Selamat Merdeka!!

false alarms...

Arrgghhh its so freaking annoying!! Can you imagine sitting down in the dark watching some telly when suddenly your house alarm system kicks in? Bearing in mind the siren is just near the TV Room. Damn if I was older I wouldn't be surprised if I got a heart attack from it. This has been going on for the past few weeks and there is no way in getting used to it. I trip every single time. Scares the hell out of me. Plus with all the shit that is happening around the country with theft, rape and murder. Doesn't really help in the 'scaring the shit outta me' department. All this because there is some rodent running around on the roof. Triggering the motion detectors up there. Damn it! Gotta get some rat poison and leave it up there. Kill them rascals. DIE!!

office humour...

Commonly used phrases in the office...and what they REALLY mean!

1.For your information, please. (FYI)
Meaning : I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it.

2.Noted and returned.
Meaning : I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it little while.

3.Review and comment.
Meaning : Do the dirty work so that I can forward it.

4.Action please.
Meaning : Get yourself involved for me. Don't worry, I'll claim the credit.

5.For your necessary action.
Meaning : It's your headache now.

6.Copy to.
Meaning : Here's a share of my headache.

7.For your approval, please.
Meaning : Put your neck on the chopping board for me please.

8.Action is being taken.
Meaning : Your correspondence is lost and I am trying to locate it.

9.Your letter is receiving our attention.
Meaning : I am trying to figure out what you want.

10.Please discuss.
Meaning : I don't know what the "****" this is, so please brief me.

11.For your immediate action.
Meaning : Do it NOW! Or I will get into serious trouble.

12.Please reply soon.
Meaning : Please be efficient. It makes me look inefficient.

13.We are investigating/processing your request with the relevant authorities.
Meaning : They are causing the delay, not us.

14.Regards.
Meaning : Thanks and bless you for reading all the bullshit.

award winning joke...

A Chinese walks into a bar in America late one night and he saw Steven
Spielberg. As he was a great fan of his movies, he rushes over to him,
and asks for his autograph. Instead, Spielberg gives him a slap and
says,
"You Chinese people bombed our Pearl Habour, get outta here."
The astonished Chinese man replied, "It was not the Chinese who bombed
your Pearl Harbour, it was the Japanese".
"Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, you're all the same," replied Spielberg.
In return, the Chinese gives Spielberg a slap and says,
"You sank the Titanic, my forefathers were on that ship."
Shocked, Spielberg replies, "It was the iceberg that sank the ship,
not me."
The Chinese replies, "Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg, you're all the
same."


This joke won an award for the best joke in a competition organized in Britain and was sent by an Indian.

economy rice?!

What is Economy Rice? Well its also known as Mixed Rice or Chap Fan in Cantonese. The main idea is to sell plain white rice with a whole variety of other pre-prepared dishes. These dishes are usually some form chicken, pork, beef, seafood or veggies. They can either be Chinese, Malay or Indian cuisine. The reason its called Economy Rice is because its extremely cheap hence economically good. One plate of rice with about 3 varities of dishes will only cost abour RM3 to RM5. Obviously taking seafood and pork might cost slightly more due to the cost of the raw items itself but relatively its still one of the cheapest form of a full meal. Its also always hot and clean. Not cold, stale leftover stuff.

Now thats not what I'm blogging about. The problem I have is that I went to this place in Sec 14 and they had Economy Rice. So as usual at an Economy Rice stall, you go about choosing your varieties and get ready to pay. All I did was choose some salted veggy, half an egg, some tofu and some pork. This place also does the serving for you. So you can't really take more of something that you fancy like most places. Now something like that we would expect to pay about RM5 tops. Maybe RM6 if I took a bit more of the pork. Can you guess how much it turned out to be? I'm sure you couldn't even fathom especially those of you who are familiar with Economy Rice. The damn thing cost me RM10!! What the fuck is that? Nothing on my plate was even worth that much. Combined or otherwise. Damn man. I got shafted. I'm never going back there again. Even Bah Kut Teh (Pork Herbal Soup) which cost around RM9 for a single set is cheaper and much more satisfying. This ain't Economy Rice anymore. This is more like 'Fuck the Economy' Rice. Arrgghhhh.

Anyways was just venting. I'm sure most of you can imagine the frustration. I guess we all learn the hard way huh. =(

readership survey...

Just like most bloggers, I'm curious on how many people actually read my blog. I know a few would stumble upon it via other blogs or through Blogspot itself but are there any regular readers. In my mind I can think of maybe 3 people tops. Just for the sake of satisfying my curiousity, to those that read my blog regularly, please leave a comment on this post. You can either sign it off anonymously or by your nicknames or whatever. Lets really see how sad my readership is.

gym and futsal...

Ahh finally after weeks of procrastination I managed to use the company gym. The gym was opened on the 29th of July and is surprisingly fully equipped. Best part is that until December this year its FREE for all staff. The only problem I had is the timing of when its open. It doesn't coincide with my work schedule and I don't plan to come to work earlier to workout. Wouldn't be at all comfortable to take a shower in the office plus I most probably will be tired at work then. So the only way was to come during weekends before our regular futsal game. Got up early and headed to the gym about an hour and half before futsal. Managed to get 10 mins on the treadmill and 10 mins on the cycling machine. Did some shoulder weights as well. Not really sure what you call that equipment. Felt good after that. Then we headed straight to futsal and played a good solid hour of it. Sadly my damn knee twisted again right smack at the end of our hour. Now I'm limping like a wounded dog. Good thing is I was wearing the brace so it didn't snap like before. Its slightly swollen now but bearable. Hopefully it heals before next weekend as we might have a game with some team. Plus I would like to continue my weekend gym activity. Need to lose my damn tummy. Getting pretty annoyed with it. Drinking most weekends isn't helping either I must say. Well I better hit the showers, I smell like fish right now. Cheerio.

useless comments...

Damn what is up with some ppl!! Simply posting unrelated comments just to promote some crap or their own blog. C'mon. I can't imagine someone going through blogs and posting the same comments over and over again. Must be really free. Not like its gonna give such a publicity or something. Its just comments on a blog. Most ppl would breeze right through it. Arrggghhh.

seminars...

Don't you just love it when your company sends you to seminars? Its like you are paid to take a break. I just got done with a 2 day seminar on 'Understanding Misconduct and Discipline Procedures'. It was pretty enlightening I must say. Taught us alot about how to catch staff screwing around at work and what to do to ensure they are punished properly. Our country is very pro employee and it could be a real headache for employers if they don't follow proper policies or even have a policy. Majority of cases that hit the labor courts are in favor of the employees. I guess its good and bad. Good if you work for someone and bad if you hire people to work for you. The worse part is that the lawyers are making all the freaking money! Do you know that they take 1 month salary as a starting service fee and if you win, they take from 25% to 35% of the awarded compensation. Damn. I'm in the wrong line of work man. =(

This is the third seminar I have gone for since working in this company. Surprisingly 2 were within this month. Its great to just relax and listen while enjoying multiple meals a day. Sadly the choice of hotels weren't that desirable but I guess we can't be choosy right. The material so far were good and the participants were interactive, so I didn't fall asleep or day dream. Although from time to time I had to struggle to keep my eyes open after the lunch buffet. I wonder who came up with all these meals during a seminar. It only makes you full and sleepy. I do see some people who really love it though. They just can't wait for the next break. I guess once you've attended multiple seminars throughout your career, there isn't really anything to care about except the food. Hmmmm, I wonder when is the next seminar. Soon I hope. I could do with another break! =)

I guess I better hit the sack now. Got shit loads to do tommorrow. Plus I got to attend my niece's 2nd birthday tommorrow. cheerio!

rain rain...

Finally!! After 2 looong, dry and smoky weeks, we got hit with a heavy shower. Guess the rain dance I did last night worked. The rain lasted for a good 2 hours plus. Sadly some places got hit by flash floods but overall it did us good. Helped clean up the crappy air we've been tolerating. The air smells damn good now. Plus is soo nice and cool outside. I slept through the whole rainstorm. Since there was lightning, I couldn't have the telly or PC on. So I to take full advantage of the cool weather and sleep. By the time I woke up it was over. Birds were chirping happily and I could hear kids playing outside. The haze made everyone stay indoors and the animals were rather quiet. Now everything is back to normal. I hope this weather keeps up. I better go outside now and appreciate the fresh clean air. Till next time. G'nite.

cough cough...

Its been awhile since we last saw it, but now its back and its better than ever! God only knows what the hell Indonesia is doing but all their shit is coming over to us and all they can say is, 'I'm sorry Malaysia'. What the fuck is that?! Sorry ain't gonna do jack for us. It feels like we are living in a freaking BBQ pit. A cheap ass pit at that. The air smells pungent and unbearable. Plus its so freaking depressing! The damn haze is even coming into the house and making me WANT to go to work just to be under some fluorescent lights and air conditioning. I feel bad to all those that have to work outdoors, can't imagine how they can tolerate it. Being out for just a teeny bit to get into my car is already pissing me off. Damn smell is going everywhere, seeping into buildings and houses and into our cars. Its like a freaking disease. There is no escape either, we are stuck with this till the winds pick up or we get some good rain. Sigh. If only Indonesia would stop all their freaking fires and be considerate. How many fucking times must be tolerate this bullshit?! You don't see us shitting in their backyard right. Damn there should be some sorta limit or law against this. HELP US!! HELP US PLEASEEEE!!



Note: These pictures were taken by The Star Malaysia newspaper. Just a brief look at what we are going through. First picture is a new sport called Smoky Footy. The challenge is to see the freaking ball through the haze. Second picture is actually of a mosque, but it was easier to focus on the gardener instead.

looong and tiring day...

As always every Friday after work, a group of us would head over to Bangsar's Lotus (which has shut down sadly) or Sri Dewi's for some supper and chit chat. Yesterday however was one night we will not forgot for some time. A total of 5 cars headed over to Bangsar via Jalan Damansara from work. Myself and 2 others were ahead while 2 more stayed back for some hot action. Sadly that hot action turned out to be too hot to handle! Just as we were nearing Dewi's we get a call that they got into an accident. Damn! Thoughts ran through my mind wondering WTF?! happened and hope they or anyone else were not injured. Took a quick U Turn and headed back to ground zero which was near the bus stop @ Victoria Station Damansara.

When we reached there it was a relief as the damage couldn't be seen plus it only involved one of them. So at least the accident wasn't all too bad. Turned out while they were dragging, he lost control of his car and spun 180 degrees and smashed into the divider. Luckily only his left rear tyre hit the divider which bent his axel (which misaligned his rear frame a bit) and cracked his rim. The body and everything else was spared from any damage. Even the divider did not crumble and there were no skid marks. Best part is he missed all the other drivers on the road. Phew. As expected he was a bit shaken up by the whole thing.

We then had to wait for tow truck to arrive before hauling the car to the traffic police station near Petaling Street. After writing the report and taking some pics of the car (which took about an hour plus due to those lazy assholes who actually have beds at their work stations!), we headed towards Ford Service Center in Klang for repair. At the service center, it was our luck that they didn't have any guards (just 2 barking dogs), so we were shouting like monkeys hoping to get someone to open the damn gate. All we wanted to do was leave the car inside and handle the shit in the morning. At the end we had to leave the car right in front of the center at the gate. Damn service center advertised that they have 24 hour towing service but they don't even answer their phones or have a damn guard to let people in when they have an accident after hours. After that was done we dropped the poor dude home and went for breakfast since it was already 6am then. Whole ordeal took around 5 hours plus. Didn't mind much, more like an adventure, plus I would like my friends to help me out as well if I ever got into such a mess.

Weird thing is we did speak to him on that day about not dragging as it was pointless and also because he doesn't really know his car well or anything about cars for that matter. The dude he was dragging with also declined the challenge due to safety reasons. Sigh. Then this shit happens. I can imagine what all could be running through his mind right now. Oh well, we learn from our mistakes right and we should be greatful that no one got hurt.

*Yaaaawn* I better hit the sack now. I got a game of futsal in about 5 hours time. Goodnight folks and please drive safe at all times.

bad news after a fun trip...

Don't you just hate it when you return after a good trip only to receive bad news! Well this just happened to me. I got home from a fun road trip with some mates only to hear not one but 2 bad news. First being my brand new car has a slight scratch on it. Being a person that loves his car more than himself at times, it tore me up. Damn. Thankfully it wasn't deep and not very noticeable as well. Sigh. I guess we all need some slight scratches right. Can't keep it in tip top condition all the time. The 2nd bad news was that the Sri Lanka tour that I had plan to go for in August got cancelled. All because a handful of the others backed out due to some fears that there might be some rebel activity soon. Can't really blame them I guess. Sigh. I was really looking forward to heading back to my roots to see the sights and see how they live. Now I gotta wait till things die down and also another tour is planned. Sigh. I'm heading to bed right now. *Yaaaawn* Will blog about the trip soon enuff. G'nite.

the pweor of a hmuan mnid...

Found this through a forum. Thought it was rather interesting. Give it a try...

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

Did you mngaae to raed it???

cars that i've owned (episode 3)...

Selling Zoe was easy because it had a good value on the market and the car was a great student car so living in a University town I had tonnes of prospective buyers. Before selling her I had to buy my new toy first as a good offer suddenly came up. I was offered a 1992 Nissan NX2000 for only US$3250 (sold Z0e at the end for US$3500). Now the NX2000 is a different breed of car altogether. It was a black 2 door sports car with a 5 speed stick shift, SR20DE powered (2 liters with 140hp and 130 pounds of torque), ABS, all discs and LSD equipped monster which does 0 to 100 kph a little under 8 seconds! The best part was the car was owned by this old couple who had it since it came out and never really ran it in. So the car was practically new except for its age. These cars came out for only 3 years and didn't really sell well due to its weird look (nicknamed the 'egg' by many). Overall in the 3 years I think only about 10k or so of them were ever sold. Now in US, among Japanese import lovers, the car is a rare prize. When it was out then it was considered the 8th best handling car in the world. Once I bought it, cleaned it up, installed a cd player and speakers, it was good to go. This car you could say was my only macho car so far. I called him Max after my last pet dog who was put down prematurely by stupid MPPJ (I might blog about that some day).

Max to me was a different breed than my other cars. This was a sports car which could take all the beating I can give and still have fight in em'. The amount of dumbass American cars that tried to pull a fast one and was left to smell my smoke is amazing. I'm not showing off or anything but some American petrol heads can be really dumb. They figure that having big ass engines will definately kill a Japanese import with smaller engines. C'mon. If only they knew the potential or the facts of what they are up against. Anyways it was fun, to see their face in awe being left behind by a weird looking 'egg'. I'm not saying I race most of the time but when it happens, it happens right. Max was the car that helped me move from Columbia, Missouri to Philly, Pennsylvania which took about 16 hours. I filled it up with all my belongings gathered from the 3 and half years and headed down to Philly where my girlfriend stayed in hopes of securing a job. Sadly that did not work out and before long (4 months or so) I had to head back home. That meant I had to sell Max off after only owning him for 8 months. It was a good 8 months though and I had hopes to bring the car back but it just wasn't meant to be. The conversion from left to right and the crap with Customs. Sigh. From time to time I do miss Max and wished I owned him in Malaysia instead. I would never have sold him if I did. Its a rare jewel.

Well I guess thats all for now. *Yaaaaaaaaaawn* Getting sleepy. G'nite folks!

cars that i've owned (part deux)...

After I managed to get some money from my old man I went ahead and sold off the Corolla for almost the same price I bought it. Lost about 50 bucks but I had the car for a year, so no complaints. I replaced the Corolla with another Toyota called the Tercel. It was a 1995 dark green 1.5 liter automatic coupe. Got the car at a salvage reseller. What they do is they buy cars that went through accidents and the owners just discarded them. They take ownership of it and fix it up. Good as new. Usually the accidents do not involve the front and almost always minor stuff compared to what we fix up here in Malaysia. Good thing for me is the price of the car is almost cut into half.

Comparing to the Corolla it was one hellave ride and soon I called her Zoe. I had this car for about 2 years plus and just like the Corolla it had been everywhere. She was a real easy car to drive. Power was spot on, handling nippy and looked good. Zoe also managed to teach about 5 people how to drive, as well as pass their driving exams to get their licenses. Sadly towards the end one of them crashed Zoe soon after getting her license. And this was while I was back in Malaysia for summer. Luckily it was all body damage and could be fixed easily. By the time I got back to US she looked almost as I had left her.Over the 2 years I did alot of modifications to the car. All by myself as well. This was mainly because labor charges in US are ridiculous and I also had tonnes of free time so it was fun playing around with her. With the money I made from part time work I upgraded my sound system (which to me is the most essential modification for any car), got better brakes, changed the air intake and exhaust as well as added some suspension upgrades. After all was done, the car could really perform. I'm not saying it could beat WRXs or EVOs but it could take some cars bigger than her. The last plan I had for the car was to turbocharge it but something else caught my eye which was much cheaper.

Will blog about that next time. Sadly I don't have a picture of Zoe. Can't seem to find it anywhere. Will post if I do. Cheers.

cars that i've owned (part 1)...

As I stare at my new baby, I can't help but reminisce on all the past cars that I've owned and the adventures that I've had with them. All in all I have had 5 cars total (which includes the new baby) whereby 3 of them were owned while studying in US. I even named all of them except the first car and the recent one (due to it being new, need to run it in and find its character first). I still miss those days in US as cars were relatively cheap and I could sell one off and get another without even having to look for extra money. Over here we would need to beg, borrow or steal just to get another car.

It all started with a dull red 1988 Toyota Corolla. Stick shift of course with. Bought it real cheap at around US$1k to get around town and travel whenever possible. It used to be the only car within our circle of friends and boy did it get thrashed. The AC rarely worked and that was solved by just having the windows wound down most of the time. Thankfully the heater always worked although the insulation was poor, so it would take ages for the car to warm up during winter. Surprisingly for its age and condition, it never did break down. Only problem I ever faced was the muffler rusting away and dropped off. LOL. Still remember that day while driving down Broadway Street when I suddenly heard a scraping metal sound plus my exhaust became noisy as hell. As I looked through my rear view mirror I saw the sparks the muffler was creating scraping on the road and before I could even stop to inspect, it just fell off. Thankfully no one was behind me at that time. I didn't really change much of the Corolla then as I didn't have the money but the car did run up alot of miles. We travelled to and fro from Columbia to Kansas City (3 hours) and also from Columbia to St. Louis (2 hours) almost every weekend. Almost always to grab some nice chinese food or cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. Sigh. It was actually the only period where I didn't worry much about my car. I could take it out and not be bothered if someone hits it or scratches it. I could park it anywhere and be sure it'll still be there when I get back. Sometimes I feel its good to just get a older cheaper car. You tend to worry less.

Thats all for now. Attached on the side is a pic of the car I managed to find.

another year gone by...

Time surely flies. Yesterday was my 26th birthday and I could have sworn I celebrated my 25th birthday not too long ago. I had the pleasure of spending it with my work mates in a 3 bedroom apartment in Malacca. There were 12 of us and we headed up on Saturday for a one nighter. I must say it was a lovely birthday celebration. We had lovely food throughout the weekend and around midnite celebrated my birth with a lovely blueberry cheesecake made by my friend's sister. Much better than Secret Recipe I must add. I guess nothing can beat the taste of home made goodies. To top it off one of my buds got me a bottle of Chivas Regal which is my all time favourite drink. Liquid gold I tell ya! Together we spent the night drinking and chatting away. Ended roughly around 5am whereby we headed out for some lovely Dim Sum. After that we headed back and crashed before checkout time at noon.

Overall the trip was practically a food fest. From chicken rice balls for lunch to munchies like muachi, popiah and nyonya kuehs for tea to satay celup for dinner. After reading about it for months I finally got my hands on satay celup and it was pretty all right I guess. A bit overrated but good enuff. In my opinion the price would be the only thing worth the effort as I've tasted better peanut sauce in Pee Jay itself. I guess if we went to a better restaurant it would have been better but our tour guide was caught up with something and couldn't take us there. We ended up somewhere where one of my mates tried before and looking at the queue of ppl waiting to have a go, I would say they were pretty popular.

All and all it was a great birthday weekend. Spent it at a great place with even greater people. Thankfully this time I did not get wasted and had no hangover to deal with when I woke up. That itself is a blessing. Now I gotta wait another 364 days before I get to celebrate my birthday again. By then god only knows how much I would have changed and where I would be.

Some pictures to enjoy.

new baby in town...

Finally after a long wait I was able to pick up the new gal in my life. Got a call from my sales agent with the good news that she was ready. Headed over immediately to the dealership and there she was. All spick and span. She looked very much better than I had expected. Did a quick run through to make sure she wasn't scared or damaged in any way. Thanked my sales agent for her good and efficient work and headed straight to Klang. Guess why? For some new rims and tyres of cause. If I delayed that I wouldn't get a good offer on my original rims and tyres so I decided to do it immediately. Didn't really have time this weekend as well coz I had plans to head over to Malacca.

Now my baby is sitting pretty at home with new 16 inchers and slick tyres. Sadly I won't be able to drive her around this weekend but we have loads of time to get to know one another. I'm just happy that I finally got her after waiting for so freaking long. I'll post up some pics when I get good shots of her. Damn batteries have run dry. =(

bye bye betty...

It is a sad day today. At 1.05pm I handed over the keys to Betty to her new owner. I am not sure but I don't think I will be seeing her again. It has been a wonderful 2 years and 68 days. We have shared so much together and travelled to some interesting places. Since May this year I had to slowly tear Betty apart and sell off what made her to various people. It was a tough decision but time had come for me to upgrade and I couldn't afford keeping Betty as well.

Never expected it but I was sad when I had to finally hand over Betty. Didn't think it would affect me but it did. Its like a little part of me is gone forever. The process of selling off parts of Betty did not strike me but when finally surrendered the car to the new owner, that is when it hit me. Especially after driving away and knowing I would never see her again. I guess we all move on after awhile. I always had the impression that I would keep Betty and if I upgraded she would still be with me. Sadly that wasn't possible financially.

I wish the new owner all sorts of happy memories with Betty. I doubt she would be called that anymore or even given a name but you never know. The new owner looked responsible enough and was grateful to be owning a car. I hope she will be able to take care of her as how I did. So long dear and hope you live a long life. Till we meet again. Toodles.

are we even safe?

How safe are we? Crime seem to be rampant nowadays and in all forms. Most violent as well. What is happening to our country?! Gone are the days where its pretty safe to take a jog or walk around your neighbourhood or just do some gardening outside your house. Now you have to worry that someone isn't lurking around looking for some quick cash.

Something scary just happened earlier right in front of my house. We were having tea in the living room and I was on the phone with a close family friend. Suddenly comes a red Proton Saga and this tall indian dude walks out smoking. He rings the doorbell. My dad then gets up and goes outside to see whats up. He shows a piece of paper to my dad and ask if he knows where a particular address is. As my dad got closer (thankfully with the gate closed) to look at the paper, he grabs a gold chain around my dad's neck and takes off into the car screaching away. In the car were 2 other indian fellas. As it happened, my dad shouted but what else could he really do?? Luckily when the chain came off, the pendants around it (which were more important) dropped and my dad managed to save them. The chain itself was around 24 grams which I think at todays market rate would be RM1k plus! Arrghh. Thankfully they didn't jump into the house or cause any harm. What a traumatising event. Now I'm worried that they would have targetted our house and might do something even more daring later although my dad thinks otherwise. Why why why? They somehow just decided to stop in front of our house when there are tonnes of others and we were the only ones where the front sliding door was closed. Only thing that you could have seen from outside would be the living room light. No one would have thought we were in or even awake. Sigh.

If anyone comes to your gate nowadays, please take caution. If you do not recognise the person, it would be better to just ignore. You never know what he/she is up to. Arseholes would do anything these days for a quick buck. Bastards!

revenge of the sith...

Aahhhh finally I got to watch Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith last night. Been waiting for a long time for the episode that ties everything together. I must say it was a pretty decent effort this time around, compared to Episode 1 and Episode 2. It was sad to see all the Jedis being killed especially by one of their own. George Lucas is an amzing director. To weave such a story with tonnes of characters and action. Throughout the series my favourite is of course Master Yoda but there was another character that I thought was cool in Episode 3 and that is none other than General Grievous. I love how they managed to make him move, cough and fight. The fluidity (if its even a word) of the movements were simply amazing.

Went to Amcorp Mall today and saw some of the toys, figurines and gadgets they had for sale. from Star Wars. They had the lightsaber (which cost RM600 plus!), figurines from the movies and even Darth Vader's mask with a built in voice changer. The mask cost RM180 and 2 of my mates are gonna get it. Can't wait cos I'm curious of how it will sound and if anyone can even put it on. If only I could afford the figurines because the detail on each of them are astounding and they have all the characters. You could replay the whole movie in your bedroom if needed.

Attached below are the top 3 characters of Episode 3. Interesting images I found online via google.

playstation portable...

After awhile of drooling over the net, I finally got my hands on a Playstation Portable or more commonly known as PSP. My bro managed to buy the US version and loaned it to me. Its been 2 weeks now and boy what a ride!

The clarity of the screen is simply AMAZING. Saw Spiderman 2 movie on it and was practically drooling on the screen. Never expected it to be soo beautiful. Its like owning a pocket plasma screen I tell ya. That itself is a good enuff reason to get the PSP. The games on it is also pretty intensive. Sadly the unit can only last about 3 hours max. All depends on the game your playing, but it only takes about 2 hours or so to get a full charge. All and all not that bad I guess. Only drawback owning this in Malaysia is the games are too freaking expensive! Expect to pay around RM180 to RM250 per game. Can you imagine forking out that much?! The PSP itself cost around RM1400. Sigh. Guess I'll never really own one. Thankfully my bro does so I can loan it from time to time to satisfy my urges.

Seems like the console war is really heating up. Just saw the soft release of XBOX 360. The graphics are simply amazing. Its like being in a movie. The specs of the machine is something else. Soon PS3 will also hit the market and it'll be an all out war. Just like every console battle, the games will really decide the winner. I'm gunning for Sony. Bill Gates has more than enuff money.

thought of the day...

This is something I received via email quite some time ago. Supposed to post it then but had issues with Hello. Anyways I think its sooo true especially where I work.

wtf is up with MU?!

OMG! How can they lose 3-1 to Chelsea?? In Old Trafford as well, the freaking Theater of Dreams!! Jeeeeeez. I saw the first goal from Ruud around the 9th minute and thought MU is gonna have a good run. Thank god I did not stick around for the full game. Would have ended up too pissed to sleep! Sigh. Seems to be a very bad year indeed. Hope their game picks up for the FA Cup which is coming up soon. Don't want them to be walking home empty handed this year. At least hold back something. Damn Chelsea!!

ouch...

Sigh. Today while playing futsal I twisted my knee. Luckily it was towards the end so I got about 45 minutes of game time. Now I'm limping around like a wounded dog. Hurts like hell when I climb stairs or turn. Just gotta rough it out for a bit I guess. Hope it heals in time for next weeks game. Plus now we are planning to play on Saturdays and Sundays. Once a week isn't cutting it. I need more exercise to lose my excess baggage. Eating less isn't helping much. Maybe I should stop drinking often. ;)

you like bananas?

Something interesting my friend emailed me. Didn't even know all these except for the energy part.

After Reading THIS, you'll NEVER look at a banana in the same way again!

Bananas: Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey, undertaken by MIND, amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills -- eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect way to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work?: Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over- acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high- potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine," eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

priceless...

A Story about Jack........

Jack wakes up at home with a huge hangover he can't believe.
He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And, next to them, a single red rose!
Jack sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed.
Jack looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotlessly clean.
So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins, cringes when he sees a huge black eye staring back at him in the bathroom mirror, and notices a note on the table:
"Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to go shopping--Love you!"
He stumbles to the kitchen and sure enough, there is hot breakfast and the morning newspaper.
His son is also at the table, eating. Jack asks, "son...what happened last night?" "Well, you came
home after 3 A.M., drunk and out of your mind. You broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door." "So, why is everything in such perfect order, so clean, I have a rose, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?"
His son replies, "Oh THAT!... Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you screamed, "Leave me alone, lady, I'm married!"

Broken furniture - $85.26
Hot Breakfast - $4.20
Red Rose bud -$3.00
Two Aspirins -$.38

Saying the right thing, at the right time.........Priceless!

grilled chicken foldover...

I finally managed to get my hands on McD's latest which is the Grilled Chicken Foldover. Saw my mate eating it about a week back and have been craving for it ever since. Its good to see McD adding some new items on their menu. My all time favourite is of course the Prosperity Burger (which comes around during Chinese New Year). If only they could have that on the menu all year round.

Back to the grilled chicken foldover. Basically its a piece of flatbread with 2 grilled chicken patties, some tomatoes and greens and topped with some garlicky mayo sauce. It seems to be the healthiest item they have. It taste pretty good too except I would have liked more sauce on it, but thats just me. Its a great change from the usual greasy burgers with fries. Reminds me of the Greek gyros which was my all time favourite meal in the US.

I wouldn't mind heading to McD's again just to get the foldover but I'm a bit disappointed with the price (RM6.50 just for the foldover). Then again I'm disappointed with all of their pricings. None of em' really justified. Fast food in other countries are meant to be cheap and fast but somehow its the opposite in Malaysia. Its cheaper and at times much faster to get a plate of fried kway teow or chicken rice than heading over to Burger King or KFC. Much more satisfying as well. Sadly at times you just have the craving for a Big Mac and there isn't anywhere else that sells it except McD's!

good one liners...

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.

You're getting old when you enjoy remembering things more than doing them.

Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others.

Saving is the best thing. Especially when your parents have done it for you.

They call our language the mother tongue because the father seldom gets to speak.

damn thunderstorms...

Arrgghhh. The damn heavy rain and thunderstorms these past few days have been a BITCH. First when I head out for dinner its either too wet outside or jammed up so we end up eating somewhere nearby to office. Sadly all the shops nearby SUCK! Then 2 days back my freaking adsl modem and router got fried. Arrgghhh. Just when I had some savings to splurge I gotta spend it all on this. Sigh. Why? Why? *sob*

blogging ain't easy...

Sigh. Its been awhile since I had something to blog. I actually still don't. Well it depends. I did but somehow half way I thought it wasn't good enuff and dumped the whole post. Did that about 4 times now since I started this blog. At times I wonder if ppl even read this thing. I know a few of my friends whom are close to me do from time to time, but I'm more interested of the strangers. Ppl who I don't know and might never even know.

Does anyone really read this blog? Do you think I should even continue blogging? What should I blog about?

I actually do know the answers to the questions above. Simply put its to blog about anything. As long as I feel comfortable about it. But somehow it still isn't easy. Sigh.

go red devils...

Finally Manchester United managed a win. After some dismal display of football (losing to lowly Norwich and then Everton), its good to see them back. Hope its to stay as well. Not just a one off thingy. Need them to perform in the upcoming FA Cup finals against Arsenal. Can't be walking off this year empty handed right. Rooney's goal was a beauty I must add but we can't expect him to do everything. If only Ruud will wake his ass up and actually do something!

suck at bowlin'...

Sigh, I really suck at bowling. Played 3 games earlier and only managed to average 78. Did not even touch 100! Aargghh. Damn thumb hurts as well. I still do not know what ball I should use. I was told to use around 16 but I could only manage 13 the most. Anything above and its too freaking heavy to bowl. Thankfully I managed to hit some strikes in all 3 games. So it wasn't all that bad. I also didn't end up bottom in the ranks as there were worse off players than myself. Maybe if I play more often I'll get the hang of it. I remember I could score around 100s some time back, which is like 6 years ago. Ahh screw it. Doubt I'll go bowling again unless as a social event with some mates. All of us can't really play as well so it ain't all that bad.

futsal update...

Woo Hoo! It was a great game. Firstly the new Futsal shoes were great. Nice and light and much better than using trainers. The best news of all is that we beat that college team. The score was 12 to10. It was a good game although they were rather rough. Guess they couldn't change their mindset of playing football on the field. We were up for it anyways and no injuries were reported. Next week we are gonna play another college team. Hopefully we keep the game up. Damn I can't wait already.

Gotta hit the showers now. Going to BSC for some bowling with my office mates. Last time I bowled was like 2 years plus. Hopefully I'll hit some strikes and score above 50. Cheerio.

canadian 2 for 1...

Can you imagine getting 2 pizzas for the price of 1?! Well I stumbled upon a new joint in TTDI which offers exactly that but only for delivery or take out. No worries there since I rather enjoy pizza at home in front of the telly. Got myself 2 regular (10") pizzas (2nd one being free of course). They were the Tandoori and the Canadian Special. Some pretty good shit I must add. The dough was just nice and the toppings fresh. Much better than Dominos and on par if not better than Pizza Hut. And it only cost me RM23.90! Can't beat that anywhere.

The place is called Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza and I just found out they even have a website. Seems like it has nothing to do with Canada at all. All their joints are in either Singapore (HQ) or Indonesia. I guess soon enuff there will be stores all over Malaysia. The offer is pretty hard to beat and I'm sure Malaysians would jump at it. They just gotta market it better. If any of you are around that area, why not give it a try. I doubt you will regret it.

I think I'll go take a nap now. Can't really do much with such a full tummy if you know what I mean. G'day folks.

happy new year...

I would like to take this oppurtunity to wish all indians a Happy New Year and hope that you have a good year ahead. I know its not an official public holiday in Malaysia but I think most would have taken the day off. I myself am on leave, not specifically for the new year, but more of just to relax.

Woke up pretty late and headed to KL this morning. Got myself a new Futsal shoe so that I won't screw up my trainers which is already starting to tear at the seems. Can't wait to try it out this weekend. Just got the news that my mate arranged a match with a college team. Hope we can keep up considering we've only started playing and 50% of us are out of shape. We have been improving though. The first few rounds were more about trying to breathe after 10 minutes. At least now we can last the whole hour without collapsing (with an occasional substitution of course). I'll update on whether we won or how bad we lose.

Good news for Malaysian Indians today. We finally got another channel on Astro. Whoopie! Considering how freaking long it took. Its interesting that its owned mostly by an Indian but we had to wait almost 5 years plus just to get an additional channel. All we had before was ONE half assed channel while there are 12 chinese channels and 3 malay channels (not including the 3 local channels which already cater to them). I guess we are just not big enuff consumers to be taken seriously. I really hope that the new cable service kicks in fast and gives Astro a run for their money. Being the only one has made them rather stuck up and some competition would definately make them rethink their current strategy. I'm sure they are already shitting bricks, hence the new Indian channel. Now they gotta wait for the new sattelite to go up before they can expand, which is roughly in July I think. That should give the new service more than enuff time to set up and expand. God bless competition.

Damn its raining like cats and dogs outside. Lotsa lightning as well. Better end here and shut down the PC. Take care folks. Have a good weekend!

another good weekend...

Ahh it must be a good run. Had another great weekend. Started off as usual with a good game of Futsal. At least now I can breathe through the full 1 hour instead of choking every 10 mins. I see that as oen hellave improvement. After that headed to Bandar Utama to check out the so called 'Branded Warehouse Sale'. Sadly its more like a freaking pasar malam! All the clothing were either pasar malam grade or winter crap dumped from US or Europe. Who in the right mind would buy thick hooded sweaters, long sleeve tees or jackets in Malaysia? Its freaking 30 degrees Celcius (on average) outside! Even if we were lucky, the lowest would be around 25 degrees Celcius and that itself is still hot. I guess its more important to look 'cool' than to feel comfortable.

At night we headed out to Souled Out for dinner and drinks. It was a packed nite as the 'great' Phua Chu Kang (PCK) was visiting. Took us about an hour before we got our damn table. PCK came around 10ish and performed for about an hour. It was okie I guess and since it was free, I can't really complain. His humour has become rather stale though. As usual the draft Guiness was smooth and creamy and it made me a happy camper. Around 1am we headed out to Finnegans in Bangsar to continue our session. Saw some rather fine ladies although they were all over some crappy kwai lows. Damn gold diggers. After closing we ended at Lotus to wind down.

Sunday as always was quiet and slooooooooooow. Woke up around noon and read the dailies. After that camped in front of the telly till dinner. For dinner had some shark curry and mushrooms with rice. Then headed out to a nearby mamak to hang with my high skool mates. Just got back and its time to hit the sack. Yaaaawn. Why can't we have an extra day for weekends? There just isn't enuff time.

streamy??x...

TMNet has decided today to officially rename their broadband service from Streamyx to StreamySUX. This is after initiating their new company vision of 'telling it how it is'. After reviewing their crappy service the last couple of years and how bad they were at maintaining a stable network it would only be right to rename their services offered. As a compensation to their loyal customers, TMNet will lower all fees charged and offer rebates for every outage. They are also being more realistic in matters and relisting their ADSL speeds. The 512Kbps package will be 56Kbps while the new faster 1Mbps will be 112Kbps. TMNet hopes that this new direction will improve the shit of a relationship that they have with their customers and also make them grow into a true Internet Service Provider or at least a freaking honest one. Customers nationwide are not really bothered with this new move as at the end of the day they are still stuck with TMNet and as expected as always. ITS ALL BULL!

weekend...

This weekend was pretty good I guess. Had a good game of Futsal in the afternoon and soon after that hit TGIF for some drinks. Had about 6 jugs with my mates before heading home for a nap. Woke up around 9pm, had a quick bite and headed out to Souled Out for more drinks. Retired around 3am at Medan Hartamas with some mixed grill. I must say it was pretty good shieet. Cooked just right and the portions just nice after a long day. Plus the price wasn't all that bad. Sunday was more of a lazing about day. The weather outside (constant drizzle) was perfect for it. The house was cool and breezy instead of the usual freaking heat and sweat. With the free time I managed to finish a book (Skipping Christmas by John Grisham) and a movie (Ladder 49). Had a nice home cooked meal as well. Capped the nite off with some Watermelon Specials in Murni (SS2) with some buddies. *Yaawn* Think I'll hit the sack now. If only tommorrow was a Public Holiday.

the english language...

Here is something interesting I received via email. I'm sure most of you have read it before and if not here goes.

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Have you ever wondered why everyone has problems with the English language?
Let's face it
English is a stupid language
There is no egg in the eggplant
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple
English muffins were not invented in England
French fries were not invented in France
We sometimes take English for granted
But if we examine its paradoxes we find that
Quicksand takes you down slowly
Boxing rings are square
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig
If writers write, why don't fingers fing?
If the plural of tooth is teeth,
shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth?
If the teacher taught,
Why didn't the preacher praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables,
What the heck does a humanitarian eat?
Why do people recite on a play
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy
Of a language where a house can burn up
As it burns down
And in which you fill in a form
By filling it out
And a bell is only heard once it goes
English was invented by people not computers
And it reflects the creativity of the human race
(Which of course is not a race at all)
That's why
When the stars are out they are visible
But when the lights are out they are invisible
And why when I wind up my watch,
It starts
But when I wind up this conversation,
It ends.

say NO to sri paandis...

Yesterday a group of us went to Sri Paandis (PJ) for dinner. It’s a very popular place which is always packed although I don’t think much of it since I always purge after eating there. Anyways when one of my buddies was on his last spoonful of his roti sardin, he felt something weird in his mouth. Obviously he spat it out to investigate and low and behold it was a freaking insect! God only knows what exactly but it was roughly the size of a cockroach and white in color. By then all of us had finished our meals and was wondering where it came from. Was it from his roti itself or was it from the tray of curries that we shared? After it got passed around the table we called the waiter. A debate then ensued whereby they claimed it was just a piece of onion. How in the freaking world does a piece of onion have an exoskeleton and a head?! They then proceeded to take it to the kitchen to examine only to never come back. When we went to pay, we again brought the topic up but everyone seemed lost like we were high on something. My buddy then pretended to make a call and before you know it the owner showed up. He explained that it was the first time they bought a particular brand of canned sardines and it was most probably from there. They said sorry to my mate, gave back his money and said it won't happen again. Now, how would you feel and what would you do? Can’t really sue because the proof has been discarded and can’t cause a scene coz then we end up looking like idiots. Only thing to really do is to boycott the damn place, spread the news around and maybe call the Department of Health (if it makes a difference). At least then they would be fined and might have to close for a few days or weeks. I’m sure they would lose a hellave lot of profit from that. Then they would feel the pinch. Sadly my mate has decided to not do anything about it. So for now all I can say is PLEASE DO NOT GO TO SRI PAANDIS!!!