USING NO WAY AS WAY.........A TRIBUTE

Getting out of here.........

2006-07-03T00:37:00.000-07:00

Blogger's platform is starting to piss me off. I had a discussion with a technical person to discuss pushing the system to its max and its dissapointing. Tons of people are moving to other platforms everyday and I do not think that Google is doing anything to counter that.

It looks like I need to transfer my posts which so far has not been much (luckily) to another platform. Althought I have lots of posts in mind, I do not think I will do so until I finalise the move to another platform.

Until then, ciao. Thanks for reading. If I do continue posting here. Well, then in that case, I have settled for Blogger.

I Love The World Cup.......

2006-06-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

People always tell me that if you want to watch the world cup, you must bet on a team so that watch that time more "Kan Chiong".
I tell people, "no need bet wannnn. Why spend money unneccesarily........"
Then they ask me "who I support like that".
I say "Haiya, this game unites people marrrrrrr, best team wins lorrrrrr"
I tell you who can win larrrrrrr:

I tell you, Switzerland arrr this year, not bad you know, sure can advance, win I dunno larrr ok . No guarantee wan.

Sweden arrr, always good SOLID team you know, I think can spring a COUPLE of surprises.

Italy I tell you, 'Gaya ada, selalu punya. Tapi Mutu dan keungulan tak tau larrrr'.

If you're more into supporting Asian 'Flava'. Then you maybe can support Korea ok. But if you say win, I say you go back fantasise winning more effective.

England also like Italy larrrr......A lot of style, hype, good presentation, media coverage and all. But when they play arrrrr, supporter can only pray for free kick.........

Even Trinidad & Tobago can show quality and potential........

Haiya, America, what can I say. How to win like thattttt........

Germany, people say got home advantage. But I say they got more than that larrrrr. If they carry on with quality like that, I say then sure can 'tapau' the rest......

Brazil as usual, damn solid, full of spirit, passionate fans, ultra creative players. With players like these, how to lose.............

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!...........Wahhhh, this year, Gus Hiddink do good job man. Assemble dark horse of the tournament. Watch out, the rest of you. Down under(wear), wants to get to the top.

I like Mexico mannnn......passionate fans but like that not enough to beat Brazil......

Wah Biang......Iran, may score a few upsets larrrr, dun pray pray, but like this no hope lorrrrr......

Like that lorrrr. I am sure you will agree and like my "honest" predictions. You all can share my intuition...........

Cheapskate Nation......

2006-06-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

Just last week, it was all over the papers, blogs, and people have gave their feedback. I am talking about the now infamous Reader's Digest survey that Malaysians are rude. Feedback does support that fact.
To a certain extent, I do agree with it. The majority of Malaysians or should I say KLites do lack basic courtesy, patience or put it broadly, civic consciousness. Everywhere I go especially on the road, the worst of Malaysian kiasu-ness and 'me first, screw the rest attitude' is soooooo prevalent. Ever board an Air Asia flight at the new LCC terminal? Ever sat in a cinema and someone's phone rings and he/she answers and keeps on with a conversation as if its their home theater? You know full well what I am talking about.

Recently, I attended the latest MAS (Malaysia Airliness) Annual General Meeting. I was reminded of another thing. Malaysians are cheap. Now, this is a branch out of the rude self-centered attitude. This time, a good example would be how Malaysians behave when they attend open houses (free food) or scramble to get something when it is 'FREE!' Look at the 'amah', or 'aunties' go on their mad dash.

Now, where was I, yeah, Malaysia Airlines AGM. Now, the AGM is attended majorly by shareholders and their proxies. We are talking about a major corporation in Malaysia, so when the secretary of the board announces that there is a quorum (in terms of shareholders), I assume, there must be a total attendance of people representing shares worth few hundred million total at least. Now, this crowd must be the affluent crowd, the rich, the so called success, that they have soooo much money to invest. So we are not talking about the general crowd here.

Its well known that at company AGMs, shareholders expects door gifts, nice food, nice venue etc. etc. This time, it was held at the MAS Academy at Kelana Jaya itself. One thing I noticed, many people actually come for the meeting for this purpose only (free gifts,free food). I don't think they understand what is going on in the meeting.

The meeting lasted 2 and a half hours and sure enough, as my prediction goes, everyone, from the uncles, aunties, grandfathers, all, rushed to the exit. Not walking but running. FOR WHAT!!!! For the free buffet at the cafeteria. I mean, they were running down the staircase (yes even the grannies) as if the building caught fire. I observed the pandemonium and about a minute later as expected, they jammed the tiny entrance to the cafeteria.

This is not all, as soon as they got to the spread, well, you name it, messing the food, cutting queues, impatiently trying to grab the ladles and so on. This plain idiotic uncle in nice office attire actually tried to reach for a dish that was obviously too far for him and the consequence, I got a few dots of curry on my shirt. The younger generation has to tell the older guy to chill. This guy could probably be the owner of millions worth of shares and afford abalone for lunch and yet, this behaviour prevails.

At last, after finishing my meal, I walked pass the buffet again and took a picture of this sign (I actually found this amusing). You would expect this sign at say, Samy Vellu's deepavali open house, but at the MAS AGM, hmmmmm, affluent crowd, well, no difference, rude will be rude, cheap will be cheap.

A picture speaks a thousand words. The need to put up this sign tells us heaps about KLites behaviour. I am not surprised that even with this sign, people will still tapau for their whole family for lunch and also for dinner and supper. "BUD-GET mahhhhhh......"

A Reason To Celebrate.....

2006-06-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

Well, first of all, its not my birthday celebration. Its my friends' and well, well, well. It was a packed week full of it.

I don't know much about "good times" or as chinese like to put it, "auspicious moments" in the year to get married, where the stars are in line and the gods favor you. This could be an astrology or feng shui question for chinese taoist, but generally, if you calculated the 9-months period that it takes from baby making activities till the day a baby pops out into the world, it looks like mid to end of September must be good times to either get married or perhaps, the climate and environmental aura that allows passionate moments for making love ;)

OR if you wanna reverse engineer it, perhaps if the pregnancy was planned to start in the period mentioned above, maybe the end of June must be a good time to give birth and for the mother to recuperate. OR its purposely planned for a good and convenient time for people to celebrate birthdays.

Whichever of the above 2 scenarios you choose to believe, I swear to you, all this is not co-incidence. The amount of birthdays last-week is enough proof of my theories above. The last count, I was looking at 7 and those were just people I knew well, not all I knew (co-incidence you say).

Well, lots of birthdays means lots of money spent for shopping presents and for me, it comes at an extra cost. I am not good with presents and people could see me wondering from store to store trying to figure out who likes what and so on. Well, everyone says, its the thought that counts, but for me, thats a no no. A useful present where the birthday boy/girl actually uses it or enjoys it is far more meaningful than "Yeah, Here is a RM0.50 keychain I bought from Bali" and say, " Hey mann, here you go , remember, its the thoughts that count." Well, I shared some presents and therefore did not have to shop for everyone. Thanks to those who helped.

The last few weekends were quiet, but this week *wipes sweat from brow*. It was fantastic!!!!!. On saturday, it was 6 people trying to squeeze their birthdays. Fortunately, 3 was in one place and 2 was in another, the 1 left was my grand-uncle who became an octogenerian, now that definitely validates a celebration. Its no mean feat.

It was fantastic for me because I met so many people I have never met in a long time particularly in Yew Kheong's house. Meeting people and catching up is always fantastic, for the sheer enjoyment and also for a simple good laugh.

Well, at noon, tables at Shangri-la was booked for this restaurant:

Naturally, noon was still too early for some of us heavy sleepers, who had to rush to KL.
Well, it was Cindy's birthday:

This is the first time I tried the Japanese buffet here. It was alright, with the usual Japanese fare. One thing I can comment about these hotel buffets compared to what you get at say Saisaki (Menara UOA), or Shogun (1-Utama) is that the quality tends to be better. Well, without the discount, the prices naturally were double to those 2 mentioned above. I mean, its Shang-gri-la you know.....

The Interior Was Typical Of Japanese Fine Dining

One For The Doggy Bag

Li Li Au Is Good At Food Presentation

Teppanyaki Steak Was Fantastically Done. The 'Chawan Mushi' Has Endangered Sharks Fin

I Agree, The Syrup Or Whatever That is Tasted Weird

Haven't Seen This Girl For A Long Time. Well, She Came Out Of Hiding With This Cute Wannabe Pose :)

I can't eat much at buffets, but the meal after discount was still worth it. The food was of high quality and the sashimi was cut and presented nicely.

After that hefty meal, a few hours later, it was time to stuff myself again, but this time, it was Chinese cuisine. Yup, got a full course chinese meal (Restoran Chuai Heng, Jalan Kuchai Lama) treat from my octogenarian granduncle:

My pilot friends would probably recognize the guy behind the old man with a slight tinge of terror :)

Anyways, congratulations to "kau kong" for making it this far with a positive attitude in life. As for me, I was stuffed. Too much good food in a day.

After the meal, it was a quick thank you and goodbye and I rushed to Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. To Yew Kheong's beautiful house. There, it was for Yew Kheong, Lucinda and Godwin's birthday.

The Happy Birthday Couple. Don't They Look Happy

Godwin With His Present

Drinking Games Are Compulsory

Not Sure Why This Guy Is Always The Usual Target :)

Abel & Candice

Another Happy Couple

Honestly, I Have No Idea What Leanne Was Attempting.......Oh Well

Choon Ping looks like he is having a jolly good time. He even gave me a free back massage:

Trust me, this wasn't due to alcohol......

Well, me and Shirley began getting lots of SMSes by the guys to get our arses to KL as we promised. It was half-past midnight and Shirley and I were a little exhausted. But we proceeded to the next venue crusing pass the night lights of KL city to here:

We were at the right area, but I has no idea where I was going. So it was a bit of searching.

The name sounds like this one but nope. Wrong one.

Well, after some phone exchanges with Charles, we found it:

To get to the big picture:

It was my first time here and this was one club with a difference in terms of the interior. It looks at though they refurbished a pre-war shop house building. The interior was, bricks and more bricks, layered messily with lumps of concrete here and there. The so called chandelior was old and it had this abandoned old warehouse feel. The designers did quite a good job with the minimalist decor.

Here they were, all tired and waiting for some later comers :)

I was glad that it was the final event of the day for me as I was already rusted and so was Shirley. These were the remaining photos of the night:

Look At Our Eyes. It Was A Long But Good Day

This dancer was good, with the braids and all the right outfit for maximum effect and so on. However, I thought it was a guy and 'it' turned around and it was a gurl:

I know, I know, you all go "soooo whatttt"....Well, it, I mean she danced with so much energy that it was not sensual but masculine like......She could give me a few pointers.

Does this club believe in feng shui and all. This dolls spotted was placed in a weird location. It looked scary too. Like Balinese:

Waving At You

It was the end then. The end of the day that is. A long day with a positive outcome. Its time to chill out on sunday. I sincerely hoped the birthday people had a great time, after all, its their day.
If birthdays bring such positive vibes to people, then hey, bring it on more often. Until then, ciao people.......

You know you had a shitty day when........

2006-06-23T06:50:00.000-07:00

RM 180 for medicine + RM68 for consultation + RM12 for hospital fees = RM 260 *SIGH*

1. You go to a doctor to get diagnosed for a skin condition.

2. The doctor tells you its Shingles, and could be due to extreme stress and I have a damaged nerve starting from the middle of my chest leading towards the right side of my body on the front continuing all the way back to my spine.

3. The doctor tries to advice you on lifestyle and tells me to slow down (dude am I 80 or what).

4. You leave the medical centre and an arsehole blocks the road and don't want to give way. You honk him and he turns into a road bully. He ask to go somewhere and "settle". I told him to go fuck himself.

5. Pissed off and on the way back, my sinus starts its usual flare up once again. *sigh* its manufacturing tissue dumplings time.

The last 2 weeks, suck arse, due to circumstances most of my friends already know. It lead to the deterioration of my body due to cortisol overload. Shit, I lost 3 kilos over that period. Last week I weight myself I was a shocking 55 kilos. The day before I weight myself again I gained back 1 kilo.
I need to control the adrenalin in my blood......Ohhh, by the way, I got my blood pressure checked by the doctor, he asked me to calm down if I don't wanna die young.....

So calm down I tried, well, just sing:

"Cause you had a bad day,
You're taking one down ,
You sing a sad song just to turn it around,
You say you don't know,
You tell me don't lie,
You work at a smile and you go for a ride,
You had a bad day,
The camera don't lie,
You're coming back down and you really don't mind,
You had a bad day, You had a bad day"

Tomorrow is a day of friends birthday celebrations. Got to be better.

Innovation.........

2006-06-21T23:27:00.000-07:00

It never cease to amaze me what creative minds can think off. Its even more amazing when what is thought of can work.

Recently, I went to 'Baywatch' to catch a World Cup match. Well, damn near my place, but I did not even bother to go there to check it out after all these years. Baywatch, was designed as a hangout near Taman Bukit Mayang, next to Aman Suria and Kampung Cempaka. The place has a beach theme, complete with a shark in an aquarium.

Well, what I liked is the way they served beer. Introducing the Bazooka:

When they brought it to my table, I was like, "What the hell. Who ordered this ?"

The capacity is around 3.5 litres, however, if you look closely, there is something like a block of ice inside. Actually, its an old mineral water bottle frozen with ice inside so that the beer is not diluted when the ice melts. That takes another say 500 - 600ml space of beer. So the actual content of beer is around 3 litres. Around 2 - 3 jugs I guess.

The dispensing of beer is very quick, so tilting the glass is essential and also, let the beer flow slowly on the release knob.

Well, although I am not an alcohol consumer, I still like to play around with these things :

So I became the bartender :)

Let The Competition Roll..........

2006-06-21T02:43:00.000-07:00

NO!!!!! THIS IS NOT BOLASEPAK OR well.....SOCCER............

I am talking about business competition. Well, it looks like the battle over our dollar bills by the cinema industry is heating up real good in the relatively new township of Mutiara Damansara. On the South, we have Bandar Utama, and on the Northern side, we have Mutiara.
1-Utama vs. The Curve.

You, see, even with the pirated DVD situation, Malaysians are still very fond of visiting the big-screen for a film. I mean why not, today's cineplexes are absolutely wonderful. Now, as they are flowering everywhere, it looks like difficulty in getting a good seat to a popular movie is a thing of the pass (well, at least for PJ folks). Before GSC opened their doors at 1-Utama, we movie-goers had little choice. Its between TGV at 1-Utama or its begging for tickets at Mid-Valley. Advanced bookings for popular movies were ridiculous. 3 to 5 days in advanced.

The reason I choose to blog this is that when I mentioned about this new wonderful cineplex to people, very few knew it was opened. Something for their marketing team to think about. I am here to help them out as so far, their service has been examplary.

This cineplex is opened by the Cathay Group. They were the biggies in the last generation of massive single hall cinemas such as the ones in Bukit Bintang and OUG. Places where I went to see films like Superman 4, Willow, Roger Rabbit, City Hunter, Home Alone, etc. when I was kid. Suddenly, they fizzled out. Until the post-modern cineplexes opened, Cathay was missing in the Federal Territory. Now, they are back, bigger and better. Very impressive comeback indeed.

Well, since I live so close to this place, first of all, for me it damn convenient to purchase tickets and also parking so far is a breeze.

The building is massive. Don't let the exterior fool you. Purpose built for a 10 screen cinema complex and lots of retail outlets to compliment The Curve, Ikano Power Centre and Ikea, not to mention the nearby Tesco. So its all in one. Well, the majority of the hot chicks are still at 1-Utama :)

Well, besides the staff, the design of the seats are comfortable, with a larger armrest. I still don't understand how come the new cinemas do not design the arm rests to be able to be lifted for couples to cuddle, or allow us to lie down or stretch our legs in an empty cinema. Leg room is normal and the elevation is pretty comfortable for viewing (tall people will not block view).

Don't ask me about the pop-corn, I haven't tried it.

There is a customer service area:

You can even book a lounge for gatherings, birthday parties, corporate events and so on:

Here is the general Box-Office Area. 2 Snack bars and also a Big-Screen for previews:

The merchandise shop is at best pathetic at the moment, DVDs are for sale but looks like thats all to it now:

Ticketing Counter (my camera sux, I know that) :

And errrrr .....what else, well, how bout hot & friendly chicks manning the ticket booth:

But as I was about to snap, she goes walking away...damn...in fact, she was the outstanding one (as in hot chick :)

In conclusion to this post, besides me needing a new camera, I hope they give TGV and GSC a good run for their money. In the near future, a bowling alley will pop up. Another reason to avoid the crowd at 1-Utama, and another reason for well,......hot chicks from 1-Utama to hang out at The Curve :)

Wow....I Live In A City....

2006-06-20T04:22:00.000-07:00

Headlines Screaming " Petaling Jaya, Ke Arah Bandaraya...."

I go, "Woo Hoo"....yeah right....Who Cares...........

A Quiet Saturday......

2006-06-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

A Sillouette Emerges

Who Could That Be ?

Well, its Li Li Au

Where were we heading to? Well, here is a clue:

Yes, it was Saturday night and I was stuck with nothing interesting to do. Clubbing was the last thing on my mind, but thanks to Charles Chen, he had some VIP Tickets to the "NEW MAN" magazine annivesary or something. Well, worth a shot, so it was down to KL and went to the ever popular :

Well, there were events:

and there was something that would make any event in Malaysia packed with crowds:

Free Alcohol !!!!!!!!

We did not club till the wee hours in the morning but while we were in there, it was mandatory to take a few pictures. So there you go:

Thanks For The Entry Tickets

Li Li Au......Vodka Lime Is Yellow???

Miss Klang.......Meng Chia

Which One Is Tip-Toeing?

Don't the cups look like the ones for collecting samples at a sperm bank. Or worst, the one's used for collecting urine when you're suspected of substance abuse.

Everyone Look, I'm Smiling

Until then, ciao people......

Don't Be Evil.....

2006-06-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is the Tag line to none other than the most popular search engine in the world:

This is not new.You may have probably heard this before. You probably have read this is various marketing web-sites and Google becoming the bane of jokes in several web-sites and blogs. I have been monitoring the situation as Paypal so far has dissapointed me with their lax customer service. Let me explain:

About the Google phenomenon. Everyone knows that for Google to please their shareholders, they want to dominate every sector online and this includes beating Paypal (top online payment processor in terms of market share, owned by eBay) to the top spot. They plan to name the service GBUY.

As I have mentioned, this is not news. However, after countless jokes about its name by the cantonese community, blogs etc. I assumed that the people at G-LAND would have caught up and reviewed the name and it has been quiet since then. I was wondering if they have shelfed the project. But NO. Recently, I received some news from one of the several marketing newsletters I subscribe to and it looks like a roll out is coming with the name 99% confirmed to be......well, GBUY.

This one is part of British Entreprenuer William Charlwood's "Definitive Guide To Google Adsense Newsletter (15/6/2006)" :

"So on June 28th this year it is expected that Google will be making quite an important announcement about online money transmission.Gbuy is a logical step for Google because it will enable advertisers using its AdWords system to complete the sales transaction. This will let advertisers get very precise details about how effective theirAdWords advertising is. If, as I expect, it starts to show thatadvertising like this can be highly profitable, more so than manybusinesses realise, then bid prices will rise and so will AdSenseclick value."

Endless Jokes.......

Well, here is my theory, perhaps they heard of the hoo-haaa this has been generating in the chinese community. We all know how desperate GOOGLE wants to penetrate into the Chinese market. Well, they now have a very effective viral marketing strategy, albeit a very vulgar one. I wonder what will be the perception of the massive chinese market. Apparently, Google could achieve its branding aims using buzz marketing in East Asia whether good or bad......Well, Google whatever you do...Don't Be Evil......

Its inevitable, in the very near future, we are gonna hear lots of :

"Hey I bought this dress at so and so web-site and paid with (my :) GBUY" .

Hey how did you pay for that Nokia phone online? Ohhhh thats easy, I used GBUY.

"Customer: How can I pay? Merchant: Well, thats simple I can accept GBUY."

"Customer email: Scuse me, do you accept GBUY for payment."

Go on, create your own....... bye bye... :)

Five Stars my arse.....

2006-06-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

Regarding my post yesterday on Malaysian customer service, I was going through 'THE STAR' newspaper today and found a letter written by a reader S.H. Tan which echos my sentiments:

Reference:
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/6/16/focus/14552198&sec=focus

Letter in full:

Friday June 16, 2006
Errant resorts giving us bad name
I HAVE been reading some unbiased travellers’ reviews of several well-known resorts in Malaysia posted on the Internet.
I feel embarrassed as a Malaysian after reading the reviews. What consistently show up are the poor service mentality, poor maintenance and upkeep and discourteous and rude staff.
These are all well-known, so-called five-star resorts in the Cameron Highlands and Penang. Many of these reviewers say they will not return to these resorts again.
In stark contrast, the reviews of the lesser resorts in Bali, Phuket and Vietnam are so much more complimentary.
The people at these resorts are so eager to please their customers. The irony is some of these so-called third world countries are fast overtaking us in many ways.
We may have the best infrastructure but if we do not have first-class mentality we will remain a third-class country forever.
The management of our holiday resorts need to take customers’ feedback and complaints seriously.
Service mentality needs to be their top priority.
In this age of Internet and borderless world, bad publicity travels far and fast.

S.H. TAN,
Penang.

Well, enough said. Hope the reader could come here and post the names of those 'five-star third-world' resorts.

A Malaysian Consumer Speaks........

2006-06-15T04:59:00.000-07:00

When I was studying Business Planning in University. My lecturer always emphasised that if a business does not have a clear USP (Unique Selling Proposition). It can always fall back to providing good customer service. That could be a USP by itself. Have you ever made a purchase solely because the service was good. In fact, I tend to support businesses who are selling competitive products just because I can get great service on purchase and also after the transaction.

In fact, I go one step further to emphasise that no matter what business you're in, you're effectively in the service industry. No, not only businesses who sell the 'invisible' (non-tangible products). But lets just say you're selling FERN Butter, well, effectively you are not in the butter business but you pull your broad-vision back and you find that you're in the business/service of providing the consumer with a quality product and providing the service of helping the retail outlet make money by moving the product. There you go, win-win-win situation and you make lots of $$$$$$.

This IS THE main basic principle of business and stupid people (yes even large corporations) tend to forget about this. No matter how much technology advances or the economic climate and environment changes, this rule will never ever ever change as long as there are businesses and trading in existence.

How, then could companies large and small fail to put the utmost importance in this department. Yes, billions are spent on the so called advertising budget, operational, manufacturing, marketing, human resource, accounting, administration, and at the end of the day, the consumer pays for all this. When all these departments work in harmony, the business grows and succeed. However, a weakest link in this chain could mean disaster for the business. Yes, just one department fucks-up and thats it.

I believe every great businessman would agree with me that customer feedback is one of the most important aspects as products are created based on market demands. There must be market conversations to shape a business. What I do not understand is how some of the lowest paid employees are the actual people put to the battlefield of dealing with customers.

Well, as I have travelled around the world and lived in Australia for quite some time. I would say that customer service is so much more forward than what we have here in good ol' BOLEHLAND.

In Australia, without fail, I get a friendly smile from the sales assistants, A nice "Hey how's it goin' ? " without fail. Even the janitor greets me. I return a faulty product, and I get an instant "sorry" and no questions asked with a smile.

Now, some of you all may be saying, "Haiya, Australia so developed blah blah blah..."

Let me say that this is not a battle of the developed nations. I would say that the great Kingdom Of Thailand has some of the greatest customer service I have ever encountered. In fact, world class, having been there so many times. From the cinema, to the supermarket, to the retail outlets, to the cab drivers.

In Malaysia, its as if we owe them something. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying the whole nation is like that. I would give due credit to good businesses by recommending to friends and become a repeat customer myself.

However, businesses that treat consumers badly has gone on for too long. Some customers even gets conned by large businesses. I give a score of a big ' A ' to these bussinesses. Yeah, A for APPALLING .

Having said all that, I would love to establish my mini HALL OF SHAME to businesses who could definitely change for the better and learn to appreciate customers. I hope this could be a regular here in this blog.

Here is the first outlet to enter the AHLOKKOR Customer Service Hall Of Shame:

Notice this guy reading a mag on the job

Now, I am not bitching because business was slow and he was reading a mag. Here is what happened.

Me: (Looking at the Handycam, and MiniDVs right in front of him, he pretended to not notice me) Scuse me

Him: Pretending he did not see me.

Me: Errrrr, Scuse me, hi do you have Mini Disc?

Him: (He kept staring at his mag as if he was looking at some females' boobs or something). No have! No have! (spoke in a rude tone while raising his hand).

Me: I asked you properly (He did not seem to understand, I walked away disgusted).

In fact, I wanted to ask about the Handycams and SLR Cameras. Well, he just lost a possible sale. You may be thinking what kind of shop this is. Is it some SS2 small electrical outlet. Well, no, ironically, its an Australian chain:

Ikano Branch

Well, enough said. Hope to post more in future.

YAHOO SUX!!!!!!! BIG TIME!!!!!!

2006-06-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

Its now been 2 days that I can't access the Inbox of my Yahoomail Account. I can log in alright, but I can't enter into my inbox. This sux. Why must it happen to my most important account. I checked the techies forums all over the web and I was not alone. In fact, the problem I was having has been ongoing for years. Apparently, everyone came to a conclusion. YahooMail sux. Second in line would be Hotmail. Whats with these free services. They have hundreds of millions of members. They make billions from us and we get this shit. I was not willing to join the Gmail herd, but after opening one account. I guess I will be opening many more.

People, do back up your important files. Storing it on email accounts may be secured by trust me. Things can screw up anytime even if its one of these huge mega corporations.

Its time for a lot of time consuming work now of trasferring accounts. *sigh*

Yahoo!!!! FUck you for wasting my time and losing so much of my work......Piece of shit....!!!!!!

Well, now that I got that off my chest...........I don't think I feel better. The workload is unimaginable.

Time Distortion........

2006-06-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

This ones for the RMIT crew.

Ever felt that you have spent a load of time with someone when the reality is that its only been a few hours. Well, yesterday evening was interesting. In the wee hours in the morning having remembered that 'Juice' was in town(as in Joyce from Kuching), I messaged her and got a reply late morning. I totally forgot that I sent that message and when I checked in the afternoon, she messaged me back. I called her and apparently she was hanging around Bukit Bintang with another Kuching lass, JO.

So naturally I finished my work and drove to Bukit Bintang where I met them at Starbucks. Having not met her for quite sometime. The conversation obviously went out of control while I was arranging for Miss Ngeow 'Sunway VIP' Pui Lin to meet us. Well, I thought I would stay around the Bukit Bintang area having paid the grossly expensive carpark fees. Well, apparently these poor girls' holiday to KL was well, kind of restricted to Bukit Bintang and Jalan Alor.

Kuching Crew

So it was time to meet Pui Lin who kindly drove us with some amazing cut in cut out of traffic skills (Thank god Joyce is not driving in KL traffic : ) to Petaling Street and it was chit-chat all over again. We had 'siew-yok mien' and the clay-pot 'rat-noodles' for dinner.

How Does She Stay So Young

Dinner

I was honestly getting sleepy and also longing for some mini-road trip to revive my interest and energy. Then, it came, the call from the one, the only PREM DA Great (not!). Well, it definitely made my night seem much much longer. Da Great came and picked us up after dinner, it was to the next venue, where DA Great was craving for Kilkennys & Hoe Garden. So the obvious venue was Finnegans. Me, not being a fan of alcohol went NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!.

Since the Kuching Crew was down, I made a nice offer to take a drive East-wards and this is where we ended up:

No Prizes For Guessing Where This Is

Was The Bar Named 'Patio'???

Well, the trip felt even longer as Da Great gamely, tried to pull me into a conversation on 'sensitive topics'. As everyone knows how to deal with the motormouth situation of Da Great, silence is a great strategy. She did receive a few doses of my " AHHHH SHA-DAP!!!!! ".

Well, my sinus was starting to flare up again as we reached the top and then well, it was straight to the alcohol..........and more chit-chatting. It felt like a semester worth of conversations, and this time, Da Great was giving me the silent treatment. *sigh*, why can't we just be friends. The band at the bar gave us some impressive 'Pin-Yin' karaoke like performances and it was pretty fun watching China uncles having a drunken good time.

Alcoholics Anonymous

Well, I really felt dead so I needed my dose of caffeine and so it was on to the next venue:

With the chilly weather, drinking this was the best feeling in the world

Well, the night where I planned to meet up with the Kuching crew at Bukit Bintang for awhile, ended up in the mountains. Obviously, I crashed when I got home. I did not even know what time it was. It was nice to meet up again. It really revived those 'times' and it would have been great if the Singapore gang was up here as well. I felt at peace (must be the excessive inhaled 'minyak angin') and until then, I hope we meet again next time.

And Prem Da Great, you're a really nice friend :) ..... Please keep knocking my head if you see me starting digging a deeper hole for myself......

The Sport That Unites.....

2006-06-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

Every 4 years, a sporting event occurs that is often touted as a removal of barriers in this fast globalising world. Yes, of course, its the WORLD CUP. Its a time when men behave in every weird manner possible. It is also often a time when loved ones are neglected. Functions and meetings cancelled. Employees mysteriously fall ill and lets not forget, a time if you are a manager or supervisor where you get the most creative and often unthinkable excuses from staff not wanting to attend to their jobs. Furthermore, we also have this amazing breed of people who believe that they can earn their living expenses to support them for the next 4 years just by being 'sharp' and picking the right results.

Well, those are some cons. The great single pro of this event is that, it brings people together. It is a reason to celebrate and meet up with people that you have not met for a long time for a common purpose. On a larger scale, it gives the world a reason to celebrate our similarities. That to me, is the most important aspect of the event.

Following this spirit, Yew Kheong asked me to attend a screening at my hometown, Taman Desa off Old Klang Road. Well, here was the venue:

A Very Successful Mamak Restaurant, Quality Food

Yes, Your Eyes Are Alright, Thats Me Watching Football

The Gym Junkie

Tai Kar Chea

Lee Yew kheong, an avid Fan Of The Game That Unites

Tadika Desa Mates

I know that I am probably one of the worst football fans out there. In fact, not really a fan at all. However, meeting up with everyone for a good laugh makes watching the games all worth it.

Body Art With A Purpose

2006-06-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

I love this topic. I can talk about it endlessly. I will be the guy throwing out advice and helping friends get and create a pattern that is deemed suitable for them. Yes, we are now in the domain of tattoos. Now before I get stereotyped by being called Ah Beng, Yakuza, wannabe, tribal leader, shaman, bomoh, gang leader and thousands of other names. Lets get to the first reason why I got a tattoo.

My First Tattoo

Well, honestly speaking, the one with the 'Jeet Kune Do' logo. I found a new inspiration that helped me moved on during difficult times. That person that inspired me and I would dare say changed my life till today was a dead man even before I was born. Do a search on 'Jeet Kune Do' and find out who this person is (if you don't know). A philosopher that was ahead of his time. Futhermore, quite simply this one was a present from my dear sisters, younger and older. A very nice 21st birthday present.

The Second One

The second tattoo I got was a tribal abstract on my left deltoids. I don't know what inspired this pattern but my very creative and artistic friend Lee Kim Yew prepared the flash art for me after I showed him the basic lines. This one was a continuation of my personal journey of body canvassing. This one is was a 21st birthday present from my buddies at RMIT. We did have a good debate on what was supposed to go on my thigh but I ended up doing my shoulder first. Well, there you go, 2 works of art on my skin as a canvas in a space of less than 3 months.

I get these questions many many times:

i) Why do you want to do this ahhh????
ii) Not pain mehhh???
iii) Do you know what your tattoos mean or not ah (trying to take a jab at me)???

Sometimes I don't bother answering people as a minority are narrow-minded. However, the people usually will end up into 2 groups:

i) Wei, I want to do ahhh.....what to tattoo ahhhh???

ii) I think its stupid, only stupid people do it (you get my drift).

The former, will usually talk and talk and talk hoping that the art will just magically appear on their desired part of their body and years to come, there is still no art. The latter will be the 'holier than thou' crowd who thinks its the work of the devil and that pumping some ink into your skin will make you change as a person, you will get schizophrenia, you dick will shrink, your mother will abandon you (well maybe), you will get brain cancer, you will go to hell, blah, blah, blah...........

The practice of getting inked dates back a very long time. If your mind is not as narrow as an ass-crack of certain people, you'll probably want to do some research on this practice before getting inked yourself. What I do know is that most-tribal groups around the world has their own respective motifs and themes. To most of these tribes, getting a tattoo is usually reserved for the coming of age ceremony of a person. Of course, the more travelled or experienced you are, the more tattoos you have. Here is a fantastic resources on tattoos around the world.

Well, today, the purpose of getting a tattoo has not changed much. Although rebellion is one of them, to me, it is sort of like a coming of age thingy. The only thing is, it is self-declared. Whats more, it has became a damn big deal of an issue when it pops up in social conversations.

"How are you gonna get a decent job?"
"What if you grow old and your skin wrinkles?"

Dude!!!!! These people have to chill out. People, make an intelligent decision and go for it. There is no turning back. If you think its not right, then don't do it. Life is too short. Its not like you're making a decision to base jump off the twin-towers.

"I-M-SO-COOL MANNNN"

Some people who are new to this art-form thinks its cool. Well, some tattoos are cool, however, since its so common nowadays, a person that has one today cease to have everyone staring at them like they used to in the past. In fact, in contemporary society, its also a fashion statement.

This Guy THINKS He Is Cool!

Its commonly accepted that males should have large tattoos. Guys, go for the entire chest, back shoulders, legs and sometimes, their nether regions.

"Stop Staring Baby, I know I am Good-lookin"

Females generally as a personal believe should not get large tattoos, but what I call teasing tattoos. These are small coloured tattoos located at bodyparts aimed to tease. You know, like "Hey mann, you wanna see more" kind of tattoos. Its no accident that you see many girls tattooing their lower backs, shoulders, above the crotch and cleavage. I don't know about you but, large single tattoos for females to me is a no-no. But ladies, don't come out with this kind of jokes:

So cute, so cute BELCH!!!!!

Some people just wanna tell a story:

Well, there you go, a little bit of insight. You are welcomed to discuss with me if you wanna get one. However, let me warn you, its addictive and don't go blaming me if you got one after reading this. However, I do not reccomend you getting too many. If you insist, please do not end up like this :

Sexy or not, you judge :)

Whats Coming Up............

2006-06-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

AH LOK says:

" I don't want to sit around imagining what could have been anymore or thinking about giving up on life, contemplating suicide, feeling sad and so on. I need to move on......QUICK!!!!!!...Sounds easy eh! C'mon Ah Lok, You can get over cheaters quickly.

Well, I have been having a short discussion with dear Blossom on MSN. We discussed and agreed on everything we do mentally & physically needing energy and how we spend our energy determines our lives' outcome. So why don't I use the energy that it takes to be sad and all to turn it into something more positive. I contemplated my next move and hmmmmm........Its obvious, I asked myself what would I like to do if I am too free and too rich. I pondered over that "what if" scenario for a moment. Well, the answer is simple.........MAKE FILMS!!!!!! People invest in properties, bonds, stocks, I invest in films. But before anyone opens their chequebook to a budding filmaker, let me warn you that the success rate of these investments are only about 10%. So there is a 90% chance all films will flop.

The Filming Gear

Yeah, going back to my uni degree roots. Yup, I know what some of you are thinking, make films???? This guy???? Yeah Right???? He can't even Pan the camera on a close-up and is hopeless at handling the MAC for editing..........AH LOK still says why not, with a typical entreprenuerial approach: "You can get volunteers who wanna have fun like I do to join in".
With current budgets, there will be no A-List stars, no bloody expensive props. In fact, the mis-en-scene should be very very limited to the natural background of the film location.

The Work At Home Director

Best Attempt At StoryBoarding

Yes, as mentioned earlier, I need a 'set' of crew. Well, for a partner, look no further than OFUSAN. he's DA MANNN!!!!!!! About the scripts. Well, all of the plots & narratives I can think of now are something to do with : loser ---> winner OR failure ---> success, type plots. How about something lovey dovey mushy feely and all. Well, I have my reservations. I might have to do the acting as well. (*shock*horror* reaction from some people). Now is a good time, its easy to release tears in demand *sigh*.

Or I could add a 'twist' to the narrative, ala Brokeback Mountain. In which I know my protagonists could be *presents*..... the One, the Only..... COLIN & KERO. I am sure this will be a hit in Singapore as well as very gay Thailand. *shivers*. I will definitely make millions. (To gay friends/people reading this, its just a joke ok, and leave it at that).

For anyone, who are thinking that I am going to make "PRODUKSI PERAIRAN ANTARABANGSA SDN BHD." (International Waters Productions Pty. Ltd.) type of films. Well, I have to dissapoint you guys. However, if anyone is game to be the actor and actress especially, you are more than welcome to propose. (if anyone is blur here about this, you can ask me).

Lights! Camera! errrrrr......*yawn*.....Action!!!!

As for now, I say ciao to everybody...... I 'lub' you all........watch out for my first production, coming soon at a blogo-plex near you. I'm serious......

"HOW CAN LOVE BE SO BANAL.........."

2006-06-05T19:55:00.000-07:00

The search for meaning is one of the primary pre-occupations of human beings with our sophisticated brains. I have been searching, and I believe will search for the rest of my life, the true meaning of love. Yes, logically the human race has to copulate to ensure survival of the species but whats with this formula:

Courtship>>>>>>>>Attachment>>>>>>>>Foreplay>>>>>>>>>Sex

Humans are complicated beings and the above formula states it all. The worst part is when one party goes haywire and does not follow the law of the jungle(the formula). Many people mess up during the attachment part. I believe this is where the civilised human traits come in:

-respect
-support
-trust
-love
-appreciation
- tolorence
-a compromising attitude

What happens then when its all messed up. He/she becomes happier or more confused and leaves the other party hurt, sad and sometimes, with extreme anger.

I know this seems confusing but what I am trying to get to here is when a partner is unfaithful, cheating, lose, whoring, fucking around, slut worthy etc.etc. Call it what you want. The obvious advice is always to leave the cheating party. Thats the right thing to do people say. But what they fail to point out is that breaking up is hard to do especially when it has been some time and the relationship has matured. It all ends and leave you in shambles. Our emotions are strong and powerful, don't underestimate that. It is perhaps the strongest thing on this planet. It can drive us to achieve the impossible or destroy us on the other extreme.

Today, after being a victim of human imperfect-ness, a victim of another person who made "our" formula to copulate haywire. I plan to supress my emotions to wither down the anger, hurt and sadness. Yes, one can try to blame and try to patch things up but like a deep cut on your skin. No matter how hard you try to heal it, there will always be the prominent scar. On that note, I will leave it as a scar and choose not to bother with it. There has been far too many scars, and I am getting used to it.

As for my plans and directions. Well, I plan to use the "formula" above on somebody else who would not cause any upset to the law of the jungle. A person who can complement and bring both parties to improve our lives with the "civilised traits". Not bring down and betray me.

Until then I say Ciao....to everyone reading this and also to my previous significant other who made her choice which would create another scar for herself as she keeps collecting them. Was it an intelligent decision or not, let time decide( I don't know how doing something bad could be an intteligent decision, more like naivety & stupidity). However, based on historical happenings, don't expect much happiness. Been there, done that.

"Whats your religion?"..........SHILOH-ISM

2006-06-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

Living Walking God and Godess??

Apparently this writer has an interesting take on the term "THE CULT OF CELEBRITY" .

A topic I remember very clearly when I read a book teaching me about buddhism that 'prophets' come and go. The book explains that as times passes, new individuals that are perceived as 'gods' and so on will emerge and the ones before will be forgotten.

Thats means before Christ, Muhammed, Buddha and so on. What and who did the general civilizations worshipped? Who were their prophets? Well, apparently, Buddha believed something similar to what christians believe. Something to do with the second coming and so on ( I am not that familiar with this so, don't shoot me). The time has come. While I do not see any cults or individuals today that are close to achieving the immense power and popularity of christ and the rest.
Credits to Shannon Rupp for coming out with this unique piece. Although thought provoking, I take it more as a joke and a critique to the masses and paparazzi. I mean two celebrities giving birth to a future goddess. C'mon not everyone worships Bradgelina as she puts it. They're not that great anyway ;)

Here is the article in full:

" Born unto Brangelina, a Sign!

Cult of the Bump begets Shiloh.

We all know the gods have a plan, so there is no such thing as coincidence.Which is why we need to examine the weekend debut of the Jolie-Pitt baby girl, Shiloh Nouvel, and realize this isn't just another case of the wrong people breeding -- we're witnessing the dawn of a new religion.The signs were all there. It's no accident that the debut of the much-anticipated Da Vinci Code blockbuster -- challenging the Jesus mythology -- coincided with the debut of Brangelina's equally-anticipated Bump, and both are premiering in spring, the season of birth and rebirth.Taken together, these events smack of a Second Coming. Or the Messiah. Or the Chosen One.Pick the title that suits your faith, but there was never any doubt that it was a Holy Bump.The first clue was that the Bump's existence was foreshadowed by a star, or rather Star, the tabloid that broke the story.Note that Shiloh Nouvel was born in Africa, the cradle of civilization and the continent where humans originated. That has to be a sign.Then there's the name. Shiloh is a unisex Hebrew name that means "peace." The French "nouvel" is the masculine form of "new."

This baby's arrival means New Peace, and that androgynous name for a girl suggests she is an Everyperson, who will usher in a new equality. It appears the boy-centred desert religions are almost over.And don't forget the events leading up to the birth, including the so-called Cult of Celebrity -- religions in their early stages are always referred to as "cults."It's a given among trend-watchers that celeb scuttlebutt functions exactly as the Greek, Celtic or Christian myths do, showing people how the world works and how to live their lives. Like gossip, myths set community standards.From that perspective, newspapers and magazines full of Hollywood tittle-tattle are like those early drafts of gospels that eventually became the Bible, or the supernatural stories that comprised ancient religions.All Greek to meCertainly, the Jen-Brad-Angie love triangle is the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot legend for the reality TV generation.This story has inspired new followers and even new signs of devotion, such as the Team Aniston and Team Jolie t-shirts.

One uniformed member of Team Aniston even took a swing at the silicon-lipped actress, thus elevating Jolie to the status of the persecuted.I have little interest in scandals of the stars, but for anyone who stands in grocery store line-ups there was no escaping this story as the heralds of the gods -- better known as the news media -- trumpeted every juicy detail. (Ever wonder why so many newspapers are called "Herald?" It's a sign.)The battle of the Jen and Angie archetypes is reminiscent of the way immortals kicked-off the Trojan war with a bickerfest of powerful goddesses. Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite were squaring off in an early version of the Miss Universe Pageant and let a mortal, Paris, be the judge. Then they rigged the voting. Hera, wife of almighty Zeus, offered Paris a chance to be the most powerful man. Athene, goddess of warriors and wisdom, offered him the opportunity to be the wisest man. While Aphrodite, goddess of love, offered him the chance to be adored by the world's most beautiful woman.Paris, a founding member of the Men are Pigs Club, handed the golden apple over to Aphrodite.In return, she cast a love spell over Helen, who had the face that launched a thousand ships.Unfortunately, Helen was already married to a king but, well, at least Homer got a couple of swell epics out of it. And Brad got the lead in Troy. (Playing the son of a god: it's a sign.)

Interpreting BrangelinaIn this image-conscious era, the Brad-and-Jen story was captivating because it suggested the triumph of a woman's personality over her looks -- a myth in which many of us wish to believe. Brad may have won the world's sexiest man title, but he married an average looking girl-next-door type who toiled in TV's lowly trenches. He could have had any glamour icon he wanted but he chose sweet over stunning.It was just as our mothers told us: every woman could aspire to catching a man in the 99th percentile of fabulous if she was just nice enough and got the right haircut.Alas, it was our fathers who turned out to be right: men are after only one thing.When Brad dumped his virtuous wife for a sexy siren with a notorious reputation, he became the latest in a long line of celebrity presidents for the Men are Pigs Club. From Angelina's tattoos and the pendant with Billy-Bob's blood, to the speculation that she and her brother are a little too close (recall that icky Oscar speech) and her creepy orphan-collecting habit, the living Lara Croft is a legendary flake. Gorgeous she may be, but she also has the face that launched a thousand quips.But wait: didn't Brad leave Jen because she chose her career over children? That makes Angelina the Madonna: after all she is risking that perfect physique with a pregnancy.And didn't she say she would never get pregnant, she would always adopt? And didn't Brad insist they were just friends?

There are the seeds here of an Immaculate Bump: it's a sign.Shiloh's early good worksChristian myth likes to split the virgin and the whore into two Marys, but Angelina embodies both, which makes perfect sense: what we're witnessing is the dawning of a new religion in which goddesses are just as powerful as gods.The inexplicable popularity of the badly written Da Vinci Code was a sign of the story's true, spiritual nature. It was written to pave the way for New Peace by teaching us that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child -- which I, for one, don't doubt.But now we need to take the next leap of faith and recognize that the holy bloodline obviously went on to spawn those charismatic figures known as celebrities. Why else would we instinctively revere the tiny shining ones with over-sized heads?Clearly, celebrity-devotion isn't a passing fad, it's the next evolution in the world of worship.That the Holy Bump would be a girl was inevitable. She will be the ultimate It-Girl to rival Paris Hilton for cash, Brangelina for beauty, and the whole lot of them as an icon. Or as that insightful uber-celebrity John Lennon once put it, she'll be "more popular than Jesus."That Shiloh Nouvel will be a force for good is undeniable. She's already responsible for an act of charity: first photo rights to the golden babe were bought by Us magazine and the $5 million earned will be donated to the needy tots of Unicef.Without SIN?All this makes sense only if you believe in a Higher Power.

Let's face it: some magical thinking is the one thing that could explain the print media's bizarre devotion to celeb stories in the face of mockery and declining readership.Clearly these heralds are compelled to relay mystical truths, even if it prompts the unenlightened to cancel their subscriptions.As for the naysayers who despise Hollywood buzz as not-news because it doesn't meet the formal definition of Significant, Interesting, or New – or SIN for short -- that used to be me.But now I understand this brave New Age. When the dawn of New Peace was broadcast I embraced the good news. I didn't see it as a sin, or demand it be a SIN. Now I know it's just another sign.

Shannon Rupp is a contributing editor to The Tyee. "

Peace in this generation............YEAH Right...Only wishful thinking....

Opening Post......

2006-05-31T07:34:00.000-07:00

I knew that I would get here someday. Staring at the computer screen diligently churning some brain content into words. Well, here it is. My blog/weblog/online diary .....whatever....I hope I am able to update it regularly with valuable content.
People have various aims when they want to publish blogs. Well, here are some of my very honest aims (in order of importance). I want to :

i) improve my creative writing skills (which currently is nothing much to shout about)

ii) get into the online niche-publishing industry (slowly but surely)

iii) share my thoughts and ideas (which I have a lot of trouble when telling people face to face)

iv) improve my confidence when expressing myself (of which I am not very good at), and hope
the people that I consider friends and vice versa could help me out with.

So there you go, I will work hard to achieve all these. To the readers, please support me with your participation (comments, ideas & questions). I will try my absolute best to make things interesting. Thanks.