My Pledge for Earth Day

We all know and have heard of the consequences of global warming. As a singular, I may not be able to make a change. But if everyone could just contribute some minor changes to their daily life, the total effect would be tremendous.

Therefor, I pledge to NOT TURN ON MY LIGHTS from the moment I step home this evening till tomorrow morning when I leave for work. How much will that help to give Earth a chance to heal? Not much probably but it's a start. Earth Day is about celebrating what earth has contributed to us and it's time to give back.

Hong Kong & Macau

Having been to Hong Kong and Macau for the first time, my impression was such that I will not pay for another trip to Hong Kong. The 2 full days I was there were more than enough. When I travel, shopping is usually not a big part of my itinerary or priority. I love seeing the lifestyle of the citizens and just walking around to enjoy the sights of the country.


The Group (which was way too huge for my taste)

I always thought Hong Kong was a great place to visit. I've come to appreciate the diversity of the different countries I've been to and I must say, Hong Kong is least appealing of them all. Congestion and rudeness of the people was really an awakening for me. Japan in a sense was overly populated too, but the infrastructure was so well planned and implemented it didn't leave me gasping for air. And they were so friendly and polite, despite not many being able to speak proper English.



You know, I didn't realise there was a ruling against snapping photos of steward/stewardess. Just before take off, I snapped a pix of a stewardess who was upfront near the cockpit. Wah, in no time at all she walked up to me. I was expecting, "Sir, could you email me that pix you took of me? You look like a professional photographer and I'm sure the pix looks awesome". Instead, "Sir, Air Asia prohibits photos of the crews to be taken. Can you please delete that?" So, this is what I shot instead.




Air Asia's resident ghost

Arriving in Hong Kong in the evening, we had to toil like slaves, dragging our luggage bags up and down subway steps and pedestrian walkways. By the time we checked into the hotel, we were like a pack of hungry wolves in search of meat. At the first sound of pork, I ordered what the rest ordered. Thinking it was lean pork. My ignorance was such that I didn't realise "Chi Sau" meant pork trotters.





Even the noodles had a rather smelly fragrance that I could not make out. My poor empty tummy that night :-(

I have to mention that I missed the cable car ride due to my acrophobia. Hence, the following pix are courtesy of Jocelyn, Air Asia's ghost who followed our every footsteps.


Fainted just looking at the pix



I missed the food since I wasn't up there with the group. But the upside to it was, I had plenty of time to refine my photography and managed to catch Alien vs Predator Requiem for the 2nd time :-) There weren't much photos of Hong Kong which I found fit for my blog. But when I was in Macau, it was a complete change for me. Neons were everywhere and I've never seen so many casinos converge in such a small area before.







Every casino was unique in their own way. The few we were at had performances by dancers, singers, musicians and the likes. Some were scantily clad of course. But what I loved most was the availability of free flow drinks served at the casinos. Though not all, MGM Grand was one such casino which offered juices, hot drinks, milk and etc. Some only offered mineral water.

Read the price tag *fainted*

Oooh, my favourite time of the trip was in Zhuhai. We were on the look out for cheap massages and we stumbled across one just after crossing over from Macau. My colleagues were asking them on the price per hour coz I couldn't understand what they were saying. When he came back and told me it was 20 bucks per hour. I was like, "ok, that's cheap". Then he went, it was RMB20 which is about RM10 per hour. Full package please : 3 hour body massage, manicure, pedicure & ear cleaning. Total cost = RM55 +/- Let's do that again.

We had some free time to spare coz it was still early to crossover back to Macau. Some of them who had already walked a little bit was saying we should go to this one particular shop. And walk we did and eventually ended in a shop selling this.




Eric? Yvonne? How was it?

The food was nothing great, though I kinda like the 'tan tan'.




The infamous egg tart


Ham Chim Peng

When will I place my foot back in Hong Kong? Sponsors anybody? Now I can't wait for my next break in June .... yippee.

My First Tag Heuer

Ever since a couple of years ago, I've always like Tag Heuer's range of watches. Built tough with sporty features, it looks so much better than the old-man Rolex. I mean, come on, it's a Tag Heuer (pronounced: täg hoi-er).

All this while, my watches has always been Casio. From the early days of game and watch till the Casio calculator watch till today's G-Shocks.


Imagine wearing this during school days, fuiyoh ....

When I started working, even those steel or leather strap watches has no appeal to me. Then came the Tag Heuer Chronograph. Mika Hakkinen was the face of the watch if I'm not mistaken. Cool looking metal strap, black face, simply amazing. The cost? RM7,688. Could I afford it then? Well, I saved and saved and finally bought myself a Tag Heuer.









Ok, so it isn't a Chronograph, but a Tag Heuer nonetheless. Did it feel good? Nope coz wearing glasses is uncomfortable. People say "You'll get used to it someday". Sighhh, that's the problem, I don't want to get used to it. I guessed this is what I have to live with as I don't think I could ever trust a ophthalmologists with the Lasik procedure. For now ...........

Well, my eyes ain't that bad actually. My problem started when I had fever, flu & some sore throat 2 months ago. One of the medicine which was prescribed gave me bad side effects. I took it the night before I slept and the next morning. It was during driving that I felt I could not concentrate or focus. I had eye coordination issues. It was a good full week or so before the symptoms subsided. Then it began, I felt my reading has somewhat suffered especially under low light conditions. And oncoming cars were a bane to my driving at night. The onslaught of lights from oncoming cars made me squint my eyes to reduce the glare.

The lenses that was prescribed has made the glare less annoying and my reading has also improved. No longer struggling to read the finer prints. All at the cost of my esteemed colleagues saying, "Welcome to the club".

Congratulations Malaysia(ns)

What an amazing, yet shocking weekend it has been. Malaysians have finally awoken from the deep slumber, with such a tremendous roar that not only shook the ruling coalition but the opposition coalition as well. Many predicted the winds of change but no one expected the 12th Malaysian General Election to be such a disastrous outing for Barisan Nasional.

I was at 1 Utama shopping mall in the morning of Sunday. Everything had seemed normal, despite all the campaign banners, buntings and posters in every corner you turn. Then, my fiancee told me "Come, let's buy the newspaper. Something big happened in the elections" (somewhere along that line). Apparently, she received a few sms from friends, indicating some shocking turn of event. I was like, how big can it be? Lost more parliamentary seats compared to the last elections? Found a newstand, grab a copy of The Star (which is biased to Barisan Nasional) and it read -

Barisan reels from worst-ever election performance

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is in shock. The Barisan Nasional is reeling from its worst-ever election performance. While it managed to keep Terengganu and will form the next government, it lost Penang, Selangor Kedah and Perak to the Opposition and failed to recapture Kelantan. - excerpt from The Star, 9th March 2008

I was so elated, I jumped like a blardy monkey. The result has been long overdue and I am proud of all the Malaysians who came out to vote. It's time our rights are heard. It's time to clean up the shit that these states has stacked up all these years.

Now comes the hard part. Celebrations can only last so long. DAP, PKR & PAS has to know that, the people are their voices. If they have the power to vote you in, they have the power to vote you out at the next elections.

General Election 2008

8th March 2008, a day of possibilities, a day of hope, a day to make a change, a day to remain status quo. Whatever your reasons may be to vote or not to vote is your perogative and yours alone. The last couple of years has been a shake of awakening to my senses. Yet, when I started this blog, I tried staying away from politics. But today's headline truly tells us non-bumis where we actually belong. Below are partial extractions from The Star newspaper.

Vote for a voice in the Government, says Abdullah (click for source)
PENANG: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reminded the Chinese community that if they gave the DAP their votes, they will end up not having any representation in the Government. “You have to decide if you want a louder voice in Parliament or representation in the Cabinet where they can be more effective in representing all communities,” the Barisan Nasional chairman said.

He said if the Chinese did not have representation in the Cabinet, their requests would not be heard. However, Abdullah said the Barisan wanted the Chinese community to be part of the Government. “We do not want to have a government that does not have representation of all ethnic groups in the Cabinet. We want to be the best and I want to do the best for the rakyat,” he said at a press conference after opening the RM110mil project to upgrade Penang Hospital's heart and surgical unit yesterday.

Abdullah reminded Penangites of the situation after the 1990 general election when the MCA was “paralysed.” “When the MCA lost its voice, the people felt it. I hope they will think very carefully. This is important in the interest of all races,” he added.

What the FUCK! Is he not the Prime Minister of the rakyat? If at all, the chinese community chooses to elect DAP, are we not to be represented just because the ruling coalition turns a deaf ear to DAP, merely because they are the opposition? MCA, wake up and stop being a dog grovelling at their feet. Are you not confident of your community to rise up to the challenge if you work harder, without fear for the betterment of the chinese community? You know what our concerns are, and if you can't improve on it, step aside and let someone else have a shot at it.

The following could not be found in The Star Online but was published - "We will give what the MALAYS WANT and will not REDUCE it. But we will not forget and leave our Chinese and Indian friends in Barisan" ~ quote Pak Lah

It says it all, doesn't it? So, take advantage of your voting rights and VOTE SMART. I shall be rooting from behind the scenes and register myself for the next General Elections.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Chinese New Year just seems to be getting a lot quieter here in KL. Gone were the days where it resembles a ghost town 10 years ago. Though the streets were free of the usual congestion, you could still tell many didn't leave the bustling city.

But this will be the final year where I thought I could earn my riches like I used to back when I was young. And boy has 2008 been a bountiful year for me. Up till today, which is the 11th day of Chinese New Year, I have shamelessly received 24 red packets.



With 4 more days to go, 24 is on the high side. The amount doesn't matter much, but with each passing year, the "When are you getting married?" remarks seems more frequent.

Well, fret not everyone. For this shall be the last year I am to be on the receiving side. So, line up everyone; nephews, nieces, cousins, friends and friend's children. I heard it's a tradition to give 2 red packets during the inaugural year and someone even told me it's fun to give out them out. I just hope she wasn't lying to me :P hahahahah

Let's Settle This

It happened right in front of my very own eyes.

A : Beginilah, ikut pendapat kami dan gambar ini, memang mesin kamu terkena kabel kami
B : Jadi, macam mana?
A : Kalau nak buat repot, boleh, tapi kurang-kurang kena bayar pampasan RM20,000. Itu sebab saya datang nak tanya, sama ada nak buat repot or nak settle kat sini.
B : Kalau nak settle kat sini, berapa?
A : Kalau settle, lebih kurang 3-4 ribu saje.
B : Bos saya kat luar negeri, saya tak boleh buat keputusan.
A : Kalau gitu, saya kena balik dan buat laporan kerana isu kelmarin melibatkan ramai penduduk.
B : Biar saya cuba telepon ofis saya

A moment later

B : Mintak kurang lagi boleh ke?
A : Nak settle berapa?
B : Seribu boleh?
A : Tak boleh lah, lebih kurang dua ribu ok lah.
B : Saya mana ada duit banyak tu sekarang? Ada pun lebih kurang RM1,500.
A : Takpe lah, tunggu saya telepon bos saya dulu.

Soon after

A : Bos saya minta RM1,600.
B : Begitulah, kalau dalam dompet saya ada duit sebanyak itu, saya bagi lah.
A : Jadi, ada berapa?
B : *korek korek* RM1,5xx lebih sahaja
A : RM1,500 jadi lah.
B : Ok, terima kasih
A : Gong Xi Fa Cai

WTF!!!!!!! $#@@*&?! Too bad I didn't take any video of the conversation. Otherwise, he'll just say, "It sounds like me, it looks like me, but I cannot say it is 100% me".