May 2006 Archives

I absolutely hate this movie.

Sure, there are good things - like the action sequence, the special effects, blah blah blah... but boy, does this movie look for trouble with the millions of X-Men fans in the world.

Ok maybe it's just me.

If you haven't seen the movie, please don't read on, as what I'm about to say would probably be spoilers for you. Go ahead, watch the movie with an open mind, then come back here and see if you agree with me.

Every day in Malaysia there are snatch thieves cases reported.

It's like more people are telling themselves - "Walao-eh, damn easy to make money, police also never catch. Let's join them to snatch la". Or even, "Wah jahanam, senang aje nak cari makan, polis pun tak peduli. Kita pun ragut le."

The question is - WHAT IN THE WORLD is being done to curb this nonsense?

Look at this poor fellow in today's Star paper.

He even got slashed with a parang.

Previously, we had a couple of cases where the victims died from injuries when they were pushed, hit, etc. These people are getting bolder. Sure, I understand that our police force is not big enough to actually patrol everywhere. But what is the cause of this problem?

The Royal Malaysian Police's website even has a "Ways to Prevent Snatch Thieves" page. I think it is a fair assumption that they're fighting an uphill battle against these people.

What can the rakyat do then? Snatch thieves aren't stupid. They're ruthless, and they'll do anything to avoid being caught. They normally ride motorcycles and sneak up on people.

If you witness a snatch theft, what can you do?

1. Give chase. A number of them panic when they realise people are after them.
2. Ram them down/ bring them down from their bikes.
3. Have no mercy if they're injured - sometimes they pretend to try to run away, or so people don't beat them up.
4. Ensure they cannot escape. Incapacitate them in any means necessary till the cops can get there. I'm sure passers by would be 'glad to help'.

Unfortunately, prevention just isn't quite cutting it. These people don't care if you hold on tight to your bag. They will do what is necessary to get that bag/wallet of yours. And seeing that their numbers are still increasing, the rakyat needs to start keeping an eye out for these b#st#rds.

Let this brave lady be an example.

Here's another Ayumi Hamasaki desktop.

I know I know - 2 Ayumi desktops in a week?? Ah well... I just felt like making one with this image. What can I say?

Again, 2 sizes available.

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1280x1024

Enjoy!

To download, either click on the thumbnails above to launch a seperate window OR alternatively right click on this link - for the 1600x1200 size and this link - for the 1280x1024 size and select "Save As".

When I started collecting comics back in high school, Ghost Rider was one of the comics that caught my attention.

There's just something about skulls that I like, and flaming skulls are even crazier in my books. So, because Ghost Rider is basically this dude named "Johnny Blaze" transformed when evil beckons at night, I was mad for it. Sad thing was though, I never really bought a lot of the comics.

Unfortunately my pockets just didn't allow it back then.

The first time I heard about this movie, was when we were passing this insurance building on Collins Street and there was a film shooting there. So being the KPC (Kay-Poh-Chi) that I was, I stopped the car, dragged Siao Yin out screaming and kicking to go have a look what the fuss was about. That was when I discovered that they were actually shooting Ghost Rider in Melbourne!!!

This latest trailer is not bad, it's definitely got my interest rising. Since it's partially shot in Melbourne, of course we'd have to spot any familiar places.

If you live in Melbourne - have a look at the following picture and see if you recognise the circled spots.

No bonus points for guessing the name of the river too.

Anyways, we'll have to wait till next year for the movie to show. I think the release date is scheduled for February the 16th 2007.

Here's the link to the high definition trailer on Apple's website.

Alternatively you can choose the version to watch based on your connection here.

I received this in my email yesterday.

Either this was made by someone who had too much time on their hands, or it was designed as a project of some sort. Either way, I really can't stop looking at it.

It's really well made.

I think many of my colleagues are having the same problem.

Follow the 'continue reading this' link below to have a look at this never stopping "BLUE BALL" system in Flash.

As usual, we headed for Box Hill Institute of TAFE for the annual Japanese Festival on Sunday the 21st.

We got there a bit late this year reaching at around 3pm - so quite a bit of the food at the stalls were sold out.

Sashi and Hee Boo were absent for the first time this year, and instead we had Ben and Adeline - who came in traditional Japense gear, and Matt with us.

As with the case almost every year, the place was jam packed with people. People from all walks of life were there, with the common goal of enjoying the Japanese food and culture. There were noticably more people wearing traditional Japanese attire this year, with many girls in kimonos wakling around.

I didn't get to eat any yakitori this year, nor I had the best luck of queuing up for my favourite takoyaki to be told it's sold out when I reached the front. Luckily, I managed to buy some takoyaki from J-Cafe's stall or I would have gone a little crazy.

Anyways, check out Ben in his yukata and Adeline with her kimono in the next picture. Their housemate had sent them these from Japan - and this was the perfect opportunity to wear them out! Also - people in Japanese attire got free entry to the exhibition areas, but - being late as we were, we got free entry anyway since they lifted the fees at 4 pm.

Here's another picture of Siao Yin and Adeline with 2 samurai dudes. They really look badass eh?

Luckily the weather held out as well, and it started to rain later in the day after we left the festival. Now - I just need to figure out where to get some good yakitori to satisfy my craving.

:: Check out the rest of the photos from this festival here ::

Siao Yin's birthday was on the 19th May!

We planned a surprise birthday party for her at Kobe Jones - Docklands.

The partners in crime were Andrew + Su Yi, Matt, Ben + Adeline and Glenn + Emma. Many thanks goes to Glenn for the arrangement with his housemate Noui (I think this is how his name is spelt, I have a feeling I am wrong, apologies if I am) who set up the wonderful food package for us as well .

Kobe Jones is a modern Japanese 'Fusion' kind of restaurant, and the atmosphere there was excellent, as was the view of the docks. Long ago when I was last at Docklands, this place wasn't open yet, so I was pretty amazed at how many new places are available in Docklands.

Unlike my previous upgrade process - this has been a very succesful one. It took me a little while to figure out what needed to be done, and I also had to make Sashi and Andrew wait for me for gym, BUT, most importantly, the upgrade is succesful!

We're now powered by Movable Type 3.2. Previously we were using 3.0D. Not that you'd probably care much, but - the point being I didn't screw it up sideways like last time and ended up losing the whole database :D

So... what does this mean?

I have re-enabled unregistered commenting.

Why you may ask? I dunno, it seemed to be the case that a lot of my site traffic dropped off when they went to the commenting page - so I suspect it might be because people just don't like the whole "create an account and sign in thing".

So - hopefully, things will pick up in here, you can practically hear a pin drop on this website.

If you're visitting, and have something to say - please - just chuck in a comment or two so I know you actually visit! :D

I heard this song again on 1.fm Dance Radio and thought - "hey, this sounds quite familiar". I then remembered that it was a song that I had heard once before and didn't know the name back then.

Luckily, with online radio, the best part is that you can find out the name of the song straight away. So finally! I nailed down the song, and tracked this single down.

This is a very nice song, and reminds me of Robert Miles' Children. Very good rythm and picks up very nicely. My personal favourite is the longer Elemental Force Remix. A very solid trance track.

:: Preview the tracks here.

Happy listening!

This is the first time I'm actually making a desktop wallpaper of a singer.

I've never really been a fan of making desktop wallpapers of singers, but I definitely have to make an exception for Ayumi. She's just stunning in her pictures.

I think there are already millions of other desktop wallpapers of her, but I just had to do it anyway.

So here it is.

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1280x1024

To download, either click on the thumbnails above to launch a seperate window OR alternatively right click on this link - for the 1600x1200 size and this link - for the 1280x1024 size and select "Save As".

I received this email last night with the title Nostalgic Penang through the Old Xaverian Association mailing list.

Margaret Chan had sent these pictures along to everyone on this list. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Margaret for sending these through.

These are some very good pictures of Penang many many many years back. Exactly when - I'm not even sure.

Check out this picture of the Cathay theatre on Penang Road.

I wasn't even born yet during those times, but seriously, I really really feel very nostalgic looking at these pictures.

I'm on a roll today.

Su Yi was saying she wants a 24 wallpaper with the logo on a corner. So I whipped one up, but put Jack in as well. :)

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So to all you 24 fans... enjoy!

To download, either click on the thumbnails above to launch a seperate window OR alternatively right click on this link - for the 1600x1200 size and this link - for the 1280x1024 size and select "Save As".

Yup, it's that time of the year again here in Melbourne.

The Japanese festival is on this coming Sunday!

Dances, drum performances and tea ceremonies are among the many activities that will be running. But most importantly, the FOOOOODDDDD!!

It'll be held at the same place as the previous years, the Box Hill Town Hall. So see you there. :)

I hopped over to Spawn Toys today and discovered some new units they've put up. I haven't visitted their site for a long time now, and was quite intrigued by their 'Cyber Units' lineup.

Therefore, the inevitable - here's a new desktop wallpaper! :D

I have no idea what sort of Spawn figures these are. I just like the look of them, damn bad ass looking.

Again - available in 2 versions. 1600x1200 resolution and 1280x1024 resolution.

1600x1200

1280x1024

To download, either click on the thumbnails above to launch a seperate window OR alternatively right click on this link - for the 1600x1200 size and this link - for the 1280x1024 size and select "Save As".

We travelled to Travel Lounge near Doncaster to eat on the 13th.

Andrew heard a lot of good things about this place so we had to give it a try.

We had some home made 'self-wrap' poh piah to start. And yes, it's literally self-wrap. They give you the poh piah skins, the nuts, the sweet sauce, lettuce, and the vege+everything mix and it's up to you how succesful a poh piah you want to prepare.

And as you can see from the pics above, that's quite a freaking fat poh piah I had. It's a little different from the kind of poh piah we get in Penang, as the one back there is a little wetter from the steam. I'll post a picture of the wonderful poh piah from Penang when I get a picture someday. ;)

Anyways, as for the rest of the food, they were really normal and nothing special. It had quite a bit of "Singaporean fusion" feel to it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the place is bad, but there are definitely better places which serve similar Malaysian/Singaporean food.

The atmosphere of the place however was pretty nice and the service was pretty ok. Quite a very well thought off theme and nicely designed business cards, menus and decor. So it depends on what you are looking for in a restaurant.

For me - I'm the kind that don't mind eating in plain ugly kopitiams as long as the food is good.

The poh piah though deserves a mention and is highly recommended.

:: Check out some more pictures here ::

Finally, here's Andrew enjoying himself. :D

If you understand Hokkien - I highly recommend listening to this.

:: Right click and choose to 'Save As' :: This is in MP3 format - 1.4 MB file.

I don't even know what to say about this song. I don't want to spoil it for you, seriously if you understand just listen.

Thanks to Roger Mook for sending me this ;).

If you know of any more funny Hokkien songs like this, let us know!

I've been meaning to work on this one for a long time. One of my favourite figures out of the Spawn toys lineup.

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This figure would probably look very good in the flesh, but as we all love Spawn on our desktops - I figured this will have to do.

The background is actually 2 city scape pictures I took myself, combined together. And yup, it's a cityscape of Melbourne.

I hope you enjoy this desktop wallpaper as much as I have creating it.

To download, either click on the thumbnails above to launch a seperate window OR alternatively right click on this link - for the 1600x1200 size and this link - for the 1280x1024 size and select "Save As".

People say bad luck happens in threes.

I probably had the worst luck on Saturday the 6th of May.

I don't know, and I thought that my bad luck only happens when it's related to the number 13. Yup, this stupid number 'chap sar'.

Anyways FIRST I was called in on to head in to work on Saturday morning. Sure - this isn't really bad luck you might say. But, I think it falls into the category. Either that, or my headache and 'not feeling too well' that's probably caused by me cycling home in the rain the night before was part of the bad luck.

Either way, work was good as it allowed us to catch up with some rather critical project work. BOORRINGG... on to the next.

I then headed to the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic center for some badminton with the guys. Today was supposed to be the first time Ben, Brian and Kim joined us for badminton. 5 pm, went into the court, started playing. 5:03 pm, fire alarm starts blaring - thinking it's a drill we ignore it. 5:05, Brian and Kim arrives. Bewildered we still thought we should continue to play. 5:07 staff from center shoos us out as it's a real fire evacuation.

RIGHT.

We get out, waste another half an hour waiting for the fire to be 'found'. I really pitied the people who were swimming, because they were out in the park outside along with everyone else in their swimming gear. In 15 degree Melbourne weather!!!

Bad luck number 3: Supposed to have dinner at Doncaster with the group. Picked up Matt, headed on to Kings Way, got stuck in the jam, car started stalling at Kings and Collins St. Excellent. Definitely not going to make the trip so I pulled over and parked.

-sigh-

To add to it, our home internet usage has exceeded the limit and we were 'shaped' to 64k speed. That's why there was no update till now.

What? This is not much of an update? Duh... ok so it was more of a rant.

Homer here practically sums up my expression at the end of the day.

End rant.

I WANNNTTT TOOOO GOOOOOO FASSSTTTTTTTTTTTTT..............

Charles passed me a link today with the message "I hear you like fast cars". First thought that came to my head - ok what sports car are we looking at?

Going to the website I see something like this:

Excellent. Mounting a freaking jet engine on your car.

Quote:
"In the rear view mirror, all you see is light and hear the thunder of the jet. It's like you're going down the largest hill you've ever been on."

Check out SFGate's coverage on this dude. It's quite a comprehensive interview on the car and what his future plans are.

Damn I want neighbours like these.

Thanks to Charles for passing it on.

Quote from an article in The Star on the 4th of May:

" Sixteen Members of Parliament (MPs) had worn bow ties to the august House yesterday to see if Speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib would deem it inappropriate according to the Standing Orders for proper attire of the Dewan. "

Malaysian political news always crack me up. There is always some strange or funny news coming out once in a while.

It's nice to be comfortable when you are going to work. I can definitely attest to this as I wear casual attire to work. However, we don't wear unappropriate things - for example, casual as it is, I don't wear clothes that look like my sleeping clothes or my gym clothes. Sure, I do go in with my bike gear in the morning and look totally gay in my lycra shorts, but I shower and change to something appropriate after.

So - the million dollar question, "Is it appropriate to wear a bow tie to work?"

I think if you look like our friend here then I'd say YES.

Call me traditional and unfashionable, but I really do not think it is a good idea wearing a bow tie to work unless you really want to attract some EXTREME attention to yourself.

Back when Dato' Seri Abdul Khadir Sheikh Fadzir was still running around, I already couldn't help but stare at those crazy bow ties he was wearing whenever he showed up in pictures and on the news. In case you've forgotten what he looks like let me refresh your memory.

No offense to whatever good things Abdul Khadir has done, nor are we here to discuss the wrong things he was involved in. But back to the point of the bow tie. Can you take a person wearing a bow tie seriously?

If you're talking to a person wearing a bow tie, most of the time your eyes wander to his bow tie. I hear you saying "What - no i don't??". Don't lie to yourself. MOST people's eyes wander there.

Here's a quote from Wikipedia about bow ties.

"Bow ties are commonly seen in popular culture as items of sophistication, such as those worn by fictional spy James Bond. However, they have also been adopted into the "uniform" of clowns and male strippers. The bow tie is also often perceived as unfashionable, awkward, or affected."

Let me give you another picture that sums up what I'm trying to say about these politicians wearing bow ties to the parliament just to add a little more flavour to their dressing sense.

Barely 1 week after I enabled moderated unregisted commenting - that means that one doesn't need to register when they post a comment, I just have to approve it before it shows. I have already been bombarded by spambots left, right center.

I'm getting an average of 20 comments a day coming from spam bots.

Heck, I'd be happy if I get that many comments from people who visit this site in a year!

So that's it. That's the last straw. In order to protect my sanity and to save me time deleting all those spams about ridiculous penis enlargement, viagra, phishing crap from these lowlifes I have finally enabled Registered Commenting.

Therefore, from now on - not that it really matters, WWWwwhOoOOoPeeEdOooo, you have to register an account and SIGN IN to be able to comment.

The good news is, I'm using TypeKey - which is used by lots of other blogs too. So if you already have a TypeKey account, no problem you can use that here. Else sign up for one - for free!

Here's to those spam botting assholes.

SUCK ON THIS B##CH.

I love this album.

Don't you just hate it when you buy a 'Best of' album and discover that only a few of the songs are actually 'Best of' songs and the rest are all tracks you don't ever want to hear again? Well, luckily this album is completely the opposite. Almost all of his 'Best of' songs are in it. And he's even thrown in quite a number of additional different mixes to enjoy.

If you're a fan of trance music, you might just like Sash!. If you don't - you suck. His music is melodious, catchy, and has enough "Dush dush" beats happening even to suit the closet "Ah-beng" dance music lovers.

I was first introduced to this Swedish DJ's music many years back. Old friend "Old Snake" was the culprit who introduced me to one of his tracks in this album, Mysterious Times.

From then on, I just couldn't get enough of Sash!.

:: Preview some of his tracks in this album here.

What? You don't really know him? You want to find out more? Then head over to his official site.

He tours mostly in Europe, and if you're in the area and have the chance to, go catch one of his shows.

Until then, colour the world baby!

We had this at Matt's place on Sunday afternoon.

Let's see - there was me, Siao Yin, Andrew, Su Yi, Nigel, Kim, Brian, Ben and Adeline, and of course Matt. Andrew and Su Yi basically handled and made the tempura vegetables, prawns and soft shell crabs.

Nigel, Kim and Brian brought the sushi and beef tataki - yumm. Ben and Adeline brought some beef stick things and koroke (which is basically deep fried mash potatoe - one of my favourites).

Me and Siao Yin? Look at the picture above - we brought Green Tea Tiramisu! After 1 attempt and a half, Siao Yin succesfully made the tiramisu based on a recipe I obtained from a cooking class I attended. ;)

YUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

After all that food, we watched the video Matt has been obsessing with - the Victoria Secrets Fashion Show. Apparently he's watched it 20-30 times... ok.............

And after that, we even sat down to watch his light show - all dark in his room, with some trance music doing the dush dush dush. Light sticks in action!

It was pretty cool - I admit.

:: Check out the rest of the photos from this potluck here ::

My colleagues always tease me because I have some funny habits.

Ok maybe a lot of people have something to say about my dislike of eating burnt charcoal bits off food.

However, I also do not smoke, take drugs of any kind (my supplements don't count :P), nor have I ever gotten drunk.

Therefore, when Craig sent this picture around to my team some time ago, I felt it was quite funny.

Sure, the guy has some resemblance to me. I have to admit that. Even I was astounded. If I disappeared for a while and this photograph was sent to my friends, I bet they'll think it's real!

Hell, I don't even know who this fellow is? So maybe someone can enlighten me. I do however think that he looks like the sort of person you don't want to have a biff with. :D Heck he might even be the nicest guy on earth.

But no - just because I don't do all these things doesn't mean I'm an uptight arse. I just don't believe in doing all these just to have fun. Don't get me wrong, I don't care if you take drugs like no tomorrow. I just believe in self-principal. ;) Knock me if you like.

Got this pic in my email today - kudos to the person who took it. Thanks to Rob Scherer my manager for passing it on. ;)