July 2006 Archives

Went to watch this over the weekend - the trailer looks very promising, and it stars Uma Thurman - good enough for me. Plus, SY really wanted to watch it...

If you haven't seen the trailer - I'd advise you to avoid watching it. If you really want to anyway, knock yourself out here. Like a lot of other comedies, a number of funny bits are included in the trailers - and that annoys me.

It's really fine if trailers don't have funny bits in it - but unfortunately it's hard to make a good trailer for a movie of a comedy genre if you don't include some good funny bits.

My biggest complaint about this movie is that the best funny bit is included in their trailer. I won't spoil it for you - but I can tell you it involves a shark. Not the funniest bit you say? Good for you - it was for me.

Highlight in the movie for me was Anna Faris - which was simply adorable in her performance. The main stars Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson were funny and Uma had some seriously crazy costumes in this movie.

I would recommend this movie if you are looking for something light and easy to watch which will give you a little bit of laughs. This movie doesn't make you laugh until your stomache hurts, but still casually funny in a giggly way.

I'm going to rate this movie with my new self-movie-rating system - 2 smiles out of 5.

I was first introduced to lasagna by Garfield. I used to be so curious what it was - so when I tried it for the first time in Dave's Deli in Malaysia, I was hooked straight away.

Ever since then, I have made it a personal quest to hopefully be able to make a lasagna dish that will suit my taste - and this is it!

I've gone through making many batches of lasagna before modifying the original recipes I have researched on to arrive to this one.

Ingredients:

Sauce
500g minced beef
3-4 tomatoes
6-8 fresh mushrooms
2 small/medium onions
Oregano
Basil
Black pepper
Bertolli Five Brothers Oven Roasted Garlic & Onion Pasta Sauce
2xLeggo's Tomato Paste

Cheese Mix
500g Ricotta cheese
1 packet Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 packet Shredded Parmesan Cheese
2 medium eggs

Additionally
Olive oil
Fresh finely chooped parsley leaves
Lasagna sheets - enough for your baking dish

The important thing about making lasagna is - you need to get everything ready before hand! No matter what happens, you can't rush the process. Allow yourself at least 2 hours to get the whole thing ready for serving.

Apparently Hog's Breath slow cooks their steaks for up to 18 hours. I don't really know how they do it, but if they say they do it, I take their word for it. Here's a quote from their website.

"We slow cook our Prime Rib for up to 18hours, then finish with high temperature searing on the char grill to seal in the flavour for your enjoyment."

This was our destination for Ben's pre-birthday dinner.

The restaurant was a family-style restaurant with a nice traditional 80's style theme (well I think anyway).

Here's what's greeting you on the table.

Here's a picture of the steak menu. They recommend that you go with Medium Rare for optimum flavour.

Firstly, I would like to dedicate this entry to my faithful Mojave sports sunglasses who unfortunately got destroyed in this trip. This sunglasses had interchangable lenses - which I wear faithfully when I cycle, and was a gift from my girlfriend many years back.

This is what remains of it now.

What happened to it? Well, I rolled down a steep slope and slammed face down into the dirt, which didn't go very well with the glasses. Luckily I only have minor cuts and bruises as it was grassy all the way down.

However, it was definitely a fantastic trip! I'm looking forward to go again.

I still have grass on my face from my fall in the next picture. Andrew described my fall as "wah he was falling like it was slow motion - and looks like he was trying to cover every angle of his body on the fall!" 2 more metres of rolling and I would have gone into the river...

The last time I went mountain biking was to the undeveloped Pantai Jerjak/Century Park beach front hill areas back in Penang - in primary school! I've almost forgotten how fun it was.

Nope I didn't eat it.

Adeline however sent us this video.

They eat anything in South Korea.

Bon Appetit!

I've been slack. This entry should have been out days ago. But I have my excuses.

Anyways, Rinesh was leaving for Sydney this week. So we had a whole day's of activities planned out just as a goodbye thing during the weekend.

Badminton in the morning, then it was over to Plume in Doncaster (my favourite Yum Char restaurant in Melbourne!) for some good ol' yum char.

We practically filled the table with food even before Matthew (who was late) got there.

I've known that the people of Tibet has been fighting for independence from China for quite some time.

Some even say they've been fighting to be acknowledged as an independent country for 700 years. There are lots of things people say about Tibet, but one thing is clear - the people of Tibet IS still fighting for independece from China.

DALAI LAMA (Translation): I have stated time and again that I do not seek Tibet's separation from China, but that I will seek its future within the framework of the Chinese constitution, helping to create conditions for our people to co-exist in harmony and unity as a member of the big family of the Chinese nation.

In 1997 Thupten Ngodup, a local Dharamsala monk, despaired at the lack of progress towards independence. He took part in a hunger strike in Delhi, and when the authorities tried to break it up, he set himself alight. The Dalai Lama visited Thupten Ngodup in hospital just before his death. Read about this here.

His Holiness told Thupten Ngodup "I am here. Don't be angry and proud with them. I pray that your next life will be meaningful."

Ran sent to me this video which I uploaded to YouTube.

A pretty good prank IMO, really tells us something about the way guys think.

Enjoy!

Yup, they're finally there now. No more "currently working on this site message".

Took me a while, but I had to be sure I could have a Contact Me page that won't be used against me and flood my mailbox up with spam.

Stephen Ostermiller's Perl script is the one I'm using - try it out if you're looking to use a contact form on your site.

Resume's up and my portfolio will be next.

Everyone I know loves the Transformers.

If you don't know what they are, go have a read in the wikipedia.

Anyways, without wasting anymore time - on to the pictures!

Bumblebee's leaked picture!

YES - looks like Volkswagon does not want their cars associated with violence or something, so Bumblebee is going to be a Chevy Camaro. The next picture is an actual picture of a Chevy Camaro that is supposed to be Bumblebee.

And for some reason, we also have a Decepticon police car. YUP - I hear you, the original Decepticons didn't have any cars in their line-up, but HEY - let's wait for the movie to open up our minds.

The quote on the side of the police car that appears to be some pimped Mustang reads to "punish and enslave".

More than meets the eye!!!

In the land of "Everything boleh" Malaysia, cost-cutting is as common as teh tarik is in Mamak stalls.

"Anything also can wan, cheap cheap can already" - is what people would say.

So it is not surprising that this article is on the front of The Star newspaper.

RM 35 a trip!!! To transfer 5 million ringgit!!! Talk about taking precautions!!!

With a cheaper option - you would have not so heavily protected vehicles, weapons and protection. Heck, the amount of guards assigned as well as their training and experience will also be compromised.

If you were one of the 'cheaper' security guards that is protecting that amount of money, and you get sieged by heavily armed robbers, if you had the choice, I think you'd throw down your weapons without hesitation. This is normal human nature if you feel it is just not worth it.

How do you expect security firms to provide you with better service, if you are only prepared to pay so little? Come on, RM 35 nowadays is very little money - especially so for banks.

Nowadays even the security in shopping malls is a hot topic - after the repeated cases of crime.

Security is always important, no matter where - and especially more important if money is involved! I don't think this is an area where cost cutting is wise at all.

It's something like an investment thing - obviously if you're only prepared to spend so little, don't expect too much out of it. You get what you pay for.

Just utterly shocking.

Malaysia boleh. Keep it up.

Have you ever been in a situation where you're part of a competition that you feel have been rigged?

No matter how you approach it, no matter what your team mates do, nobody can surpass this particular person or team? Well, if you have been in this sort of situation - it just sucks doesn't it?

Maybe I'm just sensitive, but if that's the case, then a lot of people are too, cause in cases like these, it won't be just yourself that would be feeling the results are rigged. Other competitors would probably feel the same!

Well let's face it. Everyone loves to win - and there can be only 1 winner and lots of losers.

What expense are you prepared to go to, especially when money is involved?

Competition brings out the ugly side of people.

You might be able to find out who your real friends are.

You might also be able to find out the extent of what people are prepared to do - including sacrificing your friendship, to take themselves to the next level.

FInally, after the many years - the void left by Christopher Reeve (which many, including myself, until today still regard as the perfect Superman) has been filled.

Superman Returns is finally showing again on the big screens - and I went to watch this last night with my work colleagues.

If you haven't watched this movie yet, be warned that this movie is 154 minutes long. So make sure you make a visit to the toilet first before going in to watch the movie.

If possible, do watch the first Superman, and Superman II before hand as this movie actually picks up the story where Superman II left off, ignoring Superman 3 and 4.