Go Figure

Happy Birthday, Mummy!

2009-06-23T18:00:00.003+08:00

It's Mummy's Birthday, and we thought celebrating her life with us is the most wonderful thing we could do for her.

John's Brother, David and his girlfriend, Grace, flew in from Singapore as well, to make the day even more memorable.

We planned to celebrate with Mummy in Wong Kok in IOI Mall Puchong. I came in earlier to have the cake prepared. I chose Secret Recipe's Carrot Cake since Mummy doesn't fancy chocolates and cream that much.

It was just fun to be able to be a part of her life, and we wish her long years ahead, with her dreams and happiness snuggling her like the arms she forever have for us.

We love you, Mummy!

From Nuanced and Shaded

Happy Birthday, Mummy! We love you!

From Nuanced and Shaded

The Birthday Girl waiting for us to get the cameras set.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Mummy and us, her beloved and loving children.

More IKEA Purchase

2009-06-17T21:00:00.003+08:00

Mummy's visit this time is merrier than before. This time, John's brother, David, will also be staying over with us.

My initial concern was with the rooms. Since we have 3 bedrooms with 1 of the rooms turned into a store room, privacy could pose as an issue to John and I.

Simplest solution is to have Mummy and Sian in the masterbedroom and David and Grace (David's girlfriend) in the second room. John and I will sleep in the living hall. It great that we got to try our sofabed, as well, this time ;-)

Another issue is with the clothes and wardrobes. We wanted to get something modular; something we could add-on as our "couture" grows.

I went to buy the Antonious and Grom while John was back in Kangar. Grom was for our hardwares and 'refills', and Antonious was for me to get the touch and feel if the storage was right for us - INDEED IT DOES.

From 2009 06 17 2100 - More IKEA Purchase

That was 2 weeks ago... I realized now that we have to get more Antonious as we would need more space if we were to provision one wardrobe to David and Grace. Our Antonious ended up looking like this...

From 2009 06 17 2100 - More IKEA Purchase

Spending My Time

2009-06-15T14:30:00.000+08:00

I am leaving T-Systems soon. July 3rd., to be exact.

I am just spending my time here, planning for my handovers and creating documents.

I will start in GSK on Jul 13th. Hopefully, I would be able to spend the free time doing what I wanted to do most.

I would like to disappear from the surface of this earth for a while. I would like to be left alone with my own self. I would like to 'touch-base' with myself, so that I can confirm that I haven't lose myself, in my journey of this corrupting, ambitious road of life that I have chosen for myself.

It will be a new leaf. I am certain I can make it a great one!

Countdownr

Another Chapter

2009-05-27T12:02:00.003+08:00

Yeay. Today, I have got my offer from GSK. Accepted it on the spot.

From Nuanced and Shaded

The job offer came to me attention on March 26th., 2009, along with a handful of other offers.

GSK's deal was good, the job scope is great and I can see that my work-life balance will improve tremendously.

Here goes...

Favorite New Series and Movies

2009-05-16T12:00:00.003+08:00

A dear friend of mine suggested the series and movies below, and I wouldn't appreciate it more.

From Nuanced and Shaded

The Big Bang Theory

It's a sitcom based on 4 extremely geeky guys (Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj) who are living in an apartment across a relatively typical, gorgeous looking girl, Penny.

The series has so far explored the exciting life of geeks, and their larger-than-life take on the universe, while adapting to reality (Read : Penny)

From Nuanced and Shaded

Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

A documentary-movie on steroid use that circles around issues with steroid use amongst the daily gym-rats to the pro sports athletes.

A movie that captivates me based on the ability of the director to make one think on the subject-matter on a broad of a scope and fluent discussion.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Thank You for Smoking

A dark humor movie about a man whose work is to promote the dismissible notion on nicotine effects on the general public.

A must see if you enjoy an occasional slap-in-your-face dark humor.

Drawing on Nokia 5800 Music Xpress

2009-04-17T23:00:00.002+08:00

I used to sketch, a lot. Some of them turned out to be great, and some did not.

I installed MobilePaint for Symbian S60 not long ago, and it's just a great 'upgrade' of my paper sketching. I would just to take my phone out, and with the stylus that comes with phone, sketch my ass off.

Here are some of my drawings.

From 2009 04 17 2300 - My Drawings

My first drawing

From 2009 04 17 2300 - My Drawings

My second

From 2009 04 17 2300 - My Drawings

My third - an attempt to play with colors on creating the moon

From 2009 04 17 2300 - My Drawings

My fourth - an attempt to play with perspective and space

From 2009 04 17 2300 - My Drawings

My fifth - an attempt to draw the human body

Well, perhaps they are not exactly masterpieces, they are my work of art, and I simply love them for the fact that they were drawn on my little handy phone. Hehehe.

My Scanned Pictures - Part II

2009-04-13T14:30:00.002+08:00

A friend of mine posted a bunch of great pictures from our schooling days in Facebook a few days back. It's just wonderful to walk back the memory lane.

I have had these pictures for a while now, and it's about time for me to post them up.

The memories of Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Bandar Hilir Melaka - My Primary School

From My Scanned Pictures - II

My Secondary School - Malacca High School

From My Scanned Pictures - II

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music

2009-04-05T15:00:00.001+08:00

Yeah, I know I said I am not getting a 'toy' with a single point of failure. That's why I bought the PSP and Olympus FE-360, but I still need a new phone, badly! I was running out of space in my phone book and I had to keep the 'anonymous' numbers in my text messages, and they are growing by the day.

And yeah, I know I said I was eyeing for Sony Ericsson T650i, but the Nokia 5800 is just awesome! The touchscreen alone is a godsent!

At first, I am worried about the phone being too big, but it's only 0.5% bigger in volume and 10.1% heavier in mass, compared to my existing Sony Ericsson k750i.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Comparison of height and width between my previous Sony Ericsson k750i and Nokia 5800

To read more on the comparison on FEATURES, click here!

Plumbing 101

2009-03-24T15:00:00.001+08:00

What is worse when you're living in Selangor than the water supply? The water is so murky, mosquitoes would have second thoughts trying to lay their eggs in the water.

For my hubby, the pain is whenever he is due with our laundry. He had one time did the laundry three times before getting the load clean. That's how bad it was!!

We decided to install a filtering system for the washing machine; something simple that it won't require us to bypass the main water pipe and that we could dismantle easily if we were to leave the place. It's a rented property, at the end of the day, anyhow.

Went to the hardware store last Saturday, and obtained the filtering device. The shopowner was great enough to even teach me how to do it, and supplied me with everything I need to get the job done. I bought a filtering device, a 6-inch long PVC pipe, a tube of PVC glue and a handful of PVC pieces - from elbows to connectors.

Well, I tried to install the filtering system last weekend, but it didn't turn out well. I had a number of joints leaking out water; bursting more like it. I ran out of the PVC white tape and the glue wasn't exactly the best thing to hold the pipes together (which I thought was a good idea, at first)

It was raining heavily earlier today, and I decided to work from home. I managed to sneak out to the hardware store and obtained more PVC pieces, a couple of tubes of PVC glue and the PVC white tape.

A few tweaks and fixes, and viola!!

From Nuanced and Shaded

My tools and my toolbox.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Yes, I have a toolbox. Hey, I am still a man, okay!? Growl!

I did some DIYs before and I love it.

Oh god, I wish it will come a day when I will be free to build my own canopy on my own yard!!! I am such a straight-man wannabe! Hahaha.

My Favorite New Series

2009-03-19T17:30:00.002+08:00

Alright, fine.

I don't watch TV much, but there are series that I would die for. Aside from CSI (all 3 'flavors'), House M.D. and Desperate Housewives, the newest favorite on my list would be Brothers and Sisters. [Note : Added a column of "Our Favorites". Hope this would flush away our cool points amongst our friends.]

I am not sure why, but amidst their craziness, they're really making sense and in a very connected and arguable manner. I just love the way they would indirectly discuss a matter every conceivable aspect, and just make sense.

I watched an episode earlier and I was speechless. Nothing more can be said about it except how true it was. Plain and simple.

"No one's 'bi.' Ever meet a seventy-year-old bisexual? At some point they make a choice. Thus the expression 'Bi now, Gay later'" - Kevin Walker in disagreeing that Chad, his closeted gay lover, could actually be bisexual. Source : http://www.tvloop.com/brothers-and-sisters/show/quotes/all/kevin-walker-1254?pg=6

Note : Please don't ask me how long it took for me to look up the quote. It was certainly not fun, but here it is...

Guantanamera

2009-03-15T13:30:00.001+08:00

I have heard of this songs a billion of times, growing up; given that my dad was a fanatic on the oldies. A series of events happened to me over the week, and this stupid song popped up again into my life, like a long, unmissed, unvisited rash.

For those who knew me well enough to know that a song could play in my head for days, obsessing over the lyrics of the song was only due. I searched for Quanto Amero and Cuando Amero, with no luck. Usually, I would refer to my mom (whom by the way, could tell the name of a song, just by having me humming the melody to her), but since she's beyond reach, I talked to my hubby. It was John who suggested my to look up Guantanamera, and viola!!

Thanks hubby. You're my better half, indeed ;-)

Looked up Wikipedia and learned that this song was considered patriotic to the Cubans, and was actually a poem written by Jose Marti.

Lyrics obtained from http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/guantanamera.shtml

GUANTANAMERA

Original music by Jose Fernandez Diaz
Music adaptation by Pete Seeger & Julian Orbon
Lyric adaptation by Julian Orbon, based on a poem by Jose Marti

Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crecen las palmas
Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crecen las palmas
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma

Chorus:
Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera
Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera

Mi verso es de un verde claro
Y de un carmin encendido
Mi verso es de un verde claro
Y de un carmin encendido
Mi verso es un ciervo herido
Que busca en el monte amparo

Chorus

I am a truthful man from this land of palm trees
Before dying I want to share these poems of my soul
My verses are light green
But they are also flaming red

(the next verse says,)
I cultivate a rose in June and in January
For the sincere friend who gives me his hand
And for the cruel one who would tear out this
heart with which I live
I do not cultivate thistles nor nettles
I cultivate a white rose

Cultivo la rosa blanca
En junio como en enero
Qultivo la rosa blanca
En junio como en enero
Para el amigo sincero
Que me da su mano franca

Chorus

Y para el cruel que me arranca
El corazon con que vivo
Y para el cruel que me arranca
El corazon con que vivo
Cardo ni ortiga cultivo
Cultivo la rosa blanca

Chorus

Con los pobres de la tierra
Quiero yo mi suerte echar
Con los pobres de la tierra
Quiero yo mi suerte echar
El arroyo de la sierra
Me complace mas que el mar

Chorus

My Birthday Gift

2009-02-18T16:30:00.000+08:00

I told him not to get anything for my birthday. I told him I need to wallow in my despair.

Nonetheless, he is being what he is. He is being my wonderful hubby. What he should have realized is everyday with him is a godsend to me. Nothing else matters.

He got me these, anyhow, and I am just grateful. In fact, I am so happy, I forgot to take a picture of the present before I open up the wrapping; dessicated the wrapping, to be more precise.

Thank you hubby

From Nuanced and Shaded

CKin2U

New Year Eve

2009-01-25T22:00:00.001+08:00

After a quick purchase of our breakfasts in Kangar, we headed home.

To our surprise, Mommy and Sian have pretty much prepared the house well for the New Year.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Home

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Mommy's Flowers. They're artificial; and believe it or not, she has had neighbors wanting the seeds of these flowers to plant, themselves. Hahaha.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Mommy's Flowers - The bees and butterflies were confused as well, weirdly enough.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Mommy's Flowers - The Ang Pow is a nice touch.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Mommy's Flowers

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Tang Lung - Lantern

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Some of Mommy's real flowers

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Real Flowers Close-Up

New Year is a time to be celebrated our loved ones; even the ones that passed. It's quite an enthralling sight to see the prayer preparations Mommy and Sian has prepared at home.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

The Altar

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

The Altar - Close Up of The Eight Immortals

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Ancestral Plaque

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Guan Yin

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Guan Yin - Close Up

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Earthly Shrine

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Heavenly Shrine

John and Sian helped with some of the prayers as well. I can't recall the exact name of the ritual, but I remembered Mommy telling me that the prayer to bless the unfortunate souls out there with abundance of food and properity.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

The food

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

The preparation

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

The prayers

Minutes later, the 'Taw-keh Bunga' (The Florist) starts arranging his flowers. It's a part of the New Year decoration, and the red and yellow carnation turned out to be rather captivating.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

John and the Carnations

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

'Taw-Keh Bunga' at work

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Proud artist

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Flowers and Basket-o-Goodies. John did them, both.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

The flowers - Close Up

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

The oranges - Close Up

By the time we were done with the preparations, Mommy was done with her cooking and we're good to enjoy our New Year Eve dinner. The dishes were just as wonderful as the amount of effort and love that mommy has put up to prepare them.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Pork and Salted Yolk

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Vegetables and Soh Hoon

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Fried Vegetables

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Cheese and Garlic Shrimp

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Fried Fish and Tau Chiew

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Pork and Yam

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

'Sambal' Chicken

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Absolut Vodka Vanilla - No dinner is complete without drinks, and this was not the best drink, it seems. We mixed it with soda, and the vanilla wrecked the drinks. Lesson learned.

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Martel Cognac - Well this was delicious

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

Martel Cognac and Absolut Vodka Vanilla

From 2009 01 25 - New Year Eve

My Beary Hairy Belly Hubby - full, satisfied and dozed off after the dinner.

CNY 'Balik Kampung'

2009-01-24T23:30:00.003+08:00

This Chinese New Year is rather special to me as I will be celebrating it with my in-laws.

Knowing that traffic would be a bitch this time of year, John and I decided to take the train to Kangar. The 12 hour trip was great since we got to sleep and rest like crazy, and would 'devirginize' me for local train ride. Hey, it's first class, and it was memorable, indeed.

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

Our tickets I

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

Our tickets II

One thing is for sure, I explored the train like crazy, and I actually loved the experience (although I can't say the same for what I observed). John loved it, too - too much, I might add.

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

First Class Cabin - Door

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

First Class Cabin - Bottom Bunk

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

First Class Cabin - Chair and Our Phat Lewt!

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

First Class Cabin - Our Lewt, one of the reasons why we wanted a cabin, in the first place.

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

First Class Cabin - Our Lewt

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

First Class Cabin - The Foldable Sink

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

First Class Cabin - Wall Mounted Fan and TV. The AC made us freeze to death, and the fan is just another pain in the ass. TV doesn't work - Should we be holding our breath?

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

First Class Cabin - The Pillows. They change their bedding, fortunately.

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

Zoo-Bear Escapee - John is excited, and we can obviously tell :-P

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

Zoo-Bear Escapee - John was testing the safety belts; his personal quality control approach.

Around midnight, I was woken up by a loud bang. Apparently, KTM would dislodge their freight, at given stations. I took the chance to wander around the coaches.

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

First Class Coach - Hallway

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

Second Class Coach - Hallway

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

Coach Platform Connector - Define Scary?

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

Coach Platform Connector - Imagine your feet stuck into one of these holes. Great, wouldn't it?

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

On-Board Cafeteria - Not great, but not shabby at all

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

Gas-Electric Generator - I was told that this piece of machine converts and regulates the electricity on board. How cool is that?

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

On-Board Bathrooms

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

On-Board Bathrooms - Questionably Sanitary

From 2009 01 24 2330 - CNY 'Balik Kampung'

On-Board Bathrooms - Certainly not for the faint-hearted

All and all, I would give KTM Train Service as 3 out of 10. It's decent enough for rough-travellers, but the fact that the coaches are cramped gives me the impression that they are totally not-disable friendly. If they were to attend to the broken/mishapen fixtures, I guess I would rate it much better. A long way to go from being the best transport service in South-East Asia, my dearest KTM.

We reached Arau Train station at about 8:00 a.m., and were greeted by the smiles on Mommy and Sian. What a great start for our new year. Can't wait!!!

Homosexuality in Malaysia 101 - Hetero-Married Gay and Bisexual Men in Malaysia

2009-01-14T13:30:00.010+08:00

John and I have an online profile site, Guys4Men, that we love to visit. Like any other online profile pages, it allows you post your profile and check out others', at the same time. What makes guys4men different is the online forums, where members could post a question and have it answered. However, there are some visitors who are stupid enough to post a discussion that was discussed before (and yes, albeit the stereotype of gay men being smart people, there are tones out there that do not inherit this criteria).

Replying and ridiculing these stupid and annoying threads is like fighting a brushfire. So, in the interest of sharing what I know, I am creating this 'template answers' to them, so that I could easily 'copy and paste' what I have written about it.

Hetero-Married Gay and Bisexual Men in Malaysia

Background

Sex on itself, is a taboo in Malaysia and homosexuality is even more. Aside from being a ridiculed topic in get-togethers and functions, homosexuality and homosexuals remains an underground existence for most Malaysians.

It was not until recently, in the 1980s and 1990s that Malaysians are opening up to homosexuality. This phenomenon is much credited to the flooding of western television series, movies and the Internet, which have managed to depict homosexual lifestyle in a less grim light. Nonetheless, homosexuality is not a topic you would bring up during family get-togethers or even office banters and usually kept hidden from the rest of the society; well kept amongst the online community. Although the judicial tolerance towards homosexuality in Malaysia is still dubious, but there is no aggressive move to dismiss or even prevent such a lifestyle.

Before that, homosexuality is often regarded as an immoral act and even illegal. Some Malaysians, especially amongst the Malaysian Chinese community, had some level of tolerance towards the homosexual lifestyle; often regarding it as a personal matter of a person, which is due to that person's discretion. For most, weirdly enough, homosexuals can only be accepted if and only if they portray themselves as women (transvestites and transsexuals). Even so, the level of tolerance is not without scrutiny. For homosexual men, who cannot see themselves as women (please refer to Homosexuality in Malaysia 101 - Sexual Identity and Orientation [link broken for now]) , find their options limited, and more often then not, opted to get married, the conventional way, with a woman, and kept their instinctual lust to themselves. Their only outlets are mere chances of encounter with other gay or bisexual men, like what was shown in the movie Brokeback Mountain. As time passes by, these married gay or bisexual men, venture out and mix with the more liberal generation of single gay men and the result - chaos of lies and dangerous lifestyle.

Common Reasons

When you ask the average married gay or bisexual men of why they got married, their favorite responses would most likely be:

1) Self-imposed pressure
2) Family pressure
3) Social pressure
4) Religious pressure

Self-imposed pressure rooted from the lack of understanding and acceptance of one self. Usually, these individuals do not understand the nature of their sexual identity, sexual orientation, sexual needs and how to manage a life encompassing such a lifestyle. They would end up swarmed with little self-value and self-respect for themselves. Add the instinctual human need to belong, these homosexuals would easily opt for being accepted over being honest to themselves. As a result, these men chose to adopt a lifestyle based on the more common model - the heterosexual family.

Family pressure comes in numerous variants from the need of conserving the family line to the concern of having offspring to care for one during the golden ages. Some of them, out of their paternal instinct, just feel that their life would not be fulfilled with the existence of children in their lives.

As much as we would like to deny the social pressure that dictates our lifestyle, having a family, to a man, dignifies quite significant standing for him in the eyes of society. Let's face it, no country would one a single man or woman to be the President, now, would they? They idea of such is just downright peculiar.

Being a Moslem majority country, most of the Moslems in Malaysia are not only dictated by religion as in a form of faith, but also a form of judicial act. Although no punishment would go to any individuals who wish to stay single, the idea that Syariah Law (Moslem Law) is a Civil Law, gives the society some level of perceived rights to pry into one personal life; as such a choice is often regarded as strange and abnormal. Even without the added pressure of society, the fact that Islam condemns homosexuality is enough to prevent them from pursuing their carnal pleasure, even more so if they come from a religious background.

Time Changes Men

Thanks to the resources made available to the Malaysian public, the general homosexual individuals in Malaysia are currently more aware of their options to lead such a lifestyle. The need of living such an ‘undesirable’ and conventional lifestyle seems less appealling as the time goes by.

They now realized how important self-acceptance and self-value is to themselves. They realize that the stigma burned into the soul of homosexuality is due to religiously-imposed moral value which is questionably true, in the first place. No longer bound taboo, not only have they celebrated their identity, they have also developed complex identities for themselves, as mature as their counterparts in the western communities.

The need to propagate has also took an interesting turn for these men. True, they are still bound by law and having adopted children for them is out of the question, but the realization that the need to have offsprings as a way to preserve their genetic pool is no longer an issue to them. Realizing that wisdom and love that they could pass down to the next generation, without the need to embed their genetic traits have them voluntering in foster homes and caring for their family’s and friend’s children are seen as sufficient substitutes.

The Consequences

As time passes by, and gay men in Malaysia are exposed to resources that are made abundant to them via by the media, their mentality changed, as a community. Somehow, this ripple of change landed on these married gay and bisexual men’s lap. However, instead of imposing a positive change of these married gay and bisexual men, the relevation only managed to do more harm than good.

Date	Revision	Remarks
14th. January, 2009	Release 0.0	First Draft

Meet Up with Aina

2009-01-09T22:30:00.004+08:00

It's been awhile since I met this girl (now a lady).

We used to study together for our English Course in Oceanside, California and had to part our ways when we start our freshmen year in different colleges.

She's working in the States nowadays. She was on her winter break and wanted to meet up with all her coursemates. I wouldn't have known of her get-together if not for our fellow coursemate, Khalida. It seems that Aina has been e-mailing me to my previous work address couldn't reach me. After a few rounds of e-mail, we decided to meet up. I wanted John to come along since it will mean a lot to me for him to be a part of my nuanced and shaded past.

We met up in KLCC and the bunch of us decided to have our dinner in California Pizza Kitchen. It was delightful, not just because I am able to meet Aina, but also for the fact that Khalida, Hanis and Kichi was there, as well. I have been missing them for quite some time and the fact that, even for a brief of a moment that I am able to see them again, was a delight!

The only downside was I forgot to bring along my own camera, and couldn't take more pictures of them. Fortunately, Hanis had hers and shared the picture in her facebook. She's not aware of it, and I don't intend to tell her that I took her picture. Hehehe.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Standing, from left to right - Kichi, Aina, John and Me. Seating, from left to right - Khalida and Hanis

I am glad my work is less evil nowadays that I can have time for this. I am just glad.

I just hope I could see them again. Until then, I hope you people won't age and grow up that quickly, yeah.

New Year Get-Together

2009-01-01T22:30:00.004+08:00

I owed my friends my time; BIG TIME.

Yeah, work has been a bitch to me and my friends, and there's nothing I would love more than to spend time with them with good food and laughter.

Kak Itee popped the question (more like coerced, really :-P) on Monday evening, and by last evening, John and I have been busting our balls to hold this small get-together. It's more on John's effort than mine, and I can't be more grateful to my beloved hubby. This morning, everything is set up. The idea was to have friends over, have good food and just hang out. Even the time was kept loose for our friends so that they could come and leave as they wished.

The items on the menu were:

Barbeque Chicken (drumsticks and wings)
Shish-Kebob Chicken
Fried Kueh Teow (ditched the idea when John and I realized that the food was to much for the amount of guests we are having)
Mixed Vegetables
Asparagus and Corn (not enough for everyone - next time, we can have more of these which were quite a pain to get some, to begin with)
Marshmallows
Big Apple Doughnuts (thanks to Kak Itee and Syah)
Aloe Vera and Dragon Fruit mix (with enzymes) (thanks to Wang)
Apples and Oranges (thanks to Amutha and Presna)
Coke, Vanilla Coke and 100 Plus Active for drinks
Jolly Shandy Lemon, Lychee and Peach

John and I planned to cook for our friends and didn't expect additional food from them, but the amount of food turned up to be more than wonderful to keep us entertained and fed. Hehehe.

Attendees:

John and Max (hosts, of course)
Loh (John's former housemate, colleague and good friend)
Idee and Syah (our good friends)
Kak Wan (our good friend)
Wang (my former colleague and good friend)
Amutha and Presna (our good friends)

It was great to see each other and hopefully next time, we be organized so that we could invite more friends and entertain them properly. For a first-timer, I guess John and I did a great job. Hubby, this one is all yours. Hope you realize that. ;-)

NOTE : Some of my guests requested to remain anonymous, and please note that some of the faces were blurred to honor our guests' request.

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

John and Loh, with the melons

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Loh, occupied with the melons

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Syah, Idee and the coverina-est Kak Wan

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Corn - it's wonderfully sweet!

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Food, glorious food!

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Kak Wan, Syah and Idee I

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Kak Wan, Syah and Idee II

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Kak Wan, Syah and Idee III

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Wang grilling

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Wang with his 'Coke Chicken' - he's into cooking, I bet he didn't realize we snapped his photo.

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Amutha and Presna

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Wang and his 'Coke Chicken'. He has a magical touch with them. Most of the food he cooked turned up wonderful. I ate his cooking instead. Hahaha.

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Amutha and Presna - Corn Models

From 2009 01 01 - New Year Get-Together

Amutha and Presna - Presna really loves her corn, apparently

By 10:00 p.m., our guest have completely left and we are just busted tired. We know we have done the gathering well, and could not have slept more soundly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

Balded

2008-12-22T16:00:00.007+08:00

It's one of those things when you have nothing better to do.

Yeah, I shaved my head with the hairclipper. It was not a simple and straightforward ordeal as I had to have the clipper recharged my head was about 40% done. Hehehe. Luckily, with the help of my hubby, I am able to have a nicely-balded head.

From 2008 12 22 1600 - Balded

Bald I

From 2008 12 22 1600 - Balded

Bald II - Very the round one. Hahahaha.

From 2008 12 22 1600 - Balded

Bald III

UPDATED - Pictures taken a day after the balding, at home

From 2008 12 22 1600 - Balded

Bald at Home I

From 2008 12 22 1600 - Balded

Bald at Home II

From 2008 12 22 1600 - Balded

Bald at Home III

Philips Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Sale

2008-12-19T15:00:00.004+08:00

Public Announcement

Philips Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Sale

From 19th December 2008 to 21st December 2008

Philip Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. is holding a sale in Puchong. Map is as shown below. Price offered and product range is great for those shopping for their Christmas. My hubby purchased a DVD player and Home Theather Headphone, himself.

From Nuanced and Shaded

DVP4088

From Nuanced and Shaded

SHP2500

From Nuanced and Shaded

Items on Sale (more are on sale, but is not included in their brochure)

Model	Description	Unit Price (RM)
32PFL3403	32" LCD TV	1599
32PFL5203	32" LCD TV with Pixel Plus	1799
42PFL5203	42" LCD TV with Pixel Plus 2HD
DVDR3600	DVD Recorder	399
PET816	8.5" Portable DVD	549
PET831	8.5" Portable DVD	699
DVP3980K	HDMI DVD	189
DVDR3570H	HDD DVD Recorder	899
HTS3569	Home Theater	999
MCD710	Micro System	599
MCD908	Micro System	1099
SA5225	Video MP3 Player	230
HP4646	Straightener	45
HP6319	Lady Shave	80
HP6390	Lady Trimmer	25
HQ30	Shaver	30
HQ33	Shaver	30
HD4678	Kettle	75
MY-70HD2415LUNCH	Sandwich Maker	60
HR7754	Food Processor	350
HR7640	Food Processor	90
GC1830	Steam Iron	75
GC651	Travel Iron	95
GC1705	Steam Iron	45
WP3890	UV water purifier	900
WP3892	UV water purifier	1000
HQ7390	Shaver	350

All in all, it's a great sale, honestly!

CyberJaya Park

2008-12-16T21:00:00.004+08:00

These days, my hubby John and his sister, Sian, drive me to and back from work. It's really sweet of them (especially my hubby), since there are days when I don't feel like going to work. They have been a great push, for me, really.

Yeah, work has been mundane lately, especially after the reorganization of the whole Storage Team. I am no longer in Legacy team, and now with SAN Acceptance and Provisioning team. Yup, different team, but same exact boss-from-hell. Good news is, my current job is much more laid back then the previous one. Bad news is, I am so used of the hectic work, I am bored out of my skull with this new team (thus the increasingly frequent blogging, hehehe)

Okay, I am side-tracking.

Back to the topic.

John and Sian sent me off to work today and apparently, the wandered off to CyberJaya Park after that. They loved it and decided to bring all of us along, after picking me up from work. It's a great park, but we had to rush it, because we were wanting to go to the 'Pasar Malam' later.

Here are the snaps.

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Entrance to Cyber Park - The garden clock

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Children's Playground

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Ribena Kids I

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Ribena Kids II

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Ribena Kids III

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Mummy, Sian and John I

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Mummy, Sian and John II - Note to self: Taking pictures during dusk with a compact camera is hell!!

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Sian, Mummny, John and Me I - This shot was taken by a kind passing-by stranger. He was running at that time, and obviously, he was darn tired and was shaking. Anyways, he tried his best. ;-)

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Sian, Mummny, John and Me II

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Sian, Mummny, John and Me III

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Sian, Mummny, John and Me IV

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Sian, Mummny, John and Me V

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Compact Camera Disaster I - See? I think the ambience lighting threw off the compact camera's zooming. God damn it!!!

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Compact Camera Disaster II

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Compact Camera Disaster III

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Compact Camera Disaster IV

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Compact Camera Disaster V

From 2008 12 16 2100 - CyberJaya Park

Cyber Park - Lake

Mommies Dearest

2008-12-14T21:00:00.006+08:00

We went back to Malacca this weekend. The idea was initially was to visit my mom. John and I kind of promised her to take her out to her favorite eating place in Klebang Besar, Malacca.

Since John's mom and little sister is coming along, we decided to rent a hotel for them. My grandma's place is huge, but usually, my family would rather allocate a room for a visiting family, and sadly, they are running of one. Nonetheless, we managed to get a decent room for Mummy and Sian, and the best of all, the hotel is about a kilometer away from my family's place!

We brought along Licky - 'Si Lorat', as well. At first, we were franticking about the fact that we need to bring her along since she requires close supervision. No hotels would allow Mom to have her along. Amazingly, while we were making calls to the local hotels (which by the way was fully booked), we learned that we could ask the local pet shop to actually take care of Licky! Yeay!

==================================================================================
ADDENDUM:

For those who are travelling with their beloved pets, be sure to check out the local pet store. Do not be surprised that most of them are willing to look after your pets (with some amount of money, of course).

For us, we had Licky taken care by Exotic Nature Shop.
Name : Exotic Nature Shop
Address : No. 10, Jalan Melaka Raya 20, Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka.
Phone : +6019 383 9771
E-mail : exoticns [at] gmail [dot] com
URL : http://exoticns.weebly.com

==================================================================================

Saturday

The morning was gloomy cause we learned that one of my uncles, has fallen really ill. Dying, even. We rushed to the Hospital to pay him a visit, but he was already on life support. He had some internal bleeding due to a ruptured liver. He was the old-school laundrer (dhobi), and to see him fallen sick like this, struck me as downright weird. He was a strong man with a big heart, and I can barely recall any time that he would appear sick nor unwell to me. I guess old-age carries some weight on him, as well.

This event turned our plans upside down, but nonetheless, John and I managed to make some time to take my mom, his mom and his sister for a decent dinner at Pantai Klebang Besar, Melaka. It was my Mom's favorite place to eat. I think most likely due to the scenery and the fact that it's close by to our place, and she could go there without much hassle, back when she used to take the bus from and to work. The more exciting thing for John and I was the fact that our moms could accept each other well. It speak volumes when my mom said "They're nice people. We could go for dinner some time, with them, again" when I was dropping her off to her nursing home. This is coming from a person who has trust issues, and rarely allows people to get too close to her. Nothing made my trip more memorable than this.

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

My Mom and I. To my surprise, she was dragging me. Me holding her hands was the only way to make sure she slows down. She knows the place and was eager to go!!!

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Notice how I was chasing to hold her hands. She was like a derailed train. Hehehe.

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Mom and I

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Okay. Obviously leaning over isn't my best pose.

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Mommy and Sian

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Mommy and Hubby

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Mommy, Hubby and Ah Mei

As we came back from dinner and was hanging out with Mommy and Ah Mei in the hotel room, we were informed that my uncle passed away. Apparently, his conditioned worsen and the doctor advised the family to take him home. This death makes a total of 2 deaths for me this year. Earlier on, not long after 'Hari Raya Puasa', another uncle of mine passed away. I will definitely miss them. So much.

Sunday

We went for the funeral around noon. Everybody was there. Shock and sadness filled their faces. My uncle was put to rest around 1:45 p.m. We payed respects and prayed for him.

Around 3:00 p.m., after Mommy and Sian checked out from the hotel, we decided to take them to check out the Chinatown in Malacca. John wanted to get Mommy a pair of beaded shoes. They are famous amongst the Baba Nyonya ladies, and is considered as a stature of social status for them, thus, the high price tag that comes with it. Unfortunately, the custom made shop was closed, and we decided to just have a quick tour of Malacca's Chinatown.

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Malacca's Chinatown on a Rainy Day.

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Mommy and Sian. Malacca's Chinatown is also a part of the World Heritage site.

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Ah Mei with Famosa's Chicken Rice Ball

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Mommy and John. Enjoying our quick lunch.

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Sian, Mommy and John, and Malacca's Clock Tower. On the background is the famous Stadhuys.

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Stadhuys Fountain I

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Stadhuys Fountain II

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Stadhuys Flowers I

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Stadhuys Flowers II

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Aloe Vera's Flower I. Never knew the Aloe Vera could bare flowers!

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Aloe Vera's Flower II

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Although this part of the town was a rebuilt, and not original, the metalwork and brickwork are meant to bare some antiquity feel to the area.

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Riverboat Ride Jetty I

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Riverboat Ride Jetty II

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Bird of Paradise

From 2008 12 14 2100 - Mommies Dearest

Malacca River Boat Ride Jetty

We reached home at about 9:00 p.m. Exhausted from the trip, but all of us had a memorable weekend. The family bond really made an impression on me. I hope I had the same effect on them, as well.

My Yet Another New Toy

2008-12-09T20:00:00.002+08:00

I wanted to get a Sony-Ericsson Xperia. To have a device that I can make calls, take photos on the go, surf the web and read my e-books is just what I need. That's the main idea, but the idea of a 'toy' with a single point of failure scares me.

That's why I opted to buy the Olympus FE-360, and this Sony PSP Slim 2006, separately.

It a wonderful device, I have to say. I am able to read my e-books, surf the web using WiFi, play games, watch movies and listen to mp3s!

I bought it off from Kak Itee. He sold it to me for RMXXX PRICE REMOVED ON KAK ITEE'S REQUEST. On some levels, I feel a great amount of accomplishment to rip it of his hands. Muahaha (evil laugh)

Wait till I tinker this thing to its bones. Hahaha... (wonder if I can actually launch missiles with this thing)

From Nuanced and Shaded

Sony PlayStation Portable Slim 2006

To Singapore They Go!

2008-12-09T18:00:00.002+08:00

The idea of Mommy and Sian visiting John and I was partly to visit John's brother, David, in Singapore, as well.

We bought the tickets for mommy and Sian to Singapore at 3:00 p.m. No plane rides for Mommy and Sian.

*Whispering : Mommy is afraid of flights :-D

Anyways, we sent them off in Puduraya yesterday. Sian and Mommy were restless. I heard someone didn't get a good sleep last night liao. Hehehe. They are just adorably excited and John and I hoped that they would have a safe journey there.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Sian is so excited

From Nuanced and Shaded

Sian is not happy 'cause the bus has not budged an inch, and it's already 3:01 p.m.!!!

At home, this poor soul is missing Mommy. Mommy lied to her and told her that Mommy is going out to buy vegetables (she bought it). She kept waiting at the door, waiting for Mommy to get home. Personally, I am a bit anxious to take care of this 'Kentut', given my streak of pet-slaughter. Yeah, I am bad with pets. Seriously, I hope with John around, it's going to a jiffy for us.

She spent the entire day in Mommy and Sian bedroom. John and I decided to lock her out of the bedroom, after a series of manipulative feeding and taunting. She spent the night in the living hall. It's well carpeted and insulated, and she should fine. I woke up, and she was hiding in the shelves, properly snugged between John's napsacks. Hehehe.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Licky and her domain

为你而活 - Wei Ni Er Huo (Because of You, I Live)

2008-12-09T12:00:00.005+08:00

I first heard this song while my hubby was busy with his TVBS-filled shows.

It never occurred to me to actually look at what he was watching, but the song calls to me. It sounded painfully acceptancing of some ill-natured fate that befell the couple. But the zest of the artists' voice, Lai Ming Wei and Huang Mei Zhen, gave me the impression that they are not just about to give in to their fates, just as yet; the obstinant nature of their voice was able to convey the idea to a non-mandarin-speaking person like me.

John's sister, Sian, helped me to find the mp3 over the net earlier, and I can't help to look up the lyrics, myself. I was able to locate the lyrics in Pinyin along with the Chinese characters, but I have yet to get my hands on the English translation, for now. Perhaps, some persuasion for John would bare fruit later, I hope.

Here's what I have got so far.

English Translation Updated
Translated by : Chan Chong John

Disclaimer : Yup. He loves me.

为你而活
Wei Ni Er Huo

Artist: 神木与瞳 (Shen Mu Yu Tong - Lai Ming Wei and Huang Mei Zhen)
Album: 为你而活 (Wei Ni Er Huo)

看生命像阵风
kan sheng ming xiang zhen feng
Look at [our] life [that blew] like the wind
包不住痛所以紧握双手
bao bu zhu tong suo yi jin wo shuang shou
It's a pain (truth) that cannot be veiled. That's why we grasp both hands (it's hard to let go)
抬起头那流星般笑容
tai qi tou na liu xing ban xiao rong
[Although] you raise [your] head [and show] that meteor-like (hopeful) smile
只不过坠落心中
zhi bu guo zui lu xin zhong
Nevertheless, [it (the smile)] is deep (down) inside [your] heart

*天空会裂缝
tian kong hui lie feng
Skies is cracking (raining)
我肩头添上爱那么久
wo jian tou tian shang ai na me jiu
The love that [I] bear on my shoulder for such long time
就不怕滂沱
jiu bu pa pang tuo
The pouring rains [will] never scare [me off]

用眼泪庆贺
yong yan lei
[Let's] celebrate with tears
跨过了坚信这一扇门后
qing he kua guo le jian xin zhe yi shan men hou
[I] strongly believe [when we] stride to this door and what lies behind
真的有天国
Zhen de you tian guo
There is actually a heaven

为了你而活为了你而梦
wei le ni er huo wei le ni er meng
[I] live because of you, [I] dream because of you
为了爱我会撑到最后
wei le ai wo hui cheng dao zui hou
I will brace until the end because of [our] love
当世界都乌有守着你的人是我
dang shi jie dou wu you shou zhe ni de ren shi wo
When the world vanish, it's me whom will be with you
为了你而活为了你而梦
wei le ni er huo wei le ni er meng
[I] live because of you, [I] dream because of you
伤痕再深心无法划破
shang hen zai shen xin wu fa hua po
The deeper scars will not even break [my] heart
跟命运逆流就算错了也不退后
gen ming yun ni liu jiu suan cuo le ye bu tui hou
[Eventhough] it's against [my] fate, even if it's the wrong choice, there is no turning back

不闪躲这荆棘遍布中
bu shan duo zhe jing ji bian bu zhong
[I'm] not hiding/avoiding from these brambles (obstacles/barrier)
那伤口会开出花朵
na shang kou hui kai chu hua duo
Those wounds will bloom into flower (to have a fruitful ending)

Repeat *##

PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

2008-12-06T18:30:00.010+08:00

Mommy and Sian have been around in our home, and we are worried that they would be bored out of their skull!

John suggested that we should bring Mommy and Sian to PutraJaya for a visit and since Mommy loves flowers so much, we thought PutraJaya Botanical Park would just be a great visit for her.

We left home around 12:30 noon and grabbed some lunch first, and we then head straight to the park. It was a cloudy afternoon and it was just a great walk for all of us.

We snapped photos of everything that captivated our sight, but mostly, for me especially, it was just a great way to play with my newly-bought camera!

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

The route we took from Puchong Intan to PutraJaya Botanical Park

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers I. The first flower that caught Mommy's interest at the entrance of the Botanical Park. That's the seed pod, mind you!

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers I. And this is the flower!

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Windy day. Note Sian's and Mommy's hair. It was windy, indeed!

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Moroccan's Office Replica I. We entered the Botanical Park from this replica.

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Moroccan's Office Replica II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers III

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

We were admiring the workmanship of the door to the Moroccan Office.

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

The workmanship was just captivating.

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants I

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Mommy and her BIG smile

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers IV

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers V

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers VI

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Mommy and Sian I

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Mommy and Sian II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Mommy and Sian III

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Mommy and Sian IV

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Hubby Max and Hubby John I

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Hubby Max and Hubby John II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Sian I

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers VII

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers VII

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Intersting Flower VIII

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers IX

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Sian II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Sian III

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Sian IV

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants III

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Sian IV

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Sian V

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants IV

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Canopy Walk

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

View from Canopy Walk

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants V

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants VI

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants VII

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants VII

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants VIII

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants IX

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers X

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers XI

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Sian VI

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants X - Eucalyptus Tree Flower

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants X - Eucalyptus Tree

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XI - Cotton-Pod Tree

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XI - Cotton-Pod Tree. The seeds bare cotton-like fibres.

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

View from the Lake

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Us on the Lake-side walk

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Jetty on the other side of the Lake

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Another View from the Lake

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XII

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XIII - Bodhi Tree

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XIII - Bodhi Tree. Closeup I.

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XIII - Bodhi Tree. Closeup II.

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XIV

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XV

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XV

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XVI - Hibiscus Plant. It's pruning season and there's only 1 flower left for us to see

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XVI - Hibiscus Plant. Survivor of the pruning carnage

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Lakeside Hall I

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Lakeside Hall II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers XII - Orchids Close-Up

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

John's Family I - Malaysian Premier's Office on the Background

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

John's Family II - Malaysian Premier's Office on the Background

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Lakeside View - Jetty. seemed abandoned, sadly.

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Boat Ride Jetty

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Sian VII - Orchids

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Sian VIII - Orchids

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Flowers XIII

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XVII - Unknown Plant. It looks deliciously frosty. It's pruning season and there's only 1 flower left for us to see

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Interesting Plants XVII - Unknown Plant. Survivor of the pruning carnage

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Path We Took. Based on sitemap onsite.

We then headed to the PutraJaya Prime Minister's Office. Mommy wanted to say "Hi" to her close friend, Pak Lah. Just kidding.

We saw a boat ride there and would love to take one, but it seems that the day was a tad too dark for us to venture out into the water.

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Mosque I

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Mommy and Sian V - Malaysian's Premier Office on the background

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Mommy and Sian VI - Malaysian's Premier Office on the background

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Mosque II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Mosque III - Close-Up on the Dome

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Mosque IV - sidewalk Plant Decorations

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Mosque V - Dome and Tower

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Esplanade

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Mosque VI

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Lake's Fishes I

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

PutraJaya Lake's Fishes II

From 2008 12 06 1830 - PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

Selangor Menteri Besar's Office from the PutraJaya lakeside

We headed home exhausted, but it's one of the best trip we have had as a family. For sure, I appreciate the views, but the bonding I had with John's family was just priceless.

My New Toy

2008-12-05T22:45:00.002+08:00

John's mom and little sister are visiting and tomorrow we plan to bring them to Putrajaya Botanical Park. John's mom has this avid interest of flowers and the park trip would just be great for her.

Since we rarely get a chance to see each other, we could take this trip to snap a few pictures with them. My camera phone, Sony Ericsson K750i, has been acting up lately, and I decided to get a new digital camera. What I had in mind is nothing fancy; just a decent camera that I can use to snap a few pictures, every now and then. We power-shop in Tesco Puchong, and the best deal we got was for an Olympus FE-360. Not a bad purchase and it was certainly at a reasonable price.

From Nuanced and Shaded

New Look for Our Living Room

2008-11-09T15:00:00.001+08:00

FINALLY!!!

Albeit all the hand-brusing and finger-blistering job, I managed to finish setting up all the furnitures we have bought, and I can't be more happier nor more proud. I just feel fulfilled to have such a wonderful home to back to, and just floating on cloud nine to think that I have my hubby John to share it with.

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Living Room

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Solsta - Sofa Bed - Sofa

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Solsta - Sofa Bed - Bed

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Klippan - Sofa

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Lack - TV Rack - Close-Up from Below

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Expedit - Work Table and Rack along with Moses - Work Chairs

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Expedit - Work Table - Details on Weight Support Beam

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Expedit - Work Table - With Signum - Cable Trunk

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Bjursta Dining Table and Stefan Dining Chairs

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Stefan Dining Chair - Close-Up

From 2008 11 09 1500 - New Look for Our Living Room

Bjursta Dining Table (expanded) and Stefan Dining Chairs

Our IKEA Purchase

2008-11-01T17:00:00.002+08:00

We have been planning to this for months, now, and haven't got the time nor money to do so. John's mom is planning on a second visit this November and we can't think of a better time to revamp our place now more than ever. John's mom is a humble and modest person, and would never utter a word when it comes to life's luxuries and comforts, but we think it's would be a great idea to make her stay more comfortable than her first time around.

IKEA, as commercialized as it seemed was my first choice of store. Their design are contemporarily exciting and practical, and their services are just marvellous. For RM 60, you could have them deliver all your purchase to your doorstep, as long as you're in the Klang Valley area. Compared to other, more localized shops which have confusing and tricky delivery rates or have very grandma kind of design, IKEA was the best for us.

We visited IKEA twice within the past week. We checked the items online for their respective dimension and details, but we thought having a 'touch and feel' session would help us make a more sound decision. We have laid out our 'selection' based on practicality and cost.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Our short-listed choices

Last night, we made the purchase. It was a weird experience for us to shop for a huge amount of items. Our purchase required approximately 4 to 5 IKEA's cargo-carts! Up to a point, we had to ask for help from the cashier personnel to help us push our carts to the check out counter. At the end of the night, we are able to arrange for our items to be delivered right to our doorstep today. They offered us to assemble the items for us for a small charge of 5% of the cost of the items, but I was so eager to put the things together myself, I coerced John to refuse. Hehehehe.

I woke up early today, cause I am so excited with the idea of assembling the items. They said they're going to be at my doorstep at 3:00p.m. and they did!!! Look at the stuffs that they have hauled to our home!!!

From Nuanced and Shaded

Santa agrees that I was a good boy and these are my presents!

From Nuanced and Shaded

I am totally happy!

From Nuanced and Shaded

I can't wait to put these things together!

The Death Penalty

2008-10-17T18:00:00.002+08:00

If you were to talk about death and suffering, we have lots of them in Storage Legacy Team; we have them by the tonnes.

One favorite approach in significantly-reducing your lifespan is to be on Storage Primary and/or Secondary Pager rotation. The responsibility requires a full commitment and the tasks range from extremely simple that you would question the caller's amount of intelligence to freaking difficult that you would want to die more than be the one attending the matter. They put you on this rotation of agony on a 6 weeks cycle basis, and would last for an agonizing week.

On last August, I was the secondary. All in all, it was bad enough, but once you put the fact that my rotation falls on a Public Holiday (Malaysia National Day), and you have hell pouring all over me. All the first and second level support are on holiday and you have to take care of more things than usual. It was insane.

Starting from Friday, last week, I was the primary. Weirdly enough, being a primary this time around is much less agonizing than my last turn of being the secondary. Hrm... Perhaps my Feng Shui works, after all. Hehehehehe.

One thing of note that I am dying to share with everyone is the devices used during pager rotation. We are provided with a phone and a classic pager. You read me right - it's one of those doctor-wannabe pagers. The weirdest part of all is the pager has a golden chain tied to it, making you look like more of a PIMP-ON-CALL. You know, the one that you would call in case of sexual deprivation emergencies? Hehehe.

Well, I am glad it is over and dreading the fact that it is going to be my turn again in about a month's time. Gah.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Primary Pager

From Nuanced and Shaded

Secondary Pager a.k.a. PIMP-ON-CALL Pager

Luna

2008-09-30T00:00:00.003+08:00

It's been a while since my last update, hasn't it?

I heard of this song in one of my hubby's CDs.
The lyrics just jabs my heart with pain and hurt, and despair, in a hopefully kind of way; like its melody wash away agony effortlessly.

Found and entry with the help of dear Ol' Google - Human Translation and some help from Google Language Tools. Managed to put 2 and 2 together, and viola!

p/s: The one in green is a mere guess; based on:-
Alba means dawn/sunrise
Lux in Latin means light
Mea Diva - Mia Diva - My Goddess???
silentissima - Educated guess - Lying still. Silence makes no sense since in Italian, silence is silenzio.

Alessandro Safina - Luna

Luna tu
You, moon
Quanti sono i canti che risuonano
How many tunes are resounding
Desideri che attraverso i secoli
Desires that over the centuries
Han solcato il cielo per raggiungerti
Have the grooves in the sky to reunite you
Porto per poeti che non scrivono
A port for poets who don't write
E che il loro senno spesso perdono
And that they often lose their sanity
Tu accogli i sospiri di chi spasima
You gather up suspicion of those men
E regali un sogno ad ogni anima
And gift a dream to every soul
Luna che mi guardi adesso ascoltami
Moon that watches over me listen to me now

Luna tu
You, moon
Che conosci il tempo dell'eternità
That knows the weather of eternity
E il sentiero stretto della verità
And the straight road of truth
Fa per luce dentro questo cuore mio
Does it for the light in this heart of mine

Questo cuore d’uomo che non sa, non sa
This heart of man that doesn't know

Che l’amore può nascondere il dolore
That love can hide the pain
Come un fuoco ti può bruciare l’anima
Like a fire can burn the soul

Luna tu
You, moon
Tu rischiari il cielo e la sua immensità
You put heaven and its immensity at risk
E ci mostri solo la meta che vuoi
And it only shows the half that you want it to
Come poi facciamo quasi sempre noi
Just like we almost always do
Angeli di creta che non volano
Angels of clay/earth that don't fly
Anime di carta che s'incendiano
Souls made of paper that burns
Cuori come foglie che poi cadono
Hearts like leaves that later fall
Sogni fatti d’aria che svaniscono
Dreams made from the air that vanish
Figli della terra e figli tuoi, che sai
Children of the earth and your children, you know

Ma e con l’amore che respira il nostro cuore
And with the love that our heart breathes
E la forza che tutto muove e illumina! . . .
And the force that moves and illuminates all

Alba lux mea diva, diva es silentissima
Dawn shines my goddess, my goddess lay still

'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

2008-09-21T09:00:00.008+08:00

Even if I don't fast during Ramadhan, I do get invites, and I do feel compelled to fulfill those requests.

This time of year, I received an invitation to join my ex-classmates from MRSM Jasin (Maktab Rendah Sains MARA or MARA Junior Science College). Well, they are practically brothers and sisters, to me. When you spend a whole lot of time (read, two years) with complete strangers, you tend to develop a strong bond between yourselves. Something I have missed out for quite a while. Last year, I couldn't make it because I was in Penang. This year, I am just glad to see them. And I am glad, although I didn't explicit introduce John to them as my hubby, he was accepted with open arms, nonetheless.

On the hostess Kak Yang's request, we were to bring along fruits, preferably watermelon as desserts. John and I made a quick purchase from the near Tesco and headed to her place. It's only yesterday since my hubby set his foot onto the clutch and brakes of his car, but that didn't stop us from driving to her place in UKM Bangi. We got lost on the way to Bangi, and the campus was a maze that made us fashionably late for the 'buka puasa'. All things aside, we had a blast! I can't recall when was the last time I am surrounded by close friends with good food and laughter.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Muna, Furad and Hifzan I.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Muna, Furad and Hifzan II.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Furad and Hifzan I.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Furad and Hifzan II.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

My hubby and I, and our tummies.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Me on the phone with my engineer. Being on call 24X7 is a fun buster, by the way.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Muna and husband I.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Muna and husband II.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Budil.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Budil at his utmost casualness I.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Budil at his utmost casualness II.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Kak Yang, the hostess.

From 2008 09 21 2100 - 'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

Kak Yang, thank you for the 'buka puasa'. I am glad that I am able to see you guys again. Hope we can do this more often.

My Hubby - All Grown Up

2008-09-20T16:30:00.004+08:00

I am proud of my hubby today; extremely proud. It is not mere vanity, but I do believe that this relationship ought to be liberating and empowering the both of us. It should help us grow - and today John totally did.

It has been months now since I pushed (or borderline nagged) him to get his own car. John has always wanted to, but he has never got the chance to it. Since his move to Puchong, I guess it is only practical that he got his own transport. After a couple of months of research, he decided to get a MyVi by Perodua. He was so proud of the purchase, and I could not be more happier for him. His efforts in getting the car alone would suffice, but being such a wonderful hubby that he is, he included me in the process, from selecting the color and model of the car to even selecting the bank and method of payment. I will always be his supportive hubby, but his unrelenting efforts to venture out of his comfort zone are just noteworthy.

From Nuanced and Shaded

John's MyVi I

From Nuanced and Shaded

John's MyVi II

From Nuanced and Shaded

John's MyVi III

From Nuanced and Shaded

John's MyVi IV

I am officially a TupperWare GIRL

2008-08-27T23:45:00.007+08:00

What can I say?

Despite my earlier resistance to my sister's plight, I am starting to love the TupperWare collection. The fact that those containers help me to organize my food makes them most appealing.

I started off buying one set from my sister earlier this year. I used it to put my rice and pastas.

Last week, during my regular visits to my sister's place, I ordered 3 more sets from her - a typical set, a freezer set and a Zen set. My sister was not that optimistic about the Zen set that I ordered because they seemed a bit too small to be practical from the brochures.

Guess what? My sister called me earlier this evening and told me that my set are ready for pickup!!! It was raining but that didn't stop me from going to her place to pick up my new TupperWares!!! And the Zen set are actually big enough to hold one meal; big enough to be god-damned beautifully practical for me.

Reached home and I just realized that I now owned 4 sets of TupperWares! Who cares? As soon as I get my own place, these babies are going to rock my cabinets!

From Nuanced and Shaded

From left to right : Freezer Set (with the light blue lids), Regular TupperWare (with the dark blue lids) and my favorite - the Zen Set (with light tan lids).

Yeah, my food storage rack needs some organization. I do realize that. Check out the before and after picture and tell me; should I be happy, or should I be happy?

From Nuanced and Shaded

BEFORE

From Nuanced and Shaded

AFTER

Maximus is on FaceBook!

2008-08-25T15:30:00.005+08:00

Well, my friends have yapping about facebook for quite some time, now. Never had the push to do so, until recently. Well, it's much better than friendster from one great point of view - NO FREAKING APPS INVITES!!! Seriously; and I can't even disable the god-damned notifications and they keep flooding my mailbox.

It's just a matter of time. Signed up for it, earlier and I have also updated the links over on my profile.

Let's Keep Connected, People

BUSTED!

2008-08-22T21:00:00.007+08:00

It's been awhile since my last update. Something happened earlier that is just too embarassing to keep it to myself.

I have always been trying my personal best in living life with wisdom and intellegence. I have had the best success in doing so, or so I believed.

After T-Systems took over Shell IT International last July, they recently announced that they are going to restructure the Storage Support Team. Before, the team is split into SAN Storage Legacy (HP-based SAN), SAN Storage Core (Hitachi-based SAN) and GDSM (NAS with a fair mix of Legacy and Core). Earlier today, it was confirmed that we are going to have dedicated teams for SAN, NAS and Backup & Restore. Not only that, teams are furthermore subdivided into Run and Maintain, Provisioning and Evergreening. With that, there would be more teams under Storage and more managers needed for each team.

It's a widely understood practice that Tech Leads who performed, would be promoted to Team Leads.

In my current team, there are two Tech Leads; a Malaysian gentleman and lady, whom are great at what they are doing. However, the way they are handling the team are quite different. There are certain cases whereby items are pushed to our storage team, without any good reason; the gentleman Tech Lead would always verify the issues, and most of the time, naturally, refuse the responsibility. The lady Tech Lead however, would usually identify the issues, and try to resolve them. Their approach have its own pros and cons; by refusing the responsibility, the gentleman Tech Lead would often need to justify the refusal to the management, and in turn would save the team a lot of work. The lady Tech Lead's approach is much 'smoother' but in turn would bring more tasks to her. Is it true that her approach doesn't cause any setbacks to the team, but we cannot help but feel sorry for her everytime she is swarmed with work and stress.

Nonetheless, sadly, when it comes to selecting the Team Leads for the additional posts, the management opted for the less 'confrontational' Tech Lead. Much to our disagreement, the selection was already made solid, today.

The confirmation came in the form of e-mail, this evening. Reading the news, one of my colleagues turned to me to ask about the fate of our gentleman Tech Lead. Trying not to be offensive, I replied to her using the IM (instant messaging) service that we have in the office. I told her that rumors have it that the management did not chose the gentleman Tech Lead because he is known to be too confrontational. I also made a funny remark on how the lady Tech Lead would appear in the eyes of management; like in the Malay Oldies, when everytime a worker were scolded by their bosses and would reply, "Ya, Tuan. Saya bodoh, Tuan." ("Yes, Sir. I am stupid, Sir."). An exagerrated joke that I ended with a smile to myself, and a quick run to the loo.

From Nuanced and Shaded

As I came back to my seat, I was taken by surprise of a chat window with my gentleman Tech Lead. A surprise, because I hardly remember having the window up, to begin with. As I was reading the text, I felt my head turning and my pulse shooting up the ceiling as the conversation I THOUGHT I had with my colleague was actually made to my gentleman Tech Lead!!!

It was horrible! I was gossiping about him and the lady Tech Lead - TO HIM! Gasping for air, I quickly read the remaining of his response.

I was fortunate because from his reply, I can only guess that he took it as a praise (that he was taken aside for doing what is right for the team). WHAT A BIG RELIEF!!!

Wanting to make sure that there were nothing to hold against me, I quickly asked my colleague to check on his computer, and fortunately again for me, the chat window was closed. *PHEW... That was a close one. He could have easily captured a print screen of our chat and busted my chaps with it.

Thing is, all my life, I have been making fun of others who have had done the same mistake. For me, it is downright ridiculous because I can't see the reason of how one could have not known whom they are talking to. But today, I had my fair of the other side of being stupid. I was the one who talked about my boss to himself. Fortunately, the mistake slipped by off of me.

HAHAHA

I guess it's only due.

My Scanned Pictures - Part I

2008-03-22T14:30:00.010+08:00

My work has been freaking crazy lately. So freaking crazy, I wanted to blog about it. It would be profound, and I just need some time to REALLY VENT my ass of about it! So, wait, and I shall tell... :-D

John's away, and I have a lot of time to spend to MYSELF.

I have been wanting to scan a bunch of my childhood photos, ever since John got himself his EPSON CX5000 (printer and scanner). This magnificent toys of his is just marvellous!

Did some scanning earlier, and these are my baby pictures. I just love the one with my mom. Somehow, it's a picture that shows just how close we are. Back then, and even now. I love you, mom!

From My Scanned Pictures - I

Me, crawling. Somehow, I remember the necklace, but I can't recall how it looks like; the details of it.

From My Scanned Pictures - I

Me and my mom, at my grandma's lawn. I remember that roll of barbwire at the background. It was there since like forever! We threw it away, sometime when my sister got married.

More to come!!!

A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya - Part II

2008-03-17T10:00:00.008+08:00

Hehehe...

Can't resist to add. I know my hubby would sure bite my head off for this, but since he is in Port Dickson now, I think I am safe for the time being.

While I was busy with my upgrade, somebody did a little nasty upgrade, himself.

Remember these photos?

From Nuanced and Shaded

My Thumb @ 22 Jan. 2008

From Nuanced and Shaded

My thumb @ 22 Feb. 2008

Now, it looks like this.

From Nuanced and Shaded

I am not sure was it out of boredom (itchy-hands) or the satisfaction of self-mutilation, but he managed to chip off the clotted blood under his nails, while I was busy doing my upgrade. You can imagine how shocked I was when he showed me what he did to his finger!!!

I can only imagine the horrifying sensation, but I am relieved that he finally did it, honestly. I was actually worried that the blood would somehow damage his nails. It looks much better now, and I just hope the rest would come off just as painlessly.

A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya

2008-03-15T18:18:00.018+08:00

It was a very refreshing morning as I saw my hubby sleeping "sit-up" style, like a panda (*grin...) and I thought he was awake but nope... He again felt onto my chest and continued to sleep. Hmmm... Interesting and feel so nice!

I got up after the alarm rang and I hanged the laundry which I put inside the washing machine to wash last night... Did I told you the water was rather muddy? It turned our white bed sheet into yellowish or light brown in colour... As well as our other light colour shirts and undergarments! Which is cool, said my hubby, later... (Will he ever be that calm?)

I woke him up as he asked me to because today is his first time ever to update a bunch of God-knows-how-many machines' software and OS. He told me he was nervous last night... (Awww... I really hope he had a good night sleep...) But I'm sure he feels refreshed after a long night charge.

We hurriedly prepare ourselves and got 2 sets of Mc.D's Big Breakfast then the way we went!!!

Along the way was indeed cooling and fresh due to the morning breeze... My hubby was still nervous during the romantic motor ride... I know, somehow. We reached there before 8.00 am.

After we parked the motorbike, my hubby smuggled me into his workplace from Wisma II to Wisma I. The walkway was rather interesting since I seldom have chance to see the coporate office... Look at those cubicles! (Well, these are a bit smaller scale compare to Dell...) Anyway, We've finally reached my hubby's seat. We then proceed to register myself as a visitor but the guards prompted us to register myself at the Wisma II. Anyhow, my hubby still managed to sweet-talked the guards and they still kind enough to le me in and let me register... "IT for Shell... ... VISITOR 126", Hurray!!

We then start to get everything prepared and he started to to the pre-tasks while I set up the HSPDA to my laptop and started to do my things as well... We later enjoyed our little Big Breakfast, yummy-licious!

Nothing much happened after that and I managed to finish my tasks... Somehow my hubby still stuck at his updating-machines tasks... But his colleagues are so resourceful and helpful enough to assist him and he is capable enough to solve the problems by himself as well! I'm so proud of him...

My hubby took a time-off and we went for our lunch... Oh! F*ck... It's raining... Guess what? We did the usual crazy thing as to ride on the motorbike in the rain... We had our lunch of course but we're soaked... not so badly, I guess... (p/s: Oh, my hubby rode on the wrong side of the road when we're on our way back to Wisma I... "Tok, janganlah saman kita orang. Kami takde luit!")

I got in the building again and continued to surf the Internet. My hubby then deal with his unfinished business... We later had a free flow beverages from Milo to Nescafe, you name it (Nestle products) they got it!

As the Sun set and the stars shining over the deep blue skies... And I'm still there, by his side...

From 2008 03 15 1818 - A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya

Our Mc.D's Big Breakfast, exclude the Jacob's...

From 2008 03 15 1818 - A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya

My Visitor Pass Number... 126!

From 2008 03 15 1818 - A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya

The Proud Face with the PASS...

From 2008 03 15 1818 - A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya

Pre-task Chesk Lists...

From 2008 03 15 1818 - A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya

"How can I solve this? Hmmm......"

From 2008 03 15 1818 - A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya

"Nesvita, anyone? It's Yummy-licious!!"

Nasi Ayam Penyet

2008-03-10T16:00:00.007+08:00

When I started working in CyberJaya, good food was a bit of a concern. Since I travel by bike to work, I can't travel far for my lunch. I usually end up having lunch at the food courts nearby.

Today, my friends suggested to have our lunch at the CyberJaya bus terminal. One interesting dish that they serve in one of the terminal's food court is the Nasi Ayam Penyet or Pounded Chicken Rice. It's an Indonesian dish, I was told. It's like your typical chicken rice, but the chicken was physically pounded upon, to tenderize it. Alongside the chicken, ulams or raw veggies are served. The magnificent sambal that comes along with it, makes the whole dish, well, SUPERB!!!

I JUST LOVE IT!!!

From Nuanced and Shaded

My SAN Storage Manager Work - Backup Scope

2008-02-29T11:00:00.011+08:00

I took this job because of the backup job scope. It's only natural when my manager approached me earlier to ask whether I prefer learn up SAN or backup first that I told him the same exact thing - I want to learn and do the backup scope first.

It's an interesting job.

Imagine an environment whereby people would do almost anything with their PC to get their job (and the 'extras', hehehe) done. They would use their machines to connect to their servers. Data are communicated between their machines and their servers, and at the end the data would then be stored on the their servers.

In a business environment, where data are as priceless as diamonds themselves, some users simply can't work without their data. Business themselves, can't run without information; thus the importance of storage and backup. What the user is not made aware of is, the data that is being stored on the server, would then be stored in a fast-transferring, reliable and huge storage. This is where the 'actual' data sits.

To ensure business continuity, data would then, on a periodical basis, be copied over to the backup server and stored on magnetic tapes or another hard disk storage. Some data are copied over and backed up on a daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, depending on the criticality of the data and how frequent the data are updated and changed.

And for the more critical data such as financial reports, data are usually kept offshore; a physically different and remote site to ensure that a good periodic copy are well kept and secured in case of disasters, and in worst case scenario, the destruction of the backup facility itself. This approach will increase the likelihood of preserving business even when most of the support insfrastructure are damaged.

The servers, switches, SAN switches, storages, backup servers and magnetic libraries are usually managed remotely. This would mean that administrators would need to acces these machines using LAN management consoles. This way, administrators do not need to be in front of the machine to manage them.

These backup facility, aside of the obvious LAN Management, is managed by the backup software. The backup software would dictate the 'what', the 'how', the 'when', the 'where' and the 'who', involved in the backup insfrastructure. It is stored in the backup server. Administrators can log on to the backup server and would be able to do practically everything needed to ensure a smooth backup process from that server.

From Nuanced and Shaded

Rapid KL - Rapidly Transport, Rapidly Explode!!!

2008-02-25T14:35:00.020+08:00

"GOOD MORNING, I'M MOJO JOJO, YOUR BUS DRIVER FOR TODAY. WE PROMISED A SAFETY RIDE AND A PLEASANT JOURNEY. PLEASE BE SEATED, THANK YOU!"

This early morning was rather warm. I prepared myself as usual and woke my hubby up so he can send me to the bus stop by the main road. We left the house 5 minutes late and we missed the first bus... My hubby comforted me by saying that there will always be the next bus so we wait while holding hands. *So sweet...* The morning breeze was really nice and not long before the bus shows up. I gave my hubby a quick hug and hurried into the bus and got myself a seat.

I sent my hubby a sms right after the bus made a U-turn before the toll stations. Then, I checked emails through my phone and laze around enjoying the narrowcasting show and the air-cond...

"POP!" (a BIG popping sound!) Seems like something has broken and I'm pretty damn sure it was not my bottles of Vitamilk! It happend just like right under my seat where I felt the sudden shockwave. I was worried but since the bus driver didn't stop and nobody made any move so I chose to continue what I enjoyed the most - TV and Air-conditioner.

Before I can even enjoy the show for 3 minutes, I saw people behind me rushing to the front and I just realised the exploding sound was actually coming from the bus and now it was smoking like a train.

What am I waiting for? Since I already felt the heat coming beneath of my seat, I hurried move out from the bus... The people behind me was pushing and It was indeed very scary... Everyone in the bus are terrified if the bus might be exploded... I was shivering, too, when I got myself to safety, far away from that piece of smoking junk...

*Seriously, I only want my hubby to tear me into pieces but not to be blasted into pieces... OOPS!

All I can see was people all around the roadside and chasing after for another bus to stop. We're in a hurry and we can't afford to be late so very few people stop to minggle around to enjoy the scene... I managed to snap a few pictures still before I got into another bus. No injuries and we're all fortunate enough to be alive, still!

This morning was a thrill and someone has got to do something before something happen!

From Nuanced and Shaded

The Smoking Piece of JUNK...

From Nuanced and Shaded

Some unknown fluid...

From Nuanced and Shaded

The "Stew-pig" BUS Driver...

Some Professional Recognition for My Existence, Please?

2008-02-22T17:00:00.006+08:00

You know,

I HATE BIRTHDAYS,

ESPECIALLY MINE

When I was younger, I always (with an almost 100% success rate) managed to piss off my dad whenever I complained that I have never had a birthday party before.

Yup, I made him pissed.

Great isn't it? He screwed my mom, and nine months later, he got me. Nine years later, when I asked for a recognition of my existence, he is pissed?

Now, if not my parents' whom should put up an effort to appreciate me carrying their god-damned genes, who should?

That's why I don't celebrate birthdays, because even my fucking parents don't even give a damn.

Screw it. I don't care about them anymore.

And oh yeah, they did a birthday party once for my elder brother, and once for my younger. Doesn't that make me fucking special?

Now, 20 years, later, it's my colleagues who are doing that to me.

Last year, in 2007, my birthday falls on Chinese New Year. I can understand if they can't celebrate with me. Heck I don't even mind not having a cake. But the funnestest part was, the HR gave me my Birthday Card on October. Yup, 6 months later. And there I was, thinking that those buggers would appreciate the fact that I was working so that they can enjoy their new year.

Today, the same shit happens again. Last week, my administrative executive (read: HR people) asked me about my birthday. It was on Valentine's Day, and I said my birthday is going to be 4 days after. Today, while we were having our team building sessions, all the boys and gals who were born in the month of January and February were called to the front, and got to cut their cake.

Except me!

From Nuanced and Shaded

Honestly, I am not asking my friends nor my loved ones to have it for me. Their existence is enough for me, really. Them making it up to me, it's not the same. My parents should appreciate me. My colleagues should appreciate me. Period.

Well, yeah, I do get wishes from my brothers, my ex-colleagues and my ex-boss this year, but the card isn't back-dated just because of that, you know?

Fuck it! I think my karma is trying to tell me that I am non-existent.

Next time people ask me for help, I am going to give them a finger and just say, "Well, guess what? Karma hasn't brought me my birthday cake!".

Delete THUMBnail... ...

2008-02-22T13:41:00.010+08:00

Since the incident where I accidently clamp my thumb with a car door, wow! It's almost a month now... (Please refer back my privious entry)

My thumb turn blue black of course and it is not so pleasant to be look at, too... I still can remember how the pain feel like... My mom adviced me to use a pin and make the blood come out so the pressure will be lesser and so as the pain... But I didn't do it because I can bare the pain, still... While my hubby was always reminding me how it going to feel like when the nail come off... But he would always kiss on my soring thumb...

*Argh!!! Asked my mom about the nail and she said the same, too! My mom recommended me to put on clear nail polish so the nail would grow out nicely...

Well, this is my first experience and I never been clamped until I have to shift my thumbnail... But to think again, that's the amazing things about human body...

I took pictures so I can remember this incident and remind me to stay alert!!!

My Thumb @ 22 Jan. 2008

My thumb @ 22 Feb. 2008

A craziness in KSPK - TMK 2008

2008-02-21T13:27:00.002+08:00

It was quite a while since I last dropped by to blog... Valentine's day and Chinese new year have come to the end...

We are all has been stressed up with assignments and exercises given from lecturers when they're not in...

Well, for sure we were all busy and squeezed our brains just to figure out answers from programming exercise, numeric system in computer architecture, presentation slides for multiple-intelligent, pamphlet design...

I've been troubled my hubby for answers and he has been my savior for helping me solve my problems... I can't imagine a life without him. (*drama queen...)

Finally, the busiest time has passed since yesterday and we're now more to lazing around and doing nothing but to jokes around...

The jokes often being "colourful" or been doubled-meaning... No doubt they spice up the life and we kinda happy about all these and indeed they made us closer to each other...

The "interests" increased to another peak when one of us found the plam reading webside, mole reading website... ===> http://www.serenapowers.com/mybody.html

What shocked me was all my muslem coursemates are being open minded about these whereby the religion itself banned such palm reading...

We had a great laugh and the class went on as usual waiting for lecturers to come in accordingly...

Dinner at Jalan Klang Lama

2008-02-20T09:00:00.006+08:00

I can't recall the name of the place, and I bet so does John, but we keep coming to this restaurant (This is our more than 10th. visit, really). They don't exactly serve fine cuisine, but the wide variety of food, at its simplicity, is just mouth watering!

It's my favorite place whenever I am in Jalan Klang Lama with John!

Kak Itee's CNY Pot Luck

2008-02-18T10:30:00.008+08:00

Kak Itee popped up the idea to hang out for CNY again since we enjoyed each other's company so much the last time we did so.

The idea is to have a pot luck dinner in Kak Itee's place. John and I are so tied up with our schedule that we decided to buy the food instead (lame, I know! John wanted to cook so much, seriously. We'll make it up to them, next time. Promise!)

John and I left the house at 6:00p.m. so that we could buy the food in Subang Parade and make it to Kak Itee's house on time.

IT RAINED ALONG THE WAY!

Actually, it rained so hard that my 'special place' turned so cold that I swear I saw eskimos, igloos and penguins down south, for a moment. ;-) Since I was soaked wet, I nearly called it off (I was freaking uncomfortable). Fortunately, Kak Wan talked me into not cancelling and we continued on.

Truth is, John and I love their company, and calling it off was just me being pissed off (see? I told you I am not all sunshines and rainbows). We talked, we laughed and we eat. A simple connection bound by the honest enjoyment of spending time and hanging out together. Unlike the guys John's or my age, these guys are plain guys who don't get hung up on the superficial things like whose skin product is the best or whose boyfriend drives the biggest car. Being around them secure the sense of security and comfort being amongst brothers.

As we reached Subang Parade, John and I splitted up to get our items. I was getting the pizzas from Pizza Hut, and John was getting the doughnuts from Big Apple for dessert. Pizza Hut managed to screw up our orders and we were horribly delayed (isn't that NEWS?). John purchased T-Shirts for the both of us to change into. A few minutes later, Kak Itee and Kak Wan arrived, and fetched us, albeit the delay from the pizzas.

Reached Kak Itee's place, and what a cool place, he has indeed. We turned on the T.V. and just sat around eating, drinking and laughing merrily.

Here are some snaps from the night.

Me, talking to Kak Wan. Courtesy of Kak Itee's Blog

Yes, we can now confirm that John has his tongue.

The food. Courtesy of Kak Itee's Blog

More food. Courtesy of Kak Itee's Blog

Kak Wan. Courtesy of Kak Itee's Blog

Kak Wan and Me. Courtesy of Kak Itee's Blog

Kak Itee and Kak Wan.

Kak Itee and Kak Wan II. Courtesy of Kak Itee's Blog

Kak Itee has doughnuts, okay?

Kak Itee and John. They had a bit too many doughnuts for the day.

Kak Wan and John. Hello? That's my hubby, okay? Courtesy of Kak Itee's Blog

It was a great night. We are thinking of having it again.

Next time, John's cooking!!

Can't hardly wait!!

Dinner in Restoran Ramai

2008-02-16T22:00:00.005+08:00

One of the biggest issues with my new place here, in Puchong is that I am having trouble looking for a decent place to have my dinner and lunch. I am not looking for a place that serves fancy food, but just decent enough that I wouldn't want to think that the food was sewage.

I have tried to make friends over the net, but since they are all were engaged from their LBGT online profiles, most of them are more interested in dining my pants (and everything that comes with it).

*sigh

Saw a decent place last time when I was going to the courier office to pick up some stuffs that my agency had mailed to me.

It's called Restoran Ramai. Located somewhere behind Puchong TESCO, this shop hosts a number of food. Actually, John and I have had our lunch, once, there, before, but to our surprise, it is much better for dinner.

John had a serving of Thai's Black Pepper Rice (actually the pepper was on the chicken, not the rice) and Egg Omellete with Kerang (or was it oysters? I can't recall), and I had Sotong Kangkung, Tauhu Bakar and Kerang Bakar. John did pointed out that my 'meal' was more of a snack, but I just could not care any less. For me, it was filling, and it's been a while since I have eaten them that I kind of missed them; and that matters the most to me, at that time. And man, was I happy!!!

The only downside was the kerangs were not exactly 'clean' (there were still some mud on some of them) and they were a bit too raw for our taste.

Kerang Bakar

Egg omellete with Kerang or Oysters.

Sotong Kangkung

Tauhu Bakar

Kajang Satay with Syahid

2008-02-08T23:00:00.003+08:00

Syahid, an ex-colleague of mine, and me arranged for a get together for Kajang Satay earlier today.

While I was working in InterXS, he was my 'partner'. InterXS is a Bumi-managed IT company located in Serdang. They had this system whereby two system engineer would pair up, and work together. After a term of our contractual period, one of us, the one who had performed would be retained as a permanent employee. In our case, he did, and I didn't. I had to accept the fact that Syahid is the best; he still is, until today. After leaving for Hewlett-Packard in Damansara, we kind of drifted apart, but nonetheless, I still bug him every now and again, for 'creative' troubleshooting approaches that we both picked up while working there.

Have not seen the guy since I left InterXS. It was sure great to meet him again. We have both agreed to meet up in KTM Bangi (in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia). I rode there, leaving my house at 6:30p.m. I had to leave early because I tend to loose my way much easier when it is dark. Hehehe.

Upon reaching Bangi, I learned that eventhough it is printed out nicely in maps, KTM Bangi is not as easy to locate as advertised. I ended up in Kajang Bus Terminal and had to have Syahid come over to pick me up. We then both headed to Kajang for our dinner.

We opted for Hj. Samuri Satay, since the shop was highly recommended.

Haji Samuri Satay Kajang.

Syahid, trying his best to avoid camera pose.

The shop is located opposite of Plaza Metro Kajang.

The street of Kajang.

After sharing a truck loads of stories and catching up, we decided to call it a day. Headed home, and as I move along the cooling greeneries of the highway, the only thing more refreshing is the memory of my friends and learning that they are doing well.

Happy Chinese New Year

2008-02-06T18:00:00.003+08:00

To our Chinese friends and families, and dearest visitors, John and I would like to wish you, Xīn Nián Kuài Lè and Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái!!!

新年快乐, 恭喜發財!!! Happy New Year and Wishing You a Prosperous New Year!!!

Homosexual Non-Conformity Bandwagon - Too Far is Too Far?

2008-02-06T09:30:00.001+08:00

For decades, the LBGT community has been trying to 'justify' our existence; from scientific approach to religious, we have been trying to identify ourselves with the rest of the population. To certain extent, our efforts have bear fruit in bridging understanding and rewarded us with the sense of belonging; culminating ideas that 'divert' itself from the rest population, while maintaining some levels of 'similarities' so that our relationship with the rest of the world remains intact, like clinging and crawling plants that managed to attach themselves onto a wall, so that they would be acknowledged as a 'member' of a garden. Some of us have managed to obtain safe havens by explaining that homosexuality exists due to the evolution of our biological composition; and some by expanding the grace of deities and malleability of religion to secure their faiths. Clinging or crawling, we managed to attach ourselves to this society of 'garden'.

We are homosexual men and women. Our sexual identity is exclusive from what of the rest of the world, not our existence. We are still human beings. Period.

But, to some, this idea has led to strolls taken, moving themselves away from the rest of the crowd. Strolls that would presumably set them free from the rest of the crowd. Strolls that unbind and undefined them, so that they could gain some level of 'sense of autonomy' and on further extent, the exclusion from definition and constraints. Like that little plant you would water in your cubicle every often as you could remember to water it some; isolated and excluded from the garden. The plant itself IS a garden, to some extent.

It is true that human beings, and every concept that you could think of off, from science to religion, are man made. It is our innate and embedded need for longing; to be defined with the rest of the crowd, so that we are no longer ALONE. We were born with a programmed instinct to be included in a collective society. And since that every conceivable man made objects are meant for elimination, at one point, one would agree that these ideas, these constraints, would be much better off defied and abolished.

I HAVE TO DISAGREE.

We are born not to be herded into a collective, neither instinctively nor biologically. Instead, we were programmed with a much supreme need. The need of existence, and the need to prolong our existence. This consciousness is embedded into us since we were single cell organisms, long before we learn how to walk erect and develop our opposable thumbs. So long ago, that we have them before we even develop our brain.

Cavemen, and their predecessors, how ever, at one point have learned that living in groups is less tiresome. The need to hunt, manage themselves and their offspring, and secure their existence are still probable done alone. What they soon learned is that if they were to be together in a group, hunting and gathering food, managing themselves and their members, securing their homes as a group, would be much efficient for them. Heck, they would even have the extra spare time to finish that painting of their glorious hunt last summer on the wall that they started of a few months back.

This cooperation is out of the question if they were not to have the same need and commit in achieving that need. The need for survival and the honoring of each other’s need to achieve the same. They agreed on common grounds such as I-don't-go-hunting-and-risk-my-head-from-being-stepped-on-by-the-mammoths-so-that-you-can-rape-my-daughter-to-her-death and You-need-your-limbs-to-hunt-and-care-for-our-group-members-therefore-I-should-not-chop-it-off; they expect the same and would offer the same.

As the group grows into society, society into kingdoms, kingdoms into civilizations, over time, mankind has developed more complex and sophisticated needs. These, more intricate needs require them to widen their agreement, covering matters such as marriage and trade. Before they knew it, mankind has agreed and constrained themselves in binds such as morality and religion to support those needs. These binds, as the ones before them, serve mankind with the same exact way, to restrict themselves from becoming the otherwise oblivious manner onto others, and with the confidence and assurance that extinction are not brought upon onto them; ensuring their existence and survival on this world. Mankind has managed to bind others and obtain a level of security, by agreeing to be bound and constrained, themselves.

In the age where a man's dream of flight is a capable of demolishing of another man's dream of living high above the ground, where greed, hypocrisy and lies take precedence over truth and honor, men start to question these binds. To aggravate this reservation towards these confinements is the fact that some of these binds no longer serve any purpose to some of the group's need. To be limited without fruit negates need, and is just one step away from being free. This is where we stand, again, after eons of time, trying to redefine where is the limitation of our definitions. What should we do next in order to continue being without losing being being?

To me, personally, what should be questioned should be just about everything; everything except morality and humanity, and everything that comes under it. That is where the line should be drawn. It should be there because that is what the cavemen, at their basic and minimal need agreed to, before men succumbed to greed and lies. At least, that is what I would to believe, because I need to finish my own painting of my own glorious moments, with the assurance that no one would come and clobber me. That is something I have honored not to do and have agreed upon since I was made conscious of the agreement living in a society, and it is only fair that I could expect the same.

Chinese New Year Holidays

2008-02-05T22:45:00.003+08:00

My hubby left for his New Year Holidays, earlier. He went to Kangar by railway on an 8:45p.m. train. I can't make it this year since I am new at this current job and things are just messed up for me. My hubby had to celebrate New Year with his family alone. My poor hubby...

I had to rush back from work, to meet up with him to say our goodbyes. Accompanied him to KL Sentral and had our dinner there. Talk about crowds, this time of year, we can barely sit for our dinner. Tried out Panettone. Not bad for a Japanese-Chinese cuisine shop, although the chicken was frostburnt a bit, and make the curry tasted weird. Alas, me and my hubby are all smiles.

Can't remember what John had, but mine was Udon Curry.

See, very difficult la to snap his picture. Always very the playful one.

Amazingly Pang - Me, the KLIQ Photographer!

2008-02-05T10:30:00.001+08:00

In this story, Pang is portraying his experience and himself, with a remarkably vivid and honest approach. Truly amazing!!

Taking photos is a great excuse to bother the muscle marys and their hairless berries, folks I have previously only been clicking hearts to, or staring from under the podium like Dorothy at the rainbow. I was the official photographer at KLIQ from Apr 29 to May 1, 2005, which took place at Cream, TwelveSI and Indochine, KL. There was the handsome and cool Rocky Foo from Hong Kong and his brood of G-men from all over Asia; without realising it, I asked him to pose at least four or five or six times -- I just kept thinking, wow, what a hunk, hey you! Oh, you! After a while, he just gave me a blase pose, which I imagine is how he must look like in bed after sex. Nice. There was also this caucasian dude with what I imagine is a fireman's body; his eyes burned into my camera lens; I convinced him to take off his shirt, which revealed a muscular chest that should be made into a rock climbing wall.

At Cream on the first night, there was this wide bodied guy, with well-developed shoulders, massive biceps, a goatee and tattoos. He has a bouncer's face, making him look like some fantasy warrior of a gay tropical island. One of the organisers grabbed me while I was passing by and insisted that I take the photo of this guy. Unfortunately, I had been having problems with the camera -- it belongs to my boss. In darker parts of the dancefloor where even the lasers didn't reach, the autofocus couldn't work and the whole camera seemed to freeze. It's quite embarassing. I bought time by pretending to adjust settings. Fiddle fiddle, press press. After several tries, I apologised sheepishly and let them go. Too dark to focus, I told the guy.

An hour later, however, I passed the same fantasy warrior guy again as he was air-kissing a couple. Quite popular, he seemed to be. I said, hey, I haven't managed to shoot you yet, and asked him to pose with his friends. He appeared reluctant, suggesting that the couple should be photographed on their own. I had solved the earlier problem by switching to manual focus whenever the camera's autofocus failed. I thought, wait a minute, I solved this camera for vain idiots like you, don't you go all false modesty on me now. He finally relented, posed and smiled. The camera popped, he thanked me, squeezed me on the arm and left. Friendly guy.

The next day, at TwelveSI, a former fuck buddy now just buddy, introduced me to the very same friendly hunk on whom the camera didn't work at first. He is actually from Singapore and this weekend is supposedly his comeback after a long sabbatical from the clubs; the boyfriend had given him THE Permission, he added. Ahem. He explained his reluctance the night before. He said he believed that photos of trios bring bad luck, particularly to the sandwiched guy -- outside of the bed, this is not such a happy position. He agreed to the picture only because he could stand on the side.

This led into a conversation about our believes and our former Christianity. It turned out we were both members of ex-gay ministry Choices and missed each other by a month back in 1992 when I had to come back to Malaysia. He still believes in God. And Karma. And Feng Shui.

He didn't sound as surly as his appearance suggested; I though it kind of him to be so friendly to me, especially since I thought sinews only seek out other sinews. Sorry, I have my prejudices too. Those who can't, bitch. He said he thinks I was sweet the night before to remember him. After all, he added, it must be hard for me to remember all the guys I have photographed.

It's true, it's hard. By the third day, at Indochine, even the vainest divas, the ones with enough body mass to keep a cannibal village alive for months and with jeans worn just above their shaved pubic hair, must have been so annoyed with me. Sometimes when I approached these blessed ones who've consented to their glamour shots earlier for the second or third time, they just looked at me like I was a stalker (they're probably right). Also I must have kept asking those who said no, until in the end they just waved their hands at me like I was some fruit fly (right again).

It's a dirty job, to be a servant of the beautiful. There was this guy, pearlly skin, trimmed eyebrows, dressed up lavishly to the theme each night, who just kept ordering me everytime he wanted to pose with his friends. On the last night, the theme was "Harem". At one point, he grabbed me, yanked me over, and indicated wordlessly, as one would to a gimp, that master wants take picture now. And then he struck his "I'm too beautiful to smile pose" in his oversized headgear. He looked ridiculous.

He may think he is a dungeon master. But the camera is my whip. With it, I punish assholes. God or mortal, everyone lives in a flat world inside the photo. The cool ones know this and play along. Their pictures will show them to be grandly elusive. The rest are doomed to stay inside the photo, dumb and shallow for all eternity. We are what we pose.

Most guys, however, were sporting and nice. I accepted the fact that I am not in the same league with the perfect beings I am scampering after, so I tried not to think unlikely thoughts. But you know the subconscious libido never lets you go that easily. Amidst the jelly roll of sweat and muscles, my insecurity over my scrawny frame got better of me. I had to fling myself extra hard into the work. With nothing more than a serious, professional smile, I approached one after another: Hey, a photo for the website? How about it? This resulted in four girls asking for my numbers.

I do wonder, however, if it was my flaky memory or that most of these circuit partygoers looked like so many clones of Dolly. My housemate pointed out that many of these parties, which started out on the premise to celebrate the diversity of lifestyles seems now merely to celebrate the homogeneity of body perfection. I suppose the rights we fight for should include the right for folks to roll our eyes at those who spend more time buffing their deltoids than their cerebral cortex. It should also certainly include the right for folks to have their desired deltoid shape without fear of judgment from those of us whose well developed cerebral cortexes languish away in unsightly bodies.

It does seem at times that the fighting is left to so few, while the rest go through life happy with a weekend podium. It explains also why so many of them, while they dare to stand up there under the strobes with hands stretched out like Evita before an adoring public, are fearful of my camera. I respect that many are not totally out like me. I also understand that a marginalised group needs safe spaces, but going to a public disco to flaunt your body, disdain the lesser mortals, and be afraid of being caught at the same time seems like self-marginalisation to me. I have always asked: How can we stand to party in a country that forces us to celebrate who we are only in the darkness of shadows? But if we can't stand to celebrate each other equally, perhaps we should just stay in the dark. These parties have the potential to either liberate or institutionalise the closet. It's up to us.

Anyway, here's a sorry to those I bugged, and a thanks to those who were friendly and who said yes, over and over again. Some of you prove me wrong in my silly generalisations. They can have their laws, but they can't take away our pride. So thanks to those dudes. Only the best deserves stalkers.

~ ~ ~

PS: On Monday, to recover from the Labour Day weekend, I hit a popular Brickfields sauna. In here, I celebrated the blurring of my activist stance, enjoying the safe spaces of the dark rooms with my fellow offenders of Statute 377a and 377b. In the steam room, I 377a-ed a chunky fella, and he did me the disservice of not forewarning me the culmination of his satisfaction. Ack! After washing my mouth with the Listerine by the sink, I had a threesome in the shower with a Malay boy who wasn't really my type and a short Bornean boy who wanted me to 377b him; they wanted me to culminate, but I didn't wanna culminate, so nobody culminated.

After a whole weekend of working my eyes, it's nice to surrender to the orgasmic possibilities of not knowing. You could imagine he was some hunk whose various points of vulnerability you suddenly had access to, or you could imagine he was some dweeb for whom you would exercise your annual charity. Either way, you existed only in each other's imagination. We are the best of our possible selves in someone else's head especially when they are on their knees giving it to us. If only we are as vulnerable and charitable in the light.

Later outside, I sat next to a fair-skinned boy whom I thought was looking at me. He looked early 20s, with dark rings round his eyes that suggest nights webcamming with strangers. He was like a baby panda. But when I touched his back to ask his name, he swivelled his head around, his eyes displaying shock and revulsion, and scuttled off into one of the dark rooms. That reaction breached what I believe is the Sauna Protocol for friendly rejections among fellow seekers of mutual gratification, which comes with this prescribed text: "Thank you for your kind interest, but I don't believe our attempts at gratifying one another will be so mutual after all. Have a good life." And then smile and go. I hope he chokes on some ejaculating dick later and has cum spewing from his nostrils.

That having ruined my day, I went to the front desk and paid for a massage. I was assigned a middle-aged masseur. He’s blind. I have heard about this one, he is known through Brickfields for his straying fingers. As he started rubbing the muscles on my upper thighs, that part of me without muscles reciprocated quite immediately to his straying. He got the message and started straying with better precision, first stroking my loose, crumpled skin below the way one strokes a newborn pet. I almost purred. He did not grab it, squeeze it, pound it, hammer it, or tried to eat it. He just coaxed it into a state of contentment. Then his hand moved higher and was now just hovering over the taut skin above the crumpled one, grazing slowly like he was reading the braille of a love letter. When he slipped a well-oiled finger down between my legs and massaged me where an oily finger could easily disappear into, he asked me in Cantonese if I was feeling good. I yelped in reply.

The masseur was in his mid-forties, looks like an uncle of mine, undersized t-shirt tucked in under his belly. He was blind. His touch was very tender. Not even my boyfriends had given such love to my skin, crumpled or taut.

What exactly was he reading on my skin? Does he feel a tired man, perhaps a wife at home who is no longer attractive, a work that kills, now giving in to the rare occasional comforts of a long, grim life? Or does he feel a young insatiable boy out to savour all the pleasures he can find in his as yet short existence? And what am I reading from his fingers, smooth with baby oil, but hardened with years? Does anybody ever touch him back?

At this point, he turned me around, and soon I found that he has decided to massage me deeper where his oily finger earlier had disappeared into. At first one finger. Then two fingers. Then three.

Does he enjoy it, touching a man this way, receiving this automatic expression of biological gratitude? Or does he hate it, being subjected to pleasuring
or does it only to reserve his energy for clients who really want a massage. If our roles were reversed, would I read him so tenderly? I don’t know. I wish I could break through the darkness of my sight.

Whether blind, or sighted, or fumbling in the dark rooms, our ideas about who we are and who others are remain as constructs in our heads, like our ideas of truths and lies, rights and wrongs. The difference between fantasy and reality, therefore, must be our constant surrender of the former to the perceived limitations of the latter every time we open our eyes. “Equality is impossible.” “The government is corrupt.” “He won’t like me.” Perhaps our first fight is to recognise how we are constructing ourselves. And then we will know what is worth surrendering and which fantasy is worth fighting for.

Once again, perhaps not receiving any clear signal to advance toward a satisfying conclusion, my masseur carried on with the massage. When it was over, he shook my hands and said thank you. And I go back to a life where we are always touching each other with our blindness.

When I got out from the sauna, it was drizzling. The punishing weekend and the idiot who ordered me around and that idiot who ran fell away into puddles and drains. I felt myself glowing from being felt up by a kind middle-aged visually-impaired man. I have also worked up a load of cum ready to blow any moment. Which I did later that night in the hotel room of the Singaporean fantasy warrior.

Like what you read? E-mail the author and let him know about it!

Author : Pang Khee Teik
Created on : 27 May 2005 22:59

Amazingly Pang - Please remove flowers & garden from the corridor. Thank you. - Palm Court Management

2008-02-05T09:45:00.002+08:00

A new addition to Pang's colorful writings.

I am exhibiting pictures of my mom's flowers at a photography exhibition. Wait, it's not as banal as it sounds! The show features works of six young and undiscovered (and damn good-looking) photographers, all trying to capture images that are less about beauty, less about harmony with nature, less about Malaysia Boleh and all that crap, and more about what's not seen. Which is why my pictures of flowers and gardens are depressing rather than inspiring, they are about what's missing and being missed. In essence, we are trying to depart from the style and subject concerns of Malaysia's older, more established photographers (we are jealous cause they're more famous), whose photos of beautiful landscapes and beautiful heritage buildings, I feel, have failed to represent the discontent and compromised comfort of our post-millennial lives in Malaysia.

Here's the short blurb I posted on Kakiseni.com:

"The Edge writer Danny Lim presents photos of fellow travellers and loners in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hanoi, and Bangkok. Architect-dancer Caecar Chong applies masking tapes to his photos of Chinatown buildings that have been partly torn down, but which facades are "preserved" for heritage purposes. Gymnasic coach Erna Dyanty underexposes her cityscapes of Kuala Lumpur to escape into the comforting shadows. Choreographer Mun Lee photographs her dancers dying in public places. Web designer Yap Hoi Yan documents her sense of vulnerability and wonder around her newborn baby boy. Kakiseni editor Pang Khee Teik sells his mother's gardens."

The photo you see in my main picture is part of a triptych which you can see in the following image. It is called "Brickfields Firstborn", which I am selling at the exhibition.

Brickfields Firstborn was shot at Palm Court Condo, a low to middle cost apartment in Brickfields passing itself off as a condo. I moved there in 1995 with the family. Ever since I left Malacca to study in Singapore in 1987, the family has been scattered, with my father working in KL, then me and my younger brother coming up here to continue our education; eventually, my mother, the last to move up from Malacca, came up to visit us over long stretches of time at our previous rent in Cheras. The Palm Court apartment was tiny and stuffy, but it was the first time the family really stayed together as one since I went to Singapore.

The stalk in the picture belongs to a pot of aloe vera out in the common corridor; it is one of the few plants my mother brought along from our huge garden in Malacca. We had moved into it the year I was born. Three years ago, we sold it for financial reasons. Before the sale, everytime my mother went back to keep the old house clean, she would come back up to KL with one of her pots of flowers. But she couldn't bring everything - the corridor in front of our apartment at Palm Court Condo could only fit so many, and even so, the condo management had recently told her to remove the garden because it can be a fire hazard. The aloe vera, which my mother had for a few years, never flowered while in Malacca. The first time it bloomed, she woke me up and asked me to photograph it. It was her pride and joy.

Through these pictures I hope to show how my mother loses her sense of home when she moves and how she redefines it no matter the constrains. The work is essentially about urban inevitabilities, the other side of our human ambitions and my guilt for making my mother come up to the city to hole up with us in a tiny garden-less apartment. And eventually leaving her alone with these few plants. My housemate calls the flowers my half-brothers and half-sisters. I suppose they are.

I am happy to report that in spite of the haze, the turn out for our launch party on Tuesday Aug 9 was good. The food (dips by my housemate, sandwiches by one of the photographers, Chinese finger food by Old China Cafe, and walnut cakes and brownies by the hot dude we hired to hang our pictures) was practically gobbled up. And by good fortune, each of us sold a picture, with the exception of Mun Lee who didn't want to sell. You can go to Kakiseni to see thumbnail pictures from the exhibition, it is called "Six Young Photographers Lose Themselves."

Please pay a visit to the gallery if you can. The exhibition runs till 31 Aug 2005. If you are going on a Friday or Saturday and would like a personal tour, just let me know!

Badan Warisan Malaysia, 2, Jalan Stonor, 50450, Kuala Lumpur. (Jalan Stonor is the street beside Hotel Nikko. If you start out from the Hotel Nikko end of it, just go down the street, pass all the traffic lights, right till the end, where you won't be able to go straight anymore. Here, the gallery is on your right. It is a Malay house on a corner lot with a huge compound.) Mon-Sat: 10am-5.30 pm (Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays)
Tel: 603-2144 9273.

Like what you read? E-mail the author and let him know about it!

Author : Pang Khee Teik
Created on : 15 Aug 2005 12:52

Amazingly Pang - The Humans Are Dispensable

2008-02-04T10:30:00.001+08:00

Yet another writing of Pang's.

Just love how he leads his arguments!!! His vibrant take on absolutism really makes one ponder.

When we were young, we were told that truths must be absolute. Maths, science and morality are as absolute as the fact that an apple must fall to earth. If one thing is true, then all other possibilities can't obviously be true. But now we know that gravity itself isn’t absolute throughout the known universe. In a black hole, there is gravitational singularity, where the time-space curvature reaches infinity, and all mathematical formulas and physical laws falls apart so utterly that nothing is calculable, nothing is knowable, nothing is true.

People who tout absolute truths are people who also control the codifications of these truths; our belief in their absolutism grants them power over us. It is an easy way to control the herd.

But we also know that our herd impulses, that lead us to form societies, cultures and religions, come from genetic codes necessary for the preservation of the species; that the impulse for change, exploration and political revolution is necessary for the evolution of the species; that the codification of religion into laws is nothing more than us obeying our genetic codes – keeping a harmonious society to protect the species and the process of reproduction. We think we are obeying our religion when in actual fact we are obeying our genetic impulses. Ah, some ask, but where do these impulses come from? I say, there are a multitude of possibilities, the answers all lie beyond the knowledge of present science, so why pick just one possibility and settle for it?

These days, we can exist in so many possible realm of reality: virtual reality, hyper reality and reality TV. And yet none of them is any less real or more real than our present reality, which is defined by our perception of time and space. But even time is fluid, and it is only fixed by our perception of it, because we have memory. With more adrenalin and endorphin in us, our senses become are heightened, the amount of information we can perceive at the given moment increases, and time seems to slow down. When the opposite happens, things happen faster around us and life speeds by. Reality is like a blob of chewing gum, its shape changing every time you chew.

So, what is reality? Is it full or empty? Things are not as full as we think they are – the universe is a few grains of sand in a huge hall; known matter is made of atoms, which is really a few tiny tiny electrons swirling around a big big empty space; all our bodies is just empty space with wildly jiggly electrons. Then again, things are not as empty as we think they are – the emptiness of outer space is full of plasma and neutrinos and rays that are constantly shooting through our bodies no matter how much protein supplement we take; in the empty space of an atom, there are particles which are there and not there at the same time, you could call them peekaboouons.

And all these things we know are merely ideas and perceptions in our heads, intangible concepts both there and not there at the same time. They are the territory of our mind, the woolliest of concepts. We believe that wrapped under our skin, a soul has taken occupancy, feeling our pain and joy, pulling the cells together in a unified will to stay alive, pulling us from one second to the next; we feel our consciousness, it fills up our every waking moment. But we have yet to find where the self is located inside us. Which part of the body? Which part of the brain? We have learned that our emotions, desires and neuroses are dictated by chemicals coursing through us, the tip and balance of which can determine our mood. Our metabolism determines our excitability, our blood type determines our constitution. If the decisions you make was already decided by your blood type, is it still your decision? Which decision of yours is really yours to decide? Which part of you is you?

Just as theories about quantum physics and theories about general relativity both explain the universe and yet are both not compatible with each other, religions are but incomplete sciences, each system searching for an explanation to the mystery of existence from within specific geographic, cultural and political climates, and each becomes true to its believers. None of the faiths are compatible, but all of them are serviceable. As our technology moves ever closer to perfecting the efficiency of our evolution, as our discovery of the universe contradicts the old explanations of the universe, we become afraid. We are afraid that being human is not what it used to be, that humanity is not what we thought it was, that humanity might not be as important to the universe; that frankly, my dear, the universe doesn’t give a damn. We can’t believe that the species just uses us to make more humans and then forgets us. Tsunamis and disease aren’t enough and wars. Like crew aboard the spaceship on the movie Alien, the humans are dispensable.

But this dispensability can be liberating. We really don’t have to propagate the species to achieve significance. We can teach, we can travel, we can write a blog. Also, millions of heterosexuals are fucking each other every day for the sheer pleasure of it all. Evolution has made fucking fun so that we will make a lot of babies, who will fuck some more and make more babies. But now we are just having fun without babies. All that high talk about sanctity of marriage. All we want is to fuck without guilt. If that is not defiance of our biological purpose, or at least defiance of the narrow interpretation of our genetic codification, I don’t know what is. And so, why should breeders get to be defiant and not gays? Come on, let’s all be defiant together, let’s huddle together and find out why we are here and fuck the marrow out of life.

It comes down to this for me: Nothing is true. Everything has truths. And whatever you believe will become true to you. And you alone. So don’t be forcing your truths on someone else. Enjoy the possibilities and the occasional defiance.

So why don’t more of us hunger to discover the meaning of life for ourselves? Why do we accept other people’s second hand meanings? And why do we not fight blood and tears against structures which prevent us from discovering our own meanings?

Maybe, as my housemate says, the meaning of life is over rated and the human language is probably not able to define it. So what is left? Can the meaning be found in ambivalent particles? In gravitational singularity? Or perhaps the meaning is hidden in non linguistic expressions, like music. Perhaps I should go and listen to some ABBA now and not take things so seriously for a while. Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight, won’t somebody help me take my troubles away?

Like what you read? E-mail the author and let him know about it!

Author : Pang Khee Teik
Created on : 16 Jan 2006 08:28

Amazingly Pang - My First Erection

2008-02-04T10:00:00.001+08:00

It took me sometime, but I finally got his permisson to let me post his writings in my blog!!!

This is the writings of a fellow friend, whose writings are as captivating and alluring as his thoughts.

This snippet comes with no title that I am aware of, but Pang loves to put it on his internet profiles.

"When I was 7, I had my first erection. I was amazed. Whoa, a new toy! Like a transformer robot! I had once seen my father's erection and so I was quite proud that I was becoming daddy's boy. Papa! Mummy! Look my transformer! "Ah boy, put away your toy, we have visitors."

But I really didn't know how to play with my new toy until I was 12 when a classmate and I went went to the toilet behind school to compare sizes (wah, you so big; no lah, you bigger - bloody hell, it's a tie!). "Come, let's goncang together," he said. What is goncang? I asked. "There you shake it like that." Oh, so that is what "goncang" means, I said. Um, I don't feel anything lah. "You just keep shaking. You will see." Eh, so boring, man, I see you back in class.

When I was 14, I left Malacca and studied in Singapore. I was living in a hostel, and I found a way to always end up sleeping in other boys' beds. They taught me to masturbate (ooh, so that's what happens when you keep shaking it!), or let me touch them while they pretended to sleep ("Hey, stop touching me please, and stop pretending to be asleep."). Well, I touched a few, and fell in love with many. But I never told anyone my feelings, and so in silence my heart broke over and over.

Frightened of the monster I was becoming and feeling desperately alone, I tried to go straight with jesus and the holy spirit. "Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me." For 12 years I wanted to be like all the rest of god's chosen ones, everyone so perfect, arms raised to heaven, secrets buried under their songs. I felt even more alone.

But then I thought maybe it's okay to be alone. Here we have spent all our lives trying to deal with being alone by joining different crowds - at the clubs, the malls, the churches, the mosques. But I have read enough books and seen enough movies to realise that ultimately the only way to deal with being alone is to be alone.

I learned that faith, identity and truth are all constructed in the mind - and they are largely determined by the crowds around us. Here's what I believe: Whatever you believe becomes true to you. So I alone must decide what this life means and keep searching.

I came out at 26. At first very slowly, and to close friends. I would say, hey, I know there are rumours going around that I am not straight. I just want to say that there is truth behind the rumour. Then they would say, "Oh we know." For people who have a problem with who I am, it is their problem, not mine. They should see a shrink.

Now, I often bring guys back to my apartment. Someone asked, your straight housemates don't mind? I said, I don't mind them, why should they mind me? Breeders and their children, most of them live only to consume the earth's limitted resources; so much misery is born everyday, every hungry mouth asking why are we here in this universe. But me and my kind, we are just trying to spread some love around, make it beautiful while we are here. Laying in each other's arms, perhaps we will find our reasons. Or perhaps the question becomes unnecessary. Perhaps the universe can wait. In the space of each other's arms, time holds us in a bubble even as we float towards the night's horizon. And if our bubble should burst, we still have the ocean and the stars, my friends.

~ ~ ~

I hope that one day we will learn to move beyond our fears. We shouldn't have to walk around with our parents and all the idiots of society sitting on our backs, making decisions for our lives. Life is short enough, don't live halfway.

I mean, is there anything wrong for a man to love another man?

So, if you don't believe that love is wrong, then don`t act like a criminal. Don't hide. Don`t be ashamed of it, don`t pretend to be straight, don`t join in when idiots make jokes about gays, don`t dislike others for being chubby or skinny or campy or promiscuous, be proud of your friends for all their shapes and preferences, fight for diversity, fuck as much or as little as you want (but be careful with your heart, and the hearts of those who trust you).

There are many idiots in this life. They are idiots because idiots like us allow them to make life difficult for us. Don`t let them. You are who you are. But don't worry if who you are now is not yet who you want to be. There's a transformer in all of us, with the capacity to learn, and change, and be extraordinary.

Love yourself. You are alright, babe. Now, talk to me. :) "

Like what you read? E-mail the author and let him know about it!

Author : Pang Khee Teik

New Year Shopping

2008-02-02T15:28:00.002+08:00

He could have easily done his shopping himself, but he wants my second opinion of the purchase...

John wanted to get some new clothes and shoes for this New Year; something that come with a good bargain. I suggested him to start the shopping without me because it would be quite the rush and crowd otherwise. My hubby insists on having my second opinion, and off we went to MidValley for our New Year shopping.

As expected, the crowd were just crazy. We just hopped from one shop to the other, make our selections, test them out and pay. It's just crazy to hang in the shops for too long.

John managed to get all he wanted within his budget range. Well, that makes 2 person happy! I am just glad he dragged me along; it's been awhile since we had our 'retail therapy' (as Yim would have put it). We have forgotten how much fun it was to be together, and this New Year shopping was one of the most beautiful moments we had in such a long time. :-)

MidValley is beautiful for this New Year (yeah, like they aren't on every festive season, huh?). Snapped one for my hubby to capture the moment.

Puteri Santubong, Puteri Sejinjang

2008-02-02T13:00:00.003+08:00

I just love this folk-song. It's often played on television and radios when I was a kid.

It has a very gore-ish approach in between that I think is beautiful in portraying how devastating the friendship has gotten towards the end of the song.

Credits :
http://pesonabatik.com/blog/lagenda-puteri-santubong/2007/06/23/
http://pesonabatik.com/blog/lagenda-puteri-santubong/2007/06/23/
With translation assistance from ta001a007

Puteri Santubong, Puteri Sejinjang

Oh...
Puteri Santubong,
Sejinjang sayang,
Kisah lama, Zaman mensia maya.

Oh...
Princess Santubong,
Sejinjang Dearest,
An old story, the time before men

Puteri Santubong, Puteri Sejinjang,
Penjaga gunung Negeri Sarawak,
Manis sik ada dapat dilawan,
Anak dak Dewa turun kayangan.

Princess Santubong, Princess Sejinjang,
Spirits of the mountain in the land of Sarawak,
So sweet, you could find no comparison
Children like goddesses descended from heaven.

Oh...
Santubong puteri bertenun kain malam,
Oh...
Sejinjang puteri menumbuk padi siang.

Oh...
Princess Santubong weaving clothes… by day,
Oh...
Princess Sejinjang threshing rice… by night.

Satu hari nya dua kelahi,
Beranuk anuk sik renti-renti,
Seorang madah dirik bagus agik,
Seorang sik ngalah walau sampai ke mati.

One day, the two fight,
Mad quarrel without ceasing,
One says she is the fairest
One won’t back down even unto death

Udah lejuk nya duak kelahi,
Lalu bertukuk nya duak puteri,
Sejinjang mengayun aluk ke pipi,
Tebik Santubong sampai gituk ari.

At the end the bickering turned into a quarrel,
Which turned into a fight,
Sejinjang swings the 'aluk' to Santubong's face,
Santubong fell down while bleeding herself

*'Aluk' or 'alu' is a part of a gigantic mortar-like device that people used to thresh rice. Like the one the lady in the picture below is holding. Yup, she smacked Santubong with that, indeed.

Tapi Santubong membalas juak,
Lalu ditikam batang belidak,
Sampei terkena Sejinjang kepala,
Lalu bertabor jadi Pulo Kera.

*'Belidak' is a blade shape tool that people used to slip the string in weaving. The picture below shows a Western version. Stab this onto another person's head? Nice

But Santubong strikes back,
She stabs with 'belidak',
Which landed onto Sejinjang's head,
Spurted into Pulau Kera (via magical means).

Kisah Santubong, kisah Sejinjang,
Asal berkawan jadi musuhan,
Kinik tuk tinggal jadi kenangan,
Pakei ingatan sepanjang zaman.

Stories of Santubong and Sejinjang,
Of dear friends turned into foes,
Which to be taken as a lesson,
To be remembered to the end of time.

Yalah kisah duak ‘rang puteri,
Suka kelayi setiap hari,
Lalu disumpah raja kayangan,
Menjadi gunung negeri Sarawak.

Here, the story of two princesses
Who liked to fight every day
Till a curse from the lord of the fairies came to pass
And they became the mountain in the land of Sarawak

Featured Contact IV

2008-02-01T12:00:00.004+08:00

Big Brother

Nick Name : GemukChub

Age : 30++ (Deceased)

Last Known Status : Dating Someone

Profession : Web Developer

Last Known Location : Selangor, Malaysia

Point of Contact : http://mychub.worldispnetwork.com/malaysia/index.php formerly known as http://www.mychub.org

Contact Since : Feb 2006

Verification Status : Chatted On-Line

Background : GemukChub was web designer whose work soared in MyChub, a website that facilates Malaysian Bears, Chubbies & Chasers that he co-founded alongside AbuChub and some other prominent figures in the community. The idea started of as to have a website to organize memberships of Bears, Chubbies & Chasers, that could facilitate the much celebrated MyChub gathering that they frequently had. Before they knew it, MyChub had grew into a strong community that promotes tolerance, respect and love towards each other. The movement gain attention to many local community members, as well as international communities, such as IndoChub and Philippines Chub and Chaser (can't recall exact name). More history of MyChubs here. That was where I know GemukChub or Moks by his friends. He was always trying to better the site; making sure the members have the facilities to keep in touch, in communication and updated with their events. Not only that, he was always around to give a piece of advice and guidance to the younger Bears, Chubbies and Chasers, like me. He even frequently blog about the enhancements and updates he made onto the site here.

Significance : GemukChub was one of the most dedicated person to the community I have ever met. Not only would he have discussion sessions on the message boards to improve the functionality of the site, he would also throw in his piece of mind in other topics, every now and then. His takes on issues, as a much experienced community member, are often practical, rational, compassionate and tact. It is here where he was able to portray his leadership and visions amongst us. It is of no wonder that he has earned respect and gratitude amongst the members, and is regarded as Abang Moks or Big Brother Moks amongst the community member. His contribution is bigger than life; bigger than what I can describe, and his passing was an enormous lost to the community, indeed.

Pantun

2008-01-31T10:30:00.001+08:00

Pantun - Malaysian Linguistic Arts - Part I

Pantun, a Malaysian linguistic form that is represented by 4 lines of phrases, having the first phrase rhyming with the third, and the second rhyming with the fourth, is a forgotten form of art in the Malaysian society nowadays, partly due to the intricate and detailed manner of its 'word-play'.

Application

Used on occasions where subtlety is required, pantun are often used to convey meaning 'beyond the surface' of the verbal form. Engagements, whereby the man is asking for the woman's hand in marriage is a good example of such use, since asking for the woman's hand in marriage would implicate that the man would want to 'take her in' to his family. Such 'takings' are an honour to the woman's family especially the parents, but that 'taking' would also mean that they would have to 'give away' their daughter to another person to be loved and cared after. Such a request not only require subtlety, but also humility and grace. Being straightforward and blunt, in such a situation, in Malaysian culture are commonly perceived as rude and offensive.

In Malaysian culture, pantuns are also used in showing gratitude and applause. This is because flatteries are often deemed as actions of discourtesy and deceit. To tone down the otherwise appearing overly-eager or even outrageous remarks, pantuns are the best way of conveying one's appreciation.

Structure

Example:

Kalau ada sumur di ladang,
Bolehlah saya menumpang mandi,
Kalau ada umur yang panjang,
Bolehlah kita berjumpa lagi.

	First Half	Second Half		Meaning
Pembayang or Hint	Kalau ada sumur	di ladang	First Phrase	If there's a well in your plantation (garden, orchard, etc)
Pembayang or Hint	Bolehlah saya	menumpang mandi	Second Phrase	I might join you for a bath, some time
Maksud or Message	Kalau ada umur	yang panjang	Third Phrase	If there's some other time in the future
Maksud or Message	Bolehlah kita	berjumpa lagi	Fourth Phrase	I might see you again

Above is the typical layout of a classic pantun, with a four-line form. The first two phrases are called Pembayang or Hint. Pembayang or Hint is actually a sentence, on its own, and would sometime derived from events of nature, chronicles and mere humor. Maksud or Message are the second two phrases that is 'essence' of the pantun. The message are often constructed with humility and grace. In instances where pantun are meant to be cynical, maksud or message are often put in a form of an indirect insult.

First Characteristics

A common characteristics of a pantun, is when the end of phrases rhyme; the first with the third, the second with the fourth.

In our example, we can see how the word ladang that ends the first phrase rhymes with the word panjang from the third phrase; so does the word mandi with lagi.

Having this basic characteristics are good enough to form a decent pantun.

Second Characteristics

The second, and more advance characteristics of a pantun is by having the each 'halves' of each alternating phrases, ryhme.

In the example above, the word from the first phrase, sumur rhymes with the word from the third phrase, umur; and the word from the second phrase, saya rhymes with the word from the fourth phrase, kita, in addition to having the first characteristics in the word play, as well.

Third Characteristics

The last, but the most beautiful characteristics of a great pantun is how the Pembayang or Hint would not only rhyme with the Maksud or Message, but also have the same basic meaning.

In the example above, the pembayang or hint "If there's a well in your plantation (garden, orchard, etc), I might join you for a bath, some time" is depicting the idea of how one would like to do something in the future, if time permits. The idea is then transposed into the phrase "If there's some other time in the future, I might see you again" in the maksud or message. Although they may not represent the same literal meanings, the phrases emphasize on one same idea - one would like to do something, again with you, but if time and chance permits. In this example, having the pembayang or hint put in a casual and pleasing manner, would also, in return brings the perception that the meeting next time is pleasant and worth looking forward to when the maksud or message is presented.

In Loving Memories of GemukChub

2008-01-28T11:52:00.004+08:00

Have you ever found some you have lost for a long period of time, and to find it back, broken and incomplete? That is how I felt today when I learned about this news:-

Excerpts from : http://rhazes79.blogspot.com/2007/11/al-fatihah.html

Al Fatihah
The founder of one of chub community in Malaysia has passed away this evening at 5.00 pm (estimated time). I barely know him in real life. Met him once at the community gathering. Chat often thru YM and IRC. A shock to me because I was just chatting with him yesterday about rebranding the community website. It was just talk and today he was gone.

His efforts in establishing the respect and adore of people who loves chub are too big (no pun intended) to write in verbally. I always remember you, my friend. Mat @ GemukChub. May Allah forgive all of your sins and place you among His chosen servant.

AL Fatihah.

The news were actually broken to me by Nottichub, another member and administrator in MyChubs, and news struck me real bad.

I may not have known GemukChub personally, but his contribution to the Chubs, Chasers, Bears and Daddies via MyChub is nothing less than admirable. The site was a really great resource for me; a mindful young adult who was looking for a safe haven to be myself. His expertise, knowledge and wisdom permeates the site alongside the tools he made available for friends to stay connected. His works was also the backbone of the community and his emsembling efforts over Indonesia, Singapore and the Phillipines has truly made him a visionary of the community. We have certainly lost a great soul amongst us.

In Loving Memories - GemukChub
May you find absolute happiness and peace. We offer you our love and our prayers to you. You are a remarkable friend.

As for MyChubs, I would hate to see such a site left unattended. I don't know squat about PHP, but for the sake of keeping the site alive, I don't mind learning it. I am pretty sure I can learn it up real quick (I tend to do so when I put my mind onto it). I sure hope I could contribute and help keep the contributions and memories of GemukChub alive.

20 Reasons You Can't Believe What You Read in an Internet Profile

2008-01-26T14:30:00.003+08:00

Found this picture a few weeks back. Too freaking hilarious I have to share it

Courtesy of : http://www.savlog.de/?p=80

20 Reasons You Can't Believe What You Read in an Internet Profile

I'm a total top.
Translation : For $200 more you can fuck my brains out.
I'm not into kink.
Translation : I'm into some sick shit that would make you run screaming from the room if I told you what it was.
I'm not looking for a relationship.
Translation : My boyfriend doesn't know I'm fucking around on him.
I work out five times a week.
Translation : I go to the gym twice a week; the other three times I'm working out my low self-esteem issues with my shrink.
I'm str8 and curious.
Translation : I've been fucked... a lot.
I'm 25 and very boyish.
Translation : I'm pushing 40.
I'm relationship oriented.
Translation : My fucking boyfriend is cheating on me.
I'm horse hung.
Translation : It's just slightly bigger than the average dick, but if I light the bedroom just the right way, you will think it's huge.
I'm a total bottom.
Translation : I'm a total bottom.
I give a great massage!
Translation : And if you want 'release' that will be $75 extra.
I like to get freaky!
Translation : Do you have a boyfriend I can fuck?
I love watching old movies.
Translation : I am a new Falcon exclusive.
I'm very versatile.
Translation : Oh God! I wanna get fucked so bad!
My dick is always rock hard.
Translation : The Viagra is stashed under the bathroom sink.
I'm not an escort.
Translation : I prefer the term "companion".
Hot guy with a six-pack.
Translation : If you drink an entire six pack, you might think I'm hot.
I have a thing in uniforms.
Translation : I've been incarcerated.
I'm hung very thick.
Translation : My dick is small.
No models, actors or waiters.
Translation : I want a sugar daddy!
Not into cyber chat.
Translation : I'm stupid and can make conversation.

Puchong Morning Market Escape

2008-01-26T12:00:00.003+08:00

Puchong has a morning market, it seems.

They have it every morning except Mondays.

We woke up early on a Saturday morning (if 10:00a.m. considered early, anyways) just to check it out.

It's filled with Chinese vendors which translate to tons of Chinese Food.

We then head to the nearest KopiTiam and had our breakfast at an outdoor dining they had, under a tree.

It was simply blissful to be able to enjoy life this way. I kind of forgotten how easy it is to enjoy life. And this was certainly a blissful reminiscence.

The Puchong Morning Market.

Some folks enjoying the morning with a game of Chinese Chess.

John, enjoying his breakfast.

It certainly pays off. Hope this is the beginning of a wonderful life. I had pay my dues, and I can't believe I am done.

Go Figure

Happy Birthday, Mummy!

More IKEA Purchase

Spending My Time

Another Chapter

Yeay. Today, I have got my offer from GSK. Accepted it on the spot.

Favorite New Series and Movies

The Big Bang Theory

Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

Thank You for Smoking

Drawing on Nokia 5800 Music Xpress

My Scanned Pictures - Part II

The memories of Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Bandar Hilir Melaka - My Primary School

My Secondary School - Malacca High School

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music

Plumbing 101

My Favorite New Series

Guantanamera

GUANTANAMERA

My Birthday Gift

New Year Eve

CNY 'Balik Kampung'

Homosexuality in Malaysia 101 - Hetero-Married Gay and Bisexual Men in Malaysia

Hetero-Married Gay and Bisexual Men in Malaysia

Background

Common Reasons

Time Changes Men

The Consequences

Meet Up with Aina

New Year Get-Together

I owed my friends my time; BIG TIME.

NOTE : Some of my guests requested to remain anonymous, and please note that some of the faces were blurred to honor our guests' request.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

Balded

Philips Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Sale

Public Announcement

Philips Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Sale

From 19th December 2008 to 21st December 2008

CyberJaya Park

Mommies Dearest

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Saturday

Sunday

My Yet Another New Toy

To Singapore They Go!

为你而活 - Wei Ni Er Huo (Because of You, I Live)

English Translation UpdatedTranslated by : Chan Chong John

PutraJaya Botanical Park with Mommy and Sian

My New Toy

New Look for Our Living Room

FINALLY!!!

Our IKEA Purchase

The Death Penalty

Luna

It's been a while since my last update, hasn't it?

Alessandro Safina - Luna

'Buka Puasa' with My Classmates

My Hubby - All Grown Up

I am officially a TupperWare GIRL

Maximus is on FaceBook!

Let's Keep Connected, People

BUSTED!

HAHAHA

My Scanned Pictures - Part I

More to come!!!

A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya - Part II

A Day-Out with Hubby to Shell IT Cyberjaya

Nasi Ayam Penyet

I JUST LOVE IT!!!

My SAN Storage Manager Work - Backup Scope

Rapid KL - Rapidly Transport, Rapidly Explode!!!

Some Professional Recognition for My Existence, Please?

I HATE BIRTHDAYS,

ESPECIALLY MINE

Except me!

Delete THUMBnail... ...

A craziness in KSPK - TMK 2008

Dinner at Jalan Klang Lama

It's my favorite place whenever I am in Jalan Klang Lama with John!

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ADDENDUM:

English Translation Updated
Translated by : Chan Chong John