Month: May 2005

Can you pretend to be my boyfriend?

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xiao mei 1

That was the question put forward to me by someone I just met. She
had someone going after her that she didn’t like and wanted me to take
photos of us together to claim that I’m her boyfriend.

xiao mei me 1

I don’t know why, but these situations always come to me. I’m kinda
used to it already, so alright, I said, I’ll pose for a couple of
photos to make us look like we’re in a relationship and I’ll also post
it on the website but I will not confirm it in real life since I
already have a girlfriend.

xiao mei me 2

This is Xiao Mei (her real name is Abby) and these are the photos
she’s going to show to ward off her admirer that she doesn’t like. It
works well for me too, since it’s another XX chromosomes post. However,
I don’t think my gf will think highly of this, regardless of the
situation of helping out a friend. :p

xiao mei me 3

Anyway, here you go…now you owe me one. 😉

Everybody Loves Kung Fu Fighting!

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kung fu rat

The Kung Fu Rat is a soft toy that sings and dances to a theme song that’s so catchy, you just can’t get it out of your head!

kungfu rat

Download: Kungfu Rat [sixthseal.com]

It’s hooked up to one of the video servers in our network. It’s just too funny for words…so just download the video. 🙂

Anyway, I’ll be flying to KL early tomorrow morning for a business
trip. I’ll be there the whole weekend, staying at the same place
(Cititel, Mid Valley).

Kafe Zhi Wei review

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kafe zhi wei

Cafe Zhi Wei is latest eatery to open up in
Kuching. It has only been in operation for less than 2 weeks. The words
“Zhi Wei” literally means “(The) Taste” but the Chinese characters
means “Taste Expert Cafe”. I went there last night to try out this new
eating establishment.

zhi wei interior

Kafe Zhi Wei is nicely spaced out, with seating arrangements to
accommodate couples, groups and larger packs of diners. There is also
an al fresco (this word should never be used in Malaysian food reviews)
dining option for smokers. The seats outside are nicer than the ones in
the interior, for some reason.

zhi wei owner

I love the personalized service that Cafe Zhi Wei provides. The
proprietor was kind enough to come out and recommend dishes to us. Her
name is Ng See Sian and she hails from KL. Cafe Zhi Wei is meant for an
authentic Hakka cuisine experience. She’s very friendly, and easy to
talk to, and can recommend the best dishes for the day.

zhi wei lime assam

She told us the Lime Asam Juice (RM 2.50) is
different from most implementations and suggested that we try out this
drink. It’s good. I can’t remember what I ordered, coz we just ate and
shared dishes and drinks. It’s pretty much of a communal dining
experience with us coz we like to sample new things.

zhi wei lemon sugarcane

This is the Lemon Sugar Cane (RM 2.00) that the
proprietor also recommended. It looks a little like the Lime Assam
Juice, but without the froth on top. She told us that the lemon offsets
the overt sweetness of the sugar cane juice. I found it very nice and
thirst quenching.

zhi wei longan

Here’s the Longan with winter melon (RM 1.50)
that’s served in a unique receptacle. It’s recommended for its
“cooling” properties and apparently is popular in with Hakka people.

zhi wei rice

The proprietor told us that their strength is in the Hakka Fried Pork dishes. This is the Hakka Fried Pork Rice
(RM 4.50). It comes with Oil Rice, which is a very fragrant type of
rice. I tasted it and I swear it’s better than Bario rice in taste (but
not texture).

zhi wei noodles

This is the Dry Hakka Fried Pork Noodle (RM 5.00).
The proprietor informed us that the pork that they serve is not the
usual “three layer pork” but a specially prepared Hakka style cured
meat that requires a long seasoning time. I love the Hakka Fried Pork,
it’s really different from the others I’ve had.

zhi wei noodles close

Here’s a closer look at the contents of the Dry Hakka Fried Pork
Noodle. It has generous portions of pork, fresh green vegetables, and
edible fungi, all topped with chopped spring onions. It’s great – the
Hakka Fried Pork is really something to experience and the noodles are
nice and springy.

zhi wei fried dumpling

This is the Deep Fried Dumpling (RM 5.00) that we
ordered as a side dish. One bit of information that the proprietor told
is that the Deep Fried Dumplings are only available at night. The lunch
crowd is usually in a rush to get back to the office so they serve
Dumpling Soup during lunch instead.

zhi wei fried dumpling inside

Here’s a closer look at the Deep Fried Dumpling. It has a lot of
ingredients which I couldn’t identify, but the pastry wrap is crunchy
and the inside hot and delicious. As I mentioned, this dish is only
available at night, so go for dinner if you’ll like to try this dish.

zhi wei cripsy vege

Finally, we had the highly recommended Crispy Vegetable With Chicken
(RM 4.50). The proprietor informed us that this is their flagship dish
– there’s no other eating establishments in Sarawak that has this
particular dish. It’s really delicious, I polished off the whole plate
in no time.

Kafe Zhi Wei gets two thumbs up from me. Don’t miss out on this
place if you’re in Kuching – it has great Hakka based cuisine and a
list of must-try dishes that the proprietor can recommend. Great
service and food, that’s a 10/10 in my books.

Inspiration Alan Salon report

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inspiration alan saloon

Inspiration Alan Salon or Alan Saloon School of Hairdressing
as some calls it, is located at Hock Lee Center. I desperately needed a
haircut before I go to KL next week (business trip) to avoid looking
like a “drug addict” as my mom likes to bring up every time I go back.
I headed to my usual hair salon (Empire, Wisma Saberkas) but they don’t
open until 11 am. I needed to sort out a couple of things with my
project (which is why I’m in the office right now) so I decided to try
Alan Saloon of Hairdressing.

alan saloon interior

The first thing that strikes you as you enter Inspiration Alan Salon
is the tastefully designed interior with subdued lighting. It was like
stepping into your personal hair stylist room, like Kenny mentioned.
There are no glaring lights anywhere in the salon – it’s all about
subtlety here…

alan saloon tieup

There is also the standard product promotional tie-in displays at
Inspiration Alan Salon as well, but this wall mounted one is very
aesthetically pleasing and blends in well with the surroundings – it
doesn’t look garish like other hair saloons.

alan saloon ressies

There is a resident hairstylist signboard mounted on the entrance as
well as their working experience and a photo of them in action. I
believe this is the first time something like this has been done in
Kuching. I was looking at the photos to see which hairstylist I wanted
(yeah, yeah, I’m a typical male pig, I go for the good looking one :p)
but did not see any noteworthy ones (which I later found out was the
photographer’s fault, coz some of them are fine ;)).

alan saloon counter

I went up to the counter and asked about the hair stylists on duty
today. The counter girl told me that she’ll assign a free one to me and
told me to take as seat and make myself feel comfortable. “No way,
Jose,” said I. I’m going to choose who’ll be the one to fuck around
with my hair (the one upstairs, for those of you with your minds in the
gutter ;)). She hesitated before politely informing me that they
usually like to train the junior hair stylists.

alan saloon stuff

I asked her who the junior hairstylists are…and she told me there
were five of them. I didn’t want to waste time beating around the bush,
so I straight out asked her whether they are male or female. 😉 I’m
used to getting *cough* female treatment, so to speak, in Empire and
I’m not going to change that. She looked at me kinda strange and told
me that the only females in-house right now are the resident
hairstylists.

alan saloon color bar

I asked to look at them in person coz I wanted to choose the one to
cut my hair. I can be a very demanding customer in certain aspects, as
you can see. 😉 That caused another puzzled hesitation before she
complied and let me into the back room. I only saw one aesthetically
pleasing hair stylist there, so I said I wanted the one in the white
top to cut my hair.

alan saloon vip

I also told her I’ll take the mysterious VIP room (which costs an
additional RM 20) and she ushered me in personally. I had been
wondering what this “VIP Room” has that makes it special enough to
justify an RM 20 extra…

alan saloon vip room

…and I found out that it’s a partially enclosed room with only two
seats for maximum privacy. There are also plush seats at the back of
the hairdressing seats for companions and a personal LCD screen for
each of the two chairs so you can either read magazines or watch MTV.
My hairstylist later told me that the VIP room is usually used for long
procedures like hair coloring and hair straightening procedures.

alan saloon menu

I also noticed that they have a menu for drinks and food and I was
told that VIP room patrons get a complimentary drink. I ordered the
Cafe Mocha. There is also a notice announcing Alan’s Hair Show at Genting Highlands which will be aired on 8TV and TV3 later this month. Jesus, and I thought I’m a narcissist. 😉

alan saloon mocha lid

This is the Cafe Mocha that was served soon after. I thought the
stainless steel cover spoiled an otherwise perfect implementation…

alan saloon mocha

…and this is the Cafe Mocha in question. It was hot and creamy,
but they really need to brew it with higher caffeine content. I thought
it was decaf, for Christ’s sake…

alan saloon hairwash

I went for a Wash and Cut (RM 32) and a person of the male
persuasion came in…and I told him there must be a mistake coz I got
someone else to do my hair. He assured me that everything is in order,
it’s just that the senior hairstylists there makes the junior
hairstylists do all the hair washing…I’m not even going to go there.
I’m still traumatized by being touched everywhere (on my scalp, lar) by
a guy for 30 minutes…

alan saloon antonia pose

My hairstylist, Antonia Yong, who is one of the resident
professional senior hairstylists there came in later and had a
discussion about how we’re going to make my hair look like by the time
I step out of Inspiration Hair Salon. She was kind enough to pose for a
shot while I took it from the mirror. Antonia, these are my readers,
dear readers of sixthseal.com, this is Antonia. 😉

alan saloon mtv

I had the option of watching the LCD screen showing MTV that the
counter attendant activated for me. She asked me which channel I
preferred, and I told her MTV is fine.

alan saloon blog

She also put a stack of the latest magazines on the table in front of me…and this is an interesting bit about blogs. Hah!

alan saloon antonia magic 1

This is Antonia Yong doing her magic on my hair…and the person to
the right is the guy that’s waiting to re-wash my hair. Please don’t
worry about me, I’ll get over it with enough counselling and
support…and I know I look half-asleep – it’s 10:30 am on a Sunday for
God’s sake. :p

alan saloon antonia magic 2

Anyway, I thoroughly recommend her services if you’re in need of a
haircut. She’s real friendly (something I find attractive) and…well,
just take my word for it, you’ll enjoy it AND get a good haircut at the
same time. :p

alan me antonia

This is me and Antonia at the end of the session. I like my hair to
hang down, but she insisted that it looks better like this. Oh well…

Antonia told me that they’re opening up a new branch at Sarawak
Plaza, so look out for that. The total damage to the wallet from the
hair wash and cut is RM 32. I told the cashier that I took the VIP Room
so there should be an additional RM 20 charge for that, but she said
it’s alright since it wasn’t booked or occupied at that time. That’s
very nice of them, and I got a free mocha to go with it too.

Inspiration Hair Salon gets two thumbs up from me, both for service and quality.

Mabron injection (IV, IM, SC) report

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mabron pack

I managed to get hold of a box of Mabron (tramadol hydrochloride)
injection ampoules from my good pharmacy friend. Mabron can be
administered via IV (Intravenous Injection), IM (Intra-muscular
Injection) or SC (Subcutaneous Injection) and comes in a box of 5 x 200
mg ampoules.

mabron injection

Here’s a closer look at the box. It contains 100 mg of tramadol
hydrochloride for injection per ml. The ampoules are 2 ml each, so that
comes out to 200 mg per ampoule. I administered the Mabron solution
using Terumo .29 G syringes.

mabron ampoules

This is the Mabron (IV, IM, SC) ampoules. It comes in old skool
glass ampoules that can be snapped off at the top. I took three videos
of myself injecting Mabron – SC, IM and IV respectively. I originally
only wanted to do IV but I forgot my 256 MB SD Card and only had a 16
MB SD Card at my disposal so the videos are rather rushed as I needed
to finish everything in slightly more than 60 seconds.

mabron sc

Download: Mabron SC injection [sixthseal.com]

I thought I had got a vein, but I didn’t – this was a subcutaneous shot.

mabron im

Download: Mabron IM injection [sixthseal.com]

The time ran out before I could register a vein so I just stuck it into muscle and IM the solution.

mabron iv

Download: Mabron IV injection [sixthseal.com]

This is the video where I managed to IV the Mabron (tramadol hydrochloride) injection solution.

There isn’t anything much I can add to tramadol that hasn’t been described in the original tramadol experience report [sixthseal.com]…but the injectible form of tramadol has differences from the oral ingestion capsules described below:

feel a rush, sweating, speedy effects predominate but seretonin
release is there too. feels very nice. gets me clumsy too. feels like
the familiar tramadol opiate with serotonin bonus effects but MUCH
STRONGER. it feels much speedier too. i would consider iv tramadol a
recreational drug.

I would consider Mabron (tramadol hydrochloride) to be recreational in injection form when it’s administered using syringes.

Disclaimer: The scenes depicted in the videos did
not happen the last time I went back to Sibu. It happened a long, long
time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

The bird nesting outside my window

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bird nesting

I had noticed an increase in birds chirping recently, as well as a
perceived closeness of the said chirping sounds. I didn’t really think
much of it until I happened to see a birds nest in the window just
outside my place.

bird nest window

It was unusual as birds usually nest earlier in the year (when the
weather is drier) and also due to the fact that I live on the third
floor, and the outcropping afforded by the struts supporting my window
wasn’t all that comfortable to roost in (in a human’s eyes).

bird run away

I found the bird to be quite adorable but it turned rather anxious
when our proximity closed, which was strange, considering I sleep under
her every night. It soon flew off to roost in the street light opposite
my place, where she anxiously kept one eye on her beloved nest.

bird nest take

I wanted to take a look at the nest, so I tenderly squeezed it in
through the bars of my window…and I found two (2) eggs inside the
nest! Bird eggs! The nest was made out of straw and other material the
bird managed to painstakingly gather throughout the nest building days.

bird nest closer

Here’s a closer look at the bird’s nest…

bird egg closer

…and the two eggs that it contained. The eggs are slightly
translucent and it seems like one can peek inside, if only the lighting
was right.

I managed to take a video of the bird eggs to show how it looks like:

bird egg splash

Download: Bird’s eggs [sixthseal.com]

However, I inadvertently used too much pressure on the eggs coz one
of it burst and splashed yolk and bird fetal matter. OMG! I killed a
bird-to-be! I also managed to soil the lens of the Nikon 5700 that I just repaired at a cost of RM 750. I don’t know which one made me feel worse. :p

bird egg broken

Well, since the egg was already destroyed, here’s another photo of it.

bird egg pristine

This is the pristine egg that wasn’t destroyed…

bird nest

Download: Lonely mother bird [sixthseal.com]

bird plaintive

…and this is the sad mother of the eggs. The bird is seen
plaintively roosting at the place where the nest used to be, looking
for her yet-to-be-born children that was so cruelly snatched from her…

McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Foldover

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mcd grilled chicken foldover

McDonald’s just came out with a new menu addition – Grilled Chicken Foldover. The tagline goes “The BIG taste sensation that’s here to stay!” and there is a “100% white chicken meat”
logo on the promotional posters too. Hmm…I didn’t know there was any
other kind of chicken meat. Last I heard, all chickens are considered
as white meat. 😉

mcd chicken foldover front

The description goes “Treat yourself to the big taste sensation of
two lightly-grilled 100% white chicken meat patties, crispy lettuce,
juicy tomatoes and fresh onions, all topped with creamy garlic
mayonnaise and tightly tucked into a tasty toasted flatbread.”. The
packaging of the Grilled Chicken Foldover is really nice, with a custom
made full body cardboard wrap with detailed illustrations.

mcd chicken foldover back

The back of the McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Foldover is no less
detailed, and the quality of the custom made cardboard wrap is quite
impressive.

mcd chicken foldover eztear

The Grilled Chicken Foldover is nested inside the custom cardboard
wrap, with an “Easy-Tear” (just a trademark able word for
“perforation”) going around the entire body.

mcd chicken foldover open

This is what the McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Foldover looks like –
there’s a herb infused flatbread covering two chicken meat patties. The
packaging is pretty nifty too, it only opens up the upper half of the
Grilled Chicken Foldover so that it can be enjoyed without soiling the
user’s fingers (coz the bottom half has the packaging intact).

mcd chicken foldover inside

Here’s a closer look at the inside of the Grilled Chicken Foldover –
it has two oblong shaped flat grilled chicken patties (it looks like a
steak cut) and other vegetables topped with garlic mayo inside the
folded flatbread…

mcd chicken foldover close

…and here’s what it looks like after I’ve taken a couple of bites from it.

mcd chicken foldover us

I went to McDonald’s for lunch just now with my coworker Penny, and
her friends Lisa (who happens to be a Heng Hua as well, just like me)
and Lui Lee.

Banana honey dip

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smile banana store

Banana honey dip is a snack from Thailand – it was featured in the
Thai Fair at a local supermarket lately. It contains real dried bananas
dipped in honey and individually wrapped before being packaged into a
box.

smile banana pack

I bought one of the Banana honey dip for RM 8.50 for a box containing about 20 of the honey dipped dried bananas.

smile banana thai

The opposite side of the box (which is actually the “real side”) has
Thai characters and a perforation that runs along the box, which can be
opened to accommodate the extraction of the individually wrapped dried
bananas.

smile banana ingredients

The listed ingredients of the Banana Honey Dip is pretty straightforward to the point of being absurd…it says: Banana. Honey.

smile banana open here

The perforation marked “Open Here” can be torn away to reveal…

smile banana take one

…the dried banana slices.

smile banana wrapped

The individually wrapped banana slices has “Smile Banana” written on it…

smile banana naked

The honey dipped dried banana slices is vividly textured…it looks like a real banana. Scrap that, it is
a real banana. It tastes surprisingly good too – best eaten with
watermelons or another juicy fruit to make the dried bananas taste like
a fresh moist banana.

smile banana smile

Smile! It’s banana time!

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