I just weighted myself at a weighing scale and noticed that I am now clocking in at a rather respectable (?) 69.2 kg.
This is approximately a 10 kg increase from my previous weight (before rehab) and I had a friend relate to me how gaining 10 kg actually feels, but since it’s so subtle and nefarious you don’t actually realize it. It’s called The Rice Theory (TM).
The Rice Theory (TM) was related to me during dinner just now by my friend who watched me binge on food and then went with me to the mall for the weighing machine and it goes like this:
Pick up a 10 kg bag of rice from your nearest mall and try lugging that around. Imagine yourself carrying that 10 kg bag of rice. The. Entire. Day. Everywhere you go. 24/7. That’s how gaining 10 kg of weight feels like.
Ever since I admitted to a certain indiscretion during my youth on Yee Hou’s blog chronicled in the comments here:
Hmm…I’m not sure if PETA reads your blog but I’ve done it before with a couple of friends when I was really young. Involved a stray dog, similar situation (target, rather) and a firecracker tied to said anatomy.
I know it’s evil. Sorry. I think I was 10 or 12 back then.
Dr. Tan: I have a little question though. How the hell did you manage to get hold of the dog and not have him bite you?
WTF man so evil one you. Huai Bin | Homepage | 08.01.08 – 12:01 am | #
It was quite easy. The dog was a stray and thus quite easily tempted by food. It (he) was eating the Chinese New Year bak gua and my friend duct taped either a chai lei or ta di lei gong (those huge crackers) to his scrotum area.
I am sorry to say that I was the one who lit the fuse.
Dr. Tan: I once threw a chai lei onto a zinc roof of some kampung guy and a hole appeared.
I also heard rumours that two da di lei gong can blow apart a public phone, after which you can access the coin box.
What happened to the dog? Huai Bin | Homepage | 08.05.08 – 11:35 pm | #
I don’t know. It ran away like a bolt of lightning after the firecracker exploded. There were drops of blood on the floor and everything. My bad. Huai Bin | Homepage | 08.06.08 – 5:21 pm | #
I have felt the urge to repent and proclaim my love for all canines around the world. I love dogs. I’m sorry I aidded and abbetted in neutering one with a firecracker in my youth. =D
I was busy with the preparations for my sister’s wedding for most of the day before Nicole texted me and asked if I was free for dinner. She was the one who wrote the rather alarming article about me in The Star and now that the fallout is (or seem to be) relatively over, I wanted an autographed copy of the column. Heh!
Well, in all fairness, it really wasn’t her fault coz I consented to the interview but the headline was a bit on the sensationalist side. Nicole is a really nice person in real life, we had dinner at Tasting Room in Bangsar and polished off a couple of bottles of wine. The full review of Tasting Room wine bistro will be in a separate post.
Anyway, at some point during the night, it was decided that we were to drive down to Shah Alam and catch the Chelsea – Malaysia friendly match after all. Nicole wanted me to drive her car down (!). I was a little shocked and awed by her faith in my driving skillz, especially with the number of collisions I have under my belt and the two bottles of wine plus several other glasses during a tasting session in me.
I did find it quite amusing that I’m actually qualified to be a designated driver – I’m probably the worst candidate for that. I’m also secretly honored by Nicole’s faith in me driving her car down to Shah Alam, so I put on my best Sober Expression (TM), and took the 1 hour drive down to the Shah Alam Stadium. I noticed that she did take precautions to fasten her seat belt though. 😉
I didn’t quite know my way around KL and Shah Alam so Nicole was giving directions from the passenger seat while Grace slept at the back. It took us a little more than an hour to arrive due to traffic congestion and the poor road signs to the stadium where Chelsea was playing. I also remembered missing an exit three (3) times in a row due to my inebriated state and having to make a long U turn back only to miss it again.
Shah Alam Stadium was packed full of Chelsea (and the odd Malaysia) fans and I had a ticket in addition to the five (5) I gave out in the Heineken Chelsea contest so I decided to go in and take a couple of photos and videos.
The stadium at full capacity.
Chelsea scores the second goal of the match. 2-0.
Snack vendor catering to the crowd.
Frenzy – the minority Malaysia team supporters lamenting a missed opportunity.
Final score: 2-0 to Chelsea.
Watch the video of the Chelsea Malaysia friendly match. This is the Chelsea Asia Tour 2008 – Malaysia event.
The girls weren’t keen on going in due to the crowd and I couldn’t find the other bloggers so I left after a bit to drive back to KL. I heard the score was 2-0 to Chelsea when we headed back to Wine Cellar to have some more to drink. More about that in another post. Cheers!
I arrived in KL last Monday to do some stuff related to my impending sister’s wedding. I was supposed to meet up with Grace at 6 pm after she gets off work coz I was crashing at her place at Bangsar Heights for two nights, so I had an entire afternoon to kill.
I arrived at around 12 pm and met up with Julian Hopkins, who is doing a blog research project. He’s doing his doctorate in cultural anthropology about bloggers and wanted an interview with me. Read more about this research program about bloggers here.
Julian wanted to bring me to this famous duck rice stall but it was closed so we ended up eating at the equally renowned Soo Kee Ipoh Chicken Kueh Tiaw soup.
I expected the kueh tiaw to be like the Sarawak type of kueh tiaw (which is thicker) but the ones served here are much thinner and it’s really good.
The broth was absolutely infused with chicken soup and it’s very tasteful and not too filling as to induce post lunch coma.
I love this stuff, I haven’t had it before since I’m not a big fan of soup dishes…until now. The Soo Kee Ipoh Chicken Kueh Tiaw soup really is that good. Anyway, Julian brought me to Monash University after that for a taped interview, which took up most of the afternoon. He kindly sent me back to KL Sentral so I could meet up with Grace. Julian is a really nice person so help out with his research program okay? 🙂
Grace took me back to her apartment in Bangsar Heights where I stayed for the next two nights. I wasn’t really comfortable with the idea of sleeping with my future in laws since I smoke and all that and Grace’s room is a smoke-free room (as in you can smoke for free ;)).
I wasn’t due to meet up with my sister’s fiancé’s family until the next day so I hooked up with the Nuffnang team for dinner at Jalan Alor.
Timothy suggested Restauran Sun Chui Yuen which is a bit of a tourist trap.
Siong Kee is one of the most famous kampua noodle stalls in Sibu. Siong Kee Mee Kampua is located in Taman Muhibbah. The proprietor is the one manning the stall and has almost acrobatic displays of noodle handling from the pot of boiling water to the bowl.
This friendly and unassuming owner is a Guinness World Records holder (!) though not for kampua noodles. He is credited under Most weddings attended by a best man. Mr. Ting Ming Siong from Sibu, Sarawak has been best man at the most weddings in the world with 1,393 occasions and counting. His record holder status can be verified here.
He even has a name card that lists his achievements in…er, matrimonial services, and he is also the Malaysian Book of Records holder in that department. Siong Kee Mee Kampua is very busy almost every night due to the good noodles that he churns out (and I suspect his acrobatic feats and record holder status as well).
Kampua noodles is actually very simple to make but this man is the only one who makes it entertaining to watch:
1. Blanch noodles
2. Throw noodles up in the air (no one else does this except him) and catch it again
3. Mix noodles with a lard based sauce
I’m not sure if the noodle throwing actually adds anything to the flavor (though rumor has it that it makes the noodles more pliable) but it certainly makes for a very lively performance.
Everybody loves kampua throwing!
I’ve been told by kampua aficionados that you should always eat the noodles plain to gauge the taste properly. Kampua is served plain de facto but you can opt to have it with soy sauce, soy sauce and chilli, or chilli sauce.
I ate this one plain and I pronounce it good!
I was searching for his record in the Guinness World Records website and chanced upon a record that I could easily beat – Most Ferrero Rocher chocolates eaten in one minute which currently stands at a meager five (5).
Watch out Reuben Williams! I’m gunning for your record. I can do six easily. 😉
I had to get something done in Kuching during the weekend and took a bus after work on Saturday (RM 40) and arrived late evening. The bus ticket costs RM 40 and it takes about 7 hours for the journey. Irene picked me up and we did the photo shoot in about an hour or so before heading for dinner.
I stayed at Transit Point, the latest competitor to the Singgahsana Lodge and it only cost RM 35 nett for a room with WiFi (!) and a queen sized bed. The Singgahsana Lodge on the other hand costs RM 30 nett for dormitory style accommodations sleeping 10 people in a room.
Irene called me at around 11 pm and it was decided that we were to do some clubbing and meet up with some old friends since I was already here. I was a little dubious since I have to wake up at 6 am in the morning to take the 8:30 am express boat back to Sibu but I figured I haven’t gone clubbing in a while so I went for it.
I also drink Heineken draft during my regular sessions, not just for advertorials, okay. :p
I was sitting at the bar with Irene and I suddenly had an ethanol inspired idea to pass my blogger name card to random people. Pimp my blog and all that. 😉
I walked over to two girls beside to our left and passed out my name card to them, and one of them recognized my name. Michelle (pictured above) has read my blog before and was introduced to it by…
…Wendy! Thanks for reading! 🙂
We stayed until 2 am and went over to Azza Burger to eat the famous Azza Burger with everything inside (my favorite post drinking session meal when I was in Kuching). We also partook in the famous Chinese amber fluid (Tsingtao in cans) and I ended up sleeping at 4 am, which is a really bad idea when you have to wake up 2 hours later.
Snooze Alarms is an anagram for Alas! No more Z’s !
I was supposed to wake up at 6 am but I overslept and woke up at 7:40 am, rushed to pack my bags and called a taxi to bring me to the wharf in Pending where the express boat departs at 8:30 am (RM 45). The express boat takes about 5 hours, which is a little faster than taking a bus. I made it in time and after a bit of expense tabulation:
Sibu – Kuching bus: RM 40 Accommodation: RM 35 Kuching – Sibu express boat: RM 45 Total: RM 120 (Price not inclusive of dinner and drinking session)
It is possible to travel on a budget if you don’t mind the long journeys by non-aviation means of transportation. You can always sleep on the bus/express boat and I arrived in Sibu at around 2 pm on Sunday. 🙂
I’ve always wanted to do three things before I kicked the bucket – write a book, travel the world and direct a movie. I haven’t got the chance to do the first two but the last one is finally within my reach. I don’t even have to purchase a high quality video recorder, rent an expensive studio or deal with actors overdosing and dying on me before the voice overlay is done. 😉
Wardrobe malfunctions are minimized and temper tantrums avoided. It’s pure fun!
LG Scarlet is running an online contest where you get to direct your own video. The action sequences and adrenaline pumping music in the LG Scarlet video is amazing to work with. You can customize it by adding snap scenes and your own captions and it’s very user friendly.
The contest will be run for four (4) consecutive weeks and there will be a weekly prize for the Director that accumulates the most votes. There will also be a grand prize at the end of the contest.
If you’re not interested in being a Director, there is also a concurrent contest for being a Fan. The Fan wins by having the highest number of successful virals. A viral is defined as a vote garnered (gained in plain English – I just use garner coz the LG Scarlet movie reminds me of Alias) from that particular Fan’s video promo link.
I have tried to decipher that statement and it just means that you basically promote the video you like either via your blog or email and you get an extra vote for every registered user that votes for that particular video link. The more registered users you get, the higher your chances of winning.
There will be a weekly and grand prize for both Fans and Directors. The weekly prize is a Hi-Fi Micro FB163 for every week of the four week campaign and the grand prize is a 37″ LG Scarlet LCD TV!
Now, you can finally be the director of a video without learning to use video editing software with more buttons and menu items than you can shake a stick at.
I’m registered under sixthseal.com as a Director and you can vote for my video at the LG Scarlet site. I’m planning a vote buying campaign where I pay RM 1 for every person that votes for me. Terms and conditions apply.
Terms and Conditions: RM 1 will be sent via snail mail for every valid registered user who votes for me. This vote buying campaign is only open to Malaysian residents. Please send a SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) with an RM 1 note in it for processing fees. 😉
All kidding aside, head on to the LG Scarlet website to register as either a Director or a Fan and participate in the contest. This is one of the most interesting Internet viral marketing strategies I’ve seen – my hats off to the people at LG.
Calling all armchair/office chair directors! Here’s your chance to Shine (reference intended). 😉
