Month: March 2009

Ride of the Valkyries

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eurocopter hangar

I was invited for a helicopter ride by the great (crate?) people at Heineken on Saturday. The scheduled takeoff was at 11 am at Eurocopter in Subang Airport with a briefing at 10:30 am. The helicopter experience is a prize for the people who participated in the Crate Expectations (sorry for the lame pun above) online game by Heineken.

eurocopter

I left early to pick up Rin coz she has misgivings about my navigation skillz. The two contest winners arrived soon after us. Cheesie and I didn’t win the game but we were invited to experience the helicopter ride anyway. Cheers Heineken! OMG! There are so many bad puns in here. 😉

montage

Anyway, after driving into the Eurocopter car park, we were recognized by the liaison there for the 11 am takeoff and brought into the secure hangar. I was half afraid they’re going to ask for my MyKad or driver’s license coz I neglected to bring both.

ferrari

The Eurocopter hangar houses an impressive fleet of helicopters – there’s even one used by the Ferrari team during the F1 season. We were given a tour of the hangar and introduced to the different helicopters there.

pre flight

The helicopters can be rented – the liaison told us a heartwarming story about a guy who proposed to his girlfriend by hanging a huge “Will You Marry Me?” banner on some building and getting down on bended knee on the helicopter when they panned over the building.

prep

We had to wait for the engineer to come (his car broke down) so our flight was delayed for about an hour or so. The pilot cannot take off without the safety engineer’s green light – a very good safety precaution.

start

Thus, after a short wait…we got on the helicopter, buckled up and put on the on board communications device (the technical term for this is “headphones”).

fly montage

The pilot got the helicopter started up…

airborne

…and we’re airborne! =D

Cue Ride of the Valkyries.

charlie

I just couldn’t resist. Heh!

subang

It’s a great feeling to be on a vertical takeoff aircraft. The flexibility of the HH-65 Dolphin is impressive. We flew over Subang…

pj

…PJ (I can see you taking a shower in your house with my l33t zoom lens :p)

onwards

…and onwards to KL city.

kl

The pilot circled the KL Twin Towers and other landmarks in the city, giving us a lot of photo ops.

klcc

I could see mini people playing in the splash pool outside KLCC. I think we were hovering at about 1,000 feet.

Check out the KLCC Flyover video!

batu caves

We headed off to Batu Caves after that and did a flyby of the limestone hill. It’s the most famous Hindu shrine in Malaysia, with temples inside the caves. I’ve been there once during Thaipusam and it’s great to have a bird’s eye view of the place.

statue

I also managed to snap a photo of the huge Lord Murugan statue standing guard outside the cave network.

pyramid

On to more secular sightings, we flew over Sunway Pyramid. Hmm…religious imagery on a shopping mall – right after the real thing. How ironic.

sunway lagoon

Sunway Lagoon from above looks smaller than the actual water theme park.

cemetary

I also managed to capture a photo of a rather large cemetery. I like cemeteries. I have a morbid fascination with death.

condo

Cheesie got all excited when she spotted her condo and I managed to spot mine too. No, that’s not a picture of either of our humble abodes. Security reasons, ya know. 😉 However, this is where I work. You can probably see me slaving in a cubicle if you squint hard enough. Seriously. It’s Kelana Jaya.

traffic

I can see that the inbound traffic to KL was pretty congested last Saturday. I saw you (yes, you) stuck in traffic while I’m soaring above. 😉

gab

I suspect that there was an intentional flyover of the GAB factory where we had dinner and drinks at The Tavern last month. I’m kidding, the place is on the way back to Subang Airport as the crow flies.

land

It was an awesome experience. Flying over KL and the outskirts of the city on a helicopter is certainly an episode that I won’t forget. The roar of the rotors, the chatter of air traffic, the feeling of being suspended in the air – it’s amazing!

end

Cheers to Heineken and Nuffnang for the invite!

Flying High

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teaser hangar

I was invited by the good people at Heineken to go on a helicopter ride on Saturday morning. I went and picked Cheesie up (got horribly lost despite Google Maps) and managed to find our way to Subang Airport. The place where we took off is Eurocopter, which has a fleet of helicopters.

chopper controls

The place is loaded with those newfangled choppers with protected tail rotors. We went on the HH-65 Dolphin, which is the same helicopter used by the US Coast Guard. I’ve been on a Bell 206 before (very common in Sarawak, for all the wrong reasons – they keep crashing) but never a state of the art helicopter.

hangar

We waited at the lounge for the briefing at 10:30 am and nature called so I went up to use their washroom – and found an excellent photo op from above the hangar. Not 5 minutes later, security personnel told us that photos are not halal/kosher in this high security area. Naturally, being bloggers, we said yes, okay, and promptly resumed our shutter activities once he’s gone. 😉

cheesie

Anyway, after the briefing, we were up in the air. It was a 30 minute helicopter ride passing KL City and Batu Caves before heading back.

Here’s the teaser video.

teaser

The full experience report will be up tomorrow. I have a couple of work related stuff to finish tonight before I head off to bed. It was a lot of fun – I spotted my condo and Rin spotted hers as well. Thanks Heineken! 🙂

Dawn breaks @ Sekeping Serendah

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morning

The fresh and cool morning breeze whispering in from the open patio woke me up the next morning. I opened my eyes and saw the girls still sleeping. The patter of rain can be heard and I looked outside. It was drizzling and the cloudy day makes it ideal for sleeping in. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. I love the smell of the forest after it rains.

life

I was awakened from my slumber by Windy getting up. I’m a very light sleeper and tend to rise at the slightest provocation. Hmm…that didn’t sound quite right coming out, but you know what I mean. 😉 Joyce was still sleeping so we went to the patio and chilled out there. It was still drizzling and the weather was melancholic in a good way. It’s perfect for sitting with a blanket wrapped around you and just relax.

nasi

The caretaker came at 8 am with our breakfast. I asked for three packets of nasi lemak. He wouldn’t accept payment – the food came courtesy of Christina. Thanks Christina! The nasi lemak tastes a lot better than it ordinarily would, thanks to the forest surrounding us and the cool drizzle that’s still going on. It was decided that we’ll wait until the rain stops before going exploring.

reading

I read a book I bought the night before. I’ve always enjoyed reading on rainy days – a habit I picked up when I was a kid. The rain didn’t stop until after noon but it was fun to just chill at the patio. We checked out at 2:30 pm and decided to head up to the Serendah waterfall.

waterfall montage

The other attraction in Serendah is the impressive waterfall located just 5 minutes away from Sekeping Serendah retreat. It’s a public park so you’ll see the usual suspects there – locals washing their clothes, out of town people having BBQ, foreign workers in large groups on their day off. Melting pot anyone?

serendah waterfall

Serendah Falls is really a sight to behold. It’s not very tall, probably about 10 meters or so, but the sheer volume and force of water coming down the waterfall is amazing! The roar of the falls can be heard quite audibly even from the side of the natural plunge pools.

goodbye

Sekeping Serendah retreat is a gem of a place – it’s peaceful and quiet, with basic sheds for accommodations and no distractions. You won’t find TVs, WiFi or even cell phone reception here…but if your idea of a relaxing retreat is some peace and quiet from the stress of the big city, head down to Sekeping Serendah.

A sliver of peace lies just an hour’s drive away. 🙂

I’m a Musicon Celebrity thanks to Maxis Broadband

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You motherfuckers can never do it like I can do it. Don’t even try, you look stupid, do not pursue it.

eminem

I’m going as Eminem.

I’ve never really liked Eminem coz I grew up listening to West Coast gangsta rap like Tupac Shakur (Makaveli the Don!) and the only white rapper I knew was Vanilla Ice and you all know how the Ice Ice Baby’s career went – the one-hit wonder, relegated to being a euphemism for methamphetamine users.

eminem hb

However, I have to admit that Eminem slowly started growing on me. I can relate to the lyrics a lot more coz I can’t claim to “cut your young ass up, leave you in pieces, now be deceased” but I certainly can connect with “all these bitches on my dick, that’s how dudes be getting sick, that’s how dicks be getting drips, falling victims to this shit“. 😉

Erm…not that I’ve ever contracted gonorrhea or any other STD/STI before though. *cough*

Granted, I can’t rap like he does…this would probably snag the mystery prize for the The Most Uninspiring Blogger Award.

…but still, who wouldn’t want to be him?

eminem hos

I would have a harem of girls attending to my every need. I believe the term used in this industry is “hos”. 😉

eminem weed

I’ll need some fine hydroponics of course…you can’t claim that “smoking weed was an everyday thing in my household, and drinking liquor till you’re out cold” if you don’t actually hit the bong. Gotta keep it real.
Disclaimer: This is a very old photo I took in the veritas days.

I’ll want a selection of the best firearms…

beretta_cx4-3

The Cx4 Storm Assault Rifle.

800px-Desert-Eagle-p1030134

The IMI Desert Eagle .50AE, made by some bad ass Hebrews. Fucking-A!

glock_17_19_26

Glock 17 9 mm.

Beretta96FS

Beretta 92FS .45 caliber.

You can’t be riding and strapping unless you’ve got the gear. You gotta get people to feel you (not that kind of feel, the “feel” in Ebonics terminology).

eminem hk

JC himself condones it in Luke 22:36: He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”

It’s straight from The Good Book (TM). 😉

P/S – I’m going to bleach my hair blond if I get the invite and wear the suit in The Eminem Show (complete with replica handgun).

The Real Slim Shandy

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anglia shandy

I remember Anglia Shandy as my very first “adult” drink. I used to watch with no small amount of envy at my older cousins drinking beer and eating peanuts during our large extended family reunions. This was back when my paternal grandfather was still six feet instead of six feet under.  😉

My dad never allowed me to partake in the amber fluid although he conceded a can of the distinctive Anglia Shandy one fine day. I was ecstatic! I can finally sit down with my cousins and uncles and drink an “adult drink” while eating peanuts.

I have a secret though…

I never liked peanuts. I still don’t.

anglia

However, I loved Anglia Shandy. It wasn’t bitter to my virgin taste buds due to the lemonade mixture and the ultra low alcohol content. I can still remember with fond nostalgia the day I became a man (at least in my youthful mind).

I also remember reasoning with my dad the following year that drinking beer (5%) and Anglia Shandy (less than 1%) is similar. I wanted to drink real beer with my cousins. The logic I offered was that drinking 1/5 of a can of beer real slow is equivalent to a can of shandy. I picked up that a shandy is a combination of beer and lemonade from the can and put forth my argument, but that’s a story for another day.

anglia apple

I’ve grown to prefer the taste of malt and hops in regular beer but just like how you never forget your first love, I’ve never forgotten about Anglia Shandy. I heard they came out with a new flavor, which I have yet to check out so I went to the nearest 7Eleven and got a couple of cans of my rite-of-passage drink.

foam

I wanted to get reacquainted with my first taste of the original Anglia Shandy before that though. It was just as I remembered it. It foams with a head like beer but it’s refreshing like lemonade.

The new Anglia Apple is infused with a hint of apple to give this classic drink a twist. I like the taste, and the nifty new packaging wouldn’t look out of place in Shinjuku.

(cue segue)

website

Anglia is having a tie-in with The Shinjuku Incident starring Jackie Chan and Daniel Wu. The movie is set for a special premiere on the 1st of April. Anglia is also offering you (yes, you, quit staring at the guy behind) a chance to win movie passes, premiere tickets and up-close-and-personal invites to meet Jackie Chan and Daniel Wu!

No, this is not an April Fool’s joke!

There is a game on the Anglia site called Escape the Yakuza (the Japanese Mafia, for the uninitiated). You need to cabut from the well-dressed and suited up thugs with missing pinky fingers and generally avoid capture. Oh, and you need to dodge projectiles and weapons thrown by the good people who follow the Bushido code too.

beat

The longer you outrun the Yakuza, the more points you will accumulate. Jackie Chan will open up a can of whoop ass if the obstacles slow you down. You need to watch out for the Anglia Love icon too. Jump up and grab it to gain additional points. The player with the highest point wins!

It’s quite easy really, but I’ll give you some pointless pointers anyway coz I love doing that. 😉

good

Good

bad

Bad

scores

You need to score higher than these people to win.

Prizes:

Top 10 Winners
Each winner gets 5x premier tickets + 2x up close and personal passes to meet the cast (!).

50 Consolation Winners
2x movie passes

If you’re a fan of Jackie Chan or Daniel Wu (or both) I bet you’ll be interested in the up-close-and-personal “Meet the Cast” pass, so get your gaming gloves on and snag the Grand Prize! This is for the PRIVATE session where only winners can attend.

If you did not win, fear not, there is also a public “Meet the Fans” session where you get the chance to see the cast live on the 31st of March 2009. It’s going to be held at Pavilion KL (Bukit Bintang entrance) at 7 pm so be there or be square (or oval)!

drink work

On a separate (foot)note, you can’t actually drink beer or even the classic Anglia Shandy (due to the distinctive color) at work. However, the new Anglia Apple is a whole different shade (pardon the pun) altogether. It’s relatively new so no one knows you’re partaking in the office…

…er, until now that is.

Oh well, if you get fired, you’ll have more time to concentrate on winning the game. Surf over to the Anglia website to play. 🙂

Don’t Drift and Drive

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drift drive

I met with a rather untimely accident on Friday night while driving back from Suanie’s house. We were at Mist on Friday night and got home at around 4 am Saturday morning. If you recall, it was raining Friday night and the roads were wet.

There is a stretch of road from Suanie’s place that I always have the urge to drift. Yes, it is possible to drift on automatic transmission; you just pull the emergency brake. I’ve always made it a point to drift at this particular stretch of road coz the curve is beautiful. I usually keep my speed at a safe 60 kmph while doing that though.

Always one to tempt fate, I was driving home on a wet road when I hit that stretch. Instinct kicked in and I pulled the emergency brake. Alas, I did not realize that I was driving in excess of 140 kmph at that time and the road conditions were not favorable to stupid stunts like this.

drift right

I felt the car drift and spin out of control. I went a full 360 degrees before my rear hit the sidewalk, went up and landed in a ditch. I didn’t actually feel much inside the car so I thought I just hit the sidewalk and thanked Aries (inside joke) that nothing untoward happened to me.

drift left

I tried to drive out but it seems that my rear wheels were not gripping anything at all so I went down to investigate this peculiarity.

It turns out the entire rear of my car was in the longkang. Sheesh!

I shall draw the sequence of events as it happened:

drift-paint

Well, there’s nothing left to do so I called Suan and asked if she knew a tow truck. She said she’ll find out but before that a roving car assistance squad (WTF?) came to my rescue. I didn’t even know such things existed.

drift attach

Apparently, some enterprising soul thought it would be good for business to send out roving squads of cars in search of traffic accidents. They provide all sorts of assistance with a hard sell to get you to send the car to their workshop. I declined and asked for a tow truck instead to get me out of the damn ditch.

drift pull out

The tow truck couldn’t attach the cable to the back of my car since doing so would cause unimaginable damage to the car while pulling it out. Thus, he came out with this ingenious idea of attaching the cable to my front right tire rim (!).

It worked. Check out the video.

Damage: RM 160

drift no damage

I’m officially broke this month. I mean, seriously. My car is surprisingly sans visible damage but I haven’t crawled under to see what can of whoop ass I’ve opened up to the suspension and other stuff underneath the car. 🙁

The Tavern @ GAB

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tavern

I drive past the GAB (Guinness Anchor Berhad) factory every day on my way to work. I’ve always wondered what goes on inside, being a beer aficionado and all. I was delighted when I got an invite to visit The Tavern @ GAB. The Tavern is an exclusive invite-only pub located inside the factory and the best thing about it is that the beer comes fresh from the factory just beside it. Oh, and the beer is free too. =D

montage

The interior of The Tavern is tastefully decorated and feels warm and cosy. I like the ambience of the pub and there is in fact a real boiler used in the brewery adorning the bar. Nice!

beer

The Tavern has a wide array of beer on tap. The good people at Heineken were kind enough to provide us with a free flow of beer…

food

…as well as food. I must admit, everyone was wondering – What’s the catch? Free food, free beer, there’s gotta be a catch.

us

Well, there isn’t one. It’s just a casual get-together for bloggers to eat, drink and be merry.

aud

I had a lot of fun at The Tavern. We were given the opportunity to pour beer from the tap.

cindy

It sounds easier than it actually is. The glass has to be angled at 45 degrees before gradually brought up to a vertical position. I poured mostly foam the first time I tried it. I am saddened to report that the girls did much better than the guys.

presso

We were also the very first to be privy to the new Heineken UEFA Champions League game – Heineken Star Final 2009. I am astounded by the game mechanics. I didn’t think this was possible using just Flash. Heineken Star Final is a massively multiplayer game where you sail to Krabi, Thailand on a raft.

cam

It’s meant to emulate the journey from the previous Heineken Star Final destination to this year’s Heineken Star Final destination. You can send messages in (Heineken) bottles to other people playing the game – a very nice touch for communicating in-game.

drinks

The rafts are customizable so you can tinker with your design until you find an ocean-worthy vessel adorned with the flag of your choice. I also love the concept of joining fleets – the fastest person to make the arduous (well, not really when you’re sitting behind a computer, but think immersive! ;)) journey in the shortest amount of time wins.

umbrella

You can join a fast fleet (if they accept you) or create your own fleet. The game is amazingly simple, yet has immense replay value coz a lot of the features have to be discovered gradually. Playing through the entire game takes 5 real-time days (!).

carol

I’ve honestly never played an online Flash multiplayer game like this before. I can just imagine the insane amount of coding that produced this masterpiece.
 
Heineken is also going around Malaysia in April for their A Night in Rome party. It’s going to be held in four different places – Ipoh, Johor Bahru, KL and Miri. I’m glad they didn’t leave Sarawak out. You can check out the dates at the Heineken website.

game

Meanwhile, I’m setting sail again in a couple of days.

Just surf over to Heineken Star Final and look for SixthSeal.com (the fleet, not the blog). The grand prize winner is going for an all-expenses paid trip to Krabi, Thailand to watch the UEFA Champions League live under the stars on the beach. Heineken will be served too, from what I’ve heard. 😉

krabi_pic

You want to win a trip to Krabi?

Krabi, ahoy! =D

(That’s not my in-game raft, BTW)

Blogger’s Night Out

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DO RIGHT AND FEAR NO MAN

do right

That’s my personal message in Windows Live Messenger. It’s the inscription on a US coin and I love the phrase. It’s uplifting – kinda like the Serenity Prayer, but without the…erm, less-than-positive connotations. 😉

friendster

I went to the Windows Live Messenger on DiGi sneak preview at Friendster Café last Saturday. I was impressed by the effort that went into the event management aspects. The place was adorned with various larger-than-life sized emoticons…

schwag

…and schwag, which caught the attention of everyone. PSPs, USB drives, headphones and more were to be given away that night. Everyone on the guest list got an exclusive Windows Live Messenger on DiGi t-shirt and a lucky draw number when registering.

board

I loved the replica Windows Life Messenger poster at the entrance. We’re supposed to write our names on it. It wasn’t too hard, being narcissistic bloggers and all. 😉

snacks

The event was slated to start at 7 pm but the good people at DiGi thoughtfully gave us some snacks before the preview.

beer

…and there isn’t a shortage of the amber fluid either. There were two beer towers in attendance and both were kept full so no one was left wanting. =D

food

It was decided that hungry bloggers don’t make good listeners so dinner was served before the actual presentation.

plate

The food at Friendster Café was pretty good. I liked the spaghetti and the fish with tartar sauce. Awesome!

tvc

The sneak preview started with a TVC on Windows Live Messenger on DiGi. You just have to check out the commercial, it’s hilarious! I won’t spoil it for you – DiGi always has great commercials and this one just takes the cake. The ending is priceless! 🙂

demo

We were the very first to try out Windows Live Messenger on DiGi. Celia went through the features with us. It’s exactly like Windows Live Messenger on your PC. The look and feel will be familiar to anyone who uses MSN on the computer. You can even set your status, use emoticons (w00t!) and chat with multiple people at the same time. However, the best feature has gotta be this:

files

Check this out: You can even send files (!) via your cell phone!

cindy

It was fun to be among the first to experience Windows Live Messenger on a cell phone. It’s really quite addictive.

hello

It doesn’t really help that our messages are broadcast to a large LCD projector screen in front of the room. That’s me saying “sixthseal.com SAYS HELLO WORLD”. It’s surprisingly easy to use.

win

The games started after that – there was a Q&A session where I won a pair of Logitech headphones. Great! Now I have one for the office and one for home. 🙂

debate

The next game had Yat and Cindy facing off on opposing notebooks (and teams). It was an MSN debate about exes where one party is arguing for (Angel) and the other against (Devil) remaining friends after breaking up. They both won a SanDisk USB drive.

xd

Next up was a game where participants had to emulate the MSN emoticons displayed on the projector. I failed. Miserably. How can anyone do the XD emoticon? It’s impossible. :p

zoe

…some people could though. Zoe won the first prize – a Microsoft webcam with her impersonation of a very improbable emoticon. It requires the skillz of a facial contortionist to pull off some of the emoticons.

shades

The lucky draw got everyone hunting for their numbers. I had 016-25 and up for grabs were Coke (the drink) caps and Oakley and Ray-Ban shades. Everyone was eying (no pun intended) the shades…and a couple of guys snagged it.

booze

There was a “Booze & Mingle” session after that which bloggers usually interpret as…

camwhore

…camwhoring time. 😉

carol

Carol can do the :p emoticon pretty well. I’m impressed.

msn board

I still think the best gimmick during the event is the Windows Live Messenger board. We all loved it!

sneak preview

DiGi is offering a two month FREE trial for Windows Live Messenger and the best thing about it is that even after the trial period is over, it’s just RM 3 per month for unlimited chatting! There will be no additional data charges, which is pretty impressive. You can check out the promo details here.

cindy msn

I love the tagline – “Whatever the topic 2, 3, or 4you can pass it on anytime, anywhere with Windows Live Messenger Now On DiGi.”

event

Anyway, if you’re not on DiGi, don’t be 1. There’s always MNP so you can switch to DiGi. 😉

RM 3 for unlimited chatting per month. I’m on DiGi (most people from Sarawak are) so I’ll be signing up for this. I can now be online all the time so my boss can MSN me and ask me to do work! 5

…eh, wrong emoticon. Why would I be grinning at that prospect?

goofy

Now wouldn’t it be great if you can have a perpetual goofy emoticon at work to hide your frustration? The Mask of (in)Sanity. 😉

…and yes, I *cough* liberated the huge emoticon from the event.

The 60’s Teow Chew Fishball

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60s teochew fishball

I was driving my coworker back after a late night working in the office when she told me about this homemade fishball eating establishment (just love the contrast in the words) near her place. Windy lives in Sea Park and is familiar with the eateries around the area. We decided to grab a late dinner since we’ve both not eaten.

60s house of fishball

The 60’s Teow Chew Fishball is a quaintly named place which specializes in (no prizes for guessing) homemade fishballs. They serve Teochew style food and I was surprised to find the place packed this late at night. It was about 10:30 pm or so when we got there. Windy told me the reason – the eatery has an ingenious marketing strategy. The food and drinks are 50% off after 9:30 pm!

60s mee pok

I had the Tien Pin Mee Pok (Dry). This self-dubbed House of Fishball serves the noodles with slices of fish cake and a separate bowl containing two of their famous fishballs for RM 5. I like the springiness of the noodles. The noodles are the flat variety, which I’ve always found puzzling. In Sarawak, mee pok is synonymous with curly noodles.

60s celery noodles
 
Windy opted for the healthy sounding Celery Noodles (RM 6.50). It’s a soup based dish with plenty of their renowned fishballs floating in the broth. I’m not a big fan of soup and the only dry noodles they have is the dish I had, so you might want to consider that if you share a similar antipathy to soup dishes.

60s fishball

I reckon that since we’re in a fishball specialty shop, I might as well go the full Monty and ordered a large bowl of homemade fishballs (RM 10). The fishballs are surprisingly good. I’ve been increasingly adverse to highly processed foods (possibly due to my failing liver) but I liked the fishballs in The 60’s Teow Chew Fishball restaurant. The texture is supple and yielding and although it doesn’t have any detectable taste on its own, it goes very well with their sauce.

60s chee cheong fun

We also ordered a side dish of chee cheong fun (RM 1.50) which Windy got the proprietor to fry up. I’m pleased to report that fried chee cheong fun tastes better than the regular steamed version, at least over here. They added a lot of spring onions and bean sprouts, as well as an (un)healthy but generous shake of the soy sauce bottle.

60s discount

The 60’s Teow Chew Fishball restaurant USP (Unique Selling Point) is the 50% discount after 9:30 pm. I’m sure most of the diners are residents of the area, but it’s still a great gimmick to get the crowds in. The bill came up to a grand total of just RM 12 (!) for all that food and drinks for both of us.

It’s a bargain! 🙂


View Larger Map

Here’s a map for the directionally challenged. The 60’s Teow Chew Fishball is located at the same row as KFC in front of the old Ruby cinema.

Movie Review: Watchmen

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watchmen-final-poster

Watchmen is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. I caught it last night with a couple of co-workers at GSC, 1 Utama. The trailer did not impress me; I’ll have to be honest. We went for that movie coz Race to Witch Mountain (I know, don’t ask) was sold out.

Unlike most other superhero movies, Watchmen is set in the past – during the Cold War period between the US and the USSR. It’s dark, gritty and realistic. The “superheroes” do not have “powers” per se – with the exception of Dr. Manhattan. They rely on armed and unarmed combat (mostly the latter) to defeat their foes. Perhaps vigilantes would be a better term to describe this group of believable superheroes.

Watchmen also gives us a glimpse into the everyday lives of the superheroes – they are just as fucked up as we are, if not more. We have an alcoholic who can’t let go of her glorious past as a superhero and we learn that most of the original Watchmen (Minutemen) are either dead (some due to their personal debaucheries – one female character was murdered in a what looks like a lesbian S&M scene) or in asylums. One character had to prostitute herself to make ends meet.

My favourite character in the movie is without a doubt Rorschach. His character is named after the Rorschach inkblot test and he is a man incapable of compromise – a sociopath if I’ve ever seen one. He’s idealistic in his own way and sees the world in black and white – no shades of gray.

The end of the movie is a classic example of pragmatism – the end justifies the means.

Rorschach would have none of it though.

He stands up for what he believes is right.

It’s like an adult version of The Incredibles.

Rating: 5/5

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