Palsaik 8 color pork belly Korean BBQ, Mont Kiara

Palsaik

We’ve been meaning to go to Palsaik for a very long time. The concept is quite intriguing – there are 8 pieces of different flavoured pork belly (samgyupsal) in lieu of the standard “beef bulgogi” in a Korean BBQ setting. It’s a South Korea franchise, so it was really authentic too – everything from the beer to the foliage that comes with your meat just feels right. I’ve been to Korea twice and decided to bring my better half here on Sunday for lunch.

Palsaik 8 Color Set

There are only 3 items on the menu and it all revolves around pork so if The Divine Pig is not your thing, this probably isn’t somewhere you want to come. However, for the rest of us who loves oink oink, this is exactly the place to be. The 3 items on the menu are basically portion sizes – there’s a 3Color Set (meaning you can choose 3 different pieces of flavoured 150 gram pork belly) meant for 2 pax, an 8Color Set with the full range of 8 flavors for 3-4 pax, and a Premium Set with everything in the 8Color Set plus grilled deodeok (a root of a plant) for 3-4 pax.

Palsaik 8Color

We chose the complete 8Color Set since we wanted to try every single flavor they have. It’s called Palsaik after all – which I assume means “eight colors”. The pork belly comes in neatly sliced 150 gram pieces in separate bowls on a wooden board with an arrow from left to right indicating where you should start eating – from the mildest to the strongest/most intense flavors.

Palsaik 8 Flavor Pork Belly

The 8 flavors of pork belly are:

Palsaik Ginseng Wine Pine Leaves

Palsaik Garlic Herb Curry

Palsaik Miso Paste Hot

  • Ginseng
  • Wine
  • Pine leaves
  • Garlic
  • Herb
  • Curry
  • Miso paste
  • Hot

Makgeolli Korean Rice Wine

I also ordered a bottle of makgeolli – a milky, off-white Korean rice wine that weighs in at a surprising 14.45% alcohol. It comes in a plastic 750 ml bottle for RM 20, which is quite cheap – that’s the same abv and content of a regular wine bottle. I’ve had this in Korea during my two trips there and an interesting attempt by Seoul to export their culture and food has resulted in this being apparently dubbed “drunken rice”.

Palsaik Premium Set

The 8Color Set also comes with a bowl of seafood soup. This is quite authentic jjigae type dish that comes with *tons* of seafood like crab, prawns, squid, clams, mussels and octopus. We both loved the hearty spicy soup.

Palsaik Seafood Soup

There are servers who will help you grill the garlic and meat and you really just need to sit back and fold the pieces of meat together with the condiments in various types of leaves – from butter lettuce to herbs.

Palsaik Mont Kiara

I quite liked the ginseng one, it started very well. Surprisingly, the wine one was a miss for me, the marinade didn’t work through the meat well and all I got was an overwhelming taste of slightly-off pork. The pine leaves was mild and unique, the garlic superbly done with tons of flavor – they must have soaked that in for a very long time. The herb one was very interesting too. The curry pork belly slice didn’t do much for me, and we were too full by the time the miso paste one was done. The treacherous sounding hot flavor was in fact quite good, with lots of thick hot sauce still sticking to the meat.

Palsaik Us

Palsaik is a nice change if you want a porcine instead of a bovine Korean BBQ experience. We went to the outlet in SohoKL, Mont Kiara but they have another one in Scott Garden. It’s an authentic Korean BBQ chain that has taken Melbourne by storm too. Try the makgeolli when you’re there – it goes very well with the 8 flavored pork. They also serve Korean beer and soju. The bill came up to RM 153.90 for the both of us, inclusive of drinks. Needless to say, this outlet is not halal.

Palsaik Korean BBQ

Palsaik
J-01-09 SohoKL
Solaris Mont Kiara
No. 2 Jalan Solaris
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Freedom of speech does not include bullying

I was a victim of cyberbullying.

I’ll share the details of how it started, how I realized what was happening was getting serious, and how I managed to resolve the issue and start criminal/legal proceedings against the perpetrator.

Cyberbullying can come in many forms on the Internet. It doesn’t just include direct attacks but other forms of harassing behaviour. I wasn’t equipped with enough information about my rights until I did a bit of research, which I’ll like to share with all of you. I’m sure every blogger or social media personality must have run into these things.

However, I’m not talking about the common trolls or haters, but people who have stepped further than that – committed identity fraud, impersonation and libel.

There’s a huge difference between freedom of speech and libel. You can hate all you want but when you step over the line by using other people’s identities and writing libel, you have committed a crime. The Malaysian government does not look kindly upon people committing cybercrime and they’ve taken a lot of steps to prevent that.

In my case, there was a single person (mostly) with a core group of 2-3 supporters, coordinating a libellous personal attack using other people’s identities to comment on my blog and on other blogs to defame me and others.

I can’t talk much about this since there is a police investigation and at the same time, I also plan to report this to MCMC so I’ll just write about the basics.

I first thought it was a common troll, but I realized that this person has gone on other forums and blogs impersonating me (using my name and blog) to make false and provocative statements. I only realized that when I got a bunch of emails asking me about “insider information” for a property.

The person intentionally put my email on a forum and created an account using my name to spread false and libellous statements. I had never even HEARD of the forum, much less commented there.

I got in touch with the forum administrators to get the IP address and other details of the cyberbully.

It was at that time that he started commenting on my blog (usually posting libellous and false statements) first using obviously fake names, and then when I banned him, started using other blogger’s names and email addresses.

He also went to other blogs using *my name* to comment and I realized that after some bloggers got in touch with me to ask about some unusual feedback I was leaving.

The first mistake this person made was that he seemed to have access to email addresses and names of a certain demographic of bloggers, suggesting he is more than a casual reader – he’s either a blogger or someone in the media/advertising industry, or he wouldn’t have access to such a laundry list of personal email addresses so that’s the first break I got while making the police report of a list of suspects.

This second mistake this person made was believing Tor would completely mask his identity. I’m just using the male pronoun for ease of writing, as I said this is going to be a legal case so I can’t put specifics.

The third and most vital mistake he made was that he usually copied and pasted a series of stock comments he had written (probably in a text file) and spammed them in quick succession at very specific and certain times during the day, the first batch of which is earlier than when most people wake up which helped a lot in the investigation.

It probably says a lot more about him that he’s obsessed enough to want to do this several times a day, which takes up his time but not mine (due to my spam filter) and to go further and spam comments on other blogs too. This, the authorities say, is very indicative of a CLOSE and PERSONAL relationship – someone I probably know in real life, gone slightly unhinged due to competition or work related stress/demands.

That was the nail in the coffin, since it narrows the suspects down to less than 5 people, which can be easily monitored for Internet usage and access patterns.

Cyberbullying doesn’t seem to fun when it’s not anonymous anymore eh? Be smart, don’t think that the Internet is the wild west, coz it’s not. The normal rules and laws apply if all the charges are upheld, the perpetrators will have to go to prison and have a civil lawsuit for damages waiting for them when they come out.

…and it’s not just from me, but from all the people they have impersonated so not only is their freedom affected, their future earnings and current assets will be to. Be smart, and know the difference between freedom of speech and libel, fraud, defamation and threats to property and life.

You are responsible for what you do so make sure to be a responsible online citizen. Contribute to the positive Internet experience, the law is very clear about this, as the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (Act 588 Section 233 (1) (b)) states:

(Anyone who) initiates a communication using any applications service, whether continuously, repeatedly or otherwise, during which communication may or may not ensue, with or without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person at any number or electronic address, commits an offence.

The Internet is a wonderful place but some people just seem to think that anonymity can provide them with a license to do whatever they wish without consequences but truth to be told, there’s no real anonymity online. Everyone can be tracked with the digital trail you leave behind.

Cyberbullying is a very serious issue as the suicide of Tyler Clementi, Megan Meier and many others have shown. Don’t be disheartened or feel down if you’re a victim of cyberbullying – that’s just what the bully wants and it can have a very strong impact on you emotionally. I was lucky in that I was mature enough to shrug off the daily barrage of comments (over 13 years of blogging can do that to you)…

…but more importantly, I knew what my legal rights were and how I could get justice. They say revenge is a dish best served cold. I’m not big on revenge but I believe in personal responsibility so I’m going ahead with the criminal and legal proceedings. I know it’s not easy, especially for younger people, but if you’re a victim, please remember that you’re not alone – find out more about cyberbullying and how to get the help you need at the Klik Dengan Bijak initiative by MCMC.

Hands-on with the Surface 3

Surface 3 Bloggers

I was at a closed door media preview recently when I asked a rather embarrassing question.

Surface 3 Tablet

It was for the Microsoft Surface 3 and the Q&A was going on when I asked when the Surface Pro 3 was going to be released. There was a short moment of silence from the panel of speakers before two simultaneously told me – “It has already been released at the end of last year” – with a look that vaguely suggested that I was reaching new heights (or lows) of stupidity. smirk

Surface 3 Panel

The Surface Pro 3 is the more powerful and expensive brother to the Surface 3 and packs a beast of an i3/i5/i7 processor inside. I’ve been thinking which one to get and hadn’t decided yet at the time.

It got me thinking though…

Microsoft Surface 3 Rep

The truth of the matter is, people don’t actually follow gadget releases with religious fervour. Unless you’re a hardcore tech nerd, you probably wouldn’t be able to recite the latest hardware specifications. Most people only search for and read up on the latest news, releases and reviews when they’re about to make a purchase.

Surface 3 Hands On

This is where I come in. I’ve had hands-on experience with the Microsoft Surface 3 and I’ve been very impressed so far. I’ll be picking up a loan unit tomorrow for review but let me just tell you about the Surface 3 and what it’s all about first.

Surface 3 Demo

The Microsoft Surface 3 is a laptop replacement tablet that’s going to be released in the market soon. It’s a more affordable and mainstream offering compared to the Surface Pro 3 (which is more for power users) and it looks like it’s set to appeal to a wide range of users.

Writing Surface 3

There are a couple of new features in the latest Surface – the Surface 3 is the thinnest and lightest Surface ever! It just weighs a mere 622 grams. I was surprised when I picked it up, this is definitely lighter than I thought a tablet that works like a laptop would be.

Surface 3 Screen

Most importantly, it has a full-size USB 3.0! This allows you to connect a wide range of accessories and it’s what (for me) makes a tablet transcend into laptop functionality. You can plug in stuff like external hard disk drives for increased storage, your smartphone to transfer files (if you’re not using your own WiFi to sync), or even something as essential as a mouse!

(although I would highly recommend using a Bluetooth mouse instead of taking up the USB 3.0 slot, unless you plan on getting the docking station or a USB extender)

Surface 3 Excel

Also, Surface 3 runs all your Windows desktop software so you can use it just like a PC or notebook! That means you can use Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and all other desktop programs instead of relying on apps alone. That’s the beauty of the Surface 3 – you can run the app versions when you’re using it as a tablet, but for some essential software, you have the capability to install and execute it like you would on a normal computer.

Surface 3 Pen

The stylus is a thing of magic too – you can click it once to wake the tablet from sleep and double click it to automatically screencap what’s running and open it in OneNote (a feature I’ve found immensely useful in blogging and writing reviews).

Surface 3 Camera

There’s also an 8 MP 1080p rear-facing camera with auto-focus and a 3.5 MP 1080p front-facing camera.

Here are the specs for the Surface 3:

Surface 3 Specs

This is one tablet-laptop hybrid that looks poised to take the world by storm.

Surface 3 Blog

It’s the first Surface to have an Intel processor so you can run all Windows software, it’s the first to forgo the proprietary charging system in favor for a widely compatible micro-USB port so you can use it with your existing car and portable chargers, and it comes with an optional docking station to complete the PC experience.

Surface 3

Head over to the Microsoft Surface 3 microsite to pre-order your Surface 3 now! If you’re looking for a new tablet that has the functionality of a laptop, look no further – you know you want it. I’m really excited about this – the Microsoft Surface 3 has been hailed as a revolutionary change and it really lives up to the hype.

How I save myself from GST – by starting a new company!

GST Lego Malaysia

The implementation of GST effectively means that we’ve all taken a 6% cut to our paychecks. It’s actually slightly more than that, but for the sake of argument, let’s put it at 6%. Your purchasing power is also down by 6% so you’ve either got to tighten your belts or find an alternate source of income.

Just think about it, everyone in Malaysia got a 6% salary cut effective April 2015.

I prefer to be more proactive so I’m not thinking of ways to cut down on my consumption and lifestyle BUT to find new sources of income to negate the 6% cut in my salary. I’m even thinking about *overcoming* it e.g. get more than 6% so that the my net earnings are actually MORE post GST.

This means that I have to do something, and I decided to start up a new company to earn active income to supplement my current income.

Conpany Registration

I’ve seen people take various steps post GST to increase their income.

This is just one of them. It’s not that hard to register a new company, you just need to take some (archaic) steps in my case – different councils will have different procedures but mine involves getting a chop (stamp) before you can take the official form.

The official form is a huge piece of paper that looks like it belongs in the 1980’s (probably was from then) and it specifically states that it must be filled using a typewriting. It can’t be filled by hand or by computer and no one I knew even owns a typewriter anymore (not even two large companies I asked) so I engaged the services of a shop in town that specializes in this kind of thing.

Typing Business Registration

It was RM 10 to type up the document but it’s worth the money I spent coz now I have a new company to engage in various specialized writing and creative services.

It’s called Pulse Consulting and it does everything you think it does, and more.

Pulse Consulting

That’s my unofficial tagline anyway.

Seriously, though, if you want to ask me what I do, just email me. smirk

However, there’s still many other ways to combat post-GST income stresses – one of them is through property investment. But property prices in Malaysia can be very high, so why not invest in property overseas! There’s one coming up that I think is rather promising. It’s located in the resort island of Phuket!

Elephant Phuket

I’ve been to Phuket many times and hotels there can be quite expensive – if you calculate a night’s stay in Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort or Club Med Phuket you’ll find that owning your own property can be cheaper in the long run, especially if you get benefits like golf, spa and boating benefits in Phuket.

Plus, this particular one offers 7% Rental Guarantee for the first year so you won’t have to worry about finding your own!

dCondo Mine is a fully furnished freehold condominium by Sansiri, one of Thailand’s leading property developers.

dCondo Mine

The best part is the price, it starts from – wait for it – RM 250,000 with 50% deferred payment. That’s affordable even for first time property buyers and I’m really keen to find out more about this luxurious lifestyle investment opportunity. You should check it out if you’re interested in expanding or diversifying your investment portfolio with a Phuket based condominium. The property showcase organised by Golden Emperor, a Hong Kong based company will be held:

Venue: Level 4, Starhill 5, JW Marriott KL
Date: 9-10 May 2015
Time: 12-2 pm (English), 2-4 pm (Chinese)

Seats are limited so hurry, RSVP in the form below and start investing overseas now to supplement your income post GST! It’s such an exciting opportunity that I’ll turn up just to see what it’s all about.

You can also check out the Golden Emperor website for more information.

Happy blogniversary – 13 years of sixthseal.com!

13th Blog Anniversary

It’s my lucky 13th blog anniversary! sixthseal.com started 13 years ago on 19th April 2002. It has gone though a lot since then. I’ve actually spent more than 1/3 of my entire life blogging and the number is only going to rise as I get older. smirk

I’ve done one blog anniversary post wrapping up the best of the previous year each and every year except 2007. I was in drug rehab at the time and Internet privileges are something that only exists for rich celebrity rehabs in the US, not real ones in a third world country. I was locked up in a cell in shackles and handcuffs for the first 3 months!

I couldn’t even type if there was a device (and there was none, but plenty of manual labor). You wouldn’t think someone would be able to pluck grass while in restraints and stripped of everything except a sarong (wraparound cloth – it’s meant as punishment) but I can tell you it’s possible, and I’ve done it in the sweltering afternoon heat.

Evil Website
[Title translates to “Evil Website – Computer Graduate Shows How (to be an) Expert Drug User” – this is an article about me with all the photos taken from sixthseal.com by Harian Metro Ahad]

I was actually quite notorious back in the early days of sixthseal.com and got into more than a little trouble with the law for it (trust me, that was the lightest sentence I got off with since I was caught with a lot more stuff than just cannabis).

Lots of things have changed since then – I nearly lost ALL my blog archives prior to 2007 (coz I couldn’t renew my hosting from rehab) if not for the efforts of a kind reader called David from Australia who backed up my blog in HTML. I managed to recover my archives thanks to him but lost *all my comments* since the HTML files were of the posts only. I’m still glad I have them though, even though all the comments are missing prior to 2007.

I came out in 2008 and never looked back.

Tumbling Minis

In the past year, I have also started up tumblingminis.com – a site I manage with my better half to share our passion for LEGOs. That’s why the feature image I put for this post is done with 13 LEGO minifigures, it symbolizes my 13 years running sixthseal.com. The two LEGOs in front represent me and my better half. I guess that makes the cameraman YOU, dear reader. 🙂

That done, let’s do the the best of the previous year’s posts, in chronological order:

Michelin 2 Star

Our 2 Michelin star lunch at Le Relais LOUIS XIII
25 April 2014
I travel to Germany and France with my better half for our annual overseas trip. It just happens to be our birthdays at the time and I wanted to surprise my dear with a fine dining experience at a classic French Michelin star restaurant – Le Relais LOUIS XIII in the heart of the 6th arrondissement of Paris.

Joel Robuchon

A meal by 28 Michelin star “Chef of the Century” Joel Robuchon at our Paris apartment!
13 May 2014
We stayed at a lovely Parisian apartment overlooking a museum and cooked with fine French ingredients while we were there. It was a lot of fun! We also sampled Apfelwein (apple wine) in Frankfurt. It was a great vacation.

Molecular Gastronomy

Molecular Gastronomy Experiments: Silkie Black Chicken “Soup” Jelly
29 May 2014
This is one of my experiments with molecular gastronomy. I wanted to create a jelly with chicken soup – specifically black chicken soup – and intended for the jelly to be crystal clear so you can see the black Silkie chicken and red goji berries inside. It didn’t turn out as well as I imagine it would but it was a good first attempt.

Moving House

My new place: Back breaking house-moving, wooden floors, dumpling festival
2 June 2014
I move into my new (and current) apartment.

Little Beach Boat House

Dinner at Little Beach Boat House, Port Stephens
6th June 2014
I flew to Australia just a few days after that and visited Port Stephens and other areas in New South Wales. This was the first dinner I had there and I posted while I was still in Sydney. Port Stephens has really fresh seafood too! The seafood platter @ Vues on the Bay, Port Stephens and the artisan beer batter fish and chips at CREST Café, Birubi Beach were spectacular.

Sandboarding in Port Stephens, Australia
13 June 2014
This is one of the best things I’ve ever done. We took an ATV over sand dunes in what looks like a desert (but it’s actually just beach sand claiming landmass) and I sandboarded down a sand dune. You use a skateboard-like device and basically hold on while gravity does the rest.

63 Degree Egg

63 degree egg, PB&J with Nutella and bacon @ Devon Cafe, Surry Hills
27 June 2013
The best breakfast I had ever had, no question about it! This awesome little cafe in Surry Hills serves up a wonderful dish called Breakfast with the Sakuma’s which contains a full sized grilled salmon!

Zumbarons

Zumbarons @ Adriano Zumbo Patisserie
15 July 2014
Adriano Zumbo makes the best macarons in this part of the world and I went to his signature outlet in Sydney to grab some to bring back. I wanted my better half to try them and see how they compare to Pierre Hermé (below) and the Ladurée macarons at Champs-Élysées, Paris. Macarons don’t travel well but it still tastes awesome when I got them back!

Pierre Heme Macarons

Pierre Hermé “Les Incontournables de Paris” macarons from France
18 July 2014
With flavors like Olive Oil Fruite Vert, Rose Petals and Milk Chocolate & Passion Fruit, it’s no wonder this is the best macarons we had in Paris.

One Michelin Star

Dinner by Michelin Star Le Gavroche’s Chef Alexy Fuchs Malaysian visit
18 August 2014
I brought my better half out to a RM 711.10 dinner for two when a Michelin 1 star chef came to KL to cook a limited dinner series for a couple of days. It was the best dinner we had in Malaysia, the chef hails from France so it was a good throwback to our time in Paris earlier in the year.

How to make a tea bag rocket
21 August 2014
I wanted to do something fun for the kids and they loved it!

Adriano Zumbo Tim Tams

Adriano Zumbo limited edition Tim Tams
4 September 2014
Adriano Zumbo partnered up with Arnott’s to release a series of three limited edition Tim Tams – Salted Caramel, Choc Brownie and Raspberry White Choc and I lugged heaps of them back to KL for my better half. I was in Australia at the time and he came out with the new Adriano Zumbo Red Velvet Tim Tams after I left so I got them mailed all the way from Australia for RM 144. It makes for good reading, how I micromanaged the delivery. Haha.

Angry Birds Board Game Review: Playing real life Angry Birds with the kids over the weekend!
6 October 2014
I bought an Angry Birds “board game” to play with the kids – it was crazy fun, this year saw me spending more quality time with the kids and bonding with them more.

Dengue Fever

My experience with dengue fever
17 November 2014
I come down with dengue fever. It wasn’t fun – this is my report on the experience from the moment I fell ill to the recovery phases. It’s not that bad either, but it’s certainly not a walk in the park.

Santan Cooking Course

Cooking a 3-Course Meal with S&P Santan!
20 November 2014
This is a cooking class/course that I took. It was actually a lot of fun! I took a lot of photos and learned quite a lot from my team-mate.

Hat Yai

Greetings from Hat Yai!
24 November 2014
I make it a point to go for one overseas trip and one closer trip each year with my dear and this year the closer trip was to Hat Yai in Thailand. My better half and I spent most of the time shopping and eating local delicacies like pork leg rice and Thai boat noodle soup.

Noodles Inside Coconut

Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodles served inside a coconut for RM 33
2 December 2014
My better half came down to Sibu again to spend our anniversary together and I drove her down to Sarikei with my dad in tow to eat the famous Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodle served inside a whole coconut and walk around town.

Christmas Family Photo

8 fun things we did for our Christmas Eve celebrations!
24 December 2014
We have made it a family tradition to celebrate Christmas! I roast our own turkey every year (got a 6.5 kg beast this year) and get all the festive accoutrements like Christmas crackers and eggnog so the kids feel like it’s a special day.

Pandoro

Our Pandoro Party!
30 December 2014
We had panettone the previous year and this year, we had pandoro! It’s a different Christmas cake from the Verona region of Italy and the kids loved it coz it doesn’t have the fruits in panettone but contains heaps of sugar (to look like an ice capped mountain).

Abalone Poon Choy

Our annual poon choy dinner with whole baby abalone @ Hakka Siu Poon Choy
8 February 2015
Yup, it’s our poon choy tradition going on for the second year! I got our awesome big bowl feast from a smaller shop this time so more care was taken into making it – it was so much more delicious than the previous year’s. My better half’s parents also came over and I got some craft beer for her dad and myself to go with the feast.

Fireworks KL

2015 Chinese New Year Fireworks Roundup in Kuala Lumpur
16 February 2015
This is the first year I’ve done two fireworks roundups – one in Kuala Lumpur and one in my hometown of Sibu. It’s quite fun to buy fireworks in KL and let it off for the kids to see.

Huge Fireworks

The 2015 Chinese New Year Fireworks Roundup!
6 March 2015
This is the bigger and better fireworks roundup, the one from Sibu. I purchase the largest fireworks cake I have to date – a 27 kg 333-shot monster that takes 2 people to carry.

Greetings from Legoland Malaysia!
22 March 2015
We bring the kids to Legoland! The hotels and entrance made it even more expensive than an overseas trip but the kids loved it and that’s all that matters. I enjoyed it too, we managed to catch LEGO Friends Live! – a musical with real people!

Legoland Malaysia

My late mom’s first Ching Ming (Tomb Sweeping Day)
31 March 2015
We all flew back for my mom’s first Ching Ming and took care of her tomb, sung some hymns and said a prayer for her. It was good to have the whole family together, I’ve always thought it was more for the living than the dead.

Mom Ching Ming

My other social media sites:
Instagram:
https://instagram.com/sixthseal/
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/sixthseal
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/sixthsealdotcom
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/sixthseal
http://www.facebook.com/SixthSealcom

Here’s the list of my previous of blog anniversary posts:
2003: sixthseal.com 1st Birthday
2004: sixthseal.com 2nd Birthday!
2005: sixthseal.com 3rd Birthday!
2006: sixthseal.com 4th Birthday!
2007: I was in rehab. There are (officially) no posts in 2007.
2008: I just got out of rehab. There is no 2007 recap to be done coz there are no posts in that year.
2009: Seven years of sixthseal.com
2010: I was in New Zealand at the time while my mom underwent an operation for lung cancer. I didn’t do one coz I was too caught up with stuff. Time for another retrograde!
2011: Happy 9th bloganivarsary sixthseal.com!
2012: Happy Blogday – 10 years of sixthseal.com!
2013: Happy Blogniversary – 11 years of sixthseal.com!
2014: sixthseal.com turns 12!

It’s been 13 years since I started this blog and I’m going to be doing a few changes around here. The first thing is to commit to a 24 hour schedule as I originally intended – *one post per day* and the second is to do a complete makeover. The categories are hard to find and the archives even messier and I want the experience to be smooth for everyone who comes here.

Rave

Here’s a big THANK YOU to everyone who has passed by, commented or followed me since 13 years ago. I couldn’t have done it without you – thanks for reading everyone! 🙂

sixthseal.com turns 12!

12th Blog Anniversary

The title might seem a little odd, considering that I just wrote about my 11th blog anniversary yesterday. However, these are events that happened one (and two, respectively) years ago. My blog is actually celebrating it’s 13th anniversary this year and I’m doing a quick spot of catching up! action

This is the part where I collect all the noteworthy posts of the previous (in relation to this post) year, which means 19th April 2013 to 19th April 2014.

Just think of the date today as 19th April 2014 and it’ll make more sense.

Come and jump back one year with me while I go through some of the most interesting posts of the “previous” year, in chronological order:

5 Course Dinner

How to cook kangaroo meat: A kangaroo roast dinner!
20 April 2013
I cook a 5-course meal with kangaroo roast as the highlight with the limited kitchen in our Melbourne serviced apartment. We were at our first overseas trip together and I managed to cobble together a more-than-passable dinner for my dear with a dessert of kiwiberries in white chocolate and caramel during our last night in Australia.

Two Birthdays

My girlfriend’s two birthdays!
25 April 2013
I surprise my better half by planning a trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia without her knowledge. I just told her to bring her passport. 🙂 The boutique hotel we stayed in was awesome – they made a “Happy Honeymoon” sign with leaves on our bed and spread rose petals, had champagne on ice, and even agreed to spring a surprise birthday cake while I got my dear to wait at the swimming pool!

Duck Embryo

Eating pong tia koon – Cambodian balut!
30 April 2013
There was a balut post last year and there will be one this year! We went to Cambodia to try out their version of fertilized duck embryo. They call it pong tia koon and the Khmer style is a lot more delicious than Philippines preparation. They add a lot of lime, chilli and herbs, making this a truly delectable street eat.

Eating Fried Insects

Eating Fried Insects in Bangkok: Beetles, grasshoppers, frogs, crickets, worms, red ants!
13 May 2013
Haha! I even have a video of me eating the various insects while doing a running commentary and review.

The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market Scam
22 May 2013
I’m very proud of this entry. It was an adventure in hindsight (even though I was quite pissed off at the time) and the best thing that came out of this was random strangers thanking me via the comments and email for letting them know. There were many cases where they were literally inside the taxi when they read my post and aborted their trip. It feels good to write stuff like this and get appreciative notes from people who managed to avoid the scam via my blog post.

Deep Fried Mars Bar

Home made deep-fried Mars bar
26 May 2013
I’m quite chuffed to have made this at home…with EVOO to boot! I also deep fried Twix, Snickers, Kit Kat Chunky and Cadbury Crunchie.

Skeet Shooting

Shooting clay pigeons with a shotgun at Phuket Shooting Range
2 June 2013
There was a firearms post in the previous anniversary post (and also the 1st sixthseal.com blog anniversary post) and I’m proud to continue this tradition this year. This time it’s some skeet shooting action from Phuket!

A trip to the SS2 wet market (pasar pagi)
28 July 2013
The domestication of sixthseal.com. smirk

Rosti Pie

Rosti cottage pie with fresh Chorizo sausages, bacon, minced pork, fennel, curly kale and kidney
30 July 2013
I do a spot of cooking. You can find all my cooking posts by clicking on the Cooking category. I’m particularly proud of:
Unagi with Kansas City BBQ sauce and single malt Scotch whisky
How to Make Stuffed Artichokes
Guide to cooking an artichoke
Sautéed Jerusalem artichokes with garlic and mushrooms in white wine
Buttered King Grouper with White Wine Reduction in Bouchees Poissons
Homemade Creamy Broccoli Pesto with Pasta
How to French Cut a whole chicken into a crown of breast (step-by-step with photos)
Wild flower honey and dates marinated free range chicken rice from scratch!
Sweet pineapple + Greek yoghurt sandwich with alfalfa sprouts & beans, vintage cheddar and Chiang Mai strawberry on Poppy seed bread
How to make venison steak tartare
We really cooked a lot in this year, it’s a passion we share together. 🙂

Fireworks accident: Aerial starburst shell from 3″ mortar explodes on ground after hitting obstruction!
8 August 2013
This has happened many times before, some with catastrophically destructive consequences. This wasn’t so bad in comparison, but it was the only time I managed to catch it on camera as a video clip! What happened in a nutshell:

  1. First shell of the five inside the mortar tube launched
  2. It had such a powerful lift charge the mortar tube shifted
  3. Second shell still left the tube safely and burst in the air
  4. Third shell hit the metal slab and bounced back down and burst one meter away
  5. Videographer (me) shouted “Shit!” in surprise at the force of the blast
  6. Forth shell exploded right in front of me, showering me with flaming debris
  7. I shouted “Fuck!” in a bit of a panic as I saw the mortar canted at an angle towards the house
  8. Fifth and last shell went into the porch and exploded beside a car

Pig Skin Noodles

Pork skin noodles – making noodles out of pig skin
9 September 2013
This is one of my kitchen experiments. It didn’t turn out very well. Haha.

Langkawi Trip

Highlights of our Langkawi trip: A foul madame, Underwater World and chocolates
15 September 2013
I bring the kids and my better half to the island resort of Langkawi for our first family trip outside of Klang Valley! 🙂

RM35 Sibu Noodles

The infamous RM 35 bowl of noodles in Sibu!
16 October 2013
My dear came back to Sibu with me for the first time! She met my mom and dad, and they both loved her, which was a good thing since my mom passed on not long after this. It’s shocking to think that in the span of a few months, my mom went from fine, to assisted walking (with her stick), to wheelchair, to bed-ridden before she finally left us. I’m glad my mom knows I am in good hands before she went.

Morib Family Photo

Our weekend trip to Gold Coast Morib Resort!
23 October 2013
This is another trip we took with the kids just a month after our Langkawi trip – the smallest one is about to start school so we’re making the most of the time while she still can go. Now both of them are in school so we can only do trips on school holidays.

Berlin Wall

My visit to the Berlin Wall
6 December 2013
I finally write about my visit to Berlin! This is the second time I’ve been to Germany and this trip covers Dresden, Wolfsburg, and Frankfurt too. The Berlin Wall now is slightly tourist kitsch but that doesn’t take away from its historical significance.

Christmas Dinner

Our Christmas / New Year Turkey, Brussels Sprout and Peach Trifle Dinner!
3 January 2014
This is the start of a wonderful tradition – I cook a turkey and we invite her mom and dad over for dinner, it’s a great family gathering with the kids and everyone else.

MasterChef Dinner

Our MasterChef Australia 5-Course Dinner @ the apartment
8 January 2014
This is actually an Christmas present from my dear. She comes up with the best gift ideas. We both enjoyed the dinner immensely.

I found Finnish fireworks for sale in KL!
20 January 2014
You know it’s the start of Chinese New Year when I start writing about fireworks. 😀

Poon Choy

Poon Choi @ Restaurant Lee Hong Kee
15 February 2014
This is another great family tradition that we started this year – having poon choy (big bowl feast) together with her mom and dad. The kids enjoyed our two traditions so much that they’ve requested for turkey this year again. I love cooking turkey for Christmas and hunting for a good poon choy during Chinese New Year.

Staycation

10 things we did during our weekend staycation
25 February 2014
I love taking the time out to spend quality time with my soul mate, even if it’s just a staycation at a hotel in the middle of KL, it still feels like a holiday! It’s not about where you go, but who you go with.

Gordon Ramsay Duck Breast

Gordon Ramsay’s duck breast with Madeira jus, tomatillo apple cranberry chutney and parsnip purée
2 March 2014
This is one of my more successful dishes. It’s delicious, if I may say so myself. The other one is the Poached chicken breast with beetroot and nectarine purée.

Mom Funeral

My mom’s funeral
25 March 2014
My dear came down to be with me in this time of need. My mom passed on earlier in the month – it’s a good thing all of us were beside her at the time. We had her wake a few days later. I didn’t post much this month – only 5, the lowest ever recorded in sixthseal.com history, except for the time I restarted blogging after losing everything when coming out of drug rehab (a story I will share in my proper 13th anniversary post tomorrow).

My other social media sites:
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/sixthseal
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/sixthsealdotcom
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/sixthseal
http://www.facebook.com/SixthSealcom

Here’s the list of my previous of blog anniversary posts:
2003: sixthseal.com 1st Birthday
2004: sixthseal.com 2nd Birthday!
2005: sixthseal.com 3rd Birthday!
2006: sixthseal.com 4th Birthday!
2007: I was in rehab. There are (officially) no posts in 2007.
2008: I just got out of rehab. There is no 2007 recap to be done coz there are no posts in that year.
2009: Seven years of sixthseal.com
2010: I was in New Zealand at the time while my mom underwent an operation for lung cancer. I’m not sure what happened to the blog anniversary post, most likely I didn’t do one coz I was too caught up with stuff. Time for another retrograde!
2011: Happy 9th bloganivarsary sixthseal.com!
2012: Happy Blogday – 10 years of sixthseal.com!
2013: Happy Blogniversary – 11 years of sixthseal.com!

That’s it! I’ve finished playing catch-up, the timeline is now restored to normal.

Rave

Thanks for reading everyone, and I’ll be back tomorrow for the PROPER sixthseal.com 13th blog anniversary post, which falls on the 19th April 2015! 🙂

Happy Blogniversary – 11 years of sixthseal.com!

11th Blog Anniversary

This is actually a very late post – 3 years late, to be exact. Haha! I haven’t done a proper blog anniversary post since April 19th 2012, the year sixthseal.com turned 10. Thus, I’m going catch up by doing *one blog anniversary post per day* until my actual 13th blog birthday on April 19th 2015! It’ll be the 11th anniversary post today and the 12th tomorrow, just in time for this year’s (lucky) 13th anniversary on Sunday!

I’ll do it in the classic sixthseal.com way – a roundup of interesting posts for the “previous” year. For this post, this will mean everything from 19th April 2012 to 19th April 2013 since my blog was created on 19th April 2002.

Also as a tribute to Sesame Street (and also coz I took out a photo in the My Birthday Conspiracy post) our letter today is K. smirk

Ketamine

(It’s the 11th letter of the alphabet, yo)

That photo was actually from this year (2012) and it’s real. This is also the year which I quit all opiates, read on to find out more. It’s actually a very instrumental year in my life.

Here’s my favorite posts of the previous (relative to this post) year in chronological order:

Steyr M9A1

Steyr M9 semi-auto 9mm handgun
6th May 2012
This is a semi-automatic firearm review. I actually have a Category H firearms licence in Melbourne when I was studying there. I wrote about one of my trips to the local shooting range in 2002. I realize it’s a bit dubious having a photo of a loaded handgun so close to the picture above, but oh well, I mean well. Haha.

White Water Rafting

White water rafting in Gopeng
6th June 2012
This is the best! I love outdoor activities like these – skydiving, white water rafting, all the adrenaline sports. I was travelling a lot at this particular period in time, it was a period of soul searching. I went to several countries within a span of a few months! Indonesia (twice – the other time was to Bali), Singapore, Germany, Thailand, Philippines, Australia and Cambodia.

Jakarta

Couchsurfing in Jakarta – don’t forget your towel
10 June 2012
This was an impromptu trip to Jakarta, which I still haven’t finished writing about. My resolution this year is to stop procrastinating so after my real blog anniversary on Sunday, you’ll see daily updates and more interaction as well as a facelift.

Mom

My mom’s battle with lung cancer
14 June 2012
My mom was still alive three years ago…I just came back from her first Ching Ming after she moved on last year. It’s a blessing that we’re with her during her final moments in Singapore, it was hard to see her suffer from end-stage lung cancer and the pain and immobility that came in the end was terrible. She’s in a much better place now.

Germany Beer McDonalds

Only in Germany – beer and bubble tea at McDonald’s!
26 June 2012
A quick post I wrote while I was travelling in Germany. I was in Dresden at the time and they really serve beer in McDonald’s in Germany! There’s no age checks either, but then again I’m no spring chicken. I know they serve beer in other McDonald’s too but Deutschland is the most famously quoted place. You can read the rest of my Germany travel posts but the most recent one is the trip I took with my better half last year, this trip was the trip before that. I’ve actually been to Europe five times within the past 8 years.

Seize the day!
22 July 2012
This was the day I quit OxyContin (oxycodone) which was what I meant by tattooing the date in the post. I went on the government Suboxone opiate maintenance program after that and eventually kicked that too. I had a really serious opiate habit but it turned out that Suboxone was worse in a lot of ways (and more expensive too).

Suit

Timothy and Audrey’s Up Themed Wedding in Penang
30 July 2012
This is one of the cutest weddings I’ve ever attended. I had that suit made in Phuket and lost it two years ago while buying chocolates for my dear. It’s a funny story, I was trying to surprise my better half by getting her Patchi chocolates and left my car at the mall’s underground car park, which had a car wash. I took my dry cleaned suit out to put in their lockers…and forgot all about it until several MONTHS later! -_-

A morning stroll at Kota Tua Jakarta
12 August 2012
Just chilling in Jakarta…

Balut

Eating balut in the Philippines
27th August 2012
…before heading to Manila to eat the famous balut (duck embryo) en route to the holiday island of Boracay.

11 photos from the Fraser’s Hill trip
19 September 2012
I told you I was travelling a lot during these few months. Hey, I had to do something to combat the withdrawals after quitting opiates, you have to go cold turkey before you can go on the government’s NDST (National Drug Substitution Therapy) program for Suboxone due to the way buprenorphine works.

Helmet diving in Boracay
26 September 2012
This is a fun way to experience the sea if you don’t have a SCUBA diving licence. I did but my travel partner didn’t so we went on this instead, which is my first time!

The Prodigal Son
17 November 2012
The About Me behind the About Me, the one you wouldn’t know unless you’ve been following the blog since it’s inception. I had lead quite a chaotic life. Interesting, yes; and the less travelled path, most definitely; but you pay for the life experiences you get. One way or another, you pay.

Yee Ling

Competitive ice cream eating and other stories
29 November 2012
How can I not include this post? This is the best (and most important) day of my life. <3

A wonderful array of Indian sweets
9 January 2013
My love affair with Indian sweets

Emophant

Deer Emophant – a trip to the National Elephant Conservation Centre and Deerland Park in Kuala Gandah, Pahang
29 January 2013
I meet an emophant on a road trip. 🙂

The firecracker and the cat
17th February 2013
A funny story about a firecracker and a feline. No, nothing that would cause PETA to come after me, this is actually a rather tame story. Pardon the pun.

Daytime fireworks colored smoke salute cakes!
21 February 2013
Amazing smoke bombettes that flies up and bursts in the air in the form of a fireworks cake. It was the first commercially available daytime fireworks and my only regret was not setting the exposure correctly in the video, coz lighting and seeing the smoke bursts in real life was amazing!

Daylight Fireworks

Penguin Parade @ Phillip Island
26 March 2013
My first trip with my better half! We went to Melbourne. This was my first post when we got there. The “How I Met Your Mother in Melbourne” post is also iconic. We spent a lot of fun times and collected a lot of good memories in Australia, particularly in Phillip Island where we saw the penguins and stayed at a wonderful B&B with a huge room with amazingly breathtaking views of the countryside at Odette & Siegfried’s Room @ Swan Lake Guest House, Phillip Island.

Phillip Island

My first day trip with the M&Ms
31 March 2013
The start of an awesome relationship with the kids.

Resort

My romantic birthday getaway @ Philea Resort in Melaka
10 April 2013
My dear surprised me with a birthday present – a trip to a resort!

Chaul Chnam Thmey from Siem Reap, Cambodia!
15 April 2013
My better half and I head to Cambodia for our second overseas vacation of the year.

Cambodia

Like I said, this was the best year of my life. I met my soul mate, who kept me on the straight and narrow and I’ve been very lucky to have her in my life. I love the kids and I love my dear and everything I do from this year onwards is reflective of that so that’s the end of shenanigans like ketamine…and the start of being a better person.

My other social media sites:
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/sixthseal
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/sixthsealdotcom
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/sixthseal
http://www.facebook.com/SixthSealcom

Here’s the list of my previous of blog anniversary posts:
2003: sixthseal.com 1st Birthday
2004: sixthseal.com 2nd Birthday!
2005: sixthseal.com 3rd Birthday!
2006: sixthseal.com 4th Birthday!
2007: I was in rehab. There are (officially) no posts in 2007.
2008: I just got out of rehab. There is no 2007 recap to be done coz there are no posts in that year.
2009: Seven years of sixthseal.com
2010: I was in New Zealand at the time while my mom underwent an operation for lung cancer. I’m not sure what happened to the blog anniversary post, most likely I didn’t do one coz I was too caught up with stuff, if that’s the case, I’ll do a retrograde one like this post.
2011: Happy 9th bloganivarsary sixthseal.com!
2012: Happy Blogday – 10 years of sixthseal.com!

I’ll update again tomorrow with the next year’s blog anniversary post!

Thanks for reading everyone! It’s been a real pleasure having all of you on board, whether dropping by for the first time or a long time friend. Cheers! 🙂

Are you a chatterbox or a data muncher?

Sister

My sister (of all people) introduced me to this book by Gary Chapman. It’s called “The 5 Love Languages” and basically it talks about how different people have different preferred methods of communication. This doesn’t just apply to relationships and it’s a great book. I realized that I’m very big on talking (and listening) as my mode of communication. It’s what I find comforting but not everyone is like that.

Talk Text

I have seen others who prefer to write (or use social messaging) to express their feelings. It’s their preferred method of communication. There’s no wrong or right to this, we’re all born differently and along the way, we have acquired the methods in which we prefer to communicate. The book goes about how to bridge that gap and understand why others operate in a different way and I found it rather illuminating.

Happy Family

You may not consciously choose how you’ve grown up communicating, but Digi has something for everyone with their new Digi SmartPlan! It’s a new postpaid plan that allows you to choose which method of communication you’re most comfortable with – talking or social messaging. Thus, you can either go:

  1. High Voice
  2. High Data

I thought this made a lot of sense, especially since people use their smartphones differently. Believe it or not, there are still people who prefer to talk and use voice to communicate (like me – even though I was born right during the PC revolution and has grown up with IRC, ICQ and now to Facebook). There are also people who’re the opposite, who prefer to use Instagram and are high data consumers.

Girl Taking Photo

With the new Digi SmartPlan, this really gives the power to choose right back to you – you can either opt for High Voice (unlimited calls and SMS) or High Data (up to 6 GB). If you’re a traditionalist (like me) who just wants to pick up the phone and dial up a loved one, the former would suit you very well.

However, if you use a lot of FaceTime, Skype and LINE/Viber then the latter plan would make much more sense. It’s all about giving choices back to the consumer.

DiGi SmartPlan

I think it’s great and as a Digi user, I’m going to switch to the High Voice – the Digi SmartPlan really is versatile. I already have a fast fibre based Internet connection at home so I don’t need to use a lot of data. Plus, with the Digi SmartPlan 78 and above, I’ll get unlimited Whatsapp/WeChat even with High Voice! I used to be the opposite – no Internet connection at home and constantly using up my 3 GB of data per month just from surfing and updating my blog.

On top of Unlimited Whatsapp, WeChat (from SmartPlan 78 and above) and Facebook (with selected plans), Digi has recently launched their music app – Digi Music Freedom where you can stream music with zero data charges – this means that you can enjoy free music from Spotify, Deezer, KKBox and more! It’s a very good initiative from Digi for their clients, especially those who cannot live without music, and also it is a very positive initiative by Digi in helping to minimize the problem in illegal music downloads.

Niece

Thus, wherever you are in life, and whatever you like to do, with the new Digi SmartPlan, the choice is really up to you – High Voice or High Data! Choose which one you want here.

Birthday Dinner @ Payung Cafe Sibu

Payung Cafe Sibu

Don’t you want to go to some other place?” I asked my better half. She’s been eating at the exact same two places last time she was here – Aloha Cafe for lunch and Payung Cafe for dinner, so I suggested Baba & Siam but she really liked the durian ice cream we had last time at Payung Cafe so we ended up here for dinner, three days after we had another huge dinner with my sister and her family (who also loves Payung). smirk

This is my birthday dinner – my dear had flown down from KL to celebrate slightly less than 24 hours with me and we had:

Guava Salad (RM 8)

Guava Salad

This is our starter. Payung Cafe has a range of salads and most of them are great. I especially recommend the Herbs Salad (RM 8) but since it was a hot day, we went for the Guava Salad. It’s a lovely dish of guava with calamansi lime, crushed nuts and other herbs. It’s extremely refreshing!

Mushroom Roll (RM 8)

Mushroom Roll

This is a dish that has gone through many, many recipe tweaks since it was first introduced 8 years ago. I was among the first people in Sibu who first came when Payung Cafe opened in 2008 and spread the word that it was a great al fresco dining place offering the best of South East Asian (and a couple of Western) dishes.

Starfruit Prawns (RM 16)

Starfruit Prawns

I love this stuff – it’s starfruit (carambola) cooked with large prawns. There are three inside and the rest is cut up starfruits and other vegetables. It makes for a good combination. My dad ordered this one.

Thai Green Curry Chicken (RM 19)

Thai Green Curry

My better half’s order – she didn’t even have to think twice. Thai green curry is usually very spicy (at least if you eat the original from Thailand) but this is a much more muted interpretation meant for sensitive local palates.

Otak-Otak Fish (RM 12)

Otak Otak Ikan

This is a Payung Cafe staple that we all ordered to share. It’s homemade and all of their dishes comes with rice (RM 2) and we also wanted to have otak otak so the owners were kind enough to deduct RM 1 from our fourth dish – we ordered four in total for a party of 3 so we didn’t need the extra. It’s usually RM 13.

Sour Chicken (RM 18)

Sour Chicken

This is one of their daily specials. I’ve had the duck version and I like how they use Cambodian spices and herbs to make this dish – it’s quite nice. Payung Cafe also uses chicken legs only in their dishes so you’ll get cuts of drums and thighs.

Mulu Ice Cream (RM 10)

Mulu Ice Cream

We ordered one dessert for each person – this is mine, the ever-changing Mulu Ice Cream. This too has gone through several revisions, it used to be round, then a square slice, then a rectangular slice. It’s not cake – this is a sandwich of two chocolate ice cream layers with muesli in between, which is then topped with vanilla ice cream. I really like this coz of the textural aspects, there’s muesli sprinkled on top too.

Durian Ice Cream (RM 8)

Durian Ice Cream

This is a delicious concoction of homemade vanilla ice cream with durian paste. It’s delicious when they’ve just made it and it tastes like real durians instead of dodol (a local confection made with durians). It’s the reason my better half loves this place.

Jelly Pisang (RM 8)

Jelly Pisang

This is a classic Sibu dessert – it used to be served with shaved ice and bananas and Jello. Nowadays, it’s almost extinct. To the best of my knowledge, there’s only two places who still serves this – Peppers Cafe @ Tanahmas Hotel and here. This is the higher end version with homemade ice cream. It’s pictured next to Roselle Juice (RM 6) – a refreshing drink made from the roselle plant. It’s misspelled as Roxelle Juice in the menu.

Payung Cafe Birthday

It’s a wonderful dinner, made even better with the awesome company – my dad and my better half. My dad insisted of picking up the bill and treating us to the meal since it’s my birthday. The total for the three of us came up to RM 132 which is very reasonable for the amount we ordered and true to this word, the owner took RM 1 off the bill. 🙂

My birthday conspiracy (which makes for reasonably good reading)

It’s times like these that I think there’s a higher power somewhere looking out for me. smirk It just so happened that I was back in my home town during my birthday (which coincides with Ching Ming) so I didn’t have much to do on Saturday night. I thought I’ll give a friend of mine a call and get some ketamine and treat myself to a nice k-hole for my birthday.

He didn’t pick up when I called him.

(I learned later this was a blessing in disguise)

Right after that, I went down and my dad asked me to pick someone up from the airport. That’s highly unusual, especially since he didn’t say who (my sister and her family had already gone back).

I pressed him for details and it turns out that my better half (whom I love to death) is coming to Sibu to celebrate my birthday with me. My dad had known since Tuesday (!!!) when she contacted him to arrange this conspiracy surprise.

The phone rang right after he told me – it was my friend, calling back. He said he missed my call since he took his daughter out and asked me what was up. I said nothing much and hung up.

*PHEW*

If you have skipped the beginning of this tale, this is the same friend whom I was about to arrange to get some ketamine for a personal birthday treat to myself.

What would have happened if my dear had arrived smack dab while I was in a dissociative state where I was thinking more about 4th and 10th dimensional beings and pondering the reality of our existence?

(or maybe that she was some kind of ketamine induced visual and auditory hallucination)

HAHAHA

Like I said, there is a God.

I’m kidding. That’s a heavily Photoshopped picture of salt (sodium hydrochloride) crystals packed in baggies to look like the real thing. It was pink Himalayan salt to boot, which had me adjusting all the contrast and levels and RGB details to make it look white and similar to ketamine crystals.

(either that, or I really digged out the real thing from my photo archives from years and years back action)

This is a highly elaborate running inside joke that I have with my dear, I seriously have quit all recreational substances, pharmaceuticals and anything that might even remotely alter my state of mind. No wink wink, nudge nudge stuff, this is for realz yo. I don’t even drink much anymore.

There’s no ketamine.

I love my dear to bits and she’s everything to me – I have always been true to her and haven’t touched anything mind-altering for almost three (3) years, ever since I have been with her.

Sarawak Laksa

Me and my dad picked her up from her airport and we went to Aloha Cafe to eat her favorite Sarawak Laksa.

Payung Cafe

The three of us also had a very nice dinner at Payung Cafe at night.

Braun Buffel Birthday Gift

She came bearing gifts too – a Braun Buffel wallet and a UNIQLO shirt.

Braun Buffel Grey Wallet

My wallet has been a sad specimen for a long time and I think she noticed that and got me a really expensive and nice grey one from the German premium leather designer.

Frankfurt Passport Stamp

I love that she has a passport stamp of last year, when we flew to Germany and France – it’s dated 5th of April 2014, my birthday.

Sibu Passport Stamp

This year, she has a stamp on 5th of April 2015 but this time in Sibu. It’s small things like this that means a lot to her and a lot to me too coz it shows how much she cares that she spends every birthday with me (despite telling me she will not this year coz she’s busy with GST to make the surprise better).

I love you dear. I’m glad you flew down all the way to surprise me and planned it with my dad. Thanks for all the gifts and most of all for gracing my birthday with your presence, even if it was just one day.

Birthday 2015

It’s the best birthday ever! You make my life better and you make me a better man by just being in it. <3

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