dog meat

I managed to get gastronomically acquainted with man’s best friend during my trip to Korea. I have made it a personal jihad/crusade to sample their wonderful canine products. It was harder than I thought, despite the English – Korean word translator because: 

dog meat translate

Contrary to popular belief, selling dog meat is illegal in Korea

eating dog meat korea

We had to ask a lot of street vendors, who all shook their heads and looked away. Just as we were about to give up, one kindly old lady overheard us, proclaimed gae jang guk (dog meat soup) and made the appropriate “woof woof” sounds. She led us down this really dodgy and narrow side street and we half expected to be mugged in the cobbled alley. 

dog meat shop korea

…but lo and behold – there it was, an eating establishment in the middle of nowhere, out of the sight of casual tourists and probably accessible only to locals. 

dog meat korea

We entered the establishment and I asked for gae jang guk. The female proprietor eyed us and our entourage of cameras with some suspicion and I improvised a combination of sign language and enthused “I eat”. She finally nodded and let us into the seating area. 

dan gogi tang

I present to you dan gogi tang (dog meat soup) made with 100% authentic dog meat! It’s served with the usual Korean condiments and steamed rice. 

dog meat soup

It should be noted that the dog meat in Korea is not from your pet Labrador but a specially bred dog made for eating. 

gae jang guk

I find the dog meat excessively gamey and there is a lot of fat in this breed of dog. It tastes like nothing I’ve ever sampled before – the best I can describe it is a cross between lamb and pork but with a VERY strong smell and aftertaste. The odor was quite overwhelming despite the hot peppers and what not used to flavor the soup.

I would love to try it again though. I’m thinking back to the fatty-lean texture and pungent odor infusing the meat, and I’m drooling at the thought of chewing that in my mouth right now, allowing my palate to savor the taste of dog meat.

Bon appétit!

Oh, and the first dog I met barked at me. I’m serious. Does he know I ate his brethren?

I did a dual nipple piercing last year. It’s the only piercing I have left since I swallowed my tongue piercing for the umpteenth time (yes, again) and my wrist piercings got infected so I had to take it off. 

twin nipple piercing

I didn’t manage to write about the nipple piercings before since the videos and photos were back in Sibu. I managed to grab the external HDD when I went back home a couple of months ago, so all the assets are with me now! =D

I already had something in mind when I went in – I want both nipples to be pierced, but with a twist (no pun intended). I wanted one to be horizontal and one vertical

twin nipple piercings clamp

I was also adamant about using spiked bars instead of rings, much to the consternation of my attire. I wager the piercings have poked more holes in my clothes than I care to count. :( 

twin nipple piercings pierce

This piercing is hands down the most uncomfortable piercing I’ve ever done. I’ve had most of my face and various bodily parts pierced with no more than a shrug and a smile. However, my nipples are really sensitive and this piercing was…well, QUITE UNPLEASENT. 

twin nipple piercings done

I had to use both my hands to hold out my shirt so it doesn’t come into contact with the newly pierced nipples when I walked out of the place. It looked like I was attempting to create two imaginary man boobs by tenting up my shirt. :S 

twin nipple piercings

I did the piercings in Sungei Wang, so I got a lot of weird looks…but it sure beats the hell out of constantly wincing from the geli-ness produced from friction between my clothes and the fresh nipple piercings. Heh!

coconut

1. Drink a freshly cut sweet Sri Lankan coconut by the beach

sri lanka coconut

It’s dubbed the King Coconut and the juice is called thambli

coconut me

2. Sample their cloyingly sweet cakes

sri lanka cake shop

It’s available at the bountiful local sweet shops dedicated to selling sweets (cakes).

sri lanka cakes

It’s very, very sweet, crumbly and tasty!

eat sri lanka cakes

3. Eat Kothu Roti

cooking Kothu Roti

It’s a Sri Lankan dish made with roti, meat (beef and chicken), vegetables and egg. It’s spicy!

Kothu Roti

4. Share your table with a local

eat with the locals

5. Haggle with tuk tuk drivers

sri lanka tuk tuk

Get on a tuk tuk with cars zipping by a scant 2 cm away!

tuk tuk sri lanka

6. Look at gemstones

gemstones

7. Visit a temple

temple

8. Take a photo of one of their gigantic Buddha statues

buddha

9. Drink faluda

faluda

It’s a sweet local drink made with fresh milk, rose syrup and vermicelli, basil and tapioca seeds.

sri lanka drink shop

10. Try Nannari Sherbet

Nannari Sherbet

It’s a refreshing drink made with Indian Sarasaparilla root said to have medicinal properties.

sri lanka drink shop maker

11. Marvel at a Sri Lankan elephant’s…tusks

tusks

12. Eat at a hotel with your hands (hotel means curry house in Sri Lanka)

local hotel

13. Drink Ceylon tea from a street vendor

ceylon tea mug

14. Eat seafood on the beach

dig in

15. Drink their local coconut arrack

sri lanka arrack

It’s traditionally mixed with ginger ale – go for Old Arrack or VSOA.

ginger ale

16. Taste “short eats” from the many stalls

sri lanka street food

There’s samosas, deep fried rolls, and more!

short eats

17. Take a photo with a soldier

soldier last

18. Visit Pettah

Pettah market

Pettah is a famous local market with everything from cell phones to shoes.

Pettah

19. Buy something you don’t need e.g. 10 hammers for 20 cents

buy stuff you don't need

20. Drink wood apple juice

woodapple juice

21. Try the watalappam

wattalappan

Wattalappam is a Sri Lanka dessert of coconut custard made with eggs, coconut milk, cashew nuts, cloves, nutmegs and spices.

wattalappan eat

22. Eat their local “Maldives fish” from a street vendor

sri lanka maldives fish

It’s deep fried and savory!

street fish

23. Visit the beach on a Sunday

beach sunday

24. Go fly kite at the beach

fly kite

25. Pimp your blog!

pimp

Spare some change for the people living on the streets…

sri lanka poverty

…and leave a smile on their faces! :)

I wonder if you know how they live in Tokyo? 

drift

I went for a drifting course courtesy of Rexona last Sunday. My entry snagged the first prize so I woke up bright and early to drive to Bangsar. I had to meet PPC and Kalai (who was there on Official Business (TM)) before tailgating them to the venue coz I wasn’t familiar with that area (it’s about 45 minutes away). 

racer chicks

The full day car drifting course was held at MAEPS in Serdang and I arrived just in time to see Tina and Carmen working on one of the cars that was provided. I took Tina’s car (coz my car’s suspension is too fucked up for that kind of driving) for the drifting session, which I inadvertently overheated. >.< 

briefing

The first part of the session (AM) started with a briefing by Sean and was more about defensive driving and emergency maneuvers. We also did a slalom course with traffic cones as obstructions. I was a little apprehensive about running down the instructors since some of them had the appalling tendency of standing in the middle. My driving history is not exactly pristine. ;)

I used my car for one exercise though; coz I figured it would be useful considering the unusual amount of accidents I’ve been through. This is the first part – it involves driving at high speed towards a cone barrier (without prepping yourself by letting go of the gas or brake anticipation) and jam the brakes after the last cone while swerving to avoid the barrier into the side lane before moving back into the center.

me

Joe-Han was instructing me most of the time. I like the guy, and he can drift something awesome! The basics were covered in the morning and we had a one hour lunch break at the nearby (which is 15 minutes away) mamak before the afternoon session.

The afternoon (PM) session is the drifting course and the rain during lunch caused the track to be a little bit slippery, but it was a lot of fun. It was really hard to drift with a car that I’m not very familiar with, and most of the time, I didn’t make it at all. However, I managed to drift once without losing control and I was really pleased about that.

tent

Next up is the various methods you can use to do doughnuts. Watched Fast and Furious 3: Tokyo Drift? It’s the technique where one car goes around the other car in a circular motion, using understeer (or izzit oversteer?).

slalom

There are three methods to do that and the easiest is the e-brake method followed by the clutch pop, and I managed to somewhat perfect the technique with Tina’s car. It kinda overheated after that though, and I was told that I’m very “persistent” as in I go all out and wouldn’t quit until I have it right. I know…its part of my personality. ;)

Things I learned:
Always steer to the left while avoiding a probable collision – this is so you don’t run into incoming traffic.
The 9-3 position is the best way to drive long distance coz your heart won’t have to work as hard to pump blood to your extremities.
Do not drive with your thumb(s) inside the steering wheel; you’ll break them in a collision.
Push and pull with your hands mirroring each other when you drive. Don’t cross over coz if the airbags deploy on impact, the force will drive your arms towards your face, a Very Bad Thing (TM) if you like how you look. ;)

ebrake

Other interesting things about Tina’s car:

She has this really nifty e-brake which doesn’t engage per se when you pull it (it goes back down) but it works for drifting, perfect for rally driving.

group

I sure hope Tina doesn’t see this but since I added her on FB I seriously doubt it. I was having a rather crude discussion on MSN with a friend and the gist of it is replicated here:

trust me
when she’s drifting
fu yoh
damn
i nearly jizzed my pants

tina

Tina, it’s a compliment! Racer chicks are hot. ;)

cert

I got a cert for…er, Advanced Course Driving. I’m not sure I deserve it, so don’t look at me weird the next time I get into an accident. :p

long dong

Sup Torpedo has an almost mythical aura around these parts. Sup Torpedo (or Torpedo Soup) is a euphemism for bull’s penis.

torpedo soup photo

You’re not actually eating a torpedo any more than you’re eating the Friar’s olfactory senses when you order Bishop’s Nose.

torpedo penis

Do you know how long a bull’s penis is? I didn’t realize the magnitude of the size until the good people at Sup Hameed showed me.

bestiality

It threatened my masculinity and I felt a peculiar urge to chomp on the appendage. It’s HUGE!

testicles

The bull’s penis is not so much about girth as it is about pure, unadulterated (hmm…interesting word to use when writing about genitalia) length.

bulls penis

It can reach a span of several meters. It’s impressive, and is likely to cause unexplained feelings of inadequacy for men if not kept in check.

sup hameed

Sup Hameed is recommended by Going Places, the in-flight magazine for MAS. It’s located conveniently beside Cititel Hotel in Penang so it’s just a hop, skip and jump to savor the delicacy known as Sup Torpedo.

torpedo

Sup Hameed specialized in all things soup and it’s open from 6 pm – 3 am to cater to the clubbing district and if you ask nicely, they’ll let you choose the penile portion you want. You can even get a side order of bull’s testicles (yes, the balls).

sup torpedo

Sup Torpedo is surprisingly tasty. You just gotta love the tender bull’s penis and the burst of flavor and juices (I don’t want to dwell too much on this topic lest you get put off your food :p) is incredible!

sup torpedo photos

This is the making of Sup Torpedo. They usually slice the bull’s penis up so you’ll have to tell them you want it whole. It’s served with bread that goes very well with the rich broth.

bull penis

Check out the remarkable similarities to human anatomy. :p

torpedo soup

It costs RM 15 for a nice length of the bull’s family jewels (sans testicles).

hameed sup torpedo

Now, that’s what I call a long dong.

Download: Director’s Cut (with proper music)

sixthseal.com celebrates its 7th blogniversary today and in remembrance of that, I have made a 10-minute video documenting the progress from Melbourne to KL to Kuching to Sibu and back to KL.

Notable posts of the year:
The Big Mac Chomp Challenge
Tongue Piercing Photos and Video
Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort
Marina Bay Seafood Restaurant
JCI Seduan Wet & Wild Pool Party
sixthseal.com Guide to Eating Live Sago Worms
The evolution of Chinese names
Zuiho Daiko performance @ Sibu Gateway
My sister’s wedding @ Grand Jasmine Ballroom, RH Hotel
Wrist piercing – sub dermal piercings on my left wrist
CNY in Ipoh
Genting Greed: A Tragic Tale of Losing RM 5,300
Don’t Drift and Drive
Ride of the Valkyries
Hate the sin, love the sinner
Nuffnang Music Bash 2009

It’s been a long journey and I’ll like to thank everyone for reading the chronicles of my life…

…and to show my appreciation, I’m going to buy the first 50 people who comments on this post lunch.

RM 10 each x 50, straight into your bank account via TT. Please ensure that a valid email is provided so I can email you for your account details.

As a bonus (and also to round up the figure to RM 600) I’m going to give the best comment RM 100.

Yes, I’m broke but I’m also feeling generous. :p

Thanks for all your support; I couldn’t have done it without you.

Long live sixthseal.com! =D

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. :(

a.k.a Genting and back in 3 hours and RM 1,500 richer

genting ftw

I was having dinner last night when Sze and I came out with this incredibly impulsive idea – we’re going up to Genting Highlands to hit the casinos and come back after winning RM 1,000. It was about 11 pm then and I was determined to get back the RM 35k I lost about a year ago. I was thinking positive this time – WIN! =D

genting

Thus, we called for a taxi to get us up at 11:45 pm and arrived at there at about 1 am. It was very impromptu – I didn’t even bring my dSLR. I quickly headed for the ATM to withdraw my bankroll of RM 3,000. Unfortunately, the ATMs at Genting do not allow more than RM 1,000 to be withdrawn in a day. I only had RM 200 with me in addition to the RM 1,000 and I couldn’t very well walk in with just a 1.2k bankroll. Sze was kind enough to withdraw RM 800 to make it an even RM 2k.

Thus armed, we proceeded to the casino and I headed straight for the Baccarat tables.

I put RM 500 on Player after getting my cash changed for chips.

I lost. Banker wins.

I put another RM 500 on Player.

I lost again. Banker wins.

Motherfucker! I was down to half of my bankroll. I put RM 300 on Banker. Player wins.

…..

I’m down to RM 700. I put RM 200 on Banker. Banker was on 1/2 payout but at least I won.

RM 800.

I put RM 500 on Player.

Player deals a 7. Player stands. Banker draws a third card. I thought this was in the bag until the Banker got a 9.

I’m down to RM 300. What can you do with RM 300?

Desperate times calls for desperate measures. In a fit of inspiration (or desperation, rather) I put RM 100 on Player and RM 100 on Player Double.

I was down to my last RM 100 (not counting the RM 200 on the table).

Player Double is a variation of Tie (8 to 1 returns). Player Double pays out 11 to 1. It’s only available on some tables and requires the first two cards for Player to be the same cards.

Player draws a 7 for the first card. I wasn’t looking, since I was a bit dejected at my FAIL plan to win RM 1.5k and was thinking about putting my last RM 100 chip on Roulette.

Suddenly, I felt someone grab me from the left. Sze was at my right so I was rather perplexed. This Chinese woman chattered excitedly to me and I looked at the table.

I’ll be fucked.

Player draws a double 7. 7 of diamonds and 7 of spades.

The Banker won the game but I didn’t care. I only had RM 100 on Player and RM 100 on Player Double.

I got RM 1,100 (11 to 1 payout) from the double 7 cards. =D

The Chinese woman kept on talking to me, telling me that I was very lucky. Yeah, it’s pure luck. Fortune favors the bold. ;)

Bankroll: RM 1,300

I’m still down RM 700 and the cards were being reshuffled so we moved to the next table, where there is a lot of commotion. It seems that Banker is on a winning streak and there are tens of thousands in chips on the table – all on Banker.

I’m a big fan of Player and generally going against the odds (which is why I lose most of the time).

I put RM 500 on Player. I was the lone one in the entire table betting on Player.

Player draws a 6. The crowd goes berserk, coz Player stands while the Banker draws a third card. I don’t know why but I’m sure I was gonna win this round. I’m not gonna lose going against the grain. No way, Jose.

Banker draws a 5.

I watch with glee as the dealer takes all the chips on Banker and pays out RM 500 to the sole Player bet – mine. =D

I’m at RM 1,800 right now, just down by RM 200.

I decided to go over to the Roulette tables and put RM 200 on 6. I usually don’t stay this long in a casino; I like to get in and out fast coz the odds are always stacked against you the longer you stay. The house always wins.

The ball settled on 11. I think this is a pivotal experience and made me do what I did later.

I went back to the Baccarat tables with RM 1,600. I put RM 300 on Player. Player wins.

My chips are now at RM 1,900 – just RM 100 short of my initial bankroll. I need to increase my bets and get the hell out of there ASAP.

I put RM 500 on Banker, thought better of it, and moved it down to Player. Player wins!

RM 2,400. I’m up RM 400.

I put RM 500 on Player. It’s a tie. The same Chinese woman beside me lamented her situation with great fervor to me, saying that she was about to put some money on Tie.

I left my RM 500 chip on Player while the other players take their chips back and think (or whatever it is they do). I’ve never understood this. It’s not gonna change the odds. It’s like a superstition of sorts. I always keep it at the same place.

Before the dealer starts to deal, I impulsively put RM 100 on Player Double again.

This time, I’m watching. I had hoped to win the RM 500 player bet, the RM 100 on Player Double is just an random bet I made from seeing the number 11 on Roulette just now.

Player draws a 6. I wasn’t looking at the Banker cards. The dealer took out the second card for Player and opened it. I’ll be fucked. It’s a 6!

The Chinese woman was OMGWTFBBQ at my sheer luck. She just witnessed me winning RM 1,100 twice on a very improbable bet (Player Double).

Now, I had to play closer attention. I still had RM 500 riding on Player.

The game was a tie.

The Chinese woman again lamented excitedly about how she was gonna put some money on Tie since the previous game was a tie too. She also attempted to touch me to “get some of my luck”.

I would have loved it if Player had won since I’ll have walked away with RM 2,000 if that had happened. But I can’t be greedy. I told Sze we’re leaving. She asked me how much I’ve won.

genting counting

RM 3,500. Thanks to the double six and the tie, I’ve won exactly RM 1,500 (after deducting my bankroll of RM 2,000).

genting drinks

I returned Sze RM 800 with some interest and we adjourned for drinks.

genting money

I was quite happy about walking away with RM 1,500. I never stay back after I’ve won what I decided to win. You can’t be greedy coz the house always wins.

beer tower

I ordered a Beer Tower (RM 179++) which has the equivalent of 2 1/2 jugs of beer. The price is kinda steep but this calls for a celebration!

genting food />
I tipped the bartend
er about RM 15 or so and he was quite happy about it. He gave us complimentary sausages. :)

genting us

I hailed a taxi after we finished our beer tower and got back at about 3 am. Dinner was about RM 88, the taxi ride to Genting cost RM 80 and the return trip RM 110. Minus the cost of the beer tower, I had netted RM 1,000 that night.

The house always wins, but not last night.

genting end

Last night, I won. :)

healed

I had a surface bar piercing procedure done about a month ago on my left wrist. I had originally intended to go in for a tattoo on my left ankle – a rotting, dead corpse hand with yellowing fingers grasping my leg and pulling me down with blood dripping from the fingernail rake marks, all in full color. It’s going to be a masterpiece!

arrange

Unfortunately, it would take about four hours to ink and an hour to draw so I decided to go for an unconventional piercing instead. My policy regarding piercings is simple – it has to be concealed (or at least concealable) due to my line of work. I have pierced most of my face since I was 15 and I only have my tongue and nipple piercings left.

doing

I came to this tattoo place to get my nipples pierced about three months ago and asked about flesh stapling and other hardcore or extreme piercings that they do. They couldn’t do it back then but I noticed they have some paraphernalia for it now. However, they still couldn’t do proper flesh stapling so I went for the next best thing – three surface piercings down my left wrist. The piercing guy told me I’m the first one to do this, so I’m the guinea pig.

measure

I like the sound of that. ;)

paraphenalia

Thus, I signed the indemnity form and proceeded with the surface piercing.

test

I originally planned for three similar length and gauge surface piercings but the piercer told me it would look disproportionate due to the widening of the arm, so he suggested 22 gauge, 24 gauge and 26 gauge bars in ascending order so it’ll look straight. It turned out to be an excellent suggestion.

Surface bar piercing is the exact “opposite” of flesh stapling. Flesh stapling allows the “bar” to be visible, but the “ends” to be invisible while surface bar piercings has the “ends” visible while the “bar” goes under the skin.

intro

The skin is clamped together at the wrist and then pierced through with a large needle before the surface bar is inserted and the end screwed in. The entire bar goes under your skin so you can feel it beneath your skin, somewhat akin to a sub dermal implant.

This is the process flow of the surface bar piercing procedure:

drawing

The site of the piercing (in this case my left wrist) is marked with a pen with horizontal and vertical lines as a guide for the three bars going in.

clamp

The skin around the wrist is clamped together – not a very easy task for the first one since it’s located quite high up on the arm. The clamp marks alone took over a week to heal!

pierce

A very thick needle is poked through the skin from A to B so it goes under the skin between the two points.

cork

It is temporarily stopped with a cork for safety purposes.

through

The surface bar is then inserted all the way in…

undone

…before the clamp is released, putting the entire bar under the skin and leaving the ends up. The side of the surface bar is screwed in with a ball.

disinfect

I did all three in a row which amazed the staff, as did my tolerance for pain. I don’t mean to brag, it’s none of that macho shit, but I honestly don’t feel much pain at all. It hurt a little after a couple of days though, especially when it snags on clothes and hair. I look a little like a porcupine at the wrist, but I kinda like how it looks now.

done

It’s supposed to take six (!!!) months to completely heal but I think mine is pretty much healed now. It doesn’t hurt anymore, even when slightly snagged. It’s different and I get a lot of double takes and people commenting about it (one guy even wanted to take a photo of it) when I go out.

montage

It’s technically a transdermal implant since part of it is inside the skin and part of it is outside and is considered a little on the extreme side, so that’s something you might want to consider if you’re doing this.

…a video of the third and final wrist piercing going in.

complete

This is what it looks like when it’s done.

photo

It looks horribly painful especially for virgins to the world of self-mutilation, er…I mean body modification but it’s not as painful as it looks. :)

habanero chili

The Habanero chili pepper is rated as one of the hottest chili peppers in the world. I took the Habanero chili challenge at Frontera Bar & Grill at Jaya One. I ate the entire chili pepper raw in two bites and didn’t think much of it. Larry, the proprietor, told me that it only hits after five minutes…

Jesus Christ, I must admit, the chili started stinging at the 2 minute point and peaked at the 3 minute point. My eyes were watering and my nose was running.

habanero chili aftermath

I felt a little queasy after that and my taste buds were desensitized for about 15 minutes, but it was fun, and I would do it again. Take the Habanero chili challenge @ Frontera!

You man (or woman) enough? ;)

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