Planet DELL organized an event at Palate Palette last night. It was hyped as the party “before the eve of the new year” and features Lap Sap as one of their performers.
The PJ gang (we have earned this moniker due to a misdemeanor and possible felony committed by all of us) descended to the heart of KL to attend this event. The invite came courtesy of Rachel Ying.
We got the customary wristband as well as two badges (“Yours is an emo journo” – no shit, Sherlock) and stuff to play with. Yeah, yeah, go ahead, say “Hi, sixthseal.com, darling” and do the air kiss thing. The event was like an invasion of the hip, trendy, trust-fund kids – the Who’s Who of KL, or their offspring anyway. Attack of the Killer Trust Fund Kids. I can’t be fucked to look up who their dads are. 😉
Lap Sap didn’t make much of an impression on me. I don’t know what this event is about actually – we were given badges and felt tip pens to graffiti with, but nothing ever happened. It’s more like…a chill out session, which is fine and all, and the old me would have jumped at the open bar, but I guess I was expecting more.
I wasn’t really impressed by the fact that we had to pay for water, but alcoholic drinks were on the house. I mean, come on, that’s illegal in Australia. Clubs should have free water, no two ways about it. I normally won’t complain, since ethanol is my main tipple but I’m trying to wean off alcohol on the day before my New Year’s resolution kicked in.
It sounds a bit wrong after I’ve just said that, but here’s a photo of me doing Jello vodka shots with Lainie.
Kimberly, who related an anecdote to me about someone asking her if her real family name is Cun. Heh!
Joyce, with her RM 20,000 haircut. 😉
The artsy (fartsy) décor of Palate Palette.
Kim being enthusiastic about the badges.
Planet DELL was alright if I was in the mood to drink…which I usually am. It’s the dearth of participant interaction that killed the event. It’s all good if you just want to hit the gin + tonic and free beers, but if you want more, it’s a bit of a letdown. We left rather early at about 10:30 pm.
I went to the Kakiis Night Out event last night at Euphoria by Ministry of Sound. I think it’s the only non-smoking club in town. I went there with KY and Eiling as my team members.
I am honored that the organizers felt my 27-year-old self worthy of an ID check for a free voucher of Carlsberg Draft…until I realized they asked everyone for ID.
Pinky Tham! I less than 3 you! OMG, that was so random. Moving on.
I haven’t been to Euphoria before but the place has a great sound system and excellent lighting. It’s operated by the esteemed MOS in London.
The Kakiis event kicked off with a performance by the Break B’Boys. They’re quite good at what they do and it got the crowd pumped up for the games. Kakiis Night Out has 10 booths with 10 games where you go and get footprints. DJ Steve from FlyFM was the MC for the night and briefed the crowd on the challenge.
The games range from Kakiis Extreme (with electric shocks and dubious sea creatures and worms) to the more intellectual games like Kakiis IQ. You’re supposed to complete all 10 challenges. I didn’t go there expecting to win, but I was surprised (in a good way) that Eiling is rather competitive by nature and wanted to finish all the games. 😉
I wanted a drink before that though, I just had two and needed a bit more of the amber fluid inside me to be in the right frame of mind. I managed to bum quite a few beer coupons off random people. I didn’t know it wasn’t free flow or I would have started drinking at home first. 😉
Meet Team 37! We actually won one of the games and walked away with a prize, which we didn’t expect.
The most interesting challenge of the day is the Kakiis Tornado where a blower blows pieces of paper around in an enclosed phone box type contraption and we grab the pieces from the air. We had to wear goggles – watch our team in action!
Dinner was provided and we stopped to grab a bite to eat before continuing the games. “Dinner” was mainly finger food without any substantial carbohydrates except for the cakes and desserts. Coke and other soft drinks were free flow but they ran out of ice at one point.
Me: Look Pinky, you have like two leng chai sitting beside you! Pinky: Where? Where got leng chai? Me: …..
Anyway, we went back to attempt to complete the games after that. The more memorable is the one where you have to dig for coins in covered boxes. Two contains water and eels and the other two contains sawdust and sago grubs. There are four groups and each group of three people tag-teamed the way through.
This is the game where we won (fastest time). It’s a contraption which delivers an electric shock with the two mesh wires inside. You have to reach through and grab a ping pong ball to spell out…
…KAKIIS. I got shocked twice, KY got it once and Eiling didn’t get the electric treatment. I think you need to touch both the wire meshes for it to deliver a shock. We thought we did pretty well on this one but didn’t think much of it.
There was also a challenge called Kakiis Chill where you dip your feet into a small pool of ice-cold water and attempt to fish out ping-pong balls with your feet spelling KAKIIS. Fun.
This is the best-dressed group IMHO – they were wearing reindeer antlers and matching outfits. They won one of the video awards too.
There was a yodeling competition going on at center stage while we were outside fishing ping-pong balls with our toes and everyone got a 16 GB Pendrive Sliq so our group immediately joined the next game…which was cat walking and showing off our kakis (kaki also means feet in Malay, wordplay on the social networking site).
I’m sure there are at least two compromising videos (and probably some photos as well) of me taking off my shirt and showing my beer belly (potbelly?) for all and sunder to see. I was about to start taking off my belt too before DJ Steve from FlyFM shook his head. 😉
Our team won the Kakiis Shock challenge though. I think we all knew we had a chance and looked at each other before the winner for that challenge is announced…and true enough it was Team 37!
We each snagged a 16 GB Pendrive Sliq for having the fastest time in that challenge. Team 37, FTW!
I went to watch the latest 007 in GSC Mid Valley yesterday, and it’s every bit as good as everyone says. I prefer Casino Royale, Daniel Craig’s premiere as a slightly awkward MI6 agent, but Quantum of Solace is the film that really showcases his talents as the troubled, misunderstood James Bond.
I love Daniel Craig (in a strictly heterosexual way) and there is much character development in the latest movie that explores the Bond character much more than the “suave devil-may-care playboy” one-sided portrayal in the previous incarnations. Daniel Craig shows his emotions and sets the background to the persona he (or rather Bond) later becomes.
It’s well worth the RM 80 I paid for Gold Class tickets at GSC (RM 40 per person for an exclusive viewing experience). Best enjoyed with caramel popcorn and a pint of Guinness.
P/S – I come from ulu ulu Sarawak so I found the GSC Gold Class lounge to be very the canggih. Even the toilets have this nifty red button you can push to dispense a brand new seat liner for maximum hygiene purposes.
Ramadan is the holy Muslim month of fasting, where practitioners of the faith abstain from food and water from dawn until sunset. Malaysia has a sizable Malay population and the best part about Pasar Ramadan (Ramadan Bazaar) is the sheer amount of food available. The Pasar Ramadan is a setup consisting of independent stalls selling food, and most of the consumables are excellent.
I always make it a point to visit the Pasar Ramadan every year. It’s held annually during the puasa (fasting) month and a lot of good eats can be found concentrated in the bazaar. All cities and towns in Malaysia have a Pasar Ramadan setup a month before Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which is the most important celebration on the Muslim calendar.
I went to the Pasar Ramadan with a couple of buddies yesterday evening to check out the place. Pasar Ramadan is only open for several hours in the evening and I figured I should go this week since Hari Raya Puasa falls on next Wednesday. Thus, it’s just about a week left before the annual Pasar Ramadan shuts down for the year.
The people manning the stalls are generally a friendly lot and being the quintessential blogger that I am, camwhoring is a must on the To Do List. I can’t help it – I’ve been blogging for six years! 😉
The Pasar Ramadan sells food and drinks of all sorts. I have noticed a trend this year where the local shaved ice drinks like ABC Special, Chendol, etc are all sold in huge packs. It’s at least 1.5 liters of fluid in there! I guess it’ll look appealing after not drinking the entire day, but still, that’s a lot of liquid!
The sheer variety of food at the stalls is amazing. There is everything from otak-otak…
…to keropok lekor, a fish cracker originating from Terengganu.
There are also more conventional fare like fried noodles and nasi campur cooked on the spot.
One other trend I spotted this year is that the cakes sold at the Pasar Ramadan has been given the Premium Treatment (TM). Gone were the days of kueh lapis (layered cakes) and other delicious but aesthetically lacking cakes. The cakes sold are now topped with cheese or encapsulated in pudding.
I also managed to find a Roti John stall. I haven’t seen Roti John in Sibu ever! It’s RM 2.50 each and comes with either a chicken or beef filling. The etymology of Roti John is quite interesting – it was created for Caucasian tastes during the British Colonial rule and the name came about from the colloquialism for Westerners at that time.
Caucasians were referred to as “John”, a very common English name and thus Roti John was born. It’s literally translated as John’s Bread. 🙂
I love Roti John and have only seen it in KL, so it’s nice to eat it again. It’s basically a sandwich with a minced meat patty inside. Sarawak has a version of Roti John, which we call kebab. It was fun to walk through the Pasar Ramadan again, since I missed it last year. It’s just so chill and relaxed, and I like the throng of crowds buying food during the two or three hours it’s open.
You Don’t Mess with the Koran, er…I mean, Zohan. 😉
I went to the PC Fair 2008 at Delta Mall yesterday. It’s not the PIKOM organized event, but a smaller scale expo by local IT organizations. There are still a lot of bargains to be had there though – I got an 8 GB USB drive for RM 73 (SanDisk Cruzer Micro) and am planning to get a Philips external HDD (3.5″ 320 MB) for RM 260.
I know the prices might be kinda steep compared to KL prices, but it’s the best deals we get over here. There isn’t even a booth selling 16 MB USB drives which I’ve been hankering for. Anyway, I bumped into a couple of people there since it was the last day of the fair.
This is the delectable Susie Ting, who for some reason or another is helping out at one of the booths over there.
It would be remiss of me if I didn’t do an XX Chromosome post on her since she is, by most standards, quite aesthetically pleasing. She’s a really friendly person too – the first thing she said when she saw me was that she can smell the liquor from my breath and inquired as to why I didn’t bring her along to drink. It was a Sunday afternoon. 🙂
There’s also this very nifty UV signboard that I really liked, manned (womenned?) by Fang Ling. It accepts an AC adapter and you can write on it and it can display various colors according to the settings. The ink is erasable and you can write whatever message you want on it and then erase it and put up a new message the next day, The power consumption is pretty low too, so it’s more practical than an LCD screen (which would probably get my car smashed and the electronics stolen).
I want it for the rear of my car – it’s going to display a quote of the day or a random post and it’ll have the sixthseal.com URL on it. This is much better than plastering your car with blog stickers, since it’ll be inside the car itself and powered by a battery array. However, at RM 488 it’s a little bit on the steep side, and a friend of mine who went with me told me it can be fabricated for much less and at a custom size to boot (no pun intended), so I’m going to go for that option – take the tinted glass off my rear window and install this thing – guerrilla advertising and all that. 😉
I also bumped into Siew Ling a.k.a. my little sister at the fair. She’s not actually related to me, she’s a model for my Oreo advertorial. She’s a really nice person and I always feel comfortable around her. She’s very soft too, and cute. Adorable! I don’t usually get attracted to younger girls, but she would be the exception. 😉
I went for the Hash Run organized by the Sibu chapter yesterday afternoon, this time in the capacity of a babysitter. In an effort to boost attendance rates, I rallied two of my friends to the event. This is the first hash run for the both of them, so I played the role of the trip sitter.
Due to the unavailability of alcohol in the Sibu HHH chapter, I decided to preload myself with some of the amber fluid before going for the run. I’m actually not a very patient person and can be prone to irritability at acts of perceived tardiness and I figured the combined GABA agonists (old readers would catch this reference ;)) would make me more amiable.
This route was more difficult than the previous hash run, and that makes things a little more challenging since I had to carry a backpack (not mine) and the hilly terrain and longer distance makes things a little more exerting.
The interesting bit about this weekend’s run is that it went through the main road a couple of times…
…and features a rest hut!
This is our resident Moses reincarnate to guide the trekkers through a particularly grueling bog. I declined the assistance of the biblical figure and ended up in the bog, completely soaking my trainers and socks.
Halfway through the trek, one of my friends took the liberty of spraining her ankle. Kudos to her for slogging it through anyway despite the pain.
There were several exit points at the path and we chose not to take it and slugged on, despite the sprained ankle of Jolin and my friend being thoroughly exhausted despite her yoga training.
I’m glad we didn’t take the exit coz I found this pristine pitcher plant along the route. I thought these things only exists in Mt. Kinabalu!
Nevertheless, Jolin’s sprained ankle was bothering her towards the end of the run and it was decided that we’re going to beat a new path through virgin rain forest since we had missed the final exit.
The trailblazer managed to find a path through a kampung (Malay dwelling community) and we took a longer, but less challenging (without the gradient factor) route.
I have leaned something during this trek – to be more tolerant, patient and caring towards others. I have a tendency to be over competitive and want to be the leader of the pack but this time I brought up the rear to accommodate for the two friends that I had brought along…
I went to the Mummy 3 press screening at GSC, Midvalley at the ungodly hour of 9:45 am with Timothy, Samantha and Cynthia on Tuesday. It was held a day before the premiere and two days before the official release date. I haven’t been to a press screening before, cheers to Nuffnang for that coz I’m a huge fan of movies.
The interesting bit about press screenings is that you have to insert your cell phone and digicam into this envelope thing (with an attached ID) so no cell phones are allowed in the theater itself.
Anyway, we got a Mummy 3 press kit with a text insert containing the list of credits and other filming anecdotes as well as a CD Press Kit with goodies like photos, production notes and the trailer and other information. I found it quite interesting to read, it’s not just the standard plot guidelines but experiences about the difficulties of filming in China and other behind the scenes stuff. The press screening also comes with a free drink and popcorn voucher.
I was looking forward to the Mummy 3 movie coz I’ve watched the first two and found the franchise highly entertaining. It’s nice to be one of the first to watch the movie. Brandon Fraser is back and he’s as good as ever even though he seems to be trying too hard to be funny in some of the scenes.
I loved the plot about The Dragon Emperor which is (very) loosely based on mythology behind the terracotta warrior statues in China. Unfortunately, I had a rather late night the previous night and the sleep deprivation compounded by the extremely cold air conditioning and dark atmosphere of the GSC cinema made me very sleepy (and I have a very strong suspicion that I actually had a couple of microsleeps ;)).
It’s not due to the movie though, The Mummy 3 was great and it has a great plot twist in the beginning and ends well with the standard happy ending that the series is renowned for. It’s a feel good popcorn (caramel, not salted) movie that makes for another great addition to the Mummy franchise.
Jet Li’s character is great, and although he doesn’t have a lot of dialog, his on screen presence fits the character well. He’s menacing and in command. However, it was Isabella Leong’s performance that steals the show. I felt that there was no on screen chemistry between Luke Ford and Isabella Leong but she just has the poise and grace for this particular character (with a slight peppering of melancholy).
I went to a hash run at 4 pm yesterday to get my mind off things and to do some Healthy Stuff (TM). The HHH (Hash House Harriers) are a group of hardcore runners who loves to go trailblazing based on the concept of a paper chase.
It’s not the paper chase you’re familiar with and definitely not what African American rappers mean when they say “outlaws on a paper chase, can you relate” or “Cash Rules Everything Around Me, CREAM, get the money, dollar dollar bills, yo”. This is a traditional paper chase with a “hare” dropping shredded paper as a trail and the rest of us “harriers” following the trail.
To do this, you need:
Running shoes (or just trainers)
Sunblock (which I later found out was a Bad Idea (TM))
The trail goes through hilly terrain and some intimidating foliage. Steep inclines and sharp descents were not uncommon and I was told that this was one of the easier trails.
It wasn’t sunny enough for the sunblock to be really necessary, and after a while, you realize why it’s a Bad Idea (TM) – the sweat dripping from your brows gets mixed with the sunblock and starts stinging your eyes.
The group soon separated into a less orderly fashion and the paper trails was all that is left for the harriers. There were constant calls of “On On” – a HHH tradition and a sweeper at the back to collect the paper trail.
There were bamboo trees that looked like a scene from a Chinese wu xia (martial arts) movie…
…and even miniature pitcher plants!
Stunning vistas marked the end of the trail. It was indeed invigorating to go on the run. I managed to make pretty good time despite being relatively unfit.
I must admit that I was totally bushed when I got out though. Heh!
The Sibu HHH were experienced enough to bring a chiller with plenty of bottled water and isotonic drinks…
…and watermelon!
Nothing beats a cold, juice slice of watermelon after some exertion. Mmm…
Sandwiches were also available for those who want a bite to eat.
However, one question still bugs me though…
…what happened to “The drinking club with a running problem”?
JCI Seduan organized a “Wet & Wild” pool party at Tanahmas poolside on Saturday at 5 pm. I went there dressed in little more than shorts and a T-shirt (the dress code was casual) with my trusty Speedos underneath.
Our contingent (which were not from the JCI movement) arrived to disrupt the proceedings and behave in a generally rowdy manner. I’m kidding, we were invited to go there to boost up the attendance rates and liven up the pool party. 😉
The poolside at Tanahmas Hotel has a great view of Sibu and the evening sun was just right for a bit of swimming and pool games.
Some of the girls didn’t want to get in the pool but ended up being chucked one way or the other into the water anyway. Participation is mandatory, resistance is futile. 😉
This is me and Eddy, who needs no further introduction. He’s a really fun guy to be around. Our group staked claim to the pool for the rest of the evening, using a great fence for this pool since this is really important for a pool party.
I’m sure most of the people here needs no further introduction, being featured before in sixthseal.com and all that.
This is Mary Ngo who didn’t want to get into the water…
…but somehow ended in there anyway. 😉
There were three (3) girls in bikinis that didn’t seem to be from the JCI Seduan group so being, the nice host that I am (har har) I approached them and introduced myself to them.
It turns out that they really were gatecrashers but I got them into the pool anyway to join us for the games.
It’s sixthseal.com lar, what did you expect. 😉 Please do not focus on me sucking in my stomach when there’s plenty of T&A for your viewing pleasure.
This is the other gatecrasher who took the previous photo for us.
Just to break up the excessive display of skin, here’s a shot of me and Rali. I actually met him in NZ when I was studying there. He’s a Past President of JCI.
Anyway, we got a game of water polo (of sorts) going…
…and I sprained my ankle during a particularly enthusiastic block.
Water polo video
Next round was with the gatecrashers, who really could swim.
I hard such a hard time keeping the pace with the girls that I nearly drowned.
Sheesh…
Eddy asked them how they came to be such good swimmers and it turns out that they grew up near a river and swam all the time.
Dusk came soon and the pool was temporarily cleared while dinner was being served.
The platters were carted in from the restaurant below and put into the buffet warmers.
Dinner was prepared buffet style and contained:
Shark Fin Soup
Salad bar
Steamed rice
Fried rice vermicelli
Curry chicken
Beef rendang
Sweet and sour fish pieces
Mixed vegetables
Dessert of sliced fruits and cakes
I filled up my plate with an impressive amount of food…
…and a visibly less impressive amount of dessert. My stomach literally increased in size after that huge meal.
Night fell and rendered the pool into a nice shade of green. The dry games session started soon after that. Our contingent was represented with Joyce teaming up with Colin and Mary teaming up with me.
The game is about tying a balloon to the male partner’s ankle while the female tries to burst all the other competitor’s balloons.
The pairs must hold hands and the male must not lift up his feet (but shuffling and defensive gestures are allowed) at any time.
Mary and I did pretty well, with her bursting quite a few balloons and me defending myself from all the other females. I made a pact with our side (the 10 teams were in a circle) to go after the opposite team first but promptly broke that pact by getting Mary to attack our immediate neighbor. Alls fair in love and war. 😉 We lost though, due to a certain someone surprising me from behind. :p
I teamed up with Shirley for the next game which involved a complicated dance around within a certain amount of tiles routine.
You’re allowed to dance within the confines of the stated tiles but you must keep within the tiles or you’re automatically disqualified.
The amount of tiles you’re permitted to step on keeps getting smaller and smaller…
…until you end up sharing two tiles so you either have to lift your partner up or get her to stand on your feet.
Mary and Shirley singing karaoke
It was fun, despite the rain that came pouring in towards the end of the pool party. Cheers to JCI Seduan for a well organized event.
I went to the Borneo Cultural Festival 2008 just now to catch the high school girl’s basketball competition. The BCF is an annual week long event held to celebrate the diversity of cultures in Sibu and I went to the opening ceremony last night (full write up tomorrow, got a pool party to go to in an hour).
You may recognize the female in the gray sweatshirt from the previous XX Chromosome entry. I didn’t want to take photos with minors for that particular category lest I get hauled off for 10 years of jail time and 10 strokes of the rotan (caning). 😉
She looks much better in person actually, and she’s a teacher (albeit a very young one).
The girl’s basketball competition was surprisingly entertaining (and not for the reasons you’re thinking). I meant that in the most platonic manner.
There was a fair bit of competition going on, being a contact sport and all that. It turned me on…to sports. You didn’t let me finish speaking. I meant I’m into basketball now after watching all that. 😉
It’s my ball. No, it’s my ball. The other girls weren’t looking at me by the way. The referee was standing beside me and they were waiting for her to make a decision.
…and as we raise our hands in silent prayer,
We beseech thee to be our guiding light in times of duress.
I took too many photos to upload, so here’s a video of the girl’s basketball competition.
This is my favorite player (in a totally non-sexually connotative way). I just like her repertoire of expressions. 🙂
