The African man

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car keys

I feel like blogging about this coz it doesn’t happen very often (or at all) in KL. I was supposed to meet Michelle at Coffee Bean, bsc and I parked my car near the lift. Usually I instantly put my car keys in my pocket but I called her instead to see where she was since she arrived before me.

Thus, the keys were still in my hand and I put it on the table when I saw her.

We adjourned to Dome to meet someone and then sat at near the water feature in the central concourse to discuss several matters. Out of a sudden, this African man in a suit came up to me. I thought he wanted to sell me something until he asked me whether I had my car keys with me.

I checked my pockets and FML I really did leave my car keys behind!

(and didn’t even notice it)

Now, the time when I arrived to the time at the water feature was about 2 hours. The man searched for me for two hours while his daughter waited at Coffee Bean.

I’m pretty sure he’s not Malaysian but we can learn a thing or two from this man.

Thanks man, for your act of kindness. It’s very rare in this city. We sure could use more people like you. 🙂

Public transport

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public transport

Judging from the photo above, you might be inclined to think that I’m going to write a long and insightful post about public transport in Malaysia or perhaps launch into a heated and passionate diatribe about the woes of it.

I’m not.

I’m actually busy playing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. smirk

Public service announcement: Alcoholics Anonymous members should refrain from playing the game. Seriously. It has a lot of triggers in the starting campaign.

Starcraft II SUCKS BALLS

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starcraft ii sea edition

I was waiting in anticipation while the installation screen brought me through the grand memories I had playing Starcraft and Starcraft: Brood Wars. Jim Raynor! Sarah Kerrigan! Mengsk!

I quickly dropped the sad excuse of a manual in the SEA version and rubbed my hands in glee as the game finally installed and the grand sound effect loudly proclaiming that YES, THE GAME IS INDEED READY – with the Play button blinking seductively, begging to be clicked.

I moved my mouse cursor and did just that. It proceeded to start downloading a host of patches that took about 45 minutes. No worries. It’s a small price to pay to get my grimy paws into the meat of the game.

The starting cutscene which was released as a teaser last year came on and I watched it – fascinated with the detail and armed with a refreshed memory of the storyline in the previous iteration and it’s expansion pack.

I couldn’t wait to play the game and see what happens next! I was so excited I could jizz in my pants!

I eagerly entered my Battle.net login and was confronted with:

starcraft ii error message

I tried and tried and tried again and still couldn’t get it.

I had the urge to shout at someone. Loudly. With lots of profanity. I called Blizzard’s support number and told an incompetent dumb fuck my problem with the game. Do you know how hard it is to recite a CD key through the phone?

It makes me want to commit seppuku!!!

After the person on the other end got it wrong fro the 5th time I went from F for France to F for fuck. *rage

He gave me a whole lot of runarounds before admitting that a number of users have this problem and they’re working on it.

I tried changing my Battle.net password and trying again after 30 minutes.

I tried using the Guest Pass to register under a new Battle.net account.

It still didn’t work.

I was told it would take days for them to fix. DAYS!!!!!!!

I can’t play the damn game coz it’s my first time running it so I can’t even go offline mode since I haven’t even created my Battle.net character name for Starcraft II.

It. Will. Take. Days. To. Fix. It.

I can feel my fever returning already. Or maybe it’s a heart attack. Or a stroke. Perhaps even a brain herniation. Odds are, it’s all three in one. >.<

Preserved food in China

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preserved food in china

One thing I admire the most about the Chinese when I went to China is that they can preserve just about anything and package it as a snack. I love savory food and during one of my eating binges I managed to consume everything that I bought (which is saying a lot considering I brought back a box full of food and liquor).

L-R: Chicken feet with the famous Guilin chilli, hard boiled egg in dark sauce (lu tang), BBQ chicken wings.

Verdict:

The chicken feet was surprisingly good, and the Guilin chilli adds a lot of oomph to it. Delicious!

The hard boiled egg in dark sauce (you can see this is chicken rice stalls) was absolutely delicious! I couldn’t stop eating it. >.<

The BBQ chicken wings should be relegated to food hell. It sucks. The preservation method totally ruined the moisture of the chicken and I felt like I was eating jerky…in MSG laden sauce.

Fraser’s Hill travel report

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frasers clock tower

It took me this long to finally write the full Fraser’s Hill trip report (not that kind of trip) but I swear to God, I’m going to get it done today! Fraser’s Hill has a very interesting history behind it. It was named after a Scotsman who had dealings with opium but after falling off the face of the Earth it was turned into a colonial hill resort.

ye olde smokehouse frasers hill

There are basically three hill resorts within reasonable driving distance in Klang Valley. The most popular one would be Genting Highlands, where fortunes are won or lost at a roll of a dice (as the saying goes). I got rather bored of the place, I can’t remember how often I’m been to the Amusement Park alone. Also, I’m still sore about the RM 35k loss. hmph

Cameron Highlands is more family friendly with it’s strawberry plucking and tea plantations but I’ve been there about a year or so back and found it crowded and over commercialized while I’ve never been to Fraser’s Hill.

(or so I thought)

charles suite

My dad told me that we went to Fraser’s Hill on one of our family vacations when I was a kid and even stayed at the same place – Ye Olde Smokehouse!

bed

I had doubts about Ye Old Smokehouse at Fraser’s Hill due to reports about noise (true), ants (didn’t see any) and general non-maintenance (not sure about this one). I found the place nice, rustic with an old English charm. The room we got is spacious, with a living room, a large bed and even a fake electric fireplace.

fireplace

Charming!

There is not much to do in Fraser’s Hill – it’s a chill out place for sure, but make sure you:

1. Visit the Fraser’s Hill Clock Tower
2. Take a dip in the freezing Jeriau Waterfalls
3. Have Devonshire tea

tea frasers

It’s primarily a destination for people into hiking and bird-watching. We managed to see several (old) Caucasian people with binoculars and books titled “Species of birds” at the resort we stayed at.

ye old smokehouse frasers hill

I went there primarily to chill and get some R&R. We went up quite late and Ye Old Smokehouse was kind enough to let us check out very late too (5 pm). You’ll need your own car and food is quite limited around Fraser’s Hill. We ate at Puncak Restaurant where the food courts are.

restauran puncak

The food is alright but nothing to write home about. Be careful of the puzzling entrance to the food courts!

frasers breakfast

Ye Olde Smokehouse serves a complimentary breakfast which is pretty good. However the best part of the trip for me is soaking in the tub for hours and hours until our skin shrivelled while talking, drinking vodka and smoking cigarettes with my friend.

manual censorship

I don’t think Dr M would approve though. smirk

suites

The reports about Ye Olde Smokehouse not having soundproofing is true. We woke up the second day hearing soft conversations and spoons being dropped in the dining room. Imagine how many families we kept awake with our excessively loud and raucous lovemaking at 3 am in the morning! FOL. smirk

frasers panoramic

Fraser’s Hill is awesome if you want a place that isn’t crowded or over commercialized – a cool, relaxing weekend break in an old English style hilltop resort. Go there if you want to get away from the stress in the city and take in the cool weather and slow pace of life.

Jeriau Waterfalls @ Fraser’s Hill

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jeriau waterfalls

Jeriau Waterfalls is an incredible experience – imagine the cold hill resort temperature combined with the wind chill factor and a natural waterfall that isn’t heated (obviously). Intense. I couldn’t stop shivering. 🙂

jeriau waterfalls runoff

It’s on the GPS but don’t follow that – ask your resort concierge instead. I brought my Sony Cyber-shot TX-5 along coz it’s waterproof. It’s just a 15 minute drive from Ye Olde Smokehouse where we stayed and the GPS will attempt to take you down a road that you shouldn’t access. It’s a feeder road.

jeriau waterfall

Stop at the Jeriau Waterfalls gate (there are lots of cars parked so you won’t miss it) and it’s a 5 minute walk to the falls. Wikitravel says it’ a 15 minute walk but by my account it’s 5 minutes and we stopped to take interesting photos…

jeriau waterfalls house

…like this hut which has an ecosystem of itself on top of the roof. My travel companion spotted this one. Perhaps the company was good so it seemed shorter so YMMV (pun intended) but be careful coz some spots are slippery. >.<

jeriau waterfalls path

Jeriau Waterfalls is fucking cold. There is no other adjective to describe it. It’s as cold as a frigid bitch brimming with hatred, carrying enough emotional baggage that would cause even AirAsia to decline her wishes to pay 100 times the excess baggage fee.

Did I put you off? smirk

Don’t be, coz it’s worth the trip. Sure, the water isn’t clean. FML I swallowed a mouthful of water and I nearly puked. The spray from the waterfall, the wind chill and the mist at Fraser’s Hill – it’s unforgettable.

jeriau waterfalls frasers

It’s tonic for the soul!

jeriau waterfall me

Yup, I just had to do the traditional sixthseal.com pose. I can’t help myself, my psychiatrist says I need therapy. smirk

Village Park nasi lemak

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village park nasi lemak

Village Park Restaurant is reputed to have one of the best nasi lemak in Damansara Uptown. The first time I went was a couple of months ago with some coworkers after a meeting and I was amazed by the fresh-from-the-deep-fryer chicken and the piping hot rice.

village park restaurant

I was determined to go again during my second meeting there. There is a no photography sign but no one was bothered when I took by Sony Cyber-shot TX-5 out and started snapping away.

village park entrance

In fact the proprietor asked me what I’m writing for and was very eager to please when I went to pay the bill, smiling and asking if the food was good. I think the sign is a remant of the past when social media wasn’t quite there yet.

village park awards

I had the Village Park Nasi Lemak Set (RM 15) which offers you beef, sotong, shrimp and a chicken drumstick cooked rendang style along with all the works that good nasi lemak should have – anchovies, peanuts and half a boiled egg. I neglect to mention the cucumbers coz I’m really not a big fan of vegetables.

village park nasi lemak fried chicken

I also couldn’t resist ordering a fried chicken drumstick (RM 4.70) since I had that during my first trip there and it was pure gold.

It seriously doesn’t make any sense to order this amount of food. The chicken drum (rendang version) is huge and there are plenty of side condiments.

village park offerings

I really liked the prawns sambal – it contains un-deshelled prawns (which I eat wholesale anyway FML) and has a sweet finish.

The beef was a bit too tough for my tastes but some portions was very tender with lots of…er, tendons, so to speak. I love tendons. I have a weird taste for bone marrow and other stuff that has that elusive umami factor.

The sotong sambal was very good as well, spicy with the chewiness of fresh squid.

village park milo dinosaur

Wash it down with their signature Our Special Iced Milo Dinosaur (which is ice blended and comes in a more-than-generous, and dare I say it wasteful concoction full of heaped Milo powder that makes this local Frappuccino a great energy boost) for RM 5.20.

village park fried chicken

The best thing about Village Park nasi lemak is more than the sum of its parts – is it the piping hot santan infused rice? The crispy anchovies and crunchy peanuts? The oh-so-delicious-but-sinful fried chicken? It’s more than that – it’s the entire package.

Needless to say, it comes highly recommended from me. I’ve only had it twice and I’m craving for it already. A lot of places serve cold or semi-warm rice in nasi lemak (a pet peeve of mine) but this one serves it piping hot – just the way it should be. Do ask for extra sambal – it’s their forte.

village park nasi lemak set

It’s guaranteed to induce a post lunch coma. My stomach nearly exploded from the sheer amount of pure win!

Flatuation

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noxious fumes

I was in the elevator just now and my sinuses detected something a bit off in the olfactory ambience.

Is it just me or do you also “double sniff” – as in if you smell something noxious you use your God given senses to sniff again even though you know it would be awful? It’s just that urge that makes you wonder if it’s really a fart or something else and, more importantly, whether it was you who let one rip. smirk

Chai bo

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sibu chai bo

My paternal grandma used to make chai bo when I was 13 or 14 and I loved eating that. My sister, naturally siding against me, claimed my maternal grandmother’s deep fried version is better. It’s hard to describe the taste of chai bo, just like it’s hard to describe the taste of century eggs.

chai bo

It’s sweet for one, but savory at the same time. Umami would be the closest thing to describing it. It’s an excellent appetizer! My grandma makes a mean dish of this and they knew I was coming over for dinner so the staples that I love were there – braised pork, chai bo, two century eggs.

I had two helpings of rice.

chai bo grandma

You just gotta love home cooked meals. You just gotta love family.

Redline!

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ADN_animation

It has been scientifically proven that there is a Racing Gene (TM) in every man’s DNA. Obviously, I just pulled that out of my ass…I mean, exhaust, there is no such thing in our genetic makeup. Heh! However, we love cars and we love driving said cars in excessive speeds.

group

…and let’s not forget our equally amazing female counterparts like Leona Chin. I’m a huge fan of her! Check out her drifting videos:

I love watching Formula One, NASCAR, drift competitions, drag races and such. On the more fictional side of racing, I can’t remember how many times I’ve watched Initial D (the anime) and Initial D (the live action movie).

rain

The Fast and the Furious series brought even more glamour to street racing. The first one was excellent with the tuned and modified cars, the second was rather disappointing but they returned with a third iteration that blew the original first movie away – Tokyo Drift!

honda

I loved the fourth iteration too but what stayed in my mind was opening scene of the first movie – the precision driving with the highly tuned Honda Civics with uber cool green neon lighting under the chassis while hijacking the trucks.

Pure awesomeness!

drift

I’ve even been to a drifting course due to my love for motor sports. The first half was a safety course, which was really useful for me considering the numerous times I’ve crashed my car.

It just feels good to drive at high speeds, it’s…very liberating!

HMRT2

Honda Malaysia Racing Team is participating in the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race (MME) this 8th August. If you don’t know what the MME is, it’s a grueling 12 hour race in Sepang International Circuit that involves day and night driving.

HMRT3

MME is not just about speed – it’s about finely tuned cars, teamwork and perseverance! Racing has always been part of Honda, I’m sure you’re familiar with their high performance R range. The Honda Malaysia Racing Team has won the Class A Championships 4 years in a row and they will be using the same car they used in 2009 – the Honda Civic Type R!

HMRT4

They’re also holding a Honda Racing Ultimate Challenge contest in conjunction with the MME race. Are you a huge racing fan? Well, here’s your chance to prove it! Just register at http://honda.com.my and answer 5 questions with a slogan. If you’re shortlisted, you get to form a team with a friend and participate in a Go-Kart Endurance Race.

The top 20 teams will proceed to the final challenge at the MME race itself where you compete for cool prizes like Apple MacBooks, iPhones, iPods and Alpinestars racing merchandise!

Honda – Rising to the Challenge!

cert

You know you’re the best, now try at beat the rest! 😉

Registration starts now! Click here for some racing action!

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