The 7 year (old) itch

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old photo

I was browsing through my old photo albums just now in search of photos of my sister when she was younger for her wedding video when I came across this photo. This is (from left) my sister, me, Sing Ling and Wei Ling when I was 7 years old. I still remember the event – it was just after a 2.4 km jogathon that was held at Methodist High School when I was in Primary 1. My dad was the principal at that school then and we had this family sports day event where we ended up on this huge tandem walker thing with my mom taking a candid photo.

first love

Anyway, I had this HUGE crush on Sing Ling, who’s my classmate in Primary 1 at that time. It was my first love (at 7 years of age). I wrote her my very first love letter on a torn out piece of exercise book, and it went something like:

I love you Sing Ling
Please love me
I’ll give you a eraser or a ruler if you love me

I had a really crappy red broken ruler at that time and I have to admit that my budding Casanova skillz was very much at a n00bie stage at that point. 😉

It was funny recalling that incident though, and it made me laugh. Nostalgia, eh?

The sixthseal.com Guide to Human Advertising

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cutting intro

The words “self harm” and “self injury” has been bandied about a lot by psychologists and teenage cutters obsessed with their own angst. It has also been mistakenly labeled as “suicidal behavior” which is grossly inappropriate since most cases are not intended to hasten the kicking of the bucket.

I propose that this behavior be exploited, I mean, explored as a new avenue for advertising instead. We’ve all heard of tattoos as a form of advertising with human advertising billboards but there are problems associated with that (mainly the permanent nature of the process).

Cutting may be a more appropriate “human advertising” medium for events. This is the sixthseal.com Guide to Human Advertising.

razor blades

Step 1: Obtain a box of old skool razor blades. It doesn’t really matter what brand you use as long as it’s properly wrapped, clean and sharp.

steady hands

Step 2: You will require a pair of steady hands. This is necessary to avoid transcription errors due to shaky hands. 😉

cutting fresh

Step 3: Use the razor blade to carve the name of the event you want to be promoting. It should optimally be short – use initials when possible e.g. “RWMF” instead of “Rainforest World Music Festival” since skin real estate is at a premium.

cutting healing

Step 4: Please allow sufficient time for the blood to coagulate – it is the body’s natural healing system at work here and it prevents bacteria and other Nasty Stuff (TM) from entering an open wound.

Example:

I have included a video tutorial on skin advertising – this is for the “Sarawak Cultural Festival”, abbreviated to SCF due to skin real estate issues.

Caution:

The right amount of pressure should be applied consistently. It is obviously unwise to apply too much pressure (razor blades are sharper than you think) but enough downwards pressure should be present to achieve the desired results. Please direct your attention to Exhibit A (Cleaned and Healing Scar) below.

cutting guide

The S character has too much pressure applied – this would result in a raised scar. The C character would probably result in a scar that is not visible unless at certain angles, while the F carving would be the optimal result for a scar that is not visible at all, unless under direct sunlight in certain angles.

cutting healed

What do you think? The advertising industry is constantly on the lookout for new opportunities and mediums. Could this be the next new wave of advertising? Or will it be relegated to the fringes of society?

Full House Cafe

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full house cafe

I went to Full House Cafe for lunch with one of my colleagues and her younger sister and brother in tow. I have seen this cafe before but it always looks to be anything but what the cafe’s name suggests. It has always come across as cold and empty.

full house interior

However, little did I know, the interior is actually rather nice, with silk privacy screens between the booths and a decor that exudes warmth. It’s private and conducive to conversation and my coworker told me the spaghetti here is rather good.

full house bar

The best thing about Full House Cafe is the dirt cheap cocktail prices. They serve alcohol (beer and cocktails) with the latter starting from RM 7.90 (!). At least that’s what I thought at first. I asked them for a stronger version of the cocktails and was told it would cost “RM 1 or RM 2 more” which I happily agreed to.

full house margarita

I had the Margarita (RM 7.90) which came in a tiny cup with a slice of lemon. I wouldn’t call it strong by my standards, and the cafe charged just RM 1 more for the souped up version of the drink. However, the meager liquid volume makes you think you’re getting more value for your money than you actually are. 😉

full house long island

I had another Long Island Iced Tea (RM 13.90) which came in a much more acceptable receptacle that holds a more reasonable amount of liquid. It still wasn’t strong enough for my tastes but Full House Cafe is not known for it’s cocktails so I shall not judge it based on that alone.

full house red elf

The non-ethanol based drinks are very reasonably priced – Diana (my coworker’s younger sister) had the Red Elf (RM 3.50) which is a mixture of Ribena and Sprite while her younger brother had a Coke (RM 3.50).

lazy people set

The younger brother had the interestingly named Lazy People’s Set (RM 4.50). I can’t read much of the menu since most of it is in Chinese but it consists of two slices of toasted (fried?) bread, a sausage, coleslaw, sweet corn, baked beans and a fried egg.

chicken chop thai style

Amy had the Chicken Chop with Thai Sauce (RM 8.90). It came with the standard trimmings of coleslaw, baked beans and sweet corn. She claimed that it tasted a little on the bland side though. The chicken chop is fried, not grilled which could be where the problem lies.

japanese style pork chop

Diana had the Japanese Style Pork Chop (RM 7.90), The pork chop is served teriyaki style (dipped in batter before being deep fried) with mayonnaise and tomato sauce on top. The pork is tough though, probably due to overenthusiastic deep frying. 😉

full house spaghetti prawn

I went for the pasta dish that Amy recommended – this is the Prawn Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce (RM 8.90). It came with two fully deshelled and large prawns which is rather generous for the price. It tasted good but I had eaten a late breakfast before this so I didn’t manage to finish the dish.

full house end

Full House Cafe has great service and reasonably priced food in a private air conditioned alcove. It’s like a little gem waiting to be discovered. The cocktails are cheap (albeit underpowered and volumetrically challenged) and the ambiance is relaxing, with soothing piped music and a laid back atmosphere that allows you to stay as long as you like. It’s good for hanging out with friends or your partner for a long, lazy lunch.

diana lau

This is Diana Lau (Amy, your finger is on the lens), who is currently doing her Form Five in my alma mater (and in the same class I used to be in to boot!). I have noticed that I have problems attracting the under 18 demographic to my blog, probably due to its content, so I have taken the liberty of passing Diana a stack of my blogger name cards to be distributed to her classmates when school starts again. 😉

Word of the Day:
Volumetrically challenged
(Adjective)
A politically correct term for a small amount of liquid that is better described as a drop, droplet, or moisture. 😉

Don’t drink and drive!

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drink drive

Please don’t drink and drive. There are very serious consequences and ramifications to driving under the influence…

drink drive consequences

…you might need to take a piss by the roadside. On long road trips. Under heavy rain. With a PINK umbrella awkwardly positioned at your neck.

It’s very serious. Accidents can happen should strong winds get the better of the umbrella and whip it into someone’s windscreen temporarily blinding the driver. It’s no joke. Keep a tight leash on your umbrella. This community message service has been brought to you by sixthseal.com. 😉

My very first Nuffnang cheque!

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nuffnang envelope

This is the obligatory “first cheque” posting that seems to be all the rage amongst Nuffnang bloggers (or at least a portion of them). 😉 The concept of monetizing blogs have been around for ages but none has seen the success of Nuffnang in our part of the world.

nuffnang letter

I started out with Nuffnang a couple of months ago and found them to be a great and visionary team, and nice guys to boot. I was familiar with the concept of ads but advertorials was a new word to add to my vocabulary (hey, it didn’t exist before I went to rehab okay? :p).

nuffnang cheque

Cheers to the team at Nuffnang! 🙂

P/S – I shall post again and reply the comments tomorrow. It’s 9:44 PM and I already have a massive hangover. Jesus Christ. I’m tired and I’m cranky to boot coz of relationship issues – It’s Complicated (TM). I wonder sometimes if the problem lies with me or with my partner(s). If so many of them say similar things about me, the law of averages says it’s probably gotta be true right? Food for a headachey thought. I can feel my brain cells dying. I shouldn’t have started drinking this much this early.

Koreana review

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koreana

Koreana restaurant is quite an established institution serving authentic Korean food in Kuching. It has recently moved its premises to 101, complete with brand new décor and fittings.

koreana interior

I went there with Irene and Emeric during my last trip to Kuching. The new Koreana looks much better than the previous restaurant and features an upper level for more dining space.

koreana utensils

I like the eating implements (and also using unconventional words instead of just “utensils”) in Koreana. The chopsticks at Koreana are Korean chopsticks – it’s angular and oblique which makes it difficult to handle the first time you come across it.

koreana green tea

We all had a mug of steaming green tea (RM 2) since we had just consumed an excessive amount of Slurpees previously, which made us a little on the cold side. The weather was chilly too, for some reason – rainy season, probably.

koreana entrees

Koreana serves a select range of complimentary entrees for all diners. There’s kimchi (the staple of Korean food), clams in some sort of hot sauce, seaweed, anchovies, a salad and vegetables of some sort.

koreana slizzling

Irene had the Dolsot Bibim Bub (RM 20) which is described as “slizzling rice with assorted vegetables in stone bowl”. I’m sure they meant sizzling. 😉

koreana egg

The bibim bub (stone bowl mixed rice) comes with a raw egg which was cracked in by the waitress…

koreana mix

…and mixed thoroughly. Check out the look of concentration on her face. The raw egg is actually cooked by the excess heat from the stone bowl.

koreana kimchi

The obligatory kimchi is then added to the stone bowl mixed rice…

koreana bibimbup

…before it is served. Koreana serves a pretty mean bibim bup and a testament to the authenticity of the place is the Korean expatriates at a table beside us.

koreana kimchi rice

Emeric opted for the Kimchi Fried Rice (RM 12). It tastes a lot like the Dolsot Bibim Bub minus the theatricals. 😉

koreana cold noodles

I went for the Mulnaengmyun (RM 22) which is cold noodles in soup. It came with bamboo shoots and other vegetables and half a boiled egg. The dish was served in a metal bowl full of ice cubes. It’s not just cold, it’s freezing! I like! 🙂

koreana scissors

Koreana also provides you with scissors for the cold noodle dish to cut the noodles into more manageable lengths for slurping. I really liked the taste of this dish – the freezing cold soup tastes delicious and although the concept of having ice cold noodles may be foreign for some people, it actually tastes really good.

koreana chicken soup

We also ordered a bowl of Samgaetang (RM 35) to share. It is chicken soup cooked with ginseng Korean style and Irene insists that it is a very healthy substitute for ED meds. I’m not sure why she thinks me and Emeric has that kind of problem, but the chicken soup does taste good. 😉

koreana ginseng

The chicken soup with ginseng is served with half a whole chicken and lots of Korean ginseng. There’s also some rice at the bottom of the soup bowl and the rice expands and absorbs all the goodness of the soup and is meant to be eaten after everything else is consumed. It’s delicious!

koreana us

Koreana is a nice place to have dinner if you’re hankering for authentic Korean food. The bill came up to about RM 95 so it’s pretty reasonable for three people. Thanks to Irene for driving me around Kuching in search of the elusive Slurpee! 😉

Transit Point

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transit point night

Transit Point is a budget accommodation facility located in the heart of Kuching. It has just been recently completed and features WiFi in every room. The rates start at RM 35 nett which is slightly more expensive than the RM 30 nett charged by it’s main competitor – Singgahsana Lodge. However, the two places are different in many ways.

transit point reception

Transit Point provides a more private environment with a room consisting of a double bed and air conditioning (and television and WiFi to boot) while Singgahsana provides dormitory style accommodations sleeping 10 in a room (without WiFi). Transit Point provides towels for free too, which is chargeable (RM 2) in Singgahsana Lodge.

transit point shower

Transit Point also features shared toilets and shower units but the place is very clean and there’s a soap/shampoo dispenser in the cubicles. Smoking is not allowed in both places (except outdoors).

transit point room

I would recommend Transit Point if  you want the privacy of your own room and a larger bed with an air conditioned room. Singgahsana Lodge would be more suitable for people who wants interaction (and doesn’t mind leaving their notebook filled with incriminating photos and videos in a room with 9 other strangers). 😉

transit point irene

Transit Point just costs RM 35 nett per night. I stayed there during my recent trip to Kuching (the 12 hour grueling trip where I nearly missed my express boat back) and was happy with the place. I’ll definitely do a return visit when I’m on a shoestring budget.

The Mysterious Slurpee

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mystery

7Eleven has come out with two new Mystery flavors for their Slurpee machine. Intrigued by this enigmatic campaign, the detective in me (who has read one too many mystery novels in my youth) decided that a quick trip down to 7Eleven was warranted to solve this mystery.

mystery poster

The trip involved planes, trains and automobiles (technically, since I was in KL at that time) and I arrived at 7Eleven to find out more about the two new Mystery flavors. ??? were abounding and they needed answering.

sleuth

I decided to look into Mystery Flavor 2 while my dear Watson, I mean, Irene went for Mystery Flavor 1.

mystery slurpee

Elementary, my dear Irene!

mystery 1

Mystery Flavor 1 tastes like a grape based Slurpee, which Irene preferred. It has an almost blackcurrant aftertaste and although I can’t identify the exact flavor of this mystery Slurpee, my taste buds tells me it has a hint of citrus as well.

mystery 2

Mystery Flavor 2 tastes like a mango based Slurpee. I liked this one better. It reminds me of the Slurpee I had in the very same 7Eleven outlet that saved me from a moribund state after a particularly dehydrating episode of partying. 😉

poison

One man’s meat is another man’s (or woman’s) poison.

vote

Vote for the flavor you like best. I’m going for Mystery Flavor 2.

mysteries

The two new Mystery flavors is a very interesting marketing campaign by 7Eleven. I don’t even know what the flavors really are! However, the thirst quenching qualities of the 7Eleven Slurpee is still present in abundance. You should check it out if you haven’t had a Slurpee before and if you’re a regular imbiber, the new flavors are definitely worth looking into.

ending

The 7Eleven Mystery Flavor 1 and 2 Slurpee is out now in all outlets and there will be a contest running during the promotional period up till the 5th of October, 2008. Slurpee users are encouraged participate and vote for their favorite mystery flavor amongst the two varieties.

voting alt

The contest forms are available at all participating 7Eleven outlets and the winners will be selected from the winning pool with the highest purchase and correct answers (there are two very easy questions). You have to mail in the contest form with the Slurpee receipt.

Find out more about the contest here.

Guess what the prizes are? 1,000 mystery prizes.

Yup, you read that right. Even the prizes are a Mystery. 😉

Unexpected Windfall: Google AdSense cheque

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google adsense

I woke up this morning, grabbed my morning coffee and was sitting down to let the caffeine wake up my sleeping brain neurons when my dad told me he had accidentally opened an envelope meant for me and passed me the mail. I thought it was just another bank statement when I noticed the distinctive green cheque like printing on the back.

google adsense 1

My sleepy brain neurons started to reactivate gradually without the aid of the hot steaming cup of java. I looked at the figure and was immediately jolted awake. Jesus Christ, Buddha and (cannot say the other deity in Malaysia)!

google adsense 2

Yahweh eh, er…I mean wahlau eh, I didn’t know I had Google AdSense running!

Well, I did for a while back in the good old days of sixthseal.com before a group of “concerned bloggers” launched a concerted campaign of hell raising in Mountain View, CA for allegedly “endorsing” a drug site. I think they were just jealous coz my traffic back then was very high and I got a cheque just after 14 days of putting AdSense on. 😉

Anyway, I took the ads down from sixthseal.com and…put it elsewhere. Little did that group of bloggers know that the sixthseal.com empire was like The Roman Empire back then. All roads leads to sixthseal.com and all that. 😉 Okay, let limpeh tell you a story from the good old days of blogging:

Well, back in early 2003, when most of you weren’t born yet, if you think of a Malaysian blog, you think sixthseal.com. It’s the brand recognition factor (like Nescafe, Panadol etc) – it was really popular back then and sixthseal.com was on a very aggressive conquest, er…I mean expansion program. I had a forum, a website for helping people write assignments, a dedicated drug blog (the now defunct castitas.com) and many other development projects.

I didn’t even know how many sites I had! Honestly, I had so many domains that I couldn’t keep track of the various development projects I was involved in. I helped a couple of bloggers start up their careers and was one of the PPS core founding members. I had other sites which were “cleaner” than sixthseal.com and thus more acceptable for AdSense. sixthseal.com was always meant to be my outlet of expression.

Thus, I put the AdSense code into my other websites and it did what it does best (making money). However, just like the Roman Empire, the rise and fall of civilizations is a constant in every single endeavor. My readership declined in direct correlation with my escalating drug use and my posts were getting more and more erratic (not in frequency, I always post at least once a day, but in content – it was more and more about drugs).

Thus, the Persians invaded, the Mongols took over, etc etc and fast forward to a year later, I was sent to drug rehab and sixthseal.com was completely taken down (since I can’t renew my hosting from rehab, with them not having Internet access and all). However, the other sites remained online and was actually making money for me while I was in rehab.

My mom told me that there were several other cheques like this that came in during my time in rehab but they threw it away coz it was only about USD 100 or USD 200. WTF! Their justification is that our bank charges for foreign cheques makes it quite useless anyway, but oi, RM 300 or 600 is still quite a lot of money okay?

This cheque had much more and I am still trying to identify which one of my sites is generating this kind of income. Back to the Roman Empire analogy, I will only offer this quote from The Sopranos:

Jewish guy: You ever heard of the Masada? For two years, 900 Jews held their own against 15,000 Roman soldiers. They chose death before enslavement. The Romans? Where are they now? (spits)
Tony Soprano: You’re looking at them, asshole.

google trainers 

I was so excited by this unexpected windfall that I accidentally wore my trainers to work instead of my dress shoes. 😉

RedCarrot by SugarBun

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red carrot

RedCarrot is designed as a “higher end” dining experience by SugarBun (the fast food franchise). Naturally, the concept of fine dining for a fast food establishment is rather different from boutique restaurants and such, and I wouldn’t use that adjective to describe RedCarrot at all (despite owning stock in SugarBun). 😉

red carrot interior

The ambiance is really quite warm and inviting and the place is air-conditioned. It tends to attract a different set of clientèle despite being located just above the SugarBun in Pedada. There’s no screaming hyperactive children running about with minimal parental control on the upper tier. 😉

red carrot bar

The place is quite conducive to conversation but the food isn’t anything to write home about, so I hardly ever go there despite it being just a two minute drive from my place. Autumn lives near me too, and the only reason we went there tonight was coz we’ve both already eaten dinner and wanted to get out of the oppressive heat without ADHD inflicted rug rats stressing us out.

red carrot drinks

We get more than our RSA (Recommended Stress Allowance) from our office already, so that’s enough stress vitamins and nutrients for healthy daily intake without adding to it at night. 🙂 RedCarrot serves a lot of carrot based drinks – this is Autumn peering at the Red Carrot + Beetroot (RM 5.80) and Red Carrot + Lemon (RM 5.80) that we ordered, trying to figure out which is which.

redcarrot fish

We shared one of their flagship dishes – the Fish Fillet “RedCarrot” Style (RM 13.90). “RedCarrot style” apparently means dousing the fish fillet with Thai chilli sauce and having a lot of red carrots (what else) on the side. It’s served with French Fries which tastes suspiciously like SugarBun French Fries (and in all probability is SugarBun French Fries since it’s under the same banner). It’s pretty good though.

redcarrot fruits

This is the Fruit Platter (RM 5) which comes with sliced green apples, starfruit, and honeydew. Autumn eats a lot of fruit, but I don’t. I have been getting excessive RSA intake lately and that, combined with the less than optimal fiber intake in the guidelines of the US RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) has resulted in a prolonged bout of constipation. You don’t even want to know about my hemorrhoids. 😉

redcarrot us

RedCarrot is a pretty nice place to chill out and relax. The crowd it draws tends to be couples so it’s a more subdued and quiet place to have supper at. The food is nothing to write home about but the ambiance more than makes up for it.

redcarrot cf

…and I noticed that Autumn has a very interesting skill (?) of being able to eat fruits with seeds and then inconspicuously spitting it out onto a fork (!) of all places.

I am suitably impressed.

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