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

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

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

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

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

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

I came out in 2008 and never looked back.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This blog has been running for an entire decade! I totally forgot about the 19th April blog anniversary where I usually do my annual roundup until Cynthia texted me all the way from Australia.

This is supposed to be up on the 19th of April each year and has been since 2003. sixthseal.com started in 2002 and this is my favorite post to write as it shows how much it has grown since it’s inception. 🙂

I was planning to do something a bit special for the 10th blogniversary – the idea thrown out on the SixthSeal.com Facebook page was to write a completely new post featuring everyone’s favorite “guest author” – veritas. However, that idea has been scrapped – I’ve not been active in that scene for a long time except for a couple of discreet incursions and I think it’ll be counter-productive to what I’m trying to do with my life.

Further reading: A MapleStory from a Lvl 2X Swordsman

It’s filed under Satire/Parody and one of my favorite posts. It’s quite obvious what I’m talking about but I surprised myself by sustaining the metaphor for that long.

Thus, without further ado, here’s my favorite posts from the blog year (think of it as a fiscal year) in chronological order:

Kiwi fruit rice with yoghurt
25th April 2011
This is in here coz it was a major milestone for me. My then-girlfriend moved from Miri to KL to be with me and we’ve been doing a lot of cooking together. This is one of the quirky breakfasts that I make. We’ve broken up but still remain good friends. 🙂

The best of Northern Rivers in Australia
3rd June 2011
I flew over to the Northern Rivers region where I met people really big on organic food and low food miles and ate at their restaurants. The main event was Casino Beef Week – a cattle extravaganza in a small little town in Australia called Casino. I’ve never been to a cattle auction and street parade before and I loved the experience.

Skydiving and sea kayaking at Byron Bay & Beyond
28th June 2011
The next bit was skydiving and sea kayaking. I also ate a whole lot of good breakfasts which I really miss from my uni days in Melbourne.

Epic weekend: An impromptu trip to Ipoh, dodgy hotels, losing my wallet and my car bumper
12th June 2011
A little bit closer to home, I went on a road trip with a friend to Ipoh and promptly lost my wallet and the rear bumper of my car. It was totally unplanned, I went out for drinks with Bonnie and somehow we ended up in Ipoh. I’ve cut down a lot on my alcohol consumption since then and while I’m not a teetotaler, I drink quite a lot less than what I imagine a social drinker downs. 🙂

Chilling with Christy at Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi
6th July 2011
This travel streak was promptly followed by a trip to Bukit Tinggi with Christy. I actually spent my 30th birthday here and this is the second time I remember being at Colmar Tropicale, although my dad mentions that we’ve been there when I was a kid.

The real reason Judas betrayed Jesus (and how evangelism started)
19th August 2011
A post that I wrote in a couple of minutes that turned out better than I expected. It’s filed under Satire/Parody and the best post I’ve ever written in that category hands down is Newsflash: Another clinic hit by notorious doctor shopper veritas. This doesn’t even come close but it’s good enough for government work.

(although I’m quite fond of The OMG! I stepped on an electrical socket adapter! FAQ too)

Driving at the actual Sepang International Circuit!
15th September 2011
My first time driving a car at the Formula One circuit in Sepang. I met a friend which I later met up with in Penang too! The experience of driving at high speeds on an actual competition circuit is exhilarating!

Tim Ho Wan Dim Sum Specialists in Hong Kong
10th October 2011
I went to Hong Kong and Macau with my ex-girlfriend (the very same one mentioned in the first recap post). We had a lot of fun exploring with no itenerary and ate at the famous (and cheap) dim sum place opened by a Michelin 3-star chef. Locals wait in line for an hour on average to eat their divine baked BBQ pork buns.

Making big decisions in life – from someone who learned the hard way
10th October 2011
My life story for those of you who doesn’t know about my dark past. It’s a true story about addiction and redemption. I wrote it for Prudential and the entire article can be read here.

Chef Martin Yan Chinese food wine pairing banquet @ Mandarin Oriental
4th December 2011
This is the person who got me interested in cooking. If you’re an 80’s baby, you’ll remember the show Yan Can Cook. I finally met him in real life and he’s exactly like his on-air personality. 🙂

I got to taste his cooking too!

Meeting childhood idols are always good – kinda like talking to Ron Jeremy in SEXPO, Melbourne during my first year blogging. That post is NSFW due to the photos.

Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards – NAPBAS 2011 recap
18th December 2011
I was nominated for Best Lifestyle Blog. I didn’t win but it’s nice to be recognized for my efforts. 🙂

I also had an interview with Linora of Red FM prior to that.

It was a lot of fun to be on the radio and seeing how stuff works on air.

Merry Christmas from Bali!
24th December 2011
I went to Bali for Christmas and had a blast!

Babi Guling in Bali
1st January 2012
Forget the commercialized chains – for the best babi guling in Bali, head over to Denpasar and eat where the locals eat! 🙂

Happy Chinese New Year 2012 everyone!
22nd January 2012
It’s my favorite time of the year – firecrackers, drinking and family reunions!

The 2012 Chinese New Year firecrackers and fireworks roundup!
8th February 2012
This is MY SECOND FAVORITE POST to write during the entire year. What I do is get a bunch of fireworks and firecrackers during Chinese New Year – take photos and video it and post it up. I write about the pyrotechnics and if there’s only one post you’re going to read in this entire roundup – read this one! 😀

The story of the little gangster that could
10th February 2012
This is a photo story I wrote for my ex-girlfriend’s brother. I was the subject of their high pass photography experiments too and the the photos turned out great. I wrote two versions too – one exclusively for the newly launched SixthSeal.com Facebook page.

My Valentine’s Day
15th February 2012
I got together with a girl I met while having breakfast at TDH. You all know the story.

My girlfriend just moved in with me!
29th February 2012
She moved in with me not 2 weeks after. I was totally in love and thought this was the one, that I’ve finally met someone that I can settle down with.

I even hired professional cleaners to sanitize my studio apartment, something I’ve never done for anyone.

My girlfriend just broke up with me…
11th March 2012
It didn’t work out. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Okay, I’m tired of saying that so I’ll just say that it wasn’t my fault. It was doomed from the start and I was the last one to know about it. It really hurt and it took me a long time to recover from such a short relationship but I’ll like to think I’m wiser now.

You live, you learn. 🙂

I’m flying high on the trapeze!
18th March 2012
I had a lot of fun at the flying trapeze in Club Med, Phuket. In a few short days, I learned how to do a knee hang back flip and my crowning glory was being a flyer and timing it just right so I can be caught by one of the Circus GOs. It felt like I was an actual trapeze artist in the circus! 🙂

Happy Easter and the search for God
8th April 2012
I’ll end this with a slightly cryptic post about my spirituality and the changes I’ve made since then. It’s safe to say that it’s not a temporary thing, I am getting some serious things done with my life. 🙂

It just hit me that one year has just passed by since I last wrote this and I hate to use this cliched term but time really does fly!

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

On the home front, I’m still single (and available). I’m looking for the right person but I still haven’t found her so I’m just going to let fate run its course.

Here’s the list of blog anniversary posts I’ve done since sixthseal.com came online on the 19th of April 2002:

2003: sixthseal.com 1st Birthday
2004: sixthseal.com 2nd Birthday!
2005: sixthseal.com 3rd Birthday!
2006: sixthseal.com 4th Birthday!
2007: I was in rehab. There are (officially) no posts in 2007.
2008: I just got out of rehab. There is no 2007 recap to be done. 🙂
2009: Seven years of sixthseal.com
2010: I was in New Zealand at the time while my mom underwent an operation for lung cancer. I am pretty sure I still wrote the blogniversary post, but I’ve been having a bit of problems with the archives so let me double check on that.
2011: Happy 9th bloganivarsary sixthseal.com!

Happy birthday sixthseal.com! You have come a loooong way since the days of blogging in a cramped room in Melbourne with a webcam as a camera.

Here’s to 10 more years of sixthseal.com – it’s something I’ll like to show my children, a “Hey kids, this is what dad used to be like” kinda thing but I’m sure I’ll still be blogging then. 😀

Thanks for reading everyone! It just won’t be the same without you all. 🙂