sibu

Korean BBQ House

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I went to the Korean BBQ House today with a couple of my buddies. We
had wanted to go to Shabu Shabu at first but it was totally full. Our
next choice was the Paramount buffet, but we saw that it only happens
in the weekends. Since the Korean BBQ House is right beside Paramount,
we went for that instead. There were four of us – Daniel, Ting Chuan,
Johnny and myself so we had the meat platter thingy. None of us have
been here before, it had only opened recently. This is the same place
that Vivien [blogspot.com] went to on Wednesday.

koreabbq.jpg
BBQ

Anyway, the meat platter was really nice, it had beef, lamb (mmm)
and chicken and it tasted really good. The meat was put in the middle
of the bbq platter and there was some chicken soup poured over it.
There was a small moat thing surrounding the platter to catch the soup.
The meat tasted really good, it was probably marinated well and the
resulting soup + meat drippings on the side of the platter was divine.
I imagine it had a lot of calories though.

bbqice.jpg
Sinful

I also had this ABC special, they called it a BBQ special bowl or
something, I couldn’t remember. The bowl was huge and it had a scoop of
ice cream in it too. However, the best thing about this place is the
service. The service was excellent. There was a waitress
to pour the drinks, cook the meat and serve it, all with a smile. I was
pleasantly surprised at this level of service and I would have no
problems recommending this place to anyone.

bbqwaitr.jpg
Our waitress

Hmm…I just realised that we did have a group photo taken, but one
of the guys was partially cut off from the frame, so I’m not going to
post it.

Taman Selera Muhibah

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I had supper with Daniel and Yi Ching just now at Taman Selera Muhibah (aka Ching San) in
Pedada.

Yi Ching is going back tomorrow, the holidays have finally ended for all of us. Daniel is
leaving for Singapore on Sunday and I’m heading back to Melbourne next Monday. Anyway, we headed to
Wong Nai Siong Memorial Park after that. Interesting place, the courtyard and steps contains tufts
of real grass built into the stone.

Well, I have to choose my subjects for the next semester today. I’m still thinking about whether
I should repeat one of the programming subjects that I failed. Those are electives, so I don’t
really need to, but it will be good to have a programming specialization. I hear Allocate +, the
Monash University tutorial allocation system, goes online tomorrow morning as well. I better wake
up early before all the good time slots are taken.

3 AM supper run

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I was feeling particularly hungry just now, so I decided to head out to see if there are any
more food stalls open. It was already 2:45 am by that time so I wasn’t expecting the Pedada food
stalls to be still open. Pedada is the nearest place that I can get food, and sure enough, all the
shops were already closed when I got there.

I decided to head out to town since there are several kopitiams that are 24 hour operations in
town. I found one near the Pintu Gerbang roundabout.

It’s called Orient Canteen and in all these years, I’ve never eaten there before. I ordered some
fried noodles to go. Interestingly, there was a boy there washing the plates and glasses. He
couldn’t be more than 8 years old and he’s still wearing his school uniform. I wonder why he’s
still up at 3 am in the morning on a school day. At that time, there were only three other
customers, all sitting alone. One of them sat there eating his fried noodles without once ever
looking up. The other person is clearly demented, for he held an animated conversation (complete
with waving chopsticks) with thin air. In fact, he barely touched his food, and seemed to be more
content talking to nobody in particular. The third guy, which looks like an old gangster, was just
sitting there with a beverage, looking at the road. The 3 o’ clock crowd is not what one would call
pleasant dinner companions. Heh.

Day trip

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I’m heading down to

Sarikei [sarawaktourism.com] tomorrow with Daniel, Yi Ching and
Justina for Part III of my Rural AdventuresTM. Heh. We’ll be
taking either the express boat or bus there, depending on which one leaves
first. I was also surprised to receive a call from Diana today, who is in
Sibu for only two days. She’ll be leaving tomorrow evening, so I’m going
to grab some breakfast with her tomorrow morning and catch up on things.

Sibu Superbowl Part II

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I was planning to update sooner, but I was caught up in a game of scramble
(a word game) in #kuching. Pretty fun and addictive stuff. Anyway, I went
out with Yi Ching, Daniel and Johnny today for some bowling action. Me and
Daniel had a game of pool while waiting for Yi Ching to arrive and I can
safely say that my pool skillz have not atrophied. It feels good to be
able sink shots using a dodgy cue. =D

My bowling skillz have improved somewhat too. I managed to get a strike in
this game.

Overall, I did better than last time. I used a heavy bowling ball and
rolled it down the lane with brute force, which seems to work much better
than that spinning nonsense I was trying last time. Heh. Managed to down
plenty of pins for a change. I think the velocity of the ball when it hits
the pins is very important, so I used a heavy ball and just hurled it down
the lane for maximum pin trippage.

After a couple of games, we headed down to the UCA (United Chinese
Association) food court in Bukit Lima. Had a bowl of those “longevity
noodles” that people eat during Chinese New Year and birthdays. It’s that
thin, clumpy rice vermicelli that is eaten with chicken soup. I don’t know
what possessed me to order that, since I don’t like that stuff at all.

Sibu Band Competition

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There was a band competition going on at Town Square today, so I headed
down at 6:15 pm, just before it was due to start. There were six bands
competing – The Boys Brigade, Girls Brigade, 3rd Division Girls and Boys
Brigade, Tiong Hin Band, Tung Hua Band, and Sacred Heart Bagpipe Band.
Tiong Hin’s performance was there best, and the loudest too, because they
had heaps of bass drums instead of the one or two that the other bands
have. Not surprisingly, Tiong Hin won the best drum solo and the first
place. Sacred Heart Bagpipe Band took the second place, to the
consternation of the crowd, because their performance wasn’t as good as
the other bands. Boys Brigade took the 3rd place. Now that I think of it,
I’m not so sure about the placings, so if it’s wrong, please
mail me to
enlighten me. It seems that the Tiong Hin band always gets first place in
Sibu competitions, but they are the best so there is nothing wrong with
that. My aggressive photography techniques managed to get me into the heat
of the action. I was walking very close to their lineup during their
encore and for some reason, I got stuck inside their formation. Heh.
Interesting that. Here are some pictures from the competition.

All pictures are clickable to bring up a larger picture.


Girls Brigade

(Click image for a larger picture)


Boys Brigade

(Click image for a larger picture)


Boys and Girls Brigade 3rd Division

(Click image for a larger picture)


Sacred Heart Bagpipe Band

(Click image for a larger picture)


Tiong Hin Band

(Click image for a larger picture)


Tung Hua Band

(Click image for a larger picture)


Tiong Hin Band got first place

(Click image for a larger picture)


The encore of Tiong Hin Band

(Click image for a larger picture)

Kim Tak

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Kim Tak seems to expand every time I come back. It’s a grocery store near
my place, and it has the reputation of having the cheapest prices in Sibu.
Thus, there will be heaps of people there every night, and navigating the
roads there requires a great deal of skill because of the amount of cars
parked haphazardly. Anyway, they seem to have a cold storage division now
and even carries fresh vegetables. Interesting. Well, I took a photo of a
coffee booth inside serving free samples.

It’s the Kopiko branded coffee. Kopiko used to be a brand of coffee candy
made with real coffee but now they have diversified into instant coffee
powder. The coffee powder is nothing to write home about but it tastes
more robust than Nescafe. There was a stall giving samples of Campbell
soup outside too. When I asked to take a photo of the booth, the attendant
asked me if I wanted a more beautiful girl to man the booth for my photo.
Funny girl. Anyway, she offered to take a photo of me manning the booth
instead, which I accepted. Heh.

My part time job – serving free samples of soup to hungry customers.

Anyway, I went out today to frame my girlfriend’s graduation photo. She
hasn’t actually graduated yet, but the college gives out a certificate
every year anyway. I went to the hardware shop opposite the city Standard
Chartered Bank. I didn’t notice the name of the shop, but they have some
nice frames there. I chose a finished wood frame, the color of which
matches the background of the picture. It only costs RM 10, which puzzled
me, considering the quality of the wood. Well, my pants tore today, which
I take as a sign that I need to get more exercise. I’m going to run at the
stadium first thing after waking up tomorrow. I hear that burns stored
fat, and is more efficient than running in the evening, which just uses
the energy consumed throughout the day.

Bandung

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I went out with my ex classmates (plus one FOAF [dictionary.com]) tonight. Picked up
Johnny, Justina and Daniel and headed to Wisma Sanyan to meet with Yi Ching and Jonas (I
think…didn’t hear your name clearly). Yi Ching wanted to get a new cellphone and Daniel wanted
to get some CDRs. I went to the camera shop to ask about the availability of a 36.5 mm UV filter
for my digicam. If you’re a photography nut, you’ll know that is a not a standard lens thread
size. As far as I know, only Crystal Optics produce 36.5 mm filters and that shop didn’t carry
it. I might have to use a step up adapter to 37 mm or a step down one to 28 mm. We’ll see.
Anyway, we headed down to Bandung after that because Johnny hasn’t had dinner yet and was
hungry. Too bad he had to share the kampua goreng with 3 other people. Heh. Anyway, Bandung has
become a shell of it’s former self. It’s pretty empty now, it used to be the only late night
outdoor food court, but now there is the more popular Taman Selera and also the Pedada one. I
asked someone to take a photo of us and she nearly dropped my digicam (!) and was pointing the
lens at herself at one point. Here’s how that one turned out.

Busting out my chopstickz skillz and holding a whole lime.

From left: Huai Bin, Daniel, Johnny, Justina,Yi Ching, Jonas (?)

(Click for a larger image)

After supper, we went to Pintu Gerbang (Pintu = door and Gerbang = arch) to take some pictures.
There are always people racing those mini remote controlled cars there, but there was only a couple
doing it today. At weekend nights, there could be as many as 40 people there. I noticed that there
are quite a few new structures in Sibu nowadays. This one is in front of the old Sugarbun and
opposite the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic church.

Sitting: Jonas (?), Johnny, Daniel, Huai Bin (from left)

Standing: Yi Ching, Justina (from left)

(Click for a larger image)

It’s good to meet up with Yi Ching and Justina, which I haven’t seen in a long time. We were
from the same class in high school. We actually considered going to Methodist to take some photos
there but finally decided it would be too troublesome to have to wake up Mr. Yeo to open the gates.
Heh.

From left: Justina, Yi Ching.

(Click for a larger image)

Mail me if anyone wants higher resolution, un-watermarked
pictures.

Bukit Aup

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Linda Blair makes a cameo

OH MY GOD!!! What is that face?!?!?! I swear it wasn’t there when I took the photo! BUKIT AUP
IS HAUNTED!!! Damn ghosts, now they’re coming out in the daylight too.

(Click for a bigger picture)

I headed out to Bukit Aup at around 4 pm today for no particular reason. It’s a park about 8 km
from where I live. People go there to run in the afternoon and couples go there to ensure the
continued existence of the human race at night. There are also some persistent rumors about ghosts
infesting the park, and I remember this crazy old guy passing around leaflets with a photograph of
a ghost supposedly taken in Bukit Aup when I was young. Of course, this raises the question of why
a ghost can be caught on film when it’s supposed to be optically invisible, but I digress. Looking
at the place though my lens, I found out that it’s actually a pretty nice place. I’m very out of
shape though, I found myself HUFFING and PUFFING by the time I got to the observation tower. I
could count 3 other people with cameras there too, I wonder why.

The signboard telling drivers that this is Bukit Aup, in case they happen to forget.

The opening hours, but you can get in anyway after 10 pm.

The map of the park, complete with names like Fairy Pond and Garden of Meditation.

1. Rowing Platform. Quack!

2. Observation Tower.

3. Skysteps. They really are quite steep.

4. Pavilion.

5. Garden of Meditation.

6. Fairy Pond.

7. Picnic Area.

8. Children Play Area.

9. Mid Level Platform.

10. Lagoon.

11. Boating Lake.

12. Amphitheatre.

13. Administration cum Food & Drink. Bad choice of words. Hearing cum in the same
sentence as food and drink makes me think of unconventional sexual acts.

14. Jalan Aup and 15. Car Parks. I didn’t think anyone would be interested in the T for toilets.
If you’re wondering where this numbering comes from, it’s from the board (Pic #3).

The view of Sibu town from the observation tower.

The spirit offerings (that’s what I heard) at the observation deck. Plastic bags full of Weird
Shit TM that’s either to ward off bad luck or to induce good luck.

The view of the cemetery from the observation deck. Those are not residential areas. All of them
are cemeteries.

I carved my URL into the wood at the observation tower. If you live in Sibu, go to the tallest
deck and look at the wooden railing to your left and it should be there. Heh. It took me a while to
do that with my car keys. Next time I’m bringing something sharp.

Oh, and if you’re wondering, the ghost picture is done in Photoshop. I don’t know how to use
those newfangled filters, so I just traced Linda Blair’s face from a screen capture of
The Exorcist [imdb.com] movie and cut and pasted it
into the photo I took in Bukit Aup today. Pretty low tech, but hey, it works.

Fucking hell

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The naughty parking ticket

It didn’t even register to me that I was parking illegally coz I’ve been parking at that spot
for so many times and heaps of people park there too. It’s that line beside the road divider in
Taman Selera. Hmph…while I was eating, one of the stall waitress asked me where I parked and I
said at the road divider and she told me that the traffic police are writing summons. I rushed
there but they were already in the middle of the line and I was the first car in the line.
Sheesh…I took a photo of them anyway, this photo is worth RM30 and 10 demerit points, so please
save it to your hard disk or set it as your wallpaper. =D

(Click for a larger picture)

The smoke is from the satay BBQ beside me. I have taken the liberty of applying a mosaic
filter to the license plates.

I hate getting parking tickets, it always happens to me for some reason. And it’s not like I’m
out to spite The Man and park anywhere just for the hell of it. It must be coz it’s the end of the
month. Gotta meet quotas, you know, and where else in Sibu can you get 20 at once. Hmph. Anyway, I
went to the pasar malam today with my mates Daniel and Johnny. Guys always seems to go out in
three’s coz two will suggest questionable sexual orientation and one seems kinda sad. hehe.

A noisy photo of us. I’m the guy with the hand down the pants. I can’t remember why I did
that. 🙂

Headed out to Kin Orient Plaza to get another Photoshop CD coz the last one was an upgrade
version. After that, we headed down to the pasar malam to take a couple of pics. I haven’t been
there in…ten years I think. I hear it’s getting torn down in July to make way for a tourist
attraction of some sort. After that, we went to Premier for more photo taking fun and finally went
to Taman Selera (grr…) to get something to eat. Had some chicken chop. I was taking a photo of my
friends when the group of waitresses behind them started smiling at the camera. One of the them
asked me to take a photo of them, and I was more than happy to oblige. Heh.

(Click for a larger picture)

The waitresses (and a waiter). There seems to be some debate to which is prettier, the white
shirt with a blue spiral design or the black shirt with Number 1 on it. Make yourself heard.
White shirt or Black shirt?

Anyway, I found a dead lizard outside my door today. I hear it’s because my cat is offering her
friendship to me in her own way. Sharing her food with me, so to speak, coz she doesn’t want me to
go hungry. How sweet.

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