tobacco – Page 4 – sixthseal.com

Cigarette brands in Malaysia

March 31, 2004 by HB

cigarette malaysia

Here are photos with accompanying commentary of the common brands of cigarettes in Malaysia:

Dunhill

dunhill

This is the most popular brand here, according to my friends who’re
in the tobacco sales industry. I don’t like the taste – it seems to
have less tar than Marlboros, which produces a less than smooth draw
when inhaled. Dunhill is supposed to have the highest nicotine content
amongst all the cigarette brands, but that is just word on the street,
not based on any quantitative analysis.

dunhill other

It is available in Menthol, Menthol Lights and Lights too. It is
said that menthol cigarettes causes infertility but IMHO, that’s just a
joke passed around.

Salem

salem

This is probably the most popular menthol cigarette here. I remember
bringing some Salem cigarettes to Christchurch, NZ for my Kiwi friends
to try and most of them choked on the first inhale. Heh. Salem + winter
= cough, cough. Matterhorn is even stronger in that aspect.

Marlboro

marlboro

My personal favorite when I used to smoke. I started smoking when I
was 15 or 16, couldn’t remember. I would only smoke Marlboro reds in
the flip-top boxes. I can’t stand the soft packs, they always get
squashed somehow. Marlboros have a smooth, consistent draw – it tastes
great, which is more than I can say for other brands. Very versatile
too, just pop a Hacks sweet before lighting up and *poof* instant
menthol Marlboros. I read somewhere that Marlboros deliver nicotine
more quickly (they called it “crack/freebase nicotine”) so smokers get
a faster reward delivery system. I liken Marlboros to a chocolate taste
when inhaled…and just like chocolates, you can’t just have one. Best
one is the first one (or two) in the morning. =D

Mild Seven

mild seven

This is another popular brand. It tastes okay, it would probably be
the brand I’ll switch to in the unlikely event that Philip Morris folds
and discontinues Marlboros. I remember my Taiwanese friends preferring
this brand. They have this habit of opening up the soft pack, taking
one cigarette out, and putting it back in upside down. That cigarette
is known as “shu yuen yen” or “wishing cigarette” and it would be the
very last one from the pack to be smoked. It is said that making a wish
while lighting up that one would fulfill that wish. Smoker’s etiquette
dictates that you should NEVER smoke the last cigarette in someone
else’s pack. This applies more strongly for those who keep a “shu yuen
yen”, you shouldn’t ever smoke it. I once accidentally took that one
from a half full pack (it’s upside down, so it should be clearly
visible) and smoked it and was reprimanded for my transgression. That
upside down cigarette is meant for the owner of the pack.

Kent

kent

My late paternal grandfather (may he rest in peace) used to smoke
this brand. He used to keep cartons of it – he smoked about two packs a
day. He died of cancer, just like my maternal grandfather (lung
cancer). I have always been told that our family has a predisposition
to cancer and that I shouldn’t smoke, since both of my grandfathers
died from smoking related complications. Cigarette smoke is a
carcinogen, if you have been living under a barrel, and didn’t already
know.

Pall Mall

pall mall

I never liked these. Yeah, I’ve tried most cigarette brands
(including unfiltered Camels and this multi-colored cigarettes called
Sorreno or something) before deciding that Marlboros are my favorite
and brand loyalty stayed since then and I won’t smoke anything else
(unless I’m out, that is). Pall Mall sounds so grim…think “pallor” and “pall bearer”. 😉

Perilly’s

perillys

To be honest, this tastes disgusting to me. It doesn’t sound all
that good either. You can’t spell “Perilly’s” without “Peril”. Heh.

Lucky Strike

lucky strike

It’s not popular here. It’s alright, the taste is pretty good once
in a while, but then again I’ve always been a Marlboro smoker after the
initial experimentation with brands, so I can’t comment. It’s a
strange, acquired taste, Lucky Strikes.

Winston

winston

I don’t know anyone who likes these.

L.A. Menthol Lights

la lights

It’s an ultra slim cigarette, called “geh boh hong ki” (prostitute’s
cigarettes) over here. The etymology of this word apparently stems from
the popularity of this brand amongst working ladies in Miri.

Gudang Garam and Djarum

gudang garam

Clove cigarettes. They leave a slippery aftertaste to the tongue, lips and mouth. I can’t get into clove cigarettes.

Rave

rave

This is very popular amongst blue collar (low income bracket)
smokers. It’s cheap. When it first came out, I was given a sample (my
friend’s family owns a chain of grocery shops) and was told that it
tastes remarkably similar to Marlboros. I don’t know how he drew that
conclusion – this cigarette tastes completely different from Marlboros.

So, what brand of cigarette do you smoke?

my marlboros

I don’t smoke, but my desk is strewn with empty Marlboro boxes. Go figure. *shrug*

Melbourne: Day 0 – Cigar rolling demonstration @ KLIA

December 20, 2003 by HB

Day 0 of the
Convocation: Melbourne, Australia (December 2003)
series.

I really have to applaud the KLIA KL CAT system – it’s a really
nifty concept that allows you to check in at KL Sentral (!) and your
luggage goes direct to your destination (Melbourne in this case) while
you take your carry on into the KLIA Express and ride to KLIA in
comfort, without the need to check in again at the airport. A baggage
check in system and boarding pass issue service in the city! I was
impressed…just made it there at slightly before 7:20 pm so I was
eligible to check in there. You need two hours before the flight time
to be eligible.

Cigar rolling demonstration.

I requested a window seat as usual (good for sleeping, and I don’t
piss that often) and took the KLIA Express to KLIA. The train looks
like the interior of a plane, probably designed that way. Well, I
arrived at KLIA and followed the rest of the herd into the aerotrains.
I wanted to make a short post at the net center there but their line
was down, and the seats were filled with irate surfers watching a blank
screen, so I walked around instead and found a cigar rolling
demonstration.

A nice big leaf of tobacco to start with…

It was organized by Davidoff and the person turned out to be “Master
Cigar Roller – Mr. Ambiorix Pichardo Reyes” from Santiago in the
Dominican Republic. He had leaves and fillers and all sorts of tobacco
around him. It was interesting to watch him roll a cigar, he makes
about one per minute and I was offered a chance to sample his freshly
rolled cigars compliments of Davidoff in the smoking room, but I had to
decline coz my flight was boarding.

Cigar making in process.

It was a bummer, I saw several people took up the offer though, it
would have been a nice opportunity to smoke a freshly hand rolled
cigar, it’s not something that happens to you everyday, at least not
here. 🙂 I think it was freshly rolled anyway, it’s not from the same
batch as the ones Mr. Ambiorix had beside him, and the ones offered to
us by the promoter looks more “finished”, but she said it was “freshly
rolled by the Master Cigar Roller, compliments of Davidoff”.

Pulling some tobacco into the roll.

Nevertheless, it would have been great to have one since the chance
doesn’t come by that often, so I wanted to just grab one, have a quick
puff and then run off to my gate, but doing that just for the sake of
doing it and leaving a perfectly good cigar with just one smoke in the
ash tray seems blasphemous, so I declined. I’ll have to say though, I
would not have declined if this happens again, with hindsight. 😉

Rolling it all up into a cigar.

How many times can you say you’ve smoked a freshly rolled cigar by a
master cigar roller? Not very much…yeah, I’m still kicking myself
over it. Anyway, after taking a couple of photos (very grudgingly
taken, since I wanted to preserve CF Card space and battery power just
in case I couldn’t offload and recharge in Melbourne before the doof),
I boarded my flight and…couldn’t sleep.

Finishing a freshly rolled cigar.

Yes, I took enough benzodiazepines to sedate a small horse. Yes, I
drank heaps of alcohol. No, I did not sleep the night before. However,
sleep just wasn’t forthcoming. Nope. It wasn’t. No sleep for the
wicked, probably. I filled in the declaration card since I was bored. I
only had two “Yes” answers, was hoping to go out the Green Lane. After
that, I still couldn’t sleep so I wrote a post while continuously
downing Bloody Mary’s with a cup of water (can’t be dehydrated before a
doof).

Yes for medication and used shoes.

It was called “sixthseal.com offline (12/12/2003)” and it was
written on pieces of tray liner (!) because the flight doesn’t have
letter pads, sorry. They did have postcards though, which they gave me,
but you can’t very well write on a postcard, so I asked for something I
can write on, and they gave me this. Personally, I think the cabin
attendants were just sick of me pressing the “Call” button and asking
for a Bloody Mary (can you make it stronger this time, please?) and a
cup of water every 15 minutes. 😉

Anyway, the two pieces of paper goes through things I’ve already
mentioned in this post, so I won’t be scanning it as I originally
intended. It had a story about me losing my Valium blister pack, which
I’m lazy to re-write, but yeah, I lost it somehow. There was either a
very sedated taxi driver or a very sedated MAS ground staff that night.
That’s at the expense of my sleep, those were 10 x 10 mg diazepam
tablets…I had to dip into my personal stash of 5 mg nitrazepam and
slept about 2 hours into the next day.

sixthseal.com offline!

Oh, and towards the end, the irate cabin attendant made the Bloody
Mary in front of me. Heh. She poured two shots into the pre-mix in
front of me, probably to stop me from repeating “Can you make it
stronger this time?”. 😉 However, she did not allow three shots,
stating some obscure code they have to adhere to – she said I could
have as many double shot Bloody Mary’s as I liked, just not 3 shot
ones. The trick to get cabin attendants to keep on serving alcohol is
to appear sober and be polite and obviously, don’t slur your words.
I’ve read about some guy assaulting flight attendants coz they refused
to serve him more alcohol, and I’ve seen people being denied more
drinks on previous flights, but I’ve never had the same problem myself.
Their mistake was to be demanding and appearing to be drunk – two
things you shouldn’t do.

As always, retain a sedated composure (it comes with benzos anyway,
that gives off an impression that you’re not a “violent drunk”), appear
to be sober (don’t slur your words, don’t give off any outward signs of
intoxication) and just be polite and friendly. I’ve never been denied
drinks before and I’ve had more than my fair share during flights,
including an embaressing one that ended up with me passing out and
spilling drinks and er…finding myself on the floor when I woke up.
Even with that faux pax, I was still served, so if you aren’t already
aware of the obvious tips, keep them in mind and the free flow will be
free flowing you to sleep. I only had a two hour sleep – but that’s
going into Day 1…coming up soon!

Duty Free

December 17, 2003 by HB

Guess who’s back? Okay, that’s the lamest ever start to a post and I
must apologize for subjecting you to that overused cliched statement.
Sorry guys. 😉 Anyways, I’ve just got back from Melbourne, breezed
through customs. Thank God, there were 5 items I think they would take
exception to and frown upon. Heh. Anyway, I have to work tomorrow and
it’s 11 pm now and even though I drank enough Bloody Marys (can you
make it stronger this time?) and other alcoholic beverages (hey, it’s
free) with bzd I still feel quite awake, but fear not, dear readers,
beer is still cold in my fridge and I bought 3 bottles of 1 litre
flavored Absolut Vodka (for me) and several cartons of Marlboros (for
someone else, coz I don’t smoke).

I will update tomorrow, one day each day, starting from Day 0 and
ending with Day 5. I wanted to do it Memento style and go ass backwards
from Day 5 -> Day 0 but I fear that will fuck with your mind too
hard and I don’t want to wish that upon you after I had mine fucked
with last night. No, no large scary chickens were involved, thankfully.
I don’t think I’ll be able to handle that abomination chasing after me.
😉

Likki’s mail and her great “weed” stunt

December 1, 2003 by HB

I got a package at work today, thanks to Likki
[blogspot.com]! 🙂 It took a while getting here, probably due to the
Raya holidays and to be honest, I was appalled when she told me that
she also sent cherry tobacco in the package. Now, tobacco is perfectly
legal, but it doesn’t look legal, if it passes through any
X-rays at the mail center. I’m not in a position to be under legal
scrutiny so the late package got us rather worried, just like the
Project Pos Malaysia fiasco (deleted from sixthseal.com – it’s a
potential landmine) had veritas popping benzos like M&M’s while
awaiting the confirmation of receipt.

Anyway, I love Likki’s sense of humor, look at what the baggie with the plant material says. Heh! It has “Weed?” in front…

and “Cherry Tabacco =P” at the back. Classic! 😉 There is also a
letter and monetary contribution in the package as well as this card
that I really love. Here’s a scan of the card:

Thanks Likki! This really made my day. 🙂

A parting note to anyone who intends to mail me anything – please do not
include things which might look illegal eg Panadol tablets, tobacco
etc. It’s only funny if nothing happens. :p I repeat, please refrain from mailing me anything that even looks remotely illegal if you look at it sideways. I’m not in a position to be under investigation, so please, just don’t do it.

With that said, it’s still damn funny though. Heh. Thanks Likki! I really appreciate this. 🙂

Unfortunately, since I don’t smoke, I’ll pass the cherry tobacco to
the other sixthseal.com author – veritas, who would spin it with
cannabis. I’m sure he’ll love it. 😉

Like, speed kills man…

June 2, 2003 by HB

It gives you lung cancer. I hate running out of cigarettes while
tweaking, that is like totally uncool, man…seriously though, I’ve been
without smokes for two days and it’s killing me. Not literally of
course, it’s doing my lungs a whole lotta good in fact. Anyway, I’m too
lazy to go out in the cold weather and go “I’ll have a pack of Marlboro
reds 25’s please”. Needless to say, I’m living quite far from
civilization. The nicotine monster running through my veins is
(unwillingly) satiated by my large stock of nicotine gum…but nothing
beats inhaling a nice lungful of smoke! I’ve caught myself putting on
my sweater and ready to walk out the door, but nah, I’m not going to
take a long walk just to buffer the war chest of Philip Morris Limited.
I have been resorting to some stuff that probably every smoker out
there has done though. I’ve subjected half-smoked cigarette butts in my
ashtray to a second combustion process. Don’t look at me like that…in
times of need, we make do, don’t we? I’ve also upturned by room to find
old boxes of cigarettes to extract the wealth that is loose tobacco
leaves. It’s surprising how much brown toasted tobacco one can yield
from cigarette boxes, especially if you pack them before opening. I’ve
managed to harvest a nice pile, which I smoked with my bong. I wouldn’t
say it tasted good, especially the stale bits, but you gotta do what
you gotta do. 😉 I also bummed one off CT today. That’s the one that weakened me…I haven’t had RYO’s for years!

It was nicely rolled and the tobacco was that rum and wine (I think)
mix that I favored years ago too, and damn was it good!!! I didn’t let
the atmosphere sneak a single wift off that one, dragged on it
constantly till I was holding it like a joint and ended up getting a
(okay, three!) lungful of burning filter. I have tasted human blood…get
out of the way everyone! I decided I needed more and I remember seeing
the guy who lives downstairs smoking, so I went knocking at his door. 🙂

Me: Hello, I live upstairs and this would sound strange, but
I ran out off cigarettes and I was wondering if I can buy some off you.
Guy: Oh, sure! No problems, how many do you want?
Me: Can I get 5 off you? I’ll pay you for the trouble.
Guy: Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.
(Guy goes and gets his pack and gave me five.)
Me: Thanks! Here, I don’t feel good about taking them.
(Hands him a A$5 note)
Guy: No, don’t worry about it, it’s fine, being neighbours and all.
Me: Nah, I would prefer it if I paid you for this, I’m not comfortable with bumming them off you like that.
Guy: It’s fine. You can just give some back to me when you get a pack.
Me: Ah…I really don’t feel good about it, coz it’s not like I’m just getting one or two off you.
Guy: Really, it’s fine. You don’t have to worry about it. You can just return them when we bump into each other next time.
Me: I would feel much better if I paid you for this. Seriously, I insist.
Guy: Well…you sure?
Me: Yes. Thanks for the smokes.
(Hands him the A$5 note)
Guy: Oh…thanks.

That was uncomfortable…it’s like that ang pow pushing back and forth
thing, I can see why he’s reluctant to accept the money since we live
near each other, but I would not feel good about getting that many off
him without paying him. It’s not like we know each other all that well,
it’s a nodding acquaintance, so it feels funny to bum that many off
him. Anyway, I’ve had three already. No! Conserve!!! Unfortunately,
he’s partial to the brand I find most distasteful…Winfield! I think
it’s lights some more. He doesn’t pack his cigarettes either. Oh well,
beggars can’t be choosers.

It’s such a disgusting habit…it’s a wonder it’s legal. 😉

Nicorette Inhaler Review

April 15, 2003 by HB

Note: This is a post by veritas.

The lack of postings on my behalf is due to the fact that I’ve been
taking a break from substances, and still am. Don’t ask, it’s a really
long story. 🙂 Long story short – I have a strong inclination (read:
dependency issues) towards stimulants, which I’ve chosen to ignore and
it took a good friend to make me realize (read: admit) my stimulant
usage can no longer be properly described with the adjective ‘moderate’
anymore, and so I’m staying away from all substances of that class for
a while to regain perspective. Flush, flush, ho hum. No one likes to
talk about the dark side. Anyway, here’s a legal review for a change –
the Nicorette Inhaler
[nicorette.com.au]. This is marketed as a product to assist in stopping
smoking and retails for A$5.45 for the starter pack with 6 cartridges.

Inside the starter pack is the inhaler tube (wrapped), the 6
cartridges (sealed), a booklet and a plastic pack for storing the
inhaler tube and cartridges.

The cartridges are sealed into a pack containing 6 cartridges. This is the front view:

This is the back view:

The cartridges are supposed to contain 10 mg of “nicotinum” each,
which is a time release nicotine formula by Nicorette. This is a side
view of an individual cartridge:

Notice the cotton center which has the actual goods. Here’s an isometric view to show the sealed edges:

What you’re supposed to do it to put the cartridge into the inhaler
tube and screw it in. This breaks the foils you see on the edges of the
cartridge picture above and releases the nicotine contained in the
cotton center of the cartridge.

After the cartridge is in place inside the inhaler tube, you’re
supposed to use it like a normal cigarette – inhale, exhale. Each
cartridge has the equivalent of 10 mg of nicotine and is supposed to
last for 20 minutes of continuous use. Upon consulting my pack of
Marlboro Reds I noticed that each cigarette contains 1.0 mg or less of
nicotine.

Now this is really funny because using one of the cartridges is not
10 times stronger than smoking a cigarette, at least not in my
experience. I’ve used the cartridges over a period of a couple of days
and the experiences have been much less than smoking a regular
cigarette. Don’t get me wrong, having two of the Nicorette Inhaler
cartridges in a row will floor your ass, but it just doesn’t feel the
same. This is what a used cartridge looks like:

The inhalers has a nicotine buzz that sorta creeps up on you, you
don’t feel it until after a while and then it still doesn’t feel like
the buzz that you get off a cigarette. It just doesn’t feel the same.
The stuff inside the cartridges can be a bit harsh too if you inhale
too hard, it’s like inhaling aerosolized water droplets. A regular
cigarette produces a light headed buzz that this product doesn’t
emulate. I think this light headed buzz is because of the carbon
monoxide content in a normal cigarette.

Well, I don’t think Nicorette Inhalers is anything like smoking a
regular cigarette, but it’s better than nicotine gum for quitting
smoking. You still get the experience of “holding a cigarette” and you
go through the same motions as smoking a cigarette. It does give you a
nicotine buzz too, and even though the buzz is different from a regular
cigarette, it can reduce the craving (for a while at least) and it’s
convenient to have in places where you can’t light up, like in a
cinema, lecture theatre, office etc. But that’s defeating the purpose
of the product, this something to help you quit smoking, not a
convenient replacement for it. 🙂

Royal Blunts Cognac Flavored EZ Roll Tube

February 1, 2003 by HB

The front of the packaging with a see thru window.

The back of the packaging.

I purchased this blunt wrapper from Off Ya Tree a couple of days ago. It’s made by Royal Blunts
[royalblunts.com] and I decided that today was a good day as any to
smoke a blunt, being Chinese New Year and everything. 🙂 A blunt is a
cigar with cannabis inside instead of tobacco. It retails for A$3.95
and Off Ya Tree has several other flavors besides cognac. Cannabis sold
separately, of course.

Inside the packaging is a single leaf of tobacco and a plastic tube.

Anyway, the package is air sealed and has a single blunt wrapper
inside and a plastic tube, which serves the dual function of preventing
the leaf of tobacco from getting squashed in the package and to pack
weed into the blunt you’re rolling. The blunt wrapper was surprisingly
fresh, it didn’t reek like stale cigars do.

Rolling the blunt.

The blunt wrapper was easy to roll too, and it sealed by itself. I
did give the side of the wrap a lick to make it seal better though. I
used the plastic tube to pack the cannabis tightly, as I prefer the
draw of a tightly packed cigarette as opposed to an unpacked one. In
lieu of a roach (a cardboard piece you put at the end of joints as a
filter), I folded the end of the blunt and it works just as well. I
didn’t inhale any small bits of plant material even when I toked hard
on the blunt.

The blunt.

And the taste of the blunt…oh my God, it was simply divine! Very,
very tasty indeed. It will be hard to go back to smoking bowls after
this. The cognac flavored wrapper achieves this synergy with the choof,
providing this rich, satisfying smoke that tastes pleasant and smells
wonderful. It tasted like a good cigar with the sweet, sweet smoke of
cannabis instead of tobacco. The burn rate was very controlled too, the
tip burns slowly when you’re not toking on it and even when you draw on
it, it doesn’t burn that fast either, just a slowly moving red rim that
produces a nice lungful of that rich, satisfying smoke. It gives a
slightly different high too, there was the added stimulant high from
the tobacco leaf wrapper. Highly recommended!