This is no Joke

The Thing About The Chinese

2010-09-16T23:08:00.002+08:00

One of the joys of my work is I get to meet with clients of different races. More often than not, I talk and mingle with the Chinese and the Malays.

If you would ask me a question like, "what do the Malays want?", followed by "what do the Chinese want?", allow me to tell you some of my simple findings.

The Chinese - It's simple; they want you. Then they want more of you. More of you as in more of what you can offer to their beneficial gains. If you can deliver, then they may be a friend to you. However, once they find out that you no longer deliver the goods, they look for another one who is able to. Then occasionally and once in a while, they may say 'hello' or 'good morning' to you, if they feel like it or if they have no choice.

The Malays - It's even simpler; they want your friendship. They chat with you. Ask you about your background, how you practice your religion, what is your culture and custom like and then they compare the differences of their own. You leave and you return and you see them again. They have already remembered your name. They start to invite you to their houses for a drink and even dinner. Sure, they also want some of your services but if you fail to deliver, they are still friends with you the next day.

So my dear Chinese comrades, is self-centered-ness really a part of our genes?

Anyhoo, offended are you or not by this post, feel free to get angry. In my defense, please refer to my previous posting.

In spite of everything, I still have love for you.

God Bless.

Right Minds Thinking

2010-09-15T12:25:00.000+08:00

Reading It Again and Again and Again

2010-01-06T00:00:00.002+08:00

A friend sent this forwarded mail to me. I just keep on reopening it. And then I read them and try and memorize. Then after a while I reopen the mail again to read again. I just keep on reopening it. And then I read them and try and memorize. Then after a while I reopen the mail again to read again. I just keep on reopening it. And then I read them and try and memorize. Then after a while I reopen the mail again to read again. I just keep on reopening it. And then I read them and try and memorize. Then after a while I reopen the mail again to read again.

Under Pressure

2010-01-04T00:00:00.001+08:00

It's one of those nights where I can't seem to set myself adrift on slumber. I'll try and blog me to sleep then.

Earlier today I finally made the decision to do to my car what I should have done 60 years ago, or so. I got my car fully tinted. Obviously my dad and I had to go in separate cars so he could take me home while my car gently waits to be un-whitened. I had left the house earlier than my dad. To one of the gentler shocks, I saw him arriving at the shop first!

Nevermind that. I had gotten some gentle annoyance from the super-salesman motorised-mouth of the accessories shop owner. I had only aimed to get one thing done and he tried to persuade me to get 10 more things done. Ok, so I got 3 other things done. Admittedly, it was rather essential to get my FM tuner fixed (antenna problem), front lights cleaned (from the inside) and tweeters replaced. At the end the total bill came to about six hundred over Rings of Gits but I guess I gotta spend what I gotta spend. Happy new year to myself whoo!

Gentler annoyances from that shop owner fella came about when he asked me about my profession. Suddenly I became his blood brother at the mere mention of the letters "IT", even before the full stop in my sentence. "So for any problems with my PC, I'll just look for you, ya?" El Oh El. LOL. He just charged me six hundred over bucks and he was hinting for me to fix his home desktop for free. I made it clear to him that I do have charges applicable. I think he pretended not to hear that.

An amazing discovery: I took a good look at my CD receiver and found an Aux input on it! I almost wanted to get a new player so that I could hook up my MP3 player to it. That ultimately saves this planet a landfill of CDRs if I had discovered that earlier. See, I have been owning this CD receiver for six years now. Anyhow, better late than never!

The title Under Pressure wasn't really applicable to my car getting tinted. Yes, to properly place the film on my windshield would require some pressure underneath. Technicalities aside, that would be most commonly used Queen song for someone to learn bass. I had enrolled myself in to a bass guitar lessons today!

Mr Ong, the teacher hails from KL and he travels to Ipoh on Saturdays to give lessons. Since his whole Saturday is packed, I had only got the 5:30pm slot. As I entered his class, I didn't want him to be teaching me things that I already knew. Just like doing business, I gave him my 4 expectations:

1. Bass Guitar - I want to play like Paul McCartney.
2. Electric Guitar - I want to play like Slash.
3. Acoustic Guitar - I want to know how to play jazz chords in strumming.
4. All in all, I want to know how to play by hearing.

Mr Ong didn't reply to any of my requests and just proceeded to play the A-scale on the nylon-stringed acoustic guitar.

On that note (pun intended), we started off with the bass. He passed a guitar to me, plugged into the amp and said "show me what you got". I played Cake's I Will Survive bass riff. Immediately he showed me where I was wrong, where I was wrong and where I was wrong.

1. My fingering positions on the frets were wrong.
2. I use my thumb too often for strokes.
3. I shouldn't use the free strokes because, erm, that would be wrong.

Suddenly... I'm not half the bassist I used to be...

It dawned upon me to absorb to the importance of the rest strokes. And also alternating my I's and M's like running with my fingers. (index and middle) And there was this timing thing. 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. They not only apply to drums. Ah. Now I can't wait for the next lesson so that he can further mess up my self-taught knowledge of the bass guitar.

Every T-Shirt Tells A Story

2010-01-03T00:00:00.002+08:00

Whenever I see some guys wearing a Beatles t-shirt, I would tell myself to get some. That was 7 or 8 years ago. With much effort and by spreading the word around, now I have 10. Every shirt has a story.

This has the cover of With The Beatles album. I bought it from Liverpool's Beatles Story Museum.

Great stuff can be gotten from Yik Foong, Ipoh! This simple one was from a music shop on 2nd floor.

One of my very first ones (not the best choice) was a painted version of them performing live. Got this from Bugis Street, Singapore.

Also from Bugis Street, Singapore, this has the famous Let It Be album cover.

This is Lee Cooper's limited edition Beatles Cartoon that I got for my birthday 2 years ago.

A bootlegged A Hard Day's Night from one of 1 Utama's t-shirt shop.

From the Beatles Story Museum, this has the Help! cover on it.

Got this as gift that was presumably purchased from Liverpool. It's the Abbey Road album cover.

And these two? I haven't got around to wearing them yet.

A friend bought this for from Germany.

I found this free size t-shirt from Lady's Street in Hong Kong! The only one that doesn't have George Harrison on it.

New Year's Eve Countdown 2010!!!

2010-01-01T21:03:00.005+08:00

Admittedly, this year's countdown was much better for meself. I remember last year was a sweaty encounter at Yuen's steamboat at Sunway Mentari, proceeded with that smell of fishballs, squids, crabs and an assorted variety of seafood all the way to my church for a watch-night celebration.

Though I miss the usually amazing watch-night at DUMC, this year's compensation for my no-show over there was with Pasir Pinji's Tai Shu Keok (Big Tree Leg)'s Sar Kok Liew! (pictured below in the bowl on the top right). Oh, there were other types of food too.

Looking back, 2009 has been a fantastic year. The highlight of it all was Ipoh's reception of myself as one of the many working citizens here. In other words, the highlight of it all was my return to Ipoh! I have waited so long to come back that when I returned about 8 months ago, the first thing I did was to kneel down and kiss the ground! Anyways, it was too bad for KL... hehehh.

Here's a group photo from my home cell taken just before the countdown began.

Happy New Year 2010!

Epic Misney! (Marvel/Disney Mash-up)

2010-01-01T12:30:00.009+08:00

Here is an excellent artist's impression of the great Marvel/Disney mash-up (nicknamed Misney). This was done by T Campbell and John Waltrip taken from here.

On the ground!

1. Arguably the most recognisable characters from both universes, Mickey & Spidey shake hands - only to get the gloves stuck on Spidey's webby hand!

2. Uncle Scrooge looks at Spidey's butt with monetary ideas that probably aren't children-friendly.

3. Somewhere behind Uncle Scrooge, Namor the Submariner carries Ariel with Dory the fish in a bowl.

4. The three princesses from Disney, Jasmine, Snow White & Cinderella looks at a queen, more precisely, the White Queen (Emma Frost) from a distance. Perhaps with much territorial inferiority, as they look at her.

5. Just slightly past Emma Frost, Dash from The Incredibles races with Quicksilver. Dash cockily leads.

6. Howard and Donald meets! Howard shows Donald some Ducky magazine, something that would leave Daisy to be very free in time to come.

7. The Incredibles' Violet and Fantastic Four's Sue Storm radiates some force field to separate the Venom symbiote away from *gasp* Goofy?

8. Wolverine battles with some blades with Captain Hook! Will the adamantium force beat the evilness of Cap Hook from Peter Pan?

9. The Thing could be seen arm wrestling with Mr Incredible. Or are they shaking hands?

10. The Dazzler is seen in a karaoke battle with Gabriella from High School Musical!

11. Belle's Beauty and the X-Men's Beast.

12. The Squirrel Girl meets the cute Chip & Dale duo!

13. The Hulk meets Sulley & Mike from Monsters, Inc. If they were in a battle, Mike has dumbfounded the Hulk with some words on a piece of paper!

14. Dr Doom declares taking over The Magic Kingdom and thus it is now the Kingdom of Doom?

15. Marvel's Fin Fang Doom fights with Maleficent (in a form of a Dragon). The dragons of Marvel and Disney battle!

Up in the air!

16. Hercules drinks beer with Thor (is it Thor?) on a cloud!

17. Genie (in a Dr Strange imitation) and Dr Strange turns Captain America's shield into a Mickey Mouse shield!

18. Mr Fantastic & Mrs Incredible's heads with necks elongated from nowhere. What were they doing??

19. Stitch surfs with the Silver Surfer with Wall-E tagging in from behind!

20. Tinkerbell flies/flirts with some other flying Marvel character. (help me with this)

21. Finally, an ensemble of fly guys: Peter Pan, Iron Man, Johnny Storm, Aladdin and his Flying Carpet and some robotic duck (presumable Marvel's?)

Traffic density to experience some Dance-city

2009-12-30T23:18:00.006+08:00

Taking a break for the long weekend (one of them Fridays were one of the 200 festivity holidays of Malaysia's), I took a Saturday morning's drive to Penang to fulfill my promise to a sister (from another mother and father) to watch her participate in a dance competition.

The Penang trip was planned a month ago but two weeks after that I suddenly got posted to KL for a 2-week job. The 160km travel suddenly became 360km (one way)!

The International Ballroom Dance Competition was held in Bayview Beach Hotel, Batu Feringghi, just right next to the newly opened Hard Rock Hotel. It was the hotel I wanted to stay at but it was fully booked. There was another good option which was G Hotel, one that I had wanted to try for a long time.

Anyways, back to Hard Rock Hotel Penang, there were four reasons that made me want to stay there. Here they are, pictorially:

With The Beatles, their second album

The Andy Warhol-inspired Sgt Pepper.

The HELP! album.

The Beatles or bust!

One thing I had experienced in Penang at that time was the horrible and scary thing that you call "traffic jam".

Note to myself: never go to Penang on long weekends!

Was that really some incredible courage or...

2009-12-29T23:47:00.005+08:00

...Yee Seet Fear????*

Some funny restaurant name I found in Ipoh town, near the former Super Kinta building.

(* sounds like "is it fear")

Singapore Again!

2009-12-09T00:00:00.000+08:00

Just barely a month after my previous trip, I was on a bus to Singapore ("it's Singapore once more, shoo be do bai day" - sung to the tune of Yesterday Once More). I was invited to my cousin's wedding just a week after. With perks like free hotel accommodation, dinner, accommodation and family door gifts, I cannot even dare to resist this invitation.

That genius ex-condo-mate of mine proudly asked if this was a 'shotgun' wedding (a phrase which he proudly learned and proudly displayed learned use for it). Yeah, I would like to take a shotgun and shotgun his head if he asks questions like that again.

And there it goes: it's official. I have been to Singapore more often than KL ever since I came back to Ipoh. (as of 23-Nov-2009)

I asked me dad where in particular he wants to visit. "To see Merlion", he says.

And my uncles and aunties claimed they have never been to Singapore ever since the invention of toasted bread. I did what a man's got to do; hired a tour guide from the hotel.

The guide's name was Bernard, a Chinese. Fluent in all dialects, master of talking sensible rubbish. My aunties and uncles were so busy talking to each other, Bernard had a hard time explaining the sights of Singapore. Myself being the co-pilot, I had to endure his pro-Singapore topics of conversation. There was this very diplomatic statement he made: "Singapore and Malaysia, we're the same-lah, hor." What he meant to say was this: "I'm a Singaporean so I'm 50 times better than you. You Malaysian you." Everything was subtly hidden subliminally in every single word that came out of that mouth of his. Not that I give a care, but he even disagreed that Genting Highlands is pronounced as Genting, not Jenting.

Now, off to a full Malaysian cast of wedding attendees. (with exceptions of a Thai-Chinese and a erm, er, China-Chinese)

The dinner was an experience of a Khor family reunion dinner that should only occur during Lunar New Year seasons, in a town called Ipoh. It was a pleasant one. Only difference was that most of my cousins were not around.

And the above photo is the newly-wedded couple.

The night before was a karaoke experience at Ang Mo Kio. It was there I realised I could continue singing even when my tonsils were bleeding.

So I went all the way to Singapore and all I brought back were:

Toothpicks!

Not really.

There were some Starbucks bottled drinks that I couldn't find in Malaysia. Except for once in Mercato's at Pavilion.

Then there was some sugary stuff (vanilla, chocolate and toffee flavors) that Marks and Spencer had tastily provided.

Them are the main reasons I need to go back to Singapore soon.

Ipoh Food: Maria's Pasta and Beefburger

2009-11-05T00:00:00.001+08:00

Last week I was at Maria's at Greentown. It was 7pm on a Saturday night so it was rather surprising that we were the first customers.

While it's not Maria's signature dish, we were craving for some spaghetti. We ordered Spaghetti Chicken Bolognese off the menu and Maria's delivered the very expected quality. The Bolognese sauce, mixed with minced chicken meat had a good balance of richness in taste.

Prior to Maria's we had a screening at a local cinemas for this movie. That explains the choice of Beefburger with Fries. The combination of bread and beef patty were easily good to the taste buds. The fries were fatter than the common ones but still allows persistent chomps to the finish.

All in all, there was this great satisfaction where Maria's had delivered, with great assistance from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Rating: 7/10

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譚詠麟 - 朋友 (Alan Tam - Friends) and Some Karaoke Songs

2009-11-03T00:00:00.004+08:00

This old song was in the first cassette tape I have ever purchased back in 1987. The choice was more of my dad's.

The song is good, no doubt about it. Honestly I never really did like it back then. I was more attracted to songs like Michael Jackson's Bad or Kylie Minogue's I Should Be So Lucky.

Two weeks ago I bought Alan Tam and Hacken Lee's 2009 Concert CD (左麟右李演唱会2009) and listened to the song again. I tried singing along to it and I was surprised that I succeeded in covering 90% of them. I got more conscious of the lyrics and realised how meaningful and universal they were. Chinese lyrics often express the best out of fewest words possible. In Alan Tam's 朋友's case, needless to say, it's all about true friendship.

The song is so darn famous that no one realised that the music arrangement (not the melody and lyrics) is a direct imitation of Stevie Wonder's I Just Called To Say I Love You.

Never mind that.

Singing at karaokes are better with Chinese tunes. I have managed to expand my list:

Beyond - 海闊天空
側田 - 男人 Ktv
劉德華 - 再說一次我愛你
劉德華 - 情人 Happy Birthday
劉德華 - 愛不完
劉德華 - 謝謝你的愛 (國)
周杰倫 - 安靜
周杰倫 - 彩虹
周杰倫 - 星晴
周杰倫 - 藉口
周杰倫 - 退後
(I only know Jay Chou's songs if the title's two words or less... haha)
周杰倫 - 黑色幽默
張國榮 - 今生今世
張國榮 - 追
張智霖 - 祝君好
王力宏 - Kiss Goodbye
譚詠麟 - 一生中最愛
譚詠麟 - 半夢半醒
譚詠麟 - 幻影
譚詠麟 - 愛在深秋
譚詠麟 - 忘不了你
譚詠麟 - 朋友
譚詠麟 - 霧之戀
陳小春 - 取消資格
陳小春 - 獻世
黎明 - 對不起, 我愛妳

There are songs I want to learn:
劉德華 - 一起走過的日子
劉德華 - 如果有一天
劉德華 - 缺陷美
劉德華 & 梁朝偉 - 無間道
周杰倫 - 千里之外
周杰倫 - 回到過去
周杰倫 - 菊花台
周杰倫 - 說好的幸福呢
李克勤 - 一生不变
林子祥 & 葉倩文 - 選擇
陶喆 - 就是爱你
黎明 - 情深說話未曾講

English songs are more convenient. The only setback is the karaoke centres are too cheapskate to buy their original videos! 95% of Chinese songs are using original videos. I'm definitely sending my kids to Chinese schools!

Anyways, here are the romanized pinyin lyrics to 譚詠麟 - 朋友.

faan sing lau dung woh nei tung lo
繁星流動和你同路
chung bat seung sik hoi chi sam jip gan
從不相識開始心接近
mak mak yi jan ji doi yan

默默以真摯待人
yan sang yue mung pang yau yue mo
人生如夢朋友如霧
naan dak ji sam gei ging fung bo
難得知心幾經風暴
wai jeuk ngoh bat tui boon bo jing si nei
為著我不退半步正是你

yiu yiu maan hung dim dim sing gwong sik sik seung gwaan
遙遙晚空點點星光息息相關
nei ngoh na pa ging gik po moon lo
你我那怕荊棘舖滿路
tai ngoh gaai hoi sam jung dik goo daan si sui ming baak ngoh
替我解開心中的孤單是誰明白我

ching tung leung sau yat hei hoi sam yat hei bei seung
情同兩手一起開心一起悲傷
bei chi fan daam jung bat fan ngoh waak nei
彼此分擔總不分我或你
nei wai liu ngoh ngoh wai liu nei
你為了我我為了你
gung foo waan naan juet mong lui gan ak nei sau pang yau
共赴患難絕望裡緊握你手朋友

Some Questions and Some Answers

2009-11-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

I don't usually post forwarded Powerpoint slides. They don't usually warrant articles interesting enough. However, this one poses some universal answers to some universal questions. I do find them interesting.

Which day is the most beautiful day of your life?
Today.

What is the easiest thing to do in life?
A mistake.

What's the greatest obstacle?
Fear.

The most profound tragedy in life?
Abandonment.

The root of all evil?
Egotism.

The most wonderful entertainment and fun?
Work, of course!

The greatest failure?
Lack of faith.

The best teachers?
Kids.

The absolute prime need?
Contact with another human being.

What brings a person the greatest feeling of satisfaction?
Being of help to somebody and being appreciated.

The greatest mystery?
Death.

The most serious human failing?
Lack of sense of humor.

The greatest enemy?
Deceit and lies.

The worst emotion?
Anger.

The most wonderful gift?
Forgiveness

The #1 most desired necessity?
One's own "home".

The quickest way forward?
Certainty.

The most wonderful feeling?
Inner peace.

The best defense?
A smile.

The best medicine?
Optimism.

The greatest might on earth?
Faith.

The people whom we need most of all?
Our parents.

The most beautiful of all?
LOVE.

Intelligence without love makes you perverse.
Fairness and justness without love makes you inflexible and stern.
Diplomacy and tact without love makes you a hypocrite.
Success without love turns you arrogant.
Wealth without love makes you mean and tight-fisted.
Poverty without love turns you into a radical.
Beauty without love makes you capricious.
Authority and power without love lead to tyranny.
Labor without love turns you into a slave.
Naivety without love deprives you of values.
Prayer and worship without love turns you into an egotist.
Faith without love turns you into a fanatic.
Bearing your cross in life without love becomes a terrible burden.
LIFE WITHOUT LOVE LOSES ITS MEANING!

Top 10 Rejected Blog Entries

2009-10-29T00:00:00.000+08:00

#10 The First Time I Got Drunk
Sample content: … not matter. When I took a good look, then I suddenly remembered that I had Hawaiian Pizza with extra cheese for lunch and some….

#9 Why I Like The Beatles
Sample content: … know but when I listen to their music, I feel good. I really like their songs. They are very well written. I really, really like them. In fact, I’m listening to them now as I am….

#8 Top 10 Things You Should/Shouldn’t Know About My Retarded Housemate (now ex-housemate)
Sample content: … defined as “weirdo” mostly. He came home one day and started to laugh with sarcasm, like “Ha-ha-ha. Very funny.” I wasn’t sure why he laughed so I asked him. Then I found out it was actually a response to a funny comment about his haircut that I had made about three days earlier. Guess I….

#7 Places I Used To Frequently Visit As A Child
Sample content:

… Dr Lim’s clinic a lot. It was located at Old Town, Ipoh. Whenever I’m there I always see sick people around me. That was probably why I felt so sick, even after visiting the doctor. So sick, I wasn’t….

#6 Top 10 Songs I Listened To Whenever I Play Windows Solitaire

Sample content: … # 1 The Carpenters – Solitaire ….

#5 Top 10 Girls Whom Rejected Me and How I Felt After That

Sample content: … remark “Can we be friends?” She asked whether we could still be friends. What, is that a consolation pity giveaway prize so that her guilt so that….

#4 How To Play The Guitar And Not Make Any Sound
Sample content: … to move your head in the direction your guitar head is heading. If it’s rocking like a horse to the front, you may need to nod your head in sync with…

#3 The Things I Used To Do When I Was In Primary School, Between 4 and 5pm on Weekdays

Sample content: … usually eat at about 1:30pm and finish at 2pm. TV starts to get boring after 3pm so I didn’t really have much to do except…

#2 10 Steps on How I Generate My Passwords and ATM PIN Numbers

Sample content: … yet quite simple. First I throw the dice. If the dice lands on the floor, I would use my third aunt’s birth date. If it lands on the table, I would get a calculator and tap on the numbers with my eyes closed. Right now my current ATM PIN is….

#1 How I Did Nothing Today

Sample content: … and after that I switched it off. Subsequently, I had nothing much to do. In fact a bit later, I didn’t do anything either. Really, nothing much could have been done. So I just chose to stick to doing nothing. Which I did the same….

Have You Watched Free Television Lately?

2009-10-27T00:00:00.001+08:00

I read The Star newspaper. For the past few years, I have been seeing too many ads from TV2 that never fail to deliver irritating nerves down my spine. Seriously, I don't understand why there is a need to dedicate a full page ad to remind people to watch movies on TV. It would make revenue sense if these movies were sponsored by corporate brands like Coca-Cola or maybe Maxis. On TV2, these movies are sponsored by the people who provide revenues to the income-tax department. Yep, these movies are fully funded by TV2, which is part of Radio Televisyen Malaysia, which is funded by the government. That simply means that YOU paid for the movies.

Let's take a look at one of the ads.

Unbelievable isn't it? There are so many things wrong with it, I could use a red pen and make multiple crosses everywhere. And then put an F with a circle on top. CRAP!

First, let's look at two very expensive Hollywood movies. The two Marvel comics adaptation of a superhero families are shown back to back. On the newspaper ad, they are not. Their job is to sandwich a movie that were probably made out of a budget that is approximately 10% of Fantastic Four Part One. CRAP!

CRAP!

Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer probably made 6000 times the box office takings of Sholay. Yet Sholay gets a bigger box. CRAP!

I ain't trying to belittle Sholay here. But it's my money that was used to get rights to show Fantastic Four on TV. The cost should be so much higher than Sholay. It would only do justice to common sense to give FF2 a bigger box. Heck, dedicate an entire page to FF2! CRAPPP!!!!

Then there is this movie called Chermin.

What the heck did they leave an empty space on the right side for? For the sake of the two ladies closing their eyes facing emptiness? Or creatively, they made it look as if Afdlin's head is too big for the bottom box? CRAP!!

First, they hire a school kid to design this ad.

Then the school kid downloads some images from the Internet.

Then he uses Microsoft Paint to place the movie pictures.

Then the school kid gets paid like RM100.

Then TV2 pays, like, RM800,000,000.00 for this ad.

The ad company is happy.

And they leave a name card at the bottom.

CRAP!!!

Oh, remember to watch the movies ya. Because you have paid for them already, you know.

Ipoh Streets

2009-10-24T00:00:00.004+08:00

Some scenes of Ipoh taken from Tower Regency Hotel. One of them higher floors.

Some closer views of Ipoh streets.

Question: What do you notice from all the random Ipoh street pictures?

For further clues, see the below picture for a Lenggong street picture

Answer:

No dustbins found!

And they tell us not to simply litter.

The next time you see people throwing trash on the streets, it ain't their fault. The government expects us to walk into a coffee shop to throw rubbish?

Thank goodness the people aren't simply peeing on the streets either. Coz public toilets are nowhere to be found as well.

It Ain't Heavy, It's My Lunch

2009-10-22T00:00:00.002+08:00

The most accurate English spelling for Wan Tan Mee ever in the history of as long as mankind existed.

And the other two English words below are actually Pinyin for Chinese words that mean "Bad Dog" or "The Number Nine that Brings Bad Luck."

Situational examples of using "SUI KOW" in daily conversations:

1. You are a lady. You are walking down the street. Suddenly you hear a dog whistling at you in a flattering manner. You are entitled to scold him.

"SUI KOW!!!!!"

2. You could be a man or a woman. You have a pet dog. After you feed your pet dog, he just leaves the bowl without volunteering to wash it clean. You are entitled to scold him.

"SUI KOW!!!!!"

3. You are a Chinese. Passing by some street, you witness an accident. One of the cars involved in the accident bears the number 9. You go to the nearest 4D outlet and buy RM10 big and RM10 small for number 9. Days later, the results are out and number 9 doesn't win. You are entitled to scold the 4D ticket.

"SUI KOW!!!!!"

How To Translate Chinese Songs to Romanized Pinyin

2009-10-20T00:00:00.003+08:00

Here is a good news to all the non-Chinese literate people who likes to sing Mandarin/Cantonese karaoke! In simplified English, now you Bananas can sing Chinese songs! Do you like Jay Chou’s songs but have no idea what in the world he is mumbling about? Not enough time to jot down the Pinyin of the words to Jacky Cheung’s songs? Throw away all the hard work to learn a song!

All you need is the mp3 of the song you like and the Internet!

Here are 10 steps to translate your favorite Chinese (Mandarin/Cantonese) songs to Romanized Pinyin for your easy reference.

(If you already have the Chinese lyrics of the song, go straight to step 9)

1. Get the song file (.mp3 or .wma)

Is the song in its correct Chinese title?

If not, you need to tag the song. Otherwise, proceed to step 5.

2. To tag the song, get Winamp player. Download it from www.winamp.com

3. Enqueue the song in Winamp.

4. Right click on the song in the Playlist Editor. Select Send To and then Auto-Tag.

When it’s done, click on Apply Changes.

5. Download and install Minilyrics software from http://www.crintsoft.com/dl.htm

6. Restart your Winamp. Play the song and the lyrics will display in another window.

7. Right click on the lyrics, select File and then Save Lyrics As. Choose Unicode when you save.

8. Locate the saved file and open it as a notepad file.

9. Go to this link: http://www.kawa.net/works/ajax/romanize/chinese-e.html

10. Copy and paste the Chinese lyrics onto the light green box. Select the required translation of either Mandarin or Cantonese. Click on Get Pinyin Romanized.

You are now ready to sing your favorite Chinese song! Enjoy!

Ipoh Food: Restoran Florex RM3.80 Dishes

2009-10-17T12:00:00.000+08:00

At these times of economy slowdown, Restoran Florex, located in the former Lido Theatre building, offers some great "stimulus package" for food to the public. The very special priced RM3.80 per dish is now one of the most popular lunch and dinner choices for Ipohans. If you think that all the dishes are pre-cooked and reheated to serve then you are dead wrong. All of them are cooked as per ordered. There are about RM3.80 dishes on the menu for your pick and choose. The tastes? Slightly above average, any time, any plate.

The restaurant is located at Jalan Dato Onn Jaafar.

Complimentary chicken leg's soup.

Our usual dishes:

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A New Painting of Ipoh Old Town White Coffee (+ some Penang Paintings)

2009-10-14T18:57:00.002+08:00

Here's a new one from my uncle Khor Seow Hooi. Remember, there are no 2 same angles of the same building in his paintings.

Kedai Makanan Nam Heong

The rest of the entry is taken from a2artgallery.com.

The Plain Old Ipoh Chee Cheong Fun

2009-10-12T23:40:00.002+08:00

Ipoh Chee Cheong Fun. No mushroom sauce. No curry sauce. No green chilies. Just the sweet sauce. No other sauces whatsoever. Noodles only. Plain. With them sweet sauce. Truckloads of them. A dash of soy sauce and some oil. Those are the tops. Yes, some fried shallots and sesame seeds. I said no mushroom sauce but I didn’t say no fried shallots and sesame seeds. Give them to me. Truckloads. Ipoh Chee Cheong Fun, plain with soy sauce and oil, sprinkled with fried shallots and sesame seeds. Yeh, Top Dish. First choice. Any time.

Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Me*

2009-10-12T00:00:00.004+08:00

(Bonus point) #11
Sitting in my car as a kid, I used to look at house gates and identified if they are auto-gates. First house, normal gate! Second house, auto gate! Third house, sliding auto-gate!

#10
In 1998, I took a TDK 60-minute blank tape and dubbed Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing fourteen times over. (CDs and mp3s were not common yet). I included the song’s string intro and even the fading end on every song, because, well, I didn’t want to miss a thing. (heh)

#9
I can’t sleep without a pillow/bolster covering one of my ears. I have fears of insects going inside my brains to retrieve some hidden secrets of the world.

#8
The first time I ever spoke to a girl, socially? I was 14. I remember I spoke to her face to face but my feet, oh my feet. They were facing the other direction – the door. I was so nervous that I wanted to leave the room immediately.

#7
I was not allowed soft drinks, fried food or kacang puteh (some Malaysian, or is it Singaporean junk food) until I was 13.

#6
My middle left toe on my left leg is longer than the toe to its right. My middle toe on my right leg is shorter than the toe to its left. No mirror image then. That’s mean my feet no symmetry lor!!!

#5
I don’t know how to swim. Reason was: I was too busy learning other things as a kid. I was busy learning watching TV, using the VHS, eating chicken chop and recording cartoons.

#4
I became a Christian in 1995. No one asked me to be one. Somehow I wanted to join the church in my own will.

#3
I have never eaten giraffe meat in my entire life. Nor have I eaten tiger, rhino or antelope meat.

#2
Walking and eating Wall’s Cornetto ice cream nearby my primary school, I was looking for a garbage can to throw away the unwanted wrapper. I found one eventually. Inside the can, I also found a report that bore my name with the header titled “Standard 1 to Standard 6 Ambition Records”. Standard 1: Architect. Standard 2 to Standard 6: Singer. Now I know why I'm so messed up today.

#1
Before I chose my name to be as “Joseph”, there was another name that I took on for 41 days. For some reason I chose “Kenny”. Now, I don’t want to try to recall the reason why. Please don’t make me. Hmm, if I continued using that name, things would be different. http://kenkhor.blogspot.com???

*Originally titled Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Me That Probably Wouldn't Make Any Difference Even After You've Know About Them

Ipoh Food: Yee Fatt Curry Noodles

2009-10-11T00:00:00.004+08:00

Kedai Kopi Yee Fatt, located opposite the Methodist Girls' School (MGS) offers one of the best curry (dry) noodles in Ipoh. The dry curry gravy is quite rich in flavor and spiciness; mostly some paste of the best in curry goodness (whatever that means. Try the noodles and see if you agree with whatever that means). As the usual dry curry noodle goes, there are strategic sprinkled placings of char siew, roast pork, cockles, chicken strips and prawns on every plate. Finally, topped with some spearmint (or is it peppermint?) leaves, your dish is ready for your consumption. (for my case it's always smooth bowel movements after every plate)

Rating: 7/10

Since they did not name their shop as "Yee Fatt Curry Noodles" but "Yee Fatt Kopitiam" instead, it can only mean that they sell more than just that dish. Their deep fried yam dumplings ("wu kok") and egg tarts (er, "dan tart") were a small part of their extended menu. Their tastes were not too bad at all.

The location is at Jalan Kampar, Ipoh, somewhere near a temple and directly opposite Methodist Girls' School.

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Slow Down

2009-10-09T00:00:00.003+08:00

When it rains, it pours. When it pours, it's messy. When it's messy, I don't see any rush to clean things up. When there is no rush, that could mean inspiration is lying elsewhere unseen.

When inspiration is rediscovered, it rains.

The irony is I blogged like mad when I had no Internet connection at home. Now that I'm connected, the irony is that I mogged like blad. Or rather I have run out of things that I want to blog about. That doesn't mean I haven't any blog stocks. It's just that I don't feel like blogging them out. You know what I'm saying?

And the good news is, there will be no more movie reviews in this blog! I have moved them reviews to http://jkmovies.wordpress.com (still under construction)

Mr City, Policeman Sitting....

2009-10-08T17:32:00.002+08:00

It was close to lunch time. Coming out from my office, I was wondering with all my might: which is the fastest way to Sungai Siput? At one intersection, a traffic police was directing traffic. The light was red but a few cars on my left and my right drove on. So did I.

At that moment, I think the traffic police was actually Bruce Wayne in disguise! A rather fat one if I may add. I mean, since he was walking towards the direction of where my car was heading and I was almost going to bang him, that guy must be blind as a bat, right? Maybe he was shutting his eyes temporarily in his lunch hour sleeping-while-standing-and-pretending-to-direct-traffic routine.

His left arm was raised with his index finger out to signal the oncoming traffic to stop. Just as I was nearing him, I think he opened his eyes and he saw me. There was this very minor jerk in his body motion to hint that he was slightly frightened. It was ok because after all, he nearly got banged. (I almost did it! It was so close! Sorry, guys) Angrily he pointed at my car to stop by the side.

I wound down the window, put on the "first-time-got-stopped-by-a-cop look" and he came to me. I gave him the licence which he didn't even check for the expiry. Then I realised his right hand must be tired because he was resting it on my car door, palm facing up, the entire time.

He then spoke in his native language, "you know what your offense was? It was red light and I was raising my arm. That means you have to stop-lah! Very dangerous, you know. You could have knocked a few cars."

I was thinking "Hey pakcik, you only raised your arm after I drove past the traffic lights-lah. You blind or something??" Anyway since I put on that look I had mentioned earlier, I also spoke in that manner. I apologised a few times, admitting that it was my mistake.

Nothing much to do but to state the obvious. With his right hand still resting on my car door, he said he will issue me a compound that would cost me like RM300.00. So I used my usual respond. "Yes, I am in the wrong. Please issue me a summon."

A short pause due to an unexpected response from me, he asked me if I can afford to pay the RM600.00 compound. No, I didn't type wrongly. The fellow in white suddenly changed the price as though he is the chief of the police force. Then his right hand was no longer tired because he lifted it up and joined with his left hand to motion them being cuffed. "You can be in lockup, you know that?" he said. "I can help you, you know."

I could go to jail for passing a red light?? Wow, my acting must be like darn good. He really thought that I have never been stopped by a cop before!

His right hand became tired again, as it was rested the same position again. I gave the same answer "Sir, I went against the law. I committed an offense. So please issue me a summon."

Ah. For some reasons, he became a bit more friendlier. He returned my licence and very generously offered to let me go this time around. Somehow his tired right hand moved an inch closer to my steering wheel. Weird.

He asked for my name card and found out that I'm in the IT line. Shucks. Luckily my name card has the KL address. But my phone number was on it. He said he needed help with his laptop so he might give me a call some time. Let's hope not.

I should have captured his right hand's picture on my phone and then report Encik Mohd Bruce Wayne to the MACC or something.

Then again better not. I might accidentally fall down from 14 floors during the statement record process.

Raya with Singapore 2009

2009-10-07T00:00:00.002+08:00

Here are some notes to myself from my recent visit to Singapore. You may read them if you like.

Just because the bus company name reads Grassland in Chinese does not mean the bus is Grassland's. The authentic one is at Jalan Bendahara. A much better choice would be Sri Maju. Since Fireflyz return flight ticket is the same as a bus's, take that one instead. Saves your AAA batteries on your mp3 player on a shorter travel time.

Had radish cakes with fried and chopped 'chai po' (also radish) toppings with sambal for three breakfasts in a row! Still not bored of it yet. One of the best food discoveries for me, ever. Just remember it's at Toa Payoh or some of my unexplored parts of Singapore.

Stomach's filled. Now it's all about the music. No other place to go first but HMV's at Orchard Road.

Had lunch at Shaw Centre's East Ocean Dim Sum. The wait was surprisingly short (only 3 in front of us) and the food was surprisingly good. Another food discovery is the 'lau sar pau' which I shall look for in other dim sum outlets soon.

Chilled out with some coffee in front of That CD Shop opposite Shaw Centre. They blast some fine music selection; notably The Beatles' And I Love Her in bossa nova style.

Mr Bean (not Rowan Atkinson) is all around the island. Their soya bean ice cream is not bad, not bad at all. Now, any McCafe outlets around?

The newly completed $2Bil ION building was impressive.

Dinner was awesome. I have never tasted pork so fantastically in forms of ribs (with some pasta and pizza to complement). It was a place called Brewerks at Riverside Point which I was told that I missed viewing the brewing machine. Must view it next time.

Being a Saturday night, Clark Quay was an ideal place to be. As a male, I am obligated to say, that the chicks were OK but KL's better. ;) Feeling slightly sickish with Saturday night fever, I opted to chill out at The Clinic, a rather strange bar in CQ.

The Clinic is where they offer seats on wheelchairs and water drips filled with liquor to their patients. Oops, I meant customers.

Walking around the Esplanade, there were some great sights of the upcoming F1 Race preparations.

Sunday morning rain is falling... Not to misquote that brilliant Maroon 5 song but it was drizzling a bit. Had some radish cake with 'chai po'. Then we took a cab to City Harvest Church at the Expo.

The entry to City Harvest felt like entering a concert and yet it also felt like a bigger version of DUMC. The Pastor mentioned that attendance was 10,000 and it was only half full. (Most of the members had gone back to Malaysia for the long weekend.) Towards the end of the service, there was this special spiritual touch that I felt which was amazing. I could then understand why the congregation was growing so fast.

We took off to East Coast for lunch where I was given choices between Carl's Jr or Sushi Tei. Carl's Jr looked very much like a kid's nursery upon checking. Sushi Tei was the better choice.

I went all the way to Singapore and all I had was Old Town White Coffee???? I couldn't resist comparing the quality against their Malaysian counterparts.

They tell you to "take your time™".

But they ask you to "order quickly™". The whole place looks exactly the same as the ones in Malaysia. The white coffee tastes exactly the same. The service is exactly the same; the waiters continue to try their best to ignore you.

Meeting up with an Ipoh friend at City Hall Control Centre, we had Yakun's Toast at Raffles City. The Durian Ice Cream toast had some above average taste. There's a place nearby called Bras Basah Complex (wet ladies' undergarments?) which caters for art enthusiasts. Now I know where my uncle gets his painting materials whenever he visits Singapore. And the three guitar shops really inspired me, in the Jimi Hendrix kind of way, to pick up the guitar and play it 10 hours a day.

A walk to Suntec City via Citylink proved to be fruitful as there was an event called Gaming Convention Asia going on.

Cosplay is Interesting.

Incidentally, there was also an International Food Fair going on. Still, the gaming convention is more important. More important than food anyway.

My short-term dream of playing The Beatles Rock Band became a short reality as they had it at the GCA. Pandai-pandai I played the drums to I Feel Fine in Expert mode. Lost the game in 20 seconds flat. I guess it makes a difference because I play the real drums. (which could also make a good excuse for losing in 20 seconds) I think spent more than an hour watching people play that game.

I accidentally hailed a Mercedes taxi to Ang Mo Kio for Kimly Seafood for dinner. Hee hee.

Brewerks, Sushi Tei and now Kimly Seafood. They all have something in common: they serve out dishes, like, darn fast. How do they do it?

Anyway the Taiwan Wine Chicken is mouth-wateringly superb.

A walk to AMK Hub saw me face to face with some rascal kids. Oops, it's just a pie stall with interesting wordplay for a stall name called Pie Kia.

Back home to get more Wii and high-speed surfing.

A lunch meeting with my aunt and cousins at Plaza Singapura's Cafe Cartel. Cafe Cartel meant more pork and further pig's meat for food. Anyways, I haven't met my relatives in ages! Conversed with my cousins in English and my aunt in Cantonese. Switching like that doesn't really push the pride level up. Rather, it felt somewhat... erm, embarrassing. If only I could speak Hokkien or Mandarin then there was no need of that switch.

After saying our bye-byes, I finally treated myself to one of McCafe's ice blended drinks. Then I realised it was just Starbucks in McDonald's package!

This is the final day at Singapore after all.

I craved for some dessert for some unknown reasons. The Coffee Connoisseur at Millenia Walk serves some wicked sweets.

Just before leaving, we had dinner at Paulaner Brauhaus for some dishes associated with boars. Yepyep, more pork! Non-halal pork. (heheh) There were two gals performing; one playing the guitar and the other a violin. Harmonisation and song selection were very good. The interaction really needs improvement. The guitarist was telling so many inside jokes that probably only 2.5 persons in the whole world could understand.

Took a bus back on Sri Maju's at Golden Mile on Beach Road. This bus is 481 times better than the bus I took to Singapore. I had a personal in-bus entertainment to myself which I chose to watch that Hindi flick (my first Hindi movie ever) called Chandi Chowk to China. I couldn't finish the movie because the bus was so darn comfortable. I slept through the whole journey back to Ipoh. Hurrah for Sri Maju!

Taiping Food: Ansari Cendol

2009-10-06T06:00:00.001+08:00

It's a good thing that Ansari Famous Cendol is located near one of my client's place in Taiping town. The decision is difficult: should I have a bowl before or after visiting my client? It's almost too hard to resist having to give this answer: before AND after! The smooth and creamy-like sweetened coconut milk in shaved ice is a must-have for all cendol lovers visiting the town. They have a small little corner of a shop-lot just to cater for their customers. The service is good as their staff is attentive to every customer even if the shop is packed. You can have a bowl of the pictured below for just RM1.

Rating: 9/10

Ansari Cendol is located at Jalan Barrack, Taiping.

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Movie Review: The Pink Panther 2

2009-10-05T18:00:00.000+08:00

The question on everybody’s mind: “Was this movie necessary?” And “Heck, even the first movie wasn’t necessary!” The answer is yes, it was necessary for Steve Martin’s career. That poor old fellow hasn’t got a proper big budget movie since, well, Pink Panther 1. There was even a need for him to play banjo in 2009’s American Idol finale show. So it was more than necessary and people should go watch this movie and buy the DVD too.

Martin comfortably slips into the role of Inspector Closseau this time around and almost the entire cast from part one returns. Additional cast includes Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia and Aishwarya Rai, none which made an impression to this whole outing. Jean Reno, brilliant should he be in the right film, is criminally underused in PP2. The plot is simply a rehash of part one with a twist that we could have predicted 10 seconds into the film.

This is No Joke: In PP2, it is proven that Steve Martin comically excels if he is given sexual and racist jokes to handle.

This is A Joke: Inspector Closseau is a bumbling twit but sometimes he is exceptionally sharp. Consistencies, anyone?

Rating: 4/10

Top 10 Films Shot In Malaysia

2009-10-04T18:00:00.008+08:00

Hollywood and Chinese film producers have once in a while chose our shores as their filming locations. Why? I think the better question is: why not? Here are some of the more memorable ones I have seen in my entire life of movie watching:

10. Young & Dangerous 5

My name is Datuk Dr Tan Sri Yang Amat Berhormat, erm, I forgot my given name-lah.

Trust on Hongkies to make accurate subtitles. Especially when talking about me.

Sample Conversation between Hongkies and a Malaysian # 371

Y&D5 showcases a fictional cooperation between the triads of HK and Malaysia. Malaysianism is extended in Paul Chun Pui's Malaysian character: complete with baju Melayu and a songkok. The memorable key scene is from Shu Qi's attempt to chat Ekin Cheng up at Restoran Soo Kee near Jalan Imbi. That scene alone is enough for Hongkies to deduct that Malaysian girls are rather shameless and cheap whenever they meet handsome Hong Kong guys.

9. The Romancing Star

Good ol' Bas Sekolah!

It's not that they weren't up to date. The song they were singing really had the word "Malaya".

A very long time ago, "Penang" was really a world-famous place to visit. Then decided Chow Yun Fat, Wong Jing, Fung Shui Fan, Natalis Chan and Eric Tsang to come over to pick up girls, the classic way. If you watch the DVD, you'll see Chow pretending to be a king on a Penang beach. A decade later, he would return to our shores to act as a king (Anna & The King).

8. Entrapment

That's Connery saying "Poo-doo".

Connery: Why exactly do they 'pull' the tea?
Rhames: I suppose it's because they can't really 'push' the tea.

I'm sure that the Malaysian man is looking at the wrong place. Look in her eyes, you idiot!!!

Oops, I forgot where I nicked this pic from. Whoever owns this, can I use this?

Ever since "Spider-man" Alain Robert scaled our Twin Towers a month ago, the once tallest buildings in the world had their last international publicity during the release of Entrapment. There were two major fallacies that only Malaysians would know of. Firstly, the towers were superimposed as the background of some filthy and rather eyesore Malacca River. Secondly, the Bukit Jalil LRT station was renamed as Pudu station. I'd rather hear Sean Connery say "Poodoo" than the excruciating "Bhoo keeht jar li'l". Sadly rather, everyone remembers Entrapment for the scene where Catherine Zeta Jones' going through some security laser beams.

7. Lust, Caution

Many of my Ipoh friends saw this with their own eyes. I never did.

I ain't sure where this is, but it feels very Ipoh-ish.

This is where used to wait for my bus after school! Now this is where I pay my credit card bills.

"You are not sheltering my left arm, you Lust, Caution actress you!"

I still wonder why Ang Lee chose Ipoh as one of the shooting venues for Lust, Caution. My question is definitely of a non-disapproval one if I may add. This international espionage film would have allowed Penang and Ipoh to be in a worldwide exposure, that is if Lee allowed it to happen. Rumors had it that just after Lee and his crew wrapped up filming, our authorities demanded to screen through every single reel that were shot here. before they left for their home country. Apparently, they were afraid of another case of The Twin Towers superimposed with the Malacca River. What? Were they afraid that Ipoh White Coffee would be superimposed with the ah kuas of Jalan Belakang Ocean? That impossibly stupid act of our officers prompted Lee to vow to never shoot in Malaysia again.

6. Police Story 3 (aka Supercop)

"You use guns? I use fists, you know."

"I am gun crazy! So sue me!"

Now I know why she became Dato Michelle Yeoh.

Jackie Chan has some close friends in Malaysia for the longest time so it's only a matter of time that he would make a movie here. If I remember correctly, this was one of the films that helped catapult Michelle Yeoh to international stardom. It pays to go back to your roots, you know. A fine Hong Kong action film by all means, as it was made during the height of Jackie Chan's HK movie career.

5. Anna & The King

"Boy, sit to the left a bit. I need more space."

"Gawrsh, your palms are sweating!"

It was truly a blessing in disguise for fellow Perakians when the Thai authorities disallowed the shooting of Anna and the King in their country. Going slightly to the south, they picked a place called Batu Gajah as their venue of shoot. That would mean unnecessary high amounts of money paid to local people to work as their crew. Approximately 281 of my Ipoh friends were involved in this production. The opening scene where two Siamese ladies walk out of the palace gates, one of them was my aunt! As a finished product, A&tK did not really make a good impression to the box office nor the critics. Was the heat to be blamed?

4. Summer Holiday

Just as she arrives, she uses a very suitable word to say.

A rare picture of Sammi and a Malaysian flag.

What do you say eh? Richie Jen singing that fella on his left's (that means your right) songs!

Fresh after the breakout success of Needing You (with Andy Lau), Sammi Cheng goes to a perfect holiday location for a summer movie. It was aptly titled Summer Holiday! For Malaysian viewers, there was evident that there were close collaboration with our local actors and actresses. Everyone was hoping for another Needing You from this film. SH wasn't as good as NY but still enjoyable, nevertheless.

3. The Sleeping Dictionary

Now there is one guy in the picture that wishes his shirt is off.

The hottest Iban girl I have ever seen.

"Yo! How much did you pay for those tattoos?"

Just because the film was set in a period prior to Sarawak joining Malaysia, the local peninsular fellows did not even mention or screen this in our own cinemas. A soon-to-be-famous and extremely hot Jessica Alba plays an Iban girl whom is a "sleeping dictionary" to Hugh Dancy's character. A sleeping dictionary is one who sleeps with a foreigner while teaching him the language and habits of the locals. Now that is an amazing fact that all Form 4 students should learn in their history text books! The film itself is a classic, with high aesthetic values to boot.

2. Road To Dawn

"Crawl on. You missed cleaning that spot."

Isn't that Melissa Ann Campbell from A&tK? No, it's Lee Sin Jie.

Winston: I think I'm a better dancer than Chow Yun Fat in A&tK.
Lee: So what? I think he's better looking than you.

This film marks the first China production entirely shot in Penang. Road to Dawn is responsible for some of the well-restored heritage buildings that you see in the island today. Dr Sun Yat Sen's historical visit to our shores was rather accurately depicted in this 120 2007 outing. Penangites born who lived between 1930s to 1940s would weep in joyful tears in a screening of this while reminiscing their golden years.

1. After This, Our Exile

That's a teksi you're looking at.

This kid won the Best Newcomer Award.

Look! There is a Proton Wira in the background!

There are a few reasons of this film being number one on this list. Firstly, I am not sure if Aaron Kwok has lived in Ipoh before, but his portrayal of a lesser educated man struggling to be good father while barely making ends meet, is very, very accurate. (I know some of these characters in real life.) Secondly, the storyline is loosely based on a Malay folk tale of a parent encouraging his child to commit crimes. (the ending of the story involves an ear bitten off, if you get what I mean) Thirdly, Charlie Yeung and Aaron Kwok speaks Malaysian Cantonese which involves Malay words like "bas sekolah, duit and tolong" and phrases uncommon to Hongkies ("you know or don't know?" in Cantonese). Finally, the cinematography truly pays justice to the Ipoh scenery. This is truly an amazing "Malaysian" film.

Honorable Mention: Zoolander

This film's plot lies in Will Ferrell brainwashing Ben Stiller to assassinate *gasp* the Prime Minister of Malaysia! In this film, Malaysia is a Chinese country where children are used as illegal child labors. And in this film, the Malaysian Prime Minister is a Chinese. Oh, and Ben Stiller speaks Bahasa Malaysia in Zoolander too!

Kuala Kangsar Food: Restoran Yat Lai

2009-10-04T00:00:00.002+08:00

Restoran Yat Lai is one of the very few Chinese food outlets found in Kuala Kangsar. The shop is handled by a pair of twins; one usually in the kitchen and the other manning the cashier. And to further strengthen the muhibbah concept, they employed a Muslim girl as one of the waiters.

They offer four different flavors of 'pau's. Home-made red beans (literally), kaya, curry beef and roast chicken are the different fillings you could make your effort to travel there for! Best way to guarantee your purchase is to call 05- 776 6369 to make reservations in the mornings. You can collect them anytime between 2pm and 6pm.

Rating: 8/10

The Hainanese chicken chop, my personal favorite, is one of the specialties of Restoran Yat Lai. This dish is slowly becoming a lost art, so I always make it a point to drop by whenever I'm at KK. The crispy fried skin of the chicken and the onion strong gravy defines the Hainanese flavor, separating it from the conventional chicken chop dishes.

Rating: 9/10

If you're thinking of arriving early to beat the crowd, I've got news for you. They only serve lunch from 1:30pm onwards.

Address is 51, Jalan Kangsar (formerly known as Main Road), 33000 Kuala Kangsar.

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Movie Review: He’s Just Not That Into You

2009-10-03T12:00:00.000+08:00

Based on a self-help book, this film starts off with a few common relationship situations involving nine people that somehow are interrelated with each other. The story picks off fine but somewhere in the middle, the plotlines start to press on the formulaic pedal a little too much. See, the Hollywood writers always love to write plot structures that would end up in favor of the majority of the audiences. Don’t let the script fool you like how Houdini did, everything just gets in the place where they are expected to be. Having that said, it’s not a bad thing given that this is after all a romantic feel-good comedy.

And so, what is Jennifer Connelly doing in a comedy? First of all, it was pleasant to see her in a relaxed role, after all her emotional roles in movies that required her of so (even Ang Lee’s Hulk didn’t spare her of that range). Then it became interesting to watch her act like the other Jennifer in the movie. Being Aniston is indeed no easy feat. Connelly almost failed to pull through in her first argument scene with Bradley Cooper, which she quickly realized and repositioned her focus in no time. It took me a while that she, amongst the five lead actresses, was the one holding the comedic role! Yes, she did make me laugh.

All the other eight actors were at the best at being mediocre, which could be the perfect remedy to a well balanced rom-com. Whenever Aniston and Affleck are onscreen, I couldn’t help but to term the Bennifer wrongly in my head! Justin Long generously unleashes his popular weapon of being the interesting talker as it was evident in many of his previous outings. And my other favourite girl Johansson; why does she always have to play the sexy seductress? Well, I do find her sexy and she seduces me all the time, but erm, that’s no excuse to always let her play that part.

This is No Joke: Bradley Cooper, oh Bradley Cooper. He gets the role where he is loved by Connelly and seduced by Johansson. I want to be Bradley Cooper!

This is A Joke: Nothing can save a politically-correct rom-com from being gay-free can it?

Rating: 7/10

All These Places Have Their Moments Part 4

2009-10-02T18:00:00.000+08:00

These are ways that I would like to remember Penang when I'm old! The final of the Penang series, these were taken somewhere near Khoo Kong Si.

Ipoh Food: Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun

2009-10-02T00:00:00.002+08:00

Arguably, this place houses, literally, one of the most famous Chee Cheong Funs in Ipoh. A hawker cart on wheels is placed in a house where the aunty chops and prepare the noodles in her own pace of time while her husband steadily prepares the noodles for replenishing. There is also Thai Otak-Otak sold by a Peter whom also acts as a customer pacifier at most times.

Business starts at 1:30pm daily (except Sundays and Wednesdays) and I arrived at 2:30pm. I was given an number to indicate my turn which was number 25. At that time she was only serving number 8! An average customers orders 10-30 packets easily and usually they are for take-away.

The magic lies in the freshness of the soft and thin rice noodles which are prepared on the spot. The noodles are generously complemented with fresh shrimps and dried shallots, along with soy sauce and sesame seeds for fragrance. Customers are given choices of chili sauce, sweet sauce or a combination of both.

Customers are advised to bring along patience to eat at this place!

Rating: 8/10

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Movie Review: Beverly Hills Chihuahua

2009-10-01T12:00:00.001+08:00

Hong Kong movies, especially those earlier ones with Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, would have to get dubbed entirely in American English, complete with an American soundtrack in order to pass the American Bill of Acceptance before any wholesome viewing gets through. After all, these movies were originally shot for the Chinese viewers’ demographics and simply having subtitles would do a lesser justice.

As for Beverly Hills Chihuahua, this movie was intended for dogs to watch (Chihuahuas in particular). The directors, producers and screenwriters must have gone through doggie advisors before getting on with the final cut. I’m sure the test audiences all barked with approval in unison. Having such positive response, I guess the only thing left is to dub it in American English, complete with an American soundtrack and release it in the US. Oh, they could do more! They could animate the mouths of the dogs so it could appear that the dogs were really conversing in human language.

Just kidding.

The voice actors really did great jobs by projecting their voices to imagine how the dogs in their right breed would speak, if they could really, except for Drew Barrymore. Her vocal acting was done in order that she would sound like, well, Drew Barrymore. I wonder if anyone told her that she was voicing a dog?

This is No Joke: Check out the deleted scenes about how Chihuahuas played a role in history. Great stuff but unfortunately removed from the final cut.

This is A Joke: Drew Barrymore’s voice acting. It’s a joke, really.

Rating: 6/10

I Just Wrote It Like That

2009-09-30T12:00:00.004+08:00

I am writing this because I am become surround with much poor English in my place area. Because they write and speak English poor & they also types poory. Somes is quiets smarts because they thinks by addeds ‘s’ at the back or behinds the words, they are knowing how to use ‘s’, that’s mean they’re English’s better than they’re mother, father & uncle. And then somemore, they say they’re English are correct one. What I try to do is I try to write a story here using they’re English like that. I’m not try and make fun of they’re English. This’ because last time when I small that time, I also speak and writes like that. Then that time I also thinks I’m championship of the English premium leak.

Any way, is not easy to write spoiled English like is really break already you know. I can tries generate by use yahoo translater or diksyennuri buts I come out wrong or like factories manyfracture like that. I thinks if to be able to types like that, is like art like that, like Mona Da Vinci or Picossa Hut. So if can, I try to emu-lake that kinds of art, can?

Because this is a Malaysia country, we people is mix already, together with many not same of language. Chinese, Hokkien, Malay, Indian, Tamil, & even cicak language. There, that one we all together at mamak there, the customer sitting on chair there make some cicak sound so the macha/thambi waiter will arrive on his table. But hor, I will tried with not including those of Hokkien, Malay or Tamil word in my story-lah. After all, my tuisyen teacher last time fit me with rotan and scolds me don’t listening to muzik when he teaching tuisyen.

If you think you are not interesting to read my stories onwards, maybe you can eat durian. Last week my church got one man preach there, he said he went to durian farm and then he eat the durian there until he die. Because got to many durian, cannot finish.

Yesterday I take and listen to my father CD. That CD got classic muzik, got Mozart and Chopping inside. Then I open the CD box and I read the word there, The Jewel Standard Is Hidden. If I taken it & show the America man, he one determine will say “where has meaning?” So I examine the Chinese word but I’m studied in St Michael, is English school, but I don’t understand Chinese word also. Today world, we got internet. I place the Chinese word, cut & paste on yahoo translater, then the English word come out as “The Jewel Standard Is Hidden.” Maybe is because I buy the CD for my father in the night market, I paying RM10 only for Mozart & Chopping.

Some people, like got this blogger that always tokkok one. He purposely wrongly spell English word but make it look interest. That fler is good. Naermind la, doesn’t try to be him any way.

Unsure of what to write further, I translated the text using babelfish.yahoo.com from English to simplified Chinese.

因为我是与恶劣的英语的成为的周围在我的地方区域，我写着此。由于他们写并且讲英国恶劣的& 他们也键入poory。 Somes是沉寂smarts，因为他们由addeds `s'认为在后面或behinds词，他们会使用是手段他们比他们母亲，父亲&是好英语的`s'，; 伯父。然后有些，他们说他们英语是正确一个。什么我设法做是我设法写这里故事使用他们是英语象那样。我不是尝试并且不取笑他们英语。这的，因为上次，当小的I计时时，我也讲话和写象那样。然后那时候我也认为我是英国优质泄漏的冠军。任何方式，不是容易写被损坏的英语象真正地是断裂您已经知道。我可以尝试由用途雅虎我出来错误或喜欢工厂manyfracture象那样的译者或diksyennuri buts引起。我认为能是否键入象那样，是象艺术象那样，象莫娜・ Da Vinci或Picossa小屋。因此，如果能，我尝试到种类艺术，能的鸸湖？由于这是马来西亚国家，我们人们已经是混合，与许多一起不是同样语言。汉语， Hokkien，马来语，印地安人，泰米尔语， & 甚而cicak语言。在那里，那一个我们一起全部在那里mamak，顾客坐那里椅子做某一cicak声音，因此macha/thambi侍者在他的桌将到达。但是hor，我将试验过与不包括那些在我的层lah的Hokkien、马来人或者泰米尔人词。终究我tuisyen上次符合我rotan并且责骂我不听muzik的老师，当他教tuisyen时。如果您认为您不是有趣向前读我的故事，您能可能吃留连果。上星期我的教会得到了一个人讲道那里，他说他去留连果农场他然后吃那里留连果直到他死。由于有许多留连果，不能完成。昨天我采取并且听我的父亲CD。那CD的得到的经典muzik，得到莫扎特和砍里面。然后我打开CD的箱子，并且我读词那里，珠宝标准掩藏。如果被采取它的I & 显示美国人，他一个人确定将说“有意思的地方？” 因此我审查中国词，但是我在圣迈克尔被学习，是英国学校，但是我也不了解中国词。今天世界，我们得到了互联网。我安置中国词，削减了& 在雅虎译者的浆糊，英国词然后出来“珠宝标准掩藏”。可能是，因为我买我的父亲的CD在夜市场上，仅支付RM10的I莫扎特& 砍。某些人民，象总是得到了这blogger那tokkok一。他故意不正当地拼写英国词，但是做它神色兴趣。那fler是好。 Naermind la，不设法是他任何方式。

Unsure of what was translated, I translated the translated using the same translator engine.

Because I am periphery which and the bad English becomes in mine place region, I am writing this. Because they write and speak British bad & They also enter poory. Somes is quiet smarts, because of them by addeds `s' Thought that in behind or the behinds word, they will use will be the method they compared to their mother, father & Is good English `s' ; Uncle. Then some, they said that their English is correct one. Is assorted I to try to do is I tries to write here story to use them is English likely such. I am not the attempt, and does not tease their English. This, because of previous time, when small I time, I also speak and write likely such. Then I also thought at that time I am the British high quality divulging champion. Any way, was not easy to write English likelihood which damaged is breaks you already to know.

may attempt by use Yahoo! I come out wrong either like factory manyfracture likely such translator or diksyennuri buts cause. I thought that can whether to enter likely such, is likely artistic likely such, likely not Da Vinci or Picossa hut. Therefore, if energy, I attempt the type art, can er lake?

Because this is the Malaysian country, our people already were mix, with many are not the similar language together. Chinese, Hokkien, Malay, Indian, Tamil language, & Even cicak language. In there, that we in there mamak, the customer sit there chair to make some cicak sound completely together, therefore the macha/thambi waiter will arrive in his table. But hor, I will have experimented and not including these in mine level lah Hokkien, the Malay or the Tamils word. My tuisyen previous time conforms to my rotan eventually, and scolds me not to listen to Mr./Mrs. muzik, when he teaches tuisyen. I

f you thought that you are not interesting read my story forward, you can possibly eat linger the fruit. Last week my church obtained a person to explain religious doctrine there, he said that his remove or retain fruit farm he then ate there to linger continually the fruit, until he died. Because has many lingers the fruit, cannot complete.

Yesterday I adopted and listen to my father CD. That CD obtains inside classics muzik, obtains Mozart and chops. Then I open CD the box, and I read word there, the jewelry standard hides. If is adopted its I & Demonstrates the American, he determined that will say “the interesting place?” Therefore I examine the Chinese word, but I am learned from Saint Michael, is the British School, but I do not understand the Chinese word.

Today the world, we obtained Internet. I place the Chinese word, reduced & In the Yahoo! translator's starch, the British word then comes out “the jewelry standard to hide”. Possibly is, because I buy my father's CD in a night of market, only pays RM10 I Mozart & Chopping. Certain people, always obtained this blogger that tokkok likely one. His locality does not spell the British word intentionally, but makes its look interest. That fler is good. Naermind la, does not try is his any way.

Upon checking out dictionary.com, I found out that they have an English to Malay translator engine.

Kerana aku pinggiran yang dan yang buruk di Inggeris menjadi tempat lombong daerah, aku menulis ini. Kerana mereka menulis dan berbahasa Inggeris buruk & Mereka juga boleh memasukkan poory. Tenang Somes kecerdasan, kerana mereka dengan addeds `s 'Pemikiran bahawa di belakang atau Perkataan pantat, mereka akan menggunakan kaedah yang akan mereka berbanding dengan ibu mereka, ayah & Adakah baik inggris` s'; Paman. Kemudian beberapa orang, mereka mengatakan bahawa mereka benar satu inggris. Adakah berbagai macam aku untuk cuba lakukan ialah saya cuba menulis cerita di sini untuk menggunakan mereka adalah bahasa Inggeris seperti itu mungkin. Saya bukan usaha, dan tidak menggoda Bahasa Inggeris mereka. Ini, kerana waktu dahulu, ketika waktu aku kecil, saya juga berbicara dan menulis seperti itu mungkin. Lalu aku juga berfikir pada waktu itu saya Inggeris juara memberitahu high quality. Cara apapun, tidak mudah untuk menulis inggris kemungkinan yang rusak adalah istirahat anda sudah tahu.

Saya akan berusaha dengan menggunakan Yahoo! Aku keluar salah manyfracture baik seperti kilang penterjemah atau mungkin seperti tapian diksyennuri penyebabnya. Saya pikir yang boleh apakah akan masuk kemungkinan itu, kemungkinan besar kemungkinan artistik seperti itu, kemungkinan tidak Picossa Da Vinci atau pondok. Oleh kerana itu, jika tenaga, saya cuba jenis seni, boleh eh tasik?

Kerana ini adalah negara Malaysia, orang-orang kita sudah ada campuran, dengan banyak yang bukan Bahasa serupa bersama-sama. China, Hokkien, Bahasa Melayu, India, Bahasa Tamil, & Bahkan Bahasa cicak. Di sana, bahawa kita di sana mamak, pelanggan kerusi untuk duduk di sana membuat beberapa suara cicak sepenuhnya bersama-sama, maka Macha / thambi pelayan akan tiba di mejanya. Tapi hor, aku akan bereksperimen dan tidak termasuk dalam tambang ini lah tingkat Hokkien, Bahasa Melayu atau Perkataan Tamil. Saya tuisyen waktu dahulu sesuai dengan rotan saya pada akhirnya, dan tegur aku tidak mendengar Bapak / Ibu. muzik, ketika ia mengajar tuisyen.

Jika anda berfikir bahawa anda tidak menarik membaca cerita saya ke depan, anda mungkin boleh berlama-lama makan buah. Pekan lalu gereja saya diperolehi seseorang untuk menjelaskan doktrin agama di sana, beliau mengatakan bahawa memadam atau mempertahankan ladang buah ia kemudian makan di sana berlama-lama terus buah, sampai ia meninggal. Karena memiliki banyak lingers buah, bisa tidak lengkap.

Kemarin aku diadopsi dan mendengarkan CD ayahku. Bahawa dalam memperoleh CD muzik klasik, memperoleh Mozart dan daging. Lalu aku membuka kotak CD, dan saya membaca kata di sana, menyembunyikan standard perhiasan. Jika ini mengadopsi I & Menunjukkan Amerika, dia bertekad bahawa akan berkata "tempat yang menarik?" Kerana itu Aku menyemak Perkataan cina, tapi saya belajar dari Saint Michael, adalah British School, tapi aku tidak mengerti Perkataan China.

Hari ini dunia, kami memperoleh Internet. Saya menempatkan Perkataan China, mengurangkan & Dalam Yahoo! penterjemah pati, Perkataan Inggeris kemudian keluar "standard perhiasan untuk menyembunyikan". Mungkin ini, kerana saya membeli CD ayahku di sebuah pasar malam, hanya membayar RM10 aku Mozart & Memotong. Orang-orang tertentu, selalu diperolehi blogger yang tokkok ini mungkin satu. Lokalitas Nya tidak eja Perkataan Inggeris sengaja, tapi membuat yang terlihat bunga. Fler yang bagus. Naermind la, tidak mencuba adalah cara apapun.

Finally a last translation to see what my original text had become of.

Because I am a marginal and poor english in the place where the mine area, I write this. As they write and speak English poorly and they can also enter poory. Somes calm intelligence, because they addeds with `s 'thinking behind that word or pantat, they will use methods that they compared with their mother, father & What` s good english'; uncle. Then some people, they say that they are a true english. Are various I try to do is to try to write my story here is to use their English language as it may. I am not a business, and not tempt them English. This is because first time when I am small time, I also speak and write it as possible. And I also think at that time I told the English champions high quality. Any way, not easy to write english probably is damaged you already know the rest.

I will work with Yahoo! I am out of manyfracture good as factory or translator may like Tapian diksyennuri cause. I think that what will be possible in that, very likely possibility of such artistic, probably not Picossa Da Vinci or huts. Therefore, if energy, I tried to kind of art, can eh lake?

Because this is Malaysia, our people have been mixed, with many similar language that is not together. Chinese, Hokkien, Malay, Indian, Tamil, and even language lizards. There, that we are there mamak, clients seats to sit there making a complete voice lizards together, so Macha / Thambi servers will arrive in mejanya. But hor, I will experiment and not included in the fare level is the best Hokkien, Malay or Tamil words. My tuition time to our strokes on my end, and I do not hear tegur Bapak / Ibu. music, when they teach tuition.

If you think that you are not interesting to read stories to my future, you may be able berlama-old eating fruit. Last week I obtained a church to explain the doctrine of religion there, he says that to remove or retain fruit farms and eat it there berlama-old fruit continues, until it died. Because it has many Lingers fruit, can not complete.

Yesterday I diadopsi CD and listen to my father. That obtain in the classical music CD, Mozart and get meat. Then I open the CD box, and I read the words in there, hide the standard jewelry. If this is adopted I & shows United States, determined that he will say "an interesting place?" Because I check the Chinese word, but I learn from Saint Michael, the British School, but I do not understand the word China.

Today the world, we get the Internet. I put the word China, and reduce the Yahoo! Nuance essence, then English word out "to hide jewelry standards". Maybe, because my father bought the CD at a night market, I only pay RM10 Mozart & Trimming. Those particular blogger who always offered tokkok this one may. His locality not intentionally misspelled English word, but make the flowers look. Fler good. Naermind la, is not trying in any way.

Ipoh Food: Seng Kee Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun

2009-09-29T18:00:00.003+08:00

Nearby Ipoh's Stadium Indera Mulia, there's a row of hawker turned food court that houses one of the best Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun in town. With delicious smooth and thin rice noodles made and steamed on the spot, they have fresh prawns and barbecue roast pork wrapped inside. They are complemented by a well-rounded mix of soy sauce and topped with fresh aromatic chopped fried shallots.

Rating: 8/10

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Movie Review: Ashes of Time Redux 東邪西毒：終極版

2009-09-29T06:00:00.001+08:00

This 15-year old film has its masters taken out and had retouches done by Wong Kar Wai himself, with the excuse of having to screen it the way it was intended to be. I remember I did watch the original version when it came out but have no recollection of any scenes whatsoever. George Lucas re-released his first three Star Wars with added CGI effects with the same excuse to enhance the film. The reasoning was logical as there were insufficient amounts of technology to do so back in the late 1970’s. Lucas creatively added digital drawings of spaceships, soldiers, robots and buildings. Wong, on the other hand does not add these features in. Instead, he corrects and enhances most of the technical aspects of the film, especially in the colors department. Additionally, new music is added as well.

Was that all necessary? Yes in many ways. To Wong Kar Wai and his legion of fans alike, it’s a celebration. Ashes of Time Redux feels like a new movie that was produced and released in 2009.

Viewers get a treat because we get back old school Hong Kong actors in action (maybe except Brigette Lin) in this era of too many China-Hong Kong productions in store. These eight actors appear onscreen in their prime (Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Kar Fai, Jacky Cheung, Carina Lau, Lin, Charlie Yeung & Maggie Cheung) with authentic action choreography from Sammo Hung. The elected winner is Christopher Doyle, in my opinion. His cinematography feels like the 9th actor or perhaps as it residents itself to tell Wong’s story. Instrumental is a word too mild to describe Doyle’s involvement.

Story wise, there is Wong Kar Wai-ism from beginning to the end, which as always, there is no proper beginning and end. The first 20 minutes might get viewers to ask infinities of ‘why’ which Wong would answer by stages as the story unfolds. His answers are there but they may also result to nothing which may rid you from the tiring ‘why’s. If we get not too caught up on the storyline and get immersed in the emotions of each of the characters, we may get a slight glimpse of Wong’s vision of his narrative.

This is No Joke: An almost excellent cinematography for a Hong Kong film.

This is A Joke: Martial arts scenes are blur of a mess, simply to mask the actors’ non-kungfu backgrounds.

Rating: 8/10

Maggie Cheung

Charlie Yeung

Carina Lau

Brigette Lin

With A Little Help From My Friends Part 2

2009-09-28T06:00:00.002+08:00

There were indeed great memories that I had from KL with my friends. Like how I can complete my Beatles album collection because they are no longer around, I now can do the same to the KL Friends collection album because I’m no longer there.

6. This was during one of my church sub-zone meetings held inside the newly completed church in PJ. If I'm not wrong, the date was 11th of January and it was in room 111. As an ice breaker, were playing some sort of game which required us to paste an A4-sized '1' at the back of our shirts. This is one of the few photos which has my back showing, something I don't see very much!

7. My cell group outings again. We watched a lot of movies as a cell, (top to bottom: Children of Huangshi, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Heartbreak Kid) and I always brought my camera along to capture some of the most common and not extraordinary moments on film. At earlier days when I had many free tickets at disposal, there were almost compulsory movie outings two or three days before the ticket expiry dates. Since I left the cinema industry, the movie outing organiser was defaulted to my name somehow!

8. It was our cell leader's xxth birthday so we thought of getting her a special gift that she would remember. One of my cell-mates (sounds like prison huh?) thought of getting her some giant Lego blocks that could contain pictures of all her cell group members. Myself being the unofficial photographer of the cell group gathered all the best pictures of each member (IMHO of course), cut them out accordingly and voila, we got the above result.

9. This is one of the few office dinners I had during my stay in KL. Supposedly a farewell for one of my colleagues then we discovered that another colleague's birthday was on. What surprised me and made my effort to organise the whole thing's worth was to make another discovery - it was the first time he ever had a birthday cake in his life. Nevertheless, Restoran PJ Unique Seafood had darn good dishes that day.

10. Another outing with seafood! Somehow I don't really like seafood but I always ended up eating them. We, the enam-sekawan (one's missing from the pic) became friends as we were working in the same building at one time. Now that we are officially working not in the same building (except for all the girls), we occasionally gather for events like food, drinks, food and food sometimes. This was to celebrate two birthdays which both of them received t-shirts of words of wisdom. "I'm a nice guy, I'll finish last" and "Sex without love is exercise."

Ipoh Food: Sun Thong Chew Bak Kut Teh

2009-09-27T12:00:00.002+08:00

Sun Tong Chew offers Bak Kut Teh with one of the best tasting soups around. The meat is fresh, tender and juicy, all just right to complement the delicious soup. One of the special treats is that they have fu-chuk (bean curd strips) that, unlike conventional bak kut tehs that have them plain, STC serves them with dried processed fish as its fillings. I still prefer the usual plain fu-chuk though.

Rating: 7/10

You can find this at Jalan Chung Thye Phin, Ipoh.

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Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2009-09-27T00:00:00.003+08:00

Halfway into the film, it almost felt like I was watching an alternate version of Forrest Gump. Both Gump and Button had stories of their respective extraordinary lives to share which the difference is in Button’s more believable story events. When we heard that Infernal Affairs/The Departed had a ridiculous plot (a story with the good and bad guys having moles at each other’s premises?) Benjamin Button had also given that first impression. Thankfully we have Fincher’s excellent vision to tell a somehow absurd story which did not result the usage of the fast forward button to reach to the ending.

Button’s story is told in a series of flashbacks, beautifully capturing the period of the era and accompanied by apt selection of classical music. Brad Pitt envisions and brilliantly portrays Button in many motions of experiences of his misled outlook to all that is around him. Cate Blanchett who was in a class of her own was quite unfairly placed in the shadow of Pitt. Who can blame him? It was after all a curious case of the audience to watch Benjamin Button. While there are possibilities that we may never get gripping thrillers from Fincher in forms of Seven, Fight Club or Panic Room again, all is forgiven with masterpieces like Benjamin Button.

This is No Joke: The effects of Brad Pitt’s reverse ageing. Amazing stuff. Also, watch out for that what-if sequence about an accident as narrated by Button in the middle of the film. That’s Fincher-ism onscreen.

This is A Joke: The final 10 to 15 minutes somehow felt rushed. Perhaps it was due to a non-appearance by one of the lead actors?

Rating: 8/10

Here Comes The Sun King

2009-09-26T00:00:00.002+08:00

Once upon a time, there was a DVD seller called Chrome Town who came from a neighboring island called Xingarpure which is just right below and 23 steps walk from Mahdayxhia. It was selling a lot of DVDs, really a lot, if you don’t mind me saying. Then trotted along a man, with hair on his head and with a girl’s name on his name tag (amongst all things that contain his name.) He went by the name of Amanda Christian but not necessary is he a Christian, though he could be, but he was not. But what we would know that all the DVDs he sold were originals. Amanda had cash in his hands, his pockets, his wallets and his Aprilbank, Junebank and Julybank savings accounts more than other people with hair on their heads.

Amanda then decided that he should pick Chrome Town up and filled himself with much hope of sowing the seeds of it in Mahdayxhia where DVD selling is pretty much a foreign word to the vocabulary of Mahdayxhians. Mahdayxhians were a happy lot, probably because they are a bigger-landed place. They were a happy lot and they were whistling with delight to the contentment of having VCDs, original and unoriginal ones. And so, along with Amanda’s huge, gigantic, enormous and big umbrella company called “Telok” Company, “Telok” Chrome Town was formed in the land of Mahdayxhia.

Telok Chrome Town (TCT) was first planted in a giant air-conditioned building called MainFirst. And me oh my, it was a big, big celebration of success because many Mahdayxhians, who are usually sitting, stood up and walked to see what TCT in MainFirst was all about. They were all ‘gasps’, ‘goshes’ and ‘wows’ because never before Mahdayxhians saw a DVD selling place where everything was so fresh and new.

Oh did I tell you about Chrome Screen VCD that was the heart of the contentment of Mahdayxhians? Yes, you guessed right. CSV was like your friendly neighborhood, say, the Indian barber across the street or maybe Chinese tailor behind that Indian barber. Oh hey, that Indian barber could be sharing half a shop with the Chinese Tailor. Or not. Unaffected by development, they continue to sell happily in small little towns where doors are never locked and Monday nights are as dead as door knobs. CSV was a happy community in small towns.

Sadly and with lesser smiles, CSV became a less happy community when TCT came to the big town. Many content folks were hopping and skipping their way to TCT, hoping to taste some fresh new DVD experience. Slowly and slowly, CSV became a smaller and smaller community but never mind that because they were happy for the content people who became happy people when they tasted TCT. CSV continued with their old fashioned way of selling VCDs and never scratched any part of their heads to think of ways to improve themselves. No no, not a single scratch, mind you.

TCT, was becoming virtually bigger than itself and was thinking of becoming literally bigger than itself. So they planted more and more in air-conditioned places like Sunday Triangles, Mobil Triple Towers and Crung Hill King. TCT was quick to follow CT from Xingarpure to have features-a-fancy, with the likes of the 7-in-1 DVDs, stadium surround sound DVDs and even used the Internet of “triple-double-U”s to promote their DVD selling.

Amanda oh Amanda. How could Amanda not be happier, we asked?

Along came a place called VidMarrey who is building a giant air-conditioned building like MainFirst. And oh, VM is not like MF. VM is building their building in a place where few cars pass by and motorcyclists have no inkling of the place. It’s in the middle of nowhere and the back of somewhere but it leads to everywhere and you can go in from anywhere. MF had them nice little florists, money changers, toy shops and DVD shops. VM saw and knew what they liked. They also wanted nice little florists, money changers, toy shops and DVD shops. And they knocked on TCT’s door and invited them to join them. But as you/he/she/me would be taken by surprise, TCT very well quite rejected their request.

“Why not?” the VM GM asks.

“Why yes?” Amanda answers with a question.

“Oh sir, would you be so kind to give us an answer so we could sleep soundly without counting up to 129 sheep,” pleads the VM GM.

“Oh, er, erm, your place is very near to Mobil Triple Towers. We cannot let ourselves affect our own businesses. And now are you clear?” answers Amanda.

And so the VM GM sadly walks away with an answer that he would need to count up to 128 sheep to fall asleep. Lo and behold, the sad walk ignites a bright shining light bulb theoretically appearing above his head.
“Ting!” the light bulb proudly says.
“Let’s look for CSV!” an idea he had no idea that would be ideally the greatest idea he had ever idea-ed.

Now VM GM had a space lesser and we began to call him VMGM to reduce keyboard taps. VMGM swooshed, wooshed and swooshed again to the door of CSV’s little office in a little town nearby.

“Knock, knock,” said VMGM.

“Who’s there?” CSV asked.

“Abby,” replied VMGM.

“Abby who?” CSV asked again.

“A business proposal for you!” exclamation-marked VMGM.

And CSV invited VMGM for a cup of tea on a square table with two chairs on its side. For minutes, hours, seconds and whatever a clock may be measured by, they joked, laughed, discussed, cried, talked and played Gin Rummy until they came out with the greatest DVD release plans ever! When they were playing Gin Rummy, a favorite game amongst Rummy addicts, VMGM saw that there were 9 cards in a stack and another 9 in another. Then VMGM had an epiphany.

“We shall have an 18-in-1 DVD release in VM!” shouted VMGM while accidentally revealing his cards.

“Ooh lala, Mamma Mia!” CSV recalled his Abba song lyric.

“And yes, we will put at least one foreign film in that 18-in-1!” VMGM shouted again with some creativity smirk on his face.

And with that VidMarrey, the latest giant air-conditioned building was built, complete with nice florists, money changers, toy shops and that never seen before 18-in-1 DVD release! VM was now opened to the happy people all around. When they saw CSV in VM, they were amazed with much ‘goshes’, ‘wows’, ‘gasps’, ‘woohoos’, yippees’ and ‘goodnessgraciousgreatballsoffire’ words coming out from mouths aplenty! Many happy residents of TCT, big or small, tall or short, stupid or clever, neurotic and schizophrenic, were slowly migrating from TCT to CSV.

Now, Amanda was not afraid nor he had fear. It was because he thought that he would still remained as the king of DVDs. Or so he thought.

Everyone loved the 18-in-1 DVD. People travelled from near and far to buy the DVD! Some chartered a bus, while others took days’ of walking from the Northern region of Mahdayxhia just to taste this much talked-about DVD. You see the new CSV DVD shop was a friendly shop. Everyone went there and felt happy and yet content. Mahdayxhians who went to TCT were only happy, not content.

Many major cash-holders were intrigued by VM, Sunday Triangles and Mobil Triple Towers. So these cash-holders wanted to release some cash and made some more giant air-conditioned buildings. First it was SuccessMultipleCircle who wanted to have CSV and they got CSV. Then it was VaPillion, who would later become the most loved giant air-conditioned building in Mahdayxhia, who wanted a DVD shop. VaPillion somehow invited TCT to open a shop first. Amanda thought for a while and then made a decision.

“No way Jose. VaPillion is too near Mobil Triple Towers. Are you kacang-kacang?” digressed Amanda.

No other choice, was it? VaPillion was then host to the greatest, biggest, bestest, proudest, flagestshippest and toppermost to the poppermost CSV in the history of giant air-conditioned buildings. More and more people became happy AND content. Just like the birds going from south to north, the migration of TCT citizens to CSV was almost complete.

CSV became a happy community again and they trained more and more friendly people to serve the happy and content people who visited CSV over and over and over again. Even the existing old CSV huts in the smaller towns became happy again all because they had the name CSV on their huts’ foreheads.
Amanda was still happy but lesser than before. After all, to him, he was still the king. Deep inside, he knew that he wasn’t the king anymore, nor the queen or the prince. But he still proclaimed he was the king. So Amanda brainstormed his brains to the stretchest stretch and the fullest squeeze. He made new ideas like the scratch-proof DVDs, multi-colored DVDs, DVDs that could heat up your cold lunch, DVDs that could fetch your newspaper in the mornings and DVDs with 18 different language subtitles. However, as innovative as he could be, people were still cha-cha-ing, moonwalking and salsa-ing to CSV by the herds.

Amanda was furious and he wanted some results to become king again. He pressured the managers of TCT for results.

Then the managers of TCT scolded the DVD outlet managers for results.

Then the DVD outlet managers blasted the DVD sellers for no reason.

Then the DVD sellers were rude to the happy customers to vent frustration over their de-motivation course from their outlet managers.

Then the happy customers became angry customers. Some of the angry customers were Amanda’s friends so they called, phoned, texted, sms-ed, mms-ed, Memory Lane-ed, Gmail-ed, Yahoomail-ed and DHL-ed him to make known of their disappointments.

Amanda was furious so he pressured the managers again. And the managers scolded the outlet managers. And so on and so on. And that became a vicious cycle which they did not know what the solution was. The solution was pretty simple and everyone could see. Well, everyone saw, except themselves. Even if they saw the solution (that I’m about to reveal to you), they would deny of the solution.

The solution was simple as it was always easy, not hard and never difficult. Why, it was what CSV was practicing all the while. What and how did CSV do it, you ask, he asks and she asks? (Unfortunately, it was a question not asked by TCT’s management.) CSV made sure that everyone was happy so they applied absolutely no pressure to their managers. CSV treated the managers like how a mother treats her son or how a dog licks her puppy.

The managers, pressure-less and usually in high spirits always patted on shoulders of their outlet managers by recognizing their achievements and not take into account of their failures. Well, their failures were taken into account of course, silly me… just not totally nor entirely used as measure of their performances.

The outlet managers also became an extraordinary happy lot, constantly skipping and hopping to their offices to report to work. Shoulders patted, they also many a times chatted with their DVD sellers, making them feel valued, appreciated and to some, existed!

The DVD sellers, some which their existence was felt, went forth to share their new-felt experiences of existence to their customers. All done with generous pinches of smiles, friendly-ism and warm-ality.

These content customers now have fully transformed to another type of customers. They were now the new and improved content and PLEASED customers. They had rhythms of hahahas, hohohos and heeheehees implanted at some parts of their bodies, minds and souls and their payback was approachably simple- they returned for more and spread words of mouths, like butter and jam on bread.

So we have come past four paragraphs without mentioning TCT already and what would these upcoming sentences bring to attention? There was little speculation and like a predictable movie plot, you/she/he/they would know that we were going to talk about, yessiree you guessed it right: TCT. What state was TCT in, after four paragraphs? Definitely not the state of Pennsylvania mind you. It was the state of disbelief.

These-a-days, it was all sentences beginning with “When we were kings” left and “when we were kings” right to any conversations stroke. Mr Christian now has less hair on his head is still selling DVDs. When he was king, he was king. Now from this story, you and I know that we have a new king. But good thing it is or bad, this very king would never sit down kingly to call himself king. They would just continue to make content and pleased customers because, they know, that this sentence, full of commas, that, the customers, are king.

Ipoh Food: Pasir Pinji Fresh Bread

2009-09-25T06:00:00.005+08:00

There's a little house in Pasir Pinji that sells fresh breads by the loaves. The catch: they only sell at night. These loaves are hand baked via high pressure wood fire, as you can see on the below picture on the right.

The bread cutter uncle offers to cut the bread which usually what every customer requests for. There are choices of either with or without bread skin. And the price is only RM1.20.

The bread is as fresh as you can imagine it to be. The skin is a must-have with it being exceptionally crispy. The bread itself is a testimony to what bread eating is all about, which is a true classic taste of bread with softness from its freshness.

Since it's not a shop and there is no signboard above, I can only use pictures to identify the place. The above was taken at night while the below is during broad daylight. The street name is Jalan Sultan at Pasir Pinji, Ipoh.

Rating: 8/10

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Movie Review: Sex Drive

2009-09-24T18:00:00.002+08:00

This movie feels like a combination of Road Trip and the American Pie series. Good thing is, Sex Drive is done in better taste while keeping along with the veins of the said movies with an almost too similar plot of a young male virgin in search for sex via a long drive. Hence, the ambiguous title, which got me to realize after the credits rolled.

Josh Zuckerman is a reminiscent of Jason Biggs, only lesser on the fumbling and losing department. His two companions on the drive are pretty generic as companion actors, and nothing else. James Mardsen, again in another you-gonna-hate-him role this time does a Terry Crews by overreacting at every scene. The script has genuinely funny events thrown in at different corners in an interesting pace to keep the 90-minute run out of dryness.

This is No Joke: Seth Green’s sarcastic Amish character steals, like, a lot of scenes.

Rating: 7/10

Amanda Crew

Moonlight Resonance 溏心風暴之家好月圓

2009-09-24T00:00:00.000+08:00

As the most successful TVB drama serial in their history ever, this one does really deliver. I have never really gotten myself to faithfully watching as many episodes on DVD as I can whenever I have the free time! Featuring almost the whole cast from Heart of Greed (where is Yoyo Mung?), this one takes place in a moon cake bakery instead of the abalone business.

Comparing structures, HOG and MR have the same plot outlines; just the characters and settings have changed. MR was supposed to be a sequel to HOG but it had to be an indirect sequel due to some deaths in the plot of HOG. Being a sequel means it’s a bigger and better everything of part one.

There are some episodic patterns in the storyline, as though it’s following the west. A majority of the episodes start with a storyline issue and the issue is resolved within the same episode. They do have some episodic cliffhangers though, but not often. It’s kind of like Friends kind of continuity and I do quite enjoy that concept.

(Possible spoilers below)

The first fifteen episodes were really disc movers for me and I have lost count of how many times I was touched with tears with most of the scenes. The middle part was a bit repetitive of the first 15 episodes mostly dealing with Aunt Salina’s failing tries to steal money or how Aunt Hong tries to break their Mum Hor’s family apart but getting backfired in the end. Then there is this ongoing fickle-minded relationship of Dr Yu So Sum/Chow between Goon Ga Jai and Dr Ling. Thank goodness for the fast-forward button. The final 10 episodes picks up steam again and got me excited to see how the story comes to an end.

Favourite scenes of mine include Lin Zhi Yong’s working with Mum Hor again and when he went to the airport to see his sister, how Mum Hor reconciled with Dad Jo’s mum and how Aunt Salina changed into a better person and praying to the cross! I kinda pity the ‘villains’ though. Sometimes I feel that MR is written based on viewers’ votes because most of the time, the good guys win.

Dad Jo: I have always liked to see him being cheerful, bonding with his children and then suddenly breaking down in tears. Did that win him the TVB Best Actor award 2008?

Mum Hor: Always, and always the righteous one, the viewers seemingly never get bored of it. I don’t. Her character is really a pillar for the whole storyline.

Aunt Hong: She hardly loses her cool and she plays a kinda evil character that was driven by occurring circumstances. Her hairdo is distractingly dopey but that did not stop her from winning the TVB Best Actress award 2008.

Aunt Salina: She is born to play the villain! If she does any other roles, she might go unnoticed. She is given more to say this time around as compared to in HOG. IMHO, she should have won best actress because she could annoy, irritate, make you hate her, then win back the audiences’ heart and even to certain extent make you like and sympathise with her. Plus, she provides the most laughs.

Grandma: A welcomed addition to MR’s cast, she is another motor mouth, although and older one.

Ah Kar: A drastic change against his character in HOG, I kinda like his couldn’t-care-less attitude in this outing. Plus, he lost a lot of weight too. Nice to see him less tensed this time around.

Ah Hou: Always in character as a not-so-educated man, he is fast earning his way up in the TVB male actors’ ladder. More screen time as compared to HOG, which is a good thing.

Ah Yuet: My favorite actress in this whole series! She won the best supporting role for this and I think a few more serials and she could graduate her way to HK movies! That is, if they still favor HK actresses. And erm, I think she is very pretty.

Ah Yuen: Sporting better hair than in HOG, he doesn’t do much until the end of the series. Nothing much to say about his acting though.

Ah Hing: I almost forgot that she had a part in HOG because it was so minor. Playing a mute girl, she really shines in her role here. Is it me or she looks prettier when she doesn’t speak?

Ah Choong: I think he was in merely the fill the quota of having six children in the family.

Dr Yu So Sum: I saw one of the forums that she was voted the most annoying character in MR. I agree. Sadly, the role written for her could have gotten her on the wrong side of popularity.

Lin Zhi Yong: Louis Yuen was supposed to play this role, so I have always imagined him doing what Wayne Lai would do. I think Lai would be better for this role.

Dr Ling: Nothing much that I could say good about him because I always fast forward whenever he is onscreen. He really needs to work on his speech delivery because it always seems like he is short of breath.

Ga Mei: Ok, so she got the villain’s role. But does she have to make it so predictable of what she plans to scheme? Not really a welcomed addition for me.

Yen Ji: Basically it’s the same as Ling Po’s role in HOG, the character who follows wherever the money goes. Louise excels in that sort of role.

Finally, the music usage is pretty well-cued and many familiar Chinese songs were used throughout the series. Raymond Lam’s ‘Love is not Enough’ is not exactly my favorite song but it is still stuck to my head for some time now. Susanna Kwan’s opening song’s theme and melody fits the entire series’ mood of the story and comes on at the right time when an episode ends.

It was indeed a wonderful experience going through 40 episodes of MR. Let’s hope they do a third one with the same cast again.

Penang Food: Macalister Road Sisters Char Kuey Teow

2009-09-23T06:00:00.002+08:00

This place houses the very, very, very famous Sisters Char Kuey Teow known from all over Malaysia and even Singapore. Expectations of the good taste is indeed very high as I stepped into the shop for my breakfast. And they delivered the exact taste that I had expected. One of the specialties of Sisters is having some shredded crab meat on top of every plate they serve. There are no modifications allowed; that means you can’t have fried Kuey Teow with Mee (yellow noodles) or Bee Hoon (vermicelli). There are also other stalls in the same shop that are not afraid of being in Sisters’ shadow. I gave a try to the yam cake which was only so-so in my taste buds’ opinion.

Char Kuey Teow rating: 8/10

Yam Cake rating: 6/10

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What Would You Do If They Sang Out Of Tune?

2009-09-22T06:00:00.001+08:00

Karaoke wedding dinners, you gotta love them or you gotta loathe them. Sitting through three solid hours of guests lining up to sing onstage gave me no choice to write this Top 10.

Top 10 Things About Wedding Dinner Karaoke Singers

10. There are some (senior ladies especially) who sing because they have been training at home for years. They feel that it’s time to reward everyone with their precious voices and songs. Therefore, everyone is expected to watch and hear her sing in the same manner that you would watch Leonardo Da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa.

9. There are some who can’t hold a tune properly but will turn up on stage several times just to ensure everyone witnesses their enjoyment onstage.

8. There are some who can sing extremely well as though you are listening to the original song. These karaoke singers have the appearances akin to Lydia Shum, Maria Cordero, Rosie O’Donell and Susan Boyle.

7. There are some gorgeous ladies who look like Paris Hilton or Megan Fox who would somehow sing on stage. The only problem is that they sing in keys of H, J#minor and new keys that would be invented on the spot.

6. There are some who would select songs that are so very popular, namely My Heart Will Go On, I Will Always Love You and Without You. These overplayed and familiar songs in our minds would be butchered with surround speakers at the very moment you were enjoying your Fried Prawns or Shark’s Fin Soup.

5. There are some who would choose synthesized disco numbers made popular by Kelly Chen and Sammi Cheng. I’m not sure if they know that their microphone isn’t synthesized.

4. Refer to #8, there are some of these singers who, when the song is in Cha-cha mode, they would also be dancing on stage while singing the song. The dance could be Cha-cha oriented or was it Do The Crab Walk?

3. There are some with great voices but no have no sense of tempo whatsoever. Either they are deaf or they were only listening to themselves singing because they would have finished singing 2 minutes before the song actually ends.

2. There are some who would select the best choice of songs during a WEDDING dinner like 好心分手, Let It Be, Goodbye, Without You and Yesterday.

1. There are some or at least one fellow who wouldn’t go up and sing but instead sit down to think of what to write Top 10 Things About Wedding Dinner Karaoke Singers on his blog.

Movie Review: Hairspray

2009-09-21T18:00:00.001+08:00

There seem to be many musicals from Hollywood lately, namely: High School Musical 3, Sweeney Todd, Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny, Enchanted, Across The Universe, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Mamma Mia! Hairspray falls in the same veins as HSM3 and they both even have Zac Efron in the cast. If Hairspray was intended to bring smiles to its audiences, I’m sure it would leave that impression on them as they leave the cinema halls. The storyline pretty unconventional as it celebrates obesity, sorry, diversity and reminds us how African-Americans have come a long way to be no longer Negroes.

It was great to see Michelle Pfeiffer in a delicious villainess role here as she reunites with former Grease II dance mate John Travolta. Christopher Walken, always a pleasant entry in any movie he does, shows us some of his moves from Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice video he did sometime ago. Zac Efron is the same character you see from the High School Musical series, disguised with a costume and hairstyle from a different era. And James Mardsen, he for once has a character that is likeable after all his outings.

Adam Shankman gets my thumbs up for a fantastic choreography and direction.

This is No Joke: As much as Travolta’s character is overhyped to promote the film, almost all of his/her scenes were really the highlights.

This is A Joke: All of the songs gave me instant likings to them but unfortunately none stayed memorable.

Rating: 7/10

The Man Of A Thousand Voices Singing Perfectly Loud

2009-09-21T02:15:00.000+08:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Ipoh Food: Joseph Khor’s Ginkgo Barley

2009-09-21T00:00:00.004+08:00

This is the first and hopefully not the last of my how-to series which begins with the fu-chuk barley/ginkgo barley.

List of Ingredients:

6 liters of water
20 pieces of ginkgo nuts
2 pieces of fu-chuk (bean curd skin) (get those that can be dissolved in boiling water)
5 to 10 pieces of pandan leaves
250gm of rock sugar (reduce if necessary)
6 tablespoons of barley
100gm of dried sugared winter melon

Preparations:

1. Ensure that the ginkgo nuts are peeled, with the seeds removed.

2. Soak the fu-chuk (bean curd skins) in room temperature water.

3. Wash the pandan leaves and knot them for easy removal later.

4. Rinse the barley seeds with water.

Notes:

1. You may use normal coarse/fine sugar if you want. I prefer rock sugar.

2. The sugared dried winter melon strips are for fragrant purposes. They may be removed after the ginkgo barley is done. In any case, they are optional.

Method:

1. Boil water with fire at high temperature.

2. When the water boils, throw in the knotted pandan leaves.

3. After 10 minutes, pour the rinsed barley into the boiling water. Lower the fire temperature to medium.

4. After 20-30 minutes, check if the water has absorbed the barley in. (check for water color) If yes, it’s time to put in the fu-chuk (bean curd) strips. Turn up the fire temperature to high.

5. The fu-chuk strips should be in the dissolving process. When the fu-chuk is no longer visible and the water is soya-bean/milk like, dissolving is complete.

6. Throw in the sugared dried winter melon and the rock sugar. Remember to keep the temperature high and periodically stir so that the sugar won’t stick to the bottom of the pot.

7. When the rock sugar is fully dissolved, the ginkgo barley drink is ready for serving.

Hot serving with barley and ginkgo is recommended while cold with ice is recommended with all ingredients discarded, leaving only the barley drink.

Rating: 10/10 (first ever 10/10 rating in this blog!)

Everywhere People Stare Each And Everyday

2009-09-20T06:00:00.003+08:00

Ipohans

I-po-hans (i-poh-hahns)
-noun
- people sitting down in restaurants or coffee shops that will unashamedly stare at you when you walk in.

Apart from their uncanny ability to drive very slowly on the roads, they also like to do the above. Happens almost every time I walk into some coffee shop! I most likely will find a guy (or two) who was probably sitting there for quite a bit, looking at me. So I pretend to look elsewhere and turn back for a quick check. True enough, the stare is still there. I stare back and he just continues with his eyes.

It’s not like that in KL (unless you are a darn hot pretty gal or some well known male actor or something). And in Hong Kong, they don’t even think twice about not looking at you at all!

They give me the creeps! They give me paranoia! They cause me unnecessary schizophrenic outbursts! They give me a reason to write Top 10 Things That Come To My Mind When Some Ipohans In A Coffee Shop Stares At Me When I Walk In:

10. Is my fly undone or is it true you wanna follow my fly style?

9. Stare what stare? Something wrong with my hair?

8. Is Ipoh really that small that you have seen everybody who lives here and it’s the first time you saw me?

7. Do I owe you a lot of money?

6. I just look like him. I’m not him. No way.

5. Nothing else animated for last 5 hours?

4. Are you gay? You think I’m gay?

3. Have we met before?

2. Do you do this to everybody or just me? Even if you do it to everybody, it’s still not fine!

1. (censored)

Penang Food: Gurney Drive

2009-09-19T12:00:00.000+08:00

It’s an implanted knowledge the name Gurney Drive overshadow its reputation for having good food. However it was one of the few places that I know where you can get fresh cendol in the night time.

The first stall’s cendol has everything a bowl cendol should have. Except that it lacks in tasting good.

Rating: 5/10

The fried chicken skin is a sinful savor but I was just looking around for a snack.

Rating: 7/10

I wasn’t going to leave this place until I get another bowl of cendol with the rating that is above 5/10. This time I forgot to take a photo of the stall but it’s somewhere five or six stalls to the left of the previous cendol stall.

Rating: 6.5/10

Over here, every stall has a signboard to proclaim they are famous for something, notwithstanding this Apom stall. The apom tasted great.

Rating: 7/10

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Movie Review: Dragonball: Evolution

2009-09-19T00:00:00.002+08:00

There are just so many things wrong with this film so I’ll just talk about its merits. The two Chows from Hong Kong do us Asians proud with Yun Fat quite splendidly delivering his portrayal of Muten Roshi, who is arguably one of the best performers in D:E whereas Stephen sits on the producer’s chair. Like Forbidden Kingdom, the martial arts in the film is authentic and thankfully we don’t need to sit through the first half by seeing how Justin Chatwin fails so miserably then gradually turns from zero to hero. It’s nice for a change to see that it is a case from hero to invincibility.

Diehard fans of the Dragonball comic book series have been reportedly over-disappointed with this adaptation. Myself having zero association with the comic book series find this outing pretty disappointing. Everything just could have done better.

This is No Joke: Stephen Chow’s production was much felt in the opening martial arts scene when he aptly applies the same fighting effects he developed for Kung Fu Hustle. Sadly, that’s about all the brilliance in his touch in this film as it all fizzles later on in the film.

This is A Joke: Isn’t this supposed to target the kids’ demographics? Why did all the three female leads display so much cleavage all round the movie?

Rating: 4/10

Emmy Rossum looks very unlike Emmy Rossum in D:E, which is not necessary a bad thing!

Emmy Rossum

All These Places Have Their Moments Part 4

2009-09-18T06:00:00.000+08:00

Located very near to Swatow Lane’s New World Park, Nagor Road boasts with some very well restored buildings which were far too yummy for my fingers and my camera to resist.

Ipoh Food: Cendol Wawasan at Tesco Bercham

2009-09-17T12:00:00.000+08:00

Probably the best cendol I have ever tasted in my entire life, this one is available at Tesco's Bercham. Reasonably priced, this stall is always packed with customers whenever it's open for business.

This guy in green probably has eyes behind his back. It's hard for me to make my order face to face with him so I have to stand behind him. "Cendol pulut satu, makan sini", I tell him. He doesn't reply or look at me to identify my looks. I sit down on a plastic chair behind him and minutes later, he serves my cendol pulut according to my turn amidst many people waiting.

My personal favourite is the cendol pulut, where fresh glutinous rice is added in. This is one of the very few stalls who have Nata De Coco as part of the ingredients. Recommended servings are the Cendol Biasa and Ais Kacang special.

Rating: 9/10

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You Became A Legend of the Silver Screen

2009-09-16T18:00:00.004+08:00

Back in the 90’s when Hong Kong became the world’s third largest film distributor, I never got tired of seeing these lovely Hong Kong actresses on screen. When movie piracy was widespread like nobody’s business, suddenly these actresses were nowhere or lesser to be found on HK films. Now we see more of China actresses with Cantonese dubbing instead. How I miss the old days.

Brigette Lin

Although not from Hong Kong, there was a rumour that she was forced to act by mobsters. Even that she was a legend of the silver screen much like Gong Li. Like Jet Li, she didn’t learn to speak Cantonese so every Cantonese dialogue requires dubbing.

Carina Lau

She did make a comeback to the big screens sometime early 2000, although her acting styles are rather limited that time around. There’s no denying that her onscreen presence has the aura to overshadow whatever shortcomings there are. I think she still can return to HK films if she wants to.

Charlie Young

She took a break in the late 90’s and returned with notable fares like New Police Story, All About Love and After This Our Exile, all with big stars with the likes of Jackie Chan, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok. Where is she now?

Cherie Chung

A darling of the HK film industry in the 80’s, she is currently active with advertorial shoots lately. Time has been good to her as she has aged gracefully.

Chingmy Yau

Infamous for being most in Wong Jing movies only, she disappeared from acting after the critically acclaimed Hold You Tight in 1998. I have always enjoyed watching her comedic roles plus she has quite a cute face too. Not many people know of this, but she came to officiate the opening of the very first TGV Cinemas (formerly known as Tanjong Golden Village) outlet in 1 Utama back in 1995.

Faye Wong

No doubt she’s a better singer, it was always nice to see her on the big screen. Memorable fares are mostly from Wong Kar Wai’s productions where it feels like she was born to act for him.

Joey Wang

Of all the girls here, I find that she’s the prettiest of all. Anytime at all, I’d welcome her back to HK films!

Maggie Cheung

For the sake of art, she ventured her acting further to some European countries. I’ll always remember her for her funny roles in Wong Jing films in the 80’s.

Michelle Reis

Arguably the most recognized Miss Hong Kong internationally; she owns a face that most would vote to be the prettiest. Heard that she’ll be appearing in a Chinese movie soon!

Rosamund Kwan

Showcasing her comedic abilities in Mighty Baby saw her return to HK big screens in 2000. She usually paired with Andy Lau on the big and small screens.

Cheung Man

She has always acted with Stephen Chow in her earlier movies. IMHO she is one of the better looking actresses that graced the HK big screens in the 90s.

Vivian Chow

A poster/pin-up girl in the 90’s. She has her fair share of her acting in both the big and small screens but if you watch Greed of Man (starring Adam Cheng Siu Chau & Lau Ching Wan), you’ll agree with me that she has decent acting chops.

All These Places Have Their Moments Part 3

2009-09-16T00:00:00.000+08:00

All along Lebuh Pantai is perfect spot for avid photographers as it has many heritage buildings beautifully preserved by many foreign banks and companies who are occupying the lots. It was a Sunday morning and I saw a few people equipped with SLRs to correctly testify to what I prophesied in the first sentence of this paragraph. I experimented with my photoshop tweaks with the selected photos that I had taken.

Penang Food: Pulau Tikus Eat Street

2009-09-15T06:00:00.000+08:00

I didn’t know that Pulau Tikus had eatery life at night until I read an old article about Penang food from The Star newspaper. Having breakfast at Pulau Tikus in the mornings is ritualistically a must for me whenever I visit the island. The “eat street” at night is home to some of the best Penang hawker food specialties. My personal favorite was the Char Hor Fun (like Wat Tan Hor, without the eggs, with Char Siew and fatter and improperly cut hor Fun (rice noodles) that taste much better when slightly over-fried) which I randomly selected from two stalls selling the same product. It was a lucky pick as it tasted fantastic. Another Penang favorite was the Char Kuey Kak (fried radish cake) which was somehow below average in my ratings despite the stall being quite busy that night. The highlighted food from The Star was the Ku Chai Kuey, which were more or less stuffed dumplings with clear skin. Tasted fine, he says, but not the best he ever had.

Char Hor Fun rating: 8/10

Char Kuey Kak rating: 5/10

Ku Chai Kuey rating: 7/10

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Christ, You Know It Ain’t Easy

2009-09-14T06:00:00.000+08:00

You can’t smoke. You can’t cheat. You can’t take drugs. You can’t use foul language. You can’t curse. You can’t use your middle finger if someone overtakes you on the road without proper justice. You can’t watch porn. You can’t ask someone to clock in for you if you are late for work. You can’t claim over state your overtime claims. You can’t slander against someone you hate. You can’t slander against someone whose face you don’t like. You can’t gossip about people. You can’t bribe that fellow in white suit and black boots if you commit traffic offense. You can’t gamble. You can’t go to numbers forecasting centers to make bets. You can’t bet on horses. You can’t go over the speed limit on highways. You can’t visit prostitutes for their services. You can’t tell lies unless your lies can save lives which in that case your good deeds will cover for your lies. You can’t not give your tithes on Sundays of which the offerings are not included. You can’t have sex before marriage. You can’t ignore a brother in need. You can’t heed your boss’s order to falsify statements. You can’t cheat on your parking coupon times. You can’t judge against any living person. You can’t work on Sabbath days. You can’t use a lit joss stick. You can’t worship idols. You can’t buy your diplomas, degrees and PhDs. You can’t imagine someone you hate being in an accident because that equals to murder.

Who said it isn’t demanding being a Christian?

Bodyguards & Assassins 十月围城 (China/ Hong Kong)

2009-09-13T18:00:00.000+08:00

This upcoming release from Peter Ho Sun Chan and Teddy Chen looks like an extremely well polished effort! Sadly, no Hong Kong ladies found but thank goodness for the eye pleasing Fan Bing Bing! Hong Kong heavyweights present are Tony Leung Ka Fai, Eric Tsang, Donnie Yen, Leon Lai and Nicholas Tse. Based on the individual character posters alone, they all appear to be cast against type, except for maybe Tony Leung. The backdrop looks like the same set from Ip Man but who cares? Can’t wait for it to hit the cinemas!

With A Little Help From My Friends Part 1

2009-09-12T18:00:00.000+08:00

1. I remember this was Cell Colors Week in my KL church (Damansara Utama Methodist Church, DUMC, at that time in Sea Park) where all cell members are supposed to wear the same colored shirts and sit together. I was in Kingdom of Heirs cell group where we agreed to wear green/greenish on that day. I searched my wardrobe and no green was to be found! Just before I attempted to cover myself with ample amounts of banana leaf to church, I went to Sungei Wang’s Reject shop instead to buy a green t-shirt instead. That was the first time, from cradle to date, that I wore a striking green t-shirt!

2. During my KL church cell subzone leader’s wedding, our dress code was purple/pink/something like purple/pink. After the morning’s celebration we gathered against a purple wall to pose for GQ magazine, where we weren’t supposed to smile. After the first shot, we shouted “don’t smile!!!” to those who, you know, smiled. After the second shot, “please-lah…. Don’t smile, please” was pleaded in the name of photography. The photographer was tired after the third shot when the bridegroom came to save the day in the fourth shot. Ok, so we all smiled on the fifth shot before the Milo vending machine breaks down due to camera shyness.

3. This was taken at Yuen’s Steamboat Restaurant at Sunway Mentari. It wasn’t a farewell/birthday/wedding anniversary/promotion gathering of any sort, it was just a normal gathering that they always have! I remember that I had just finished dinner at Jaya One, then rushed over there just in time to see them finish eating. Being a Friday, my cell group members just finished their meeting so I went to see them back at Jaya One again at Halo Café. TGIF?

4. It was my twenty-xxx birthday so my colleagues from my first job in KL threw a dinner at one of Sunway Pyramid’s all-you-can-eat outlet. My boss always nagged about me not wearing a necktie in the office so I got two of them as my presents. He even helped to put them on. That was how insistent he was. (come on, an IT executive wearing a tie all the time?)

5. One of the best treasure hunts I have ever had was when we went in four teams to Cameron Highlands in 2006. The team photo was taken in Bandar Baru Medan Ipoh when we just submitted our answers. Just before we submitted them, we compared and copied all our answers to garner each of our teams at the top 10 spot, much to other team’s disapproval. Thank goodness they didn’t complain about us, which I had heard that someone wanted to! Whilst waiting for our results, we killed time by playing games, taking photos, making jokes and decapitating.

Ipoh Food: Restoran Happygain Hakka Mee

2009-09-12T00:00:00.002+08:00

The delicious Hakka Noodles of Restoran Happygain is a Sunday morning must for me. (unless I’m away, of course) Formerly located next to the current Hong Leong Bank along Jalan Yang Kalsom, they have been in business for more than 40 years. The distinction of their product lies in the tangy noodles that are filled with the taste that properly defines Hakka Noodles. The noodles are already enough to die for but they have some killer ‘liu’s namely the Ipoh specialty ‘sar kok’, assorted ‘fu chuk’ with stuffings, beef balls, fish balls and beef with soup.

Rating: 9/10

Find this place at Jalan Hussein, behind Jalan Yang Kalsom's Chinese Methodist Church.

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And In The Middle of the Celebrations, I Break Down

2009-09-11T00:00:00.002+08:00

Today I heard that the services we attend every Sunday (or Saturday depending on where you go) should be called “celebrations” as some churches are already calling them. This is simply because we go to church not to be “serviced” but to celebrate what God had done for us for the past six days. Putting some thought in, I have got to admit that statement does kick some sense in. Agreeing with that statement, I was thinking what have I got to celebrate about for the past six days?

Aside from the fact that I’m still alive and I had my daily meals, I couldn’t really find anything to celebrate about. There wasn’t anyone to blame except myself. I haven’t really done much except to entertain myself with DVDs and blogging. Reading the word has been dry and I couldn’t find the premises to hear from Him.

Much later in today’s sermon, I was reminded to love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength. How about my neighbor? I’m supposed to love my neighbor as myself. After writing the past article about my perception towards people who want to make friends with me, I realize that it would be a tedious process for the realization for me to love my neighbor as myself. I am in the state of loving myself too much to let go to release some love for others. But then again, who is my neighbor?

Ask not who my neighbor is, but ask who am I a neighbor to.

There is one guy whom I briefly know from childhood, with our parents being friends. We weren’t close friends as kids. 10 years later, we saw each other again and he found out I was working in a cinema and he called a few times for help to get tickets. I went to KL and never heard from him again. When I came back to Ipoh, somehow he heard that I was back and so he got my number and asked what company I was working for. I work for an IT company and he told me he sells computers.

One day he was facing some difficulties with some computers and he called me up for help. He was wondering if I was doing freelance for IT services. I politely declined as it was a computer which I’m not specialized in. Without hesitation, he asked me to get help from colleagues which I just got to know for a couple of months. It’s not like we’re close friends or anything like that so why should I be risking my reputation as a new co-worker in my company to seek help like that? However after today’s sermon, the appropriate question should be: why am I not putting in any effort to help a brother in need?

Action they say, speak louder than words. I’ll cross my fingers and hope that my questions get less louder in time to come.

Movie Review: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

2009-09-10T06:00:00.006+08:00

The rumors are true (fortunately or unfortunately, depends on which side you’re on). G.I. Joe is better than Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen! Director Stephen Sommers returns to the big screen after his well-deserved hibernation (his last offering wasVan Helsing.) Never mind that this is one of the formulaic Hollywood movies. A lesser sin is committed if every single key aspect of the film (the action scenes, cast selection, location, music and script) is executed brilliantly and well!

Ray Park, amazing in every other film he appears in, is nothing short of awesome as Snake Eyes. Taking cue from Dato Michelle Yeoh in the transition from being a dancer to a martial arts actor, Channing Tatum proves that he is more than just a actor/dancer from his turn in Step Up. Marlon Wayans is perfect as an action packed sidekick and definitely worth more than his Scary Movie/White Chicks/Little Man films. The brunette Baroness is played by an almost unrecognisable Sienna Miller! (who very much kicked a lot of ass) Sommers recruited his previous cohorts from the Mummy franchise, namely Arnold Vosloo and Brendan Fraser in a cameo appearance. Why weren't Rachel Weisz and John Hannah included as well?

The producers try not to outdo themselves neither do they allowed this film to fall below the above average category. Thank goodness there was nothing corny or cheesy in the script department. Many films were shot in France late 2007 and early last year which is perhaps becoming a good filming locale for blockbusters. G.I. Joe pretty much does what it takes to glorify the already much glorified land of the Eiffel Tower.

Regular movie goers have already crowned Transformers: ROTF as the screen king of 2009. Now is the time to reconsider.

This is No Joke: The necessary love story between Tatum and Miller wasn’t done for the sake of maintaining the female demographics, it had much sense of originality and very pivotal to the entire storyline.

This is A Joke: Nothing much is bad here. This movie had much thought and effort put in.

Rating: 9/10
Check them out as I did!

Sienna Miller

Rachel Nichols

They’re Gonna Put Them In The Movies

2009-09-09T00:00:00.007+08:00

Sigh. When are they going to make a Beatles movie? Is it true that they are waiting for Paul and Ringo to kick the buckets first? Here is a list of my dream cast should they film one this year.

John Lennon played by Paul Rudd

Rudd is not from the UK but nevertheless he spoofed Lennon rather well in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. His Irish accent clumsily displayed in I Love You Man shows that he could perhaps easily shift it to a Cockney level.

Paul McCartney played by Skandar Keynes

I really could not find a more suitable one, especially with those droopy eyes he has. Skandar Keynes is almost perfect but due to Keynes being so much younger than the rest of the cast here, he could only do much as a younger McCartney in the film.

George Harrison played by Jim Sturgess

Complete with imperfect teeth, Sturgess also sang his Beatles tunes nicely in Across The Universe. He would sing less and play the guitar more in the film. Is it just me or do they have the same pair of eyebrows?

Ringo Starr played by Johnny Lee Miller

I can’t really explain it but I can imagine Miller playing Ringo in my head.

Brian Epstein played by Tom Hanks

Aside from the striking resemblances of these two gentlemen, Hanks also played a band manager in That Thing You Do!

George Martin played by Bill Nighy

Just like Patrick Stewart was made to play Professor X in the X-Men, so was Nighy. Now, which one was Martin already?

Linda Eastman played by Heather Graham

Ditto to what I said about Ringo. I can’t explain why.

Patti Boyd played by Lady GaGa

Aren't they the same person?

Yoko Ono played by Lucy Liu

Yoko’s Japanese while Lucy’s Chinese. The thing about Americans is that they can’t tell a single difference between Japs and Chinese, they’re all Asians! Lucy’s years of acting experience could help to Yoko’s character development which played a part in the band’s breakup.

Movie Review: I Love You, Man

2009-09-08T12:00:00.001+08:00

Watching this film feels like watching a Judd Apatow’s production even though he wasn’t involved. Frequent collaborators Paul Rudd and Jason Segel headlines the casting bill with much of Apatow-ism in the script and screenplay. Too bad the flattery gets as far as imitation only, Apatow-ism never gets sincere and authentic enough.

It’s true that men nowadays never dare to get intimate with one another otherwise they are labeled as gays. This film explores how men can still do so just how it was when men were kids. As for me, it feels kind of awkward watching men bond like how girls do with each other. Even if the message brings no harm, there is a thin line between watching a gay movie and I Love You, Man.

Paul Rudd has come a long way since his appearance in Hong Kong’s Gen-Y Cops. It beats me why he didn’t keep a good shape in this film. I prefer to see Jason Segel in a more outgoing and confident role rather than his underdog loser character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which he and Paul also appeared in). Jaime Pressly is very underused here, sadly.

In Role Models, the band Kiss’s heavy reference was a tool to making it so successful. As for ILYM, even the real band Rush’s appearance did not do much for people to remember them in the movie.

This is No Joke: Jason Segel’s first appearance was grand as he expertly analyses someone’s farting tendencies from afar.

This is A Joke: Paul Rudd’s frequent Irish accent imitation was supposed to be funny but falls flat every time.

Rating: 6/10

Penang Food: New World Park Swatow Lane

2009-09-07T18:00:00.003+08:00

A visit to Penang's New World Park along Swatow Lane gave me some of the finest Penang foods a savor.

What a celebration to include MJ's birthday.

The interior designs of New World Park food court.

This stall above which also sells fruits also makes the best Ice Kacang as voted by Malaysians.

This is the RM3.80 Four-in-One Ice Kacang Special. Formerly this was a side-lane stall located at one of the shops outside NWP. Fresh fruits, good blend of various forms of sweetness and real fine ice gives the rating to 9/10.

My dad tried the food at this Penang Economy Rice stall which was only so-so which he rates at 6/10.

This Penang Chee Cheong Fun stall usually has the longest queues amongst all the other stalls. The prawn paste is top-rated and fresh as ever, perfect to complement the cut and rolled-up CCF. Definitely a must when you visit NWP in Penang. Rating: 8/10

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All These Places Have Their Moments Part 2

2009-09-07T00:00:00.007+08:00

You have seen my collection of Penang photos. I managed to get some photos of good old Penang in the olden times.

Penang Food: Lok Pin Café Anson Road

2009-09-06T06:00:00.000+08:00

Got to know about this place from a review in the Sunday Star sometime last year. Apparently this place was redecorated to a more contemporary look ala Old Town White Coffee, while at the same time maintaining the same food, price and staff. Oh, they have Wi-Fi too. As it states “Anson Road famous Laksa” in front of the stall, I gave it a try to see how famous could it be. I’m not really a laksa person but I managed to finish the whole thing despite not being hungry. The Lobak is standard above average Penang stuff. My dad tried the Curry Mee which he told me the curry was good!

Curry Noodles Rating: 7.5/10

Lobak Rating: 7/10

Laksa Rating: 7/10

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All These Places Have Their Moments Part 1

2009-09-06T00:00:00.000+08:00

There are places in Penang that I remember as I was a kid. Memories fade, places change and it would be great if I can capture them now and revisit the images 20 years from now.

Penang Times Square

Komtar Building

Little India

A Street Near Little India

Another Street Near Little India

Views from my Hotel

A heritage building turned into a college.

One of those streets.

Another one of the streets.

Backpackers' Haven.

A well restored building.

Penang Road.

The famous pedestrian bridge on Penang Road.

Penang High Court.

An Indian Temple near Bukit Bendera.

Ipoh Food: Jalan Kuala Kangsar Chee Cheong Fun

2009-09-05T06:00:00.001+08:00

This couple has been selling Chee Cheong Fun for more than 20 years. In the earlier days, the husband was cycling around Tamans (housing areas) around that area and those who wanted to order would have to shout “Chee Cheong Fun!” aloud and he would stop in front or behind their houses to serve them.

This one's the one with everything with prawn paste on top.

Because his product is just so good and fresh, he doesn’t have to cycle around anymore nowadays. Assisted by his wife, his stall is now located near Por Hoi Tharn temple. You can’t miss while driving along Jalan Kuala Kangsar: when you stop near the temple intersection, you will see a crowd of people standing around the stall, arms folded awaiting their orders to be served.

Business hours start early in the morning until they run out of stock. The price is dirt cheap at RM1.20 because all you’ll get is a plate and chopsticks, no chairs or tables available! Usually people eat standing. Really reminds me of Canning Garden Chee Cheong Fun (in front of Canning Garden Baptist Church) more than 10 years ago. Good CCF means you have to eat it standing!

The CCF uncle at work.

They have the usual CCF with mushroom sauce, curry or my favorite: soy sauce, oil, sesame seed, fried onions and sweet sauce. This time around, I made my order to include every sauce they have with prawn paste on top. The result: an almost laksa-taste CCF which I’ll definitely return for more!

Rating: 8/10

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And Friends I Still Can Recall

2009-09-04T06:00:00.001+08:00

Do I miss your friends in KL? (If I aim properly then I won't.) Friends come and go: it's a sure-phase in life that we must go through at least five times in a lifetime before you kick the bucket. At primary school, I had friends. Then we lost touch when we were in a different secondary school. I still keep in touch with some secondary school friends but distance is a primary factor of the lesser meets. Then there was the college friends, first job friends, second job friends and the KL church friends. At the end of the day, it's not about 'quantity' friends. It's the quality friends. I'm not a totally people person… I treasure those who I can really talk to or hang out with. Then there is them the common interests. (Beats them compound interests from bank loans anytime. *wink*) Then interests change as I age, so when interests change, friends change as well.

I was asking my dad at one time, how come he doesn't hang out with his school friends. Maybe it's coz they are all from Penang and he has been back in Ipoh for 30 years? He didn't answer me.

When I came back to Ipoh, I didn't really have the initiative to keep in touch with my KL friends. Some really close friends did call me up and I appreciate that. They are after all, far away and doing their own stuff. It’s not like before, I can’t call them up for a drink anytime I want. Perhaps the most is when they drop by Ipoh to stop and say hello, if they should.

Lately I realized why my dad didn’t keep in touch with his school friends. The answer was in my genes. At this age now, I feel that my character is slow but surely truly revealing itself. I’m a non-talker. I hate talking. That’s one of the reasons I enjoyed my second job so much because it doesn’t require talking so much about non-work related stuff. I enjoy talking to new people because of the sometimes-interesting initial discovery about each other's traits/character/background. Then that’s it. Some of my colleagues in Ipoh love talking so much that I really want to bring my laptop to work in the toilet sometimes. (if only there’s Wi-Fi) So my dad hates talking too. Keeping in touch with old friends? That’s not him!

If I have to choose to make new friends in Ipoh, then I’d rather take the effort to keep my old friends around the world. Somehow I am wary of people approaching me to make friends. The equation is simple, they want to know me because:

1. They want to sell some products to me
2. They are friend collectors
3. They want to borrow money from me
4. They want to invite me to join their religion
5. They are from a church and are required to make friends with people
6. They are looking to see what use they can make of me

Well, to be fair, it’s not that bad. Some people really want to genuinely make friends with me. However, it’s still thanksbutnothanks because I’d rather know friends through friends or by work associates. At least if something goes wrong I have someone to vouch for any wrong-goings.

Maybe age is catching up or every guy acts like that when they hit this age. All that matters now is God, my family, my other half whom I’m going to build my family with and the people whom I have built strong friendships with earlier on in my life. I would definitely love to talk as much as I can to these people.

Movie Review: I Corrupt All Cops 金錢帝國

2009-09-03T18:00:00.004+08:00

This film brings reminiscence of Wong Jing’s excellent Lee Rock movies’ feel. Whether intentionally or otherwise, I felt that I was watching one of the movies released during Hong Kong’s heydays of film production during the 90’s, without the speech dubbing. It was that time that the HK film industry churned out movies after one another, with quantity and quality.

Tony Leung Ka Fai is the man! In every single scene he appears in, he single handedly carries the film to sail through should there have been any sleeping audiences around. Eason Chan progressively shows that he is one of the very few good HK singer/actors around. Anthony Wong Chau Sang gave me the impression that he might have been underutilized during the first half of the movie. I was proven wrong in the second half. Sadly, no local HK film actresses were found, except for Kate Tsui which by a good move, was borrowed from her TVB time. Hope this exercise goes around more. Liu Yang was great eye candy with quite good acting effort whereas Natalie Meng, now a Wong Jing film staple, speaks Cantonese here. Hope she improves beyond Shu Qi standards in time to come.

We get to learn some quite accurate historical beginnings of the famous Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of Hong Kong which was sometimes overshadowed by the fictional character development of Eason, Tony and Anthony. Wong Jing tells the story so seriously that sometimes I forget that it’s a Wong Jing movie. Even the gags are made without his trademark ‘cheapness’. This is one of the very few Hong Kong films which daringly uses foul words in the dialogue. Together with some violent scenes, some which I feel that only an actor with a persona of Tony Leung can execute, we have elements of a making of a film which is common in many Hollywood films.

Please make more films like this.

This is No Joke: There were several scenes which brought memories of my parents’ 70’s photographs, especially in the first half of the film.

This is A Joke: When Bowie Lau appears, his costume, haircut and mannerisms look like a scene from a year 2000 TVB drama.

Rating: 8/10

Here's the gal I was telling you about her learning to speak Cantonese.

Natalie Meng Yao 孟尧

Taiping Food: Pusat Makanan Larut Matang

2009-09-03T00:00:00.001+08:00

A business-related visit to Taiping drew desires in me to look for good food. The recommended place that is a good place to introduce Taiping food is the Taiping Hawker Centre (Larut Matang).

The Ling Chee Kang is pretty average stuff but good enough for a thirsty Monday afternoon delight.

Rating: 7/10

The prawn noodles (Har Mee) is filled with prawn goodness in the soup. Any die-hard fan of this would proclaim that it's "Hor Liao"!

Rating: 8/10

The ice-blended red bean tastes like it has a bucketful of red beans used. Even after you drank of the glass, adding some water wouldn't do much to dilute the richness.

Rating: 8/10

Patrons are spoilt for choice because there are two nyonya kueh stalls operating side by side. Due to healthy competition, we get splendid quality kuehs for savor. Almost the whole selection is fresh and good!

Rating: 9/10

Look for this place at Jalan Iskandar, Taiping.

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Take That – Back For Good

2009-09-02T06:00:00.001+08:00

I keep reminding myself that this song/video is indeed aged; 15 years ago to be exact! Somehow it still feels as fresh as it just came out of the oven. A classic video by all means, the boys looked as dashing as ever, particularly Gary Barlow looking at the peak of his fittest image. Robbie Williams’ voice evidently present in the background vocals, there weren’t any traces of him going to leave the band a bit later after that.

Reportedly, Barlow took only 30 minutes to write this song. The repeated F, Gm, Bb, C chord progression to provide a pivotal role for Jason Orange to utilize his guitar skills at almost every live performance of this single. The infectious melody, with its foundation in musical simplicity generated itself to be one of UK’s staples in their toppermost of the poppermost sing-along list.

“Got a fist of pure emotion, got a head of shattered dreams” and “In a twist of separation, you excelled in being free”… these two rhyming lines vitally characterizes this song. What a songwriting wonder!

At that time, the boys were at their height of their career. As I watch the video again, I am reminded of my feelings when I first watched it; it was a sign of greater things to come out from them five lads. Sadly and needless to say, that was their final video as a five-piece.

By the end of last year, a certain turn of event made this one of my key songs. As to properly misquote Roberta Flack, he was singing my words with this song.

I guess now it’s time for me to give up. Got a picture of you beside me, got your lipstick mark still on your coffee cup. Got a fist of pure emotion, got a head of shattered dreams, got to leave it, got to leave it all behind now. Whatever I said, whatever I did, I didn’t mean it, I just want you back for good. Whenever I’m wrong, just tell me the song and I’ll sing it, you’ll be right and understood. Unaware, but underlined, I figured out the story, it wasn’t good. But in the corner of my mind, I celebrated glory. But that was not to be. In a twist of separation, you excelled in being free, you excelled in being free, can’t you find a little room inside for me? And we’ll be together, this time it’s forever. We’ll be fighting and forever we will be so complete in our love, we will never be uncovered again.