Merdeka Break in KL, 29th August ~ 2nd Sept '08, Part 1

Went back to KL for the long Merdeka weekend from 29th August until the 2nd September, and as always it was an enjoyable trip with friends and family. It wasn't spectacular but fun nonetheless. Here’s what unfolded within those 5 days:


Friday, 29th August 2008.

As most of my friends were rushing to complete their work before the long Merdeka holidays, I spent the day with my family. Having not seen them for more than 4 months (in the last trip back to KL, they were having fun in Bali. Again. They tend to go to the best holidays when I’m not around. Sigh. I wonder why??!!! What have I done to deserve this, mummy??!! WHAT??!! Sigh) I spent the time having lunch with them (my treat lah of course) at ‘Kar Heong’ chicken rice (still the best chicken rice shop in the Klang Valley. Honestly) and chitchat with them at home while having tea and durians. Not the ideal combination for conversations but it was good to have played catch-up with their lives and shared neighborly gossips once again (gossip highlight of the trip: our neighbor had an affair with their indo maid, had a huge argument, homely items started to fly and became UFOs and the police were even called in. Damn, wish I could have seen it!!!).

Lazing around the house until 4pm, I finally adjourned out to the outside world and drove to Mid Valley for a hair cut. I didn’t drive all the way there for a hair cut lah of course; I made plans to meet up K after his working hours. I went to look for my regular hair stylist but he wasn’t there. Has he left the saloon? No idea, so I have to try out a new stylist. I hate trying out new stylists because more often than not, they will screw up the cut and I’ll end up looking like a cina-beng. Not saying I’m not one now, but with a screwed-up haircut I look so cina-beng, I can march right through Chinese airport customs and the officials will not even check my passport. Long live China, Beijing here I come.

In the end, the haircut was bloody awful. I hate it. It was too short. It made my head look so huge. I look like a walking lollipop. Dammit. And the stylist cut off my fringe even though I said NOT to. She said it will “complete the look”. Yeah, complete my cina-beng look, right? If I wanted that “complete” look I would have gone to an Indian barbershop instead (or a Chinese barbershop. Got anot ah?). It would have saved me a heck a lot of money as well. And she even had the nerve to ask me for more business by suggesting I highlight my hair bright blonde. More of her “complete look” perhaps. Perhaps NOT dear stylist, good BYE.

After waking around Mid Valley (really fast to avoid any weird stares), K arrived moments later and we headed off to ‘Sushi Zenmai’ at The Gardens for our dinner. It turns out K had his hair cut too. Damn short as well. But it looked good on him. While mine…SIGH. Anyway, I had the usual ‘Unagi Roll’ and ‘Hourai’ set (I think that is what it’s called) and yes, it was damn delicious. Maybe because I didn’t have sushi for such a long time!! We chitchatted until it was going to close at around 11pm, but it was so early we decided to chat some more at ‘Starbucks’. I treated K coz he treated me the Sushi. Good deal in my book bbwwahahahhahahhah!!! Chitchatted until 1am plus (but ‘Starbucks’ was still crowded. Amazing) and headed back home after that.


Saturday, 30th August 2008.

Woke up early to have breakfast with mum and dad again, but before going home we stopped by Subang Parade. Why? To buy ‘Baskin Robbins’ of course!! But it’s not 31st yet…But no matter, they brought forward the promotion early!!! And the best part is, there was no queue ‘cause maybe not many people knew of the early promo and also because it was only 11am when I started queuing. Yayyy!!! I bought a quart with a mix of 2 flavors namely ‘Chocolate Orange Chunk’ (chocolate with tangy orange sherbet loaded with choco chips and ribbons of liquid chocolate) & ‘World Class Chocolate’ (chocolate that is…world class lah). Actually ‘Baskin Robbins’ is not my favorite, ever tried ‘Ben & Jerry’s’? It’s HEAVENLY.

SL was finally free. As I already had lunch with mum and dad at 'Little Penang', I accompanied SL to ‘Old Taste Kopitiam’ in Taipan for lunch while I had my cup of warm Hazelnut White Coffee. It’s so0000oo good, it is simply luscious with elegant aromas of coffee with hints of fine Hazelnuts. Okla, it wasn’t that fabulous but still delicious nonetheless haha. I wanted to go to The Curve for a movie at 3pm but SL had to collect a mail package at ‘Poslaju’ nearby KL Central. I had a very bad feeling about it as these 2 words sent cold shivers down my spine: Poslaju = “Bos, lambat” and KL Central = KL jam. Well, I can’t complain coz I’m down in KL for a KL trip aren’t I? And with that thought, we headed down to KL Central…

…and was caught in jam for more than 2 hours. And by the time we reached The Curve, the car journey clocked at a very impressive 3 hours plus. I could have reached Ipoh already for some really delicious chicken rice. Oh well, oh KL. Once reach there, movie tickets were all sold out for most of the movies. Not surprising. So we decided to just ronda-ronda Curvy area until dinner time with TK and Ah Nei. I tried calling a few more people but they were either busy with their own plans or are afraid to go out coz the jams might bite big time.

Dinner time, we wandered around for a place to eat and ended up in a new place called ‘Fireman BBQ’. It may sound familiar to some; this is because it is not the 1st branch in Malaysia. There’s another one in Jaya 1 (which I heard has an actual semi-naked-fire-breathing-fireman-cum-waiter serving you food. So while you are BBQ-ing your meat, this guy will come over and blow fire over your meat to give you that extra crispiness. Okla, I made up that cripiness part but the fireman is true I was told. Anyone can rectify this?) As for the food, we went for the ‘Fireman Parade’ set (I’m still pondering why it’s a parade. Seafood can’t parade. Hmmm) that consisted of pork meat and seafood while for drinks we went for that extra healthy option and chose this herbal-tea-with-‘lin gao’. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry, I dunno what I’m talking either. Just go the pictures why don’t you:

Generous slices of pork to wet any meat lover's appetite!!! Notice that piece of paper that reads '20'? That's a coupon to rebate RM20 for every RM50 spent. It's not bad a deal!!!!

Too meaty for you? Don't worry, there's seafood and noodles to provide you with that 'balanced healthy diet'...

Before: clean and clear. Notice those chunks of stuffs on top? It's actually piggy fatty to glaze the top of the BBQ set so that your food don't stick. Also provides you that what added 'ummpphh' in taste. Definately non-halal....

In-progress: soup is boiling hot and all sorts of stuff gets BBQ-ed. Marinate your meat with the chillie/BBQ sauces and garlic provided and the food will taste surprisingly goooood....

After: Cripsy burnt and greasy. All in a day's work for the hungry meat-eating "firemen".

And this is the 'healthy-herbal-tea-with-lin-gao' I was talking about. THAT's lin gao lah...


Feeling fired up from dinner (pardon the pun), Ah Nei left for another party while me, TK and SL loitered around The Curve at the ‘The Tarik Place’ (damn packed) until countdown and we ventured out onto the street (in between The Curve and IKEA one) and watched the countdown. As usual, the foam sprayers were all over the place and we suffered minor collateral damage. The big shots in the Government said this year the celebrations will be low-key, and my God it really felt low-key. That gay (but I’m sure a nice person) Farhad was on stage doing his best to pump up the atmosphere, but honestly, everyone was just waiting for some fireworks and then go home. And when the fireworks came, it was so ‘spectacular’, Beijing would have been proud. No really, it was ok la, it lasted only a few minutes with one big bang at the end. We can’t blame them for effort, I guess the right excuse here is that Beijing used up all the fireworks supplies in the world for the Olympics. And this is what’s left. Happy Merdeka everyone.


Sunday, 31st August 2008.

Woke up early for breakfast. But not just any breakfast, it’s a ‘Bak Kut Teh’ breakfast all the way in Klang. I call this the breakfast of champions. I mean, wake up early in the morning to devour chunks of fatty meat for breakfast? Not everyone's cup (or bowl) of tea. Except if you are living in the Klang area. They devour chunks of meat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. They drink the soup as medicine too. Amazing. We went for the shop called ‘Yeoh’s Bak Kut Teh’ located right behind the Hokkien Association. Yup, some of you already know where I’m talking about. This place is good. It is so good, it even has its own website (http://www.bakkutteh.com/... I think). One sip of the soup and your mouth will burst into a celebration of taste, and when you add that with some juicy succulent pork meat, it is a marriage of flavor made in heaven.

In the afternoon, me and SL met up with TK, Ah Nei, Paul and Maj (my old school buddies) for shopping and movie at Sunway Pyramid. The jams were horrendous so we parked outside. We bought some shirt stuff and headed for the ‘Babylon A.D’ movie starring Vin Diesel. On the outside, this movie looks promising (set in the post apocalyptic future, with fancy futuristic guns and stuff, perfect as a pop-corn movie). But…I guess even Hollywood actors can get caught in the rising oil prices as Vin Diesel ran out of diesel from moment this movie started. This movie was so bad, the coolest thing in this movie was a map. Yup, a super cool square map that allows the user to scroll the map with your fingers to areas that can’t be seen in the map. Basically like the iPod phone where you can scroll left or right to view your photos with your touch screen pad. See, when you pay 10 bucks and feel that the most impressive thing about the movie was a CGI map, you know you are in big trouble. And the sad thing is, this movie was my recommendation to my buddies. Crap. Maj was all over me with dirt after the movie. My Vin-dication is that the poster rocked. I shall not put my trust in Diesel-run Hollywood actors anymore. Go Hybrid cars, go go go!!!

After the movie, we continued shopping (last days of sales!!!) and all I got was a normal looking t-shirt from ‘Padini’. My jeans acquiring mission failed. Oh well. Went to ‘Wendy’s’ for dinner and while everyone was conservative with the food, TK went super ballistic and ordered the ‘¾ Pound Beef Burger’. It’s a triple decker with cheese. And it’s a set. With fries. And a super large drink. And he had one ‘Bread Papa’ right before dinner. He’s Gandhi right after the hunger strike ended. But unlike Gandhi, I think TK kinda regretted his decision to go gung-ho on his beef. His reaction? :

Severe indigestion of Wendy's beef burger can cause massive heatiness in the body. In extreme cases, heads tend to explode in a great ball of fire known as 'spontaneous human head combustion'.

We lingered around, discussed about our plans for the new year (Camerons or Langkawi? Or more bolder like Bali or Phuket? Decisions decisions). Ah Nei, Maj and Paul left Pyramid while me, SL and TK went to a nearby mamak place in Dataran Sunway (I think that is what it’s called). This mamak place is special. Why? Because this is the place where TK and I usually watch our EPL football matches, and since I left for Labuan, we hardly come down here anymore. Sad sad. Those were the old times but good times. Simple yet memorable. Anyway, it was Chelsea Vs. Spurs and both teams drew. A good result for the Lilywhites, while the Blues wished they could have had Robinho mesmerizing the opponent’s defenses. Too bad. Money do speak louder than words nowadays in football.

To be continued in Part 2 !!!

Back in KL on the 28th Aug to the 2nd Sept!!!

Again, so sorry for any update on my blog. IT’S SO DEAD. Sigh, no time to blog much as work is really stealing a lot of my time and energy away. And whenever I get back home, all I wanna do is just sit on my behind and vegetate in front of my TV. At times I vegetate so much, there’s a whole eco system evolving all over me. So wonderful, the miracle of nature, isn’t it?

But nature does take a break once in a while and I, the grand wonder of evolving nature will be heading back to Kuala Lumpur TODAY, the 28th August and be leaving on the 2nd September. So hope to see everyone that I know in KL very soon!!! Adios Labuan, hello KLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and I wanna share something that I spotted during my regular shoppings for junk food and cheap beer. I went into a grocery shop and my eyes spotted bread. But its not just any bread…its:


Roti Kok. See the packaging? It even has sugar for that extra sweetness. Just imagine:

Dan: “Oh man, I’m so hungry!”
Jack: “Really? Fancy some kok?”
Dan: “That sounds so delicious!!!”
Jack: “What you want to have with it? Kok with tuna mayo?”
Dan: “Yes please!! The more mayo the merrier!! I like it when it drips from my….”

Ok the rest is censored. The end. See ya all in KL!!!!!!!!!

Review: WALL*E & Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Nothing much happened over the weekend for me, so I decided to watch to 2 movies in 2 days haha. I was really anticipating the latest Pixar offering, 'WALL*E', while I was dragged with my legs kicking to watch the other film, ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’. Here’s what I think…

Review: WALL*E

I always believed that the Disney’s greatest and most original characters were introduced to us way back during the golden years of ‘Snow White’, ‘Fantasia’ and even ‘The Lion King’. These characters and films stood the test of time and were cultural phenomenons that is and forever will be remembered for generations to come. But I wonder with the new generation of Disney characters, with the influence of Pixar, will they be just as timeless? The children in this age of ‘Playstations’, internets and 'iPods' were introduced to the staple of Buzz Lightyear, Nemo and Lightning McQueen, but will they survive the test of time? The new generation of youth being so fickle minded, and with new and cooler alternatives being introduced to them consistently, these new Disney characters really do have their work cut out for them. But are the golden years of Disney really so golden? Remember that decades ago Disney was the sole factory of all things movie animation, children did not have much choice, did they? Now we have Dreamworks that gave us ‘Shrek’, Fox with ‘Ice Age’ and not to forget our Asian counter-parts from Japan with their very original offerings. But whatever the outcome, only ‘ever after’ will we discover these answers.

Anyway, back to ‘WALL*E’. Being a Pixar offering, you can be rest assured that a high level of quality is in store for you. And with 'WALL*E', they did not disappoint. In fact, for me anyway, it exceeded my expectations. After coming out of the cinema hall, my mind was swirling with the notion that this is Pixar’s best picture since the introduction of ‘Toy Story’. No joke. It was a tremendous piece of story-telling told with almost no dialogue from its main characters. And the most surprising of all, everyone seemed to love it. Emotion, humor and action sequences were told with reliance on simple movements and interactions between the characters. And they did it with wildly imaginative aplomb.

As usual the animation is state-of-the-art, but what stood out as one of the greatest piece of animation master-work was the very emotive binocular-like (and VERY CUTE) eyes of 'WALL*E'. You will just have to watch it to believe it. All problems and stress will be immediately washed away once you stare at those puppy-cute eyes of 'WALL*E'. And when he moves, it has a completeness that 'WALL*E' achieves that will leave him (or it) be remembered for years to come. But let’s not forget 'EVE', the other main robot that is his companion. 'EVE' communicates her (or it) emotions through bodily shapes. Between the two, they have this special type of sweetness that will stroke the emotions of all ages, and is also universally touching.

After watching ‘WALL*E’, I cannot help but to compare this film to ‘E.T’, whereby Steven Spielberg successfully managed to encapsulate the feeling of childhood isolation and the delight of discovering true friendship between a boy and an alien, while ‘WALL*E’ is able to connect with the viewers’ hearts and emotions through two simple robots, but emotionally complex, with limited dialogue. As challenging as that may sound, the director Andrew Stanton from ‘Finding Nemo’ pulled off a masterstroke with enduring skill. It is hard not to fall for the charms of ‘WALL*E’, and surely this latest member of the Pixar family will indeed successfully stand the test of time. Best Animation Film of the year thus far (sorry ‘Kung-Fu Panda’!!!)…

Verdict: 9 / 10 (WALL*E)

Review: ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’

I love ‘Star Wars’. Well, ask any guy and see who doesn’t (Ok, maybe 80% of all guys likes it. My point is it’s a majority lah). But after watching this latest addition to the ‘Star Wars’ saga, it was heartbreaking. ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ already broke my heart, but this latest film shattered it into tiny little pieces and then was stomped to smaller pieces further by a freak called ‘Jar Jar Binks’. And then he pooped on it. It was that bad. And I’m still on anti-depressant pills to this day.

This film is in fact visually beautiful, skillfully crafted with sweeping landscapes and grand action sequences. But sadly, as usual with George Luca nowadays, tremendous effort has gone into the visual style of the film, but the story and acting quality is very obviously dreadful. I mean, what is wrong with George Lucas? His passion for ‘Star Wars’ is long gone and little time or care is given to the story, character development and dialogue. He is now making ‘Star Wars’ just for the sake of making it, not because he wanted it. His heart was never into ‘Star Wars’ since ‘The Return of the Jedi’ was completed. If George Lucas finds making a ‘Star Wars’ film too burdensome, then hand it over to someone more passionate about it for goodness sake. But no, he wants complete control of his baby, and look how it turned out. If Bill Gates was his son, he would still be living in his basement and there would no Microsoft…

In a nutshell, the dialogue is completely juvenile and fitting for an infant with an I.Q. of 0. (Seriously George, is this the demographic you are targeting at nowadays? Jeez). Silly nicknames are being thrown about like a boring weekday party, i.e. ‘Sky Guy’ and ‘Snips’. C’mon man, ‘SKY GUY’?? ‘SNIPS’?? Does ‘Snips’ refer to anything anatomical perhaps? God, let’s move on. The storyline is so overly simple, I wouldn’t even provide a brief description here or else I would have revealed the entire film to you. And the action sequences? I find it so ludicrous that all battles seem to take place head-on in a straight-line with all blasters blazing. It all provides sweet visual candy, but come on. It’s ‘Star Wars’ for goodness sake. There’s a host of new characters introduced here, again beautifully designed and animated, but their potential is depressingly under-utilized.

But let’s the fair here, the film is not without merit. The action sequences are immensely rich in detail, painfully designed to maximize visual eye candy that will at times leave you speechless. Being a ‘Star Wars’ fan, there was a few action sequences in there that did raise my ‘WOW’ bar a notch or so. Beautifully choreographed light-saber battles, very cool designs of new machines of war and very impressive additions of sound effects that are distinguising signatures of a ‘Star Wars’ film are all there to be admired. But that’s all there is to be admired really.

All in all, it is upsetting that I felt ‘Clone Wars’ was a bit of a snooze. Long gone are the days that ‘Star Wars’ was in its prime, and long-gone are the days that George Lucas ever cared. Take a rest, George. Hand it over to someone else that cares a bit more about this legacy. Give that person a chance, whoever it may be, and we then might actually see a ‘Star Wars’ film that once again matches the original in passion and quality.

Verdict: 4 / 10 (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)

Reviewed by: Raymond Choy

KK Town Weekend Hop-Over

Waahh, its been so long since I’ve updated what I’m up to lately. Sorry ya, no time no time…Work has been killing me softly with its song, and the song seems to never end. HAihz . Anyways, here’s an update for 2 weekends ago, when SL came down to Labuan for a quickie. Trip, that is. I knew there wasn’t much in Labuan to captivate SL, but I still have to show what was on offer here. So for the first day, we were in Labuan eating, walking around, shopping (SL bought LOADS of chocolates and 2 bottles of alcohol. But only brought back one haha. I’ll talk about it later) and also taking in the sights of this place nicknamed ‘The Pearl of Borneo’ (although whoever coined it should be shot for its inaccuracy. And be bombed to bits as well).

Well actually I was supposed to return back to KL, but somehow somewhen I got this crazy idea to suggest SL to visit me instead. I didn’t realize I had forfeited a trip back to KL in doing so. Ah well. Had to wait another month to see KL again then. Anyway, SL brought over tons of stuff for me, i.e. a mini iron (cheaper in KL), various flavors of install noodles (can’t get them in Labuan), Nutella (can’t get them in Labuan too) and numerous cotton T’s for my dressing comfy-ness. But unfortunately, my rented house here was abit dirty and SL coundn’t stand it. Ok ok, maybe abit is an understatement. So SL launched a massive clean-up operation that involved my kitchen floor, my room and bits and pieces of my stuff in the room. God bless SL hahaha.

The next day we packed our bags and headed off to Kota Kinabalu, which was a 3 hour ferry ride away to the center of KK. The ride was kinda slow but eventually we got there. When arrived, I heard about a nice place that had quite a reputation for Italian food called ‘Little Italy’, and furthermore it was walking distance from the KK jetty. So, off we went. Our appetite was not that good as I guess our stomachs was still swimming from the ferry ride. So we shared a beef and mushroom ‘Ravioli’ which was pretty good (although I tasted better in KL haha). However, the cafe Latte was kinda good. Brewed just enough for flavor and whipped with an adequate dash of fresh milk. Yummy.

So where we stayed? I bet you heard of the budget hotel named Tune Hotels right? Yup, that’s where we stayed. For RM50 a night (we stayed 2 nights), you would think that it was a blardy bargain of the century. But wait for it, you have to pay extra for air-conditioning. Yup, RM12 bucks for 12-hour coolness (and you can’t really control the timing. Once you slot that magnetic key of ours into the technical bit that controls the main power of the room, the clock starts ticking. Yup, ticking like a freakin’ time bomb. Damn exciting. That’s not all too, for TV, its RM7 bucks for 24 hours (you get a cute little LCD monitor, but you can watch only RTM1, RTM2, TV3 and NTV7. How exciting). And if you forgot any toiletries (i.e. shampoo, conditioner, etc) its RM5 a pop. Although you can easily buy them from the shopping mall called ‘1Borneo’ located just next door (literally next door, its even connected to the hotel), so shopping, food, cinema, leisurely strolls are no problems whatsoever.

Overall the rooms are satisfactory, I mean you can’t really expect The Ritz for that kinda price rite. I mean you paid for it, so you asked for it. Ringgit for ringgit it was worth it in my opinion. The good? The shower was excellent, power shower with continuous hot water 24 hours and clean wash basins. The bed was also surprisingly comfy (I heard it’s supplied by ‘King Coil’) so what more can you ask for? So, the Bad? The campiness (sometimes the walkway can’t even fit 2 persons at the same time), no locks at the toilet and its all glass (but I guess this point is good for some people eh?) and the view from the window is “to die for”. Also, the walls are kinda thin so you may get echoes of conversations from the other rooms. So, if anyone is planning on any night time curriculum activities in the room, I suggest you keep the volume a bit low or else you are subject to intense attention from outside 3rd parties. Also I want to point out that the hotel in KK is still under construction, so you may tend to see workers walking around the corridors of the hotel. Therefore, locking your rooms securely is extremely recommended (although to be fair nothing was stolen and I didn’t hear any bad rumors of burglary).

Anyway, as I’ve mentioned the hotel is right next to ‘1Borneo’, which is East Malaysia’s largest shopping mall ever. I’ve walked around the place and it is very impressive, very much like ‘1Utama’ with rows after rows of middle-range branded stores (i.e. MNG, Padini Concept Store, Giordano etc) however no upper-class brands were seen yet (although FCUK is opening soon. But I don’t think I consider them upper-class. Phehh). There’s a ‘GSC’ there too, and that’s where I saw ‘The Dark Knight’ which I had reviewed and ‘Red Cliff’ (short review: it’s just so-so. Being directed by John Woo, I had expected abit more. The action is ordinary, although the highlight is to see how the military tactics of their time was utilized to achieve victory. Ohh, and many pigeons were spotted too, which is obviously the cinematic signature of John Woo. Verdict: 6 / 10).

For the first night there, I just had to eat something posh and expensive (cause being stuck in Labuan can cause one person to have such cravings. Why? There no posh restaurants in Labuan!!!. So we spotted a fancy Japanese Restaurant called ‘Michi’ and walloped a set of ‘Osaka Bento Set’ which consisted of Tempura, Soft Shell Crabs, Salmon Sushi, Miso Soup, Yummy Beef (I forgot what was it called haha) and Salad. RM45. Satisfaction. Hahah. SL had a ‘Gyu Kimuchi Soba’ noodle set which was surprising yummy. It basically your usual soba noodles with beef. But the beef was amazingly yummy. I think the beef dishes here are good. I shall try more if I get the chance again hehe.

The next day we went straight to town (‘1Borneo’ provides free shuttle bus services to and from town, which is a very good plus point for the mall. Well done!!!). We actually planned to do some light shopping and then do island hopping to Manukan Island and all that as it is sooooooooo close from town (yup, for RM30 you can hop onto a speed boat and land on a island in just 15 minutes). But when the time came for the island hopping, it RAINED. Sigh. And it didn’t stop raining until dark. Double Sigh. Oh well, we switched plans and I went shopping for my computer speaker (a good computer speaker. ‘Altec Lensing’ was my numero uno target but ‘Edifier’ jugak boleh tahan lah). Didn’t find a good set of ‘Altec Lensing’, so went for the ‘Edifier’ M3300 model which had a pretty good subwoofer and 2 channel speakers with twitter. RM 230, expensive anot ah? KL selling how much also I dunno lah haha. Bought it and went for dinner at the KK Waterfront. It was ok, with lots of bars and restaurants catering for to the foreigner crowd. We dined at ‘Oregano Café’ which had local fare and a reasonable price. We missed the sunset though, abit sad at that but nevermind lah, there will be other chances for that….

But there was bad news. SL’s afternoon flight back to KL was cancelled and had to be brought forward to the next day. We were damn pissed off of course. But, honestly I wasn’t surprised. A certain domestic red-colored airline always cancels flights whenever passenger numbers do not meet their required quotas. So many of my friends that travel this airline for business and pleasure already kena, and the most f**ked-up part is that as long as you receive their call notifying you of the cancelling within 24 hours, no compensation is entitled to you!!! I mean WTF, 24 hours is not enough to re-arrange everything to accommodate their screw-ups!!! AIRASIA ARE YOU HEARING THIS??!! IT IS NOT ENOUGH AND IT PISSES EVERYBODY OFF!!!!!!!!! *phewww* But luckily for us, our departure back to Labuan was tomorrow and the flight was at night, so SL still can make it, although it is going to be damn tired…So kelian…Sigh…

The next day it was time for our departure back to Labuan, and the ferry ride was at 1pm. We went to the jetty early and arrived around 11pm. Feeling sad that I didn’t touch water except for rain throughout my trip, I decided to take photos instead of the surrounding jetty haha. Click here to see more. Anyway, the ferry ride back to Labuan was not as smooth as we hoped. The water was choppy and the ferry was like a freakin’ mini roller coaster. People all around started to pengsan and SL eventually succumbed to the dizziness. I was feeling it too, but luckily no plastic bags were needed if you know what I mean…Oh, and I bought a rice cooker too. A computer speaker, rice cooker, luggage and more alcohol, hand carried all over KK and Labuan. We should have been in the Olympics hahaha….

Anyway, night time came and it was time for SL to board the plane. She wanted to bring over 2 bottles of alcohol. So we hide one inside the check-in luggage and another as hand carry. But upon check-in, the ‘AirAsia’ counter attendant asked SL if there was any alcohol inside the bag. She said YES. OMG. Why?? The attendant immediately asked the alcohol to be removed. So we tried to hide in SL’s hand-carry bags, 1 bottle in each bag. Once SL reached the security check point, SL got stopped. OMG. The security guard said only 1 bottle can be brought over. Sigh. So, luckily I was still around and brought the bottle of ‘Johnnie Walker’ Black Label back to my Labuan home instead. Too baddd…

I took a taxi back home, and I got a text saying SL is going to board the plane. I reached home and I was hit by an immediate pang of loneliness. The room seemed quieter and it overwhelmed me with its colder and wider empty spaces. The room seemed smaller, warmer back then, filled with a zest of life. Now it’s just a room. Sigh. I guess now I realized something, it’s easier to leave then to be left behind… Sad….

Review: The Mummy 3

Just a quick review here of a franchise that I absolutely loved way back in 1999 when Stephen Sommers directed a film that had all the hallmarks of lameness but somehow pulled off a miracle that created one of the most fun summer blockbusters I’ve ever enjoyed in a long time. For me, ‘The Mummy’ franchise brought me popcorn movie entertainment not experienced since the glory days of ‘Indiana Jones’. It was fun, full of comedic chemistry between the actors and full of fantasy adventure that wandered the four corners of the world. But then something happened….

Stephen Sommers left and embarked on other interests (remember ‘Van Helsing’, which I think was a BIG mistake) and then Rachel Weisz followed suit that ignited the departure of all magic that made ‘The Mummy’ films so entertaining. But those Hollywood executives thought that there might still be some life yet in this rotting celluloid carcass and proceeded to make 'The Mummy 3' and hire Rob Cohen, a director that is noted for this action flair ('XxX' & 'The Fast & The Furious') to re-awaken the magic that was alive almost a decade ago. Brenden Fraser remained loyal to this franchise (as in many ways I think this is his baby) and injected new star power by introducing Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh into the mix.

The result? Bad. When something is dead, just let it be dead. Being a fan, I was actually looking forward to this one but I was completely let down. I knew it was going to be somewhat dumb (aren’t all popcorn movies dumb nowadays?) but this one….this one just tests your tolerance level to new heights.

The problem I have with this film is the same with all other films of this type, such as ‘National Treasure’: the action is very so-so and uncreative (which is unlike the other ‘The Mummy’ films in my opinion) and whenever there is a problem that needs some serious problem-solving methods, the solution just pops out of nowhere (and this is very true for those ‘National Treasure’ films). I mean, just when some brain cells are needed to be called upon, out pops a character with the solution or someone does something accidentally that solves the problem. I mean, this is no new issue but when it happens again and again (i.e. ‘Mummy 3’) then it gets blardy annoying.

Another problem I like to shout at is why in the world Rob Cohen shoots his action sequences in close-ups, especially in those hand-to-hand combat sequences, and especially when you have Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh? I mean they are professional martial arts actors, the action would be lovely as always to be seen in its entirety and not in close-ups which is confusing and at times nauseating. A truly wasted opportunity to admire those two skilled martial artists in action I say.

Now for another problem. The special effects. I know the special effects in the previous ‘The Mummy’ films are not in the realms of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, but is Rob Cohen taking the mickey with us? Some scenes in the films are terribly fake and I do not say this often but I have to say it anyway: it was absolutely pathetic. It was so bad, it was to the point of humiliation to the franchise and I had to laugh at the quality of it. During the part that involved a ‘Yeti’ monster, it was actually insulting that such a disgrace was shown to an audience.

After leaving the cinema, I felt absolutely distraught that such embarrassment is connected to ‘The Mummy’ franchise. This is exactly what ‘The Phantom Menace’ did to the ‘Star Wars’ saga. It humiliated it with all that Jar Jar Binks nonsense. ‘The Mummy 3’ was supposed to be a simple, escapist fantasy fare that is broadly fun and enjoyable. But it turned out to be a torture, a punishment of sorts. If you are a fan of the past ‘The Mummy’ films, this is a crashing disappointment that can push one to the verge of suicide. If you are not a fan, then I guess there still some points in this film to enjoy from, but I would still recommend giving this a miss. Save the cash and re-watch ‘The Dark Knight’ again, you will still at least get some return on your investment instead of the folly that is ‘The Mummy 3’…

Verdict: 4 / 10

Reviewed By: Raymond Choy

Review: The Dark Knight

The mere mention of ‘Batman’ and anyone would associate it with the likes of ‘Spider-Man’ or ‘Iron Man’ that are more crowd-pleasing and eye-candy. That is true if it’s ‘Batman’, but not Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman’. Nolan injected this legendary comic book character with so much style, so much charisma, so much life that it instantly establishes itself way apart from all other superhero films as well as all other ‘Batman’ films in the past, into a sprawling epic that is infused with so much drama even the likes of Michael Mann or Martin Scorsese will be proud to call their own. Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman’ is no child’s play, it is a gritty crime saga that is densely layered with gripping tales of revenge, corruption and of course, heroism. Multi-dimensional characters that are irresistibly intriguing and spectacularly play-out by award-winning actors litter the screen so abundantly that such an assemble cast will make even ‘The Sopranos’ hide in envious jealousy. ‘The Dark Knight’ is not just any superhero film, it is a film of masterful story-telling infused with spectacular style that is brought to life by stirring performances by its talented actors.

For a film with such high commercialism, one would rave rabidly about its action sequences or special effects. Not in this case. The highlight of ‘The Dark Knight’ (besides Heath Ledger’s take as ‘The Joker’, I’ll go there pretty soon) is the quality of the story. Co-written by director Chris Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan, the screenplay is the closest to a masterpiece of a crime saga not seen since ‘The Godfather’, and what is remarkable is that they pulled it off with a caped crusader and not with Marlon Brando. Now THAT is an extraordinary achievement. I’m not going into the details of the story as to avoid spoiling this incredible effort of story-telling for you, but I must mention that this is a giant leap from its first film and the story is densely intertwined with drama, humor and action pulled together with perfect chemistry. And the ending, you shall be enlightened as to why our hero is called ‘The Dark Knight’…

Now for Heath Ledger as ‘The Joker’. He is absolutely stellar and compelling played to such delicious extreme, he literally takes command of everyone’s attention whenever he appears on screen. You just cannot take your eyes off him, he is simply magnetic. His every move, his every theatrics, his every crumbling make-up and his every lick of his lips are stunningly portrayed to perfection as a sadistic villain with a morbid sense of humor that brings new meaning to the word terrorist. The true strength of ‘The Joker’ is not those one-liner quips or smart-ass poses, but what completes the character is his much longer monologues that are infused with eccentric body movements and fits of fanatical laughter. His words weaves layers upon layers of havoc and madness on Gotham City, truths and lies overlaps and are unclear, every manipulating scheme are unveiled only at the very last effective moment and whenever he finishes any of his maddening speeches, he actually ends up as the smartest guy in the room. He lets you think he is insane, which is equal to reckless and un-intelligent. He is however neither. He embodies every essence of anarchy and villainy, and one would easily think that he is simply not just ‘The Joker’, but in fact The Devil himself.

Heath Ledger’s portrayal of ‘The Joker’ was so tremendous, it actually made me feel angry and ashamed that Jack Nicholson did not push his version far enough (in Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’). I used to think that Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of a villain was the benchmark for all actors to seek manic badness from. But now, it dawned on me that Jack Nicholson and Tim Burton made ‘The Joker’ a laughing clown. Instead of being a true maniac, Heath Ledger made me dislike the Jack’s portrayal of a villain that I once enjoyed. Call me disloyal, but I call it a testament to how fantastic Heath Ledger did his job as being ‘The Joker’, and it’s no laughing matter. The status-quo of villainy has been redefined by Heath Ledger and Christopher Nolan, and now every over-reacting and moustache-twirling cheapskate that simply thinks by wearing a black suit with gelled-back hair will pull it off as a bad guy, well these cheapskates can think again. Watching Ledger’s every animalistic movement, every devilish speech and every serpent lick of his lips is something to behold and admire as it is something that is not seen before on screen, and I think we will never ever see again.

Not to down-play the performances of other actors in this film, but the performances of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne aka ‘Batman’ are commendable, and we get to see an equal amount of screen time between Bruce Wayne and ‘Batman’. The only downside I find is that of ‘Batman’s awkwardly deep voice whenever he is ‘Batman’. I understand that he needs to hide his true tone of voice from identification purposes, but his deep-toned voice is sometimes distracting and fake. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent aka ‘Two Face’ also is praiseworthy for successfully portraying the dual personalities of the character. However, my annoyance with ‘Two Face’ was the repetitive flicking of his coin to decide the fates of individuals that confronts him. I understand that this is his distinctive practice of his character, but I think it has been over emphasized way too many times and should have been toned down a little. But I guess I’m no Chris Nolan. Other actors such as Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal and particularly Gary Oldman as ‘Commissioner Gordon’ all delivered solid performances that successfully provided additional drama and emotions whenever needed. Oh, and for Hong Kong film fans, do look-out for Edison Chen’s very brief cameo in the film as well. I’ve never seen him since THOSE incidents…

As for technical aspects of the film, everything is done to stunning perfection across the board. Wally Pfister’s cinematography is richly textured and moody, and with the used of IMAX cameras for a few of the action sequences, every detail is captured and shown to the audience in grand magnificence. The editing is also smooth and seamless, as the film flows from scene to scene without feeling confused. The visual effects are done to a minimum without over saturating the film with too much CGI and that successfully manages to maintain the realism of Gotham City. As for the music by multi-Oscar winning composers Hans Zimmer (Gladiator) and James Howard (The Sixth Sense), the over-dramatic orchestra compositions are utilized to an effective minimum. In fact, the most memorable and eerie moments with ‘The Joker’ was accompanied by simply pulling a high-pitched note from a violin.

‘The Dark Knight’ is intriguing from start to finish, climaxing to a gratifying but daring conclusion that leaves the saga with just that little piece of cliffhanger that hints of a third film. Of course, the hint is indeed a no-brainer as all the major actors are signed up for 3 installments. In the end, this film is easily the most satisfying of all wide-release films thus far (even ‘Iron Man’ pales in comparison to this). A film that not only meets all expectations but also surpasses well beyond anything we came to imagine from a film of this genre. It is definitely re-watchable for multiple times, especially to admire the work of Heath Ledger that had left us at the most inappropriate of times as he was only starting to turn into a really great actor. He already got nominated for an Academy Award for his part in ‘Brokeback Mountain’, and I really hope he wins ‘Best Supporting Actor’ this time as ‘The Joker’ (‘Best Actor’ may be a bit pushing it). It sounds crazy I know but if George Clooney can win it in 2005 with the film ‘Syriana’, then why not Heath? My heart goes out to Heath for this remarkable contribution and my fingers are crossed when Academy Award nomination time comes… Oh c’mon Mr. Oscar, if you have any decency in you, just do this for Heath…

Verdict: 10 / 10 ... Heck, make it 20 /10 ... No no, wait it's 200 / 10 'coz this movie is off the freakin' charts!!!

Reviewed by: Raymond Choy

EPILOGUE: (Belated) Birthday Surprise @ Home !!!

Just wanna mention abit more about THAT birthday surprise weekend. As you may already have known in my previous blog postings, I was ambushed and bombed by almost 100 water balloons in my own damn home. Not only that, I was rained with cold water and smeared with yucky slices of cakes. But I’m not pissed, I’m not angry….no way. It was all for fun right? Right….*cough* Anyway, there was a birthday cake for me and all so it was definitely fun and thoroughly memorable. Again, thanks guys.

But that’s not all that had happened during my time back in KL from 21st June to 22nd June. The very next day, V (yes, V) and Prasad took me and SL out to have some ‘celebrations’ of sorts as well. V and Prasad had been asking for a lunchie or dinner for ages every time I got back to KL. This time around I could not disappoint them again ‘cause I think it’s the 4th time they are asking me out (a curse from my popularity? Hahaha, joking joking).

Anyway, we whisked away in Prasad’s Vios and he took us for something that was SO unforgettably yummy and ‘shiok’. It was bowls after bowls of ‘chili pan-mee’. Yes, some of you might have already heard it or tasted it, but I haven’t. The ‘pan-mee’ is kinda ordinary and is served dry with an egg on the side (served with the mee, so you gotta mash it all up abit). But the magic ingredient was the delicious concoction of dry chili paste (chili flakes, chili padi, chili whatever that you can think of) and you will have to scoop this onto your ‘pan mee’ and do your best twister impression to mix it all up. The amount of chilies is entirely up to you, but the more of it is deliciously much better. But be warned, the crowd can get huge at times and so the wait is kinda long. Also, be sure to wear something comfy and cool, ‘cause the combination of huge crowds and bowls after bowls of ‘chili pan mee’ can get you all sweat up pretty darn good. This beats the gym any day in my opinion hahaha. Not sure exactly how much for one bowl as Prasad belanja all of us (and also for my treat as the birthday boy haha) but I think I saw a sign that said ‘RM4.50 per bowl’ somewhere. But it’s around that price la I guess. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the photos before you eventually go there to try it all out:

The noodles before the storm. Looks plain now but....

....after you add these magical chili paste into the mix....


...you get this flaming bowl of spiced-up pan mee that will guarantee to make you sweat for more.

Wanna know where it is? Here’s the address:

Restoran Kin Kin,
Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman,
Kuala Lumpur.

Plain and simple address. But kinda confusing to find hehe....Good luck!!!

Anyway, after the flaming bowls of ‘chili pan mee’ (I had 2 bowls. And that was 10am in the morning) we headed off to a drink to cool off. This time we went for something slightly higher class instead, and headed off to Damansara Uptown’s 'Starbucks' to try out their new (and seasonal, which means the drink will be no more after the season is over!!) ‘Dark Mocha Frap’. Obviously if you love all things chocolate and chips, you are gonna love this. Cooling and not too overly-thick with chocolate, I think it’s a nice addition to the family of frap drinks at Starbucks. No photos taken unfortunately, but I'm sure you all know how it looks like. Standard cup and green straw lah of course ;)

And with that drink, we headed back to my home and I went straight to the airport. Arrived back in Labuan at the same evening, I thoroughly had a wonderful time and it was another memorable weekend back in KL....

Review: Hellboy 2 - The Golden Army

The director is absolutely amazing. Guillermo Del Toro is one of the most imaginative and creative individuals around and he is a prime model of how a filmmaker should be. He is one that remembers his dreams or nightmares, be it at childhood or adulthood, and transfers them into his movies with creative relish. Every wonderment, horror, curiosity or pleasure is ripped from his subconscious and are revealed in celluloid form for all to savor. His past films such as ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ as director and ‘ El Orfanato’ or ‘The Orphanage’ as producer, both in Spanish, are prime examples of his artistic and inspired palette. Both great films that intertwines fantasy with reality aided by a touch of horror, these films are modern classics that I guarantee will not disappoint even the most stringent of viewers, that is if such flavor is ideal for your cinematic tastes. Even though Hellboy is not a brainchild of Del Toro (Mike Mignola will be given credit to that distinction), Del Toro manages to inject fantastic visual and artistic stimulus coupled with great humor that raised the world of Hellboy to a degree of wonderment not seen or felt in any medium before.

Visually throughout the film, Del Toro paints an unbelievably beautiful canvas of fairy tale creations that exists no where else but only in the mind of Del Toro. Hundreds of creatures, characters and settings fill the screen from inch to inch with wonderful creativity, and at moments when I was in the cinema I wished that I had a remote control to pause scene by beautiful scene and gasp in awe of these amazing creations. My most memorable and favorite creation in the film was this creature that had a cathedral for a head. That’s right. Who would have though of it? Another aspect that forged my respect towards him was his many uses of animatronics, and it shows in the film. I am hardly a great fan of CGI (seeing CGI characters fighting each other just turns me off), the usage of a new form of animatronics called ‘Spectral Motion’ was surprisingly good as it not only gave the characters fluidity but also a greater sense of personality with an added dimension of realism.

There was so much to admire. ‘The Golden Army’ for example was a jaw-dropping sight to behold, and being given the distinction of appearing in the title of the film, they did not disappoint. The Troll Market. What a memorable experience what had me holding my every inch of eye muscle to not blink and miss a second of what unfolded before my eyes. A parade of grotesque and unique characters littered the screen, and at this sequence of celluloid magic we, the audience, finally get to actually glimpse into the wonderful and yet perturbed mind of Del Toro. This sequence may yet be his single most creative masterpiece as he lets the film and story move on as per usual, however at every corner and backdrop of this sequence we can spot an assembly of creatures that is simply screaming for your attention. Del Toro created this sequence with absolute brilliance and skill.

But I guess now I should talk about the story. The usual suspects return to entertain us with their dark humor and atypical antics such as Ron Pearlman as Hellboy, Selma Blair as his love interest, and most interestingly Dough Jones as Abe Sapien. But this time around, Abe Sapien is much more evident and plays a more critical role in this sequel. He even gets to kick ass once in awhile, which was refreshing. Not only Dough Jones did a wonderful job in providing the body language and motions so distinctive for Abe Sapien, but he also voices Abe to perfection that gave us an interpretation of a character so wonderful and distinctive not seen since Andy Serkis portrayed Gollum in ‘The Lord of The Rings’. His character development is thorough and apparent, and to see him bonding with Hellboy is a joy. My favorite moment? Abe, Hellboy with Barry Manilow and many cans of beer. Watch it to believe it.

Oh, and the introduction of Dr. Johann Strauss to the character mix has a fresh and enjoyable kick too. If you are a fan of the Marvel comic book universe, you will notice a resemblance to the Mysterio character that gave Spider-Man a few good lessons in villainy. A harbinger of things to come? I am not sure but my finders are sure crossed with much anticipation and enthusiasm. Anyway, the good Doctor Johann Strauss is voiced by Seth McFarlane from “The Family Guy” fame, and is voiced deliciously with a staunchy german accent. This somewhat mysterious character that is noted for this efficiency is a fantastic addition to the ‘Paranormal Research and Defense’ team and I am definitely looking forward to seeing more from him in upcoming sequels (if there are any).

There is so much more to mention and yet, I will not, as all of it will be just words to many if it is not been admired or seen in the cinema hall. But one thing is definitely clear. There is no doubt in my mind that Guillermo Del Toro is one of the world’s few visionary directors in existence at the moment. His past works were marvels of fantasy brilliance, and from such successes we now have more greatness to look forward to as Del Toro is assigned to handle ‘The Hobbit’ films in the near future (as Peter Jackson did not involve himself due to personal clashes with the distributor). To be given such a wonderful task is a testament to his genius and talent as a creative filmmaker, and we, the audience of modern cinema should captivate every vision and every work from him with optimum fascination as only so few creators exists to amaze us to such a fantastic degree. May the mind of a strange and yet wonderful creator like Guillermo Del Toro live on for ages to come.

A wonderful film not for its big-bang action set pieces or for its grandeur such as ‘The Lord of The Rings’ as admittedly the action in ‘Hellboy 2’ is nothing new, but still it is a film to be admired for its ingenuity and also as a celebration for a film of wonderful creativity. In my opinion, this is the best film of the year so far (although with the impending arrival of ‘The Dark Knight’, things COULD change), but whichever turns out to be the better, ‘Hellboy 2’ is a film that is definitely not to be missed.

Verdict: 8 / 10

Reviewed by: Raymond Choy

Review: Hancock

Even before 'Hancock' went into production (with a earlier title of 'Tonight He Comes'), news of its fresh and innovation script that takes on a much more alternative perspective at a superhero attracted much innovative praise. Never once Hollywood had done a film on a hero that “don’t give a f**k” about who he is or what he is supposed to do. He is simply him and just wants to get on with his life as he sees fit. Although this kind of angle has been done to death in the comics world, but in Hollywood is still deemed fresh. As such, the script attracted a major movie studio to finance it with mega-big-bucks, attracted a major star to play the main character, and attracted a much-acclaimed director to wave his celluloid wand to bring us superhero magic. How can anything possibly go wrong? Well, in one simple word, everything.

The film starts off pretty well with a premise of some great possibilities, i.e. redemption from his never-care-less attitude towards everything and everyone around him, his lack of responsibility towards his superhero abilities and his habit of alcoholism that are centered in a true-to-life setting of Los Angeles provides a solid basis for an interesting story arc. But half way through the movie, the strong concept collapses onto its on weight and runs aground into a quagmire of disorder that altered a promising film into a medium that is attuned to the needs of Will Smith’s star commercialism. In other words, it went all too Hollywoody.

A commercial film it may turn out to be, and yet, at certain moments in the film the tone turns dark with constant swearing and at-times vicious fight sequences that left me in a state of perplexity. At certain moments, it is violent in its action sequences (especially in the hospital) and yet juvenile in its jokes (and yet not particularly funny) with ‘colorful’ language that do not do go well to children’s ears. It is a juxtaposition that left me in a state of total confusion and I took on an uneasy feeling throughout the film. I’m not sure which demographic the director, Peter Berg (The Kingdom, The Rundown, Friday Night Lights) is aiming for but in my opinion he should just stick to one direction and focus on it. If he wants it to be sinister toned, then by all means be consistent with the violence. If this film is for the kids, then the ending with the fight sequence in a hospital should not have been there as I think its way too brutal for the eyes of children. I think Peter Berg was way to ambitious with this project by wanting to please way too many types of people, and in the end all he had achieved is diluting this promising premise into a concoction of celluloid mess.

The story itself is saturated with lame sentimentality and is tied down by a backstory that gets all the more tiresome as the film progresses. The film tried to be too elaborate with themes of lost love and cheating fate until at times it contradicts itself and leaves the audience all the more confused. The attempt to add depth to the Hancock character turned out to the biggest mistake of the film until it all becomes useless pieces of fillers to plug the gaps between one grand fight sequences to the next and to carry us limping towards its finale.

In the end, ‘Hancock’ is a cumbersome mess that elates only the most loyal of Will Smith fan or is a gargantuan supporter of CGI-induced films. The shaky-cam effect that was so effective to the 'Bourne' series were also very nauseous-ly executed which didn't help the film at all in any redeeming way. The promising story of a superhero with a redemption theme mixed with scathing black comedy were thrown out the window and became a film that got pulled into way too many directions that satisfied no one. Too dark for kids, too tame for teens and too dumb for adults, it’s all a complete mess. This is one Will Smith movie that I regrettably watched with total dissatisfaction. But if this film still does well at the box-office, I guess it’s a testament to the star-power of Will Smith. If he can sell this mess, he can definitely sell anything.

Verdict: 5 / 10

Reviewed by: Raymond Choy

PROLOGUE: (Belated) Birthday Surprise @ Home!!!

Just wanna share with everyone just how those people planned my birthday surprise attack at my home that resulted in me being bombarded with water balloons, smelly cakes and cold water. It all started with a sneeky thread in Facebook...Cheeky blardy devils all of you!!! (*Thanks to Maj's blog for the transcript).

( Initiator of discussion wishes to remain anonymous for obvious reasons [probably Maj] ): want to start planning for his “welcome back party”? his actual birthday is on 9th june. any idea when he’ll be back? he’ll definitely suspect an ambush, so i suggest we switch tactics. like get SL to invite him for a romantic dinner and we’ll turn it into a nightmare. i’m thinking water balloons. and tissue paper. lots of tissue paper. what do you think?

uncle: first of all, lemme check with SL first when he’s coming back. i knew he’s coming home but for 2 days only…guess on sat-sun somethin like that, unless he changed plan.

nei: well water is way much more better than whipped cream!! I don’t wanna have another stinky head just in case i kena backfire again -_-

VJ: once bitten twice shy eh!!good good, you learnt your lesson.

nei: spit spit spitttttttt at kanasai vj!! of all place u wanna corner theva to!!

VJ: oii chill lah!! not confirm yet…i was just saying….ok my bad, wrongly constructed the sentence….it was suppose to be, ” Is the surprise party going to be on Monday? Just wondering so that we dont end up doing after he has come and gone.” Now, isnt that better!!

uncle: got the latest news, he wont be back tis weekend….he will be back only on 20th & probably back to Labuan on 22nd or 23rd…so, how?

nei: LOL cepat confirm plan!! i need to check on my “BUSY” schedule and YES I am quite the busy nowadays tho still considered as bumming.

emma: ehhh im so out of touch, so long never log in, anything MSG me k??

nei: emma u sukkkkkkkkkkk

uncle: from what i knew is he’s definitely goin to spend the whole sat wif his gf. maybe sun nite is just nice with little help from his gal…wat’s ya thinkin?? but he being a mobile person, u wont be expecting him to be at home for most of the time for these 3 days…..think of that bloody theva’s event.. so…how bout at his home? or any bigger plan or idea?

nei: btw SIVA’s birthday is coming up TOO. Why not double combo!

VJ: hey if siva’s b’day also around the same time as raymond, then what we can do is con the both of them into believing that the victims is the other but in real fact, its the both of them!!Then both will kena super power combo X10!!

maj: geniuses. siva’s facebook is receiving this discussion tread la. refer to recepient list above.
uncle:hahahaha…great geniuses.!!!!

nei: that’s why i mentioned raymond the ONLY victim huhu!

maj: nei tries the cover line…

VJ: ARRGHHHH CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Didnt see la…….ok cancel plan. Time i keep my mouth shut
discussion continues in a second thread. minus siva. adds SL.

paul: Personally,I think just grab raymond + dunk him with ladies underwear. Post the pictures. haha..j.kidding.

uncle: (the original water plan) sounds perfect….although I doubted Siva can be sooo naive to believe us..he’s a lawyer anyway, blame vijay & nei for putting us in tis siutation. well, i can ask ray’s mum on tis matter & i’m pretty sure & would love to be part of tis..

nei: wahhh it was VJ!!!!!!! at least i cover line nice nice after i mentioned bout siva LOL. i bet ray’s mom will be happy to play a part since she and her hubby SABO you the other time in pangkor uncle LOL. They are definitely sporting enuff.

maj: getting to raymond will be the easy part. any idea how to get siva? we need to know if he is free on saturday night dulu. it would be so james bond to have both of them tied up on chairs with their backs against each other, kan? kalau ada police ronda masa tu, we all will surely kena angkut masuk balai. i’m assuming the twins don’t check facebook very often.

paul: someone will need to be my driver ..ehehhe… my driving license expired la..
emma texts everyone raving about watching a movie together.

uncle: since emma is suggesting of a movie tis sat…can we do like ” all in one”?? surprise first, then movie & then maybe dinner or wateva??

emma: yes yes KUNGFU PANDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

paul: it is a weekend after all. go out later,stay up late ler..unless u guys gone old and wussy ehehehe.

VJ: yes paul, if u have not realised, WE ARE OLD!!!!!old enough to get married (AHEM!!!)

paul: gonna be a bit of a problem VJ. I need to find myself a chick first. any introductions?

emma: eh hello, this is a thread on saturday’s plan, NOT your personal dating agency OK. if you want, paul, I could post something up for you in the personal ads.. but then you’d get a lot of calls from transvestites and paedophiles.. so better put it up yrself. its the only way.

emma: KUNGFU PANDA KUNGFU PANDA KUNGFU PANDA KUNGFU PANDA

paul: Vijay implicates marriage. I imply ‘kebujangan’…ehehhe
there were two meet ups to sort out details. participants of the meet up will remain anonymous. discussion continues in a third thread. subject: THE PLAN.

maj: so nei to start making water balloons at 9am. target: 16 people x 5 balloons each = 80 balloons (SOS: anyone has extra plastic buckets, please pinjam nei!). ETA everyone to arrive at ss14 padang at 7pm (VJ to join in. total number of persons: 11 persons minimum). everyone to get raymond to centre of padang. SL to remove raymond’s wallet + handphone.

nei: wake up 9 am make water balloons!! siao!!! And seriously la I NEED BUCKETS to store the balloons. Raymond’s parents won’t be joining us but uncle got the house key frm ray’s mom so we’ll be invading his house instead. So there will be few changes to the original plan! New location to bomb raymond (+siva) with water balloons = outside raymond’s house.

emma: shit, u guys are Oceans 11 or what?

paul: just tell me when to throw the balloon la

uncle: ok ok..this is the latest update… Ray’s goin to watch movie at noon tomorrow & will join us with SL. Nei, Maj & Thiru will have the time to go to Ray’s house to prepare the stuffs. I’ve passed the keys to Nei. Once kungfu panda movie is done, each of us will “suddenly” have other plans to do & need to go somewhere & will leave only SL & Ray. She will find ways to get him to go back home first. everyone shall be in his house before he arrives, pls call if u think ur not making it on time…

paul: Most my cash is in Hong Kong Dollars!

End of planning discussion. As Maj said, you know what happened after that (if you don't, read next post!!!) Photos are all over this blog, Maj's blog, Facebook, Friendster and videos are posted on Youtube!!!