It's just a Spider, man...

Weekend of 5th May ~ 6th May

Saturday

After the Pulau Ketam long weekend, I cooled down the activities by chillin’ and bummin’ at home. Bummed around the house playing PS2, chatting on MSN, running around naked (without anyone at home of course) & continued reading “The Golden Compass” (the last time I stopped, it was 4 months ago. Continuing it now, I had absolutely NO CLUE on what the heck this book’s about. Sighh ~~~). And by the way, reading a book with no clothes on is absolutely exhilarating, the book is so much more exciting and enthralling because….well, because….i’m naked and scared people suddenly come back haha. Anyway….

Spider-Man 3

Saturday night I headed off to KLCC with SL, V and TK to watch the biggest summer movie of the entire….weekend. Yes, no doubt, it had to be Spider-Man 3. I entered the cinema with great expectations and anticipation, considering what I think will be last celluloid affair from the threesome greatsome of Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, their last foray with the Spidey Universe. In summary, my feeling towards the movie was like SEX. Yes, SEX. Just imagine you are with your partner; hugging, kissing and caressing each other accompanied by no one else except each other, with gentle serenades of love songs hovering in the sizzling hot air, driving each other to do more. With hands all over each other, clothes amok on the floor all over, both naked, burning for THAT touch, we get ever so closer, the smell of her tenderness blending so well with the warmth of her skin, almost there….almost there….AND THEN SHE LEAVES THE FREAKIN’ BEDROOM & SLAMS THE DOOR HARD SHUT. (Note my use of the word ‘hard’ is only used in this part).

And this is how I felt towards Spider-Man 3. It promised so greatly, gave so much for the viewer to see, it was so vivid with characterization…and in the end it was just a slap in the face. Let me tell you why:

1.) Venom/Eddie Brock – Why is this character included in this movie in the first place? This character is so detached from the main plotlines of Spidey 3 and serves no purpose in the movie at all except to give Spidey another bad guy to fight and bash-up. This character is shown in such a flat manner that it doesn’t give Venom any edge of evilness whatsoever. I did not care weather he came from Mars or Uranus, weather even it will come back in Spidey 4 or even he possesses Samy Velu and starts to threaten all KL motorists with a 500% toll hike (help Spider-man, help). He serves no purposes except to give producers the excuse to milk the cash cows until dry from marketing, merchandising and hype. Venom is a cool character in the comics, cool to the point of cult status, and this movie cannibalized everything the comic books took decades to assemble. Shame.

2.) Sam Raimi, Director – His style of directing is getting too old and too monotonous after 3 helms at the pilot seat. The action sequences are nothing new as we saw the bulk of the special effects already from Spidey 1 & 2. The cinematography look tiresome & unexciting, which in my opinion made the movie look cheap and shoddy. The editing is however, up to his usual interesting standards (just think of the Evil Dead movies). The only highlight is the transformation of William Baker to Sandman, as we see each speck of sand slowly move & manifest themselves into a humanoid being. The sequence shows wonderfully the efforts and motivations it took to become Sandman (for the love of his daughter), all played out in exceptional self-drama. And the best part is, all this is shown without a single word is uttered. Pictures do speak a thousand words….

3.) Green Goblin II/Harry Osborne – Seeing him in 3 spidey movies is enough for me to turn-off my excitement levels right away. Although we see more of Harry in this movie than the Green Goblin, but enough is enough, the less said about him the better. A serious mistake from the start.

4.) Spider-Man/Peter Parker – Selfish and ignorant, even with the help of the super-badass black suit, Parker was portrayed as the way he really is and will always be: A DORK. Yes, a dork, as even he is possessed by the black suit, he can only muster a few dorky lame dance moves all over town which could have embarrassed him to a level not even a normal Peter Parker can manage to achieve. Way to go, superhero.

5.) Mary Jane – Insecure and demoralized from life, she is portrayed as a “lady in distress” and wants to be rescued so badly not from Spider-Man, but by Peter Parker. She wonders why she is not the spotlight in Parker’s eyes, and longs for attention from him. At any time Peter is not giving his full attention to her, she goes into an epilepsy of jealousy and uncertainty, uncertain for her love towards Peter. Her feelings can be easily understood, as Peter, her boyfriend, doesn’t give her the full attention that she deserves as Peter swings around town being Superhero. All she wants is a normal boyfriend, and not Spider-man. But in the end, her problems are not really resolved, so I must put up this question: why show all her problems to us if her character has no closure? Opps, I forgot, SPIDER-MAN 4….

6.) Overall Spider-Man Universe – All in all, the time is ripe for this universe to be passed on to another director with an alternative vision to expand this creation onto another dimension. One comes to mind is definitely Peter Jackson. He handles drama, action and special effects so effortlessly, and these aspects are the core demands of the Spider-Man universe. So what are you waiting for, Sony Pictures? Give this guy the contract and a $10 billion bucks paycheck already….

In the end, I come out of the cinema with a sore back from the long windedness of the movie, and an unexpected disappointment not towards the movie in general, but towards Sam Raimi, the director, which in my opinion, can do a hell lot more. So, can’t wait for Spider-Man 4? Heck no, I definitely CAN wait. Until that time comes, BRING ON TRANSFORMERS!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!!!

Chronicles from the Island of Crabs

Long Weekend of 28th April ~ 2nd May

YES, it’s the long weekend everyone’s been looking forward to and IT HAS ARRIVED. Big plans were afoot for every person from all walks of life, plans ranging from traveling, eating, bumming, balik kampong, fishing, plant vegetables and take that occasional bath.

I’m a traveling kinda guy, I like to roam the earth on land, sea or air as long as it’s a good place to go, affordable and has loads of places to stuff my face with food. And roam with lotsa good friends. So, it’s a long weekend, and I like to travel. So where the heck I’m going?? Other people booked there AirAsia flights to Langkawi, Bali, Phuket and all that. Me? I took the bold option, the best option, actually THE ONLY option considering how broke I am. I took the greatest option to travel to a place not many people call paradise: it’s a voyage to the island of PULAU KETAM, KLANG. Yes, ladies & gentlemen, it’s not a weekend of crystal clear waters of Pulau Redang, or the Chow Kuey Teow of Penang, and not even the scrumptious food & comfort of my kampong.

This is Pulau Ketam, Klang!!! And so it unfolded:

Day 1

Day one was free and easy, the day was simple and stress free. Mind you, we booked a hotel room in the middle of Klang for just RM 22 (Prescott Hotel, not those Press-cock Motels ok!) The gang consisted of V, TK, and SL and we checked in at approx 4:30pm. At 1st impression of hotel, it was bordering on OK, not great but it has the basic facilities like bed, Astro, toilet and swimming pool. Hence, no problems at all. After stripping off our luggage, we stripped off our clothes for an evening of swimming pool salsa……

Night approached and we were hungry, hungry for what Klang has to offer. We already planned for a night of seafood, and we are not gonna deviate from that plan. But seafood restaurants in Klang are as numerous as ants in an open sugar jar. Which one to choose?? Well, I always have a saying that the best solution is the simplest one. So, why not we go to this restaurant called Restaurant Seafood Klang?? I mean, we went seafood right, and we ARE in Klang right, so put 1 + 1 together, and you will get 2 good to refuse!!

At the restaurant, it was seafood heaven. The Glass Noodles with Lala was a great starter, then came the stream fish with noodles, and of course, crabs. We tried the sweet and sour crabs, which were too sweet for my taste but what the heck, it was still very good. This place has loads of varieties to crabs, I mean u name it, they will prepare it. Heck, mention Crabs with KFC and they will wrap the crunchy KFC around the crabs for you …..

But anyway, after stuffing ourselves silly, we walked off our extra luggage at a pasar malam, then proceeded to Halo Café for a chill-out at Bukit Tinggi and later went back to our hotel for some Blackjack bwwhahahaaha.

Day 2

Day 2 was the main event as this is the day we ride to Pulau Ketam. But before that, we had to check out from our hotel and for brunch we had Bak Kut T eh (at 12pm mind you, with so much meat this early in the day it’s tough to swallow. But it was so tasty, heck, the meat just melted right in my mouth). Later, off to the jetty for a boat ride to the Land of the Crabs!!

The boat ride was boring, but steady without any roller coaster rides through the waters of Klang. That’s because the area is well protected by mini-islands, swamps and coves that if even a tsunami hits the area, the waves will most probably break apart by these protections. So, if you fear any tsunamis, go get your new address at Klang right away!!

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a massive shock of heat as it was a boiling hot day. The Sun was fierce as probably the Moon gave him a bad night last night. Wearing my comfy white singlet, I was worried for my skin being burnt to human toast. It was so hot, we were walking for a mere 5 minutes and we already had to stop for a cold drink and rest. Being this the excuse, we just had to try out the local ‘O-chein’ or Oyster Omelet. It was good, but Penang’s version is better haha.

We drifted around the island for 1 hour or so, bought numerous sea-related foodstuffs and had another round of rest, with another round of ‘O-chein’, but this time it’s substituted with Lala instead of Oysters. Still same great taste though…..

During my coasting through the grounds of the island, I was wondering what the local residents do for entertainment. I didn’t notice any Astro dishes on their roofs and I don’t think they have Internet access either. Don’t tell me they chat about fish, prawns and crabs all day, everyday? HHmmmm, makes me wonder.

But anyway, the day was at its dusk and it was time to depart this island with memories of their joyous food, the sights of fishermen, the setting of bicycles wandering through slender lanes and the colors of dwellings that riot across the island. The boat was waiting, the engine running, people boarding, the time approached for the return to mainland.

At the night of Day 2, TK went his separate way while me, V and SL went out for a eat-out at a nice diner called “Wendy’s Bistro” at Sunway to give this weekend a good closure for what it turned out to be a gastronomic delight infused with the setting of a unique island that is called Pulau Ketam.

And this brings forth the conclusion of the weekend to the Island of Crabs…..

The 988fm Concert @ Sunway Lagoon

Weekend of 7th April & 8th April

Saturday

The 988fm concert was held on this weekend & I had tickets. MANY tickets. Actually one person is entitled to only 4 tickets, but I got hold of almost 20 tickets haha. So I gave them to my friends. Each ticket also entitled a 50% discount for Sunway Lagoon water/theme parks; hence me and SL took this advantage and stripped for our swimsuits to soak yourselves in waist-deep waters overlooked by a welcoming sun. We enjoyed the sun and waters until the concert started, enjoyed some more until the concert ended.

There were loads of people already near the stage to get good views even before the gates opened. This is because those that bought the 50% discount on the theme park tickets can get into Lagoon early to enjoy the water park and stayed there without queuing outside!!! Luckily I was these smart people (*ahem*) and got good views of the entire concert. But because it was hard for us to get back our clothes from the lockers (some lockers were blocked by stage security, some lockers had to charge money to re-lock etc), a lot of people (not me though) were in their swim suits: guys were shirtless and gals were sexy!! This fits the concert so nicely as it was a BEACH CONCERT. Needless to say, the scenery, music and backdrop of Sunway Hotel was spectacular for a fantastic night of enjoyment and entertainment ~~~~

The concert was entertaining with loads of Local and Taiwan starts performing: Gary, Janice, Ah Niu, and Danny to name a few. Each artist sang 2 songs initially, and for the encore EVERY artist gave a song. So the encore part was so long until no mood already haha. But it ended nicely and everyone left happily.


Sunday

Me and SL (actually me only la) were all excited for this day as I got free F1 tickets!!! Although it cheapo tickets (RM 50) I thought it would be fun to just go there and get some pictures and leave early since it’s free. Alas, if only I can foresee the future. Everything was set perfectly: the camera fully charged, I got the hats and umbrellas in case it rains, I even got a mini mobile fan in case the heat gets unbearable! So the journey to F1 was problem-free until at a turning to Sepang, we were met with a gargantuan traffic jam that stretched like the River Nile in Egypt. I tried my patience to overcome this jam, however, after 2 hours in the jam and moving slower than a 100-year-old turtle with backside problems, I did a Michael Schumacher U-turn and drove to my pit-stop (i.e. my home).

Bringing Hom the Music: Lee Hom Concert @ Bukit Jalil

Weekend of 3rd & 4th March


The day has arrived for arguably the concert of the year: Wang Lee Hom’s World Tour at Bukit Jalil!!!! Many discussions were held conversing about this day, many nights were spend dreaming of this moment, & of course many cash were spent for those small pieces of paper with weird words on it called ‘concert tickets’. Yes, it is this day, and he has arrived for maestro Lee Hom to swagger his flair for entertainment and charm his way into the many fluttering hearts of love-laden girls (and some guys. *Ahem*).

Sourcing Wikipedia:

“Lee Hom is a Taiwanese American singer-songwriter, actor, and commercial model who has achieved highly recognized success in Taiwan, Mainland China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia. As of 1995, the beginning of his musical career, Lee Hom has contributed in over 25 albums, totalling to nearly 13,000,000 original sales. In addition to his album sales, he also set a new attendance record at the Taipei Arena for his Heroes of Earth 2006 Concert on March 2006 as the concert had broken over six national records. He was also the most earned celebrity endorser as of 2006, defeating other hot competants like Jolin Tsai, S.H.E, and Jay Chou, who was the top earner in the last three years. He also participated in several films, his latest role in ‘Lust, Caution’ directed by Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (which has scenes filmed in Malaysia), gaining the most attention. He has albums in Mandarin & Japanese, and had a duet with Kenny G in Malay (The One and Only).”

Needless to say, he is multi-talented, multi-lingual and a multi-award-winning artist that has over-powered the Chinese music industry with his revolutionary infusion of Chinese and Traditional music, Rap, R&B and Rock. Arguably no individual has achieved what he has achieved, and no individual has left such a landmark in the industry like Lee Hom.


"Lee Hom: Heroes of Earth" World Tour - Malaysian Stop.


After suffering 1 hour in traffic jams and scouring all terrains for a car-park (finally managed to get one near Carrefour), the concert opened just as I was about to sit down. Although me and SL were separated at first (before I went looking for car-park, SL left my car to look for good seats), no moment was missed as the concert started with immense energy and verve. This energy was maintained well into the night; his dance moves were intense and his back-up dancers were in-line with his good intentions to give the reportedly 11,000 crowd a spectacular show. Even when he was belting out his ballads of love songs, his voice and force was unrelenting. Mixing this with his ability to mesmerize his audiences by abundantly performing ‘live’ on prominent music instruments (violin, piano, violin, guitar, drums, etc), he truly is a talented individual endowed with exceptional musical abilities rare to most men and women.

Another individual capable of challenging him musically is definitely his special guest artist for this evening: JJ Lin. Originated from Singapore, JJ Lin challenged & faced up to Lee Hom on stage; JJ Lin performing Lee Hom’s ‘Ni Bu Zai’ and Lee Hom reversely performed JJ’s ‘Jiang Nan’. Both complementing the ballads on piano, the two were outstanding winners in the end as both performances complimented each other superbly. It was a unique union of talent and a rare collaboration that no doubt gave the audience the highlight of night.

As an act of unification, both Lee Hom and JJ Lin performed together, singing ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ as a celebration for their friendship and partnership, and may this collaboration continue for many years to come.

The songs, dance and fireworks rained on the audience continuously throughout the 2-hour-plus show, many landmark favorites and unique compositions of Lee Hom were presented with satisfying effort. It was a great night for Lee Hom fans, and generally a great night for music fans overall, as everyone enjoyed and celebrated the revolution and evolution that Lee Hom has crafted throughout his musical journey with satisfying aplomb.

The Night of the Mexicans

Weekend of 17th & 18th March

This weekend we chose to forget the Bak kut Tehs, Chow Kuey Teows and Seafood for something that is more foreign and distinctive: Mexican food!!!! The decision was made by V and joined by SL, LE & A to dine at Nikko Hotel’s promo for Mexican cuisine prepared by very talented cooks that can even sing for their customers!!! Not only that, they even took the liberty to dress up in big bad hats and serenaded their Mexican songs complemented by their adorable guitars!!! Talk about value for money!!! The food was okay, but in the end it was fun and was something unique to spend the weekend away….

Gambling Gastronomy

Sorry for long absence, been busy and all that. Just got back from my Mars trip to visit my uncle Ah Siau. Anyway, back to my blogging…..

To make up the big bad gap in my blog, I’m just going to post up weekends that are worth highlighting. So here ya go:

Weekend of 17th & 18th Feb

On that Friday night me and my office pals opened shop, doing the business of gambling (yes, gambling, so arrest me la Pak Cop!! Why scared? I taiko maahh!!) We created a wide selection of tempting offers on the menu:

Ala Carte:

1.) Mahjong for 3 to 4 persons
2.) Blackjack buffet
3.) ‘Gin’ & tonic
4.) ‘Tai De’ gong (Viet dish)

Well, those were the popular choices and we indulged in gambling gastronomy until the wee hours of the morning. Actually, it was a bit of a disgrace as we planned to end at 7am the next morning, but we ended at 4am instead. Gowd, we must be older than we think we are!!! I think it’s time to whip out that ‘Alien Workshop’ baggy pants along with my old ultra-large Quiksilver t-shirt and stroll at my nearest mall. FUYOH!!!!

The Itchy Fingers

I guess you'll be wondering why my Blogg hasn't been updated in a HUGE while. Well, lets just say its been a chemistry of travels, work, computer glitches and plain olde laziness. In addition, i've been giving my Blogg a little face-lifts here and there, i.e. i've added a chatbox, search engine and hitbox to name a few. Why? Coz i just had the itchy fingers recently, but i didn't want to revamp the entire thing though. Too lazy kekeke.

Anyways, in the coming days when my itchy fingers start to heal, i'll update my Blogg to the latest possible. It's a GARGANTUAN gap, so i'm planning to only highlight my most memorable moments from the yester-weeks thats gone by. Hope i remember what i did in those weeks though....

But enough said already, God speed Bloggers!!

Happy CNY Everyone~~~~

Weekend of 3rd & 4th Feb / Weekend of 10th & 11th Feb


Well, I have absolutely no idea what I did in these 2 weekends coz I’ve not been updating my blog lately and couple this with the long CNY holidays which I just got back from, my mind is completely blank. Oh well, so far I don’t remember any significant happenings in these 2 blank weekends so I’ll assume its been another fantabiloso days of my life J. Next!!!!


CNY Holidays 16th Feb ~ 21st Feb.


GONG XI FATT CHAI!!! Yes of course, it’s the days of being merry with family members and greedy with gambling buddies. From the 1st moment I arrived in Ipoh I literally went straight from my car to a mahjong table. I was involved in ‘3 ka’ and ‘4 ka’ sessions (‘3 ka’ means 3 person per table and ‘4 ka’ is 4 persons per table, both with different rules).

If this mahjong session is an omen of my fortunes for my days to come this year, then I’m shitting and pissing in my pants both at the same time because I’ve lost RM50 in like 1 hour (3 ka). Being the superstitious person that I am, I went for a quick bath and a scrub with leaves from god knows what plant (my mum says it’s for good luck), a quick change of clothes (a change of unddies was a must), and a quick shot of Ipoh White Coffee, I dived straight back into the whirlwind of mahjong madness.

The result for my superstitious actions was quick and ruthless: I lost another RM100 in half an hour.

Well, all I can say is Gong Xi Fatt Chai indeed to all my mahjong kakis sharing my table.

Overall, it was a much slower and quieter CNY than previous years. Probably it’s because of the fireworks ban. But the ‘feel’ was not there and me and my cousins whaled away the CNY time by playing mahjong from morning till night and night will morning (for 2 straight nights we ended at 6AM). Overall I’ve lost just RM20 only as the last few days I was suddenly possessed by the God of Gamblers (Mr. Chow Sing Chi himself) and won must of my losses back. In the end the big winner was Ms. California herself Ms. Marisa. She ‘pau’ the table for so many times I’ve lost count and her cards were so damn good I swear she is cheating somehow!! I SWEAR!! When I get some proof Ms. California then you’ll die!! Ok la, not so drama and maybe I’m a sore loser. But I’m still pissed at her. I’LL GET MY REVENGE MS. CALIFORNIA, THE TABLE WILL BE SPINNING LIKE A DEMON POSSESSED AND ALL YOUR MONEY WILL BE MINEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *cough*.


Weekend of 24th ~ 25th Feb.

Friday


After getting back from Ipoh, I was still in the CNY mood so I started to arrange another session of mahjong with my KL buddies. But alas, only 1 friend was interested, so we started on Blackjack.

In ½ hour I lost RM50. Maybe I’m not a good gambler I thought I was…

So analyzing the trend here, I quickly halted proceeding and kicked my friend away for the night before he wins somemore. HAHA!! Ok, that was mean but I had no choice, he was kicking my silly broke @$$. Enough was enough, I went to watch ‘Ghost Rider’ with another friend instead. After the movie, I think I preferred to lose my money to my Blackjack friend instead than to this silly movie. I’ve never seen any movie that is so bad and lousy, it’s almost like a joke. Rest In Pieces Nicholas Cage!!! I once liked you man, what happened to you??? Damn you Hollywood for destroying all my comic book heroes!!!!


Saturday


After office and a ‘noon nap, I went to The Curve with SL and enjoyed the Man Utd Vs Fulham game at the Laundry, and had Italian food called ‘fotolio de amaggio’ or something like that. Ok ok, I made that name up, the dish did not sound anything like that. But it was good; it had spaghetti in tomato sauce with 2 big chucks of chicken topped in mozzarella cheese. It sounded simple but the taste was exquisite. SL had some fish dish which I thought was just as nice.

Man Utd won 2-1 thanks to a superb individual goal from the main man himself Mr. Chris Ronaldo.

After the match and dinner, we proceeded to watch ‘Dreamgirls’ at Cineleisure. Well, this movie is not great but I have a few pointers:

GOOD:

1.) Jennifer Hudson will win Oscar’s ‘Best Supporting Actress’ hands down.
2.) Eddie Murphy was splendid in a drama role. Good to see him get all serious than to see him in a plastic suit all the time (i.e. ‘Norbit’ & ‘The Nutty Professor’). Although my bet is that he will NOT win Oscar’s ‘Best Supporting Actor’.
3.) Gave the audience a reflection of the music industry; the politics of it all, the corruption and the money. But also showed friendship, determination and inter-dependence between characters.

BAD:

1.) There’s too many songs thrown at you and at a force that is too quick and unfeeling that you can’t digest it all. In the end, my feeling is that all the songs sounded quite the same and did not add any value to the movie whatsoever.
2.) Beyonce was disappointing, and also Jamie Foxx. Too flat performances, with no effort and drama. I expected more from Jamie Foxx after his performance in ‘Ray’.
3.) Overall, ‘Chicago’ and even ‘Moulin Rouge’ were better than ‘Dreamgirls’ in my opinion. ‘Chicago’ was classy with their songs and dance; ‘Moulin Rouge’ was daring with its somewhat over-the-top but fresh MTV concept towards a musical. But to me, ‘Dreamgirls’ was ordinary with the exception of Jennifer Hudson’s screamingly fantastic show and the movie’s perspective into Motown’s music scene.

Movie ended at 3AM, went back home and watched Real Madrid Vs. Athletico Madrid on telly ;)


Sunday


Woke up at ‘noon, watched Desperate Housewives on telly and went out with SL & TK to Taipan’s ‘Old Town Kopitiam’ for coffee and kaya bread. Delicious!! ;p

After a long discussion, we went to Paris for dinner. No, not with candle lights in France but only in SS2 and ordered the usual ‘Kam Heong Lala’, Champagne Chicken, ‘Belacan Kangkung’ and ‘Chew Pai Tofu’. We stuffed ourselves silly, adjourned at 9PM.

As the night was still young me and TK went to a mamak stall to watch the League Cup Final between Chelsea Vs Arsenal, while SL and V went back home. I thought Arsenal was gonna nick the cup after they got ahead 1-0 but experience played a greater part that night over the young Arsenal players and eventually won 2-1 instead. More silverware for Chelsea again. Damn you Jose!!! Oh well, Man Utd is 9 points clear!!! BBWWAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Izzi Weekend

Weekend of 1st Feb ~ 4th Feb


Well due to the Thaipusam festivities most of Malaysians had a longer than usual weekend as the celebrations was held on Thursday, and I being my lazy self took Friday off hence the extended weekend!!


Wednesday

After work we celebrated my colleague’s farewell from Sony thus we booked a room at Neway Cheras to sing ‘K’ and be happy happy. It was mostly the younger generation of Sony so it was kinda fun and sang and screamed until the ‘K’ machine ‘hang kei’. A short while later it was ok and continued on the screaming (well I was the one screaming anyway, the rest was actually singing) and left at approximately 11pm. Oh and by the way, right outside Neway, Joey Yong from HK was having her showcase, thus I had a glimpse of her. She looked great and the crowd welcomed her with full aplomb.


Thursday

AhhHHhhhh~~~the beginning of a long weekend is always the best time of the holiday. The feeling of knowing that the day of re-starting work is far away is truly comforting and assuring. It’s almost like the feeling of being a kid again whereby all things are being taken care of by your parents and all I need to do is be trouble-free and happy. That’s why I LOVE Saturdays and HATE Sundays. I hate Sundays because I dread the fact that the next day is a working day and I feel so pressured to do and enjoy as much as possible in one day while psychologically hear the clock ticking away slowly towards the inevitable gloom of dooms-day Monday. Tick tock of the clock towards the trepidation of the office flock, how I wish I can block my mind from this cursed pre-workday mental lock.

But what the heck, it’s the beginning of a 4 day long break so lets start my own festivities as I do not celebrate Thaipusam. On Thursday me and SL went up to Genting as we got hold of this fantastic promotion by Genting whereby they gave us a room to overnight PLUS 2 out-door theme park tickets for a measly RM 50 bucks!! The 2 out-door theme park tickets alone already cost RM 60, so the room is virtually free. Heck of a good deal if you ask me!!

So we left KL at around 1pm from Pasarakyat bus station (at Imbi) and checked in around 3pm. Went immediately for a quick lunch at McD’s and promptly proceeded to the theme park as it was getting late and we do not want to waste a single sen of the ticket even though it was free. It was the usual Genting rides but all in all we romped through rides like:


i.) Cyclone – 1 ride (still a good ride even all these years)

ii.) Runaway Mine Train – 1 ride (with SL and nearly ran-away half way through the ride)

iii.) Solero Shot – 1 ride (do they still call it Solero Shot? I don’t remember but still a good shot in the arm filled with the wonder of height and the terror of plunging flight)

iv.) Corkscrew – 3 times (I just LOVE this ride, the first drop after the long climb up is just the most exhilarating sensation compared to the rides. What a good screw to the senses)

v.) Dinosaurland (I think that’s the name) – 1 ride (why didn’t they just call it bore-land)

vi.) Paddle boat – 1 ride (yup, the classic boat paddling ride. As though my legs were not weak enough from all the other rides, I have to paddling through the entire Genting swamp (I mean lake).


Well, we finished at 7pm (closing time) and headed for dinner at Kopitiam. Had Claypot Chicken (RM 8 bucks for 1 pot. They should have just called it “Money Got? Then Pay up for the Pot since ‘no more other choice lahhhh you Got!!’ ”. *Sigh* Uncle Lim, Uncle Lim.

Went jalan-jalan after dinner and went back to the hotel room at around 10pm.

Friday


Simple day whereby I woke-up, showered, checked-out, lunched at KFC and departed down to KL. Reached KL around 4pm, hanged around at SL’s house and as the day was still early, we and SL’s mum decided to head to the near-by pasar malam and I bought Gary Chou’s newest album (pirated lah, sorry ahh Mr. Gary!!) Nice album, but not as good as his previous album. This guy I tell can really sing. His voice is very distinctive with pleasing hints of harshness and a full range of melody which makes his songs a delightful brew of ear-pleasing tunes coupled with a voice that easily bridges his emotions to you. All of the local artist out there, Gary is the best singer by far.

Saturday


Dread and frustration overwhelmed me as duty called. Hence, I have to leave the comforts of my humble home to the troubles of the office. Worked full day, departed at 5:40pm. Left for home as I was tired, thus had dinner with my parents. Nothing significant happened and went out yamca with S to watch Chelsea Vs Charlton. Chelsea of course won thanks to the Charlton defense which welcomed Frank Lampard to a target practice session hence he scored the goal that won the match. Damn you Charlton.

Sunday


Another slow day as I woke up at around 12pm and watched CSI on TV until 2pm and promptly left to Ampang to yamca with SL. I suggested to try out the big ‘Old Town Kopitiam’ near Cheras Leisure Mall, but SL said it was packed with people therefore we de-toured to a nearer ‘Old Town Kopitiam’ in Pandan Indah. Ordered a good cup of White Coffee and bread to talk ‘kok’ until dinner time.

We absolutely had no idea what to eat as we were kinda bored with all the food joints in Pandan Indah. We decided to have Korea BBQ, but after calling a few of SL’s friends we abandoned that idea to dine at Izzi Restaurant AGAIN which makes it 2 weekends in a row already at Izzi. No matter, the Citibank 60% offer was too tempting thus me, SL, L and her boyfriend ordered Hainan Chicken Rice (for SL which was a bad choice haha), I had Pizza Tropicalle and L had steak with spaghetti (I think its spaghetti anyway!!) and her boyfriend had vegetarian Lasagna. After dinner we bumped into more friends but decided to depart and call it a day and thus ended the loooong weekend that was another Izzi weekend.

An Izzi Weekend

Weekend of 26th Jan ~ 28th Jan

Friday


After a long day (and week) of work, I decided to chill out and wanted to let loose all my woes and wicked worries off my tired back. So I called up a few buddies and we decided to head to a friend’s apartment in Mount Kiara to chill out. Literally. The first thing we did there was to jump straight into the blissful blue of the apartment pool but as usual, we did not anticipate the ‘coolness’ of the pool and we found out that the waters was freakin’ freezing. No matter, the pool was too good to ignore, I mean it has a damn bar in the middle of the pool, how cool is that? That night the bar was closed and no one was there to attend it, so we took it to our own and made contorted concoctions of Coke with Nescafe and beer with Hershey’s chocolate syrup. Let me tell you the drinks are NOT recommended (it gives you severe gas, and being in the pool with this problem make you look like you are breathing from your behind with all those bubbles shooting out from the water). Satisfied with our bubbly underwater musical, we chilled out at the pool decks and took in the rooftop view of the crescent moon with slight joinings of silvery clouds and joyful interruptions of rain drizzles. Cool, calm and caressed by bliss, I was in rooftop heaven.

Halfway through our voyage to heaven, it started to rain pretty heavily but what the heck, we were having too much fun so we bummed at the pool bar all to our own until midnight. Of course being a swimming pool and raining, it was kinda chilly and having to be half naked from 8pm until midnight in freezing waters, I got back home and had the sneezies. Being the weakling that I am, off goes the air-conditioning and off to bed at 2am.

Saturday


Well let me tell you about THIS Saturday. It started off slowly as I woke up at ‘noon and being the fool that I am, I went to the office to pump up my OT amounts and of course worked off some office assignments. Took off at around 5pm and went straight to Ampang to hang out with SL. SL had RM40 of Nando’s vouchers; we decided to spend the entire RM40 that night. Off to KLCC and I ordered a whole half chicken with rice and chips for myself, and she had a quarter chicken with salad and chips. Actually I suggested ordering a Platter which can easily feed 4 mal-nutrition refugees, but I decided to be humble and settle for a half chicken instead.

We chitchatted and grubbed all the food without hesitation (at least I had no hesitation anyway), but it seems it was not enough. Our demanding CEO of cuisine provisions operations (also known as our stomach) was crying out for more, so we headed off to Genki Sushi to nip and tuck. Now if this was a movie, this part would be where the big fight scenes occur, where the good guy fights the bad guy, where the climax of any movie takes place. Because in this movie, just when I was about to leave Genki Sushi, the ‘Director of the movie’ (or God in this case) decided to make things interesting. When I was walking towards the door and looking down at my bill and happily calculating the discount given from Citibank, I smashed right in front of the glass door and caused a shockwave of glass tremors measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale all across the Genki Peninsular. But honestly speaking, my head or whatever DID NOT hit the glass, only MY FOOT hit the glass so in a way I DID NOT HIT THE BLOODY GLASS!!! *sigh* I’M NEVER GOING BACK THERE EVER AGAIN!!!!

Walking around KLCC in a piss-off mood, I decided to abandon KLCC for the night and we headed up to Saga Hill to take in some fresh air and enjoy the view of the KL skyline. We minum-minum until 12:30am and then headed back to SL’s house to watch Man Utd Vs Portsmouth which Man Utd won with contributions by Rooney’s spectacular goals. After that, it was good nite until Sunday.

Sunday


It’s the main event of the weekend whereby me, V, S, and SL went to this Izzi Restaurant very near to Lot 10 and stuffed ourselves silly with some pretty good Italian food. The place was kinda pricey but you see, they were having this promotion for Citibank credit cards and they were dishing out 60% discounts on the final bill!!! So we let loose our taste buds and pull away our wallet restrictions to order as many dishes as possible. In the end, we over ordered and over eaten but left satisfied with the place. Overall the deco was nice with an interesting toilet design to boot plus good service, I have to say this place is indeed recommended!!!!

Left the restaurant at 9pm, but the night was mighty young. Hence, what to do what to do? We tried to ‘sing K’ but their package offerings were RM35 for dinner and non-stop singing per pax!! As we had our dinners, we abandoned this plan and headed to the nearest Dome café to chill out ‘till 11pm. We talked ‘kok’ a lot and discussed on our planned trip to Bali, but as usual, nothing concrete was mentioned and continued to ‘kok’ until laughing like drunken hyenas high on the best drug in the world: Happiness.

Dome reached its closing time, we reached our point of satisfied ‘kok’-ness and decided to adjourn for the night, thus adjourned for the weekend that was indeed, Izzi.