hiyaaa... i'm back.

michael commented this blog rocks. thank you. how it rocks i gotta figure out. thanks anyway, keep on reading ya!

was in singapore for hari raya hols. the exchange rate makes it a pricey place to be at, but it's still a nice place to walk around, hang out in, and soak in the sights. basically ignored the shopping centres, roamed around the stalls at Little India, Bugis, and Chinatown.

oh, the food! the pies were excellent. food's generally good anywhere in that country. steamboat... curry mutton... beef noodles... damn, i'm getting hungry now...

Night Safari was pretty good. they know how to make a tourist attraction, compared to our place. walking right near flying foxes, fruit bats, and tigers, these make for good experiences... : )

holidays are always good, arent they. 2004 has been great really... been to Miri, Mulu, Bali, Singapore, Pangkor, Pulau Kapas... planning my next trip now, which should be indonesia... yeah baby... thanks to our excellent budget airline AirAsia - we love u!!!

well. what a week it's been.

me granny passed on. not too sad about it though, because she's been in and out of hospitals for 2 years or so. lately the doctor gave her a time-frame of some weeks, so i think we all were prepared for this. and if you've seen her you'd understand she must have been fighting and hanging on to be with us a little bit longer. half her insides have either been operated out or not functioning anymore. she's a strong one, we all agree on.

looking at her when she went to sleep for the last time, i'd say she looks rested. like asleep, with a little smile on her mouth. just lovely to be remembered by.

i would say she's the matriach of the family. a lot of her qualities are passed on, even in me. we're all kaki jalan, travellers and happy-go-lucky gallivanters at heart. with not a small dose of stubbornness and righteousness. but always with a smile we approach each other, the fights and arguments in the background.

thanks for making me who i am, my loving, jovial, best-cook-in-the-world grandma,

Mdm Koh Jit Neo : 10th July 1926 - 31st October 2004.

i hate having tears in my eyes. the past week has seen two events or occurrences which made me do so:

1. Seeing the Bali bombing memorial and the sites where the bars used to be.

2. Watching my grandmother struggle for her life in the hospital.

and there'll be more of item (2). sigh.

eric:

part-time employment
full-time beach bum

wannabe surfer dude.

funny thing is, my right hand is more tanned than my left. strange. must've been the position i was lying down on the beach at kuta. sadly missed and will be back again.

FYI bali is safe as pepsi. so get yer arse over there pronto. guys, bring your hippest board shorts, and the ladies, your skimpiest bikinis.... : )

surf's up, dude!

i did catch Jersey Girl after all. and no matter what the critics say, it is a good movie, with a heartwarming story that holds your interest... so to the critics out there, UP YOURS! Kevin Smith lives on! hmm... long time havent gone to their site... time to check it out for the latest projects...

did u read about the guy in China who wanted to name his kid '@' ? think he should take some time off the computer. couldn't he stick to 'Bill' like the rest of dads who want their children to emulate the Big Bro of computing??? oh, my sister's hubby's called Bill. yeah baby. me, i prefer Alota Fagina.....

my sis, just had a baby, her name's Caitlin or something like that. apart from the oh-so-anglophile name, she is just so adorable! smiles so much with those eyes shining bright. i wish her luck in this bad mad world we are in...

and the fact she lives in Planet Klang (that's what i named the place lately!) where people just act and think
different from the rest of us. no details or facts, it just is. what a load of bias us KL-ites have, eh?!!

my...steam...running... out....

yo ho ho and a bottle a' rum....

which reminds me, i used to be a prolific consumer of cheap 20-ringgit rum... i think after half a bottle i would be in a different state of being laaa. if anyone of you had seen me in those days - please erase such memories, replace with happy thoughts of butterflies flitting among fragrant-smelling mango trees. and the such.

was watching THE HOURS last night. it's a good movie! they had some big names putting out good performances. and the inherent depression, suicidal tendencies, and alienation, just kept me glued...

alienation and despondency in this big sprawling modern world seems a favourite topic among film-makers, like our very own James Lee, whose characters all seem detached from the real world and living their lives in a slow downward spiral... sounds like how i used to feel back in the day of cheap rum (see above).

the world around us does seem to be going at F1 speeds of 300 kmh and above while our little meandering existences are going at a rural 35 kmh... so much movement, energy, activity. is it a surprise so many people are going nuts and have one mental illness or another? the need to be individual, and at the same time coerced into conformity to the rat race.

thursday... futsal at 6pm... swimming after that... life as i make it to be... can it be better?

love n peace.

heyaaa i am here... kaa kaa kaa... where have i been???? dunno lah... just too frigging lazy to update. mmm... up to wat? well... relaxing, lazing around, watching tons of movies, nothing new. Miyazake makes the best anime around! Takashi Miike is twisted and deeply disturbing... the movies, in all their perverted fetish-ridden glory, are a great watch, aren't they?

on the local front - James Lee makes blady good movies eh and on that kinda budget??? phew wow. caught 'The Beautiful Washing Machine' at the KDU Theatrette - i'm thinking that this is the future of malaysian movie-making, the standards way up there in the world of indie films. immediately got a copy of 'Room To Let' (ori one, tau...) which also blew me away. kudos!

got some fishies in a little tank now.. hmm, how do i append a pic to this blady site eh. so so cute tho 2 or 3 of em went to meet god oredi. little tetras and guppies only, much cuter than some monstrous arowana. wat u think?

i wonder if still got anyone coming to my blog or not... pls do say hi and leave a msg ok!

right then... back to work... maybe...

love and peace, always.

so depressing... was watching TV3 Berita Utama and for at least fifteen minutes it was all about murder and deaths. does it have to be that way? bad news sells for sure but there's got to be more than that to this life. please please can we focus on the brighter side of things, like... sunsets and flowers and parks...

was at uncle don. whole area quiet except for Breakers which was packed solid. sigh... the whole area like half-dead. unc don was actually quiet for once.syok.

off i go to spread my message of love and joy.

hi hi i'm back...

whoa! caught that movie Ichii The Killer last nite. gross! but not as gross as ppl put it to be. Can see that Quentin T saw this movie before doing Kill Bill Vol 1. dont blink when u see Ichii or u'll miss some extreme gross thing. however i think my version is an edited one.... sob.

sad to know about the Uncle Don incident. lotsa stories abound but for a fact i know that it was a safe place to have food and drink and some music... until now? all the rowdiness only started after Bar Med opened, in my opinion. the drunkards and Kepong crowd converging and making a fool of themselves, beating each other up, vomiting all over the place...

we malaysians need a huge dose of love and peace, brothers and sisters...

i'm uninspired. unmotivated. unmoving.

my ass is gonna get flat sitting here. if not for the sessions in the pool and at the futsal pitch.

sometimes i hate me. most times i love being me. but not right now.

i should just go out in the sunshine and just be me.

sit by a gurgling stream (FRIM would be closest). watch the leaves blowing in the wind. sounds of laughter of the occassional passer-by. feel the grass beneath me.

rightey.

cherrylove and i sitting around at my office. think i'll go home to catch me (undeserved) forty winks. hee hee

STARLIGHT CINEMA IS FUN! Kill Bill Vol 2 was great though it's a bit more sedate compared to the first. Two nights ago we caught Muriel's Wedding which was pretty funny. Delicious ABBA soundtrack, that one... altogether now,'...you can sing,you can dance...'

another yawny day. yawn.

been polishing up me swimming skills. i thought i was doing quite well, being able to do like, 1.75 laps (what??), til i was told it's only 50 metres per lap. sob. that's cos i read somewhere to get the scuba licence we need to be able to swim 150 metres (is that true? anyone?). i'm sure there are ways to go around that condition, right. after all it's not a cheap course...

ok then... gotta get back to work... earn them bucks for that time for fun in the sun...

btw.. whats the details for the meetup on Bloggers Day eh?

yayyy yayyyy starlight cinema is on tonite, and it would be so fun to watch Kill Bill Vol 2... hope the censors have been lenient. hate those snips that cause a movie to end up all chopped up and incomprehensible. bring out the mats and umbrellas just in case it pours!

started reading The Satanic Verses. poor chap Salman Rushdie, had to suffer all those years cos of some narrow-minded extremists putting a death sentence on him. okay-lah, i've just read the first chapter so can't say much. so far, it's pretty interesting, poetic even, with some fine play of words. got my attention so far. it's also typical prose of Asian writers. can't wait to see what the scandal was all about. it's got sex and religion as far as i know (the ten pages or so i've gone) and i hope it's gonna get better hehe. nothing a mature mind should complain about.

okies... gonna go soon. more updates as they happen! love and peace, babies...

got the DVD of Ghost in The Shell. Have you seen that? wowzers. movie is back in the news again; its sequel presented at Cannes - one of two animated movies, the other being Shrek 2. cant wait to see it, it's called 'Innocence'. what an excellent title.

so now i get the chance to watch the movie in Japanese eh! one thing is the subtitles is quite shitty. should have improved em by now... ah well it's a great movie anyways, what with the premise of cybernetic life-forms attaining consciousness, emotions, feelings, and all that. wow. yummy.

watched Shrek 2 last night as well!!! phew-weeettt... it was hilarious! should have seen us laughing and rolling about. this was a movie where the audience was really involved in! rarely do we see people exclaiming and laughing so hard (ok i'm one of em guilty ones). and at the end, they clapped. amazing. just goes to show the effect and control the mass media has over the population.

managed to catch a bit of When Harry Met Sally as well (do you think i watch too many movies?) for Cherrylove's benefit (never seen it before) and for the continuation of the MEG RYAN FILM FEST 2004 (what next, Innerspace? :) ). it's got some witty dialogue... and the ever-popular debate on whether men and women can be just friends without sex getting in the way. my answer to that? heheh wait in line, my friends...

alrightey. gotta go out soon. have a fun day, wherever you are... muahhh muaaahhhhhh

e.

you know one thing i'd like to do soon? to learn my granny's recipes. she just makes the best earth-shaking food ever. i did ask her down to teach or to write down recipes. no luck laaa... how to convince her ah.

aiyo.. been so mighty lazy this week. think i'll go jogging and speed up the metabolic rate a bit. just sit here and surf, and trying to be productive. nothing much comes out laaa... so sickening. can a person be sick of oneself? of course isnt it.

past 2 nites have been noisy hell at my house. the old guy opposite croaked and that brought everyone including the percussion band around. i think 2nite's the Big Bang. must. stay. away.

managed to speak to one family member cos they were blocking up my entrance. i told the guy the old man was always being pushed around in his wheelchair. while having a fag. nice of me, eh... rub it in. i think the thing is, the old guy knew it was his time so might as well have some of life's evil pleasures eh. i'm sure i'll sneak some homegrown on my deathbed too. waka waka.

impossible to get tickets to Shrek 2. BUT i got invites to Kill Bill Volume 2, at the Starlight Cinema thingy happening next month (3rd June). amazing they are showing such a movie which are usually banned. Tarantino Rules! only thing about Kill Bill was that the gore was very cartoony, unlike the realism of Pulp Fiction. don't you just love the way some of the violence is off-camera but we still get the full impact? superb. this is stuff you get from watching the entire DVD with the commentary on.

ok la. time to do some stuff. hear from ya!

This cracked me up!

heyyyaaaa

amazing... Kill Bill Vol 2 is gonna open Starlight Cinema this time around. the fact that it's not box-office mush. but i'm surely gonna cringe with the definite censorship. the cartoony gushing of blood out of chopped-off limbs? gone for sure. even though it was gory but darn funny kind. one gal versus a hundred goons, all left lifeless and limbless? for certain it will be one bloody mess and i aint referring -to the movie. it will be the damage from the snippers' scissors...

time for dinner. laparrr. getting real boring eating out all the while. gotta practice my gourmet skills soon...

alrite... off i go... taaa... take it easy ok.

love n peace

hello hello... my faithful blog visitors (i know you're out there). i am back, with love. how have you all been eh? whats been up with me, you might ask. well... sibuk la... apa lagiiiiee...

been taking life easy.. went to Pangkor during the last long hols. damn! its really really difficult getting rooms at the last minute nowadays. malaysians are taking their holidays really seriously. called a few chalets/resorts in Tioman, and they've been booked for 3 months beforehand! wowzers. so, in the end, ended up in my regular joint in pangkor, called Ombak Inn. there's usually room there cos... it's not the best-looking place in town, you see. well, it's got a clean bed and bathroom and that's all that matters since miss cherrylove and i were mostly out on the beach and in the sea. spent some time snoozing under the trees in a hammock, just chilling out. wonderful.

and as usual we detoured to Ipoh, just for the white coffee. the toasted bread is lovely too! goes perfect with the coffee. so - if u're ever there, make it a point, ok. dont miss it. forego the instant crap that comes in a packet. the real thing or bust.

apart from the holidaying... there's the work of course. or lack of it. teruk this dude. malas arse No.1. exciting news though - we're looking to open a cafe soon! been spending some time looking out for locations, as well as places to take over. those sorta places are sometimes dodgy or weak in a business sense, but who knows, i could turn things around. keep you all posted when it comes up! better rush as well cos what with the Euro footie plus the Olympics coming up, that could mean a lot more ppl going out, right.

ok folks. time to get some real work done now... gotta go to town and do battle with the authorities. take care and have a good time wherever you may be, alrite... love n peace.

hello i'm back... but then... maybe not... hee hee.

there's a set of irritating traffic lights at Kuchai Lama. it's been raining every evening during rush hour for the past two days; and not only was it faulty earlier, but some joker actually knocked em down. hoorah.

where the hell's my post for yesterday...

the weekend belonged to William Hung!! damn... finally saw the audition video clip and it is really really hilarious! what a joker!

so what do we call a 'blogger's block' eh. there's a nice ring to it, doesnt it.

my liver... adoi... too much partying the past week. where did i start... oh yah the Zouk opening was pretty havoc but i just hate waiting in queues. but since dear Daffy was dying to see what it was all about, i patiently stood in line... at the end of it all we didnt even get into the club.

to cut it short, these opening parties with free flow always attracts the drunken pariahs (i was one of em before, so i know) and it was unfortunate we attracted one groper dude. hehe. call me for details ;)

i shall go and check the club out when things subside. sometime in 2005 perhaps...

Did I need to sell my soul
For pleasure like this
Did I have to lose control
To treasure your kiss
Did I need to place my heart
In the palm of your hand
Before I could even start
To understand

Only When I Lose Myself, Depeche Mode, 1998.

lovely morning.
lovely day.
lovely life.

was watching this movie called Confusion of Genders (cant remember the French name). hehe just love these movies where everyone fucks everyone else or has some attachment. so real.

smile. have u heard my say on Smile Therapy? works all the time.

it's feel-good-time, eh.

love n peace.

it's the end of the world as we know it...
and i feel fine.

don't u just love REM's lyrics.

on the topic of cooking... heheh i found out i can make pretty good chick-kut-teh! i think the secret is loads of garlic and a good packet of those 'instant' herbs. syok gilaaaa!!!

next i shall make some 'pong-tay', which is a nyonya dish made with chicken in a fermented bean, garlic and onion sauce. orgasmically yummylicious!!!

seems i love to cook the stuff i love to eat. it's a beginning, eh ;)

i cringe when i see men go to the toilet, do their thang, then just walk straight out. my next thought being, how do i open the door without polluting my hands again??? yucks. ever seen this? double-yucks.

oh my house is in a mess and things look like they're breaking apart...gotta remind myself to be gentler. and to pick up after meself. *sigh* time for a professional cleaner to come around every now and then.

got another dose of mama's cooking last nite! damn she's a good cook. i did ask my granny to teach me some recipes but she didnt seem too keen. darn. but i think my mum's really really good too. she's inviting me over for makan a lot these days, yummy. no need for the 'same shit different day' food out there yah! last nite it was asam sotong and taufu. simple and delicious, i would say.

my own cooking skills? it's been limited, in the past coupla years, to burgers and instant noodles laaa. sedih, kan. but i HAVE come up with some form of cuisine before, given the circumstance and the mood... any takers? har har. i promise, no food poisoning.

okie dokie.. gotta run now, make some calls and all that. have an appearance of working, you know. take care and have a nice nite!

yeah, 8 Femmes was hilarious. like hindi movie full of song-and-dance, eh ;)

was chatting with this tourist cos he was holding a copy of Lonely Planet and i was always wondering what they have in there. found out it's pretty informative, with info on budget places etc. coincidentally, the first page i flipped to was on Mulu caves and all that, and i was just there. cool.

the perhentian trip is off... they're going tonite and i cant cos i've got appointments, and the money barrel is running dry... too bad, wish em luck. and that i was there with you guys... boo hoo. next time ok.

gotta party to attend this noon. makan time! for free! har har. take care and have a nice day, y'all...

damn i live the good life.

just back from plane-hopping again... this time to Miri and then to Mulu. wow. this Taman Negara is awesome, and the resort there is just fascinating. imagine luxurious chalets raised above the ground with walk-ways all around (i heard it's the longest walk-way in Asia, in a resort at least). living in the middle of nowhere, that is the impression. but even in the deep reaches of the sarawak interior there is a lot of human activity going on.

most of it is tourist-related activities - the guides, etc. and the folk living by the river, doing their thing. city-folk just dont get to see this sorta thing, like people collecting greens, fishing for their meals, and all that.

the caves were simply excellent! a tip though, wear good shoes. i slipped twice that day, and its no fun getting mud, slime and guano on your person... owwww... the shapes, the formations contained within, makes one ponder on the forces and wonders of nature doing its thing over millions of years. awesome.

apart from that.. did some fishing (just mildly successful but threw them fishies back in!), swimming, and a lotta eating! a tip - food is expensive (even at the warung) so bring own food. and drinks (hic).

it's the ultimate getaway from everything, dudes. try it.

think i'm appreciating the importance of nature and environment a lot more. i read with some apprehension about the govt wanting to promote Mulu and develop it further. i think it should just stay the way it is, low-volume environ-tourist type of thing. any more resorts and planeloads of people will just slowly wittle away at the beauty of mulu.

seems like my travels is piling non-stop! next stop - Pulau Perhentian, in a few days. oh the things i do for my love of dem fishies... anemone clownfish, anyone??? nemo fishies... yeah... hehehehhe... i amuse myself sometimes.

good day to u all then! updates as we go along... much love to me daffy... muah muahhhh

i know now why 8 FEMMES is on a lot of people's favourite movies list. it's a remarkably refreshing work of art. and i love movies where everyone just has lots of fun. it's... infectious, eh! love the music... papappa papapa paa... !!!

ok i'm back. just didnt get down to clicking on this 'Edit post' link. where have i been? hmm... u can say it's been a massive two-month plus holiday mood!!! from Raya on to Xmas then NY eve, and CNY, Thaipusam, Raya Qurban... phew... syok nye.

places i went to? err... does Serdang count as outstation? har har har. Pangkor during CNY was lovely... sun was blazing, the sea inviting, and the good life irresistible. snorkelling was crap though with all the dead corals strewn everywhere, and the hundreds of noisy tourists throwing rubbish everywhere. especially on that little rock off Pangkor where we went to 'snorkel'. stoopeeed un-environ conscious ahpeks.

overall it was a lovely trip with a lotta love n laughter... : ) do u agree, mi amore?

and of course i watched loads and loads of movies lahhh. there was the Star Wars 4, 5 and 6 (real fans will disregard Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones). 8 Femmes, Swimming Pool (what a contrast Ludivine Sagnier's roles are in those 2 movies). Lost in Translation, Love Actually... oh good lord i must get a life away from my precioussss DVD player! some were good and memorable, and some pieces of crap (The Job).

so.. next stop... Pulau Perhentian, the mother of all dive sites this side of malaysia. pop out the sunblock and the snorkel set, dude (did i mention i got my own :) my pride and joy).

ok til next time we meet again... au revoir...

so much crap going on about Air Asia.. poor chaps being bullied by the political machinery. i'm an Air Asia fan. i've tolerated massive flight delays, techical problems and all that jazz, but still i will pay to fly with them, and i've scheduled at least 2 flights with them this year. World Rainforest Music Festival, anyone, heh heh ; )

they make up for it with good customer service (hey the employees actually smile and make chit-chat, ok; try that with MAS...), and the main puller being the cheaper fares. so please will the party-poopers out there - just shut up and carry on with fair business okay. as it goes, all's fair in love and war.

was reading with some humour this morning's paper about two 70-year-olds who chatted on the internet, lied about their ages ("hi, i'm 50") then sent their kids for their rendezvous. no doubt it all came out in the open. and despite the deception, they're getting married. melting hearts first thing in the morning.

anyone out there with stories like that to re-instil romance in our worn-out lives?

have a nice day, yah.

it's amazing how public officials shoot themselves in the foot. big example is over the recent Kg Baru fire. haven't gone over to see where this place is. concerning allegations about arson, self-inflicted by the DBKL, they said no way, it could have been some electrical short-circuit. i remember distinctly they blamed a sate stove initially. hmmm. the problem with telling too many lies is that sometimes one forgets the correct lie for the occassion.

saturday, dudes. feel so damn relaxed. things going better than usual for me? i hope so. i think it's more of keeping calm in these rough times. it's all in the head, as i always say...

enjoy the weekend, maties!

and so it was one week or so of merriment and joy.

back to the daily grind we go...

how are you all? make the best of your precious lives okay...

let's spread some smiles every single day of the year.

cheerio.

so it's 2004... our family do was pretty good, with loads of food and laughter (somehow generated by me and my lil cousins - it's just so easy to amuse kids, isnt it?!) and wine. no song and dance though, i must remedy that for the CNY gathering ;)

but then once the party's over and the things are all cleared away... it's the same old life we go back to. i've given up on resolutions on a New Year scale because i think i do that every morning when i wake up, and decide what's gonna happen for me for the day (and usually it ain't much, boo hoo)

it was lovely though, cos the feeling of happiness and joy and hope was palpable in the air... it's nice. another summer of love? i hope so.

last nite was LOTR nite! ROTK was good, but i still maintain the first movie still rocks. nice to see the Shire again, it's just such a peaceful place, ignorant to the fact that some serious earth-shaking was done by those lil hobbits from the kampung...

ok... til next time. telawi, awright?!!