It's been some time

Yes, i know i have been ignoring this blog for quite some time.

I was away for a short vacation last week. Things havent fully settled down after coming back. My luggage is still scattered around in my living room. Luckily there is no visitors, or else, i would have portrayed a very bad impression to them :P

Anyway, it was great getting myself a break from the working life. Will blog about them soon. I cant wait to see the pics from my frens cam.

Btw, last Sat, i went to the SP Setia Night of Stars concert in Shah Alam. My ex-colleagues had a few extra tickets so i was invited along. It was raining pretty heavily and the traffic started getting bad on my way to my fren's place in Puchong. By the time we reached there (yes, we were late), Victor Wong has already performed and left. -_-


Victor Wong and Emil Chau.

Although i didnt manage to catch Victor's performance, seeing Emil Chau was totally worth the long drive there. He was still awesome considering his age at this time. The quality of his voice was never broken, as perfect as his album. There is a lot of singers nowadays whom cannot sing good during live performance. Either the key is off, or they cant remember the lyrics at all. I must give him a thumbs up!

There were more than ten thousands people turned up that night despite the rain. Me and my frens were like small kids again, yelling and singing along with him. Oh, how i love the atmosphere of a concert. ^_^

The night was ended with a colourful display of fireworks, which marked the grand opening of the RM150 million NKVE-Setia Alam link that provides direct access to two of SP Setia townships, Setia Alam and Setia Eco Park, from the NKVE.

Scratch & Win Scam

Lately, there have been alot of reports regarding the Scratch & Win scams on the rampant. I have been getting a lot of forwarded emails, some from the victims themselves, telling the public not to make the same mistake again. Their usual spots are banks (to pounce on victims who have just withdrawn their money), hypermarkets, and even petrol kiosks.

Thank god for these warnings flying around the cyberwave cos I will never ever thought that i could be approached by these irresponsible cheaters myself. But lucky for me, i did not fell into their trap.

Last Monday, i went to the Bumiputra Ccommerce Bank in Ampang to update my passbook. Eversince the day i started using my ATM card, i hardly go to the bank anymore. So once in a while, i will go to get the information updated black and white on my passbook.

I realised there were a bunch of youngsters (in their teens or early 20s) hanging outside the bank when i reached there. I didnt bother that much, cos i wanted to get my job done before the crowd pouring in as it was near lunch time.

By the time i came out from the bank, a young guy approached me. I was told that in conjunction to the opening of their company, located in Ampang Point, they are giving away "scratch and win" coupons, and I was urged to accept one. She showed me a piece of newspaper cutting with the lucky draw advertisement, u know, trying to convince me that this "lucky draw" is real.

Upon opening the envelope, I was told that I have won the grand prize (only 32 lucky coupons available, or so it was claimed). This meant, i stand a chance to win a Perdana V6, a Kancil, a 29" Plasma TV, a Massage Chair or a Jaguh Motorcycle. The young guy was more excited and happy than i am (the winner is supposed to be me) and he practically "jumped" up and down and kept on shaking my hand, congratulating me.

"Ah Jie, gong xi nie! gong xi nie!" (Sister, congratulation, congratulation!)
"Nie hen xing yun. Nie ji dao ma, nie shi di yi ge ren na dao da jiang" (U are very lucky. Do u know that u're the first one to get the grand prize?) *shakes my hand violently*
"err..." *looking at the guy suspiciously*

The hand shaking and congratulation "ceremony" continues for another 2 minutes, he repeated the same sentences over and over again while jumping up and down like he just found a gold or to be exact a water fish (victim). I knew from the start when he came approaching me with a scratch and win coupons that it was a scam, but i was really curious on how he is going to try to cheat on the innocent victims. So i went with the flow, following his plans.

Eventhough if there is any chance that i wasnt aware of this kinda scam, his over reaction would have exposed his intention. I think he needs some basic acting class. No offence here, but i think only those super greedy people will fall into their trick.

In order to collect my prize, I must first go to their office at Ampang Point. Now that is their whole idea, going to their office where they can persuade and brainwash u slowly. I blurted out purposely saying that i would surely need to buy something from the company, before i am eligible to claim the prize. Immediately, he started denying and i saw him winking to his fren nearby to come over and help him.

The other guy did the same hand shaking and non-stop congratulating sentence. That was really like watching a repeat, the only difference was the main cast. O_o

Finally, i got fed up and told them i wasnt interested.

"you dont want the car? it is very hard to be so lucky all ur life u know."
"sorry, im in a hurry, so i dont think i have the time to go over ur office and claim the prize."
"it will just take u a min, just go over and u will get ur brand new car, worth a lot ler"
"if it is just gonna take me a min, then why dont u set up a booth here, easier. we dont have to go to ur office so far away and only stay a min there. and if u like the car so much, u can take it."
"but we cant, cos we are the employees..."
"then ask ur family or relatives to claim it. im sure u didnt list out ur whole family hierarchy to ur boss rite?"
"..."

He was speechless, and i drove off.

Guys, please be more careful when u were told that u got something for free, without even doing anything. There is nothing such as "free lunch".

They are back!

The Asia's largest outdoor cinema festival is back! And this time around, it will be held at a brand new bigger and better venue, Sentul Park, Kuala Lumpur. I bet it is gonna be more fun, lotsa activities and freebies going on there.

Just one thing, please pray that it doesnt rain. Open air kinda place is quite risky when it comes to the weatherman.

Doors open : 6.00pm, Movie starts : 8pm. Here's the schedule.

01.08 Tuesday
Click (SPECIAL PREVIEW) BY INVITATION ONLYFor your chance to win an invitation, please join the contest here.

02.08 Wednesday
King Kong (U) *Campus Night

03.08 Thursday
Failure to Launch (U) * Ladies Night

04.08 Friday
Ice Age 2 : The Meltdown (U)

05.08 Saturday
Chicken Little (U)
Over the Hedge (U)

06.08 Sunday
Cars (U)

08.08 Tuesday
RV (U) * Campus Night

09.08 Wednesday
V for Vendetta (18SG) * Campus Night

10.08 Thursday
Date Movie (18PL) * Ladies Night

11.08 Friday
The Da Vinci Code (18PL)

12.08 Saturday
2 Fast and 2 Furious (18PL)
The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (18PL)

13.08 Sunday
Starlight Cinema Short Film Festival * FREE ENTRY

15.08 Tuesday
Bench Warmers (U) * Campus Night

16.08 Wednesday
X-Men: The Last Stand (U) * Campus Night

17.08 Thursday
Just My Luck (18PL) * Ladies Night

18.08 Friday
Superman Returns (U)

19.08 Saturday
Mission Impossible 2 (18SG)
Mission Impossible 3 (18SG)

Ladies' Night = Buy one ticket and your female friend gets FREE admission!
Campus Night = Students get a FREE ticket for every one they buy. Please show your ID at the entrance.

Wedding bells

She is the first one among my bunch of coursemates to be married. But it wasnt a surprise at all, we knew she would be the first one cos she and her now husband, Steven has been together since Form 5.

Shannon was the prettiest girl in our batch while we were studying in UTM. She caught the attention of most of our male seniors, partly because of her name too. Her name is pronounced the same as the famous Taiwan male singer, Lee Hom. "Wang Lee Hong" is how we called her in Mandarin.

I have another coursemate named Seng Loong too. Another famous actor, if you are wondering, Seng Loong is the Chinese name for Jackie Chan. Yes, the action star who produced great action flicks across the world. If u still dont know who he is, shame on u!

There was once when we first became the seniors, we conducted an orientation for the first year juniors. When they got to know about Shannon, they were amazed, and even pretended to try to get an autograph from her and asking her to sing a few numbers of Lee Hom's song. That was really funny. Later when they got to know about Seng Loong, one junior raised her hand and asked me, "Are we in the showbiz course, and not Computer Science?"

Everyone burst into laughter.. *keke*

Some even thought i was Shannon's sis, cos our name is very close.

Those were the days. I can still recall them from the back of my mind, like it was just yesterday. We surely had a lot of fun, the 2 "celebrities" and I are from KL, went over to Johor to study for 4 years. We learnt to be independent and the bond became so strong. It was really a great experience.

Here, i would like to take this opportunity to wish Shannon a very very blessed wedding and may u live happily ever after with ur charming prince.

Here is a bouquet of flowers for u!

Durian Season

It is crazy. I cannot imagine myself going to these kind of buffet. For those durian lovers, this is like a paradise for them, feasting all they can. But be sure u are not anywhere close them after that. The smells after burping.. they can kill!

*silence*

Italy is the champion!

Italy won the world cup this year for the 4th time in history. The last time they won was like at 1982, if i am not mistaken (quoted from the narrator during the live telecast just now). So it was a long come back, after 24 years.

It was a good match, both teams played exceptionally well. A lot of free kicks were called by the referee, a lot of pretenders as well. The first half saw the Italians possesing the ball more, but France took over on the 2nd half. France was getting better with their games, until Zidane acted foolishly and emotionally by butting Marco Materazzi, who scored for Italy after 19 minutes. Zidane got the opening goal with a penalty kick in the seventh minute. I wonder what got into him. The team was despaired, and losing hope.

It was really a clear red card for what he has done. The referee is being fair enuff. There is no way any player can get away from that. Anyhow, it is a big waste seeing his great career ended in shame, knowing that it was his last game ever. I guess this incident will made us forever remembering the legendary Zizou. O_o

Italy can finally put their heads up high, after so many losses for the past years. An applause for them. Fabio Cannavaro is one of the best defender for Italy in this final match and he is also undeniably very cute. He is the winning captain of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, lifting the trophy on the night of his 100th cap.

Who is going to win the World Cup?

I woke up pretty late today, as usual. I was supposed to watch the match between Germany and Portugal this morning, but the match wasnt that exciting to keep me awake till the end. I switched off the TV and went back to sleep.

German won by 3-1. Ku guessed it rite, and he got 4 points for this match. He asked me to follow him but i didnt listen, and put 1-0 instead. Oh man, how i regretted that! Anyhow, i know i am not going to win at the end. So, nevermind... *console myself*

To make myself feeling better, i went out for lunch at a western food restaurant called Restoran Ampang, opposite of Ampang Point, with my mom and aunts. Ok, that was just an excuse. Actually, we havent been going there for a long time, so we wanna give it a try to see if they still taste as good as before.

Here are the food that we had. According to the order of the pictures above, L-R, top to bottom : Guinness Pork Chop, Prawn Fritters, Italian Chicken Chop, Black Pepper Chicken, Fish & Chips and Black Pepper Chicken Combo.

Looking at how frequent i go out and eat, no wonder my diet plan always fail. Today say wanna diet, then tomoro sure got some activities or plans for another makan outing. -_-

And so ironically, i just came back from a birthday celebration for my fren. Had Chinese food and cake (again). Anyway, Happy Birthday Soon Kuan!


Soon Kuan and his girlfren.

Later i am going to catch the world cup final match between Italy and France. This time, Italy is the favourite to take home the title. But will France beat all the odds and snatch the trophy away from the Italians? Well, we will know very soon.

Im betting for France. Hopefully they can perform up to expectation. *cross finger*

Tong Sui == Bubur Manis

Do most of u fancy having tong sui/dessert? If u do, i have one place to recommend.

I went to my fren's sister's newly opened dessert shop last nite. We were there for a motive of course, cos her sister wanted us to give some constructive opinions about her dessert.



There were some food served, in conjunction of their opening ceremony. Those who were there were mostly family, relatives and frens. Just like a massive family gathering. We == the fake family. *shhhh*

I have never realised that dessert == bubur manis in Malay. Maybe it is because tong sui (dessert in Cantonese) has been so commonly used among the Malays, so they kinda understood what we are talking about. ^_^



If u guys are interested in tong sui, please feel free to come over and give it a try. Here are the details.

Kafe Bubur Manis Tang
No. 26G, Jalan 2/101C,
Cheras Business Centre,
56100 Kuala Lumpur.

Hotline Reservation : 012-6953013
Business Hour : Monday to Saturday from 11am to 11pm.

I asked my fren how come it was named "Tang" at the end? Is it a surname? But his surname is Hu.. this is really weird. Rupa-rupanya, the "Tang" represents "sugar" (in Mandarin) which is one of the main ingredients for dessert.

We spent more than 4 hours in the shop, until my ass kinda felt some pain for sitting too long on the wooden chair. So we proceed to another fren's house, which has a very cosy and comfortable couch (the main thing on our mind), to celebrate her mom's birthday.



Happy Birthday Auntie! Wish u will stay pretty and young as u have always been! :)

Psycho came striking again

Yes, i am not joking.

While i was having breakfast this morning, my colls told me the breaking news. Still remember the psycho we found out at the office building, doing his thing in the guy's toilet? Well, guess what. Now he has shifted his "love nest" to the ladies toilet.

It all began when she discovered a very bad smell when she was in the ladies toilet, located right outside our office, for the public. Something is not right here. Then she saw this white substance on the wall of one of the cubicles in the toilet. She didnt realise it at first, but there was a bunch of ants lingering around it which caught her attention!

*yukks*
Can u imagine how disgusting is that??!!
*vomit*
What the fuck!

She said she saw one guy acting suspiciously outside the toilet, and he must have been the culprit. He is a fat Indian guy, wearing office attire which made us think that he is some decent guy who is working in the same building. But he is definitely not working at the same level with us, since the whole floor is occupied only by us. The other side is vacant. -_-

So there is no reason why he should be lingering around here. *stomp feet*

Come to think of it, i think i saw him too last Sat nearby the ladies toilet. Just as we were about to take the lift during lunch, we saw a bunch of people came up to our level, looking at the vacant office next door. So after lunch, we decided to take a peek at the empty space (i have never seen it before although i have been working here for almost 2 years). We walked past the ladies toilet en route to the vacant office, and that was the time i saw HIM, standing suspiciously at the corridor on the other side, just nicely hidden from the main path.

I was a bit shocked initially, cos i didnt expect something to be standing there out of no where. But luckily i was with a few other colleagues, so it didnt really bother me after that. Moreover, i saw that Indian guy a couple of times before, so i thought he could be the building management guy, checking out the facilities or whatsoever. But after these incidents, i really doubt so.

Now, we even know which car he is driving and where he parks his car daily. I saw the car just now, so today he is here in the building. *oh gosh*

p/s: Happy Birthday Siow! Surprised getting my call? Wish u all the best in your new job. Ganbatte!

Happy Birthday, Deric!

It was a day after America's Independence Day, no one was working in our headquarters @ Phoenix. My mailbox is pretty empty compared to the normal days, without the emails from my users. It is a relaxing day, not having to worry about any issues for a day.

It is Deric's birthday today and we had a thread of emails from a bunch of us, teasing the birthday boy (oopss, should i say "man" instead?). Poor him, he cant do anything since most of us are remotely located. *blek*

Anyway, whatever we have said or done, we wish u a very very Happy Birthday! May all ur wishes come true. Have a good year ahead.

Eh, today is also Wai Hoe's birthday. Happy Birthday!

So many birthdays, i may missed some one out next time.

Ampang Water Front

Few months ago, Ampang opened its latest attraction, called Ampang Water Front. Just like the Water Front City in Johor Bahru, it is supposed to be a row of shops located beside the river bank (where the "water front" name comes about).

I know alot of people out there dont really know where or how Ampang really looks like. Some of my colleagues thought that Ampang is where all the rich people or foreigners built their mansions and bungalows, spending their carefree life there. No, u guys were so wrong.

Dont mix up Jalan Ampang and Ampang together!

Anyways, me and my cousins and aunts went to try the new Korea Stone BBQ Steamboat restaurant, located at the new Ampang Water Front area. I saw this eye catching restaurant sometime ago, and it is always crowded. I wonder if it is because of the nice food or they are just purely trying out the new place..



I find the stone they provide for BBQ is quite interesting and convenient. Moreover, we dont have to worry about the food sticking on the aluminium foil that covered the grill metal. The normal BBQ restaurant that i went to, either the grill area is too small for us or we have to keep requesting the waiters to change the aluminium foil every now and then.

The tom yam and clear water soup, food grilled in the stone bowl, different types of fruits, lots of greenish veges, people standing up to prepare the food, and self-service ABC.

One good thing about this buffet style restaurant is the food never runs out of stock. They keep adding in whenever there's any empty plate. So u will never scare of not being able to get something u want. Probably i was there early (about 6pm) and finish around 8.30pm, i dont know if the patrons after that experienced any shortage of food. If u dont wanna be left out, be there early! (there are a lot kiasu people in this part of the world)


Picture of the day, my cousin enjoying his first boiled egg of the nite :Þ

This cousin of mine, has a very weird eating habit. U wouldnt wanna see him when he is eating. He can dip french fries into the ice cream, add lots of ice cream inside his McEgg burger (to substitute tomato/chili sauces), pour milk shake and stir together with his cup of ice cream, crashed pieces of biscuits into his soft drinks/plain water, and etc, etc. O_o

Kids are getting creative with their food too! I can lose my appetite on the spot just by looking at his so called "yummy food"! -_-""

If u are reading this before ur meal, sorry if i have caused any displeasure to start ur feast. Haha..

Ok, here are the details of the location for that Korean food.

Address :
Korea Stone BBQ Steamboat
33A-1, Jalan AWF 1,
Ampang Water Front,
68000 Ampang,
Selangor.

Contacts : 016-2713888
Business hours : 6pm - 12am.
Price : RM18.80 (Adult), RM11 (Child)
Additional cost : RM2 each for drinks (bottomless), RM0.30 each for towels, and 5% government tax.

Bye Samba King!

It was a tragic match. Brazil was not performing up to the expectation, so they have to give up their place in the semifinal for this year's World Cup to France. Everyone was rather shocked. So am i, what a waste.

The first half saw the France team possesing the ball most of the time. Brazil couldnt even get near to their opponent's goal post. They dont seem to be eager to score a goal at all. Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos; the three Rs just couldnt pass the ball properly. It was really pathetic, i tell u.

But on the other hand, Zidane was magnificient. This proves that age is not a barrier or an excuse for someone to perform badly. His skills has never been a doubt for his team, making their loyal fans proud. *thumbs up*

After Thierry Henry had scored a goal for France, only then Brazil realised that the pressure is right on top of their head. But it was a bit too late. Their crown was already slipping away. Sayonara, mebbe we will see u in 4 years time.

This year's world cup is definitely full of surprises. Now let me see, Germany, Italy, Portugal and France are in the semis, the score is really getting harder to predict. Do u think the host will make it to the finals?

Hard to say.

And the fever continues...

I dunno what to do rite now. Should i go to take a short nap before waking up for the 3am match between Brazil and France, or should i just stay awake? If i sleep now, im scare i cant wake up by then.. O_o

I was outside meeting up with my frens at Old Town Kopitiam in Pandan Indah just now. Finding a parking at that area was almost impossible. It was already difficult getting one last time, so u can imagine how worse it can be during this World Cup season. There were lots of people at any restaurants, cafes, mamak stall or pubs, as long as there's TV with the Sports Channel on. It was so crowded until the extend that some even had to stand by the roadside just to catch a glimpse of the match. Not a surprise for me, though.

Normally, whoever supports Manchester United will also supports England. They just come in pairs, i wonder why. I saw this young couple wearing England's jersey, walking hand on hand towards one of the cafes, looking proud. They better not bump into any of the Portugal's supporter... -_-

As of now, the score is still 0-0, but Rooney was given a red card thus England is down with 10 men against 11 men Portugal. The pressure is definitely getting on their nerves now. By the look of it, there might be a penalty session later.

p/s: watching online thru TVUPlayer is a misery. Luckily the 3am match later is shown live on local tv station. Thank god!

#Updates

And Portugal won in the penalty kicks by 3-1. England was devastated. My guess was right. So we shall see who Portugal will be playing against next. Brazil or France? Im betting on Brazillians...