Places I've been to this week (and last week)

Recently it's been getting harder to post up stuff. Not alot of stuff has been happening. The others haven't planned a meet in a while and Kat is still bogged down with work. That pretty much leaves with pics of (surprise, surprise) work.

Well, since most of these pics won't make it out on print, I thought I might as well put them. So here's a start to the "Places I've been to this week" series. Enjoy.

Last week, Panasonic Lumix Launch at Carcosa Seri Negara

This is Carcosa Seri Negara. A hotel in a secluded spot near the Lake Gardens in the middle of KL. It's quite a swanky place given the fact that some historic figures have lived here since the British Colonial days. Queen E even stayed here when she visited our country.

The interior is really classy and gives an air of chivalry and class. It really gives you the impression that you've stepped into an English governour's mansion to have a cup of tea (which we did, the media I mean. scones and everything)

Looking out, the exterior of the building looks nice and cool. The perfect place to laze through Sunday afternoons .

Sony VAIO launch in KL

A guy performing at the start of the VAIO launch.

The full range of models each holding a Sony VAIO that sorta matches their personality and style of dressing. The guy on the far right was the probably the most out standing, surfing around the stage with a psuedo skateboard and performing jumps off the stage.

Sony Malaysia's bossman, Naoi Sudo flanked by models. I don't see Ronson anywhere though, guess he will be making his appearance one day on stage (either as an executive or a model).

Promethean Activboard Launch, Alice Smith School

This is Alice Smith Primary School. Looks more classy than any govt. school. This is the first school I've seen where all the classrooms are air conditioned and the guards carry those long mirrors to check the underside of cars. A very tightly guarded place with lots of rich foreign kids.

Can't remember the name of anyone in the pic. But that is the Activboard, a stylised whiteboard that you can write on and interact with. Certainly makes boring classes more exciting. The kids at Alice Smith don't mind spending extra time in class to have a go at the board.

Chinese New Year Part 2

This post is long over due but the Internet connection from my place hasn't been kind to me as of late. In anycase I just wanna put up pictures I took while I was in JB two weeks ago. Today's already the last day of Chinese New Year. So I guess it is best that I get all the new years things over and done with. Enjoy.

Ah..Jlan Ru. Weird name this road has. I've seen this sign for many years cause my grandpa on my mom's side lives here. The ugly looking ads on the side are the sign of the times. Ah Longs are willing to stick on anything to get their services seen and heard.

My grandpa's place.

"Bubbles"

One of my cousins and my brother, playing with bubbles at my grandpa's.

Amanda and my uncle

Lunch was a simple affair. I didn't eat anything as I was still suffering from diarrhea at the time.

Guess who's the monkey in this picture.

All aboard!

Holiday Plaza in the distance.

I didn't get to see much of the place and there wasn't much to see. Most of the shops were closed for CNY. As you can see, most of these entreprenuering DVD sellers offer delivery service across the border to Singapore.

The family gathering at my grandpa's place after dinner.

My cousins playing Blackjack. Notice that almost everyone is wearing red.

We got our hands on some fireworks. Nothing fancy. Just some small tiny ones that go pop.

Fire at will!

Chinese New Year 2007

Chinese New Year has arrived. It's time for new years wishing, visiting relatives and angpow collecting. Ah, new years is the time that we stuff ourselves to the brim on overpriced food (especially marked up for the festive season).

However, CNY didn't start off on a good note for me. On the New Years Eve I contracted a really bad case of diarrhea. Vommiting and endless hours in the washroom ensued. It didn't help that I had lost all of my body's water in a mere 2 hours right after dinner on Sunday night (when I thought I was on the road to recovery). I spent the following four hours of New Years day shivering under my sheets, for I had a fever due to the sudden lost in liquids.

Still, aside from the unpleasent start, things were underway a little differently this year. For one, there is no more going downtown to Sam Yee Poh's place (my grandaunt). Just long afternoons at home. There was hardly any visiting around my other relative's places either.

In anycase, these are just a few pics I took during my new years.

"Red Season"

Meeting at my grandma's palce on the first day of new year

Mom and Jinn Lik

"Luck in motion"

Family Potrait 2007

Waffles and Ice Cream

To start things off, this will come a lil' late for a Valentine post. But while most people were out having romantic dinners and spending truck loads of money on flowers, I did nothing of that sort. Basically, Kat has been hard at work at Rapid KL for the past week. Last night her work held her until 12am.

That being said, it was quite a surprise that she managed to get off work early enough that we could at least meet up. Since most of the eating spots around town were pack full of couples celebrating V day, I turned towards some of the most un-romantic places in town, namely the PJ Drive-in A and W.

It was a good thing there weren't that many people at the time so getting a parking space was easy. We settled down to grab some chow in the form of a Value Meal set and a double scoop waffle (2 scoop ice cream with some honey).

It may not be much, but at least the waffle and ice cream were good.

So yeah, thats how I spent the 14th of Febuary. Nothing spectacular, something simple. But it was something.

Two Saturdays in One

I have been putting off this post for a long while. These are a collection of pics from the last two Saturdays. One on the 3rd of Feb and another on the 10th of Feb. In anycase here they are.

3rd Febuary 2007

Went to uncle's apartment in Sentul to grab some dinner and enjoy a firework show set to go off at Lake Titiwangsa where the gigantic ferris wheel, Eye on Malaysia is on display. Apparently the firework show goes on every weekend.

A shot of pretty fireworks going off at lake Titiwangsa as seen from my uncle's apartment.

A view of my uncle's apartment. It's got a nice view of the KL skyline.

KL as seen from the apartment

The Eye on Malaysia, minus the fireworks.

My relatives over at my uncle's place.

Kat admiring the scenary outside.

10th February 2007

Around CNY time every year, the CG will gather around for a Mahjong session at Nick's place. It is sorta like tradition. Though there were far fewer of us this year, we still had a blast.

Nick briefing us on the wonderful game of Mahjung.

Mahjung Kaki Unite!!!

The game of Mahjong being played. Your loss may be someone else's gain.

Most of us aren't veteran Mahjong players. We take far too long to get things underway to the point that even old folks will egg us to make our next move. Still, that didn't stop us from having fun.

The Mahjong Kaki 2007 Gang

The New Malaysian Public Toilet

I was driving around KL on my way for an assignment when I happened to have stumble across one of our 
highlights for Visit Malaysia 2007.

Guess what it? It was the brand new automated toilets that DBKL spent thousands of tax payer's money on.

Well, considering it is suppose to be state of the art, meaning it will:

1. Odourless

2. Find the toilet bowl "occupied" when people forget to clean up after themselves. 

3. Force you to pull money out of your ass for a pleasent dump.

That being said, here's a pic of our latest edition to our ULTRA modern city Kuala Lumpur!!

Presenting....the AUTO-Toilet....or AUTO-Jamban!!!

Hmmm...something looks wrong here. If it is truly automated....why is there an operator sitting in to push buttons!?

That being said, I admit that I could be wrong about there being a "Toilet Operator" being on DBKL's job list. Perhaps this guy was thinking of taking shelter at one of our cool new toilets. After all, it's been getting really hot these days. I very much hope that our money was not flushed down the toilet in our efforts for a cleaner city.

One Really Long Weekend

This weekend has been a lil busy but otherwise fun. Met with some people who I haven't seen in a long while. The funny thing about it was that one group was all girls whereas the other was all guys.

In anycase, I've put up the pics of my weekend. There will be group pics that some of you might want to check out. However, the pics will be small. If you are interested in getting the pics don't hesitate to leave your email address at the chatterbox on the right.

Saturday night I went to meet Lyd, May Lian and Shi Wei in Pizza Uno at Centrepoint Bandar Utama. The place has undergone renovation since the last time I went there. There's certainly more room for tables and chairs though we patrons aren't given alot of space to move around.

We basically sat at the restaurant for the entire duration of our stay. Traded stories over what we have been up to over the past year or so. Some told stories of hardships in working over in Australia, others told the joys and pains of teaching in a kid's class. Overall it was a good time to catch with friends over a hearty warm meal.

Overbaked Roast Chicken for dinner. Rather pricey..... :(

The whole lot of us standing outside Pizza Uno after dinner.

Sunday, went over to have lunch at the Curve with Kat. The whole place looked set for Chinese New Year. Fake cherry blossom trees all around. A very pinky CNY this year.

Enjoying a drink at Vivo. Mine came with a little green bush.

It looked like the Curve was all ready to usher the new year with its spectacular flower display.

Twin suns shone down on the cherry blossom display.

Later in the evening, I met with the rest of the guys. John's got a swanky new car that he gladly took us on a spin. Some reckoned it was like sitting on an airplane....with a pilot on steroids. In any case, we had Bah Kut Teh in SS14, Subang Jaya. The restaurant was pretty crowded so we were forced to sit outside.

Even the food arrived late due to the populariy of the restaurant and soup was in short supply. Still it was a good meal at that. Don't mind going back there again sometime.

John and Jim checking out John's new ride.

The guys over at the Bah Kut Teh shop. Just look at their hungry faces, we couldn't wait to get our food!!

Evidently this is a cool shot of John looking at a waving hand.

We told our shares of stories about each other while we waited for our meal.

The main course finally came at last.

Nothing can stand the might of five hungry Ex-Monashians!

In between the lines

Been slow to post up my CES experience as of late. Need to take a short break. In anycase, this is a silly little conversation that I heard yesterday as the guys were playing Call of Duty 2 (a WWII shooter for the PC).

To protect the identity of those I mention, I shall refer to these two individuals as R and E.

R: Hehehe

(R gets to his camping spot in the game. A bunker with with a rusted metal frame bed. Crouches on top of it while lookin out for targets)

E: What are you doing?

R: Don't disturb me. You'll give away my position.

E: Eewww, I don't want to know your position in bed.

R: ..........

E: So what is your position btw?

R: ...........

(Later gets shot to death from said bunker and falls on bed)

Yay, another pointless post.