Bodyguards and Assassins

Wow. I liked this movie. It's one of a very few Chinese movies I watched in the cinema and I really liked it. Usually, I skipped most of the Chinese movies because it's most likely gangster flicks, slapstick comedies, or martial arts movies. While this is mainly a action/martial art movie, there's a whole new thing in it. There's characters that I actually liked and cared about.

Featuring who's who in the Chinese entertainment industry such as Tony Leung Ka Fai, Eric Tsang, Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Leon Lai, Fan Bingbing, Wang Xueqi, and so many more, it's one heck of an epic film. Besides the superstars in the movie, it also had the largest set in the Chinese entertainment history. According to what I read, they built a replica of Hong Kong in the 1900 for the film.

It tells a tale of 6 noble person who sacrificed their lives to protect Dr Sun in Hong Kong from the assassins sent by the Qing Dynasty during the early days of China. The theme of sacrificing for your country is hard to miss. I mean, almost all who die in the movie were doing it for their country, in one way or another. It was heart-wrenching to watch one by one died in the movie. And add to the fact that this is based on true historical event is even more hard for us to not to acknowledge that China been through a lot to get to the stage they're in right now. It's a great learning experience for me, knowing another piece of Chinese history. Glad that I went for the movie.

Resolution: Reviewed

Looking back at the resolution I made way back in December last year was a joke. I don't remember much of it already so I have to refer back to the post when I'm writing now so this just show how 'successful' my resolutions are. So, here's goes...

1. Cut down TV/movie time ==> *smile sheepishly* failed miserably...in the beginning of the year, there's still some attempt to it but by February or March, totally forgotten about it...
2. Learn something new ==> hmm, I learned a bit of Japanese, learned how to roller skate (how fun), can swim 'move' at water now, albeit very cacat...are these counted???
3. Cut off/reduce intake of junk food and carbonated drinks ==> semi-successful I would said for I'm not really hook to it anyway...
4. Start exercising ==> haha, also semi-successful I think for I did pick up jogging last semester and I should start again with the new semester...
5. Get into Dean List ==> done that...2nd semester...
6. Start living actively ==> I forgotten what is this all about when I first came out with it so just scrap this off...hehe
7. Be charitable ==> err, failed
8. Appreciate and love people around me ==> don't think that I should be judging myself on this...
9. Be more sociable ==> consider a success gua...
10. Change myself ==> err..........a bit gua.....

I learned my lesson. Next time, make some more realistic resolution. Haha.

Boredom...

So, total rambling again...

Back in USM already...with nothing better to do...facing my laptop when I (almost) finished unpacking my stuffs, reading blogs after blogs...no one to MSN with too...

Went with family shopping in Penang in the afternoon after I took my key from the hostel office...bought new shirts and jeans...had Haagen Daaz thanks to my sister who forced me into 'belanja-ing' her...

Stupid local unis...dunno why so early start sem...at least let us finish the new year celebration before dragging us back lar...not like there's a lot of classes being held in the first week itself...some of the lecturers were still on vacation...

Think most likely gonna go back once at January before the CNY break...no, for sure will go back since my mom 'insisted' already...

Wonder how to spend the New Year here........till now...

Little Sister's Graduation Dance

Last Wednesday, my baby sister was performing at Glamour Square Complex for the kindergarten graduation ceremony. She just involved in one dance instead of a few like some of the kids. Maybe she's just not so talented. Hehe. Here's the video, after so many times of failed attempts of uploading it.

Me and my sister

My sister with her friends

KL Shopping Spree

Merry Christmas!!!

Just came back from one day trip with family to KL. When people goes to KL, mostly they had just one thing in their minds; shop. And that's what we did. Shop, shop, shop. We did a lot of Christmas shopping, or more precisely, Chinese New Year shopping. We went with nothing and came back with bags and bags. There's so many stalls on discount we just simply went crazy. At least my sister did. Hehe. Anyway, that's all for now.

Going back Penang this Sunday for new semester.

Avatar

Yesterday, me and a bunch of friends went to watch Avatar, the much hyped about movie by James Cameron, the director of Titanic. Since there's no 3D screening in Ipoh, we had to resolve to the normal screening.

Clocking at about 2 hours and 45 minutes, the movie is indeed a visual feast to the eyes. All the hulas about how breath-taking those CGIs are are all true. It does not look weird, those aliens and the surroundings in Pandora, the aliens' planet.

The gist of the story. Humans were sent to Pandora for unobtanium, a precious mineral. To gain their trusts, one of them (Sam Worthington) infiltrated into the natives but he ended up falling in love with one of them and helped them fought back.

A lot of $$$ were spent on the movie and you can see it with your own eyes. According to Cameron, he spent almost 12 years waiting for technology to catch up, so that he could bring his vision to screen. Like I said, the visuals were awesome, but the story was rather common. Nothing special. In fact, it's rather predictable. But it's still quite entertaining. For me, it's just another movie with great special effects. And the Oscars buzz the movie is generating, for me, is exaggerated.

After movie, we went to karaoke to surprise Ann Li with a birthday celebration. Or belated birthday, to be exact. All had fun.

Group photos

I'm Back From Malacca!

A very frustrated, tiring, and slightly boring trip. Frustrated due to the rainy weather we gotten ourselves when we reached Malacca and the heavy traffics when in highway and in Malacca. Tiring because we began the trip at around 7am and I did most of the drivings. Boring, well, all the usual tourist spots around Malacca I had already been there myself when I was with my friends, so for this particular trip, I was the tour guide to my family. A very funny thing considering I'm not based in Malacca and with just two trips, I already know roughly the roads there.

When we reached Malacca, rain was pouring in a weird pattern; drizzle for a while, then heavy, then drizzle. You get the drill. Besides that, there's the traffic jams everywhere we went. So not nice. When we managed to reach Jonker Street, it had succumbed to just a slight drizzle so we walked around. Not much to do for me since I had already been there far too many time in just a short span of time. Since I'm the unofficial tour guide, I just brought them to places when I've been before and had the foods which I eaten before. We had chicken rice ball at the same stall I'd been the last time for lunch (Dad: "char dou sei!" or suck in Cantonese) and satay celup for dinner (Dad: "hou mm wai sun" or unhygienic in Cantonese) and the same Jonker Stall 88 for assam laksa and chendols for lunch the following day. With rain, our activities were limited to just shopping at Dataran Pahlawan and later, at Jonker Walk night market at night.

Being the driver for my family can be a very uncomfortable situation. When I was took over the driving halfway at highway from Dad, Mom somehow appointed herself as my speed alarm. Whenever I was reaching 120km/h, she would voiced it out like my faithful alarm clock. "120! 120! Time to slow down! Time to slow down!". At least I survived the ordeal.

Very few photos were taken since I already...Well, you know. Luckily, the best thing about this trip is the all-expenses paid. I didn't spend a single dimes on anything...well, except for the three cloths I bought. Other than that, practically, it's a cost-free trip. So, that's all for now.

This is the only family shot I had taken, well, without me...

Oh, No...

Malacca o Malacca

I'm about to start my journey to Malacca...AGAIN, for the third time within few weeks. I'm so gonna sick of Malacca already. This time though, is with my family and it's all-expenses paid trip! Haha, I'm gonna eat what I had yet to eat when I was at Malacca last time due to financial situation now that it's not my $$$ I'm using anymore. XD. Gotta go.

Rambling About Musical..

Warning: Pure Rambling Ahead!

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

That's the quote featured in one of my all time favourite movie, Moulin Rouge!, and as if to prove what a big fan I am, I had the original VCD and the pirated DVD bought few years back and the downloaded version in my laptop, all had been played at least once. And yesterday night, around 1+ am, out of boredom, I on my laptop and played it for, like, the umpteen time. OK, not the whole movie, just snippets of it where there's songs in it.

The beautiful love story of Christian and Satine

In case you have no idea what Moulin Rouge! is, it tells the story of a young poet/writer, Christian (Ewan McGregor), who falls in love with a Moulin Rouge cabaret actress and courtesan, Satine (Nicole Kidman). It is a beautiful movie filled with wonderful music, all of which were mash-ups of contemporary songs. The movie was the one that introduced me to the wonderful world of musical, minus those Disney's classic animations like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and so on which I also loved, by the way.

The main couple from Hairspray

After Moulin Rouge!, I searched high and low for musical movies and found Chicago, Rent, Across the Universe, Mamma Mia! and many more. Another musical adaptation that I loved is Hairspray. Another movie that I had watched quite a few times, it is so much fun to watch, you feels happier after watching it. But don't let those fluffy moments and the addictive songs fool you for it is a very subtle movie, one that deals with discrimination and racial segregation.

Besides the big screen, the idiot box itself also had musical in the form of Glee, one of my current favourite new TV series. It tells the story of a bunch of misfit kids in Glee Club, all working and fighting the differences between them for Sectional. It's fun, it's hilarious, and it's absolutely addictive. Oh, yea, and the songs, fantastic. I could watched over and over again. In fact, I had been watching it some so many times.

I'm officially a Gleek!

The point is, inside my external, there are TONNES of movies and series remained untouched, yet, I kept watching those favourites of mine. Is it the familiarities of the movies that kept me watching them? I mean, I almost had the lines from Moulin Rouge! imprinted in my mind. Or is it just that I simply enjoy it too much that I won't even get sick of it? Don't care. I just keep watching it whenever, wherever I want.

When I get to go New York, I won't miss the chance of going to watch at least one musical at Broadway. I still remembered that there's the staging of Beauty and the Beast the musical early back this year (is it?) in KL but did not go for it. Singapore seems to be the love of musical productions with Mamma Mia! and Phantom of the Opera being staged few years back. Let's hope that more and more musicals would come to our shores.

1 Year Old!

Happy Birthday, dear old bloggie! It's already 1 year since I last started this blog. I still remember the doubt in me on how long can this little side project lasted. Well, it never occur to me to reach the big number 1.


I guess I really hooked to the beauty of blogging. Anyway, nothing much to say than just happy birthday!

Princess And The Frog

It's been so long since Walt Disney had chunked out a hand-drawn animation. The last 2D animation out in the cinema by Disney studio was that critically and commercially flopped Home Range. I did not watch that film and was not interested at all in it. So, when news that there'll be a brand new 2D animation coming out this year, I was delighted for, while I do really loved those beautiful and wonderful Pixar movies, I begin to miss those animations like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, and so on.

The new animation from Disney studio

So, yesterday, with a bunch of friends, we went to watch Princess and the Frog, the new hand-drawn animation by Disney studio. The movie tells the story of Tiana, a feisty waitress working very hard to make her dream comes true, that is to open up a restaurant. All the adventures began when she was turned into a frog for kissing one (Prince Naveen) that was under voodoo spell. So, both of them went to find a cure for their current situations.

Of course, like those classic Disney animations, the movie was also filled with beautiful songs that bound to get you hooked. And the animations. After so many CGI animation, hand-drawn one is truly freshness to the eyes. Storywise, while there's the promised happily-ever-after, there's still something new to it. There's the little twist to the classic tale of Princess and the Frog that gives the movie some bang to it. All in all, a wonderful movie that worth every cents.

My Sister's Graduation Photo

Look at my sister!


Look at her! So cute and adorable, holding that fake graduation certificate. It was so perfect, the photo.

And here's her class photo. Can you spot her???? Haha...

After her exam (kindergartens these days are scary...), her graduation performances will be next. Can't wait for it!!!

My First Cheque From Nuffnang!

Finally, my cheque from Nuffnang had arrived this morning. After waiting for more than 1 month since I checked out the money, it's finally here! Thanks, Nuffnang!!!

My first payment

Hopefully, more yet to come....XD

ps - Pix of Segamat, Johor, were uploaded. Click here for the (very little) pictures and here to the adventures.

Family Trips Around Perak

So, after all the excitement and fun during the Seremban - Malacca trip, I finally came back home on the 26th Nov around late afternoon. I thought that I could get some rest to fix my still-upset stomach but somehow, my parents had planned to go to Cameron Highland tomorrow, 27th Nov, since it was a public holiday and all. Barely settled down and off I went again for a 1 day trip.

Basically, there's nothing much about Cameron Highland than its chilled weather, beautiful flowers and fresh vegetables, tea leaves, and strawberries. Yes, Cameron is quite known for its strawberries, even though most of it are not sweet but rather sour. The weather was rather hot when we began our trip, roughly an hour plus of car ride from Ipoh, but when we reached Tanah Rata, dark clouds started to gather, and within seconds, rain began pouring down.

My dad was holding the camera...

With rain, everything turned harder as we can't get down from our car and walked around the farms and markets. When the pourings reduced to just drizzle, we made a stop and basked in the beauty of the flowers and cool weather. Around 4pm, we began heading down.

Then, on the 29th Nov, since my dad had a wedding dinner (or more like lunch since it began at 2pm) at Teluk Intan, the whole family tagged along, not to the dinner, but to Teluk Intan. He brought us to Bagan Datoh, a small town near Teluk Intan, for seafood lunch before he went to the dinner and leaved us wandering around town for 2 hours.


Teluk Intan is just a small town with all the usual charms of a small town. Nothing special, really, except for the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan, the local version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. If I remembered correctly, the tower was first built as a water tank, but somehow, the structure or the land the building was on, gave way to the pressure, causing it to slightly leaned to the side. Now, its main function is just the landmark of Teluk Intan.

The so-called Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan

Besides the tower, Teluk Intan is quite famous for its unique Chee Cheong Fun (no idea what its name in English). Commonly known as the Teluk Intan-styled Chee Cheong Fun, it had dried shrimps and other stuffs which I don't know what it was in it, making it a delicious delicacy. As my father now based at Teluk Intan, whenever he comes back, he would tapao the chee cheong fun for us to dig in as supper.

When the dinner was over with his face all red from all the alcohols he consumed, we began heading back home. That's how the weekend was spent.

Seremban - Malacca Trip (Part 3)

Continued from Part 1 and Part 2...

24 Nov 09
After breakfast (herbal roasted duck rice) at the area near UTeM, the remaining four of us started driving back to Seremban, though, pulling a stop at Port Dickson first. We first thought of going to the TDDM Museum (Military Museum) but when we reached there, it was closed. Apparently, it only opened from Wednesday till Sunday, from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Bummer!

Then, we stopped by a Chinese temple for some sight-seeing before we continued our journey to some nice beach on Port Dickson. Halfway on the trip, we found an ostrich farm and thought of entering, but with the rather high entrance fee, it doesn't seem to worth it, so we moved on with the journey.


After some time, we reached the Tanjung Tuan Recreational Forest where we tried to reach the Tanjung Tuan lighthouse. The lighthouse was located at the inside of the forest, so we all walked to it. Not really a long distance walk and when we reached the lighthouse, we found out that we needed permission to enter the building. What a stroke of bad luck! But, the climb up was not worth for nothing as the view up there was breath-taking. We thought of staying up there till sunset but with about 3 more hours before the sun met the horizontal line, we had nothing to do to pass the time, so we scrap the plan. Oh, yea, there's quite a lot of monkeys around the area, too.

The view from up there...

By the time we came down from the forest, we drove to a decent-looking beach to bask in the beauty of the sunset, but the presence of so many clouds made it impossible to capture just the sun alone sinking down. By the time the sun had vanished from the sky, we drove back home and had some home-cooked dinner and rest.

25 Nov 09
Bad luck continued, especially for me. I woke up with an upset stomach refused to get better until today. From diarhoea, it evolved further, giving me a fever later the the afternoon, but, we still continued with our trip. After breakfast, we went to Wu Gong San (Centipede Mountain) to visit the Chinese temple. Then, she brought us around Seremban, introducing to us places where she and her gangs used to hang out.

After that, she brought us to Sri Menanti to look at the famous Minangkabau palace which was turned into a museum. The entrance is free so we entered and have a look at the structure of the palace. By now, my body was getting feverish and somehow, the tour guide herself was also getting a bit nausea. At first, we thought of heading to the waterfall at the Hutan Lipur Recreational Park and we did get there, but we didn't climb up for a closer look at the waterfall.

I finally succumbed to my sickness and we headed back to rest. It was such an embarassing thing to do, getting sick while on vacation. I used the remaining of the day to get myself up and going before I headed back home tomorrow.

That's the end of my Seremban - Malacca trip. Too bad that my body was not at its best on the last two days, making me unable to enjoy the trip to the blast.

Seremban - Malacca Trip (Part 2)

Continued from part 1...

22 Nov 09
So, we embarked on a trip to Malacca with Xiang Yi's two other friends. Before we start our journey, we went to have our breakfast, a locally famous chicken rice shop in Seremban. Rather different from the usual roasted chicken. Delicious. After that, off we go!

We went through the old road instead of highway as there's more sight-seeings to be done through old road. Halfway of the journey, we stopped by Wet World Resort Pedas Hot Spring. We thought of going for the hot spring but the entrance fee was rather taxing as it included the water theme park, so we forfeited it. We continued our journey to Malacca.

The journey lasted at least an hour plus before we reached our destination. We parked the car somewhere around Jonker Walk and started walking around Jonker Walk. The beauty of Malacca can't be fully absorbed in just a day. We walked past those antique houses and shops while searching for a place to reside for the two nights.

The three girls kept making references on places where the Singapore TV series, 'The Little Nyonya', were featured. The show, about the life of Baba Nyonya, was mainly filmed in Malacca, known for the Baba Nyonya cultures. Since both of us guys had yet to watch the show, we just took in whatever was mentioned.

When we were a little tired, we entered the same food stall, Jonker Dessert 88, that I entered last Thursday when I went to Malacca with another bunch of friends. The chendols were so delicious I had chendol-carving for the whole trip in Malacca. I even had the same chendol at the same stall on the next day!

Look at the line...

Then, we went to the Stadhuys building, a must stop when you were in Malacca. Then, the same A' Famosa Port at the St Paul hill. Same old, same old. When it's about time for dinner, we went back to Jonker Walk for the night market. We stopped at a food stall known for its laksa. Almost everywhere in Malacca and Penang are famous for the laksa and chendols. This time, the laksa tasted like the one in Penang. For drink, chendol again.


After that, we went to Eye On Malaysia to bask in the night view of Malacca. When onboard, I was a little disappointed as the night view of Malacca was nothing special. In fact, compared to the first time I rode it, which on in the afternoon, the view is much more better as you can see better of the places around Malacca. Then, we went back to the hotel to rest.

23 Nov 09
Once everything done, we went to UTeM to drop off Xiang Yi's friend's stuffs as he has activities during the semester break. Then, all of us went back to Jonker Walk for the famous Hainan Chicken Rice Ball. There was a queue waiting outside the stall as people were lining up to taste the delicious food. It was worth the queue as the food there was really nice.

Then, we went to the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum for more in-depth exposure on the Baba Nyonya cultures. It was quite a learning experience, to have a look at the traditional furnitures, the beautiful clothings, and the unique architectures. They have a tour guide for us to follow and explain to us the heritage but we did not follow her as that day was crowded with schoolchildren, a mark of school holidays.

Around 7++pm, we took the river cruise around Malacca before we went to the Portugal Settlement to have our seafood dinner. Quite nice, I would said, if only the crabs were much less salty. That's the wrap for the day.

ps - Due to my laziness to continue further, the last few days will be continued next post. XD

pps - The Penang trip's photos are uploaded! Click here for the story and here for the photos.

New Moon - Review

I'm taking a break recounting those memories of my travels and write out my thought on the movie, New Moon, follow-up to last year hit, Twilight, which I watched last Saturday night. Watching it reminded me of Twilight. I watched Twilight without reading the book. While I knew the gist of the story and the main idea of it, I was not prepared for the slowness of the movie. Being a vampire movie, the lack of actions in it was very disappointing and the notion of the movie winning 'Best Fight' at the 2009 MTV Movie Award was so shocking. Shocking, but not unforseen.


So, after watching the movie, I was curious to see if the movie did any justice to the source of adaptation, so I looked for the book and read it. Upon reading it only I truly understand how come the movie was like this. The pace; the tone; the mood; everything in the movie was a match to the pace of the book. A truly successful adaptation, I would said.

I had the second book with me for quite a long time without touching it as I was mostly too lazy to enter the world of Twilight. Maybe now that I had watched the movie, I might pick it up and read it.

back to the review. Like I had said, New Moon is very much like Twilight, only this time, Jacob the werewolf had more screen times compared to Edward the vampire. Edward decided to leave Forks when he realized the presence of him put Bella in danger. Bella seek out Jacob to cure her broken heart and started to develop a liking for those adrenaline-filled activities. When Edward mistakenly thought that Bella was dead, he too wished to end his life. A very Romeo-&-Juliet, I would said.

You will not like the movie if you were looking for an action-packed film. This is a hormone-filled movie served with shirtless men, catered especially for ladies. But, if you like me who can tahan (stand) the pacing of Twilight, you will most likely find it acceptable. Though the final scene of the movie, which was supposed to be a cliffhanger, I found it very television-ish, like those cliffhangers found in some random episodes of any TV series.

So, my final verdict, watch it if you are a Twihead. For other, I suggest you go download the TV series, The Vampire Diaries, and watch it. Almost like Twilight, but better.

ps - For pictures of the Ipoh - Taiping trip, click here.

Seremban - Malacca Trip (Part 1)

20 Nov 09
Reached Ipoh around 0015++ from the bus ride, first, from Malacca to KL, then from KL to Ipoh. Rest was required for the day as I will be heading to Seremban the next day for almost 6 days!

21 Nov 09
Around 1++ pm, my friends had finally arrived from USM to Ipoh so I can tag along her car ride back to Seremban. Since all of us were rather hungry, I brought them to Kong Heng Kopitiam at Old Town for lunch, a place I for sure will bring those non-Ipohans to eat the Kai Si Hor Fun (Noodle with Chicken Floss) and the popiahs. Then, a quick tour before we began our journeys to Seremban.

It was a really long ride, almost 4 hours, I believe. Throughout the journey, I either dozed off or talked or simply just stared at the view. That day, the weather were rather strange, with sporatic rain and sudden sunlight for the whole 4 hours.

When we reached Seremban, our tour guide, Xiang Yi, had to leave us with two friends of hers as she had to attend her friend's bachelor party. Her friend's getting married...at the age of 21!!! And it's not 'mai dai son sai' ('accident') type of wedding. His family asked him to get married and, tadah, married he is!

Her friends were quite nice to talk to. They brought us to Restaurant Hock Hee (I think that's the name) for dinner. After dinner, we went back to fetch our tour guide and they brought us to a recreational park which was too dark to take any photos or did sight-seeing. We just walked around, trying the hanging bridge, and listened as the three of them talked about their old days. Interesting. Before we head back to rest, we went yum cha at a rather fancy place (again, name I totally forgot about it).

To be continued - Our trip to Malacca, my second in a week!!!

Segamat - Malacca Trip

After traveling for almost a week already, finally, I'm home-bound at last. With the amount of free time, it's time to mind my blog again which I leaved unattended for so long already. First, let me recount back my trip to Segamat, Johor, to visit my coursemate, on the 18th and 19th of November 2009.

Day 1
We took the night bus on 17th Nov 2009 and reached approximately around 9 in the morning. Chi Fang brought us back to her house first to refresh ourselves before bringing us for breakfast, a local favourite where it was famous for its roti canai (Indian pancake). What's so special about the roti canai, you wonder? Well, it was made by Chinese instead of Indian, and it was really crispy. Beside that, their sardine toast was also good. Simple delicacies, but delicious, nonetheless.

Then, she brought us tour around Segamat. Segamat is a rather small town, like many small towns in Malaysia. While there's development on the town, it still has the small town buildings and feels in it. According to our tour guide, Segamat mostly consists of retirees and old peoples as well as those still in schools as most of the youths would either migrate to Johor Bharu or KL to work. So, not much activities in the town.

After the mini tour, we went to have our lunch at a restaurant of name I had forgotten about it. As it was famous for wan tan mee, all of us had the same thing. While it was nice, I still prefer the one at Medan Selera near stadium in Ipoh. Hehe. By that time, all of us were bloated and rather tired from the night bus plus the rain, we went back to her house for a quick rest.


Before dinner, she brought us to taste the famous coffee at the Nam Yong Kopitiam. I like it, sweet and milky. Then, we went back home for some home-cooked food. Delicious for sure!!! Then, we went to have supper + tong shuis with her mother and friends when dinner still being digested. We went to bed with round bellies.

Day 2
Before we went to Malacca with Chi Fang and her friends, we went to have breakfast about 30 minutes drives from the town area. A really hearty breakfast to start the say as we went to have something that taste like bak kut teh but milder in taste. No idea what the name of the dish, though. Then, on we went to Malacca.

When we reached there, the first stop was the Eye on Malaysia. I did not know there is an Eye on Malaysia here on Malacca. I thought it was another replica of the Eye on Malaysia at Titiwangsa until I was told later by my friends on the second trip to Malacca (to be continued). After that, we went to Donald and Lily's to have some nyonya delights. Delicious!

Then, we went to the Museum of Malacca Sultanate (roughly like this, the name, I think) to look at the historical displays during the Malacca Sultanate time. After that, we went to A' Famosa Fort to get more upclose and personal with our history. The next stop was Jonker Walk which was famous for its handicrafts and local delicacies. We stopped by at a food stall and had chendols and assam laksa. It was so nice that when I went back to Malacca for the second time (to be continued), I had the same things again!

Before I went back Ipoh that night, we had the famous satay celup for dinner. With the chendol and assam laksa barely sinked in my stomach, again we had the next meal. I can't stomach much but just a few sticks. An unique local food which I will go for it again the next time.

It was such a lovely and stomach-filling trip with my fellow friends. I will for sure go again next time. Thanks, Chi Fang!!! Now, time to get ride of the extra kilos from the trip.

ps - Finally, pictures of the Ipoh - Taiping trip had been uploaded. For the pictures of day one, click here. For the entry, click here.

Penang One Day Tour

*I feel like hentam that STUPID Streamyx modem on the wall...uploading pictures took ages and it won't even complete!!! Macam challenge I to potong the subscription...aiyar, sleep first le...next time only upload la...*

I'm back! At least for a day before heading south again. Anyway, an update of sort, to begin with.

17 Nov 2009
So, after the last of the last paper, like I had mentioned before in the last post, I went with my friends to explore sides of Penang that we had yet to visit. The first stop was at Fort Cornwallis near Esplanade. While I been to Esplanade before when I went to Bon Odori, I did not realize there was a fort. According to the brochure, soon after took possession of the island, Francis Light erected a fort of nibong palms at the tip of the cape which called Fort Point and named it after the Governor-General in Bengal - Charles Cornwallis. It was later reconstructed in the same size, shape and layout in bricks for 67,000 Spanish Dollars in 1793. With an entrance fee of RM 3 per person, it was a tour filled with exhibitions and galleries showcasing the artifacts found at the site.

There's gun for you to pose with Francis Light...

Later after the historic experience, we went to Esplanade for lunch. We had mee soto and coconut milkshake. Delightful treats. Then, we went to Khoo Kongsi, a famous site at Penang. A popular tourist site especially during Chinese New Year where everyone gathered around to celebrate Chinese New Year (or so said my friend), it is a large Chinese clanhouse with elaborate and highly ornamented arthitecture, a mark of Chinese dorminant in Penang. Wikipedia said so. It was an eye-opening for us all.

Then, we went to have cendols (Delicious!!!) near Burma Road (I think so) before heading to Toy Museum near Tanjung Tokong. The toy musuem claimed to be the world largest of its kind, but all I could see was the certificate from Malaysia Book of Record, proving it was the largest in Malaysia. Where's the Guiness Book of Record? While there are truly a lot of toys on exhibits, those from the latest cartoons such as Ben 10 were almost non-existent. Nevertheless, for me, it's feel like a walk back to my childhood.

After that, we went to a Burmese Buddhist temple near Jalan Kelawei. It has quite a large standing Buddha status in it. Then, we went to a temple of location I can't be quite sure where it is famous for the lifting Buddha. Rumours had it that if you wish from the Buddha, if you can lift it for the first time but can't for the second time, your wish will come true. How true is it, you have to do it for yourself to find out about it. Then, we headed for dinner before embark to our next trip, Segamat, Johor.

It was a nice tour around Penang. Instead of the usual Queensbay/Gurney Plaza, we got to see the more historical side of Penang. Thanks, 永升.

Another Blog Is Born!

Now with my new compact camera, I can finally take pictures of families and friends and of places I visited. So, here's a thought. Why not create a blog just to upload the photos? While it's definitely amateurish, it's still presentable, I hope. So, please visit http://sengaikchuah.blogspot.com. Oh yea, photos of the Ipoh-Taiping trip will be posted on the new blog. Now, I have another blog to manage.

I'm Officially A Free Man!

Finally, the wait is over! Holiday has begun! With the last of the last paper for me is behind me, I'm now free to enjoy myself without any restraints (not that these last few days were any less enjoyable what with the trip and all...). Gonna pack up the remaining stuffs resting in my hostel room later before going out to explore sides of Penang that I've yet to visit later in the afternoon with my coursemates. Then, at night, the five of us gonna take a bus ride to Segamat, Johor and have a blast! After Johor, I'm gonna visit Seremban and enjoys myself for few days before heading back to my hometown. Hopefully, I can land myself some works to sustain my spendings. Therefore, at least for the upcoming days, my blog will be rather lifeless. But don't la desert it. Come by and conteng my chatbox or leave comments. Haha.

So, see ya later!

Ipoh-Taiping Trip

So, like I said yesterday, I just came back from my tour guide duty last weekend to my 10 fellow coursemates. It was a nice experience.

13 Nov 2009
We began the day with the ride back Ipoh. The five of us went in Xin Hao's car while the rest took bus to Ipoh. When I reached my house, I went to the bus station with my car to fetch them. Then, we went to Dai Shu Tao (or Big Tree Head for literal translation) for lunch. It's been so long since the last time I went there. Then, the standard visit to Sam Poh Tong temple and beside it, the Nam Thian Tong temple. Almost deserted of people, we went to just have a brief tour and paid our respects.

After that, we drove all the way to Batu Gajah for the famous Kellie's Castle. Like my friends, it's my first time going there and I did got lost for a moment, making a wrong turn. When you made the right turn, there was almost no sign left for the building is quite large till you can spot it on its own. We spent a whole good hour there, taking photos and all.

Then, back we went to Ipoh for the famous Ngar Choi Kai (Beansprout and Chicken) before we headed to pasar malam (night market) at First Garden. Going to pasar malam required me to make a few calls for I did not know of the direction, but after few minutes of detour, we finally reached the destination. A tiny rain forced us to head back home for resting, and also to celebrate our friend's birthday. Happy birthday, Ginael!

Before we said goodnight, we went to Tong Sui Khai (Dessert Street, again, literal translation) for Tong Suis. Then, a quick tour to train station. That's the first day.

14 Nov 2009
We woke up quite early for Foh San dim sum, but, only when we reached that we found out that it was closed for renovation. Well, we turned to the next available restaurant, Yoke Fook Moon. Not as nice as Foh San, or so said my friend.

Then, we drove for almost 45 minutes to Gua Tempurung to spend some time with nature. There's four type of tours, 2 dry and 2 wet, but since the wet tour really all wet, we opted for the longest dry tour. The interior was really beautiful and all and at one moment, the air was chill. But I have to say, I really don't like the management. Poor guide and terrible management.

Since we were so near Kampar, we went to have Kampar's famous Roti Ayam (Bread Chicken) where there's curry chicken wrapped inside the bread. It's quite delicious but the curry needed for a little spicy, in my opinion. Then, we went to uni-crash UTAR, or just the lake outside UTAR, West Lake. At least their lake was way much cleaner than the Aman Lake or Fajar Lake at USM. Ours got iguanas resting in it.

Next, we headed back Ipoh for a quick look at the Lost World of Tambun before bringing them to buy some souvenirs and having some snack at Kong Heng Kopitiam. Nothing much to eat since it's their closing time. Then, a quick rest at home before bringing them for dinner at Same Taste Restaurant near my house. After that, we sent the 6 of them back Penang while the remaining 5 of us stayed on for tomorrow at Taiping.

15 Nov 2009
After breakfast, we headed to Taiping, with Mei Ling as our tour guide. After dropping some of her stuffs at her house, we went straight to Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill). Even I've been to Taiping countless time, it's my first time going up that hill. Of course, we took the jeep up instead of climbing it. We were really a bunch of lazy people. And also lack of time. We spent 3 hours absorbing the beauty of nature and the cold air up there. Then, we went to have lunch (or more like high tea) at pasar (market). I like their Oo Tao Kou (Yam Cake), really delicious. Before we headed back USM, our tour guide brought us around Taiping, showing us her schools and those famous schools around Taiping. Due to rain and tiredness, we just headed back USM and aborted all the planned visit to Bukit Tambun and all. True to its name, Taiping really rain non stop.

Hope everyone have a blast in the trip. I know I did.

p/s Photos will be uploaded when I went back home using my laptop and when I got back my memory card.

2012

Just came back from 3D/2N Ipoh-Taiping trip, or more precisely, being the host/tour guide to my bunch of Uni friends for the second time this year, and dare I say it? I think I had improved at least a little bit from my first time. Haha, self-praising. More on the trip later.

Now, does anyone believe the end of the world? Apocalypse? Judgment Day? The Mayan civilization had predicted that at 21-12-2012, we have to say goodbye to mankind and mother earth. How true is that, I have no idea, but Hollywood has chunked out its vision on how the world will end on that fateful day by the disaster-flick director, Roland Emmerich.

Watching 2012 at its first 10-20 minutes will remind you of another movie of his, The Day After Tomorrow, one which I quite like. Both revolved around destruction on Earth. Both featured famous landmarks being destroyed. Both movies told from the point of view of a man trying to save his family. Therefore, there's a feeling of repetition on my behalf.

What's the story about, you were asking? Well, the end of the world, of course. Honestly, you really went for the story? I admitted that I spent RM 6 for purely the special effects and the effects alone worth all of it. It was so real that you feel like the world really went ka-boom in front of you. The scene where the statue of Jesus Christ at Brazil collapsing and the giant earthquake at Los Angeles, it were truly amazing and heart-pumping.

So, what's my verdict? I think B would be suffice. I mean, the effects were awesome and all, but how many destruction flicks can I stomach before realizing there's not any differences from one another, especially by the same director. There must be a saturation point and it's getting closer for me. Don't get me wrong, I still love such big-budget popcorn flicks but the urge to watch might evaporate slowly.

11/11/2009

It was a day worth the celebration. Finally, exam's over and holidays were ahead of us. So, after my paper, we headed out to Batu Feringghi for some fun time. We went to James' Steak House (or something like that) near Tanjung Tokong for some cheap Western foods. I had a grilled salmon steak for RM 13.00. It's simply delicious.

My grilled salmon steak...

The four of us...

Then, next stop, Gurney Plaza. Since it's still early to go Hard Rock Cafe, we decided to watch a movie first. Not much selection since I basically watched quite a few movies on my own and 2012 was not on yet, so, Poker King it was. It's a typical Hong Kong comedy, very mou lui tau (nonsensical comedy). A bit laugh here and there. Even 2012, which I watched this afternoon, was not really up to my expectation (more about it later...).


After the movie, there's a feeling of emptiness inside our stomachs so we went to a mamak stall for supper. Then, finally, the highlight of the night, Hard Rock Cafe! We shared a bottle of Bacardi among us three (since we're just students and practically moneyless) and drank till it's empty and the the cafe closed. Reached room with a little bit dizziness in my head.

My cup...
One of the many decos there...

Such a fun night.

Slightly Drunk

Current status: Slightly dizzy but still conscious...
What I drank: Bacardi mixed with juice and Sprite
Where: Hard Rock Cafe

Currently my head too dizzy so I'm gonna sleep now and update my blog tomorrow morning or late evening but honestly, I never thought I can be so easily drunk. Must train my alcohol tolerance then...

Further update when I'm fully sober...おやすみなさい。。。

It's Over!

Well, technically, not really, but the last paper pretty much can screw it. And to celebrate my freedom, me and my friends are gonna go to Hard Rock Cafe for some rocking good time! Gonna get myself drunk, well, as drunk as my wallet allows me. And it'll be my baby's first public appearance! OK, not really again but I'm gonna treat it as my first anyway.

Anyway, gotta go now.

5.00 AM

5.00 am. That's the time I went to sleep these few days. Some days were spent studying with friends at some mamak stalls, some were spent hanging out, relaxing and went yum cha, those qualities time with friends. More or less the same bunch of peoples.

Yesterday night, about 11.30 pm, we again went out to mamak stall, armed with books for today's paper, slaving our asses with past year papers and tutorials while munching our supper. There's MU versus Chelsea playing on TV and the air were filled with cheers of the supporters, but we were in our own little haven, or more like hell, our attentions were fixated towards the course.

With just less than 15 hours, we were trying to absorb as much as we can. With that 15 hours, we were hoping to learn what the lecturer took almost a semester to teach us. Well, the 'us' didn't really include me since his lectures were so snooze-filled that even aliens would turn away and leave should they came into his classes.

Now, with just about 8 hours remaining, I totally resolve to fate as usual. Fate and luck. So far, it has done me quite good. Therefore, hopefully, this time around, I can still rely on you. おやすみなさい。

Phobia

Karma. Do you believe in them? I think I do. Like Justin's song, I think that 'what goes around comes back around...'. Therefore, don't ever do something that you gonna regret with the rest of your lives. Why the sudden deep thinking, you ask? Well, I just came back watching 'Phobia 2' with my fellow friends and out of the five stories in the movie, three of them revolve around karma.

'Phobia 2' is a Thai horror movie where there are five stand-alone short films in it and boys, what a ride this movie is. Let us go one by one, shall we?


Novice
The first story of the movie tells the tale of a young monk trying to escape his past but even being a Buddhist novice, he can't run away from the crime he committed. For me, out of the five stories, this is the scariest of them all for it is the most realistic. It makes you realize that you can't ever turn your back away from your past deeds and you will have to pay for it. I strongly feel for the novice especially at the final scene where karma finally caught him and he tried to ask forgiveness from his mother who he treated badly, to no avail.

Ward
The second story is more of a tale of wrong place at a wrong time. A teenager was hospitalized due to an accident and was in the same ward with a brain-dead old man. At night, events started to occur that made him think how 'alone' is he truly is. Not a bad addition to the movie but for me, the least important of them all.

Backpackers
Karma returns again and this time, his victims are the food of the undeads. It's a zombie flick and quite a nice one. It talks about human and drug trafficking and how evil is it. After watching this movie, any thoughts about going backpacking simply evaporated from my mind.

Salvages
Never ever buy a second hand car. You have no idea what the stories behind the car. And such stories come to haunt the salewoman and her son. Again, there's a feeling that karma is behind this.

In The End
The best of them all, 'In The End' is a hilarious yet spooky story about a couple of film crews in the making of a horror movie. There's a lot of funny moments in this movie that make you laugh out loud and when the twist was revealed, you can't help but laugh along with it. Really the best of it.

In short, this is a great horror movie that scares and makes you laugh. While watching this movie, I laughed more than I was scared because I was watching it with my coursemates and they're goofballs. They kept shielding their eyes and when there's scary moments, their reactions were hilarious. Must drag them along again whenever a horror movie is on air. To make it better, watch it in midnight and it'll double the thrill. Haha.

My exams weeks were filled with night outings so much that I don't feel like I was in the middle of examinations. Everywhere I go around campus, there are people reading or studying, revising for their papers. Me, on the other hand, watch TV shows in my laptop and went yum cha every night. I'm so gonna miss it when I'm back Ipoh. Haiz...

Halfway Done

I just said goodbye to two papers and now, waiting for me next week, are the remaining two more. Both of the papers were within expectations in term of the toughness and all. While one of them was pretty much secured (not being cocky here), the paper I had this afternoon was not as well-performed as the first one. Like I said, it's not tough, just that my rusty skills are to blame. Lack of practices, I was not able to do as well as I wanted to, costing me my grade. Haiz.

Anyway, let's bygone be bygone and let's look forward to the remaining papers. Must really outdo the expectations I set for these papers in order to achieve final goal of the semester. Therefore, must really work hard for what I deem my lousiest performances for the semester. Must dig back up the study mode in me so that I could turn these two papers into my saving graces.

Engine starts roaring...tomorrow!

Good Luck!

Today marks the end of the study week and the battle will begin tomorrow. Unfortunately for me, I'll be on the front line with the rest of my coursemates for the battle tomorrow with the first paper in the morning. What we had studied for the semester will be tested beginning tomorrow and will dread for three weeks.

To those facing exams tomorrow or will be facing them later, best of luck I will upon all of you. All the best to me as well since I didn't really study anything during study week. 加油！！！

This Is It, Jennifer's Body!

SCREW STUDY! My first paper is like on Monday and today, I've already wasted half a day in Queensbay watching these two movies, Michael Jackson's This Is It and Jennifer's Body. Piles of notes and books still remain covered in dust and I went for movies? Somebody slaps me! Figuratively! (OK, to compensate those two movies I watched, tonight will be the night I'm getting serious!)

Anyway, here's my two-cent worth of reviews for both the movies:

Michael Jackson's This Is It


To be honest, I'm not really a fan of MJ but I do love his songs and I felt that his passing was a great loss to the world. So, I thought, why not go for the movie as a tribute to his legendary career and also to see how his concert would have been if he was still alive. Furthermore, it'll be on cinema for just two weeks.

I was told that the tickets were selling like hot cakes and if you did not have any reservations or you did not buy the tickets earlier, chances are, you won't get to see it. Well, I have no idea how true is that but when I went there this morning without any reservations, I managed to get myself one and when I entered the cinema hall, it was quite empty. I think barely twenty were there and most of them, i believe, witnessed MJ growing up.

I haven't watch a concert movie before so I have no idea how a concert movie should be like but this one is great. From the start till the end, you could feel the passion of the staffs and crews, dancers and background singers, and MJ himself. The one to one interview with the dancers at the beginning of the movie were quite emotional, you could tell that they really want to be there, to be with MJ. Some even came from as far as Australia just for the audition. I really had goosebumps at that moment.

There are a lot of exclusive clips of what the concert gonna be. I especially like the Thriller section where they were recording scenes in 3-D for a clip to be aired in the concert. Michael really put a lot of times and energy to stage his comeback concert. He poured his heart and soul for it but sadly, he did not live long enough to perform it.

This movie is a must watch for the fans of Michael. It will be the only way for those who, unfortunately, won't get a chance to see him in a concert, to feel the atmosphere of his concert.

Jennifer's Body


Megan Fox's hotness has already been well established and certified with both Transformers movies and Jennifer's Body only serves to reaffirm her status as the screen siren. Other than Megan Fox, I don't really know what this movie is for and to make my point:

When my friend saw the scene above in the newspaper, he said he would died to be him, even if he was to die in the movie. I mean, as a horror movie, it simply not scary. I know it's not your standard kill-kill-slash-slash movie or the look-behind-you-there's-ghosts type of movie but still, have some blood, or more blood would be more accurate since there is blood in the movie.

So, the story. There's a band who, in order to be famous, made a deal with Satan and delivered a virgin in the form of Jennifer (Fox) as a sacrifice but instead of being dead, Jennifer was possessed by a demon who fed on people. Needy (Amanda Seyfield), Jennifer's nerdy best friend, found out about it and tried to stop it. Rather pointless, I must say. Pay attention to the dialogues 'cause there's lot of pop culture references in it and some you might laugh about it.

p/s I finally gotten myself a digital camera! With this baby, I can capture moments of my life in snapshots. DSLR is too freaking expensive so I resolve for a compact camera first. Slowly, slowly...and now I'm RM 1000 poorer!

my baby...

Study

When there's no lectures or tutorials to attend, to be here inside campus is a bore. All the time, the starting intro verse of Madonna's Hung Up keeps playing in my mind, 'Time goes by so slowly'. I mean, what do you do to pass the time? Yea, I know Queensbay is just within 5 minutes drive. Yea, there's TONS of movies and TV series still residing inside my laptop, unwatched and I DID watch an episode or two (or more) whenever I'm bored. But...it's STUDY WEEK, and one should studies during study week, right???

So, when I came back from Ipoh yesterday, as a 'good' student, I went to library once I settled everything. When I was there, I thought, why not use their lighting connection speed to download the latest episode of Gossip Girl? I would just leave it there and would go study in another section. And I did, only for like, at most 30 minutes, before my eyes get all tired-y, my attention went off to DayDreamland, and my body starts to take the 'fishing man' posture. Then, I snapped out of it, went to toilet to refresh, and went to retrieve my downloaded files.

Then, the cycle began all over again. The same thing happened today, but the study phase goes shorter and shorter until it almost becomes insignificant. Jesus, it's so freaking boring!!! Screw study!!! Tomorrow, I think I'll go Queensbay for a movie or two. There's Jennifer's Body, Phobia 2, Michael Jackson's This Is It,........

Ipoh

I'm back in Ipoh, my peaceful little hometown, for a few days during the study week. The main purpose for the trip back, beside to get some rest and to be with my family, is to scout for places to bring my fellow coursemates around during their visits this coming November. This would be my second time being a host and since some of them had been to Ipoh (and three of them were the one I brought around last month or so), I need to keep things a bit fresh.

Honestly, Ipoh is truly famous for two things and those are the tongs (caves) and foods. Really, there's plenty of tongs here in Ipoh such as the famous Sam Poh Tong Temple with Ling Sen Tong, Nam Thian Tong and Kek Long Tong all clustered around there, Perak Tong Temple, just to name a few. All these are Chinese temples built on caves by monks back in the old days. Besides that, there's a natural cave in the form of Gua Tempurung if that's what you're looking for.

Perak Tong Temple
Gua Tempurung

For the food department, there's nothing that represents Ipoh more than nga choi kai (chicken with beansprout). Whenever the name of Ipoh was mentioned, nga choi kai surely will pop out from the mouth. And there's dim sum, kai si hor fun (noodle with chicken floss), curry mee, and, most importantly, Ipoh white coffee, my personal favourite. I really do love to drink white coffee, and while typing this, I'm savouring for a cup right now!

The architectures of the building in the Old Town are also a sight to behold as it has those pre-colonial feels to the British architectures. One of the most famous building is the Ipoh Railway Station which is often referred to as the 'Taj Mahal' of Ipoh (according to a website la). The last time when I brought my friends there, we saw a couple shooting their wedding photos at the station. I guess it's a testament to its beauty.

So, here's the rough places to bring them for their 3 days, 2 nights stay at Ipoh:

13th Nov

• breakfast/lunch once they arrived (depends on the time of arrival)
• tour around old town
• lunch/tea
  
• Perak Tong
• Dinner ==> nga choi kai
  
• pasar malam

14th Nov

• breakfast at Foh San Restaurant
• Gua Tempurung
• lunch
• Kellie's castle
• Sam Poh Tong
• dinner
• supper at Tong Sui Kai
  

15th Nov

• breakfast at pasar pagi
• heading to Taiping

My duty lasts until the morning of the 15th November as we'll be going to Taiping and from there onwards, there'll be someone taking over the duty of a host.

Kellie's Castle

Looking back at the schedule above, I can't help but feel that it's rather spacious, for lack of words. I have a feeling that there will be a lot of time in between the plans and I don't really know how to fill it. I need HELP!!! Fellow Ipohans, any suggestions????

Last Day of the Semester

Just a blink of an eye and it's the last day of the lectures for the semester before we're heading to the one week of hard training to prepare ourselves for the grand battles of the semester. After almost half a year attending ever boring lectures and tutorials, it's high time for us to apply what we have gained from the spent time for the better of our futures but the problem is, WHAT indeed did I learned during the semester???

I did attend most of the lectures but most of the time, it's only my physical self was presented. That's right, just the shell was at the halls, brain-vacanted. That's how I went through most of the lectures this whole semester. Really, out of the four core subjects, only one worth paying attention to.

Whenever there are pop quizzes or mid-term tests, everyone (me included) started to rush to the nearest smartest person and copy (former) or start digesting the super thick textbooks (latter), hoping to save our asses. But it's Universities' life.

Finals are coming and I guess it's time to really fight for better results. There's two subjects I really need to work my butt off to bring up the marks after disappointing performances at both mid-terms. Wonders if the dean list's still within my grasps?

Hope won't end up as stressful as him...Aiyar, who am I kidding with?

Festival Of Nations

Just a rough update.

Festival Of Nations (FoN) was held on last Saturday, 17 October 2009, at Minden Field B, USM. It was organized by Institut Pengajian Siswazah (IPS) with collaboration from AIESEC in USM. I was part of the organizing committee from AIESEC in running the event.

A simple summary on what is FoN is about. FoN is a festival where students from all around the globe opened booths to showcase their home countries' specialties and delicacies and stuffs. There's also cultural performances by both students and the professionals such as Chinese intrumental performances, salsa dancing, and so on. It's like traveling around the world in just one afternoon.

It was a rather successful event, to say the least. Everyone presented had fun and their stomachs filled with free food 'cause there's an open house of sort at the festival in conjunction with the Deepavali celebration. Would love to take part again next time, be it as an organizing committee or not. Hopefully, there'll be another FoN next year.

Bangladesh's rice (dunno what is it though...)
A popular drink from Jordan
Some handicrafts from Somalia
Kung Fu performances by USM Kung Fu Club...Choy Fong so ying...

For more photos of the event, click here and here.