The Cock and The Bull

Six Flags Magic Mountain

2011-12-19T09:48:00.001+08:00

Never in my life have I taken more than 10 roller coaster rides in one day like yesterday. Woohoo! It was simply amazing! I have seen big roller coasters in TV, but it never occurred to me that I will be experiencing them myself.

The Place – Six Flags Magic Mountain. And boy was it magical!

Looking at the winding and convoluted steel tubes in myriad of colors, plus the blood-curdling screams that can be heard incessantly, it was truly daunting. From a onlooker’s perspective, it looked scary.

But I wanted to do it anyway. Life is a roller coaster, we just have to ride it. So that was what my friends and I did. We tried almost all the rides, from the moderate thrill to the maximum thrill (yes they do rate their rides according to the level of thrill) that included uncountable corkscrews, loops and all sorts of twists and turns which names I don’t even know.

Without a car at hand, we were forced make use of the public transportation that took us a couple of hours to reach the magic mountain located at Valencia, California, where thrills await us.

Six Flags is a big place. It fits more than 20 roller coaster rides and a host of other entertainment activities. It is a place for the whole family.

But of course, we didn’t come in a family so our aim was to ride all the rides that were in the “moderate” and “maximum” categories. Come to think of it, I remembered the fear I had when I was about to try the “Corkscrew” roller coaster in Genting Highlands back in Malaysia. At that time, that was the most thrilling ride I could ever ask for.

Not surprisingly, the “Corkscrew” that I mentioned is only like one of the moderate thrill rides at six flags – simply incomparable to the rest.

I also met 3 Singaporean groups that day. Guess it’s because of the holiday season. In all 3 cases, I found out they were from Singapore because I overheard their accent. It’s funny how good it feels to hear the Malaysian/Singaporean accent when I’m so far away from home. It feels good to talk like that again once in a while with strangers!

Anyways, here are some of the highlights of the rides in Six Flags that we tried:

1. Revolution

This is the first looping roller coaster ever built, according to the pamphlet “Six Flags Magic Mountain Park Map & Guide”. Heck, this was actually my first roller coaster loop. This was the first thing we tried and it promised a moderate level of thrill. Immediately after this ride, it raised up my level of expectation, for no rides in Malaysia can be this horrifying!

2. Tatsu (Flying coaster)

Ho…the second ride of the day – Tatsu. It has some Chinese influence, hence the dragon image welcoming the riders. This is a ride that was in the “maximum thrill” category, and damned was it only our second ride. Tatsu is the world’s tallest, fastest and longest flying coaster. After this ride, we felt that we were ready to take on any rides the park could offer. RAWR! *Dragon breath*

3. Apocalypse

Apocalypse has a very amazing architecture. It is a modern roller coaster that is imbued with the classic woodwork in its design. And you know what they say when it comes to wooden roller coasters…SPEED. Man was that a fast ride!

4. Superman: Escape from Krypton

This is a must try at Six Flags! From a horizontal track to a vertical one, it literally blasted us up into the air in a spectacular fashion done in guess what…100 mph! From the ground, it sounded and felt like an airplane flew over us every time one of these superman rides launches up into the air. At the peak, I felt like I was floating in an anti-gravity environment before I was harshly dragged back down by gravity. Oh, and this is one of the moderate ones.

5. Ninja (Suspended Roller Coaster)

Said to be the West Coast’s fastest suspended roller coaster, but it’s in the “Thrill Seekers in Training” category, meaning that it is meant to give the lowest thrill. For us, it was pretty fun, but definitely not as thrilling as the other rides we tried.

6. Gold Rusher

We also paid a visit to the Gold Rusher, which is the park’s first roller coaster ever. This ride is in the “moderate thrill” category, but it wasn’t as thrilling as we thought it would be. Little rides seemed like nothing to us now that we have tried the big ones.

7. The Riddler’s Revenge (Stand-up roller coaster)

We tried this one after lunch, but fortunately enough, it was a one-and-a-half hour wait so our stomachs were ready for it, if you know what I mean. On the unfortunate side, it was a long wait!! The ride got delayed because somebody puked and they had to clean up the coaster. Eww! Imagine what would happen if somebody puked while the coaster was doing a loop. Another one of our first’s, the Riddler’s Revenge is a stand-up roller coaster. So we were standing up throughout the whole ride, doing the loops and the likes. It was definitely a unique experience having to stand up and having the legs as support instead of a seat. And yes, the legs would be withstanding the high Gs.

8. Batman The Ride (Suspended roller coaster/Bottomless coaster)

This was one ride that was veritably intense! Like a bat, it made sudden left, right, up and down motions that abused our senses. To top it off, it was done in a speed of a bat. I felt like it was one of the fastest rides at Six Flags as well. To intensify the experience, this is a coaster without a platform for the legs, hence our legs were relentlessly thrown in all directions throughout the ride. Maximum thrill guaranteed!

9. Colossus

Aptly named, this is one big heck of a roller coaster, one on wood too. It’s woodwork is phenomenal. It is a dual-track roller coaster. Again the speed in this one is quite amazing. But it was quite a bumpy ride too and it sort of slowed down and started off again many times throughout its journey, but fun and exciting nonetheless. The thrill rating for this one is moderate.

10. Scream (Suspended roller coaster)

This has a floorless design that propels riders at high speeds with their legs dangling in the air. Scream, as the name suggested, generated lots of screams from the rides, but by then I was screaming so much that I decided to tone down my screams.

11. Goliath

From the name one would think that this is an extreme ride that is gargantuan in size…it certainly is, without the slightest doubt. Offering the maximum thrill, the highlight of this monster coaster is its drop from a 255-foot peak to a height of –120-foot underground! Insane! That, I can assure you. Definitely the highest drop at Six Flags, and it felt like the drop was never ending. This is a ride that lived up to its name.

12. Viper

The last ride of the day was Viper (also rated with a maximum thrill), a ride that turn riders upside-down 7 times! Analogous to a snake, this ride made us spin and swirl like never before, leaving us with a slightly lighter head at the end of the ride. A ride not recommended for the faint-hearted or people who just had a meal.

Some of the rides we missed were the “X2-A Whole New Xtreme Xperience” and “Green Lantern – First Flight” and “Déjà Vu”. X2 is the world’s first 5th dimensional thrill. I assume it’s partly because of the fireball effect in the middle of the ride. Green lantern had too many people in line so we skipped that. Déjà Vu wasn’t available at that time. According to an online source, it is moving to another location.

So with more than 10 roller coaster rides, we called it a day. Adrenaline pumped yet inwardly tired, we vowed to return to Six Flags to conquer the remaining rides.

Hope you get some percentage of thrill from reading this post, and if you’re really thrilled, you should try them out yourself! After going through this experience, I bet nothing is now too horrifying or scary for me…well except maybe skydiving, which is the next extreme activity on my list!

Enjoy the compilation of pictures below:

The Apocalypse

The architecture is simply stunning…old school.

Superman

Look at the background. An opening is formed in the clouds to allow the escape from Krypton! Hmm, on second looks, it seems like a batman logo is being formed.

The Riddler’s Revenge

This ride has lots of LOOOOOOOOOPS.

Batman The Ride

Just look at that loop!

Unrelated yet related – A Bat Mobile spotted at the premise. We actually saw life-sized Batman and Robin but they were being briefed by their boss. lol.

Self-group picture. Two people are missing. The one on the far right is always this dramatic when taking pictures. Haha.

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Season’s Greetings to all readers, sincerely from The Cock and The Bull. And Happy Holidays! Have a good break and recharge yourself. =]

For further information regarding Six Flags. Please go ahead and check out their website.

Click here to know more about Six Flags

Disclaimer: The number of exclamation marks used in this post do not correspond to the level of thrill of each ride. It is loosely used in this post to represent the post-thrill effect of the Six Flags experience. Also, the rides highlighted here are not for everybody, so ride with your own risk.

Bank Scam

2011-07-19T18:17:00.001+08:00

Hi folks. Haven’t been writing much lately. But I want to highlight something that people should know.

This is my second post about scam and fraud. And yes, it has all got to do with money because that’s what the dirty perpetrators get for doing it. See the first post here.

As the banks are trying to tighten security by introducing new internet security policies, some nasty people are using banks’ names to trick people via emails.

This is one of the many similar emails that I received recently, allegedly from CIMB bank, telling my to validate my personal information.

No letter header, no logo…nothing. But the message was straightforward and prompt.

It even mentions about the new security measures being implemented which was happening at that time to create a seemingly persuasive email.

But when I hovered my mouse pointer over the underlined hyperlink, I can truly see where the link is going to bring me. So always always do that. See where the link will bring you before clicking on it. Just observe the bottom left of your screen (which is my case) when you hover over any link.

That would show you whether the link is real or fake.

If you don’t proceed with caution, you might just lose a fortune because the link will bring you to a replica of the actual website of the bank that’s so alike that you’ll think it’s real.

So be smart. The best thing to do is not to click any links in emails from “banks” or any finance based entity as they would never ever ask for your confidential information online or through phone for that matter.

Whenever you find yourself in doubt, just call the bank to ask about this email that you received, and you’ll know for sure whether it’s authentic or not.

All these despicable people. There are plenty of ways to make money so don’t resort to doing illegal stuff. May you fellows rot lovely in hell.

Chao Tao Fu (Stinky Tofu)

2011-07-11T23:06:00.001+08:00

It’s been a while since I last posted. You might be thinking that something might have happened to me after I posted “Say No To Bersih 2.0 Rally”.

Nope I’m doing just fine. The bottom parts of my feet are recovering. I’m starting to go out again after staying so long at home. It’s a bit like physiotherapy, going out of the house and walking on the streets again.

I actually felt weird going out and seeing so many people again. It produced an almost dizzying effect on me. Crossing the road didn’t seem as natural as before too.

Man, 1 week of dormancy can really affect the body. So be sure to stay active and don’t just stay at home. Move that arse more often!

That day I went to Pasar Malam (Night market) with some of my buddies in Cheras. It was a Friday. The Pasar Malam was just beside Leisuremall. I think it’s called the Taman Putra Pasar Malam.

Anyway, we sat down to order food for dinner in the midst of the Pasar Malam, and suddenly I could make of this stench that smelled like nothing but shit. Seriously, I thought that the yellowish curry stain on the table was the source of that rank.

It was as though an invisible shit was right in front of me. No kidding man. And I was just about to have my dinner…

I was told that the smell was the trademark smell of Chao Tao Foo or Stinky Tofu. So I was determined to give it a try. Challenge accepted!

The stall was located at the far end of the Pasar Malam, about 200 or 300 meters away from my dinner spot. Wow. How overwhelmingly powerful is the stench of the mighty stinky tofu. Distance is not an obstacle.

Amazingly, the closer I got to the fermented tofu, the milder the smell. Maybe it’s just me? I don’t know for sure. But one thing is for sure, it’s a hot item on sale.

This thing was so popular that I had to wait in line to get a taste of this piece of shitty smell tofu.

RM 2.50 for 4 pieces of fried stinky tofu topped with pickled vege and chili sauce for the taste. Without the supplements, the tofu would have tasted a bit blend. I decided to ta pao and bring home to eat, and spread the omnipresent smell of the one and only tofu.

In the car, I placed the styrofoam packed tofu in front of the air-cond, in the process creating the most powerful Ambipure air freshener ever created in mankind. Almost instantaneously, the tofu conquered the air in the car and made it its territory. OHMYGOD. S.T.I.N.K.S.

At home, I faced the battle alone after rejections from family members to take on the stinky challenge. One stinky tofu by one stinky tofu made its way into the organ called the mouth. The smell was tolerable at point blanc. As I ate the shit away, I could feel the squishiness of the tofu laminating my mouth with its distinctive scent.

So yeah. If you haven’t tried it. Go try it and let me know your experience. Just a reminder, when you’re eating something that smells like shit, make sure you open your eyes so that you don’t mistaken it for a shit. You never know. Sometimes, shit happens. : []

Condominium

2011-07-06T20:06:00.002+08:00

Condominium. What about it?

It’s the place people stay; it’s a high rise building.

Say it fast and you’ll never know what’s so funny about it.

But say it slow and you’ll notice that you’re obscene.

The picture below captures the essence of this pun.

See. This is a good way to be infamous and attract business…

Somebody must have taken out the “in”.

*The author believes that if one pays enough attention to one's surrounding, there are a lot of funny things around you to keep more than one laughing for an eternity. : ]

Say No to Bersih 2.0 Rally

2011-07-05T12:18:00.001+08:00

Good afternoon people. It’s only a few days left till July the 9th – the big day. But I (and I think the majority of fellow Malaysians) dread the day. We don’t want to see a Saturday that’s different than any other Saturdays.

This morning I was going through the daily and there’s good news brewing in the headlines. Now the groups involved in the planning of the rally are rethinking on marching on after the advices of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and the Sultan of Pahang came through with their wise interference.

Thank goodness. This is great news.

UMNO and Malay rights group PERKASA vowed to do the same if Bersih 2.0 doesn’t go on with the rally.

Yes, we all have the freedom of expression and speech, assemble in peace and without arms as well as form associations. According to article 10(1) in the Malaysian Constitution, all those above are our rights.

That may be true, but other citizens have their rights to have a peaceful environment too. That’s where article 10(2) comes in because most people only read the first few lines of the article, but if one continues to read article 10(2), then everything would be clear.

Okay so yeah go ahead if you want to have an assembly of people. The question to ask is: does it disrupt public order? If so, then it should be held. As easy as that.

Who can guarantee that the thousand-man rally would not disrupt peace? Having the rally itself is already challenging the peace in the country by having a Saturday turned into a rally day.

If people really want to assemble and express themselves, they should gather in a stadium, as suggested by our PM in today’s newspaper. But then again, what’s the point of having a bunch of people in a stadium demonstrating without any onlookers right? However, that’s the correct means of doing it if people are really adamant on doing it.

UMNO and PERKASA would still oppose Bersih 2.0 if Bersih pursued on with the rally. That’s fighting fire with fire or like adding oil to fire. If the rally really goes on, the last thing the public wants are multiple rallies opposing one another. But it could just be a mind game of the opposing parties.

They really want to make their point through big numbers, the Bersih Organization. They were legitimately formed but now deemed illegal. Political motivation plays a vital role. Just look at the top people in Bersih and you can see a politician in there. Hmm….

If you’re thinking of joining the rally, don’t. It’s illegal, that’s all you have to know. Don’t do illegal stuff or you’ll just end up in trouble. We don’t want trouble; we just want a normal life.

It just causes more harm than good. Let’s compare shall we…

The cons:

Disrupts the peace that is the very fabric of our multifaceted society.
Inflicts major losses in tourism income worth like 1 billion a week (money which can be used instead for reducing the tax of imported cars?)
Threatens lives of the people in the rally as well as people not involved in the rally. (Who can really tell what’s going to happen?)
Forces local business premises to close shop so that they cannot make money.
Gives a bad impression to tourists from other countries. (Imagine them going back to their countries and telling people “hey, I got unlucky to be caught in a rally in Malaysia, it was really scary and the kids were crying etc.)
Waste of resources – the police force, ambulance, water-canon vehicles (imagine the amount of water), crowd control measures.
Troubles the lives of pedestrians. People cannot go shopping, cannot go hospitals in an emergency, cannot get help in time etc. This is an endless list.

The pros:

Shows that Malaysians can practice their rights to express themselves and gather peacefully.
Enables certain parties to get the message across to the public efficiently.
Gets people more interested in matters pertaining the government, politics and the country.
Encourages younger people to get in the know of politics and sign up as a voter for the coming election.

So there are definitely more cons than pros…

I should also remind everyone that demonstration is becoming a trend in South East Asia and now Malaysia. The rather good thing to know from my friends from East Malaysia is that things like this don’t happen there. So it’s good if we can be a bit like our friends from the East.

Just say no to Bersih 2.0 rally.

Never walk barefooted at public places: A report of plantar warts

2011-07-04T11:54:00.001+08:00

No image is displayed in this post to protect the virginity of your eyes.

Hello. How are you doing? Fine? Good to hear that. What about me, you ask? Well, not as fine.

Do you usually wear shoes, slippers or anything that covers your feet when you’re not in your house? If you don’t, there is a chance of you contracting a range of diseases which can cause some trouble to your feet.

Outside of your house, on that dirty grey cement floor, on the grassy plane of field, on that basketball court, on that swimming pool compound, on that toilet floor (the most likely place to breed bacteria) or on that whatever outdoor ground that you step, thousands of bacteria and microorganisms thrive. Some are good while others are just plain mean, like the ones that can cause Plantar Warts.

I believe that I got those warts when I went to a camp. I was barefooted in the dorm and several times outside of the dorm. In the middle of the camp, I suddenly felt something under my left sole.

No pain at first. It just felt like a small tiny stone got into my left shoe. When I checked, I see no stone. Instead, I found that there’s a small white circular area on my sole with a discernable tiny black spot at the back of the flesh. Didn’t look to me as a big deal, so I just ignored it. But every time I walk, I felt like something got embedded into my sole.

After a week of getting the mysterious thing on my left sole, I found the same thing on my right sole. Wah, I think one foot wasn’t enough for the virus. It wanted to conquer both my feet.

I did some research online and concluded that they were plantar warts. To the doctor I went, and was given an acidic solution to put on the warts every night. After a week or so, there wasn’t much improvement, and I didn’t go back to the doc.

However, after more than 1 month, the warts have succeeded in increasing their sizes. The warts weren’t that big as you might think, it’s had grown to a size of a small mole. But because plantar warts are located in the worst location on the body (the soles of the feet), they would be constantly stepped on no matter what and it would be harder for them to come out. That’s what I opine.

One thing that you should know about this kind of wart is that it’s plantar, meaning that it can only exist on your soles and not anywhere else on your body. For those warts on other parts of the body, they have different names to live by.

So after doing a medical checkup last week, I decided to just consult the doctor on the fate of my infected feet. And last Saturday, I underwent a procedure to burn off the warts. Die warts…die!! I could even smell the burning smell of flesh as the doctor did his stuff.

Now I’m just recuperating at home and I try to minimize any movements that need the use of my feet which includes walking. No more sports, no more going out for the moment now.

With the small volcano holes on each of my sole, for now I’m contented to just sit and lie back in my house and becoming a recluse for a while. It’s not easy though, not moving around is difficult for me. And everyday I have to rendam my feet in salt water followed by applying antiseptic cream on it.

For my feet, I forwent a trip to Port Dickson, forgo a trip to East Malaysia (Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Sibu), which I confirmed months ago, possibly forgo a frisbee tournament coming up soon and forgo every opportunity to go out. :[

Health is ultimately the most important thing in our life.

So don’t overlook small things in your life like going barefoot outdoors. Just DON’t do it. You have no idea how much you have to go through and how much suffering you would have to endure.

If you’re thinking, “I’ve done it as long as I have lived and nothing has happened so far,” you can consider yourself lucky. You may never know when aral will melintang. Put simply, if it’s your bad day then you’ll kena la.

So take care. Health comes first.

Jack ’n Jill Roller Coaster: X-treme Challenge @ SkyTrex

2011-07-03T22:47:00.003+08:00

Pictures courtesy of Lawrence Ling.

“Life is a rollercoaster just gotta ride it” – Lyrics from the song of Ronan Keating.

To sum the whole experience at SkyTrex, like what the poster says – It was dirty, it was wild, it was whacked-out! Whoohoo. I can still feel the adrenaline when I think about it.

Totally AWEsome experience I tell you. Thanks Jack ‘n Jill Roller Coaster for putting that awe into the -some.

It was about more than 1 month ago when I got the invitation to participate in this extremely extreme event. Via Says.my, I filled up a survey and was so elated to hear that I was one of the lucky ones to get chosen. I even get to bring 1 friend along for the X-treme challenge and 2 other pals to participate in the on-ground activities. How cool is that?

This wacky experience I had was dated 28th May 2010. (I should’ve blogged earlier. Ah, procrastination!!)

Getting There

The bunch of us on our way to Taman Pertanian Malaysia, Shah Alam where therein lies SkyTrex. By far, Taman Pertanian or Botanical Park is the BIGGEST park I’ve ever been in my life. Seriously it’s so big that one day may not be enough to explore the whole place thoroughly.

The place is just fabulous and grandiose.

Misai Kucing (correct me if I’m wrong) basking in the morning dews.

Magnificent sunrise at Taman Pertanian Malaysia. Look, it’s as if an angel is unraveling herself.

Yeah, I was totally X-ed out and hyped out to do the challenge.

A Funny Thing

A funny thing happened that day. So after getting ourselves registered and gotten our Roller Coaster T-shirts in bright yellow and light blue, we (the ones doing the Extreme challenges) were brought into the inner compound of the park.

They had mini vans chauffeuring participants inside. Then things started to get confusing when these mini van drivers started making a U-turn after a good 10, 15 minutes of driving.

Wo oh, only then did the thought of being lost occurred to me. We were technically sesat in the park. And these drivers were just confidently driving blindly, and leading the other drivers as well.

The funny thing is, there are an abundance of maps literally everywhere in the park, but incredulously the drivers can’t see them! We even stopped once and I thought “Okay, he finally saw that big map over there and he’s gonna take a look at it."

*Faints. Can somebody punch me in the face?

Nope. He didn’t do that. Instead he went to the back of the vehicle and held some discussion with the other drivers. Hahahaha. How peculiar…

Thankfully, with a bit of luck, we eventually got to our destination. : ]

Just look at how humongous the map is. And they’re like everywhere, ubiquitous, and in bright striking yellow too.

Bring on the challenge!

Thereafter, all fun broke loose as my friend Rouffino and I take on the challenge!

Because I’m chose the yellow one, I got to do the Extreme Challenge and my friend wearing blue got to do the Big Thrill. The Big Thrill would cost RM 45 and the Extreme one would be an extra RM 5.

I don’t have pictures to show you, but let me just describe the experience of the Extreme Challenge in a few words – Intimidating, Challenging, Exhilarating.

There were vertical obstacles, horizontal obstacles and so flying fox obstacles. I’m not gonna exaggerate, I went through the flying fox obstacles so many times that I lost count. Yep. It’s like a flying fox heaven up there. Some are long and some are shorter, and the long ones are really long!

It took me more than an hour to complete the whole thing because the whole course is quite long and tiring as well, taking into account the safety harness and accessories. And most of the time, you’re really by yourself so you’re in charge of your own safety at all times. If you pay attention during the safety briefing, most likely you’ll be fine.

Left: A female participant getting ready to get launched into the other side by means of flying fox.

Right: A daunting vertical obstacle.

I should also mention that all these obstacles stations are ALL built on trees. Sing for the might of tree trunks! Praise the strength of mother nature.

The Big Thrill is somewhat similar with the Extreme Challenge. I speculate that the only difference lie in the height and scariness of the obstacles, though some people even say that the Big Thrill is more thrilling than the Extreme Challenge.

The Others’ Journey

Meanwhile, my 2 other friends Thaya and Lawrence (the photographer) got the chance to roam the park. They rented a bicycle each and starting exploring every nook and cranny of the park, turning every stone along the road, so to say.

On-ground Activities

Well, if you think the fun is over, it ain’t. The organizers really got things planned out.

After a fatiguing exercise, participants relaxed and unwind. There are also game booths set up to suck the boredom out of the participants. We played the Guitar Heroes (full set with a singer, 2 guitarists and a drummer, wow!), PS3 game (Fifa 2011), foosball and a couple of other game booths.

Damn, it was FUN! The foosball was especially addictive. I played it for so long that I eventually got fed up and a bit of headache. It significantly improved my foosball skills. Any challengers?

At the same time, other participants who are not so into these kind of entertainment were entertained by a professional DJ. People were just chilling out and having a good time participating in quizzes and trivia.

And guess what is the prizes for the small informal quizzes? Roller Coaster rings of course.

Some of the participants playing a round of foosball after all the action.

The latest version of Guitar Heroes. Now 4 people can play at once. This booth was always full.

Look at those faces concentrating on a game of PS3 FIFA 2011! By the way, I lost all the matches. Haha, I really sucked.

The ole electrified wire game. Finish without sounding the buzzer and walk away with goodie bags full of Jack ‘n Jill goodness.

At the event, we also met some really cool people and made new friends all sharing the common interest of going extreme.

The Winners

By evening, the prize giving ceremony was in due course as participants waited eagerly to hear their numbers coming out from the speakers. The 1st prize was a brand new iPhone 4!

If I’m not mistaken, there were 5 prizes and 10 or 20 consolation prizes. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my share of prizes. :[

But still, the whole point wasn’t about winning anyway. It was about enjoying the moment and sharing good times with some friends and also meeting new people and making new friends. Well, that’s as worth it as however big a prize.

There’s More

According to the organizers, there will be more action pack events coming in the near future. So keep your eyes on Jack ‘n Jill and stay tune for more extreme activities, if it’s your cup of tea.

Some information about SkyTrex

Address:

SKYTREX ADVENTURE PARK
Taman Pertanian Malaysia
Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam
40000 Shah Alam
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Contact them at:
SKYTREX SDN BHD
Management & Administration Office
C33-2-7 Block C Jaya One
No. 72A Jalan Universiti
46200 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Tel: +601 3276 9841 (Please call only from 9am - 6pm)
Fax: +603 7960 8290
Email: skytrex@skytrex-adventure.com
Website: http://www.skytrex-adventure.com

That’s it. Go experience it yourself.

Stay active.

YCM’s An Evening with the Prime Minister

2011-06-29T01:38:00.002+08:00

I felt oddly out of place as I stepped forward from the escalator on to level 2 floor of the Intercontinental Hotel, which is located at a stone’s throw away from KLCC.

This was my first time going to a Young Corporate Malaysians (YCM) event. Everybody was in super formal attire, and luckily with some foresight I did the same, lest I would have stood out oddly even more.

Apparently, YCM is a circle for young people within the age group of 21 to 30 years old. No wonder I felt out of place. Most of these guys are already working, corporate leaders of renowned companies with high qualifications in their respective fields, unlike me who’s still studying.

Anyway, who cares. After all, having a look see was all I wanted.

All the professionals of the private corporate world were congregated for a reason and one reason only – to have a Q&A session with the PM (besides of course growing their networks).

The hall was soon filled to the brim with excited faces. So many people attended the event that the number of chairs didn’t match the number of people. So some people have to stand instead, for the whole way through!
Then there was the welcoming speech by the leader of YCM, Wan Mohd Firdaus, who was very outstanding with his red tie. Ensuing that was the speech by our respected PM Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak. In his speech he stressed on the importance of the Economic Transformation Program (ETP) and the New Economic Model (NEM).

His casual manner of speech dropped down formal barriers and he managed to squeeze laughter out the audience at punch-line perfect timing (surely a skill that was honed through many experiences of speech). After the “ice-breaking”, he, with leadership authority, turned things to the direction of the core of that evening.

Reminiscing about the past generation and comparing its economy with ours today, our PM said that “our economy is not growing as fast as before” the financial crisis. Therefore, he posited that a reform of economy is needed in order to achieve the goal of Vision 2020 of becoming a developed nation.

In order for Malaysia to achieve the status of a “developed country”, a yardstick for measuring and tracking the progress is thus required. Hence, the Gross National Income (GNI) was chosen as the reference for success. To become a high income developed nation, a 6% growth per year is required to double the current GNI per capita of USD 6,700 (RM 23,700) to USD 15,000 (RM 48,000) by year 2020.

Mr. PM proposed that a solution has to be Big, Bold and Fast Resulted. That’s how the NKEAs et cetera came about, leading to the accumulation of what we have today – a strategic, comprehensive and holistic transformation package that would drive the nation toward the bull’s eye like never before.

Dato’ Seri Najib ended his speech with hope that 1 Malaysia will be something that’s beyond a concept, and he called for the audience’s support to enable this great transformation of economy to happen.

For the next one and a half hour or so, the floor opened up as the Q&A session began. With much grace and composure, all the questions were answered with amazing speed. Questions were taken from the floor 3 or 4 at a time.

Here are some of the questions bombarded…The Q’s and A’s don’t represent the actual people involved but the summary from my side. It’s neater that way.
………………

Q: Somebody shared his benefit of Sekolah Kebangsaan and asked if there’s any plan of having more schools that can unite students of different races rather than having separate schools for different races. Furthermore, the asker also wanted the great moral values to be maintained.

A: A concept of having a unified school or Sekolah Wawasan was certainly brought up in the idea box. The idea was to have Chinese School, Indian School and National School to all be in one big school complex. Students would study separately but they would come together and know one another through activities outside the classroom. However, it wasn’t viable due to practical difficulties. For one, the school complex would have to be really big, which is a big problem in lieu of the limiting land space.

Some questions not related to the topic of the day was also forwarded, like the question of election day (which was pointless because everybody knew the answer – no answer), personal company problems and the price of imported cars (in terms of tax, and got the crowd hyped up).

On the proposed reduction of the price of imported cars in terms of tax, the Prime Minister jokingly replied that as the Finance Minister, the problem could be solved if the crowd can tell him where to find additional funding. “Tell me, where do I get the money?” he was questioning.

Q: There was a question on the progress of the Iskandar Project.

A: In reply to the question, our PM assured that the project is still on-going, and many things have already been achieved and many more good stuff are coming along the way. For example, a Legoland would be constructed that would greatly contribute to the tourism industry. Some universities like the University of Hampshire would be involved that would make the Iskandar region one that can be proud of becoming an education hub.

Even the censorship of internet didn’t get censored. Pardon me, I forgot the reply to this issue. Perhaps some chatter at the back distracted me.

Q: Minimum wage is another hot topic that was raised in the session.

A: His answer was one that the crowd literally celebrated. Mentioning that “Malaysians are underpaid”, he is a staunch supporter of having a minimum wage applied to all. Some measures are already in effect. Some jobs that pays less than the poverty line were upgraded to pay more. Plantation workers are also paid more now after companies realized how much they have been underpaid for so long. He also admitted that many skilled professions are not paid as well as they should for their skills and talents, e.g. Engineers and lawyers. We can sense that this issue is going towards betterment. Definitely a good thing to look forward to.

Q: A young corporate also put forward the issue of the English Language and its importance as the international language, asking what’s the plan of the government to increase the proficiency of English in citizens.

A: Addressing the English Language as a language that is very important in this globalized age, Mr. Prime Minister said that plans are also underway to counter this problem. The contact hours of English Language class has been increased. Besides that, there is also a massive project in the pipeline involving the revival of a long time project. The government actually plans to bring in native speakers of the English Language to teach young Malaysians, meaning that teachers from UK, US and so forth will be hired.

Q: A man compared 2,000 pounds to the same value in Malaysian Ringgit, saying that one could buy, say, a ketchup at 1 pound, but it costs more than that in Malaysia. He postulated that with the same salary, Malaysians can buy less things with the same 2,000 value.

A: The answer to this is that one cannot compare pound to ringgit like that. In UK, a salary of 2,000 pound doesn’t equate to RM 2,000 because in UK the tax is higher. There are more taxes in the UK and that would actually make the salary (after tax deduction) not as exciting as 2,000 pounds. Besides, the price of goods and products in Malaysia are subsidized by the government so that what you pay is less that what you really get.

An interesting young corporate who’s (I think) an advocate of youth power, wanted the PM to make a promise to include 5 ministers under the age of 50 in his team of decision makers. In response, the PM did acknowledge that more middle age youngsters should hold high positions in the government too.

Q: Then the cutest of all participant spoke into the microphone and blurted out his confusion with the figures. He remembered our then PM Dr. Mahathir saying that an 8% annual growth was needed every year until year 2020 to make Vision 2020 a reality.

A: Now that some decades have passed, calibration of the numbers means that the 6% today is in fact much more than the 7% or 8% back then. So that’s why 6% is enough. One more beautiful thing about the number 6 - it is credible and convincing enough when we tell the world about it. Ain’t it so?

Q: ISA. (The usual)

A: This I agree with Dato’ Seri Najib. The ISA is still there for one purpose: peace.

Q: What about inflation. It is something that has worried many Malaysians who are aware of its rising. Now standing at 3% and in gear 4 to move up to 3.4% or 3.2% soon.

A: If we look around, look at other countries, we see that we are doing okay with the current inflation rate. In summary, that was the answer.

So that’s about it. The remaining queries were about Green Technology (a focus of ETP), Faster Oil/Gas extraction and request for higher teacher salary.
And so, that’s about it.

Overall, the event was a success, although many more young people under 30 have questions still burning in their minds.

Being a leader sure is tough as our PM said “it (being in my shoe) is not a bed of roses”. So we should really appreciate what our Prime Minister has contributed so far. Also kudos to him for bringing transparency to the public and opening up to the rakyat like no other Prime Ministers have done before.

He’s the prime, that’s for sure.

Having twitter, Facebook page and other means of technology has really branded our PM as the most approachable/sociable PM ever. He wants to make sure that all Malaysians are in this journey together and that nobody should be left out. Awww. So touching. It’s true, everybody can now contribute and dictate, however much, the future of Malaysia.

Hat’s off to you Mr. Prime Minister, keep up the good work.

Salam 1 Malaysia.

Fiverr Fever

2011-06-26T00:23:00.001+08:00

There’s a new kind of fever that’s spreading like a contagious disease in the internet, and it has nothing to do with Bieber. Guess what, it’s call Fiverr.

Above: A screenshot of Fiverr.com

Basically, Fiverr is a place where one can buy or sell anything for a fixed 5 dollars. It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, whether you’re offering designing service or doing voiceovers or draw cartoon of people. All these and more could be done at Fiverr.

It asks the question: What are you willing to do for $5?

Some people can do really weird things for 5 bucks. The sky is the limit for one’s creativity. But of course, what you want to sell gets filtered so you can’t just sell anything you want.

The categories of gigs (referring to jobs or tasks) include Gifts, Graphics, Video, Social Marketing, Travel, Writing, Advertising, Music & Audio, Fun & Bizarre, Tips & Advice, Business, Technology, Programming and Other.

As featured in The Wall Street Journal, NBC, Yahoo! Finance, CNNMoney.com and many other trusted sources, Fiverr is definitely one of a kind. Quite revolutionary, I would say, for now many other Fiverr clones (Fiverr-like websites) are mushrooming. One thing’s for sure, the Fiverr is spreading.

There’s even a Malaysian Fiverr. Check out www.iwill.com.my, which isn’t really a hit, although the price range is more flexible there.

There’s a reason why Fiverr would only have $5 dollar gigs. It’s this feature that allows only a target market of buyers and sellers and brings in a sense of uniformity in all the gigs.

My experience with Fiverr…

Personally, I signed up with Fiverr a month ago. So yeah, I’m a tyro in this. Then I posted some gigs that I will do for $5. At the beginning, nothing was happening. After a few days, I totally forgot about Fiverr.

Then, after a week or so, I received an email from Fiverr that somebody is having a conversation with me in Fiverr. So I checked it out, responded to the person, and soon got an order from him. Really exciting.

So that’s how I got my first $5 using Fiverr. The first gig turned out to be good, and soon the same buyer ordered some more. Now I have more than $10 in my account. Cool.

I’m pretty happy with the overall system of this website. It’s still in beta mode so I’m looking forward to future makeovers that would make it much more efficient and better than ever.

Some suggestions:

For now, when a finished product is delivered, only 1 file could be sent at a time. It would be great if multiple files can be sent at the same time.
At the right side there is a section for “Gigs Requested”, but it only lists a few at a time. I would usually find myself hitting the refresh button to see which task could be done. Fiverr can have another page for all “Gigs Requested” and a responding system to it so that users can view all these available tasks and respond more efficiently.

Are you feeling the heat yet? Start exploring Fiverr and start doing stuff you like while earning a little too.

Oh, and by the way, I’m Chillthefiver in Fiverr. :]

http://fiverr.com/users/chillthefiver – my link.

Run my foot!

2011-06-25T22:03:00.001+08:00

Talk about running and my foot…

If you have been following me, you know that tomorrow is suppose to be a BIG day for me. Tomorrow is suppose to be the day I’ll be running in a half-marathon.

Well, not anymore.

The running jersey that’s waiting in my shelf, the bib with my name on it, the electronic tag that would be strapped around my shoes plus whatever that I have put into the preparation (however little) for this run.

All that no more, along with the RM 75 that I paid. It’s not the money that bothers me. No. It’s the experience and the challenge that I have set up to face. A big thing it is to me, but what a disappointment.

A raw anticlimax.

I was playing frisbee on Wednesday when I injured my right foot, resulting in (I think) a metatarsal injury. It got sort of squashed, like when someone grabs hold of your hand and presses in hardly, when I tried saving a disc that was too far away.

Till now, my right foot still hurts whenever I walk. Thankfully the pain is still bearable. I can’t put my weight on the right side of my right foot. If I do, I’ll get the darnest pain.

I haven’t seen a medical doctor yet, but I have seen a Sin Se (in Hokkien)/ a Chinese Doctor for some traditional medicine. Ole School style.

I guess fate has it own ways of dealing with things. Something doesn’t want me to run tomorrow, and perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise.

Things happen for a reason, that’s what we always hear. Maybe, just maybe, it’s for me own good.

At least now I have other things to worry about, say, the pain in my foot. I’m also grateful to have one foot still functioning, and really appreciate my foot even more.

Through all the slow walking and limping, I could see how a taken-for-granted foot can allow people to walk and do things.

Get well soon, my foot, for I really need you to bring me around without pain and get me up and running. There’s also this trip coming up and it requires much walking and sight-seeing.

Ouchh…now my foot begs my attention. Excuse me.

Last Day at College

2011-06-22T21:59:00.002+08:00

Time surely flies, especially if we’re having a good time together. It is such a cliché, I know, but most of the time we cannot even begin to deny the truth brought by clichés.

Very soon, I’ll also be leaving my beloved country to continue my education in the States.

Excited. Elated. Yet the feeling of the unwillingness to leave the bird’s nest creates a mixed feeling as the end is nigh.

A bird still has to leave its nest no matter what, to learn how to fly, and to open its horizons. It has to be independent. At the end of the day, the sky would be its.

Like the bird, I would cherish the opportunity given to enrich my knowledge and horizons, and feast my eyes with the outside world.

Most importantly, the bird has to return to its nest, the place where it grows up and spends its childhood period. Family comes first, and coming back doesn’t require a second thought, it is a mere instinct to do so.

I have learned a lot in the past 2 years, and certainly I have grown, not in terms of size (how I wish so), but in terms of disposition and maturity.

In the process, many strangers turned into friends - friends that could trust one another with important documents like passports and even money!

Many of our paths crossed, but after this, we may not have the chance to see one another again for who knows how long.

Not forgetting the lecturers who shared stories and tales, being our friends besides fulfilling their duty as lecturers.

They did a lot for us students, and taught us not only in the field of academics, but of life as a whole as well. They are the bedrock of the American Program in my college.

Perhaps only God and some people would really know the sacrifices of the lecturers. May they be blessed with good health and wealth.

The friends that we made, the lecturers that showed us the light, the experience of living away from home, and the experience of college life itself are something money can’t buy…something that I would not trade off for
anything else.

The first few friends I made in my college. In fact, they were my first roommates.

With a breath of relief and a sigh of alas, it is time to move on.

In the blink of two eyes,
New worlds await us as cold as ice,
To all, the last thing we would say are goodbyes,
Embark on a new journey be prepared to break the ice,
Cry foul not at this departure cause we’ll see again the same two eyes.

That said, I better start packing up my belongings. Wonder where should I start...

Human Hibernation

2011-06-19T01:09:00.001+08:00

Do you think that hibernation, something innate in bears, can be done by humans too?

I think I just did today.

We have the potential to hibernate as well, albeit not as long as our furry friends do. A human scale hibernation would simple mean a dormant stage that lasts longer than a normal sleeping period.

Let’s see. Today I slept a lot. I slept in the morning. I slept in the evening. And after this post is up I’ll be sleeping again.

Sometimes we sleep so much that we start to think if the dream world is our real world and this reality is a dream. I mean, who can really tell? Who knows what reality is?

Anyway, the reason for my quaint sleeping pattern can be traced to my being tired.

It was possible because I ran. I ran for about 1 hour 45 minutes. I ran out of steam, no doubt, all in the name of training.

The run I look forward to is just around the corner. In fact, it’s next week. And man am I underprepared, food and physical wise. I’ll try to make do this week I guess.

Also, I just realized how important it is to prepare for the imminent run. A (quite) strict diet and training regime have to be followed months before the run.

And now I’m like burning the midnight oil. Whatever the outcome may be, I’ll be glad just to return home and have a good hibernation till my body recovers from the abuse.

If you want to sleep well or if you’re experiencing insomnia, I suggest you run. Not running away. But run, as in exercise. It’ll do good for you. Makes you sleep like a bear, I promise.

ChillsLaugh–The Doctor Joke

2011-06-18T23:45:00.001+08:00

One day, I paid a visit to the clinic. I got to know that the doctor was quite new and so perhaps not well adapted yet. And I overheard the following conversation…

Doctor: Hi, what’s the problem here?

Patient: I’m sick…

Doctor: …

Patient: Of you…

Nah, that was just my nasty imagination.

Ultimate Field Guide to Photography -Everything you need to know about D-SLR

2011-06-11T23:50:00.001+08:00

Hello readers of The Cock and The Bull. Alas, it is great to blog again. : []

People say that the first step to anything is the hardest; I would like to add that the revival step to continue what’s left behind for some time a arduous one, if not more difficult than the first step.

The project that I have been involved in can be said to be done, and it really got to do with the concept of reviving something.

Hooray! Just hope the end product would turn out fab.

Now back to the bone of the post – D-SLR camera.

What’s the big deal about it, you ask?

D-SLR or Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera has become a fad amongst youths today. When was the last time you see someone clicking away with the super-advanced black box with big brands starting with N or C?

I bet it was today, or if not, yesterday, or if still not, the last 7 days.

Just go to any PC Fair around your area and you will find that it attracts a different kind of crowd, an in-group (from sociology class) of people who don’t go there to shop for the latest pc-related ware: photographers.

They flock to the fair like bees attracted to honey. Their target – sexy showgirls, who wouldn’t hesitate to pose for some clicks. Oh how I wish I had one.

Not that I’m against those photographers, nor am I saying that they are pervs, though some people who posed with the models for a picture or so can be said to be so.

It just seems that digital camera gives a license to shoot (not the James Bond kind) for anyone that possesses it, that’s all I’m trying to say.

If there’s something about D-SLRs that seems to capture so many youngsters heart, it is certainly not the price tag.

Ranging from at least 1.6 thousand Ringgit Malaysia to even bigger thousands, it’s the reason why I still haven’t gotten my hands on one. Wait. Let me rephrase, –still haven’t gotten one that I could call my own.

Anyway, my slight interest to photography brought me to learn a bit about digital photography, and I found National Geographic’s free e-booklet entitled Ultimate Field Guide to Photography fulfill my basic needs.

In it you can know all you want to know about the basic functionality of the said camera, from exposure to ISO and perhaps from zilch to the itch to buy one camera yourself.

The guide for sure didn’t leave any stones unturned in its quest to knock some basic technical know-how into people(amateurs) who are starting to delve into the kaleidoscopic realm of digital photography.

And the best thing about this booklet…it’s FREE!

To obtain a copy, all you have to do is to subscribe to National Geographic’s newsletter.

Below it the link to get some digital books, including the aforementioned. Other titles include Uncommon History: National Geographic Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary Events, Objects, and Inventions suitable for the curious mind and also Best Drives for avid travellers around the world.

http://newsletters.nationalgeographic.com/p/National%20Geographic%20Society/NGM_Free_Ebooklets

Although for the meantime the knowledge of digital photography would just be in theory instead of practical, apart from the little application I get when I could get my hands on a D-SLR of my friends’, I’m pretty sure it’ll come in handy next time.

Anyway, having extra knowledge is not a bad thing, although I can’t apply it to my 3.2 megapixel phone camera.

To those who enjoy photography, happy clicking, but remember the ethics involved.

Oh yeah, if you haven’t heard of the Nikon Photography Competition on Facebook. Go Google it up. Anybody can participate. At the very least, one can learn a lot about good photography through the open platform of picture sharing. You have nothing to lose.

Blog & Roll - Golden Palm Tree Food Carnival

2011-06-01T01:21:00.001+08:00

Oh yeah. The captivating palm-ic scene of the Golden Palm Tree Sea Villas and Spa in miniature form.

Looks good eh? If only it’s this beautiful from the ground level…

On a particular Saturday dated 14th May, I was lucky enough to be in the said Food Carnival, to feel the sand under and around my feet, to take in the beauty of the sunset and the sea, to breathe in salted air, and above all the taste the free flow of food. All these, courtesy of Tourism Selangor.

I went there with two of my friends – Zhi Yu and Rouffino.

Food is the name of the game. And I have to admit that this is my first time playing food critic and blogging about food. But hey, I’m not gonna show any mercy.

It all began like this…

The participants gathered at the Tourism Selangor office in Shah Alam before before making our way to the coast of Sepang. It took some folks some time to locate this blue building because apparently it’s quite hidden, although it’s just beside a main road.

After numbing our butts for an hour and a half, the shores of Sepang greeted us. Even better was the VIP-like welcome from Golden Palm Tree Sea Villas and Spa.

They had usherers who were clad in traditional wears with colorful umbrellas in their hands. Happy faces welcomed our presence along with suitable music blasting from some speakers nearby.

Not forgetting the flashes released by the cameras as though we were celebrities. It was quite awkward for a person like me who doesn’t fancy the limelight.

Each of us was given a goodie bag full of Selangor related goodies plus a cute yellow button with our Twitter names on it (@…) like which is kinda cool.

So if you wana add me. Go ahead. But I’m not that active a user.

Upon arrival, we were shortly briefed about the flow of events and took a group photograph. Soon, we were on our first mission – Sunset Photography Competition.

Look at how amazing the sunset can be, especially in special places like this! Quite an awesome sight, truly.

Equipped with my friend’s trusty camera which was entrusted to me for a night, I took some of these magnificent photos. One of these may well be the winning picture.

But, alas, as the merciless fate decided to take things into its hands by making me forget the camera’s USB cable. Damned it. Oh well, life goes on…

Then, came the spotlight of the night – food carnival. After strolling on the beach and playing around with the camera. Tummies were growling for none other than food.

The food stalls were set, the guests were seated, the stomachs were teased, the stage was set and the deejay got the ball rolling.

They even had an ice sculpture of a fish with wings, probably depicting a flying fish.

Accompanied with unbelievably good Techno music, we feasted our eyes and bellies with Selangor delicacies that made us drool...

Going form left to right, they are Perahu, Sepoi-Sepoi, Hai Sang Lou, Bila-Bila and Stimbot.

All together, there were 5 food stands in total, representing 5 out of the 7 restaurants in Golden Palm Tree Sea Villas and Spa.

Thus, everybody ate, in the name of Tourism Selangor.

Perahu, specializing in seafood cooked in the form of traditional Malay barbeque, was one that was always full of people patiently lining up to get a taste of local seafood.

Crab, prawn, lobster, Razor Shell Seafood and other seafood of the shelly kind were served at the Perahu booth. But I (and I think other people as well) were fooled by the long line because sadly, Perahu did a terrible job.

The lobsters and Razor Shell Seafood were tantalizing. But that was not the case for the salmon. It was quite evident that Perahu dished out their amateur cooks to do the one night job at the stand.

Hardly experienced, many expensive salmon was overcooked and burnt. What’s more surprising was how they even had the guts to serve burnt salmon.

This, I can only exchange stupefied glances with other participants. Seriously, I don’t know what to say about that. So Perahu was quite a fiasco in that sense.

The other representative, Hai Sang Lou, had literally brought the oriental food from dynasties ago to the Sepang beach. There was the tender and cute dumplings, bean curd or taufu, the traditional stir fried vegetables, fried chicken, what I thought was jellyfish and much more.

The steamed fish was quickly ravaged by people due to its freshness that attracted many to finish it off.

But, there is a but. Sad to say, the reputation of Hai Sang Lou was going down the drain when I tasted the fried chicken, which tasted more like flour than meat.

To eat two pieces of fried “flour” chicken without any dipping in any kind of sauce was a feat barely achievable, given my not-so-fussy standards. Yes, that was very true indeed.

With the steamboat array of food available at the Stimbot stand, they really did raise the mercury that night.

There’s not much to comment here, but what I can say is that with Stimbot, nothing much could go wrong. It is like a kind of Asian fast food. Just dunk, and then eat. It could get nothing better than that.

Fast, good food and amazing sauces to complement the screwed balls of food or seafood. Yummy, though not much taste buds tasted them because of the already hot weather. Perhaps the ice sculpture could be turned into Ice Kacang instead.

Sepoi-Sepoi, a specialist in Malaysian snacks and noodles, didn’t fail to put on a smiley on people’s faces. The familiar Roti Canai was crisply cooked, and people were enjoying like it was finger licking good. Good phrase to use since it’s no longer KFC’s slogan.

There were also noodles like Laksa and all. But I didn’t manage to taste the noodles.

Last but no the very least – Bila-Bila. Talking about Bila-Bila, I think it has the coolest name of all.

Imagine, the following conversation…

Ali: “Abu, bila u nak makan ni?”

Abu: “Bila-Bila jer la…”

Cool right?

Just look at how pretty bread can be, under the roof of Bila-Bila of course. There was the bunny shaped bread, and even a bread epitomizing Golden Palm Resort as well. Hmm…if only I could get my teeth on those.

Soft and original tasting Pretzels, Macarons made just nice with egg-shell like crust and soft inner texture, rubbery but satisfying French Bread, Garlic Bread etc.

You name it, they got it. It’s a bread heaven.

Let me tell you something. If I thought that Bila-Bila is all looks and no taste, boy was I wrong.

It turned out that Bila-Bila was my favorite restaurant representative that night. They were definitely the BreadWinner of the Food Carnival. That explains the many pictures of Bila-Bila food compared to the others.

My favorite was a bread with white chocolate in the insides. It simple melted in my mouth. I wasn’t even aware that it was chocolate material until I asked.

Besides multitude of bread to choose from, they also had soup and at the end of the stall/booth, ABC or Air Batu Kacang was available too. Talk about fusion.

The night was made more happening by performances that wowed the crowd.

There was some display of pyromania doubtless not done by tyros, for they skillfully “played” and danced with fire.

Not forgetting the surprisingly good Techno music that got me, at least, shaking to the beat. Woohoo. What fun!

Apart from the fiery performance that dazzled the night and fastened the melting process of the flying-fish in ice (poor fish), a philharmonic orchestra of a different kind was also present to seduce the auditory senses.

The Black Dragons they were called. Drum and Didgeridoo made up their arsenal of musical instruments as they strummed to the beat while singing African Songs.

Seen here is the lead singer of Black Dragon who surprisingly is also an Ustaz. Wow. A real cool one he surely is.

The Black Dragon in action. : []

Don’t mind the natural dusty effect.

An effect I tried with the camera. I was actually trying to form my initials.

So there goes my review of the food carnival. Wonder what all these “side dishes” got to do with the food review? The experience of food doesn’t only matter when there’s something in our mouths, but it’s the overall experience that makes the food good or bad, whether it’s the company, the ambience or the journey before and after the food.

Having said that, I have also met some other bloggers that night like Amir Hafizi, Shahrul and also Eddie, who brought along his quite hyperactive friend.

Nice carnival all in all, and looking forward to experiencing others.

Gosh, this is overdue. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the post.

Pirates of the Carib-bean: All hands on deck, set to the bean!

2011-05-21T23:19:00.001+08:00

Mateys of the seven seas (or the invisible (inter)net),

So luck struck me this past Thursday as I got summoned by Davy Jones himself to his fully furnished cinematic locker to enjoy the latest Pirate flick to his the world – Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger’s Tide.

Why was I lucky? Well, it’s because I got access to a special screening of the very-soon-to-be blockbuster of the year (I hope), and all that in a very 3 dimensional way, in KLCC.

Sometimes I don’t like how technology these days play around with our minds and… eyes.

It just didn’t feel natural. Like we’re not born to do those kind of thing. I wonder whether it will become a thing of the future……Maybe it’s just me.

I got two free tickets so I watched it with my bro. Brotherhood time.

With huge set of popcorn and an (almost) equally huge cup of soft drink, which was obviously diluted, we sank into the comfy maroon cushioned chairs.

About the movie itself, it was nothing to hoo-haa about.

Yeah, as usual we have the idiosyncratic Jack Sparrow, who is as agile as a sparrow but clumsy as a bear.

This time however, without a ship or crew, he is truly on stranger’s tide.

The fountain of youth is the main focus of the movie, as everyone (the Spanish, the English and Blackbeard representing the pirates) race toward the mythical but very true salubrious water.

The story line was interesting but a bit messy, covering different leads and crossing lines between the adversaries. Most of the events are somewhat predictable, so suspense isn’t much around.

Just the usual trolling and satire that we would laugh at. Not to mention the appearance of innocent looking, nubile mermaids that defy conventional fairy tales and will stare you in the eye while contemplating your dea…… Don’t wana spoil to fun here.

But there is one thing about the main mermaid that I couldn’t get out of my mind.

No, it’s not the fact that she is almost nude all the time. In fact she is nude all the time, with her hair covering her womanly parts. The bottom part, of course, is covered in scales.

The really funny thing is that on land, the mermaid in question suddenly has legs. Tail? No more. Yup. And she even tried to walk.

Weird huh? Mermaid with legs? Since when?

And after returning back to the water, the tail suddenly appeared again, replacing the legs. So I guess it shows that the mermaid is an amphibian that adapts to her surroundings, being able to change from one attribute to the other, along with physical manipulation.

I couldn’t agree more that there’s much diversity to the characters. There’s even a clergyman in there, with a bible. Such anachronism! But what an ending to this noble man!

Using the English (Pirate) version on Facebook made me more aware of the pirate language they used in the movie. Quite fascinating, really.

It’s like they have their own grammar or something.

At the end of the story, piracy still rules. Although the philosophies and moral values are not lacking, I wonder what the might of piracy in the movie is trying to convey.

Imagine getting the pirate movie in a pirated version. Now that’s what I call a trolling, and maybe overt symbolism of the real might of piracy in the real world as well.

Oh, and there’s a special something after the credits.

I actually waited for that, but the credits were way too long. So I waited not.

According to this movie review in a popular newspaper, the after-credits is not something that one could cry for after missing it. In a way, I’m relieved.

Aye! Lower the long boats and set to the beach, err bed…

If you like pirates like I do, you would enjoy the movie for sure. If not, there are plenty of other attractions in the movie (think mermaids) that would shake the sleep out of you.

So do check out this pirated movie.

Disclaimer: This pirate here isn’t raising the flag of in the name of piracy in any kind or way. What you landlubbers choose to do, whether relating to piracy or not, is up to your fancy, and none of my ship’s business. Just a note: when in a captain’s ship, mark your captain’s words.

Your Daily Mile

2011-05-19T01:04:00.001+08:00

Believe it or not, there’s a social website that’s healthy with the name of DailyMile.

In this Facebook-like workout social network, users can post their workouts, whether it is running, cycling and what not, and share it with the whole world.

Pretty interesting.

It gets even better because you can even plot your running or jogging route in an imbedded Google map and the distance would be calculated for you.

I find that the best feature of this route plotting is the ability to actually analyze the terrain of the entire route from start to finish. Pretty darn good I must say.

A snapshot of my running route the other day spanning about 10 km.

See the blue graph below the map? That’s the elevation of the entire route. As can be seen, the running wasn’t an easy run because of the slightly mountainous terrain.

If you noticed that the graph is symmetrical, it’s because I ran from point a to point b and back to the origin.

I haven’t explored most parts of the site yet, but I do know that it even calculates the number of calories you burn.

Check the site out for yourself. http://www.dailymile.com

Ball on Ball

2011-05-18T00:46:00.001+08:00

My goodness. Today (yesterday) was a long day, and it ain’t the end yet. To sum it up, it has been a day of sports. Phew!! I just can’t have enough of it.

My day started with pre-dawn jogging that took a bit more than an hour to complete. Yes, I did manage to wake up at 6 am this morning. Kudos to myself. The distance travelled: about 10+ km. It felt good to be running great lengths. But it wasn’t an easy run.

My tummy hasn’t been feeling so usual these days. Actually since Sunday. I would get sporadic tummy pain, and more often than not after meal times.

Maybe it’s due to my erratic meal times. I don’t know. So the run was quite unpleasant at times, especially the first-half. After taking a walking break and ready to go for the second half, I felt better after burping. Yup. I got too much wind in me.

As though the run wasn’t enough, I then went to play frisbee. Not that I ain’t tired but because I haven’t played for a while. Not to mention that I haven’t met my frisbee buddies, old or new, for a long time too.

Then just now, at around 11pm, I played futsal with my college friends, and the worse of the day happened. My ball got knocked by the ball that was kicked by one of my friends who tried to score a goal. I was at the wrong place with the wrong blocking pose trying to block his shot.

In return, I got shot…in my scrotum. Ouch!!

One word is enough to sum up the experience – PAIN.

It left my writhing on the futsal court for a moment. Man, what a pain it was. My right ball got a direct hit, it seemed. Getting up after that took some time. Hopefully my organ is okay. I need it for obvious future purposes.

The worse thing is being hit on one side. At least if it hit on both, the force would be more distributed. Physics applied!!

At least if one fails, I will be left with the other one.

It was a pain a woman could neither experience nor understand. Like how men will never comprehend the pain of giving birth, women will never understand the pain when the crotch is hit.

How I wish I have balls of steel, for when ball meets ball, only the stronger survives. Another option would be to have the male genitalia inside the body. Hmm…Females really have some advantages over men, considering that there’s nothing to stand in the way of the groin area.

So that’s a thing females should be thankful of, and men should be protective of.

Remember that any ball game is dangerous. The ball is round. Unpredictable.

Speaking man to man, I’m a victim of ball on ball and hope you protect yours well.

Tomorrow (today) is yet another long day. So I should get my much needed rest. Same goes to my hanging organ down there.

A day dedicated to teachers

2011-05-17T01:07:00.001+08:00

Monday is the day yesterday. It coincided with Teachers’ Day. Happy Teachers’ Day to all who had been my mentor and to all who are my current lecturers. From the kindergarten teachers whom I have no recollection of to the inspiring and ever lively lecturers of the American Program.

I wish all of my teachers (once a teacher always a teacher) a good journey ahead of them and continue doing what you all do best – teach.

Although some of my teachers taught me in an unorthodox way (e.g. Mr. K), I will embrace all differences and treasure the teachings and guidance as long as my mind could take it, though I think I should mention that my memory is not my best of tools.

Today is also quite special because Ian came back from the States and met up with his old pals after about 1 year of MIA.

Somehow, some change was expected in him but then again, I’m quite glad that he is now pretty much who he was back then. No big transformation. No big hair or long hair. Just like how I knew him.

He was quite reluctant to showcase his newfound American slang though, something that I’m sure he acquired after staying so long in the U.S..

After a small reunion, we made our way to the bowling alley, that also after a long discussion of what-to-do-next.

To keep a long story short, the bowling thingy didn’t materialize. There was some sort of Teachers’ Day event as many teachers could be seen strutting their stuff with big heavy cannon balls, with 3 holes for some fingering.

I can’t believe that we actually waited for maybe more than 1 hour or so, all the while looking and staring at balls being thrown recklessly by some bowlers. Not forgetting some funny antics.

However, all of these don’t seem to really offer much entertainment as Zhi Yu felt asleep as soon as he arrived. I tell you, this guy has mastered the art of sleeping. Particularly, I marvel at his sleeping while standing routine in trains. Pretty amazing.

So somehow the arcade replaced the bowling. And we got into the trigger-happy mode. Everybody was taking turns holding and firing and the initial plan was to do so until we finish the game.

It didn’t go according to plan…

Next we went to the gym for some workout. Whoo. Push pull push pull. Heave hove heave hove. It was only like my 3rd time in serious gym mode.

I am neutral about going to gym. It is a stuffy exercise (at least at my place), and it mainly has to do with machinery (not that I hate machines), but it still gives a decent workout when the outdoor are not so conditioned.

Although I’m quite eager to put on some muscles on my skinny structure, protein powder is not my choice to achieve my goal. I guess that’s what they call a naturalist.

If I’m gonna gain muscles, I’m gonna gain it naturally, without supplements. I would rather eat mussels than eat protein powder, mark my words.

Maybe I should add some fats first before thinking of muscles. Weighing less than 55 kg, I am certainly in no position to put on extra sinews.

Spent the night doing some “work” that I’m involve and glad I’m involved in. Work keeps a person working. That’s what I would theorize. Also, not to mention the little fun I had getting my ass kicked in Panggilan Kerja – Call of Duty.

I didn't perform well in the game. My fingers were quite stiff. Not sure why, and I can’t blame bowling. Or it could be the awesomeness of my friends who owned me.

And the last task before my day really ends, is to blog. By right this is suppose to be a 10-minute post, but well, I went over the limit.

See you soon. I have to sleep early. Look at the time! Tomorrow is yet another long day and many things are already gearing up to ambush me. For starters, there’s the supposed pre-dawn running or jogging at 6:30 am. So much for signing up for a half marathon…

The question is: can I wake up?

Rexona Men Adventure Challenge

2011-05-15T23:31:00.001+08:00

23rd of July is the reckoning date, and the place – Taman Pertanian Malaysia in Shah Alam.

Are you up for a challenge. If so, for a mere RM 30, you can try out the Rexona Men Adventure Challenge that would make you adrenaline go sky high.

Be forewarned though, that this is not going to be a walk in the park. Rexona is a renowned brand for active men, so the challenge is designed specifically for those who are brave and tough enough to rise up to the challenge.

The challenge: An 8km obstacle run…wow. A run with obstacles.

With prizes up to RM 30,000 and a trip to New Zealand, it will be worth it for all the soon-to-be free flowing sweat. But don’t you worry because it’s Rexona we’re talking about, remember?

I wonder if they’ll provide the participants with the hyped-up deodorant that could keep one dry for 24 hours. I don’t really care. Anyhow, I never really used one. Ewww, right? I guess I just smell good.

To know more about the challenge, hop on to this link.

Here is a motivation video to lift your spirits for the upcoming challenge.

Rexona Men Adventure Video–Are you motivated?

A lazy Sunday

2011-05-15T22:53:00.001+08:00

May is a lazy month, Maybe. And this is a lazy post, easy.

I woke up at a record breaking 12 noon today. What an achievement. It was my latest wake-up everrrrr. At times, not being shackled by alarm clock is a good getaway from discipline. Once in a blue moon is okay I guess.

Perhaps this relaxing mood can be extrapolated to yesterday’s sojourn to Golden Palm Tree Resort & Spa with other enthusiastic bloggers. The trip was made possible by Selangorlicious!, an ingenious brainchild of Tourism Selangor.

Will get back to that trip when I get my hands on the camera’s USB cable. Now where is Shafiq…Credits to him for lending me his amazing camera, a Samsung digital camera capable of many functions which allowed me to take amazing pictures of the food carnival at Sepang. Wait till you see the pictures in the next post.

Actually, I have just recovered from a tummy ache. Not sure what caused the ache, but I’m pretty sure it has got to do with the Roti Kacang I consumed at a mamak stall. Or maybe it was the nasi goreng ayam.

The Roti Kacang didn’t turn out to be what my friends and I thought I would be. We were quite confident that it was a roti canai with stuffing of nuts. Well, I guess they were a bit nuts when they served a roti canai with red beans. What a combo. Fiasco.

If you see a weird thing on the menu, most probably it won’t taste good. But then again, this particular mamak stall has over 100 variety of roti canai to choose from. So it has become a task for some of my friends to try all of them.

I’m still busy though, even in the lazy month of May. I seem to have a knack of keeping myself busy and submerged in something all the time. For now, I’m involved in a project that’s going to end soon, and hopefully it’ll end in a good manner. Managing people, from what I gathered in this project, is a mighty task. Man-handling, if it can be called that way, has to be handled in care. People are like rubber. When you give them too much push, they would break. When you give them too soft a push, they would show some resistance. It would sure come in handy for future use. Muahahaha.

But it’s cool. Everything should go well and according to plan. Just hope that efficiency won’t be the major obstacle here.

I like to multitask. Juggle more than one thing at a time. It is a challenging thing. Challenging stuff is my kinda stuff. I would like to be a jack of all trades, know a bit of this and a bit of that. I wonder if anybody’s up for a little gaming time. Time to release some stress.

If Sunday is a lazy day, I wonder what’s in store for me on the morrow. Monday has its own blues.

5 Cool pictures of Shah Alam

2011-05-14T14:59:00.002+08:00

Yesterday while I was taking a stroll looking for a library somewhere in Shah Alam, I managed to capture some epic-ness of the capitol of Selangor. The only downside: my friend and I ended up all wet in the insides, thanks to the unforgiving heat. We were out because of a project we’re having but since there was time to kill wile waiting for the Friday prayers to be over, we decided to lepak around Section 14.

Either the 3 young ladies were pulling our legs when they gave us directions to the library (that was no longer there) or they were as innocent as babies telling us what they (honestly) thought was correct.

Whatever it was, it made us walk for an hour circumambulating a huge complex, trying to find the elusive library but in vain, and most of the time under the blinding rays of the Almighty Sun. The only positive outcome was a tanner skin. Anyway, the library had been moved to another part of Shah Alam for a better future.

Even so, the “walk in the park” had revealed to me some gem-like scenes of Shah Alam that was hitherto hidden to me. Feast your eyes with these picture-perfect shots below…

A building from a sci-fi movie? Think again. What looks like a futuristic and sophisticated building, looking a tad like a slab of concrete rocket (what’s with the design of the vertical supports below), is actually……. drum roll…… the MBSA (Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam) building. Haha. I bet you had no inkling at all. Quite cool eh. It’s not bad at all, at least from this camera angle.

The eye-captivating blue clock tower of Shah Alam ticking away mechanically, partially blocked by a tree. (A perfectly balanced cock on its zenith should perfectly complement the tower) Or maybe the sky scrapping building next to it is the highlight here. I’m not sure myself. Perhaps the cropped out photo-bomb pedestrian spoilt the whole thing in the first place.

Hohoho. This my friends, couldn’t get better – The Blue Mosque of Shah Alam in all its shining glory. Hmm…the color blue looks to me a theme of Shah Alam. With four minarets piercing the cerulean sky and the curvaceous pathway seemingly leading to the mosque, this looks like a passage to heaven. Accompanying the majestic building is the holy-like clouds that were in the process of forming a halo (the doughnut shape can be seen forming together) at the time of Friday prayers. Whoah. An exaggeration of my imagination? You don’t say.

I call this the artsy cylinders of Shah Alam, with blue strips of course. Now it’s without a doubt that blue is the official color of Shah Alam. Look at the far left building in the background. It’s none other than the Blue Wave Hotel. See. Everything’s blue in this city. I wonder if the stripes glow like neon lights at night.

This here is a part of the Tourism Selangor building. The building itself is a marvelous piece of architecture that is too amazing to be taken. You have to see it for yourself. Many activities are lined up by them throughout the whole year, portraying their efforts in promoting Selangor as a tourist destination. Having spent my life growing up in Selangor, I realize that I don’t really know much about it. Sob sob.

That’s me, dressed and equipped like a tourist. A camera holder is attached to my belt as cannot be seen in the picture due to the perfectly-timed position of my right hand.

One last thought. DSLRs are a trend nowadays, so I might think of buying one myself. But the price of one is not quite affordable. Maybe a normal digital camera is sufficient, though it's not as flexible or fun than a DSLR. It’s a dilemma! For now, I’m contented with borrowing other people’s cameras, and in worse case scenarios, rely on my untrustworthy 3.2 Megapixel camera phone. By the way, the above pictures were taken using a digital camera.

“Explore your own backyard, for you may never know what lies before you, even though it’s right in front of your face.”

Pictures of Malacca

2011-05-10T22:33:00.001+08:00

Malacca, the famous historical city, the once home to the great port which acted as the “middleman” of international trading between the East and the West.

This is an outdated post. Last year, I had the chance of going to this historic state thanks to Suresh who invited me and many other friends to crash his house during Deepavali.

I guess I’ll just make this a pictorial one.

My friends and I were greeted by cute and fuzzy little worms like the above upon our arrival. We came down from the bus, and looking around us we can’t help but notice them.

They can be seen rock-climbing on rocks, on bushes and on the ground. Some sort of activity was going on. Perhaps it was their mating season.

They were kinda obsessed with this yellowish flower or fruit from some unknown tree species. It was as though they hatched out from that very thing. Zooming in, it’s quite disgusting to look at, especially if they are clustered together.

This my friends, is the loyal and handsome dog of Suresh. Aww, look at his countenance when he was being caressed. He or she (I forgot) looked cute and innocent. But the dog is not as small as it may seem.

Some of my friends after the party at Suresh’s. The day was still very young, so being a bunch of adventurous students, we explored Malacca a fair bit.

Here are some picturesque scenes in Malacca…

Mamee is a brand that can be seen almost everywhere in Malacca, making it the Mamee land. No surprise that the Mamee’s HQ is located in Malacca. This brand name can be spotted at all bus stops. Hmm…they should give away free Mamee Monster snacks too.

Hot stuff!

2011-05-09T23:02:00.000+08:00

My oh my! Global warming is making its mark. The temperature in Shah Alam and perhaps the whole of Malaysia is at record’s high, and it is neither caused by hot girls, nor hot magazines.

Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.

This is something I used to sing whenever it rained when I was younger. Hmm, how I wish that “another day” could be today, or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow.

Now I find myself singing…
Rain rain come my way,
Go elsewhere another day.

It’s funny how a simple song we sing in our childhood years can seem to play a joke on us.

Either you are a cactus or you haven’t noticed, the mercury level in Malaysia is sky-rocketing to an intolerable and unbearable level. I feel like I’m in a desert. The omnipresent sun scorches everything under the sun. To add insult to injury, it hasn’t rained for many days already. I can sense a draught setting in soon.

Rain God, please break your bowels and unleashed your blessings upon us, before a child is sacrificed.
Behold…the weather of the city of Shah Alam, the place I currently resides, my second home.

Source: Google

Today is Monday. Lookie. It surged to a high of 36 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. Wow, I wonder if I felt any hotter in my whole life. The temperature at night suppose to be 26 degrees Celsius but it shows 29. That explains why I was literally working out on my bed. Like everyone else, I had a hard time sleeping yesterday because of the extreme heat. I remembered sweating profusely whilst having dinner on Sunday night.

Source: www.met.gov.my

What we can see here is a weather forecast by the Malaysian Meteorological Department. From the many suns in the forecast, we know that this problem will go on and on until the end of this week, when rain is predicted to fall on this then barren ground on Sunday. Wow, that’s quite a long way to go. By then I would have lost some weight due to lost of bodily fluid and become even skinnier than my skinny condition now.

Everybody is complaining about the heat. What to do? Sweat is coming out of our bodies like mucus coming out of a running nose. What to do? Surely there are some ways to keep cool and stay cool.

Here are some home remedies to stay cool and cold.

1. Drink lots of water.
Make sure water is a hand’s length away so your could lazily reach out to your water bottle and drink away like a camel every 5 minutes. By the way, what I meant by water is plain water, either cold or room temperature. Don’t bother drinking air suam, or milo panas, or kopi panas, unless you like sweating.

2. Minimize movement.
One way to stay cool and prevent your body from over-heating is to minimize your movements. Avoid moving around too much. If possible, be immobilize and stay still. So make sure a water source is near enough that you don’t have to travel a distance to get water.

3. Turn off the lights.
Besides saving power and showing your support for the Green campaign, by switching off the lights you could be lowering down the temperature in the room. Light emits heat. So sleeping early is a good choice too, considering the difficulty of inducing sleep on a bed that makes you sweat even more.

4. Sleep on the floor.
It’s important to go back to basics when things get too complicated. The bed may not be the wisest option to opt for in this steaming hot condition. You would just wet your bed. Instead, make the floor your bed for a few days. You’ll start to feel the soothingly cold touch of the floor tiles on your flesh.

5. Repeat steps 1-4.
I think the heat is affecting me. Can’t….think….no….more.

Gosh, I’m starting to sweat again. Have to minimize hand movements as well.

Enjoy the remainder of the hot days. It may be the only time for some of you to feel HOT and don’t feel bad about telling others.

Happiest candy in the world

2011-05-07T17:09:00.001+08:00

Cock: Do you know what’s the happiest candy in the world? You wana clue? Lol.

Bull: I know I know. Its…