Food Glorious Food!

G.B. Shaw once said 'There is no sincere love than the love for food', oh how true those words mean to me. Food tends to dictate my life in many ways. People say we need to eat to live... but I say - Bollocks! we must live to eat for there is nothing more satisfying than to fill one's tummy!

So naturally I'm overweight and arguably borderline obese (if not already). This reminds me of the first few lines of my dad's speech during my wedding reception dinner many years ago that goes 'I watched Ruben grow from a tiny baby to a grown Man today; and I am still watching him GROW!!! Albeit horizontally. To this I replied in my speech later that night, 'Dad, my never-ending growth is thanks to the wonderful diet you have put me on since birth... the Seafood diet... you know, SEE the Food.. EAT it!!!!

So comes to this post. As you know, yer humble narrator enjoys a good cryptic treasure hunt during the weekends. Me team and I signed up for the #AllianzFoodieHunt2015 by #AllianzMalaysia that is scheduled to take place on 17 October 2015. Given the current haze situation and recent cancellation of public events, we are not sure if we will be hunting come the 17th or taking 50 different pictures from 50 different locations in KL and posting them up with the the hashtag '50 shades of grey hazily re-defined'.

Nonetheless, for this hunt, we were tasked to take on social media as part of the pre-hunt challenge. One of the challenge is to create a blogpost and gather about 100 likes, which led to this post which is suppose to be about our team #Team3EkorFoodie and about our favourite food that represents our team.

Our team have been hunting together for many years now. We enjoyed many funny moments, angry moments, genius moments, moronic moments, etc, etc. Most regular hunters can be described as being kiasu or perhaps extremely competitive. We are not. We tend to joke a lot and do non conventional things on hunts like stopping to eat nasi lemak for example. Some of us sleep during hunts and almost surely, some of us will be singing during hunts. We dont check our answers or spelling hence the infamous blue 'oppies' moment that cost us our first grandslam as novices some moons ago - but that's another story altogether.

To find a selfie with food that represents us was a toughie. Hence why this task that started on 25 Sept was only completed today. We decided to take a selfie of me eating McD burrger. So here you go!

Now why this picture? McD is a staple to our team on most hunts. Actually, its really my fault coz I always force us to stop whenever we see either McD or a nasi lemak vendor. As driver, I do have veto powers.

In truth, many McD and nasi lemak moments have helped us solved some of the more twisted puzzles. So I took to task to purchase McD and took a selfie with it this morning and shared the pic with me teammates. Then, Lenny - the real brains in our team, came up with this poem jokingly and I tot - hey - it does explain us and this hunt.. so WHY NOT!:

This burger is actually big, 

but relative to Ruben it is puny,

We're hunting without Kig,

So it's just Ruben, Fei and Lenny. 

Lets see how fast i reach 100 hits. Time to brush up my marketing skills!

#Team3EkorFoodie
#AllianzFoodieHunt2015
#AllianzMalaysia

New beginnings

After some deliberation - I've finally decided to join the commercial world. Opening a restaurant now or diving full fledged into business might not be advisable given the current market condition. Commercial will give me the job and financial security that I have enjoyed all these years.

Its different here. The team functions like a family and everyone including the CEO treats each other like an equal; like family. This is no small 2 dollar company mind you. This is a large multinational with consolidated revenues running into 10 digits! It feels like what it was when I first joined PwC - minus all the redtape and nonsensical policies. So far - everyone's been real friendly and supportive. I should have joined the commercial world sooner if I knew it was going to be like this.

Though only have had a sneak peek of life in the commercial world thus far - I can see more pros than cons. Maybe I'm just lucky to have found this place.

Sure, the resources are a lil bit different and certain systems / databases are a bit more old school here but one thing's for sure, this team invest in its people. Better benefits by a mile and better pantry / coffee facilities (LOL).  The people here have made me feel like one of them oh so quickly. Which I think is very important to ensure job satisfaction. More importantly - it was the main thing lacking when I was still in public practice. Lucky or not - I'm grateful for this opportunity. I will always hold PwC dear to me, but this is what I want and thank God I have it!

Decision final!

I've stopped blogging for a while now. Firstly, nobody reads the shit I posts and secondly, my posts are filled with angst, depression, hate, #toomuchfuckingdrama.

I decided to post something today. Why? Reading my last post - i realised my life has not changed much in the last 3 years. The amount of hate for the system and the powers that be has remained the same.

Then - I stopped fighting the system and decided to comply like a faithful minion. This meant keeping my thoughts to myself. This ate me up further inside. I was merely a pretender - a good one btw. Being part of the system  clearly helped me achieve material success. But was I really happy? Was I.... ME?

However, things have changed over the past year. The arrival of my princess has changed my view of life. I can't hide behind this façade any more.

So I decided to not be a hypocrite. If I don't like the system - I should fuck the system and move on.

In short - I have finally grown a pair of balls to do what I've been wanting to do all these years. Fear of not being able to survive has changed to desire to make things work at all costs.

So after 17.5 years - I finally can step out of this shadow and live the life that I want!

What's the point?

Have you ever been in a situation, where you feel that meetings to gather opinions are mere simulations of what has already been decided? Have you ever been in a situation where you feel that no matter what you do, it wont change a person's perception of you? So what do you do? Do you throw in the towel or take the bull by its horns? If you do the former - does it make you a quitter or does it mean taking your life in your own hands. If you do the latter does it make you a rebel or a revolutionist - one who stands firm on his/her principles. Or do you just maintain the status quo and fall prey to the system. The blasted system and the powers that be that rely on inaccurate facts from minions who are only good at profiling themselves and does not care for others. Then again, history has proven that only the selfish - succeed. So why care?

How much insult can a person stomach?

These questions plague my troubled mind. Its time like this is when i feel like i am nothing. So really - what's the point?

Good taxpayers money

Dear all... project 88 is going slowly as expected as they are way tooo many distractions. I was at the clinic earlier as i'm currently suffering a bout of cough. The doctor weighed me and the verdict was 115. Sigh. Still a long way to go - but i'm sure i will get there.

I recently received an assessment from the IRB for like RM5k for YA2008. I went - WTF? will need to sort that out since i've already paid my taxes for YA2008.

Anyhow - back to the topic at hand. Its interesting where our taxdollars goes to. The recent 2011 budget announced another Bolehland project i.e. the Mega Tower. - Seriously - why the fuck do we need another 'mega' building which costs like 5billion bucks. Why can't we use those money to educate the people in the kampungs or improve the roads in the rural areas, etc.

I received an email today. Its clearly a forwarded mail which came with some pictures of Khir Toyo expense claims between 2004 and 2009. Now, i'm no expert and I cannot verify the authenticity of the pictures, but I must say that in my line of work where I would need to review various source documents such as payment vouchers, they do look like the real deal.

Based on those few vouchers, my emotions of hate and disgust reached boiling point. Its like rape of an innocent. I've said before that its only natural for politicians to benefit from their positions, but they as powers that be must know when to draw the line. What i saw was pure greed and selfishness. They were a bunch of travel claims to various locations. Some of which appears to be expensive - fucking expensive holidays which i doubt i'll ever get the benefit of enjoying.

To think that he had the nerve to 'play innocent' during an interview sometime back really pissed me off further. These are extracts of the said interview :

Q: People are shocked by the RM1.7mil spent for the Disney trips?

A: That was decided by the management. I am actually a very simple man. I do not ask for these kind of things. Maybe they said as a chairman, that is my entitlement and they did that.

Q: You say you are a simple man but people would disagree because you fly first class and stay at expensive presidential suites?

A: You must remember when I was the (PNSB) chairman. I have my entitlement. If I were to reduce my entitlement to what an officer gets then what is the officer going to reduce to? I am the chairman. There is the deputy chairman, board of directors, government officers going along. If I fly business class (not first class), then what happens to my state secretary? He will complain. If I am travelling alone it is easier. But I am travelling with a group of people and if I downgrade myself - it’s a problem for the others. But I never ask (for the pricey presidential suites or first class flights). Whatever they provide, I go along with. I just tell them to give me a full itinerary on these trips. I want a full programme with investors and companies.


Seriously guys - what's up with this moron?

Its interesting how he puts his claims as technical visits. Technical visits MY ASS motherfucker! There's a claim made to PNSB via Tourism Selangor Sdn Bhd. This claim was for first class travel for his family + A class accommodation in Orlando Florida and the 'Disney Hotel' during the period of 23 December 2007 to 1 January 2008. Who the fuck are u trying to kid by claiming a 'technical visit' during the world's main holiday period at a very popular holiday destination? The trip including first class treatment for his family as well and u know what the bill came up to?

RM646,841!

T minus 86

Guys guess what.... i think the bloody project is working! its been 2 days since i started the regime and i've dropped 2kgs! woo hoo... probably just water retention but its surely in the right direction.

from 117kgs - to 115kgs.

target remains - 90kg by 15.01.11

wish me luck guys

Commencement of project 88

Dear folks, i've decided to use me blogspace to do a little project ala project julie/julia style. Basically, after all the nagging and comments received in the last few weeks, i've finally caved in and will do what i've been procasticating for over a decade.

But before that, a quick update. If you do read my sorry little excuse for bytes on the internet page, you would know that by now - i'm legally married to my beautiful wifey - Yvonne.

Liverpool has replaced the stupid yanks with a new one - not sure how that's gonna pan out - but i'm sure its better than keeping those 2 bozos. Personally - it would do alot of good to see liverpool get relegated. at least we could start fresh! another bright spark is that we won the match last nite against da rovers. it was a nail biting affair towards the end. nevertheless - its always about the result- and finally we got one. Though still 3rd from the bottom - i see better days ahead and i really dont think we'll be there much longer.

As for married life - its fantastic - apart from all the new responsibilities that come with it. Things like remodelling 2 small rooms can be a real task! gosh - i need a spot of jhonny just thinking about it... anyhow - with the ROM on 10.10.10 there were alot of pictures circulating mainly on fb. I was lucky to have the luxury of many friends with big cameras who volunteered to take some pictures for me. Hence - the many photos. I must say, from all that i've seen thus far - Dom's pics are the best. Do check out his page for some photos from the day. The reception dinner remains in January - which i'm really looking forward too!

Anyhow - i noted that almost EVERYONE commented on how fat i've become. I really couldn't be bothered - coz i'm fat and happy. alwiz been the case for perhaps the longest time. Then comes the questions - 'dude, are you gonna lose some weight?' and my reply has alwiz been the same - 'why'? it just wont be me right?

then of course, as you clean your room, u find the cupboard with all the pictures you have ever developed and realise - 'wtf. i was that thin??' then of course - your colleague (in this case rachel) finds some old photos from like 2-3 years ago and uploads them on fb and you see you face and go - gosh i was that small then?

thereafter - there's the wife that says - 'darling - we've got less than 2 months to prepare for the wedding (dinner)' which i interrupt to say 'no dear - we've got 3 months'....

then she snaps and says - 'dont get wise on me!'.. and that's when like any good husband - (I just roll my eyes and shut the fuck up)...

then she says 'we look so fat during our ROM'... 'we must lose weight and look fantabulous for the reception dinner'... and I go - 'what for?' just to gain it all back??? i thought to myself...

anyhow.... i must admit - i feel unhappy that i look like a fat walrus in a suit during my ROM. When i look back and see my old pictures and realise that - 'eh - maybe i'm in denial, maybe i just dont have what it takes and am ashamed / or more like I dont have the will power or i'm just a coward'.. or plain simply - i'm i really happy being fat?

then i reflect back - i used to be freaking fit. I loved running, sports, camping, etc, etc..... what happened? i can barely go up a flight of steps without gasping for air... where did that person go?

and now that i'm forever feeling sick - with the headaches, sinus attacks, palpatation, ezema, chronic sore throat - i really fear for my future. Now that i'm married - i must be responsible to ensure that I have a trouble free life so that i can take care of another (and hopefully some offsprings).... at least die trying....

apart from that - i eat like there's no tomorrow - i still smoke (though i'm proud to say that i'm a social smoker whereby i generally only smoke when i drink - which is not very often).... and i'm forever feeling tired... its really pathetic!

just last friday i went out salsa dancing. I had a couple of dances and then felt the air was thin. I had my head down and could barely catch my breath. now that's just not right. it was scary too.

so as of yesterday - i decided to commence project 88. 88 apart from being a very nice number for the chinese... it also represents 88 days to the reception dinner (from yesterday of course)...

For this project - i plan to lose as much weight as possible. I've set some targets which I've yet to finalise - like targeted weight loss, targeted sugar levels, etc, etc.... Once i've finalised them, i plan to monitor my progress on a chart which i hope to share it here.

So guys - i hope that I will do my best to lose all that weight and become fit again. Hence - project 88. 88 days to the reception dinner. 88 days to lose at least 20 kgs. 88 days to become healthier, lower sugar levels, better bp reading, better cholesterol readings, no more sore throat or nasal problems... etc... etc....

for the record - i've systematically brought all my levels down - but some are still borderline hence my preference to bring them down further....

so to do this - i'm gonna start my reducing my food intake..... no more organ meet (sob sob - i really love intestines and liver).... no more fatty food (no more curry puffs, vadais - fried stuff, etc)... no more binge eating (no more snacks)... no more ice cream (Nooooooooooooooooo)... reduce carbs (gosh this is gonna be tough since i LOVE rice!)... etc... etc

then i will commence phase 2 - havent figured that one out yet. but i guess it'll include some lifestyle changes like choice of eateries, exercise, less smoke, less drinkning, more sleep, etc, etc

Since i planned it yesterday - i havent really started. Besides I only thought of it like late at night - so there's no way i could've started yesterday.... :P... anyhow.... project 88 sounds better than project 87 right? lol....

so the healthy food regime commences today officially.... t-minus 87 days to a fitter better me!

see you at the finish line!

adios

Ding Dong the bells are gonna chime!

There are drinks and girls all over London,
and I've gotta track 'em down in just a few more hours!
I'm getting married in the morning!
Ding dong! The bells are gonna chime.
Pull out the stopper! Let's have a whopper!
But get me to the church on time!

Great lyrics from perhaps my favourite musical of all time. Its a song that you either hate it or love, but one's things constant, the character singing the song - the jolly ol' Doolittle is one whom u love to hate yet hate the fact that you do love his eccentricities. I have no intentions on educating how great the work from great old Georgie Bernie Shaw and the talented Alan Jay Lerner that has entertained generations, but I'm here to share to all who actually tuned in to my little cyberspace project that I am 'getting married in the morning'....

I can't describe my feelings right now, but its that of pure happiness. Yvonne and I have decided to get married a few months ago and have selected 10.10.10 to be the PERFECT day to make things official. (the reception dinner is only gonna be in January). I know its a corny date... but hell... this way - i can never forget the it!

Its truly an amazing experience and I can't wait for tomorrow. Like from the play i can relate to when Eliza sings 'i could have danced all nite and still have begged for more. I could have spread my wings and done a thousand things, i've never done before'.... That's exactly how I feel like tonight. I really can't wait for it to start and be officially a married man!

We'll be getting married at the Chempaka Buddhist Lodge at approximately 8.20am. We've decided to keep it a small do with just our direct families as the place is not very big and we fear that the 3 hour long prayer session may be just a bit long and tiring for some.

Its funny coz I was once a hopeless romantic always looking for the cheesy cliche-ish line to put on a smile... always believed in rose petals , poetry and scented candles, etc, etc.... But in recent times i find myself hopelessly obsessed with practicality.

Hence, whenever people asked us stories about how I proposed' I regretfully answer that urm... 'well I did it the practicall way, urm.... we discussed the idea of marriage' and that was it. Which is true - we did discuss about it and a chain of events occured.

Well in a way, how we got to tomorrow is somewhat similar to the 'green card' model.. you know that hallmark movie with Gerard Depardieu... where the the movie poster reads - 'The story of two people who got married, met and then fell in love'...

well our story is slightly different... the love part clearly came first... however the lead up to the marriage was interesting...

we agreed on a date then we informed our parents individually.. then i asked her parents permission to marry her... then i bought the wedding band... made the engagement ring MUCH later... then had a proposal with the bended knees on the beach of kuching in front of my dear friends with a mock ring made by me sista from another motha and fatha (ms mah of course) which she made from the leaves she found under her butt (don't ask)... and that folks.. is how tomorrow came to be!

I would like to thank everyone for your warm wishes either via fb or sms. Really appreciate them. To the dirty half dozen who volunteered to play paparazzi tomorrow, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind generosity.

As for me... i really should get to bed...
bed? I couldn't go to bed!
My head's too light to try to set it down!
Sleep! Sleep! I couldn't sleep tonight.
Not for all the jewels in the crown!
I could have danced all night!
I could have danced all night!
And still have begged for more.
I could have spread my wings
And done a thousand things
I've never done before.

Good night folks.. today is my last night of singledom. Tonight, I give up my bachelor's degree... and prepare for my ever after!

My Liverpool oh my Liverpool

The English footie season is finally over. To describe Liverpool's season as being pathetic is showing too much compassion as Liverpool were utter rubbish from the first match against Spurs sometime last yaer.

Can the sale of 1-2 players, i.e. the likes of Alonso and Aberloa have such catastrophic results?

Is it because the yanks fucking short changed us?

Or has Benetiz seriously lost the plot?

Is it coz Stevie G doesnt believe in liverpool anymore? it surely looked like it all season.

what is going on? From a team that pushed Man Ure all the way last season with only 2 losses can end up losing 11 times and placed 7th.... its just way too maluflying....


I had to endure a season of taunts from Man Ure fans... although words exchanged were unfair but it goes with the territory of supporting the weaker team with such a rich history and rivalry with the current team(s) in form. It is something i've been used to for the past 20 years and frankly i'm fine with it.....

Many a United fan keeps condemning liverpool fans with regards to the past.... but many of my batch mates forget that when footie was easily accessible to us lot... there were no better team to support than United.... As such, these comments just dont make sense and may appear hypocritical...

irrespectively....

I really dont hate United.... it may be hard to believe but I do enjoy watching them play.... Its funny coz i DONT WANT THEM TO WIN... but I love watching them play coz they play with this belief and conviction that they deserve to win every single match.... its that fighting spirit and desire and sometimes that arrogance that the team exudes impresses me coz why play if you think you're gonna lose? Furthermore, I sometimes feel that when they take to the pitch, they have it in them that its their God given right to win the match even when playing poorly....

You see that arrogance in the Chelski team too as they feel they deserve to be Champions (i don't think they are champions because of the roman wealth)... and they do deserve to be champions... how often do u see a team win not 1, not 2 but 4 times in a season by scoring 7 goals or more.... or averaging 3 goals at home.... the attacking arrogance of Ancoletti (given they way he disrespects the so call 'big 4' with his line-up) shows the belief he has that his team will score every time out... Think about it.. you avoid a defeat by keeping a clean sheet... but u can't win if you don't score'... so which is it? play defensively and maybe win by the odd goal? or go out and bully the park and score some goals... say 8 on the final day?

for a long time i believed in defense is the best offense.... but now after seeing the confidence in Chelski and United players.. i would like to see Liverpool take on a more attacking style...

However, I truly believe the problem is the mindset of the players.. Liverpool players must believe that they CAN WIN EVERY MATCH BY 2-3 goals.... they need to be arrogant and fight for everything let alone every ball.... its that losing mentality that they have that makes them a deserved laughing stock.... sigh... my liverpool oh my liverpool...

Sometime during the run-in to the season.... i wanted united to win the title.... not because i'm a closet united fan - NO FUCKING WAY TO THAT... but I need this talk about Liverpool's glorious past to come to an end... United are making and rewriting their own history... as such claim all of the Pool's past glories and records.... for its time (surely) for Liverpool to start writing new ones.... we were great in the 60s-80s... but its over... GET OVER IT.... NOW WE ARE NO BETTER THAN THE ALSO RANS LIKE VILLA, CITY, SPURS, EVERTON, etc..... ITS TIME TO PLAY EVERY MATCH WITH PURE PASSION, CONVICTION AND BELIEF THAT WE WILL WIN!!!! We need to prove why we deserve to win the league.... The fact that we lost so many points this season after taking the lead in matches shows that we are really weak mentally... we need to be rid of that and start believing.... whether the yanks or benetiz stays in power.... we should support the club 100% and hopefully the players will wake up and realise that its time to shine!

For the whole of last season... we played with this lacklustre and expectation that we would eventually get there - like get the 4th spot.. (we had many opportunities to turn our season around to claim that 4th spot)... similarly they were so much european romance talk that we would eventually win the Europa cup... but its all over... we lost coz we deserve to lose and never tried to start the season....

the time to change is now... its time to believe! not for the fans for fans especially fans like me never stopped believing... its that belief that has the truth too bitter a pill to swallow let alone many dissapointingly torturous nights.....

what i want is for each player and everyone with the club to have that belief.... as long as the yanks and benetiz are in power... i will support them as that is beyond my control.... and i truly believe we have depth in our squad to become champions... we just need to DO IT

hats off to chelski for winning the league.... united came close to no 19 and no 4 in a row.... maybe they'll get it eventually... well done to chelski for not letting nerves get the better of them... but now liverpool have a chance to claim no 19 first.. so please do it or at least go out trying.... coz if you dont, you might as well just hand over all the records to united and chelski....

hats off to spurs whom i thought had no chance in the run-in but they proved it week after week why they deserve to be in the CL next season - i wish them all the best... they too believe....


and so we need to start believing NOW!

I really wish we got relegated... that way we could probably start fresh... i mean really fresh.... new management / new team (in fact the only player i believe plays to win every match this season in a liverpool jersey was PEPE REINA..... the rest were really shit including Stevie G who has been instrumental and a pride of merseyside in seasons gone by...

winning the championship by bullying the other teams might be a good thing as at least the team will then have the confidence and are used to winning by 2-3 goal margin week in / week out... with that they could go on to claim the premiership... just like what Shanks did back in the 60s.... get relegated - go win div2... come back and win div 1... and never looked back!

of course we could do real bad in the championship and have to fight for a play-off berth... now that's a scary thought!

but till then - YNWA.....

The Day I lost faith in Malaysia

The use of the word 'Allah' fiasco in Malaysia has taken a new turn earlier today. The events that took place this morning was cowardly, disrespectful and just simply disturbing that such barbaric acts of stupidity can happen in places of worship and peace and more importantly within residential areas. I am of course referring to the arson attacks on 3 churches this morning and 4 cars with Christian worship objects in Bangsar.

Historically, the word Allah orginated from arabic speaking nations to represent the English word God. Its has strong roots within all Abrahamic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, simply because all 3 religions originated from a similar place. Hence the never ending battle to claim the 'Holy Land' or the 'Holy of Holies'.

I draw upon this fact simply because up to today, Arab Jews and Arab Christians use the word Allah as God because they speak arabic. Therefore, i draw upon a simple conclusion that Allah and God is the same, accept that the definition and context within each Abrahamic religion may be somewhat different. Please note that before the rise of Abrahamic religions, the Holy of Holies practiced all kinds of paganism and the Meccan pagans refer to their pagan Gods are Allah as they speak arabic as well. Even the Arabic-descended Maltese language of Malta, whose popupation is almost entirely Roman Catholic, uses 'Alla(no 'h') for 'God' up to today.

This is why there are so much similarities within the holy books of all 3 Abrahamic religions and many other common factors. To me, Allah and God is the same like Musa and Moses, Ibrahim and Abraham, Isa and Eesus (Jesus) Mariam and Mary, so on, so forth. I mean no disrespect or do i wish to throw another spannar into the works but this is just my view based on the little research i have done or based on what i have noticed from arabic speaking friends from around the world.

However, if a person feels that the word Allah can only be used by a certain faith to represent God, or the Supreme Being, or the Creator, etc, etc.... and if the same person believes that the use of the word Allah by other followers of other faiths means using Allah's name in vain.... the only conclusion I can draw upon is the fact that Allah must mean a name to represent a mythical God by this person. Hence why another faith cannot use the NAME not the WORD 'Allah'.

However, I truly do not think this to be so. I just think its 2 words from 2 different languages to mean the 'Supreme Being' or the 'Creator' or just simply God. As all 3 Abrahamic religions started because of the concept of the 'Supreme Being', 'Creator' and the 'One true God'.

Its only natural for different religion especially the different Abrahamic religions to have a slightly different theological meaning to God.

History has proven yet again as we write the annals of our history how stupid we are to allow silly and mindless sensitivities, to lead to acts of violence and destruction. Will we ever achieve peace?

Religion was meant to teach right from wrong, to do good not bad, to help give faith for a better after life and more importantly - to gain peace.

BUT MAN has time and time again used it as a fuel to rape the minds of people and to increase its artilery for the simple purpose of declaring war on the human race and all in the name of greed. Greed for power with religion as its tool is found in every chapter of human history. When will we learn?

How will 1 Malaysia be reached? Will there be peace on earth? I can only sit and pray.

Please note, that when i was growing up, I was raise in a home with mixed faiths - none of which Abrahamic related. I studied bible studies and my neighbour's dad thought me Islam and Jawi when I was younger. I never converted or accepted any religion, not because i dont believe in them. I see the strength and beauty in studying all these different religions. Take both Hinduism and Buddism and we learn of its simple beauty as its a 'way of life' ruled by rules of doing good and kindness in seeing the suffering of the world. But I just can't accept any religion because every reason for sadness caused by Man in the annals of time has religious implications. king henry the VIII, IRA, attack on churches of Buddhist extremist in Sri Lanka, the Holocaust, both world wars, 9/11... and now this..

About salsa and babies....

If my blog was my child and each post represents each meal i feed him/her, it would mean that i really suck as a parent. My last post being on 9 September and today being the 17 of Nov shows that my kid hasnt eaten in about 9 weeks. Thank God me blog is no kid of mine and i'm no father.... However, I am an uncle! That's right, my sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy on 7 October 2009. So guys say hello to my nephew ... 'Master Seth Arjuna'.


Yep, that's the crazy uncle with his unkept hair, still in working attire although it was like late at night. Oh, and that's the little baby.... isn't he just simply gorgeous??

Ah, here's a better picture of the little angel without the crazy uncle. Me friend Dom labelled this picture as 'the little torpedo head'.... maybe i'll start calling him that when he grows up. So little kid, say HELLO TO THE WORLD my dear Seth Arjuna. With lots of love, your crazy Uncle.

Now to the salsa bit. No not the sauce, the dance.

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One of the few reasons why i don't blog so often is because there's just no time. In the past, I used to blog and read blogs during office hours. However of late, I can't seem to find any 'me' time at work and I'm resigned to the fact that my only blog time are those of seeking info on the next treasure hunts. Yes treasure hunts is my latest passion. This is the first year that I decided to hunt on a regular basis and i think we've been doing well. Winning a couple of hunts, beating masters, making money; its all in a day's work. Can't wait for the next one this weekend.

Back to salsa. i just returned late last night from Singapore. I was there for the Singapore International Salsa Festival 2009. It was a fantastic event with international greats such as Mario, Albert Torres, Imagen Latina, Sabor Colombiano, Pretty Boyz and Girlz, Masacote, U Tribe and Pablo and Diyana. What was extra great about it was the fact that I was part of the Havana Estudio performance team. I must say that it was a great experience and extremely nerve wrecking.

Its my second congress/festival related performance and my 4th in public. However, this was the first time out of Malaysia and first time i wore so much PINK! Even if our performance sucked, it was perhaps my proudest moment yet.

Here's a quick montage of our performance.

And here's a montage us fooling around back stage....

And lastly - how can we not include the 'happy family pic'.... TEAM HAVANA ESTUDIO!

With em wide smiles on me face, its obvious that i was a happy camper and extremely proud of our performance. It was a great experience and one i'll remember for a long time. The rest of the festival was great too... LOL.. and the New Swing Sextet were awesome on stage! How not to dance to em cool jazzy groovy numbers?

Ok - before me signs off, please check out the video below. Its the video of our performance. Its not a very good angle. However, when i do get the rest of the pictures and videos, I'll upload more here.

Till the next!

i'm on holiday

eh peeps... it a shame that i let this pet project of mine, i.e. 'the realm of the endless', left to rot in cyberspace. Its been 9 months since I blogged. Do you know that almost everyday, i have some brilliant idea for a blog entry, but when it comes down to doing it, I bail. Not because i don't want to, but more towards having different priorities. As always, the main few topics that I had planned to blog about has remained the same, i.e. politics, music and football. As such, hope you find today's picture less rojak of a blog entry, entertaining. Salam kabare.

Malaysian Politics
I'm no political analyst, but it doesn't take a genius to realise that the state of Malaysian politics is extremely embarrassing. I remember when I was a kid, I used to idolised our then PM, i.e. the great Tun or Dr M. Every merdeka day I would look out for him or articles about the great Malaysia and the struggles of our forefathers. Many people also know that I truly love Malaysian history because of how unique and beautiful Malaysia is. At one point in time, I was very proud of how Malaysia became Malaysia. I was the kind that was truly patriotic and believed we were living in ONE MALAYSIA. You know, the kind that was proud to wave the nation's flag about and knew the lyrics to Jalur Gemilang.

But that kid finally woke up. Learnt the hard way that Malaysia is a sad sad sad place. A country that once carried so much potential, is nothing but a joke to the developed world. Think about it, for a country that has achieved so much, that is able to spend money (unnecessarily) on things like a huge Jagung metal structure in town, a space tourist, Formula 1, etc, etc.... we budget each year with a deficit. With an empty promise of surplus the following year which never happens, as we've been in a deficit for as long as i can remember.

Why is this so? Where has the money gone? Don't get me started on kickbacks.

In a company, the CEO and CFO should be 2 different people. For simple reasons. The CEO would want to expand, entertain, PR, etc, etc... the CFO would want to control costs. As such, its best 2 have 2 people to handle these 2 functions independently and as such achieve overall success of the business. If not, a company may suffer the fate of over trading like the fate of such a great brand/product, i.e. CROCS.

If you're wondering what this has to do with politics, well if you noticed, our PM and Finance Minister has been the same person since DSAI was sacked. So go figure!

Apart from that, Teoh Beng Hock's death, anti ISA march and cow & temple business is just so upsetting to read. The mainstream papers are so obviously pro-UMNO. That's pretty obvious cause its owned by UMNO. The non-mainstream news portals on the other hand are so anti-government. So where do we go to read truly independent news? Answer is : NOWHERE!

Utusan Malaysia forgot what their paper represents. Once upon a time, it was the paper that used to provide the people information about the unfair British rule. News like that help boost nationalism and speed independence. HOORAY.... or not... think about it, if we remained a British colony, things could be different and I may just have an Anfield season ticket!

So now, the Opposition has some power. So is it good for the people? If the Opposition wins the election one day... does it mean the ROCKET and the HARAKAH will become the STAR and Utusan Malaysia? which means that in 50 years the rakyat will start to hate the Rocket and the Harakah.

I really don't know. All I know is, both sides are too FUCKING BUSY FINDING FAULTS WITH EACH OTHER AND ARE TOO FUCKING BUSY TRYING TO DISCREDIT EACH OTHER THAT THEY FUCKING FORGET THE LITTLE THINGS LIKE THE FUCKING RAKYAT!

I really wish they start working for the people and showing that how and why they are the right one for the people and not so much showing how good they are at arguing, disagreeing for the sake of it and name calling. I think a good way to start is by showing some concern like the H1N1 problem. We should have proper education and crisis centres. Instead i noticed a sudden influx of Aedes related awareness campaigns - WTF?

I just want this all to come to an end. I agree with one thing, we need a change from BN.... whether the PR be any better? Maybe... just maybe... better than nothing....


MUSIC
Music can soothe the savage beast. So can good radio stations! It was on a road trip to Segamat in Adam's car some many months ago (for Ron's wedding) that I discovered a new radio station called BFM 89.9. BFM - the business station is FUCKING AMAZING! Throughout the entire 4-5 hours we listened to FANTASTIC MUSIC will minimal interruption. The station plays primarily rock music from all the eras. Its probably the only station that will play Led Zep, Deep Purple, Sabbath, Iggy, Hendriz, Pink Floyd, Queen on a daily basis. The best part is, somehow or rather, they'll play CCR at about 9-10pm... which is the time i'm normally in the car heading home.

This station has an unique format. During the day, it'll play brilliant music in between great interviews. They provide all kinds of news / interviews that revolves around the economy both locally and globally. In the evenings on Mondays and Fridays they'll be some footie talk. On match nites they have life coverage of the matches - how cool is that???.. Other than that its music galore. After midnight till about 6am... they play Malay ROCK JIWANG - i likey!

The interviewers used to be crap - but I must say they have improved tremendously and provide great interviews in the morning. They have some serious pressing 'grilling' interviews and some very light hearted ones. They interview all kinds of people from Tony Fernandez to the guy that runs some small time business to Chef Wan. One interview that really impressed me was how 4 dudes (slackers)... who loves football.... borrowed money from their parents to set up a futsal court. Today... they run a full fledge business with various outlets and they even set up a franchise model that goes all the way to INDONESIA AND SINGAPORE! Wow - makes me think whether should I consider leaving working here and instead borrow money to set up a restaurant - which has been a life long dream.

And the music - oooo the sweet music. How can you go wrong with CCR, Blind Melon, Pearl Jam, etc, etc, etc ringing in your ears everyday??? If you like rock music and into business/corporate stuff... tune in to BFM 89.9!

Also in the past 9 months i discovered the best watering hole with the best live music ever - HOWL AT THE MOON in SINGAPORE... its a must!

FOOTBALL
Hhaahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahaha..... cause my beloved liverpool is a joke. 2 losses in 4 games -its like WHAT THE FUCK! I don't really think its because of Alonso - but one thing's for sure... LUCAS IS NO FUCKING ALONSO.... HE'S A LOSS DUMB BLONDE POODLE THAT CAN'T KICK FOR NUTS!!!! arrrgghhhhhh.... so is Babel btw!

Thank god Man Ure - is CRAP thus far... and ARSE has been unlucky..... or rather - Van Persie is unlucky..... I feel for Eduardo..... though i believe that it is about time that the 5th official is introduced and divers/simulators should be punished (like eduardo)... but to be banned after the match or rather... AFTER THE REFEREE HAS SEEN THE INCIDENT AND MADE A DECISION... i think its very unfair. Mr ballless Blatter and Platini - Please do something!

SPURS will run out of luck soon..... But City and Chelski has been impressive. They play and win matches like champions. Either by dominating and scoring high or controlling and winning by the odd goal!

As for Liverpool - thank god the losses came early in the season. There's still hope yet. Think about it... we've got 6 points from 4 matches so far. Meaning 9 from a possible 15.... Man Ure did 5 for 15 in their first 5 matches last season... SO I THINK.... WE STILL GOT A SHOT... no???

TILL THE NEXT! - will try to blog more real soon! - as for the subject... well i'm going on leave for like alot of days... not for any trip.. but just to stay home and sleep... i really can't wait for it!

OMG - chelski, monkey united and arse did a liverpool!

I believed i've blogged many times about how frustrating it is to be a Liverpool fan. Year in, year out, we have brought phenomenal talents with great aspiration and hopes of success. Instead, we become labelled inconsistent, short of quality, unable to score, boring, defensive, nothing more than a cup team, etc, etc.....

We have had several fantastic individual results... but no REAL results... if you catch my drift!

How many times have Liverpool in the recent past had opportunity to close in on the league leaders but decide to drift further apart... There were so many times when the Reds kicked off later with knowledge that the league leader say chelski or monkey united had lost/drawn their matches...

with opportunity to capitalise on such great fortunes... the Reds decide to lose their match and drift further.... Its real frustrating when you count back and realise that we could've won the league in those seasons... if only we had capitalised on those moments... so i guess its true... we lack quality or perhaps, consistency to go the extra mile...

I'm sure if you're a true Red... you'll know what i mean.

Even this season, we had 2 opportunities in the past to gain advantage on the (then) leaders - Chelski... but istead we decided to match them, if they had lost, we go and lose too, if they drawn.. we draw as well.. WTF????...

and must I endure another STALEMATE at home?

i really don't care if we had 100 shots at goal coz at the end of the day... anyway u look at it... its all about the score at the FINAL WHISTLE!

Now comes the fact that we ARE THE LEAGUE LEADERS! Have you realised that everytime we reach the summit of the Premier League in the past few years... we tend to fuck up the following few matches??? We did no different this time round... we had 2 STUPID FUCKING SCORELESS DRAWS AT HOME to LESSER TEAMS!!!! and last weekend - we were NEARLY humbled by Hull....

But wait... instead of free falling down the league..... guess what????

We're still on top! How is this possible? Surely the 'BETTER' teams like Monkey United, Arseface morons and Chelski MUST've capitalised on Liverpool's drop of 6 points in the last 4 games!!!

But guess what... those morons did a LIVERPOOL!!!! YES! YES.. they really did... its amazing....

I was in Genting highlands having a party during the Liverpool v Hull match... when i heard we had stumbled to a draw... in a match we could've so easily lost... I thought to myself, our season has ended.... It must be just like the many seasons before... never close, alwiz that far!....

much to offer, but nothing to show....

When I got back from Genting and learnt that Monkey United and Arsefarce screwed up as well, i thought to myself... there is hope after all.. but will Chelski fuck up too? SURELY NOT! RIGHT?

I had to watch that match.... no matter how brain dead and tired i was, I HAD TO WATCH THAT match.... so i did

When Bellamy scored after 33minutes... i knew this is gonna be the year... where I truly believe that we have something to hope for....

I'm not saying that we are gonna win it for sure... but at least there's more football for me to watch after christmas....

The fact here is... RAFA is right about 1 thing... for us to win the title.. the other 3 must fuck up... and they are doing that just fine... so i hope they'll keep up the good work with fucking up!

This is the first season for a while now where we are not fighting for 4th spot with some high aspiring mid table team... instead... we have the opportunity to finally bring the title HOME!!!!

I now wait in anticipation for the christmas season... I believe if we can start stringing some wins and stay on top come the New Year.... i think we just might have a change...

Wins against Arseface, Bolton and the magpies... will keep up at the summit come new year's eve..... and in recent years... if you're on top at the start of the new year... you normally go on to win it!

s0..... fingers crossed.... we wont fuck up too much... and we'll start stringing em wins again....

GO REDS!!!!! and.... YNWA!

Deadline

Deadline - the time by which something must be finished or submitted; a line or a limit that must not be passed- says many a dictionary. Its a very interesting word used virtually everyday in the corporate world. I suppose the word itself is pretty self explanatory as the word 'dead' means nothing short than a finite end. With it accompanied by the word 'line'... i guess deadline must mean that 'the line ends(dies) here!'

In my line of work, deadlines are imposed on everything you do. Even if u want to take a smoke break - they'll say 'ok.. u have 5 minutes from now'....


In general, deadlines are meant to be final, but many a time, we are accustomed to an art that i have since perfected... i.e. the art of procrastination. Henceforth the need for extensions!

Recently I've been busy at work trying to meet nonsensical deadlines for impossible clients. Everyday whilst eyes glued to the computer monitor, fingers gracefully floating around the keyboard, chorus of 'clicks' and 'clacks' and 'beeps' and 'bleeps' from my (sort-off) trusty IBM Thinkpad; at the back of my mind i hear only the ticking of the clock, reminding me of the impending deadlines. With each 'tick' and 'tock' i see the deadline demon closing in on me telling me better not fuck things up!

Last week was really a very trying week with stupid hours and bosses that knock on your doors at the wrong time (like 5.30pm for an email that needs to go out like by 5.31pm!). I could've taken the easy way out by opting to fly to Phuket and bask in the sun with a nice Singha beer (or 2) in my hands, but i didn't. Instead, i cancelled my trip just to work and in fact, I was stationed at my desk for a full 10 hours with minimal break on a Sunday. Could you imagine that? Me - care about work????????

Speaking about deadlines, DSAI needs to get things right. He shouldn't have used the Sept 16 deadline tactic. To me that really was poor politics. He's smart by perpetual public announcement that he has enough MPs. This info would influence others to defect, however timing could've been better.

To a certain extent, I do agree with Mr Bodohwi that if DSAI wants to form a government, he should take parliament by storm and demand a vote of no confidence. He should do it in the good ol' London all girl punk band (ironically named Deadline) fashion and demand that 'he is taking over'.

However, such Neanderthal methods can be seemed as extreme and I honestly do not want Malaysia to follow in the steps of nations whereby gangsterism and disrespect for democracy as seen in countries like Thailand, Philippines, India, Pakistan, Burma, etc.

Its becoming to be a 'push' and 'shove' scenario here in Malaysia... and its sad that this is happening.

Deadlines are important, yet nothing more than illusions of the human mind. I question myself, why am I so suddenly wary and conscientious about deadlines?

Deadlines are something that my bosses take very seriously; but something that I never did. I'm a born procrastinator, how do I honour deadlines? I think I use work to deviate me from my own internal deadline (non work-related of course). Believe you me, this self imposed deadline is more complex than figuring the the principles of differentiation!

Basically, its a deadline on a decision that I must make and soon. A decision that is made up of a series of decisions, like a real complicated decision tree. Each decision branch with its own deadline let alone consequences, leaving me with headaches upon concluding each and every mini deadline!

At the end of the day, its just a deadline that I must meet for if its passes it means I took the easy way out and chose the negative option,leaving not much to the imagination. In truth, its nothing more than a deadline that requires me to make a tough decision though the reality is nothing short of 'Yes' or 'No'.

As each mini deadline passes and me procrastinating my decision(s), which really fucks up the general scheme of things... I ask myself... Will I?

Tick tock tick tock......

I'm back...

Hey peeps, (not like anyone reads this misearable waste of cyberspace), i'm back blogging... (i hope)... as always, i've been meaning to blog on so many interesting adventures i've been on in the last few months... this would include my conquest of mount kinabalu via the mersilau trail, attending both the salsa congress and salsa festival in penang and desaru respectively..... the tsunami GE8 whereby I was a proud DAP voting agent.... the EURO 2008 which saw Spain finally winning something... the recent Olympics which I must say was absolufooking fantastic! another trip to the rainforest music festival in santubong and also the recent edition of the IAFG whereby i helped en-route to our 6th consecutive gold in TOW...

Which brings us to today.... D-DAY at Permatang Pauh.... obviously BN is scared out of their wits hoping they can once again regain Permatang Pauh which was last won by BN when Anwar was on their side (i think).... I just dont get BN.... why are they so fucking scared? Playing all these stupid mind games such as the analsaifulgate.... and i'll give u 15cents back for every litre u buy today.... if i were BN... i would welcome Anwar back into parliament... and let the real games begin!

I've been reading a few blogs on the run up to the by-election and everyone is bias and i think everyone's getting carried away. GE8 was fantastic when the opposition did well, but have they achieved much since? I think the DAP led Penang is doing well with what appears to be positive improvements overall... I think Khalid is doing his best to undo all the wrong in Selangor.... however I must say, that some of the Pakatan Rakyat candidates who won seats during the GE8 have been poor...

Many people voted for the opposition not because of the ability of the candidate but mainly because people are just fed up of the bullshitness of barisan najis.... and many opposition candidates won out of popularity such as blogger and lawyers.... are these people fit to run an office?

well to be honest - they can't do any worse than a BN candidate!

however lets look at Datuk Shahrizat... she did well when she was in power... she cared for the people, etc,etc... but where is Nurul?

there's also this DAP arrogant dude whom i shall not mention his name... since in power, he has done bugger all for his constituency.... the rakyat came to him for help and he tells them to bugger off... why? all he cares about is destroying barisan najis till he forgets what his role in office is all about... this is a true story conveyed to me by the people of the area who approached him for legitimate help.... i wont go into details, but in a nutshell, the fucking arrogant fool riding on a DAP ticket is not willing to help but instead tell his 'beloved' ppl to fuck off.. bear in mind... i am pro-DAP....

can't they all be like penang where they take care of matters at home first before worrying about the war at hand?

politics is a stupid game.... it really is....

i just watched ROME season 1 and season 2... a brilliant series which starts from the rise and fall of Julius Ceasar... to the inhumane political maneuverings between Cicero, Cato, Brutus, Anthony, Cleopatra and of course the young and ambitious Octavian...

anyhow, back to domestic politics.... i think Gerakan shd bugger out of BN since they have publicly mention that racial politics (as it is in BN) is out of fashion... I supposed it made sense during Tun Dr Ismail's time, i.e. in the wake of May 13, 69.... but today? Tun Dr Ismail said one thing which has fallen on deaf's ears till this day.... 'For how long should we keep the social contract?'

Back to Permatang Pauh.... Anwar to win? hmmm... i still have mixed feelings... with all honesty and support... I do hope he gets back into parliament... we need someone who can exert some muscles on the pampered BN idiots... will it do any good? I really hope so... am so sick and tired of it all.... all i want is to see a united Malaysia... one for the people... and not for themselves.... Unmo used gerakan back in the days to so call united the rakyat... arent DAP and PKR doing the same with PAS? sigh...

What we need is a leader, a party, that is multiracial and works for the people without looking at race or religion.. certain sensitivities must be observed of course...

at the end of the day.... what's the point of boasting a 'multi-racial community, culture, diversity' when in politics... its never the case...

kudos to chelsea

I'm still stunned by the result at the bridge. I was confident that Liverpool would settle the tie, but Chelsea came storming out and are deserved winners. At least Rafa finally got a goal at the bridge.

I'm a huge Riise fan, however i must say he fucked up over the 2 games. Firstly, if he didnt score in the last match, we would've have had the advantage going into this morning's match. 2ndly, he failed to mark Drogba which i feel led to Chelsea's first goal. However, I still feel that Liverpool were hard done by the fact that Kalou was clearly a yard offside when he received the ball from Lamps. 3rdly, he also failed to mark Anelka which led to Chelsea's 3rd goal....

To me, he is still a phenomenal player, but 1 that has forgetten 'how to be a left back'.

It looks like Rafa might be leaving Liverpool after another embarrassing season. Though i think he should stay for just 1 more season. Hopefully less talk and complaints and bring back the trophies.

What's interesting is the fact that virtually the entire 'England' team played in the quarterfinals of the champions league. and more than half played in the semifinals. Come 21st May, 3 of the England's back 4 will be on showcase, 4 England midfielders and an English striker will be playing in the Champions' league finals. This season, the top 2 teams in Europe are from England. 3 English team in the top 4 and all 4 english teams in the top 8. The fact that the 2 finalist are locked on points at the top of the EPL must only mean that England is damn fucking good team.

Right...??? England is so fucking good at football that it refuses to play in this summer's European Cup.

I've said this many times... I think England Football team SUCKS!.... They're not good enough for Europe however the EPL is bossing the Champions' league this season. Ain't that amazing?

Crossroads

Its been a while since i've last blogged. I've been really meaning to, but in all honestly, I've been extremely busy with a host of things. Firstly was my political involvement in the recent GE. Apart from promoting 'Vote for Change'.... I was a proud voting agent for DAP for the Bukit Bintang constituency.

I remember on that nite there were SO MANY FREAKING SMS' about violence all around... when in truth... the country has LEARNT from May 13 that it WOULD BE STUPID to go throught that again, hence THERE WERE NO VIOLENCE ANYWHERE IN KL! However most parents (understandably so) had self imposed a state of emegency ordering their kids not to party at nite and be home way before dark.... Hence why i couldn't join the rest for Fern's encore bday celebration @ the Curve from Cava in Bangsar (though it was already 1am).

Anyhow, the highlight of my political involvement (or what little of it) was the thank you dinner by YB Fong Kui Lun. Firstly the food was excellent. More importantly the speeches by the various DAP leaders and some PKR leaders were very inspiring. You feel the country could just improve. My personal favourite was the Segambut's assemblyman's speech.. it was great!

Apart from politics, your humble narrator has been extremely busy with work. Way too many projects at the moment leaving me with many sleepless nights. Speaking of which, I really question why I work? I received an interesting phonecall 2 days ago and it has left me thinking: The foundation of a great system is the policies that each member of the system adhere to (and of course to all the apple polishers around). Its amazing how far one can go by abusing the system for personal gains. Its also how amazing to know how ppl can abuse the system to further keep ppl down. Come to think of it.. the system is so similar to politics... and the system is so similar to BN... however in this system... everyone wants to be part of BN... there may not be an ISA.. but if u fuck the powers that be... you are asking to be fucked in more ways than listed in the karma sutra.

Dont wanna talk about work.. its too depressing. There is no future... Really need to jump ship...

On a lighter note... I am SOOOOOO into Salsa. The only thing that keeps my head up and spirits high is my love for salsa.... Never thought i would be this caught up. I now go dancing 3 times a week and practice on most other days. My love for salsa has further enhanced my love for music. I'm so into percussion based music and go real dreamy whenever i hear cool beats from a conga or a bongo.

Speaking of which, I travelled to Penang recently for the 2nd World Latin International Salsa Congress. It was great fun (though not as professionally organised as compared to last year's Malaysian Salsa Festival, one would think they would've learnt from their shortfalls at last year's malaysian congress and from MSF last year).


I only attended 1 nite of the congress to watch Havana Estudio's KL Caliente perform Rueda de Casino. In other words i went there to support my friends who were performing....

KL Caliente was a success... however i must say the remaining 3 acts were sensational... first up was the pretty boys & girls from New York.. they were awesome with their series of lifts and other acrobatic stunts...

Then there was the Alonso dude with his Japanese partner who did very amazing rhumba and guaguanco style dancing... the salsa was good too... but i was truly amazed with the sharpness in the body isolation movements when they did the guaguanco...

The last act was the probably one of the best performances i've ever seen... It was the venezuelan act. Jhonny Sanchez and his 2 babes were amazing.. the way he spun them (say 15 spins)in unison with crossed hands was superb! And the lifts and ferris wheel.. woo hoo.... i was impressed!

Though i enjoy Francisco Vasquez and Susanna Monteiro and Leon Rose's at last year's MSF... and also the acts at last year SISF... sigh... i love salsa...

Charissa had pre-empted me that the band wasnt as good as Spanish Harlem who performed at last year's SISF.... but i must say, they were fun and played pretty good music... i was most impressed with Thomas the blind pianist.

My only problem with last Sat nite's social dance was that it was a beach party. As much as i love the beach, the beach is not a suitable place to salsa, further more, the floorboard and carpet used did not make sense.... It was fun dancing on stage though...

I was amazed when all the acts like jhonny sanchez, bobby dickerson and the host martin reyes etc etc were showing off their musciallity playing the conga and bongo... made me really appreciate clave and timba beats... in fact when the music ended.. i was dancing on the terrace and lobby to their clave beats.. it was amazing!

Speaking about music, I was in Singapore recently and bar hopped around Clarke Quay. The carribean band at Mama Carribean was cool but i was most impressed with the cuban band and Cuba Libre... their brand of music had a very strong rhumba core.. not so much salsa-able songs.. but alot of merengue-ish songs....

we ended the night and China1 which had a rock band playing... stephanie was in 7th heaven but i didnt think much of them as i felt their music to be a little too teeny poppy with tunes from linkin park, my chemical romance and simple plan.. to be a good rock band must play music from the 70s and 80s...

btw - i was in Singapore for Ben Elton's WE WILL ROCK YOU... and the show certainly rock the hell out of me... I've never really been a huge Queen fan... i love their music.. but i was never a big fan... however, i fell in love with the play and music... Mig Ayeesa was amazing in lead. For the next week or so i listen to nothing but music from Queen. WOO HOO.... 'DONT STOP ME NOW! COZ I'm HAVING A GOOD TIME!'

The weekend before that i was in Genting for the Genting Jazz festival... it was an amazing festival... I really love my salsa group of friends... as they are not discriminative and they know how to have a good time... I suppose the more i fall in love with salsa the more i fall in love with music as a whole and start to appreciate sounds created by different instruments...

the best thing about this jazz fest was firstly... ming drove at lighting speed and the 2 of us were in the genting international showroom within an hour from the jelatek lrt station... but more importantly... our group dance like there was no tomorrow with every performance... infact we didnt care if ppl looked strangely at us.. we were too busy having a good time.... we even danced on stage!!!... and for someone like me... who really hates to be on stage for any reason.... was quick to grap hazel to dance rueda on stage..... and also some salsa towards the end with some of me friends...

well.... alot of other things have happened in the last 2 months... GE tsunami... musicallity... loads of weddings including a trip to kuching for parveen's wedding... alot of salsa... in fact i'll be at Hush tonite to dance....

oyah... to all rock fans.... if you remember watching Sharins' band perform at bala's broadwalk in the past.. .please note that they now perform on most days at numerous places including HRC..... do let me know if u wanna check them out... i normally try to catch them on my non salsa days which is mainly saturdays @ HUSH in bangsar...

ok folks... till the next.. cheerio!

Pak la la la la la

March 8 is just around the corner. Are you a registered voter? I know I AM NOT.... yes i'm a typical Malaysian born with the 'tidak apa' attitude. I've been talking on and on about wanting to finally vote... till i forgot to register.

Yes i am the greatest hypocrite!

However, that wont stop me from bloggin about voting. You see, the state of affairs in the country is getting worse. To be frank and honest, there's no party worthy of running this country. If you dont believe me.. do check out each party's manifesto.

Anyhow..... I never thought I would hear myself say this, let alone type this out.. I wish The Tun was still in power. I mean, to a certain extend, I do believe it is his fault that the racial divide in this country has grown.

He was the man who deliberately had a Chinese chauffeur and in 1969 declared that he didnt need chinese votes to win. Naturally he lost to the PAS candidate.

The great Tun was also the guy who wrote the book 'The Malay Dilemma'... which he sought to explain the causes of the May 13 Incident and the reasons for the Malays' lack of economic progress within their own country. He then proposed a politico-economic solution in the form of "constructive protection", worked out after careful consideration of the effects of heredity and evironmental factors on the Malay race.

Once again I have to say as I've mentioned in many blogs before... since when is Malaysia for Malays? shouldnt it be for MALAYSIANs???? As mentioned before also, how sure are we that Malays were here first????

Anyhow, back to the book.... do you know that part of the book forms the basis of Malaysia's NEP????

Inspite of all his inadequacies.. i guess the Tunku was a better leader..... and did the right thing to fuck the Tun up back in the days.

Anyhow..... inspite of all that, I do admire the Tun. He fought so passionately in what he believed in. He is man who has guts. He'll tell the white man to Fuck Off and mind your own business....

More importantly... he cared about the country... between the late 80s and late 90s, he did afterall improve Malaysia in so many ways. During this period, growth averaged over ten percent and living standards rose twentyfold, with poverty relatively almost eradicated and social indicators such as literacy levels and infant mortality rates becoming almost on par with developed countries.

Malaysia became a high-tech manufacturing, financial and telecommunication hub. Great initiatives such as Perwaja, Proton and Astro have helped Malaysia in so many ways.

However, these projects have serious issues. One has a corrupted boss, the other had to be bailed by Petronas the last one... well we all love Astro dont we?

He does love the country and embarked on many large scale national projects the North-South Expressway (don't you just love it?).... MSC... KLIA... Twin Towers, Sepang... Putrajaya... Cyberjaya.....

Although I still feel that the money used could have been used for better reasons... however, to a certain degree, these projects have put us on the World Map....

What i respect most about him is that he was Mat Cool during the 1997 financial crisis.... Stupid George fucked us.... and we desperately needed IMF and the World Bank to bail us out... but the Tun told them to fuck off... as he knew best... lets be frank.. we did recover faster than expected.... and apart from Singapore... i think we're pretty alrite... as compared to our neighbours in the region...

All and all.. he did alot for the country... but he was a stubborn man... he had alot of flaw... made alot of mistakes.. but he did more good than bad...

what can we say about his balless successor?????

here's what my favourite Malaysian comedians have to say.....




Happy Voting y'all

Mamak moments

I seriously think that the mamak stall is a 'malaysian' phenomenon. First and foremost, the term 'mamak' as defined by wikipedia: 'is a term (derived from a Tamil word meaning uncle) used in Malaysia to describe the Malaysian Indian Muslim community and culture. Most Indian Muslims consider this term to be pejorative'.

The mamak stall is (as the name suggests), a stall operated by mamaks. Its incredible that one can find a mamak at almost any street corner in KL. Though traditionally mamaks are roadside stalls with a few tables, we now have restaurant and cafe-type mamaks all around. No other eatery has much cultural significance in Malaysia, apart from the kopitiam, of course.


Everyone goes to the mamak. Whether its for a proper meal or late night football watching, or just to have a quick drink in between errands, we all go to the mamak.



There have been many terrifying urban legend type mamak tales to share ranging from creepy crawlers to 'creative ingredients'. And i'm sure you have your own tale to share. However, my misadventures arent as scary.

I remember 1 particular mamak stall that we used to patronise during our secondary school days. It was the stall next to the Esso on Pasar Road. I do not understand why we go there, but we do. I remember it was the stall very near to Hafiz' house and next to his brother's burger stall. The gang, would just 'lepak' there on most nights, flipping burgers and jamming on 'kapok' guitars.



Anyhow, back to that infamous stall. The owner was this really old dude..... and he had a few helpers. This particular helper will take our orders almost everyday. I don't know what's his deal, but he never comes prepared with pen and paper. Irrespective, being a person whose job is to 'take orders', one should be fairly proficient after 'years' on the job... rite? Now, our group goes there almost on a daily basis, and its the ussual 3-5 jokers........ and we generally (being creatures of habit), order the same drink.... maybe its our luck, but its always that same ol' dude who comes to take our orders. As predictable, he's never equipped with pen & paper. What this joker does is that he'll just go to the kitchen area and prepares 1 drink, and return with that 1 drink. then takes the order for the remaining people. Goes back to the kitchen area and perpares just another drink and returns to take the order of the remaining people.



If you think he's bad? lemme tell you of the other mamak stall we used to patronise during our school days located in maluri - near the 7-11. This guy is still the champion. I remember during nite scouting activities, the whole gang whole gather at that mamak. There would be at least 10-15 of us. Naturally we would all order different drinks. But the dude there, perhaps felt it was his 'paternal' duty... he would calmly take the orders (also without pen & paper)... return to the kitchen area... and after say 10 minutes of waiting... he would return to our table with about 15 cups of MILO AIS.... !!!!! I KID YOU NOT!!!! (even if there were only 10 of us and nobody ordered MILO AIS!)



lemme tell you 2 more recent incidents...



Incident 1: As you know, i'm ga-ga over salsa. I spent so much time at the studio these days. As such, i'm ALWAYS at Devi's corner (mamak) just beneath the studio. I must admit, the food's not too bad. Nothing fantastic, but just nice. As mentioned before, I am a creature of habit. As such, for the past few years, my no 1 drink at mamaks is TEH O AIS KOSONG. The thing is, i dont really like sweet drinks and i love the taste of tea.



One thursday night, after salsa class, the gang gathered at the mamak for a our ritualistic 'yum char' session. I think at that point in time, it was just Mary-Ann, Karen and myself. Anyhow, as ussual, i ordered my 'TEH O AIS KOSONG'. The dude nicely wrote down our orders and proceeded to the kitchen to process it.



About 5 minutes later, he returned with our drinks. I was totally shocked with what he had intepreted TEH O AIS KOSONG to be. Lo and behold, this is what the dude gave me:

The dude brought me a glass of TEH O and a glass of AIS KOSONG????????? hence TEH O AIS KOSONG! i guess in future i have to be more specific. That's why nowadays, i order TEH O KOSONG (dropping the ever confusing AIS!). However i wont be surprised if they find a way to screw that up!

The second incident happened just last Friday. After the weekly Friday salsa session at Little Havana, we proceeded to our regular mamak not too far from LH. I do admit that their nasi goreng kampung and food in general is VERY GOOD.

Anyhow, as always, i ordered my NASI GORENG KAMPUNG and as ussual, i asked for cili padi. Now, mamaks or rather non chinese in general do not really slice the cili padi finely. They would normally cut them up into small bit sizes. However, this is probably the laziest display of chilli cutting i've ever seen.

Just take a look at that. They gave me alot of cili padi... but i would prefer them in smaller sizes! They were all either cut in half or left in full.... Sigh... don't people understand the meaning of the phrase 'cili padi potong?'

Anyhow, mamak is something that's here to stay. You can complain all you want, but without them, life does get a lil dull...... Perhaps i'll see you at a mamak nearby for a cuppa!

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Would like to seize this opportunity to wish all of you a great YEAR OF THE RAT!!! (another thing you can find at most mamaks!)

New Year - same shit

Dear all, I do humbly apologise for being such a poor blogger. Its been a while since I've been surfing from blog to blog, yet alone blog meself. Well, blogging has been for me a great escape from work. As I havent been in office since Christmas, there is nothing to escape from!

Firstly, a very Happy New Year to all. I was celebrating and partying virtually everyday since the eve of Hari Raya Haji. It was great time off with the numerous gatherings. However, I must admit that being on leave - doesnt necessarily mean a jolly good time. I spent many a days running errands such as the never-ending problems with my car, banking, etc, etc.

I return to the office tomorrow. Not sure if i remember how to work. But return to work i must!

During the festive season, there were many great parties of note. My favourite was probably Andrew T'ng's house warming and the nighty activities en route to New Year's Eve!

However, what has brought me to blog tonight is to highlight a few things that have been on my mind of late.

Firstly - the sorry state of affairs with my beloved Liverpool Football club. For a team that host such big names ; so many national players, we have had very dismal showing of late. The unfortunate draw away to Man City, the stupid draw at home to Birmingham and of course the nonsensical 1-1 result in the FA Cup.

I've been a big fan of Rafa. However, I do think he has lost the plot. I am a hopeless romantic who's loyalty (i believe) is second to none. I was upset when Daglish resigned, was upset the Roy Evans left, and felt that Houlier deserved another season. But who am I kidding? Rafa's stubborness to field the right team has led me to many frustrating football nights. It is a miracle that inspite of all this, we're still 4th in the league.

I still stand firm that Rafa is not about only winning Cups. I'm sure the premiership is on his mind. However, he must stop rotating. the squad is not good enough to play too many combinations. Its ok i guess to tinker 1 or 2 players from match to match. However to change an average of 4-5 players is completely nonsensical. It may have worked at Valencia - but it sure as hell not working in the EPL.

Secondly - is the sorry state of affairs of Malaysian Politics. Its sad that there really isnt any political party that deserves to lead Malaysia. However, I think its time for BN to step down and stop bullying the country, let alone lead it to self destruction.

We have to stop them from having a 2/3 majority. I dont want my 'Tanahku tercinta' become the next Pakistan or something.

We proudly boast 50 years of independence. Do you know that a country that young, has amended the constitution a total of 690 times? Come on! That's almost 14 times a year. We complain about The United States of America being a bias country filled with corruption, etc. but a country with more than 200 years of independence, they have only amended its constitution 27 times! Lets not look so far. Singapore has only amended its constitution 4 times. So why the fuck do we need to amend ours 690 fucking times?

Let me tell you why. The amendments provides the powers that be - MORE POWER. its almost ABSOLUTE POWER. Are we living in a republic? I know, i know. Some countries have it worse. FOr instance in China - Loyalty to the government is FORCED upon. But do we want to go down that route under the guise of Democracy???

I dont need to explain further what these amendments have done for our country. You can read them in so many blogs.

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Ok, enough ranting. I think i wanna take a shower and get ready for bed. Hopefully, your humble narrator will return to his little realm and waste more space in cyberspace regularly once more. Until then, i bid you adieu!