Welcome 2010, Farewell 2009

In a few days, we will be flipping our new calendar and dumping old ones. 2009 has been a very busy and eventful year for me. Looking back the 12 pages of my soon-to-be-discarded calendar, it is like reading 365 pages of my frantic life. Though it sounded cliche, time flies past really really fast.. and here I am on the brink of 2010.


Year end is always filled with festivities and joy. I have always look forward to it and of course girls crave for it due to the year end sale. Shopping, shopping, shopping!! But every year end, I would look back and think I had done or the lack of doing!


The past one year has not been exactly smooth with many potholes in between. While I did not wish for perfection, neither I did not expect to endure multiple tribulations. At the end of 2008 and nearing 2009, my past relationship of 3 years ended. I was devastated and it took me a while to get over it. The break-up was inevitable but I learnt a lot about relationships.


In mid-2009, I faced great challenges in my career which explained why I was constantly whining about being preoccupied with work. Office politics, changes in working environment and the demanding pace of my job zapped every drop of my energy and diluted my passion. My health deteriorated and my weight dropped. There were times I had thought of giving up and walking away. I felt overworked and unappreciated. Then I noticed a change in my behaviour, I was always getting angry and taking it out on my loved ones. I couldn't express my frustrations at work and I did not know how to manage my stress. I kept suppressing my negative feelings and it affected my life. I was constantly unhappy.


A kind angel walked in to my life at my lowest point. She spread her positive energy and her high spirits to me. We celebrated Christmas 2008 and shared New Year 2009 together. She soothed my wrenched heart and made me believe in love again. She was there for me when I faced turbulent times at work. She silently cried when I was angry and took it out on her. Despite all, she stood by me, supported and comforted my weary soul.


I realised I was wrong.

I should not bring work problems in to our relationship. It was not fair to single her out as an easy target to unleash my anger. I promised her to manage my stress. She help lifted me out of the hell hole I was sinking in. I pull myself together and re-ignited the passion in my career. Giving up is too cowardice and I summoned enormous mental strength to ride over the difficulties. I preservered and felt a boost of energy in my life.


There are many things I would like to change or should have done in 2009 but I am no time traveller. I can only steel my resolve and hope to achieve them in 2010.


Thank you dear for being patient and understanding. You are the silver lining in my life in 2009. I am sorry for the angry words but I don't mean it. Ah... not to forget my other silver lining... my photoshoot with FHM !! :D


Dear Angel, we have spent Christmas 2009 together and now I look forward to welcome 2010 with you.


Farewell 2009... and Happy New Year 2010!!

I AM ON FHM Malaysia December Issue!!!

YES!! Holy cow! I am featured on FHM Malaysia December issue..

Though I saw it coming, I was nonetheless absolutely excited when it was released. Afterall, it's a royale honour to be recognised as "super fan" of the best selling magazine in Asia!

It all began with a call from Simon which I doubted to be real initially. You know, with all the nuisancisal phone and sms scams flourishing lately, it's hard to imagine FHM would be interested in a pyscho mag-collector (haha). But when things started to fall in place, I realised it was for real, bloody real :)

After reading this superb mag for years, it was kind of funny to actually see myself in it. And even more ironic is I had always advocated more babes and less guys to be featured in FHM. I guess the rule of exception is applied here.. haha.

The icing of the cake was sexy Jezamine Lim! She's the hot Girl Next Door 2009 (cool eh?) and I have a lot to explain to my girlfriend.. sigh

How did I look huh? And how did I got featured?

Quickly grab this December issue of FHM Malaysia! Even if you loath me (and if you do, that's because you are jealous :P) you'll will not want to miss their Girl Next Door 2010 finalists frolicking in the pool and their hot 2010 calendar!

Thank you Simon, Eugene & Jo! This is my new favourite issue now!

Hallmark of the Nineties (Part1)

If you recognize her in above, then you had been in the 1990s (and should be really quite old now.. haha). Yes, she is Cindy Crawford, iconic supermodel of that decade. I was in my teens and early 20s in the 90s and I was absolutely crazy about her breas.. no, I mean breathtaking beauty.

Now if you recognize and had actually fiddled with this electronic gadget before (and don't even pretend you don't old hag!), well it's confirmed you are eligible for the nineties club. My Gen-Y cousin happened to notice my Gen-X stuff when I was clearing my junks one day. He was surprised to see my old stuff, old and sentimental to me, antique and uncool to him.

And so I thought I should blog about these old stuff for those who might not know these things existed before Facebook & Twitter. Yeah, we had a life in the nineties mind you little young rascals. For those who knew these stuff already, well take a trip down memory lane.

Those days I used to buy my favourite songs on cassette. That was the only storage media for audio with the exception of records of course. We either record the desired songs ourselves which require highly exquisite skills or head to a music shop and order by just providing a list of songs which would takes a few days.

Nobody heard of ripping songs back then. Now we have CD-R, DVD-R, MP3 etc to store or download our songs on different media. Thank God for i-Pod while you're in a train or in the gym because we had to lug chunky walkman and discman while on the go.

New Kids On The Block

Take That

The Spice Girls Sensation

Most homes have LCD TV or Plasma TV nowadays, not to mention dozen of satellite channels to surf. I remembered my family had our first black and white TV set when I was just 6 years old. After that we got a big box colored TV. Big and fat was the rage then. We only had 3 channels throughout our teens until Astro was born. Forget about live EPL matches :(

Ah... the hit series our time, Beverly Hills 90210 and Friends.

That's it. We had only 2 choice.

Friends

Beverly Hills 90210

We take e-mail, MSN, skype, twitter, sms and video calls for granted today as if it's a god-given birth rights. I wonder whether the younger guys ever wrote letters in all their youthful lives. Writing letters was our only cheapest mode of communication in the early 1990s. Of course we had telephone and jurassic mobile phones but not many can afford the rates.

I used to always search for the pen pals column in newsp[apers and magazines. Hey do you know what is pen pals?! No, I'd better ask have you seen that red box below, young ass?!

Youngsters think we don't play electronic games before Playstation was invented. Actually we did. We had the earliest console gaming like Nintendo and Sega. Although the graphic and audio is nowhere near PS2 or PS3, it was high end electronic equipment and cost a bomb then. My favourite is still the Super Mario!!

One of favourite digital revolution is digital camera or D-SLR. Gone were the days when I had to send the film roll for processing. I could only take a maximum of about 35 to 40 shots before the roll ends and the sound of the film roll rewinding is irritating. And there is no deleting screwed up shots. There is no softcopy for back up or storage. But the upside is that we can take as many as we would like without fearing for battery life (as the battery is only for flash). And we would more likely to process every shot and keep them in albums. Now it's always in the portable hard drive.

McDonald's Japan Ad

I bet you have never seen a hot and sexy "Missy Ronald"!!

I'll have McChicken for lunch everyday if she's manning the counter at the outlet near my office :)



This is the cutest McDonald's uniform ever!



I'm lovin' it!

Pancake House International

One weekend, I was looking for a good bite with a friend at Pavillion after a movie and stumbled on Pancake House International.

Being foodie conscious-challenged and feeling adventurous, we decided to take a gamble gastronomically.

Of course we obviously felt we must try their pancakes. We ordered a Classic Country Medley which consists of two pieces of classic pancakes, country sausages and hot coffee. Next we had Hot Roast Chicken Special Set which comes with Taco, Macaroni Salad, Hot Roast Chicken and iced tea.

Wow! Much to my amazement their pancakes were really soft, light and fluffy and melted in my mouth with honey syrup. Surprisingly, the Macaroni Salad was absolutely delicious and their Taco is a real winner. It's crispy and filled with spicy meat and vegetable.

It was only later I found out Pancake House International hails from the Philippines and there is another branch at Sunway Pyramid which is the first branch in Malaysia. They serve a variety of pancakes as well as waffles, sandwiches, salads, main dishes such as steak, pasta, roast chicken and a list of Filipino desserts.

The restaurant is kinda small but neatly kept. The food is great and the bill came up to less than

RM30 which I think it's very reasonable.

Feeling hungry already? Pancake House is located at Level 1 Pavillion and Lower Ground Sunway Pyramid.

Picture sourced here

Picture sourced here

FHM Malaysia Girl Next Door 2010

I'm back!

Yeah.. after a long hiatus, as usual I'm blaming my long absence on my super time consuming job (and it's the darn truth man).

Recently a smart Alec told me that I have lost touch with FHM current happenings because I was obviously seemingly unaware of their latest Girl Next Door 2010

As a hardcore addicted FHM fan, I do not take his remarks lightly although he was absolutely damn right (sigh). Hey! I just got a little distracted by work... ok ok I fess up!! ;)


Let's reconnect..

Ok let's cut all the crap and ogle at these 12 pretty finalists (in no particular order) of Girl Next Door 2010!! Is she the babe you nominated and voted for? Because if she is, you'd be kicking your balls if she is just working in your marketing department one floor above but you never did hit on her..

Who is your favourite girl to be the next Girl Next Door 2010?

I personally like Hui Jeat and Yvonne but Crytal Eve and Nisha looks hot too and maybe.. ok all of them looks absolutely gorgeous and my cross-wired mind is undecided!

The winner stands to be on the cover of March 2010 issue of FHM!! :)

What say you?

* All photos sourced from FHM Malaysia

Yvonne Sim

Crystal Eve

Crystal Liew

Hui Jeat

Jesz Yap

Julia Moh

Katherine Ng

Lesley Yong

Michelle Lee

Nisha Kaur

Dalvin

Steffy Ng

Voluptious photos to feast your eyes!!

Tim, you lucky basterd! :)

Alright, before you guys slug it out to pick your favourite girl, and if your are a genuine man or even not-so-genuine guy (no offence gays), FHM needs you to tell them what it is about women that makes you go 'ooooh'. Go to FHM Facebook page and click on 'Discussions' tab, select the topic Women: the things that make you go 'oooh' and let them know... FHM is putting the results in December issue.

What type of man are you?

a) Chesticles every time, man

b) The longer the legs, the happier I am

c) Shake your booty, baby!

d) If she ain't pretty as a picture, I ain't lookin' at the rest

e) I like showtunes and moustachioed men. In leather

I know you guys are scrolling down to see what's my answer.. I am not telling you perverts and if you had really listen, my answer is supposingly to be found in FHM Facebook page!!

MY BUDDY GOT MARRIED ON MOONCAKE FESTIVAL

CONGRATULATIONS to Ken & Karina!!

When my buddy Ken called me two months back and told me he was planning to get married, I was stunned beyond words for several seconds. After a long pause, I teased him that he must be kidding.

"Hey! I am not falling for this old trick" I retorted smartly.

"No brother, this is for real. I AM getting married" he declared and his voice was kind of chocked with emotion.

"Huh? Err.. who is the bride man?" I questioned him feeling puzzled.

"My girlfriend lor" he replied sheepishly.

"Your what? Which one? And I had never hear you say anything about marriage this year? You didn't even tell me which girl you're going steady with?" I asked.

"Well.. I'm telling you now. I need you to be my witness for my marriage registration. Come over tonight and I'll tell you more and don't forget to bring a copy of your IC," he explained.

"Witness huh? Okay when is it?" I finally believed him.

"Two months later on Moon Cake Festival. Great for double celebration huh? It's my wife birthday too!" he said excitedly.

"Two months later?!!" I exclaimed.

There was a super long pause before I got hold of myself. This guy is a serial speed dater. Is he going on a speed marriage? I mean why should I react in such a way when one of my best friends has found the girl whom he wished to share his life with. That's because you don't know Ken. My buddy is a notorious ladies' man. He is the type of guy who would never trade his freedom for any girl or anything. If his wife is reading this, she might be really annoyed but I believe it is his love for her that changed him. He has changed his entire outlook towards women and life.

An absolutely miraculous change. Love does change people!

Last Saturday on Moon Cake Festival, I witnessed Ken's marriage registration with Karina at Thean Hou Temple, KL. Amazingly, as he held high his hand and took his marriage vows, I had a very touchy feeling.

I feel proud of you brudder. A new chapter in your life has begun. A new beginning to happiness.

Cameraman caught on camera

I'm honored to be a witness

Hey, you lied about your age?!!

Our marriage cert

You may kiss the bride... when you go home

Hey brudder! I am truly happy for you. I wish you both a blissful and joyful marriage! And be good ya :)

KLIMS'10 will be on 3 to 12 December 2010

KLIMS'10 is back!! I wrote about my disappointment when it was postponed indefinitely. However the Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show 2010 is scheduled to be held on 3 to 12 December 2010 which was initially planned for May 2009.

That's more than a year from now :S

I hope they are not going to pull it out again.

Ipoh Delights

Picture taken at Kek Lok Tong Cave in Ipoh

Whenever I meet a new acquaintance and after revealing that my hometown is in Ipoh, there would usually be two standard statements from this new friend (and the order of the questions may vary depending on the gender of this new friend) even after many years I have been living in KL.

1. You're so lucky! Ipoh has one of the best bean sprout chicken (taugeh ayam) in Malaysia I think the most famous is Lou Wong, right? Do you always go back and have some?

2. You're so lucky! Ipoh has one of the most original white coffee! So which is the original one ah?

3. You're so lucky! Ipoh has produced many many pretty faces for beauty pageants. So how come Ipoh is famous for many pretty girls ah?

For No.3, well I do not deny it but I can't be certain of the reasons why Ipoh is famous for pretty girls. Maybe due to the number of finalists/ winners originated from Ipoh in some beauty pageants and of course we have Dato' Michelle Yeoh. Some even goes on to say it has to do with the superb mountain water quality in Ipoh and hence most of the girls have porcelain white skin. It may be the turth as the smoothness of hor fun depends on the water and rice quality which Ipoh is famous for. Not to forget our prominent Tambun pomeloes which needs optimium water quality and fertile soil.

But one thing I had observed over the years living here is that most Ipoh bred girls are notorious for refusing to go under the hot sun during the day. You'd rarely catch them strolling in the park or doing any outdoor activities from 11am to 5pm. These pretty angels usually only surface during late evenings onwards. And if you notice (if you are Ipoh bred or been here before) the food in Ipoh is seldom spicy. Most of its famous food like bean sprout chicken, hor hee, wan tan mee, tau fu fa and others are usually soup-based.

So perhaps it's a combination of UV light deprivation, food culture and superb mountain water quality that produces these pretty babes. But my friends from KL always complained to me that it's not easy for them to see any pretty girls in Ipoh. That's because most of the girls above legal age have moved to KL for studies or work, you moron!!

Personally to be fair, I believe there are many other pretty girls throughout Malaysia from Penang to KL and to Sabah. Only Ipoh is famous for pretty girls may be an overstatement.

For No. 1, less I sounded arrogant, Ipoh may have one of the best bean sprout chicken around but the locals actually seldom go to Lou Wong. Some say it's too crowded. Others say the service has deteriorated. So usually tourists or those from out of town patronize them. We locals usually frequent Retoran Onn Kee which is across the street from Lou Wong and Restoran Cowan Street in Jlan Raja Ekram (Cowan Street) which is a stone throw from Lou Wong and Onn Kee. Of course some would argue which is the authentic version? All looks the same to me, what's important is the taste!

Pictures above source here

For No. 2, I most say white coffee is synonymous with Ipoh Old Town. When I first moved to KL for my studies in the mid-1990s, I never heard of white coffee in KL other than in Ipoh. Now you can have it everywhere in Malaysia with the 3-in-1 packs or any white coffee-serving cafes mushrooming in Klang Valley.

But my favourite white coffee fix is still Nam Heong Coffee Shop in Ipoh Old Town. The taste and aroma is still one of the best around. And don't ask me which is the original among the few pioneers in Old Town. Each has its unique flavour.

The egg tart is a must try. The crust is thin and crispy, the filling is thick. Simply delicious.

Above picture source here

Another deli-attraction is the Pasir Pinji Big Tree Foot (Dai Shu Kuek in Cantonese) which is famous for its Yong Tau Foo. There are other delicacies like hor fun apart from Yong Tau Foo. The shack is actually under several really big trees and hence its name. So you get the rustic feel while enjoying your food there. But my favourite drink there is Iced Red Bean! Drink it on a hot day and whoa!!