One can easily imagine running a race to win the all-new Nokia N96, what with its over-the-top features and state-of-the-art technology, all housed within an ultra-modern shell about the size of your palm. After all, the phone has everything one needs to actually WIN a race, with its A-GPS navigation system and 3.5G HSDPA Internet Connectivity, suitable for those errant people who frequently get turned about and lost, and have trouble finding their way back to the path.
But why stop at running a race? I'd bet that most people would go even further and do wackier things to get their hands on this baby. I know I would.
I'd sneak up on a sleeping lion...
...or heckle a venomous snake.
But since wildlife is pretty scarce around the area where I stay, I had to resort to more desperate measures to get an N96. The plan was pretty simple though. All I needed were raw chickens, and an infinite amount of patience.
Step 1: Get raw chicken. Lots of them.
Step 2: Strew raw chicken all over the road. It has to be strategically arranged to maximise its road-blocking capabilities.
Step 3: Ensure the innards can be seen, so as to produce a better shock effect.
Step 4: Shoo away all other passer-bys that may hinder the plan.
Step 5: When cars stop, quickly grab the Nokia N96 that drops from the shocked driver's hand, and run like hell. Of course, it is essential that the car owner has an N96 in the first place.
Contingency Plans: If the aforementioned car owner does not own a N96, let the car pass, and repeat steps 1 to 5. If the police arrive, you'll definitely be running pretty quickly, so make sure you plan your escape route beforehand.
I would definitely go to great and wacky lengths to get an N96. Wouldn't you?
Note to my readers: Raw chicken can be purchased rather cheaply from local wet markets, especially if in bulk.
On Friday night, I picked up Yenli and we made our way down to KL, to celebrate Christopher Tock's belated birthday at the Bar Club, somewhere along Heritage Row. Now, Keat had been heavily publicising the event for some time on Facebook, and soon enough, Tock's Birthday! had finally arrived.
The Bar Club.
Traffic jam in the middle of the night in KL.
To eliminate our double chins, we decided to jut our chin out while smiling. Result; Unnatural grins.
Yenli noticed that my double chin doesn't appear to be so obvious if I don't smile. Here's a picture of me not smiling.
When we arrived, Sue Ann, Keat, Johnson, Brian, and Taib were already there, lounging around outside the club. After obtaining our entry ribbons (cheh wah), we made our way inside, to a rather empty club (I could see a lone female on the dance floor gyrating vigorously) and found a table to plop ourselves onto. It was about that point where we finally saw Chris (or Tock, as he was more commonly known as), and the necessary introductions were made.
Sue Ann.
The Klang Trio: Johnson, Brian, and Taib.
Ribbon-Tying Ceremony.
Ribbon-Tying Ceremony #2.
Nicely arranged glasses.
The Ladies.
Lauren, Carmen, Vern Li, Yenli, myself, and Krystal.
Joey mysteriously appeared.
She's good with the camera...
Taib preparing to pau someone with Josh looking on.
Sue Ann and Keat *aww*
Myself and Sue, looking oddly ghostly.
If not for the fact that we're older, and lots of things have changed, its almost like college.
Lauren. And me spoiling the picture.
And finally, a picture with the birthday boy himself. Happy birthday, Chris/Tock/Christopher!
I realized earlier that I had go into the office early the next day, so I bade the others farewell, and made my way back home at the early hour of 12.45a.m. For those who stayed on, perhaps you could clue me in as to what I missed?
It was about 2 months back, during the AMBP Travel Ambassador's Launch that I met Teckiee. It was during that particular event that I first heard about Pecha Kucha. For those whose brows are crinkled trying to figure out what in heck is Pecha Kucha, its actually Japanese for Chit-Chat. Here, people prepare slides, and come up to talk about it, and they are only given about 20 seconds per slide. The topics can be about anything and everything under the sun, as you will see shortly. Don't just take my word for it, have a look at it here.
She was very interested in Pecha Kucha.
After having indicated our interest then, Teckiee recently informed us about the upcoming Pecha Kucha session that was to be held in The Apartment Downtown, KLCC. Eager to find out what it was all about, I drove over to the brightly lit towers and into The Apartment, where Teckiee was already waiting with her colleagues for the show to start. Hurley arrived slightly later, and before long, Simon appeared as well.
The First Slide.
Surprised man at the bar.
Teckiee's Tomato and Something Drink.
The event started off with a pretty short brief by the M.C. about Pecha Kucha, and without much ado, the slides began. One by one (or sometimes two), they began their stories, with aid from the slides which were mostly made up from fancy art and graphics.
Lisa and Su Sim and their mind-boggling designs.
Max Villandre, the General Manager of CodeMasters Malaysia, talking about their latest product, Grid Racer.
Joseph Foo (John, you would remember him)
Of course, with bloggers present, there'll always be an equal amount of photos of ourselves as well as the presenters.
Simon managed to catch a Codemasters T-Shirt...
...and Teckiee got a squishy stress ball.
...my RM11.40 coffee. I was talking to Philip, a French guy from the British Council who made an astute statement, "Its Malaysian management, but not Malaysian prices!". How true.
AMBP people reunited.
Hurley suggested we try a totem-pole method of taking a photo, which failed initially...
...but we achieved our objective eventually.
My favourite slide of the night was from this guy, who spoke about his life in a kampung. It was genuine, honest, and the photos which made up the presentation weren't digitally enhanced or jazzed up with fancy thingamajigs, but were impactful in its own way.
Simon likes his beer.
Penny Yuen from Ecowarrior carries a bag which she named Pokok.
A very interesting (and thankfully, not run of the mill) event. A thousand thanks to Teckiee! for taking the trouble to inform us about it. Looking forward to more in the future.
I'll always see Powerpoint in a different light now.
How Not To Suprise Your Friendly Neighbourhood Pharmacist on Her 22nd Birthday...
Friday, November 14, 2008
SooLiPing (as she is fondly called) was due to turn 22 on Wednesday, the 12th. Her bunch of high school compatriots organized a suprise candle-blowing session for her, and kindly invited me to be part of the auspicious occasion. Armed with my camera and a will to take many candid shots, I drove to the rich (and spooky) area where Yun Kei lived, the gathering point for all the surprisors (this word is highly suspect). After everyone had arrived, we jumped into our respective cars and roared to SooLiPing's place.
Timothy waits patiently.
Yun Kei and Yenli bantering.
At the traffic light; Myself, Shirlyn, Yang, and Yenli. The vague outline of Kwo Kuang's head can be seen in the back window.
Upon arrival, we encountered the nice dalmatian whose tail I tried to tickle. Petty entertainment aside, Yenli placed a call to SooLiPing's mum, who was supposed to quietly open the door for us to enter and prepare the cake to bring up to her room. The mum appeared to chase the dog around the house away, and it was all very hush-hush - until SooLiPing herself came tumbling out the front door.
Apparently the mum, being quite advanced, had taken Yenli's request to open the door one step further, and had knocked on SooLiPing's room door saying "...eh, your friends outside...".
The dalmation doesn't seem to enjoy my company.
Pow wow.
Ladies' Night.
"...eh, isn't that Li Ping at the door?.."
The suprisee (another highly suspect word) already unsurprised, we all sheepishly went in and conducted the traditional sing song and blow candle ceremony. In a space of a few minutes, she had managed to change and freshen up, and despite being dead tired, could still grin happily into the cameras that were flashing away like paparrazi.
Water Turtle.
Timothy.
The Birthday Girl and her Cake.
Li Ping & Co.
Li Ping & Tissue.
Li Ping & Co.Again.
Compulsory Group Photo.
Having taken (more than) our share of photos, I wished Ms. Soo goodnight, and went back home to sleep.
Fastforward to the same night, SooLiPing's dinner was at Dragon-H (yes, that is the typo that appeared in the sms), Sunway Pyramid. I arrived pretty late, but still managed to catch the Seafield gang digging into the last remnants of an assortment of dishes. My camera and will was still present of course, so the incessant photo-taking was rather inevitable.
A photo of the food AND the birthday girl. YJ tries to lick his elbow at the same time.
YK and SK.
They saw something interesting somewhere else.
Aww Moment.
A Tribute to Yenli: Since she mentioned that we rarely take videos of events,these days.
Alvin likes to flex his biceps after a meal at a Chinese Restaurant.
Yenli with food in her eye.
Another Aww Moment.
YJ tries to do the waltz.
For Chin Ju and Kwo Kuang who couldn't make it.
Compulsory Group Photo 2
To the birthday girl, many happy returns of the (yester)day!
Note: Dalmatians are not as tame as they appear to be in the 101 Dalmatians.
Bubble tea originated from Taiwan in the 1980's, before making its way to our local shores. Here, we see people sipping away from crazily thick straws (the only way to chomp at the black pearls that the bubble tea is named after. The pearls are made of tapioca, giving it a chewy and pliant texture.
The most recent pearl tea expedition was at Yippee Cup in SS2, reputed (supposedly) for its pearl tea (and jelly) beverages. Prior to that, the last time I consumed pearl tea was in Semenyih, when (of all people) Kohilan developed a sudden craving for the delectable drink after a dinner. That is another story in itself, which you can read here, if you're interested.
We love our bubble tea (in 2007)
Back to the present, I ordered a coffee milk tea with pearls, while Lauren staunchly stuck to her favourite condiment, jelly. Sue Ann eventually turned up as well, and also expressed her favouritism for jelly. Yenli came, and ordered ice water.
Garish neon sign.
Honeydew and Jelly.
Coffee and Pearl.
(some of) The Ladies in My Life.
Bubble Tea Drinkers.
I also recently spotted a source of home-brewed tea near my area. I guess I know where to go whenever the craving strikes.
Quite a refreshing beverage. Here's to bubble tea (and jelly too, of course)
