Of KTM Stations and Stampedes... Monday, August 25, 2008
On the front pages of The Star last Friday, our Prime Minister was reported to have unobtrusively and quietly boarded our local railway system, in order to better gauge the experience of travelling via public transport. After having gone from point A to B in the train, he discovered that, "I'm not happy with this because the people are not getting satisfaction from riding the trains. This we must fix.".
The Star/Bernama, 22nd August 2008
My first reaction to this article was;
"Finally! So long only realize! (to put it crudely)"
The problem of overcongested public transport systems have long plagued the people. As a frequent commuter, I've seen the worst that these stations can bring out in people. Our (most of the time, anyway) friendly citizens turn into something else altogether, the moment they see the train approach the station platform. I've almost fallen off a monorail platform during rush hour (which would have been the end of me), when the platform was so packed that a person falling down at the back cause a domino effect to ripple all the way to the front and send the people in the anterior flying off. I've seen old women and children being pushed down in the midst of people stampeding into the train - before the passengers had even alighted. I've seen people glaring at me whenever I try to hold on to some stationary part of the train (to prevent myself flying into the arms of the nearby makcik whenever the train suddenly brakes).
And thats just the tip of the iceberg. (Eelaine, if you're reading this, I think you might agree with me =)
Certainly, taking the public transport is no ride in the park. Still, we're forced to do it, since, despite the hassle, it IS still the cheaper and more convenient way to travel to certain spots. I agree that taking a car is a WHOLE lot more comfortable, nonetheless, when one takes into account the jam, and eternal search for a parking space in KL, one might still consider the public transport as a means of travelling.
Things seem to be a bit better now, though. I just came home on the 7.30p.m. train, and oddly enough, it wasn't another day in the sardine can. Sure, there were no empty seats, but miraculously, I actually had some breathing space. The station announcements are now prerecorded (in the voice of a pleasant-sounding lady), as opposed to the guttural utterings of the train driver, which no one can comprehend. And, yes, the train came on time.
Looks like things are looking up for the 'ol trundling train.
Posted at 10:14 pm by IsaacCheah
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Of Duck, and Even More Duck... Thursday, August 21, 2008
Lauren and I had made a deal some time back to eat duck together, at Restoran Loong Foong, Taman Paramount, famous for its succulent, roasted duck. However, it was easier said than done, as a 1001 things kept cropping up, preventing us from meeting up to savour the delicous avian dish. Time and time again, we attempted to set aside time to just visit the place, and fulfil our obligatory meal of duck. It even came to the point where we had this following conversation;
Soon Seng: Sigh. Until I die also cannot eat duck with you.
Lauren: Eh, cannot! Cannot die until we eat duck.
Soon Seng: Oklar, I promise I eat duck only then I die.
Lauren: Ok.
...and, in a comment box;
Hmmm.
As fortune would have it, we finally managed to gather on a Saturday night, together with a special group of friends, to grasp the opportunity of eating duck. Now, you may be wondering, why all this fuss about duck? Isn't it just another bird?
Not when its served like this.
The succulent, savoury, meat was just too tempting to leave untouched. Before the rice was even served, I could almost taste the sinfully sweet juices dribbling from the duck, accompanied by the aroma of tender meat. I was pretty thankful that the rest of the group could only eat a limited amount of duck (leaving more for the glutton in me).
I polished off almost the whole plate.
Having expressed my extreme delight in the duck, here are the following people that actually came for the dinner. Our dear Lauren came with Jamie, to find Mun Mun and Michael patiently waiting with the duck already served in front of them. Kudos to the incredible self-restraint you guys showed, in the light of the fact that it was already dinnertime. After the initial introductions were made, Ronald and Kok Lim appeared, just in time to order the next round of dishes.
The Compulsory Group Photo The Ex-Nottingham People Taking Dangerous Photo by The Roadside
An extremely fun dinner! I had a great time laughing at Lauren's antics, eating duck, talking to Jamie, eating duck, meeting new friends in the form of Mun Mun and Michael, eating duck, catching up with Kok Lim and Ronald, and eating duck. Oh, and I enjoyed eating duck as well.
We (The Duck-Eaters) managed to eat duck! Cheers to us!
Ok, now I can go die.
Posted at 10:32 pm by IsaacCheah
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Even as a young child, I had always enjoyed listening to the Swedish group ABBA* belt out their evergreen classics, together with my parents in the car. It came to the point where we had the ABBA GOLD compilation CD spinning in our cd player for almost the whole day (which isn't all that good for the cd player).
*Did you know that ABBA is the acronym for the first letter of each of the group member's given name? (Wikipedia, 2008)
Yes, I loved ABBA, and now, the wonder group's songs are going to be playing throughout the hit upcoming movie, Mamma Mia!
Starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan, the movie tells the tale of a bride-to-be's quest to discover her real father among 3 possible candidates (namely Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, and Colin Firth), and all this done to the music from ABBA! If I were the lady in question, however, I'd be rather disappointed to find out that Mr. 007 was my father, seeing as to how all possibilities of future, ahem, dalliances would immediately be ruled out. But thats just me, of course.
Even as I'm typing this entry, my Winamp is playing 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!' in the background. As is true with all truly good songs, ABBA's hits can never die, and this immortalization of the group's magic is clearly seen in the remake of this movie.
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (a chance to watch this movie) indeed!
Posted at 09:04 pm by IsaacCheah
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My WCG Experience in Midvalley... Tuesday, August 19, 2008
I arrived at the Midvalley Convention Centre after driving laps around the parking lot trying to locate a space to park. Upon arriving, my first thought was, "Where are all the Nuffnang-ers?"
Good thing for signboards.
The Grand Stage
Apparently, I had just missed the Nuffnang team who had made it to the finals for Counterstrike, but lost to the blogger team. Indeed, as I walked around, I couldn't find any sign of the blokes from Nuffnang, blogger or otherwise. I did see some other sights though...
Avid Counterstrike fans grimace as they walk around shooting people... Ash Nair of Malaysian Idol fame was axing away on Guitar Hero at the Samsung Booth... A (as yet) unidentified singer croons to the crowd on the stage*...
Finally, as I made my way to the Samsung booth, I was greeted by the sight of familiar faces. Robb gathered all the bloggers present at the time, and cajoled us into taking the souvenir bags from Samsung, just before the actual prize-giving took place.
Samsung Booth (as can be seen on the sign)
The people who actually duked it out with Ash on Guitar Hero... and walked away with Mp3 players. Surprisingly, there were quite a number of bloggers there. Robb has a glint in his eye...
Now, all of us who took part in the "My Favourite Computer Game of All Time" would have been eagerly waiting to see who would bag the 32" LCD Samsung TV, after the first few prizes were swept by Mr. Gin, Chooi Leang, and Rommel. When the MC and Ash started discussing with each other, however, with Robb grinning in the background, we knew that something was up. After several tense moments, the winner of the TV was announced as..
.......Timothy Tiah himself! Woohoo! This is what a surprised man looks like.
It was The Boss' post on Bubble Bobble that landed him the TV set. With many cheers, we witnessed the good man receive his prize...
...and give it away. In a noble act of chivalry (and also with some due consideration to political correctness), Tim decided that he ought not to keep the prize, and instead, opened another window of opportunity for those bloggers who were present on that day to win the TV.
After a nice meal (sponsored by the good people at Samsung) at Dlish, Boss Stewie called out the initial requirement for the bloggers to win the prize;
"Write about your WCG experience, and take a photo of those blue-haired Samsung girls.."
... which sent a herd of us running up again to pester the long-suffering ladies for a photo.
It was a fun time to be had by all, regardless of whether they won or lost the tournament. I believe the highlight of the day was the informal makan session in Dlish, where everyone finally could put a human face and voice to the Pseudonyms that we bloggers use when we're socializing in the digital world.
Of course, the spaghetti was nice as well. (Marcus had cauliflower, of all things)
Till the next event, cheers!
Posted at 01:54 am by IsaacCheah
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Clorets Amateur Pole-Dancing Competition - Meeting The Finalists! Thursday, August 14, 2008
Yes, you read right. Pole dancing. The good people from Nuffnang had extended a media pass invite for me and a guest to the Clorets Amateur Pole Dancing Media Meet, so, on Thursday, I picked up Jolene, and trundled down to Celebrity Fitness, Bangsar Village. The event was preceded by lunch (thank you, Ms. Lai) at Sakae Sushi, and after the pleasant conversation, we went over to the venue, and lo and behold! There they were, all the finalists for the competition, listening to their final briefing before the show started. Also present were DJ Pietro, and Hannah Tan! Certainly a glitzy event.
The Clorets Buntings
It started off on a humorous note. Jolene and I approached the contestants, and they made their pleasantries (Jolene knows some of them), when I asked if I could have a photo with them. Their response was, "Can! Wait ya!"... and they shimmied up the pole behind me, before I could even blink. I was seriously amazed at the enthusiasm these ladies showed.
Soon, the bevy of ladies went out to prepare for their (2nd) grand entrance, and we sat down to a speech by Cadbury's brand manager, Claire. After a round of explaining the event, we were treated to a short session with the semi-finalists, who spoke a bit on why they were doing this, followed by a video presentation.
Ms. Claire, at the podium...
Looking dainty. Its for the fun! These two pranced up to the pole together. And looked good doing it, too. This is what the view from behind two celebrities looks like. Pietro and Hannah amusingly recounts their experience practicing for their pole dancing stint. In the midst of everything, we snacked on Polo. (not Clorets)
We proceeded to the photo-op, where all the cameras were whipped out instantly, and the bulbs flashed away. I was soon edging my way around cameramen with their high-powered DSLRs, wishing that I had the foresight to get one for myself for times like these. (and I'm sure a lot of guys are wishing they were poles, now)
The group, again. Hannah and Pietro gamely pose for the media. It was also time to meet our fellow bloggers who appeared during the event. Julian Hopkins, a PHD student in Monash! His thesis is based on, well, blogging. I managed to get a shot with DJ Pietro, and Hannah... ...as well as her customized accessories (thats extremely cool)
In the middle of the photo-op, we were called for our Pole Dancing Workshop, and I sheepishly made my way to a pole, with Jolene and the rest of the bloggers taking up positions on their own poles as well.
Suffice to say, I was never made to pole dance. Ever.
Ok, no one in their right minds wants to look at food when there are 15 sizzling-hot pole dancers gyrating away behind. But, there was food. And this proves it. Jolene and Clare! Clare came all the way from Sibu, just for this event. Talk about dedication. Clare and I. More of the dancers. Dancers and I (making a weird face) Andrew is one of the male contestants. Kyeth is a make-up artist from Kuantan. After this stint, she's thinking of pursuing a career as a Pole Dancing Instructor. After seeing her move, I have no doubts that she'll make it. =) The results of our efforts in the workshop? This cool certificate. Me sheepishly receiving the certificate. Putting this in my resume is guaranteed to land me a job, instantly. Me and the awesome instructor, Lola.Where I can't pole dance to save my life, she can do it to save several lives. And she's only been doing it for a year!
I called for a blogger's photo together, and the organizer was kind enough to round up EVERYONE for the photo!
This was before everyone was ready. I managed to get my Compulsory Group Photo.
(although there are better shots out there.. if you see any, do let me know) And also a shot with the lucky pole. Myself, Julian, Jolene, Simon, and Clare.
And, after all the casual chit chat, and drained camera batteries, we finally bid goodbye to everyone, and made our way to the carpark.
A thousand thanks to Nuffnang for the media pass invite, and Clorets, for having us! Its not everyday that a guy can see 15 poles dancers and celebrities on the same day. It was certainly an enlightening event, and looking forward to more of the same in the future! All the best to the 15 finalists in the upcoming finals in Zouk, on September the 5th!
Jolene and I. Thanks for lunch, and the company, of course. =)
For more info, (and photos) please visit the Clorets website.
Posted at 11:32 pm by IsaacCheah
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My Favourite Computer Game of All-Time - From Soon Seng's Point of View Tuesday, August 12, 2008
It all began when I first brought home the 2-piece pirated borrowed cd from a friend, and popped it into my Pentium 75, to hear the marching sounds of Red Alert waft from 16 bit speakers. I was instantly hooked. Granted, it took years to load a single map, and I could have boiled several cups of coffee before even starting to play, but it was all worth it.
I can put my tanks anywhere.
It was every boy's (and girls with a fetish for heavy metal) dream come true. Plenty of explosions, heavy equipment, rock music, and a sexy lady in the form of Tanya who ran around planting bombs and saying things like "Ka-Ching!".
Pretty soon, however, I began to grow bored of watching miniature tanks roll around on a black map which slowly uncovered itself, and the phrase "Unit ready!" started to set my teeth on edge. After having completed Red Alert twice, I managed to purloin borrow yet another cd, and this time, it was Diablo. Yes, the first Diablo, which managed to chill my blood everytime I heard the eerie music and watch gruesome bodies rise up in churches, attempting to reduce my globe of red health to zero.
Its kinda creepy in the dark.
Nonetheless, the running around and hacking began to grow wearisome. I had yet to find 'The' game, which could keep me coming back for more. I tried my hand at Diablo II, and lo and behold! I was hooked...again. I slept at night, dreaming of various things to transmute, Unique Items I could unearth, and various weapons to buy (of course there were also the scantily clad elf maidens running around, but thats a different matter altogether)
(Highly pixelated) Eye Candy I can dream my items to death.
Still, something was lacking. I've always wanted to be part of the experience, to customize the settings, leaving my mark in the game, and thus far, all those mentioned earlier lacked that sense of involvement. I quested far and wide, and only managed to spoil my pirated borrowed cds through overuse.
Until I found Counterstrike.
It was like finding gold. My first glimpse of the mod was when I was blasting aliens in Half-Life, and when I shot my first kill in the head, it was pure ecstasy. (ok, mp_friendlyfire was on, and it was my own teammate, but still...) And, even better, I realized that, due to the game engine, I could pretty much do anything I wanted! I could press the (~) key, and key in all kinds of commands, so as to be able to do anything from carrying the gun in my left hand to jumping like Superman. I could spraypaint my own stuff on the wall, and hide in clouds of smoke while everyone was busy knifing each other.
Yes, even Nuffnang-ers can leave their mark!*
Suffice to say, despite the fact that I was virtually useless at the game, Counterstrike became an integral part of my life.
I suddenly had less real friends.
In a nutshell, Counterstrike managed to beat Diablo II to come in as my Favourite Computer Game of All Time, a title which will remain indefinitely undisputed.
Diablostrike/Counterblo II
Or until they amalgamate Diablo II and Counterstrike, of course.
*For the Nuffnang-ers, feel free to download the Nuffnang Spraypaint Logo (click here to download), and use it in the tournament! Installation instructions are as follows.
1. Copy Nuffnang.bmp into "SIERRA\Half-Life\logos".
2. Start Counterstrike, select Customize, and choose the Nuffnang logo as your spraypaint image.
3. Enjoy!
Posted at 09:03 pm by IsaacCheah
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