Skimmin’ Right Along

Minimum amount of cloth? Check. Rain? Check. Oh right.

Damn… I’m really going through these movies! I just watched Step Up 2 with the pipes yesterday. Absolutely awesome movie. Let’s take a quick recap. Everyone remember the 1st Step Up? Good.

The 2 main lead characters had obviously no chemistry at all. They both looked and danced as though they were forced to dance with a very ugly aunt during a wedding that they never wanted to attend in the 1st place. The story was so-so and overall, the dances were far from the level that You Got Served had set for all other dance movies.

Now, this movie, Step Up 2: The Streets… is the real deal, holmes. The lead chick, Briana Evigan is TIGHT.

Choiy.
The whole pak-ghage.
Hello legs, ass, tits and face~

I first saw her on the poster and thought the lead actress was a Latino chick. That would’ve been good as well but though Briana was a white chick, she still has that kick-ass body. Only flaw was the infamous “pancake butt” that Dave Chapelle keeps insisting that white women are plagued with.

The other characters were basically just there for the dance crew purposes but nevertheless nothing short of amazing. I was seriously wondering one part, though. Chase Collins, the lead male of the film, at one point points out all the crew members that might have a use for them. These people all have different skills of dance and the such but in the end, I felt they were all conformed to one style.

The movie just makes you wanna dance, man. The songs are all really thumping with beats and everything. Whatever that you might expect from a dance movie’s right there. While I was there in the cinema, I swear I saw some people trying hard not to bop and bounce along to the beat. Hahaha… I was definitely one of those people.

Anyways, enough trash talk. Watch the movie for the dancing, not the storyline. It’s nearly non-existent and you shouldn’t bother looking for one. You did buy those tickets to see good dancing, innit? And don’t give me that value for money bullshit. You damn well know what this’s about.

Rating from ‘Ol Spiky: 4/5

I would’ve given it a 5 if it was a hot Latino chick with more junk in the trunk leading the pack but instead they chose a hot white chick that can dance and actually has chemistry (or just has plain good acting skills) with the male lead. Watch this movie. Well worth the cash.

Celebrity Spotting

Unfortunately it wasn’t someone I’d shake hands with. I bet you guys heard that those faggoty Budak Belakang Jalan are coming right? Short one member but still kicking it, right? Well, whatever it is, while I was at Pyramid walking with Rushdi and Taqi, we saw that uh, A.J fella. The dude with the moustache. Alright, the dude with the whole set of facial hair and tattoos that can have him confused with an actual rock star.

Yeah, I think we saw A.J. Huge fella. Buff and everything. His girlfriend. Fuck… Like Taqi puts it, he’d rather fight A.J’s bodyguard and A.J ‘cause the girlfriend was freaking ass scary. I would agree as well. She'd probably rip out our arms and beat us to death with them.

I seriously wanted to kick him down the bloody stairs. Too bad his bodyguard was blocking the way. Shit. Ah well.

Fuck. Classes start so damn late. 3.30 only start! Peace out y’all.

Through The Eyes of Many

A plot to assasinate the President of the USA. Nuff' said

I’ve got to say that this is another movie that TRIES to be groundbreaking. Whether it proved to be or not, that’s totally entitled to the viewer’s personal opinion. Majority of the first half of the movie is told in a certain time frame, from 12 noon to 12 something, from 8 different perspectives. Throughout that 1st half, you’d probably be groaning nearing the end of it because of looking at recurring incidents over and over again. I know the audience that I was with wasn’t all that pleased when they saw the clock on the screen rewind itself.

The purpose of the rewinding of time to show different perspectives is to show the viewers different puzzle pieces of the tragedy that had unfolded in Salamanca, Spain, where the movie takes place. Eventually we’ll find out the roles these characters play in due time and the amount of lead they get to pump or get pumped with later on.

Characters were quite stereotypical but not to the point we’d want to throw our caramel popcorn at. The usual car chases, deceit, lies and guns are used, nothing special there. Seriously, I still can’t believe Dennis Quaid still has enough in him to do such high octane movies. Should’ve left the action to Matthew Fox, man. Yeah, Doc Shepard’s in this one. He still doesn’t get the top spot in the movie, even if he did get stabbed in Smokin’ Aces.

That was a good movie, Smokin’ Aces. Another movie showing the serious action hero in funnyman Ryan Reynolds. Anyways, this movie is worth a watch. The ending might seem a bit zha dou, but the storyline is solid.

Rating from ‘Ol Spiky: 3.75/5

Catch it if you got dough and have nothing better to do.

Starting Off On The Right Foot

Uni started yesterday and I must say that it’s meeting up to my expectations: Terrible. With a capital T at that. Somehow that it bypassed my head that practical classes and tutes don’t start until the 2nd week. So I went early for class and got disappointed for wasting my time in uni of all places.

Luckily I and Kang Wei bumped into Veri and Xiao Xuan at the orange coffeeshop after we wandered and scoured the foyer and cafeteria for familiar faces to dine with. Had a nice chat and all that and went to attend our fist ITP class. Our lecturer seems to be a nice guy. Possibly middle-aged, definitely balding and most likely that his marker pen leans a bit to the left, if you know what I’m saying. We were in grief when most of the class seemed devoid of any eye candy but the Indonesian Goddess (allow me this exaggeration as there were nothing but hags in the room) walked in and sat down in the front desk.

Praises to God were given like Armageddon was averted by divine intervention. The class was cut short since Mr. Jason Cheah had only a few things to go through and events to tell us straightaway.

Grand start, I suppose, by ignoring countless flaws in the day.

Alrighty then. Probably gonna catch Step Up 2 today after class. Peace out y’all.

Just Call Me…

Uncle Yoong! This isn’t the 1st time I’m an uncle, but hey, this time the little kid’s from a rather close relative. Not some stranger from the other go-forsaken corner of the world.

The proud parents are Kok Kin Hang and Doreen Chan. Kin Hang’s my cousin la. He’s like, 5-10 odd years older than me. Kid at heart and a real quirky joker. Some of my dad’s traits must’ve rubbed offa him ‘cause they were quite close in the day. I can’t say much about the missus, though. Really quiet lady.

Anyways, the kid’s just a few weeks old. She was born a few weeks back. 3 weeks at most. She’s so small and cute!

Very wrong words from a guy like me, I assure you.

I dunno if they were aware it or not la, since the little girl’s dad is quite the diehard anime fan, they named her Ching Yee. Those who grew up watching or reading that robot cat that dominated our TVs and comic book cases would probably be familiar with the name. Ching Yee was the chink name for the lead female in the Doraemon series – Sizuka, Nobita’s crush.

I remember those few days leading up to her birth. Everyone across the countr- Alright, I’m exaggerating. Bear with me. Everyone between KL to Ipoh was waiting with bated breath for the new addition to the family. So ‘round early February, before CNY, Doreen gave birth to a healthy baby girl. God knows the grandparents or the new parents gave her the name.

Either way, the name was announced and the folks all over KL and Ipoh were on the phones 24/7. I overheard my grandma saying the name aloud and then we told her it was the chink name for Sizuka. So we instantly decided to give her a nice li’l Doraemon doll. Took me quite a while to scour Ipoh for one. Seems like the ‘ol cat was getting out of vogue, making way for sickening Hello Kitty dolls and bloody Strawberry Shortcake dolls.

Eventually we went to their place to see the new addition to the family. She was taking an afternoon nap in the hall. We were talking in hushed voices until she eventually woke up screaming a bit. Seems that she’s quite the tantrum princess. Heh heh heh… Kids.

Here’s how she looks like. Can’t wait for her to grow up and see if she resembles her mum or dad!

Dangnabbit! Forgot to switch the flash off



Cute li'l baby, innit?



And of course, the proud father



Dubbed Ching Yee's guardian by the old folks.

Cute li’l thing, innit? This also another one of those reminders that life is actually a beautiful thing and the universe is in balance. Light and dark, good and bad, Jedi and Sith, porn and soppy romantic comedies, God of War and Barbie’s Horse Riding Adventures, and of course, life and death.

Alright, that’s enough ranting for now. School starts tomorrow and I’m half-ass-ed-ly waiting for it. Peace out y’all.

The Missing Pages of This Chapter

Some people view life as an open book. Chapters often depicting a phase or an incident which has changed their lives or altered their perspective of things. Once again, a chapter has closed as the holidays are fast approaching an end. I never knew that those 3 months that I spent living with such elation and freedom have come to an end. I was one to complain about the holidays in the past for I was full of energy, wanting more fun out of college life.

Unfortunately, uni life has not proven all that fun. The people there aren't exactly all that I hoped them to be and the things that need be learnt were far from a walk in the park. It also didn't help to have a seperate groups of friends. One that you spend time with while in school and the other while at home. Whatever it is, there is always a gem in the sand somewhere or a silver lining in every dark cloud. The experience was not as um, liberating as CIMP but still, there were some good times.

This chapter will undoubtly be missing a few pages as life won't be as exciting in uni when so much friends and acquaintances are leaving for Aussieland or transfering over to Monash. Whatever may come this way will come and I hope for the best outcome.

I would like to bid all those heading to or already in Aussieland a fond farewell and good luck in their academic pursuits. You guys take care now and have a good time

Peace out y'all

P.S: Salmon Waves all the way baby!

Hold Devil's Pot of Tea

It's just better that I stop yapping right about now and show this to you.



Nuff' said. If you recognize the tune, you'd probably be laughing whenever you play that game again. Peace out y'all.

Best CNY. Period - Part II

Now that most of CNY’s events have passed by, me and the guys pretty much had loads of time to chill on the 8th. Unfortunately, it was the day that they went back as well. They booked the 5.30 bus so we had quite some time to chill. They had to check outta YMCA by noon so I picked them up around that time and brought them over to my place.

Seeing as it was a Friday as well, I sent them for juma prayers as well. It was almost two by the time they had done so we kinda rushed lunch. I brought them to Maria’s, a semi-fancy/posh restaurant around the Greentown area. Food there was expensive but well worth the price.

Altaf having his Traditional Salad

I already ate lunch at home so only these guys ate. Some stuff was unavailable on the menu, perhaps because the chefs were still on holiday. Bill amounted up to a mere RM 100 for quite a huge meal. Each person ‘cept me ordered a main dish, a drink and a side dish. I’d say it’d be pretty alright, even for KL standards, no?

Since not much time was left, we had to only choose 1 outta the 2 locations that I had planned to go visit with them. It was either the Gunung Lang Recreation Park, which was nearby my house or a temple (with one kick-ass garden) housing one huge Goddess of Mercy statue. We decided Gunung Lang as they saw some pictures of the place at Polo Ground the previous day. It seems really gorgeous. Oddly enough, I’ve never been there nor realize that they had such a huge lake there.

When we arrived, there was a huge crowd. Turns out the place is a lot more famous than I thought. Either way, it wasn’t tough to get ferry tickets to the other side of the park. We waited around 15 minutes and finally went to the other side. Everything around the lake was just so natural and well-preserved you wouldn’t even notice this place had people bustling in and out to build the place before this.

Approaching the curve of the lake



The lake on the first side

Once we were on the other side, the view, landscaping and décor was just way too hard to resist not snapping a photo of. At that time I realized I’ve been there before, but not by ferry. 2-3 years ago, me and some friends had biked around the area. Since that area was still under development, we just roamed the whole place. We finally found a cave leading to this side of the lake. Evidently, at that time, we weren’t supposed to be there as the workers were just shocked to find that someone had come to this side of the lake unaware that there was a cave somewhere in the rear of the area. Heh heh heh…

Surrounded by hills and mountains



Crude stone walkway



Obviously enjoying themselves (and the new phone as well)



Me and Taqi at one of the observation towers



Taqi at the top, me in the middle and Altaf at the last floor

It was just a pleasant walk around the park, really. Although there were same animal and bird cages, all of them were empty. Maybe it costs too much to handle those animals. By the looks of it, it probably housed some exotic tropical birds and perhaps some deer, rabbits or some moderately sized tame animal.

We kind of overstayed our visit and rushed to take the return ferry back, which was quite free. Had to put the pedal to the metal so these guys wouldn’t miss their bus. However, when we reached there, we had to wait at least 15 minutes past departure time until the driver came to the counter to tell the receptionist to announce that the bus was about to leave.

I escorted them over to the terminal, said my goodbyes and left for home. It’s only a matter days before I see them again. Next Thursday, actually. And apparently that I’m getting a new kurta! Hahahaha…

You guys take care now. Peace out y’all.

Best CNY. Period - Detour

After the annual buffet dinner, once we were all fed and watered, Altaf had a slight disagreement with the food and I had to fetch these guys back. Either way, we were about to leave anyways as most of the guests were leaving. Oh right… something happened when one family was leaving. A particular one that I really don’t fancy. We all have those relatives, don’t we? One bunch that seem to stick out like a sore thumb. I’m trying to make this sound a bit more, uh, extreme, but this’ll suffice. You can relate, can’t you?

Lemme see… I’m related to them through my grandfather. That family consists of the descendants of my grandfather’s (Dad’s side) sister. On the outside, they seem like a middle-class family which works hard to maintain that status but below that… sheesh, it’s the kind of stuff that makes Bold and the Beautiful, Desperate Housewives and countless TVB serials tick.

Alright, so they were saying their goodbyes to my grandma, she being the host of the whole shindig. The family consists of my grandaunt, of course, and her kids, all grown up and have kids of their own. Her grandkids are pretty much my age. Most of them are quiet and reserved and quite well off. Studying, still in school and so on. There’s one of them, which dropped outta school. Now, this guy… hoo boy… There’s nothing I *dislike* (loathe and despise seem too strong a word at this moment) more than those rainbow-haired, Japanese/Korean wannabe, floor-sweeping-pants wearing buggers. That’s right. I have a lala cousin. Oh, the shame of it all. Now I know how it feels to have a skeleton in my closet.

Malays have their Mat Rempits and Indians have their rapper-wannabes. A village surrounded with banana trees and the main produce being coconut oil does NOT count as “da hood”, lads. Lastly, the Chinese have the lala zhais. I wonder if the other races are as shamed of their “eccentric sub-community”. I’m trying to be polite here, dammit. This guy didn’t do the usual lala thing and went to sell mobile phones or pirated DVDs. He went to become a protégé of an electrician, apparently. So, of course, my grandma jokingly asked him to come repair our stuff for free when the time is right. Alright, I wasn’t really there when the conversation went down, I just heard my mum and grandma talking about this the next morning.

Alright, here’s the kicker. Some part of the conversation, he called my mum and my grandma “leng lui”s. Chinks that are reading this are probably starting to vomit now or laugh uncontrollably. I mean, who the hell, in their right mind, calls their relatives (one being close to 50 and the other close to 70), beautiful girls?!

Seriously.

I swear that the hair dye that these lala people use seep into their brain causing retardation, further amplifying the damage that they were born with.

I’ll just leave it at that. Part II will come real soon, I promise. Peace out y’all.

Best CNY. Period - Part I

Alrighty then... Now that I've got majority of the pictures, I can start this thing. Let's see.. A little back story first of all. Due to bad planning, bad timing and basically, bad luck, these guys didn't manage to get bus tickets to Ipoh. Hence, the horror stories that my grandma and mother were telling me weeks prior to this (regarding CNY bus tickets) were true.

The people that I invited were more than sufficient to flood the whole Casuarina private room which we got at the last minute, due to the bumbling incompetence of their staff. I expected just Shakir, Piumi, Rushdi, Taqi and Saad to come but in the end, it was a bit altered. Saad caught some virus ‘cause he drank TAP WATER in Indahvilla. The smart lad, he is. So, he went back to Pakistan for treatment. It seems that he’s pretty much okay now. Altaf was a last minute addition although I did want him to come but I expected him to be back late February. Turns out he landed on the 5th! Excellent…

The 6th came along, and being the eve of Chinese New Year, people were rushing back to their hometowns to have the compulsory reunion dinner. Man… I’m telling you, Ipoh had become KL and KL had become Ipoh. The traffic here was horrendous. You look left and right from your car and you can see number plates starting with the letters W, B, J and P all over the place. It’s like everyone converges in on the state in between!

In the end, the plan was to split up. Rushdi, Taqi and Altaf were to come to Ipoh via a friend of Rushdi’s, Hafiz. They were to pay RM 200 for the trip, toll included, of course. It seems that Hafiz drove them here in a van. I picked them up and then took them around Ipoh a bit and brought them to their “hotel”. Why the bunny ears, you say? Here’s why.

They staying at the Y-M-C-A...

It doesn’t count as a hotel. All the non-seedy and convenient places are packed with chinks coming back to visit families. Oddly enough, YMCA was quite empty. These guys took it to their advantage as soon as they entered the room and started a faux sex scene loud enough to wake up the dead.

The first day was pretty much uneventful. I took them to the bus station to get their bus tickets and later brought them to have a late lunch at the Old Town Kopitiam behind Jusco. We went to Tesco later because Altaf supposedly needed a brighter top for the CNY annual buffet the next day. We spared no expense in poking fun at him, asking him to try on some really girly clothes. We poked fun from baldness to chest hair accessories. Yeah, I didn’t mistype that. Chest hair accessories.

I had to go home soon so I dropped them at their place and told them to go have dinner at a nearby mamak. Lazy buggers decided to order McDonalds anyways. I sent off a few dozen SMS-es wishing people and in the morning I received 20-odd replies. Aw, you nice people. Amongst the 20-odd messages was bad news. It seems that the change in weather was too much for them SL-ians. Piumi fell sick and of course, it would be wrong for Shakir to leave her like that and Rikaz of course took this opportunity to skip the trip altogether. Bastard.

Sooo… It was CNY with just 3 of these guys and it was tight! I dropped by after lunch, thinking they were all awake and ready to go. Well, awake, yes, ready, no.

Rushdi half-awake



Taqi trying to shove the phone away

You gotta say, the view is pretty amazing from their place.

The Riverside Go-Kart track



Forgot the name of the cave...

I think Rikaz intentionally poisoned Piumi ‘cause he didn’t get to come to Ipoh HIS way. Now, Rikaz isn’t that petty, is he? Heh heh heh… I took them to my place to uh, what’s the term again… “pai lin”, was it? Since tonight was the annual buffet thing, I took them for a light lunch. Most restaurants were closed as this was the 1st day of the lunar new year. So, I stopped by this Malay joint called “Laksamana Cheng Ho”. Told them how the chinks of old were castrated by the emperor because he feared the male subordinates would fiddle with his countless wives, mistresses and concubines. Not the best lunch story, that’s for sure.

We went to the Polo Ground after lunch. The British supposedly played polo on those grounds while they were still around in the past. We couldn’t resist doing some nutty things as we were there.

Altaf and Taqi enjoying the view



Me enjoying the view



Havin' a swinging good time

Time was running a tad short so I sent these guys back to YMCA to get ready for the buffet dinner. I didn’t have much time to take pictures while we were there but these guys were fooling around in their room and caught this.

Pretty much the only evidence of them attending the buffet

The turnout for my table was disappointing but nevertheless it was still jovial. The guests that were missing were Jin Ken, Min Jer, Shakir, Piumi and Rikaz, of course. The last three had pretty much legit reasons but the 1st two… I don’t wanna say anything but it seems that the lack of transport seems like an extremely lame excuse. Eugene came an hour late but that’s his usual style.

I didn’t manage to grab any pictures but this was definitely the best annual buffet by far as there was this band that came over and did songs that we requested. They sang old songs. The melodious kinds that become the staple of such bands.

Part II will be mostly photos of what happened the next day. So, a Happy Chinese New Year once again and peace out y’all.

Best CNY. Period - Prologue

Although there were a few missing guests for the annual CNY dinner, it was still a blast. The days before that were absolutely fantastic as well as Rushdi, Taqi and Altaf dropped by Ipoh to join in the festivities. I'll start blogging about it real soon, as soon as these guys find the time to upload the photos they took during their stay here. I think I've learnt a lot more regarding Ipoh in those 3 days than I ever have in these 19 years that I’ve lived here.

I hope that all of you had a swell Chinese New Year. You guys take care now. Peace out y’all.

Many Happy Cliched Greetings

Yes, yes, it's that time of the year again when whatever red and bright's in vogue again, be it undergarments or face masks. The time of year when money is what drives us to suck in our gut and actually be SOCIALBLE to relatives, be they foul or not. Thus, I bid all readers of this blog, a very Happy Chinese New Year! May your ang pows be bursting at the seams with dough, your clothes bursting at the seams with those god-damn-delicious-cookies and may all your endevours, be it for world domination or world peace be successful Just remember to cash in my ass when you reach the top!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

God, that was cliched. Peace out y'all!

Remembering The Forgotten

Early this morning I skimmed through everyone's blogs to check up on what they've been up to and stuff like that. Most of the recent posts I have read until I stopped by one of them and read the latest one. The post was mostly about the passing of an old friend and as I read further on, a growing sense of remorse grew in me. I could understand what he was feeling but not to that extent, for the friend that was taken away from me in a similar fashion wasn’t that close and I had only known him for 4 months tops. It was… a kind of remote sense of grief. It felt detached from me, like I could feel it, but it wasn’t for the person I was reading about. It reminded me of how painful it was at that time. Even when there were friends there, comforting each other, the grief that I had felt… the unfairness of it all, the spontaneity of it all filled my very being.

It was just painful. So so painful.

The post was another stark reminder, a reminder that screamed in your face through a friggin’ bullhorn while thrusting bright neon lights into your face. A reminder of how fragile life can be. How it can be taken all away in less than a snap of a finger. I wouldn’t be bragging when I say that I am an all too familiar spectator of Death’s whims. I know people have gone through worse but still, there are things that some people need not go through.

I watched my father die as the nurses and doctors tried to resuscitate him. He had lived 5 years plus with only one lung. To hell with Maximus from Gladiator. If there was only one warrior in the world, that would be my dad. Prove me wrong by going through chemotherapy and live on with a single lung and coughing blood everyday.

I was there at the car crash scene. Blood, side skirts and shattered glass all over the tar road. A tree that looked as though it was punched in numerous times. Images that are burnt into your skull that will last a lifetime.

Although I have said that I would love to grin into the face of Death any day, it seems to be able to remind me from time to time of his prowess. Some or most of you may be still green, scoffing at this post, calling it emo. One day, you will realize the fragility of life while you’re cradling yourself, reeling from the death of a loved one or a close friend.

Peace out y’all.