The terror continues...

Not much of an update, but:




Hur hur hur... :)

Beef is back!

Excellent news, this.

You may not have known this but - for some years, now - Bovril has been beef-free.

Yes, that fantasticly sticky and tasty beef extract was reformulated some time in 2004 to cater to the growing needs of people who, for some reason or other, didn't want beef in their Bovril.

For the past two years, Bovril has been a yeast-extract; just like that other foul tasting savoury paste (that would be Marmite). So yes, the glorious Bovril was reduced to a shadow of its former self. A poor man's Marmite. A beef-flavoured food product for vegeterians.

But personally, I thought it tasted the same - never knew the beef was taken away until someone pointed it out.

Similarly, I didn't know that the Bovril guys are putting back beef into the black stuff until Kit pointed it out. And he had pointed this out simply because I've become addicted to Bovril this past couple of weeks, which - I believe - spurred him to do a bit of research.

Bovril: as good as gold

Did you know that Bovril was devised as a weapon by the French to fight the Germans during some war in the 19th century? Neither did I.

So I guess the point I'm trying to say is, umm... it's good to have beef back in Bovril.

Yes, it is.

Pool: two thumbs up!

It's official - pool is the coolest sport in the world. After all, it's the only game that allows you to mimic a sniper hunting down some hapless balls on a velvet table. It transforms even the most awkward, clumsy, fat bastard into a real man.

Me shooting some pool. Very cool, no?

You see? Just by holding a cue up to your chin, you too can instantly transform into a suave something or other.

This is Aloy. He thinks he is cool. Yes, he does.

Of course, it's even better if you're dressed like a waiter - it makes you look even more professional. And a lot cooler too. Observe:

This is Hanif. Yes, he's cool too. Really.

And it's even more more better if you try some trick shots. Doesn't matter if it works or not - as long as you look cool, you will be cool. For example:

This is an attempted screw ball. It is cool.

But it is not enough that it's cool. We must show appreciation for this. And because of this, I give pool two thumbs up (my highest award, given to fine examples of being cool).

Aloy bending over at table. This is cool. Hence, we give it two thumbs up.


Two thumbs up for Hanif too, because he is very cool.

Aloy racking some balls. This is cool. So we give two thumbs up.

The best part is, the coolness you obtain from playing pool carries on to the rest of your life. You become coolness itself.

Falling asleep later at the mamak. But it's also cool, so we give it two thumbs up also.


On the right, we have the photographer who naively thought that she managed to escape the whole night without having her picture taken.


TWO THUMBS UP!!!

Ok, that's enough cheese for now. Back to work!!!

Awesome Thai beer ads

Got wind of this ad from Elaine (thanks!) Had me in stitches for quite a while.

Sliding tofu sellers...

In an rather refreshing turn of events, I ended up at a race track last night, watching some people whose cars seemed to be facing the wrong direction whenever they entered a corner:

"Look! It's that guy from Initial D!!!"

The starting grid. It's a grid. Cars start on it. Yes, they do.

Yup, it was a drifting event. Organised by Angle D5, it's a Saturday night event held at the PLUS speedway near the USJ toll plaza. We discovered it by accident, though - it was near Warren's house and we can hear the noise at the track from there. So, we decided to have a look.

That's me

Some old Toyota hatchback with a helluva good drifter behind the wheel...

What struck me about the event was the variety in the types of cars used - there were both brand new cars as well as crummy old 1970s Japanese sedans (and most of the better drifters seem to prefer the latter). The audience was pretty diverse too, with Malays, Chinese and Indians freely mixing together, both youngsters and even entire families with baby prams and stuff...

A Skyline R33 - presumably, the owner is affluent enough to risk pranging it.

"Oi! Why got traffic jam???"

An old-ish Skyline R32. Looks completely shagged

We spent about 2 hours looking at these cars go round and round the track, laying about a few tonnes of rubber into it. It seemed fairly well-organised too - with bilingual deejays, track marshalls, ambulances on standby and pretty girls with ultra-tight tops prancing around the main entrance.

Of course, after you pay the RM5 entrance fee, you'll walk in only to find that there aren't anymore big-breasted women inside (apart from some visitors, of course). Darn.

A Nissan Skyline R32 and a Nissan 180SX - crummy old cars, but excellent for drifting!

A participant from Singapore. Can't wait to see his tow-truck bill...

And there you have it. Apparently, they've got another event on Merdeka eve, which - coincidentally - is exactly a year since I've started blogging. I think I'll be there... ^_^

Silly Microsoft Word... :)

One of my cranky old lecturers in university once ranted about how Microsoft is trying to change the way we speak English, by enforcing its grammatical rules on our documents through spell-checkers, autocorrect tools and other functions spawned by Satan himself.

Now, I think I believe him - Microsoft doesn't seem to know proper English either. Please click on the following screenshots for a closer look:


In this screenshot, it tells me that the word "bulletproof" is wrong (underlined in red). Rather, it should be written as "bullet-proof". Fine, I make the changes suggested by the all-knowing word processor.

But then, I get this:



Now it tells me that the word "bullet-proof" is grammatically wrong (underlined in green), and I should write it as "bulletproof" instead.


Classic.

Belum Temenggor National Park

Holy Cow...


Didn't realise how busy I've been - haven't updated this blog for over half a month! And to make matters worse, I've not even finished uploading all my Japan trip photos and I've already gone on another two.

This is the first one.

It was a trip organised by Sony Malaysia, Click! magazine, the Malaysia Nature Society and the education ministry. I won't go into details, but let's just say it's a rare opportunity.

Temengggor Lake

Temenggor Lake is an artificial lake created after the Temenggor dam was erected in the late 1970's, flooding the area with water from various rivers in Perak. This resulted in a huge lake that's over 100km square, over a hundred tiny 'new' islands, the destruction of countless flora (such as the raffelsia) and the displacement of people and animals.

An ex-tree poking out of the water.

The good news, though, is that the whole area is now a protected forest reserve. Which is good because there are a countless number of animal and plant species - some of which are native only to Temenggor forest. Such as one particular species of Malayan tiger, of which the exact name has eluded me.

There are an estimated 600 tigers left in peninsular Malaysia, compared to over 3,000 in the 1950s. With conservation efforts in place, it is hoped that the Malayan Tiger population will grow.

Me and Calvin Goh directly above the former Kampung Temenggor. (Pic courtesy of Mr. Allan from Click!)

The local guides claim that you can take a dive into the lake and see the old buildings - mosques, houses and schools - of Temenggor village, one of the villages and settlements that were flooded by the lake.

Of particular interest are the Orang Asli (natives) in the area, who had to adapt to island life all of the sudden.

Me at a Temiang Orang Asli settlement

The Orang Asli here are of the Temiang race. I don't know much about them, other than the fact that they didn't seem very pleased to see us - mostly because we forgot to bring gifts.

It's not that they're materialistic or anything - rather, it's a custom to bring gifts when visiting someone. So yes, we were being rather rude, which prompted some people in the group to sacrifice boxes of cigarettes, sweets and some money.

Middle-aged orang asli woman

The Orang Asli have really beautiful facial features, even with age.

Tough-looking hunter taking a break from polishing his blowpipe. Ok... that sounds wrong

If this dude looks strong, it's because he is. He claims to habitually hunt all manner of wildlife for food and he can hit a target over 240 feet away with his blowpipe. So no, he's not the sort of person you'd want to piss off. Ever.

The wall of an orang asli house. It's made of something.

View of the islands from the lake. That's haze, by the way...


The trip to the settlement was part of a tour of the lake, which offered a fantastic view. Malaysia is truly one of the most beautiful countries in the world - it's a shame most of us don't bother looking.


Pulau Pendidikan - a fairly long drop if you miss a step. The living quarters are at the top of this cliff.


We stayed at one of the many islands - Pulau Pendidikan. It's basically a facility made by the government to conduct talks and to educate the public on wildlife conservation. Nothing much to shout about, although the cook is fantastic - he makes some of the best grilled fish and mutton I've ever tasted!

Sunset at the jetty

The view here is fantastic, although the sunset on the day before was even better - looking just like the rising sun of Japan. Problem is, I missed it - walked down to the jetty without my camera. It would've taken 5 minutes to hike up the hill again, retrieve my camera and get back down, and the sunset would've been over by then. At least I saw it with my own eyes, which is the whole point, really... :)

Jungle ants/termites carrying bits of wood/stones to some other location. No, I haven't got a clue what they're doing.

While Temenggor is literally packed with all manner of exotic wildlife, Pulau Pendidikan itself is relatively fauna free. It's a small island, so there's no way an elephant or tiger would survive, although there are flying foxes, gibbons and ants.

Dead photographers: buoyant

Generally, I had a great time - thanks to the fantastic company of the Click! guys. It's always nice to spend some time with like-minded people who share a common hobby.

For more information about Belum Temenggor:

Link to Belum Tours

This is Japan... again (Part 2)

Woke up really early one morning to go to Tsukiji fish market. Now, this was a rather big thing for me because I've been thwarted on the past couple of attempts to get there. The first time, it was raining. And on the second time, it was ALSO raining AND I didn't have enough sleep.

Anyway, I finally made it!

Tsukiji fish market, from the outside.

If you're wondering what all the excitement's about, Tsukiji fish market is one of the biggest in the world, with deep-sea trawlers coming in as early as 3am. By 5am, it's jam packed with housewifes and restaurant owners bidding on fresh tuna and other seafood.


Unfortunately, I only got there about 6:30am. By then, it was a lot calmer.

A little quiet...

The sheer variety and amount of seafood here is fantastic. But the stars of the show are the huge frozen tuna, unloaded fresh from the trawlers. I always knew that tuna were big, but I never expected them to be dolphin sized.

HUGE!

Of course, the REAL reason why I was at Tsukiji was because it had the freshest sushi in the whole of Tokyo. And it was about time for breakfast. My travel book recommended this place called Sushi Dai.

That's it - the one with the green sign and a queue of people

I had to wait about 20 minutes to get in. It's a really small restaurant - only enough room for about 12 people or so. However, it was definitely worth the wait :)

Tiny...


They've got a relatively small menu. I chose the "middle sized" set, which was awesome.

The dude who made my breakfast!

I'm lost for words in describing how fantastic the sushi was. It was SOOOO fresh, I could probably eat a bucket of it and not be sick. The way the fresh tuna and other strange looking squirmy things tantalise your tastebuds is priceless.

Well, actuall it costs 3000yen (approx. RM90), but it's worth every bloody yen. Mmmm...

Maybe I'll post some more sushi pics later... ^_^

This is Japan... again

Been back for about a week now but have been too busy at work to write anything.

Basically, Tokyo was a blast. Not that a great deal happened but it was nice being able to wander around and do whatever I wanted without worrying too much about time.

I stayed at this wonderful ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) called Ryokan Shigetsu, located at the quaint district of Asakusa in Tokyo. The rooms cost only about 250 Ringgit a night (single room) with an attached bath, nice tatami mat floors and a fluffy futon to sleep on. I forgot to take pictures of the outside but this is what my room looked like:



The ryokan even has a public bath with a nice view of the nearby pagoda (see the website!!!). Unfortunately, the water was WAAAAAY too hot - just five seconds in it and I was starting to doubt my ability to procreate after.

Considering that it was the middle of summer (temperatures reaching 32 degrees Celsius, with high humidity), it was a little pointless to have a boiling hot bath anyway.

There are actually two public bathrooms - a bigger one with huge windows that give you a view of the city (the baths are on the 6th floor) and a small one with only a small slit near the ceiling.

But what's rather dodgy is that people in the neighbouring tall buildings can actually look right into the larger bathroom at night.

Which is why the Ryokan swaps the male and female baths, so that the girls get the bigger bath in the morning (with a nice view) while they get the smaller, more private one at night.

The problem, of course, was that when I walked into the big bathroom one morning (which had been a 'male' one the night before), I hadn't realised that they swapped the male/female signs at the doors (wasn't wearing my glasses). Thank God no women decided to have early morning baths that morning... -_-" (free show!)

I highly recommend this Ryokan, especially for the whole Japaneseness of it. It's also really convenient, being only a 3 minute walk from the Asakusa Tokyo Metro station.

They also serve darn good breakfast in the morning, although you have to order it the night before (it's about 30 Ringgit). The other problem is that all the rooms are cleaned between 10am and 3pm, which means that you have to vacate your room.

The ryokan is located right next to the Asakusa Kannon Temple and the shopping district.

This is the famous giant lantern at the entrance to the shopping district. It's normally crowded but I took this shot at 5:30am.



The shopping district itself is full of stores selling souvenirs, food and traditional Japanese stuff like fans, kimonos, tea sets, swords, etc. It also stretches across into the neighbourhood, with a huge collection of restaurants and other souvenir shops. Oddly enough, I ended up eating at McDonalds here pretty often (it's cheaper than most restaurants here).

Asakusa is perhaps the closest link to olden Tokyo, with old aunties (and the occasional young woman) trotting around in their latest summer kimonos.


Compared to the rest of Tokyo, Asakusa is a relatively nice, quiet place. Almost like a small town. This photo's actually been altered - the sky is untouched, but i increased the brightness of the foreground for a better look.

During my stay, I had to pay a visit to the neighbourhood coin laundry (the Ryokan didn't offer such a service). Summer was so hot that I had gone through all of my shirts halfway through the trip (I sweat. A lot). Had the opportunity to mingle with some old uncles and aunties, which was great fun. Really.


In fact, the only problem with Asakusa is that everything closes so darn early. By 7pm, half of the stores in the shopping district have closed. By 9pm, it's a ghost town.

Nice place to stay, though. I'll be back with more pics and updates!

Bushy-tailed kitty...

There's this stray cat (I think) wondering around my neighbourhood lately.

It looks absolutely adorable, thanks to its really thick, bushy tail (unlike the rest of its body) and these really bored-looking yellow eyes.

Took the opportunity to get to know the furry fella better:



Awww... -_-

日本へ

After various form of drama throughout the week, it seems that I'm actually off to Japan this coming Monday. I've got my air tickets and visa here on my desk, which means that - unless my streak of misfortune continues - I'm off.

Haven't taken a holiday in a long time. Sure, the first couple of days is a working trip but the rest of it will be time for me to be alone. To do whatever I want. In Tokyo.

Tokyo Tower - taken during my previous trip

Sorry if this sounds all emotional or even boring, but I'm really looking forward to this trip, even though I probably won't get much done and won't get to see a lot of things I'm hoping I'll get to see. Chances are, something will happen right in the middle of it all to ruin one of my many plans (I hear it's been raining a bit).

I've been meaning to visit the famous fish market there at 5am in the morning to snap some photos and eat fresh sashimi for breakfast (haven't had the chance). So far, it's rained every blasted morning I've tried to go.

But yet, I don't care if I end up being thwarted by rain again. Whenever I'm in Japan, I just feel good. Even if it turns out to be a complete disaster, I've got this baseless confidence that I'm going to enjoy myself.

Tokyo is one of those cities where I've always felt rather comfortable in for some funny reason. Familiar, even. Maybe it's because of my many years of anime/manga fandom/geekdom. At least I've stopped fantasising about having a Japanese girlfriend.

...

Erm, maybe I haven't :P


The other thing is that Japan is the only non-primarily-English-speaking foreign country I know of where I'm actually able to speak the language somewhat (I'm completely hopeless with Cantonese, which is why I dread going to Hong Kong). Other than Indonesia, of course.

But what I'm quite surprised about is the fact that I'm actually looking forward to this trip!

This is a big deal because - in all honesty - I've not really looked forward to any sort of holiday since I was 9-years-old and realised that every trip to Singapore guaranteed a new Autobot or Decepticon. And mind you, I've been on plenty of trips since then.

And the best part is - I have no idea why I'm so looking forward to it!!! Maybe it's because I'll be travelling alone with nobody to wait for or to keep waiting. Maybe it's because I'm itching for some sort of urban adventure. Maybe this time, I'll get off the correct exit at Shunjuku station (the incorrect one being the West exit).

It's 4am... time to sleep.

BTW, this is also my 100th post, which is a milestone of sorts, I suppose. And this blog itself is a month or two shy of its first birthday. I still remember signing up with Blogger, not knowing what to write on this blank virtual soapbox. Now, I've got enough rubbish written to be compiled into a coffee table book.

Thanks for reading.

Fairly useless trivia - Part 1

And now for this week's completely useless bit of trivia.

Some of you may be aware of the existence of two distinct marine clownfish: The Ocellaris Clownfish and Percula Clownfish (also known as a false anemonefish / false clownfish).



Both species are very closely related and have very similar patterns and colours although an experience marine biologits could probably tell the two apart at a glance.

What I didn't know (and I bet you don't either) is that the 'easiest' way to tell them apart is to count the number of spines on their dorsal fins - Ocellarises have 11 while Perculas have just 10.

...



-_-


Well, now you know.

It'll be difficult keeping the little buggers completely still while you count, though.