Of Hugs and Smooches

It was my first few weeks in UK, 2am in the morning and it was time to head home after a night out with a group of friends. Suddenly a girl acquaintance griped my shoulders, pulled me in and gave me a kiss on the cheeks. That was my first time getting a peck on the cheek by someone that I hardly knew back when I was 19 yrs old. Later I realized that its common courtesy to hug and kiss (on the cheeks of course) in the west. I would not hesitate to give my female/male acquaintance a goodbye hug when I was staying in UK since it was an acceptable thing to do.

Back here though, if I would do that to just any female acquaintance, I bet I would have gotten plenty of stares (probably less now actually). A kiss on the cheeks would most definitely result in a kick on the groin or a tight slap (or both!). Hence, since coming back to Malaysia in 2004, I refrain from showing any form of public display of love and affection unless towards relatives or really close friends.

Sometimes I do wonder if hugs are over rated here in Malaysia. I do not really see much problem giving someone a goodnight hug as long as we don't cross the line. But then again what constitute not crossing the line? The Aye and Nae sayers can go on the whole night and not come up with a definitive answer to it.

Now my question to you.

"How far is your line and how thick are they?"

Vacation

Planning my next short trip in August. Can anyone guess where this place is??

I'll give you a candy for the right answer =))

What A Day

Rain can be a good or bad thing. Its good when it rains on a lazy Sunday Morning and your still in bed, snuggling under the sheets unwilling to wake up. Its bad when its raining from morning till the late afternoon on a weekday disrupting my day at work. Today is such a bad day......

Today is also a bad day cause the guy that normally cut my hair was on holiday and his replacement made me look like a stupid 15 year old boy.

To add to such bad days, I for some stupid reason (that I could not understand), drove to the wrong shopping complex for an appointment.

Its like your here but your not actually here sort of feeling. Mind and body don't seem to be in sync for some unknown reason.


The good news is - I finally got donuts from Big Apple that I have been thinking about for the past 2 weeks


The bad news was - Only manage to eat 2 out of 12 donuts before me feeling totally turn off by it. Sign of age perhaps?

The Pajero I spotted on my blog got featured in the Star paper!

Remember my last post about the Pajero with toy figurines stuck at the back of the car?

To those that haven't read the post, you can read and see the picture here

Nick told me that the car picture was posted on The Star last Thursday. Its one of the columns where people e-mail unusual pictures to claim the RM50 daily prize.

Even though I didn't post it up, it was good to know that the picture nearly won RM50 =))

Here In My Home - Malaysian Artistes For Unity

Arguably the hottest music phenomenon that have hit Malaysian cyberspace, "Here in My Home" composed and written by Pete Teo is a song that instigates human unity. This song brings together more then 120 talents from all walks of life ranging from renowned filmed producer Yasmin Ahmad and Ho Yuhang, artist, Ning Baizura, Awie, Daniel Lee to corporate leaders like Tony Fernandez.

The song is unique in such a way that it was produced at 0 cost. Everyone involved in this project did not charge a single sent to be involved in it and better still, the song is FREE for everyone to download.

To download the song click on the banner below.



Personally, I do think that Malaysians are much more united now then we were ever before. Even if some deny it, without us really realizing, we are actually more Malaysianized then we think. Maybe just maybe, Malaysia will be a truly colourblind country in the next coming decade or so.

Till then, enjoy this video and let us all decry racism and embrace that elusive ideal : human - all inclusive-unity.




Update : Here's a the video (in 2 parts) on the making of this video. It describes how this video came into fruition and the people behind it. Enjoy

Masturbation 'cuts cancer risk'

Found this off BBC news


Masturbation 'cuts cancer risk'

Men could reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer through regular masturbation, researchers suggest.

They say cancer-causing chemicals could build up in the prostate if men do not ejaculate regularly.

And they say sexual intercourse may not have the same protective effect because of the possibility of contracting a sexually transmitted infection, which could increase men's cancer risk.

Australian researchers questioned over 1,000 men who had developed prostate cancer and 1,250 who had not about their sexual habits.

They found those who had ejaculated the most between the ages of 20 and 50 were the least likely to develop the cancer.

The protective effect was greatest while the men were in their 20s.

Men who ejaculated more than five times a week were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer later in life.

Fluid

Previous research has suggested that a high number of sexual partners or a high level of sexual activity increased a man's risk of developing prostate cancer by up to 40%.

But the Australian researchers who carried out this study suggest the early work missed the protective effect of ejaculation because it focussed on sexual intercourse, with its associated risk of STIs.

Graham Giles, of the Cancer Council Victoria in Melbourne, who led the research team, told New Scientist: "Had we been able to remove ejaculations associated with sexual intercourse, there should have been an even stronger protective effect of ejaculations."

The researchers suggest that ejaculating may prevent carcinogens accumulating in the prostate gland.

The prostate provides a fluid into semen during ejaculation that activates sperm and prevents them sticking together.

The fluid has high concentrations of substances including potassium, zinc, fructose and citric acid, which are drawn from the bloodstream.

But animal studies have shown carcinogens such as 3-methylchloranthrene, found in cigarette smoke, are also concentrated in the prostate.

'Flushing out'

Dr Giles said fewer ejaculations may mean the carcinogens build up.

"It's a prostatic stagnation hypothesis. The more you flush the ducts out, the less there is to hang around and damage the cells that line them."

A similar connection has been found between breast cancer and breastfeeding, where lactating appeared to "flush out" carcinogens, reduce a woman's risk of the disease, New Scientist reports.

Another theory put forward by the researchers is that ejaculation may induce prostate glands to mature fully, making them less susceptible to carcinogens.

Dr Chris Hiley, head of policy and research at the UK's Prostate Cancer Charity, told BBC News Online: "This is a plausible theory."

She added: "In the same way the human papillomavirus has been linked to cervical cancer, there is a suggestion that bits of prostate cancer may be related to a sexually transmitted infection earlier in life."

Anthony Smith, deputy director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in Melbourne, said the research could affect the kind of lifestyle advice doctors give to patients.

"Masturbation is part of people's sexual repertoire.

"If these findings hold up, then it's perfectly reasonable that men should be encouraged to masturbate," he said.


So next time you catch a guy with his pants down alone, he is not really horny but only cutting down his risk of getting cancer =))

Dato Tin Kosong

Warning : This is going to be a slightly boring long post

3 days ago, a suppose to be high ranking government officer who carries the title Dato' came to my practice. The moment he came in he asked my staff for THE best glasses that we have. My staff not used to people like that then got me out to handle this Dato' personally.

He then introduced himself as Dato' X, A Deputy Director for one of the Ministries (I shall not say the Ministry he is in here) in Malaysia. I then showed him a pair of frames that cost around 1K+. He didn't look very impressed and asked me to guess how much his glasses was worth. I had a look at it and saw a GS engraving on the frame. Never heard of such a brand before so I just said I would not want to speculate. He then told me its worth 3K. I just smiled at him and told him a small town like mine can't afford selling 3k frames to the general public. Anyway, he had a few look at my frames and out of the blue asked me to repair his frames which apparently was a bit bent and loose. I got one of my staff to repair it while I "entertain" the Dato' further. He finally found the frame that he wanted and I proceeded to invite him to my sight test room for further examination. Apparently he was in a rush and said that he would come in the next day to have his eyes tested. Upon leaving he insisted that I follow him to his car (which was parked really nearby) to get his namecard. Probably I gave him the "I don't care" look and did not treat him like a dignitary so he wanted to show me his credentials on paper.

Anyways, I walked with him towards his car. While walking I wondered what kind of Merc or BMW he might be driving and both of us stop in front of a Proton Perdana Executive. He then introduced me to his car! I was like.... huh? You got a Proton Perdana and you are proud of it? Good thing I am only driving my Vios which was incidentally parked opposite his. If I was driving a BMW I would definitely then tell him "nice car Dato, by the way, the car over there is mine". Now that would have been really interesting.

The namecard he gave me does confirm him being an Assistant Director of a GLC company linked to a prominent ministry in Malaysia.

I did have a short conversation with him and to sum it up, this Dato' is a total walking ego trip. I think his best line was and I quote

"Its not easy to manage Malaysia" - I was like, WHAT??!! Your only a bloody Assistant Director of a GLC company providing a service for a Ministry in Malaysia. When at any point are you managing the country??!!

I made a bet with my staff that this Dato' would not be coming back cause I suspect that he only wanted his frames adjusted and made up the whole story that he wanted a pair of new glasses. To my surprise, the Dato' really came back the next day. But now here's the catch, he came in saying he wanted glasses and then told me that the frame I adjusted for him (for FREE) yesterday was still a bit loose.

After me doing the necessary adjustments on the frame and also me refracting his eyes, he then told me if I accept cheque. Knowing that his glasses won't be ready that soon, I told him we would take cheque if he pays for everything today. He nodded and told me he would give me a cheque the next day. I was bloody pissed at that point. I was thinking, is there anyone on earth that goes to buy anything without bringing any money (and the fact that he knows roughly how much it would cost from his first visit yesterday) ?? I then told him that we accept credit card but he replied that he don't have any credit card with him. I was totally flabbergasted.

Safe to say I won't be getting any cheque from this Dato' Tin Kosong as it has been 2 days and I have yet to see his face. Good thing I never did the order for him even though he insisted that the glasses be ready in 4 days time.

Lets see if I am right on this one.



P.S To those that don't know what is Tin Kosong, its Malay meaning empty can. We all know that empty can when hit sounds the loudest but there is actually nothing inside.

My Blog Is Worth USD11K

Was reading THB's blog and saw this interesting link

The site calculates the value of your blog in terms of Dollars and Cents.

I am worth $11,290.80

So how much is your blogs worth?
(Do tell me on comments ya)

Forward this or be damned in hell!!

I received a mail today depicting a pair of Hindu Gods. Apparently unless I do not forwards the mail to at least 20 people, I would be cursed and damned to hell (exaggerating a bit lah but you know what I mean). I've been plagued with similar mails on a weekly basis for years. Never once had I forwarded any of them. I guess by doing so, I should have been hit by a truck and died (mati katak) a gazillion times over but sad to say I am still alive and kicking.

Sometimes it baffles me why people bother with chain mails. Are we really that naive to believe in all those crap feed to us in the mail?

Not too long ago, I did rant about this to some of my friends and this are some of the reasons why they think people spread this kind of nonsense

1) Since forwarding an e-mail is only a click of a button, why not do it? Just in case it really comes true lah... my family is happy, my job is good. So why take the minute risk of not sending?
(Total crap if you ask me. Your life is controlled by you and not something someone sent to you via an e-mail. To follow suit just shows how naive you are in this world)

2) I send those e-mail as a means to keep in touch and to tell them I am still alive.
(If you want to keep in touch then send an email with one sentence - "Hi i am still alive, what about you?". That's way better then chain mails. If you send it often enough, your friend might wish that you're dead so he/she don't need to constantly click the DELETE button (pun intended).

3) I got a fetish of sending chain mails! I CAN'T HELP IT.
(Go play SM or something, chain mails are for kids)

On a personal note, chain mails are annoying, irritating and a waste of my energy to delete.

Next time you want to send a chain mail, think of how the receiver would feel like before you click the forward button.

Great Wisdom Temple, Hat Yai

The Great Wisdom Temple was one of the most rewarding stops of my whole sightseeing trip in Hat Yai. Rewarding in a sense that I was pretty happy with most of the pictures taken there. It was only a brief 20 minute stop since we were due to check-in at the Lee Garden Plaza Hotel at 2pm and we wanted to have a quick look around Songkla on the same day.

I was greeted with two of this situated at both sides of the arch as we enter the temple

I did not have time to get to know the history of the temple since I was pretty much busy snapping pictures with the limited time I had but from what I was told, the temple is actually a learning center for Buddhist teaching.

Most Thai believes that all man must become a monk when they reach the age of 20 (or when they feel that they are at a right age). This act is said to enable their mothers to be blessed and move on to heaven. However the duration of which they remain as a monk may vary from a few weeks to even years (the former being the most common). This revelation explains why monks are a very respectable group of people in Thailand.

The 8 storey pagoda stands out prominently as you enter the Buddhist Park

The temple itself consist of a couple of administrative buildings and the main Buddhist Park situating an 8 storey pagoda and various statues scattered prominently all over the park. I was pretty impressed with the set up and the fact that they have a computer lab on a separate building. Monks nowadays are really tech savvy.

One of the statues at the Buddhist Park

The laughing Buddha chilling out at the park

The last 3 pictures is my favourite among all the pictures taken here. The first one being the fire symbol located at the top of the arch (at the entrance) and the Buddhist burial ground of some sort which I took in a rush since everyone was already rushing towards the bus.

The fire carrying lotus

Love this pic, feels so serene

Buddhist monk statues

To those going to Hat Yai, the Great Wisdom Temple is certainly one of the places you would want to see.

The Family Heirloom

Let me introduce you to the car that I've grown up with.


Its a first generation 1975 Opel Gemini Coupe. From the limited information that I gathered from the Internet, this car is the first coupe car introduced in Malaysia (by Opel). The car was proclaimed "Car of the Year" by Wheels magazine in 1975. Apparently the first generation Honda Civic evolved from this model when it was launched in 1997.



The car is still with us albeit hardly being used.

I've had a couple of steamy encounters with some female acquaintance in the car. And before you jump into any silly conclusions, its all due to the air-conditioning not working on a hot rainy day. So when its cold outside and hot in the inside, the windows all get fogged up.

I am glad we still keep the car. It reminds me a lot of my childhood.

Now I am even more glad we kept the car...... I can now claim RM625 rebate and use it on my Vios for petrol money =))

Where does cabin crew stay?

Have you ever wondered where does the cabin crew sleep during long haul flights?

Here's what I found out


Airbus A340

Boeing 747 - 400

Boeing 777

KLM (I think they got a real cozy bed there don't you think?)

Singapore Airline (I would have thought that SQ would have more comfy beds)

AND

.

.

This one I got a shocker

.

.

Ready??

.

.

AirAsia

Talk about budget on a shoe string. Even the cabin crew facilities are not spared :P

The Infamous Hat Yai Bazaar

Update: Thanks to Sz, I finally found out that the bazaar is called Hat Yai Plaza

A trip to Hat Yai would not be complete if you have not visited the "infamous" Hat Yai Bazaar. I have no idea what this bazaar is called (anyone can tell me?) but just tell the Tut Tut driver that you want to go to the market/bazaar and they will drop you off here.

Oh yeah, for those coming to Hat Yai, the current rate for Tut Tut is 20 bhat per person if your traveling within town. You should not be paying anything more then that.

The bazaar consist of narrow alleyways packed with rows after rows of stalls selling items ranging from local food products, clothing's, kitchenware to bags and shoes. You can find many fake branded items here cheap and of reasonable quality.

Be sure to bargain when your here. A good start off point would be 50% lower then the asking price. Do not hesitate to bargain lower or you will be paying a lot more then what the item is worth.

I bought a collar shirt at 150 baht, the offer price was 480 baht (I tend to bargain shamelessly).

To say that the bazaar is a huge maze is no understatement. I lost my way a few times trying to locate the shop that I wanted to go back to a few times.

This picture is taken from the shop I got my 3 pairs of shoes for RM130
Its called the "2nd row shoe shop". Stupid me forgot to take a picture of the signboard.

To be continued......

Hat Yai Trip : Part 1

Say hello to my bus. I said my bus because we chartered the 26 seater bus for this trip. We wanted free and easy so it made sense chartering a bus for the trip. I got a pleasant surprise when Lily told me the price would include a local guide that would be joining us when we reach Sadao (the thai side of the border that we shall be passing through).

The bus we chartered

I must say, despite the looks, the seat was really comfortable

We started our journey at around 1am and reached Bukit Kayu Hitam which is the transit point to Thailand at around 6am. Since we were pretty early, there was hardly any queue. While queuing to have my border pass stamped, I happily took a few pictures only to be stopped later on by an immigration officer. Apparently we are not allowed to take pictures. I was a bit puzzled to be honest since I don't see why we are not allowed to do so.

It was after this shot that I heard a shout "hei! tak boleh ambil gambar disini!!"

And what do you do the first thing you are at the immigration centre? Duty free shop!

I ended up not buying any booze since I could not bring them back tax free due to my short stay there.

Once we pass the Thai immigration point, we met Ah Sun, our Thai tour guide. He is a middle aged Thai Chinese that speaks fluent Cantonese.

We were asked what we wanted to have for breakfast and out of a sudden Lily shouted Bah Kut Teh. I was wondering to myself, "why Bah Kut Teh, I want TOM YAM!". Anyways, Bah Kut Teh it was for our breakfast. That's what I like about personalized tour like this, we decide what to do and the guide just brings us there.

The "no name" Bah Kut Teh shop

As you shall be seeing later on in my blog, I realised that many coffee shops type eateries do not have signboards in Hat Yai. But instead you see banners of all sorts hung all over.

I am not sure if it was due to hunger but the Bah Kut Teh was excellent. Its very mild compared to our Bah Kut Teh's back home in the sense that you don't have as much herbal taste in them. They come in a choice of 2 type of rice, plain white rice or "wu tau" race (yam rice). We also had "Mui Choi Kao Yoke" and Curry Fish. The curry fish was really good and somehow the taste reminisce "Rempah Nanas" (an Indonesian curry fish dish).

Bah Kut Teh

Yam Rice

"Mui Choi Kao Yoke" - That's Cantonese by the way, not Thai

Curry Fish that costs us RM80. They use the expensive "bawal" fish (Tau Tai). So after hearing that I wasn't too shocked from the bill given to us

Thai Teh Ais, taste the same as the one in Malaysia =))

To be continued...............

I AM Officially Back!

Returned from Hay Yai yesterday night.

It was a good break. I think I gained weight as I went on an eating spree but I didn't manage to eat everything that I had in mind.

Shopping was cheap.

Behold my bargaining power.... 3 pairs of leather shoes for RM130 only!!

Oh yeah, got bruised while I had my full body massage (The girls was skinny but damn strong).

More to come when I manage to edit the pictures and write on them.

Hat Yai Here I CUM

Will be leaving to Hay Yai, Thailand in approximately 3 hours time.

Hopefully I shall have some nice pictures and stories to share when I am back this Sunday night.

Everyone have a good weekend there ya

Double Whammy

As I was driving home earlier, I saw queues stretching at least a few hundred meters from the petrol station. Many of them in Kanchil, Wira and with their children inside.

The government announced an increase in fuel prices today. The price of petrol is now up 40% and diesel a whooping 64%.

On top of that electricity tariff will also be raised up to 20% for residential households and 26% for commercial outlets.

For me, this increase is painful. Painful not because I cannot afford the hike but the fact that many of the poor will suffer from the spike in oil prices. Most of the cars I saw queuing at the petrol stations are not not luxury cars but the average Proton's and Perodua's. With the price increase I will still be going on my short trip to Hat Yai. I will still be having great food there and buy gift for my friends and family but come tomorrow, many of the lower income group will have to, stop buying clothes for their child, stop visiting their parents back at the kampung because its too expensive to travel and stop all the small luxury that they may have in their daily routine.

I know a patient of mine that only earn RM600 a month. He has 5 kids that are still schooling. He lamented on the increase of rice recently. They no longer eat white rice but the cheap broken rice that are sold at the shops because most of the kids need to get new school uniforms. With the increase in oil prices, their 8 year old Wira needs approx RM100 for a full tank. That's 1/6 of his salary. How can this family possibly survive?

Even if this group of people do not have cars they will still be reeling from the knock-on effect of an increase in oil prices. Public transport may increase and for sure price of commodities will go up. Again this group of people will suffer while people like me would still be having our dinner at restaurants albeit at a more expensive rate.

Whats worse, the government plan to do off with subsidies by August (although they will give a 30 sen discount off market rate). This will see oil prices going even higher in the coming months.

*shrugs*

Petrol Price At Market Levels By August?

I think the most anticipated piece of news that many of us will be waiting for tomorrow, would be the announcement for the newly revamped fuel subsidy scheme.

According to Domestic Trade Minister Sharir Samad, the government plan to eventually increase petrol price at the current market rate but subsidies would still be handed out based on an needs-based system. We should have a clearer picture on what this need-based system is about tomorrow.

This is really bothering me. On one side, I am all for an increase in petrol price IF the savings by the government is channeled correctly towards a better infrastructure and education system but an increase to current market price? That would mean that the current petrol price which is at RM1.92 a litre would be eventually raised to almost RM4 a litre come August. I think this is ludicrous since we are are still a net oil exporter. This would be alright if the government scrap car import tax but I doubt that would happen.

Anyhow I am still keeping an open mind. Lets hope tomorrow's announcement won't be too much of a jolt to the system.

Graphics Sourced from www.malaysiakini.com

A Car That I Won't Want To Call My Own

Went to have my Malaysia-Thailand border pass done today.

Whats a border pass you might ask?

Its a travel document that one can apply to enter Thailand for multiple journeys and is valid for 6 month. However you must be a Malaysian resident that residing in the state of Perak, Perlis, Kelantan or Kedah for more then 3 years.

While I was driving back, I spotted this.......

I was like... huh? Whats those stuff stuck on to the back of the Pajero??

So I tried to overtake the car for a closer look......

The back of this car is virtually infested with mini-figurines!!!

You see Mickey Mouse at the top? WTFreak??!! Whats the owner thinking of here. Imagine you taking your girlfriend on a date with this car. I would rather walk!!

This is where the number plate is suppose to be but instead we got figurines ranging from hello kitty to ultraman stuck on it.

God save me if I got a car like that......

Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar

As blogged before, I went for a short trip to Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar a few days back. We had about 30 students from Gujarat, India visiting and one of the highlights of their trip to town was a short tour around the Istana compound. Normally outsiders are not allowed to enter palace grounds except for official functions but we manage to get consent from the palace authorities.


Kuala Kangsar is the royal town of Perak. This is where the Istana Iskandariah is situated.

Istana Iskandariah is the official residence of all the Sultans of Perak who have been installed since its completion in 1933.The palace is named after Sultan Iskandar Shah (1918-1938) who initiated its construction.



Istana Iskandariah is located at Bukit Chandan on the left bank of Sungai Perak upstream from Hilir Perak on the site of the former Istana Negara which was built in 1895 by Almarhum Sultan Idris Murshidul'adzam Shah (the late Sultan (in 1887-1916). It occupies an area of 10,435 square meters.


The design of the palace is based on the architecture of West Asia which is famous for its pointed arches and onion-shaped domes. The building is rectangular in shape and faces the sunrise and the river.

The roof is designed with one main dome in the centre and four subsidiary domes, one on each of the palace.

The palace is of there storey. The ground floor houses The Royal Dining Room, two Audience Halls, Reception Area, the Royal Rest Chambers, Ladies' Cloak Room, Aide-de-Camp's Office, Music Hall and the Royal Council Chamber.

Next time your on your way up to Penang, you might want to just drop into Kuala Kangsar for a half day trip.