CNY 2014

A summary of photos of the going-on during the last Chinese New Year 2014

Reunion dinner with loved ones. For a change this year, BBQ style !!

One of many "yee sang" tossing sessions with families/friends/colleagues/clients

Family photo before watching "The Journey" movie. Highly recommended !!



One part of a food feast had in Penang, where we went back for visits to relatives etc. By the way, this is fried oysters with eggs. Read me, fried oysters with eggs & not fried eggs with oysters 



Finally get to visit the now-world famous street art in Georgetown old streets 





Dinner with Akurians

Marriage Made in Heaven

This is slightly late. OK, it was wwwaaaayyyy too late since this event was held last December. Never thought tis baby sister of mine, the lil princess of the house will be married. I mean, all of us in da house were always hoping she never grows up & remains the cute, little gal that everyone loved. By the way, for those who dunno, this sis of mine is born deaf. Reflecting upon this, her deafness has actually brought the whole family closer. Letting go can be tough, judging from the sight of Mum's tears & the way Dad hugged sis tightly when sending her off on the wedding day.

And boy, she has now turned into a beautiful Korean-looking lady & married to a nice & kind chap, who is also deaf. With his shoe designing job, Imelda Marcos would have made him her toyboy...:) Never got the chance to say a thing or two about them on the wedding nite. I must say the first moment I saw both of them looking into each others' eyes & signing to each other, something in my head (still dunno wat izzit) told me that they are really meant for each other. And it was saying to me like "Yes, tis is the guy my sis gonna get married to!!!".

The event of da day



The man & the lady of da nite



The setting

A gathering of sorts for all the deaf attendees



The wedding nite went on, just exactly what everyone was asking for. Great company, great booze, great music & great ambience. I could really felt the vibration of love in that hall. Not forgetting also the showcase of deaf culture, blending nicely with the hearing people that nite. How I wish i could upload a deaf music performance here by Lily & Rahmat if not for the large sized file.

To Mei & Mike, this is just the beginning of a new journey. Do enjoy the ride of life together. It's not gonna be easy but faith, the care for one another & efforts of both parties will make the journey worthwhile enough to last u a lifetime. Just a piece of a bro's mind.....

 

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Slightly late here but better late than never. Its still within the 15th day celebration anyway...

WISHING ALL A HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR !!!!

MAY THE YEAR OF SNAKE BRINGS GREAT HEALTH, WEALTH & PLENTY OF PROSPERITY TO ALL !!!

Family Tree

It's not an everyday thing where u can check out all ur relatives under one roof. Who got married to whom? Who are the latest additions to the family? How has all the children grown? Chinese New Year is one good occasion to do so. Cant resist posting this up after meeting a hot babe for the first time.

Babe with Mum. Photo taken with my hp

So cute that ur tempted to make one...LOL

Meet Mila. I guess her parents named her after Mila Jovovich. This cutie pie of Swiss-Chinese parentage is my grandniece who is in town from Zurich. Yes, it's correct & no typo error here. She's my father's sister's daughter's daughter's daughter aka grandniece.

Our family on Dad's side is sooo big that there's 4 generations still living in the family & my siblings and I are in the 2nd generation despite of our ages. With this, even relatives in their 30s & 40s in the 3rd generation are suppose to address my siblings & I "uncles & aunty". Too complicated for me to explain how & why. Younger bro thinks this is a burden..scratching his head counting how many angpows he need to give during his marriage in future. I see this as a beautiful moment to be cherished for a lifetime. Not many can lay claim for having more than 3 generations under one roof....:)

In the CNY Mood....

It's around the corner. One more day to be exact to the first day of Chinese New Year. Time for reunite with all family members for dinner tonight. Call me being traditional or conservative or whatever.

My preference for a reunion dinner is just a home cooked dinner with all members of families instead of doing it in hotel or restaurant. The more people the merrier....The usual shopping trips with Mom to purchase the CNY necessities, that's something to look forward every year too. OK, I'm a Mummy's boy & proud to be one. Hey, it's something need to be done when ur married too. So, who else can give u all the priceless tips for bargains etc? Where to get the cheapest prawns around? Where to buy the cheapest lime tree? When is the best time to get the fishes ar reasonable price to keep till the reunion dinner, without storing it for too long?

Multiple coloured pussy willows

Lucky bamboo plants on show at Sungai Buloh plant nurseries

Lime trees on sale. Price depends on the size of tree & age of tree

Gourd plants

This is the usual scene in all the dried meat stores in Chinatown, KL

To all celebrating Chinese New Year, may u have a great one with your families back home...

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 !!!!

Still not too late to wish all peeps out there. Just back from Langkawi with the Akurians & man, it was a blast. Frankly still feel the Langkawi islands are still yet to be fully explored despite of 2 previous visits. Definitely will be back again in future. Will post bout tis soon

Coming to tis new year 2010, are new resolutions required?? Not necessary, especially if the ones set on previous year are not fully achieved yet. It should be to achieve the previous resolutions with reinforced vigour. What's in store tis year ? What will happen in areas of politics, economy, environment & others? Nobody can claim to be Nostradamus and can foresee this & that. We can only do our very best in any situation & leave the rest to Him.

4 Wedding Occasions & A Couple

The title is clearly stated. 4 wedding occasions held over 3 weeks, solely for a couple, namely Ray & SL. Not whining, but just unusual arrangement. Add in several colourful characters into the scene such as the Akurians (& their partners in crime) and u have 3 eventful weekends, which I can safely say memorable enough for the couple to remember for a generation at least.

The album with CD intact, proudly displayed at the champagne corner

It's all started with the gathering during Raya eve (1 week before the 1st week) for a project. See, if people like Theva can be the first person to arrive, u know it's a damn important project to come up with gift of sorts for the soon-to-be-wed couple. We produced this MTV style video presentation featuring ourselves (Too obscene to be shown here) plus photo album for the couple. 1 week later, there's the wedding dinner held first in restaurant near Bukit Bintang. Beautiful setting in a cosy (although small) area. No prize for guessing which table is the noisiest & has the loudest cheers during the "yam seng" drink session.

Our breaking point: When glasses broke

Move on to the next week, we have this pre-wedding buffet in the groom's house. Hell broke loose as the night went along. With consent from his parents, the plan is a surprise attack for Ray with flour & water. Witnessed by all his relatives, groom was left to fight for his survival with attacks from all corners with water & packets of tosai flour. With those Akurian peeps, u can expect "conspiracy within a conspriracy" whereby even Maj, Nei & myself also got attacked without any of us knowing it. I'm still trying to figure out who was the first to throw flour on me. Poor Ray with the 3rd surprise attack on him. We can't be blamed though, u always "create" the perfect setting & occasion for the peeps.

Here we go....

It's war....

The next day, we braced ourselves for another potentially dangerous occasion, the bride pick-up at SL's house at Ampang. Arrived at the doorstep of SL's house, we were faced with several challenges thrown by the bride's friends. There's food & drinks of all 4 tastes (sweet, sour, bitter & salty), waxing of leg hair (Hail the great Phil), calligraphy writing by groom, rap+beat box session by groom & mates and tens of packets of ang pows given away. Negotiation finally completed after 45 minutes. Thankfully, we're given challenges relatively modest by KL standard.

Gang preparing for toast, drinking whatever that's given....

We drove up north to Ipoh on the next weekend where the groom held another session of dinner for his Ipoh relatives. Rather, this is an excuse for us to have another fun trip together. Stayed in this Ritz Garden hotel presidential suite where it has an adjacent private pool, sauna, steam room & jacuzzi. A heavenly resting place & perfect area to leave our marks. Honestly, everybody mind is already in the pool, even during our dinner in restaurant. Spent 5 hours in the pool for camwhoring sessions to find the perfect shots. Had the best Ipoh "hor fun" in Ipoh Old Town for breakie the next day. We then proceed for another camwhoring session in Gua Tempurung before calling the end of 3 freakily mad weeks.

The gang with the sauna. jacuzzi & steam room behind

One of many camwhore shots taken in the pool

To Ray & SL, do enjoy the ride together. It won't be easy but faith & care for one another will make the journey worthwhile enough to last u a lifetime. Just a piece of an Uncle's mind..:)

Merdeka

What's Merdeka means to you?

Questions being asked over & over and published in newspapers year after year. And you got basically the same answers year after year, that too only during this period of time. 50 years ago, we are still celebrating our independence from our colonial masters. 30 years ago, we insists unity is the strength to pull us through & moving a step ahead.

Almost one decade into the new century & we're still talking about the same old story about bridging the gap between the races. Funny thing is unity seems to be only discussed during this time of the year. It's like reflecting on your love relationship with your loved ones only on Valentine Day. Reflection, should be done on daily basis & not only once a year. Making me wondering are we really that fragile that we need constant reminders about keeping united with one another. Or this is just the hype played up by the attention seeker politicians? Policymakers & those up there should be talking about the how to improve ourselves in the competitive economy etc as one nation instead of telling us to be "mindful" of way we talk, tolerance etc.

Felt sorry for those racial bigots, do continue doing with whatever ur currently doing with whatever intentions ur having. Ultimately, ur to answer to Him at the end of the day when ur time is up. God fearing Muslims call it "balasan", Buddhists call it "karma". What's up with people like me?? I'll just wait to put my opinion into ballot box in the next election meanwhile being thankful to Him for giving me the great multi racial friends. Grateful for them to recommend me the good food sold in the Ramadhan bazaar in town. Grateful for them to teach me the proper etiquette on how to eat banana leaf rice. Grateful for them to teach me how to curse in their native language.

Happy Merdeka, everyone !!!

Overdue Updates

One blink of any eye & it's end of February now. There's the second annual Akurians trip held in Langkawi last December, Chinese New Year celebrations & the current political circus goin on nationwide (Perak & Selangor to be exact)

Sorry to the Akurians for not posting anything bout the trip. Next post okay?? Let me begin here with HAPPY NEW YEAR, HAPPY PONGGAL, HAPPY THAIPUSAM, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR to everyone there...that wishes alone explain how much time passed since my last post...

Just that too frustrated with current local issues to write a post. As we knew here, economic situation in tis part of the world is not doing well. Being in the freight forwarding line, servicing mostly semiconductor firms, my company was in the frontline of affected parties. Factories are closing down & retrenching workers, causing thousands (but I believe it could run into hundred thousands) of people left jobless. For those barely surviving, drastic cost-cutting measures are being implemented. Paycut, longer shutdown period etc, anythin else under the sun that can be done to minimise the costs. Some companies are just only operating 4 days a week as some existing staffs forced to take unpaid leaves. Don't even mention about OT here. Worst part is nothing much really been done to help the worst-affected industries, at least to help them to sustain. Japan, the strongest economy in Asia has announced it's being in a recession & even Singapore has done it. And this is the funny part, here our beloved PM in-waiting insists the country is unaffected with the current state of world economy & we're not showing any decline and that we have the strong fundamentals to sustain. Wondering what fundamentals he meant & if he actually knew what he's talking about.

Don't even wanna mention the current political circus going on in the federal & state governments where all the players are acting as if the world is their oyster. The in-word now seems to be "stimulus package"...Statements after statement given, first stimulus, second stimulus etc...The question is where is the so-called packages? What is the projected domestic growth after the stimulus given? Which industries will be given priorities? Where is the roadmap of all those packages?? As one citizen Anas Zubedy correctly said it in an open advertorial in Star newspaper on 26th February, it's the people who suffer the most now. Check it out at thestar.com.my. Problem with those politicians is that thought of admitting about a problem equals to admitting their weaknesses. Listen here, everybody knew this recession thingy is like a lifecycle & bound to happen to every country. It's about being realistic & going through the tough times together to ensure there's food on the table for everyone. People will understand & not to the extent of ignoring the pleas of those who voted you into power.

I pray for wisdom to be given to those not able to be rationalise things. I pray for forgiveness for those who preach to others but don't admit of their own shortcomings/mistakes. I pray for strength to be given to those who lost their jobs and still need to feed their families. I pray for perseverance to be given to those having huge debts & problems piling up. I pray for courage to be given to those are still unsure how to remedy the setbacks they're facing now. And most of all, I pray for those on the verge of breaking down to continue to believe in themselves & Him in these trying times.

Obituary - Yip Kok Choong (1945 - 2008)

This post is specially dedicated to Mr Yip Kok Choong, or rather Uncle Yip to most of us

Uncle Yip was called home by the Lord on 31 October 2008 at 12.25am at the Kwong Wah hospital in Hong Kong after a debilitating illness. A year ago, he was diagnosed with a degenerative illness that affected his motor system.

Despite of the gradual deterioration of his health & capacity to move, he persevered in his work and assumed his responsibilities with as much care and commitment up to his last breath. I believe this is the desire that he possessed to help the society touched many people from all over the world in one way or another. Countless condolence messages came from people from all walks of life around the globe in the memorial blog http://www.yipkc.blogspot.com/ Visits from hundreds of people in the memorial service held in HK & KL last week clearly showed how much he has touched everybody's life in one way or another. This just make me feel proud to be able to know him in person.

Knew Uncle Yip, probably since I'm seven or eight. He was the general secretary of YMCA Kuala Lumpur then & at the same time, being a godfather of sorts to my sis, who has her early deaf educations in YMCA. We still keep in touch even after he moved to Hong Kong to serve as secretary general at regional level Asia Alliances of YMCAs, mainly bcos he's also the husband to my sis's mentor/godmother, Aunty Lucy. There is this special relationship between our family and both Uncle Yip & Aunty Lucy that I can safely say that we're like family members.

Working wise, his reputation is second to none. Well known for spending long hours in office & his life is practically about his works in YMCA. I've heard that even during his last days, he still insists on going to office to attend board meetings....Widely travelled to countries around the world, naturally number of friends spread far & wide too. Being one of the founder members of the YMCA International Deaf HH Camp held every 2 years, he contributed immensely to the deaf society in Malaysia & regional level, not to mention his contributions in other areas such as human rights, poverty eradication etc. I can still remembered those days (my younger days) during the annual Parent Support Group family trips (held for families with deaf children) when Uncle Yip was encouraging parents & children. He always insists on importance of family unity.

Uncle Yip is incredibly down to earth & modest despite holding high positions in office. He loves being around with people & looking for good food whenever he's in town, especially hanging around in mamak or kopitiam in Brickfields. Those kopitiam uncles & aunties in Brickfields will have lots to say bout him. Those makan-makan trips to Tanjung Tualang, Selayang, Port Klang etc & our times with him in Hong Kong shall remains memorable moments to me. Being a joker, he loves teasing people, especially Aunty Lucy with his cynical jokes.

There's a Malay idiom saying "When a tiger dies, it leaves its stripes. When a person passed on, he leaves his legacy behind". That's our Uncle Yip. His works & contributions in his areas of work shall remains as example to be followed for many generations to come. His presence among us all will be sorely missed. And I'm sure God has His plans for him in heaven.

Uncle Yip, may You rest in peace...

Kawe pergi Kelate...

What did u do when ur struggling to cope with stress in a fast paced city? De-stress urself in a slow-paced city with a laidback style, or better still celebrating a happy occasion with bunch of cheerful ppl there...that's what practically happened last month.

Went with several Mahikari Youths to be part of a beautiful wedding of Hock Shai & Li Lian back in Shai's hometown Kuala Krai, Kelantan. Geographically, it's 64 km south of Kota Bahru about 1.5 hours drive by road from the state capital. With wide choices of tranportation modes available, all of us went like in 3 different routes thru Air Asia (that's my group) & Malaysia Airlines by air and another group by car. Upon arrival, Shai arranged for his relatives to pick us up & drive down to Kuala Krai. Our car went to Pasir Mas first for "ayam percik" (a nationwide famous grilled chicken with specially marinated sauce) as someone was craving for it & need it fast. How to know more of a newly found place & its people? Learn of its local dialect from the local people of cos. Took a crash course Kelantanese Malay during the journey to Kuala Krai, thanks to tutoring from Shai's brother. It is well known that the Malay spoken in Kelantan is "kao kao pekat". "Kawe dah lapor, nak make ayam percik. Demo nak make??" (I'm hungry, wanna have ayam percik. U wanna have some?)

Heavenly "ayam percik". Still tastes delicious even when it's cold

Arrived 1.5 hours later to find the M'sia Airlines gang waiting at the pre wedding gathering at Shai's house. By 6pm, everyone has arrived & enjoying the tradional Thai dish, "kaojam". The guys hang out with the groom till late nite. The gals went back to a rented house with the bride. Woke up little early & found time to chat with Shai's uncles while waiting for others to wake up. U see, everythin seems to be so foreign in Kelantan even if ur speaking the native Hokkien with the locals there. The local Hokkien seems to have the mixture of some Siamese & Kelantanese Malay influences in it & difficult to understand at first, but the message is still understood in the end..:)

Finally arrived at groom's longhouse style home in Kuala Krai

Having a try of Thai-made Tiger & Chang beers

By 9 am, everyone was ready & moved to pick up the bride. Guys have prepared for any circumstances, posed by the gals at the house. CY even bought his "kachang" (Japanese sword used in kendo martial sports), just in case the "negotiation" turn violent. For this time around, challenges posed are much lighter, compared to other weddings before this. Thank you gals..:) We are made to eat pancakes & drink Milo. All of them added with chillies or certain spicy spices I think. Groom was then made to drink bowl of supersour lemon juice before allowed entry into bride's room.

Am I ready? I Think I am!! Do I?? Probably I do..

The compulsory tea ceremony was held before we went back to groom's home for another tea ceremony & prayer etc. Had nasi dagang & other local dishes, catered for lunch. Hang out for a while in the house before some of us went back to KL. My group went back to the rented home to take a short nap as our flight back home was at night. Had tomyam + Chinese dinner in Kota Bahru before flying back to KL.

Lunch - Nasi dagang & local dishes

Group photo with some of the remaining peeps after wedding

With Mr & Mrs Teo...

Kelate...

Been looking for reasons to visit Kelantan for years & finally got one when Shai & Li Lian is getting married back in his hometown, Kuala Krai this month. Congratulations to both Mr & Mrs Teo !!! Tried hard to look for the place in the map but to no avail. Upon checking in the Net, tis place is located 64km south of the state capital, Kota Bahru. And yes, got to know the famous designer Zang Toi hailed from this sleepy town as well...


Got myself to fly to Kota Bahru by Air Asia at bargain price at RM 159.00 for return trip. I love u, Tony Fernandes & I still thinks ur the best candidate for Transport Minister post in the soon-to-formed new government ehehee. Can somebody suggests non-politician civilians to be allowed to vie for Minister post as well?? Anyway, shall blog bout tis trip soon when the time comes...

B-Day...

Many of u asked how did I celebrate my belated B-day last weekend. What I've done? Nothin much actually...just drinks+B-day countdown with the Akurians, spending quality times with beloved families, futsal with Mahikari Youths, seafood dinner & a surprise gatecrash from the Youths at my home. All done in a simple way. Might sounds boring but it's meaningful.

Was in Mamak Bistro's SS 14, Subang Jaya on Sat nite for drinks with the Akurians. Earlier, Maj, Theva, Nei & myself went for this baby naming ceremony (somethin like a full moon party for baby aged one month old) for Siva's daughter. Congrats to the new father & mother. Baby does look as beautiful as her name, Manushrii Sai. Got catched up with some old skool mates in the same party, some of them were totally unseen for last 10 years. Talked cock, especially bout the coming Langkawi trip this December. Already has our imaginary tour schedule..this getting me more excited waiting for the day. We celebrated my B-day after midnight with teh tariks instead of the usual surprise pranks, thank goodness everybody wanna have a break for now at least....

Baby + gang

Woke up the next day to find my sis getting gung-ho about baking cake. She's pretty into this baking practice nowadays. Mum & bro joined sis to make orange cheese together. Dad & myself gladly made way...not that we're lazy, just that we're more of the food connoiseurs type. We only taste food eheheh. Cake turned out well & it was not bad...Well done sis & keep it up. Next in the menu, chocolate moist cake okay??

In a fishing village near Klang Esplanade with family

Later on had seafood dinner in Klang Esplanade in a Hainanese fishing village restaurant called "Bagan Hailam Seafood Restaurant". Bountiful of seafood served at reasonable price. Our "Sweet & Sour Crab" were quite good. Other than that, nothin extraordinary to enable a repeat trip. Thought day was over until got a sudden call from Hikari, informing of him & "few frens" wanting to visit our house. Little that I knew there's 15 of the Youths came gatecrashed into my home bringing along a Gardenia cake with candles. Hanged out for a while & played game of "Mafia". Although it does looked like a last minute planning, it was a pleasant surprise to see sooo many of u celebrating with me & appreciated the efforts.

Surprise cake

Thanks guys / gals for the company...

Each one of us have an idea of his/her dream birthday celebration be it dining, partying, flying in a helicopter etc. Mine only is to celebrate the day with my loved ones. Type of activity is just secondary in nature. Call me being emotionally old fashioned, out of touch, conservative or whatever...but just tell me what makes a more beautiful day than celebrating one of your most significant day in your life with your loved ones?? Anythin more than that (eg surprises, gifts from your frens etc) are great blessings given by God. And I'm pleased to say it was beautiful celebration each year as far as I can remember. Imagine this, looking at the sight of watching sis & bro arguing over what ingredients to use for the cake, the jokes/stories by old mates, loud laughters by the youths & even just simple sms & Facebook wishes (u know who u are!!)....you just cant stop thanking Him for bringing these beautiful people into ur life. Thanks again to all from the bottom of my heart...

Btw, would like to wish all my Muslim bro's & sista SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI....

August Round-Up

Been a while since last time updating the blog. One blink & August is no more and September is here now. Browsing thru all the happenings in the month & there's Beijing Olympics running for almost a month, the mother of all by-elections in Permatang Pauh, Penang; Jun Tai In Yokoshi training and Merdeka day.

Opening & closing ceremonies were out of the world, as they said. Sparkling performances from athletes from multiple sports awed the world & seems as if they originated from another planet. If Michael Phelps is a country, his 8-gold performance in swimming would have put him ninth in the medal standing. And our very own Lee Chong Wei left reeling from the one-sided badminton final match loss against Lin Dan, missing out on the gold medal & the RM1 million reward. And we will need to wait another 4 years for another hope & aspiration for the precious one. Kudos for him though for bringing back the silver. Usain Bolt, mark this name now for he shall be the next athletic superstar after the legendary Carl Lewis & Michael Johnson. Astonishing world record 9.69 sec in the century dash & it could be made lower, judging from Bolt's comment "It wasn't my best performance". And sexy pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayaeva's hobby could well be breaking world records. London 2012 organising committee members will now be under pressure to match Beijing's outstanding organisational displays. And I'll be eagerly waiting if Sir Alex Ferguson actually coaches the Great Britain football team in 4 years time in Wembley.

And of cos, there's the Jun Tai In Yokoshi training held successfully over 6 days in KL Dojo with then theme "Know Yourself". Special thanks to June & Hon for their efforts during this training and not to mention, Taicho & Vice Taichos'. Personally, it was a tiring journey, having to travel everyday to KL from my working place in airport. However, upon looking at the participants' bright faces, the tiredness just went off. It has been a pleasure getting to share knowledges & experiences with those peeps. There's 6 of them. Put it this way, it was a learning journey for both leaders & members. From the activities & upon observation, each of them has shown potentials to be of someone who can contribute to society and it makes me more motivated & eager to help them to unearth their potential & eventually, getting to know themselves. Apparently, one of the member popped a question "How can I make a difference to the society when the whole world is currently full of chaos & being materialistic?" As Al Gore said in his groundbreaking presentation "An Inconvenient Truth", it all starts from us, ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King & Nelson Mandela started alone & held their beliefs despite of massive challenges & life threatening barriers. They moved & inspired people with their beliefs & actions, even if 2 of them are no longer around. It's about putting into actions what we think is right & no turning back after the first step. The only choice is to move forward.

Not talking about Merdeka (Independence Day) in August could be seen as doing injustice to the country. August 31 was the date & went to Curve the nite before for the countdown party. Honestly, the response of the nationwide celebration of the 51st Merdeka this year is rather lukewarm. No more Merdeka ads on TV, with the exception of Petronas. Hardly seen any cars flying at least the mini-national flag on road. Cant blame the people though, costs of living is increasing and we're seeing never-ending political circus going on in the local scene. And the frustrating part is no one seems to be bothering looking at the needs of the ordinary people, especially the middle class group (which forms the largest income group in the country). Who will have the mood to celebrate then? Anyway, we observed the fireworks & here posted a photo of it, which hopefully signify a spark in the local scene in the next 3 months before end of the year.

Operation: Ray's Surprise

Prime Target: Raymond Choy
Mission: Surprise Party+Holy Water Festival for the B-boy
Date: 28th June 2008

Venue: The target's base in SS 14, Subang Jaya

Executioners: Fellow Akurians + moles in the target's circle (his gf+parents)

As stated above, the mission has successfully taken place in the designated place of execution, thanks to the support of all involved parties, either directly or indirectly. At the time of this blog is written, it is reliably said that the target has yet to recover fully from his still-shocked mind from the sudden ambush; just like George Bush pondering what & how it hit him after 911. Not goin to waste time to get into details of what went on during the operation. 2 blogs has precisely explain the details of all the happenings before, during & after the operation and u ppl stole some of my lines. Too much duplication then if I am to explain again... Just check out the target's blog http://www.reimondsblog.blogspot.com/ or Majidah's http://whereinsoever.wordpress.com/. So to u both, I demand 5% royalties for promoting ur blogs here. Not asking too much rite?

Looking back at all the plannings prior to the big day, frankly it was the best surprise party plan we've came out with in years which I thought Sun Tzu will be very proud at. Hold a minute...did we actually plan surprises before this year? For these recent surprise thingy for our clan members, we got foam sprays, super oily whipped creams with cakes, water...just can't imagine what comes after this....If ur looking at tis, Ray...it's all started in Pangkor and yes, u got ur due...:) Hope u enjoyed it & etched in ur mind for a long time. Whatever way we do it, all being done as the way it used to be long waaaaayayyyy back, just like the old days. No ill intentions, no ulterior motives, just plain, old fashioned pranks for our beloved frens to have memorable moments. Meanwhile, just enjoyed the photos taken & for those still unaffected of surprise thingy...beware...:)

The group photo

The cake...simply heavenly delicious

The executioners + the prime target

The warzone, full of debris

Old Mates...

I know I know, tis might be little late to post tis as the events - "Lo sang" dinner & Theva's surprise b'day were held last month. Just got the photos anyway. At least, it's better late than never rite gang??

Had tis "lo sang" dinner with the Akurians' plan in mind for some time & thought of having it on one fine weekend (during the CNY period of cos). It's then made hastened when Ray called on Friday out of a sudden & announced he's flying off to Labuan to work on Monday. So, it's now or never or he will miss all the fun!!!! 1 day to call those peeps & get things going...Thank goodness most of them are free on Sunday. Suggested the Klang seafood restaurant in Pandamaran as it was pork-free & serves good seafood delicacies at reasonable price. And there's 12 of us sitting enjoying the seafood while reminiscing the old days + new memories gained (from the recent Pangkor trip) and updating each other + little gossipings. Moved on to 2nd round of drinks in Asia Cafe after that & killed time till wee hours while sipping (or gulping could be the better word) cool chilled beers. I lost count on how many buckets of Tigers we ordered...

Weeks after that, Maj suggested on tis surprise b'day for our beloved Theva with help from his bro. Plan is to surprise him at his home when he's on the way back. Old idea but effective. All mechanisms are in order with that fat bum went back home earlier than expected & immediately knocked off into his La-La land. Changed to Plan B when we will secretly slip into his home & surprise him when he's awake. Whipped cream is on standby when we managed to get outside his home. On personal note, it's my payback time for him being part of my surprise New Eve attack in Pangkor...Out of a sudden, that bum woke up & came out from the house and saw us, asking "What the heck ur doing at my home??" Dammiiitttt...the plan screwed up!!!! Any damage control?? No....but what the heck. Forget the surprise but the whipped cream attack will still go on & here's our B-boy got the taste of attacks from all directions...

B-boy got attacked

Enjoyed blowing candles, cut cake bla bla bla together after that...& boy, the cake from Cake Sense was damn good...Emma brought some photos (that I hardly remembered taken) & her old autograph book (that I hardly remembered writing stuffs inside) from school days..that exercise book that almost every gal will have & get every single soul to write somethin inside....& of cos as usual talked cock bout every single topic that can be discussed whole nite long while enjoying my Chivas Regal....It has been 11 years now & that does not mean we can stop doing the crazy stuffs we used to do in yesteryears and reminiscing the memories. It's more meaningful & sweet when u do it with the same people u hang out with. As Maj said, it's also time to create new memories & September will be a risky & dangerous month for others..:)

The gang...

Pangkor Escapade 2007

It takes me days to think about wat to write bout tis trip. Not that it's boring but it was a blast!!! Just too many great stuffs in the trip that deserve mention. I was even thinking into writing in parts. Well, Stef :=) pressured & told me that to start updating very soon, no one pressured me as much as u..:) just jk & ok here it goes...

Went to Pangkor on 30th with old skool frens; Ray+ his gal Evon, Theva, Maj & Nei. We drove to Teluk Intan & brought the gang to sample the Abdullah mee rebus in town (claimed by Star newspaper to be the best in Teluk Intan!!) Got booed & "finger flashed" instead by the gang for the food & I still dunno the actual reason. Went to Lumut & board the ferry to the island. We ended up in tis Seaview Hotel & first thing impressed me is the surprisingly clean beachfront. Apparently, hotel was owned by an ex Thomas Cup badminton winner, Dato Tan Yee Khan, who was a fren of Ray's someone's someone that we've got a bargain deal of RM 100 per pax/day for 3 days 2 nite stay (inclusive of 3 meals each day !!!)

The gang outside Leaning Clock Tower in Teluk Intan

Ray's mum (who also on holiday there) greeted us at the entrance & told us to have lunch. The advise is to take only the dishes & forget the rice. Weird advise indeed & I wondered why. When dishes arrived, I finally understand. We were served 5 BIG portions of superfresh seafood dishes + soup + dessert. Got the hint that tis will be a "filling" trip. In the evening, went walking along the beach, climbing trees, swimming in the sea & the sunset was a scene not to be missed if ur in Pangkor. Dinner were served with 5 BIG dishes+ 1 bonus dish from the owner...lasted the nite with poker games(& I shall review that 3 diamonds rule again) +Smirnoff I brought.

Picturesque view of sunset

The next day morning saw us go island-hopping, snorkelling, sunbathing, making transsexual being with sand & trying to be photogenic around rocks. Lunch were served with yet another 5 seafood dishes as if the ocean was belong to the owner. At tis time, we were damn sure the amount we paid were for the food while rooms were FOC. In evening, went for tis unique watersport ride (only available in Pangkor), called the Airhead. Tis is where u need to lie down on your front on the float while holding on tightly to the grips. Mind you...tis is scarily more terrifying than banana boat !!! Swimming in the pool was the next best thing to do to relax our still-shocked minds after the ride.

Hooray !!! Finally, Nei agrees to swim after much persuasion..

Pity the big sized fella but notice size of his..ummm.

More Airhead rides?? Nooo...

After dinner, the beachfront cafe has the DJ spinning songs for the New Year eve celebration. Guess the DJ has a thing for cha-cha that he played them every 2 songs and u cud see all the aunties happily dancing to the tunes. By 10pm, songs were slowly changed into more techno tunes (no thanks to Nei's request) & by now, all the Ah Piau's & Ah Moi's were jiggling around. The area was packed with ppl and we were happily dancing away & little that I knew that the rest of the peeps has somethin in their sleeves for me. At the count of 3-2-1, I was surrounded by the gang (even Ray's parent were part of them!!!)& snow sprayed to me at point blank range. By the end of the fireworks, I was soaking with snows all over with ppl staring, probably unsure wat transpired...damn u guys for tis attack and tis shall make it unforgettable for long time to come. Talked cock bout the golden old days while sipping away the whole bottle of Smirnoff.

Nowhere to hide !! Being attacked from all areas !!!

Realised that I lost my digicam in the next morning. Tried hard to remember where do I put it & asked hotel staffs. Most probably, on our poker table the previous nite. Not sure wat's the feeling like. Funny cos I remembered to bring my Smirnoff(an empty bottle indeed!!!) back to room but not the digicam !!!! Sad bcos all photos taken are gone forever. Stupid me....& it's still painful till today lerr whenever think bout tis. Upon checked out, went to buy seafood foodstuffs at Lumut & back to Teluk Intan to buy "tau sar" & other biscuits. Tis time, brought the gang to have mamak fare at M.Gulam Rasul. No finger flashing or boos tis time for the food (especially the fried chicken) were tasty. Highly recommended for anyone stopping by Teluk Intan.

Despite few pullouts & minor hiccups (sorry for your car Theva, but glad ur there), glad we've managed to make it happen. Been talking bout tis for donkey years & it's only got seriously discussed 2 months back. And it was a great way to celebrate special occasion with the ppl ur comfortable with, whereby u can be urself without pretending. A memorable trip doesn't necessarily spent in a 5-star hotel in exotic location. It's the people who make it unforgettable by spending time together doing common interests. Sense of humour is a MUST too. There's bound to have more of tis after this escapade....& it's just the beginning.