I'm home alone again..

Poor JD. Everytime we come back to Melaka, he spends the whole day alone at home. It's sad to see his excited face in the morning, thinking that it's time to go back to Subang. I know he misses home.

Well son, we'll be back this coming weekend. Hang on there for another 4 days. I'll get you some chicken treats to compensate.

Melaka Tree

Anyone not seen a Melaka Tree? Now I'm not certain if this is the one that Parameswara leaned against and founded Melaka.

However, I must say that it is indeed shady.

Visit Melaka

Over the weekend, my cousins dropped by Melaka for a food tour. As is part of the itinerary, I took them to visit the landmark of this historical place. And for those interested, the statue above is found on the hill behind the Stadhuys.

And that's my niece, Chloe with her proud parents.

Dungeon Siege 2: Broken World

What's this?

I believe many reading this blog would be wondering what nonsense I'm up to this time.

The past weekend, I've revisited my schooling days past time of computer gaming, upped a notch by setting up a local area network at home. And I proudly say, we've completed the expansion quest of Broken World, after a long hiatus from gaming.

To those who likes fantasy, 3rd party RPG, multiplayer cooperative gaming, Dungeon Siege II is indeed a captivating game, offering good challenges and exciting moments.

PaintBall

I went for a Paintball session recently, with my colleagues, on grounds of team-building (or stealing time from work, whichever way you want ot look at it).

Anyhow, it's my first experience at Paintball, after hearing and reading about it for so many times. Really, nothing comes close to trying it out in person.

The Equipment:

• Face Mask - a very important safety component. More often than not, the is one of the nicest target to go for.
• Marker - this is a term used for the "gun". I was told that it's called a Marker, and not a gun, to avoid the connotation with violence and legality. (We were advised to avoid wearing military camouflage as well, in case we're mistaken as a militia group training for the wrong reasons). You'll notice that in photographs from foreign websites, the camouflage make up part of the gameplan.
• Pellets - not bullets. It's filled with paint made of vegetable oil (edible).

The Rules:

• Everytime we enter the enclosure, it's Mask On! No matter for what reasons, be it to adjust the obstacles, retrieve items, walk past. Of course, it's more for personal safety.
• Marker safety must be ON, and the Barrel Stopper fitted. Again, safety reasons.
• At close range, NO shooting. Just tap with the marker barrel. (Now I must add that those pellets really hurt, even when hit from a distance 10 feet away)

We played the game 4 to a side, with the objective of capturing the opponent's flag. Then again, this being our first time, our intention lingers more towards the number of bruises we will leave on the opposition; not the victory of flag capture.

To add to the fun, the session was held in the woods, amidst a light drizzle. Needless to say, we ended up soaked, muddy and bruised.

Like excitement? Try Paintball. Ladies and Gents alike.

Dinner Ala HongKong TeaHouse

Lindy found a magazine recently, listing most of the common HK teahouse dishes that we find in the major chains... Cheese Baked Rice, Twin Sauce Pork Chop Rice, French Toast...

Needless to say, we jumped at the chance. Results, passable....

Fried Spaghetti

Borsch Soup (HK ABC soup)

Cheese Baked Seafood Fried Rice

French Toast, with Honey and Peanut Butter

Not bad, eh....

Heroes

Have anyone been following the Heroes series?

I've been following the first season on my notebook. Thank goodness for the world wide web. Now for the uninitiated, Heroes is all about people with unique abilities, due to some oddities in their brains which gave them the additional advantege over others.

Given a choice, what would you choose?

• Flight - the freedom of movement, speed and a most useful ability to have when we need to get far far away..
• Persuasion - the power of persuasion, getting people to do things they do not intend to..
• Telekinesis - reaching out with the brain to physically move objects..
• Bend time and space - controls time, moving forward, backward, or stopping it for good..
• Foresight - seeing the future, before it happens..
• Mind reading - hearing what others think..

I wonder how this world will be like, if some people are given this "gift".

Surviving in the Klang Valley

I received this from a friend, and posting it uneditted. Odd how people could survive under such circumstances..

In Malaysia, the average family income is RM3,000/month.
I understand there are many families whose monthly income does not reach RM3,000, but, to make things simple, let's take RM3,000 as the figure. Ok lah, right?
Okay, let's start rolling with a family which has Papa, Mama, 1 daughter and 1 son. Ngam-ngam ...

Calculation starts...
-Electricity and water bill:RM100 (No air-con, No home theatre, No water heater ...ok?)
-Phone bill (Mobile):RM100
-Meals for a happy family:RM775 (3 meals on RM25/day, RM25 for 4 persons...?)
-Papa makan teh-tarik during working hrs:RM155 (RM5/day, RM5 ... can eat what?)
-Car repayment:RM400 (A proton saga aeroback, 7 yrs repayment)
-Petrol (living in city, traffic-jam):RM300 (go to work, bring son to school, only can afford one car running)
-Insurance:RM650 (kids, wife and myself)
-House repayment:RM750 (low cost housing repayment for 30 yrs, retired still have to work to pay!)
-Tuition: RM80 (got that cheap meh? I don't think so)
-Older children pocket money @ school:RM20 (RM1/day, eat bread?)
-School fees:RM30 (enough ah?)
-School books and etc:RM100 (always got extra to pay in school)
-Younger children milk powder:RM50 (cannot have the DHA, BHA, PHA one, expensive)
-Miscellaneous:RM100 (shampoo, rice, sauce, toilet paper)

No medical fees, no cinema visits, no Astro education, no outing with expensive tolls and carparks, no extras for LRT and busses.

Now it's starting to ring true. Most Malaysians go thru life in debts. House debts, car debts, credit debts. It's no surprise that an honest survey will turn up more bankruptcies than reported.

Can someone enlighten me if the same is true elsewhere??

Register local bloggers

Here's the latest scoop.
The Govt wants M'sian-hosted bloggers to register, in a move to prevent malicious contents being published, causing harm to Nation Unity.
How is it that putting in an administrative obstacle can prevent malicious contents being published?
Register to instill Accountability?
Or should it be Educate to instill Accountability?
~What if the bloggers moved their sites out of the Country?
~No longer held accountable?
~Licensed to speak freely?
~Isn't the person who's blogging still on the same soil?

If preventing the wrong things being said is what this is all about, then get to the source.
~Why was it said?
~Is there a basis for discussion?
~Is there "dirt" for picking?
~Isn't people's interests piqued from sparks of unconformity that originated somewhere else?

Didn't we register car owners too? Did that prevent accidents, hit and runs?
Didn't we register business owners too? Where did those gambling dens come from?

Is REGISTERING people on a list, a SOLUTION?

Happy Birthday May Li

May Li! Welcome to ClubThirty!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to May Li,
Happy Birthday to you...

Ouch!

I tore my shoulder muscle. At least, that's what I was told by an experienced badminton player.
I've had this nagging sharp pain shooting up my right shoulder since last Monday, when I did a nature-defying smash. I had my right arm overhead, and took the smash on the left side of my head, which resulted in an odd "tearing" sensation.

The past one week, I've experienced the pain each time I reach for my wallet in my back pocket (pun intended). Also the same each time I scratch my posterior ;) or when I lift the arm overhead.

Serves me right, no? The pros train for hours each day, to execute that stunt perfectly, and there I go, a once-a-week wannabe, carrying a 35" waist, trying that stunt.

Ouch!