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May 30, 2003
TGIF
Looks like trainings are conducted twice a week at the JCKL in Taman Seputeh, which is good since it's nearby. I'll be meeting a rep tomorrow at the dojo, hopefully with a good outcome like making it for the coming intake next month!
Fingers crossed!
Go watch Finding Nemo. So good, i'm catching it again next week.
Posted by kahjin at 04:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 29, 2003
Hajime!
I've just had a brief phone conversation with the president of the Malaysian division, and let's just say I made a good start in taking up my first martial arts sport - Kendo!
This has been a long time coming. I was supposed to do something about it like right after I got back from Tokyo last year, but never got my act together. Take this blog for example! :D rofl
From what he says, response from the public has grown lately... in fact it was so overwhelming that nowadays they can only afford intakes every 3 months. And to think that not too long ago they had to invite folks to join them... pfft!
So just how did I come across kendo? Lol hang on to your seats :)
Does anyone remember that game 'Budokan' back in the 286 days of vga splendour? Yeah well, that's how. I thought then, "Man, what a cool discipline this would be to practice!" But as I continued to use it in tournaments, I kept getting my butt kicked by half nekkid tonfa wielding brutes. So much for head splitting shinais. Ended up using nunchakus instead for the rest of the game.
That was a decade ago.
Now, I know I'm not taking this up because of the 'cool factor' involved in putting on a bogu :P (dare I say that is just a plus?) There is so much more to this sport. Some would ask, what do I exactly get in return for all this? I only have one thing in mind...
Zanshin
Ah, Fiona just called up... watching Finding Nemo tonight with the rest! Hmm I wonder if they've already gotten tickets for the show.
update : gawd, it's a midnight show at mid valley :P everywhere else is sold out!
Posted by kahjin at 06:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
May 28, 2003
Hisashiburi!
Woah, exactly a week since my last entry.
Yes yes i'm alive and well. S'pore wasn't that bad, though the same cannot be said for the hotels and the economy in general there. Meals in the coffee house was weird, felt like I had the whole place to myself!
Being the thoughtful glutton I am here's what I had the other day at some kopitiam in Alexandria (dine in while you're there!) - claypot laksa! No kidding! Mind you, this is not your average laksa. What makes it so special is the curry which they serve together with their home made noodles. Mmmmh umaai-desu!
Juve and Milan are at it tonight, hopefully it won't be another boring Serie A game. Notice how stadiums (especially in the delle alpi!) tend to echo cheers from the crowd?
Cheers eD, you finally got it done.
Posted by kahjin at 06:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 21, 2003
I need water damnit!
I feel as though i've been living in a refugee camp for the past couple of days. The only tap that doesn't ooze drops comes from the kitchen. Even taking a bath now feels like a workout! Imagine having to drag pails of water from the kitchen tap through stairs and rooms, over and over again. Grrr... just 2 more months till the contract ends! Can't wait. Fiona spotted some new and neat looking apartments opposite Desa Kiara so I'll be checking the place out soon.
I'm heading to Singapore tomorrow again so erh... could I get a little prayer from everyone? :) It's just going to be 2 days, but what worries me is that the site that i'll be working in is apparently near a sars hotspot... remember that wet market case? I'm not being paranoid or anything, but a quick check in WHO today revealed nothing promising. Oh well... you know what they say when your time is up.
Posted by kahjin at 07:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
May 20, 2003
Home Stills .I.
It's kind of a routine for me to do this whenever i'm back home, so here are some of it.
This is starting to get messy. Does anyone have suggestions on a good photoblog I could use?
Posted by kahjin at 01:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 19, 2003
Me fail cooking? That's unpossible!
Thank you Chief Wiggum that will be all.
Unlike my other trips back to Penang, the last one was more productive. Mom has always been a kitchen extraordinaire so I thought it was about time that I learned something from her cooking!
So yesterday morning with all the ingrediants available I was ready to prepare my first dish, fettuccine bolognese - chinese style!
"Never trust recipe books, your tongue does a better job", just some of the wise words mom would remind me from time to time.
The 'class' went extremely well, since mom was around to guide me along the way. An hour later the dish was ready, and... *sips ladle* hey not bad for a first timer! How so? Well nobody fell ill so that's good enough for me.
Posted by kahjin at 01:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 18, 2003
After all that hype...
it was all down to one simple decision, the left door, or the right one. That Architect guy is one helluva long-winded mofo. I would have said the same for the Oracle, but ah she's one sweet lady :) erm, no pun intended.
Judging from how the scenes quickly transitioned from one to another I think alot of footage was surely missing. Take the superbowl trailer for example. During the car chase scene an agent leaps onto several cars but in the movie he crashed just one. I'm sure there must be more but that would have to wait till the DVD comes out. While the interest is still there at least i've got the animatrix to look forward to.
Posted by kahjin at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 15, 2003
It's an all Italian final folks!
Just watched the repeat, and woah that match had quite a nail grinding last 5 minutes. Zizou pulled one back for Real, so for a moment there another goal looked so inevitable! Raul could have won it, but the poor lad totally headed wide. I'm tipping Juve to lift the title at Old Trafford, their game was pure determination, nothing less.
Btw Happy Wesak to those who have celebrated. I was down in Taiping this morning to do just that. Other than the usual prayers and blessings the day was pretty much the same. Heading to me alma mater for lunch tommorow so I'm really looking forward to that. It's been a while... 6 years already!
Posted by kahjin at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 14, 2003
Urh what the?!
As if four hours felt any different from reaching the island within an hour less. Mental note to self, take slower drives from now on.
I was 'saman-free' during the journey until the last toll where speed limits were bound to 90. The road block on the bridge truly caught me off guard. Who in the nine hells would have least expect them lards to be in their striking white uniforms, flagging cars down at 2 in the morning?! Well I sure friggin' didn't.
Car's back in the workshop, again. Initial damage assessments indicate broken engine mounts, a mildly damaged radiator, and a 'warped' engine bay. In other words repairs are not going to come cheap. Little did I know about my bonnet though, and according to the mechanic the hood could have taken flight anytime since the safety hook was KOed... scaaaarry! Hey wait a tick, that did happen to Dad last month... oeerrr SCAAAAAARRRRRRRRYYYY!
Speaking of which... heck, here's what happened. Back in highschool I purchased this really evil looking Spawn action figure. To me, you could only do 2 things with it; either take it out and worship it above your computer monitor, or simply leave it as it is, intact.
Treating it like the latter was difficult over the years, it was kind of like resisting any temptations to rip open a long lost Christmas present. Of course I had a reason for that 'mental torture'. I was thinking, who knows, maybe I'll come across some nut who is willing to fork out handsomely for a hunk of nicely molded plastic in the future!
But that's beside the point. When I popped over to the display cabinet this morning to admire the figures, there it was... oh how proudly it stood amongst the rest - unpackaged!!!
"*%^#@* Holy Mother of... hey if it had to be opened I should have been the one to do it!"
Of all people Dad turned out to be the one responsible for the 'desecration'. I almost gave him an earful, but Hock had already done that earlier it seemed :D ROFL
Oh well... at least it didn't happen to my priceless comic collection.
Note to self; secure comics and make sure it doesn't end up in a charity drive.
Posted by kahjin at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 13, 2003
Riuh-rendah
"PAS or Barisan, either way we're screwed for sure..."
Such is the musical Instant Cafe Theatre dished out last night :) Comedy does sell. I have to admit it, I've never seen Jo Kukathas perform before, so after last night I'd say she is one very versatile actress! One minute she was Miss Ambrosia LaLa, another as a Minister of Records (i'm just as boggled as you are), and next as a mamak stall owner! Simply can't wait for the Bolehwood Awards, and that is just a couple of months away! In case if you were wondering, the play was about what it would have been like if the ICT cast had taken over Malaysia's one and only news network. Just imagine if it happened for real!
Earlier in the show, Ramli Ibrahim performed a graceful balance of Odissi and Bharatanatyam. He did not disappoint. I must say, never having seen anything like that before makes me think of all the other dances Melvin Khoo (pretty sure that's his name) had done and that I have missed! Even if that was a few years ago, the critics really had a field day on their reviews.
Sean Ghazi was a real suprise package. I've already seen his part as a closet gay in Spilt Gravy on Rice, so when it came to singing I obviously wasn't in the know about what he was capable of. I wouldn't have guessed it, but he gave one heck of a show.
I didn't forget my camera this time, so here are the pictures. I apologize if they look like crap, my hands definately didn't make a good camera stand.
I'll be driving down to Penang tonight for the long weekend off. I don't know about you guys, but long night journeys open me up a little. Personally I'd start to think about what goes on in the houses of people working in those plantations I pass along the highway.
"What cooking for dinner?"
"Bedtime kids!"
"Damn 'kitoes!"
"Not bad for a days' work..."
just a thought.
Posted by kahjin at 07:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Lomo-ganza!
It's in! Scans courtesy of Sharon. She was nice enough to send me her pictures too, so check them out here. Have to rush off to work now. Will write about Riuh! upon my return.
Posted by kahjin at 01:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 12, 2003
Over the weekend
The Premier League season came to an end last night. 6 teams played their respective matches as if they were cup finals, which was very interesting to watch. Trevor Brooking did a fine job in his temporary role as manager, but in the end not even Di Canio's heroics was enough to pull them through.
For Chelsea and Liverpool, it was a fine line between the Champions League and the UEFA cup. I thought Chelsea fully deserved the win. Van Nistelrooij's penalty earned him the golden boot award, which also in turn booked Blackburn a spot in next season's UEFA cup instead of Everton. Gosh, and everyone else thinks football revolves around 22 players and a round object.
Caught Chicken Parts 9 at the Actor's Studio last Saturday, since Actorlympics was totally sold out. The experience was so precarious at first we didn't have a clue what was going on. I wouldn't think of it as a play at all... more like an orgy of audio and visual torture in the name of art. One of them was conceptual though, based on a poem written by Jerome Kugan (which was one of the open mic performers the other day!). As for the sequel, i'd probably attend it if I'm not required to impair my hearing.
Oh yeah, more Redang pictures have been addded. I'll upload the scanned lomo shots tommorow.
Brand New Heavies are due to perform in KL! At least that's what my housemate told me last night. Tickets upon confirmation anyone?
Posted by kahjin at 03:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
May 09, 2003
Music to me Ears
Monica scored a couple of invites (God bless you child!) earlier yesterday to No Black Tie for an acoustic performance, having interviewed Pete Teo for her magazine a week ago. Getting there was a problem in the first place, KL was afterall unfamiliar territory to me. Found it after a couple of rounds along Starhill, and there it was, sitting in the dark, back lanes of Jalan Nagasari.
The pub was cozy in a sense, loud crowds and cold beers strewn down onto every table. Having already missed the first half hour of the show, we were quickly ushered to press section of the room. Nice spot. All that's missing then was my camera and the md player. Bootlegging is never a crime mind you. If you ask me the local music scene definately needs to have more light shed over it.
There were four of them on stage, unfortunately the only two names I can confidently recall is Pete himself and Mia Palencia. What a voice she has. The other two new comers were not short of talent either. Eugene had all of his songs sung in Mandarin, typical Jay Chow style :) Mai Chern (think I got that right) on the other hand was playing stuff which reminded me alot of Tracy Chapman, minus the strong vocals.
The session ended many songs later, memorable ones include Pete's very facetious number called Rhapsody in Blue. But it was all not to end there, open mic was just a few minutes away.
That was when the real fun began. Nothing sardonic really. There were a few good acts along the way (not forgetting those piano pieces by Shannon!) but the one that brought the house down was performed by this guy who appears to be the stage technician. Both songs were based on true accounts in his life. The first one had to do with Bob Dylon I think. It's about how he approached 'the man' for an autograph only to be chased away with a
"Fuck off, i'm not Dylon, Dylon's left the house...",
Poor dude. Well at least everyone's laughing about it now. The second song had a tamil theme to it. Funniest of the lot. This one had to do with a medical student who commited suicide after failing his entrance exam for the third time. There was this part in the song when the poor soul took the jump off a bridge...
"Ammaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrhhh!!!",
ROFL heads and fists were banging on tables when that one came along. And what a finale that was. By then it was almost 3 in the friggin morning! But it surely didn't feel like it until I locked the front door.
What I had witnessed last night really inspired me in more ways than one. I feel as though i've been living in a box all the while. Time to find the lid.
"Thank you for coming ladies and gents, see you guys in the next one!"
Posted by kahjin at 07:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
May 08, 2003
Redang Pics
Alrighty folks grab your drool buckets and head here. This would have to do for now until I find the time to prepare a photo journal for the trip.
I'll upload the lomo shots as soon as I get the album back. Yeah it kinda went on tour right after development :)
Posted by kahjin at 05:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
May 07, 2003
Bad Moon Rising
Looks like my ride needs another visit to the workshop :-\
I took a wrong turn somewhere in Cyberjaya last Sunday night, and as I proceeded to make a hasty U turn the car went over this really deep trench (15cm?) across the road! My heart was in a million pieces after that high jump attempt.
Know that feeling when the plane lands on the runway? That's how my car behaves now upon ignition. Not good.
Grrr May is one month I want to move out from asap.
Posted by kahjin at 06:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
May 06, 2003
Peace at last!
Freakkin-woohoo-yay! I've finally nailed that damn VPN project! The past week was nothing but work, work and more work. What a breather... at least I can lead a normal life now.
Posted by kahjin at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)