280207 - Double Celebration

Finally got the accomodation bookings, travel activitiy arrangements & the itinerary sorted out for the upcoming Sabah trip - what better way to reward myself & wrap up my 10-day break after enduring 8 weeks of nightshitshift than this? At RM800 shy for the whole trip inclusive of accomodation, activities package plus airfare; makan, shopping & partying expenses excluded though.

She's a beauty. One of the 2 S15-80 in town.
I'd love to trade grip for drift; a turbocharged
RWD monster... if i had plenty of cold hard cash.
*Sigh...* i need a higher paying job.

Laksa Indulgence: Photoblog


@ Choon Hui's. Anthony Bourdain was here.

@ Chong Choon's. Serves the best laksa gravy in town.

Sabah Laksa. Tastes suprisingly similar to S'wak laksa. Kuching laksa still the most Power though.

@ Garden Park Cafe. Vegetarian laksa; taste like the original, but i miss the taste of having succulent prawns swimming in my laksa gravy.

Night Laksa @ 3rd mile Central Park; one of the few places in town to have a decent bowl of laksa in the middle of the night.

@ Eastmoore Cafe; just downstairs of the gym where i workout. Always makes a decent diet after sweating it out =p

*more updates coming

Got Kang Tao?

010307- Back to the Red Bomb subject; while busy figuring out exactly how many friends/peers have delivered theirs or are well on the track, we still find ourselves in a hopeless situation best described by the cliché Got Kang Tao?

Attempting to express the thoughts that comes across my mind like every 17 seconds is turning out to be a lot harder than I expected ~ hitting the wall; experiencing writer’s block ~

Read: reaching the final stage … You get my drift?

Red bombs falling like the Blitz.

How many have you received lately?

Been plagued by that annoying sound coming from frontwheel driveshaft for 2 weeks now. Finally had time to send to get fixed, now that workshops are open for business after the long break. My initial not-so-expert diagnosis hinted wheel bearing problem, so it should be safely a sub-50 bucks part replacement & repair job.
Worse. A trip to the driveshaft specialist turned out to be a 185 bucks parting affair.

Thorough inspection revealed cracked joint boot causing the packed cavity to be drained clean of grease; it simply means no protection from friction - speeds up wear & tear process, and eventually kills the driveshaft.

Luckily it's not damaged beyond repair. Took the whole afternoon to get it fixed & replaced the joint boots.
my car asking for big $$. damn.

Finally, one of Kuching's own.

Got to take a pass though, coz it's my last shift-night. It's been 2 months into night shift. Glad to be heading back to a normal life... =)

Features a suspenseful exploration into the darkest corners of the human experience - What makes a man take drug? And what is the perspective of the drug dealer? Some disturbing scenes & a haunting question: Loneliness leads to drugs; but is loneliness scarier? Or are drugs scarier?

~ definitely worth my 10 bucks.

CNY '07 in Volume

Lighting up Kuching skyline - Picturesque photo courtesy of Martin Wee

An amazing CNY pyrotechnics display that speaks tons of volume.... the Merdeka celebration one can take a backseat to this.

Missed out most of the day time action as i was working night shift for the 1st & 2nd day of CNY. Less visiting outings as this year, novelty of CNY marathon visitings wearing out year after year. After all it's the quality that matters, rather than the quantity. Hectic as it maybe, packed schedules/clashing schedules & etct.. it's always been great to be able meet up with some old-time acquaintances & friends, most of whom are only in town during this time of the year.

1st Day
Was hardly in holiday mood during the 1st 2 days. Had to sleep thru the day only to roam as zombies in the fab during nightfall. Gate-crashed at Edwin's place at the strike of midnight during our supper break for a stomach filling affair. Eating in at company cafeteria when everyone else on full swing celebrating would have been too pathetic to even contemplate.

2nd Day
Dropped by Adrian & Faith's new place in the middle of the night for a break. For a moment, i thought i was stepping into an IKEA showroom. Photos are mostly of Home & Living type... perhaps after seeing so many of my friends settling down & getting a place of their own. I think i have caught the 'wind' too.

Simply cool. Hey, maybe we can have our own private bar here =p


Mr Samurai


& his prized collections

I'd like to have a love shack like this one...

& also a complete entertainment room to go along with


Going ga-ga-ga over tech gadgets

PS2, PSP - hardcore gamers wouldn't do without

A wireless keyboard (everything oso wireless!)

& a comfy mouse pad

3rd Day
Finally getting my holiday. Barely slept 4 hours after returning from work early morning. Had a big envoy of friends & colleagues dropping by for a visit (1st) during the afternoon, before embarking on a outing trip with Marvin, Lydia & Christina.

Christina's new place. Impressive; not too many neighbourhoods have a security booth at the entrance of every lorongs


43" plasma TV. I'd find every excuse not to leave the couch if i had one



Retired early for the night after visiting a couple more friends including Roy's place to wrap up this year's edition of MTV Cribs. - think beautiful homes.

Roy's charming poochie greeting us Gong Xi Fatt Chai

4th Day
It was already high noon when i woke up. Went for an afternoon show at the cineplex; the much anticipated Ghost Rider... did not quite lived up to its hype i thought. Too much of a kiddy movie. Too much storyline crammed into an hour plus movie - character development much lacking. Only got to visit Colina late evening before retiring home for yet another much needed nap. Tire easily these days.
Finally seeing some clubbing action late night. Chilled out with Christina & friends at Amoebar in downtown Travillion.




Chicken chop, green tea & chivas. Suprisingly, a good blend

5th Day
Last day of break. Had lunch with parents outside. Not too many eating outlets are open yet, & sadly most are still charging CNY prices (20% - 40% mark-up). Nabeh, big businesses also demand ang pow meh?

Getting caught in lunch hour traffic

A modest CNY eve get together dinner for our small family of 4. For the chinese community, those steeped in tradition & the more contemporary ones alike, this is the one most important dinner of the year- reuniting families together for the joyous celebration of ushering the new year with renewed hope & everything good. For the auspicious dinner we had the best of mom's traditional homey dishes:
1. Ngo hiang - minced meat wrapped in rolls; think poh-piah dipped in belachan -yummy!
2. Hai som t'ng - sea cucumber soup; think shark's fin soup

3. Hu pio t'ng - fish maw soup with meat/prawn balls
4. Succulent fried prawns - tempura style
5. Suan na chai with prawns -think Lucky vege
6. Steamed Fukui fish - another auspicous dish

Though i'm not as aptly desriptive when it comes to food, but enjoying good food has always been a passionate endeavor for me. Now that it's past dinner time, the onslaught of fireworks are slowly picking up despite the rain.

Well, Chinese people always believe in starting everything new with a big Bang. On an ending note, wishing all you fellas out there a Happy & Prosperous CNY 2007! =)

150207

Spent the night dining out with Marvin and his buddy junior from Penang. Was told that a group of them came over last week, most have already left, & buddy junior is left stranded to spend CNY here coz there'll be no flights to Penang til the 18th. Kuching folks are always a friendly & hospitable bunch... we go great lengths to ensure our buddies from abroad are well fed with the ho liao, ho chak Kuching's best. Food agenda, is always main agenda.
Yeah, i know a place or two where to have the best laksa in town, best kueh chap, best gu-bak mee, tomato mee & etc. Was still indecisive, driving into town. A familiar name popped up as i drove by a new row of eating joints in Petanak area. Bestberry Cafe - a name i remember coming across in sarawakian.net. A pretty fresh cafe with minimalist design & an ang-ang bo hai lang theme. The food came looking almost too nice to eat. Reasonably priced, but have yet to try any of the house special.

Marv & object of desire, @pple MacBook - i want one too!

Chilled out at bing afterwards. Where else to get hot-spot service other than Coffee Bean. Can surf & chat over a cup of warm latte... and also enjoy the sights of pretty passer-bys by every now & then.

Wrapped up the night having kueh-chap at Petanak market - my long time craving revisited.

Not a day too late...

my sis' ... at least she's got something to shout about =)

Among the heaps of junk unearth-ed from my backyard while doing some obligatory CNY spring cleaning...

There's the extra pair of wiper blade, and there's also the freakin' expensive Acura emblem that never fitted. (Boss kit still in use except for the Honda horn cover)

Vision R boom-box with 2.5" inlet and outlet big enough to fit one whole foot + some extra room. Banned from my house coz too damned noisy.

OEM EG9 front lip. I couldn't believe i paid 2oo bucks for this piece of plastic. Had to do away with it when i installed the new bumper.

Got more parts stuffed at my mech's garage. An EG6 front bumper with foglights, a pair of smoked headlights (not sure if still functioning), and an EG8 driver seat are just some of the items. Heck, i might just fill up the whole warehouse. Time for some housekeeping.
Lelong - going cheap. Who wants to buy?

VTEC Kicks - One of the first few footages i had successfully downloaded from YouTube.

Some serious wheel spin & neat shifting on an EG6 with 4-1 header + 2.5" cat back exhaust setup maxing out on the speedometer - now that's one heck of a VTEC kick-a$$ launch, addictive eh?
Kinda miss the direct catback 2.2" setup on my ride when i first got it, could effortlessly do 150 clicks, maxing out on the 3rd gear. F*cking loud. Pity my neighbours though...
Now running on a more 'civilised' setup: stock headers+ 2.2"catback + mugen twinloop muffler (smooth & quiet when idle or under conservative driving)

How to save YouTube videos and View them Offline

An interesting & worthwhile entry (Lester's) to check out, in case you're interested in downloading YouTube footage but is clueless how to go about it... this should shed some light

Shanghai: Another destination to be pen-in in my travel diaries

Really enjoy travelling, going places, exploring new cultures & meeting new friends... though most of my travels have been intra-national up to date. The furthest i have been to is Bangkok, a long time ago when i was still a little kid. Had very vague memories of it, though mom & dad kept reminding me of how a sissy i was back then, whining, pouting & fits of tantrum whenever we had to cover distances on foot during the travel, always opting to stay indoors instead... But hey, can't really blame a 5 year old for that can you? Too young to have any sense of appreciation for vacation, i guess.
Now i've grown up to be quite the opposite.
The good thing about working for MNCs is that you'd be getting a good chance to be sent for trainings & attend conferences overseas. This one's going to be my 2nd. Will be presenting yet another technical paper at the 6th ISTC in Shanghai come middle march. Scope will be on photolithography process delay control. Whatisdat? - sounds like & reads like chinese kanji characters to the category bananas... (to most not in this industry). At least i played some part in this one, not the paper writing though; still to raw & inexperienced to cough-out technically neat stuff like this . Need to brush up a little more on the finer details of the paper & the presentation itself. Now, got to get my a$$ to work at it..