Gearing up for final Down to Earth

3 days to go.

Time to start packing!

I've stocked up on batteries for my concert gear - lightstick, banner etc. When the lights go out in the Expo on Saturday night I will be illuminating in blue HAHAHA!

enough battery power to light up a Christmas tree 

This lightstick costs a mere RM5 but it's powered by 2 lithium CR 1220 button batteries costing RM16 (!!!) I could've opted for the much cheaper China-made batteries but I didn't wanna risk the lightstick dying out halfway during the show LOL. The Japan-made ones sure don't come cheap

I need to also sort out my merchandise shopping list. The HKies are so organised - the merchandise order form is posted online in advance to avoid delays and unnecessary long Qs at the merchandise stall on the actual day. There really isn't much that I want, except for Maygazine vol. 4

Awww shucks... the "Plane" cap I want is not on the Stay Real list! :(

Indy rocks!

Indy 4 was action-packed and very entertaining. I just loved the action sets - check out the awesome chase scene in the jungle! It would have been a whole lot better without the X-Files-ish ending. I found the whole ET plot very distasteful. Didn't Spielberg and Lucas mentioned that they had earlier rejected a script involving aliens?

Amazingly, Marion Ravenwood (played by Karen Allen) looked as though she hasn't aged since Raiders of The Lost Ark! I wonder what's her secret to preserving her youthful looks? Indy has aged so much since then but that has not slowed him down one bit in the movie (hmm they probably used a stunt double for most part of the movie LOL) Cate Blanchett was really scary in her role as Dr Spalko. I really liked her when she was Galadriel in LOTR but Dr Spalko is one hecka scary lady.

Moving on next.. there's a new restaurant at The Pavilion and they were running a special set lunch promo. The set lunch promo is really cheap. We had the seafood spaghetti set which came with a drink, soup of the day and dessert for only RM12.90++ ! It was a fairly generous portion of the main course as well.. good value for money =]

GMA and Sodagreen

The nomination list for this year's Golden Melody Awards was announced just recently and while Leehom is noticeably absent from the list of nominees (*gasp*), Sodagreen seemed to have picked up quite a number of nominations. I first heard of them through Mayday fans as many of them had raved about how good Sodagreen are. I have not actually heard any of their songs though. Having said that, I have to admit that I am very outdated in what's going on in mandopop world right now. I don't listen to the radio anymore, preferring instead to listen to my fave CDs on endless repeat :P I am ashamed to admit that the first time I heard Onion (洋葱) was when Ashin sang it. I had heard of the song, but not actually listened to it till Ashin sang it on a tv program. I had no idea the song was so popular by then, it was Rayne who pointed that out to me. Now if only suda51 will stop singing Onion... hehe

On a recent trip to Singapore's HMV, I saw Sodagreen's Unparalleled Beauty (無與倫比的美麗) in the new release section. I was tempted to pick up a copy but I hesitated - I don't always buy CDs based on other people's recommendation that I have not listened to.

But judging from the number of nominations they have garnered for that album, I may just buy the CD afterall.

Prince Caspian vs Indy

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival last Sunday and officially opened here and in the US yesterday.

The local dailies have been flooded with nothing but rave reviews. One reviewer even stated that the movie is "critic-proof". It's been 19 years since The Last Crusade.. I am sure anyone who is old enough to remember watching the first trilogy must be waiting anxiously to see it.. (or probably have already seen it on the opening day).

I am also watching The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian tomorrow before Indy 4 (not my idea) so it's gonna be a movie marathon Saturday. I just hope we have enough time to grab a bite in between the movies cos according to Anett, Narnia is a pretty long movie.

I Know The Answer

A week to go before I fly off to Hong Kong!! Woohoo! I'm all excited about the trip. I. need. to. get. away. from. work. This afternoon my entire department was summoned to the conference room and we all got lectured by the managing partner. All because some incompetent ex-colleagues screwed up on a file and now the office has to pay compensation in excess of several hundred thousand. Throughout the lashing session, all I could think of was whether the postie managed to deliver my package and if someone was at home to sign for it..

When I got home I found my package lying on the pile of today's mails. My Stay Real "I Know The Answer" tee arrived!! I would have bought it last month in Singapore had it not sold out so quickly. The tee went on sale in Singapore ahead of the actual sale in Taiwan. When I emailed to ask about that tee, I was told that it's not on sale yet in Taiwan and that I'd have to wait till early May.

Came early May, I sent another email and was told that the first batch of stock had sold out and that they weren't sure when the next stock would arrive (the new stock arrived last week) Which makes me wonder: are Stay Real tees flying off the shelves even before they hit the shelves? or are they so limited that they are sold out even before they go on sale officially (my guess is fanboys and gals would have reserved their tees way ahead of the release)

"I Know The Answer" design is a collaboration with Outer Space, which is another indie label from Taiwan. They have a different version of the tee, which is rather cute and comes in bright red (also available in black).

Mr Gloomy bear

I stumbled on this for sale when I was browsing at Yahoo. Brand new first edition Gloomy bear from Japan. Looks cute? Gloomy bear is not your average teddy bear. It's a violent bear that eats humans. Created by Mori Chack, a Japanese graphic designer.

"Gloomy, an abandoned little bear, is rescued by Pitty (the little boy) who raises him. At first, he is cute and cuddly, but becomes more wild as he grows up. Since bears do not become attached to people like dogs by nature, Gloomy attacks Pitty even though he is the owner. "

The only reason I'm blogging on Gloomy is cos it's Mayday Monster's favourite Gloomy Bear LOL. Pic below is taken by yours truly at the recent Down To Earth concert in Singapore. I know the pic looks good LOL cos I took it from the front row :D. See mr Gloomy there on the speaker?


On another note, Stay Real has just increased the price on their new line of tees. What!!? How are they justifying the price hike? Good thing I bought my last tee before they revised the price!

There's now a new line of baseball caps which went on sale at the Taichung concert on Saturday, which should be on sale at the HK concert. I think I am gonna be bankrupt when I get back from HK :P

The Most Anticipated Movie of The Year

I finally got my hands on the advance tickets for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull today and I'm gonna go watch it on May 24!! Thanks to the heads up from suda51, I found out that GSC has recently introduced extended advance cash ticket sales for this summer's blockbusters i.e one can buy the ticket up to 7 days in advance.

I am so looking forward to watching Indy 4. I wanna see how Indy can still kick a$$ at the age of 66. I still remember when dad took us to the cinema to watch Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade =]

Indy was every kid's hero back then. I even had a classmate who said she wanted to be an archeologist when she grows up LOL.

It's a shame that Sallah is not in part 4.. and who could ever forget the ever so funny bumbling Marcus Brody? I hadn't realise that he passed away not too long after The Last Crusade.

Does anyone remember that Viet kid from Temple of Doom? He played Short Round, the Chinese kid from Shanghai that Indy picked up. I have the Indiana Jones trilogy DVD boxset released a few years back which came packaged with a bonus disc featuring amongst others; interview with the people who worked on the movie. Amazingly, Short Round still look the same as the little kid he was! LOL. Did you know that he was actually accompanying his older brother to the audition but ended up being picked for the role instead!

Seven days in the sun

The weather has been terribly hot and humid over the past few weeks. It is so hot that I find myself sweating even when I’m in an air-conditioned room!

I was sweating profusely at lunch yesterday and today was just as bad cos we went for lunch at the nearby Chinese coffeeshop and I could feel the heat burning me alive. I feel sorry for the folks running their foodstall inside that hot and stuffy coffeeshop. I really cannot imagine having to work in such condition in this weather!

Halfway across the globe in England, the folks in London are enjoying their hottest May yet and they're loving it, finding every opportunity to bask in the sun with a nice cold pint of lager.. (aaahh I’ll just sit in the shade.. can someone get me a pint of Carling?)

seven days in the sun by Feeder crank up the volume on this, sit back and enjoy the heat

Counting down...

2 weeks to go.. wahey!! In 2 weeks time I'll be on my way to vacation. Right now I'm at work.. struggling to stay awake..staring at the monitor trying to sort out my shopping list.. hehe

Mom seems to have drawn up a shopping list of premium scallops and oysters.. (ahek!!) I plan to pig out when I'm there and shop till I drop LOL.

I've made plans to meet up with Angelina (my fellow uni mate.. we used to live in the same hall in uni. She had her own telly so I'd be in her room every Friday evening for my TOTP fix LOL). I'm hoping to meet up with Christina, Jennifer or Pu cos I dunno how to get to the Expo :(

back to college

An email came in my office mailbox this morning from my mom's fren's daughter. It reads:-

Good day, I'm XXX from XXX. I'm currently in the South Australian Matriculation program, majoring in Law. I'm doing a project entitled "Should cohabiting partners be given equal rights as compared to married couples?". It would be really great if you could help me by answering a few questions. Thank you!
1. In your opinion, how is divorce related to cohabitation?
2. Are people less committed to each other when they cohabitate? What's your view towards this?
3. Do you think the law should protect cohabitators as how it protects married couples?
4. Cohabitation undermines the family institution. What is your opinion towards that statement?
5. Would you encourage people to cohabitate? Why?
Once again, thank you very much!

Oh wow... why is she seeking my opinion on divorce and cohabitation issues? Sociology was never part of my module back in uni..

I sudden;y feel like I'm back in college again.. working on a tutorial worksheet.. except this time I won't be graded.

Mothering Sunday

I finally got to watch Iron Man yesterday. It was alright.. it wasn't all that great. Pretty entertaining though (oops I think we laughed too hard in the cinema.. haha.. that was probably why the guy seated next to me left halfway during the film) What impressed me most in the movie was not the iron man suit or the Jericho missiles, but the translator program that Gywneth (Ms Potts) used on Tony Sparks' comp in his office!! LOL. That program is so cool..

Dinner yesterday at TGIF was a little disappointing. We should have gone to Tony Roma's instead but Abby insisted on TGIF. The last time Baby J and I tried out the TGIF at Pavilion was probably not too long after they had opened that branch and service was really bad and the beer tasted awful!! This time around service was better but the food was only so-so. The New York strip steak was so tough it tasted almost like rubber. LOL! Bad food aside, the company was great :D Baby J is returning home on Monday so it was a farewell dinner of sort.. will miss ya so much!! Hope you will be back in KL soon!

Had dim sum for lunch today at Taman Paramount at a relatively new dim sum restaurant. I forgot the name of the restaurant :P The place is pretty nice and food is quite good (the sai mai lo is niceeee! Perfect dessert on a hot sunny afternoon ^__^) Too bad the egg tarts were sold out. We went a little late cos I got up late today (I slept at 3am last night and got up at 1130am this morning.. had my brekkie at 12PM LOL)

Kaya puffs to die for :P

These mini kaya puffs from Sin Eng Heong in Ipoh are so tasty they will have you craving for more. I first had them when mom's friend, Auntie Chen bought us a box when she went back to Ipoh last Qing Ming. Today my mom got another friend to buy it from Ipoh.

yummy kaya puffs

I've never really liked kaya puffs but these were so good that I emptied half the box, much to everyone's surprise. Haha. The pastry is really light, fluffy and crispy!

what's left ..oops I think I had too many puffs

It almost reminds me of my fave Hang Heung lo poh peng. Gosh you have no idea how much I love Hang Heung's wife biscuits!!! I cannot wait to eat them again on my next trip to HK. The last time I was in HK, I got my former uni mate to help locate the Hang Heung outlet at Nathan Rd, Kowloon and we ended up buying more than 10 boxes home! I filled up my hand carry luggage with so many boxes of lo poh peng. On my next trip to HK I am gonna pack at least 20 boxes home haha.

No Surprises.

So Radiohead is putting out a double disc best of compilation album on 28 May.

The last Radiohead album I bought was Hail To The Thief [2003] (5 years ago!!!) The only other Radiohead album I own is the widely acclaimed OK Computer. It's one of the greatest British modern albums ever released. In a very recent Q & HMV poll conducted in the UK, OK Computer was voted 3rd Best British Album of All Time.

Oasis came in 1st and 2nd place, beating the Beatles (at 4th place). Not surprisingly Oasis came in top in the poll, afterall they are the Beatles of the current generation. Whatever happened to the Coldplay generation? They obviously didn't garner enough votes to make it to the top 10.

I'm not a big fan of Radiohead (I don't like Thom Yorke LOL don't ask me why) though I do like some of their songs, particularly "Karma Police", "Fake Plastic Trees", "High and Dry"... oh and I love "Creep"!!!

i recognise that pic!! it was taken from OK Computer

I want ice-cream!

This Sunday is Mother's Day. Looks like it's gonna be a weekend of feasting cos on Saturday Abby wanna meet up for dinner at TGIF. The last time I had dinner with her at Tony Roma's I think we ordered enough to feed a small army. This time around we have "pun so lang" around to help us finish the food LOL :P [My dear I know you're in denial.. hehe]

Speaking of food, I am so craving for Hokkaido greentea ice-cream right now! Rayne and I discovered it when we were in SIngapore 2 weekends ago.. it was absolutely heavenly ! I'm not a greentea ice-cream fan but it tasted so good that we went back the very next day for a second cone. I wish they had Hokkaido ice-cream outlets here in KL...

I'm gonna try to catch Iron Man in the cinema as well.. just to see what the hype is all about. I've never read the comic and had no idea who this Tony Spark character was up till about 2 days ago :P

I know the answer

Am feeling a little crappy today :P

After a weekend of travelling up and down the PLUS highway, I think I am gonna put off any further travelling down to Johor/Singapore for the next few months. (though I have to be back in Johor in July for the 100th day prayers) Sorry Baby J looks like I have to wait till Champion come to KL.. hehe!

Need to cut down on my expenses as well (or I shall have to survive on bread for the next few weeks till my holiday trip this month end)... must resist temptation to buy more Stay Real tees (despite how good they look on Ashin LOL)

49 days later...

Each time a public holiday falls on Thursday, most working people tend to take Friday off so they can enjoy a nice long weekend. Today all 3 partners in my department are on leave, including my department head.. hooray!! I can chill at work today :D

Tomorrow is the 49th day of my gran's passing. We have to be back in Benut to perform prayers. Apparently prayers are performed to see gran off to the next life as Buddhists believe that the deceased enters his next rebirth on the 49th day of passing.

Prayers will start at 9AM so I've to be up real early tomorrow cos Benut is a 4 hour drive from KL. According to mom, we have to be back on the 100th day as well for another round of prayers.

I miss spending lazy weekends at home! This is the 3rd consecutive weekend that I am away from home..

Happy May Day!

Someone could not wait to get her Make Music Not War tee today

I am not particularly fond of white tees but I like the blue fonts on this tee (hmm.. that is one weird looking robot playing the guitar)