It's a round round world after all...

The Past...The Present...The Future...

2009-08-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

THE PAST

is something which has happened...

is something which cannot be changed regardless of what we do...

is something which we had lived with, gone through, and learned from...

is something which we had to let go in order to move ahead...

THE PRESENT

is something which is happening...

is something which changes upon what we do...

is something which we are living with, going through, and experiencing...

is something which we have to seize on in order move ahead...

THE FUTURE

is something which will happen...

is something which will become from what we do...

is something which we will live with, go through, and look forward to...

is something which we have to think of in order to move ahead...

THE PAST provides us the lessons and knowledge to live and overcome the challenges of THE PRESENT before we can move a step closer to THE FUTURE which we dream of...

Let go THE PAST...

Grab on THE PRESENT...

Look forward to THE FUTURE...

1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..

2009-08-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of you were aware of this special moment...

But I'm not sure how many of you had made it a point to commemorate this special moment...

This special moment...

12:34:56 07/08/09 --> 123456789

Only happens once in our lifetime...

And I was one silly guy who had made it a point to commemorate this special moment...

With 2 silly poems and a bouquet of 9 red roses...

《你知不知道》

猫有 9 条命...

蜘蛛有 8 只脚...

彩虹有 7 种颜色...

女人有第 6 感...

食物有 5 种味道...

汽车有 4 个轮胎...

我爱你就只有 3 个字...

我和你就只有 2 个人...

而我的心里却只有你 1 人...

Silly? Wait till you read through the next one...

《我很爱你》

这 9 天以来...

我都在 Facebook 里 8 卦着你的思绪...

在这 7 彩缤纷的世界里...

我的第 6 感告诉我...

在 5 年后的今天...

我的心里依然会有这 4 个字...

因为 3 个字还不足于代表我心里对你的感觉...

今天我们 2 人相逢在这非常特别的时刻...

我要把我心里的话献给我心中唯 1 的你...

“我很爱你”

Silly enough? Well, here's something that looks more serious at least...

2 silly poems + 9 red roses + 123456789 = the sweet smile on her lovely face

Wish everyone had a great time :)

Bear Hunt

2009-07-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, I had promised her that one day I would bring her around Penang for an exciting bear-hunting experience. Thus, on a fine-weathered Sunday morning, I went to pick her up before noon, and set off for our much anticipated bear hunt :)

Our mission for this bear hunt was to hunt down "The Bear". We did not exactly know how it looked like, but legend has it that it belongs to a species of bears widely known as the Russ Bears. Despite having limited information, I was still able to google my way towards plotting out the possible sites where "The Bear" could be lingering. Speaking of the power of "google-ing" :)

Well, it was a grueling 12-hour journey which...

took us across the island and mainland...

roaming through 8 bear-hunting sites...

poaching on possibly a hundred bears while letting go one after another as we realise they were no way close to being "The Bear"...

Long story short, here's the so-called "Bear Trail"...

You may be wondering why were we hunting for bears at these major stores across the island and mainland...

Well...

After filtering through almost the entire bear population in Penang, these two were the so-called potential targets...

Mr Bear

Mr Tatum

Both had their strengths and weaknesses, but after going through some serious consideration and reciprocation in between Mr Bear and Mr Tatum, we made a tough decision and chose to capture "The Bear"...

Mr Bear is "The Bear"

But...

That was not the end...

It seemed that somehow the other fella still managed to get his way into our mind...

Which was why on the next day, I went on a quick hunt again, and captured Mr Tatum as well...

Why??? What's so special about you ar?

So in the end, both Mr Bear and Mr Tatum had made it to her side, joining forces with their predecessors...

Mr Pooh

Doraemon and Dorami

in serving their sweet lovely owner...

Apparently, Mr Bear and Mr Tatum's job scope is rather more...err..."physical" compared to their predecessors, as I presume they would be required to endure long hours of squeezing and hugging...That's what the two of them are built for after all, hehe... :)

Whatever it is, dear Mr Bear and Mr Tatum, please do fulfil your duties well, give her the company and comfort that she needs, or else you'll get it from me...
(P/S: Please refer to your predecessors for a more detailed explanation of "get it from me".)

Be good, both of you...Mr Bear and Mr Tatum...you two will have to learn to watch over each other's back while on duty...

On top of all things...

Please cheer her up when she's feeling down...

Please keep her happy everyday...

Please ensure she smiles sweetly while she goes into her sweet dreams...

Please console her whenever she has nightmares...

GOOD LUCK !!!

Come dance with me...

2009-07-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

Maintaining a relationship is like dancing...

You need to keep the right distance in between you and your partner in order not to knock into her or step on her feet... *Ouch*

You need to share a common goal and direction, which is to correctly execute the dance choreography together, and not like while your partner is dancing cha cha, you're moonwalking instead...

You need to complement each other's moves and capabilities, because both of you do not share the same height, weight and flexibility...

You need to know when to tighten and release your grip on your partner's hands throughout the dance routine, otherwise you would be obstructing each other's freedom to execute the dance steps...

The more you practice "dancing", the more you and your partner will understand each other and be attracted to one another, the stronger the relationship will become...

So, come dance with me :)

Rough seas make great sailors

2009-07-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

We love action movies, we love heroes...

From action movies we learn that heroes are made out of circumstances. You won't be seeing any heroes when times are good and peaceful. It's not because we don't need heroes when times are good, it's because when times are good, there simply aren't enough challenges and obstacles around to provide the "training ground" for these heroes to prove their substance and worth...it's because only during tough, challenging times that we would be able to diffentiate the heroes from the average Joes.

Back to instances closer to our lives...

On still waters we will not be seeing any great sailor, simply because every sailor could have done the job as easily and efficiently as any trained sailor can do. It's during stormy and rough seas that we would see the birth of great sailors, because it is then that you would see average sailors being swallowed alive by gigantic waves while great sailors survive.

When the economy is good, any leaders who are academically well-trained enough could have been capable of delivering sound financial reports for their countries. But when the economy crashes, these academically well-trained leaders could appear to be just average and slump together with the crash, while great leaders would come out tops in being capable of lifting their countries out of the hard-landing.

Let's reverse the perspective mentioned above...

Heroes will not be heroes if there are no villains or tough circumstances. The stronger the villains or the tougher the circumstances, the stronger the heroes that we will get to see. If you want to be a hero, you will have to face villains and tough circumstances.

Sailors will not be great sailors if there are no stormy and rough seas. The stronger the winds and storm, the greater the sailors we will get to see. If you want to be a great sailor, you will ave to face powerful storms and rough seas.

Leaders will not be great leaders if there are no tough challenges lying ahead of them. The tougher the challenges, the greater the leaders we will get to see. If you want to be a great sailor, you will have to face tough challenges in life.

My friends...

A life without obstacles is a life without purpose...

A life without purpose is a life without fun...

A life without fun is a life not worth living...

Let's embrace the purpose and challenges in life!

The two paths in life -- Constructive vs Destructive

2009-06-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

Whenever we're facing challenging or difficult situations in life, most probably we would come to a crossroad where we have to choose in between these two paths...

The CONSTRUCTIVE path and the DESTRUCTIVE path.

Choosing to be on the constructive path is to choose to face the challenge or problem heads on as if there is nothing to lose, focusing on doing and achieving things bit by bit. In the end, even if the result does not turn out to be in our favour, we can still be rest assured that it's not all lost as well, because we gain something very precious that even money can't buy -- EXPERIENCE. Even if we do not achieve our intended goal, due to our relentless and sincere efforts, we would still have achieved something else which are equally as meaningful along the journey.

Choosing to be on the destructive path is to choose to give up and avoid facing the challenge or problem once and for all. The whole story ends here. Not only that nothing would be gained, while we thought we would lose nothing, the fact is that we would lose a lot -- lost opportunities, lost courage and lost self-esteem.

Two paths lie ahead of you -- to choose to be CONSTRUCTIVE or to be DESTRUCTIVE -- the choice is yours...

你的生活圆满吗？

2009-06-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

你的生活圆满吗？

圆满的生活就仿佛你在一张白纸上画了一个“生命的圆圈”...
再将你“内心最想要的东西”把圆圈的内部填满...

这就是所谓的生活圆满了。

我的生活并不圆满...
因为我还未得到我内心最想要的东西...
感觉似靠近，事实却似还有一段距离...
何时了...

但，我还是愿意等待...
因为我难得那么地肯定已找到了内心最想要的东西，只不过是暂时未得到...

所以，要记得 -- 不管怎样都好，我都会一直在这儿等你...

How to know if he/she is "THE ONE"?

2009-06-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

I remember long long ago, I had written a post in my old Friendster blog, titled "How to know whether you have fallen in love?"

Here the content goes:

If you happen to be too much of a geek to even know your senses, here's a short D.I.Y. checklist to help you determine whether you have fallen in love with someone:

When you hold the man/lady/boy/girl's hands for the first time...

1. You would instantly lose count of your heart beat. Your heart would beat so quickly as if it has become stagnant.

2. Your face would instantly feel warm, as if you're burning or having a fever. The warmer, the better.

3. Your mind would instantly go blank. Despite the blank-ness, there would basically be no place left for your thoughts to start dreaming of fantasies.

Have you ever experienced the above?

Well, I had, practically twice...But, I had them erased as well...I wished those experiences had lived longer back then...

Sorry for the anti-climax...Anyway, do appreciate the person you share your love with right now :)

Falling in love could just be the very first step towards building an ever-lasting relationship with your partner. Most likely the next thing you would be thinking or asking yourself is -- is he/she "THE ONE"?

Here are 10 self-check questions which you may want to ask yourself for determining the answer:

Q1. What is it about him/her that you love so much? Do you love him/her for extrinsic values such as looks, properties, income, social status, etc.? Or do you love him/her for intrinsic values such as character, principles, personal values, believes, ambition, etc.?

Q2. When you think of him/her, do you see your future together? Can you imagine him/her fitting into every aspect of your life? Will he/she be able to support you in every aspect of your life?

Q3. Are you willing to go through not only sweet moments, but tough challenging times together with him/her? How much faith and effort are you willing to give to him/her when things go wrong in between the two of you?

Q4. Can both of you complement each other's needs? Is your relationship just purely about love and responsibilities? Are both of you embarking on a "growing" relationship, i.e. learning new things together, participate in activities together, achieving goals together, etc.?

Q5. Do you love him/her for the person that he/she is? Would you make him/her change into a person who meets your expectation of a perfect partner? Or would you rather change your own expectation and accept him/her for the person he/she is?

Q6. Do you take pride in introducing him/her around your circle of life, i.e. family members, relatives, friends, colleagues, business associates, activity partners, etc.?

Q7. Will you throw (or feeling like throwing) his/her hand away when you come across one of your ex-crushes? Are you ready to burn your whole "forrest" down now that you have got this "tree" (him/her) to yourself?

Q8. Are you still willing to always be there for him/her if what he/she repays to you is not equivalent to the love and effort that you had given?

Q9. Is he/she someone whom you would show your love to with no reservations? Is he/she someone whom you would trust to share your personal problems with?

Q10. Is he/she "THE ONE" whom you would undoubtingly say "Will you marry me?" or "Yes, I do." to for the rest of your life?

Do think about it.

I have not been professionally trained to give credible advice on relationship matters, nor have I studied psychology thoroughly enough to be a qualified person to preach about human thinking. What I have shared here are just my extremely-biased two cents of thoughts which are sourced from my very personal encounters with relationship matters up to this point of my life.

Have I found "THE ONE"?

Yes.

Is my love circle complete now?

No.

Why?

Because "THE ONE" that I have found is still not convinced enough that I am "THE ONE" for her.

But...

Since the moment that I had fallen for her and decided that she is "THE ONE", I have made a promise to myself that...

I will always be there for her no matter what happens...

To protect and to take care of her whenever she needs me...

That's a promise that I will keep even if she's still not convinced that I'm "THE ONE" for her after all the love and effort that I had shown...

Remember, my friends...

True love is unconditional...

Meet your new partners, Pooh...

2009-06-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Pooh,

How are you doing? It's been slightly more than a month since the day I sent you out on a long-term and no-return "work" assignment. Well, I hope that your journey thus far has been fulfilling and that your owner has been giving you the right hospitality which you deserve :)

For the past 35 days, I have been closely monitoring your job performance by observing the everyday behaviour of your pretty owner. Overall, I believe you had tried your best in serving her needs although there have been frequent ups-and-downs in her daily mood, which I would not hold you accountable for. I am the one who is supposed to be blamed for her mood swings...My bad... :(

Knowing that your pretty owner has lately been embarking on some new challenges in life, I've figured out that you might have been stretched far beyond your capability to safeguard her happiness and well-being. I heard your silent call for help. Thus, I'm now sending you two new partners who will be reporting to "work" effective from June 14, 2009 onwards.

Meet...

Doraemon - with your legendary Time Machine, your job is to ensure that your new owner has the luxury of controlling and manipulating time the way she wants it to be. Particularly, whenever she says "I need some time", you're supposed to work out your Time Machine to ensure that she gets the sufficient amount of time to do whatever she wants.

And...

Dorami - with your Batabatafly form, your job is to ensure that your new owner is always free of any form of entanglement, be it traffic jams, work hussles, etc. Particularly, whenever she feels being tied up or entangled to certain delicate/complicated matters, you're supposed to flap your wings and fly her mind and soul out of the entanglement.

Here's the deal...

All 3 of you will be working closely hand-in-hand to ensure that your owner is always well accompanied and taken care of.

Again, your job scope does sound a little bit vague and un-SMART, but don't worry, because it's rather easy for me to judge whether you had done your job well or not -- just by observing her daily behaviour :)

If she is happy, that means all 3 of you had done your job well and you will be safe :)

If she is sad or looks grumpy, that means all 3 of you had not done your job well, and I have only one word for you -- RUN! Because I'm going to tear you apart with my GORILLA fists! I swear I will!

P/S: Again, maybe all 3 of you don't know exactly how powerful my GORILLA fists are..perhaps you can take some reference in watching how Wolverine tears his enemies apart. I tell you, it's damn "KAO LAT" one...better don't play play...

Well, I hope all 3 of you would successfully carry out your duties in taking care of your owner. It's very critical at this stage, because the happier and more secured she feels, the better and more confident she would be in making the right choice which her heart truly wants. Thus, I beg you with all my heart -- please hang on in there...

By the way, how is the limited-edition-powerful-charm-that-I-had-bought-from-Taiwan-last-year doing? I have rarely heard about Charm since the day I sent both of you out for this mission...Anyway, please do get in touch with her and send my regards to her as well...

Alright, it's time...

Till we meet again...

Hang on...Don't give up...I'll always be there waiting for you...

Yours sincerely,
Putojin a.k.a. the Gorilla

Finally I've found them!

2009-06-14T02:21:00.000-07:00

Finally I've found them!

Remember back in my previous post, I had "advertised" to look for two cute little items which had gone "out of sale" in the market...

Dorami Batabatafly

And...

Doreamon Time Machine

After a long period of searching (27 days in total from the day I posted the "advertisement"), backed with tips/help/support from friends, I've finally found them!

Ta da da...they're here beside me now!!!

With these, I would like to personally thank...

Tulan Beng (a.k.a. Goo Bak a.k.a. Altraz) for providing me the leads to get the items...

Kok Hoong (a.k.a. Riverbird or 江边鸟) for helping me scout for the Doraemon Time Machine...

"muntc71" for generously offering to sell to me the Dorami Batabatafly...

Thank you...thank you..thank you...

Friends, need a favour from all of you...

2009-05-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Needless to say, I'm sure most of you who read this have definitely been to a McDonald's outlet at least once since April 30.

So, did any of you happen to have bought these two cute little toys back home together with your Happy Meal?

Doraemon's cute little sister -- Batabatafly

Doraemon's priceless asset -- Time Machine

If you happen to have owned any of these two, would you mind selling them to me? I'm willing to pay any price as long as it's reasonable, hopefully this sounds sincere enough to earn a favour from you...

Please feel free to drop me a message or an email if you're interested in this deal, then we may negotiate further on the deal, alright?

Many thanks for your attention and favour! Hopefully we can see a miracle happening here :)

Listen to your heart...

2009-05-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most of us had somehow stumbled upon crossraods in our lives, and it was during those times that we would be required to make a choice. But the big question is...

How do we make the right choice?

Before I share with you my answer for this very question, allow me to introduce to you the two main "characters" who play significant roles in shaping our world today. Let's meet...

Mr Heart and Mr. Brain.

Mr Heart is a person ruled by conscience and believes. He is best at knowing instictively what is right and what is wrong, what makes a person happy and what makes a person sad. In a way, Mr Heart is the sort of person who help us simplify things in life -- either it's right or it's wrong; either we're happy or we're sad -- only one distinct answer, nothing in between.

On the contrary, Mr Brain is a person ruled by information and analysis. He is best at disecting information, analyse the contents and later re-categorize them into a few options or possibilities for us to choose from. In a way, Mr Brain is the sort of person who complicates things in our life -- things can sometimes be right and sometimes be wrong and sometimes be both right and wrong. He may even influence or convince you into believing that you're happy or sad -- in other words, happiness and sadness is a matter of thoughts.

In my opinion, problems occur when we allow Mr Brain to make decisions on behalf of Mr Heart. Let's take a look at the following example:

Do you think killing is a right or wrong thing to do?

I'm sure Mr Heart would absolutely say, "No, killing is wrong". But then I believe this is what Mr Brain would say, "I think killing can be good and can be bad, it depends. If you're killing all the bad people to protect the good people, then killing is somehow acceptable. But if you're killing someone for the sake of hatred or for self-fulfilment, then killing is definitely not acceptable."

What do you think? If you're on Mr Brain's side, I guess this explains why killings and wars in this world will never stop.

All that I'm trying to say is, if you want to know whether your choice is right or wrong, all you need to do is...

Listen to you HEART...

Your HEART can easily tell you whether your decision is right or wrong -- when you make the right decision, you heart will feel happy with it. It's just as simple and direct as that.

So, does that mean that our BRAIN is useless? No. Our brain is such a powerful analysis and simulation tool that we should use it to narrow things down for our heart to make the final say. And after our heart has made the choice, again it's turn for our brain to execute the choice and plan what's next.

Our heart knows what's best for us, what we want, what's right or wrong, what's good or bad. Failing in obeying to our heart's desires would be akin to betraying our conscience and believes.

Our brain is solely just a thinking and perception tool. The output or choice made by the brain is merely based on our perception of a matter. It doesn't guarantee our happiness.

In short, our heart never lies. But, our brain does lie if you allow it to. So...

Listen to your HEART...

Good luck and wish you all the best!!!

2009-05-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Pooh,

Today I had decided to send you out on a long-term and no-return "work" assignment. From 11 May 2009 onwards, you will be permanently attached to your new owner, wherever she decides to set you down. I hope you will take this assignment with full pride and serve your new owner with all your might.

A few days ago when I recruited you, I was almost worried that you would forever end up in my cabinet without any assignment to be given to you. But then, as if destiny had its way, opportunity came and now I had to immediately get you ready for your assignment. Remember, lightning never strike twice...same does fate :)

Well, your first and only assignment is to stay with your new owner under no matter what circumstances, protecting her from any form of bad luck, cheer her up whenever she feels down or sad, smile to her whenever se feels lonely or boring, safeguard her stuffs in your "stomach", listen to her whenever she needs an ear, endure her "massages" whenever she feels like exercising her fingers, and so on...

I know your job scope sounds a little bit vague and un-SMART, but don't worry, because it's rather easy for me to judge whether you had done your job well or not -- by just looking at her :)

If she is happy, that means you had done your job well and you will be safe :)

If she is sad or looks grumpy, that means you had not done your job well, and I have only one word for you -- RUN! Because I'm going to tear you apart with my GORILLA fists! I swear I will!

P/S: Maybe you don't know how powerful is my GORILLA fists..perhaps you can take some reference in watching how Wolverine tears his enemies apart. I tell you, it's damn "KAO LAT" one...better don't play play...

Anyway, it's time now. I really have to pack you up in this very special "space shuttle" and send you to your new owner when the sun rises above the horizon. Don't worry, you're definitely not alone in your journey. For this assignment, I will send together with you a powerful charm that I had bought from Taiwan last year. It's a limited edition, thus don't be too wary of it's power. Both of you will work hand in hand to safeguard your new owner's happiness and well-being!

I hope when I finally get to see you again, it's for a good and sweet reason and rather not to tear you apart with my GORILLA fists.

Till we meet again...

Good luck and wish you all the best!!!

Yours sincerely,
Putojin a.k.a. the Gorilla

"You're not an animal. What you have is a gift..."

2009-05-03T03:02:00.000-07:00

Having watched the movie "X-Men Origins : Wolverine", there was one particular scene which struck me in my heart deepest. In that particular scene, Logan/Wolverine was just awake from one of his terrible nightmares, and Kayla came to him on the bed, and told him this...

"You're not an animal, Logan. What you have is a gift."

And so the story went on, with these words constantly hanging in Wolverine's mind reminding him of the half-human side that he still has in him.

Now, back to the topic on why had this particular scene hit me so deeply in my heart...

Well, because like Logan, I'm an animal too...I'm the GORILLA!!!

I'm sure people call me GORILLA for some reasons. All these while I had been feeling bad or down whenever I recalled the gorilla-side of me - ugly and huge, hairy, rugged, etc. But after watching the movie, I realised one thing...one day, some pretty "Kayla" would come to me and tell this...

"You're not an animal, Putojin. What you have is a gift!"

Yes! From now on, I have a new identity...I am the GORILLA!!! What I have is a gift:

My ugly looks can be funny -- it's a gift to entertain the crowd!

My huge and rugged frame can be intimidating -- it's a gift to protect and instill confidence in "Kayla"!

My lush body hair -- it's a gift to keep me extra warm during the cold (I remember I was wearing shorts at Laban Rata at 5 degrees Celsius)!

Like Logan/Wolverine, I have long nice side-burns to match my GORILLA image too!

Perhaps one day, you may see the GORILLA being added into the X-men gang, and who knows I may even be asked to act alongside Hugh Jackman! :)

Hahaha...Enough of cock talk and day-dreaming...time to wake up and get back to reality :p

When the photographer became the photographed :)

2009-04-26T06:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, a bunch of us photographers headed to a beach at Teluk Kumbar for an outdoor portrait photoshooting session. The session was organized by the leader of the pack - John Pang - who had managed to "coax" two lovely ladies to be models for this photoshooting session.

Our models for this session were Yen and Ting...

And these are the main photographers...

P/S : Of course that would include Putojin a.k.a. Photojin (me) and also two other seasoned photographers who were not shown in this photo :)

This was my first "official" portrait photoshooting session. Previously, all that I had done was snapping people candidly when I felt like it. But this time, I was expected to deliver some sort of a "result" at the end of the session, which made me kind of nervous. Moreover, John and the rest of the crew were no longer first-or-second-timers...Talking about peer pressure! -_-"""

Before this "official" assignment, I did went through one very useful website for tips on how to manage outdoor portrait sessions. The tips shared were indeed very useful! You may want to visit this site to read them for yourselves - http://digital-photography-school.com/

At the beginning, it was hard -- we barely knew the models, which was why their initial poses were very stiff and awkward. Learning a few tips from the "homework" that I had done, we started to talk to the models, finding props (whatever things that you can find, such as tree twigs, leaves, tree trunks, rocks, walls, etc.) to let the models hold or lean onto, so that some of their focus could be shifted away from the camera lense, in a way making them more comfortable with their poses. Of course, constant assurrance and praises were essential in building up the confidence level of the models. The bottom line for us photographers is to guide our subjects and help them enjoy and play with their poses :)

We encouraged Yen to unleash the cheerfulness in her...

Even John's camera tripod had become a prop for our photoshoot, hahaha.. :)

During break time, we took turns looking at each others' photos, as well as exchanging ideas on how to improve our shots as we resume later on.

Shien Long : You guys, try shoot me here!

Shien Long : Yes...that's more like it! :)

P/S: Shien Long was actually sharing with Reiny and me on how to make use of our flash to get the background and subject clear at the same time.

Then we continued our photoshoot. For sure it had been a hot and tiring first half, but our model Yen did have her own way for turning on her "engine"...

Yen : Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!

John in action

Yen : Eee...do I really need to lean on this wall?

After spending almost 3 hours of photoshooting. our models were almost worn out with their smiles and poses. It was then that Reiny posed a bizarre idea -- it's time for some "entertainment"! :)

[Reiny] "Hey guys, why not we photograph Putojin now? He seems photogenic in someway..."

[Shien Long] "Ya lo..Ya lo...Let's do it!"

[Putojin] "W...T...F...!!! Hey guys, I'm supposed to be a PHOTOGRAPHER leh...I'm not your MODEL...please make that clear, ok? Moreover, I have never seen any portrait done on guys before leh...so please don't 'spoil' the market..."

[John] "Nevermind la...come on la...it will be interesting to photograph a guy for the first time!"

Darn...there I was, being "promoted" (or "demoted") to become their first male model...As a photoprapher, my pride had been dealt a huge blow for being "kick out" from my job...However, as a gorilla-look-alike, I felt very much obliged to do them this favour for suggesting that I looked photogenic :)

And so here it goes...

P/S : The following photos were taken by John with my D80. I have yet to receive the rest of the photos from the gang yet.

Posing

Smiling into the camera

Don't pray pray ya!

Putting my ~~muscular~~ gorilla arms under the ~~spotlight~~ sunlight :)

I guess this is what we call "when the photographer became the photographed" :)

Overall, it was a fun and fruitful outdoor portrait photoshooting session. Definitely learned a lot of things from you guys :)

P/S : For "serious" photos of the portrait session, please feel free to visit this link.

A message to a friend...

2009-04-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Today, I've learned something new about smoking. All these while, I knew that what smoking can basically do is burn holes in our lungs and our pockets. But now, I know smoking can actually do more.

Smoking had burned a hole in your mind - it disrupted your behaviour and thought process...

Smoking had burned a hole in your health - it became the "tranquilizer" for your anxiety...

Smoking had burned a hole in your body - it left a long-lasting wound inside your body...

Smoking had burned a hole in your heart - it wrecked your principles...

Smoking had burned a hole in your life - it created a dark secret in your life which will haunt you forever...

I know smoking kills. Smoking harms our lungs, which turns healthy cells in our lungs into cancerous cells, and consequently harm our lives. Not just your life, but also the lives of people around you.

But then I learned that smoking also "kills" in another way...it became one of the reasons (or should I say excuse) for you to rationalize your decision to end a yet-to-be life...

You kept asking me questions, in different ways and terms, hoping to get a consolatory answer and solution from me. But sadly, my answer will always be the same:

"Things that had been done can no longer be undone. There is no way you can overcome the guilt. What you can do is to learn from this painful lesson, be a living example to educate people around you to be better-prepared to provide proper advice to their friends who may one day suffer the same fate as yours. That in a way will gain you good karma to balance up the bad karma that you had just created."

I'm not sure if you had bought off my answer, but I hope you would.

In my opinion, smoking is a symbolic root cause to the downfall in your life. My sincere advice - Get rid of it! I hope to see a day when you would finally decide to quit smoking for good. When that day comes, ask me out, and we would witness the defining moment where we would burn all the cigarettes to ashes.

I meant it when I symbolically lit one of your cigarettes and left it in the ash tray, watching it burn to ashes. I did that for two reasons...

#1 - To mourn for the sacrificed...

#2 - A message to you that you should quit smoking for good...

I persuaded you to follow my act by burning all your cigarettes in the ash tray. You did not completely buy off my idea, but I was glad that you had taken a step forward by burning at least one cigarette...

I wish you will burn them all one day...

And start all over again...

The last Penang DDSE department teambuilding : Part 2 @ E&O Hotel

2009-03-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

Cheers!!!

Well, finally here's the Part 2 that I had promised long ago in my post for Part 1. My apologies for keeping all of you (in case there's any, hehe) in the wait :)

As the title had explained itself, Part 2 of our teambuilding programme had brought all of us together at E&O Hotel for a delicious lunch buffet. Having buffet for a gathering can be such a good idea, because there're so many things that you can do during the 3-hour course of the buffet.

You may choose to indulge in some serious discussions...

KT seemed to be making a serious point to the 4 persons who had "ponteng" for Part 1 -- (in the famous "batiks", left to right) Chee, BG, Hooi Ming and Kin :)

Or, you may choose to indulge in some serious food fare...

HN, Raffi and Shamsol were clearly just in the mood for eating :)

Anything and everything, as much as you like it, that's why we call it a BUFFET :p

Obviously, the energy-sapping activities in Part 1 had brought signs of fatigue to the faces of a few of us...

Ah Pong in particular :p

All of a sudden, I noticed through my lense that Tulan Beng was trying to tell me that he had spotted something (or rather someone) interesting...

All eyes on Tulan Beng...What's he pointing at?

Seemed like an interesting discovery indeed - a rose among thorns? Haha...

Then the "guai lan" look on his face seemed to tell me that some cheeky idea was in his mind...

Apparently, he threw a challenge to me in front of the rest -- to prove my guts by asking for a photo with the lady! Hooi Ming immediately volunteered to take the photo for me, while the rest were echoing Tulan Beng's proposal and teasing me...

Thus, in order to safeguard the pride of my parents and ancestors by proving that I still indeed have GUTS, I stood up to the challenge nonetheless...

Say cheeeeesssseeee!!! Mission accomplished :)

For some reasons, I realise that teambuilding does offer you a legitimate reason to "play out" your colleagues who had been giving you a hard time at work...

Tulan Beng did win himself a few enemies with his "guai-lan-ness" at work :p

After everyone had had enough food, it's time for our "taukeh" to give his closing-cum-farewell speech to the group...

The expressions on Jimmy and Brother Kah Yang's faces pretty much summed up what KS's speech was all about...

After having our final round of desserts, it's time to make a move...

And Tulan Beng was complaining that he had not have enough fun yet -_-"""

As we were on our way to the seaside walkway at the hotel's backyard for a group photo, we noticed some nice scenes down the hotel's lobby, and that's when photo-crazy people start to strut their "stuffs"...

The "Model of the Day" award goes to...Ah Quah!!!

And AT also wanted one shot :p

Now everyone's getting ready for the final DDSE group photo...

Brother Kah Yang in suicidal mode...

Getting everyone in position...

Group photo 1...minus Putojin...

Group photo 2...minus Putojin...

That was the end of our very last Penang DDSE department teambuilding...though most of us would be parted from each other, still we'll be seeing each other pretty much in the office...I'm also very sure that one day in the future we would still cross paths (hopefully not crossing swords) with one another again. Looking at the brighter side of things, it's as if we're planting allies in different departments of the company, easier to get help/favour/"kang tao" in the future :)

Having one last laugh (and one final "brokeback" moment) with my MOL partner-in-crime Ah Quah before bidding "goodbye"...

Wishing everyone GOOD LUCK and ALL THE BEST in your future endeavours!!!

What should I do?

2009-03-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

I did not intend to write such stuff like this after coming back from my short vacation...I should be sharing my experience during the vacation instead of grumbling like this...

But what happened 5 hours ago really made me feel bad - in fact, I felt like a jerk - for the two mistakes that I had done...

Mistake #1 - my signature on the pre-election declaration form.

Mistake #2 - my less-than-a-minute pre-election speech.

At first...

I thought by running myself down during the pre-election speech, I should be able to convince the audience that the other candidate would be a better choice to lead the pack for the next term. What had seemed to please me further was that the other candidate had even delivered an enthusiastic speech in persuading the audience to vote for him.

Then...

Came the unexpected - the disaster - I was elected despite all the negativity that I had shown. That instantly made me felt really bad, for two reasons:

Reason #1 - the result was an injustice to the other candidate (he was so willing to take up the job).

Reason #2 - I had made myself into a LOSER.

Now you may be wondering - why was I showing such negativity in accepting the job? Let me tell you why:
1. I am emotionally unstable.
2. I doubt my capability (or just simply being incapable).
3. My age and my current position in my career would easily make me a misfit for the job.
4. I wish I can start grabbing limelight and participating in contests after one year of absence and doing all the behind-the-scene supporting roles.
5. I wanted more time to myself to settle all the personal issues that I am having against myself.
6. All the above would sum up to one conclusion -> I'm not up to the job yet!

Damage had been done. Like it or not, I had made the two mistakes. It's already in the past. It's HISTORY.

What's important now is the FUTURE. And I kind of figured myself as having landed myself at a crossroads. I have two choices now:

Choice #1 - Step back from the job. Give it to the rightful candidate who had spoken his wish to take up the challenge.

Choice #2 - Step up for the job. Live up to the trust and expectations that the simple majority had on me by voting for me.

I know my choices. Whichever choice that I make, I would still be a JERK and LOSER for the two mistakes that I had done. Nothing can change that. And since it seems that none of the above choices would give me (and the others) a WIN-WIN deal, I'm really at a lost now.

What should I do???????????????????

P/S: You may leave your comments/suggestions here, or may kindly take your vote on the poll that I had created at the side bar of this page. Thanking all of you in advance.

The last Penang DDSE department teambuilding : Part 1 @ Muka Head

2009-03-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

Around 3 weeks ago, all of us in Penang DDSE (my previous department), were served with an unwelcomed notice - there would be a re-structuring exercise within the department that would see most of us (including me) being transferred to other departments within the company.

Having worked together for almost 3-4 years, all of us thought that it would be good to organize our very last department teambuilding before we bid farewell to each other. Thus, we came out with a plan for our teambuilding, which consisted of two parts...and Part 1 brought all of us to...

Muka Head National Park at Teluk Bahang!

All of us arrived at the Muka Head National Park on a fine Wednesday morning, ready to get ourselves worked out by going through the jungle tracks. Of course, my camera had started rolling upon my arrival. I would have caught the beautiful sunrise if I had arrived a little bit earlier...sigh...

One funny thing was, before I could even set my camera on taking some shots of the beautiful scenery, these two guys had come to me asking me to take a "JUMP" shot for each of them...aih...

P/S: They have been following my blogs, and were impressed with some of the "JUMP" shots that I had taken for my friends previously :p

Ah Pong - it's never too old to jump :)

Tulan Beng (a.k.a. Goo Bak a.k.a. Altraz) also wanted to jump, hahahaha... :)

Then came another two...

Brother Kah Yang (a.k.a. Apple Yang)

"Hey, wait there, don't move, here I come", Ah Quah (a.k.a. Puto Quah) - my lunch hour gym buddy

The usually cool Brother Kah Yang also decided to participate in this act...after all, you would not get to rub ~~boobs~~ shoulders with each other so oftenly in the future anymore...(Ah Quah clearly enjoyed the moment)

Then there's this guy...He's our department's unprecedented official photographer for all of our department events and gatherings. I used to get many photography tips and knowledge from this "tok guru".

AT (a.k.a. Thiam Ko)

Ever since I've owned a DSLR and became "The Camera Man", I realised that most of the time not only that I would not appear in group photos, the number of my individual photos had also significant decreased. Thus, I could understand how it would feel when finally you have someone else - a comrade - who would take photos of you...

Just look at how excited AT was when I offered to take this individual photo for him...so fanciful with his pose :p

Here are the only two ladies who participated in Part 1 (our department basically had only 3 ladies)...

Huey Nee

Alyssa

After getting ourselves registered at the registration hut, we set off together into the jungle track of the Muka Head National Park!

And our official photographer also began his actions :p

Our journey had taken us through a variety of landscapes...

You would cross hanging bridges (two if I'm not mistaken)...

Going up little slopes

Going down little slopes (some are more challenging than this)

Occasionally we would stop for some photos...

Tulan Beng and Danny wondering what's in store for them in their future departments...

Looking for "prawns" behind the stones??? (English translation of "udang di sebalik batu")

Actually there's no "prawns" behind the stones lah. We're just staging the pose, hehe...And thanks to Tulan Beng for taking the photos for me.

After another 30min or so distance, we finally reached our destination - Monkey Beach.

Jamie - our brother here was definitely enjoying the hammock under the shady tree :)

Bay boy AT "signalling" his arrival

And there were a few (two to be exact) who clearly enjoyed the beach as they were caught rekindling their "love" towards each other...

Shamsol (my ex-supervisor) & KS (department head)

P/S: They're not exactly "in love" la. Thanks to both Shamsol and KS for sportingly posing for this shot :p

Raffi enjoying his swing

Danny, "Please don't snap my nipples!"

AT in paparazi mode

Tulan Beng also wanted to show off his award-winning muscular arms which made him our company's arm-wrestling champion...

So stylish...

Danny using the leaves as cover for shielding his nipples...

Then some of us decided that we should pay the lighthouse a visit.

CF, BS & Alyssa

It was clearly not that relaxing a path to reach the lighthouse. One would have to hike up a small hill for about 30-40min under normal speed (Danny and I took 20min only) to reach the top of the hill where the lighthouse is. Look at the expressions on their faces...it was tiring...

By the way, Danny is also my occasional lunch hour gym buddy.

So sexy with sweat all over his body

But the few of us still insisted on reacing the top despite the tiring journey and the limited time that we had (the boat was about to come get us at Monkey Beach). With our determination, we finally reach the top to find the lighthouse...being locked!

Getting desperate

Oops...hehe...

Danny took this shot for me...such a nice angle!

Just as we thought of going downhill after snapping these few photos to serve as proof that we had reached the lighthouse, the guard appeared and opened the gate for us. Thus we signed up the guestbook before ascending the tower.

Another spontaneous "brokeback" moment - the toucher enjoyed the touching, while the touched enjoyed being touched :p

Finally at the top...

Tired

Thirsty

Panoramic view

Wah...

Look!

As time was very limited, we had to make our way downhill by now. Or else, we would have find our way back to the registration hut :p

AT, "One more shot for me before we descend, pleaseeeeee..."

Just as we're about to begin our rus downhill, came another two members just arriving at the lighthouse - Masdi & Jimmy. Hopefully they time their descend well in time for the boat -_-"""

Fast forward...

Soon, all of us were already on the boat waiting to leave.

I wonder what was in Quah's mind as he kept smiling to the "ang moh" -_-"""

We're just waiting for one last person...

The last person getting on board - Jimmy

P/S: Jimmy is our department's Jacky Cheung. He can easily perform/mimick any of Jacky Cheung's famous tunes to perfection! There was once when he sang at Jamie's wedding, all of us thought that it was broadcasted from a CD record...damn good voice he had!

Now that we had everyone on board, it's time we depart to the pier where we started our journey...

Tulan Beng, KT & Kah Yang

Kah Yang, Alyssa & Masdi

AT

Kim Pong

Huey Nee, CF & Jamie

Shamsol & KS (background)

Tom Croozeee...

And to continue with Part 2 of our teambuilding :)

Stay tuned!

Between COURAGE and INSANITY

2009-03-05T07:24:00.000-08:00

Today I held on to my pledge and achieved yet another 2km in 10min running around my neighbourhood at 8.50pm. Prior to this, I had my usual badminton game with my bunch of friends - YT, Goo Bak, Bak Tiao and Co.

This time, as I was just about 2min into my running, I started to feel little cramps on my leg muscles, and also struggling harder for breath...Towards the end of the 2km, I felt damn weak and worn out, as if I had almost fainted. I guess perhaps it was because I had not had any food since 3pm.

Today's experience sort of made me think - was I pushing myself too hard? Or had I just found ecstacy in inducing pain to my body?

Was I being COURAGEOUS or INSANE to be pushing myself to my limit?

I almost stopped running when I started to feel the cramps on my legs. But I carried on. Like Forrest Gump had said,

"I just felt like running!"

And while I was recovering my composure after the run, I asked myself this - was it for courage or insanity that I was holding on to the pledge?

COURAGE is when you do extraordinary stuffs for a meaningful and noble purpose...

INSANITY is when you do extraordinary stuffs for a trivial and ignoble purpose...

So I ask myself, what was the purpose of me holding on to my pledge? And well, I have found my answer, and I know where exactly I'm standing in between COURAGE and INSANITY :)

Let me relate this with another matter that I had experienced previously.

Russ Lund, the senior director of my company's R&D department, has this habit of running in the middle of a hot sun during lunch hour. He would normally be seen running along the Bayan Lepas FTZ coastal highway, starting from Motorola to Intel, and from Intel back to Motorola. Non-stop. He once wrote in our company's internal communication, telling us why he had been doing the mid-day runs - he claimed that the mid-day runs would free his mind from all the troublesome issues at work and keep him focus on thinking about his goals and objectives in life. Even today, you would still see this "crazy ang moh" (as some would call him) running along the coast during lunch hour :)

People say, "if you want to be successful, do what the successful people do"...in other words - emulate the successful people's habits.

Previously I did try to emulate his actions (though not exactly 100% emulating) by paying visits to my company's gym during lunch hour. I would push myself to the limit running on the threadmill, doing sit-ups, and pumping iron. During the workout, I would focus my mind on my target for the day, as well as constantly psyching myself up whenever I felt like giving in to exhaustion - "I am more than who I am, the power of the universe rest in me" (from a book "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" by Robin Sharma). And after the gym sessions, I would take a hot bath and return back to work energized and refreshed than ever.

Some people would say people like us are crazy. But I guess, in our hearts, we are definitely clear and sure with what we do...

We definitely know where we stand in between COURAGE and INSANITY.

The power of making a pledge and holding on to it

2009-03-04T07:14:00.000-08:00

Today, I did something that most people would consider as being crazy - I went jogging around my neighbourhood at 8.30pm (this is the first time I had done so). I ran 4km in 22min, just 2min over my targeted time. No doubt, it was a tiring and torturing experience, but yet I felt happier than ever. Sounded like I'm crazy, isn't it?

Some of you may wonder - what was THE REASON that made me show such crazy determination?

Slimming down? Well, this would be the by-product of my action, not exactly THE REASON yet...

Release tension? Yes, again, this would be the emotional gain from my action, but still not exactly THE REASON...

Well, THE REASON lies in - "the power of making a pledge and holding on to it".

Last Sunday evening, as I was jogging around my neighbourhood out of boredom, a crazy idea suddenly struck my mind -- how about making a pledge to run 2km in 10min everyday for the rest of the week?

At first I thought I was just kidding to myself, but on Monday, I went out and did it again - 2km in 10min. And the thing was, I felt happy with that.

However, yesterday I was too busy to be jogging, thus I skipped. I almost skipped for today as well, as I realised that I would only reach home to a dark night. Somehow, my heart told me that I should think otherwise - what's wrong with jogging at night, anyway?

So there I was, running 4km in 22min (to compensate for the 2km that I had missed yesterday) around my neigtbourhood to the curious looks of the folks and passer-by's. I was 2min over my targeted time, physically tired and tortured...But the thing was...

I felt happier than ever :)

I guess that's the power of making a pledge and holding on to it -- it makes you achieve crazy and torturous feats, and yet you would be glad with what you would achieve in the end.

So let's see if I would really hold on to my pledge for the remaining of the week :p

I know what I did last Valentine's...

2009-02-19T19:39:00.000-08:00

For sure, most people would fill up their Valentine's Day routine with movie dates or romantic candle light dinners with their love interests. But for me, this year I spent my Valentine's Day quite differently.

How different could it be?

Well, this year I did not enjoy enough luck to play the role of Romeo...Definitely I was not (and will never be) meant to play the role of Juliet either...So, what else more meaningful could I have done other than just hiding at home and looking blank at the screen of my laptop?

Thankfully, an invitation came just at the right time. No, I was not invited out on a date. Instead, I was invited TO a date, where I played CUPID, shooting "arrows" that bind love birds together for eternity!

P/S: "Arrows" = photos

Mass ROM of 29 pairs of love birds

~~~~~~~~~~ A quick recap ~~~~~~~~~~

Some time back in November last year, I received an SMS from this very good friend of mine, which said...

"Selecting bridal gown now. Looking at her with gown, can't believe I'm getting married soon..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there I was, speeding all the way to Ipoh early that morning just in time to witness my two good friends from my university years, CQ and Lian See, tying the knot "on paper" -- their ROM :)

Valentine's Day ROM @ Ipoh Chin Woo Athletic Association

Specially decorated stage at the end of the hall

Tons of calls from friends had come in congratulating the soon-to-be-weds...

I guess I was the only friend who was free enough on Valentine's Day to make a trip down to Ipoh to witness their ROM :p

Soon, it's time to get into the hall to get prepared for the ROM ceremony. But before that, the two of them thought that it's good to do a last check to ensure they're on the "same page" in this marriage...

CQ : "Now, anything you wish to declare?"

Lian See said something...
CQ : "Ooops...err..."

Lian See : "Let me tell you mister..Next time no more monkey business in front of me, ok?"
CQ : "Ok ok...I don't dare already...you win...aduh..."

CQ : "But, I have one request -- make sure all your 'bees' know that you're no longer available from today onwards, ok?" (CQ held Lian See's handphone on his hand)
Lian See : "Ya la..ya la..I'm yours already ma..."

Putojin : "Ahem...Mr & Mrs Lee, are you two deal? Can we go in now? I'm already 'shivering from cold' here. Cannot tahan you two already..."
Mr & Mrs Lee : "Ok ok...sorry for letting you wait so long ya, Mr Camera Man."

P/S: Of course, the above dialogues are just purely fiction designed by me :)

Making their grand entry into the hall

While waiting for the organizers to finalise their preparation for the event, the couple decided to take some quick snapshots on the beautifully designed stage.

Then CQ decided to try something "special" to match the theme of Valentine's Day...

"Will you marry me?"

Naturally, when you're the first person to attempt something special on such romantic occasion, you're for sure going to attract a group of people who're always on the look-out at the sidelines...

REPORTERS :)

Tips: Guys, if you happen to be interviewed on such occasions, make sure you give a thoughtful consideration to the bombardment of questions and respond wisely...otherwise...

(Note the change of facial expression on the bride-to-be)

Lian See's getting excited

Suddenly became serious...did CQ say something wrong?

Oh oh...more serious...CQ seemed to be in a lost -_-"""

Finally smiling again...what a scare, hahaha...

The reporters made sure they got their names correct

Another couple that had caught the attention of reporters with their matching traditional outfit

And there was this pair whom the bride was celebrating her birthday, ROM and Valentine's Day on the same day...triple joy!

All 29 couples went on stage for a group photo

Yes we can!

As there were 29 couples to be registered, the organizers had divided them into 6 batches, each with 5 couple registering in parallel. CQ and Lian See were assigned in the 11th position.

After waiting for about 30-45 minutes, it was CQ and Lian See's turn to take the seats.

The couple with their witnesses - CQ's father and Lian See's brother

The wedding ring sitting in between the marriage documents

CQ and Lian See was picked by the organizers to lead the other 4 couples in reading out their pledge of marriage...

Then putting their signatures on paper...

Then it's the registrar's turn to seal the documents...

Giving the couple some advice

Done!

Next was the exchanging of wedding rings...

And the kissing part!!!

So low profile :p

They were made to kiss their parents too...such a warm scene... :)

Congratulations to both of you!

Family photo

It was undoubtedly a memorable event not only for the couple, but for me as well. Though I did not get to spend my Valentine's Day with anyone of my interest, I'm still glad that I had played a part in making sure the lovely couple would be have something for them to cherish upon in the future -- my multiple shots of "arrows" that would bind their hearts together for eternity :)

Of course...

On this year's Valentine's Day...

CQ had also made a name for himself among his fellow Perakians...

Anyone who happened to have read the local news section of the next day's Sin Chew Jit Poh would see this...

His "sudden rush of adrenaline" back then on the stage would bring him fame...

Something so uniquely memorable that not many of us would get the chance to possess...

CQ and Lian See were in the news!!!

My hearthiest congratulations to both of you, dear CQ and Lian See :)

Waiting for the actual day in May!

"Expansion" of my blog(s)

2009-02-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

TA...TA...TA...TA...

Did you notice any changes to my blog(s) ?

Well, what I basically did was that I had "expanded" my blog(s), so that in the future, I would be able to share my photos in larger sizes!

And I would like to thank those who had directly/indirectly contributed to this idea of "expanding" my blog(s):

Princess D, thanks for "complaining" about the size of my photos loaded in the past. I agreed with your "complaint", and that's the reason why I had crazily spent time in this "expansion" :)

Lazy Mouse, thanks for suggesting to me that I should load my photos to Flickr and paste the URLs in my blogs. Your suggestion had "inspired" me towards discovering the way to modify the sizes of my photos in my blogs :)

Overall, I had to say that, this "expansion" was definitely not an easy task. Nevertheless, I'm glad that I had made it in the end :)

All you need to know about my Cambodia trip : "Caught in the act"

2009-02-08T02:40:00.000-08:00

Throughout this entire trip, I had taken a total 6GB of photos, which amounted to almost 1,373 "pieces" of photos.

"Whoa!!!" you may exclaim..."Were there really that many scenes worth to be taken?" you may ask...

My answer to you is a big YES. There were in fact that many scenes - beautiful ones, interesting ones, memorable ones - to be taken. In fact, if I were given a 10GB capacity, I would have taken many more photos than what I had.

People say "a picture speaks a thousand words". As I went through the collection of photos captured in my camera, I found some interesting photos which I think are worth sharing.

Let the film roll :)

[Pure coincidence?] I would name this photo "The Butts". As you can see, this local kid here was taking a shade under the creature's body (let's just practice some innocence here, shall we? :p), and in doing so, he was seen in a crouching posture similar to that of the creature's, thus showing to us their butts in a ceherant manner :p

[The Ms. Inexplicable] This photo shows Andrea trying to do "something" - sizing up her palm against the leftover palms of some don't-know-what creature. You ask her why :)

[Hello?] Long lost friends Andrea and Jing found each other at last...

[Caught sneaking away] Shuh Chien and Yuet Ling were found taking a rest under this shady place. It was really a bright sunny day. It would have been extremely hot and dry if not for the cool wind that came by from time to time...

[Tripple act?] The photographer of a photographer being photographed by THE photographer... :p

[Whoa..] I wonder what amazed CK so much, while Andrea's laughing instead :)

[Ooo...] So sleepy ar, Andrea?

[Funny expression] Most of you would be thinking that Chun Keat was either caught here cursing someone or talk-cocking, right? Wrong. In actual, this shot was taken when Chun Keat was halfway yawning...Zzzz...

[Frustrated?] "Riverbird" tried to pull down this tree with his "feather" weight... -_-"""

[Arh!!!] "Mr. Elephant, don't run over me please..."

ZZzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzzz....

[Desperation?] Jing licking a "linga" (or more commonly known to us as a penis)...

Note : The popular belief is that the Siva Lingam represents the phallus or the virile organ, the emblem of the generative power or principle in nature. This is not only a serious mistake, but also a grave blunder. In the post-Vedic period, the Linga became symbolical of the generative power of the Lord Siva. Linga is the differentiating mark. It is certainly not the sex-mark. [Source : Wikipedia]

[Mirror act] Andrea and I taking photographs of each other...

[What were you doing?] Kok Hoong seemed busy with don't-know-what, while Ting Hock and Shuh Chien found him amusing...

[The Ms. Inexplicable] Why were you crying, oh little girl?

Well, like always, I would save the best for last :)

Before you proceed, I hope you would read through the following disclaimer so as not to end up in an undesired state of mind...

Here it goes...

Disclaimer:

The following scenes might appear to be inappropriate and disturbing in nature. Viewers aged 18 and below are advised not to proceed further under any circumstances. Viewers aged 19 and above are advised to proceed further on your own discretion. The owner of this blog - Putojin - does not hold any responsibility for any discomfort that may arise upon your viewing of the following scenes.

Clear?

Still want to continue?

Ok...

Are you ready?

...

...

...

Arh!!!! Caught in the act!!!!

The rooms at the Blue Lime Phnom Penh Guesthouse were so nicely decorated and romantically furnished that Kok Hoong and Bean could no longer resist their "lust" in showing their affections towards one another...Just look at their facial expressions - so damn "yum dong"!!!

Apparently, they had a "wonderful" time...

I hope you enjoyed my sharing of photos thus far.

And I definitely hope that people around you would not be as keh-po-chee looking at the content of this blog from your behind, like how CK and Ting Hock did it in the following photo...

"Did we miss something interesting?"

:)

All you need to know about my Cambodia trip : Top 3 crazy things we did in Cambodia

2009-02-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

A trip is nothing more than just a trip if you don't add on some extra "indulgence", go the extra "mile" or act beyond the "limits"...

Luckily, in our case, we did all three of the above-mentioned during our Cambodia trip. And I believe these memories will prompt up in our minds as DESSERTS whenever we're STRESSED in our regular days...

P/S : I've learned from Bryan Ho (a fellow Motorolan Toastmaster) today that the word "DESSERTS" happens to be spelled in reverse order to the word "STRESSED", which reminds us to always look at things from the other point of view. Thanks for the sharing, Bryan.

For the fun of my sharing and your reading, I have managed to come out with my list of "TOP 3 CRAZY THINGS WE DID IN CAMBODIA", haha! Here goes the list...

#3 : Post-liquor DIY shots

On our last night in Siem Reap, 7 of us decided that we should not be sparing ourselves from the abundance of affordable alcoholic cocktail here, especially after we had gone through a very tiring journey during the day (you'll know what that is when you reach at #2 later)...Thus we went together to have some MARGARITAS and BEER at a mexican food restaurant.

6 of us shared 2 jars of margaritas, while Chun Keat insisted on having beer himself instead. With some chit-chat going on, soon we finished our margaritas and beer.

Two different flavours of margaritas

And that's when some of us started to feel a little "high"...

Chun Keat with his "yam dong" look

Jing was like...hahahaha...

Then Jing came up with a suggestion, "Why not we try taking our own shots with your DSLR camera?"

I thought it was a good idea. And so my DSLR camera went around the table...

Putojin

Kok Hoong

CK

Ting Hock

Hoe Yaw

Jing

And last but not least...

Before you proceed, let me remind you that...

The following 3 photos may be extremely hilarious to some of you...

I might already have been "butchered" by the person in the photos by the time you see them...

And I need you to know that I'm doing this purely on a good will...

Chun Keat (Shot #1)

Chun Keat (Shot #2)

Chun Keat (Shot #3)

Brother, hope you won't get angry with this post ya :p

#2 : Cycling from town central to Ta Phrom

Cycling can be fun if it's just a short ride in the park under a cool cloudy sky.

But in our case, our cycling took us through a 3-hour-plus cycling period and 40-kilometer-plus travel distance, under a clear sunny sky, through bumpy dusty roads...Does that sound crazy enough for you now? :)

We started our journey by renting our bicycles from another guesthouse in town.

Jing and Hoe Yaw finding out the rental fee

Shadow of Angkor Guesthouse - I would recommend you to explore further on this guesthouse, as I find this place clean and well-managed. The owner is a fluent English-speaking leng lui some more :p

Hock and Chun Keat eagerly waiting to start the journey

Hoe Yaw and Jing checking out the route to Ta Phrom with the leng lui owner

CK making sure the tyres were filled with enough air

Soon, we started our adventure. Our ride took us through bumpy and dusty roads (that's the reason why all of us wore masks) which lead to all these historical sites.

Roads were still under construction...

We passed by Angkor Wat and a few other temples, before finally reaching Ta Phrom. It took us 1.5 hours to reach Ta Phrom.

Locking all our bicycles together before entering Ta Phrom for our visit

By the time we finished visiting Ta Phrom, it was almost 3pm, and we believed it's time we should start our journey back to town central. Our ride back to town central basically took us through Angkor Thom again, thus allowing us the opportunity to visit some of the places that we had missed on Day 1.

At the Victory Gate of Angkor Thom

"Back door" of a temple (I forgotten the name, hehe)

Still very "semangat"...umphh!!

Caught this amazing sunset view as we passed by a village...the sky was getting dark by then...

And after toiling for the entire day on the bumpy dusty roads, we finally got back to where we started...

Yeah...we made it!

Apparently there're some dissatisfaction whenever we mentioned about our sickened ass...our ass hurt, really :)

It was a tiring and challenging stunt, but we're glad we did it :)

Now you've read about how we added on some extra "indulgence" to our taste buds...

And, how we went the extra "mile" to leave an unforgettable experience in our minds...

To complete the list...

Let's see how we actually acted beyong the "limit" to be remembered forever as crazy nuts...

#1 : Lying in the middle of a street, as if our Ah Kong owned it

On Day 5, as we're walking down a street just beside the National Museum, we noticed that the street was so unusually quiet and empty (as it was closed to vehicles). Then someone mooted out an idea, "Hey, this must be your Ah Kong's road. Let's lie down on it. Want?"

At first, it was just the three of them...

Kok Hoong, CK and Bean - free pose

Then the idea got crazier with some creative inputs...

Kok Hoong, Bean and CK - forming an arrow

CK, Bean and Kok Hoong - forming an arrow in the opposite direction

And so the "virus" spread out...

Chun Keat, Putojin and Ting Hock - forming an arrow

6 of us joined forces to form a six-edged star

A bunch of crazy nuts we were...

How many of you had managed to do what we did in a foreigh land? I don't think so :p

Happy Chinese "Niu" Year

2009-01-25T06:56:00.000-08:00

To all my dear friends,

Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy Chinese New Year!

May growth and stability bring you luck and prosperity in this Year of the Earth Ox!

All you need to know about my Cambodia trip : Introduction

2009-01-24T04:33:00.000-08:00

Even before I could finish writing about my 12-day Filipino travel experience (just completed Day 3), I found myself having no choice but to start writing about my just-ended Cambodia trip while my memories of the trip are still fresh in my mind.

Breaking off from my previous style of "day-to-day narration", this time I plan to do things differently for my writings about this 6-day Cambodian experience. To start off with, let me give you a brief introduction about the itinerary, planning and logistics of this trip...

Flight via Air Asia

14 January 2009 : Depart from KL (LCCT) at 7.00am, reaching Siem Reap at 8.00am

19 January 2009 : Depart from Phnom Penh at 5.30pm, reaching KL (LCCT) at 8.30pm
(Note: Malaysian time is one hour ahead of Cambodian time)

Travel Itinerary

14 - 16 January 2009 @ Siem Reap (Staying at The Villa Siem Reap Guesthouse)
Main destinations : Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Kbal Spean, Banteay Srei, Ta Phrom, Old Central Market

17 - 19 January 2009 @ Phnom Penh (Staying at Blue Lime Phnom Penh Guesthouse)
Main destinations : Royal Palace, National Museum, Independance Monument, Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (a.k.a. the Killing Fields), Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phsar Thmey (Central Market)

Expenses

Flight tickets : RM 220 two way, including tax and fuel surcharge (we're early...damn!)

Acccommodation, entrance fee, food, shopping : generally USD 300 (only a few had gone over budget :p)

And now, proudly introducing to you the eleven "Crew Members" of this trip...

(Disclaimer : Names are arranged in no particular order favouring any individual or what-so-ever, hehe :p)

Fellow Motorolan and Toastmaster -- Andrea

Fellow Motorolans and Toastmaster -- Jing & Hoe Yaw

Newly befriended -- Shuh Chien

Newly befriended -- Yuet Ling

Ex-schoolmate (Jit Sin High School) -- CK (a.k.a. "Ah Keat")

Badminton buddies and ex-schoolmate-cum-teammate (Jit Sin High School) -- Ting Hock (a.k.a. "Ah Hock")

Badminton buddies and ex-schoolmate-cum-teammate (Jit Sin High School) -- Chun Keat (a.k.a. "La Pa" or "Lam Pa" depending on occasion)

Friend of 20 years, founder-and-member of BB team, long-time member of the Singles Club until being sacked in 2008, ex-classmate-cum-schoolmate (Chung Hwa 3 Primary School and Jit Sin High School) -- Bean (a.k.a. "BB")

Friend of 17 years, member of BB team, fellow blogger, fellow Toastmaster, short-term member of the Singles Club until being sacked late in 2008, ex-classmate-cum-schoolmate-cum-universitymate-cum-housemate (Chung Hwa 3 Primary School, Jit Sin High School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia) -- Kok Hoong (a.k.a. Riverbird or 江边鸟)

And last but not least...

Introducing to you...

The badminton fanatic...

The Chung Hwa 3 Primary School dumbest product...

The most unlikely product of Jit Sin High School...

The most kehpoh-cum-stupid-cum-lazy product of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia...

The dullest blogger alive...

The reluctant President and sole surviving member of the Singles Club...

The best feeder of all time in DOTA...

The only non-edible "puto" in the world...

The oldest looking young engineer in Motorola...

The 33-year-old-looking young Toastmaster...

The newcomer to the DSLR Dark Force (Nikon) of FOTOMOTO...

The silliest person who is silly enough to give himself a silly introduction...

Yours tryly -- Putojin :p

My twelve-day BREAKAWAY trip to the Philippines - Day 3

2009-01-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

On our first day arriving in Manila, we paid a visit to a local tour agency to book ourselves a day-trip to see the world's smallest volcano. And, the trip was supposed to be long enough to fill up our day time, and short enough to allow us to be back in Manila in time to get our shower and dinner before boarding a bus at 12 midnight.

We started our "guided tour" with a visit to one of the factories where they produce the street-famous jeepneys.

Sarao was the first locally-established company who introduced the jeepneys to the streets.

Imported engines (presumably 2nd hand) which are used to power the jeepneys.

Some shorter versions of the jeepneys. The factory can basically build and customize the jeepneys based on the customers' needs.

Jeepneys which were almost ready, pending the installation of engines.

Jeepneys which were ready to be delivered.

Coconut's fibre was stuffed into leather/fabric to make the cushion seats of the jeepneys.

The grey one is how the original US jeeps look like.

An older and shorter version of jeepney

A series of older versions of jeepneys on display

Simple machinery used to make the outer skin of the jeepneys

All the parts were formed manually by the workers.

Waiting for the wheels to be attached

Leaving the factory after havin seen enough :)

Moving on to our next destination - the legendary Las Pinas Bamboo Organ in the Parish Church of St. Joseph.

Artists' sketches depicting the incidents and events surrounding the bamboo organ

Local children explaining the history of the bamboo organ

This is how the bamboo organ was built.

Age-old photos on display

The bamboo organ in its original look

A miniature model of the bamboo organ built for display

The proud product of Las Pinas -- the world-known Las Pinas Boys Choir

Visitors are encouraged to try their hands on the miniature models...

Labels showing how the bamboo organ works

Another miniature model

Lots of music records had been done with the bamboo organ

This is the so called President's Chair.

Hostels and classrooms for the children who live and study here

The Parish Church of St. Jospeh from its outlook

Finally, we're heading to our intended destination, to see the so called "smallest volcano in the world" - Taal Volcano - from the "Palace in the Sky".

Passing through a few villages along the journey

A view of Taal Volcano from a viewing platform along the journey

Then we arrived at the entrance gate of the Palace in the Sky.

The Palace in the Sky is a half-finished structure orgininally intended for the late president Ferdinand Marcos. Now open to public, it offers a 360-degree profile of Taal and its environs. It is also known as the People's Park in the Sky.

Scenic view of Lake Taal

Highlands around Tagaytay

If the palace were to be completed, it would definitely look majestic.

Beautiful European style country houses could be seen nearby.

This pond-like feature was supposed to be a swimming pool.

This is something of a miracle. Click to enlarge the picture and read what sort of miracle is this all about :)

The miraculous statue of Virgin Mary

Taking a final look at the Palace in the Sky

As we left the palace, we were brought by our guide, Frank, to a nearby restaurant for our much-anticipated lunch :)

The restaurant

"The powers of a man's mind are directly proportioned to the quantity of coffee he drinks." - Sir James Mackintosh

"No one can understand the truth until he drinks coffee's brothy goodness." - Sheikh Abd-el-Kadir

This was my lunch. The fried pork cutlets tasted nice with the spicy and soury sauce.

It was supposed to be the end of our trip. Then Frank offered us a deal - pay him an extra sum, and he would bring us to the have a closer look at the Taal Volcano. Deal!

Taking the extra mile down the lakeside to have a closer view of Taal Volcano

We're getting closer to it

The cool and cloudy weather was perfect for such a serene view.

Taal Volcano from across the lake - that's really SMALL!!!

If you fancy the idea of setting your feet on the volcanic terrains, you could actually rent one of these boats to get across the lake to Taal Volcano. At the volcano island, you could then hike up the slopes to get a closer look at the volcano's crater, either by foot or by hiring horses/ponies.

So green

This was one of the resorts around the lake. One day I would like to relax and enjoy some beer under the hut in such serene environment.

That's the end of our scenic tour on Day 3 :)

Maiden shots with my new Nikon D80

2008-12-28T22:43:00.000-08:00

I took photography lessons during my 3rd year in university, and that was when I discovered my passion for photography. However, to adopt photography as my hobby was definitely out of my reach for the past few years, as it was way too expensive for me to pursue.

Now that I have a steady income, and since I had seldom spent my income on entertainments and electronic gadgets, thus I guess it's time I start to pursue photography as my hobby. Photography is definitely a healthier pastime as compared to DoTA-ing on Hamachi. Hehe...

Yesterday I just bought a new Nikon D80 kit. This morning, initially there was supposed to be an outing - hiking up Penang Hill - for me to practice my skills with my new "toy", too bad the outing was cancelled due to uncertain weather conditions (and another "personal" reason).

Nevertheless, my hands felt the itch so much that I had done some experiments with my new "toy". My photography lessons taken back then was definitely helpful in speeding my entry into the DSLR world :)

Here are some of my maiden shots...

P/S: Please kindly reserve your harsh comments for my future assignments. These are definitely work of an amateur, thus not worth having your harshness :p

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : The human figure on that trophy

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : The Reader's Digest magazine (see Jet Li?)

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : The word "DELL" on my laptop (Failed to focus it right)

This is what happens when you add a polarizer lense into the kit...
Laptop screen colour : Dark bluish

Laptop screen colour : Ultra bright

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : The word "Nikon"

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : The alphabets on the keyboard

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : The word "DELL"
(Failed to focus it right again...)

With a polarizer, you can also eliminate the "glare" on reflective objects...
(Notice the "glare" on the Reader's Digest magazine)

No more "glare" on the magazine

Focus on magazine
(Jet Li's smiling on the cover)

Shift the focus to Jojo, although it did not come out right
(Jet Li's no longer smiling)

She likes sleeping on my bed

Jojo : I heard something...

Jojo : What is that dark, bulky and ugly thing?

Jojo : Duh...

Posing for photo

Posing for a different angle shoot

Dreaming...

Boring...

Jojo : What are you looking at?

Jojo : "Choi nei dou soh..."

Jojo : I miss the playground...

Jojo : I'll get there in my dream then...

Focus : My name on the box

Focus : Laptop's USB ports

Focus : Books on my study desk

ZZzzz...

Focus : Jojo's eye

Focus : Jojo's hair on the nose

Jojo : Gotcha!

Exposure : zero

Exposure : +ve

Exposure : -ve

Lighting mode : Fluorescent

Lighting mode : Auto

Lighting mode : Shade "zero"

Mode : Programmed (With tripod)

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : "Gold" on the "bonsai"
Lighting mode : Fluorescent

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : "Gold" on the "bonsai"
Lighting mode : Shade "zero"

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : Stationery on the table
Lighting mode : Shade "zero"

Mode : Fully manual
Focus : Edge of the wall
Lighting mode : Shade "zero"

Conclusion : NO REGRETS!!!
(There's one regret though...It's something personal, not related to this camera...)

Waiting for the model for my 1st outdoor protrait photoshoot...
真的期盼成为你的眼...

P/S: Thanks to my pal and "sifu", John Pang for helping me with the shopping and recommendation

鼻子酸溜溜的滋味

2008-12-28T07:26:00.000-08:00

突然想起曾经听过的那一首歌及MV...

心理郁闷的我就立即地上了Youtube搜寻...

听着听着，心里竟然有了感触...

鼻子突然之间也感觉到一股酸溜溜的滋味...

真的期盼成为你的眼...

Penang Food Hunt 2008

2008-12-26T16:30:00.000-08:00

Our team - Team #94 - finished in the 24th position to earn ourselves 2 free vouchers for Hi Tea at Traders Hotel and 6 Digi's Yellow Man refrigerator magnets...Not bad a performance for amateurs like us! :)

How did I end up participating in this event?

Two days before the Food Hunt, I received an email from Bee Nee inviting me to join her team as the "navigator". I almost turned down the invitation upon discovering about the registration fee (it's kind of expensive at RM100 per head), however, since it would be a long weekend (plus an off day on Monday), I decided to join in the fun rather than just spending my long off days in front of my laptop at home while "growing mushrooms".

Morning before the hunt began...

I left home early at 9.00am on a Saturday morning just to find myself stuck in a totally unexpected mess...

Traffic jam on the bridge on a Saturday morning?!!

I was stuck in the congestion for at least 30 minutes before the "culprit" was revealed...

Damn...a stalled truck! These people just never cared to check their vehicles regularly...

It was a totally smooth traffic once getting past the mess! I was already late by then...Vvvrrooommmmm!!! :p

Despite the little hiccup in the morning, I still managed to arrive at Bee Nee's place right in time for us to reach our registration-plus-briefing station at Paradise Sandy Beach Resort by 11.00am for the start of the briefing.

The theme on the Hunt Day was RED! Thus all food hunters were required to dress in RED!!

Deeply engrossed in studying the instructions given at the briefing...

The organizers briefing the food hunters about the challenges, riddles and tulips which would be faced during the hunt.

As soon as the briefing had ended, our first "task" was to "decorate" our car with stickers before the hunt began.

Carefully putting on the sticker so that it would look good and easy for removal.

Taa daa daa...Presenting to you...Team #94!!!

Other fellow food hunters were waiting for the hunt to begin as well...

Beautiful car models for hire...anyone? :)

Please allow me to introduce to you - the crew members of Team #94 !!!

Driver :
Ong Kok Leong a.k.a. 和氏璧 (Bee Nee's hubby)

Navigator :
Yours truly a.k.a. Putojin

Passengers :
Thiang Bee Nee a.k.a. Queen Bee/Sis Bee/Minnie (Toastmasters Area S7 Governor)
Ong Mei Ling a.k.a. Intel PDC Leng Lui

P/S: Thanks to Mei Ling for offering her car and GPS receiver to be used throughout the hunt :)

Here we go!

The hunt started at around 12.00pm. All teams were given 7 "long" hours to complete the hunt, or else, points would be deducted from the team's total score. There were a total of 3 Legs in the hunt. Leg 1 required us to travel to 4 pre-determined locations (restaurants and stalls) to collect stamps from the business owners. On top of that, we were required to send an SMS to the Digi Centre at Gurney Plaza to register ourselves and collect the instructions for Challenge 1 - in which we had to correctly name 5 different types of traditional Malay "kuih-muih". The final task in Leg 1 was to travel to 3 different World Heritage sites to get ourselves photographed.

Eating "mee goreng" at the Batu Lanchang Market food court.

World Heritage site - Fort Cornwalis

World Heritage site - State Assembly Building

World Heritage site - St. Xavier's Institution

To save time, Mei Ling and I dropped at a photo shop to get the photos developed (as required by Challenge 2) while Bee Nee and her hubby continued to collect the final stamp at Acheen Street.

Not forgetting to pose for a photo with leng lui while waiting at the photo shop :p

After that, we proceeded to New World Park to start our Leg 2 - "Shell We Walk & Wok". This leg required us to complete 2 tasks:

1. Look for clues here to solve 10 questions/riddles.
2. Shell Challenge - cook "apam balik" on the spot

To save time, Mei Ling volunteered to do the Shell Challenge, while the rest of us solved the 10 questions.

Food hunters dashing around New World Park searching for clues.

The hunt even included searching at the food stalls section.

The clues were everywhere - names of shops, names of food, names of companies, names of items found on a parking payment machine, etc. The questions were damn hard, especially for amateurs and first-timers like me.

One of the clues were hidden on the wall...

While the 3 of us were cracking our heads...

Shell Challenge - cooking apam balik on stage

Turning the wok to shape the "apam balik"...

Testing the hardness...

Ready to bring it up...

See! It's ready and up! Yay! :)

Mei Ling's masterpiece which earned a perfect score of 10! I would give 12 points to her for doing it perfect for the first time :)

Even though we were still not satisfied with our answers for the 10 questions, we decided that we should be moving on to Leg 3. It was already 4.15pm by then, slightly over our "budget" for the time allowed to be spent here.

Leg 3 - "The Spice Trail" was definitely an energy-sapping journey. Upon submitting our answers for the 10 questions in Leg 2, each team was given a 6-page instruction, known as the "tulips", to be followed and completed. The "tulips" consist of road directions and 20 questions which needed to be solved along the journey. "The Spice Trail" basically covered a whole wide area, starting from New World Park, passing by places like:

1. Lebuhraya Codrington
2. Komtar
3. Lebuhraya Jelutong
4. Queensbay Mall
5. Bayan Lepas (Agilent)
6. Sunshine Square
7. Bukit Jambul
8. iAvenue
9. Tesco
10. Green Lane
11. Penang Chinese Girls' High School
12. Bayview Hotel
13. Chinatown

and finally ending at Fort Cornwalis, the finishing stop of the hunt.

P/S: Thanks to Kok Leong's driving skills, we arrived at Fort Cornwalis just right before 7.00pm :)

Dinner after the hunt had ended...

Each participant was given cash vouchers to be used for dining at New World Park. Thus, Bee Nee suggested that we should have a good dinner at Mizzy Bistro. The 3-course meal with free flow of ice cream was definitely worth the price! It's quite a cozy place for dining too.

I was damn damn damn exhausted after hours of squeezing my brain for solutions and reading the "tulips" for road directions :)

I had a delicious fish set for dinner...

And that was the end of our Hunt Day.

Answers revealed and results announced...

The next day morning, we were back at Paradise Sandy Beach Resort at 9.30am for our buffet breakfast, then the "answers and results" session. As the answers were revealed, lots of "yessss" and "ohhhh" could be heard among the crowd.

Here are some of the highlights...

Challenge 1 - Names of traditional Malay "kuih-muih" : kuih ondeh ondeh, kuih bahulu, kuih serimuka...

Challenge 1 - Names of traditional Malay "kuih-muih" : kuih ketayap, kuih kosui...

"Scared!! (chicken) And avoid (duck) American political figure (Rice)? They are common fare in Malaysia." = chicken & duck rice

"Hang on to (tang hoon) unusual party (ball) of tuna and mackeral (fish) perhaps?" = tang hoon fish ball

"Unagi back (eel -> lee) from the siblings (brothers) here." = Lee Brothers

"Shoppers urge (push) to lug it around (cart) for convenience." = pushcart

"It's the meal I hear to complete a filial (piety) custom to some. What and where?" = pei tee

"Rocket man's (Kit Siang) latest (new) food business (restaurant)." = New Kit Siang Restaurant

""Exaggerator" (there are 11 letters in the word "exaggerator") is an example of what this address looks like." = 11 letters

"He sent us any new leader at KMT (Sun Yat-Sen)?" = Sun Yat Sen Centre

"Saya dengar ini itek-itek punya (duck's one)." = Duxone

"Sounds like furniture people (IKEA) in the food business (restaurant)." = eKia Restaurant

"Local fish (Toman) having swallowed (placed in the center) piranha's head (piranha's first letter "p"), is the one clearly ahead." = Topman

"Bau (aroma) pokok negeri ini (pinang). Dengan anika masakan terdapat di sini." = Restoran Aroma Pinang

"Sub destroyer (torpedo) meal served here. What and where?" = sup torpedo @ Nasi Kandar Pelita

"O! at last (gad"o") when said twice (gado-gado). A local delicacy in our minds arise." = GAD

"Right in (putting an "R" inside) to the transporter (Chery) makes, a fruitful topping (cherry) on your cakes." = Chery

"You'll never walk alone, these supporters cry." = Liverpool FC (on a billboard)

"Famous koay teow people on Macalister way (Sisters char koay teow), have a non food business here." = Sisters Galleriya

This is referring to "Perai" (an industrial area).

Jumble up the words "PERAI", you get "1 PEAR".

"A port I can" makes the word "tropicana".
Local person (orang) with and egghead ("e") makes the word "orange".
Twirling storm = "twister".

Tropicana Twister with orange flavour

Then came the announcement of the results! All food hunters were anxiously waiting to see if they stood a chance to win any of the top 30 prizes. There were also 2 prizes given for the "most creative photo".

Team #94

Yeun Nah and Pei Hwang's team won the "most creative photo". They posed with their body forming the number "20" at all the locations that they had photographed. Geng! Their prize was lucrative - 2 rooms at Traders Hotel for a one-night stay + 1 room at Cititel for a one-night stay + RM30 voucher for spa.

Everyone was talking about the prizes...

Bee Nee re-assessing our chances...

Surprisingly...we won the 24th prize!

Posing with our prize - 2 vouchers for Hi Tea at Traders Hotel + 6 pieces of Digi Yellow Man refrigerator magnets.

Excited :)

Thanks to my colleague, Mr. Tan Chee Chin (the gentleman in white T-shirt), for helping us with the photos. His team finish within the top 30 as well :p

After all was done...

As I was the driver on that day, and that I needed to pass my camera to my family, the 3 of them "had no choice" but to follow me to a Dog Exhibition+Competition Show at Sri Pinang School...hahaha...(luckily they are dog lovers too)

Everybody loved Jojo (my cute four-legged "sister")...too bad she just didn't know how to pose for photos, camera shy I guess :p

With me...

With Bee Nee...

With Mei Ling ( Jojo: "Sorry for "flashing" :p )

Jojo (right) and her real sister Coco (left)...they were from the same parents...

Conclusion...

Well, what did I get from this event? Tonnes of things!

1. Fun and excitement to fill up the long weekend
2. Getting to know many good food locations which I seldom visited or heard
3. A copy of the Rasa-Rasa Penang food directory
4. Getting to meet new friends - the "legendary" 和氏璧 and the popular Intel PDC leng lui
5. I'll keep this slot "Reserved" for now :p

RM100 per head was a little pricey (not including all the fuel, shopping, donation and food expenses during the hunt), but was definitely worth the fun and experience!

P/S: Thanks to Bee Nee for inviting me to join this event. If not, it would have been a long and boring weekend for me in front of my laptop.

I will be back, perhaps!

The "Seven Wonders of the World"

2008-12-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

The following was one of the most heart-felt short stories that I had heard. It was shared by Prema, a member of the Motorola Penang Toastmasters Club, as our "thought of the day" during our recent club meeting. This was how the story was like...

During a Geography lesson, the teacher asked her students, "Can all of you list down each and every one of the seven wonders of the world now?" All the students were so excitedly mumbling and writing down the seven wonders on their notepads.

Then the teacher asked every student to take turns presenting their "seven wonders of the world" to the class. There were a long list of places being mentioned by the students...

The Great Pyramid of Giza...

The Great Wall of China...

The Taj Mahal of India...

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon...

The Eiffel Tower of Paris...

and so the long list went on. Arguments and chatters were heard everywhere throughout the classroom as the students debated on which of these places were the actual seven wonders of the world. The teacher noticed that most of the students were actively participating in the topic, except for one little girl, who was rather quiet and reserved as she look at her notepad.

Curious, the teacher asked the little girl, "Katie, can you read out what's on your list?"

The girl complied, amid feeling a little shy.

"Teacher, I'm not sure whether these are correct. But these are what I had written down in my list...

1. To see

2. To hear

3. To touch

4. To taste

5. To feel

6. To laugh

7. To love

That's all I would love to see."

Dear friends, cherish the things that you already have in life, and you'll see the wonders in them :)

Let us cherish the diversity of thoughts...

2008-12-15T21:58:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you would be familiar with the following so-called psychology study of the human mind:

Take some time and look at this picture below...

What do you see? How many of you see a beautiful young maiden? How many of you see an ugly old lady?

Now, look at this picture of a glass below...

What do you think : is the glass half full? Or is the glass half empty?

Most of these so-called psychology studies claimed that...

If you see a beautiful young maiden in the first picture, you're most likely an optimist.
If you see an ugly old lady, you're most likely a pessimist.

If you see the glass as half full in the second picture, you're most likely an optimist.
If you see the glass as half empty, you're most likely a pessimist.

Whether these so-called psychology studies are scientifically proven, or just merely a manipulation by motivational speakers for their personal motives and gimmicks, I would say that the two pictures above tell us only one thing...

"Everyone of us is unique and thinks differently."

What's so great about being an optimist? What's so wrong about being a pessimist? There's nothing wrong being either one, because the world needs you just the way you are.

The world needs optimists to always dream ahead, to inspire others during times of hardship, and to lead the world towards a brighter future.

Meanwhile, the world needs pessimists to always stay alert, to remind others of possible obstacles ahead, and to bring the world down to earth when expectations start to soar too high.

Therefore, whether you're an optimist or pessimist in nature, you should be glad with who you are. You should do your best to play your role as the optimist or pessimist in your circle of influence. You should not fall prey to the social norm of prefering optimists over pessimists.

My message to you is simple...

Let us cherish the diversity of thoughts!

Interesting find at Intramuros...

2008-12-15T09:26:00.000-08:00

While touring around Intramuros, I entered a souvenir shop which was located just outside the compound of Fort Santiago.

There were lots of beautiful and unique souvenirs on display, but these particularly caught my attention...

What's so unique about a bunch of aborigin guys soaking themselves in a bath tub?

Out of curiosity, I took up one of these "bath tub men" and started exploring. To my discovery, these were in fact very unique souvenirs!

I had encountered in many different occasions in Bangkok and Bali how artists would unanimously glorify their very own male reproductive organs by attaching sculptures of penises to ashtrays, keychains and smoking pipes, but I believe not many of you would have seen this...

Torpedo!!!

As I visited another souvenir shop beside the Casa Manila, I stumbled upon these...

A pair of "bath tub couple"

Guess what would this "bath tub couple" surprise us with?

Nah!!! Two bazookas + a torpedo :)

The next discovery would most probably send you crazy...

Help Me!!!

My twelve-day BREAKAWAY trip to the Philippines - Day 2

2008-12-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

"What it took was a long night's sleep to get ourselves fully recharged and ready to go!"

Day 2 (26 September 2008)

Michelle and Linly on the go!

The "theme" of our adventure for this day was "the historical traces of Manila". Our walk down "memory lane" took us across many places and sights of the city which were foreign to most of us...

The busy streets of Pedro Gil...

The extensively decorated Jeepneys - the main public transportation in the city, each could take up to 10-14 passengers!

The most successful locally-owned food franchise in the Philippines -- Jollibee! It was really an eye-opener to me to find that it's out reach and customers had easily surpassed McD's. KFC was definitely out of the picture nonetheless :)

(Read also : "Jollibee stings McDonald's in Philippines" by International Herald Tribune)

P/S : One interesting discovery about the set meals served at fast food chains in the Philippines - there'll definitely be a set meal served with rice (and some with spagetti)...McD's burger with rice, KFC's fried chicken with rice, and even Burger King's burger is served with rice!

The slightly "run down" Pedro Gil LRT station...

The LRT was still OK.

We stopped for breakfast at a local food restaurant, and it was here that I made a significant and heart-felt discovery...

Puto!!!
(see bottom left corner of photo - "with 2 pcs. puto")

I guess I can start my own business selling these steamed rice cakes, branded "Puto Jin" :)

After about one hour and a half from the moment we started our journey on our feet, we arrived at our first "historical trace" of the day - the Intramuros.

"Intramuros" literally means "within the walls" in Spanish...

This age-old city, built by the Spanish in the 16th century, is surrounded by thick walls.

You could see an entirely different type of architecture of buildings here...

I wonder whether it's of Spanish influence...

Humanistic art features atop the window opening...

These two body builders actually spotted me pointing my camera at them, but that did not shy them away. Instead, they continued to pose for pictures :p

Mabuhay po! = Welcome!

Colourful mansions

A memorial of the war victims who died in Manila in 1945...you would feel the sorrow looking at the well-depicted expressions on the sculptures...

Palacio del Gobernador - the Governor's Palace...

Our first intended destination in Intramuros - the Manila Metropolitan Cathedral...

Our guide (you'll see him later as you read on) told us that many celebrity couples tied their knots here, though most of them had sad endings...

Open hours

Hispanic-style carvings and wordings (I had no idea what the words meant)...

It is also known as the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Manila.

Inside the church

A holy statue

A roman statue

You would be excited if you were to bring a DSLR camera here...lots of things for you to practice your photography skills...

The carvings on the door tells a thousand words...

Looking marvelous with the clear blue sky as its background...

Right opposite the cathedral stood a statue of some "historical guy"...

The entire view from afront...

Our next destination was Fort Santiago...

Getting near to it...

This is the main and only exit of Fort Santiago...

This is the main and only entrance of Fort Santiago...the entrance fee was quite minimal, not an issue...

The whole compound was very well kept and tidy...

Sorry Linly, I should be the one doing your pose...I didn't know you were going to do that back then :)

The front compound was full of beautiful tropical greeneries...

Our visit coincided with a group of little students' school day out...reminded me of my innocent old school days...

While looking for some tourist map at the information centre, a local man approached us with a warm smile and asked if we would need his service to bring us around Intramuros in a horse carriage (at a cost lah, of course!). Considering the time, distance and energy needed of us for the whole day's touring around the city, and since the price was quite reasonable (total PHP2000), we decided to hire him as our tour guide for Intramuros.

Our super-talented, smooth-talking Intramuros tour guide, Jorge. My first intention of taking this picture was to serve as proof just in case he's a con artist or something...so bad of me...

First, Jorge took us to the Muslim House for a photo taking...

Muslim House???

Our horse carriage...not as nice as that of Datuk K and Datin Siti's :)

Next, the Museum of Lights and Sound...there was nothing much of our interest here, but Jorge made it special...

He sang us a Beatles classic as a welcoming song!

On the walls of the museum stood these unique alphabets which formed the word "INTRAMUROS". Each and every alphabet was carved with lifely figures which depicted the way of life in the Philippines...

He said the Chinese brought in pigs...I was not sure how true was that...

Working hard for a living...

The locals enjoyed cock-fighting...

After that, we went for a walk on the thick brick walls which surrounded Intramuros.

"This No. 1 Victoria Street marker indicates the former headquarters of General McArthur and the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). Used as barracks by the Japanese and destroyed in 1945 during the liberation of Manila." - copied from http://philippines-archipelago.com/author/visited/metro_manila_1.html

The Manila Hotel stood just across a golf cross behind the Intramuros...

The walls were made of thick layers of bricks...

Cells built into the walls...

We were told these are water passages...

And this was sort of a reservoir...

Cheeezzzzz....

Antique mobile cannons

Antique fixed cannons

After our walk on the walls, we were took across the city...

Beautiful and neat buildings...

Statue of another guy...

And another guy again...Filipinos really like statues :)

And back to Fort Santiago...

The main gate into Fort Santiago

A beautiful scene just in front of the main gate

A brief history of Fort Santiago

This part of the fort was actually rebuilt after being partly damaged during the war...

Rizal's foot steps

Story has it that Rizal actually walked from his prison cell in Fort Santiago to his execution site near the now Rizal's Park.

Dr. Jose Rizal's statue greeting the visitors

You'll see much more beautiful and exotic tropical plants here...the effort spent on this place by the Filipinos was worth so much a tribute to their national hero...(I felt bad for our national heroes like Leftenant Adnan and Tunku...)

Then there was this building here, called Rizal Shrine...

They even set up a committee to oversee and run the rehabilitation of Fort Santiago and Dr. Rizal's cell...

This whole building is solely dedicated to honour Dr. Jose Rizal's contribution and sacrifice in liberating his beloved homeland from the Spanish. You'll see a wide range or variety of exhibits here...

An artist's impression of how Dr. Jose Rizal's death had saddened lightened up the spirit of nationalism of the entire nation...

Dr. Rizal's literature work...

Site of his prison cell

A translated version of his most famous farewell poem

He sent the farewell poem to his family hidden in a lamp.

"To foretell the destiny of a nation, it is necessary to open the book that tells of her past." - Dr. Jose Rizal

"I wish to show those who deny us patriotism that we know how to die for our duty and convictions." - Dr. Jose Rizal

"I have always loved my poor country and I'm sure I shall love her until my last moment, should men prove unjust to me. I shall die happy, satisfied with the..." - Dr. Jose Rizal

I was definitely touched by Dr. Jose Rizal's strong sense of nationalism and love for his country. None of our modern day Malaysian leaders would come as close to matching Dr. Rizal's love for his country. RPK would be the closest candidate that comes into my mind of being such another role model considering all the struggles that he has been through for standing up against injustice.

A short biography of Dr. Jose Rizal

An artist's impression of him writing his farewell poem...

He's an eye specialist/surgeon by profession. He even treated his father's eye.

His Japanese sweetheart

His Filipino wife (if not mistaken, hehe...)

His portrait

His favourite suit

Jorge said he wanted to thank and bid farewell to us by reciting Dr. Jose Rizal's famous poem to us - Mi Ultimo Adios...

Bidding farewell to Fort Santiago...

Beautiful reflection on the water surface

We continued our tour of Intramuros.

Another beautiful building that caught my attention...

What the heck...! I had never seen such an ugly "boxy" vehicle like this one...

Soon, we reached the site where the popular St. Augustin Church stood.

It's the oldest church in the Philippines, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

Closed to visitors due to restoration works...

Standing by the side of the St. Augustin Church is a building used to store and display the priceless belongings and assets of the church...

Delicate carving on the main doors of the church...

A case of mistaken identity? What was the Chinese guardian lion doing in front of a church? :)

Candle lights on the ceiling, just like what we see in the dancing scene in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"...

Not far away from the St. Augustin Church stood a colonial style museum - Casa Manila. Too bad no photos were allowed to be taken inside :(

A group of school children waiting obediently to enter the museum...

A beautiful fountain built in the middle of the museum's backyard...

We didn't spend much time in the museum and continued our quest, this time, for food :p

Passed by a rowdy street...that's what you get when the government is incapable and corrupt, hopefully Malaysia will not be like that one day...

As previously mentioned, there are many cells built into the think walls of Intramuros. On one of the stretches, the cells are now rented out to hawkers to run their food stalls.

Many university students (there's a university campus in Intramuros) took their lunch at the stalls.

We thought we might as well try the local hawker food too :)

This should be Adobo pork rice, if not mistaken.

Forgotten what's this dish called...it's something like the chinese "too kar chor" (pig's leg cooked in vinegar) flavour...

Notice the look on Linly's face, holding back her saliva I guess :p

Forgotten the name of this as well...little fried pork cutlets served with rice...

After our lunch, we left Intramuros and headed to our next destination - Rizal Park.

A long and serene path at the entrance leading towards Rizal Park...

The heart of Rizal Park - a huge pond, lots of heroes' statues and flags, and well-trimmed tropical plants.

Rajah Sulayman with the pitiful expression...

Aman Dangat with a bowl-shaped helmet on his head...

Chinese Garden

3 priests were strangled to death on this spot :(

Rizal's execution site

"Farewell, to all I love. To die is to rest." - Dr. Jose Rizal

Sculptures depicting Dr. Rizal's accomplishments during his life...

Beautiful shot taken by Michelle

Rizal Monument (with the skyscraper as backdrop)

So stylish!

The tall flag pole is site of the inauguration of the Philippines by the President of the United States...

Then, we left Rizal Park and walked towards the shore line of Manila.

We passed by this place - the Army and Navy Club of Manila...

And found ourselves comfortable seats for resting...

Linly must be real thirsty as she dozed off momentarily into her dreamland... :p

Having rested for some time, we continued our journey in search of a place to refresh ourselves and quench our thirst - the Harbor View.

What's in store for us?

On a clear-sky day, you should get to watch the beautiful sunset while having your meals here...

"Halo-halo" or Filipino "ais kacang"

Michelle looked so satisfied with her mango cream shake...

Fruit salad

Having meal on the sea

Food here was generally expensive, so we decided to have our dinner elsewhere.

Soon, the night became dark and we strolled along the Manila Bay enjoying the soft, night sea breeze...

This place is very similar to Penang's Gurney Drive.

Before calling it a day, we returned to Robinson's at Adriatico Street to source for our dinner. Linly wanted to have something light and not too oily, so we thought it's best for us to dropped by a Philippine-based Chinese cuisine fast-food restaurant chain -- Chow King.

First time I saw Chinese cuisine served as fast-food...

This was my dinner set...

The porridge tasted good...

I wasn't satisfied with the "halo-halo" at Harbor View, so I ordered another one here at 3 times lesser the price! And it tasted good too :p

It was so long and tiring a day for our "historical traces of Manila" adventure in Day 2 :)

My experience during and after the Penang Bridge International Marathon 2008

2008-11-27T22:13:00.000-08:00

"I will be back!"

Two weeks had passed since the Penang Bridge International Marathon 2008, and yet I have not even finished writing my "report", whereas 江边鸟 had already posted his "report" one day after the event. Shame on you, Putojin!

Nevertheless, I would still wish to complete what I initially had in mind, thus let's recap on what actually happened (to me) on that very day, and also the "aftermath" of the event...

The night before the run, I received a call from Bean at 11pm while I was still half way writing my post - "Here comes the Penang Bridge International Marathon 2008!"

[Bean] Puto, we'll be leaving at 12.00am ya, since bridge will close up at 2.00am. You OK?

[Putojin] Wah! So early? Err...ok ok...12.15am can? (I hadn't even packed my things yet..)

[Bean] OK. See you later.

Without further ado, I continued writing my blog post by switching into 5th gear, as that post was supposed to be my "pre-run declaration". I made full use of all the time that I had, such as doing my packing while I thinking of the right words to use, or when I was waiting for the pictures to finish loading. Thus, by the time it's 12.00am, I was already proudly standing in front of my laptop clicking on the "PUBLISH POST" icon. As soon as I had verified the publishing of the post, I did a final check on my backpack items, and off I went to the nearby convenience store to load my backpack with essential stuffs, such as:

1. Two bottles of Livita
2. One bottle of 100-Plus (500ml)
3. One bottle of mineral water (1500ml)
4. Two packets of chocolate-flavoured Twiggies

Having done my last-minute "shopping", while waiting for Bean's arrival I went over to the corner mamak stall to have a peek at the live football result -- Yeah! Man Utd 3-0 Stoke!!! (Man Utd later went on to score a 5-0 victory over Stoke City)

Then, Bean arrived. Apparently, he had not done his "shopping" as well, so I helped him with some quick advice. When I got onto the car, there were already 5 people on board, with Bean's father behind the steering wheel. At the back portion of Bean's spacious Innova, sat the two ladies who surprised me with their participation in the half-marathon this time. While Yong-mei (榕妹) was quite excitedly awake, Ah Hu-jie (阿鱼姐) was totally in "offline" mode :)

Fast forward...

When we arrived at Queensbay's open-air car park, it was only 1.00+am and still 3.5 hours to go before the race. I made a call to 江边鸟 to see if he and his gang had reached their office...

[Putojin] Hoi, reach your office already?

[江边鸟] Hey, ya, in office now...wah, tired lo, we're now playing Nintendo Wii, ok ok, don't want to talk to you liao...

[Putojin] #$%^&*&%$@!!!

So the 6 of us slept (at least I tried) in the spacious Innova...

P/S : Thanks to Bean and his father for the generosity of offering to drive us there :)

When it's almost 3.00am, I could not stand any longer "trying to sleep", while at the same time my stomach was already "growling" in hunger (actually I hadn't taken my dinner). Thus I finished all the food that I had brought with me -- Myvito wholegrain biscuits (2 small packs), Twiggies (2 packets) and 100-PLUS (500ml) -- to the amusement of my friends :p

With the eating and some chit-chatting with each other, time flew by so fast that soon it's 3.45am and we would have to start preparing and "check in" ourselves for the run.

Ah Hu-jie (阿鱼姐) helping me to adjust my back "number plate"...

Amongst us we had...

A father-and-son combination -- Bean and Uncle...

A "sisters" combination -- Yong-mei (榕妹) and Ah Hu-jie (阿鱼姐)...

A "veteran" combination -- Uncle with his friend...

When it was supposed to be my turn for a photo, something really bad happened...my camera ran out of battery power...I thought I would be glad that I had brought along spare batteries, but...I mistakenly brought a wrong combination of batteries...Darn!

Reminder for next year:
1. Charge your batteries
2. Bring correct combination of spare batteries

At the "check in" point, Bean and I met up with the rest of our friends who were joining the same category of run...

The "bloggers" -- 江边鸟 and Putojin

The "BB team" -- 江边鸟, Putojin and Bean

The "ex-Jit Sin High School" gang -- 江边鸟, Khek Chian, ACK, Bean, Putojin

Last year I hurt my right knee terribly during the run, thus I was wearing a n=knee guard as precaution (please don't just "fantasize" on my hairy legs OK!)

This year's run was special in the sense that the half-marathon route was longer (25km compared to last year's 22km) and the organisers had made an effort to ensure all runners had enough warm-up exercise. Very thoughtful :p

An Indian auntie leading the pack in some aerobic warm-up moves...

But, unless you had committed some unintentional error with your camera, you wouldn't have realised that...

We were actually breathing in DUST! Very "thoughtful" :(

The air was damn dusty due to dust particles being "kicked up" from the dry ground...

Soon, some VIP kick-started the race after a string of lion dance performances...Go go go!!!

Huge crowd at the starting point...

See how these two "sor hai" self photo-ing while running :)

D3066 in action! You might be wondering what's sticking on my nose, right? Hehe...

After 3o minutes, I was already running on my own.

Beautiful light display on the bridge? Haha...it's a distorted image lar...

"Siao Kia's" running in the dark...This year's race started earlier, which was good as we would only see the sun nearing the end of the race...

At the half-way turning point, I met up with Bean and 江边鸟 who were on the other side. 江边鸟 challenged me to do a "jump" and so I complied...

Attempt #1 -- FAIL

Attempt #2 -- FAIL

Both of us gave up...江边鸟, you have one year to train up your "jump-photography" skills :)

Beautiful dawn...(by then I had started walking)

To give you an idea of how frustrated one would feel running on the bridge, see the next two photos and try to spot if there's any difference in them...

Taken at 6.55am

Taken at 6.59am (it felt like it would take me forever to reach the mid-section of the bridge)

Finally ascending the mid-section slope (this was the very last picture that I could take with my camera having already "dried up" the batteries)

I tried taking a shot with my Motorola L7 phone camera...looked not bad considering the price of the phone :p

Damn tired, but I still had to fight on...

The pleasant scene along the bridge had sort of soothed my pain, mentally and physically...

This would definitely be a perfect scene if taken with a good camera...

Why did I look so sorrowful?

Entering the final quarter of the run...a sea of "orange" had started its invasion not far ahead, and at first I thought it must be the "cleaning squad"...

Only to realise that they were the Fun Runners...

With my intermittent slow jogs, I continued my quest towards the finishing line. The time limit was almost up by then, with only 30 minutes left. It seemed rather impossible for me to earn my finisher's medal considering that there's still about 8km to go before reaching the end, but that did not stopped me from giving my best shot at it! Go go go!!!

Meet the Penang version of the Twin Towers -- The View Condominiums

Making my final dash toward the end...there should only be 2km journey left...

To further motivate myself, I gave myself a challenge -- to overtake at least 50 "category D" runners before the finishing line!

The final 100m of the race...

Finishing line!

Many runners had reached far earlier ahead of me, but that did not bother me, because the most important thing was that I had achieved victory over former self!

My time was 3 hours 50 minutes, but as the organisers had extended the time limit by half an hour, thus I still get my...

Finisher's medal

Finisher's certificate

I had participated in 3 half marathon races in the past, I had always managed to get the medals and certificates without fail, but I had never felt as satisfied with my achievements in the past. This time, getting the medal and certificate really meant a lot to me because:

1. It's a victory over my former self
2. It's a result of my hard work and determination in getting back in shape within just one month
3. It's a testament to my "never give up" spirit during the race

And most importantly, not everyone seemed to have got the medal and certificate :p

Boo....

Giving my medal a bite, which kind of irked 江边鸟, before leaving for home :p

Generally, I was quite satisfied with how this whole experience had turned out to be. Even though I was being reduced to "limping" for the next 4 days after the race, and constantly being the laughing stock of colleagues and friends who said that I searched for trouble and pain myself, I still felt it's worth my effort going through the struggle and pain. The pain on my left knee had sort of become a "prize" of my victory and a motivation for me to do better next year.

I had one regret though -- I missed out on the preparation of my camera and batteries, thus also missed out on lots of beautiful scenes along the journey. But thankfully, 江边鸟 did manage to capture some of the shots that I had missed out on...

Here are some of the best shots courtesy of 江边鸟:

The dawn

The rising sun

"Pinching the sun"

The never-ending construction of the four pillars

If I were to summarize this whole experience in only four words, it's going to be...

I WILL BE BACK!!!

My twelve-day BREAKAWAY trip to the Philippines - Day 1

2008-11-26T08:32:00.000-08:00

"After 9 long months of waiting for this trip, and 8 long hours of sleepless torturous ordeal at the LCCT, now I CAN FLY with AIR ASIA! Philippines, here I come!"

Day 1 (25 September 2008)

After waking up from my "meditation" (for the ladies' case, it's coming back from their dreamland), we cleaned and tidied ourselves before heading to McD's for our breakfast. McD's was damn crowded by then - it was 5.30am - but fortunately, we managed to find a place to settle down and savour our meal. Soon later, we're all checked in and on board our flight to Clarke, Philippines.

Normally, how long I would remain awake on a flight is largely determined by how good the "scenery" is in the passengers' cabin. As for this flight, I was already fast asleep within 10 minutes after having tied myself down to the seat...Need I explain any further? :)

[30 minutes before landing] One of the many Filipino islands, I guess...

[25 minutes before landing] This must be Luzon...

[23 minutes before landing] Mountainous inlands...

[21 minutes before landing] Low lands...

[15 minutes before landing] Rough, swampy terrain...

[12 minutes before landing] Mud or volcanic ash from the nearby Mt. Pinatubo?

[Landing] Diosdado Macapagal International Airport a.k.a. Clarke International Airport

It's been a long 4 hour flight...but, there's still more to go...

From Clarke, we had to take a 2.5-hour bus ride in order to get to the heart of Manila. Thankfully the bus was air-conditioned and equiped with a reasonable set of video player to keep passengers entertained throughout the long ride. We're surprised to be watching a movie which featured a familiar face -- Jackie Chan!

The less travelled part of Metro Manila...

More vehicles on the streets when getting closer to town...At first thought, I wondered whether the signboard was comprised of 4 languages -- WALANG (Hokkien) TAWIRAN (Malay) NAKA (Japanese) MAMATAY (Filipino) ?

P/S : From an internet source, "walang tawiran nakamamatay" is ALL Filipino, which translates as "crossing the street can be dangerous to your life" :)

This is how Hang Ten outlets look like in the Philippines...

You can find lots of tall and beautifully-built churches in Manila...

Lesson learnt : In most countries, it is normal that buildings which are dedicated to the official/main religions are always given "VIP-level of treatment and care", just like how Malaysia treat its mosques (no other religious buildings can be built higher than the minarets), Thailand treat its wat's (gold-plated pagodas and Buddhas), etc.

By the time we checked in for our accommodation, it was almost 1.30pm. Friendly's Guesthouse was reasonably priced at PHP1,200 per night for a 3-pax room, could be fun to stay if you like making new friends with fellow backpackers of different nationalities, and could be quite comfortable if toilet sharing is not an issue to you (my rating for toilet cleanliness -- slightly below par, but still acceptable because I'm quite a "cincai" person). Finally I get to clean myself up after almost 15 hours from my last bath.

Soon, we're down crawling in the streets hunting for our first taste of local Filipino food. Our hungry stomachs did not take us far away from the place we stayed though, as we settled with a restaurant just at the junction of the street :)

This was the street that we had been staying in Manila -- Adriatico Street.

Adriatico Street

"Pancit" (pronounced as "PAN-SIT") -- Filipino-style noodles

Pork "Adobo" stuffed in buns ("Adobo" refers to a style of cooking, something like our Chinese "tau eu bak" but with mild taste of vinegar)

The best mango crepe which I had tasted so far, probably because the Filipino mangoes were damn sweet!

[Michelle] Hey, please don't take any pictures of me while eating OK!

We were supposed to be feeling energized after our lunch, but we were not. Our heads felt kind of heavy instead, thus we headed back to FG to get an evening nap.

ZZZzzzz...

When we woke up it's already dark. Time for dinner!

Upon my parents' recommendation, I suggested to the ladies an interesting place for dinner -- the Zamboanga Restaurant (it happened coincidentally that the restaurant was not far away across the street). It's quite a classy restaurant, nicely decorated and furnished, and there's a stage where dancers would be performing in between 8.30 - 9.30pm. Food here would appear to be pricy (3 of us ate up a total of PHP2140), but we still thought it was worth spending after taking into consideration the size of its servings and the entertaining performance by the professional dancers.

Look at the huge serving size!!! It's more than worth the price... [photo courtesy of Michelle]

Clockwise from top: huge plate of assorted seafood and meat, "bangus" (milk fish), crispy "pata" (pork)... [photo courtesy of Michelle]

Traditional dance #1 : bare-handed dance

Traditional dance #2 : sarong dance

Traditional dance #3 : laced fan dance

Traditional dance #4 : bamboo dance

Traditional dance #5 : coconut shell dance (I couldn't stop laughing looking at the men wearing and knocking on each other's coconut "bras"...hahaha...)

Traditional dance #6 : Hawaiian dance (due to American influence)

Traditional dance #7 : I-don't-know-what dance (due to Spanish influence)

Even the customers had fun on stage :)

After the string of elaborate meal and extravaganza, it's almost time for us to kiss our first day good night...ZZzzzz...

Activity hall in FG

Linly looking out of breath while lying on the sofa...

It was tiring but wonderful Day 1 :)

New hybrid of pet dog??? You must be kidding :)

2008-11-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

There was once when I joked with a friend, who happened to own a Silky Terrier...

[Putojin] Wah, your Silky Terrier looks very cute leh...and it's a male hor?

[Friend] Yes, it's a male Silky Terrier. Why?

[Putojin] Since I have a female Poodle, which is quite cute too, I wonder how would their puppies look like if we were to mate both of them?

[Friend] Don't know leh. One is with silky smooth dark-coloured hair, while another is with curly messy fair-coloured hair, really hard to imagine wor...

Suddenly I started laughing myself...

[Friend] Why are you laughing so hysterically?

[Putojin] Hahaha...actually I've just thought of an "interesting" name for this new hybrid if we were to mate our dogs...

[Friend] Huh???

[Putojin] I remembered reading an article where they crossed a Labrador Retriever with a Poodle, which produced a new hybrid called Labradoodle. Taking a cue from that, now you see...mine is a Poodle, while yours is a Silky Terrier, so I guess the best name we can give to this new hybrid is...

( Poodle + Silky ) Terrier

= Pooky Terrier !!!

* Fainted *

P/S : Hope this would cheer up your day :)

My twelve-day BREAKAWAY trip to the Philippines - Day 0

2008-11-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

"I remembered that back in 2006, when AIR ASIA first launched its "2,000,000 FREE SEATS PROMOTION", a bunch of us (7 persons to be exact) had grabbed on the offer and self-arranged a 10-day graduation backpacking trip to Thailand (Penang -> Bangkok -> Chiangmai -> Bangkok -> Phuket -> KL), all via AIR ASIA for only RM210 each! And all of us had a hell lot of fun and sweet memories in Thailand during the trip before we started our careers... "

Two years later, when AIR ASIA launched its "1,000,000 FREE SEATS PROMOTION", Michelle and I thought that it would be great if we could organise a reunion backpacking trip involving the 7 of us, but sadly, only 3 persons had "signed up" for the idea. As you know, once you started working, you're basically living your life as a modern slave being tied on to your job and responsibilities. Some were so tied up that they could not even afford to take a weekend off their normal routine to enjoy a short holiday with friends or family...Morever, we would need to purchase our flight tickets 9 MONTHS AHEAD of our actual trip in order to enjoy the promotion!!! Thus, it's normal that only 3 persons were courageous enough to "sign up"...

This time, we decided to go to the Philippines!
(Due to the hike of petrol price, our KL -> Clarke -> KL flight had cost us RM300 each...still not that expensive lah...)

Some would ask us...

"What's so special about the Philippines?"
(Not many people have been there, that's why it's special lor...)

"Why go to the Philippines? Why not go to Macau or Hong Kong or Shanghai?"
(No money lah! Going to the Philippines, you can get a better value-for-money and more enjoyable trip ma...)

"Is it safe to visit the Philippines?"
(We're not going to Mindanao to fight the militants, so what to worry about as long as we stick to our low profile image as backpackers?)

But, I would let you be the judge as you read along these series of posts...

Day 0 (24 September 2008)

When I stepped into office this morning, I realised that 11 hours ago I had just touched down at the Penang International Airport fresh from my business trip to Taiwan, and 13 hours later, I would be chekcing into the Penang International Airport again to board a flight to LCCT. It was tiring knowing that I had not even packed my luggage for my Philippines trip, yet I still had to report back into office to settle some stuffs and arrange for a pass-over of my tasks on hand. Initially I planned to take a half-day leave, but it ended up that I could not afford doing so, and I basically reached home to start my packing at 7pm with 2.5 hours left before leaving. Thankfully, I had been well-trained enough to handle last minute packing -_-"""

Fast forward...

When I reached LCCT, it was almost 12am. I thought I was going to be the very few lonely souls lingering at LCCT waiting for the next flight in the morning. But...Damn, there were already a whole lot of people there who would be going through the same long-waiting ordeal just like me! This unexpected crowd and company would mean just one thing -- COMPETITION! Why? Because all the benches, and even trolleys, were already being occupied for seating and sleeping.

P/S : For those who plan to spend the night in LCCT in the future, either you think again, or just be prepared :)

With 6 long hours to go before my flight to the Philippines, and no place left for me to make myself comfortable, one bizarre idea came into my mind -- how about spending time on the shuttle bus? By paying RM9 per travel, I would get at least 2 - 2.5 hours of quality rest in an air-conditioned and cushion seat environment, with 3.5 hours remaining for me to think of other bizarre things to kill time at KL Sentral :p

Thus I hopped on the next bus leaving for KL Sentral, and gave my travel mates a call to tell them about my bizarre plan...

[Putojin] Hey, I'm now on a bus which is about to...

[Linly/Michelle] We're now on the way to LCCT! Why didn't you tell us earlier? How ar?

[Putojin] Oh shit...Ok ok, I'll jump down from the bus now! Bye...

Luckily, the bus had only moved about 20m from its original stop when I approached the driver to tell him that I wished to "jump down" from the bus. And thankfully, I had not paid the RM9, so I used that sum later for my iced-blended Coffee Bean while waiting for the ladies' arrival.

While waiting, I found a spot where I could finally land my butt on to get some rest -- I basically "squatted" on a cylindrical steel bar, alongside some strangers. On my right was a guy, probably in his 40's, with a large bottle of "Oh Kau" (Guiness Stout) in his hand while puffing on a cigaratte. On my left was a married couple, probably in their 30's, looking bored while preparing themselves to doze off on each other's head. As for me, I was sipping on my ice-blended while looking at the crowded scene in front of me. It's amazing how these fellow travellers could actually find ways to make themselves look busy by walking to and forth countless number of times...Darn...

About an hour later, I received an "order" from the ladies to get ourselves a nice spot to settle down at McD's. I was fortunate to find an unoccupied table (err...the table was scattered with some leftovers though..) with four seats outside, as the restaurant was closing then (which was a unwise decision considering there was a huge influx of midnight travellers during that moment). Soon, they arrived.

We were chatting for some time, taking bites of chocolates brought by the ladies and pineapple cookies which I bought from Taiwan (it's funny that Linly insisted that they tasted more like durians), before soon we felt like it's time we get an air-conditioned place to doze off. Thus we proceeded to the 24-hour food court, with 4 hours more to go before our flight.

It was at the food court, with air-conditioning and less noise, that I started "meditating" while the ladies got into their dreams...

Linly (left) and Michelle (right) in dreamland...

A SPECIAL NOTE TO LINLY AND MICHELLE:
Thank you for taking the trouble to keep me company, as you could have had better rests at home rather than this. I really appreciate that.

Undergoing 3 months of soul-cleansing...A complete BREAKAWAY!

2008-11-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

"Out of the darkness and into the sun...
But I won't forget the place I come from...
I gotta take a risk...
Take a chance...
Make a change...
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway...

- Kelly Clarkson

In life, especially once we have started working, we have to constantly remind ourselves that:

Our lives are not just all about our careers...
Our minds deserve to have breaks from time to time...
Our souls need to be rejuvenated to keep our minds and bodies intact...

I had never lost sight of that, which was why I had no doubts at all in buying my flight ticket to the Philippines for a 12-day vacation NINE MONTHS ahead of time, as I believed back then that I would definitely need a complete BREAKAWAY when the time comes. Now that this Pinoy trip had coincided with my soul-cleansing period, I could not have been more thankful that I had made a wise pre-anticipated move back then :)

With the coming of my Pinoy trip, that would make 3 oversea travels within a period of 3 months for me...But what was more important was that, with this 12-day BREAKAWAY from my work and environment, I would get lots of quality time minus the various distractions to complete my soul-cleansing journey.

Out of the darkness and into the sun...
But I won't forget the place I come from...
Only when you're out of the mess that had been bogging you day in and day out, you would get to see clearly into your soul, to re-identify the true thing or purpose that you have been looking for in your life.

I gotta take a risk...
Take a chance...
Make a change...
Sometimes it's especially hard for us to leave our jobs for long breaks, knowing that lots of opportunities would be missed during our absence...But somehow we've got to take a risk, take a chance to make a change, to set our foundations right before we can progress further to build things on our foundations.

And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway...

P/S: Stay tuned for my 12-day Pinoy trip experience in my upcoming posts.

Here comes the Penang Bridge International Marathon 2008!

2008-11-15T06:36:00.000-08:00

One month ago, when I had just completed from my trilogy of oversea travels and "reborn" with 5 kg extra to my mass, I had wondered if I was ever going to be in good shape enough to scorch the lanes of the Penang Bridge in this year's edition of its International Marathon event.

With the registration deadline coming very soon, and since Motorola Penang had announced to sponsor the registration of the first 1,000 registrations of its employees (which later being extended to 1,300), I thought, why not just give it a try, since (from my experience joining some of the previous editions of this run) there's surely going to be lots of energetic, hot, young, available ladies thronging the Penang Bridge! Who knows if I will get to meet "the ONE" on that very day as well?

Like Nike says, "Just do it!" And so I submitted my registration.

For the past 30 days, I had put in lots of hard work to get myself back in shape (or at least to get in better shape)...

I had skipped lunch a few times in a week to pay visits to my company's gym facility...

I had spent at least 2-3 quality hours per week thumping the rollers of the threadmill with my heavy elephant footsteps...

I had increased the length of my runs from 12.5 minutes to 30 minutes, and increased the intensity of my runs from 10 km/h over 5 minutes to 12.5 km/h over 15 minutes...

I had added 2 more sessions of badminton games to my usual Monday and Saturday sessions...

And all my hard work had resulted in reducing 5 kg of my body mass in less than a month's time (considering that I would still eat as much whenever I do take my meals)...
Yeah!!!

Now that I'm in better shape than one month ago, I guess I should be able to finish the race in a much better time compared to last year (when I was slowed down a lot by a knee injury and a terribly pair of shoes)...

Although I did not get to realise my dream of buying myself a good new pair of Nike Air for this year's run (budget a little bit tight after the trips ma...), I definitely would be wearing a better-fitting shoes. On top of that, I had even stopped by Guardian to get myself a pack of Breathe Right Nasal Strips to boost my performance during the run.

The energy of life comes from good quality of breathing :)

After all the preparation, now as I'm publishing this post, I'm also counting the hours till the start of the race...

Penang Bridge International Marathon 2008...here I come!

Who should win the US Presidency Election?

2008-11-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

While the US citizens were busy following their Presidential Election Campaign, an idea struck me that I should perhaps join in the race as well...Well, at least in my own context :)

So I created a poll on my blog, which said...

"Who SHOULD win the US Presidency Election?"

SHOULD it be Senator Barack Obama?

SHOULD it be Senator John McCain?

SHOULD it be Paris Hilton?

Or SHOULD it be Putojin?

Then the votes started coming in...

By the end of the voting period, I was surprised with the result of this poll...

I actually WON by a huge margin!!!

Considering that I was not even a US citizen yet (and may not even be in the future), but was still considered for a place in White House, my victory would bring more significant meaning compared to Barack Obama's because...I hail from the smallest minority (the group of damn stupid Malaysians dreaming of having a fair share of the American Dream while day-dreaming at work) among the minorities!

Ahem...Well, time to give my victory speech:

To my fans, thank you for your votes...you were the change that you seek!

To the one who voted for Paris Hilton, I may not have earned your vote and support yet, but I will still be your President!

To BLOGGER.COM, thank you for sponsoring my election campaign!

That's all for my victory speech, delivered via http://putojin.blogspot.com/. I hope you'll agree with me, that it doesn't really matter if the speech is just of 3 sentences in length, because...

ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS!!!

P/S: If you have been reading this post, sorry for all these crap, as I was obviously too bored... :p