crap!!...damaged my car's front skirt...

I don't wanna go into too much details on how it happened... basically it's just my carelessness when turning a slow corner and hit the side curb after filling her up at the Petronas station... knn!!!

At first I thought the side skirt would have a huge crack or something like that... but after checking it out, it's what you see in the below photo.



the fiber glass area where it scrapped the side curb was damaged, and the paint chipped off quite badly... no major cracks though, and everything is still intact.

nope, I would probably not spend money to get it changed or re-sprayed... spent too much of money on the car already... sommore it's not that big a damage. I could actually get it fixed by double taping or clamping some metal thingy over the damaged area... hmm... lemme think first...

credit card annual fees

do you know that you do not have to pay for those credit card annual fees even after the initial first year or 2 years waiver??

I have been doing that for a few of my credit cards already, namely my HSBC credit cards, Citibank and most recently my Standard Chartered Mastercards. Rather than jotting down the dates to cancel the credit cards before the bank starts charging you the annual fees, just let them. When you see the charges appearing in your statement, call them up and request for them to waive it. They will normally approve of that, and will do a reversal of the charge, so you do not need to pay for the fees.

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1408... got 2 endings one...

I just learnt from Hedo that there're actually two endings to 1408 this morning. I watched it at the cineplex while she watched the pirated DVD bought somewhere. We were talking about it when she said John Cusack died in the movie. I looked at her one kind and said: "ehhh... he where got die??!"

so~ after some online searching, confirm that there're two endings to the movie. Hedo watched the original ending, while the Malaysian cinema goers will be served the "less-depressing" ending, where John Cusack survived room 1408. I'm so gonna borrow Hedo's DVD and watch the original ending...

For those who wants to know more about the 2 endings, and don't mind reading about the storyline if you haven't watched the movie, go here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1408_(film)

Some pictures I took from Star Cineplex:

probably the most snapped scenery of Kuching...
took it after I bought the 1408 tickets...


Kuching South... the building under construction is the new Dewan Undangan Negeri of Sarawak (DUN).

1408... 8/10 for me...

went to watch 1408 just this afternoon at around 3.30pm... managed to catch the start as we were busily buying snacks before reaching the cinema.

the build-up of the storyline is pretty good, with Samuel L. Jackson (the hotel manager) teeing up this freak room, and discouraging John Cusack (the horror story writer) to check into room 1408, including upgrading him to the penthouse suite. of course, he rejected... and so check into room 1408 he did.


it's based on Stephen King's 1408 bestseller... so die die must watch...

what happened in the room was freaky to say the least, but I'd say that the graphics and actings were the more outstanding points of the movie. the movie is overall pretty good as it actually relates to us, especially those who travel a lot and stay in hotels... actually half way through the movie, both Jo and I wanted to leave as it really freaks us out... not that it's all bloody and gory stuff... just that it makes you not wanting to continue watching... *which in a way a success for a horror movie... ...* (note: we finished watching the movie in the end okay...)

I wouldn't go to detail on the movie as I won't wanna to spoil it for those who haven't watched. Personally, I think it's a good watch, and seriously - if you do not have a 42" plasma and a home theatre system, go watch at the cinema...

new HSBC Visa

Without much of a notice, I've been using my HSBC Visa for the last 4 years. A few days back, I received a delivery from HSBC, and inside the envelope was my new replacement card as the current one expires in November 2007. I cut the old card in half, through the chip, and then signed on the new one. :)))


this has been in my wallet for the past 4 years, and was the card I pull out for payments almost every time... so I guess it's bye-bye for now...


da new card. expiry date extended to 2011...

watched Brothers (兄弟)

I haven't been to the cinema for movies for almost a year. The last show I watched at theater was a lame budget horror crap movie called 'Beneath Still Water'. The horror/scary scenes were so stupid and lousy that it became somewhat funny...

anyway, decided to go watch this so-called HK blockbuster - Brothers (兄弟) last night, and since it was movie night (RM5 per person), I went over to get the tickets after work just in case it's fully seated later. Lucky I did, as the 915pm show was almost half full when I bought the tickets at 540pm.


nothing to shout about on the storyline as it's typical of those HK triad movies...kill here revenge there. however, the acting part of the big name actors were good, and I think most of the people watching would agree that the selling point of the movie was the starring of the few hotshot characters. the ending wasn't pleasant, as usual... :(


the ticket girl must have been blur as she gave me two different coloured tickets, one RM8 and one RM6... even though it's RM5 for Wednesday...

lunch at Tracy's Kitchen

went out for lunch with a friend yesterday as all the usual lunch colleagues had their own appointments. bought a few cashsweep tickets along the way as there's a special draw yesterday (didn't kena... crap!!).


ordered this ice cucumber juice... first time try, and it was actually pretty good... (RM3)


Tracy's Kitchen serves one of the better drunken chicken and pak-lo chicken/duck in town, but I opted for this rendang chicken this time instead after the taukeh's recommendation. The gravy was okay (not as good as how the Malays do it), but the thigh meat was definitely cooked to perfection - tender and juicy. (RM4.80 with rice)


also ordered this pak-lo duck liver to go with the meat & rice. tasty stuff I tell ya! the bill came to abit less than RM10 per person, so it's a reasonable place to go to.

treasure hunt crap...

was asked to participate in a treasure hunt competition for my association's youth, an annual event organized by the Sarawak Youth Association. arrived at the meeting point at around 7.30am to get the team of 4 for registration, and after that waited for almost 1 hour before all the VIP arrived, gave their VIP speeches and etc before the hunt was started.


VIP speech... owes the same boring crap talk.... -__-

the whole event was actually poorly organized with a delayed start, and no extended time of arrival at the destination. it shouldn't be called a "treasure" hunt in the first place, as there's nothing to look for except for answers to be written on the answer sheet along the specified route, looking for the answers for the riddles/questions given (answers mostly from shop names, road names or something along that line...) pretty lame I should say...


was going back to our car when I took this picture in the middle of Gambir Street...


the lunch wasn't that bad, but we're too tired to actually enjoy it...

our team didn't win anything... and was damn tired by the time the entire event was finished. reached home at about 230pm, after having lunch prepared by the organizer at Golden Dragon Restaurant, which was also the final stop of the hunt.

verdict: a waste of my Sunday

my watches...

I just got 2 of my watches replaced for drained batteries a few days back. Then yesterday evening, as I was taking pictures of the 8 pool ball bean bag clock, it struck me that I have a total of 9 watches also on the table, so I took group photos of them as well.


top left: Casio (G-lide & Mudman Series), Oris Williams F1, Panerai Luminor & Audemars Piguet T3 (the latter 3 being replicas).
bottom left: Adidas Chronograph, Swatch Irony (Sydney Olympic 2000 Limited Edition), Calvin Klein (Bold Pilot series) & Guess Chronograph.


the pile of watches on the table...

6000 RHB reward points gets you this...

I received the RHB reward promotion catalog last week, and after checking my latest credit card statement on the accumulated points that I've got, which was close to 7000, I decided to get this bean bag clock which would cost me 6000 points. I then called up RHB call center to request for it. I was give a reference number after confirming what I wanted, and was told that the ETA of the gift is gonna be about 2 weeks.


surprisingly, the gift arrived within a week's time through TNT delivery... pretty efficient of RHB


even the battery for the clock is included...


I'm putting it on the stuff holder beside the computer... lightens up the computer area abit... :)

Proton Persona test drive review...

I was out having drinks with an old friend last night when he told me that for this business trip to Kuching, his company rented him a Proton Pesona. As skeptical a person he is, he actually complimented that the car exceeded his expectations towards a Proton, and asked me to test drive it after our talk cock session at the kopitiam...



a very decent improvement over the Gen2 on the interior/dashboard I should say... *pic taken from paultan.org*

so the test drive session came. The rented Proton Persona was the high end version with twin airbags. Interior wise, it's black and silver (refer to picture), way better than the beige colour of the Gen2 interior... gets dirty easily. The darker interior made the car looks classy, and the red illumination of the indicators is just nice. Green or white illumination would be crap... just my opinion...

I drove it out around the area, and found out that the sound proofing of the cabin was pretty good actually, and the suspensions soak up bumps and little potholes on the road with minimal effort. The ride and handling of the Pesona, to say the least is actually very decent. The default sound system of the car is also good enough.

Acceleration from gear one is abit slow and sluggish, but after that, the pick up is impressive. I floored the gas a few times, and the car effortlessly reach speeds of 130km/h and 140km/h. However, the power steering feels abit light to my liking...

Overall, I would say that Proton made quite some improvements in building the Proton Pesona, and it is a decent car with a reasonable price tag (in Malaysia). Plus, with low interest rates and longer repayment periods offered, I think this car should help patch up the market shares that it lose out all these while with crappy cars.

watched one only... sigh!~

bought 11 DVDs a couple of weeks ago, thinking that I might have time to watch some since I was unwell at home, but ended up only watching The Borne Ultimatum... and the storyline was like crap, only the few action and fighting scenes that were cool...

some of the movies that I bought are pretty outdated, as I didn't have time to watch them when they were showing at the cinema... and now, they are still un-watched... ''-__-


top: Invincible Target, Dragon Tiger Gate, My Wife is a Gangster 3, Simply Actors
bottom: House of Mahjong, Just Follow Law, Apocalypto


The Borne Ultimatum, Rush Hour Series, The Lord of The Rings Series, 4 in One Collection of The Condemned, Wild Hogs, Shooter and Face/Off

I think I need to take like a week's leave and go for a movie marathon at home. Who knows, after that, I might be able to enter myself for such competitions...

when you don't feel like eating too much...

this post is at least 3 months due actually, but I was too busy with work to do any updates that time.

anyway, after the usual swimming and sauna session, we were somewhat hungry, but not wanting to have anything too heavy, and after shopping for some DVDs at Crown Square, decided to have something light at Mr. Ho's Fine Food. we shared a Spaghetti Aglio Olio and a Sausage Feast... and walked out of the restaurant pretty much contented... and not too full...


it didn't look impressive, but I assure you it tastes heavenly...


the different sausages were good as well...

what can u exchange with 17,000 HSBC reward points??

my HSBC reward points are expiring pretty soon, so I took some time to browse through the online reward catalog last week, and after much searching, decided to exchange the Princess Classic Egg cooker & Food Steamer for 17,000 reward points. it only took 1 week for the package to arrive to my house, so I would say the service is quite efficient.


a cute little gadget that cooks 6 eggs to your preference - soft, medium or hard, which one do you like??


can also steam food, like sausages, salmon, chicken or beef...


perfectly steamed mushroom sausages... taste good as well...

monthly dosage of Japanese food...

the craving for Japanese food lead us to the Japanese Buffet dinner at the Majestic Cafe on the Saturday night. the place was fully seated, and it took quite a long wait at the sushi bar before we got what we wanted, but it was worth it. the typical buffet servings were equally yummy as well, especially the grilled beef, grilled lamb and deep fried COD. I'll let the pictures do the talking...

salmon sashimi and unagi... typical choice of mine :)))


all da meat!! I went for 3 rounds of the same thing... it's that good I tell ya!!

bi-weekly blood test...

went to Timberland this morning again to get my blood tested for tomorrow's visit to the doctor...

hopefully I'm getting better, and that the dosage for the medicine could be reduced... damage limitation for my wallet as well....


@Kenyalang Market... was there with my parents for breakfast before getting my blood drawn...

junk food...

have been buying and taking in quite some amount of junk food lately... starting from Chipster to Munchy's Snacks and ice-cream@Scoops... damn... I need to control myself... ''-__-


was at Scoops two nights in a row... ordered this Tiramisu *something*... very nice stuff...


bought these during the lunch break...

Lundu day trip...

went to Lundu on the Sunday to visit my grandma, who has just got discharged from Normah Hospital a few days back. she seemed okay now, just weak and need more rest.

grandma was still asleep when we reached Lundu, so mum, dad and I went over to the old kopitiam across the street for breakfast - Lundu style...


typical town with lotsa old shops...


Kolo Mee with Sam-Zhang-Bak (Hokkien for 3-layer meat)


this was the ultimate... soup with everything inside... check it out yourself...


roadside stalls halfway to Lundu...


my parents bought these, together with other stuff at a bargain...

Hari Raya Shopping...

bought 2 new Nike T-Shirts during the Hari Raya sales a week ago as LEA center was offering pretty good deals/discounts... :)))

I went over to the Hopoh outlet to have a look as the variety of items on sale at Sarawak Plaza, which is another outlet just across my workplace, is basically pathetic. Luckily I did...


This shirt was on a 20% discount, and I bought it for around RM80, pretty cheap huh??


This black one is on 40% discount, and I only pay RM40+ for it.

Sales is always good... and I went home a happy dude. :)