A night of vibrant colours....

Saturday,..........Considering I slept at 4am …. I really don’t know how I managed to wake up at 8am and to go hiking at Gasing Hill with Chelva. I was so beat after that lah… I managed to get some shut eye after lunch but had to wake up by 4pm and get ready for my cousin sister’s engagement. It was a Hindu engagement…. So it was the full works lah … It was held at the Sivan temple in Klang. One thing I like about Hindu engagements or weddings is that it is so vibrant and colourful but it can be a long ceremony…. …. it didn’t help that it was held in the open and not in a hall. … it was so hot that Saturday….and even though we were sheltered in a tent I was sweating buckets of water…………. I really pity all the women and girls in ‘sarees’ ……. I think it was nearly 40 degrees C that day…. Anyway every thing went really well and according to plan… and the vegetarian food was really good…… and this coming from an anti-vege person some more….keke

(The bride-to-be arriving at the temple with a convoy of classic bikes.... hhmmm actually can i call her a bride-to-be when its only an engagement...)

(The groom-to-be arriving with the 'hantaran' - offerings of different kinds of sweets)
(....and the ceremony begins....)

(blessing from the groom to be.......)

(Blessing from the bride to be......)

hmmm…. I can’t believe my cousin is getting married….. its like everyone’s growing up so fast… The wedding is in a month’s time… and I’m really looking forward to it….. hmmm but I wonder how long the wedding ceremony is going to be..

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All the best to you John...

(Sorry bout the blurry picture.... i was errrrr a little over spirited)

Friday , ....Jonathan’s leaving for Tasmania to further his studies. So his family threw him a farewell party…. And ofcos APM came in full force to support him. His house was packed with friends and family. The food was good lah must ask him who were the caterer's. It was a good party with good company… I actually enjoyed myself… or was it the alcohol talking….hmmm…. Anyway I didn’t get to watch the short movie Jonathan and his mates made… heard it was good …I must ask around for a copy and try and watch it soon…

(John looked like he cldnt retain his tears anymore)

(Tiger Beer: Jessica Alba's choice)

(I like adding scale to a picture... like having different subjects in the background and foreground... )

(Again... a sense of scale gives dept to a pictures)

(Each person a different gestures)

Anyway ...all the best to you John... i am sure i dont have to say enjoy yourself in Tasmania.

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More then meets the EYE!!

Thursday,.......Boy, was this a good movie…. it surpassed all my expectations… and my expectations were high. … Although the movie did have quite a number of Michael Bay’s slow-mo scenes but it was not over done like in Armageddon and Pearl Harbour. I got so excited each time the robots transformed ….Each scene was really done well lah… love it love it…. really really loved it and I am going to try and watch it again this coming weekend.

I watched it with a few friends over at the IMAX Theater in Berjaya Times Square… It was my first time there … I tell you it was worth the RM 15 ticket and the RM5 parking… even though it wasn’t on full IMAX format or even IMAX 3D…. it was still really good… the seats were comfortable and the sound was superb.

The movie was literarily MORE THEN MEETS THE EYE…….

I’m giving this movie a 10/10 ….even though there were a few questionable scenes here and there I still truly and thoroughly enjoyed this movie… every bit of it…… hhmmm…. What do you think of Megan Fox? To be honest for some reason I didn’t really like her… although she was flaming hot … I guess she’s just not my type … but hey,… she can look under my hood anytime…….

Turismo Internazionale and the 56 hour itch ... and counting!

This has got to be the most beautiful car i have ever seen..... The Alfa 159ti (Turismo Internazionale) .. Its a piece of art on wheels. .............Cleanup on aisle six!........

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Last tuesday i woke up with a itch... it started on my fingers... then next thing you know my whole body was on fire.... then it started to swell but thank god it wasnt like Will Smith in the movie Hitch... although that would have been funny... I dont know of any know allergies that i have in terms of food but i remember i was bitten once when I was 10 and my whole body swelled up... I didnt see what bit me though... So im guessing something bite this time too...

.

I have never felt this itchy in my whole life... and i cant remember how it felt during the time i had chickenpox when i was a little kid...... its like my whole body is not fire... Anyway im on medication right now... but i dont see any difference...

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Shopahunt?!?

First of all I would like to apologize to Sabrina for not informing her that there was a treasure hunt last Saturday the 16th of Jun. In my defense let explain that I only knew about it the day before and also participation was limited to only 50 teams of 2. It was organized by some division of the malaysian tourism board or something like that…. actually I am not really bothered by the details… all I know is that it was not organized well… and in fact it wasn’t even a treasure hunt… it was called a shopahunt… yes… a shopahunt. It was organized to commemorate the start of the MALAYSIAN MEGA SALE!!!!....

Well let me just say that I spent the best of the afternoon running around like I was 21 all over Bukit Bintang. ….It’s midday Saturday… at the start of the MALAYSIAN MEGA SALE… and we’re running around in Low Yat, Sungei Wang, Lot 10 and Berjaya TimesSquare…… going through 60 treasure hunt question puzzlely things…. Oh wait!… there was 60 questions but they were not treasure hunt question puzzlely things…. Dono and I soon realized this wasn’t the normal treasure hunt that we have heard or participated before…. On our first round in Low Yat we had the task of looking for product or shop slogans in the whole mall….. and it was the same for all the other malls that we went to… …. In the end we only managed about 80 something points but the top 20 teams were 90 something points and above…..naturally we were disappointed but more so with the questions.

All we needed to do was be able to spot a product slogan …some were in posters the size of a shopping bag…. A feat only a true shopaholic woman’ who can spot a hot deal in a sales bin from an escalator away… Its no wonder why the top 10 teams were women…….. it was after all a SHOPAHUNT

Have been hooked on the series The West Wing for the past few weeks… I find the drama to be really really compelling and I am flabbergasted by the script. I’m into the second session already…

Meanwhile catching up with movies is getting harder and harder nowadays and it makes it worst when the movies are crap…… The week before last it was Pirates 3… so many unnecessary plots and scenes… uncharacteristic characters… its just so bad I don’t know where to start… even good performance by a talented assemble of actors could not save the black pearl from sinking… and almost 3 hours later we leave the theater… oh wait!... the cineplex, feeling frustrated…. 4/10 for me

This week it was Fantastic Four 2…. First I must say that I liked the first one… I thought it was really enjoyable… and judging it by the thriller I was impressed by The Silver Surfer… but I guess it was not to be… because the movie sucked …big time …and even thought I am a big Jessica Alba fan … and me thinks her great body looked really good in that blue suit……………… ………………………. Sorry, a little distracted there…. Actually she looked horrible in her second outing… stupid hairdo matched with an unflattering hair colour was horrible and what’s with that tan… actually it was the hair colour that caused her to look more tanned then usual and the blue contacts didn’t help either… …errrrr…what were was I writing about? ...oh…right… Fantastic Four 2… well it was bad with a capital Z…. 4/10 for me.

On the DVD front I managed to sample an interesting spy movie called The Good Shepherd. It was surprisingly good but beware, its very slow moving but it builds up very nicely… The only thing I did not like about the movie is Matt Damon …..he was not convincing enough to portray a covert founder of the CIA… very weak… anyway my take …6/10

I finally watched Apocalypto…. It was so well made I was like woah!!! Cool!… but I don’t know what the hype was all about making it in a long lost mayan language… … because I believe the movie’s plot is so downright simple… you could watch it with the volume down and still understand what was going on… Anyway ….. it was a refreshing take on an over used plot… 7/10 for me.

I don’t know if I have said this before but I hate Nicolas Cage full stop….. I hate that he tries so hard to be an action hero star… don’t believe me… just look at his track record as an action star… I rest my case… so guess what I went and did… I went out and bought 3 movies I haven’t watched that has Mr Bone head…. The Wicker Man, The Weather Man and the Lord of War…
So far I watched The Lord of War and I must say its pretty good… but its strives to be a cool movie… and that it is ……. but it just isn’t cool enough. One down two to go… 6/10 for me…

Gonna catch Transformers this week... fingers crossed....

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Grasshopper 3 : Rise of the Insects

Yet more grasshoppers invading my garden.... this time its a different kind of species. It seems to like munching on the leaves of my coin plant.... I guess they are not Indian Grasshoppers then..... hmmm lets see... The Chinese consider the coin plant to be a symbol of prosperity..... I just like the coin shaped leafs..... hmmmm.... so can these be Chinese Grasshoppers then....???

I was going thru some of my old pictures and since we are talking about insects I thought I'd put up the picture below. I have always hated taking pictures of butterflies. They never stand still long enuff for me to take a decent picture of it.... I guess i never had the patients. Then one day last April I went outside my house to wait for the sun to set... with camera ready at hand i waited but to my disappointment the sky just fizzled and died....

Then just as i was heading back into the house I notice these two butterflies just sitting quietly on this flowering plant..... even though light was fading fast... I slowly went closer and toke a few shots about 5 feet away.... .... then I went even closer some more and took more shots.... to my surprise they did not even budge.... so i went closer and closer... until finally after about 30 shots later i was about 6 inches away from these two little butterflies which were a no bigger then a 10 cent coin .......

The shots were really underexposed because the sun had already set and slowly got dark so I had to brighten the photo alittle and incressed the colour and contrast a notch or two... Im sure all of you know by now that these pictures where taken in Marco mode. Make sure you know the minimum and maximum distance your camera can go to take go macro shots...

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Nothing better to do!

Found an interesting quiz while visiting Lived’s blog

You scored as a Maximus

After his family was murdered by the evil emperor Commodus, the great Roman general Maximus went into hiding to avoid Commodus's assassins. He became a gladiator, hoping to dominate the colosseum in order to one day get the chance of killing Commodus. Maximus is valiant, courageous, and dedicated. He wants nothing more than the chance to avenge his family, but his temper often gets the better of him

Maximus		75%
Captain Jack Sparrow		75%
Lara Croft		71%
James Bond, Agent 007		71%
Batman, the Dark Knight		71%
Indiana Jones		67%
The Amazing Spider-Man		67%
The Terminator		67%
William Wallace		54%
El Zorro		50%
Neo, the "One"		46%

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com

Seems to be a tie between Cpt Jack Sparrow and Maximus but a tie breaker question gave me this result. hmmm actually I'd rather be Batman... kekeke

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Grasshopper 2

like a bad sequal to a bad movie i found two grasshoppers on my curry leave tree..... this means war!!!

New Batteries!!

(that pesky bird at the top right corner is annoying me)

I am trying to regularly go hiking again at Gasing Hill. I have to start recharging my batteries to keep myself at least relatively fit. Every Saturdays at 7.00am, I try and get my lazy ass up to start my hike at 7.30am. Chelva joins me regularly and sometimes one of my bosses follows us too. We hike about 20 to 40 minutes thru the many routes in Gasing Hill. It tends to get a little crowded on the weekends but comfortable enough for a decent hike. Parking can be a pain and the people who live there are either used to the crowd or just plain fed up with the lot of us…

People from all works of life and age converge there. Its quite embarrassing sometimes when a senior citizen passes you on the hike and then continues on thru the other routes while I crawl out to the exit..keke. Those aunties and uncles are pretty fit I tell you. There are also the usual Tai Chi people near the playground and some sort of Dog Loves group who bring their pet dogs along on their hikes… Its cute looking at the canines hike along the trail …. But then we see their owners with ziplock bags picking after their pooches shit!…eeee!

Decided to take my camera along last Saturday, and managed to take some interesting pictures.

(A Sesendul Tree one of the oldest in Gasing Hill; Some of the trails have been washed away by erosion)

This small little waterfall is part of a river... actually more like a stream which runs along Gasing Hill. When taking pictures of flowing water, try slowing down the shutter speed to highlight the movement of the water. ... Idealy set shutter speed to 1 or 2 seconds and aperture to anything smaller or equal to F8. Since my camera's capabilities are limited this was taken at half a second F4.5 Its best to use a tripod but i didnt bring mine so it took like about 10 tries to get a steady shot. I even tried resting the camera on a rock but that didnt work either..... (mental note: bring tripod next time).

(Close up of a ginger plant flower and another one growing between a srub. Again the close up shot would have been better if I had my tripod with me)

(I didn't even notice that criket until I posted it here)

(Evenbetter than Spiderman 3)

Sunday was a drag… just could not get ourselves out of bed… and when we finally got ourselves out of bed we decided to go to IKEA just to look-see-look-see… yeah right… we bought a couple of things but most importantly I bought the light fixture with for some reason I can seen to find anywhere, even at hardware and electronic stores… I can now finally put up that Peter Hoe lamp cover we bought with our wedding gift vouches we got last year.

Changed the Satria’s battery which I bought on Saturday just before it started to rain… heavily I might add… It seemed to have rained the whole weekend which from what I heard caused a number of flash floods around klang valley…

Now if you are ever planning to change your car battery by yourself, always remember to remove the negative cable first then the positive. And when connecting them to the new battery, do the reverse…. positive first then negative. Your alarm might arm itself so make sure to off the alarm before you open your doors. The clock and your radio stations will have to be reset too.

My camera's batteries are behaving themselves after i did an overnight discharge. So i guess i dont have to buy new once... well.... i wait and see..

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Sinbad in better times

This was taken in Jan 04. It was almost 2 feet long.


This was taken after its first 'Jump' out of the tank last year April 06. The light fixture had come loose and fell into the tank which ofcos cause Sinbad to jump. You can see on the side one of its scales came out. It was a little more the 2 and half feet long.


Sinbad observing in the background during APMs prayer sessions last month April 07. It doesn't look it but Sinbad was almost 3 feet long. Its hard coming back to an empty tank... didnt think i would take it so badly...
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Sinbad.... I will miss you buddy :(

My pet Arowana, Sinbad,... past away last saturday night... actually in was more like early Sunday morning. There must have been something in the water because I had changed the Aquarium water on Saturday. Sinbad did look pale and pressed against one side of the aquarium before we went for the Pentacost Rally. I put in some salt then we left.

When we got back things didnt look any better.. he looked really bad. Actually have seen him look worst so i washed the pump and because it was already going to be 3am we went to bed and i said i wld go to the aquarium shop to get some antibiotics for it first thing in the morning.

Just when i hit the bed I heard the familiar trashing of water and tank cover. I jumped out of bed and raced downstairs and found Sinbad upside down but still trashing up trying to get out of the tank. I yelled for rose to bring the the big tub while i rush to get an old t-shirt... Filled the tub and removed the tank cover, rapped the t-shirt around Sinbad and carried it out to the tub.... but it was too late it was not moving at all. I put in a pump and set it at maximum bubbles right up to Sinbad' s face but it did not move either... it was too late... I was too late....

I have kept Sinbad since it was 4 months old and it wld be 6 years old this June. It was about 5 or 6 inches long when i bought it... gleaming like a pearl...

He was always happy to see me and it wasnt because i feed him... because the few times when i was outstation or out of the country, Sinbad would be so down that it wouldnt eat when my sister fed it. It wld start swimming really fast in excitement when i came back home.......sometimes i would talk to sinbad and it would stop swimming and just look at me and when i stopped talking it would start swimming again. It does a little dance when it wants food.

Sinbad was one tough fish... it has been through many jumps out of the tank... and even from the tub on the many moves I did over the years. It has even lived through many kinds of diseases. I had checked the Clorine, Ammonia and Nitrate levels and it was all ok but for it to deteriorate like that in a single day....... there must have been something in the water.... :( .... I will miss you old friend... :(

mo

Somebody to love...

I was tagged by Daniel with 'Which Act No Longer Performing Live Would I've Loved to Have Seen?' ... this is a tough one because i am not really into music... growing up my daily music intonation was just anything good thats playing on the radio, U2, Sting, Queen, actually almost all 80s pop songs and anything from Hillsongs(praise and worship songs btw). And Im supposed to list 5 ah... Actually most of the bands i do want to watch Live are still actively making music... and the once that are not active or defunct are so boring to watch live for example CCR... i like their songs but i once watched two songs performed live on tv and it was soooo boring.....

I believe a good band with really good songs dont necessarily make good entertainers... anyway lets get along to my list shall we;


1) Queen
Its hard to deny that their catchy tunes really creep right into your blood... They are infectious entertainers.... Freddy's energy on stage is just amazing... I love every single song ever sang by Queen, i even love the song that Mecury sang for the Barcelona Olympics... it is truly a sad lost as he was one of the best entertainer and singer whose unique persona made Queen (the band) great.

2) New Order
You can be born in the synthesizer age and not love Blue Monday right? but hmmm are they still actively playing music?

3) Genesis
I cant dance, I cant talk. The only thing about me is the way I walk.... Phil Collins really made Genesis 'move into the light' when he joined them... I have seen Phil play the drums on one of Genesis concerts i watched...again on tv.. and i must say, it was really really good... and when Phil played along side Sting on live8 it was total bliss. I heard that Genesis is getting together for another concert tour... dont know if this is true..

4) AHA
Yes yes... i like AHA... actually i like many 80s pop bands but most dont do good concerts... And AHA, like New Order make fairly entertaining concerts one of which i watched on tv a long long time ago. Again i dont know if they are still together and are able to do a concert in the near future.

5) Jean Michel Jarre
You're probably going.. "say what!??" or "Jean Michel Who?".. he is one of the fathers of New Age Music and i caught he's concert, yes you guessed it 'on tv' back in 1988 and i was simply blown away... He incorporates his music with fireworks laser lights and all the elements around him ...simply awesome. Here is a wikipedia search on him or you can click on the title above to go to his official site.


hmmm after looking at the list above its most likely that Queen is the only act no longer performing live that I'd loved to have seen......


American Idol updates: Yes its finally over... and Jordin the victorious champion... Watched the late nite reapeat cos i had Pentecost Rally practice. Only watched till Bette Midler croaked on stage then I went to bed... Actually other then Bette Midler showing us she has lost it... the show was pretty entertaining.. Tony Bennet showed us that he still got it even at hundred and eleventy years old. Even Paula looked good and finally did not look like a drag queen..

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Batteries!

I was lining up for what was going to be a spectacular sunset yesterday evening ... the light was just right the clouds were peachy... I knew it was going to get even better... and just when it started to get goldies purple...(can you even imagine goldies purple)... my camera just died on me... I am like WTF!!... ok ...dont panic... i just charged the batteries .... but when i tried to on the camera again... the battery light was going wild... and in died again.... and as so to tease me further ...the sunset stayed that colour for a good 10 minutes...

Rose came out with here camera phone and took a few shots... not as niece as how it looked but ok lah... will try and nick it from her and post it here another day. My rechargeable batteries i believe have reached its maximum lifespan... I think I've had them for 2 years... hmmm cant be sure.. sld find the resits to be sure..

APM has been going all out to practice for the Pentecost Rally, i am actually feeling drained like my batteries...am I (or are we) taking on too much... hopefully we will be ready for it this saturday. Click on the poster below for more information on the Pentecost Rally.

Rose is finally cursing Astro for introducing Channel 78 Discovery Real Time.... because I'm on it every chance i get... kekeke... i feel sorry for her... keke ok maybe juat a little bit ...... Overhaulin' is my favourite show...


... today will be the final time the two American Idol finalist will be able to show us what they've got... So who will be the 'unworthy' American Idol this year!!???



mo

Lets make lots of Money

Read an interesting article on Hong Kiat’s Blog about a website were you can put your picture on any kind of currency... ringgit malaysia also got. It was fun for a little while then i got bored and went to the next blog....

Talking about Malaysia... how about Malaysia two most finest 'Yang Berhormat's' who really showed how much they 'hormat' (respect) women... Joking or not joking WTF lah... hai yo... bunch of monkeys in suits... or as Patrick Teo put it 'Pigs in Suits'.... you can look up the video on your tube...

American Idol... Blake i feel looks so out of place and his beat boxing is beginning to annoy me... Doolittle did alot yesterday actually..... she really is versatile and a really superb singer while Jordin showed her inexperience eventhough she sang well...... no surprise If Blake gets booted.... but if he does get into the finale 2...... i will not eat Peanutbutter choco strip sandwich for breakfast tomorrow.

Mo

A Bland Weekend

Took this picture last saturday early in the morning,... I dont know why i was awake so early but i was so i thought hey... i will just venture out into my porch and see if the sunrise was any good. Overall it was a reasonably good sunrise but something was just missing. ...hmmm maybe i did need a better location after all.... well... do you know what i do in this kind of situation... No i didnt drive out to the nearest interesting spot which would make a better location for a shot of the sunrise......

.....I just looked 180 degrees to the opposite direction... in this case West' and found the sky and other elements in the frame a little better, took a few shots then went right back to bed again. So readers.... dont just take normal or even fabulous pictures of Sunsets and Sunrise.... look around a bit.... you never know if there might be a more interesting subject to photograph during that golden hour. For example the reflection of the amber sky on a window or in fact the whole building for that matter. Some buildings tend to look nicer during sunsets or sunrise. You maybe even get better looking sky or clouds on the opposite direction of the rising or setting sun.

Well the weekend was pretty bland and it was also not fun watching Bridge to Tebititiah... i mean Terabithia. It was like a Hallmark movie mixed with HBO and a hint of Disney. When you look at the poster or in my case the DVD cover ...you are promised alot of fantasy and imagination.... but 30 minutes in and you're still waiting... well it was an ok movie but maybe i had too much of expectation so i shall add one more point to make my rating for this movie 5/10

Sunday did not fair any better... even if it was Mother's Day..... I landed up missing my father even more... thinking about him the whole day... sigh... i really miss him...

Well ....APM played the 11:15am mass its an extra mass we are doing this month. We are also involved in the Pentecost Rally in Assumption on the 26th of May... Anybody interested please register for it.... Dinner is provided.......The sessions will be 5 ringgit and the Rally Mass and Prayer & Praise will be animated by APM. . If you're not up to a whole day event just come for the Prayer Praise and Mass Rally... starting from 7pm onwards...