飛びたい豚 (想飞的猪)

Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea

2010-11-22T15:19:00.003+09:00

This is a great piece of Journalism. And it really gave us a glimpse into the life of North Korea, the most secretive country, shutting it self out from the World, through 6 individuals that have defected to South Korea. It also open our eyes to the cruelty of Communism when the Power of the Elite Ruling Level was left unchecked, unchallenged and unopposed. And also the employing mass brainwashing, propaganda, information control, education, terror, in order to keep in power.

A very good read. After reading this book, I was determined to start and finish 2 classic English Literature: Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell.

The Trillion-Dollar Conspiracy, by Jim Marrs

2010-11-15T12:49:00.003+09:00

Long time since I post on my blog.

I just finished a book my Jim Marrs, on how Americans were deceived by the Federal Reserve Bankers. How and why the Elites manipulate the US Government, how/why they stage the 9/11 terror attack in order to achieve: 1. Invasion into IRAQ because of Oil, 2. Invasion to Afghanistan because of the Poppy Fields, and the Pipeline to transport the Oil, 3. Passing of the PATRIOT ACT, that is worse in infringement of human rights than our Malaysian ISA.

Very interesting collection of journalism articles, to expose the information that we will never get from main stream media.

Jim Marrs theory on the reason behind JFK's assassination also seems very convincing.

I am reading his other books.

Shinjyuku Incident

2009-04-10T21:41:00.003+09:00

Enjoyed the movie very much. The social problems and incidents, life in Japan during the 90s is as closely as depicted in the movie. I was in tokyo, Japan during the same period as the movie is based on. Further more, I was working in the same Shinjyuku area (新宿、高田馬場、新大久保、百人町）for both of my part time jobs. I did sent Food to a Yakuza residence also.

Although the movie pace is a bit too fast, the story unfolds too quickly, and characters have less time to develop. Jackie Chan's acting is a bit lack of emotion. He looked too serious and always unhappy. But Daniel Wu was really good. His character enable him to show all the emotions a person can experience. From hope to happy, extreme pain and despair, and finally rage and death. His character pitiful, but outshines every one and unforgettable. The Japanese actor, Naoto Takenaka 竹中直人, the police detective is a veteran actor, and his acting is good.

Many strong violence actions survived the Malaysia Censorship Board, but not the language.

Strogly recommended to all.

Year End Year Start Holiday 2008/09

2009-01-13T23:31:00.007+09:00

Photo Gallery (only 88 pictures of about 1,000 I took.)

http://travel.webshots.com/album/569629079CvSSwo

2009/12/20-22 Shanghai
Flew into Shanghai to meet up my wife. Before our marriage registration, just hang around in Shanghai to meet up with her friends and my friend.

2008/12/22-24 Changsa-Yuan Ling-Changsa
Met up my parents in Pudong Airport and went to Changsa. Got myself registered for marriage in Changsa. The next day went Yuan Ling to meet up my wife's family. Had a dinner with her Relatives. On 24th, we took a bus back to Changsa. Back in Changsa, we went to the Mummy Museum, where they have housed a 2000 year old mummy of a noble woman. Met up with Aunt and Cousin flew from Singapore.

2008/12/25-27 Zhang Jia Jie
Started 1st leg of our tour.
1. Huang Long Caves
Yellow Dragon Cave is one of the foremost scenic areas in Zhangjiajie, and was rated as one of the first 4A National Tourist Attractions in China. Also it has been honored as "magical karst cave both in China and in the world". This system of caves is a typical karst formation, water plays an extremely important role in its development. Flowing into the fissures of the karst layer, water constantly dissolves the limestone rock. The Cave took 200 million years in the making.
2. Zhang Jia Jie Park
http://www.chinatourmap.com/Zhangjiajie/attractions/zhangjiajie.html
We only covered some part of the Park. Huang Shi Zai, Shi Li Hua Lang, Bao Feng Hu. And we missed the Golden Whip River, Tian Men Shan Temple.

2008/12/27-28 Changsa--Harbin
We had a good rest after the Zhang Jia Jie Trip. My father left for Malaysia and we flew to Harbin in the afternoon flight and reach there night time. We got lead to a super expensive shop selling gloves and winter ice boots. Later I found out the for the stuff I bought there at RMB330, I should be able to get the same quality stuff elsewhere at RMB100. totally suck by the tour guide. Should be careful next time.

2008/12/28-2009/1/1 Harbin-Double Peak Mountain-Harbin
Well, the trip to Double Peak Mountain is not what I have expected. It took more than 6 hours of drive from Harbin, while the itinerary shown is just 4 hours. should have gone to Yabuli instead which is nearer. by the time we reached there, not much time to lay or ski, as the sky turned dark 4pm. We slept at 7pm. Better keep off this place and go to Yabuli Ski Resort instead.

Witnessing the Winter Festival Ice Sculpture and Snow Sculpture is really worth all the effort to Harbin. too bad the snow sculpture is still not 100% finish when we were there. Officially starts from 5th of Jan every year.

We went to the Siberia Tiger Park. The animals there are not too lively, probably the cold and too long in captivity. They are just like big house cats.

The Central Street and St.Sophia Church Square is a very bustling place. This is the place I found cheaper stuff to buy. Due to the vast competition at that place, most of the stuff are reasonably priced, except for food stuff where we can get better price at Wal Mart supermarket.

2009/1/1-4 Shanghai
We went separate ways with my aunt and cousin, while my mom took a flight back to Malaysia on 2nd. I spent 2 more days in Shanghai with my wife and came back to Singapore.

The trip does not sound that exciting as I am a bit tired to write down the details. Too long the journey to write in just few pages. Overall I enjoyed the trip, and hope that it will improve the next time I organize again.

Yakuza Moon (極道な月）

2008-12-03T12:22:00.001+09:00

This book is an autobiography of a lady born into a Yakuza Family. Her story of a very harsh and extreme early half life. Gangsters, Drugs, Violence and Sex. All the element to attract curious readers.

Quite touching. And a quick read. I only spend 4 days reading during MRT ride to work to finish this book.

City of Ember

2008-12-03T11:09:00.004+09:00

The movie is quite entertaining. More of a kid's fantasy movie. No much of violence and action. Story is that the earth surface was not sustainable any more for human to live due to Nuclear Contamination, hence the Builders have created an Underground City named Ember to hold the humans until the time they can emerge back to earth.

This is also based on a Theory of ancient time where we humans also lived in underground for quite some time due to some catastrophe.

Over all the movie is quite okay, but not great.

Tipping Point, Uprising and Eat Your Heart Out

2008-11-28T15:04:00.007+09:00

Finished 3 books in 3 months.

Tipping Point describe how little things with enough followers or momentum, can lead to something significant enough to be noticed and even become dominant. Every thing starts from tiny, and with enough effort to promote it from different side with specific function (trend setters, promoters, advertisers, and the mass public), when it reach the Tipping Point, it just explode. But trends might stay and go, all depends on how to maintain it.

The Uprising is about how USA citizen start to organize to push for their social rights and keep the big corporations and government in check. They put pressure on the Government and Corporation to be responsible towards society.
Quite interesting as we can see, with the power of Internet and modern technology, organizing have been much much easier. This books introduce us to the ongoing Populist (supporter of the rights and power of the people) action in USA.

This book is very related to my line of work. The author is well known and influential food journalist in UK. The book expose on how big food company evolves, and how they operate in order to maximize their profit. And by doing so at the expense of the society, humanity and environment. Especially I am in the food trade, this book really showed me some points from another perspective.

What happened to the Shoppers?

2008-11-02T20:28:00.003+09:00

Over the weekend, I was in Pavilion, The Gardens/Midvalley and KLCC. The crowd was lower than expected. It was totally different from a month or 2 ago. Especially lesser Chinese Shoppers.

Is the Global Recession started to affect Malaysia? Are the Malaysians started to tie their belts?

Speaking of Belt, I just broke mine due to overtighening it. Must have gain in waistline.

BIG STAN

2008-10-02T00:13:00.002+09:00

This is one hilarious movie. Just for laughs and entertainment. Story about a real estate con-man being sentenced to jail for 3 years. He got a 6 months preparation period before going into prison. Due to his small stature, he is afraid that he will be target of gay rape in the prison. He learned martial art from a mysterious master, and prepare for the worst in prison.

Very "无哩头". But sometimes vulgar crude sex humor. I wonder Malaysia is showing this movie?

Wall-E (2008/8/23)

2008-08-24T10:00:00.005+09:00

This movie is really fantastic!! It was released 2 months ago in the USA, and finally in Malaysia. Singapore opens next week though. I brought my girl friend and sister to watch it in Pavilion KL on 23rd August.

The sequence of the story is flawless, visual is totally out of this world. And the message & lessons brought by this movies is really important. Save our planet!! The Robots are really cute and they are more alive than the humans.

Well... I beg you guys not to miss this movie on the big screen!!

5 Movies I watched 7/14-7/20

2008-07-20T21:21:00.012+09:00

Too Long in India, hence treat myself to some movie therapy. Below are the 5 movies I watched in ranking.
No.1 Spot: Dark Knight
One of the best movie of 2008. Heath Ledger stole the lime lite for this movie. He deserves an Oscar. Harvey Dent, the District Attorney who eventually became 2-Face also very good. Over all, all the actors did well. The movie is very well edited, 2 and half hours passed by unnoticed.
I am waiting for the Complete DVD Version, then I will sit back, relax and enjoy the movie comfortably in the house.

No 2. Hellboy 2 : The Golden Army
The special effects and characters designs is already worth the ticket. And as an avid Hellboy Fan, I enjoyed the movie, but not the Hellboy Character. The movie version of Hellboy Character is a bit sissy IMO. And the movie suggested an impossible matter: Demon impregnate a human woman. I wish they would have not think of such sick thing.

No 3. Hancock

A hero movie with a different approach. I enjoyed this movie. Charlize Theron and Will Smith delivered good acting, and a lesson in love.

No. 4 Red Cliff

A bit too long and lavishly done. Nice dialogs. But some parts are historically incorrect though. Intimate scene was cut in Singapore, but all the other gruesome violent scenes are intact. Hope part 2 will be better.

No.5 Wanted
Wanted: My ticket money back. This movie really insulted my intelligence: normal bullets that can travel curve lines (even circular line). Avoid this at all cause.

Biz Trip to India 6/24-7/13

2008-07-05T18:43:00.002+09:00

A very long Biz Trip this time to India. Managed to go to a forest sanctuary park for wild life. The chances of seeing live tiger here is almost certain, but due to the monsoon starting and the road condition in the park was affected by the rain, we could not go into deeper forest, and missed our chance to watch live tiger.

Well, that was the best part of the trip, other days are work work work. Starting to get tired... miss my Subway Sandwiches, Movies and usual city life. At least I will get in total USD1,000 as pockect money.

Well, one more week to go. Hope to get the best out of it!!

The Incredible Hulk

2008-06-14T02:23:00.005+09:00

Have been very busy lately. No updates in my blog for long time.

Hulk movie is quite okay, although not as good as Iron Man, but still good entertainment. The story is different from the original comic story, but I think most movie version will have a slightly different story to reflect the real world. No post credits movie clip this time. (I think they brought forward the post credits clip to just before the credit where Tony Stark was talking to General Ross). The Hulk's power is still not fully unleash in the movie, it can do much more awesome stuff in the comics.

Overall this movie is worth a 2nd watch.

Japan Business Trip 14th-18th May

2008-05-26T21:37:00.005+09:00

I went to Japan 2 weeks ago for business trip. Very lucky I could extend one day due to the supplier also extending his stay. Well Tokyo is really a Haven for Shopping. And the stuff are cheap too (made in Japan stuff or stuff for Japan market only, Japan will be the cheapest in the world to get them, especially Tokyo). Below is the list of stuff I bought. Some of the stuff I already pass to my sister's BF to bring it to them. Should have taken a picture of the stuff before that. Well here goes:
Porter Bag JPY16500
Porter Wallet JPY5880
Earphone * 2 JPY3980 each
Webcam JPY2980
Grocery(milk tea, sesame sauce, stew cube) JPY4400
Yukata (Japanese Bath Robe)*3 JPY5800 each
Umesyu (Plum Wine) *2 JPY2400
Fukuoka Pie JPY5250 (10 Boxes)
Matcha Cake JPY600
Rackham Miniature JPY2500
Manga * 10 JPY620 each
Gap T-Shirt + Accessories JPY3700
Kokeshi Ningyo(Japanese Doll) JPY1700
Camera Screen Protector * 2 JPY630/each
Mammoth Vinyl Toys JPY6000 X 2 + JPY2400
Vacuum Bag to shrink my clothes JPY1300
Working Shoes JPY1900
Gum JPy1500
Calorie Mate JPY1440
Royce Chocolate JPY1420
and other stuff.
If I had brought more cash, there will be more items I would buy. Will take pictures of the remaining stuff later.

8" Zombie Pet Dunny

2008-05-04T12:33:00.004+09:00

Got this Zombie Pet Dunny last week. It is in light blue painted with Glow In the Dark (GID) sticker paints. The boxed also with GID Sticker all over. Not really exciting though, but add to my GID toys. After I off the light each night, those GID toys will give out a soothing ghastly glow. Really relaxing to see them slowly fade away before sleeping.

Iron Man Rocks!!

2008-05-04T11:42:00.008+09:00

Iron man really fulfilled all my expectations. Although the story a bit draggy in the 1st half, it is necessary to show how Tony Stark developed the suit step by step. The development not be shown in normal comic form, and was perfectly shown in the movie. Stay on after the end credits, there will be a surprise waiting for you.

Below is the Iron man Statue I bought in January. Cost a BOMB!! Although it is not the "original" with numbering, but a fix up garage kit. The paint they used on this is superior than the original, the finishing too they used those for normal cars. I basically can wash this baby under running water.

Harold and Kumar 2

2008-04-30T23:53:00.002+09:00

Watched this movie yesterday. It is very funny with lots of Sex Jokes. And a lot of weed smoking. Very vulgar, bad taste, but entertaining.

Lots of F words and nudity (even frontal), so in Malaysia 100% not going to show in cinema.

Make sure the friends you bring along have an open mind, or else they might have a very different opinion of you after this movie.

That's one advantage watching Movies in Singapore.

Real News of Malaysia (Malaysia Today)

2008-04-27T23:27:00.004+09:00

This website is very informative about Malaysian Politics and real news. I have been reading this quite often. Check it out guys.

P/S: Stayed in house again for whole weekend. Paint up another model. Hehehe... I will save a lot of $$ if I keep on doing this.

How I spent on my last 2 weekends

2008-04-21T22:33:00.004+09:00

Last 2 weekends (4days), I spent on painting my Confrontation game figurines. These figurines are used in playing a table-top tactical fantasy miniature war game. I loved this game very much, and over committed it 2 years back. I think I spent more than RM5k for these figurines. They are really expensive. I have about 180 big and small figurines and only painted 23 of them. The Wolfen models below are considered large ones.

It's been a long while since I last painted them. Basically I prepared them as below, by assembling and glue the lead metal models together, then spray a coating of white or black base coat like below pic:
then I painted them up to these:

I painted total of 7 models for 4 days, although the paint job is not tip-top quality, but fair enough for game play and display at home.

Below is the size comparison with a 3" inch Dunny. My 3" inch Dunny is a giant compared to these figures huh.

Meat Production is wasting precious resources

2008-04-11T19:03:00.002+09:00

(Information from George Jacobs' letter to the paper, I got similar information from the book "Skinny Bitch" also)

Human Population : 6.6billion

Animal Population eaten by people yearly : 50billion !!

Food used to feed the 50billion animals yearly, is enough to feed the entire human population for more than a year. Just imagine that we human will have so much surplus of food if we cut meat.

Roughly more than 10kg of plant food is required to produce 1kg of meat.

Hence the world will be a better place if human consume more plants than meat.

Books Read in March 2008

2008-04-11T15:16:00.003+09:00

Finished 2 books in March08:

1. Brida by Paulo Coelho
Very easy and quick read. The story is mainly about Love and Finding of our soul mate. And sometimes Love need not to be possessed or owned, just sharing a loving moment in a particular time or situation is enough for a life time remembrance.

The main character is Brida, a witch apprentice, who is trying hard to succeed. She had help from her master a witch, a wizard and his boy friend.

Paulo's books are quite entertaining, always there is a twist and surprise in the end. Well, the book is based on Wizards and Witches characters of modern days, maybe might contradict to some people's religious belief, need an open mind to read this book.

2. Micromotives and Macrobehaviour by Thomas C. Schelling
This author is one of the 2005 Nobel prize recipient for economics, he wrote "Strategy of Conflict". I am getting this book from the Library soon. Could not get it in normal bookstores at the moment.

In this book, Schelling illustrate how decisions made by individual will slowly effect the larger crowd eventually. Well, great economist like Schelling really like to make lots of Hypothesis, and look into it one by one, segregating the unlikely, likely . And then chart it out and plot into Graphs for better explanation.

(quote from Editorial Review)
""Schelling here offers an early analysis of 'tipping' in social situations involving a large number of individuals."—official citation for the 2005 Nobel Prize

Micromotives and Macrobehavior was originally published over twenty-five years ago, yet the stories it tells feel just as fresh today. And the subject of these stories—how small and seemingly meaningless decisions and actions by individuals often lead to significant unintended consequences for a large group—is more important than ever. In one famous example, Thomas C. Schelling shows that a slight-but-not-malicious preference to have neighbors of the same race eventually leads to completely segregated populations.."

Allergy Attack !!

2008-04-03T10:45:00.002+09:00

I had an allergic attack last night.

I was using a cream (Eurax) to sooth itchiness from my allergy after bath. This time I used a bit more since I accidentally squeezed out a big portion.

After 3 minutes, suddenly I feel feverish with blood rushing towards my head. My eye balls were swollen red, neck, waist, arms and thigh and legs, itchy rashes starts popping out. Even my palms are swollen red.

I quickly gone to the shower to bath in cold water, cleaning all the cream and cool down my body. Then while resting, the itch and rash still not subside. I made my self a "三七花" Tea to slow down my blood pressure, and then took some Propolis (Bee Hive Extract) as they are believed to counter allergens.

The attack did subside a bit, and I went to bed straight after. This morning, all the rashes are gone and I feel normal again. I think maybe my body is healthy or the Propolis did work its wonder?

Really ironic, as the cream I use to sooth my allergy rashes is the one that causes it all along.
Anyway going to the doctors for an opinion.

Neptoon Project figures by Sam Hout

2008-04-02T14:58:00.003+09:00

(Click on the image to enlarge it)

I did it again. Bought another set of Vinyl Figures. This set of 6 pcs cost less than half of the retail price in the USA. The main reason for this discount is the Producer and Distributor is in Singapore.

This set was out in 2006, old collection actually, but the cuteness is eternal. They are very cute and I personally think it looks great on the display shelf.

I need to concentrate on the theme of my collection or else it will be very awkward and mismatched when display on the shelves.

Semi Pro !

2008-04-01T16:31:00.003+09:00

Got a free ticket for this movie through buying a magazine which was SD4.50. (The movie Ticket is SD7.50).

Very funny and entertaining movie. Had a good laugh. Will Ferrel is always funny. This movie is quite"meaningful", especially to basketball fans. Well, I like Will Ferrel's flicks... He is funny even just standing there doing nothing.

God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)

2008-03-26T16:06:00.006+09:00

Spent many hours playing this game. The Easy Mode was a piece of cake. Really had fun playing it... no stress and fun in hack and slash.

After finished the Easy Mode, the God Mode is unlocked. I gave the God Mode a try... but to my horror... it is 100 times harder than Easy Mode. The enemies are harder to be killed while they inflict more damage. This double impact is really a nightmare for me. I spend hours trying to kill the monsters one by one, looking for the best and most efficient way to kill them, as in God Mode, we cannot hack and slash them head on, but must skillfully evade the enemy attacks while delivering maximum damage, normal damage will take ages to kill them. And playing God Mode really tested my patience. I am a very impatient person, always go head on to hack and clash with the monsters, but this just don't work. Must always repeat a formula or combo many times to take down the Monsters. And against each different monsters, there is a Knack (a smart way) to kill them fast without being hurt our selves. Even the very last Lady Boss: Persephone, Goddess of the undead. I managed to beat this boss without being hurt my self... well after many trial and errors of course.

Below is how I did it:

In God Mode, against Persephone,
1st Half, using Gauntlet of Zeus,
Persephone will fly up and charge towards Kratos, double jump high at right timing and she cannot harm or catch Kratos, use L+O to hang on the air while hitting Persephone. If you manage to do at least 4-hit combo, Persephone will step back and use the Earth Projectile Attack. Double Jump head on towards Persephone and use L+□ (charged) attack against her while evading the projectile. Once you hit the ground, quickly roll back 2 times to evade her counter attack. Then she will then fly up and charge towards Kratos again, thus repeat the same formula all over again until her health depletes to half full.

2nd half、Gauntlet of Zeus
With trial and error, I found out that Kratos can neutralize the death ray of Persephone by evading/diving/rolling very straight towards the ray. For her Green Projectile attack, you can just defend it with the shield, or use Shield to reflect the Green Ball towards Persephone. She can reflect back to Kratos and Kratos can reflect back again towards Persephone, like playing Ping Pong, until Persephone is tired and will eventually hit her. This reflect projectile delivers the highest amount of Damage to Persephone. While she is hanging on the pillar resting after suffering the attack, just do double jump and hit with △　□　△ combo to max out the damage, Repeat it until she flies up again.
And while she is doing the earth quake thingy, just be near to the pillar she was standing, evade 2 earth quake attacks by moving left and right and then double jump and press L+O (Gauntlet of Zeus) to hang in the air while attacking her. The earth Quake will wears off without hitting Kratos.
The best time to take her down is when she project the Green Ball and play Ping Pong with her.

Well, the thrill of finishing the Enemies stages by stages is really good. The feeling is just awesome when I finally finished the whole game, as if I have achieved the unachievable and everything seems to be a piece of cake liao.

This game is by far the hardest action hack and slash game I have ever played and the most thrilling and rewarding one.

Every one who owns a PSP should give this a try!!

Be Kind... Rewind! (Jack Black)

2008-03-25T23:47:00.003+09:00

This movie is really funny man!! At the same time very smart and touching. The movie was filmed in a very friendly and real environment, where people still cares for one another.

I quote the synopsis from Yahoo Movie:

Jerry, a junkyard worker, attempts to sabotage a power plant that he believes is melting his brain. But when his plan goes awry, the magnetic field that he creates accidentally erases all of the videotapes in a local video store where his best friend Mike works. Fearing that the mishap will cost Mike his job, the two friends team up to keep the store's only loyal customer - a little old lady with a tenuous grasp on reality - from realizing what has happened by recreating and re-filming every movie that she decides to rent. From "Back to the Future," to "Robocop," to "Rush Hour," to "The Lion King," Jerry and Mike become the biggest stars in their neighborhood by starring in the biggest movies ever made.

Very Fun Movie! Must Watch!

2008-03-20T11:01:00.003+09:00

Wow... this movie really makes me Happy!

Highly recommended for all kids and kidults (Kid+Adult). This movie is all FUN without any boring scenes. Very smart & funny.

Watch this movie and you will feel happy for the rest of the day.

A Loner's Saturday

2008-03-17T15:03:00.009+09:00

Well, last Saturday, after a very long while (from the week I went to India) I finally can go lepak around my usual favorite spots.

1.00pm

I went to a Comic Shop that offers crazy discount due to the owner's birthday. Got hold of this chance to purchase 2 volumes of Sandman Absolute Collection. The price was very forbidding at SD150 per volume before discount, after discount both for SD207. 4 volumes in total, next volume will be out this Christmas and the last in 2009.

2.30pm

Walked to Bugis Junction, and bump into Liaw Kok Keong and his wife! Wow... Singapore is small. They came down to attend his cousin's wedding. Had a short chat and I proceed to Kinokuniya Bookstore.

3.00pm

After a short browse, proceed to Sunshine Plaza to look for some Gundam models kits. Few of the kits are on bargain, but I could not bring my self to buy any more of the Kits. Must control.

4.00pm

Dhoby Ghaut. My main purpose to come out that day was to visit the museum for the exhibition of Greek Sculptures from Louvre of Paris. Seems that they only give free admission after 6.00pm, hence I decided to go Cathay Cine leisure to kill time. Better spend SD8 on a movie than the admission to the museum.

4.30pm

After buying the ticket for Spiderwick, I proceed to have a snack of Mee Sua and Cheese crepe from the Shih Lin Night Market stall, which SK introduced in his blog. A bit pricey, but quite satisfying.

The movie was okay for kids. The effects are so so, but the young actor who plays a twin is very good. I personally think the book is better with those colorful illustrations by Tony DiTerlizzi.

6.30pm Greek Sculptures from Louvre

Finally get to see the marvelous sculptures which are all more than 2,000 years old. But when I went inside the hall, and saw those big sculptures that was displayed with minimum security with no fencing whatsoever, just a "Do not Touch" sign, instinctively I thought that those are just replicas made of plaster. And with close up looked, I saw fine silica grains which was shinny under the spotlights. Well, at least those smaller items displayed inside the glass cabinets should be real ones...

7.30pm

After the museum, I went to Carefour to get some humidifier. I was walking pass all those yummy & seductive snacks and cookies, but I managed to refrain from spending for "junk" food. Well, in the end, i spent more than 1/2 hour Q-ing up to pay for 1 item. Really Crazy!! Those cashiers are really slow and inefficient.

9.30pm

After 1 hour of bus ride, I finally reached home.

Unexpected Purchase

2008-03-15T10:48:00.002+09:00

Just walked pass an Ecko Unlimited shop yesterday, pick up this 2 T-Shirt at a discounted price. The T-Shirt design is bit long at the sleeve for T-Shirt, maybe it is their unique design.

The colours are my favorite though.

Vivisect Playset by StrangeCo

2008-03-13T22:56:00.005+09:00

Finally fixed up these little models, after over a month I bought them. Displaying them in my new Billy Book shelves I bought from IKEA. I bought a 80cm wide and a 40cm wide shelves with height of 202cm.

Well, trying to stuff my toys inside the shelves. I now feel that really no point buying new toys if I could not display all of them. It is same as buying boxes, unless I am thinking of reselling them hence will keep them in their boxes.

I am feeling a little bored now collecting toys... seeing that I have no house of my own to shelter them... Maybe I have to get a place of my own 1st before restart my collection.

I want a house of my own!!!

Warning: Dangerous Deep Fried Food

2008-03-13T10:05:00.002+09:00

This is really true, they try to mimic those special oil that can stay crispy and fresh for hours after frying, our client spent millions in developing this type of oil. But they used the easiest and cheapest way. :

这个世界变了样！我在佳礼看到这篇独家新闻。看完了真的要吐了！天啊！不只是中国才有黑心食品啊，这回可是远在天边，近在眼前了！！！"曾和家人到金馬崙高原遊玩,当時的時间是中午3点多 ..我们在巴刹一帶逛逛看看,当时有很多一档一档的小贩在做生意, 顿時我的視線被某一档小贩的"奇景"吸引住了 ,這一个档口是贩卖炸食物的档口...一大锅"熱勝腾" 的油...竟然有一个装5公升的空油桶 "切成一半"在熱油锅中慢慢的在溶化！当时我看到整个人都傻了！还以為那17..8.岁的女孩子不小心把油桶掉進锅里去？可是看她用一双筷子把油桶翻耒翻去的！看情形不是不小心掉了油桶,很自然的赶紧叫家人一起看！這時那个女孩子和坐在旁边的双親就把眼光转过來？以那种 "惡意"的眼神盯着我们？？天啊！果真是以空油桶溶化了炸出来的食物? plasticbag用来炸香蕉。他们在油里参了PLASTIC，原因是要那些食物放久了不会软绵绵。不会软绵绵的原因是因为 PLASTIC被溶化再硬固的关系。试验结果如下试验了!!!两公升油500ml矿泉水瓶一只没加料（矿泉水瓶）时炸一次 -炸出来的有点硬,但很快软绵绵!! 加料（矿泉水瓶）时再炸一次- 出来是比KFC 的还脆!!请你们不好再买香蕉炸，咖哩puff， Keropok Lekor，或是炸鸡饭了。大姐一吃了喉咙就不舒服，应该是这原因吧！以后要吃什么，还是叫mummy 炸给你们吃比较安全。我明天就来去买香蕉！！！我恳请你们花点时间，去爬完这张贴吧，爬完后，我打包单，你们一定不会再吃街边的炸食物了。不只是金马伦的有问题，原来这是他们的secret recipe 家传秘方。我看十摊，十一摊有加料啦！那摊主不是很笨就是胆大包天！不会在家里先把桶丢进油里，竟然笨到在众目睽睽之下，做这些丧尽天良的事。真的他妈的 !

Friend's Wedding (2008/3/8)

2008-03-09T12:06:00.003+09:00

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562723903sYdXQG

Check out the link above for the pictures at Lam Fatt's wedding night. We friends from Chong Hwa were really sporting. Never see Lam Fatt so happy in his life.

India Biz Trip (2008/2/24-3/7)

2008-03-09T11:31:00.004+09:00

Very long Biz trip this time. Went to India to research on Exotic Fats biz, to be used in chocolate making.

Went to Mumbai-Aurangmabad-Indore-Raipur-Ghodia-Hydrebad.

Not much of pictures taken. Mostly villages and small towns similar to Malaysia 15 years ago. An Incredible experience which I don't feel like writing about now.

French 3 inch Dunnies and Finders Keepers

2008-03-02T18:35:00.004+09:00

Before I go on India Biz Trip. I just bought the set of 18 of the French 3 inch Dunnies. Could not get hold of the 1/100 and 1/400 Rare Dunny.

At 1st I just bought 6 of the dunnies, but those rare ones (1/50) only come with the set, hence in the end I bought a set. Luckily the shop allows me to minus out those I bought earlier for the set, or else I will have doubles.

I finally bought a slim book shelf by IKEA (Bily). Started to put in some of my stuff. Here I took a pic of the Finder Keeper by JoeLed. Those colorful animals!

Going to India

2008-02-24T01:08:00.003+09:00

I will be going on a Biz trip to India from 24th Feb till 7th Mar. India had very bad reviews from all of my colleagues and friends.

Hope for the best!! Wish me luck!!

I never stop!!

2008-02-06T13:11:00.000+09:00

Yesterday I ask the shop to reseverve a set of this Vivisect Playset by Strangeco.

I like the one design by Joe Ledbetter... The Blue Walrus is easy to get, but the 2 headed tortoise only can be get through buying a set due to the rarity.

Hence I just bought a set. Hope they will look good in real.

Oops.. I did it again.. I need help!!

2008-01-31T14:47:00.000+09:00

Bought this Supersized Mc by Ron English. There are 10 different colours and texture, but I only bought the Red and Yellow Glow In The Dark. Just curious to see how glow it is in the dark hence spend SD20 for a 3 inch plastic!!
This one I just saw it in the shop. Only 700 in production for this Clay Figure. By Kaniza Toycube. Check out the website or below for a whole range of collection. I personally like the one above.

Wanted to get the variant color below limited to 300pcs, but the store have no stock for this. It all based on luck as the whole carton the shop bought are all blind box. We won't know what is it until they open it up.

I think I am starting to improve. Just until recently, I tend to be a perfectionist... wanted to collect every thing to form a set. But now no more!!

French Series Dunnies (Feb2008)

2008-01-30T14:26:00.000+09:00

Should I buy them? I swear of not collecting them anymore... appreciate your opinions...

Weekend Toy+Hobby+Comic Stores Tour

2008-01-28T14:17:00.000+09:00

Last weekend, a good friend who is also a toy+hobby+comic+book collector came down to Singapore for a visit.

On Saturday, I have planned up a tour, and took him around the city area stores. Those stores we covered are marked with a Purple Star.

We started from City Hall MRT Station, walking towards Bugis Station, then to Dhoby Ghaut Station covering all the stores that I know of along the way. Then, we took the MRT at Dhoby Ghaut to Raffles Place, then from Raffles Place we go towards China Town and to Clarke Quay Station. From Clarke Quay we went back to Bugis Station to meet his supplier. After collecting stuff, proceed to Orchard Road for few more shops.

Well, we walked whole day, I think we covered more than 15km of walking that day.

Spent a lot of $$... which I swear will stop after Chinese New Year, or else I will have to spend the rest of my life with my collection instead of with a wife.

Well post some pictures of my Trophy later.

Puffer Fish Dish

2008-01-25T12:34:00.001+09:00

Last night had a business dinner with supplier. A colleague and supplier had this Puffer Fish (Fugu in Japanese) 河豚set for dinner. This set is optimized at 2 person hence I chose a bento box instead.

Well, very kind of them to let me taste the Puffer Fish Sashimi also, while the clay pot I helped to finish for them as the portion is very generous.

Puffer fish is famous for its lethal poison found in the liver and ovaries. And every year few people die because of consuming Puffer Fish.

This is the only delicacy that Emperor of Japan is forbidden to consume. Hehehe.

Marvel Super Heroes Figurines !!

2008-01-23T10:50:00.000+09:00

(Click to Enlarge Images)

I just discovered this range of collectible 2 days ago... and I hate my self for not discover this earlier.

This range of Lead Figures all hand painted by the London Studio Eaglemoss . Because it is lead, it is heavy and the posing are very dynamic.

The comic shop I went to sell these at very reasonable price at exchange rate of USD1 = SD1.6. Compared to the Vinyl Designer Toys which at the rate of USD1= SD2 to SD2.5.

Man... with about the same amount of $$ spent, I can get either a Vinyl Plastic Toys manufactured from China Factory with sometimes bad quality paint job, versus Marvel Licensed Famous Comic Book Super Heroes made of Lead and hand painted in England (+ a full colored Magazine with explanation of the Super Hero, sometimes with Giant Poster also) . I decided to stop collecting plastics for the moment and start collecting lead.

Which of the characters featured above you like best?

Many popular heroes which I wanted to buy like Thor, Ironman, Wolverine, Gambit, Iceman are sold out. I bought Spiderman, Venom and Spidey in Black Costume. Well, waiting for the shop to re-stock. Hopefully can get my hands on Ironman!!

P/S:
( I have a feeling I am going to spend a lots of $$ on this... no Chinese New Year clothes for me this year... I spend RM200 on the clothes that does not fit me at bargain sale and swear not to spend anymore on clothes for the time being...)

8" Dunnies for January 2008

2008-01-18T11:43:00.000+09:00

Got this pink 8" Dunny yesterday from a toy shop. Limited run of 1,500pcs for each color. The shop was only given 6 of this pink color by Kidrobot. This time they come with a mini Fatcap, that shaped like a spray can with limbs.

I was very tempted to get the black one below online, when the local shop told me they could not get their hands on them, but the price is forbidding, as Kidrobot only send their stuff via EMS courier service. The shipping it self cost more than the Dunny (Retail: USD50 per pc) which comes to about USD110. Any way, I waited for them to start taking orders online. But within hours (after a movie), I checked on the Internet, and they are sold out. So fast and crazy!!

This is still okay, if those items were bought by real collectors, but to my dismay, these item are starting to pop up on eBay selling at least 40% more of its retail price. These people who are not collectors, but who had a privileged to get those stuff easily (live nearby the stores etc.), then re-selling at a big profit margin are call : "Flippers!"

Well, I stop being so aggressive on hunting toys, as my room is running out of space to store the toys + $$ running low. Only get those that I really love and maybe when there is a bargain.

So, just give me some opinion, which color you like best?

2 Movies over the Weekend

2008-01-14T12:54:00.000+09:00

1. This AVPR actually is a quite entertaining movie. I watched it in Singapore hence all the violence and gory bloody stuff is still intact. The story is a bit lame, but the effects are quite cool.

The new "Cleaner" Predator is one of the coolest so far in the campaign. He really knows what to do. Predators are the coolest fictional Alien Race in my book so far. Better than those star wars and star trek Aliens.
Hope to see another AVP movie, but this time in more futuristic world where human starts to travel space and the real war of Alien vs Predator (Human Allies) happens outside of earth.

2. Although this movie is like having a fun theme part ride, there is no apparent danger presence in the whole movie, unlike the 1st one. Part 2 is just trying to cash in extra $$ from the effect left over from Part 1. Don't think there will be Part 3 anymore, as the probability of a group of treasure hunters to find 3 National Treasures in a row is astronomical. Fun to watch though and have a few laughs.

3D/2N 西安，华山，秦俑（2008/12/28-30）

2008-01-05T17:33:00.000+09:00

Day 1 (12/28)

Reached 咸阳 Airport after 4.30pm. This tour only me, Amanda, a young lady tour guide and a driver.

We quickly proceed to the 大唐芙蓉园. The park was rebuild based on Tang dynasty period. Although it is a replica, but quite well done and beautiful.

After that we proceed to the famous Square where people likes to fly kite and walk walk. I did not take many pictures as the camera have ran out of Battery due the excessive used of flash. There are a lot of Bronze Sculpture of famous people of the Tang and Qin Era in the square, each with some explanation on those people.

After checking in to the hotel, we walked along 东大街，西安 City busiest street with shopping complexes and restaurants. We tried the famous 羊肉泡馍. I like the mutton which is really soft and tender. But the 馍 which you can see in the picture a round piece made of flour. We need to tear it into many tiny pieces in order for the mutton soup to sip into them. The 小菜 I love very much. Cucumber, ground nuts, sweetened garlic.

After dinner, we stroll along the street. We come to the famous Bell Tower, but unfortunately was closed for the day. We come to the street where 回族 people commence their business. They sell halal Beef /Mutton Kebab and Satay. Really looked delicious, but we are afraid to try due to our hard schedule the next day, climbing 华山. Must not upset our tummy.

Day 2(12/29) 华山

After 2 hours drive from 西安, we reached the base of 华山. We had a light lunch and prepare for the climb. We took a cable car from the base station till the North Peak, from there we climbed up to the other peak. The Snow from the previous night was still there, and it was very cold, about -5 to -8 degrees. The climb was quite tiring, especially in the winter. The steps are slippery due to ice and snow. We only managed to conquer the North, Middle and East Peak, due to time constrain, we could not go up to the South and West Peak. If we have an extra hour, we should have gone to all the peaks. A little bit of regret but over all we enjoyed the climb very much. Just the both of us. I did felt icy around my toes when I stopped to rest, seems like the sweat of my feet has frozen.

We reached the base again around 5pm, and headed straight to the hotel for a well deserved rest.

Day3 (12/30)
We headed to 临潼 early in the morning. 1st stop was the famous 华清池. This is the winter palace of 唐玄宗 and 杨贵妃. It is equipped with hot spring bath house. There is also a replica White Jade carving of Madam Yang naked getting out of the hot spring pool. Really a piece of art. The dried up pool was used by 杨贵妃.

Next stop is the underground tomb of Emperor Qin. It is a replica from the description of 史记. The real Tomb is just few kilometers away. The Chinese Archeology team still not confident of excavating the tomb as there are high content of mercury and not confident enough to preserve the artifact from oxidization. It was prohibited to take photographs inside the tomb, but I still see flashes though.
Last stop before we head for Airport is the 秦王兵马俑博物馆. One of my dream spot which I must come at least once in a life time. As a collector of toys, I see that Emperor Qin also like designer toys, in the form of Bronze Sculpture or Assembly and maybe other artifacts that still hidden in his tomb. The 2 Bronze Horse chariot was amazingly done with precise mechanical parts. There is also a Bronze Sword with Chromium coating that makes the edge very strong and sharp. This technology was only discovered by the Germans not more than 200 years ago. Wow... our Chinese ancestors might have lived in an era which is much more advance than we expect.

Too bad the 陕西博物馆 was still closed for refurbish. The newspaper said that they will be re-open by the end of December, but the information is not to be trusted. Or else I could have saw the Green Faced Terracotta Warrior and other 国宝级 artifacts which is kept in the museum.

We enjoyed the trip very much. I was thinking of going to Beijing next, hopefully before the 2008 Olympics.

6D/5N 云南游：昆明-大理-丽江 (2008/12/21-26)

2008-01-05T16:28:00.000+09:00

2008/12/26- 上海 by plane to 昆明, Minibus to 大理

Joined the China Internal tour for local people. 9 of us from Shanghai, 7 Shanghainese and Me + Amanda (GF). A tour guide and a bus driver.

Day 1 (12/21)
Once we reached Kunming, we when for a city tour to a famous town square. After the short tour, we went straight to Dali for dinner and night rest. 6 hours drive.

Day 2 (12/22)
The next day, we visited a 白族豪宅, for a view of the old 白族 living quarters and their cultural performance. The 白族 ladies are very fair and pretty.

After the Mansion, we go for a boat ride on the 西湖 Lake, part of 洱海 Lake. The sky was so blue and the scenery around is really peaceful and quite. Very relaxing boat ride, with strong sunshine. We proceed to 丽江 after lunch in a restaurant besides the lake.

Late in the after noon, we reached 观音峡. This is the 1st stop and gate way to 丽江. This place used to be a place for horses to rest. The water is really clean tasty, with many fishes clearly been seen.

Day 3 (12/23)
We start off our morning to 丽江古镇. This is a world heritage site. This old city have survived a devastating 7.6 scale earth quake with just minor damage, that demonstrated the ancient Chinese architectural genius. From the streets we can see 玉龙雪山. The mountain of 5000+ meters which we suppose to climb next.

Very unfortunately, although the day is so clear with no clouds at all, the cable car company cannot operate due to strong wind. All of us are really disappointed. This was the main attraction of this trip. 玉龙雪山 is one of the Chinese National Park. From the near peak at 4,680meters (highest spot accessible by human), we should be able to witness glacial formation and breath taking view, especially nice clear sunny day... too bad... maybe next time. Just took some pictures at the bottom of the mountain.

Since we have extra time, we visited again to the Ancient City, this time we take our time to walk slowly and enjoy every bit of what the City has to offer. There is a famous 酒吧街 in the city, I took a short film , but no pictures.

The Fat Cat ignored me even I was so near to him. He is looking at another thin cat, picking up a fight.

Day4 (12/24)
We left 丽江 and headed back to 大理. Visited the 3 Pagoda from the out side and another ancient city. The City Walls are very much intact, and is one of the most well preserved city walls in China. We headed for 楚雄 for the night. This place is going to be a hot tourist spot in coming years. They will be opening a Dinosaur Fossil Museum very soon in 2008.

Day 5 (12/25)

石林公园 is a must go place in 云南. We spend more than 2 hours walking inside the park. It is really breath taking. And inside the park is like a giant maze. We could not cover the entire place due to restrain of Time and Energy. After that, we went to a shopping spot for the famous 普洱茶，and Chinese Medicine like 三七，藏红花. We proceed to 昆明 for our final night stay.

Day6 (12/26)
In the morning, we visited some shopping spot (Jade Shop, Flower Market, Flower Oil Essence shop (which I think is really cheap for 100% natural flower oil). Bought some Jade 翡翠pendants of 貔貅 for Mom, Amanda and my self (cost me a bomb!) and headed to the airport.

Over all was a very good trip!! The food was nice, surprisingly!! The only regret will be not going up to 玉龙雪山. And I really have to thank Amanda to be so sporting, although she was down with flu and fever due to the cold weather, we under estimated the weather.

I AM LEGEND

2008-01-03T11:45:00.000+09:00

This movie reminds me of Cast Away (Tom Hanks), Residence Evil (Milla), 28 Days Later and 12 Monkeys (Bruce Willis).

Over all I like this movie, just that it is a bit too short. I was expecting more "Zombie Killing Action" though, but the theme here is to survive while finding a cure instead of eliminating the infected.

One thing I have no idea of, is how far exactly the infection have spread from New York to other part of the world.

Regarding the ending which many viewers were disappointed of, I personally think it is good to end the movie that way.

How I spent my Nov 2007 weekends

2007-12-17T00:04:00.000+09:00

Most of my weekends in November 2008 I spent on fixing the Gundam kits I bought from Taiwan, while video chatting online with GF + watching Mandarin dubbed Cantonese movies on cable television Star Hub+ occasional web searching. For lunch and dinner, I ate whatever food stuff I can find in the house without going out.

Really Otaku (stay in the house) weekend life. Talk about multi-tasking.

Dunny: Auction Won from Ebay!!

2007-12-16T23:41:00.002+09:00

Bought these 2 dunnys from Ebay. Cost me a BOMB!! Well, this was my 1st Ebay Purchase.

The 1st one is Lennin, from the famous Bolshevik Revolution of Russia. This is my favorite dunny so far.

The 2nd one is Mao Zhe Dong. This dunny was sold in 2005 and only 1098pcs was sold. Among the 1098pcs, 989pcs is Mao Zhe Dong and 109pcs is the rare Zhiang Ching. Now Zhiang Qing is going for nearly USD1,000.

Well, this 2 dunnys are very meaningful as they represent 2 of the most influential people in the modern history of the world!!

Dinner with Friends (7th Dec 2007)

2007-12-16T23:30:00.000+09:00

Managed to caught Aik Hong and wife just after reaching Singapore from my Bangkok trip. We ate Tonkatsu (Japanese Fried Pork Cutlet) at Takashimaya Ngee Ann City, orchard road.

Well, all fried stuff, Fried Pork Cutlet, Oyster, Prawn with bread crumbs. I love the food, so was anxious to introduce to my friends.

Read this!! Fellow Malaysians

2007-12-13T23:20:00.000+09:00

Finished this book, learned a very important piece of history of our country. By knowing the fact behind May 13, commoners would not have supported BN (Malay "Elites" capitalists who strongly withheld the "Malay special rights", supported by Chinese Biz men whose sole interest is their own $$ but not of the Chinese they represent, and the Indian "follower") but the Opposition Parties.

I am taking the synopsis from this site.

Synopsis:

This is the first credible account of the May 13, 1969 racial riots in Malaysia, using documents recently declassified at the Public Records Office, London, after the lapse of the 30-year secrecy rule.
These documents provide the only available confidential observations and memorandum by British and other foreign embassy operatives based on their intelligence and contacts with local officials and politicians. They include dispatches by correspondents which were then banned in Malaysia.
A social scientist, Kua Kia Soong provides a fresh political analysis of this "May 13 incident". In his view, the riots were by no means a spontaneous outburst of violence between Malays and Chinese but rather a planned coup d'etat by the ascendant state capitalist class against the Tunku-led aristocracy. He discusses the contradictions of the post-Independencec Alliance racial formula and traces the rise of this new Malay capitalist class which has ruled Malaysia since 1969.
These documents clearly show who were responsible for the violence and pose the question why the security forces allowed the violence to go on. With this publication, it is hoped that the frequently raised "spectre of May 13" by the Barisan Nasional government will be forever put to rest.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Kua Kia Soong is a director and founding member of human rights organisation, Suaram. He was a Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya (1990-95), a former political detainee during Operasi Lalang (1987-89) and former lecturer at the National University of Singapore (1978-79).

Golden Compass not for kids

2007-12-11T19:25:00.000+09:00

Watched this on Saturday night. Very disappointed. And the mentioning of Daemon (pronounced as Demon) really stirred up some issues among Catholics Community. I agree with the Catholics as the movie will mislead children about the real meaning of Demon.

And the main character Lyra, the kid with the compass, she really set a bad example for kids. She is practically lie-ing her way through every obstacle she faced. I like Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins better. Their character and personality is really Good, compared to Lyra.

The Plus side of the movie is all the nice computer animated graphics. Basically the actors are all acting behind green screen most of the time. Nicole Kidman is beautiful and elegant. But that's all about it.

Overall, this movie is a no no for kids.

Kinokuniya Christmas Sales!! 20% off Books & Magazines

2007-12-07T20:22:00.000+09:00

Hi Guys! Book Sales is on in Kinokuniya from 7th Dec to 1st Jan 2008. Any body wants to save on buying books just let me know. I will be back b4 CNY to give it to you. Surely wont pass them during CNY.

Power to the People!!

2007-12-05T22:57:00.000+09:00

Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

Just finished this book after 3 weeks. This book is thick and full load of information on how corporations and certain "elites/privileged" have used "Shock" Method or "Shocked" situation created by nature or human to exploit the public/nation.

Well, this book seems to be really well researched and edited, with facts backing up most of the claims. Histories and current affairs, on the evil face of Capitalism and Neoliberalism (a political movement that espouses economic liberalism as a means of promoting economic development and securing political liberty. in an easy word, more privatization and less government control). This did widen the polarization
of the wealthy and the poor where only the "elites" and corporations extract enormous wealth while leaving the public with huge debt and very little money just to barely survive.

Well, it was like reading a history book, I just read through it quickly to get the whole idea and message this book is trying to convey. This book really covers a lots of topics. Can be used as a very good reference tool in the future.

From this book, it leads to another 2 books I just bought:
1. The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek (Liberal, Capitalism, free from States)
This book is promoting liberal capitalism, free from states and government control. Human should have freedom from the control of government. Anti-communist. This powerful and famous book was ban in Russia and China.

2. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes (pronounced as "Cains") (Socialism)
This book is the oppose of the ideology of The Road to Serfdom, (although Keynes praised Hayek on writting the book), believing in wealth creation and distribution by wise government and responsible corporation and individual. (After the great depression, America achieved great economic growth in creating the vast majority of middle income population, seems was based on the ideas of Keynes.)

So... will try my best to finish this 2 books and compare their ideology. And go for Karl Marx famous book later.

Well... History and Politics are some of the most important subject we should learn from young. Really regret for not knowing the importance of it during school days, slept through most of the history classes at school.

Movies for the weekend

2007-11-30T14:37:00.000+09:00

Finally I get to watch the full version of the Original Conan series. 1. Conan the Barbarian. 2. Conan the Destroyer.

Just bought it at a discounted price of SD23.80.

As a kid, during the VCR age, I have video taped the Conan series from then RTM2 and watched over and over again until the tape is spoilt.

But I never had a chance to watch the full version with all the Blood and Gore + Sexy scenes due to the censorship. For example, the original Conan the Barbarian was 2hr 11min, but the one I remembered taping was just over 1.5hr. RTM showed it in a 2hr slot with loads of commercials.

Really looking forward this weekend.

Got the Transformers 2 disc special also since it is on 30% at Borders. I have watched 4 times in the Cinema, frankly speaking already a bit bored, but will bring back to KL for my family to test their new LCD TV.

Well, I sure will spend some time to play frame by frame some of the transforming sequence.

10" Joe Led Teddy Trooper by Adfunture

2007-11-27T14:17:00.000+09:00

This Baby just courier in from Shanghai yesterday. The Teddy Trooper figure is design by Eddi of Adfunture and the Art is by Joe Ledbetter.

I really love this guy. The color combination is one of my favorite. He is 2 inch taller than my 8 inch dunnies, and a Giant among my 3 inch dunnies.

Lust, Caution 色戒

2007-11-25T21:47:00.000+09:00

Went to the city to watch the full version today. After reading and hearing many review about this controversial movie, must watch it my self.

Below is my opinion, the plot of setting up assassination by a bunch of drama club students (amateurs) of the head of counter intelligence is a bit too unrealistic. No point killing a person that can always be replaced by another monster so easily.

At least Mr.Yee is humane enough to end the sufferings of the tortured/interrogated prisoners swiftly.

The Wang LiHom character is very weak, and his acting is mediocre. He is just a runner boy for the entire movie. I can't feel any emotion from his acting in many situation where he should express grief, frustration and affection.

Well, the 2 main characters Mr.Yee(Tony Leung) and Mrs.Mok/Ms.Wang(Tang Wei) were very good. No doubt of Tony Leung's acting, and Tang Wei's interaction with Tony was very amusing. I love the scene when Yee offered Mok a cigarette in a restaurant, her face lit up, smoking the cigarette while seducing Yee with her eyes and facial expression.

The intimate scenes were MUST for this movie. As Yee was a very busy and important (life threatening job) man, the only time he had chance to develop any interaction with Mok was when they were alone and having an affair. Through the Intimate Moments, Yee and Mok developed affection for each other. The actors really did a big sacrifice for art.

Was this affection Lust, as suggested by the title? Well, I personally think that Lust(at the beginning) was starting to be replaced by Love, but it ended abruptly & painfully.

The movie is 2.5hrs long, watching it in a lazy morning or afternoon during weekend is recommended.

Last 8" Dunny for the year

2007-11-25T21:37:00.000+09:00

Got this 8" Dunny today. I personally love the color purple/violet, so this one to me is very very nice. The face is based on the famous Pro-Wrestler Andre the Giant. He was the "Good Guy" of the Pro-Wrestling field, always go for the good fight. He acted in number of films also. No more buying for the rest of the year.

Crazy about Dunnies!!

2007-11-24T23:28:00.000+09:00

I bought the Baby Blue (Teal) Bubble Yucky Dunny by Tara Mcpherson . Well, they look better in pair. Although I spend a lot of $$ lately, must control. GF is chanting "Buy less toy... buy less toy.. save $$, save $$" whenever I speak to her.

Well, got this hard to find Paul Smith Dunny (plastic though). Really like this guy. A piece of ART.

Ninja Dunny I bought previously.

And a Set of 17pcs, 3" Dunny series 4. I could never complete the whole set. There is another 4 pcs which are ultra rare. each of them over USD200 on EBay at the moment.

Below are the 4 Ultra Rare ones I don't think I can ever get it.

Biz Trip to Taiwan

2007-11-24T22:26:00.000+09:00

Went to Taiwan last week for Biz Trip. 11/18(Sun) to 11/21(Wed). Only Sunday I have free time to move in Taipei, and the rest all packed with Biz Schedule.

I stayed in Regent Formosa Taipei (Zhong San North Road, nearest MRT Zhong San station), seems to be one of the best Hotel in Taipei. After checking in and pack a small back pack, I go out to search for Toy Shops in Taipei City.

Took the MRT from ZhongSan 中山to ZhongXiaoDunHua中孝吨化. Went to 2 Stores, bought some toys there and got to know that Kaiyodo of Japan was having an exhibition in Taipei City Art Gallery at YuanShan圆山. At that time was 4pm, and the Gallery will close 5.30pm. Well, rushed to 圆山and managed to reach there before 5pm. Free admission after 5pm. Lucky!!

No photography allowed in the Exhibition Hall, but it was very very interesting to see the collection of Kaiyodo Toys. Original Sculpts, 1:1 Ratio Models (Beautiful Anime Ladies and Macho Men). Over all it was a very good experience. Too bad they don't sell limited exclusive stuff there.

6pm, since the famous ShihLinYeShi (剑潭station) is just one station away, dragging stuff along, & went there for my dinner. Could not take any pic due to me carrying stuff. I ate: famous MeeSua(面线）, American Hot dog, Deep Fried Chicken Cutlet, Water Fried Bao(水煎包 very nice), Almond Milk. Wish I have a bigger stomach. ShihLin was packed with people... I really enjoyed the experience.

After all the food, just 7.30pm, took the MRT again and went to XiMenDing (西门町). Here many youngsters and a lot of stores and building selling young fashion. Went to a building where many toy shops are located. The stuff is really cheap... cheaper than Singapore and Malaysia. Wish I could have more space for my luggage. Again, spent a bomb there. (Below is one of the many stuff I got.)

10.30pm, finally back to Hotel. Bought some nice dessert and drinks from the Convenient Store Family Mart. (Our partner in Biz, must support)

Well, the next day, after a days work, my Taiwan colleague brought me to the most famous Beef Noodle in Taipei. (Maybe was Famous from last time, price is high and the taste was just OK only.) But I enjoyed the tit bits / appetizer (小菜) very much. I LOVE 小菜very much!!

After a hefty meal, my colleagues took me to a tea house to relax. The tea house was a very good experience, the ambient / decoration is nice, music (Chinese Instrumental) was soothing. And enjoyed many types of different tea.

Well, the next 2 days were all Biz. Had nice and expensive dinner with customers.

Overall it was a very good trip. But really wish to go Taiwan again for vacation next time.

Beowulf !!

2007-11-17T22:06:00.000+09:00

This movie really blown my mind away. Watched it in Singapore Cinema. Many scenes of the movie might be edited in Malaysia. A bit sexy and violent for Malaysia.

Won't want to spoil the movie for you guys, but the story is a bit different from the original epic poem though. Over all the movie is packed with action and adventure. And "Some" Battle scenes are 100 times better than Harry Potter.

An one of the screen writer is the famous Neil Gaiman. He is very good in adapting stories into comics.

Well, sit back and enjoy!!

8" Pink Bubble Yucky Dunny

2007-11-17T02:18:00.000+09:00

I bought this 8" Pink Dunny yesterday. Well this is the latest just released world wide on 15th Nov 2007. Limited to 2000 pcs world wide. (rumored to be 50/50, 1000pcs per colour.)

At 1st I wanted and reserved the Teal (baby blue) one with the shop, but a case of 6 pcs the shop received are all pink. Kidrobot who is the producing company only sell to each distributor 1 case of 6 pcs. Well, no choice but to grab the pink one 1st.

Do you think I should get the teal one too if chance come by and no need to pay more than the pink one???

Fixed another Gundam model

2007-11-17T02:05:00.000+09:00

Fixed this over the weekend last week while chatting on MSN video call. Lucky nothing is broken this time. Bought some decal to stick on this guy later. He will look much better with decal on. Well... a pass time for a geek alone in the house on weekends.

Bought Another 2 Cute Figures

2007-11-09T00:02:00.000+09:00

Well, got 2 more Finders Keepers, Holiday, the Pink Pig I always wanted, and Kittypillar, a Hybrid of a caterpillar with a cat head, or a cat with a caterpillar body...(confused).

Well, the shop offered a set of 12 out of 16 (Complete Set of 16 is really really hard to get!!). I have been fighting against my desire to own them, my sister was urging me to buy.. she said: if you like it just buy it lor... you can afford it mah! Then my GF asked me to think carefully.. as the price is her 1/2 month salary... she said that it is just a buying impulse, will subside after a while... see how. But at least I got 3 at the moment.

What do you think?

Corruption in the USA

2007-11-07T12:13:00.000+09:00

This book is really daring at exposing the highest form of "legalized" corruption in the USA.

Big Corporations donate big sum to fund the election campaign of certain corruptible politician. Lots of $$ in the campaign fund means more publicity and hence lead to more votes.

After being voted into the government office, these politicians will lobby, propose and pass law favoring to the Big Corporations which will save them millions or even billions of $$ in reducing their corporate responsibility to the country, community, humanity.

The book also expose open lies and empty promises of many politicians after they are elected. While they are in the office, they have work in favor of the Big Corporations, and they career as lobbyist for them are ensured after they leave the office.

It is very scary after reading this book... although our country have our own corruption issues, but I personally think that the USA political corruption is much more cleverer that ours (ours the method and ways are too primitive... maybe we are too "primitive" to challenge them?). Really "Salute" to both.

My Trophies for the Weekend!!

2007-11-05T01:27:00.001+09:00

Below are the stuff I got on Sunday after walk-walk in China Square Central (China Town) and Century Square (Tampines).

1. Joe Ledbetter's Finders Keepers

Cutter the Saber tooth cat. (About 2.5inch tall) He is the most common of the lot.

The rarest of them all is the flying pig named Holiday! 1 out of 300 (That means you probably will get one after opening 300 boxes. It was auction in eBay and sold for about USD150. one blind box cost USD7.95). Well, this Pig is really the best Mascot for my BLOG!! Too bad I will never own it.

2. 8 inch Ninja Dunny

I really love this one. I have asked the shop for this Dunny when I first saw them passing out to the pre-order customers. The shop owner said all was reserved. Well, today saw him offering out to other customer and I asked him why, this one the Box is damaged hence "Hardcore Collectors" do not want them. I don't really mind though... as this is SOLD OUT in most of the shops in the world. Put a 3 inch Dunny beside for size comparison.

3. HG 1/144 Zeon plastic kit to compliment the Gundam I fixed last week. Had a good chat with the Store Keeper who is also an expert in plastic kit modeling. Hope to get more tips from him soon.

Well, a geek will always be a geek...

ADDICTION!!! (Dunny figures by Kidrobot)

2007-11-03T23:32:00.000+09:00

Recently started to collect some Dunny (take a look at the full Archive) toys by Kidrobot. They are really Cute !! (In my opinion)

Some of those rare ones are selling at eBay at hundreds of USD$. They come in 3 sizes, 3 inch (those displayed), 8 inch and 20 inch tall. They are sold in Blind Boxes(meaning you won't know what you are buying until you open up, the rarity are different for each design). But Singapore Shops is selling them opened box, with prices varies according to the rarity.

These I bought are the common ones which are not that pricey. I wanted to buy some rarer ones.. nearly forked out SD200 for another set of Dunnys...but is stopped & warned by GF not to spend too much on plastic/vinyl toys.

Well, I am addicted to collect toys... already spent thousands of dollars collecting from days in Japan. Hope to find a cure soon...

Gundam Plastic Model

2007-11-03T23:08:00.000+09:00

Spent some time after work to fix this Gundam Model (1/144 scale, RX78-GP02A) I bought last Saturday. I accidentally broke its hands with my bull force though...

Well, really had fun fixing it. The time I spend fixing the model is similar to meditating... learned few lessons while doing so too : Never force on something, as we probably might end up breaking it, use "lubricant" instead.

Books by Paulo Coelho

2007-11-03T20:20:00.001+09:00

I finished reading all the books published in English by Paulo Coelho and lend it out to Chloe and Debra. His books are quite good read. Millions of readers' life have been affected by his words. (Julia Roberts, Bill Clinton, Madonna etc) Bill Clinton even invited Paulo for a meeting after reading The Alchemist, which was introduced by his daughter.

Paulo writes in Portuguese and most of his works are translated into English and Chinese.

Paulo Coelho's books in Amazon.com

1. The Alchemist
Story about chasing our Dream! More than 65million sold in 52 languages.

2. Eleven Minutes: A Novel (P.S.)
Sex is sacred, love story of a prostitute. The most sold book of year 2003.

3. Veronika Decides to Die: A Novel of Redemption (P.S.)
Learn to live our lives to the fullest after conquering the fear of Death.

4. The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation
Greed(evil) vs Righteous, Devil vs Angel.

5. By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness (P.S.)
Story about Love long overdue.

6. The Witch of Portobello
His latest work, about the story of a Psychic Medium being told through recollections and reflections of the people who knew--or thought they knew--her best.

7. The Pilgrimage
The author's personal account of his pilgrimage along the legendary road to San Tiago in Spain.

8. The Valkyries
The author's personal account of his search for forgiveness and liberating his soul from his haunting pass.

9. The Fifth Mountain
Fiction Story set in the Biblical age from the Old Testament. Test between personal Love and Duty assigned by God.

10. The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession (P.S.)
People start to appreciate things when they have loss them. The main character started to take his wife seriously after she disappeared without a word. And obsessed to find her while rediscovering her true self.

11. Warrior of the Light: A Manual
A manual on how to live a virtuous live according to Paulo's belief.

12. Like the Flowing River: Stories
A collection of short stories and author's personal accounts.

Well, I like his books, but not all of them are interesting though. Some of his words really introduce me to many new perceptions and thoughts. Most of his works are short, just over 200pgs.

Well, hope you guys/gals are interested to read some of the books. Just borrow them from Chloe or Debra. I lend the Chinese Illustrated version to Kay Leong (Li Liang) also.

Hope they will inspire you!!

Wedding!!(2)

2007-10-30T02:19:00.000+09:00

Some Pictures took in Yuan Pok's wedding dinner. Only 2 tables of schoolmates. There are many teachers and educators. This is one of the quietest wedding dinner I ever been to.

Wedding!! (1)

2007-10-30T01:49:00.000+09:00

Purposely came back to KL last week for a classmate's (Lee Aik Hong) wedding ceremony. And got my self invited to a wedding dinner of another classmate (Liew Yuan Pok).

Aik Hong's Shower Night

Well, forgot to take a picture of myself.

We were late, hence the crowd had subside. But the Food was great!!

During the wedding ceremony, did not bring my camera along to take pictures... just leave it to the professionals. Will post some after I get it from Aik Hong!

Well, another friend started the next chapter of his life!

Advertising Strategy of Food Industries

2007-10-20T16:10:00.000+09:00

I went to stroll at Bugis Junction after work Friday Evening. Had a Mos Burger Croquette Burger for dinner and triple scoop Italian Gelato Ice-cream for dessert.

They advertise as very Low-Fat with the same taste as Dairy Ice-cream. Well, after I finished, I asked the girl who served me, although they advertised Low Fat, whether it is Low Sugar also, but she just admitted it has about the same amount of sugar as normal ice cream. And taste wise is not that great either.

Well, low fat food are not necessarily healthy.

Should have go for full fat dairy ice-cream. Since already eating some "unhealthy" food (once a while), why not enjoy it to the fullest??

Choco Mint, Belgium Chocolate & Italian Coffee (taste like coconut)

Skinny People

2007-10-17T20:33:00.000+09:00

Finished this book in 2 days. Easy and fun read promoting vegetarian. And way to slim down by just cutting off refined sugar, meat and dairy product.

Very simple and practical explanation on the every day normal food we are consuming. About the badness of Sugar, Meat and Dairy products. Especially those food in USA.

1 point to note is regarding the chemical Aspartame which is used as artificial sweetener. This is a bad bad chemical which can cause a lot of neuron-sickness to us. Well, the USDA had rejected 4 times of this item to be used in food, but in the end, after heavy lobbying by the company producing it, it was allowed.

Check the sugar free mints we used to buy and we can find most of them contain Aspartame.

Well, I will bring back to KL and you guys can circulate.

I try to eat more vegetables recently, and slot in occasional "Sin" food like fast food. My body nowadays reacts quite easily from fast food. Got a pimple today from yesterday's KFC.

Being Cheated 2 times in a day!!

2007-10-17T19:48:00.000+09:00

What a day yesterday. Being cheated by Singaporean 2 times in a row.

1st Incident at China Square Central toy shop:

Went to a Toy shop to buy Revoltech Figure (Robot) for my nephew (cousin brother).

I chose a nice one with clean paint job and mint box and walked to the cashier. The guy at the cashier was entertaining other customers and ask me to wait while he pack the figure. So, I just walk around the shop to look at other stuff. After I collect the Toy, I went out heading to MRT. I took out the box along the way to admire the Figure, but to my horror... it was switch to a figure with slight Paint Miss and dented box. I was a bit angry at first, but think again... what the heck, it is not for collection but to take out and play by a 4 year old kid. I am just doing a favor for the Shop to clear his stock which he will never able to sell to those very Ngiao (Yim Chim) Toy collectors. But surely he had lost a "valuable" customer forever.

2nd Incident Tampines KFC Restaurant:
Well. I was taking out KFC, being served by a Malay Gal. I will be getting 3 Mini Drumsticks (from Chicken Wings) in the offer set, hence I requested the gal to please do not add in Drumstick and Chicken Wings. She looked a bit reluctant. Well, it is customer preference, and it wont really hurt the restaurant by just giving me non drum stick and chicken wing. She nodded and quickly pick the chickens while I was observing the colourful display board. Well, when I open the 4 pcs chicken box at home, a pc of Drumstick and a pc of Chicken Wing packed inside. Lucky my auntie loves chicken wings.

Well, maybe these people might get a cheap thrill out of cheating others and thinking that they have earn something in return. But frankly speaking, this kind of customer service is really hard to survive in long term. Well, I just feel sad that I have caused some one to sin against me.... I hope they forgive themselves one day. Or maybe I am to blame to have created an opportunity to cheat me???

Well.... do I really looked that gullible???

My Life Schedule in Singapore

2007-10-04T10:57:00.001+09:00

Thank you very much for your comments guys. I have been busy lately… hehehe. Although I really wanted to share with you guys on Books, Food, Movies, Shopping and Places of Interests…. Etc but My Weekday Daily Schedule is quite full now as below (excuse excuse!!):

7.00am 1st Wake Up Alarm

7.30am 2nd Wake Up Alarm

8.00am Ready to Leave for Work

8.15am Board the MRT after taking a Bus

8.15-8.50am Reading Time on the MRT! One of my favorite periods of the day!

9.00am Work Starts

12.30-1.30pm Lunch Time. (Mostly 1st Half of Foot Long Subway Sandwich, and also Hakka Thunder Tea Rice: Green Tea Rice)

5.40pm End of Office hour

5.40-7.00pm Stay back after office hour. Depends on work load. Take Dinner (usually 2nd half of Subway Sandwhich)

7.00-9.00pm Walk-walk around in the City. (Orchard / Bugis / HarbourFront(Vivo City). Book Stores, Shopping Mall, Super Market etc.

9.00-10.00pm Taking MRT back to Tampines. Catch up with the Reading in the train or play PSP (depends on mood and tiredness)

10.00-12.30am After bathing, eat light bites if hungry, video call to GF on Skype/MSN while surfing the net or play PSP.

12.30-7.00am Sleep

Thinking of slipping a 30minutes to continue writting Blog. Any suggestions?

Weekend schedule at the moment is a little bit off tune. Maybe can slot in Blog Time in the weekends
Have been taking Business Trips, taking friends and family around Singapore, shopping for items.
And weekends at the moment are always open for friends coming to Singapore for visits.

Hope to write new stuff periodically.

Restart a New Blog

2007-09-17T16:18:00.000+09:00

Seeing so many of my friends Blogging, I too wanted to share some part of my life.

Hope I can keep this blog going.