Ubean

Nobu Restaurant Melbourne

2009-05-17T11:47:00.005+08:00

One of the highlight of my visit to Melbourne was dining at Nobu Restaurant at Crown Casino. From the name, one would have guessed it’s a Japanese restaurant but they distinguish themselves by serving a fusion of Japanese and South American cuisine. Coupled with friend’s positive reviews on the food, both Kit and I decided to splurge a little and made a reservation.

Reach the restaurant about 15 minutes earlier and here is a snapshot of the Nobu logo.Our table wasn’t ready and we were directed to the bar to have some drinks. This is a double storey restaurant. The bar is on the ground floor near the entrance and dining hall is actually on the lower ground.

While waiting, I order a bottle of Asahi beer (it’s a Japanese restaurant!) and Kit went for some cocktail of Sake and plum wine.

15 minutes later, we were led to our tables and the whole place is full of people. I was hoping for a quiet romantic fine dining, and this is definitely not a quiet place. Ok now let’s start with the food review!

Nobu have a wide selection of appetizers, ranging from the tempuras, skewers and their own specialty. The waiter recommended us this:

Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno (AUS$18)
Its yellowtail sashimi (duh?!) with Jalapeno (the green thing on the sashimi) and a kind of tangy spicy sauce. A strange combination, but I thought it blended well. Something different from your typical wasabi soy sauce dip.

Crispy Oyster with Creamy Wasabi and Caviar (AUS$10 each)
The oyster is wrapped with rice vermicelli (I think) and was deep fried. The greenish topping is actually the creamy wasabi and caviar (yummy yummy). My only complain is that I finished it in one bite….

Sashimi Salad with Matsuhisa Dressing (AUS$26)
Salad with smoked tuna sashimi (if I’m not wrong). Quite nice but the dressing is a bit too salty.

For the hot dishes, again we went for the waiter’s recommendation. First up is the:

Black Cod with Miso (AUD$42)
“This is the most popular dish and a must have in this restaurant” That’s what the waiter told us. No way are we going to miss this. The two pink and white stalks are actually ginger and the white part is supposed to be consumed after we finished the cod. The cod was cooked perfectly, one of the best I have tasted. But again, the side sauce is a bit too salty.

Wagyu Gyoza with Goma Ponzu (AUD$36)
Next was the Gyoza (dumplings) with Wagyu beef. Nothing much too shout about. Maybe because of the high expectation after the cod but its still one of the best gyoza I have tasted. Maybe it’s because of the Wagyu beefs. :P

Eel & Cucumber Sushi Roll (AUD$12)
We ordered this earlier thinking that we might not be full after the hot dishes. Bad idea. Should have stopped and went straight to dessert. Its unagi and cucumber sushi roll with sesame. Simple food, but its quite nice.

By now, we were already super full but there are still desserts! Decide to at least try one.

Chocolate Bento Box with Green Tea Ice Cream (AUD$17)
The chocolate cake was served warm sprinkle with gold flakes. Don’t know why they put gold flakes though. The dessert looks pretty but the green tea ice cream is pretty normal. I have tasted better ice cream.

Overall, thumbs up for this restaurant. Nice ambient, good food but just a bit noisy. Maybe it’s because we were seated near a Chinese pair (mother and son). Both of them were arguing and it kinda spoilt the night. At least we get to see/hear some live TVB dramas though. AHAHAHAHAHA!!!

For those interested, here are the details of the restaurant.

Nobu Restaurant
Riverside at Crown Melbourne Australia
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank, VIC 3006
Tel: +613 92927879
website: http://www.noburestaurants.com/melbourne/index.html

Slamming on the wall

2009-04-27T22:49:00.003+08:00

Felt like running at full speed and slamming face first on the wall...

You know how that felt? Really painful. I know coz I had that experience before. Yes, literally slammed my face onto the pillar.

It was in my primary school days and I was quite chubby and clumsy at that time.

Was playing "ping ping chuk chak" translated as "soldiers catching thieves" after school hours. I think I was the last remaining soldier closing in on the thief. All I had to is to rush in to catch the thief.

Run I did, as fast as I could....but i dunno why, somehow instead of catching the thief, I slammed face first onto a concrete pillar.

I could have saved the day and basked in glory for being the hero but all I got was zero, laughed at and a humongous lump of bruise on my cheek....

Definately not a good feeling.

Misunderstanding...

2009-04-25T17:56:00.008+08:00

Sigh, my good intentions are being misunderstood....

Have you ever do something for a person for their benefit but yet that person dont see it or appreciate it and worst of all even mock or degrade you for doing such things?

I'm sure most of us would have gone through such experience. i.e we buy something for our love one but they dont like it or we go the extra mile in our job but the boss ignores it. That feeling sucks...

And recently I just had one...you can read it HERE.

Baby, im doing all this for you. To practise so that i can take the perfect picture of you. To prove to you...this is the amount of shots i took just at one place for you.....

Its all for you! So... I need to practise more to perfect those shots :p

Melbourne 09

2009-04-18T13:14:00.010+08:00

It’s only been 2 months since I last saw her, but it seems like forever. Luckily I was prepared and gotten myself a cheapo flight to Melbourne through Air Asia X during their promotion.

Cant complain much about the flight since its more than half the price of MAS flights, but still…

The seats sucks, but luckily the flight is quite empty. I got 3 seats to myself, cant imagine how I could have survived without those spare spaces.

The nasi lemak is getting worst, no ikan bilis, no kacang, come on…you call that nasi lemak?! Who are kidding here?! The gwailos?!

You have to pay for onboard entertainment, so bring your own Ipod, psp or books to pass time.

Note to myself:
Bring the blow-em-up neck holder/pillow thingie next time.
Think twice or more b4 buying cheap air asia flights to London.

Took the afternoon flight and reached Melbourne at 1130pm local time. We were the only flight at that time and custom clearance was a breeze. After a short stroll, I met up with my lovely gf and took a cab home, which was only 30mins away. Woo hoo!!!

ONE

2008-06-11T07:00:00.000+08:00

One short introduction and we parted ways

One trip to an island, lovely beaches and sunsets

One weirdest, most embarrassing ice breaker
(One water balloon and one body part)

One glass of barley that I treated you

One quick exchange of contact info

One short email to the longest I have ever written

One caring sms to the sweetest message

One surprise phone call, and a speechless me

One lonely man, finding his happiness,

One sweet girl, enchanting my life

One year we have been together

One girl I still love most…Kit

New Year Resolution

2008-01-06T22:53:00.000+08:00

Its still slavery...

2007-05-06T13:18:00.000+08:00

It’s been a while since I updated this blog. Sorry to have disappointed you readers, if any are still reading. Reason of the slow down or virtually no update was due to the change of ownership of my slavehood. Yes, I have recently changed my job, in hope for a better future. Currently learning the ropes of this new environment and have to slave it thru (no pun intended) :p.

New job meant new name card. I received mine recently and someone screwed up with the job title. Instead of the word “Analyst”, that someone actually spelt it as “Analist”. What if I didn’t check thru the card and started distributing to people? Gonna be a laughing stock for that. Why?

First of all, I don’t expect a huge international to make such mistake. But every human makes mistakes. I guess the person in charge might have spelt it in the Malay medium.

For example:
Police = polis
Politics = politik
Comment = komen
Screen = skrin
Interview = interbiu (no sure about this though :p)

Secondly, people might have wrong impression of my job title, if they read it in English. Again, I will use examples to explain further.

Pian-ist = someone who plays the piano
Pharmac-ist = someone qualified to dispenses medicines
Guitar-ist = someone who plays the guitar

If we follow this trend, analist would be..... ANAL-IST !!!

2nd Chance

2007-03-31T22:30:00.000+08:00

Death is something I didnt take seriously until a week ago. I have been to some wakes, but the issue never really crosses my mind. Maybe i felt it wont happen to me, or maybe I choose to ignore about it. All this changed, within a week.

My good friend, Zewt, lost his mother last week. I'm deeply sorry for his lost. Instead of dwelling in sadness, Zewt did something in remembrance of his mother, by writing about her in his blogs. I was literally moved to tears by his entries and mind you, its been a long time since tears rolled down my cheek.

What he has done in honor and respect for his mother has in fact touched many of his readers. Its a big lost to Zewt but from his writings, many of us realises our shortcomings and was given a second chance to make amends. Zewt's mum would be so proud of his son. Please spend some time to read Zewt's entries and you will know what I meant:

Dear Mommy
A 2nd Chance With Mom
Some of mom's wishes
2nd chance with mom: Why is it enough

Today, one of my collegue passed away. A young guy with a bright future, enjoying his life and his work.

"a funny guy, a great friend"

Thats the common remark i get from those who are close to him. I must admit that I was not close to him. I had the chance but I didn't take them. I wished to have the chance to know him better.

In just barely a week, two person moved on to a better place. We have been reminded to appreciate life and those around us. Count our blessings and dont take things for granted. Simple words of wisdom but how many of us will follow it?

Most of us will adher to these words for a while and then slowly be clouded again by our desires. Dont let this happen and don't wait for another lost to remind us. We are being reminded now, make full use of this second chance.

Chap Goh Meh

2007-03-04T11:26:00.000+08:00

After 15 days of celebration and food gorging, we are at the last day of Chinese New Year aka "Chap Goh Meh" which means in Hokkien as the 15th day. To the spirit of this Piggie Year, I think i have packed extra 2 kg within this 15 days.

Chap Goh Meh is also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day. Traditionally, unmarried woman would be throwing mandarin oranges to the river or sea (environmentalist alert!) in hope that a suitor would pick them up. I just got to know that this practise actually originated from Penang, Malaysia. Well done Bolehland! Much better than the usual longest Yee Sang, biggest mooncake or tallest lantern we do to make it into the Books of Records...Malaysia version. Wasteful publicity stunt, IMHO.

With the changing time and technological advancement, the throwing of mandarin oranges has evolved accordingly.

First of all, we have the handphones and thus personalised numbers is possible. People are now writing their numbers onto the oranges and hope the suitors would give them a call. Thanks to technology, we can now track and have feedback from the suitors. Of course, this also means that any weirdoes, stalkers or murderers would be able to track you.

Nowadays, even guys are looking for soul mates through this method. Instead of throwing oranges, the guys are using BANANAS. Looking at this perpective, ladies would have to throw oranges in pairs then. If this practise would continue to evolve, I foresee a very interesting future. To impress or gain more attention, ladies would be throwing papayas or watermelons. As for the guys, I think they should be using bigger and larger bananas. I don't think other fruits are better fitting than the classic banana. Maybe they can tie two coconuts to the banana. We shall see what will happen.

Chap Goh Meh could also be a conspiracy from our elders. Think of it! Everytime we visit our relatives and elders during CNY, if you are not married or attached, the same question would pop up. When are you getting married? Got girlfriend or boyfriend already? Your this and that younger cousin is married already and having kids soon, so you better hurry. Once they finish pounding and pressuring you with all this questions, you have the Chap Goh Meh to do something about it. Maybe Chap Goh Meh is just another method for our elders to get the unattached attached.

Well, enjoy your Chap Goh Meh! Kung Hey Fatt Choy to you all! May this year bring prosperity and blessings to you! :)

Police Escort

2007-02-28T23:51:00.000+08:00

Imagine this situation:

You are leisurely driving home after a hard day work, not much traffic on the road, listening to some good music from the radio, planning to quickly reach home to relax WHEN SUDDENLY a police bike came blaring its loud siren and screaming thru its speaker, asking you to move out of the way. The moment you move away, a convoy of luxury cars would zoom by, leaving a trail of dust for you. I'm sure most of us would have encountered such scenario. I had one experience recently and I used to get really irritated by it, especially during traffic jams, when you have to quickly manoeuvre your car out of the way. Thinking rationally, I should not be irritated because

Reason 1

Most of these people are VIPs or VVIPs of the country and they are the rich and powerful. Therefore time is extra valuable for these people. Every second spent is money opportunity lost. Example, it might be some minister rushing to a meeting to build more highways, to build more tolls and to award contracts. Of course they need to be quick. There are big money involved.

Reason 2

It is also a faster way to check out our lovely highways, thus reassuring themselves on a good job done. Having more assurance, its time to build more highways, award more contracts and to justify more toll increase.

Reason 3

We Malaysians love the rush hours. There is a camaraderie among the drivers during the long traffic jam. We care about the each other's family, especially our mother. Its a norm to see drivers screaming at each other asking about the welfare of our mothers. The VIPs are missing out on this, as they are being escorted through our daily traffic jam. What a waste.

Next time you see these VIPs being escorted, just moved out of the way and remember the 3 reasons above.

I Got Tagged!

2007-02-28T12:15:00.000+08:00

I was tagged. Not sure what does that mean though. Guess I just need to follow the instructions given by my tagger "Zewt":

"You guys are supposed to answer the 3 bloggers-related questions and mention 3 weird things about yourself in your blog and then tag 5 other bloggers"

Kinda like those chain mails you get all the time. However not as bad as those chain mails insisting you to forward emails to at least 20 people so that luck would favour you. Failure to forward the email...will normally invite some predicament.

I just hate those chain mails claiming that some big companies are sponsoring the chain mails. The more emails you forward, the more $$$ you get. GROW UP PEOPLE!!! Mr. Bill PAGAR got tons of money, but he wont spent it like that! All these chain mails are just banking on peoples' kiasu-ness, the fear of missing out on luck or money. Are you one of them?

This is the first time I heard of Tagging. It is a good way of spreading coverage of unknown blogs. Well, I guess mine is one of the road less travelled on. :)

Better get it over with.

1) Who is the most wanted blogger you want to meet?

Same as Zewt, that person would be Raja Petra Kamarudin. Respect his guts and very curious on his source of information. Check out his posts in Malaysia Today for alternative news.

2) Who are the group of blogger you most wanted to meet?

Hmm, don't really read a lot of blogs and don't really know any group of blogger. Maybe the group of blogger from Malaysia Today.

3) Who is the “I can meet, want to meet but somehow never get to meet blogger’?

Wow! A confusing one. Maybe Kennysia. He is in Malaysia, so it is possible to meet him. Just want to know whether he is such a joker in real person, or is he having some Jeckle and Hyde character.

Now on to the weird things,

Weird Thing No 1
Every night, I need to drink exactly one and a half cups of water before I sleep. Don't ask me why. I just feel weird and uncomfortable if it is not done. Some might say that drinking water just before sleeping might lead to puffy eyes. Don't care!

Weird Thing No 2
Every time I cut my big toe nail (which can be dirty sometimes), I have a tendency to....smell it. Knowing very well it would be a stinker, I just have to take a sniff....ahhhh...

Weird Thing No 3
I'm a natural hoarder. Every little piece of receipt, name cards, credit cards, member cards, whatever cards are kept in my wallet. You will never know when you might need it. I even have two expired credit cards in there as well. Of course, this would result in a humongous wallet.

To finish up, I need to tag 5 other blogger (forgive me, i'm forced at gun point).

murmurer : come on, you got talent! blog away!
sWeetoMato : why the sudden stop?!
Aileen : Blog on!
xxx
xxx

Will update the balance later :P

Lastminute Valentine

2007-02-12T22:35:00.000+08:00

Only one more day before Valentine. For the guys without any presents prepared at this moment....GOD bless you and have mercy on your soul.

But fear not! We are here to help!

If you dont have the time or money to get a gift, the least you could do is to get or make a nice card. Here are some tips for you last minute peeps:

Dont send a blardy e-card. Doesnt show any sincerity at all. No gifts and only e-card... a sure death sentence for ya.
Get a nice card to work on from any major bookstore or gift shops. Plenty of varieties to choose from BUT make sure you choose the right one. Make sure its a genuine Valentine card and not some congrats/wedding/birthday card.
It would be much better if you can make your own card. Use your imagination, girls loves the efforts put in.
Write or draw some lovey dovey stuff in it. Dont know how? Its a blessing that internet is available.
Have some creativity and originality. A poem would be a nice inclusion. Try writing on your own, it shows your effort. No matter how lame it is, girls would just love em. However, if your idea of poem is like this....(please forget about it)

you're like the yesteryear bus mini
always there and value for money
big assets, thats my fantasy
always yelling masuk lagi masuk lagi!

Plenty of poems from the net and take some time to choose a suitable one. If you still dont have the time....here is one example for ya. Just hope your girlfriend isnt reading this blog.

Winter nights, all dark and cold,
for many moons, ive been alone,
white are the snows, black is the night,
two color, thats what i know,

where art thou my little angel?
where art thou all this years?
will my prayers be heard?
will it be answered?

Yes it did, now that you're here,
a great artist with palettes of colour,
my life, your canvas now and forever,
colourful more than ever.

Remember to use some nice pens (with colour if possible) to write. Dont have the budget to buy those fancy pens? No problem... just make sure you know what to write and go to the nearest stationary store. Use their sample pens. :D

Good luck and have a great Valentine's Day!

Car Number Plates

2007-02-11T18:44:00.000+08:00

Malaysian are obsessed with numbers. We would pay through our noses just to get the perfect car number and thats good news for our Transport Department (JPJ). They have suckers like us paying HUGE money for those numbers.

Number plates with 8s or 4s would normally cost a bomb. Much higher if it is only with single digit numbers. I wonder how much is paid for those numero uno car plates. We would definately associate any car with number 1 on it to some VVIP.

I have seen some cute ones though. These are people with such creative flair that they manipulate the numbers to look like words. Examples:

POL15 = polis
MAF14= mafia

Wonder how much they paid for that...

If you dont have that kind of money to pay for fancy numbers, well, fear not, Im here to help. The following are numbers that I think you could get at dirt cheap price

DUM8 : Its single digit, its number 8, good trade off if ppl thought you were DUMB!

KUL47 : If you are a fan of fungus... KULAT

WTF XXXX: Any number would do...it has WTF! in it. If you can, try getting 4550 and customised it to look like WTF ASS O

COL1 : If you are in the Bra business, this is a good car plate for ya!

BAB1: I wonder whether any VVIP will be taking this. Suits some of them though :) . But its a good one for anyone in the pork industry or plainly love the pig.

TAH1: Not sure if the Indah Water boss has taken this plate number. Would you want it? Its with numbero uno!.

Last but not least, the best among all....

PUK1

need I say more?

The Longest Name

2007-02-07T20:03:00.000+08:00

Came across an article about the official longest name in the U.K

The UK 's Deed Poll Services mentioned that a 23 yr old James Bond fan has officially changed his name from David Fearn to

"James Dr No From Russia With Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever Live And Let Die The Man With The Golden Gun The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View To A Kill The Living Daylights Licence To Kill Golden Eye Tomorrow Never Dies The World Is Not Enough Die Another Day Casino Royale Bond"

Thats basically the name of all Bond movies till date. Talk about obsessions! His reasoning was
"I wanted to be James Bond and now I am. It's the ultimate fantasy"

Well brother, good luck to ya! I wonder how is he going to introduce himself. Imagine him going to some pub and after a few drinks a hot chick came in. He walks over and introduce himself

James: Hi!
Chick: Hi!
James: Im James Dr No From Russia With Love Goldfinger Thunderball You Only Live Twice On Her Majesty's Secret Service Diamonds Are Forever....errr errr wait...
i think it is James Dr No From Russia With Love The Spy Who Loved Me Moonraker For Your Eyes Only Octopussy A View To A Kill...errr...i cant remember..
Chick: Crazy fella (and walks off)

If he is working, imagine how tedious it would be to fill up forms. I dont think there would be enought space for his name. :)

If he is still schooling, he better make sure he dont break any rules. The cruelest form of punishment from a teacher......

"WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE BOARD FOR 100 TIMES!!! YOU BLARDY NAUGHTY KID!! "

:)

Car Taglines!

2007-02-05T20:51:00.000+08:00

Time flies! Its been almost half a year since I updated this blog. Hehehe...been procrastinating.

Anyway, I have been going thru some car magazines (Its nice to dream bout dream cars ok!) and have you ever notice the car manufacturer's slogans/taglines. It can be quite corny sometimes.

Imagine if the slogans are for VIAGRA...

"A Better Idea" — Ford
"Bold Moves" - Ford, 2006
"Born from jets" — Saab, 2005-
"Born to perform" — Jaguar, (c. 2003-)
"Break Through." — Cadillac, (c. 2002-)
"Built Ford Tough." - Ford Trucks
"Built for the Human Race"-Nissan, 1980s
"Can't get enough of this." — Ford (Australia), 2003
"The Drive of your life." — Peugeot
"Drive your way" — Hyundai, 2005-
"Drivers wanted." — Volkswagen, 1995,
"Feel the difference" - Ford
"For Life" — Volvo, 2000s
"It just feels right" - Mazda
"Just imagine what Citroën can do for you" — Citroën
"Like a rock" — Chevrolet Trucks
"Like nothing else on Earth" — Hummer
"The lion leaps from strength to strength" — Peugeot, 1980s
"Major motion, from Nissan"
"Move Your Mind" — Saab, 2000s
"Moving Forward." — Toyota (USA), 2004
"Oh what a feeling, Toyota" — late 1970s - 1980s
"Power, Beauty and Soul" - Aston Martin
"The Power of Dreams" — Honda
"Put the fun back into driving." — Vauxhall Motors
"Reach Higher"- Lincoln
"The Real Thing" — Ford Australia, 1970s
"Sheer driving pleasure" — BMW
"Shift_xxx" — Nissan, 2000s; where "xxx" varies
"The Passionate Pursuit of Perfection" Lexus from 2000 - on
"The ultimate driving machine" — BMW
"Think. Feel. Drive" — Subaru, 2004-
"Unlike Any Other" — Mercedes-Benz
"Zoom Zoom" — Mazda, 2000s
(source Wikipedia)

Heheheh... get it? :P

SEATRU Program Part 1

2006-09-07T08:14:00.000+08:00

Life has been crazy this year and I needed some time off to re-charge. Decided to go for a long holiday. Couldn't get anyone to find time to go with me, everyone seems to be too busy nowadays. I really needed a break, so no choice but to go alone. Not wanting to spend one week holiday at a resort alone (would be darn boring!), I signed up for a volunteer program with SEATRU (Sea Turtle Research Unit) of KUSTEM (Kolej University Sains & Teknologi Malaysia).

Its a one week stint at Chagar Hutang, Redang Island whereby the volunteers will help out in the research and conservation of the Green Turtles. Of course there will be plenty of free time as well for other activities such as snorkeling and hiking.

After 6 hours bus ride from KL, 3 hours wait at the bus stop ( I was there early!), 1 hour briefing on the program at SEATRU, KUSTEM, 1 hour ferry ride to Redang and 20 min boat ride to Chagar Hutang....this is the sight that greets us:

Crystal clear water, pristine sandy beach and best of all... the beach is restricted to outsiders. Basically its a private beach for 7 of us volunteers, 1 research assistant and 2 permanent staff. Woo hoo!

Another view of our private beach, the little boat is our only link to civilisation.

Another beach view

Signboard near our little wooden hut.

Entrance to our living quarters for the week. No telephone line, no TV, no radio, no electricity except for some lights (powered by solar panel). Back to basics, kampung style!

Our sleeping area! One room for the guys, another for the ladies. Just sleeping bag on wooden floor. No fan but just natural air-cond. Remember to bring insect repellants. There are squads of commando trained mozzies doing daily raids on the place.

Kitchen! No buffet lunch or dinner. Gotta do some own cookin here. No worries about food supply. Plenty of can food, instant noodles, breads and biscuits to last you for a week. There is some vege and meat but without a fridge, gotta clear within first two days. Good time to start on a diet!

Didn't bring enough clothes for a week? No worries! Hand wash and dry them under the sun!

Here are some pics of the surrounding

View from the huts. Those little sticks are indicators of turtle nest.

White sandy beach!

Crystal clear water!

Nice clouds on the horizon, evening time

Evening view of the beach. Romantic leh!

Another shot of the beach in the evening. Need i say more?! WOW!

Stay tune for the next entry on our daily activities! Ciao!

SpongeBob

2006-09-03T14:31:00.000+08:00

A friend of mine recently told me that im like SpongeBob and that made me think: do I really looked that goofy and squarish?

Luckily it was not due to similarity in apprearance. Phew! ^^"

What the friend meant was that im like a sponge, always soaking up things..in terms of work and life such as taking up additional work (effects of taichi-ing).

Well, i guess its just my character then.

In work, if i still can manage to do it, i dont mind taking the extra work load. Just dont over taichi-ing. At this moment, my sponge hasn't leaked yet.

In life, if ppl wants to take advantage of my kindness, so be it. If it makes them a happier person, so be it. At least i have contributed in making them happy. Somehow nobody has ever tested my limits yet....

So i do admit, my character is just like a sponge. I just hope i dont become this:

(A Real Life SpongeBob Sans Pants)

:D

Apa LJ LJ!

2006-07-11T20:25:00.000+08:00

The following entry has contents that may disturb readers. Continue reading at your own risk.

Was at a mamak session with some colleagues when the topic of getting by without money came up. Imagine this situation, you were queuing up a bus and when it’s your turn to pay, you realized that you are penniless. What would you do? Get off the bus that instant second? Beg for your bus fare from your fellow commuters?

My friend and I were in a bus many years ago and we learnt a trick of getting a free ride on public buses. We were at the back of the bus, chit-chatting when a scrawny guy boarded the bus and went pass the driver without paying a single cent. Of course the bus driver was pissed and asked the guy to pay up.

Bus Driver: Oi, belum bayar lagi lah (oi, you haven’t paid yet)
Guy: (yelling) APA LAN JIAO LAN JIAO!!!!!(what dick dick!!!)

The bus driver was shocked and started driving, ignoring that guy.

So my friends, you can try this method next time you want a free ride. Of course there is a technique to it. You can’t pull this of if you do it sheepishly. Imagine:

Bus Driver: Oi, belum bayar lagi lah
You: (looking sheepishly) apa lan jiao lan jiao….
Bus Driver: LAN JIAO KEPALA OTAK KAU!!! ( most probably you will be wacked by now)

So, if you want to pull this off, you need to have tons of confidence. Put on a mean looking face and scream as loud as possible. What if you are a female? Of course you can still use the phrase above but it is not so accurate. There are some variations for the ladies to consider. You can either use APA PUKI PUKI or APA CHI BAI CHI BAI.

Of course the above is still applicable in other situation. You can try saying to your boss when the bonus or increment is not good. Or when some colleagues try to “tai chi” some extra work to you. Basically you can use it anytime.

Or you can use some censored version among friends, APA LJ LJ!, APA PK PK! or APA CB CB!.

Hope you have learnt a new phrase today and happy using it. :P

Kinabalu Part 2

2006-06-27T19:41:00.000+08:00

Day 2

It is 2am and we barely have 2 hours of sleep. First it was the cold, then Aunt L's constant complain and whine, kept us all awake. Got up real quick, grab some bite and put on our headlamp and started the journey to the peak at about 2.30am.

The weather was perfect, cloudless sky, stars everywhere and we were moon bathing as we were climbing. The first part was all stairs and I was lucky enough to be right behind Giant. He bloody farted all along the way. I must confess...everybody farted...maybe its the chocolate Snickers we all took. I dunno how many times i was sprayed with toxic fumes.

Me: WTF you farted again!
Giant: Im sorry! but i just cant help myself!
(another round of long, machine gun like fart)
Me: WTF, again!
Giant: Sorry sorry!

So it was like this all the way up the stairs. Then came the scary part...the rock climbing. It was dark all around and you can't see too far ahead. There was a never ending white rope and according to our guide, the rope is our life line. Basically we were mostly on the edge of a cliff most of the time. Luckily it was dark as you cant see what are the dangers!

Continued our journey at snail pace as the air was thinner and thinner. Then, Giant gave up at the last checkpoint! What a waste! but at least he did better than Aunt L.

So three of us continued our long journey and finally made it to the top at about 5.45am, just in time for the sunrise. Enjoy the pictures!

Woo hooo! sunrise! and its bloody cold up here!

Another viewpoint!

A lower peak...resembles a face dont ya think?

Dont call me lamleks this time! Me Very Lek already!

Notice the shadow of Mount KK at the background?

Victorious Aunt M

The sun finally showed up!

Another view

Then, it was the long and hard journey down the mountain. The worst part is we have to climb all the way down within the same day. I would say this is even more difficult than climbing up.

Aunt M contemplating whether to pee into the pool

Suh pah Gurl!

The tallest TM booth in Malaysia. Maybe for Yeti or bigfoot to call their cousins in himalayas

Met up with Giant at Sayat Sayat checkpoint. Putting up a brave face for the camera

The rock climb..... the way up is also the way down. And you can see the danger this time!

Dangerous leh

Almost back to the rest house... notice the expression of Giant...cant see?

The look of tiredness

Meet up with Aunt L at the hut. Well rested, at least she is not whining now.

We couldn't take any pictures on the way down as it rained all the way. Imagine the misery we have to go through.

Someone needed help to climb the final steps to the gate.

Mum! Mum! i finally did it! boo hoo hoo!

Back at the hotel...guess whose tummy is that!

Kota Kinabalu Part 1

2006-06-24T12:17:00.000+08:00

Day 1

Meet up with the gang and we took the afternoon flight to KK. Touch down at about 2pm and we went straight to town for some lunch. Its a typical chinese chicken rice shop but they have a special way of serving rice

I have seen chicken rice balls, but check out the above pyramid, mount KK or madonna's titties rice. An imaginative friend of mine even decorated the peak with some chilies to imitate madonna's famous assets.

After the quick lunch, it was another two hours journey straight to our lodging at Kinabalu Park, which is located at the foothill of Mount KK. We stopped half way through for some toilet break and to much of my surprise, one of my friend's eye just balooned up

Look at the horrible bulge. Must have dreamt of peeping guys during her nap in the van. Control yourself girl! Luckily the inflamation was less once we reached the Kinabalu Park.

This is Kinabalu park where we stayed for the night. Beautiful place, nice fresh air....better than Salem cool planet. The only complaint here is the water heater. Not really working well and you would have some fun shivering time during shower.

Day 2

Woke up at about 6am, clean me self up and went for some breakfast with the gang. Our climb will start at 7.30am. Manage to took some picture of Mount KK before start the journey.

Low's peak, our target this time, the highest peak of Mount KK. 5 jokers from KL will attempt to fulfill their task of conquering it. The five are: Aunty L, Aunty M, Giant, Lamleks and of course me!

A view from Timpohan Gate, the starting point of our long precarious journey. Jealous yet?

The record of climbing up and down of Mount KK! 2 hours and 41min! Now everybody is hyped up and confident of making it all the way to the top.

So off we go on the journey, the start of many many stairs and steps.

Along the way, we met some incredible porters, carrying huges packages and even gas tanks up the mountain. In this picture, notice how Aunty M is so shocked to see the strength of the porter. And yes, even with the burden, the porter is faster than us.... paiseh

Another picturesque view!

From the left: Our guide (Jemin), Aunt M, unknown guide

A toilet pitstop along the way. At least you dont have to dig holes to do business. Thank goodness i didnt use Epsom Salt that week.

Found a hobbit along the way......

a group photo..beginining with Giant, Aunt L, Aunt M and notice Lamleks is right there at the back...cant see?!

zoomed in for your convenience...Lamleks doing his egyptian camel dance!

Aunt L posing with some pitcher plants found along the way...
AuntL: woi! im trying to do business her le... go away!

Another view...

The gang posing for group photo...notice something again?

My name is Leks! Lamleks!
Dont play play ah...notice my state of the art tumbler...is a secret weapons..can send you to clouds nines...

Almost to the rest area...getting wet and misty but Aunt M still can pose and smile.

Aunt L not wanting to lose out... trying hard to pose! (but actually very sick liao)

Our lodging for the night. Panar Laban zinc hut. No heater, no insulation. Only two blankets to withstand the cold.

LOSER!

Our comrade knocked out... vomitted 4 times.... all the chicken burger, chocolates, biscuits, coffee was out.... so four of us left to continue the journey :(

Hair Cut!

2006-06-23T07:30:00.000+08:00

Finally I got my hair cut done!

Went to the usual RM12 barber shop in One Utama to get my hair cut done. When I reach there, noticed that the usual lady is gone. There is another lady there waiting for customer. She is quite young but definitely not Malaysian, but more like a Thai. I went in, paid the 12 bucks and sat down.

I heard her speaking some weird language to her friend in the shop. Definitely not Thai language, so my guess is either she is from Vietnam, Myanmar or places like that. I was thinking to my self…should I speak in Malay or English and before I can say something, she spoke to me in fluent English. Hmmm…impressive. Here’s the conversation that follows:

Lady: So mister, how would you like me to cut your hair.
Me: Uh…short
Lady: how short?
Me: Uh…very short

(I don’t really care about my hair actually. Normally I just want to be short, neat if possible.)

Me: Let’s make it short and maybe I want to gel the hair a bit.
Lady: Ok, you want it short and gel like this? (moving her hands across my hair, showing me how it would me gel)
Me: Uh…ok (I was thinking…whatever la)
Lady: Oh ok. Like Armani is it?

I was thinking, like Armani?! What the heck?! How does Mr. Jojo Air Mani looks like anyway? I don’t even know. But it can’t be that bad right? Designer hairstyle wor. So…

Me: Err…yes! Like Armani.
Lady: ok.

And then she started cutting my hair here and there. As she was cutting, I notice my grey hair is increasing. This is no good. I need to do something about that.

10 minutes later it was done. Not bad, not bad. But I don’t think Armani have my kind of hairstyle. Maybe it’s my hair quality. But hey, I’m not complaining. At least my hair is short now. She then said that her hair gel was finished, so she cannot complete her masterpiece. No problem.

Maybe I can experiment it tomorrow… hmmm…where did I keep that hair gel?

Problems?!

2006-06-21T12:05:00.000+08:00

It’s been almost a month since I updated the blog and many events had happen…some happy and some quite sad.

Maybe I should start with the happy events first…it’s better to be optimist right?

Congratulations to a fellow blogger, ETLS on his new found love, who is also one of my best friends. May you two have a beautiful and long lasting relationship! And remember my bro…I trust you will take good care of her…if you don’t, make sure you pray hard, I KNOW where you stay.

Two of you guys have been my pillar of strength for the past couple of months. Thank you for that. Never could imagine what would happen to me without you guys. My bro, remember to practice what you preach…”count your blessings” and cherish what you have now.

After two months of training…climbing Bukit Gasing, Bukit Tabor and the stairs of Batu Caves and Uptown 2, I finally manage to climb up to the top of Mount KK! Not in record time, but I’m a happy man. Will be writing more about the climb in the next blog, once the pictures are ready. But one thing that I would like to share now is the quiet moment I experienced when I was descending from the peak.

The peak was a desolated place, desert like with a few patches of moss and plants growing. As I was descending down from the peak, there was a part of the mountain where there was only silence. No a single sound can be heard. I was separated from the group, all alone, and the only sound I heard was from my own movement and breathing. I can even hear my own heart beat. At that moment, many thought came to my mind. Of course the very first thought was my own problems, but as I walked, I began to think why I should feel miserable and bad about it.

My problems are so insignificant compared to others. In the last two months, two new widows had to face the world alone, bringing up the children alone. What is my problem compared to theirs?! At least I’m still alive.

Another friend had to juggle between work and taking care of the family challenges. Taking care of aging person is no easy task. Yet she still can manage to take the pressure of it. Hats off to you madam! What is my problem compared to yours?! I just need to take care of myself.

Sometimes when you are down and out, you might feel that you are unluckiest, saddest, most miserable person in the world. It’s ok to feel bad but remember that there is always someone else in worst condition than you. Just suck it up and count your blessings. The world will still go on whether you are sad or happy. The choice is still yours and be glad that you still can choose.

Wobbly legs and pain in the ass!

2006-05-31T12:00:00.000+08:00

Its been two horrible days for me. It all started with a friend who suggested detox for our body and daring me to do it. Being macho, i must accept challenge lo... never back down from a dare..thats my motto and im now regretting it.

To initiate the detox, all you need is a pack of "EPSOM SALT" available in major pharmacies (only cost 5 bucks for this sucker). Dont even read the instruction outside the box, it will only scare you off the process. Uses of Epsom Salt includes....fertiliser for plants, external application on skin to ease muscle pain and fabric softener. I was like "huh!" nothing about mixing with water and drinking it!

But my friend keep insisting its ok to drink the deadly concoction. So like a sucker...i mixed two huge tablespoon with warm water and gulp it down. It tasted horrible! Drank another 4 cups of water as instructed by this FRIEND, and waited for reaction. 2 hours passed...nothing happened...just some minor growling in the stomach but other than that nothing. Drank another 2 cups of water, still nothing. Little did i know its the calm before the storm!

My stomach starts to churned inside out, growling horribly. And then it happened. The dam was broken by the force of the rushing water. Being a smart alec...i was still wearing long pants with the belt fasten. Timing of running to the toilet, unbuckling belt and taking off pants is less than 10 seconds. The moment i sat down, it was like a waterfall...none stop...going and going. All the water i drank came out instantly. This is round one.

After the first round...i feel dehydrated. So i drank more water...BIG MISTAKE! 5 minutes later im in the toilet again...everything out again....by the time im finished...my legs were wobbly. i crashed to the sofa...lying there exhausted. That was round two.

Im dehydrated...dying for water...yet i know if i drink more water, i will go through hell again. Furthermore the toilet stinks...and my ass hurts! So its a catch-22 situation. Quench your thirst or continue purging. So i thought maybe one cup of water will not be so bad...BIG MISTAKE! Round three! That it...i had enough.. no more water for the moment... i rather die of thirst then going through it again.

The good thing is my stomach feels empty...and i dont feel like eating so i skipped lunch and dinner. I dont think anyone would have the appetite to eat, not after going thru the smell, looking at the end product and the energy wasted on waste.

I dont think i will be doing it for a long time......if you plan to do it.. GOOD LUCK! just make sure you are not having a date that same day...or even the next day.... you dont want to leave some smelly impression!

I need a hair cut!

2006-05-28T08:00:00.000+08:00

Its been a month since i visited the barber... and i look like a mess now. I have freezy and curly hair...not a pretty sight if they are longer than 2 inch. It is like in the cartoons...when the character got electrocuted..... yeah my hair is exactly like that...straight up ever pointing to the sky.

I wasn't like that when i was a little kid...i still remember i have smooth silky black hair. Dunno what happened, maybe its the food or the water or some mysterious static around me... my hair just changed.

Maybe I should try some expensive saloon instead of the normal mamak barber i go to. Maybe i should go through some treatment and whatever the stylist advise me to. What is a few hundred bucks if they can save my hair. Anyone can recommend me a good place?... Maybe I should just keep it long and see what happens... maybe the longer it gets, the force of graviti will take place and my hair will not be pointing up anymore. Maybe i should dye it too... blue perhaps...

I can imagine two outcome to this experiment:

left: if my hair keeps growing towards the sky
right: graviti actually WORKS!

imagine the hair only! im not planning to change sex anytime soon!

However... knowing myself, i dont think i would be willing to part with a few hundred bucks for a hair cut. So if i keep my hair long and unkept, with grey hair spruting out everyday, soon i would look like this:

again imagine the hair and maybe the cigarette only!

I shouldnt be complaining though. At least i still have hair on my scalp. It is still better to have some hair than no hair at all...

DOH!

so my dearest readers.. count your blessings!

Mother's Day

2006-05-25T23:11:00.000+08:00

A week has passed since I last posted in this blog. Been quite busy with plenty of things happening...some good, some bad...

Anyway, Mother's Day was just over and I think Father's Day will be coming real soon some time in June. My family celebrated Mother's Day with a simple dinner at Secret Recipe. Nothing much, just a small, quick and rather quiet dinner.

After the dinner, I was asking myself.... why is there a Mother's Day or a Father's Day? It is supposed to be a day people show love and gratitude to their parents... but shouldn't it be a everyday thing? Why need a day to remind ourselves that we are suppose to love our parents? Maybe that is just us... always need reminders and taking things for granted.

One thing i notice also is the difficulties in expressing love to our parents and vice-versa. I believe those who is of older generations has been brought up under strict regime of "it is shameful to express love explicitly unless to your partner". Unlike the "gwailos" how many of us ever told "i luv you" to people other than your partners? Maybe the new generations.... but definately not my generations.

I remembered during my early secondary school days... my parents enrolled me to some seminars on life improvement thingy. This was because one of my uncle went through the seminar and found it useful. So i had to go. First thing i realised was the materials was in chinese and the seminar was in mandarin! I was like...huh??? Anyway... i just follow along and tried to keep low profile. The seminar was teaching us how to live life and to respect others....or something like that.

The one thing i remembered about this seminar was...there is a session whereby the lights was switched off and as a result the room was pitch black...Then the speaker was telling us to reflect on our pass and how we did wrong to our parents... and everybody around me was beginning to sob... and then cried.... oh my gosh!!! I was like...huh??? what is goin on??? then a mike was passed around for people who wants to confess and express their feelings. some was crying and mentioned about their sins... some regretted as their parents died... and NO! i didn't use the mike!

Moral of the story was...to tell your parents that you love them before its too late. So the assignment of the day was that... go home and tell your parents "i luv you". I can tell you this...it is not easy to say " i luv you" to your parents. I dont know why but I think after 14 years of upbringing without the word " i luv you"... it is difficult. Darn difficult.

Anyway, I waited and waited to gain some courage... and finally i was alone with my dad at the kitchen. Mum was asleep already by that time. I was looking at my dad and I blurted it out. " Dad... I luv you" He was shock and for a minute there is no expression on his face. Silence.....very awkward situation for both of us.....and it lasted forever.... and then he smiled.

It has been another 14 years since i last said "i luv you" to my parents.... and i havent even said it to my mum. Hmmm when will i have the courage?

Have you told your parents that you love them?

Malacca Part 3

2006-05-17T19:48:00.000+08:00

After my revelation on the toilet bowl issue... we took a rest in the hotel before venturing out again to round the city. Did a lot of driving...pass the klebang beach, the red church, jonker street again... and then to Mahkota Parade.

Mahkota Parade is quite small in comparison to the KL malls but with air conditioning..its a blessing in the hot afternoon. My friend was trying to look for a G2K suit which was out of stocks in KL... hoping that it will be available here. Search the whole place and no shops on G2000. Almost gave up hope when we decided to search in Parkson Grand (the anchor tenant).

Found that they do sell G2K in the men's department...a good sign. Went straight to the ladies department... aiks... no G2K?! Ask around and confirmed no G2K for the ladies... Kinda strange to have only G2K line ups for men but not for ladies. Im sure the purchasing power of the ladies are much higher than guys! and how many guys will be buying suits for work..especially in Malacca? Ladies are different...they love jackets and suits...no matter what the weather is. Take a look around your office and im sure some of the ladies would have suit hanging on her chair. Correct me if im wrong..but that's my humble observation.

After Mahkota Parade, we went for early dinner at Gajah Behrang (i think it meant Berserk Elephants! or is it Elephants in heat?) Dinner was satay celup and im glad we were there early... the pots of satay sauce is still clean... at least im not worried of dipping and cooking our food in a mixture of satay sauce and other people's saliva....Not as spectacular as i thought but maybe its the saliva that enhance the taste... who knows!?

Went to Tesco to get some snacks... and found that almost half of the Malacca population is there. No wonder the city is deserted. Well grab some snacks and went back to the hotel. There goes the day.. didnt do much, but the purpose of this trip is to relax anyway....

Malacca Part 2

2006-05-16T23:15:00.000+08:00

After a breakfast of nyonya laksa and cendol, decided to walk around Jonker street. Jonker street would be heaven to those who loves antiquities, arts and crafts. Hang around until noon and was getting tired, so we decided to check in at Riviera Bay Hotel near Klebang Beach.

The hotel room was huge! Much much bigger than any other hotel rooms I have been. I think you can comfortably fit a family of seven into it.

Ok, first thing i did when in the room was to relief myself...(to pee pee) too much cendol and cold drinks. So as i was standing there relieving myself, i noticed that toilet bowls in hotels normally have different set-up. In hotels, the toilet bowls are normally half filled with water... like a mini pool. I dont understand why they want so much water in the bowl. Cant they just use the normal set up whereby there is very little water down at the bottom?

Why am i being fussy?! Well the hotel set up is not suitable for guys! Normally a straight guy will be standing up while doing his business... so imagine with so much water in the bowl, a mixture of water and yellow matter will be splattering out to the floor and to your leg as you pee pee. You cant ask a guy to sit down and pee pee... its kind of wierd too. This hotel set up for toilet bowls is definately not suitable for straight guys.

Anyway, why would they do that?! The only reason that i can think of is.... to minimise the occurence of your mud cakes being smudged on the toilet bowl. Example, if you are processing your mud cakes, in the hotel toilet bowl set up, your mud cakes will be hitting the water first and then would be dissolved into chocolate water... so no yucky smudges on the bowl and no need to clean up so much.... but my complaint is, if you are processing some heavy duty mud cakes, it would behave like a bomb and as it drops... DOM! SPLASH! you would have stuffs smeared on your butt cheeks.... gross!...

I still dont understand why they want to set up the toilets in such a way... do you?

Malacca Part 1

2006-05-15T23:01:00.000+08:00

Drove to Malacca last Saturday morning and it has been ages since I was there. The plan was to start early to beat the traffic and reach Malacca in time for breakfast. No traffic jam... hmmm a good sign.. and we reached at about 8.30am. Went straight to Jonker street for breakfast... plenty of parking space...hmmm another good sign.

By the way, where is everybody?!! Except for a few people, the streets are empty, shops are still closed. Hmm, maybe we are too early... a bit kiasu already :).

Notice that we have to pay for parking...even on weekends and public holidays. Darn! this Malacca Municipal really knows how to make money. We have to buy some coupons and do the "scratch and win" thing. You have to scratch the year, month, dates and time and one coupon is for one hour. So if you intend to stay for 3 hours, you have to scratch 3 coupons...what idiotic system is this! Its a waste of paper and so environmentally unfriendly!

Where to get the coupons? you might ask... well you can get them in authorised agents in many of the shops around Jonker street and the shops hanged out mini signboards to advertise...BUT at 8.30am none of the shops is open! and the official parking hours start at 8am! Another idiotic system.... I had to walk several blocks just to get me self some coupons. So some walking exercise before breakfast... hmm no a good sign after all... :(

Aiks! Double whammy!

2006-05-11T07:44:00.000+08:00

Watched a horror movie yesterday. "Fragile" is the name, horror is not its game. Its a boooorrriiiinggg movie with little to offer. Basically a low cost movie with two main cast...Calista Flockhart (crazy Ally Mcbeal) and a kid (a miniature Katie Holmes).

Almost fell asleep in the first 10 minutes of the show and I can sense that on my friends too... fidgeting in their seats and whispering to each other :) I dont think there is any scary part in the show except for one part... oohhh how i wish the censorship board cut off that scene... yuck!

I guess our beloved censorship board fell asleep when reviewing this film... first there were obscenities (english 4 letter word) shouted by Ally Mcbeal ... horror no. 1... she must be one itchy lady, asking the doctor, medicine and even the rain to "do" her.

When finally the ghost made her (its) appearance, i wish the scene was cut... it was disgusting, horrible and I almost puked! The ghost is actually an old lady with metals stuck to her body. The face part is not scary at all...actually its like a grandmother having her face pulled (to hide all the wrinkles and lines). The horror begins as the camera moves down away from the face... horror no 2... she is naked! and the camera zooms in on her two sagging, preserved papayas. Gasp! How can the censorship missed this part and still classify the movie as U (Umum)?!!!

Anyway... give this movie a miss unless you are a pervert who wants to see some granny's boobies!

Not a good day for me... first the nightmarish show, then the trashing by the Spaniards. Sigh...its ok Boro... lets keep on hoping for the best (that what i have left too)...our day will come!

Footie!

2006-05-10T13:53:00.000+08:00

Football… a game where 22 guys (or gals) running after a ball + 2 guys (or gals) running on a straight line waving flags + 1 guy ensuring nobody is “touching the ball” or “touching one another”

Dunno why people liked the game so much. As for me, not really a fanatic but watches the game occasionally. Started watching the game about 10 years back when most of my friends are already a supporter to some clubs. Every now and then people will ask… “who do you support?” Bored with the questions, I just chose a club… MU.

Kinda have different feelings when watching a game when you are supporting the team…a bit more exciting cause you get to jeer at the losers and vice versa. Anyway I didn’t support MU for long….. was really put off by some of the snobbish and LCLY supporters. Remember that was like 7, 8 years ago….

Then I started seriously looking for a club to support… and I found one! The club was with ambition but a single player attracted me to the club… Middlesbrough and Juninho! That little Brazilian was amazing and I like the supporters… hard-core fans… mainly hooligans from the north!

In a stadium, you can differentiate fans from MU and Boro…. MU fans are a bit quiet… most of them foreigners and was there just to watch their favorite team play…watching quietly. Boro fans are fanatics…very loud…very emotional…full of actions (i.e plenty of vulgarism, songs and hand signs) :)

Well after all this years…. We are in the UEFA Cup finals….finally something big for the club. Hope we can beat those *&@! Spaniards and bring the cup home to Riverside!

Boro! Boro! Boro!

First Blood!

2006-05-10T12:00:00.000+08:00

Hello blog!

Just trying out for the first time the feeling of having my first blog... dunno whether i would have the discipline to post blogs in the future but what the heck.. lets try it out!

kinda exciting to write, just like a kid with a new toy... like the first taste of smoke... like the first time getting HIGH... like the Madonna song "like a virgin"

well wish me luck! will give this blog a try!