What?...

Am just not in the mood... what an end to the year... too many things happen that's beyond my control... I'm reminded of the Serenity Prayer... and the original version goes like this:

"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."
-Reinhold Niebuhr-

A BLESSED NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Highs and lows

It was a superb time with my niece around... she actually said "I want to watch football"... the problem is she says it whenever it ISN"T Liverpool playing.... now just have to work on her timing... :P.... other than let's not get into the part we argue over the channels... :D... yaya I'm a big bully... 20+ years old vs. 2+ years old... wonder why the younger one always wins... :P

Master Chef at work... added her pillow as a chef's hat!

Anyway there's a new record of her singing and dancing... 330AM... can you beat that??? I can't even wake up at that time to watch Champions League football....

Leanne Gettin jiggy with it...

So with my niece around what are the "lows???"... well on Monday night I got into an accident... For the first time in 10 years!!!! It's a long story but to see my latio dented quite badly was pretty heart breaking. The door was un-salvagable so it required a new one. Hoping I would get my ride soon.... it'll be about a week in the workshop...

A C C I D E N T... nuff said...

- W A R N I N G -

This is a warning. A tornado is coming your way. If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Ujong Pasir, Melaka. Please prepare evacuation plans as the following might happen:

- Sleepless nights as dancing and singing at 1am is a common occurance.

- She'll sneak up and sit on you (if u are lying down) and think she's on a horse... or is it a buffalo?

- You will be deprived of football on weekends.

- There is only 1 channel available on tv from morning to night. And it's 613 (Disney Channel)

- You are expected to bring her for a walk the first thing in the morning to buy her breakfast.

- Do not mention 'playground' as it's only one way from there no matter day or night

Tornado on the way

If you are not able to evacuate anywhere, please stock up the following items:

- chocolates... especially the one's called SMARTIES

- vitagen...

- sweets

- ear plugs (to prevent the disney songs from eating u up in the brains...)

- mickey mouse (a.k.a. meng) pillow (her bantal busuk)

Be also prepared for:

- endless entertainment

- song and dance night and day

- endless chatter

- a hug and a kiss if u are nice to her... and you have to request for it by the way...

- END OF WARNING -

This blog is going on leave when she gets here... as we plot to take over the world!!.. muahahaha

Appraisal

Appraisal according to my definition:

- The time of the year where the boss have to hear you praising yourself.

It's the time of the year again. Sighhh so not looking forward to it.

My Savior My God

Stumbled upon this song while doing a search for another song. And I'm blessed. Please help me look for the CD. I can't get it here in Melaka. Looks like I lembap abit. The album was published in 2005. I like the rawness of the song. Lyrically and musically.



Thought of putting the lyrics but might have some copyright issues. So u guys do a search yourself :D.

Tell me what you want, what you really really want

It's the holidays and Christmas is around the corner. But most of all I got some spare time. This is my wishlist. Please get me one or all of this (pictures added for illustration purposes and for your reference :D):

1. A Yamaha CP300 Digital piano. - I do not have a piano and it'll look great in my room too.

Yamaha CP300

2. A Taylor 314ce Electro-Acoustic Guitar - It's a nice grand auditorium with cutaway body. It also has a very very "nice" price.

Taylor 314ce

I'll add more to the list once I can get my mind of this two. By the way... nice food and a warm fellowship to catch up with times would be an excellant idea too..

Cheers all...

Janda Baik

Who in the world would name a place "Good widow"??. Anyway as mentioned in the previous post, (which is quite long time ago, I know)... we were in Janda Baik for Team Building stuff. Thought we have to rough out in an old dirty bungalow in the middle of nowhere in the jungle, sleeping with mosqis and leechies. But hey... when we arrived, yups it's still in the middle of nowhere, but it's a real cool 3 storey bungalow with.... a pool filled with filtered mountain water!... can you beat that??.

Anyway we were in this place called Tanarimba and were staying in the house named the Enderong House which won some mentions in the PAM awards 2004 (some architectural stuff). Anyway more of the house, information and pics can be found here.

So just to leave you guys with some pics. It's a really nice and peaceful place for a gateaway. But don't think I could stay in that place for long... i still want my internet! and have a free and easy drive along highways and stuff... Till then... ciaos...

The Enderong House

Naturally finished Interior

Team Building Session

Playin in the pool

Time to jazz...

A K O N

This blog have been pretty quiet for some time... so here goes out the AKON "lonely" song to all you silent readers... :P

Anyway will be going for a company trip to Janda Baik for 2 days... supposed to be team "bonding"... as if we don't drive each other nuts everyday... would be an interesting trip... gonna stay in an isolated wooden 3 story bungalow...

Cheers all...

Custom Drumz in Malaysia...

In my previous post early this year I wrote about one of the bands that I have been a part of, anyway got some updates that Mark Ruffin is now a distributor for custom made drums by Billy Blast over this part of the world. Check out Billy Blast Website.

The only one's that I've tried out was the minikit and the Blaster Triggers. Left the band before he brought in the cocktail set... anyway I find the new designs that is incorporated in the drums are pretty cool. I especially would wanna checkout the "cocktail" set and the Blastech acoustic/electric drums (if they're bringing in...).

Anyway it's all happening in Melaka,

Date: 11th November 2007

Time: 3PM onwards

PLace: My Rock and Roll Blues Cafe

A poster to go along with it:

Grand Opening Of Billy Blast Showroom

If you need directions to get over there you can drop me a line... might go over and check it out myself!

God in the brain...

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Was up in KL for a week of training, and then got back came down with a flu. I think I'm quite allergic to KL... seems to happen each time I'm in KL city... :P.

Anyway I came across an interesting article entitled "God in the Brain" in Scientific American. In a nutshell basically it's an attempt by researchers to induce the "religious sensation/feeling" in the brain. Sounds cool huh...

I'm not gonna critic the article and the researchers belief, I actually didn't analyze the article, but the very idea of it intriguing. What if it's there's a possibility and there's a chance it might be true?...

I've actually been toying with various thoughts about how we do things in the Christian circle, and I think (this is a PERSONAL thought, not a reflection of my church teaching or anything), that actually a "nice/good feeling" can actually be induced... especially during praise and worship.

Please don't get me wrong. I've personally seen and know people being saved and healed during the worship service and have seen the ministry of God moving powerfully during worship services, but after many years of playing and leading in worship, in front of crowds of 5 or 20,000... I believe that at times (please note AT TIMES and not all the time...) with a certain atmosphere, rhythm, arrangement and style played... the music can actually drive the congregation to a certain "heights" or "feeling" being "in the presence of God". I actually think I can list certain "techniques" or ways can be done... but it's not right as it could be judgmental in certain aspects and I'm a great believer in creativity that's God given...

Visiting a number of churches, watching worship videos, and through personal experience, In My Humble Personal Opinion, can I say that many of us have knowingly/unknowingly experience this?. I'm not trying to be judgmental but to look more on the realistic issue over here, because personally, I admit to doing this before... I know I can musically drive a song, make a cool arrangements to some songs, select some songs over another, even selecting a type of sound (from my favorite more-than-5-years-old KN-1500 Technics keyboard!) to get a better congregational response...

But on the other hand, I can't say all these are wrong. There are numerous times that people have come up to me and just mentioned how much they were convicted and the songs spoke to them during worship (only by His grace and mercy, nothing of me).

In the end all I can say is there is no black and white of do's and dont's of worship, songs or some methodology to conduct worship. It's a thin line to draw, but one thing I believe is that, we cannot allow oursleves to be emotionally swayed through songs and musical creativity rather that everything we experience should rise out of a conviction of the Holy Spirit and the Word, and that knowledge of differentiating only comes as we walk closer with Him.

Having said that, I'm not saying that only through this way that a person can be ministered. I've personally brought a friend to Christ, being convicted through a song and she accepted Christ during the worship altar call, of course with the usual proviso of what's the Gospel is all about and stuff like that before hand.

There are many things and points that can be discussed further. But I would hold on for now and would like to know of your response.... can drop me a line at my usual email address: f u n n y g e r m (AT) y a h o o (DOT) c o m

till then... shalom...

Myanmar Christians

The recent development in Myanmar where the Buddhist monks hit the streets peaked my interest about the country. Knowing that our media is "filtered" most of the time, hit the internet and focused on christians in Myanmar.

Taken from Christianity Today (www.christianitytoday.com):

"A group of Chin and Kachin activists met with U.S. officials in Washington in February. Their reports included the rape of Chin and Kachin Christians, forced shutdown of churches, and the taking of children from their Christian parents, placing them in Buddhist monasteries to become novice monks under the false pretense of ensuring a good education. Also, government soldiers are driving thousands of minority Christians from their villages. Those hiding from their own government are called Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)."

and the most interesting part is this:

"Despite persecution, the church is growing approximately 5 percent a year among Protestants and independents."

There are many other articles online which many of you can refer to. Just to list three:

1. persecution.org - Excellant overview of current political and religious status
2. biblesociety.org - pretty old article but a good short history in Chriatianity in Myanmar
3. wikipedia - a worldview of Myanmar and it's current policies

If I remember correctly, Malaysia was one of the STRONGEST ADVOCATES to allow Myanmar's entry to the ASEAN in 1997.

Since the military junta came to power in 1962, there were strings of reported incidents of political abuses, anti democratic movement, racial segregation, horrible human rights record, second largest opium producer in the world! (read Golden Triangle), and... and... and... in the recent TI Transparency Perception Index ranked as the most corrupted country in the world.
I'm listing this not as a basis to "judge" the country (I'm juz a helpless fry...) but my question is
Why did we turn a blind eye and admit Burma into ASEAN?. Were there any indicators that the country's policies will change? It denounced the results of a free election in 1990 and the military continued holding power to this day?

Under the guise of "non-interferance" we freely advocate the entry of this nation to be in the same league as us. Maybe could it be the following reasons:

1. Money. Money. Money. (Myanmar has quite a huge reserve of oil and gas)
2. Or is it the case of realization that, there are similarities????... how can we question the speck in the eye of a neighbor but a plank in the own eye?

I admit that in reality and economic wise, these burmese people are suffering much more than us over here, but based on principles are there similarities? Rather than listing down the similarities and be categorized as a "political blog" you do your own thinking la.

Until then do spare sometime to pray for the Christians over in Myanmar and for us as a nation...

Shalom...

How to Sleep with a blocked nose...

I discovered something new today! and you should try this when it happens to you. :P. GOt up about 430am this morning with my nose kinda blocked with mucus. Blowed as hard as I can but whe lie down it keeps blocking... and I was darn sleepy.

So juz flashed in my mind why not juz let gravity "unblock" the nose. So this is what i did:

The art of unblocking the nose

I actually thought of juz sitting up and let it out, but once i lean my head against the wall I literally doze of for a few minutes, till my head lost it's balance and I nearly drop off... haha.... and guess what... the nose cleared!... woohooooo...

Anyone done or experienced this before? If not I would like to patent this cure... muahaha

VIEWERS DISCRETION ADVISED -18SG -

Got a forwarded email from my friend today. Courtesy of Mr. Au Kenn of Ismeca. Reminded me of the first time I ate this stuff in Philippines. Basically the MMUCF graduates of 2002 (abt 20 of us if i can recall) organized a Mission Trip to Philippines. We covered quite a number of places from Manila - La Union - Vigan - Baguio and some places in between. We had excellant hosts too who brought us round and one of them actually gave us one of this local delicacy... called "balut". We heard abt it before we came... but the horrors of horrors is when u actually see it and supposed to eat it... :P

Anyway most of the guys chicken out at first, and shockingly it was the girls that ate first. I have to admit I was the 2nd last guy that ate it... and man... that'll be the first and last time I'll ever eat or go near that "thing".

Balut Peeling

The first thing is u drink the "juice" in the egg. Then you're supposed to eat the "stuff" mixed with some salt and vineger. As in drinking the juice wasn't bad enough, wait till you eat it. The first thing is you fell the feathers and the bones... and *cannot describe some more*... I just literally swallowed it and drank gallons of water after that. This is one of the times I can see guys squirm!.

Balut unveiled!

Anyway it was an interesting experience and as Jack Rogan says... "and obviously fear is not a factor to you!"

Happy Belated Merdeka...

Malaysia has reached it's 50th year of independance. A huge milestone for an asian nation. It should be one of the grand mummy's of the SEA nations. But... personally i believe she is still looking for her identity. Conflicting statements from politicians regarding Malaysia's religious status, controversies regarding the federal constitution, blogs that highlights corruption at high levels... where does this leave us? Where does this leave young Malaysians like us, brought up and bred in Malaysia and can hardly speak a word of chinese (I know it's only me... :P)?... Lived in a kampung, with malay neighbors left and right, playing and fighting together.

Merdeka Vintage Cars Convoy at HSBC Melaka

What should our response be? Is it to live in Malaysia with a sense of hope that things would turn around? or living with a sense of cynicism and suspicion?. Talking with many young Malaysians, many of us are divided into 2 camps, some has become critical of goverment policies and cynical to every move the leaders make, and the other camp just couldn't be bothered and display a lacksidal attitude towards anything that happens in the country. Preferring to indulge in apathy and just concentrating on building careers and making money. Very few young people actually are optimistic and remain positive of the changes in the country. Maybe all these are reflected in the higher migratory rate recorded recently...

It's easy to pick on policies, circumstances, situations, bad experiences. Personally and through stories related by friends, relatives and other religious bodies we can see instances of negative/discriminatory actions but I'm always reminded, if there is no battle how can we have victory? If there is no iron to sharpen us, how can we grow and mature? iron sharpens iron, sparks fly!. Or could it be that we're unsure of our identity? of God's plans and purposes for us in this nation? Questions that we can only answer ourselves.

Merdeka Vintage Cars Convoy at HSBC Melaka

Maybe I can be labeled as naive. But i do hope that I would not turn into a cynical and critical Malaysian. Maybe there would be a time that I would migrate out, but maybe not. Whatever it is I'm still a Malaysian.

Enough rambling...

.S H A L O M.

Addendum: Remembered somewhere back in August '98, 1 Malay, 1 Indian and 2 Chinese (one of them me... :P) were on their kapchai's singing the Sudirman's "Tanggal 31..." Merdeka song on top of our lungs, while roaming the streets of Melaka... talk abt Mat Rempit's these days.... those were the days... :D

Instruments 4 sale

A friend of mine mailed me a list of instruments he's selling off... so just started me off on some some nostalgic memory lane on the instruments i have/had. I use to own:

• A Kapok guitar - turned into firewood in a camping trip in 1997
• A Fornica Guitar (forgot what model) - "pinjam" from my dad... now with my sis
• An Encore Guitar - an ovation copied model... "pinjam" from my dad also... my first guitar with passive outpout... sold 2nd hand...
• A Robinson upright piano - bought when my sis and I was learning piano.... given away to a family friend when i went to uni...
• A Yamaha F150 - "pinjam" from my dad also... supposedly he bought for himself... but as previous instruments...;D... Using right now
• A Technics KN-470 keyboard - "pinjam" from an uncle 5 years ago... still in use :D
• A Tama Swingstar drumset, with zildjian cymbals! - bought 2nd hand, given away to a church... *sob*sob*

Anyway here's a list of instruments that's being sold by my friend, do drop me a line if you are interested... I wish i can afford the '98 Gibson Les Paul custom!... :P

Drumsets:
1982 Tama Swingstar 5pc. set Metal blue color. No stand Just drums. rm 2000.00
1990 Pearl forum 5pc. set Black color. No stands Just drums. rm 2000.00
1980's Samick 7pc. set white color. No stands just drums. big toms set! rm 2000.00
1997 Percussion Plus 5pc. set Refinished stained/poloyurethane nat. wood. no stands just drums. rm 1500.00
80's rebuilt 5 pc.set 2 in 1. small and large bass drum convertable nat wood refinished. rm 1500.00

Acoustic Guitars:
90's Hofma acoustic Guitar new nat color rm 450.00
90's Hofma acoustic Guitar cutaway new nat color rm450.00
2006 Fina electro/acoustic used Blue color rm 1000.00

Electric Guitars:
90's Epiphone "Chet Atkins" Elecro/Acoustic solid body sunburst color used rm 2000.00
90's Epiphone LP double cutaway Electric Guitar red color used rm 2000.00
90's Epiphone Sheriton semi acoustic electric guitar tobacco burst color used rm 2500.00
67' Hofner veri-tone semi acoustic electric guitar red rm 2500.00
98' Gibson Les Paul Custom Premium Plus Honey Burst Color Rm 9000.00
98 Gibson 1275 Double Neck (Led Zepplin) Red Rm 10,000.00

Added note:

- Items are 2nd hand in good pristine condition... (you can see from the dates la duhhhh....) still got ppl ask summore hahaha...

- I dun earn anything la... juz helping a friend to sell off his collection, he's replacing some of his eq's.

Conversation with my niece (Part 2)

We were going to church, so since she's the sleepy head and wakes up late, I went later to church coz have to wait for my mum to get her ready... in the car while i was driving....

Mum: Leanne today we go church ok...
Leanne: Go what church?
Mum: Go mama's church... can see Gabrielle, Raphael, Celine...
Leanne: Go different church!
Mum: What church you want to go?
Leanne: Go "meng" church...
Mum: where got "meng" church?
Leanne: Got... at ikano...
Mum: Got who there?
leanne: Daisy duck... mickey mouse... goofy (and she rants the name one by one...)

Tat was really funny... but anyway she enjoyed her time at the kid's church... getting all the jelly and stuff... she was able to remember the bible characters too... For a 2 year old I think she talks really a lot... those who know my family I think would know she follows after who... :D

Cheers...!

Conversation with my niece...

My niece Leanne is over here, since my sis and bro-in-law is in Australia trying to get things prepared to move over... so during weekends I'll layan her a bit la... so one of the conversation with my niece...

Me: mummy drive what?

Leanne: Cucuki witawa (suzuki vitara)

Me: daddy drive what?

Leanne: Pewodua Mywi (Perodua Myvi)

Me: Akoo Ben drive what?

Leanne: Nisan laso (Nissan Latio)

Me: U like akoo Ben's car?

Leanne: Nooo...

Me: U like mummy and daddy's car?

Leanne: Nooo...

Me: Then u like what car?

Leanne: "meng" car... ("meng" is mickey mouse)

Me: you can drive ar?

Leanne: caaaaannnnnn...

Me: You got no driving license... Where you want to get your license?

Leanne: Ikano..

Me: ???

Since when did Ikano issue driving license for 2 year olds??... hahaha... Anyway some pics below on her antics...

Watering plants with her bottle :P

The maid at home

Playing at the Tesco playground... RM3 for 3o minutes!... what a ripoff...

She likes playing "masak-masak" in the toy house... ;)

hit by a train...

Sorry for the lack of updates... have been extremely busy... like being hit by a train!... hitting late nights (and some mornings) at work... a niece to entertain during the weekends... got myself a new ride... stuff here and there... hope to be able to resume some form of a normal life soon... :P

Confessions...

I've got a confession to make... I've indulged in some vice back in the UK... and had a whooping good time :P. hahaha. Anyway it all started when my department decided to have some timeout to chill so they decided to head over to the races... and it's the Portsmouth Greyhound Stadium. Check out the website here. Actually whenever we head over to Portsmouth Town we saw this huge sign but none of us ventured in before. So they had a group discount for all of us plus food, drinks and... a betting ticket.

The Portsmouth Greyhound Stadium

In total there's about 12 or 15 races per day. So being the jakun's that we were... we started betting on the first race itself. My "wise" strategy was simple... 1st race - take dog number 1, 1nd race - take dog number 2 and so on... so happily placed my bet (2 quid!) on dog 1 for the 1st race...

My 1st race dog!

So what happen is they'll put a mechanical hare running around the circuit and the dogs will juz go after it like crazy... so for the first race... waiting in excited anticipation... 3...2...1... and off they go... my dog was leading!... I'm screaming my head off... then... came to the first corner... alamak kena nudge by the other side dog... terbabas... the dog tergolek golek... got up again and ran... but left behind oledi... so there goes my strategy...

Others have a different strategy... pick the dog that crap the last... in theory it should be the lightest... :P... well work for some dogs... but not for all haha..

The crapping dogs...

So basically spend the whole nite chit chatting, placing bets, eating and kinda wind down from stuff... cool... all in all.. I didn't make a loss... but a gain of 3 quid... :P... enough for a sandwich in the afternoon hahaha...

The dogs prancing away

My first winning ticket on race 2... actually took dog number 2 for race 2.. haha!

Yups... so just a short update... should be the last on UK... dun wanna bore u guys with things there... so cheerios...

p/s - Heh wonder whether pastor will find out... :D

Books...

Since there's quite a lot of free time during the weekends I caught up with one of my favorite past times... reading... bought quite a number of books that I actually have to SHIP it back to Malaysia... weighs about 15kg... would definitely have exceeded my baggage... (by the way I check in my luggage at 24kg... :P...)

Anywhere here's the list of reading materials I purchased:

1. Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
2. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
3. Season in Hell - Jack Higgins
4. Force 10 - Alistair McLean
5. Vulcan 607 - Rowland White
6. Rough Guide to England... (very important book!)
7. AA Pocket Guide: England
8. The Illustrated Home Recording Handbook
9. Sound on Sound (Music Production Mag...)
10. Computer Music: Beginner's guide
11. Linux in a Nutshell
12. Linux Pocket Guide
13. Rainstorm - Forgot author's name
14. Grand Designs (home design mag...)
15. Ideal Home (home design mag...)

... and a Noah's Ark book for my niece!... :D

Might be other books/mags that I didn't list down... left the box at my office... haha... anyway it's been fun catching up with reading... but I still rate Tom Clancey as one of my favorite authors... clear, articulate and detailed writing... based on a lot of facts rather than fiction... ;)...

Stay tuned on my next update about... dogs...

Cheers...

Edited 16/7:
Rainstorm is actually Steel Rain by Tom Neale... :P
Additional book was Storm Warning by Jack Higgins

Whirlwind Part 2

As promised, this is the 2nd installation of the Whirlwind Trip series ... :P... Anyway after a night's stay at Penzance we were actually undecided where to go. Only decided during breakfast where we should head to and decided to go over to Lizard's Point (the most southern tip of the British mainland) and also to the Eden Project.

The Lizard's Point is about an hour's plus drive from Penzance. The views in Lizard's is superb unspoilt natural beauty. You can wiki up The Lizard here. Lots of history and significance of the place is mentioned. I would rate it better than Land's End which is a little too commercialized for my taste.

The Lizard Point

Awesome, breathtaking view from the top!

The boathouse @ The Lizard's Point... skin divers and spear fishing guys set off from here

Suppose to be some posing glamour dudes... :P

Mainly farmhouses are around this place... lots of "booby traps" around like the one you get here in Malaysia... hahaha.

Gigantic rock formations...

After spending sometime trekking around the walk paths we decided to head to the Eden Project. Just heard about the place but don't really know what it's all about. Was contemplating among ourselves whether would the place be worth the 15 quid entrance fee (RM105!!). The space looking stuff sold it (check out the pics below), so off we go.

Basically the Eden Project is a project (duhhhh....) where different environments is recreated in a sphere (called biome). They try to replicate the exact environment to the extent that the plants can thrive and grow. When we were there the 2 biomes ready were the tropical biome and the mediterreanean biome. The desert one is in the middle of construction. The Eden project tries hard to send the message of global warming, recycling, energy efficiency and they are aiming to be a zero waste site, meaning they reuse/recycle 100% of every waste produced. Cool huh?

Malaysia is listed on the tropical biome and they have an actual replica of a rumah kampung and even the old kapchai used!... I was pretty amazed how close they could replicate the malaysian environment... it was really hot and humid! Anyway much more information and pics can be obtained from the wiki site here. Meanwhile some of the pics below:

The biomes. On the left is the tropical biome while the mediterreanean biome is hidden

Signboards in BM!

The tropical biome, similar to the jungles of Malaysia

The Mediterreanean biome

Basically that sums the quick trip that we had. It was interesting, tiring and petrol consuming trip. Haha... so that's it and I'll cover 1 last place in my next posting... cheers!

Only 1 word

it's HOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

Cheers....

Sidetrack: I'm Chili Oil Boy

Just a sidetrack from Whirlwind: Part 2, I'm going back today!... wooohooooo. Anyway one person that I think would miss me (or actually more of the business she's getting) is this aunty who owns a small restaurent over here in Hayling Island. We usually bungkus food from her place and bring back. So most of the time we Malaysians will request some superhot stuff (they actually have cili padi)and I'll also ask for the "chili oil" (like the ones u get in some nyonya restaurents)... so on the last day I tapau from her she gave me the name chili oil boy... hope that name doesn't stick with my colleagues... :P

Another time when I went over there... just bought a muffin... she told me in cantonese not to eat if not get fatter... I was like... duhhh... spoilt my appetite oni... :P

All rights... anyway looking forward to get back... meet up with u guys... have some nasi lemak, roti canai, nasi beriani, tosai, etc, etc... and all will be back to normal... haha

Whirlwind Trip: Part 1

Total distance: 870km in 2 days.

Where: Planet Earth

How: With the trusty Chrysler (... think the drive shaft gonna KO soon) and outdated GPS.

When: on a weekend where we had nothing better to do

No map. No accomodation plans. Just pack and go. Basically all these places are located in the county of Cornwall. Told Michelle the name of the place came about due to the plantation that was grown during the olden days, which was mainly corn and it grows in rows of huge tall plants, hence the name Cornwall... well she swallowed it hook, line and sinker.. and wasn't too impressed that it was a bunch of fibs... :P

Anyway plan for the day: Head to Land's End (Most western tip of England, 5 hours drive away) and do a quick detour to Newquay, the self styled Surfing Capital of England.... yea rite... the waves at Port Dickson is bigger :P (think was out of season). Anyway Newquay is a real happening place, beach littered with babes and hunks, music blaring from the top of the beach, nice sands and clean waters... good place to juz chill out.

The funny part was none of us were in our beach gear (when we left Havant it was quite chilly in the morning)... so here goes 4 sesat chinese, dah la sticking out like a sore thumb in the sea of mat salleh's... wearing jeans summore hahaha... believe me the stares and smiles we get were kinda embarassing hahaha.

Newquay: The beach, the people and the smell of the sea

A small harbour in Newquay, there was a seal swimming around... if you can spot it ;)

Surfer dudes wannabes with their big pot bellies!

Was trying to keep the ice cream from fallin... was really nice home made stuff...

After spending bout an hour plus at Newquay... we headed to Land's End. We stopped by at this place called Penzance, the last town before hitting to Land's End to find a place to sleepover... was hunting round for cheap places to stay when we came over to a hotel with a bar below and a huge banned furled at the front advertising 19.95 pounds per person... without much further hunting we juz checked out the rooms and then paid for a night's stay and went straight to Land's End...

The famous landmark of Land's End... they're charging 12 quid to have pic taken with it!...

Breathtaking views at Land's End... the blue waters is the Atlantic Ocean... swim across and you'll reach the US ;)

Cliffhanger... spot me!... that's the furthest i dared to go...

no ropes or safety harness at all along the way...

Another view at Land's End

It's summer over here and it's still daylight at 8pm... so we still had time after walking round Land's End... so we tried to look out for a place and a name came out called...... Mousehole. Yea I'm not kidding the place it's really called Mousehole and they are reputed to have one of the prettiest harbour around UK. It's really a nice quaint picturesque little place, narrow roads, crammed houses... it's like crossing into another place outside of UK. The place is strangely... filled with cats. Since I came here I've never seen a cat... until i reached here, maybe they all migrated over here...

Another "strange" thing here was there are honesty boxes at the parking place (for you to drop the parking fees) and also there are people who actually sells shells along lanes and just leave the money box beside it... for you to leave your money if you purchase it. Amazingly no one took the stuff or the money box away!

The Mousehole... incase you don't believe me :P

Small roads, quaint shops lining up the streets

The town of Mousehole

The Mousehole harbour

All right that's all for now, stay tuned as I'll cover 2 more places in my next update... Whirlwind Part 2!...