da nerd-next-door

i've recently got myself a pair of new glasses cos my old glasses is currently being "held up". why held up, one mite ask? long story, i'd rather not go there.

anyways, this is my first time wearing a thick-rimmed, dark frame glasses. The type that many ppl coined it as 'designer glasses'. Designer not in terms of brand but designer as in profession i.e. graphic designer, interior designer ... u get my drift.

boss spotted me wearing my new glasses two days ago and she was like, "Whoa, Ethan! That's very nice! You should wear glasses." Lookin at my glasses close-up now, she went on to say that i do look good without glasses BUT i look more like a designer with one. Ooo kay. my partner said i look sexy. hmm... so far so good until the kitchen staff said i look old. Well, EVERYBODY suddenly seems to be interested to give comments. Hahaha... it is interesting to get mix reviews.

Studious, 'designer look', sexy, matured, old... it's all good. I like my new look as of now cos i feel like the nerd-next-door

8-)

i am not gonna review the movie. just want to say that i truly enjoyed the latest batman flick directed by christopher nolan (one of my fav directors). i sat thru 2 hrs and 15mins of the show albeit tired from the early morning drive to PD & 2 back-to-back classes at the gym. everything was worth it cos we managed to get the tics at the very last minute. gotta thank the dude behind the counter who gave us the tics and the damn good seat at tgv one utama.
go watch it. it didnt make a fool outta batman and yes, christian bale looks every bit the part as batman and as bruce wayne (kinda made george clooney like the "joker" for his parts :p). so does michaiel caine as alfred. in fact, every God damn actors in the movie was brilliant.

canto-licky-pop

last sat was a taxing weekend cos i had to drive down to Port Dickson to supervise a delivery of 60pcs dining chairs to Avillion Hotel. Thru out the drive, i was accompanied mostly by leo ku and jacky cheung. some of u might go, 'whuuuu???'

hahaha... recently, im quite fond of listening to cantonese/mandarin songs. it's been a while since when i was a teen back in the 90s which i listened a lot to sandy lam, the 4 heavenly kings etc... aw c'mon, cut me some slack. we ALL have been there and done that, havent we? like, listenin and singing to new kids on the block or debbie gibson or even tommy page! man, im cringing now alrite. tommy page...who am i kiddin'

ok back to canto-pop. during the 90s, it was all about canto pop, that is, if ur a chinese, no? the ubiquitous (four) heavenly kings, and the rise of the quaintessential and my all time fav chinese female singer, faye wong. many of whom were enthralled by her melodic and mystical voice and still am to certain some. she might not possess the most powerful vocal in the likes of ah mei or sally yeh or the legendary anita, but she's got her own style and is adamant to stick to it. fck conventionality. i recently read an article on a local daily that she is contemplating to quit the entertainment biz and this writer, whom is a die-hard fan, begged her not to. and i hope she will not (any chance she is reading this?hmm...)

and if ur still interested to find out who is leo ku, his canto name is, ku kui kei, he is THE artist to look out for in canto-pop. great talent - a singer, a writer and a comic artist - whom alan tam named him as one of the 'new' 4 heavenly kings recently (i dont beg to differ, mr tam). i got really hooked to his 'keng kor kam kok' (translated, "greatest hits") medley after a fren sorta "sang" it in a karaoke not too long ago. it's a collection of old cantonese and mandarin songs from as early as the 80s to current top hits. the kinda music u listen to during long drive outstation ;)

never say never

it was quite a hectic and stressful day yesterday
it was like a going to the beach all prepared to have fun but it rained, instead;
the rain brought a lot of gloominess and chaos

the day began rather peacefully with lotsa of work in the office and appointments later in the noon
somewhere between appointments, i received a call frm a fren that somethin' urgent needs to be sorted out
i didnt think much about the "urgent matter" cos it was simply 'manageable' as i was chattin with her over the net
until everythin' turned bad to worse...
like an episode of the Bold & the Beautiful
absolutely dramatic and unnecessary
however trivial i think it was,
some ppl might beg to differ
...and it did.

nonetheless, everythin' was sorted out
sighs were heard frm both parties, happy and sad, angry and frustrated
it was a good lesson learnt to everyone's involved
...that never take anything for granted

as the downpour slowly turned to drizzle,
i discovered rainbow when i looked up

houseandco.com.my

Some might think I am over-promoting this website, http://www.houseandco.com.my, which incidentally, is where I work; but don't get me wrong. Fact is, I am quite proud of the "final-product" and I absolutely would like to share it with a lot more people. It took me a long time to come out with the designs (fyi, this is the 2nd "issue") and a lot more time to capture the right images and settings. Of cos, I've to thank my boss, Pauline for the assistance and some of the shots that she had taken. There are plenty of room for improvement in terms of "browsability". Will look into that...meantime, do drop by for a cuppa teh tarik :)

taking baby steps in blogging and digital photography. bear with me ;)

from l-r: adrian, serina, karen, johnny, wan lee, jasmine & vivian siaw (missing: juwene, janice & ethan)

some changed, some chatted, and the hyperactive ones posed

Caving: Gua Tempurung

I think it is fun to sometimes be in touch with mother nature.

I went caving last Sunday with a bunch of my friends in Gua Tempurung, Perak - approx. 2hrs drive from Kuala Lumpur. At the beginning of the excursion, we had to climb about 500 over steps and at each stop the guide will show us the formation of stalamite and stalatite (I hope I got that right), that he interestingly and rather creatively pointed out to us some of the stones formation which resembles animals such as tiger, elephant, anteater to "Dei Chi Gong" (Chinese Taioist God) and a woman's leg!

A couple of my frens were clearly bored incl. myself cos we were really there for some "actions" which began as soon as the lights were out, literally. Thankfully, we were all equipped with a torch light. A lot of walkin' thru narrow paths and unexpectedly, there were no roaches or many creepy crawlies in sight. I suppose it being a tourist spot, many of these creepy crawlies had "moved" out to somewhere less intervention from the crazy bunch, that's us, the human. The walking, however, turned out to be quite dull at times cos like I said, we were REALLY there for “actions”! The suspense came when we had to crawl on small river streams (it’s not mucky or grimy) a la Rambo or GI Jane. I could see amidst the faint light from our torch lights that some of the gals were quiet wary of crawling tho’ there were informed by the guide prior to entering the cave.

Vivien Siaw was, however, the eager-beaver amongst the bunch and was absolutely thrilled to do it than "just climbing steps". She was also the first to volunteer to get down into a “hole” about the size of a man-hole (abt 1.5ft x 1ft) which is part of the route leading to the exit. Before climbing down, I promptly reminded her of the mafia penguins from Madagascar, the animation flick recently shown on the big screen, and how one of them “hypnotized” the zebra that he didn’t see them plotting to escape the Central Park Zoo (fyi, it was super hilarious, the penguins). This, in turn, inspired her to re-enact the scene which she did with much gusto and absolutely cheered many of us whom were visibly uneasy of the descend.

We exited the cave at abt 1.30pm with a lot of sighs (of relief) and many lookin' like crap - imagine jail convicts who escaped and went thru drains and rivers. Haha... We were all starved but managed to find decent food in nearby Ipoh town (tho the service of the restaurant was pretty bad- imagine shouting and cursing waitresses/waiters; Ong Kee Chicken rice - be warned).

It was overall, a great weekend, rather than my usual Sundays which I'd spend in shopping malls sipping coffee. Oh btw, if you are that sort that like to sip coffee in a trendy cafe in town or shoppin' with friends in upmarket shoppin' malls or have buffet lunch in 5-star hotel on a lazy sunday, then, this might just not be ur cuppa tea - although, I must confess I sometimes indulge all the above...C'mon, I'm born and raised in Klang Valley! Anywaysss, I am lookin' fwd for another similar excursion. In fact, it is already in the planning...until then, I'm outta here.