Vicks Vapor Rub

Ee Sean was coughing non-stop last night with slight fever. Then I remember the tip that I learned in one of the e-mails I received, saying that cough can be stopped at night if you apply Vicks Vapor Rub on the soles of the feet and put on a pair of socks after applying it. Voila! It worked. The cough stopped within minutes. I wonder if this works for adults as well. Will try the next time I cough.

Bad Experience at Pizza Hut

Went to Pizza Hut in Seremban Parade for dinner with my parents and we experienced bad service even before entering the restaurant. We reached the restaurant at about 8pm and we were the 3rd in line. What made me fuming was that they kept us waiting outside the restaurant when there were so many empty tables. So I vented my frustration at a lady whom I think was the manager on duty (she wore a blue shirt which was distinct from everyone else. I raised my voice at her by asking why were they not seating us when there were so many empty tables. She asked me how many person and I replied 6 and she just pointed to a table without saying a word. What service! I am trying very hard not be racist but I just could not help but notice that all those working there were of one race! (your guess). No Wonder! There were even tables not cleared after customers have left. I could see that they were not short-handed but just do not have any sense of urgency.

Our orders were taken quite quickly and the waitress was quite polite. But other than that everything else was a bad experience. The salad bar was not replenished and we had to wait about ten minutes before they replenished and that was only the lettuce. All other trays in the salad bar was almost empty. We oredered chicken wings as well but was told that they were sold out. Utensils were also not laid on our the table when we got out salad. So more waiting.

Then the mushroom soup came. I had to ask four waiters and waitresses before I got the pepper that I requested. It's not that they were short handed. There was just no sense of urgency at all.

As I was paying after the meal, the cashier turned away a customer saying that they were closed. It was only 9pm sharp. I questioned why she turned that customer away when it was only 9pm. The cashier's reply was that they have been exceptionally busy the whole day. What business acumen is that?

I am definitely going to make a formal complaint through their website. Anybody else experienced the same thing before?

Kung Fu Panda

Took the whole family (yes, including the little girl) to see Kung Fu Panda this morning at TGV Jusco S2. We went to TGV at 10 am (the opening time for Jusco) and we were the first in line to buy tickets. We were entitled to earlybirds rate of RM6 for adult tickets which normally cost RM8 for this show (funny why they charge differently for different shows). Kids ticket is RM5. The earlybirds rate were for shows before 12 noon only.

Being the first in line I thought we would be the able to choose good seats but to my surprise, the seats were about 50% booked (previously when I called up, they said they did not accept booking through the phone). We opted for the best seats available, the sixth row from the front, centre section. When the movie started even the 1st row was fully seated.

The film stars voices of Jacky Chan (Monkey), Dustin Hoffman (Shifu), Angeline Jolie (Tigress) and Lucy Liu (Viper). For more about this movie visit Kungfu Panda.

I think the movie draws some of its inspirations (like the kung fu learning part with the chopsticks) from Jacky Chan's old movies like Drunken Master and Snake in The Eagle's Shadow.

Ee Sean enjoyed the movie very much but the little girl fell asleep half way through the movie. A very nice movie with very good animations by Dreamworks.

"Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is mystery and Today is a gift, which is why it's called present" - Master Oogway.

PKRB 34th AGM

PKRB's 34th Annual AGM was held today at Nilai Springs Golf and Country Club. It was a quiet affair with only a handful of shareholders turning up (makes resolution easier to pass ma!). Of course there were also 4 proxies namely, Chong, Rosa, Ellena and yours truly (the usual actors and actresses). All 9 resolutions were read out, proposed and seconded in less than 15 minutes. There were no issues raised by the shareholders. Phew!

Lunch after the AGM was Nasi Lemak with rendang ayam (a little tough lah!)and sambal sotong (very nice) ONLY!.

Day Trip To Port Dickson

I took the family to Blue Lagoon, Port Dickson for a day trip. The kids really enjoyed it the most as this is the first time that they played and got their hair wet in the sea. They also had fun collecting shell fish but we did not bring them back and we explained to Ee Sean that they will not survive if we were to bring them back.

We reached at about 10:45am and left at 1:30 (the sky looked rather gloomy and was about to rain) after having pre-packed nasi lemak.

Here's a tip, don't bring any rolled up mats (which are troublesome to bring about) the next time you want to go picnic in PD. There are folded up mats that are cheaply sold for RM10 at Teluk Kemang (that's where I bought it from, not sure about elsewhere).

What A Day....It's Not Over Yet

The day started by me taking the car to Toyota for routine service. Then Sue Ching came and fetched me with the other car with Ee Sean. We dropped Ee Sean off for his Taekwondo class and went for breakfast with Edward Wong's (Ee Sean's friend) father. After fetching Ee Sean we went to Parkson to kill time as there was no electricity at home. Then at 1:30 we went to Toyota to get my car. The routine and air-cond service cost a bomb, RM430! As I was about to reach home I noticed the amber light (the engine sign) on the dashboard, lit. I also noticed the central locking system was not functioning. Usually the central lock will activate automatically after a certain distance of driving. So off I went back to Toyota Service centre. They tested and retested and they couldn't solve the problem and in the end after 3 hours of waiting, at 4:30pm they told me that since tomorrow is Sunday and they do not have a spare for me to use, I have to send the car back on Monday morning. What a waste of my time! I had to miss Ee Sean's appointment with the dentist. Oh! about the dental appointment, no filling needed to be done as the cavity that I suspected was just a slight discolouring and the pain that he felt was caused by the permanent tooth emerging.

TGIF

Thank god it's Friday.

Time sure flies. It was just a week ago that I last blogged about Sea-Monkeys. And I have been telling myself that I will blog every other day. But day after day and now it's Friday. Here's a recap of what happened over the week.

Saturday - 14 June 2008
OK! Let me recall what happened last Saturday. OK! Now I remember. I played a badminton tournament last Saturday. It was a round robin tournament with 4 teams in a group with the team topping the group advancing to the semifinals (there were of course 4 groups with 16 teams). My team "Ngai Fung Engineering" won our first tie on Saturday 3-0 against a team called MU Sport (Nama saja cantik but got no quality one) but we were whipped the very next day with the same scoreline, 3-0, by MK Team (can play lah). I think we lost out on experience lah (typical excuse given by Malaysian shuttlers). The third tie will be tomorrow. I will not be playing as I want to rest my aching triceps and also to give chance for the seventh and reserve player a chance to play (this tie will be academic as MK team is assured of a semifinal spot because they beat the team that we are playing tomorrow. MK will be playing MU Sport tomorrow and they are sure to win one lah and advanve to the semis on the virtue of winning their 3 ties). Enough of badminton for now. By the way Indonesian Open Quarterfinals was on Astro just now from 5-9pm (repeat tomorrow at 11:30am) semi finals tomorrow live at 5-10pm and finas on Sunday at 3-8pm.

Sunday - 15 June 2008 Happy Father's Day.

This is my Father's Day present from Ee Sean. He made it in School. Cute!
And this is what is inside. Sweet isn't it?
Wednesday - 18 June 2008 It's AGM day for Nilai Springs Golf and Country Club. Thank god this year only 3 members came besides Parmes and the 3 proxies, Chong, Ellena and yours truly. No fights, no complaints about Kevyn (GM) but just plain sailing. But one of the members present brought up a very good point though. He suggested that if we were to make the future AGMs more interesting with more members participation, it should be held on a Saturday.

The refreshments like usual loh! Fried mee-hoon (quite tasty, not bad), curry/sardine puffs (shrunk already and all because of the fler who raise the petrol price. maybe he should really step down), and some kuih with not any takers.

Thursday - 19 June 2008 Desmond, Irene, Alan. What do these names have in common? Names found in the Bible? Well, you figure out and expect more names to be added to the list.

Just Now - 10 - 11 pm Aiyoh! I want to pull my hair out lah. Not literally. I was watching "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader" again. This woman (who was a spelling bee champion in Grade School) was asked, "if Jacob stood on somebody's shoulder and their height was 2.5 yards, how tall were they?". Guess what she answered? 78 feet. Aiyohyoh! These Americans are f***ing stupid. Sorry for the language but I'm sure you will react the same way if you watch the program

Sea-Monkeys

This is what we got from the souvenir shop outside Petrosains, Sea-Monkeys. I was not very convinced initially when I saw it and I bombarded the salesperson with so many questions. Luckily he was very patient with me and kept reassuring me that these were live pets. I mean, it's so hard to believe that lives can be created from just 3 packets of powder with water added.

To produce the live sea-monkeys, first I had to empty all the powder in packet 1 (water purifier)into the aquarium filled with water. Leave for 24 hours. Then empty packet 2 (instant live eggs)into the purified water. According to the instructions, the sea-monkeys will hatch instantly. I think I did notice one small thing wiggling after 5 minutes which was around 6:35pm. By the next morning, there were about 3 to 4 sea-monkeys which were quite small but still noticeable.

This is how it looks like after the eggs were poured in. The tiny tiny dots were actually bubbles but among them were sea-monkeys. Serious! I will try and post a picture of them later today when I have fed them with the food in the third pouch. First feed, according to the instruction, should only be done 5 days after hatching.

If you want more information, click here. They are really live creatures (I swear) and make great pets if you feel that big fish aquariums are a hassle.

Petrosains

I took the family to Petrosains last Saturday. Petrosains was having a promotion on that day. All dads need not pay if accompanied by a child. Yeap! I entered for free. Total entrance fee for the four of us was RM16, RM4 for Sean and RM12 for Sue Ching. The little girl need not pay too as she was below 3. We went in at 11:15 am and came out at 2:30 pm. It was like a science centre but not quite. Since it was sponsored by Petronas, it was only logical that most of the exhibits touched on how petreleum ie. it's production process. It started with the Dark Ride into the centre which was quite enjoyable and we were introduced to all things Malaysian. It's a round carriage on wheels that seats only seven person.

The "Carriage"

Inside the center, there was also a helicopter simulator ride where you can experience how a real helicopter ride feels like, from take off to going through rough weather to landing on an oil rig. Not bad lah, if you haven't tried before. It's something like the Motion Master in Genting Highlands.

The "Helicopter"There was also a 3D movie that charged RM2 for entry. Overall it is worth visiting if you haven't been. I would rate it to be better than the Aquaria which charged higher entrance fee. One complaint about this place though which I think I would forward through its official website is the lack of water coolers and vending machines in Petrosains. They did not allow water to be brought in but said water coolers were available in the centre. But the water coolers were far apart and there were only two which I noticed. And by being more than 3 hours in there and way past lunch time, we were so hungry! And all that were available were two stupid vending machines vending Kit Kat, Koko Crunch and sweets. They should have a cafetaria like IKEA.

If you are planning a visit there, plan to arrive in the morning, preferably 10:00 am so that you will be out just in time for lunch. Moreover it's not so crowded in the morning.

A Session With Master Ee

No these are not ecstasy pills. They are pills that was prescribed to me by a traditional Sinseh, Master Ee. I went to this Master Ee to be treated for the pain on my triceps last Friday. The pain stretches to the part slightly below the shoulder on my back. Well you get my drift? I must say the treatment did cure my pain but after much torture!

He started by asking me lie down on my back. Before I know it, he started stretching my right hand, the injured hand. It felt like hell. The pain was unbearable. Excruciating! It was like he was trying to dislocate my arm from my shoulder. I kept praying for him to stop. Stop, he did. But the the torture did not stop there. He asked me to take off my shirt and lie down on my belly and he started rubbing the area which I told him where the pain was, on the back just below the shoulder. He just kept on rubbing as hard as he could. Torture it may seem but I think I was enjoying the session as he seemed to be rubbing away the pain. It lasted about 5 minutes.

Then he told me that a tendon was strained or rather swollen to him. He said that I should be OK at that moment and should be fully recovered after taking those pills for 4 days. 4 types of pills each day.

The pain was gone when I tried to execute my killer smash (ahem!) just now playing badminton. But I was still holding back for fear of getting injured again.

This Master Ee is quite popular. He operates from a wooden house that is located on the right side of the road just before the hill that leads you to Rasah New Village if you come from Taman Permai. His "clinic" only opens on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays he operates in Banting. He also prescribes medicines for cough and other minor ailments.

Game Shows

I watched this show called "Identity" by chance last Saturday. It airs at 9:45pm on NTV7. It was quite a fun show to watch if you have no other thing to watch or if you are a game or reality show freak like me.

"Identity" is a game show where contestants size up a group of strangers in an effort to match their identities and win a top prize of $500,000. Each new contestant faces 12 new strangers and a list of 12 new identities. The game unfolds as the contestant picks an identity - ranging anywhere from a profession (like former child star, Miss USA 2006, mortician, hand model etc.) to a shoe size or even weight - and tries to match it with one of the 12 strangers. The amount of money the contestant accumulates increases with each correctly identified stranger. If all 12 are matched up correctly, the player is rewarded with the top prize of $500,000.

I am sure a Malaysian version of this show will come pretty soon.

Another show which caught my attention is "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader". This shows go on air on Star World (Astro 711) every Monday at 10:00pm with repeats on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The contestants will be asked questions which is taught to kids up to 5th grade in the US. The prize money goes up for every question answered correctly. If the contestant successfully answered 10 questions correctly, the top prize money will be $1 million.

What left me flabbergasted was the answers given to questions like questions like, "If two angles of a triangle are 1 degree each, what is the degree of the third angle?". This lady answered 1 degree. So what is your answer?

Another question was "What is the only continent which is a country?" This another contestant opted not to continue but to take whatever she has won which was $500,00. If she answered that question correctly, she would have won another $500,000! She even spelled out the possibilites, "America, Antartica, Asia, Australia..." See this show if you want to laugh at the Americans.

Kuih Sengkuang (Kok Chye)

This is the kuih that I bought from a shop in Nilai. The name of the shop is Jia May (located behind the Jasmin foodcourt). This shop started business with one shop and last week, I discovered that it has opened a third adjacent shop which is a cake house. Wah! really good business lah.

Anyway they are very generous with the filling for the kuih above which is made with fried turnip or sengkuang and it's damn tasty! Satu makan dua mahu. And you know what, it costs only 60sen each. A word of caution though, it's quite oily.

Don't go to the shop too early though if you want to buy it because they only sell it from 1:30 pm onwards. But other than this they also sell other kuihs one of which is another of my favourite which is the "yam cake", a cake named after me. Hahaha! Their yam cake is very yammy, unlike the ones from other shops where you only eat a lot of flour.

An inside look of the kuih sengkuang after the other half went into my stomach. Anybody wants to take any orders?

Heart Of Greed

This will be my wife's latest addiction every evening for, I think the next two to three weeks.

It's a 3 DVD series which was lent to me by RO. Initially I was very frustrated because Disc 1 couldn't play but Disc 2 & 3 could. Then I thought of an idea, why not try the laptop and voila! the disc could play. But it was not so shock watching such a small screen. Then I thought of a brilliant idea why not hook the laptop to the LCD TV. I tried with the cable that came with the TV and voila! again. It worked! That's advantage of and LCD TV. It was like watching a DVD on a normal DVD player.

So addictive was my wife to the show that she even called me up yesterday evening while I was playing badminton to ask me how to hook the laptop to the TV.

The plot focuses on Ha Yu's family feuding over his abalone business and assets after his death. Ha Yu's second wife, Kwan Kuk Ying often protests that Moses Chan Ho does not deserve the inheritance due to his illegitimate birth.

Since the series is 40 episodes long, there is also additional drama in the love relationships, centering around the 3 male leads, Moses Chan, Raymond Lam and Bosco Wong. Even Ha Yu is torn between 2 wives.

"Heart of Greed" also features veternan supporting actors such as Ha Yu, Michelle Yim Mai Shuet, Lee See Kei (first wife), and Kwan Kuk Ying with significant screen time. Michelle played an awesome villainess in "The Brink of Law," but it is Kwan Kuk Ying who assumes the evil mistress role in "Heart of Greed."

As the eldest son, Moses was originally believed to be adopted. Kwan often has disagreements with Ha Yu's first wife, Lee See Kei over splitting the inheritance.

Michelle Mai plays Lee See Kei's younger sister. However, she bears a shattering secret as it turns out that Moses is born out of wedlock between her and Ha Yu!

Better not go on or else my wife will kill me.