velverse

49th MERDEKA Day

MERDEKA!!! MERDEKA!!! MERDEKA!!!

Everybody is busy celebrating and talking about it.
A lot of people took the Friday off as well to make it a long weekend break.

Like what I said last year, I think most people have lost and forgotten about the true meaning of the celebration.
That being said, it includes myself.

The only reason I may have a little knowledge about this special day was due to our history class.
We have to study hard to ensure we pass our history exams.
While many love to read historical stories, but when it comes to understanding the celebration, that is something else.
I won’t be surprise that many people many not even remember how long have we got our independence.

Of all people, I think I am not specifically patriotic but at least I know my history.
Being a typical Malaysian, I always complain about the jam.
But there are many things I love about my country.
For a start, I love that we get many different type of food.
From Chinese food to Indian food to Malay food and many other foreign cuisine like Japanese food, Korean food and etc.
It’s like I’m able to eat Yee Sang during Chinese New Year, have nasi lemak with Nescafe Ais for breakfast and Roti Canai with Teh Tarik on weekends.

I also love how we have different race and culture living happily and harmoniously in an area.
We celebrate Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and so much more.
The country with diverse culture and language also make us so rich in experience.

I’ll be looking forward to the fireworks and count down to MERDEKA tonight and for I would really thank anyone and everyone in past that helped us strive for independence on this this day back then.

August 30, 2006

Draw With Me Project Crossroad

Project Crossroad: Ghost

project crossroad

Ghost 👻 – is something we all are afraid of.
When I was a kid, my parents would use it to scare us.
When in school, my school friends always tell ghost stories to create a eerie atmosphere and to scare us.

While I am not too horrified by the idea of ghost, I would still hide and cover myself each time I watch horror movies.
I think if I could draw out the ghosts in a cute way, it could help me overcome the fear.

Look at this cute Chinese vampire like sheep submitted by Brian.
While most of the interpretations are more western style, this is the odd one out.
Never expected Brian to send something that totally blown us away.

Ghost - done by brian

My version of ghost are pretty standard interpretation of ghost.
I always have the thought that ghost should be fair, wearing white dress and with an eerie red eyes and crazy long hair.
Yes, a scary long hair that covers the face is a must.
One where you can can hardly see the face but somehow can see the eerie and scary red eyes.
Having a sharp vampire like teeth is optional, but would be nice to have.
Let’s add it on. Now, here you go.

Ghost - done by velverse

Alan joined the Project Crossroad for the very first time.
He drew a cute Ghostbuster version theme that comes with a cute tagline – “NO 🚫 simple ghost drawings allowed”.
Alan, your drawing ain’t simple at all! Please keep sending in your drawings 🎨.

Ghost - done by alan

What is up next week?
Project theme: Boxer
Project description: You heard it right, I am sure you know what I meant. I’m not going to describe it so let’s box your way up!
Project deadline: 6 September 2006, Wednesday.
Submit to: mandy@velverse.com

We welcome anyone and everyone to join.
Let’s create something fun, generate some cool ideas or fill up some of our boring time.

Click on the banner to visit our past project crossroad gallery.

August 30, 2006

Eat With Me FRIENDz-terism Malaysia My Travelogue

Day01 – Cameron Highlands Trip: The Journey Begins…

breakfast at ss2

Backdated event. Actual Event took place at 17 June, 2006.

The long awaited cameron trip post is finally here. Here you go… there is loads and loads of pictures taken… so yeah… I’ll do a step by step tour report. Hahaha…

It all started with a tiring morning. The night before, I attended angeline’s birthday party at Breakers together with gigi. It was a fun night out… except the fact that the party ended late.. around 4ish and then we went mamak. We each reach home around 5ish. Me and gigi and angeline is busy packing our bags for the trip! Last minit as usual 😉

Brian is suppose to come around 6 something. Yeah.. he picked up gigi and angeline then come and pick me up. We all then drop meet up Jon and he drove all of us to breakfast at ss2. It was a nice morning. It’s been a long time since I wake up before the day was bright and eat dim sum. I always love dim sum… and early mornings. I used to remember each time I go back Ipoh, my mum will ask me to sleep early the night before so that I can wake up and eat dim sum. Me being so excited over dim sum will jump to bed early and wish it was early morning in a blink of an eye.

So yeah… when we first reach the dim sum place, it as dark as if it was midnight. Not much people were there… only three other men were sitting next table to us. The blur and not enough sleep version of me forgets to note down where I had the dim sum that day. So yeah… just pictures for you to drool at.

To me the food was just okay… maybe actually it tasted much better but just what’s on my mind is… get in the car and sleep…. BED…. BED…. BED….. sleep~ so yeah…. that spoils some eating mood. But I must say, the hot tea does serve some good to me.

We ate lots of stuff, like.. prawn spring roll (this is good), lo bak kou (white carrot cake), siew mai, fishball, har kau, fung jau (chicken feet), salad prawns and others.

We weren’t there for quite some time, but the drastic changes of brightness on the sky makes me feel as if I have sat there for like 4-5 hours. Sun rise, dim sum, trip… ah…. exciting.. fun… yet tired.

Yes, I need to sleep in the car. Wake me up when we reach!

August 29, 2006

FRIENDz-terism

Too Fast Too Furious Nightout!

The Fast And The Furious Night

Backdated event. Actual Event took place at 15 June, 2006.

It was the night we went see “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”. Everyone is getting ready to drift along with the drift king. We on the other hand, just finish drifting and decided to stop by the nearest mamak stall and eat.

Right, eat.. eat… eat and talk about the movie. Me and Gigi totally think it was a waste that Han died. It is a waste he have to die like that. Well.. that is that… people die anyhow.

Well.. yeah Han… this is a salute to your bravery and being so handsome in the movie. Wooohooo…. too fast… too furious!

August 25, 2006

My Karaoke Playlist

127 Days

Vanness & Kangta - 127 Days

It’s been a while since I kept this song playing on my playlist.
To the point my colleague have started to complain that I repeatedly play a same song till death.
I recall the first time I heard this song was when I was “lepaking” in my hotel room during my Bangkok holiday.

I find the MV cinematography interesting and was beautifully shot.
The whole treatment to the video, including the colours and even the story are on a sad tone.

The first time I heard of this song was in Korean. I have no clue what it was all about, but the tempo and the emotions of this song was tensed. And am pretty sure one could feel the sadness in their voice.
I guess this must be the power of having a good vocal.
A good artist will be able to bring their audience together in their journey, taking the emotional roller coaster in every of their master pieces.

Right, so the song is actually a duet performed by Vanness Wu (ex-member of F4) and Kangta (ex-member of H.O.T).
Somehow, the both seems to be paired together in recent to produce a CD titled Scandal with 127 Days being one of the song recorded in this CD.
I was earlier wondering why such weird combination since the song was in Korean and Vanness can’t really help or perform any part of it. Turns out the song also have a Chinese version which was performed by Vanness.

If you ask me, I would think the Korean version sounds better compare to the Chinese version. The emotions are much stronger. Let’s see if you all agree with me:

Translations could be found in the comments section.

August 24, 2006

Draw With Me FRIENDz-terism Project Crossroad

Project Crossroad: Fairy

Fairytale story… hemm I always listen to them when I was small. Not exectly listen, my parents dun tell me fairytales. I normally watch videos of it. I rewatch most of them many times, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty… and the list goes on and on.

I always wish there were some fairy beside me to help me and guide me at times. So yeah… it’s time to show the world there is some magical and miracle to believe in.

Me and my little fairei. As a little girl, I always wish I was a fairy. Got wings and fly around… got magic wand all. Small small size and can fly everywhere. Hehe…. I finally have the chance to draw my own fairy! Simple but cute. Oh it’s so magical!

Fairy - done by velverse

Takeru submitted his artwork, koyuki-chan. I asked him why koyuki… he says it’s just a name. But it also means light snow. Ah.. a small, cute and as light as snow fairy! How adorable! Kawaii-neh!

Fairy - done by takeru

*added on 25 August 2006* Heheh… Brian is late.. but well, he still manage to pull it all together and send us his Fairy-sheep. Very butterfly like fairy in the pastel like background. Totally makes everything seems so magical!

Fairy - done by brian

What is up next week?
Project theme: Ghost Project description: We have just passed the Chinese Ghost Festival. So I guess it’s a chance to show some scary stuff out! Be it as cute as casper or as scary as what you see in horror shows. It’s time for the ghosts to unite 😉

Project deadline: 30 August 2006, Wednesday.Submit to: mandy@velverse.com

Anyone and everyone is welcome to join. Be it good or bad… it’s just something we do for fun! Generate some cool ideas and well.. surely fill up some of our boring times 😀

Click on the banner go link to the project crossroad gallery.

August 23, 2006

Eat With Me FRIENDz-terism Restaurant Hopping

Check Out Checker’s!

Check out Checker's

Backdated post. Actual event took place on 9 June 2006.

It’s time for me to be more hardworking in putting pics together. Everyone is complaining I backdated too long. Well… to choose 40 from 150 something pictures is hard. Every picture seems so interesting and nice. Everyone look so pretty/handsome. How how?

All the food looked just so good. I dunno, I have decision making problem. Yes, so it is a waste of time asking me to decide where to dine, where to go, what to see. I just want everything. Maybe I am just too greedy. No… no maybe… I surely am greedy.

Ganesh has been complaining that we don’t gather as we used to. So yeah, there’s this small little gathering around at Checker’s right after he came back from Sydney. Me, ikan and loh went there after work. Ganesh arrived earlier than us. We had dinner and drinks there.

Obviously Famous Grouse was the favourite choice. Hehe… that’s what we’ve been drinking each time we were at Checker’s. It’s a good choice. They all prefer to mix it with water. As for me… any alcohol that I drink must have that sweet taste. So yeah… I prefer to mix it with green tea. But recently.. I discover it tasted even better with ginger drink.

Did I ever mention the food was awesome here? Okay… lets re-mention if I did mention before, I think the food was awesome (except it was a little slow). But I personally think it was worth the wait. The portion is big and the price is reasonable.

Right, most of the people I know thinks the portion is big. Like the Roast Chili Beef that I had, it was spicy… yeah.. one of the hottest food (they serve it with either bread or rice)! By the time I finish the whole plate… I was drop dead full.

It was quite a cool night. I was surprised even VJ dropped by to say hi. It’s been a while since I last saw him 🙂 Drinks… more drinks!! Yeah.. we need to gather more a bit!

Address:
Checker’s Pub
No. 42, Jalan 28/70A,
Desa Sri Hartamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Telephone: 03. 2300 1576
Business hours: Open daily.5:00pm – late.
URL: http://www.checkerspub.com%20

August 23, 2006

Eat With Me FRIENDz-terism Restaurant Hopping

Cafe 69: Do it the 69 way!

Drinking at Cafe 69

Backdated post. Actual event took place on 27 May 2006.

The night is still young when we finish our Mongolian food. *double burpz* Jerry and his girlfriend need to leave early for the KL International Motor Show. But before he left, he suggested that we go to this cafe named Cafe 69. It was a cool cafe. According to recommendations, this cafe is famous for it’s retro and cool interior design.

Right… my picture only feature the outside part, which practically looks like any other cafe. But the inside is a little different. It has this retro look. Every little section have a different design to it. Quite cozy and comfortable. Too bad it was rather packed and not catered for big groups like us, so we are left with sitting outside option.

According to sources, this place is also famous for tarrot card reading. Right, normally it would be a packed place. But yeah, they didn’t have that on that day. Jon finally manage to join us. He supposedly join us for dinner but was caught in this massive jam. So he ordered some snacks to eat. Everyone of us just ordered drinks.

Well, I just can’t keep track of what everyone ordered as the table is sorta long and well… my mind was rather occupied with thoughts.

I can surely say their food is creative and cool. I think how they decorate and cook the Tau Fu Pok is simply amazing. They took of the inside part of the tau fu pok and cut it to a tulip like shape. They then fried it. Served with salad where you stuff inside the tau fu pok. Wow… perfect combo. The crispy skin and cold and cooling filling. Just the best type of snack I would wanna have after a heavy dinner.

Cafe 69 was located behind Berjaya Times Square (most people call it Time Walk). It’s one of those old houses that has now been converted to commercial shoplots. It’s quite a quiet and peaceful place. Food were reasonably priced. Would surely go a few times more, this time.. I’ll cover the details 😀

Address:
Sixty Nine Bistro
4 Jln Kampung Dollah (off Jln Pudu, just behind TimeSquare-KL)
Telephone: 03. 2144 3369
Business hours: Open daily. (Monday – Friday) noon – 1:30am, (Saturday and Sunday) 2pm-1:30am.
Horoscope and tarot card readings: 4:30pm-1:30am

August 22, 2006

My Travelogue Thailand

Fly away to Bangkok!

Bangkok Trip

Hehe… yes people!! I will finally leave my comfort and cozy country to travel and see the world a little. This time around, I’ll be going to Bangkok for 4 days 3 nights. Wooohoo… eat lots and lots of mango, prawns ermmm, I heard shopping was good but too bad I am not that rich to spend my entire fortune there.

Let’s see, I plan to visit temples. Yeah.. I think their temple was totally awesome. Knowing me and my stomach, good food will top the list and I shall eat everything and anything that catches my eyes. So till then, miss me… miss me and miss me! Oh yeah.. and be good!

August 16, 2006

My Movie Discovery

Lady in the Water

Movie Title: Lady In The Water
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (7/10)
Year: 2006
Lady In The Water official site: http://www.ladyinthewatermovie.com/

M. Night Shyamalan, I still have problem pronouncing his name especially the word Shyamalan. I think he was one good director who knows what he wants and what he have to offer. Yes, he can only offer and the option for us is to accept it or to decline it.

As years goes by, I think he is one of the director in Hollywood I sort of look up to when it comes to originality. Right, Hollywood have so much blockbuster movie, and everyone likes to watch it… seriously if I was given a chance to watch, I would rather go for movies that hit you in your heart leaving you something to think about than movies that just have “oh so famous stars” which left me feeling as if I wasted 2 hours in my life each time I walk out of the cinema.

The first ever movie I watch was Unbreakable. I think it was a brilliant movie although it was not really being promoted. Many think it was a sloppy movie. While others think it was an okay only movie. I think it hit me big and I just thought finally Hollywood movie industry finally have hope, instead of just doing remakes or reused scripts over and over again with different popular actor/actress or more CG’s thrown in.

Looking at the top 3 paragraphs, you know I don’t fall under the category of people who dislike this movie and think it was one of his worst movies. Yes, many have different interpretation than me and think it was a slow messy movie which focus on lady, wolf and monkey. If you are the type that hopes that everything in the movie must be told to the dot, I guess this is not your type of movie. If you love to have some room to imagine, assume and fill in some blanks with your own point of view, you’ll love it.

The intro of the movie tells almost 80% of what the whole movie. If you do pay full attention to the Egyptian like stick figures intro, everything else that comes after it is just to explain in a more detailed way. As many think thinks and assume it was a scary movie, it is not! It’s clearly written on the poster, and the ending of the trailer, A Bedtime Story.

The movie was set in an apartment community located in Philadelphia. Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) is the apartment’s superintendent. He takes care of everything in the community. From fixing the lightbulbs, making sure no one swims after 7pm, no one smokes in the apartment and etc. Weird things has happen since the past week. They believe someone have been swimming in the pool during the night and have caused the filters to clog.

Cleveland then tries to check on the pool when he heard splashes. There is where he was saved by Story ( Bryce Dallas Howard) a Narf. Erm, Narf is more like an angel that lives in water. Right, which also means Story is the lady in the water. She is sent to this apartment to look for a writer who’s written work will be a great influence to the future generations.

Cleveland thought she was some problematic kid and was about to sent her home. Just as they left the house, some weird looking creature started following and attacking them. Cleveland soon knows that the creature was out to hunt Story down.

Upon asking around, Cleveland finally knows and believe that Story is one of the old bedtime story that has been told to kids from generations to generations. Young Soon (Cindy Cheung) is the middle person who tells Cleveland whatever he wants to know about the story as her mother can only speak Korean.

Since Story could not leave Cleveland’s house, Cleveland is set to go look around for the writer. When he does find him, it was hard for him to believe that he’s actually a writer. The writer, Vick (M. Night Shyamalan) is then brought to meet Story.

Right after her task was done and was about to leave the apartment back to her water world. She is waiting for the great big eagle to come bring her back. Following the laws and rules, the wolf like creature cannot hurt her or tries to kill her if she manages her task and is about to leave but this time things turn bad. She was hurt badly and was rested at Vick’s place.

Vick was then told about Story’s identity. As Cleveland listens deep in to the story, he soon finds out that he needs to find several people in the apartment to help bring Story back one last time. As far as it is like some RPG game, they have the healer, protector, messenger and etc.

Cleveland is set to look out for the people to bring her back. He then went and talk to Mr. Farber (Bob Balaban), a famous movie critic. He give some suggestions and clue on who to look out for. Unfortunately, they were looking at the wrong crowd.

The ending… haha I won’t wanna spoil it for you so you should see it. I just felt the whole movie with the “purpose” theme was cool enough. Not to even mention how he tells about people don’t listen and when they do, they listen wrongly. Hmmm.. I think it was just amazing.

We all know we were born to this world with a purpose, be it still finding, found or lost. Be it a small purpose, a big purpose. I also like the way he shows that what critics or someone influential says is always correct, they can be wrong too. But most often people look up to their critics like words of god and that could lead someone’s life or carrier in great danger.

I guess M. Night Shyamalan brilliantly slips in what he wants to express and say in a soft way. Not to even mention how true it is that what we say and think today, might influence the future generations. Probably.. what you say today is the quote that the next President use. Who knows? It was a great movie that still kept me thinking about the theory till now. Ah… lovely… lovely.

August 16, 2006

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