Mixed Crumbs | Archive

Archive for October, 2007

Posted on October 12, 2007 - by Abner

Sites That I Don’t Understand But Enjoy – Art on a Japan Rice Field

Got this interesting forwarded email. Rice Field Art. The images intrigued me to find out more. Main reason was the skepticism in me thinking it might be a hoax (like the fake egg thing) and being a big ass rice lover made me look even more. A few of it looks like Photoshop aided result. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Found out the site that keeps track of this art/food project and I was amazed. The Japanese made the process of growing rice seems fun. Funforever.net (http://www.funforever.net/archives/rice-field-art/) said that these guys have different designs every year and the effects are of different sort of rice. Yes, pity that it lasts for a few months at best. Here have a look at some of the field art. Click on the pictures to see the progress.

I call this “Wave” for I don’t read Japanese.

I call this “Monk and Topless Woman” for I don’t read Japanese.

I call this “Thunder God and Wind God” for I don’t read Japanese.

I call this “The Couple” for I don’t read Japanese.

It’s kind of similar to the Crop Circles but instead of stepping/killing crops, the Japanese grows them. Which is a more time consuming but interesting process. Growing art. Psst… they even have a Mona Lisa rice art too.

Posted on October 11, 2007 - by Abner

Bowling Invitation and Chipster Votes

What an out-of-the-norm sensation… received an email from the HR department requesting for participants in a bowling competition held end of this month. Mmm… am wondering which colleagues will be joining. They can count me out for I suck at bowling.
My first set would be ok but the following ones… are just bad. Maybe my arms are tired and my thumb and index fingers are hurting from my unorthodox method of fingering the balls. Or was I getting too self conscious about how I look in worn-out-stinking-for-rent bowling shoes? Or was it my ability to have the ball rolling in the gutter? I don’t want to relive it, at least not in a big bowling tournament for sure.

News Flash :
People, could you vote for me on my Chipster submissions. Just click on #11 and #13 named “abnerd”. If you need instructions, please click here. You have 3 more days to vote for me. My hopes for a Mac Book, Nokia N95 and an iPod Video are dashed. Beyond my reach, as there are dozens ahead of me. My pathetic total is only 395 votes. So who will be getting a Mac Book? Page 6 – Jane (24008 votes) and Page 7 – Potato (22092 votes) seems to be the favorite. Nah, only 2k votes difference is not difficult to catch up. Potato can easily get few thousand votes in a day. In fact he is whipping his horses hard now as we speak. Beware that Jane is also a tough cookie. Dun play play. It’s a tough neck-to-neck fight. They have a lot of sahabat handai, I suppose.

Lastly a kind reminder to vote for me, at least amuse me with some Chipster Premiums sempena Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Vote here! Vote once a day! Every vote counts!

Posted on October 10, 2007 - by Abner

Opps.. I am doing it again.

Hi all, If you are experiencing missing images it’s because I am changing to a new hosting server. I am planning to host this blog on my own too.
Reasons why :
1) I can try tweaking around the designs instead of sticking to the template provided
2) Can add in some cool widgets
3) Maybe try and let it earn some hosting money for me
4) Bigger hosting space and no restriction

That’s all I can think of now. Please be patient with the pictures ok?

Posted on October 10, 2007 - by Abner

Raya Holidays

It’s just a few days away from the weekend Raya holidays and this year it seems oh so quiet. Apart from seeing my Malay friends and colleagues leave early for home to make it in time for breaking fast (buka puasa), and the sight of one or two stalls propped up on the sidewalk… that’s it. Not much attractive decoration or Raya inducing elements.
Hmm… maybe being in a smaller town one can feel more of the festive mood with blasting Raya music and not fearing officers from PPM comes knocking for the illegal broadcast of “Balik Kampung” songs at deafening HTz levels. No peddling of homemade cookies or snacks. I don’t see the fun in having some Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies compared to some kuih kapit, not that it’s wrong.
I am only looking forward to the nasi himpit and rendang ayam that my colleague would bring to the office when he comes back after his Hari Raya celebration. Yummy… and I have less competition now as they have left the company. I meant you, YM.
I will be in KL for the long holiday weekend. No plans in mind yet. Anyone?

Last but not least, here’s an early shoutout to all… Selamat Hari Raya dan Maaf Zahir Batin!

Posted on October 9, 2007 - by Abner

Angkasawan Program Lift Off

Tomorrow (10th October 2007), all eyes will be set on Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysia’s chosen one for the Angkasawan program. This would be an initiative by our government to send a Malaysian to the International Space Station on board Soyuz TMA-11. Dr. Sheikh is expected to be out there for nine (9) days with the Expedition 16 crew under the wing of Commander Peggy and 4 other Flight Engineer. Our representative will be going over as spaceflight participant.

What’s a spaceflight participant? It is another word for space tourist. How cool… a paid space vacation. An excerpt from Wikipedia on Space Tourism : “Among the primary attractions of space tourism are the uniqueness of the experience, the thrill and awe of looking at Earth from space (described by astronauts as extremely intense and mind-boggling), the experience’s notion as an exclusive status symbol, and various advantages of weightlessness.”
Do you think he looks good in the space suit? Bet he does! Because he does some part time modeling too. He outshines Cosmonaut Yuri in this photo shoot. His experience in front of the camera truly shows. Look at that Colgate smile and the laid back pose. Killer! Woo…
Lastly, let’s hope Dr. Sheikh or Shukor don’t try to smuggle some petai or durian up.
Bon voyage and have fun on your lunar visit!

See :
NASA : Expedition 16 | Go to the image gallery to get some high res photo of Dr. Sheikh
Angkasawan Program
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor

Posted on October 8, 2007 - by Abner

Outdoor Climb – Nyamuk, Batu Caves

Been a while since I climbed outdoors. That was because I was “playing truant” and not joining my buddies for climbing sessions. So I contacted E and he said they will be going to Batu Caves to climb and this time it’s at a spot called Nyamuk. Nyamuk means mosquito. So my initial plan of having my gf tagging along has to be cancelled much to her dismay. But hey, it would be a hell of a time when you sat for few hours and getting stung by a swarm of blood sucking insects. And they are aggressive and big. ML could testify for that as she got a lot of them. Miraculously upon application of the mosquito repellent cream none were in sight. Poof! Wow… well I did not had any bites this time as I was wrapped from neck to toe. Did not feel hot because that place was shady and windy.

The “kampung” road leading to the mountains.

Forgot who said can do bouldering here. Erm… any takers?

We need to hike up to the climbing spot. The path was well trodden upon but there are still hedges and overgrowth that gets in your way every now and then.

Part of the wall that we would be climbing.

Unidentified worm. It’s got a head like a hammerhead shark.

Do you recognize the both of them? They are the 50/50 duo from Digi’s commercial. Hehe…

Click to download commercial here. (Download size 5Mb)

It was a nice Sunday climb and dear gf was still smiles although I went missing for nearly 8 hours.
No climbing this coming weekend it seems, because most of them will be back to hometown for Raya and the gym will be closed.

Posted on October 8, 2007 - by Abner

Update : MyStyle Works – Sushi King

Any of you started using MyStyle yet? This is my second time using it and we ate at Sushi King in Sunway Pyramid last Saturday. And you can bet that I ate a lot of sushi.
Three easy steps. 1) Send an sms. 2) Show it to the outlet manager. 3) Enjoy.

You will be charge RM3.50 for the sms.

Can you see the FREE word?

We paid half the amount of what we really ate. If you ask me to pay RM56 for sushi…*shakes head and frown* but if RM28 for this stack of sushi… mmm… ok la. I pay. You should try using MyStyle. Am checking which restaurant should I eat at this coming Raya weekend.

See previous post :
Update : MyStyle works – Nando’s
Go walk walk eat eat with Kyife

Posted on October 5, 2007 - by Abner

Savage Chicken – Funnies on Sticky Notes

Head over to Savage Chicken playground for Doug Savage.
His humble beginnings told :
“When I was a kid, I drew cartoons all the time. I drew cows and alligators and pigs and superheroes. I drew a platypus named Ed. I drew a dead dog named Dead Dog Bob. I drew everything I saw and everything I wanted to see.Many years passed. By a strange series of coincidences, I found myself working in an office. The more I used a keyboard, the worse my penmanship became. The constant hum of computers made my brain twitch. That’s when I stopped drawing cartoons.

Then the chickens came.

Like some sort of haunting supernatural force, the chickens bubbled up from the ol’ subconscious mind. In a trance-like state, I drew them on office whiteboards. I drew them in notebooks. I drew them on anything that sat still long enough. People started asking, “Who’s drawing those damn chicken cartoons everywhere?

The chickens were unstoppable. To retain my sanity, all I could do was grab a stack of sticky notes, and release the Savage Chickens.”

These made me laugh.

He recently won a competition for video animation. See Phantom Mountain. Don’t forget to take a look behind the scenes of how he did it. I love watching the process something was made. Be amazed by looking at Behind The Scenes. Cluck away folks at SavageChickens.com. Certified bird flu free.

Posted on October 5, 2007 - by Abner

HKFixed : Scans from MILK… supposedly

This is a follow up of my previous Hong Kong Fixed Gear Crew : HKFixed blog post.
After much bugging, Calvin Che from HKFixed.com finally sends me the much awaited scanned images. It seems that a popular Hong Kong lifestyle/fashion magazine MILK got them for an interview. I am unable to read chinese, only simple characters so you are on your own.

Click the for larger image.

Ok. If you are looking at the red shoes and wondering why would he be folding up one side of his jeans… it’s because he don’t want it to get stuck in the chainwheel and getting oil on it too. Right Cal?
Cheers HKFixed!

Check this out :
HKFixed The Official Site
HONG KONG FIXED GEAR ???? Blog

See also the anatomy of a bicycle. Image taken from City of Toronto website.

Posted on October 4, 2007 - by Abner

Shopping days are here

More reasons for you to go get your ass out and about now. For the past 2 weeks, Pavilion, The Garden and Sunway New Wing has opened. All wanting to be a part of your Hari Raya or more appropriately want you to part with your Hari Raya dough.
I have only walked on Pavilion’s pavement on a late Monday night. No dead skin cells left at The Garden yet. And yeah, was at Sunway New Wing yesterday night and not much shops are open yet. Most are under renovation so expect to snort in dust particles. Did not bother to look around as it was already 930pm and I was cold, hungry and sick.
Sick again probably due to the bbq I had last Saturday… was flaming the charcoals the whole night. Or was it the lack of rest from climbing too much. The regular absence of H2O? Anyway I am better today so I will be going climbing tonight. Ha.

With so many new outlets to splurge, one might consider some wiser alternatives for ones hard earn money sometimes. For those who have never heard of Cheras’s Queen’s Park, this is news for ya. For those who have… please skip this post and go read some old post of mine.

Queen’s Park is an area with quite a number of warehouse outlets. Some of the familiar brand names.

Someone I know skipped lunch for this and went foraging at MNG. And it was a fruitful trip I tell ya. But I never got the fashion show I was promised. Boo hoo.