Archive for May, 2008

Posted on May 30, 2008 - by Abner

Mini Mystery Half Solved

Finished burrowing in the world Tony Parsons drew up in Stories We Could Tell. Not an easy book for me though. It drew plenty of references from the music world. I know only a handful and that was just only recognizing their name. Not the music they play. A lot of words to pick up. Which I did not. Was keeping it for my second read. All in all an interesting read. Never knew I would be hooked on them, books… like Terry on speed and music.

Two more books left. Loaned them from Food4Thot last Saturday. They should be easier to digest. Thinner too. Read a few pages of The Little Prince but decided to hop on the Stories We Could Tell.

How coincidental for the Little Prince to walk into my life. I was excited when Food4Thot fingered through the spines of her book collection and handing me a translated French classic by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. For she had helped me solve the mystery of the weird looking permanent skin accessory on JH… a Arnie looking climber I met in Tonsai. First noticed JH and his friends sitting at one of the local restaurant having lunch and having a good time. SF and me just got down from a climb on ‘The Nest’ and we were both thirsty and hungry for some local food. Stripped off the harness and back from washing the calloused chalked up hands I noticed somewhat on first glance… a weird badly drawn figure on a small planet with a big tree ( a few pages into Le Petit Prince, told me the tree is a Baobab tree ) … out of shaped stars on the back of JH the French climber… who did a funny sexy body song number while kissing his biceps. A white kitten was napping on his backpack while he was doing his dance. It made me wonder why would someone have such a thing permanently drawn on them?

I would know the answer by next week. It’s supposed to be a touching story and quite famous too. Any of you read it before?

Posted on May 28, 2008 - by Abner

No eraser allowed.

Tantrums were thrown. Countless nagging and stalking in the comment area. Every visit to her blog is a nightmare with the black mass staring straight at me… like lasers burning holes right at the back of my skull. Finally I succumbed to it’s demands. Like a slave obeying the cracking of the whip on the already puss filled broken skin rather than the master.

I screwed up the first page. I lacked the confidence and the skill. I sloughed on… focusing on getting it out on pen and paper… breaking away from the shitty mindset.

Yes as dramatic as I can be… I was only about to start a doodle for Qiqi. It’s hard to start. When I finished with the head… my palms were a bit sweaty. Had to stop for a while before continuing. But as soon as the engine warmed up… I just cruised around 30kmph… nothing fast and furious… just like an late afternoon/early evening drive with the windows down.

Now I have some coloring left to do. Am trying to keep it as raw as possible. I am glad that she likes it. My one and only fan. How nice. I enjoyed doing it sis… thanks.

It has some meaning behind it… something I try to inject into my doodles if possible.

This is the black mass I was referring to.

Posted on May 27, 2008 - by Abner

Let’s Sleep Outside

Marched to work on Monday while greeting those in sight with an uplifting mood. A week off to an island with beautiful sun, sand, sea and magnificent limestone formation littered with colorful people, swinging melodies, grubs that carve a curve and little mammals from lazy dogs to hyperactive squirrels, have this effect on me. Sorry that I drifted away.

*Rewind*

Yes… as I was taking the third last step through the glass door my receptionist stopped me. I think I saw a twinkle in her eyes. She heaved and quite effortlessly produced an oblong package handsomely double wrapped in white plastic. It took me a second to register the object placed before me. It’s the redemption gift. According to her, it had been waiting obediently for me since Wednesday… Wednesday afternoon… while I was away sweating in a harness doing a 6A+ climb, maybe. Enough of that. Am doing my detour from my post again. I think I need some extra weight to hold me down. So that roots can once again wrestles the loose earth beneath my feet and struggles to grapple anything to pull me back down… or at least keep me down.

Redemption gift. A nylon tent. A 2 men tent. A blue nylon 2 men tent. Was not expecting it to reach my office that soon. It had been only a week the most… according to the website it was due only in around 30-40 days… ha… could not care less… it’s finally here. I left it in the office yesterday night… I had to do some shopping after work so it was a bit crazy to waddle through racks of clothing and stationeries while lugging a bag and tent.
Finally brought it back just now and here are some mindless photos. Visuals.

The mess that came before a camp. I was having some trouble setting it up. This was the time I was looking for the manual. Where is the fucking manual when one needs it? Guess the picture on the carrier bag was worth a thousand words or the assumption that everyone who gets a tent knows how to set it up. The survival skill. The flakes of Rambo in me was trying to hide the laughter. I was a little frustrated figuring where the fibre poles are supposed to go. Finally I spread it flat on the floor and yeah… I can see where each of the skeletal frame should go. I started pitching at 9.50pm and completed it at 10.15pm. Not bad for my own standard. I half expected to complete it with disgust written on my face while droplets of water+ammonia+urea+ sugar+salt form above the brow. Bet I could do it faster the next time. Taking it down and packing it back was easy, just like folding my blanket, a thing I do every morning. Practice. Perfect.
Now, to wait for the weather to take a turn for the better. My last camping… if one could call it that, was back in primary school, on school compound, sleeping on stretcher beds along with 50 plus boys I think, while the girls get to use the classrooms. For me, getting a piss and dump outdoors is good. It beats having to haul your ass to the school toilet. The primary school toilet in the Standard One and Standard Two area creeps me out. Certain school toilets does that to me. They have that haunting feeling… I can still feel it if I dwell deep enough. I think I only did my big business in school toilets especially primary ones, less than 10 times. That’s what I can remember. Actually I can only remember only once. Yes, we went in pairs, sometimes even more than that and we usually ran back to join the crowds without looking back. The little girls back then always manage to flood the boys toilets with their tissues and pads. Guess they took the opportunity of camping to wreak havoc in the boys urinal territory. Tip toeing in for a piss still get your canvas shoes wet. Wonder if I ever heard Moaning Martyle giggling behind closed doors. Geez.

Alas, my RM50 voucher is missing. Have to give the credit card company a call again.

Posted on May 26, 2008 - by Abner

Krabi Shots #1

Here is a small portion of photos taken by me. We have four cameras and it’s gonna take a long while before I get through them. Most are taken in Railey. Figured I post some pictures that would not bore the crap out of you guys. More to come…



Sunset on Pranang Beach, Railay

Downtown Railay… Real Coffee? Am not too sure of the name.

This is the rock overlooking Freedom Bar on Tonsai Beach.
First meal on Tonsai. Some spicy beef thing.



Recognize any of the brands?

Tuna Melt.

Muesli with fresh fruit and yogurt.

Lie down, watch people climb, read, sunbath… do whatever you want.

Posted on May 26, 2008 - by Abner

1½ Hours To New Found Home

Doubt any of you, or most, noticed that I have been gone for a week. A full week off work. Oh… it feels so so nice. Went off to Thailand on a Sunday morning and got back on Friday afternoon. Though it’s only an hour and a half journey away but aaa… I feel so at home. Well, it was actually after 2 days before I felt right at home.

I was in Krabi. On an island where Railay and Tonsai beach are. Surrounded by magnificent formation of limestone with trees stretching out to the clouds. Gentle sea breeze with warm sunshine. Great local food paired with delicious fresh fruit juices for the day and cold smooth refreshing Singha at night. The feeling of waking up to the friendly Sa-wa-dee-kaap of locals and Hi-Hello’s of the foreigners are simply wonderful. Since it is low season now… the crowd is much smaller and recognizing faces are so much easier. After a day in Tonsai beach, we kind of know the people there. Which is the best place to eat, which stalls serves the best pancakes, where to see fireshow, where to get our daily fix of tuna melt and muesli with fresh fruits and yoghurt and even where to huddle together for some tv time while sharing drinks and a joint.

We wasted 2 nights on Railay beach… pardon me but I am a climber so Railay is a definite no no for me. It’s more of a tourist place. Where people go to have a sun tan, walk around on the beach ogling at female and male bodies alike, waiting for sunrise/sunset, wondering what to do after 2 days on the beach… hitting the bars with high hopes of meeting some other intellectual being… yeah I know. It’s their way of unwinding. But for us, climbers, our way of enjoying the views there are being at least 30-40 meters high up while clinging on to some stalactite. Climbing hard and celebrating it with cold beers and great music when the day is over. I am really amazed that they play a whale load of nice music. Really nice ones.

I missed it before I even left my footprints on the island. I missed Tonsai. Will continue when I find time. I got one week of work to catch up. Hoo hoo. Loads of photos to choose to post up. Expect some shameless semi nude ones.

Pop-gan-mai-kaap

Posted on May 16, 2008 - by Abner

Join WWF’s Effort

A snapshot of the guys I sign up with. It was Earth Week then. You might notice them around town and try stopping and listen to what they are doing. I gladly went up to the one on the right and proceeded with the donation procedure. But remember to verify their identity. The organization has already charged my credit card the first initial donation of RM120. Direct Debit, so no hassle. All donations to WWF are tax deductible so it’s not a bad deal. Beats giving it to income tax. Max limit is RM600 per year. Mine should be RM360. Have to check the documents that are lying at home.
Cancelling the donation is easy too. Just a phone call and it’s settled. That’s what they told me anyway. But for now, I have no such intention. I feel good even though how small my amount will be, it would still be reaching out to turtles and other species that I have a good chance of never seeing.

Check out their website WWF Organization. Drop by any WWF booths for more information if you see them.

Posted on May 16, 2008 - by Abner

Skin Me Alive

Tomorrow will be a busy day for me.
The Samsung event will be in the evening inclusive of dinner. Ms. B even reminded me not to have anything before I go for the event. Don’t worry… I have never in my life had my dinner so early. Haha… ok… that was me trying to be a smartass.
Just set a reminder to get some dough out in order to purchase the Samsung phone that had been placed in my trust for review purpose. Never had I considered getting a Samsung phone but a month with it… and little discoveries here and there, it kind of got me smitten with its features. And the slick design and ability to add in external memory made me like it even more. My old abandoned phone does not have any of it… and though it never crossed my mind to change my SE phone… I used to have this thought that I won’t get a new one unless the old one dies on me. Frankly, when I got the Samsung phone, I was still holding on to that belief. It lingered and twirled around for the first two weeks before I start to warm up to the phone. Yeah, the product has got me snared.
And being a trustworthy traveling companion throughout this period, the little fellow has got me quite dependent on him/her. I have yet to ascertain it’s gender.
I did try the Adobe PDF function, but the documents that I had were not mobile friendly… all the scrolling and zooming in and out irked me. But one thing for sure, it sure is handy.

I finally found a theme maker that supports most Nokia Symbian S60 but Samsung i450 is not listed in there. I tried downloading a theme made for Samsung i400 | Smile Theme and bluetooth from my lappie to my phone. After installation and voila… it works! Now my phone has a girly inside with a macho outlook. Haha…

It’s an online version though, the search for a stand alone application proved to be an arduous task.
Go check it out at OwnSkin.com
I got myself signed up in just under a minute. The theme maker is in Flash, so make sure you have a good stable connection and latest Flash player. The GUI is straightforward but once again I have yet to really give it a test drive. It has a lot of icons to play around, background to change… in short a helluva customization if one really want to bury themselves inside.

The member lobby. Haha… yes, I purposely did a screenshot with the girl in the center. Looks damn inviting and certainly got some eyes wandering and straining don’t it?

Here is the playground. A lot to meddle with. All the sizes are shown, so if you have some Photoshop skills, it will make things easier for those little icon work. Build your own little pixel world.

Posted on May 14, 2008 - by Abner

I Have Been Working Late

Yup, been working late and hard and so far no paranormal sightings from me. Not that I am welcoming any. *Touch Wood*

Sorry for not updating lately.
*Bow*
I have been tied up with loads of work. Precisely… freelance work. A sudden influx of work demand just came rushing head on, and I did what I know what I should do. I took it head on of course. So I am kind of juggling several projects at once in a time frame of 2-3 weeks. I have already got the money to buy the Samsung phone. I figured I won’t be able to win it anyway… and the hectic schedule has robbed me of my blogging pleasures. No choice.

Have been using the phone a lot and somehow or rather and I can’t escape the idea of it being some kind of lucky charm or amulet, given the things that are going on lately. Am enjoying it really. Work is tiring as usual but it has took a turn to being fun too. The regular meetings with new clients and all. My housemates are seeing me less and less lately, even on weekends. Though I am sure I am not missed yet. Haha…

Oh and I am picking up reading. Nope… not again. I never had the real habit of reading. But what can I say… I am only on my second book in a period of 2 weeks. Nope… I don’t do it on my normal time. If I have some normal time to spare, I would be blogging. Yup. Honestly. Instead I am reading once I step foot in the LRT compound. Surprisingly, the commuting time seems to fleet by me as I am engrossed and swimming freely in the sea of words. Just freestyle, I can’t do breaststroke, water treading let alone butterfly stroke. The first book was The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom. A 194 Page – #1 New York Times Bestseller. A not so thick and intimidating book that stir up my interest in carry on reading while I take the train home. Together with my i450+Bang & Olufsen sound technology loaded with my current favourite songs, I look forward to my daily commute. Now I am on to my second book, by Mr. John Grisham. The Partner… I am at a chapter where Mr. Patrick S. Lanigan had got himself hauled back to Biloxi and the court drama will ensue. Gripping. Entertaining. Am taking it all in. Delicious. My hunger for good reading material is growing. Food4Thot can I borrow some books to read?

Gotta stop here. Work is beckoning at the top of their lungs.

Here are the bake a cheesecake session. I had a great time there and I just did the easy work. Some manual labor here and there. Best cheesecake I ever had… be it hot or cold. Cold is much better. But I ate 3 pieces when it came out of the oven because I know I would never get to taste hot cheesecake outside.

Ops… I got some photos jumbled. Not in sequence ya. I forgot the term for what I was doing. If not mistaken, Qiqi is folding. Mmm… some help here sis?

It’s obvious we are feigning help.


I like this pic too.

The process had me all wide eyed. Hard. My hand motion is slightly retarded. Again, it’s jumbled. Qiqi doing the honors.

Beautiful. Looking at it, I seem to be able to catch a sweet whiff of seduction.

No wastage. Scrape of what’s left on the butter paper.
Last but not least… exaggeration. Haha…

evil@lai took the pictures, so she was missing. We are looking forward to some shepard pie and hang around till we finish dinner. Early June?

Posted on May 2, 2008 - by Abner

Don’t Work Too Late

Yesterday was Labour’s Day. Wished all of you had a nice holiday break. Anyway, this morning my uncle insisted that I watch a short video clip. Normally to get him to talk for a while is hard… but since he is so free today, I decided to patronize him. Initially I though it was some scandal video or funny shit that happens in the elevator.
Turns out, it’s a ghost captured on the CCTV. He wanted me to give him my opinion on whether it is genuine or camera trick. To me, it’s freaking real. But I am no expert. And Raffles Place is about 5 hours (rough estimate) from where I am now. Excluding the jam. No wonder my uncle is worried, his office is near the sightings.
Just for weekend kicks and to raise some goose bumps, go download the video and freak yourself out.

Download Ghost Video

For more information, about all these paranormal stuff happening in other offices in our neighboring country, check out RafflesPlaceGhost blog site. Yeah… the site encourages people not to work too late every day which is very much in line with my thoughts. Haha.

Oh and … to make sure you have a little payback to anything that tries to follow you when you leave the elevator… force a fart. That would teach them.

*glance around and pray*