Melaka; City and State 1

Go get an atlas, GoogleEarth whatever. Seek out the Straits of Malacca... It is between the Peninsular of Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Wow, Malacca should be a huge influence to have its name all over the waterway. But unfortunately that was hundreds of years ago. It is now only a small state by the West coast of the Peninsular. *sigh*

Oh ok, I don't do historical talk much. In fact I hate History in school because it was such a boring subject (a thousand apologies to my History teachers, where ever you are). I found this picture in my camera, which a friend snapped last October. It is a place I visited at least once a month. The Dataran Pahlawan Mall (literally means Warrior's Square Mall).

See the row of short and brown shopping outlets? They are actually lower than the street level, by half, I think. And get this, ABOVE the mall, there used to be a football field. The field is still retained because it is the first place the Date of the Malaysian Independence (31st August 1957) was first declared. 

The Malaccan Municipal had cobbled streets all over the major tourists spots. I think it's rather pretty, and you cannot DRIVE FAST ENOUGH on such uneven surface :)

Look at that unsightly huge, concrete and steel needle on the left of the background. That's Taming Sari Tower. The red doughnut thingy around it can go up and down, bringing hundreds of people to watch the city from above. It's one of the new major attraction here, other than the Eye on Malacca (a smaller version of the London's Eye). I've never been on both.

Oh lookie! See the Golden Arches? That's the second 24 hours McDonald's we have here. My friends and I occupy the place whenever it is not too crowded.

Hate the burgers. But love the fries and apple pies. Yummy. 

My Very Own Carpet Sharks :)

Look at my pair of ferrets. Be jealous / happy / disgusted / warm-inside / bewildered (chose your appropriate feeling, depending on your disposition).

The ferret on the left is Disco. And the smaller, yet older ferret is Kaos. Kaos is almost a year old, and Disco is younger by three months. Disco is a lot bigger because he's a glutton!

Both are males and neutered. I prefer my ferrets huge. Females (also called jills or sprites) are so small, yet cute. But I love bigger ferrets (males) as their bulky bodies make them look like cats.

Major chick (and kiddies) magnets :)

Bad Seed and Illegitimate Child

My mom eldest (and now only living) brother and his wife visited us a few hours ago. They made themselves comfortable in the living hall, and as a dutiful son, I had to make an appearance and involve myself in ' the family talk'.

It seemed that the son and daughter of my mom's late younger sister was at 'it' again. Their father died a couple of years ago and my aunt cared for the girl, while the boy stayed with his half-sister.

FYI, this particular female cousin of mine had delivered a baby out of wedlock 6 months ago. (Baby was given away to a family far far away, the address even torn apart). And her brother is a suspected drug addict.

My uncle and aunt told us that the girl was going wild yet again, like she never regretted her bad deeds before. My aunt said she was tired of her lies and one day she'll throw the girl out of the house for good. I applauded her decision, and added that she must thrash the girl properly soon. I just hate ingrates. Especially orphans.

The last time I met my evil male cousin was two years ago, when he stayed with us for a month. At the same time, I also had my adopted son (one ex-student of mine) living with us, and both of them were of the same age. It greatly stressed me to see them together because I did not wish this particular cousin to poison my son trusting mind.

I slapped my son twice to remind him that some of the things my cousin implanted in his head were rather bad for the soul. (I should know, I am bad to the bone too. But I do not wish to see someone I love fall because of it).

My late aunt (the evil duo's mother) was one of the nicest women I ever met. Polite, soft spoken, shy and tidy. Unfortunately her children were the exact opposite. I blame their late father. He was not known as a good man and had many despicable tendencies which I will not mention here.

To me, my cousins are a lost cause. They will not heed advice and will continue their nefarious lives as they see fit.

So I told my mom, aunt and uncle that opinion - cut them loose when they make trouble again. We do not need such people in the family.

And then I continue to the kitchen and make french fries - yummy!

p.s. - I even had a wager with my youngest brother that the b*tch shall be pregnant yet again, come 2010, of course out of wedlock (again).

Family Moments

This is a picture of my mother and her two grandchildren, during my cousin's wedding function sometime ago. The boy with the sunglasses is my nephew Dzarif and the girl in the middle is his older sister, Dzara.

My youngest brother put on the sunglasses and Dzarif was really enjoying the attention from relatives.

Please note that the boy is slightly fairer than his sister. Even their mother, my sister is a bit darker than the rest of the siblings. Viva genetics!

It's Raining Water. What do you expect?

So much water... So cold.. I love it.

Today, it rains all day long. Everything is wet and the weather is cold. I LIKE IT!

I attended two wedding ceremonies this afternoon (in the rain). There were huge puddles of dirty water everywhere and of course, it never stop raining. I walked in the heavy drizzle without an umbrella, with my miserable and very wet cousin in tow.

I love rainy days, so I do not see the sense of umbrellas. Unless it's very hot in the afternoon sun.

And I NEVER got a fever even after a full drench. I always wonder why people got sick easily.

Hurm...

p.s. - In the end of 1980s and the early of 1990s, Sesame Street (the children tv series) had a short song about rain. It's called 'It's A Rainy Day.' I love that song still.

I Am So Sorry I Woke You Up - NOT!!

Am I too loud for you? Go ride a bicycle then!!

To celebrate the months of not touching a game console, I played one of my fav Playstation 3 games - Burnout Paradise. It's all about racing, stunt, destruction and crazy driving around the virtual Paradise City. Oh and with the soundtracks of alternative, hip-hop, techno whatever.

And of course I must plug in to my new home theater set...

The sound of screeching rubber, twisted metal grinding against asphalt and wholesale destruction was so real, very much like you are sitting on the tracks of a racing derby :)

My handicapped younger brother showed his sour face to me after my gaming session, he couldn't get any sleep. My youngest sister (the one with the HUGE radio) also commented how loud it was (that's a first from her). My mom complained that I have set up a cineplex in the middle of the house. I have not met the next door neighbours, they might want to add more.

I am just so happy my hobby TOUCHED people's life. (Evil laugh)   

UPDATE - I suddenly remembered my years living in the teacher quarters next to school years ago... I played my Playstation 2 every evening then, with the volume cranked high. The new principal asked around WHO was driving loudly with a lot of accidents near school.  Priceless :)

Life in Hi-Definition

My tv, home theater set and Playstation 3 (ignore the bookcase and assorted toys)

I bought a 32 inch Toshiba Regza flatscreen tv (RM 1 900) a year ago, so I could play my Playstation 3 with its highest graphic ability. Love the tv, very much the same par as all the LGs and Samsungs in the market. Sonys are so damn overpriced, even with the same specs.

My Playstation 3 malfunctioned a few months ago, that made me abandon gaming for a long while. I still have my dvds to entertain me (using my old Playstation 2 as the player).

And yesterday, the Philips Home Theater Set (RM 1 088) I ordered arrived in heavy rain, via a lorry. It took me 45 minutes to carefully study the manual and connecting the thing to my tv. I DO NOT watch my tv for the programmes. My tv set is in my little room, in the middle of the house, purely for gaming or movie dvds. (We have three other tv sets, the one in the living room has cable, another in the kitchen for my mom and the third, unused in the guest room).

Anyway, the sound system was phenomenal, literally quaking the metal grills on our windows. Fortunately, my younger sister who has a BIGGER (the thing is thrice the size of all my speakers combined) and more powerful hi-fi next room was not always around to retaliate. 

Erm.... I had derailed far from my original tale in mind.

I just found out that the hi-def cable supplied with the home theater set can also be used by my Playstation 3. I plugged the cable to the abandoned machine and.... ta dah, I can play again! The video output component on my game console was busted, and the hi-def cable remedied the problem. I think I'm back in the GAME, baby!! (Too bad my birthday had just passed, or I'll ask for new PS3 games instead).

Oh what fun it is to kill thousands everyday. Ho ho ho! 

Will you look at this JVC monstrosity in my younger sis room?! (It is BIGGER than it looks, mind). Girls should be forbidden by law to have bigger speakers than their brothers.