Saturday, November 27, 2010

My Daily Roti Kopitiam - NS for Everyone?

Above: My company flag, designed by yours truly.
In this moment of boredom, where I am lazing about at home today.....and possibly the next 2 months, I began to think. It is in moments of boredom that ideas are thought out, memories are recaptured. It was in a moment of boredom that Sir Isaac Newton bothered to figure out why an apple fell to the ground instead of up into the air, in a moment of boredom that Gregor Mendel decided to make plants have sex instead of doing his daily routine of watching nuns. Unlike them, I was bored of burning bugs that I find around the compound or feeding guppies to my dogs, so I rested on the reclining chair and began to hypnotise myself. In this moment of boredom, memories of my stint at national service, or NS started to come back.

Above: "I smell fear"
    God damn I thought, I miss those 3 months like hell. I remembered the 1st day I knew I was going to what I thought would be hell at that particular moment. It was at my chemistry tuition and someone decided to kill the boredom by finding out who will be going to hell. I decided to join in and I was one of a few there that were the unlucky ones, or we thought we were. 1st day at camp was hell, so was the 2nd day and so were the 5 or more days after that. I hardly knew more than 3 people there. The following 2 and a half months were one of the greatest moments of my life that I will cherish forever. I remembered the moments of hardship and friendship. I learnt lessons there, how to iron my clothes, hand wash my clothes, how to not get my stuff stolen after my phone was and of course how to kill flies with a rubberband. NS was fun, the friends that I made and not to mention some enemies. Ah..and the tears everyone shed on the last day. After the stint, I felt sad instead of what I thought how I was going to feel 3 months prior. NS was great and till this day I believe that I was in fact lucky to be chosen to participate in this one in a life time experience while others who laughed at me for being chosen didn't get to go. In the end, I got the last and the loudest laugh.

Above: Not exactly like Auschwitz is it??
    Anyway, thinking about NS, I remembered our gov's plan on making NS compulsory for every teenager and for once I thought that the gov will be doing something right if the plan is to be implemented. I remembered when the idea of NS was first brought up, people complained that it's another waste of the rakyat's money. But actually, I think it will only be better if NS is made compulsory. Perceptions were changed, I've heard so many parents of NS-ers that have praised the programme for being so good at disciplining their children. Children came back and knew how to wash their clothes on their own and wash dishes etc. Also, I saw with my very own eyes that barriers between teens of different races were broken, everybody worked together, slept together and bonded together. It was wonderful. Of course there are bound to be troublemakers, but in the real world troublemakers are inevitable and it only makes one stronger by learning how to deal with the challenges that they will be facing once they are out into the real world.

Above: Pray that you will be chosen and you shall.
    Think about it then, if every teen were to go to NS, so many lives would be changed, so many paths straightened and so many barriers would be broken. Unity among people of different races would be stronger and the future of our country would be brighter. Therefore, gov, if you are listening, make NS compulsory for everyone in this country. Many need help, NS is one way and what a damn good way to help them. For those that have just finished their exams and are thinking of giving excuses like bad health or studies to try to avoid NS if you are chosen, I think you're an imbecile. I promise you, tears will come out of your stubborn eyes, even the worst people among all come the day when all of you throw your berets into the sky, and I've seen all that with my own eyes.

Monday, November 22, 2010

My Denim Adventure - Week 14

It's already week 14 breaking into my jeans and my parents are beginning to think that I've gone mad wearing a pair of jeans for so long without washing. Can't blame them as they cannot fathom the concept of raw denims. Also, there is another reason.....they stink!

    Because they stink and even I think so, I've decided that I should do something about it. Of course I will not wash them because the fades are still minimal and the last 14 weeks would prove to be a waste of time for me and my testicles. As I remembered during the course of my research on raw denims, there are several ways to get rid of the smell: dry cleaning, hanging under the sun or place them in the freezer. Yes, in the freezer. Apparently putting them in the freezer will kill some of the bacteria producing the bad smell while making others inactive, same thing happens if you put them under the hot sun.
    I have actually thought of dry cleaning as it would be the most efficient way to get rid of the smell but raw denim sifus on forums advised me against it as the chemicals used in dry cleaning might interfere with the fading process. So, to not make my parents send me to an asylum, I decided against putting them in the freezer with the ice cream. So I hanged them under the hot Malaysian sun and wow do they still smell bad! Just a little bit less than before. =)

Friday, November 19, 2010

My Daily Roti Kopitiam - My Roti Nostalgia

I have always wondered why people like to dine at fine dining restaurants. There are so many rules, use the utensils in the wrong order and you will be sentenced to death by embarrassment, dressed in shorts or slippers and you'll have your feet amputated, and in some places you have to dress in a suit, how is that comfortable for eating???

    Sure, people argue that fine dining is an experience and I do agree with that. It's fun to dress up once in a while, fun to spend extravagantly once in a while and fun to indulge in luxury once in a while. But for all you pay for, is the food more satisfying to the taste buds than the best or chien, wantan mee or char kuey teow which are all 10 times less costly? NO. In fact I have to say that I, and I'm sure a lot of you crave more often for cheap, honest street food than Foei Gras with Chef's Salad. Also, most of the time the tiny portions force some of us to go for another session of street food gorging. 

    I have to say, in terms of fun, making a comparison to cars, fine dining is like a Mercedes Benz. It's quiet, comfy and luxurious but hell it's boring. Compare it to an Ariel Atom, which is comparable to  dining in a kopitiam or road side street food stand; you only get one seat, no windows, no doors, no roof and a million times more fun. I wonder why then, people would crave for McDonald's which makes some of the worst tasting burgers in the fast food world when they can get 2 packets of 4 rotis per packet from one those forgotten bakeries around the country that tastes and smells oh so fantastic with the texture of fluffy cotton. I did just this afternoon(Thursday), my sister brought me to a bakery, one that we used to go to when we were younger and bought all sorts of buns to my dad's office to indulge in. Biting into the oh so soft and great tasting roti brought back a lot of memories. Who needs Breadtalk? You get 4 pieces of these for 1 piece of rock-textured roti at Breadtalk.
Above: RM2.50/packet and 4 rotis/packet. Fish Ohhh Shit from McD .> RM 5.
Above: I might not look as good as a cheesestick, but I taste twice as good and was made with more soul.
    I have to make a conclusion then that street food, or any cheap food, despite the low price tags are so much more meaningful and honest compared to bits of meat and colourful vege in the middle of a plate the size of an elephant's feet. Who goes to travel in a country and dines everyday at a 5 star restaurant? He/she must be stupid. Street/cheap food is the true representation of the people that make it, wolves in sheeps clothing, like a middle aged woman, dressed in a simple dress but she has experience on her side while in comparison, fine dining is like a young girl that dresses well to impress but has little experience. Who would you have more fun with? You make your choice.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Makaning - Snickers Ice-cream

I admit I'm a little addicted to this candy bar ice-cream shit. I've been finding some gems appearing in my fridge recently. I did a little review on Mar's ice-cream recently and hell I loved it. Along comes the Snicker ice-cream. I am a fan of nuts (the hard seeds produced by plants not the ones hanging in between your legs)  and I have always prefered Snickers over Mars. I think its just a nutty version of Mars, so I was delighted to find this in my fridge. Just like the Mars, it looked exactly like a normal Snickers candy bar. Tearing apart the plastic, a glorious sight greeted me. It looked like a mutated Mars ice-cream. Tastes good too, texture is nice, like a big fat juicy grub with undigested nuts in its digestive system. Crunchy exoskeleton, soft and fluffy insides with bits of crunchy nuts. Mmmm...you should try it.
Above: Looks exactly like a Snickers bar.
Above: Like a Mars bar with Gangrene and Cancer...but tastes oh so good.
Above: Ice cream, caramel and peanuts.

I'm back!

God damn it's been a long time since I updated my blog. I've been busy with my exams and having a little fun for the last two weeks. Finally I've finished my exam this past Monday and was supposed to update my blog last night until stupid @T£!(&£(^(* Streamyx decided that I shouldn't be surfing the net so late into the night. Even as of now when I'm trying to put up this post, they are still giving me problems.

    Anyway it's such a relief to go through my first university semester without much problems, except maybe I should work harder next semester. Went to view my new room on Monday night and packed up my stuff on Tuesday morning, eager to go back home and sleep in my bed. Got into a cab and off to Bukit Bintang to meet my parents who were there for the newly opened Uniqlo (it's a very successful Japanese clothing company) where they were looking for some cheap winter clothing to buy for our USA trip next January. Uniqlo is great, I never miss it whenever I'm in Hong Kong. Cheap clothes, cheap accessories and lots of lots of socks of all colours! Anyway, met my sister in the carpark and placed my luggage in her car and then got out, tried to cross the road and got banged by an imbecile while trying to reverse. Shop shop shop, rain rain, sleep, eat, reached home....sleep, blog. =)
Above: Big haul from Uniqlo. =)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Found another tumor on my dog!

So I was brushing my dog after bathing her and before drying her up. I was brushing her left hind leg and suddenly realised she was bleeding. I push my finger through her thick fur and noticed another smaller tumor that had gone unnoticed all this while.
    My dog recently went for surgery to remove a benign tumor but this tumor was so well hidden nobody knew it existed...another few hundred ringgit for another surgery?
Above: My dad was right....it does look rather like a berry.