Even if you don’t play the Malaysian stock market, you’d seen the headlines. First the there was the bull run, starting with some time in December / early January. Actually the first liners started moving much earlier, but the 2nd and third liners didn’t really follow immediately. Then when January came, almost every other stock was going up, along with the price of chicken. The mostly docile Malaysian players, starved of action for more than 10 years, started to go into a frenzy. Everyone had something to say or brag about. “Wah, today I made 40k before lunch, man“, “Gahmen is pushing it for the Chinese New Year only lah“,…

You know, once you reach a certain age, you start to fret issues you never thought about. Or actually, your spouse and doctor will nag you about it. Most of the time it’s your [tag]cholestrol[/tag] level and blood pressure. And also your weight. Yep, weight consciousness isn’t confined to preppy teenage girls and young women only, men have to watch the scales (and waist line) if they’re to avoid a heart attack or one of those innard failures. You’ll hear middle age men talking about [tag]BMI[/tag] and ‘good cholesterol’ these days, my 35-year old neighbour has started jogging 3 times a week, although at the rate he goes, his 4-year…

Wow, what a Chinese New Year week it has been for me. In the past 8 days, I’ve: Traveled more than 750km up and down the country; Ate lots (and lots) of good food; Went jogging in the blazing hot sun almost everyday wherever I was (and prolly lost a kilo of sweat while at it); Watched lots of TV, too. Good TV and bad TV. And got to spend a lot of time reading. Anyway, as a recap, here’s a short log of my trip, plus some pics. I should have taken more pics, I know…: Friday, The Day Before CNY Eve: It was a long 2-hour drive back…

Happy New Year, everyone and thanks for all the wishes. May the auspicious year of the Golden Boar be good to everyone. I’m actually blogging this from my hometown in Johor during the holiday. I haven’t been home for a long, long time due to many complicated reasons, but at the moment, its feels quite good to be home, for the moment. Last month I just celebrated my second blog anniversary (or as they call it blogniversary in Net-speak), it was quite a muted event, considering how my recent lifestyle and career has impacted my blogging. Well, over the past few weeks, I have had quite some time to think…

Mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds, dry cookies, red lanterns everywhere. Right now I’m sitting at home in my hometown, it’s a cooling day after the rain. Happy New Year, everyone, from Simontalks! Make sure you enjoy yourself this holiday…

Message from Ultra Thin Super Injection Slimming and Beauty Center for Valentine’s Day: “Send your girlfriend a giant heart-shaped box of super rich Belgian chocolates. We’ll be right there for here for the aftermath. And your money.” **-** Message from Greenpeace for Valentine’s Day: “Sure, send 144 red roses at super inflated prices, which will all probably die come Saturday. Then she’ll have nothing to do with them except throw it in the trash. Did you know flowers are basically dead hands of trees?” **-** Message from your local leading English newspaper for Valentine’s Day: “Go ahead, do that spectacular stunt that you’re planning to do for your girl, like…

How To Put On 10kg During Chinese New Year (And Fall Sick After That) Doesn’t BBQ meat taste great? Just repeat to yourself, “Once in awhile only, and I worked hard to deserve this…” Eat lots and lots of mandarin oranges. And don’t bother to peel off all the white strands of skin. Eat, sleep, PS2. Eat, sleep, PS2. Eat, sleep, PS2. Repeat ad infinitum. Make sure your mom comes in once a day to water you and turn you towards the window. Nobody’s eating all the keropok and cookies on the table, such a pity to see it go to waste… Don’t drink water, even if it’s 40 degrees…

I’ve had Streamyx for just over two weeks now. If i were to give it a report card, it’d be bad. Somedays i don’t get any connection, some days are okay. But it’s the down time that annoys the heck out of me. The last down time was from Thursday night right up to this afternoon. And I’m paying good money for this ‘broadband’ (and so are lots and lots and lots of people). Before i subscribed to them, i used to read and hear lots of people including my pals rant and bitch about streamyx, now i can understand why. But it’s not that i have an option, it’s…

First off i watched lots of movies last year, no thanks to my DVD player. I’ve always been a huge fan of movies, but you know, these i hardly have time to relieve myself, let alone go to the cinema (and look for parking, queue for a ticket, wait for the show to start, sit through inane ads, etc) The other day i was wondering to myself which of the many movies stuck in my mind the most, but soon i realized that picking an ultimate list would be difficult, so i just picked the first one that came to mind, which would make it the most memorable. Ready or…

Rachel: Oh my God… What.. What are you guys doing here? Phoebe: Okay, you’re on. Rachel: What? What? Ross, you’re scaring me. What’s going on? Ross: Okay, the thing is.. Rachel: Yeah? Ross: Don’t go. Rachel: What? Ross: Please, please stay with me. I am so in love with you. Please, don’t go. Rachel: Oh my God. Ross: I know, I know. I shouldn’t have waited ’till now to say it, but I’m.. That was stupid, okay? I’m sorry, but I’m telling you now. I love you. Do not get on this plane. Gate attendant #2: Miss? Are you boarding the plane? Ross: Hey, hey. I know you love me.…