My 2009 In 9 Pictures

I did a list for last year 2008, so I thought it’d be a good to review the year in the same way. As usual, I’ll just let the pics do the talking.

1. A (H1N1)

First there was mad cow disease. Then there was avian flu. And then there was swine flu. Pretty soon the only meat we can safely eat is frog’s legs. Undoubtedly the biggest event of 2009, changing the way we look at personal and public health.

2. The King and the Joker: Celebrity Deaths

While Michael Jackson’s death got all the publicity, Heath Ledger will be greatly missed.

3.Three Letters: B. S. G.

That’s Battlestar Galactica. The greatest show on TV. Ever. Comes to an end.

4.The long-awaited change

It was a long time coming, a little too long perhaps. I wouldn’t say the former’s tenure was a failure, but there weren’t many successes either.

5.Tigers go Extinct

The 30 year old struggle for a separate Tamil Eelam nation comes to a bitter end.

6.Bandung

Very memorable holiday.

7.And it came tumbling down

Jaya Supermarket in Sec 14 comes down. Literally.

8. Books, books and books.

Took time to read books this year. Lots and lots of it. House is filled with borrowed (too skint to buy) books piling up everywhere. Thank God for generous friends.

9.A Decade and Counting.

It’s 10th wedding anniversary this year. Looking forward to many more.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Most of my older friends know that was (and still am) a huge, huge heavy metal fan. Ever since I heard Enter the Sandman by Metallica on that Singapore radio on my cheap RM150 walkman i bought on the first weekend in college, I never looked back.

Which is why its 1am in the morning, I’ve just watched this brilliant movie and I simply have to blog about it. Its a documentary about a long forgotten Canadian band called Anvil and the movie is called Anvil! The Story of Anvil (yes I know its quite a mouthful).

The movie starts with footage from an old Japanese rock concert and the subtitles tell the story in a few succint lines:

“In the summer of 1984, some of the biggest bands in the world toured Japan together. Scorpions. Whitesnake. Bon Jovi. All these bands went on the sell millions of records. Except one… Anvil.”

What follows is the sad story of how the band failed to make it big despite those heady early days. The members have fallen on crippling times, working in oddjobs such as driving a truck and in construction while still keeping the band alive after 30 years, now reduced to playing local bars.

In its essence, the story isn’t about metal music, its about the underdog and keeping the dream alive (despite having zero hope at most times) and I love that kind of real life documentary movies (like this other one I blogged about before). The movie follows the daily lives of the two founding members, now aged 50 barely making a living for their family as their relatives try to explain what or how it all went wrong.

Suddenly this start to perk up - they get an invitation to tour Europe, and later get a chance to record another album with an award-winning producer, but these prove more complicated than it seemed, and at times they end up worse off than before. The movie ends of a positive note, though.

Perhaps this is an extreme case of keeping the faith and living the rock and roll life. Most people like us get on with our lives after entertaining the dreams your youth. We grow up, get a job, get married and have kids (well, not all of us) but by and large, we move on with our lives. Those who continue to persevere with their dreams, however successful they are, get my respect.

This is a great low-key movie that will appeal to even non-music fans. Wikipedia notes that it has begun to win numerous awards.

EDIT: Found the Official Trailer on youtube HERE.

Book of The Year: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

About this time last year, i decided to make a 3 resolutions for 2009, one of them was to read 24 books in a year (let’s not mention anything about the other two resolutions).

Apparently i had a lot more time on my hands this year that I thought I would have, i read almost 50 books in total since January. And if I were to pick one book that stood out above the rest, the choice was easy.

No, it wasn’t Twilight.

The Graveyard Book is my Book of the Year, because it’s simplicity and beauty blew my mind away. It didn’t really matter that Gaiman is my favourite author, this book one of his best.

The story is simple, about a baby who escapes a murderer and wanders into a graveyard. He is protected by the ghosts of the graveyard and is brought up by them until he reaches adolescence. In its essence, this is a coming-of-age story, about a boy dealing with alienation from the outside world, and the strange relationship he has with the many ghostly residents of the graveyard. And then there is the enigmatic vampire Silas, tasked to educate and protect the boy.

Gaiman writes with his usual easy style, with a storyline rich in fantasy and folklore (i especially like the Lady on the Grey and Dance the Macabray). Some themes are revisited from his earlier books, many are borrowed from popular myths and legends, that’s something that makes Gaiman such a talented writer.

I’ll definitely re-read the Graveyard Book again soon, there aren’t many books that gripped me as much as it did. On the downside, it was perhaps too short an adventure for Bod Owens. The other thing is that while the ending is bittersweet and fitting, I really wished that Gaiman could have added an epilogue about to give a finality to Bod’s journey in life. Maybe he will write a sequel, who knows? Maybe not

***

Yep, so that’s my book of the year. Another great book deserves a mention as a runner-up, I’ll blog about it next.

T3 Seminar by Rev. Dr. Ron Choong

If you’re the type who frequently wonder about stuff like ‘who wrote Genesis Chapter 1?’ or ‘What does my religion say about evolution?’, then here’s something you might be interested in.

Rev. Dr. Ron Choong an apologist based in New York will be giving a seminar on the following three topics:

SCIENCE & CHRISTIANITY

Do the advances in modern sciences like neurophysiology disprove the teachings of religion? What then about evolution and Darwinism? In this seminar, we consider how we may reconcile our ancient faith with modern science.

WHAT DO CHRISTIANS REALLY BELIEVE?

Can you articulate what you believe concisely and clearly? Most people gloss over what we don’t know or don’t understand. In this seminar, we shall examine the 4 doctrines central to Christian belief – creation, alienation, reconciliation and decision (CARD).

UNDERSTANDING GENESIS 1-11: WHO WROTE WHAT, WHERE, WHEN AND WHY?

The first book in our Bible was not the first book written. Understanding its history and purpose will help us make sense of its curious stories. In this seminar, we shall ask who wrote Genesis 1-11, where and when they did it, and what their purpose was.

It’s on SATURDAY, 16 JANUARY 2010. Get the details here. And this, is the speaker.

Tribute to An Old Man I Once Knew

My grandfather was Hainanese and he worked as a cook for the British in Ipoh up until the 60’s. So yeah, he was an authentic Hainanese chef. But he didn’t pass down any secret recipes for me to open a famous Hainanese kopitiam.

***

Here was born in 1899. That was two centuries before this current one, how cool is that? His IC showed his birth year as 1900 because it was registered late. So in 1988, he won a hamper from a local newspaper celebrating those aged 88 in the auspicious year of ‘88. Which is weird, coz the hamper contained foodstuff that most 88 year old folks can’t eat. So I ate most of it.

***

He came to Malaya in the early 1920’s from China with a handful of friends and NO relatives, leaving them all behind to forge a new life in a strange land. As far as i know, he never met them again until his end of days.

***

When he came to Malaya, my grandfather sported a queue (chinese pigtail). You know, that shaven-at-the-top-and-pigtail-at-the-back hairstyle of the Qing dynasty. On day, the when he finally accepted the fall of last emperor of the Middle Kingdom, he cut off his queue and grew out his hair.

***

In the last few years with us, he had only one friend left, a former shop owner who lived in Jasin. Once a year this guys would take a 3 buses to come down and see my grandfather, where they would spend a couple of hours talking about old times in thick Hailam. Then when it was evening, he’d take another 3 buses home.

***

He is allergic to most clothing material except cotton.

***

He passed away in 1991 at the age of 92 (i was away in uni at that time). I never heard the whole story in the last week of his life, but from what i gather, at his deathbed he had a vision/dream of 3 men visiting him in the night. The next morning he told my mother he wanted to be a Christian and my mom fetched my pastor to see him. He died a few days later peacefully as a believer.

***

He spoke only Hailam and some Cantonese. Mostly Hailam actually. In all the time he lived with us, I never really caught on to the dialect (coz my mom and him would speak it at the speed of a train). The only two phrases I can remember is ‘siang yap‘ (bathe) and ‘bu jong du bui‘ (no need to cook).

***

Other than watch TV with me, he spent most of time cutting grass, cooking and reading the newspapers with a magnifying glass.

***

Yep, that was my grandfather. Very cool guy.

Hawaii Five-O

A good TV show is one that is so popular that it lives on in syndication, watched by different generations over different decades. It pervades into our pop-culture, and easily recognizable. Like Happy Days. Or Chips. Or X-Files. Or the Simpsons.

One step above is a show that is has all of the above qualities, plus a memorable theme song. A song that is people remember forever, pay tribute to it, cover it and parody it.

Like Hawaii Five-O.

Who can forget the catchy intro music?

I watched it as a very very young kid (probably pre-school) on SBC5 (what is now known as Singapore’s TCS5), my dad and brother were fans of the show, so the whole family followed. I remember waiting for 10pm waiting for it to start (I believe it was on a Tuesday night). If you watch the clip of the intro below, you’ll notice the first scene show crashing waves. Back then there was a Pepsi ad with an almost similar scene, so each time the Pepsi ad came on, we’d become excited but then it turns to disappointment… (at least until the actual show starts)

Honestly i was much too young to remember much of the show, except Jack Lord uttering the famous line “Book ‘em, Dano” (then I’d go ‘who’s Dano?!’) until i caught back with it a few years ago when Astro started re-running the series.

***

Was reminded of the song last Sunday at my daughter’s kindy graduation concert when another class used it as a soundtrack. It’s amazing how excited some parents can get at the sight of their kids shaking their bums in unison to music.

What Is It With ‘Pan Mee’ Restaurants These Days?!

No seriously, what is it with ‘Pan Mee’ restaurants sprouting up everywhere recently?

And how has it become like a pseudo-gourmet meal?

(sori ah, lilian, i curi your foto. too lazy to take my own)

Years ago ‘pan mee’ was just a dish you get at the hawker stall, the same place we get our chicken rice or wantan mee. Now they have specialized restaurants serving pan mee with 1,288 different varieties like dried chilli, spicy, spinach or Emperor noodles. Around my office there are no less than 5 restaurants dedicated to this dish, really, how much of it can you eat in a week.

OK rant over. Now can someone tell me where to find awesome wantan mee in PJ/Puchong?

Story of The Malaysian 100 Meters Sprint Record

With all the interested in the 100m world record held by Usain Bolt (9.58s) recently, does anyone know what the Malaysian record is and who holds it? Anyone? Without googling it?

Before we get to that, let me tell you what the record was back when i was a kid in the 80’s. Back then everyone in school knew the record was held by the legendary Dr. M. Jegathesan (now Datuk). I can’t remember his time, but he still holds the 200m record until today, set 41 years ago in the Mexico Olympics back in ‘68. Back when i was a kid, the older generation and my teachers spoke of ‘The Flying Doctor’ in legendary terms, he was the first Malaysian to reach 2 semifinals in an Olympic event.

During the years when i was in school, the fastest Malaysian was this guy called Abdul Rahman Koyakutty. I can’t really remember much about him (except that he had an extravagant pre-race ritual while on the starting line). But you have to remember during the mid-80’s we had lots of sporting greats like Nordin Jadi, M. Kumaresan, Josephine Mary, G. Shanti, Nurul Huda Abdullah, Rabuan Pit and M. Ramachandran. Of course these were the days before weekly live EPL games on Astro, so all we had was RTM2.

Some 12 years ago in the late 90’s talk of Dr. Jega’s record in danger of being broken resurfaced when two young sprinters emerged, Watson Nyambek and Azmi Ibrahim. I wasn’t really following athletics by then, but one of them obviously did better than the other who sort of fizzled out despite the hype.

And so coming back to the earlier question, what’s the current national record? It’s 10.30s held by Watson Nyambek. Yep, the Flying Dayak did manage to break the record. It’s nice to know Malaysian men can still run faster than American women… (Florence Griffith Joyner’s world record is 10.49s) but of course being Asians we’re disadvantaged genetically when it comes to running.

Will we see the record broken again soon? Who knows.

Memorable Langkawi Ten Years Later

So… 10 years ago after getting hitched, i went to Langkawi for honeymoon. This was the days before AirAsia, and since we were flat broke Langkawi was probably the only option for us (Port Dickson wasn’t even considered)

So fast forward EXACTLY 10 years ahead… I’m back there with the wife. And two kids in tow.

(yep, the customary shot at the massive eagle. Makes you wonder about the size of the bird’s droppings…)

Before going I wasn’t really keen on going back to the island, thinking there isn’t really much to do in the island. But it turned out much much better than expected. Langkawi has changed a lot in the last 10 years, much of it for the better. The island is still (relatively) clean and sparse, the dining options are great, and the stretch of Pantai Cenang is turning out into something like Kuta and Patong, but in a good way. There are loads of shoe string backpackers’ motels along Pantai Cenang and Pantai Tengah, but finding a mid range hotel/chalet in the area was a little more difficult.

So we settled for this place, Sunset Beach Resort.

(Resort is much smaller than it looks. No, really.)

Its about 20 numbers of chalets surrounded by greenery and shrubs and chickens (no, really! Live chickens! I’m surprised none of the hotel guests have caught them and barbequed them considering the price of food here).

(Very nice ambience. The mosquitoes, well, that’s a different story though…)

The beach is small but spectacular. Its secluded from the main public beach of Pantai Cenang by rocks, so only about 4 resorts share this private area.

(Crazy gweilous/mat sallehs sunbathing and swimming at 1pm in the afternoon not seen in photo.)

(OK, yes. Now you can see them.)
The four days we spent there were packed with activities. The first thing we did was drive around Kuah town and then Langkawi island. That took like all 40 minutes. Much of the island is still jungle and paddy fields spotted with little kampungs. And lots of water buffaloes. And cows.

(Daisy pondering the deeper questions of existentialism… while ignoring the annoying tourists with their cameras.)

My daughter asked me, “Daddy, why do you keep saying ‘Holy Cow!’ each time we pass a cow?!”

The second day we took an island hopping trip with a bunch of fellow tourists. It was pretty awesome (the trip, not the fellow tourists), simply the best RM35 i spent while on holiday.

First stop was the Geopark in Pulau Dayang Bunting.

(My kids dipping their feet in the freshwater lake. No, their feet weren’t clean to start with, yeah yeah i know.)

Then the eagle feeding. The boatmen throw pieces of chicken into the water and the birds come down like lightning.

(Does this pic remind you of the old Marlboro ad?)

At first i thought there gonna be like a few of them, but there were dozens! Watching them circle and swoop down like a conveyor belt was one of the most spectacular sights in nature.

Then it was on to Pulau Beras Basah, with its pristine sandy beach and crystal clear water. I kid you not. I didn’t think a place like this existed in West Malaysia.

(Paradise on earth. Except for the scorching 11am heat.)

(Crystal clear water. And my beautiful legs.)

(Colourful fish greet you when you get off the jetty. Doesn’t this pic remind you of that scene in Finding Nemo?)

I sat down to eat a cheese bun i brought in my bag and suddenly out of nowhere, a little friend appeared beside me.

(”Quick. Hand over the food and NO ONE GETS HURT…”)

In the afternoons, we’re usually back in the chalet. This was ours. Yes, that IS my laundry hanging out to dry. They actually provide hangers for you to dry your clothes outside.

(In a few years time, the plants will overgrow the entire chalet…)

And inside the room. Quite simple.

(Pic taken 4 seconds before my kids ransacked the sheets.)

And every evening, it was at the beach. True to its name, the sunset view is spectacular here.

On the third day we went up the Cable Car. View from the top is excellent, if it isn’t too cloudy.

On the 3rd day we went hunting for an Irish Bar that we went 10 years ago. We found it in Pantai Tengah alright, but unfortunately it looked like it recently closed. What a shame, would have loved to try their Irish coffee again…

(Everything’s green. so typical)

Of course being duty free, Langkawi’s the place to buy booze and chocolate.

(We finished the cheap beer before the photo was taken)

And so, yeah, it was a memorable trip to the island, great to see so much has changed in a decade. Not sure if we’re coming back in 10 years time though, it’ll be very expensive then…

(Selamat tinggal, pulau lagenda…)

Happy 6th Birthday, Hannah!

My 2nd kid turned 6th yesterday! Even though it was a busy busy month for all of us, we managed to have a small celebrated for her classmates in school and at home. She was cheerful and happy throughout the day (or so I was told) and was telling everyone that ‘today’s my birthday!’

This was the cake my wife baked for her classmates.

And a kindy class photo… probably the last one before graduation soon…

Kids aren’t fussy eaters. They’ll lap up anything with cream on it.

Party packs for all the kids. Some of it was courtesy of my mom.

Dinner with the family at night

And for desert, more cake.

after dinner was presents time!

One pic with sister. How time flies eh…? She’ll be starting primary school in December.