The Malaysia Cup is still running annually, isn’t it? Yes I think it is. I think I stopped following local football around 1997-98. But as a schoolkid growing up in the 80’s, we all followed the Malaysian League and cup. I wasn’t really into watching all that much, but I did follow the league because everyone did. We didn’t have Astro, live telecasts were only for finals or international matches. The only time we got to watch a little football was the highlight show maybe once a week in season, and short clips during the late English news at 11.30pm. As far as English football was concerned, we’d get Big…

Talking about dim sum in Ipoh, I can probably say in the last 15 years or so of going there, i’ve been to most of the famous places. If you’re talking about the big ones, I’ve been to Ming Court, Yoke Fook Moon, old Foh San, new Foh San and Tai Woo. If you’re talking about old school dim sum, I’ve been to Ying Fa. As for upcoming, i’ve tried this pretty good one called Chef Chan or something like that. For middle of the road convenience, I’ve been to a few of the Tai Thong ones in Ipoh, most frequently the one at Hillcity. And regrettably I’ve also tried…

Lots of things occupying my time recently. Besides, the hot and dry weather is giving me a constant headache and hence I’m going to keep this short. *** Painting is an expensive hobby. It definitely isn’t for those with a very tight budget. We’re talking about actual paints, medium, brushes, canvas, varnuish, etc. Poor exchange rate and limited brands here means we pay a lot for something that’s affordable overseas. *** Sushi Zanmai has great sushi! I’ve always wondered what the fuss was with this place – people lining up at all hours of the day just to eat shopping mall sushi. Now i know. Of course, you can’t compare…

Yes, I bought the new iPad. It’s called the new iPad, right? I’ve never owned an Apple product, believe it or not. The closest I got was my old Apple clone computer back in the 80’s running Applesoft. Well, that doesn’t really count, anyway. But don’t get me wrong. I’ve always been impressed with their products and Steve Jobs. But for some reason or other (usually functionality and pricing), i’ve not bought their products. the iMac is only for architects and designers. The MacBook is expensive. The iPod – well, so much for a mini-Walkman? Wasn’t really moved by the iPhone. So on a whim, i plonked RM1499 for the…

When i was still doing watercolours last year and had wanted to migrate to oil colours, I did a lot of research into the different brands and types . As it turned out, I discovered Water Miscible Oils (WMO). What are Water Miscible Oils? Also known as Water Mixable Oils or Water Soluble Oils (WSO), they feel and work just like regular oil paints, except through recent scientific breakthrough, their chemical composition has been slightly modified to be able to be solublecand mixable with water. In case you didn’t know, for the past 400 years, oil painters have been mixing oils using alcohol-based thinners. When i first found out about…

Last day of our dream holiday. Our speedboat is set to leave Koh Lipe at 10am, so my family got up really early to get to the beach before breakfast. Early morning presents a lot of sights we don’t see later in the day. Like people exercising in the cold morning wind. Even the usually bustling Walking Street is quiet. After a hearty breakfast, i check in at the immigration and soon we board the boat. In slightly under an hour, we’re back in Langkawi, Malaysia again. Goodbye, beautiful Lipe. See you again in 2 years time, hopefully. We already miss the cool clean waters, the powdery fine sand, the…

(This is part of an ongoing travelogue. To start at the first post, go here) Day Four! Times passes really fast when you’re on vacation. No plans today except swim and relax the whole day. But also wanted to try kayaking. The last time i kayaked was probably in Perhentian, more than 15 years ago? First things first. Hannah jumped into the water. She met the same Thai kid from our island hopping yesterday. Alyssa didn’t go swimming. She was camerawoman and spent most of the time lying on the deck chair. This is our kayak. Doesn’t look very safe, leh. Anyways for RM20 an hour, or RM60 for the…

(Check out Parts One and Two here) Up bright and early on Day 3, coz today’s the day we go island hopping. We spent some time yesterday afterday checking out the prices at a few of the tour / dive shops. All of them offer the same two packages, but with slightly varying prices. Tour 1 is more suited for beginners and families with children, Tour 2 goes further out to sea and more challenging sites. We picked the shop offering the cheapest price, it was also the one with the friendliest owner. The package cost us THB1600 (RM160) for 4 people, inclusive of lunch, not inclusive of fee for…

(This is the 2nd part in an ongoing travelogue. Check out the first part here.) Before coming here i was worried if the nights were going to be a little boring here as there isn’t much to do. But that problem never arose. Every night after dinner we were usually too tired and went to bed by about 10pm. Second day was a free and easy day here. Let’s face it, other than go for island hopping (which we did on Day 3), there isn’t much else to do except: 1. swim, 2. lay on the beach and relax, 3. eat, 4. relax some more. Our hotel Bundhaya is a…

I first heard about Ko Lipe at the end of 2010 when my colleague was went there for week during Christmas / New Year. His report to me was ‘YOU MUST GO THERE’. It was so good he went there again for the same period last year. To be honest, if not for him i would have never have heard of this place, and most people i meet haven’t no clue where Ko Lipe is either. Well, basically, Ko Lipe (‘Paper Island’) is a tiny paradise island in the Andaman Sea in Southern Thailand. To get there you can take a 1-hour speed boat from either Langkawi or Mainland Thailand.…