Korea 3: Dynamic Korea

*That's what the brochure said....not that I'm promoting Korea or something...*


And the story continues.....

And i've got an old dude staring down at me from his desk. He kept staring at the passport and to me...and back to passport again...for about a minute. I couldn't stand it any longer and decided to "assist" him...

Me: umm...i think that's me.
Custom officer : Are you sure? *what kind of question is that??!*
Me: I think so....not too sure though. Looks like me right??
Custom officer : hmm.....you lost some weight. *huh??*
Me: Really?? THANKS!! Been working out for quite a while now....
Custom officer: Okay, welcome to Korea..... *weird!!!*

Anyway, my friends were waiting for me and they didn't hesitate to laugh out loud in the midst of bewildered Koreans around us when i told them what happen....and guess what, it didn't just end there, we then proceeded to the machine that scans bag and stuff. I took off my belt, video cam, watch......even shoes....and everything that i THOUGHT contain metal....except my packet of chewing gum that's wrapped with the silver colour paper.

Step through the gate of fate and...
TIT TIT TIT...... sounded the scanning machine.
Custom officer: Take it off...
Me: huh?? I took off everything(metal) already!!
*Custom officer moves that scanner thingie near my pocket*
TIT TIT TIT......
Custom officer : Take it off!
* Could it be?.......impossible!!*
Me: You mean this? *took out the chewing gum....very very blur at that time..*

Custom officer then move that scanner thing near my pocket again.....and that blasted thing didn't sound!! it WAS the chewing gum after all! I never knew silver coloured paper can trigger an alarm. Now i got that officer angry and looking like an ogre. Feeling like a "terrorist" , i tried to call truce...by offering my chewing gum....i was like, hey, want one?? ......b-a-d move. all i succeeded was just making her frown impossibly deeper. But got through though....phew. After all that comedy, we headed out to meet Ben's (one of my senior) friend, Afzai, JPA scholar who studies in Korea. He let us crash at his house....how kind. After that....well, let me just show pics.....a picture is like a thousand words right??

Introducing Cast members...


from left to right.... Ben, Afzai(JPA Korea), Karen(JPA Korea), Angela(JPA Korea), Pek Fang (JPA Korea), MGS, Chee, Chiu Sik (white shirt)

Our first night in Seoul, the first night was a lot on planning what to do and where to go for the rest of our week in korea....actually, it was a lot of They plan and We listen. Most of the time they just argue with each other and we became spectator....




Finished arguing (at 3 in the morning) , we had our long postponed, much needed sleep. Next day, we explored the heart of South Korea.... and found Soul...sorry, SEoul...
They introduced Myung Dong to us...it's uhh...a place like Petaling Street minus the fruits and pirated DVDs....


see that black plastic? it's not DVD...


all those shops were selling cheap fakes...Nikes and Adidas and other branded stuff...


their version of "lok lok"...that place is full of these things....in fact, there about a hundred stalls selling the same stuff....must be Korea's staple food.


That is a 32 cm ice cream....said that it is only available in Korea....yeah, i know it's bullshit but what the hell....i'm there only once!!

And we explored the place just like Parameswara explored Melaka....but we didn't find any Sang Kancil, we got hungry instead. We asked them to introduce some food that will leave a strong impression that we are IN Korea....I guess that must be one tough question as we got them to argue over and over again. Finally, asked them to just eat what they want to eat....and they brought us to eat this ....


This is some kind of "tang hun" cooked with chicken and potatoes. It's spicy and it's D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!! maybe it's because of eating too much jap food *that don't really have any taste*...but this is goooood!!

With our stomaches full, guys especially...we were treated like Tong Sampah, so, we are the ones who ate most *girls were all very very health concious, all afraid of being "fleshy" around the waist*....girls be girls....anyway, stomaches filled, we decided to visit the place where the emperor once lived his happy marriage life with his wive-S


we didn't find any W-E-L-C-O-M-E mat.......


but we found these instead....they are the royal guards. Just like the one in england, they are not suppose to move. hmm.....i wonder what will they do if they see me walking away with a stolen vase or teapot or something....will they actually move and catch me?? What if.....what if i place a lighter reeeal close to his skirt?!


and being as youthful as i am....just can't resist a gag picture with Mr. Cool....


This is where his highness once rested his ass. Well, since his "ass sat" here...I'd figured that this must be his Royal Ass-sat!!....sorry, Royal Asset!! God rest his butt....


This is proof that his highness was very very Asian. Almost all asian emperors have pagodas right?? This will make a perfect spot for an ASTRO satelite dish though...

Anyway, after we had enough of the regal tour....and also sick of fakies and lok lok ....decided to explore some other nearby streets...


which look quite the same anyway....but we were lucky that day. They are having some kind of performance! YAHOO!!


Ooookay....Guess i yahoo-ed too early. It was a traditional performance by a respectably very "experienced" dancer....someone said we were lucky to get a "veteran"...lucky? hmm....


As if being able to read my mind....the MC ushered the next performance...and it was performed by young chics!! And because they were novices....they hadn't much money to buy colourful traditional costumes and got the skimpy ones instead....tank tops that serve little purpose....mini skirts that serve lesser purpose....don't get me wrong though, i NOT complaining...

After it ended...we decided to leave, mostly because they canceled "throwing their skirts to audience" event. We left them other perverts, whose nose is already bleeding after only one performance. With night approaching fast, we thought that visiting the most famous place in Seoul was the best to wrap up the day.

Them budak Korea took us to a place called Dong Dae Mun.... practically means Big Gate "Dong"....which had quite a comical touch to it. It was somewhat an important gate but now.....reduced to just a round about...hmm, guess there's not much "Dong" in this gate anymore.


Since it was a big shot gate...we tried to give it back a bit of it's dignity....we took a picture. Oh btw, in Korea, they don't say "cheese"....they say "Kim Chi"


PS: Listening to raptor4EVA's advice, i decided to drop that "suspense" ending style...lapuk d. Anyway, the next's about my trip to an island south of South Korea....a very very beautiful place. So, until next time....

Korea 2 : Demonic Air Hostesses

And there goes the tale bout' me missing my flight.....almost anyway.

And so everyone grew panicky....hey! I thought I told you! ....Why didn't you ask me??!...why this and why that...everyone making assumptions and asking pointless questions that had no answer. well, everyone manage to quiet down eventually. But seems that eyes are still darting here and there...as if they are shooting laser beams that will melt you down with guilt and shame...

Then there came the suggestion...."why not leave now? maybe they can do something bout' it at the airport".. (current time was 10, scheduled to leave at 11.30)

At that time it sounded brilliant but betrayed by the fact that it is Sunday and for something that involves the local government...they ARE on holiday right??

Anyway, since the airport is on an island....on a big island...the fastest way was by ferry. So, during the journey there, I was already giving up hope and started an inpromptu plan of my not-in-korea-holiday. Accompanying me was Despair. It told me that I would spend a very very very lonely week....but then I manage to find Hope who was just sitting beside me. Actually, Hope is my senior named Ben from Penang. Ben from Penang still holding strong to Operation Go-there-and-see-how.

Meanwhile, I was singing ..."Lonely...I am so lonely...I have nobody...I'm all aloooOONNEEEE"

The tearful tale continues when we reached the ferry terminal and there was a lovely decorated cheerful sign that says ..."Fully Book". Can you ladies and gentlement imagine the frustation at that time?? I was seriously questioning the existence of god and wondering if HE likes to play games.....sigh...

Anyway, we got to the airport by train. Reached there at 2.10. Flight at 3.00. We were greeted by smilling cute chicks at information counter. The one wielding a fiery pitchfork one gave me directions to the customs office...very kind of her. But we went on to collect our reserved tickets first. I asked one of them (There were 5 of us) to follow me to the offices while the rest went on to check in. I had to run very long to the office (according to directions given by cute chick at info counter) only to be told by a male officer there to ask the cute chick at flight counter instead. With time running out, I ran again to the place I was at and the cute chick...still smiling after I left her moments ago...licked her lips, smiled her wicked smile and told me .........they can do something about it!! Phew!! My first good news since my hols started!! Guess I don't have to spend a lonely week after all!! YAHOO!!!

I checked in at 2.45.....just in time! HaHA...Hahaha...ha.....phew....

Buckled my seat belt, sat back and started daydreaming my Korea Holiday....

Before this trip I've always had good impressions on stewardess...nice, pretty, beautiful...different from cute chicks at counter....until I discovered their well hidden malicious nature. One piece advice....Guys, Don't ever ever sit next to a more handsome guy in the airplane....I'm serious, no kidding. Sitting beside me was my one of senior whom I call Mamak Jiwang (MJ)....everyone of my female senior said he's hunky, handsome, cute, good looking and everything else good.

And The moment of TRUTH came....

I was feeling a lil' thirsty so I ordered a cup of something for myself....it never came. I pressed the call button, ordered again....never came. Frustated, I asked MJ instead to order for me...it came at once!! WHY?! Anyway, SHOCKed with my newfound knowledge, decide to try again....guess what? It never came. Had to ask my senior's help to order for me a cup of pepsi.....sigh...

When getting off the plane, them air stewardess smiled their very well practiced smiles and said Thank You For Flying With Us Hope You Had A Good Flight....oh, forget it! As if....and where's my pepsi??! humph....well, it's better to let bygones be bygones.

and....

KOREA!! I've stepped foot in Korea!! Woohoo!!

Feeling very happy now, I approached the counter....stationed by a MALE counter...smiled and gave him my passport. He took a looong look at my passport and suddenly....he frown!! GASP!! Why is he frowning? Frowning is good news right? please tell me that "frown" is good news!

to be cotinued...


PS: Sorry for the late sequel....had no access to keyboard and a screen...

Korea 1 : Troubling start...

My adventures brought me to Korea this time. During this trip....the phrase "Shit happens.." came out from my mouth almost all the time. hmm....

My hols started on the 10th of August....exams just ended so i took a few days off to stay away from any other human being and just relax myself. After relaxing enough, i came back to humanity and had a basketball game with my friend...and broke my glasses! I was shooting and his hands came down and smack me right in the face.....hard. so, from ONE spectacles I suddenly had FOUR. yup, four different parts that just won't correct my crippled sight. And that had to happen 3 days before my flight. The original plan was to follow my senior (that MGS girl)to a place called Suzuka, which happen to be the nearest to Nagoya airport. Supposed to travel in the morning and reach there at night....but my new spectacles will only be ready in the afternoon! So, no choice....asked MGS to go 1st....meet her there the next day.

Plan B was travel to Tokyo and take a midnight train to rendevous point. Every thing went well....in my head anyway, I dreamt a perfect journey there. My journey to tokyo was very normal, reached in the evening. But when i got there..."I'm sorry sir...the fixed seats are fully booked. Only the free seatings are available. Sorry for the inconvenience"...said that cute jap chick at the counter. I can't possibly get angry at her right?? = P
So, I've got about 5 hours till my train arrive. went round the place....found a porn shop renting videos. Went in for a look....to look at what kind of people's in it though....not to "encourage" my organ. Most people in there have that geeky look, you know, that "rice bowl" hair cut and thick frame glasses resting on plump cheeks. Also men of 40 year olds. The whole place was silent..like a sacred holy ceremony, just that this was not that holy....but i kinda understand why they are not talking to each other... what would they talk about? Sports?? Come on....

ding ..ding...ding....DING!
"Train is arriving. Please stay behind the yellow line. Watch your step and mind the gap. "
Train arrived on time, I smiled and picked up my bag, ready for my midnight journey (planning to sleep all the way)......and OMG!! What on Earth!!
The train was full of people!! What are these mutants doing in the train?? Robbing me off my comfort? What grudge have they against me??! sigh...I guess that cute chick at the counter conned me the meaning of "free seating". Well, at least i got that lil' bit of space on the floor just enough for me to sit cross legged. another guy had to stand the whole time!! My 6 hours trip suddenly seemed very very dreadful. I spent my whole 6 hours soothing leg cramps, massaging my sore neck and imagining that cute chick at the counter snickering with sharp teeth potruding from her blue lips and she had two ugly horns on her head. sigh....never trust cute chicks at the counter.
Well, shit happens.

Anyway, reached my friend's place safely.

My friend were not kind to me either....instead of letting me rest, he said....hey, let's go out and play the WHOLE day! Lucky I wasn't that tired despite the harsh train ride and i got to sleep lying down that night...sleeping properly never felt sooo good. The next morning, we were eating breakfast, preparing to depart for our 3 o' clock flight, chatting happily and one of them said....
"better check everything, passport, money.....and re-entry permit" ....
I raised my eyebrow and cocked my head and asked..."Re-entry permit? huh?"....
"Randy, don't joke lar...."
"What??! I seriously don't know!!!"...
He suddenly stop chewing his Ang Tau bread...he practically stopped moving! "Show me your passport...shit! you really don't have it!"
Well, i really didn't know anything bout it. Without the re-entry permit, I can fly to Korea but can't come back to Japan. There goes my trip to korea....sob....sob....

to be continued...

It's summer time!!

Summer in Japan can be describe using four scenarios....bikinis at beaches, flaring fireworks, supposedly scary ghost stories and the all famous kaki goori....which means air batu campur or air batu kacang minus the kacang, which means it's only air batu....can't say campur also cause' there's only one colour.

Hmm...let's start with the beaches shall we??

Well, beaches in japan is plain horrible...particularly the sand. Sand at the beach is dirt colour. Yea, it's white on the surface but mess it up a lil' and you can instantly see the ugly gray underneath, which is made worse by the waves that come pounding the shores. So, the beaches look like mud at the shoreline and you get an impression that it's dirty. And oh, not only that, you can harvest hundreds of kilos of seaweed from it too! Just go for a swim and your leg and hands will automaticly collect seaweeds for you....how convennient. I don't know if that is good news (your mom actually BUY them right?) but i wasn't that happy to have one the slimy stuff sticking to my leg. Given the dirty sand and seaweed, people still pack beaches...why? Hey! It's summer!! "everyone goes to the beach in summer......it's the best time of the year!!" In japan, it's not summer if you haven't been to the beach. Don't get me wrong though, pack means good. You don't see much mud when there's people around.... and the other thing is that girls here are only wear bikinis (Ooooh yeah, i'm not gonna complain bout this..haha) and guys only wear beach shorts, no swim suits or swimming trunks allowed. Wear one and you instantly become "attraction of the day". I know it because me friend wore swimming trunks there....and he thought he was a hunkie cause' every bikini girl was like, "staring" at him....and so i was at the beach. I eventually avoided splashing in saltwater...the seaweed's hospitality was just too much for humble me, and walk on the shore instead....and uhh, "sightseeing" of course..... hehe.
Beaches are also the place where they sell overpriced stuff. Japanese mee goreng, yakisoba....the kaki goori, ABC...beer....and nothing else. There's like more than 10 stalls there and they sell only these 3 stuff.... "But, hey! It's summer! Who would eat anything else?? " " It's the best time of the year to eat and drink those stuff!".

Japan's summer also boast for it's superb pyrotechnics....or so it's said to be. It's super if you get to big cities and they really do light up the sky but be in a smaller city and suddenly fireworks is something very boring. Well, my place happen to be group under "smaller cities". At first it was okay with big, thunderous ones and pyros that actually have smiley, hello kitty and doraemon shapes. And so I was like......ooh, look at this...ohh, look at that but after a while, it's like....." hey, let's go get something to eat" and "hey, let's ignore the fireworks and play some stupid game". The whole show goes on for an hour and the half but i'd say the 10 minutes show during Merdeka Day in Ayer Keroh made better impression. hmm...maybe it's that i just haven't been to the big ones... "but hey!! It's summer! We've gotta have fireworks somehow....it's the best time of the year!"
Anyway, we had to go back early, the girls' hostel alarm is activeted at 9.45....bummer. Went there bout 7.30 and left at 8.50. That was the moment where i totally lost my mood to do anything else and spend the entire next day swimming in my bed.

Summer also can be quite an enlighting period. This time i think i finally understood the long misunderstood spiritworld. Ghosts and spirits and demons....whatever you call them, are actually afraid of cold. Yup, that's right folks....you read it right...and that's the main reason ghosts' existence and stories only gain popularity during summer. I serious wonder why and have pondered for weeks and finally settled for the idea that they are afraid of the cold. Isn't it so? I mean, Malaysia's hot the whole year and we have pontianak and toyol available all year round right?? Anyway, it's really amazing that even tv stations air these kind of stories only at this time of the year. I've ask many of my jap friends bout it and they said..."Yeah, Why have I never thought of that before!" and one even said..."Hmm...think when i die, I'll be japan's first non-summer ghost but i don't think i'll be scary though..." weird but true...but hey! It's summer!! We've been too busy sweating from the hot weather and we desperately need something for us to shiver about!! it's the best time of the year to listen these scary but funny at the same time stories...

And uhh...piece of advice for those coming to japan, if you ever will....eat Air Batu Campur as much as you want before coming. ABC here is actually shaved ice .yup, just plain, nothing special, shaved iced with only one colour (flavour)....tried asking once..."hey mister, can you please mix up all the flavours, please?"...he gave me one very twisted frown and said..."Can you PLEASE just decide on one??". Totally different from our colourful ones. And they have nothing at the bottom. No kacang merah, no green stuff, no sweet corns.....just plain shaved iced. And they cost you RM10.00 ...not just us humble malaysians but even japs here complain that they are expensive...but, hey! it's summer! who would mind?? Everyone eats this ridiculously overpriced ABC for summer! You have chance to eat this crap only during summer!! It's the best time of the year!!

....please forgive my mood. Didn't mean to drag you fellas down with me. Summer is supposedly the best time of the year...i know i said it many times already, but....somehow, I ended up with only two choices on how to spend summer....go solo or travel round with that MGS girl....who already have a boyfriend. I've never been on a solo travel, it's always been a group or something like that....and traveling with MGS girl...hmm, that may not sound so bad.....anyhow, tomorrow's the last day of campus and I still don't have any clear plans with me. Maybe I'll just "go where the wind blows" ....

Magical wonderland of Disney

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to my host family who took me to Tokyo Disneyland...


Welcome....

Seriously, I'm having a hard time making this entry because....gawd, it's so hard to express the magical feeling in words!!
To really enjoy yourself there, all you gotta do is relax and ... enjoy! Nothing more fun than going back to being a kid. And so I was a montrous behemoth oversized and overgrown kid that day....heck I even bought myself a mickey headgear!! One warning though..... Disneyland definitely not a place for "I have matured mind " and "I'm a 20 year OLD man" or "are you kidding? I don't do cartoons at this age" kind of dudes....



Well, got off for an early start to Disneyland....it opens at 8. Me and my host family was there at 7.47...not good enough, still gotta line up. Lining up wasn't that bad because you have mickey's people all over smiling and welcoming you to his land. Once inside, we were instantly greeted by Chip and Dale...got no chance to snap any pic...kids instantly swarm over them, squealing, and all you see is a lump of legs and hands. Not daring enough to approach the massacre, I headed inside to a boulevard of beautifully decorated shoplots. Oh, yeah, forget to mention, since it's Disney, everything is western style. Anyway, right at the center is a guy with a piano...showing off his skills of "Shadow hand" ( Remember Wong Fei Hung?? No, well, it means really really quick hands) He was a dedicated dude jamming his piano with Disney tunes.


one of the beautiful ones..

And at the end of the boulevard, you instantly get a glimpse of the all familiar Disney Castle....I don't know how to describe my feelings accurately but at that moment....I mean, just after seeing a few cartoon characters and emerging from a uniquely beautiful sunroofed boulevard, you see something you have been fantasizing all the time while you were a kid....right in front of you!! It's like you have just emerge from a teleportation tunnel.



help....me....kids.....all over....


heh..heh...I uhh...grabbed the small kids by the collar, threw them into a pond and had Donald Duck all to myself..

While I busy myself taking countless shots of castle and things around, my host family were having discussions on where to head to....Westernland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Toontown or I-forgot-what-land-is-it-land...
Well, Westernland was about the old wild wild west...why am i sick of hearing the term wild wild we....eurgh...old west buildings, coasters and boat ride. Tomorrowland have Buzz Lightyear and Emperor Zurg....Toon town have Mickey's house, Minnie's house, Goofy, Roger Rabit .....hmm, funny I didn't see Bugs Bunny anywhere...Anyway, we were here and there and here...the beautiful letdown is that we had to line up for everything..rides, buy popcorn, drink water, toilet, you name it....


toon town...


this whole thing is a clock....oh, lookie, it's 12!

I enjoyed the rides especially Haunted Mansion but the thing that really bring out my buried kiddie spirit was the parades...We had about 4 parades in total....all in different themes. Watching the parades....It's amazing to see my fantasy world parading right in front of me. It's like living in dreamworld only to realise that I'm are awake...and as I try to grasp reality my mind swirls towards the magical world. It's like being there but feels like I'm actually elsewhere...drifting. Felt like I'm parading along with them dancing and singing. And they had to start the parade with 5 pixie fairies....then came the elaborately decorated floats along with Mickey and friends on top of it, waving and blowing kisses to loyal fans who brave the scorching sun and the burning ground. All the while blaring the hypnotic Disney songs on the speakers. Just like a dream, the parade ended when it felt like it just started. It's hard to bring yourself back to the real world after that....It's not as easy as swallowing the red pill but ... I had lil' difficulties walking with my eyes still mesmerize. My step-father asked me if I'm dizzy from the heat...i gave him a very stupid looking face and said...heat? huh? What's hot?....he gave me back a stupider face and pointed towards the sun....bummer.....





this one sprays water....hid my vidcam just in time... phew!!!


Well, we then proceeded to visit R2-D2 and C3-PO and had lunch afterwards...pizza and soda...very very american...and we had cheeseburger with fries for dinner. Just having back my brain returned from Toon Town...I found myself again on the sidewalk waiting to watch another parade...yet again sweet dizziness seized my brains and robbed me of my reality conciousness.


tit tit tit tut tut tit tut tut tot...

But had to say that highlight of the day was the parade no.3 which was at 8 at night. They had fire to go along with the parade...imagine the effect it had on me! I remained seated even after everyone picked their butts off the ground.
Well, exited the place at about 11 at night after waving goodbye to Pocahontas....she was the prettiest, sexiest and most charming of the day.





this pic....heh heh...forgive my randyness



As we walked back to the car, I just couldn't believe the day I had.....truly....truly...... magical.

Exam week...

Yo fellas....been wanting to blog for some time already....bout my trip to the magical land of Disney ....but got an exam coming up, wait a minute, it's not coming.....it's already exam day!! OMG!! omg...omg.....panic...panic.....

Well, yeah, it's exam and this is one exam I can't screw up so, got to study this whole week....funny, most of my friends are already jollying (their exam's two months later...) and I still have my butt glued to the office chair. When i mean glued, I mean G-L-U-E-D....I practically rolled on the four wheels of the office chair all the way to the library and up the stairs. Yup, that bad....

See you fellas back online two weeks later...

ENGLISH Speech Contest in Japan......

An announcement about a speech contest came two weeks ago. It came after my lecturer exalted and worshipped me like a god for 40 minutes during English class, dudes.....not exagerating, you'll know what I mean even if you are in Japan. They treat you like god even if you order McD in english...anyway, he mention about the contest and was asking if anyone wanted to join....funny, when he said "Anyone", he was having his eagle eyes fixed on me, I could have sworn fireballs shot from his eyeball toward me. Well, I couldn't reject him could I?? He was like " Randy, join the contest you s** o* a b**** !!! " Anyway, no one else join because they say they already have their class representative......sigh, me.

So, he told me to bring my speech to him for grammar checking after I write one. I came up with a speech titled cartoon culture...mainly bout how cartoon is changing our lives. Like all obedient student will, I brought it to his desk on time. Looking exited and all fired up, he clapped his hands once and said....."Ookkay, let's spot for grammar misses...." Took my paper and....was reading.....and suddenly, "Randy, WHAT is this?". For an instance I thought he didn't like my speech as I "exercised" some of my crap in it....as usual right?. Anyway, it goes...

"Randy....what does this word means?"

oh......"that" ....that means....

"and this?"

well, this means...

"oh i see.....and what about this?"

And so it went on for quite a while, me explaining what i wrote.

When he's finally finished reading my speech, he said," Randy, you've got to edit this! This is too difficult to understand!!" Guys...I did write my speech using simple english. He asked me to simplify it and gawd help me.....I don't know how to!! At last, he said nevermind and wished me luck for my speech. I was like ....Hey, wasn't that suppose to be grammar checking? Sounded like an english lesson to me! Anyway, was thinking....if my lect don't understand my stuff, how bout the rest of the audience??!

On speech day, I was the no.10 speaker out of 17. No offense but Jap english really is that bad. They did a superb job of mixing the "r" and "l" and a better job at speaking english that don't make sense at all!! It's like reading out a sentence that have no spaces between the words. try saying....Thesedaysviolentgamesareinfluencingyoungpeoplesmindand .....see what I mean? I had a harrrrd time trying to understand what the speaker is saying. But it's not only me, almost all of the audience were dozing off by the time it's my turn. Well, I don't blame them.....

And then it's my turn....and magic happened

The moment I start speaking, everyone looked up at me and stared with their wide goldfish eyes....they were like, "Oh my gawd....who on earth is that? Where he learned to speak like that....was he the blessed one in the phropecies? Is he....god?" I...uhh.....never knew that MY english could have made such an impact. Maybe it's just that I dropped all the lar- , lor- , mah- , one- , wor- , ah- ....you guys should try it too.

I don't think anyone save for the judges undertood my speech. But I won 1st prize anyway. Haha...made Malaysia proud.

A beautiful day at blueberry farm

Living in Malaysia, as hot as it is, growing blueberries and raspberries other than in Camerons are impossible. No matter what ADIDAS or NIKE says bout "impossible" growing blueberry in Malaysia, especially in Melaka is IMPOSSIBLE. Well, this explains about me being a "jakun" when it comes to blueberry trees.

Just as I thought life cannot be anymore dull than this, my friend's host family called and ask us to go to a farm that grows vegetables and berries. So, being a jakun that have never seen or taste berries other than jam before, jumped at it like a happy dog wagging it's tail. Went to sleep early the night before and woke up to a beautiful Saturday morning, took a shower and prepared myself for my first pick-blueberry-from-tree experience.....yes, that includes skipping breakfast. (Actually, I woke up late and missed breakfast, not because I'm greedy!)

The drive there from my campus took only about 10 minutes. We reached a house that is beautifully decorated, jap style, all wood and paper. The main stucture is made of wood and the walls are of paper. It's very cooling in there amidst the sweltering summer. Think I'll build one just like it when I get back to Melaka




...anyway, as we are entering the house, we saw a snake trying to slither it's way in, yep, the long slimy monster with that split tounge and beady eye....no one dared to reach out and grab the snake's tail....and Randy no hero too. He forgot his blue sweatpants, bright red underwear and his cape. So, no hero to save the day. The snake mocked at our cowardice, jeering it's tounge at us.....psst...psst...psst...




Well, the lady owner of the house, presumely bored of the snake said, "Oh, to hell with that sanke, let's head back to the back, we've got blueberries to chow on." Everyone nodded eagerly....girls because...come on, there's a freakin' snake there! and guys.....hmm, to compare snake and blueberry, we all just couldn't wait to put our hands on those blueberries...guys be guys.

At the back, there were about 9 blueberry shrubs, about Kenny's or Fook Hi's height.....the blueberries is about the size of mata kucing, have blue skin (obviously! why else would they call it BLUEberry?!), the flesh have the same colour as grape, have a gazillion little seeds..... and they tasted wonderful, sweet and a lil' sour. So, the mob were all busy, eating berries and taking pictures and eating more berries and snapping more pictures.





K, all the "ripe" berries are now swimming in Hidrocloric Acid in our stomachs. All's left are the unripe green ones. My senior, Nadia suddenly came up saying...."Hey! Let's try eating the green ones...we don't know what they taste like right? Who knows they are sweeter than the blue ones? Why not take a harmless bite?" jumping up and down looking all excited...(Can't help but think that she look a lil' bit like me at that moment, suggesting crappy nonsense). Well, the MGS girl said...."but the lady just now said that the green ones are sour....." Man, I was thinking ...isn't ALL unripe fruits green and sour? so why bother taking a bite? But then again, I got a lil' too curious and joined her with her quest for truth...... Well, ehem...we were...uhh....confirmed that green blueberries are indeed sour and not for eating. I, of all people on earth should have known that crappy nonsense are never good.

Anyway, the rest of the group were already headed to the raspberry farm ....we rushed to catch up with them..... giving them sour faces when they asked why we were late...

And oh, raspberries looks like this...




heh heh...can't think of anything better than a cute model with a cute fruit!



It's actually.....quite hairy and it looks like a bunch of small fruits camping together but it's not, it's a ..a...uhh...umm...together, all in one piece. The core is rather thick and when you pick the fruit from the stem, the core remains and you have yourself a hollow, red hairy piece of raspberry. Did i mention hairy? Yes, it's hairy and quite ugly...one of my jap friends said, yuck, It's got more hair than your leg!! Uh uh...Bad thing to say, I had SERIOUS doubt putting that piece of fruit in my mouth....took a deep breath, close my and eyes and here goes...chew, chew, chew ,Oh, ok, this lil' hairy berry is tasty!! It's sweet and oh, I don't know how to describe it, raspberry taste. They give your hand a red dye too...just like mangosteen gives you a purple dye.

While we're eating, a lil' girl that was along with us found two cute little frogs, one from the leaves, one from on top of the fruit. She so excited she ran around showing everyone her discovery and telling us where she found them (why is everyone trying their best to disgust me from eating the raspberries??) Anyway, that lil' kid manage to disgust evryone and had raspberries all to herself. By the way, she played with the two frogs all the time, tugging at one leg, squeezing their bellies and forcing them to kiss....eating berries seems to give that kid bright ideas...




Well, the trip ended like all trips to fruit farms end...eating jam. Not that I mind anyway. Jam's different from the ones they sell at stores. This jam taste just nice and not too sweet. It's so nice i bought myself two containers of them! Cost me RM28... And a pack of blueberries too....



So, there goes another wonderful saturday...this time purely dedicated to Blueberries.

A Girlie thing.

Remember all those conversations we had about jap chicks? well, seems that I've got my fair share of experience! Yup, That's right folks! A girl told me she likes me!

The fairy tale starts when we got to know each other through "International Club"....and I think you guys can imagine the Randy I am, going round here and there "making friends" ( Kian Min refered that as flirting, but I'm not so sure....) Well, anyway, one of them was Satou Rie....a 18 year old girl from north Japan, whitish skin and all. I was quite high that particular day so, we were all chatting in a group, I was ....uhh...the only guy, sorry-la, the other guys I already know them earlier. Blah blah blah...Randy's got a few friends.

So, weeks past by with me crapping around, going makan sushi together (in a group) and making rings of flowers from the field. I started suspecting that she likes me by the way she looks and talks to me...my seniors said I'm SSS, Super Syok Sendiri, well, I thought was SSS, until.....

Batman Begins premierred last saturday, so being a movie-goer, i asked around if anybody wanna come along to catch Batman and friends. Two flesh blobs answered, my senior (that MGS girl) and of course, Satou Rie.

About the cinema....sigh, read my past blog, I don't wanna mention about it again. At the cinema, we sat...Satou Rie, Me in the middle, MGS girl, at first I was suppose to be far left with Satou Rie in the middle but i said i wanna sit beside MGS girl as well....Anyway, during the movie, she complained that she's a lil' sleepy (that old drama trick!!) and started to sag down in her seat. When I was watching Batman burn down Raz Al Ghul's chicken shed, she suddenly leaned her head on my shoulders!! At first I was quite uncomfortable with it, pretending to lean to my right and talk to MGS girl. The senario's quite hilarious though, whenever she tries to lean over, i shift and talk to MGS girl. As if missing the target, she overshot...leaning too much to the right and sits upright again. And when she tried again, I would go like " Hey, MGS, Batman...Scarecrow.....butterflies, sorry, bats..." But towards the end I got tired of shifting and just let her lean all she want. Knowing that I no longer shifting here and there, she took the juicy chance and plant her hand on my arm as well....like i said, just like the usual Hong Kong drama ...or Pond's Advertistment minus popcorn box.

And last week Thursday, she said "Saya cinta pada mu" in Malay (my friend tought her)...

So.....folks, what do you think? Is Randy dating a japanese girlfriend now?

Bzzz....sorry guys, answer's no. Well, you ladies might call me Devil and you gentlements may call me Dumb but I have my reasons...
Well, first of all....I just came here for goodness sake! I have quite a lot of stuffs to do and frankly, not much time....lame excuse, yes I know. Secondly, all this while I've been thinking of her only as a friend....nothing more nothing less. And if you fellas said I should just accept it, uh uh...no can do, last time I did that, nothing came sweet, all sour and rotten. But most of all, I ......just don't want to be in a relationship right now, maybe in a few months time but definitely not right now. But I'd give serious credits for being brave though.

Hmm....sorry to lady folks who share that feminine link with her...and sorry to guy folks who have been adoring jap chicks all this freakin' while....I just couldn't do it.Well, good thing is we're back being friends at the moment.

Cinematically pathetic Japan.

Japan, as you folks have seen in National Geograpy or Discovery, IS a very modern country. Tall brick building, high tech gizmos and cute girls in miniskirts.....all the mark of a developed country.

BUT.....behind every stone there's a prawn...

I went to watch Batman Begins as it premierred last Saturday. My expectations was running very very high...was thinking, if cinemas in M'sia is already that nice(acceptable chairs and big screens), what about the all so advanced Japan? Super?......bzzz! wrong! You just lost a million dollar question.

The cinema was small...sooooooo small. In fact it's so microscopic it's estimated about only 50-60 movie zombies can enter at a time....and they have a cute little screen to match the zombies! MY GAWD! The screen's like quater the size of that in Mid Valley! Ok, maybe I'm exxxagerating a bit but I'm pretty sure it's around that size.... and I had to pay RM35 to watch it! (Jap don't pirate and my campus' network is firewalled). I can understand if they want to mini-size their electronic gadjets but come on, it's the cinema for goodness sake! One more thing is that I was sweating all the way while watching....nope, you got it wrong again folks, not sweating from excitement or fear...it's just that......man, that place really needs air-conditioning.

Sad? yup, sad as life can be but that's not all....there some......funny smell coming out of nowhere. I took a half-an-hour shower before going, so definitely not me contributing...maybe the chair soaked too much sweat and fungus do smell funny. Yuck! Vomit vomit....
Sigh...lucky the movie was good. Keeps me from cursing and having a bad day....well, another nice thing was that a jap girl was leaning her head on my shoulders while watching Batman kick-ass.......Woo HOO! KICK-ASS! Nah....wasn't all too happy having that girl leaning her head on my shoulders though.....btw, girl's story in my next upcoming blog. Too lazy to type two in a day.


PS: Cheong....I'm still keeping tradition of premierre movie going...you?