Oh, what a year!

2008 has been a helluva ride!

I won't forgive myself if I didn't do an official re-cap of the lows and (many) highs of the year. I:

• experienced 1.5 weeks of hell at the beginning of the year


• discovered how much my family, friends and even acquaintances care about me


• met my AP, who has enriched my life on so many levels


• celebrated both the western and eastern V Day


• was genuinely surprised at my surprise birthday dinner


• got absolutely, positively, pissed drunk on my 26th birthday


• had the Mother of all hangovers


• suffered from job burnout


• nearly drowned in Sg. Selangor


• re-connected with long-lost friends and made new ones through blogging


• successfully completed my MBA


• resisted the ultimate temptation


• was part of F1 history for the inaugural night race


• conquered Mt. Kinabalu 1 year after 'conquering' Penang Hill


• had the Mother of all leg aches


• befriended an individual who taught me a thing or two about humility, patience and sincerity

"If it's bitter at the start, then it's sweeter in the end." - Madonna

Eddie!

I got really excited when I saw the poster for Bolt along NKVE, specifically, when I saw the fat hamster in the hamster ball with a flag that read: Bolt's #1 Fan.

Well, Disney didn't disappoint. But Rhino the Hamster did. He was completely psychotic to the point where it wasn't even funny. Psycho! *shudder*

For 1.5 hrs when I watched Bolt, I wished I had a dog. Which dog would I want to have as my pet? That's an easy one cos I've known the answer for many years now - I want Eddie Crane from Frasier!

• He is a Jack Russell Terrier.


• Eddie is played by Moose III and his son, Enzo the Dog.


• He received more fan mail than any of the other 'Frasier' cast members.


• Moose III was 15-and-a-half years old in human years when he died. He was 78 in dog years. [Source: IMDb]
  

Frasier: Goodnight, Seattle...

Mt Kinabalu Porters & Guides

Yeah, I'm still not over the mountain.

Anyways, since I'm fascinated by all things mountain-related this month, I stumbled upon Kinabalu Blog. It has really informative and interesting articles but one that really caught my attention is the one Dr Izad wrote in tribute to the unsung heroes of the mountain - the porters and guides. Fyi, EVERYTHING is brought up to and down from the mountain manually.

I took this pic cos the guys were gawking at this porter's thigh muscles:



I heard about these legendary porters/guides and I saw some of them with my own eyes, but none were as spectacular as the next 2 pics that just made my jaw drop (pics from Kinabalu Blog):

Do read and see more pics of these amazing heroes who make sure the surroundings of the mountain are hospitable and clean - The Unsung Heroes of Kinabalu: Porters & Guides and Porters of Mount Kinabalu.

A special shout-out goes to Dr Izad for sharing the pics. :)


To think I couldn't even carry my 6 kg backpack. Wtf. And now I feel so damn guilty for contributing to the rubbish load during my hike (they are paid RM2/kg to carry the rubbish from Laban Rata restaurant). >.<

PS: I've been so lazy to hit the gym since I returned from KK. "I climbed a friggin' mountain, gimme a break!" That's a valid excuse, don't you think? Alright, alright! It's only valid till 31 Dec, 2008. ;)

SOTW

(Pre)Christmas Celebrations

First, there was dinner with my colleagues at Zen:

Then Mark was in town for a visit. He got a taste of hawker food at Asia Cafe.

I'm sure you're familiar with the Malaysia - Truly Asia campaign. Mark said the ad appeared on TV every 15 minutes in Japan. To the point where he just had to come visit.

So if anyone related to Tourism Malaysia is reading this - good job! :P

And last night, Chin Teik bought the family dinner to commemorate his first paycheck. Thanks, Chin Teik! :)

Alrighty, have yourselves a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!! :)

Penang - Dan lain-lain

I had the brilliant idea of bringing my own pillow and I made Saw Wen bring hers too:







We went to Queensbay Mall and they were having a Doraemon-themed weekend. It totally reminded us of you, Jason!! :P



We didn't buy Jason another Doraemon but I took pics of Doraemon & friends instead:



We hung out at T-Bowl:





And treated ourselves to a foot spa after that (because we're worth it too!):







Hungry peeps starving for nasi briyani, or at least I was! Believe you me, the wait was totally worth it. *high*



3 Budak Bandars leaving Penang all smiles! :)

Penang - The Food

Claypot Nasi Briyani Mutton & Chicken...technically, it wasn't served in a claypot but in a non-stick pan:



The food was so good, I swear there were drugs in them. Or as Khai Tzer put it, "It's called herbs and spices." Wtf.



I speculated that the secret ingredient that makes the food so damn tasty is Man Sweat! Specifically, this man's sweat:

Penang - The Accommodation

We stayed at this be-awesome place at Batu Feringghi:







That has its private beach:







Thank you, Bee Chin!!! :D

My fave mountain pics